For a Hero (12 page)

The scratching made him fuck harder. His breathing quickened; his body began to shimmer from beads of sweat all over him. It was too much for Jenna. “Wow, wow, oh my god, David, don’t stop. I’m going to cum.”

David focused on her pleasure and made himself like a machine. He pistoned his body; it was automatic. He was driving himself into her and she started to scream. Long shouts of pleasure signaled her release. She lost herself in the feeling and saw nothing or heard nothing until the orgasm dissipated. Then, as her realization returned, she noticed a slight pain in her vagina. Her moans changed into “ows” and “hunhs” instead “ohs” and “yes’s.” Without thinking, she yipped, one loud “ouch” right into David’s ear.

He sat up. He had the most horrified look on his face. He pulled out of her immediately and stood. He walked several paces away from her. “I did it. I hurt you. I knew I would. I’m so sorry. I should have listened to Veronica. I should have listened to my gut. I hate this. I hate I hurt you. I have to go.” He began to get dressed.

Jenna jumped up from the couch and grabbed him. She hugged him tightly. “No, please don’t go. It was amazing, perfect in fact.”

“No it wasn’t. I hurt you. I heard you scream.” He looked down at her legs and saw a small line of blood running down her leg. He looked at his cock and sure enough, it had a few streaks of red on it, too. “Oh my god. Did I tear you?” Panic could be heard in his voice and he began to breathe heavily.

“David, it’s ok. I expected this.” She grabbed a tissue and wiped the small trace of blood off of her thigh.

“Why?” She sat him down on the couch, coerced him to lean back and she rested herself on him lovingly.

“Because I’m a virgin. Well, I was a virgin, and you are a lot bigger than my tampons. I was too excited for any of it to be painful. Being with you felt fantastic. Only when we were finished did I notice it at all. After a couple times of making love to me, it will be normal, and there won’t be any blood. David, it was perfect. I loved it, thank you. Don’t worry.” She stroked his chest with her fingers trying to give him all of the love and comfort she could.

“You were a virgin?”

“Yes I was, but now, I gave that gift to you, and I’m so glad I did.”

“Why me?”

“Because you are the first and only real man I have known, the first man I’ve ever wanted. What we did tonight felt right and I don’t regret it for a moment. You can have me again, too, but I should probably heal up a little bit first.”

Jenna meant the heal comment as a joke, but David heard it and shook with guilt. “I’m so sorry,” he muttered.

She looked up at his face and took him in her hands. “Listen to me, David. Before our time is done, whenever that is, I am going to set you free. If it’s the last thing I do, I am going to set you free from this pain, this fear. I will show you how wonderful you really are. I am going to show you that you don’t have to hide. I want the real you, David. I am going to set you free.”

Chapter Five

BUZZ – BUZZ

David opened his eyes. It must be his phone. He reached over to his nightstand. He felt nothing. His hand met a wall. He sat up quickly. Oh yeah! David wasn’t at home in his loft; he was in bed at Jenna’s place. Her beautiful face looked so serene as she slept. Her eyes were closed, and her lips formed a small, perfect rosebud. He took a deep breath and felt very content in this place.

BUZZ – BUZZ

Crap! The phone was still ringing. David hopped out of bed quickly, but carefully to avoid Sleeping Beauty. He scanned her bedroom, and then peered into her living room. He looked down and realized he was naked. Since when did David sleep naked? This girl sure was doing a number to him, he thought.

BUZZ – BUZZ

It came from the floor near the couch. David prayed to God that Jenna did not have roommates and ran out into the entertaining room. He found his phone in his pants’ pocket.

“Hello. Chief Conlon speaking.”

“Hey Chief. It’s never taken so long for you to answer the phone before. Did you sleep in?”

“What is it, Scott?”

“Haha, point taken. None of my business. Anyway, we got the reports back on the explosions yesterday.”

“Well, what happened?”

“It was definitely arson. Wires were cut in the dash and gasoline was syphoned out of the gas tank into the cab. Whoever it was tossed a match into the open window of each car, and each one was exactly the same.”

“My gut was right. But nobody got hurt. Why would anyone do this?”

