| Treasure By Ladybug |
| Chapter 12 Gabby woke to the scent of fresh coffee. She pried an eyelid open and saw Tanner pulling on a clean pair of jeans. His hair was damp from his shower and hung in tight ringlets around his bare shoulders. She hoped their children inherited his hair. Having Tanner’s children . . . now there was a thought! She sighed as she gazed at his muscular back. Lord have mercy, the man was built! Tanner turned and looked at her. He fastened the last button on his jeans and smiled at her. “Good morning, sleepy head.” He crawled onto the bed on his hands and knees, then dipped his head down for a kiss. “Mmmm, what time is it?” she asked when he finally lifted his head. “After ten. I need to go run some errands. There is some fresh coffee over there for you. Get cleaned up, when I get back I’ll take you to lunch and we will discuss what our next step is.” Gabby raised her hand up to tangle in his hair and dragged him back down to her. He collapsed on her with an oomph and laughed as she kissed him. “Babydoll, we don’t have time for this,” he complained half-heartedly. Gabby ignored him and continued kissing him, tugging on his full lower lip with her teeth, then tasting with her tongue. Tanner groaned as his hands came up to cover her naked breasts. “I want you inside me, Tanner. I want to feel you moving inside me.” “Ah hell,” he groaned and happily resigned himself to the fact he was going nowhere for the next few minutes. Gabby worked at getting his jeans unbuttoned again and pushed them down over his hips. Reaching down between them, she wrapped her hand around his hard length. Tanner shuddered hard as he maneuvered himself between her thighs. She released him just as he slid his hard length inside her and sighed in contentment as her long legs wrapped around his waist. “Please Tanner,” she begged as she arched herself up against him, taking him deeper. He responded by moving his hips, torturing her with each withdrawal and sending her to heaven with each downward thrust. Over and over, his hips ground into hers, each thrust taking her up another notch until finally it splintered into a thousand pieces. Gabby thought for a brief moment that this is what it must feel like when a star explodes in space. Tanner groaned as his own release shuddered through him like a locomotive. He rolled off her and lay on his back, trying to recover his breath and his thought process. It wasn’t easy. “As you were saying?” Tanner snorted and glanced over at Gabby, who was smiling at him. He wagged a finger at her. “You, young lady are going to be the death of me.” He rolled off the bed and pulled his pants back up, fastening them. He grabbed a dark blue t-shirt that was thrown across the back of a chair and pulled in over his head. Sitting on the chair, he pulled his socks and shoes on then stood. Turning to give Gabby a quick goodbye kiss, he froze. She still lay there on the bed, naked and inviting. A wicked, mischievous gleam shined in her eyes and he found himself taking a step back, shaking his head. “Oh no you don’t!” He turned and headed for the door, blowing her a kiss from over his shoulder. He grabbed the doorknob and turned back to her. “You wanna cover up before you flash the parking lot?” He laughed when Gabby’s eyes widened in horror and she grabbed the blankets, pulling them up over her head. “Be back in a bit, babydoll.” He laughed again and shut the door behind him. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Frank Dunlap sat in the passenger seat of a car that sat in a restaurant parking lot directly across the street from the little motel where Tanner and Gabby were staying. “You sure this is where they are?” “Yeah, saw them myself,” answered the man in the driver’s seat. He glanced over as Dunlap pulled out a small revolver, checked the chamber, then stuck it in the waistband of his trousers. “You go in there shooting off that thing, it will attract attention, sir. Attention you aren’t gonna want.” “Then you had better hope I don’t have to use it, because it’s your incompetence that has forced me here to begin with,” he snarled. Unfazed, the man stared ahead at the motel, particularly room 10. “The manager said that Graves paid in advance for several nights. They aren’t going anywhere yet. We should wait to see if he leaves her alone, then go in and grab her.” “And you think he won’t come after her?” “Of course he will, Mr. Dunlap. But at least it will be away from here and a place of our choosing. We can set a trap for him and be rid of him.” Dunlap thought on that for a moment and smiled. “You have your moments. All right, we will wait, for now.” Just then the door to room 10 opened and Tanner Graves stepped out, shutting the door behind him. Dunlap and the other man watched as he crossed to a parked car, unlocked it and climbed in. “This may be your chance, Mr. Dunlap.” “You may be right.” The car backed out and left the parking lot, driving off down the street. “Pull up as close as you can get to the front door. I will want to bring her out quickly so we can get out of here.” “We should wait a few minutes.” “What the hell for?” Dunlap snapped, furious at another delay. “Just to make sure that Graves won’t return immediately and interrupt us.” “Fine.” It didn’t matter, he told himself. A few more minutes didn’t matter. Gabrielle was moments away from being his and he couldn’t help but shiver at the thought at finally having her. He felt himself growing hard in anticipation. Soon, he told himself silently. Very soon! