Forever My Soldier (Love Conquers Life Book 3) (2 page)

He turns his body, backing up as he tries to make his way toward the exit. He has one arm around Patty’s chest. With his other hand, he’s holding the gun to her temple.

“Everyone, back off. I don’t want to hurt her, but I will if I have to.” He presses the barrel to her temple even harder, causing her head to shift, and she starts to cry harder. I spot an officer set up to take aim at his side. Ben has no idea he’s there.

I follow at a safe distance. I can see the panic in her eyes. “Look at me, baby. You’ll be okay, I promise you.”

“Shut up!” Ben screams at me.

Patty closes her eyes and takes a deep breath when suddenly a single shot rings out. Ben instantly drops and his gun slides across the floor. She freezes where she is, visibly shaking as shock takes over. She starts crying again as I run over to wrap my arms around her trembling body.

I hold her, rubbing her back. “Shh, it’s okay. I’ve got you, baby. You’re okay now.”

“That bastard held a gun to my head,” she says through her tears.

“I know, baby,” I say as officers surround us. Bella runs out of Derek’s arms to hug Bella, and they cry together. I look over to find Derek talking to Officer Phillips as I stand there, rubbing Bella and Patty’s backs. They are a complete mess and totally freaking out. I take a deep breath and look down. The fucker is lying dead on the floor, a pool of blood oozing from a gunshot wound to the head. I couldn’t be happier.

“Sshh, baby, you never have to worry about him again,” I remind her, trying to calm her down.

The news reporter is snapping pictures, thrilled that she was on scene for this tragic event. An officer goes over to her and says, “We’ll take that. You can have it back after we take everyone’s statements and notify his next of kin.” He takes her camera and she gives him a look of total disappointment.

I kiss the top of Patty’s head, and suddenly Patty snaps out of it. Standing tall, she says, “We need to finish our shopping.”

“Baby, we can come back tomorrow to finish our shopping. After what you’ve…”

She puts her hands up to stop me.

“I will not be his victim. He’s dead, and I hate him for the torture he’s been putting me through. I
want
to finish our shopping,” she says with total determination.

I look at Derek, unsure of what to do.

“We’re going to the ladies’ room to clean up. We’ll be right back.” Patty takes Bella’s hand, and they stroll off together.

He shrugs his shoulders as the two girls walk off.

“Dude, do you really think she’s okay to continue shopping?” I ask Derek.

“I don’t know, man, but at this point I wouldn’t push her. Let her do what she wants but keep an eye on her. I imagine, even as strong as she is, this could come back to haunt her in her sleep.”

“Yeah, I know what that’s like.”

“Yeah, we both do. Make sure if it haunts you that you deal with it too.”

“He’s dead. I’m good.”

As the girls are coming out of the bathroom, Officer Phillips comes over to us.

“Are you okay, Patty?” Officer Phillips asks.

“Yes, I want to finish my shopping and go about the rest of my day.”

“I’m sorry, Patty, but you won’t be able to finish your shopping today,” Office Phillips says.

“What do you mean?”

“We need to close down the store and wait for the medical examiner to come and remove the body from the store. Then a cleaning company will come in to clean up the mess.” He looks over at the body. “The store will be closed for a day or two.”

Releasing a deep breath, she says, “Who took the shot?”

“Officer Malone.” He nods in Malone’s direction, and I follow as Patty walks over to him.

“Officer Malone?” She questions.

“Yes, ma’am.” He nods at her.

“Thank you so much. You saved me, and I appreciate that more than I can ever tell you.”

He smiles at her. “It was my pleasure, ma’am. Men like that,” he nods in Ben’s direction. “They won’t stop. He needed to be taken out.”

She nods as two other undercover cops approach us, and I shake their hand. “You guys did awesome. Other than Officer Phillips, I couldn’t even tell who was a cop and who wasn’t.”

“That was the point. I’m glad we blended well. It means we did our jobs.”

“Are you all set with us? Since we can’t finish our shopping, I think we’ll get going.”

“Absolutely. Enjoy the rest of your day, and I’ll be in touch if I need anything more from you folks.”

We again shake hands and go in search of the manager. As we get to the front of the store, we see she’s trying to get the store cleared out so they can get everything squared away.

