Burn the World: Red Ash, Blue Water (Volume 3)

By Shannon Cooper

Fiona Lee and her circle of friends are experiencing the zeniths of happiness and the depths of despair. When sudden tragedy claims one of their circle, can this family of misfits rally around to save those most affected? Fiona must learn to live her own life and make her own self happy, instead of living for everyone else. Can old connections revive the fires that light up Miami?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Shannon Cooper
• Release date: Aug 16, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370942145

Shannon Cooper

East coast writer and troublemaker.

Book preview

Burn the World:

Red Ash, Blue Water

Volume 3

By

Shannon Cooper

Copyright 2016 Shannon Cooper

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Chapter 1

Wither

Wednesday Arturo and Penny woke up in his single bed, tangled up together with the sheets. He kissed her good morning. She kissed him back. She gave him a blowjob, because she wanted to. She really wanted to taste and touch every single part of him. So she did.

Gabe went to work Wednesday morning on a caffeine and sugar high. He fairly bounced into the office, fist-bumped Phil, made an appointment for a massage session with Cesar, chatted with him a bit. He made up all his lost productivity from Monday, Tuesday, and the week before. When he spoke to Phil over a lunch of Cuban sandwiches, he spoke rapidly, without stopping for breath.

Dude, simmer down. What happened to you? Phil had a hand out, take a break, bro.

"I just feel, I feel great, man. Like a weight's been lifted. I already got the papers, she faxed'em back to me. They'll be filed by the end of the week. I'm free!" He punched the air with a grin.

Ah, most people would not be so thrilled if their wife left'em, is all I'm saying, Phil slurped a soda; his head swiveled to check out a woman walking by in a mini skirt. Anyway, you wanna hit the bar tonight?

Nah, man, I gotta get back on track for this race. Gotta get stretched out tonight, y'know? Thanks though, another time.

William woke up warm and snuggly in his own bed, spooned up behind Fiona, his arm around her, his face in her hair. His dreads draped over the pillow, her face, and their bodies. He smiled; his moving whiskers tickled her, brought her up from the depths of sleep. It was still dark in the bedroom, quiet, the air conditioner droned in the background of life.

She rolled over under his arm, smiled up at him. With a fingertip, she lightly touched the biggest of his shower of freckles on his cheeks. He kissed her lips, her fingertips, her nose. She wrapped a leg around the outside of his and pulled him on top of her. He entered her with a grunt, pressed between her thighs, his body low, supported on his elbows. Her hands reached around to his ass, pulled him apart, further into her as she flexed around him.

He moaned, "Mmm babygirl, I wanna come hard when you do that, you test me every, unhh, she flexed again, time."

She looked up to him, slid a hand from his ass up his hip, his side, under his arm to his chest, rubbed his nipple with her pinky. His head fell back as he tried to contain himself.

Captain, fuck me hard, right now, she pinched his nipple, squeezed him again on the inside, he winced in pleasure, smiled down at her. Show me how hard and fast you can come.

His hips increased their speed, and her hand descended back to his ass, pulling him up and into her. She leaned up and bit his nipple, grabbed his face in her hands, Just let it go, baby, fuck me the way you want to. She grabbed his jaw and pressed her tongue in, fucked his mouth, and his pelvis clenched to her, grinding on her.

Ohh God William! she yelled as he pounded her, bringing her over, on him as his testes tightened and he shot his load hard, his body hunched as his lower half convulsed into her, his cock pulsating in her heat.

William relaxed into Fiona, panting. Mrs. Driver, my goodness, you know how to give orders, hm? he chuckled, licked her neck.

Yes I do, and I have some more orders for you, she winked. Follow me. She rose from the bed and looked back at him, bringing him with a curl of her beckoning finger.

He walked into the bathroom behind her, into the double shower. On his knees, she ran the shower wand down through his dreads, separating them, massaging his scalp. He stood up and she soaped him up, scrubbed his back, his front, his arms, up and down his sides. His dick poked at her in the hot water. She brought the wand down to his crotch, pointed it between his legs, soaped his cock, becoming heavier in her hands, down his balls and underneath, between his ass cheeks. His thighs, calves, and feet, she claimed with her hands, the sponge, and her fingernails. She rinsed him down and handed him the wand.

