BBW ROMANCE: BWWM Romance: A Cowboy’s Southern Comfort (Military Cowboy Pregnancy Romance) (Interracial Army Contemporary Fantasy Romance Short Stories) (53 page)

‘That’d be great’ Cody smiled, some of the tension in his body relieved. Maybe this could work, and maybe they could just be friends and pretend that was it until he was ready to deal with more. He still had so much of the ranch to fix up.

For the next few weeks they worked steadily on the ranch and true to his word, Wes didn’t make any more advances on Cody. Cody tried his best to keep his thoughts about Wes in the strictly platonic zone, but his subconscious had other ideas. Most nights he ended up dreaming of Wes at least once, in varying stages of undress. Watching Wes work, pulling out the fixtures in the guest house and rebuilding the walls, he often found himself lost watching his movements. Wes suggested that they start looking into herding some wild horses, looking for more of a challenge than just redecoration and rebuilding. Part of Cody worried that maybe this was Wes venting his frustration with him, getting sick of waiting for him to come to terms with himself, but he assured Cody that this wasn’t the case. It had been a number of years since he had worked on a real ranch, and longer still since he had had time to train some really challenging horses. Cody liked that about Wes, that part of him that was always ready to fight for something or to get things done his own way. His relaxed nature hid a core that was his incredibly serious and determined nature. It was that nature that worried Cody most of all when he got a letter saying he was being called back for another tour in two weeks’ time. He himself was surprised when he got it. He was expecting minimum 6 months to tend to the ranch, but the letter said it was an emergency and he was the only one with the requisite skills. He left the letter on the table for Wes to discover.

***

‘So what’s this supposed to mean?’

‘I have to go back’

‘No you don’t. There’s got to be plenty of other qualified people who could go out instead’

‘Look you don’t know how it works. I know the area they’re working in, I know the project. They can’t call in just anyone’.

‘But what if you get killed? What about the ranch?’

‘That’s just part of the job. I’ve always been fine in the past. And the ranch always manages without me. I’ll find someone to look after it. Maybe you could mind the place while I’m away?’

‘I’m not some sort of fucking caretaker Cody, I deserve better than that from you and you know it’

‘No, you fucking don’t. I’ve been in the army for far longer than I’ve known you. That’s where my allegiance is. That’s what I’ve lived my life for’ Cody had raised his voice at this point. He couldn’t stand that this man could just blow into his life and try to take over the whole thing. He had already made him question his whole sexual identity, but he wasn’t going to make him question his career as well.

‘There’s got to be another way. I can’t take the idea of you going over there and risking your life’

‘It’s not like that. It’s my life and I’ll risk it however I want’

Wes looked like he was about to cry. He kicked one of the kitchen chairs down and ran his hand back over his scalp

‘This is fucking stupid’ he choked out, ‘You think I’m just some nobody who doesn’t care about you or anything but I’m not.’

‘You know that’s not true. We’re friends aren’t we?’

‘Friends?! Is that it?’

‘Don’t take it the wrong way.’

‘I don’t know what other way to take it. Maybe I should just leave now.’

‘Don’t do that Wes, please don’t go straight away’.

Wes was already pulling his things off the counter and shoving it in a bag, straight back to his instincts to be alone and nomadic. Before he knew it, Cody had taken him in his arms and kissed him passionately. Wes felt his stubble rub against his skin and the strength of his hands on the back of his neck as he pressed in his nails hard. This was the whole strength of this soldier, all of the anger and frustration he had been feeling for weeks forced against him. All of a sudden he had Wes pinned against the wall. There was no holding back this time, no shame and no misplaced rage.  After a few moments he broke the kiss and they both stared into eachothers eyes, both wet with emotion and breathing heavy.

‘Please don’t make me choose between the military and you’

‘Wes lowered his eyes from Cody

‘That’s not what I wanted to do’ said Wes quietly ‘I just wanted you to acknowledge me as more than some random handyman who just happens to have been living in your house the past couple months.’

‘I know and I’m sorry. It’s just a lot for me to process. All of it. You and me, who I am, and how that fits in with the rest of my life. It’s all a lot’

‘Well we can work through it slowly but surely’ said Wes ‘If you really want to go back for another tour, I can take the ranch for a couple months’

‘Thank you so much. And I will think carefully on it’

They both smiled, sighed heavily.

‘I’ll have to insist on the wild horses though’ Wes laughed.

‘I can definitely compromise on that’ Cody replied, seeming more relaxed now. Regardless of what happened, whether Cody went back on tour or not, he was glad that they both seemed to have something here. That he would have something to return home to next time.

For the next two weeks, they made passionate love to each other numerous times a day. It seemed as though the amount of work that was done in those final weeks before deployment was far less than they had done in one days’ time. Cody knew that this man was something special to him, and he did not want to let him go. The day before he was set to leave, Cody decided to make a very large step in their relationship. He had bought a ring from a local jeweller, and proposed to Wes that night. The amount of positive energy flowing over both of them during that moment when Wes was on his knee was unexplainable, and they both knew this was what they wanted.

*****

THE END

Enjoy what you read? Please keep flipping to the end of the book to leave a review on Amazon. Thanks!

There is another Bonus on the next page!

Sign up
Here
to receive a FREE romance ebook and links to the newest romance novellas! (Click the link or ente
r
(http://eepurl.com/bLlsgL
)
into your browser.)

