No Man Left Behind: A Veteran Inspired Charity Anthology by Elizabeth Knox (black authors fiction TXT) 📕

his cheek to her as she struggled to plant a kiss on it. He smiled shortly after she accomplished the task, watching her girlish figure in fascination run past him and lay claim to the bathroom. He imagined her in her nightgown and then grunted low. After she was done, it would be his turn in the shower. Right after he grabbed the conditioner.

Gunner dropped to the floor and groaned, as if weary from hearing his dad’s broken record of wishes with his mom.

“You’re a dog, Gunner. You wouldn’t understand. It’s a good thing you don’t or you’d have competition for her affection. Mainly me.” Sporting a whimsical smile, Sterling thumbed at his chest. He turned his head and eyed the closed door leading into the bathroom, currently keeping Abby hidden from his prying eyes. “Your mom’s hot but it’s good you don’t know it.” He chuckled as he stepped over Gunner to find the remote for the TV. Lunging back over the dog, he propped himself up on a pillow in his bed and flipped through the channels until he found the local weather.

Sterling jerked his head toward the bathroom when the door suddenly propped open.

Abby called out to him, the running water almost drowning out the soft tone of her voice. “Sterling, I need your help.”

Lifting from the bed, he stood still and stared at the door, unsure what to make of the odd situation. “Are you okay, Abs? What do you need?”

“I need you, Sterling. I need your help.”

He moved toward the edge of the bed, hesitant to take any further steps toward the puffs of steam rising from the doorway. Maybe she needed something from the kitchen? From his position he could easily bolt out the door and grab whatever she needed. “Is there something I can get you?”

“Please, come in here. I need your help.”

He rounded the bed and shuffled carefully across the bamboo flooring until he was in front of the door. Then he nudged it open.

His breath caught in his throat. He widened his eyes as his greedy irises swept slowly over the most breathtaking image it had ever captured. There, in front of him, stood Abby, gloriously nude. Beads of moisture pooled on areas he’d enjoy raking his tongue over. He gasped, his lungs drawing in large volumes of oxygen with every breath and expending it shortly afterward, urging him to replenish his need to breathe.

“God, Abby, you’re beautiful.” He attempted to ignore the muscle between his thighs which he sensed was already swelling and lengthening to impossible proportions. The more tantalizing delights his irises exposed on her luscious form, the more his hardened member readied itself for play.

His gaze swept slowly over her curves, across her dusty pink nipples, around her sensually feminine hips, and down her thighs to the apex encompassing most all of his wet dreams while her eyes shot straight down his clothed body. As much as he wanted to hide his intense attraction for her and save his dark secret for another time, it was already too late. She noticed.

Her soft lips uttered a gasp and then she gazed up at him with a saucy smile.

She held her hands out in front of her and beckoned to him. “I want you, Sterling.”

“You just broke up with Phil. Shouldn’t you be . . .”

“What? Moping in a corner somewhere? Waiting by the phone for the cheater to call me and apologize? To hell with that. I want you to make me feel better. Don’t you want that too?”

Damn it. He did.

He placed his hands on her bare shoulders and then realized his mistake when she started unbuttoning his pants.

“Abby, please. I don’t want you to have any regrets. We’ve been best friends for far too long to lose our friendship over a fling.”

“Who said this was a fling? I meant it when I said I want you, Sterling. It’s been way too long since you’ve been gone. Don’t you think I deserve a reward?” She winked. The familiar sound of his zipper pinged against his eardrums. He drew in a sharp intake of air as she slipped her tiny hand over his boxers.

He groaned. “Abby . . . Abby, damn it.” He pulled her hand out of his pants, hissing as she caressed him slowly on the way up.

“I didn’t know you liked me that way. All this time and you never said anything.”

She placed her hands on his waistband and tugged down.

He, slowly, shook his head. “I don’t think we should be doing this.”

She tilted her head to one side. “But why not? We’re both adults.”

He shoved her hands away and took several steps back. “You’re not thinking clearly. This will change things.”

She hunched her shoulders and gazed at the floor, scuffing her pointed big toe randomly across the tile in front of her. The corners of her mouth sunk pulling her lips into a slight frown. “You don’t want me?”

The impact of her words tugged at his heart, their sentiment chastised his mind. What in the world made her come to that conclusion? What did he do to add to her defeated state?

He threw his hands up in the air in resignation and took two steps toward her. “Fuck it. I can’t fight you anymore.” Circling his hands behind her head he pulled her in for a kiss and then uttered a long, low groan as he victoriously slipped his tongue through her welcoming cavern. She moaned in reply. Damn, she was sexy and sweet. Maybe he wouldn’t need the conditioner after all.

Chapter Five

Abby rubbed her fingers through Sterling’s hair and pulled at several short strands as he continued his exploration. First, he French kissed her—the actual length of time he took could’ve been years for all he knew. Blissfully unaware of little else except for the gorgeous female in his arms, time became irrelevant. His mind, instantly, went numb with pleasure everywhere he touched.

Stroking his hands down her sides, he enveloped