His turn now, to shampoo her, running his fingers through her hair as she rested her face on his stomach, smelling him, her hands on his engorged dick, stroking lightly upwards, over and over from the base to his corona, leaving the tender foreskin and bits under it alone, for now. He soaped her breasts, big soft circles around them, gently pulling and rolling her nipples. Pre-cum erupted from the head of his dick as he washed Fiona; his breathing sped up. His hands moved down over her stomach, back, hips, she undulated them in his hands and he bent over, panting. His hand sank to her mons, the V of his fingers separating her, sliding back and forth, her slickness on his fingers. Still with one hand on her hip, she circled them slowly as he fingered her, fucked her with his middle finger, his palm on her red bud.

Chest heaving, she looked up at him. William, just have me. He roughly turned her to face the warm stone wall and spread her legs with his foot, her hands braced against the wall, his hands on her hips, he drove his hot heavy cock into her cunt hard, all the way to his base, pulled out and thrust into her again. She straightened from the wall and raised her arms around the back of his neck, and he angled toward the front of her vagina, pounding at her g-spot.

Breath racing, he asked, Am I hurting you?

No baby, you can't hurt me, she rasped, his fingers down her front, on her clit, his hips pressed into her so forcefully he nearly lifted her from the floor. His face in her neck, he thrust twice more and came, the shaft of his cock on her g-spot, and her body buckled under her own climax. He held her upright as she shook in his arms, kissed her neck as the tiny sounds of ecstasy left her mouth.

He turned her around in his arms, parted her mouth with his own, taking it, owning her tongue, the insides of her lips.

Fiona made a breakfast of William's cock and seed, before pressing start on the coffee pot. After breakfast, bent over as she placed dishes in the dishwasher, he caressed her ass through her scrub bottoms, slid his hand up her top, under her bra to fondle her breast. He undid his shorts and pushed them down with his boxers around his ankles, his work boots, then he pulled her pants and panties down to her ankles and picked her up at the waist, placed her bare ass on the kitchen counter and slid into her immediately, easily, with a happy sigh. She kissed him as he pumped, slowly at first, then squeezing her ass, harder and harder he thrust, and she came with the friction of his base on her clit, his love filled every space inside her. Her waves brought him once more, his muscles and cock convulsing, his testes had nothing left to give, emptied from their previous lovemaking.

I feel like we should take the day off, just spend it in bed, make love til we're senseless, she suggested huskily. He looked up at her as he pulled up his shorts and grinned.

Not that I'm not in love with that idea, wife of mine, but we both got people to babysit, and it's only Wednesday. He kissed her again, deep, as he lifted her gently from the counter. She gave a happy sigh and pulled up her pants, arranged her tits back in her bra.

I love you. I'm so happy you're home. She hung her arms around his waist.

I love you, Fiona. I'm so happy I never have to leave home again, he cradled her face in his large brown palms, kissed her tenderly, as he had on their wedding day. He pulled back, wiped a tear from her cheek. Baby girl? What's wrong? he asked, seeking her eyes.

I don't know. I'm just so relieved you're back! she sniffed.

She waved to him as he pulled away, off to his school, the school he'd built in Miami, piece by piece from Brooklyn, to be with her. He'd left everything he knew in Brooklyn for her love. She was his last thought as his hatchback Honda Civic was driven off the road by a semi-truck, careened off the exit ramp from I-95 towards the Airport Freeway, over the concrete barrier, end over end, down onto the ramp below. As his spine severed, he was struck again by another semi-truck, and flipped off of that overpass, down, down, into the dust below, his skull smashed, his heart impaled on the steering column. Hers was the last face he saw, the last voice he heard, the first and last love he ever had. And he was gone.

Early Wednesday afternoon, Fiona and Cesar stood in the cold bright Miami-Dade County morgue in front of what was left of William. She leaned on Cesar heavily. The morgue assistant pulled back the sheet. William's dreadlocks, oddly perfect, were arranged around his head like a halo. Matted with dried blood, they framed his crushed-in skull, caved in on the left from when his car had landed on the driver's side door.

Fiona reached over his body, touched the part of his bottom lip that remained intact, her fingertip ran up his right cheek to his eyelid. She walked around to the head of the table, put her hands over the sheet where his shoulders lie, looked down at his form under the sheet. It looked for all the world like his massive hulk on her massage table, where she'd met him the very first time, had healed him so often. This time there was no healing to be done.