Alpha
Dragon’s Flame
by Patricia Vanzant

“Another incident,” detective Robert Simpson said as he looked at the debris that was scorched black.  He gazed upon the sight.  It was another arson, this time at yet another bar that seemed to be a hole-in-the-wall type of place.  It made no sense, and Robert pursed his lips as he looked over the area, trying to figure out why someone would do this.

It was always these run-down places that got hit, almost like someone had some sort of a grudge against the place.  Robert looked as his assistant, Natalie, who raced over to him with the paperwork describing the incident.

“Here are the details from the analysis sir.  It looks like no one was hurt, but the place is gone to pieces.  This is the third case in the last two weeks,” she said.

He took the paperwork from her and read it over.  Sure enough, it was just like the other two.  All run-down places that seemed to only have locals flock to them.

“Well, let me see what I can do with this.  Thank you,” he told her.

“You’re welcome sir,” she replied.

He watched as Natalie walked away and sighed.

“This is bad.  Do we have any leads on this place?” he asked himself.

He didn’t know what to do about it all.  He could already see that this was something that was only growing weirder by the moment.  This was a bizarre case, and one of the weirdest he’s faced while being a detective.

Robert finished the rest of his analysis and then decided to head on home. While driving, Robert felt his stomach start to growl at him, and suddenly he realized that he had not eaten since about five hours before being called to the scene. Since this was close to seven hours prior, he decided to search for a local diner that was still open at midnight. He located the only diner in the area that was open, which was relatively close to the scene of the crime, and parked his car in the parking lot. He noticed that there was only one other person at the diner, and the man was sitting at the bar. 

He looked formidable, intimidating, and he was staring right at Robert with a glance.  Robert normally wouldn’t have cared in this scenario, but there was something about him that seemed off.  What got Robert’s attention more than anything wasn’t the look of disdain present on the man’s face, but the image that was clearly visible to everyone on his arms.

He wore a sleeveless vest and a tank top underneath, but on both of his arms were brilliant orange tattoos of a dragon. From Robert’s viewpoint, it looked as if the dragon was wrapped completely around the man’s body, with the head entering the back of the man’s skull. Robert stepped back, holding the doorway as he looked at the mesmerizing tattoo present on the man’s body.  The man looked at him with a glance, and then snorted.

“Take a picture, it lasts longer,” he said with a crass attitude.

Robert shook his head, blushing a little bit from the sudden embarrassment of being called out.  “Sorry about that sir.  I was just shocked by your tattoo,” he told him.

“Don’t sweat it, you’re not the first person to ogle over me because of this thing.  There is a very long and convoluted story as to why this tattoo exists on my body, but I have no intention on telling a stranger about it,” the man said.

Robert nodded, trying to avoid the man’s penetrating gaze.  He scanned across the diner, realizing that the only logical place to sit at was the bar. It was where the waitress was, and having to work an overnight shift was probably horrible enough for her. Making it worse by sitting on the opposite side of the building did not seem like a nice thing to do, and Robert saw himself as a nice guy. He sat one stool away from where this mysterious man resided, and the other man looked at him once again.

“I’m surprised.  I thought my initial greeting would scare you off,” he said.

“You’ll have to do better than that,” Robert replied.

The man laughed, lightly slapping Robert on the back.  “You’re funny.  I like you,” he said.

“I’m glad you find me so amazing,” Robert replied with a blanch tone.

“Well, I just find you more interesting than most. Most people try to avoid me when they get the chance and you decided to come right next to me…So what’s your name?” the man asked.

Robert looked at him.  This guy was strange, very strange, but he didn’t know what to make of him.  He seemed friendly enough, although very intimidating at the same time.

“Robert…You?” he asked.

“Barnaby.  Just Barnaby.  I know it’s not the most fitting name for a guy like me, but that’s what the folks decided to call me.  I don’t try to question my parents, but they do whatever the fuck makes them happy,” the man replied.

He nodded, listening to the man speak.  “That’s quite a name.  So what do you do around here?” he asked.

“Stuff.  Things.  I just do whatever the wind tells me to.  I have my own personal business, but I would rather not go into it in public,” he said.

Robert brushed is short brown hair behind his ears, looking at the man.  He was a lot more intimidating than anyone he had met before, but there was something about him that seemed sort of friendly in a sense.  He was a direct contrast from Robert who was still present in the suit he wore earlier.

“It’s nice to see you’re doing something with your life.  I’m just a detective.  Been out on a few jobs, but I’m still relatively new to the whole scope of the job” he told the other man.

“Seems legit.  I can tell you look tired.  Guess it does take a lot out of a person to do what you do,” he said.

Robert nodded.  “Yeah.  I actually just came back from quite a long case,” he told him. “It’s still unsolved, with almost no traces of evidence. Its cases like these that just take all of my energy.”

“Yeah well, that’s the life I wanted to live before fate dealt me a shitty hand.  Enough about that though, I’m fucking starving,” the man said.

Robert couldn’t agree more with that.  Barnaby ordered a ¼ pound cheeseburger, with all the fixings, as well as fries and a soda. At this point, Robert could literally eat anything, but wanted to spend the least amount of effort to do so.

“I’ll have the same exact thing,” Robert said with a smile to the petite girl behind the bar.

“You would get the same thing as me,” said Barnaby, a grin stretching across his masculine face.

After a few minutes of chatter about different foods that the two loved, the food finally came out. Before Robert was even handed his, Barnaby had already started munching down, almost animalistic in a sense, but for whatever reason Robert seemed to grow attraction to the man for it.