Signed, SEALed, Delivered Page 7

  “That’s very sweet of you, but if this is where I’m sleeping, then I need to check out the bed. I have a very high standard, when it comes to a good mattress.”

  I walk further into his bedroom, as I realize that Annie must be exploring the house, which means she’s probably on the couch. I sometimes think that she’s a cat with the way she acts. I flop down on the mattress, and it’s like being on a cloud. I moan in pleasure with how well my body feels on this bed. I open my eyes, when I feel the bed dip around me, and Zack is over me.

  “You look really good in my bed.” He kisses me, as I run my hands up under his shirt, feeling his muscles flex.

  God, help me. I’m in so much trouble with him.

  Zachary Sanders

  Kissing Ella is the highlight of my year, and she’s so responsive to my touch. My fingers glide up her side, while I feel her nails, scraping up my back. She moans into my lips, as I push my tongue into her mouth.

  “God, yes.” She lets out.

  “Your lips taste sweet, and I want to explore your whole body.” I sound so awkward, like I have no game.

  “I’d like that too, but not within the first hour of meeting face-to-face, but us making out or maybe even second base is just as fun.” She kisses my jaw, moves down my neck, and then to my ear. “Maybe tomorrow, while Alec is in school, might be a different story.” She whispers into my ear, before nibbling it.

  “Ella,” I groan.

  “Should I stop?” She blinks at me.

  “Did I say stop?” I ask, smiling at her, as we start to kiss again, as she tries to remove my shirt. I start to follow her lead, removing her shirt, as I toss it onto the floor next to mine.

  “Damn.” I mutter under my breath. Between her body, tattoos, and moaning, I want to be inside her right now. I do take a moment to check the time, before I need to go pick up Alec from school. I still have a couple of hours.

  “When do we pick up Alec?” She asks me.

  “Two hours, and not enough time for me to explore this incredible body.” I tell her.

  “Mmm. I want you to explore me so bad.” She begs.

  “I really can’t, baby. We need more time.” I roll onto my back, cursing myself for not just fucking her right now, and then taking my time with her later.

  “Zack,” Ella props herself up with one elbow. “You okay?” I look at her, and she has this sexy look on her face, as I grab her neck, bringing her closer to me.

  “I’m more than okay. I just want you so bad. I think I have, since the first time we started to message each other. But babe, you are so much better than a quick fuck. I want to take my time with you.”

  “That’s really sweet, and I agree. I’ve started finding myself checking my email constantly.” I notice that she avoids eye contact with me, and I can tell something is bothering her.

  “Are you worried how things are going to change with my deployment?” She nods. “Don’t be. I’ll be home, before you know it. We will still talk and even make phone calls.” I kiss her forehead, as I hear a bark outside of my bedroom door.

  “I totally forgot I brought Annie. You have a way of making me forget things.” She slaps my stomach, as we get up and grab our shirts. Ella opens the door, and Annie comes running in. She jumps on the bed and curls up in the spot, where Ella was just lying.

  “She’s cute. We should take her with us to get Alec.” I smile.

  “She would love that, because she loves car rides and attention.” She tells me, as I walk over to her, pulling her close to me, by wrapping my arms around her waist.

  “And what about her mom? What does she love?” I ask her.

  “Pizza of course!” I laugh at her reply. “I also love attention, too. I think Annie gets that trait from me.” She laughs. “Annie, come on.” She whistles, as Annie perks up and gets off the bed. “Do you mind if I work for a little bit?”

  “Sure. Do you mind if I work, too? I need to follow up on some things.” She nods, as I grab her hand, once we get downstairs, walking into the kitchen.

  We sit down and start working on our computers, once we get her hooked up to the Internet. It’s been about an hour and a half, when I hear some bells jingling. She’s playing Christmas music.

  “Are you listening to Christmas music again?” I tease.

  “Yes,” Ella laughs. “My campaign is for Christmas; it helps me get focused on the project. Do you want to see it?” She asks me, and I tell her yes.

  “Is this the idea that we talked about?” I remember one night her talking about this vision that she wanted to try.

  “Yes, I did a mockup.”