“Well, Sir. It gets more interesting than that. As it turns out, all three cars were the exact same make and model. I ran the VIN and all three cars had been reported stolen within a week. Whoever it was must be trying to send a message to someone.”

“What kind of car was it?”

“1985 Chevrolet Monte Carlo.”

David didn’t know what to say. The weight of the situation bore down on his shoulders like a ton of bricks. He wasn’t sure how else to say it, so he just said “thanks” and hung up.

He sat on the couch. Who would do this? What did he ever do to anyone? How did they know David would be there when he was? As he thought, a terrible idea struck him.

He leapt from the couch, got dressed and ran to Jenna’s room.

“Honey. Honey. Wake up.”

She groggily opened her eyes and smiled to see David standing over her. “Hey Baby. Come back to bed.”

“I can’t, Jenna. I have to go.”

“What’s wrong? Is there a fire?”

“I’m sorry, Jenna. I just have to go.” And he kissed her cheek and ran out the door.

She slumped back down into bed and pouted. “Well, foot a duck.”

*****

David drove hurriedly south on Lamar. His mind raced faster than his Silverado. How many people knew about his real parents? Not many, he determined as he did a mental inventory. The people at the adoption agency, but surely none of them would care enough or have enough of a grudge to pull such a radical, dangerous stunt. Blaine knew. He liked to play with David, but there was no way he could do something that might hurt people or disrupt order. The only person that came to mind was his adopted father. It still didn’t feel right, however. Sure his dad had been mean, but he was never malicious. David always chalked his behavior up to stupidity. This was a whole new level though. This took planning, resourcefulness, and patience, not to mention willingness to steal multiple cars, and put thousands of lives in danger. Thank god nothing horrible had happened.

He needed to see his mom. Jr. made his way across downtown. It was still too early for traffic or the cumbersome one-way streets to pose a problem hindering his speed, so he was able to cross the town quickly. If his father were involved, he needed to make sure that his mother was safe.

He started veering west once he crossed the river. Most of the time, his visits to Driftwood were pleasant and nostalgic. His mother was always so happy to see him. She unfailingly had treats prepared for him and they would have a wonderful home-cooked meal or cruise down the road to the Salt Lick for the best barbecue you could get outside of their own house. But today, David was worried, concerned for her safety. He had lost enough family members in his life.

He couldn’t get there fast enough; stop signs and hazard lights were optional. He thought about putting the siren on his truck, but David would never behave so unprofessionally.

He skidded into his mother’s driveway and leaped out of the truck. He ran across the yard, up the porch and blew open the screen door.

“Mom! Mom, are you here?”

David couldn’t hear anything. He started to worry. He ran back to her bedroom, through the kitchen and peered into the backyard. She was nowhere to be found. He went to pull out his phone to call 9-1-1 but then remembered that she had not been missing for forty-eight hours. Dammit.

He looked for her car. There it was, right where it was supposed to be, parked under the port to the west of the house. As he examined it, the pitter-patter of tiny feet caught his ear.

David looked to where the sound was coming from and saw a miniature dachshund waddling around the back of the house. He cocked his head when he saw David, and when he finally recognized him, tore into the earth to sprint his tiny, squatty body in that direction, ears flopping a hundred times a second.

“Hey, Poncho!” David leaned over and rubbed his hand across the head of the gentle creature. He plopped over onto his side, hoping for belly-rubbings. “You missed your brother, didn’t you, pal? Have you seen Mommy? Do you know where she is?” David asked the animal as he stroked the underside of his family’s favorite son. “Take me to Mommy.”

Poncho got up on his legs and slapped them across the ground in a happy gait to lead David into the house. The puppy walked up to the bathroom door and started to paw at the wood. The light was off in the bathroom; David didn’t check previously. “Mom, are you in there?”

“David? Is that you?”

“Oh my god, Mom. Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I had some lasagna last night and it’s not sitting well with me. I’m having a bit of a problem.”

David buried his head in his forearm; he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Wow, Mom. I don’t know what to say. Thanks for the update. I was worried. I thought you died or something.”

“Oh heavens no, or at least not yet. Behold the power of cheese. Parmesan is a real killer. Give me a few minutes and I’ll be out. I’m glad you’re home, Baby. Now give Mommy a few minutes to talk to a man about a dog and I’ll fix you some lunch.”