She turns to us, and Patty says, “I am so sorry this has happened in your store. I feel really bad that you now have to close early on Black Friday and will be down for a few days. Please, if there’s anything I can do, let us know.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that. I’m glad you’re okay and that man didn’t hurt you,” she says, shaking her head.

“I’ll tell you what. If you let Carter know when you’re going to open again, I’ll do some promo for you. We also have a cart full of stuff I promise to buy along with more once you open again.”

“Thank you, Patty. I would really appreciate that.” We all shake hands and make our way out the door.

As we do, Bella says, “Let me know when they open again too and I’ll try to do some grand opening promo as well.”

“Thanks, Bella!” I say, feeling really bad about what happened.

“I know we were supposed to go to your place tonight, but after everything that’s happened I’m ready to go home,” Patty says as the medical examiner is pulling up outside the store.

“We understand. Call us if you need anything.” Derek gives her a quick hug. He shakes my hand while Bella and Patty hug quickly. Once our goodbyes are said, Derek and Bella walk off toward their car.

We climb into the car, and Patty says, “I feel bad for Ben’s father.”

“Why’s that?”

“Ben’s mom died from cancer when he was young and it’s been the two of them ever since. Now he has to bury his son, who was killed by a cop because he was holding me at gunpoint. It’s not exactly something to be proud of.”

“Yeah, it has to be tough burying your child. I’m sure it will be even harder when he finds out why he’s dead.”

“His father is a good man. He works hard and did what he could to take care of Ben. I don’t know where things went wrong for him.”

“Who knows, baby? It could have been any number of things, but let’s not think about it for now. Let’s get home, take a bath, relax with a movie, and we can order some takeout if you’d like.”

Chapter 2

Carter

I’m so glad I shut the alarms off last night. I felt Patty tossing and turning, and I decided once she was out I would let her sleep in. It’s starting to get late, and I’ve been watching her sleep peacefully for a few minutes now.

It’s time to wake her slowly. Peeling the blankets back, I lick my lips as I stare down at her gorgeous body. I slowly lift her shirt, lower my lips, and press them to her flat stomach. I lick her belly button and then kiss my way up to the valley of her breasts. I veer to the right, taking her nipple in my mouth, sucking on it. She moans in her sleep, and when I look up I see a smile spreading across her face.

“You like that, baby?” I smile as I lower my lips back down to her perky nipple.

She moans again as I roll my tongue around her nipple and then kiss my way across her valley to the other one.

I lightly scrape my teeth around her hardened nipple. Her chest jerks forward as she continues to moan. I hover over her, looking deep into her beautiful brown eyes.

“Good morning, my love,” I say as I press my lips to hers, slowly licking across her lips. She opens to me, and our tongues collide with such passion as her hips grind into my hardened cock. I break our kiss. “I want to taste you before you have that.”

She bites her lip as I kiss my way down her neck. I stop to peel off her little sleep shorts and panties, tossing them to the side.

I bury my face in her hair and inhale a deep breath. “I love the way you smell and taste.”

My tongue finds its way through her folds. She instantly moves her hips in motion with my tongue, and it drives me wild. I’m licking her clit so hard and fast because all I want right now is for her to explode on my tongue. There’s no teasing, no playing around. I want it and I want it now.

Her legs start to stiffen over my shoulders and I know that means she’s about to let go, so I stick my tongue inside her, fucking her with it until she gives me what I want. She’s screaming my name while her legs are shaking as I lap up every ounce of her orgasm.

“Carter, please. I want to feel you inside me,” she moans out as I glide my tongue up her delicious pussy one last time.

I climb back up her body, gently pressing my stiff cock against her opening. “Is this what you want, baby?”

As she nods, I place my lips gently over hers and bury my cock deep inside her. She moans into my mouth, but my kiss is muffling the delicious sounds. I slowly start gliding my cock in and out of her soaking wet pussy.

“Yes, Carter. Give me more.”

I gradually pick up the pace. Her hips are now meeting my thrusts.

“I’m going to come again.”

“Give it to me, baby. Milk my cock.”

I bury my cock inside her a few more times, and she gives me what I want. Her beautiful pussy is tightening around me, milking me for every drop.