  “Wait, this is your neck.” I state, running my finger along the vein, as I lean in, kissing where I was just touching. “They should use it, and I’ll buy whatever you’re selling.” She looks at me, licking her lips, before she kisses me.

  “Do you know how much I want you right now?” Ella’s voice is husky, as she stands up and straddles me. “You’re very distracting.”

  “I try to be.” I laugh. “What can I do about me not being so distracting for you? I could work in another part of the house.” I tease.

  “You do that, and I’ll make sure to stay in the guest room. I’ll even lock the door.” She laughs, before nibbling my ear again, as I feel myself getting even more turned on by her.

  “You wouldn’t?” I take my fingers across her hardening nibbles. “I can play this game, too.” Just then, my cell phone alarm starts going off. “Fuck, it’s time to get Alec.” I tell her, as she kisses me harder than earlier.

  “We better get a move on it, before we get distracted again.” Ella tells me with a smile on her face.

  She stands to get off me, and then stumbles back a bit, so her breasts are in my face. I can’t help it. I grab them with my hand, massaging them through her shirt. She moans out loud, letting her head go backwards. Her eyes roll into the back of her head, and I can tell that she’s in heaven. I pick her up, and then set her down on the table, as she unbuttons her jeans. “I need you right now.”

  “This is going to be fast and hard.” I tell her, as she whispers yes please. I remove her jeans and underwear, while dropping mine to the floor. Sliding her ass to the edge of the table, I slide into her, as I try not to blow my load right then. She feels like fucking heaven.

  Ella has her legs wrapped around my waist, and I’m pounding into her hard and fast. She starts rubbing her clit, as I continue to pound into her. Our breathing is erratic, and I’m close to coming, but I’m trying to hold back.

  “I’m so close.” Ella’s voice is breathy. I make my movements more prominent, and she uses her legs to hold me still, as she screams out my name. I don’t even wait for her to come down from her orgasm, as I pump into her three more times, before I grunt, coming inside her. I fall slightly on her, so I can kiss her.

  “You’re so beautiful.” I say, as my phone goes off again. “Fuck! We need to leave now.” I slid out of her, and we clean up the best we can without showering.

  “Great. I’m meeting your son for the first time, smelling like sex.” I laugh at Ella’s pouting face, and then I kiss her lips.

  “You smell amazing.” I wink at her. She puts Annie on a leash, and we drive in my truck to get Alec, as Annie sits in Ella’s lap, watching the town drive by. We’re towards the end of the line, and I look over, as she sprays some kind of scent. “Is that peaches?”

  “It is.” She hands me the bottle, and I look at it. I take her hair in my hand, after giving the spray back to her, as I sniff it. “Would you stop.” She tries to push my hand away, and I lean over to kiss her, before someone starts honking at me. I wave at them, as I move forward a couple of feet.

  “Why can’t I kiss you?” I pout.

  “Oh, you can, but I don’t want Alec to see us kissing. It’s not the first impression I want to give.” Ella tells me.

  “You have Annie, so he’s not going to care one bit.” I laugh, as I try to sneak another kiss from her, but my phone bre
aks the kiss, as I see it’s Tyler. “You have really bad timing.”

  “Sorry, man. I have an update.” He sighs, as I look over to Ella. “We leave sooner than Monday.”

  “What? When?”

  “Tomorrow morning.” He tells me, as I curse. “I know. Did she show up?” I told Tyler about Ella, when we started messaging each other, and how she was coming for the weekend.

  “Yeah, she’s sitting next to me. Kelly is out of town, until Sunday. I’ll try to get a hold of her, but she’s on a spa weekend trip.”

  “Okay. If not, Ella will have to do it. I’m sorry, but this is mandatory. We’re heading to Germany for a few months. We might be home for Christmas.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me? This is bullshit. What happened?” I ask, but he tells me that he’ll inform me, when he gets to my house tonight. “See you tonight, I guess. I’m taking Ella and Alec for dinner first.”

  “Okay, I’m sorry.” He hangs up, and Ella’s looking out the window.

  “You leave sooner than Monday.” Her voice is above a whisper.