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Once Tanner was gone, Gabby climbed out of bed and took a quick shower. She dried off, put on some clean underwear and bra and was combing her hair, when she heard a knock on the door. Quickly grabbing up one of Tanner’s shirts, she pulled it on and walked towards the door. “What did you do, Tanner, forget your-” She opened the door and gasped. “Hello, Gabrielle.” Gabby stood there stunned as Frank Dunlap smiled down at her. Belatedly she tried to slam the door in his face, but he easily blocked it. He pushed the door open hard enough to cause Gabby to stumble back. “No!” It came out a whispered plea as she desperately looked around for a weapon while trying to keep him in sight. Dunlap shut the door behind him. “We can do this one of two ways, Gabrielle. The easy way would be for you to cooperate and walk out with me. The hard way will be that I hurt you and carry you out. Either way is acceptable to me.” His eyes swept down the length of her, taking in the state of her undress. Her long legs appeared out from underneath the shirt that hit her about the knees. “My, my, I am curious as to what you have on underneath that shirt. Perhaps you would care to model for me?” “When hell freezes over, you bastard!” she spat as she gathered the front of the shirt tighter together. “Tsk, tsk, Gabrielle. I can see I will have to teach you some manners.” And before she could react, Dunlap crossed the room and slapped her hard across the face. Pain exploded in her cheek as she spun and fell to the floor. Dunlap grabbed her arm and hauled her up, pushing her onto the bed. “I think I need to sample the merchandise before purchasing.” He had her on her back on the bed, straddling her waist before she understood what his words meant. “Oh God, no!” she whimpered. She began to struggle when his hands grabbed the front of Tanner’s shirt and ripped it open, sending buttons flying everywhere. “NO!” she screamed. “No, no, no-” Dunlap slapped her hard again, her head whipping to the side. She lay there dazed, unable to focus or think as he easily ripped the bit of lace that covered her breasts and stared, practically drooling over his bounty. His hands covered her breasts and he pinched the nipples until they hardened into tight buds. “Perfect, simply perfect.” He was hard as a rock and desperately wanted to bury himself in her now. He rubbed his crotch and groaned when he glanced down and saw the scrap of lace that covered her down there. He could do it, he told himself. Quick-like, just satisfy the urgent need, then take his time and enjoy her body later. He climbed off the bed and began to undo his trousers when the lock clicked in the door and it opened. “Sorry, babydoll, I forgot my wal-” Tanner froze at the sight before him. Gabby laid sprawled on her back, the side of her face swelling slightly and bright red, the shirt she was wearing ripped open, her breasts exposed, and Dunlap standing over her, working to get his pants undone. Rage like he’d never known suddenly exploded within him and he charged Dunlap with a growl. Dunlap barely had time to turn when Tanner crashed into them and they both slammed against the wall causing the room to shudder. “You son of a bitch!” Tanner landed his fist across Dunlap’s chin, but Dunlap was no lightweight. Even at the age of fifty-eight, he was fit and knew how to fight. He blocked Tanner’s next swing and shoved hard, sending him flying backwards. Both men jumped to their feet. Tanner threw a right hook, but Dunlap ducked it and went in for the belly shot. Tanner felt the air forced out of his lungs as he doubled over, then flew back and hit the ground when Dunlap uppercut under his jaw. He was struggling to his feet when he saw the gun appear in Dunlap’s hand. “Looks like I’ll have to kill you now after all, Graves.” He raised the gun and fired as a scream filled the air. Tanner was hit in the chest and landed with a hard thud on the floor. He was dazed for a moment, then he realized what had happened. “Nooo!” The cry tore from his throat as he pushed Gabby off him. “No, baby, no!” He carefully rolled her onto her back and located the bloody wound located just about her right breast. She stared up at him with tears in her eyes. “Stay with me, Gabby, please stay with me.” She raised her hand and touched his cheek. Tanner looked around for something to stop the blood flow and spotted the towel he’d used that morning to dry off draped across the chair a few feet from him. He reached over and snatched it off the chair and pressed it down hard over the wound. Gabby groaned in pain and passed out. Dunlap stood there stunned. He hadn’t expected Gabrielle to leap in front of Graves like that. No, he hadn’t expected that at all. “Why couldn’t you leave her alone? Wasn’t it bad enough that you had Jacob killed?” Tanner shouted. “Jacob was a meddling old fool. I couldn’t have him raising that plane and discovering how I’d been stealing money from the company right out from under him. I couldn’t have Gabrielle finding it either. No, that just wouldn’t do.” Tanner turned and glared at him as he held the towel