Infinite Ties (All That Remains #3)
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Authors: S. M. Shade
Infinite Ties
All That Remains: Book Three
by
S.M. Shade
Copyright © 2014 S.M. Shade
All
Rights Reserved. This book may not be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any
printed or electronic form without permission from the author. All characters
and events portrayed are fictitious. Any similarities to actual persons, living
or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Airen
Early morning fog hangs heavily in the
humid August air, enshrouding the landscape in a lacy veil, rendering the
everyday nearly unrecognizable. I love this time of day. My feet are propped on
the small table as I lounge on the porch and watch the day come to life. Anyone
who says the forest is a quiet place just doesn’t know how to listen. Birds
sing their songs, but not a cappella. Wind whistles through the trees, a rising
and falling tone, while water dripping from the leaves keeps the tempo, tapping
out a steady beat. A low rattle adds to the din as a small animal burrows
through the underbrush before a loud crash of a deer bounding through the trees
completes the symphony of the forest.
This is the time of day I feel truly alive.
The scent of wet leaves and grass, the taste of coffee, and the warmth of the
sun on my face when it breaks over the trees, burning away the fog in the air
and my brain. It doesn’t get better than this.
It’s been a long, hard journey to reach
this point. The plague that took everything from me—from everyone—is over three
years in the past, but it has changed my life irrevocably. My days of acting
and modeling are long behind me and my priorities have changed so drastically
there are days I barely recognize myself. Instead of casting calls and photo
shoots, my days are filled with manual labor, planting and harvesting
vegetables, raising livestock, and hunting to keep our freezers stocked with
meat.
The door creaks open and Abby lets Uno outdoors.
Her eyes are barely open, and her hair is a wild mess when she kisses my cheek
and mumbles, “Morning, baby,” before dragging herself back inside. She’s no
morning person, but even bedraggled and half asleep, her face pink and creased,
my wife is lovely. Through the window, I see her throw a pillow at Joseph to
wake him up. He’s worse in the morning than she is. His indignant voice is
quickly followed by her melodic giggle.
Abigail and Joseph, the two halves of my
universe. Things were difficult for a few months when we announced our
intention to bring Joseph into our relationship, but after the rest of the
family saw how happy we are together, they accepted us and our decision. One
bonus of living with a drastically reduced population, there are less people to
judge us.
Not that I really give a bucket of bear
piss what anyone thinks of us, anyway. I almost died of pneumonia, Joseph
nearly burned to death in a fire saving my son, and Abby…Abby has been through
so much in her life. I’m amazed at her strength and resilience. We deserve to
be happy. If there’s one thing the last few years have taught me, it’s to hold
onto what you love because it can be swept away in the blink of an eye.
Abby is frying eggs and pork while Joseph
and the kids sit at the table. “We need your help at Eric’s today,” Joseph
tells Carson. Eric and Lexi have moved into a small lakeside cabin, and we’re
helping them get their solar panels installed.
“It’ll cost you,” Carson replies with a
grin.
“How about a swift kick in the ass?” I
ask, flipping his earlobe as I pass by.
“You couldn’t get your leg up high enough,
old man.” Carson has grown six inches in the past year. If he keeps going at
this rate, he’ll be taller than me before he’s fifteen.
My arms slide around Abby’s slender back
as my lips close over her soft mouth. “Good morning, Mrs. Holder.”
“Mmm,” she hums before breaking the kiss.
“Good morning. You’re in a good mood.”
“Guess so. Don’t worry about dinner
tonight. I thought I’d grill some deer steaks.”
“Sounds good. I’ll just make a salad and
bake some potatoes.”
“We have some sweet corn that could be
harvested early,” Joseph suggests, grinning. Abby adores sweet corn. “I’ll
bring it in later.”
“Perfect.” She smiles, and he grins back
at her.
“I have something to show you both after
dinner tonight,” I announce after the kids have left the table.
“Should I be scared?” Abby giggles.
“Should I be naked?” Joseph smirks. “Did
you sneak off to the sex shop?”
“You wish, buddy. Come on, let’s get to
work.” We head to Eric’s house, leaving Abby to watch Lane and Walker. I
wouldn’t trade jobs with her for anything.
