Strong Signal (Cyberlove #1) (20 page)

“Where do you want these?”

I couldn’t talk. I opened my mouth but no sound came out. He squeezed my wrists. “Answer me, baby. Where do you want these fingers?”

“My ass,” I managed to croak out.

He grinned, all teeth, then lowered his hand and shoved in both fingers at once. I sucked in a breath, but there was no pain, not really, not as much as he’d been fucking me. Instead there was only the fullness I’d forgotten how much I loved. He thrust his fingers in and out of me, crooking them to brush my prostate, and then I didn’t know what was going on anymore. My vision was blurry and my throat hurt and I might have been crying. Either way, I didn’t want him to stop, not ever.

“I love watching your ass take me. Like it was made for it. Like it was made for me.” His grip left my wrists, and he smoothed his hand down my ass as his fingers kept up their delicious torture. “I need to get a condom because I need to be in you.”

“No more,” I said with a cough. His fingers slowed. “We have no more so just fuck me raw.” I could feel the tension in his body so I cracked open an eye to look at him.

“You sure?”

“It’s pointless. The Army tests you for everything and I haven’t had sex with anyone else in years. Just put it in me before I die.”

“Lube,” he said and I clamped my ass around his fingers before he could move. He stared at me. “Well that’s a nice party trick.”

I barked out a laugh. “You’ve been fucking me like every hour on the hour. Just use spit before I do the job myself!”

He pulled out his fingers, spread my cheeks and spat. With a hand around his cock, he pressed it against my hole. “You asked for it.”

After that, it was pure, raw, primal fucking. Garrett’s sweat dripping on my back, his hand at the back of my neck, the other curled around mine where it rested on the floor beside my head. He drove me into me again and again, slamming my hips down, grinding my face into the hardwood.

And I loved every minute of it.

“Never went raw before,” he murmured between gasps. “So good. Christ, I’m gonna come soon.”

His hips stuttered and a groan rumbled from his chest and he was coming. I was pretty sure there was a massive smile on my face as he filled me.

Before I realized he was finished, Garrett flipped me over. He ripped down my leggings, and swallowed my cock in two quick motions. I gripped his hair as he sucked, those full lips wrapped like sin around me, and it took less than thirty seconds before I came down his throat with a shout.

We collapsed, his head resting on my thigh, my hand still in his hair, as we gasped for breath.

“Your Chat,” Garrett panted. “Is gonna know you just got used.”

“Or that I just used you for that giant dick.”

Garrett flushed deeper than he already was. He did so every time I admired his equipment. It was adorable.

“Let’s shower and then I’ll probably have to stream for a few hours straight,” I said. “Are you in?”

He nodded and dropped a kiss on my hip. “I am. I’ll try to behave. And if someone pisses me off, I’ll go do something else.”

“Sounds like a compromise.”

“It does.”

Garrett got to his feet with a grunt and I watched his ass as he headed to the bathroom. He knew the water needed to run for a few minutes to warm up, and that I hated the cold. How were things this perfect between us? It was almost too good to be true, which meant it couldn’t last. But I’d hold on with both hands to make sure it did.

Garrett

The first time I left Kai’s house in the weeks after my return from deployment, it was to go on a job interview. Despite everyone’s insistence that I had plenty of time to get moving on that front, I couldn’t relax until I began making moves.

So while Kai did his job—I did mine. I combed the Internet for all of the nearby diesel production plants, applied to openings at any company with a decent reputation, and got a call back within days.

Kai had been bummed that I’d be gone for an entire day since the interview was in west Pennsylvania, but he perked up once he realized I was loathe to leave his side to even go shopping for interview clothes. He let me use the two-day shipping on his Amazon Prime account, and I ordered a pair of slacks and a couple shirts in various sizes. It worked like a charm.

Everything was perfect until I drove out to Houston, Pennsylvania, and sat for the interview.

It turned out that they’d already filled the production line positions for their new Pennsylvania plant and were only looking for positions in their other locations. Out of state.

The warm glow of spending days in Kai’s arms fucked off and left behind a chill and goose bumps.

Why did life always deal me such shitty fucking blows?

I drove back to Philly with my stomach in knots.

