Milestones Read online

  Milestones

  By

  Cara Bristol

  Alta Hensley

  Renee Rose

  Sue Lyndon

  Celeste Jones

  Anastasia Vitsky

  Jade Cary

  Table of Contents

  Major Changes by Cara Bristol

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Epilogue

  The Barn by Alta Hensley

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Unmet Desire by Renee Rose

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  A Time to Heal by Sue Lyndon

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Making it ‘Write’ by Celeste Jones

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  The First Submission by Anastasia Vitsky

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  October Something by Jade Cary

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  About the Authors

  www.lazydaypub.com

  Milestones

  ISBN-10:1-61258-102-6

  ISBN-13:978-1-61258-102-1

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  Copyright © 2014 LazyDay Publishing

  Major Changes, Copyright © 2014 Cara Bristol; The Barn, Copyright © 2014 Alta Hensley; Unmet Desire, Copyright © 2014 Renee Rose; A Time To Heal, Copyright © 2014 Sue Lyndon; Making it ‘Write’, Copyright © 2014 Celeste Jones; The First Submission, Copyright © 2014 Anastasia Vitsky, October Something Copyright © 2014 Jade Cary

  Cover art by Anthony Walsh

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, any events or locales is purely coincidental. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission from the publisher LazyDay, with the exception of quotes used in reviews and critical articles.

  MAJOR CHANGES

  By Cara Bristol

  Chapter One

  Waiting outside the No Entry barricade, Cadence bounced on tiptoe to peer over the crowd. Passengers streamed out of the concourse and united with loved ones to block her view. What was taking him so long?

  She flattened a hand against her fluttering stomach. Two years and twelve days had passed since she’d seen her husband in the flesh. Called to active duty from the Army Reserves, Rahm had served two tours in Afghanistan. Would he look older? More importantly, would he think she did? She tucked her chin-length hair behind her ears. She’d washed that gray right out of it, but also had it cut in a younger, flirtier style. Would he notice? Would he like it?

  Why are you worrying about hair, for goodness sake? Cadence took a deep breath. Where was he? Please, don’t tell me he missed his plane. No, he would have called. She could count on Rahm 100 percent.

  “Cadence!”

  At the shout, she spotted Rahm waving at her from the concourse. He wore civvies, a green polo shirt and jeans. In one hand he carried an olive duffle, in the other a flowered overnight case. A white-haired lady tottered beside him on a walker. Ever the Boy Scout. Her Boy Scout. Cadence’s mouth broke into face-splitting grin, and she waved as if signaling overhead aircraft. She rushed to hug him.

  He handed off the flowered bag to the old lady’s family.

  “Thank you, young man,” she said.

  “You’re welcome, ma’am,” he answered, already turning toward Cadence.

  Cadence launched herself into his arms, and he lifted her off the ground and swung her around. Not one given to public displays of affection, he pressed a quick, hard kiss to her mouth, while his eyes promised more, so much more.

  “I can’t believe you’re home,” she cried, tears streaming down her cheeks.

  “It’s been too long.” He set her on her feet, wiped her tears with his thumb, and wrapped his arm around her. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Cadence clung to his waist as they headed to the parking lot. Even though Rahm had been in the Reserves, she’d never believed he would be called up—not after serving twenty years active duty. But when enlisted men were called, so were officers to lead them.

  She hugged him tighter. “Welcome home, Major Simmons.”

  “That’s Mister Simmons, now,” he said.

  “I like the sound of that.”

  “I do, too.”

  She squeezed him again. Hard muscle and brawn. No give, except for his heart. He’d always put her on a pedestal and taken care of her. But while he was gone, she’d had to fend for herself.

  Rahm kissed the top of her head. “I almost had forgotten how little you are. Almost.”

  They’d reached their SUV, and she unhooked the keys from the fob inside her purse and dropped them into Rahm’s outstretched hand. “I didn’t forget a thing about you,” she said. Least of all that he insisted on driving.

  He opened her door, and she slid in. He ducked his head inside and pressed another quick, hard promise to her mouth. God, he smelled good. Like man and love and security and sex all rolled into dark-haired, dark-eyed commanding package. For the longest time after he’d been deployed, she’d delayed changing the sheets to retain his scent on his pillow. When she finally freshened the bedding, she’d cried.

  Rahm bounded around the vehicle. He had to sit sideways until he adjusted the seat to accommodate his much longer legs. Then he swung them inside and started the ignition. He gripped the wheel lightly as he followed the exit signs and wound the vehicle out of the garage.

  Cadence shook her head bemusedly.

  “What is it?”

  “You driving. Like you’ve done hundreds of times. It feels like you never left. I missed you so much, felt your absence every single moment, and now you’re here like you’ve always been.”

  Rahm covered her knee with his large hand and tugged up her skirt. His fingers stroked the inside of her thigh. “I missed you, too. Each second of every minute. I plan to pick up where we left off and spend the rest of my life with you.”