David thanked the lord for family, dairy and dogs.

*****

Jenna rolled back over in bed, pouting. Why did he leave so quickly this morning? She hoped everything was ok. She had just given herself to a man, and the first thing he did the morning after was run right out of her door and out of her life. Her mind went back to all of the men she had known before. She imagined this is what would have happened if she had slept with them. There was no way that David was the same as them, was there?

She got up and wrapped her robe around her body. Padding through the house to her Keurig coffee pot and popped the “Intense French Roast” cup into the slot. The oxymoron made her giggle.

She glanced back at the couch and her mind retreated to her memory of last night.

She held him so tight, comforting him. Her promise to set him free made her realize how important he was to her. His worry must have worn him out because his head had slowly tilted and fell to her shoulder. She had cradled his neck and let him take refuge in her embrace. He had been so loving. David had given her such pleasure, and at the thought of hurting her, he had worried himself to sleep over it. Her gentle giant had exhausted himself in concern. She had shook his shoulders just enough to wake him from his slumber and pulled him to a standing position. She took from him all of his clothes and made him comfortable. She had walked him to her bed and laid him down. It was so wonderful to see this angel, this god-like man, in her room, in her bed, under her pink flowery sheets. She crawled in next to him and pondered how lucky and fortunate she was. She was thankful for the move to Austin, she was thankful for Miranda and the auction. She was even thankful for Mr. McBride who made her leave Dallas. She smiled to herself. How nice it was for someone to be so concerned about you that hurting you breaks their heart. His heart must be involved, she thought with a little smirk. And then, she realized. Jenna almost dropped her coffee cup reminiscing against the counter. David hadn’t abandoned her this morning like some misogynist pig; he was embarrassed! He thought he had hurt her so he had left.

The relief poured over her body. It was frustrating that he was gone, but it was sweet that he felt so strongly about her. Now all she needed to do was get him back. She looked around the room. Hmmmm. There, against the table leg on the living room carpet, sat keys. She picked them up.

“Heehee.” Jenna giggled. “You left your house keys here.” Jenna muttered as she sauntered back to her bedroom to scheme. “You’ll have to come back. I’m going to cook you dinner, give you a man’s dream night, and then seduce you, Mr. Conlon.”

She fell happily into her own sheets, clutching his keys in her hand.

*****

“How have you been, Mom?”

She had sat David down on the couch and picked up right where she left off when he left home back at 18. She was making him food and baking brownies and giving him motherly advice as if he had never left.

“I’m doing fine, Sweetie. But I’m worried to death for you. You look so thin. Are you eating at all? I feel like the wind is going to blow a bit too hard and you’ll just be carried right out the window. Is that the same shirt you wore last time you visited? Is that your only shirt? You really need to think about letting me take you shopping. My growing boy needs some new clothes. Don’t you know I just torture myself at night thinking about you being cold and hungry?”

David smiled. Good ole’ Mom. “Yes, Mom. I’m eating enough.”

“When are you going to get a safer job than fighting fires? You’re going to get yourself hurt. And when are you going to find a nice girl and settle down? I bet you are gallivanting across the city at all hours of the night.”

“No, Mom. I don’t gallivant. It’s bad for the knees.”

“You know what I mean, David.” She handed him a second plate of food “You didn’t come here just for food. What is it, Sweetie? Is everything ok?”

“Mom, I actually came to check on you. I was worried about you.”

“Why on Earth would you worry about me? I don’t bother anybody. Me and Poncho just cook and watch TV most days when we’re not down at the Baptist Church scoping out the eligible bachelors.”

“That’s nice, Mom, but something happened yesterday and it got me thinking.” He spoke between bites. A few minutes with his mom and he was close to being spoiled all over again.

“What is it? Tell me all about it.”

“The department was watching the concert last night, just making sure it was safe. Three cars blew up. They were all the same car, Mom, a Monte Carlo, just like my real father’s car, the one that blew up. There was nobody hurt, thank goodness. But it was too crazy to be a coincidence. I think somebody was trying to send me a message. I don’t know who else it might be besides Dad.”