There was more out there. I knew that. Or did I? None of the other places I’d applied to had called me back, and what if the situation was the same all around? It didn’t help that Caterpillar had just told me about supervisory positions in their Ohio and Illinois locations, which paid a good twenty thousand more than production line.

Fuck.

By the time late afternoon hit, I was anxious to be back with Kai, but hunger caused me to pull over. I was too close to Rickston for comfort, and I definitely wasn’t ready to go back home. The moment Nicole and my mom set eyes on me again they would complain about me running off to Philly so often.

Even so, my stomach grumbled and I pulled into a sandwich joint right outside town.

“Prosciutto, soppressata, and provolone on a long roll,” I told the guy behind the counter. “With chips and a drink.”

Having such delicious eats within my reach after so long was nice enough to make me forget my dilemma for a while, but it didn’t last. As soon as I sat in a plastic orange booth in the corner, a familiar voice called my name.

“Ay! Yo, is that fuckin’ Garrett Reid?”

I’d know the voice anywhere. Kevin MacDonald. My old high school buddy.

Abandoning my sandwich before I had the chance to take one bite, I stood just as Kevin rushed at me for a bear hug. I forced a laugh but I practically shoved him away.

“Long time no see, Kev.”

“You fuckin’ right, bruh.” Kevin was bright eyed when he pulled back. “Don’t let me interrupt your lunch, man, but goddamn. It’s been a while!”

“Five years?”

“Yup! We ran into each other on Black Friday at Best Buy. I thought your ass was gonna clock this dude who was bearing down on Nicky over a laptop.”

The memory brought a startled laugh out of me. I nodded at the booth, inviting him to join me as I finally took a bite of my sandwich.

“Man, oh man.” Kevin shook his head again, staring at me wide-eyed. “Christ, I forget how big you are now. What’ve you been doing since you got out of the Army?”

“I just got back from Afghanistan.”

“No shit? I didn’t know you’d re-enlisted after last time!”

“Yeah, but no more.” I swallowed a mouthful of crusty Italian bread and could have moaned my pleasure. “It’s time for me to get my shit together in the real world. I don’t want to go career.”

“I don’t blame you, man. That shit’s dangerous.”

I made a seesaw motion with my hand. “I was practically a fucking fobbit—stayed my ass on base fixing vehicles this time around. Made me feel like shit.”

“Dude, relax.” Kevin rolled his big dark eyes at me, and I remembered why we’d gotten on so well in high school. His mellow was a good match for my hard-ass cynicism. “You’re a mechanic. It’s not like you were kicking it the whole time. Besides, your last time around you told me some horror stories. Count your blessings you’re back in one piece.” Kevin crossed himself like a good Catholic boy. “My cousin Petey and Fat Tom didn’t come back from their last tours.”

The taste of my sandwich turned to ash in my mouth. “Are you serious?”

“Yup. Sucks.”

That was an understatement, and I could see the flash of pain in Kevin’s face even though he hid it with a fast smile. “What about the rest of your family? Shorty and Meg, and the girls.”

Kevin made another of his hand motions. “It’s Rickston, you know? Shit isn’t easy.”

Another understatement. “What’s up with them?”

“Shorty hasn’t had a job in six months, and Meg is pulling double shifts at the diner nonstop. I don’t know how she does it, Garrett. My sister is a fucking saint. And she never makes Shorty feel like shit over losing his job.”

“How’d he lose it? Didn’t he work at the plant?”

“Got laid off.” Kevin’s shoulders went tight. “Same as me. It’s been almost a year, man. I had to move back in with my mom.”

A cluster of compassionate comments caught in my throat with unchewed bread, and I nearly choked.

“It’s like…” Kevin sighed slowly. “They say the president made things better with unemployment, but shit don’t change in Rickston, you know? Unemployment rate is still fuckin’ crazy, the classifieds is still slim, and having the money to drive out to a city with better odds is hard when your bank account is empty, you know?”

I did know. I’d lived that shit as a kid.

“Shit will get better,” I said gruffly. “It has to.”

“I been telling myself that for a year, brother. I’m starting to run out of hope.”

Kevin flashed his signature smile and changed the subject as if sensing he was bringing me down, but it was too late. He was living my nightmare. A personification of all the fears that had churned inside of me as the end of my deployment had drawn near. I’d tried so hard to tamp down on them once I’d hyped myself up about working at a diesel plant, but now…. Now that they were telling me to go out of state or take a production line position that might get
me
laid off eventually?

