The Talisman Wars Box Set

Chapter 9

Chapter 9Dakota tried to stand as tall as possible. He was the shortest person in the room, and he felt even smaller. He wanted nothing more than to escape Eleanor’s scrutiny. “Should we try and go after him? Maybe we could follow the blood or something.”

Picking up a rifle near the door, Eddie joined her sister by the window. “Not sure that’s a good idea. It’s tempting, but—as far as we know, we only got one of those crystals that protects against what the guy can do. Which means that whoever isn’t wearing it is vulnerable.”

“But that man is still out there!” Emily protested from across the room. Dakota had forgotten her presence entirely. “Do we wanna wait here for him to come back?!”

“He’s injured. Big time, right?” Eddie addressed their impromptu savior.

“Yeah.”

She mumbled something to herself that Dakota couldn’t hear. Then, she continued reluctantly, “It’s too dangerous. I’d love to go after him, but it’s not worth any of us getting hurt, and I think we’re all pretty exhausted.”

Eleanor sighed. “You’re not lying about that.” She looked like she hadn’t slept in days.

Eddie motioned with her head toward the stairs. “Why don’t you pass out for a while? I’ll come get you when dinner’s ready.”

The older woman wanted to object, but she could barely keep her eyes open. Eleanor operated entirely on adrenaline at this point. With the danger gone, at least for now, and her anger for the most part abated as far as he could tell, only exhaustion remained. There was a little wobble in her step as she paced across the room. Pausing next to the newly discovered lovers, her face changed to something like friendliness. “You coulda told me, cous’. You know I’m here. We been through this. Whatever it is, you don’t gotta hide yourself like that. Not from me.”

“I know,” he replied simply. “Thanks.”

She nodded before patting Dakota on the shoulder. “Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m really appreciative of what you did.” With a small laugh, she lifted her head a little to address Terrell again. “Maybe you picked a good one.” Eleanor left them to climb up to her room. It was the only other one on the third floor.

For her part, Emily took a few more moments to eyeball the two of them with a hint of skepticism before exiting the room.

With Eddie’s back to them, Terrell leaned down and buried his nose in Dakota’s hair before kissing him just above his ear. The remaining woman opened her rifle to check to see if it was loaded. Satisfied, she headed for the door. “I’m gonna drag that deer up before a bear or something gets at it. I’ll bring Nelly, too. We can bury her in the morning, when it’s light out.” She opened the door, and cold rushed into the room.

But Terrell’s voice stopped her. “Wait.”

“What’s up?” She turned and threw the rifle over her shoulder. Framed by snow on all sides, she looked powerful.

“You knew already, right?” He gulped. “You knew that I—”

“Like men and women? Yeah, I’ve known for years.” Before he could ask how, she laughed. “When you were livin’ with us before school, do you remember how Mama was always on our cases to keep the house all neat and tidy? She ain’t as big about it now, by the way, but back then? I know she never said nothin’ to you about it because of the rough shape you came to us in, but I knew it caused her all sorts of trouble to see your room messy. So, I went in there, and I fixed it up. You must’ve noticed. I put everything away, made your bed, and even did a load of laundry, thank you very much. And from then on, you seemed to keep it like that, so I’d say it was a good investment.”

She stretched and then looked away bashfully. She continued, “Funny thing about tidying up somebody else’s stuff, though, is you end up seein’ things you weren’t supposed to see. Like that shoebox full of skin mags you had in your drawer. Second from the top. Right side.” She spun around and walked through the doorway. “You had a very diverse collection, if I remember correctly.”

Terrell looked absolutely mortified. He seemed a little weak on his feet, and he gripped at Dakota’s coat for support.

Sensing his discomfort, Eddie waved her hand as though to vanquish it. “Now don’t go worrying. I shouldn’t have been snooping around anyhow. It’s none of my business. I’m just glad you’re happy, okay? That’s all there is to it.” She waited for him to nod before heading out into the snow and leaving them alone.

“Damn,” he heard Terrell murmur barely loud enough to hear.