The day passes in a haze of broiling heat,
and I’m happy to be back at home in the air conditioning. We’ve made a lot of
progress on Eric’s house. Another day or two and we’ll be finished. After
dinner, the kids run off to play, and I drag Abby and Joseph around the house
to the rear field where the game is set up and waiting.
“What are we doing?” Abby asks.
“We’re going to play cornhole.”
Joseph grins. “In public?”
“What’s cornhole?” Abby asks.
Joseph slings his arm around her neck.
“Well, remember last Thursday when Airen ripped off my boxers?”
“Shut up!” Abby smacks him on the arm, and
he pinches her ass before turning quickly to catch the bean bag I toss at his
head.
“Come on, darlin’. I’ll show you.” Earlier
that day, I’d placed the wooden platforms the standard twenty-seven feet apart
and propped a white erase board against a nearby tree. Handing Abby a red bean
bag, I explain the rules. “You have to stay behind the front edge of the board
when you throw. You get one point if the bag lands on the board and three
points if it lands in the hole. There are a couple of ways to keep score, but
to keep it simple, we’ll just play to twenty-one.”
“Sounds fun. Let’s do it.” Abby flashes a
smile that never fails to light up my day and tent up my shorts.
“You and Joseph play first, and I’ll beat
the winner.”
“Were you born this arrogant or did you
have to work at it?” Abby asks, rolling her eyes at me.
“When you’re good, you’re good.” I wink.
“And I’m a master.”
“Master of cornholing?” Abby giggles.
“I have to back him up on that one,” Joseph
says with a grin.
“The maturity level here is astounding,” I
remark, trying hard not to laugh. “You take red, Abby.”
She takes the red beanbag from my hand,
and Joseph scoops up the blue. “As you wish, Captain Cornhole.”
Joseph snorts with laughter. Abby gets two
on the board and one in the hole on her first turn. Is there anything my girl
can’t do? “She’s kicking your ass, dimples.” I can’t help but rub it in when
Abby sinks another one, making the score nine to two.
“No way, I have the hang if it now. Sorry,
ladybug. You’re going down.”
Abby scoffs. “Don’t bet on it.”
“Now there’s an idea. How about a little wager?”
I suggest.
“What do you have in mind?” Abby asks,
using her palm to shield her eyes from the sun.
“Late night bedroom Simon Says. Winner
gets control.”
“Bedroom Simon Says? Where do you come up
with this shit?” Joseph asks with a grin.
“Pulls it out of his cornhole,” Abby
replies, giggling.
“Winner gets to call the shots in bed
tonight. So when I win, you two have to do whatever I want.”
“Just agree, Joseph, before we suffocate
in all the smug.”
Joseph turns to her. “You just think
you’re going to win.”
She shrugs and grins. “If you win, you get
to boss Airen around.”
“You’re on.” He laughs.
Perfect. I may have neglected to mention
this was my favorite game in college. I can hit the target dead drunk. Both of
them under my control. I’m hard just thinking about the possibilities.
Two rounds later, Abby only needs four
points to win while Joseph trails with a paltry nine points, all of them earned
by landing on the board. Abby squeals and jumps up and down when her first two
throws put her over the top.
“Lucky little brat,” Joseph grumbles good
naturedly, hugging her.
“Hey, if you can’t put it in the hole then
we shouldn’t put you in charge in the first place,” I taunt.
“Airen! Be nice.” Abby grins at Joseph.
“Just for that, when I win I’ll make him give you an hour long blow job.”
“Never going to happen, sweetheart.” Abby
is the love of my life, but I’m going to kick her sweet little ass. I’m already
picturing tonight’s fun in my mind.
“Uh Oh.” Joseph laughs. “You better win,
girl. He has that look he gets just before he tries to fuck you to death.”
“I’ve got this,” Abby says confidently,
and tosses me a beanbag. “Loser’s go first.” I almost feel guilty about how
badly I beat her…almost. She did great, better than she did against Joseph, but
I only missed the hole twice, and only to drag out the game.
“No!” Abby and Joseph cry out in unison
when I sink the final bag, sealing their fate.
“I’ll be waiting for that hour long blow
job,” I drawl before walking toward the path leading to Julie’s house.