in place. “If she dies, there isn’t a hole big enough for you to hide in. I’ll hunt you down, Dunlap.” “It will be rather hard to do from beyond the grave, don’t you think?” Dunlap raised the gun again and pointed it at Tanner. Tanner shielded Gabby as best he could and waited for the sound of the loud report that would end his life. Suddenly the door crashed in, startling them both. “Sheriff’s department, freeze!” Dunlap snarled at the two men in the doorway and raised his gun. Tanner threw himself over Gabby as the sound of gunfire filled the air. When all was quiet, Tanner raised his head and looked back to find Dunlap crumpled to the ground. He turned his head to the officers. “We need an ambulance. She’s been shot.” One of the officers quickly spoke into a microphone attached to his left shoulder. The other passed by Tanner and Gabby and checked on Dunlap. “Do you know him?” the officer asked. “Frank Dunlap,” Tanner answered as he kept the pressure on the wound in Gabby’s chest, all the while trying to keep her modest. The buttons were missing from the shirt and he could only close the two halves together. “The manager heard the ruckus in here and called us. You wanna tell us who you and the woman are and what happened here?” The officer who had called in for the ambulance asked. He pulled the bedspread off the bed and covered Gabby. “Thanks, I’m Tanner Graves. This is my fiancée Gabrielle Krinard. We are both from Miami.” Tanner went on to give them the short version of what happened. By the time he’d finished, the ambulance had arrived and the paramedics came in to attend Gabby. Tanner was forced back as they started an I.V. and worked to staunch the flow of blood. “Tanner Graves, the diver?” the officer asked, a bit surprised. “Yeah,” he answered distracted giving the officer a brief glance. “My brother took diving lessons from you a few years ago . . . Mike Conners?” Tanner nodded, he remembered Conners well. He had been a good student. “I remember Mike. Tall kid, bright red hair.” The officer smiled. “Yeah, that’s Mike.” “Her pulse is weakening. She’s lost a lot of blood, we need to go.” Tanner’s knees nearly gave out from underneath him. He watched helplessly as the paramedics loaded her onto a gurney and started to wheel her off. “Mr. Graves?” He turned his head to Officer Conners. “Go ahead and go with her, sir. You’ll need to come in later to give us an official statement, but it can wait until you know how your fiancée is doing.” Tanner nodded. “Thanks, I appreciate it. I’ll be in touch.” ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Six months later . . . Gabby giggled as she hid the baby rattle in one of Tanner’s boots. Next she took a pacifier and stuck it in his coat pocket. They’d been married for three months now and she’d just found out from her doctor that she was six weeks pregnant. She was as giddy as a schoolgirl. She picked up the baby shoe and looked around for a place to put it where he’d be sure to find it. His underwear drawer. She grinned as she headed over to his dresser and opened the top drawer. She laid the baby shoe on top of the neatly folded boxers and shut the drawer firmly. She clapped her hands together excitedly. She couldn’t wait for him to get home. He was taking her to dinner tonight, so he’d have to dress up a little. She winced as she felt the familiar pain just above her right breast. It had been six months since she’d thrown herself in front of Tanner, taking the bullet that had been meant for him. Six months since Frank Dunlap had been shot to death by the Sheriff’s Department in Key Biscayne. She’d passed out through all of that and Tanner had refused to rehash the events for her. He’d also read her the riot act and told her if she ever put herself in danger again for his sake, he’d strangle her. It still moved her to think about how he’d cried like a baby, burying his face in her stomach when she’d first woke up in the hospital. He’d told her that she’d actually died on the operating table and the doctors had had to revive her. He’d nearly smothered her that first week or so, but he’d finally settled down after awhile. Hearing the front door open down stairs, she smiled and left the bedroom. They had a beautiful house. Two story, five bedrooms and three baths, and at 3000 square feet it was huge. Gabby quietly made her way down the curving staircase and found Tanner in the kitchen pulling out a cold bottle of beer. “Hey goodlookin’!” Tanner smiled and turned to face her. His arms closed automatically around her as she stepped up to him for a kiss. “Mmmm, now that’s more like it.” He kissed her again, then playfully pressed the cold beer bottle against the back of her thigh and since she was wearing shorts, he easily found bare skin. Gabby jumped with a yip and swatted at his arm. “You are scum, Tanner Graves!” she exclaimed, giving him her best indignant look. He laughed as he twisted the cap off the bottle and took a long drink. “That’s not what you were saying last night in bed, babydoll.” “Oh! And just that, you are not only scum, but you are pond scum!” On the last word she’d leaned towards him and growled it out. Tanner roared his laughter. Married life had turned out to be the best thing for him, but of course, he figured, it took the right woman to make it that way. He grinned at her as she glared