Dakota moved to face him. He threw his arms around Terrell’s neck and shoulders and kissed him sweetly. He felt his back muscles relax.

“You could’ve gotten really hurt out there,” Terrell said eventually.

He shrugged. “I wanted to protect you. You and your family. I couldn’t even think of anything else.”

“At the expense of yourself?”

“I was the one on watch. I had a job.” Taking a risk, he went on, “And hey, I’m just returning the favor, right? You saved me, so it was my turn.”

Terrell’s lopsided grin returned. “Oh, yeah.”

Dakota rocked in place a little, making sure his hips brushed against Terrell enough to be tantalizing. “I think some celebration is in order.” He tried to inject as much sensuality into that one sentence as possible. “Bad guy’s gone, and we’re both still kickin’. I don’t think anyone will notice if we make a little noise.”

Terrell’s mouth dropped open. “I don’t—”

“You don’t want to?” He pouted playfully. His fingers traced paths down Terrell’s chest and stomach until they reached his waist. “Really?”

“Dakota.”

He smiled. While he most certainly could and would take no for an answer, Dakota knew how to be persuasive to an already interested party. “Come on. You’re not just looking for some kind of schoolyard romance. You want me, right? I mean, really, really want me. So much, it almost hurts.”

His breathing quickened. “I—I, umm—dammit.”

Laughing, Dakota kissed him again. Slow and firm. He arched his tongue and let it slide across Terrell’s. He didn’t end it until Terrell looked completely intoxicated. “I bet you can’t stop thinking about it, can you?” he continued, pushing Terrell toward the stairs. Romance took tons of effort, but Dakota had seduction down to an art form. Not that Terrell needed that much help. “All the things we could do if you let yourself. Everything that would happen if you were just allowed to have me, to have fun. I wonder, is being with me what you think about before you go to sleep?”

Terrell let out a small moan, nearly inaudible. “How do you come up with this stuff?” he breathed.

“What the hell do you think I’ve been fantasizing about?”

When the backs of Terrell’s legs hit the bottom stair, he slowly began climbing up toward the second floor while keeping his eyes on Dakota.

“I want you to have me.” He caught Terrell at the top of the stairs. Pulling him close again, they met each other for another round of kissing. “You can have anything you want,” he whispered. An unsteady stream of short-term s****l partners and his own inquisitiveness meant that Dakota knew his way round the bedroom. Terrell’s tastes seemed pretty run of the mill, so it wasn’t much of a gamble to make that proclamation.

Terrell likely just wanted to be close to him. He probably didn’t even care how. “I—I’m not very, umm,” Terrell couldn’t finish the sentence. But he didn’t have to. His look of shame and trepidation threatened to derail the whole thing if Dakota didn’t work to fend it off.

But he had a retort prepared, as the mechanics of their eventual s****l encounter already played through in his mind at least a dozen or more times. “Mobile? Acrobatic? So what?” He reached inside Terrell’s shirt and ran his hands up to his chest. “I know what I’m doing. I promise.” With a big smile on his face, he gently walked Terrell into his room and shut the door behind them. The moment it closed, he began unceremoniously pulling the guy’s shirt off. Terrell helped to an extent, and soon he stood before Dakota uncovered from the waist up.

Deep tissue damage ran all the way down his right arm and across much of his stomach, and it extended out toward the center of his back. Chunks of flesh were missing, and secondary scars from surgeries dotted his form. Immediately, Terrell picked up on his staring and grew self-conscious. He tried to cover some of the injuries. “We don’t have to—”

“Are you kidding?” he replied right away. “It’s taking a ton of willpower not to tackle you right now.” Dakota forced his eyes up to Terrell’s face as he moved in closer and wrapped his arms around him at the lower back. “I like you, Terrell. And you’re a total hunk.” Naturally muscular. Warm. Beautiful. “You’re sexy,” he concluded with complete honesty. “Physically and intellectually. I like being around you, and I want you so bad.”