Fiona kissed the right side of his forehead, his dried blood metallic on her lips where it stuck to her chapstick. She continued around the side of the table, her hand on his cheek, ran up to William's forehead. She placed her palm over his eye, then leaned down and kissed his eyelid.

William, Captain, my Captain, I loved you, I will always love you, forever and beyond, she whispered, her hand in his right palm. She gave it a squeeze, on the off chance it would squeeze her back, as it always had. The morgue assistant handed her William's wedding ring as she walked out of the room with Cesar. She fainted in the hallway, and Cesar carried her to the car.

Wednesday mid-afternoon, Sr. Ibarra, the city official who had licensed William's school, and his wife stood at Fiona's door as Cesar opened it. They walked in, had a few words with Cesar, a few more with Fiona, seated at the kitchen table with her attorney. Sr. Ibarra hugged Fiona, patted her shoulder, and waited for his wife to take her turn, plus two kisses to each cheek. They went home to make phone calls.

Wednesday evening, William's brother Michael arrived in Miami. He crashed in the office of William's shop, previously his big brother's apartment. He spoke with Fiona briefly on the phone, and then cried himself to sleep.

Later Wednesday evening, Penny arrived at Fiona's door. Hugs, kisses, yes, I'll be fine. Yes, I could use any assistance your Aunt Lupe could give. I understand, Lucy is busy with her daycare. Completely fine. Penny left, Arturo waved through the driver's side window of his car.

Very late Wednesday evening, Cesar's husband Frank cooked dinner for himself, Cesar, and Fiona. The attorney had finally taken his leave. The doors and windows were open to let the breeze flow through; the aroma of jerk chicken filled the house. The doorbell rang, and the three grieving people looked at each other, eyebrows high. Frank opened the door to Gabe.

Bro, I'm not sure this is a good time, Frank murmured through the crack in the door. Fiona walked up behind him.

Who is it? she asked, a hand on Frank's elbow.

His face turned to her and he closed the door a bit. Sissy, it's Gabe.

Fiona nodded and removed Frank's hand from the doorknob, swung it open. He looked down at her, hair pulled back in a low ponytail, still in her work scrubs, barefoot, no makeup. She was pale, stone-faced, eyes the color of wet mud.

Querida! I'm so sorry! Oh, mi amor, lo siento muchissimo! he gasped, making his way between Frank and the door to get to her, put his arms around her. She buried her face in his chest and hung her arms around his waist, and heaved, shook, cried, collapsed. At last.

Chapter 2

Embers

Thursday morning, Fiona finally showered and brushed her teeth, removed the last traces of her husband from her body. She spent all day on the phone with her lawyer, the dance hall, and Michael. Fiona and Michael decided that a sad affair was the last thing William would have wanted, so Fiona booked Lucy's cousin' catering service, and the hall's DJ. The same celebration, hall, food, and music that had been present at their wedding.

Penny and Arturo drove to Little Havana in the morning, to open the shop and hold a joint conference call with Fiona's other spas. Therapists crowded around the table in the break room, craning their necks to hear everything on the speakerphone. All shops were to be closed Friday through Sunday, re-open on Monday. All hands on deck to reschedule clients, no call-outs for two weeks, minimum. Their leader needed them. She had led them, helped them, and saved them in so many ways, they wouldn't let her down now.

Cesar led that conference call from his base at the Hialeah spa, his low, calm voice the anchor for their emotional hurricane. Most of the staff had attended Fiona and William's wedding; many had family members and neighbors who were students at his school. They, Fiona's surrogate family, would get her through this.

Gabe awoke in Fiona's guest bedroom Thursday morning, disoriented. He sat up and looked around, looked down at his clothes, put his head in his hands. How could this have happened? Two weeks, so much death. His baby, his marriage, his love's love. He had cradled Fiona on the couch the night before, nodded goodbye to Cesar and Frank as they stole out the front door without a sound. She'd cried the same loud, ugly, gut-wrenching tears that he'd cried when he'd lost her. His chest was bruised and sore from where he'd allowed her to punch him. It wasn't fair, how could this happen, she would find that trucker and string him up by the balls, eat his entrails for dinner in front of his family. All the guilt, she should have forced him to take the day off, she shouldn't have left him the note, she made him feel guilty, she brought him back early. Exhausted, cried out, she'd passed out in Gabe's arms, her face red and puffy, limbs pale and cold.