  “Yeah. I leave tomorrow, and I’m going overseas. It’s going to be a while, before I get back.” I grab her hand because I need to feel close to her. “Now, will you still be here, when I get home?” She looks at me with sadness in her eyes.

  “Of course, I will be, Zack. I’m not here for just sex. I like you, a lot, and I’m not going anywhere.” I smile a big, goofy smile, as she leans in to kiss me again.

  “Alec’s going to bed early tonight.” I laugh into her lips. There’s a knock on the backdoor, and I unlock it. “Hey, buddy.”

  “Hey, Dad.” I don’t think he’s noticed that Ella is in the front seat yet. “School was boring, music class was fun, and you’re late.” He buckles up, and then looks to Ella. “Wow! You’re pretty.”

  “Hi, Alec.” Annie starts to wake up and yawns, which catches Alec’s attention.

  “A puppy.” He squeals, as I tell him about Annie, and he calls her, as she goes into the backseat.

  “I was thinking of maybe ordering some pizza for dinner, and then, we go to the park to eat. Let’s have a picnic, since it’s not too cold out.”

  “Sounds good to me.” She smiles at me.

  I put the truck in gear, heading to the best pizza joint in the area. Ella stays in the truck with Alec and Annie, while I run into the restaurant.

  Gabriele Marks

  I can’t believe he’s leaving. What am I doing? Am I going to be okay waiting for him? What if he doesn’t come home? I need to get these thoughts out of my head and learn to be in the moment with him. Once he gets out of the truck to pick up dinner, I turn to look at Alec.

  “You’re prettier than your picture.” He tells me.

  “Thank you. You are so much more handsome than your daddy.” I wink at him, and he laughs. “Your dad told me that you’re learning a new song for the Veteran’s Day Parade.”

  “Will you be here for the parade?” I nod. If Zack is going to be busy saving the world, I’m going to be here for Alec. “I’m nervous about it. Plus, I’m not getting a certain part.”

  “I can help you. I read music and play the piano.”

  “Awesome.” He tells me. “Are you my dad’s girlfriend?” He asks.

  “I think so.” We laugh, as he rubs Annie’s belly. “She likes you. Oh, she also loves when you scratch the back of her head. Here, I’ll show you.” I start to scratch, and Annie makes a moaning sound, which makes us both laugh. Just then, Zack opens the door, putting the pizza in the back seat.

  “Don’t eat this you two.” Zack sticks his tongue out at Alec, and Annie grunts at him. “You two seem to be in a good mood.” He mentions, as we drive through town. Alec starts pointing out various places that I need to go visit.

  “We’ll have to go sometime. If you ever come out my way, I have a lot of things to show you.” I mention to Alec and Zack. “Are we here?” Zack comes to a stop in a parking lot.

  “Yes. I was thinking over there.” He points to a picnic table over near a swing set.

  “Is there a dog park nearby?” I ask, as I get out of the truck, and Zack points straight ahead. I notice right away that Alec has a hold of Annie. “Do you need me to take her?”

  “No, I got her.” Alec says, as him and Annie run towards the park. There are no other dogs around, but he keeps her on the leash anyway. Zack carries the pizza in one hand, as he holds my hand in the other.

  “Alec asked if I was your girlfriend, and I told him that I think so.” I blush, looking away. Zack stops, and we stare at each other. He kisses me, and then he tells me that yes, I am his. We call Annie and Alec over to the table to eat, and I say grace to myself. When I open my eyes, Zack is staring at me.

  “What?” I ask.

  “Nothing. It’s just nice to know that we’re not the only ones who still pray in public.” He smiles at me.

  “I’m a pastor’s daughter and soon to be pastor’s sister. I’d get my ass kicked. Besides, I'm thankful for being alive and need to thank God for it.” I take a bite out of the pizza. “This is really good!” I state, trying to change the subject.

  “It’s the best Chicago style pizza in Tennessee. When I was at the airport, I tried a real slice of Chicago pizza and nothing can compare to that.” Zack mentions.

  I notice Alec is eating and feeding Annie some of the pepperoni, and I smile at them. “You okay?”

  “Yeah. I’m just thinking about how my life is about to change.”

  “How so?” Zack asks.