Terrell let out a breath. He grasped the back of Dakota’s neck and leaned down to kiss him. Dakota stripped off his coat and then fumbled with the buttons on his outer shirt. Having trudged through the snow for an extended period of time, several additional layers needed removal. Soon enough, he and Terrell were both down to just jeans—and talismans.

“It’s jarring for a lot of people,” he insisted in a quiet voice.

Dakota tugged at Terrell’s waistband. “All I care about is getting these off.” Without hurting him in the process. s*x with a disabled person could be tricky. His injuries still caused him real pain. Kneeling, for instance, might be completely out of the question. But Terrell could lay on his stomach, his side, his back—

A little work saw the garment drop down to his ankles. Dakota pushed him into a seated position. He half-crouched, bringing his lips to Terrell’s stomach and kissing his way down. The skin beneath his touch trembled.

“Holy crap, you do not wait around,” he muttered as Dakota kissed the hyper-sensitive spot where his leg met torso. “Jesus.”

He pressed his tongue into the area and touched him through the thin layer of cloth. Excited already, he thought. Dakota reached inside the garment, took hold of him, and began running his hand up and down. Uncircumcised. His skin felt red hot and so incredibly soft.

The act, Terrell’s noises of pleasure, and the smell of him—a mix of whatever laundry detergent he used and the familiar scent of a man inescapably aroused—all served to heighten Dakota’s own enjoyment.

He could easily satisfy Terrell this way. No question. But he wanted a much more intimate encounter that could take care of his own needs, too. So, he slowed his pace. After a few well-placed tugs, he let go and pulled the briefs down.

Dakota took a moment to appreciate the sight before him now that Terrell was completely in the buff. The giant scars on his thigh looked dark or shiny, depending on how the light hit them. Regardless, Terrell seemed like he took care of himself, keeping body hair in check but not waxing, clipping his nails but not obsessing, and maintaining a healthy weight. Under Dakota’s gaze, Terrell eventually grew antsy. “I’m starting to feel a little underdressed over here.”

Dakota grinned. “We can’t have that.” He wriggled free of his own pants but kept his boxers on for now. Approaching slowly, he motioned for Terrell to scooch back on the bed and lay flat. He carefully rested his head on a pile of pillows and stared up at Dakota with desire in his expression. His chest heaved up and down, but he otherwise lay motionless.

Climbing up on the bed, Dakota reluctantly addressed the one issue left on his mind. “Hey, uh, you got condoms, right?” Best to come out and say it.

Terrell blinked. “Umm, yeah, but we don’t need them. I’m clean. My ex, she—” He looked flustered. “She cheated on me. So, I got tested for everything under the sun. I get why you might be worried, but I’m clean. I promise. You don’t have to worry.”

Dakota’s heart sank. Did Terrell just have such a high opinion of him that the potential danger didn’t even cross his mind? “I believe you. But you gotta understand, I haven’t been that careful. I’ve been with a lot of other people, Terrell, just over the last year or so. And I didn’t always care if we used protection or not.”

He tilted his head to one side. “What?”

Sitting back, Dakota took a much less s****l posture. “It wasn’t a priority, you know? If the guy wanted to use it, we did. If he didn’t, I just didn’t care.” He let out a sigh and ran his fingers through his hair.

“s**t,” was all Terrell provided in response.

He continued, “I took a lot of risks. It’s kinda like walking into the street without looking both ways. Maybe a car will come along and take the choice out of your hands.” Dakota tried to steer his monologue away from such a depressing topic. “Anyhow, if you caught something from me because I was stupid, I’d never forgive myself. So, I think we should use a condom. Just in case. I don’t feel sick or anything. I feel awesome. But I wanna be careful.”

Terrell quickly accepted the situation. He sat up enough to open a nightstand drawer, reach inside, and take out a couple packets of protective latex. Nothing special. He handed them both to Dakota before producing a small plastic bottle filled with clear lubricant. He lay back on the bed. Dakota made quick work of one of the packets, but it occurred to him that perhaps he completely killed the mood. “You still want this, right?”

He let out a breath. “Please don’t stop.”

Okay then.