Lowering my body so I’m lying on top of her, I tell her, “That was great.”

“It was one of the best wake-up calls I’ve ever had,” she says with a giggle.

“Oh yeah? What was the other?” I ask her with a questioning look.

“The other times you’ve woken me this way.” She giggles again.

“I love the sound of your laugh, and I love you,” I tell her, looking deep into her eyes so she can see how much I mean it.

“I love you too, but we should probably get up and have some breakfast.”

“Breakfast?” It’s more like brunch time.

She looks at the clock. “Wow, it’s already ten? I can’t believe I slept so late.”

“It’s my fault. I shut off the alarms so you could get some rest. I knew we didn’t have to be anywhere until later today, and I wanted you to be rested so we could have some fun with our friends tonight.”

“Thanks, Carter. I have to get up and check my email and stuff.”

“Why don’t I make you something to eat while you check your email and then we’ll shower and get ready to go to Derek’s house?”

“That…” She’s cut off by the ringing of her cell phone. She sees it’s her mother. “That sounds like a plan,” she says as she hits the ignore button. However, the moment she gets outs of bed and starts putting her clothes back on, her mother calls again.

She sighs as she realizes her mother has been calling all morning, but we hadn’t heard it in our sleep because her ringtone was turned down.

“Hello, Mother,” she says with complete frustration.

I make my way into the bathroom to freshen up and to give her a few minutes on the phone, but to be honest it’s kind of killing me because I’m curious as to what her mother has to say. I’m sure she’s heard about what happened yesterday, and considering she’s partially to blame, she’s probably sobbing in Patty’s ear right now.

I’m walking back through the bedroom to go to the kitchen when she calls out to me.

“Carter, do we have plans for tomorrow night?”

“Not that I know of. Why?

“My mother wants to have dinner with us to discuss the situation.” She rolls her eyes. “And to apologize.” Her mother must have been yelling at her to add that part.

“I’m fine with it if you are.”

“Fine, Mother. Be here at five.”

She listens to her mother for a minute more and cuts the call.

“What’s going on?”

“She says that she heard what happened and she needs to apologize and make things right with us. She feels really bad and wants to get to know you,” she says with one eyebrow raised. I can tell she isn’t sure if she’s buying it or not.

“How do you feel about that?”

“I’m going to be thrilled if she’s being sincere, but if she has another agenda, then I’m going to be upset. It may even cause me to stop talking to her permanently.”

I nod. “Let’s go eat.”

We both go to the kitchen, she brings her laptop to sit at the counter and I move straight to the fridge to get us some food. I’m tossing cut up potatoes with oil and garlic when I hear her gasp.

“What’s wrong, baby?”

“I’m all over the internet.”

She continues to read while I think about how to respond.

“Is that a bad thing?” I ask her, putting the potatoes in the oven.

“I really don’t know. There are articles about me being held at gunpoint. It even talks about how Ben was shot and killed.”

“Baby, it was a big deal, and it happened in public.”

“I know. I guess I didn’t think there would be so many details or that it would be out so quickly.”

She sighs and says, “Time to move on to something else.”

A few minutes later she chuckles at whatever she’s looking at, and I’m glad to see she’s moved onto something better while I continue making breakfast.

I’m cooking veggies when she says, “Look at this.”

I walk over, and she shows me all of the well wishes on her Facebook page from her fans.

“Baby, that’s awesome.”

She looks up at me. “It is, isn’t it?”

I kiss the top of her head and go back to making breakfast while she responds to her posts. Placing a cup of coffee on the side of her laptop, I kiss the top of her head one more time.

“Thank you, Carter.”

A short time later, I’m placing a plate with eggs, turkey bacon, potatoes, and toast on the side of her laptop. She closes it and moves it aside. “Thank you so much. I’m sorry I didn’t help, but there are so many posts. I started responding to them individually, but when I realized it was going to take too long, I put out one long post thanking everyone.”

“Baby, it’s fine. I know you were busy, and since this is the only meal I know how to prepare, it’s the least I can do.”

“Well, thank you. It looks and smells delicious.” She takes her first bite, and her phone rings again. This time it’s her father. “Sorry, honey, but I need to let my father know that I’m okay.”