  “I’m going to be traveling on weekends to be here with Alec, while you’re deployed. Then, I’ll be coming to see you, when you get back. Plus, I want you to come to see me and be a part of my world, too.”

  “I’d like that. Even when I’m gone, you still want to come here, or take Alec to your place?” I nod.

  “Kelly is welcome to come, too. I want her to know that she’s not alone.” I hope I’m not overstepping.

  “I can’t wait for her to meet you.” Zack tells me. “She’s going to love you eventually.” He laughs, and now, I’m feeling paranoid. “She doesn’t like people coming into the family right away, and she’s pretty protective of Alec.”

  “And she should be. Just to be clear, I’m not taking him from anyone. I want to be in your life and his.” I think I sound a little more pissed off than I should.

  “Calm down. It’s been the three of us for years, and now, I’m bringing in this wonderful, beautiful, and talented woman, who makes me happy. I just wish that I could be here for the initial meeting. We need to talk about that.” He looks to Alec.

  “Hey, buddy. We need to talk about something. Uncle Tyler called me, and I have to leave sooner than what I thought. He’s coming to stay the night because we have to leave tomorrow.”

  “What?” Alec starts to cry, as I get up to take the leash from him, so he doesn’t have to focus on Annie. “You just got home!” Alec yells at Zack, as he tries to pull him into him.

  “I know, buddy, but the assignment I’m on isn’t done yet. I need to finish it.” Zack seems so sad. I hate how sad they both feel right now. I don’t know what to say or do. I want to leave them, so they can have this private moment.

  “Daddy, can’t I come with you?” He begs.

  “No, buddy, you can’t, but I wish you could.” Zack looks at me. His eyes pleading with me, as I sit down on the other side of Alec.

  “You know, this is my first time with him leaving, so I’m going to need some help. Will you let me call you, when I feel sad?” I ask Alec, who is wiping his eyes, as he nods. “Good, and you can call me, too. I’ll make sure you have my number, and I’ll give it to your Auntie Kelly as well.”

  “Will I still see you?” He asks me.

  “Of course. You and I have a date for the Veteran’s Day Parade. I also told you that I’d be helping you with your music. I’m not going anywhere, I promise.” I look at Zack, when I say those last six words. He leans over Alec to kiss me, and I smile,
after the quick kiss.

  “Thank you.” He mouths. “Who wants to go to the dog park now?” Zack breaks the silence, and Annie barks, which makes the three of us laugh.

  We clean up dinner, and then we walk over to the dog park. Alec runs with Annie, while she’s off her leash. Zack and I sit down on a nearby bench, and he holds my hand.

  “I have so much running in my head right now.” I say, breaking the awkward silence.

  “Want to talk about it?” I look over to him, and as I start to open my mouth, his phone rings. “It’s Kelly. I need to take this.” I nod my head.

  “Hey, Kelly.”

  “Hey, loser. What’s up with the nine-one-one text?”

  “I’m being deployed tomorrow, instead of Monday.” He sighs.

  “Zack, I can’t get back that soon.” She sounds panicked.

  “It’s okay, and I got it covered. I was wondering if you’d be home by Sunday.” He looks at me with a wink.

  “What do you mean you have it covered?” She sounds a little annoyed right now. I don’t blame her, and it makes me feel nervous about how she’s going to react, when she meets me.

  “My girlfriend is in town. She’s staying at the house this weekend anyway, and with me leaving, she volunteered to help with Alec, so you can have your spa weekend.” I slap Zack.

  “You just made her sound selfish in that sentence.” I scold him. “Re-word it, and then apologize.”

  “What?” He looks at me, while Kelly is laughing on the other end of the phone.

  “Oh, I like her.”

  “How did I make it sound selfish?” He asks.

  “You made it sound like I was putting myself, before you and Alec.” She tells him.

  “Kelly, you would never do that. You always sacrifice yourself for us. I didn’t mean to imply otherwise. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s all good. I can be back around Saturday or early Sunday.” Kelly tells Zack. “Give your girlfriend my phone number and have her text me. I’ll help her the best I can through the phone. I’ll keep it on me, especially during the school hours.”