  Pick up where we left off. Cadence swallowed. Now was not the time to break the news and ruin his homecoming. They could talk later. He inched his hand higher up her leg. He winked.

  The military had suited her husband’s personality. Rahm was the most disciplined, by-the-book man she knew. He had a heart-of-gold, but he did not adapt well to change. And there’d been some since he’d left. Forced by necessity, but maintained because she discovered she’d liked them.

  Rahm squeezed her thigh and returned his hand to the steering wheel. He glanced at her. “You did something to your hair. I like it. It’s cute.”

  She shook her head to make her hair bounce. “With Jax going off to college, I felt like an old lady. I wanted something younger.”

  “You’re not old.” He touched the wings of gray at his temples. “This on the other hand…”

&nbs
p; The threads of silver enhanced his rugged, masculine appearance, his aura of experience. As did the extra crinkles at his eyes. He looked like a man who had lived. Cadence found little sexy about a young pup still wet behind the ears. She desired a man.

  “Only makes you hotter,” she said.

  “Hotter?” He grinned.

  She nodded.

  “Jax…” He inquired of their son whose high school graduation had occurred while Rahm served in Afghanistan.

  “Is away at college. He’ll be here this weekend.”

  “Good.”

  “That he’ll be home? Or, that he’s away?”

  “Yes,” he said and leered.

  ****

  Rahm locked the front door, dropped his duffle, and hauled Cadence into his arms. Her purse thunked to the floor. He fastened his mouth on hers and plunged his tongue inside like he had been dying to since he had spotted her at the airport. She wound her arms around his neck, and he lifted her off her feet.

  A movie kiss, they’d dubbed it, when he swung her around, and laid a lip-lock on her until they were both breathless. How many nights, days, months had he thought of her? She’d kept him sane. But fantasies and memories could not compare to the reality of her breath, her taste, her curvy body. He hugged her and groaned. “God, I missed you.”

  He stroked her lips and the warm, wet recesses of her mouth. She twined her tongue around his, then teasingly withdrew. Rahm nipped and vowed additional retribution later. Oh yes. He’d longed for that too.

  Cadence locked her legs around his hips. Against her mound, his erection throbbed. Soon, buddy, soon. He splayed his hands over the rounded cheeks of her ass and squeezed. She moaned.

  “Bed,” he said.

  She nodded and sucked on his tongue.

  While holding and kissing her, Rahm relied on memory to guide him to the bedroom. Half a dozen steps into the parlor, he plowed into a table. “What the fuck?” His hand flew out and flattened against the wall to prevent their fall. Rahm scowled. “What’s that table doing there?” He scanned the room. Their sofa hugged the opposite wall.

  “I rearranged the furniture.” Cadence nuzzled his neck.

  “What was wrong with the way we had it?” Balancing on one foot, he rubbed his shin, one leg against the other. “I don’t like it.”

  She pulled back to stare into his eyes. “Can you dislike it later?”

  Irritation vanished. “Good point.” He kissed her again and then broke it off so he could watch his step as he wove through the living room-turned-obstacle-course. In the bedroom—unchanged, thank goodness—he set his wife on her feet.

  Clothes, his and hers, went flying and then although desire pounded through him, Rahm paused to drink in her nakedness, her breasts, her smooth thighs, the trimmed curls. And then Cadence was in his arms, silk and softness sliding against his body.

  He cupped her breasts, and the bead of her taut nipples poked against his palms. He drew slow circles and they tightened further. He bent his head to nuzzle her ear lobe, and she shivered. Kissing his way down her throat, he found the satiny juncture between her neck and shoulder to be a perfect fit for his lips. Journeying lower, he captured a nipple in his mouth. She moaned, and he groaned his own pleasure, then hissed when she wrapped a hand around his shaft. Stroked and pumped.

  Rahmn closed his eyes. How many lonely nights had he jacked off to her memory? Too many, and none of his masturbatory fantasies could compare to this. Heat and pressure built until self-preservation urged him to push her hands away, but then she released his cock and grabbed his ass.

  “Good idea.” He copied her moves and seized her cheeks. “I missed your ass.” Missed the little wiggle in her walk, how her jeans molded her behind, the way her skin blushed, the tenderness that swept over him even when she totally pissed him off, and he sentenced her to naked corner time.

  He squeezed her rear, then smacked. She emitted a tiny gasp.

  Rahm tugged her toward the bed, sank onto it, and pulled her over his lap. She wiggled into position in that old familiar way that sent a zing through him.

  “I wondered how long it would take you to get me like this.” She peered over her shoulder and smiled. “Ten-point-two seconds.” Sex and sass. Heat shot through his cock.

  He swatted both cheeks. “Impudent wench,” he said, and bounced another set off her rounded derriere.

  “Ow. Ow,” Cadence cried, laughing. Wiggled. Covered her butt.

  “Now, none of that,” Rahm shoved her hands away, and spanked her cheek to watch it quiver. She already blushed. A sexy pink.

  She squirmed. “I’d forgotten how much spanking stings!”