Timing had always been the key to Fiona and William. It had brought them together and torn them apart. Dumb luck, all the infinite variables of the universe, time. Milliseconds between life and death, between explosive joy and soul-destroying agony. Fiona was filled with that agony now, couldn't breathe, couldn't move, paralyzed with her heartache. The timing, oh God, the timing.

Gabe got out of bed and rummaged in the guest bath for a toothbrush, took a quick shower and slid back into his clothes. He walked into the kitchen to find Fiona on the phone with a cup of coffee in her hand, a notepad and pen in front of her. He used his own phone to call into work, he would work from home today. He poured himself a cup of coffee in one of her travel mugs, mimed to her that he'd be back soon. She nodded at him, still puffy-eyed, and returned to her list.

Gabe returned to Fiona and William's, Fiona's, house in fresh clothes, with an overnight bag and two big paper sacks of fast food. By now it was lunchtime, and her eyes widened as he set the sacks down on the kitchen table across from her, then padded to the guestroom to drop his other bag. When he returned, she was devouring a cheeseburger, slurping a soda.

I keep thinking I'll look up and see him, she mumbled through her bites.

I know, querida, I know, he replied as he sat down next to her. He munched on some French fries. How can I help?

Stay with me? she looked up at him, tears in her eyes again. I can't be alone here. Her tears fell on top of her burger bun. But you're going to be sick of me crying.

"Fiona, I am yours for the beating. I'll do anything you need. Anything at all." He took her hand.

She took a deep breath. I can't have all these flowers in my house. I'm allergic. Her gaze moved to the living room, piled with vases and sympathy cards.

He nodded. I'll take care of them. What else?

I don't know what to do with his stuff! she wailed. What do I do with his clothes? I can't just throw them out! And our pictures! Everywhere I look, there he is! Oh God, Gabe, what am I going to do? she yelled, tears falling fast and hard.

He stood from the table and pulled her up, towards him. Fiona, your list is all crossed off. Let's go for a run after lunch, hm? You can run away for a while, and I'll be with you, keep you safe. She nodded into his stomach and sat back down.

Baby, you don't have to decide everything right this minute. You don't have to get rid of anything. You can keep it right where it is, or I can move it for you, put it someplace safe. One thing at a time, amor. He stroked her arm. She nodded, took another bite of her burger.

After lunch Fiona and Gabe left their phones in the house, took a walk around the neighborhood. Fiona wondered what William and Gabe had talked about that night, the night Penny had left Gabe, the night William had returned home early.

He told me about your note. He told me you'd been really worried about this trip, but weren't sure why, like you had some sense of foreboding, he said as they rounded a corner, crossed the steaming pavement to the shade of trees that lined the other side of the street.

Fucking stupid ESP, huh? she said bitterly, kicking a pebble with a flip-flop. Never kicks in any useful information.

Gabe took her hand, kept walking. They were both sweating; droplets ran down from their temples. He said you knew about Penny being in love with someone else.

Fiona looked up at him as they strolled. A tiny Chihuahua scolded them from a neighbor's front screen door. "I did, that much is true. But I swear I didn't know she planned to leave you that night, so fast, she shook her head hard. I'd told her to take more time at Little Havana, make sure it was the real thing. You both seemed so unhappy together, she squeezed his hand. I'm really sorry."

Nah, don't be. You were right, anyway. You were always right. I just gave up and married her because I didn't know what else to do. They rounded another corner.

Shit, she blurted. His head swiveled to her face. "I'm gonna be good for absolutely nothing for a really long time. Goddamn it."

He nodded. Es verdad, amor, very true. Cesar told me, 'it takes the time it takes.'

She sighed, Cesar is a smart cookie.

And amor, you told me very recently, eh? Everything is temporary, everything changes. Do you remember that? he asked.

"Sí pero I meant that things would change for you in a good way! she countered. This change is the worst change in the history of change! Fucking shit I'm so furious!" she screeched. Gabe led her back towards home, his large warm hand around her cold one, even in the heat of the late summer day.

They ran twelve miles, hard. The sun beat down on them, Gabe took Fiona on a new route, ran faster so she had to work to keep up. They arrived back at Fiona's to two florists' delivery vans and Cesar's Toyota in the driveway. Cesar re-directed the vans to the hospital, speaking to the drivers through their open windows. He waved to Gabe and Fiona as they trotted up the sidewalk, extracted a portable massage table from the backseat of