“Where are you going?” Abby calls out.
“To sweet talk Julie into keeping Lane and
Walker overnight. We don’t want the screams and cries for mercy to give them
nightmares.” Abby groans and leans into Joseph’s chest. Oh yeah, let them think
about that.
* * * *
Carson and Walker are spending the night
at Gary and Emma’s. He’s promised them a Karate Kid movie marathon. “I’m taking
Lane to Julie’s. You have half an hour before you become my sex slaves.”
Abby rolls her eyes. “I’m going to
shower.”
“Wait for me.” Joseph grins, stripping off
his shirt.
When I return, Joseph is lounging on the
bed, fresh from his shower, and Abby is in the bathroom drying her hair. Taking
advantage of the fact that she can’t hear me, I explain my plans for tonight to
Joseph.
“You’re giving me control?” he asks,
incredulous.
“Not exactly. I saw your face when Abby
commented about you being the sweet one in bed. You didn’t like it, did you?”
He shrugs. “I don’t have the experience
with women that I do with men. She’s so small…I don’t want to hurt her.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“No, I didn’t like it. She has no idea how
bad I want to fuck her brains out.”
“And that’s what I want to see tonight.
You won’t hurt her. If it’s too rough, she’ll tell you.” He looks doubtful.
“I’ll be right here, watching. Do you think I’d let Abby get hurt? I’ll let you
in on a secret, Joey. As sweet as she is on the outside, she can be a wildcat
if you get her going. Give her a chance to show you that side of herself. It’s
fucking amazing.”
A lascivious smile spreads across his face
and he nods as Abby joins us wearing only a pair of red lace panties.
“Why do I have a feeling you guys were
talking about me?” She smiles and stretches out lazily on her back. Her long
hair fans out on the pillow, and I can see the round curves of her ass when she
bends her knees and slips her hands behind her head. Christ, I have to get out
of this bed before I change my mind and fuck her senseless.
“Because we were.” She watches while I
drag a chair to the side of the bed and take a seat. “Joseph knows the score.
He can fill you in.” Joseph looks up in shock while I sit back and stare at
them expectantly. “You lost the bet, dimples. Tell her what I want.”
He turns to Abby. “He wants to watch us.”
“He always watches us.” Abby smiles
uncertainly.
“Right now, I want you both to get naked.”
“Yes, Captain Cornhole.” Joseph smirks and
strips off his boxers before pulling Abby’s panties down and tossing them to
me.
“Keep up the back chat and I’ll come live
up to my name.”
“Now what?” Abby grins, uncrossing her
legs so I get an eyeful. Oh, she’s going to regret teasing me.
“Now I’m going to watch Joseph fuck you
until you beg for mercy.”
Abby gasps and her eyes dart to Joseph’s
before regarding me again. Her beautiful eyes widen when I walk alongside the
bed, trailing my fingers over the smooth skin of her thigh and hip. “I want you
to tease her, torture her, and make her beg for every orgasm. Quit holding
back. Show her what you’ve got. I want to hear screaming.” My fingers dip
between her folds to feel the moisture already gathering. “Take your time with
her. We have all night.”
I bury my hand in her hair, tugging gently
until she looks me in the eye. “And I want you to take it.” I can’t resist
pressing my fingers into her as my demand sinks in, and she swallows audibly. “Joseph’s
in charge. Any objections?”
“No.” Her voice is small. As if she would
pass this up. She’ll wear him out.
“Good,” I chirp. “Just forget I’m here.”
“Yeah, that’s likely,” Joseph mumbles as I
return to my seat, and he wraps his arms around our girl.
There was a time when I would’ve killed
him for touching Abby. Until I realized how much he loves her. I think that’s
half the reason I fell in love with him. Now, watching them enjoy each other
gives me a unique sense of joy. Still, tonight is about them. They need to
relax more with each other, let their guards down. With Abby, I know how to
make that happen. He has to get her past that point of no return. Make her
forget herself. Make her vulnerable, strip her bare, and then show her that she
can trust him to be there when she falls apart. That he’ll be there to put the
pieces back together when it’s over. To say she has abandonment issues is an
understatement. To my girl, everything is temporary.