“Of course, go ahead.” I get a cup of coffee and sit next to her with my plate of food.

“Hi, Daddy,” she says into the phone. I can hear him freaking out on the other end, and she’s trying to calm him down. She tells him that she’s fine and talks about how I arranged for the police to follow us undercover. After promising to see him soon, she finally cuts the call and continues eating.

“He’s freaking out, huh?”

“Yeah, but he’s better now that he’s spoken to me.”

“How are you feeling?” I ask her, concerned about how she’s really handling this.

“I don’t know. I’m okay, I guess. I’m sorry he’s dead, but I’m glad it’s over.”

I rub her arm, and we both eat in a comfortable silence.

***

Patty

I’m in the room changing so we can go over to Derek’s for dinner tonight. I’m thrilled to be seeing our friends, and I honestly need to get out of this house. Carter has been watching over me all day and I understand why, but he’s driving me crazy. I really want to move on from this situation, and soon I’ll be able to. I’ve realized the one thing that will help me to get over this whole thing is to go to Ben’s wake and pay my respects to his father. Now I have to figure out how to tell Carter and hope he’ll support me. My phone chirps, and when I look I have a text from Bella.

Bella: Are you guys still coming over?

Patty: Of course, why?

Bella: Derek has the tickets in for the New Year’s Eve event.

Patty: Awesome! See you guys soon.

Bella: See you soon.

I place my phone in my back pocket and move into the living room, where I find Carter on his phone. “Is everything okay?” I ask as he hangs up the phone.

“Yeah, that was my mom. She heard what happened on the news and wanted to make sure we were both okay. I told her we were fine and glad it was over.”

“Great. Are you ready to go to Derek’s? Bella texted me to make sure we were still coming. I think she’s excited to see us.”

“Sure, I’ll be ready as soon as I put on my coat.”

We both go to the coat closet to bundle up because it’s getting really cold outside. When we get down to the front door of our building, we notice it’s snowing. It’s beautiful. I love to watch the snow fall.

My smile grows, and Carter notices. “What are you so happy about?”

“I love the snow. I think it’s refreshing and beautiful.”

He plants a soft kiss on my lips. “You’re beautiful.”

He takes my hand, and we walk through the snow to his Jeep. He opens the door and runs around to the other side so he can start the car and get it warmed up. We pull away a few minutes later, and as he drives I admire the lights and the decorations on the passing houses.

I look back over at him. “Honey, do you want a real tree?”

“Sure. I’d love to have a real tree. Is that okay with you?” I nod, very excited that we’re on the same page. “We can go get one next weekend if you want,” he says as we continue on our way.

“I’d like that. I don’t care where we get it, but I would really like a real one. I love the smell of it on Christmas morning.”

We pull up to Derek’s huge house, and I’m in complete awe. I didn’t realize he lived in a big, beautiful house like this. I figured he had a nice little apartment somewhere. I look over at Carter and see the same look of shock on his face. Reading my mind, he says, “I had no idea.”

Carter opens my door. He takes my hand and helps me get out of the car. As we approach, Derek opens the door and welcomes us in. “Derek, your home is beautiful.”

“Thank you, Patty. My parents were so proud of my work in the Army they gave it to me when I got back permanently and they moved down south to get away from the cold. They come home periodically and when they do, they stay with me.”

“That is very sweet.” I reply and I swear I see him blush slightly.

As he and Carter are shaking hands, Bella comes running and scoops me into a big hug.

“Come on in, guys. Dinner's almost ready. We made lasagna and garlic bread with some salad,” Bella says with total pride, and I can’t help but giggle at her excitement.

“Wine?” she asks as she shows us to the kitchen.

“Sure.”

“Carter, do you want a beer?”

“Nah, I’m good. I’m driving, and it’s snowing. Thank you, though.” He places his arm around my shoulders.

I spot the tickets sitting on the snack bar in Derek’s kitchen. “Derek, are these the tickets for the event?”

“They are. What do you think?”

“I think they’re gorgeous.”

“We’ve already started to sell them to family members of people who work for the office, but we need to sell a lot more. I’m not sure how we’re going to do it in such a short period of time.”