I was starting to lose hope as well.

Kai

Garrett returned from his interview in a bad mood. He didn’t
say
he was upset, but I could tell. It was in the tenseness of his shoulders, the lack of light in his eyes when he forced himself to smile, and especially the way he hugged me tighter than usual.

But he said he was fine, and that things just hadn’t gone his way, so I didn’t force him to tell me more. Instead, I introduced him to
The Wire
on HBO On Demand.

After limited access to TV overseas, Garrett said he was in heaven.

As I lay with my head on his chest, I felt his body tense a second before someone knocked on the door. I’d honestly debated not answering but Garrett was opening the door before I had a chance to beat him to it. He stood there, taking up all the goddamn space, with his arm braced on the doorframe. I couldn’t even see around him.

“What’s up?”

“Who are you?” a voice shot back.

Sighing at the defensive edge in Shawn’s voice, I slipped under Garrett’s arm. “Hey.”

Shawn was still eyeballing Garrett. “I wanted to make sure you’re okay because I saw some dude sleeping outside your apartment. For all I knew it’s some weird-ass stalker, but I guess it’s just Army boy. Maybe that’s the same thing, though.”

Garrett tensed. “Look, kid—”

“I’m almost eighteen.”

“Congratulations. But you should probably ask questions before you start talking shit. I’m not a stalker, and we’re fine.”

“Look,” Shawn shoved a finger at Garrett until it almost brushed his face.

“Bad move,” Garrett said in warning. “You don’t want to take it there.”

Shawn’s eyebrows crashed together, and his nostrils flared. “I’m the one who’s been here for Kai before your drop-and-give-me-twenty ass showed up, so fuck you if you think you can order me around. You should be thanking me for driving his ass to the mall so he could send you a care package even though going there caused him to have a panic attack.”

“Okay. You got me there.” Garrett glanced at me. “Look, I think—”

“I think you’re both being kind of idiots.” I hauled Shawn into the apartment and shut the door behind him. “Let’s redo this, yeah?” I made a rewind noise, which caused Shawn to laugh, and Garrett to roll his eyes. “Garrett, this is Shawn. He’s my friend and neighbor. I’ve told you about him, and you know how much he means to me. Shawn, this is Garrett, my online Army boyfriend who is now…uh…real world Army boyfriend. Or whatever. You obviously know about him too. And if you can’t be nice to each other…” I gestured to the door, “then leave until you can be.”

Without waiting for a response, I went to the kitchen. Dudes and their macho posturing irritated me. After a few minutes of me staring at the cabinets and waiting for them to get their shit together, they both filed in.

“Look, I’m sorry for snapping at him,” Garrett said.

“You should both be sorry, but apology accepted.”

“Really?” Garrett looked skeptical. “That fast?”

“Yes, really.”

“Considering it’s the second time I’ve bitched at someone you know in a matter of days, I figured you’d be more pissed.”

“Well I’m not.”

An awkward silence lapsed in the kitchen. Shawn eventually took a step forward. “I’m sorry too. I’ve just been feeling a little protective since the shit at the mall, and after what happened on the day of my prom.”

“You don’t have to be overprotective,” I said, trying not to be testy. “I don’t need two people worrying about me.”

“I know,” he said. “But I can’t help it. I tried to explain to your Army Dude and he seems to get it.”

That pulled a low laugh out of me. “Bonding already?”

“I dunno about that, but…I guess I overreacted.” Shawn rubbed the back of his neck. “But can you blame me? You haven’t answered your door since what happened with Travis.”

I groaned just as Garrett’s body went from relaxed to flooded with tension.

“Who the hell is Travis?”

“Um….” This was something I hadn’t really planned on telling Garrett. Mainly because it was over, I didn’t want to think about it again, and I was still embarrassed at my reaction.

Shawn, however, had no problems spilling the story. He ignored my glare the whole time. “My mom’s boyfriend was an asshole to Kai. Said some homophobic stuff and then implied that Kai is a pedophile for hanging out with me.

Garrett gave nothing away, but I could tell anger was seeping through his body. It was the way his shoulders pushed back, his hands clenched, and his lips flattened into a line. “So, where’s he at?”