at him. “I can see I’ll have my work cut out for me tonight if I don’t want to end up sleeping on the couch.” “That’s right, buster, and you can begin kissing up by marching your ass upstairs and getting cleaned up to take me to dinner tonight.” She raised her hand and pointed towards the stairs for effect. Tanner fought another grin and won . . . barely. “Yes, love,” he answered and headed upstairs. Gabby watched him go and giggled wildly while rubbing her hands together. She couldn’t wait to see his expression. Twenty minutes later, Tanner yanked open his underwear drawer and frowned when he saw a baby shoe sitting on top. He pulled it out and looked at it curiously. It was really small and white. “What the hell is this doing in my drawer?” He’d have to ask Gabby about it when he went downstairs. Slipping on a pair of boxers, he walked over to the closet and pulled out a pair of black jeans and put them on, the baby shoe already forgotten in his haste to get ready. Pulling out a long sleeved dark blue shirt, he pulled it on, buttoned it up and tucked it in. He moved in front of the mirror and ran a quick brush through his short hair. He’d cut it shortly after he and Gabby married. She had cried for nearly a week over it, but he’d explained to her that he needed the change and that the long hair had been a part of who he’d been, not who he was now and besides, the upkeep on it was a pain in the ass and he was tired of messing with it. The sprinkling of silver that touched his temples had been quite a shock, but he discovered later that Gabby considered it extremely sexy so he decided against dying it. He’d also shaved the beard down to a closely trimmed goatee. For a while, he’d thought that Gabby was never going to talk to him again, but she slowly began to like the new look and now whenever he’d mention about growing his hair back out, she’d grab the butcher knife and threaten him with it. He chuckled softly as he turned to go put on his socks and boots. Tanner grabbed a boot and pulled it onto his foot. Grabbing the other, he heard a loud rattling sound and frowned. He stuck his hand in the boot and pulled out a baby rattle. “What the hell?” He studied the rattle for a moment then felt his heart drop to his feet then ricochet wildly up to his throat as it began to dawn on him what was happening. “Oh Gabby,” he whispered on a shaky breath as he stood and placed the rattle next to the baby shoe. His hands were shaking as he stared at the two baby items. On unsteady legs, he grabbed a lightweight coat from the closet and put it on. Out of habit, his hands automatically went into his pockets to check them and he froze when he felt something in one of them. He pulled his hand out and stared at the pacifier dangling from his fingertips. His face paled and his heart skittered out of control as he swallowed hard. His mouth was dry and he felt like there was lead in his feet. He picked up the other two baby items and forced himself out of the room and down the stairs. Entering the kitchen, he couldn’t get further than the doorway. His feet just stopped moving. Gabby was wiping down the counters with her back to him. “A b-baby?” It came out a squeak. Gabby’s hand stilled on the counter, a big grin plastered on her face. She turned and saw the most pathetic sight she would ever see. Tanner stood there pale as a ghost with the baby shoe in one hand and the pacifier and rattle in the other. His hands were shaking so bad that the rattle was rattling, and as hard as she tried not to, she giggled. His dark eyes looked almost panicked. “A b-baby? Y-you?” He looked down at the baby items in his hand, then back up at his wife. She nodded as she moved towards him. “Yes, Tanner, I’m pregnant.” She took the baby items from his hand and placed them on the table. “H-h-how?” Gabby turned back to him with an eyebrow raised high. He shook his head almost violently. “I mean, how far a-along?” She smiled a sweet, gentle smile and moved up to wrap her arms around his neck. “Six weeks.” Tanner swallowed hard. “Oh God,” he whispered as she pressed her mouth to his. Gabby laughed softly. “Jeez, Tanner, if you are this bad now, what are you gonna do when I’m in labor?” His eyes widened in real fear at the prospect. “Oh God, I think I’m gonna be sick.” Gabby laughed as she guided him to a chair and made him sit down. She squatted down next to him and looked up into his face. “You gonna be okay with this, sweetheart?” Tanner studied her face for a long time. He loved Gabby more than life itself and now that love had produced a baby. He was going to be a daddy! He took several deep breaths and finally nodded. He bent his head and kissed her. “Stand up,” he commanded softly. Gabby did as he asked, then smiled when he turned to bury his face against her still flat stomach. Gabby ran her fingers through his short hair lovingly. After several minutes, Tanner raised his face up to look at her. “No treasure at the bottom of the ocean is worth more than the treasure you’ve just given me. I love you, Gabrielle with all my heart.” Tears gathered in her eyes as she framed his face with her hands. “Oh Tanner!” She leaned forward and kissed him. “I love you, too and you’re gonna make a wonderful daddy!” Tanner grinned and pulled her onto his lap, kissing her until they were both breathless. The end. |