  Rahm grinned. “Let me remind you.” He hadn’t forgotten how much of a sensory experience spanking was: hearing the crack of impact and her gasps and whimpers, feeling the sting in his palm and the warmth rising from her ass, and watching her color deepen with every swat. No military man would dare admit pink was his favorite color, but when the rosy hue covered her rear, it was.

  He slapped each cheek to a military cadence. “Sound off, one, two. Sound off, three, four.”

  She laughed. “Rahm, what—” Smack. “Ow! What are—” Smack. “You doing?”

  “Having fun. How about you?” Using both hands he drummed a beat, chanting a familiar Jody. “I don’t know, but I’ve been told, Eskimo pussy’s really cold.”

  “When have you had Eskimo pussy?”

  “I don’t know, but I’ve been told.” Rahm chuckled. “Didn’t you listen to the first part?” He dipped his fingers between her thighs. Hot, wet. Steamy. He sank deep. “You’re not an Eskimo.”

  “No. I’m not,” she said with a sigh and spread her legs. She lifted her hips, and he found her clit. Circles. Sank into her again. Then stroked. Dip and circle. Dip and circle. Cadence rubbed herself against his hand.

  “Fuck, you’re so goddamn sexy,” he said. Ass bordering on rose. Pussy pink, slicker than slick. Even the sound of his fingers squishing in wetness struck him as sexy. For all her squirming and thrashing, spanking stirred her libido. The fun kind of spanking. She tried to avoid the disciplinary ones, but in the wrong way. He recalled the times she had attempted to conceal her misdeeds. Of course, he always had found out, which had led to a sterner punishment.

  “I wonder how many real spankings you’ve earned since I’ve been gone?” he mused aloud.

  “None,” his wife answered quickly.

  Cadence squealed when he heated her ass with several punishing slaps before pulling her off his lap. He cupped her face between his stinging palms and kissed her. She melted against him, pressing her tits to his chest, her wet pussy against his thigh. Heat radiated off her spanked ass.

  Her touch did magical things to his body, sending zings zipping from nerve to nerve straight to his cock. He flipped her onto her back and kissed his way down her body. Rahm rubbed his nose and mouth against her soft curls, inhaled her scent. Teased himself and her with a gentle lick to her clit.

  Just that small taste exploded in his mouth, and Rahm could not resist the lure. He buried his face in her pussy, rubbed his jaw against her vulva, smearing her wetness on his face, absorbing her scent. He brushed against her clit the way she liked, allowing the day’s growth of beard to graze the sensitive nub.

  Cadence moaned.

  “Is that all right?”

  “You have to ask?” She arched and thrust her pussy against his mouth.

  “Just checking.”

  “You’re teasing,” she accused.

  Guilty. He grinned. He parted her folds and licked. With a curl of his tongue, he delved into her channel to capture her taste. Images, remembered scents and tastes had remained with him throughout his deployment, but could not compare to the reality of her. He teased her clit, fluttered his tongue over the bud and plunged two fingers into her channel. Rahm’s cock felt heavy, aching. He needed her now, but he’d waited this long, he could last a little longer. Maybe. She squeezed her muscles, and using her heels,
pushed her buttocks off the bed and thrust at his face.

  He accepted the invitation to swirl his thumb in her moisture then trace the rim of her bottom hole. Cadence gasped, held her breath. He wiggled the digit into her tight passage. She’d need retraining before he could take her there. But soon he would reclaim every part of her.

  With two fingers in her pussy and his thumb in her ass, he pumped while sucking on her clit. “You’re killing me,” she moaned and thrashed her head. Cadence dug her fingertips into his scalp, unable to get a good grip on his hair, shorn military short.

  Killing her? More like suicide. His cock ached like a motherfucker.

  One last time, Rahm drew hard on her clit, and then released her. He scooted upwards and fitted his form between her legs.

  Cadence wrapped her hands around his cock, smoothed her thumb over the weeping tip. He froze, ground his teeth at the sizzling sensations. He sucked on a red, beaded nipple, and when he couldn’t take the pleasure anymore, shoved her hand aside and positioned his cock at her entrance.

  He rocked inside. Snug, wet heat enveloped him.

  She locked her legs around his hips. Sweat broke out on his forehead, glistened on her cheeks. He thrust with a swivel to rub his shaft against her clit. Bracing on one arm, he slipped his other hand between their bodies to add more friction where she needed it most.

  Cadence cried out as an orgasm shuddered through her, and her spasms triggered his. Control shot to hell, he drove into her, his body shuddering with release.

  Home at last. The way it was meant to be.

  Chapter Two

  “Did you lose your fucking mind?” Rahm stared at his brother across his desk at Simmons Investigations, the firm they had founded together. “How could you let her do such a thing?”

  First thing Monday, Rahm and Cadence had driven to the office, where he worked as a private detective and Cadence as the bookkeeper and administrative assistant. He deposited her in reception with a peck to her upper cheek and a swat to her lower one and proceeded to his private office, planning to spend the day getting re-acclimated to the routine and reviewing the open cases.