STORY EXCERPT

With no new e-mails or messages, Austin felt comfortable resuming her daily walks with Bunny. They had more than a dozen routes they took as they meandered through the affluent community. It was their third outing since having lunch with Laura that Austin saw something unusual. She gripped Bunny’s hand as she pushed the stroller toward a park bench along the walking path.

“That man’s holding one of my novels,” she said under her breath. She took a mental snapshot of the middle-aged man who sat looking at the pages of a book that Austin clearly recognized. Yankees ball cap, black sunglasses, light blue T-shirt, khaki pants with a small tear in the right knee. She couldn’t see any tattoos or scars as she walked past the man who was less than three feet away from her.

The hair on her neck stood in end as they passed the bench. She listened for any sound of movement, hearing nothing as they walked briskly down the path.

“Play along,” Bunny whispered. She turned and pointed to a bird chirping in the tree, commenting on its species as Austin turned her gaze to where she was pointing. Bunny wasn’t looking at the bird however. With her eyes shielded by sunglasses, she looked at the man on the park bench. He wasn’t at all interested in the words on the page. He was staring directly at Austin.

“Keep walking,” she said calmly. “We’ll call the police as soon as we’re out of earshot.”

Sticking to the main path, Austin reached for her phone and clicked the contact she had saved for the police investigator. The officer picked up on the second ring.

“It’s Austin Tanner. We’re in Binney Park. There’s a man on a bench who’s watching us. He has one of my books,” she said hurriedly.

The officer asked a few quick questions before dispatching a patrol car to the area.

Austin made a bold move, turning to face the bench and snapping a photo of the man who still sat watching.

Her heart pounded as they turned to walk home. They agreed it was unwise to head to Austin’s, choosing to head toward Bunny’s house instead.

As soon as they were inside the air-conditioned home, Austin picked Ella up and hugged her tight. Her phone rang a few minutes later.

“There was no one who matched the description you gave when our officer got to the park,” he said. “It’s possible that you or someone else spooked him before we got there.”

“I got a photo of him,” Austin said in a shaky voice. “It’s not a great one and it’s from a distance, but if this is the guy, it’s something to go by.”

The investigator couldn’t believe the courage this woman had. “I’ll be there in a few minutes. I want to get every detail while it’s fresh in your minds.”

When she hung up, she looked at Bunny. “Should I call Brett or wait until he gets home?”

Bunny understood Austin’s instinct. Brett’s father would have been her first call if anything of this magnitude had happened when Brett was an infant. “Is he at the office?”

Austin shook her head. “He took the train down to Baltimore this morning for a client meeting.”

“Well, he won’t be able to get home any faster whether he knows or not. Let’s wait until the officer gets here,” she suggested. “He may have some insight. Then, we’ll call Brett. No need to make him stew on the train for three hours.”

Austin paced the floor, as they waited for the investigator to arrive. When Ella began to fuss, she picked up the little girl who gave her comfort as she rocked her in her arms.

Seated at the kitchen table, the officer took their statements, documenting every detail they could remember about what he wore, how he sat, and how he behaved. Then, he studied the grainy photo Austin had taken. It wasn’t much to go on, but verified their observations. “Can I e-mail this to myself?” he asked before using Austin’s phone to forward the message.

“Have there been any new messages?” the investigator asked.

“I don’t know,” Austin admitted. “I didn’t want to look.”

“Can we look?” he asked delicately. He knew she had already been through and ordeal.

Austin flipped to her e-mail account on her phone and opened it, handing it back to the officer before reading anything. He flipped through the new messages, stopping when he recognized the familiar BB14 address. He opened the message and read it aloud. “I saw the plover, did you? He wasn’t near as beautiful as you.”

Bunny physically shivered. “I pointed out the plover as an excuse to turn around to see if he was watching,” she explained.

The officer made notes before asking permission to forward the e-mail. “Could you check Facebook?” he asked.

Austin opened the app on her phone, handing the device to the officer as she fought back the urge to vomit. The investigator knew she had seen the post of a plover at the top of her timeline. He immediately took a screenshot, noting the date and time of the post on the chance the perpetrator deleted the image.

ADULT EXCERPT

With Brett still breathing softly, Austin smiled to herself. She slipped under the sheets to nuzzle and kiss around the soft warm flesh between his legs. She giggled when his cock stirred, brushing against her cheek as she ran her tongue over his freshly shaven balls.

When his cock had almost fully hardened, she gently pressed her tongue against the tip, rubbing firmly against him until fluid began to leak out. His taste made her salivate. She slipped her lips over his shiny head and gave him a tender suck. The movement of his legs followed his grunt of approval as she took his cock deeper into her mouth.

“Fuck, that’s an incredible way to wake up,” Brett moaned as he threw back the sheet that covered them.

She looked up sweetly and batted her eyelashes at him as she continued to suck and bob her head.

He brushed back her hair that cascaded over his hips, pulling it back into a two fisted ponytail as he watched her work. He grunted over and over as she took his long shaft deep in her mouth.

“Fuck, I’m hitting your throat,” he moaned.

She watched his stomach muscles tighten and release in response to the stimuli. When his legs began to tighten against her, she knew he was close. She cupped his balls with her warm hand and gently rubbed before tenderly tugging at the sensitive package. Her efforts caused his stomach to tighten until his shoulders rose up off the sheets.

It was the homestretch and she gave him her best effort. She sucked hard as she bobbed deep to wrap her warm lips and mouth over as much of his cock as she could. She felt him tug hard on her hair as he let out a string of expletives.

Her scream was muffled by his cock as he instinctively thrust against her lips as his balls unloaded in her mouth. Shot after shot escaped and hit her throat as he moaned his appreciation.

She felt his fingers release their grip on her hair as his abs slowly relaxed. She softly licked his cock, relishing in the overwhelming delight in providing him such incredible pleasure. She sat up and looked at him lying spent in the bed that they had made love in countless times. “I’ll never get tired of that,” she said contentedly.

He ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m glad to hear it.”

The doorbell interrupted the moment. “They’re back already?” he groaned.

Austin laughed as she got up and pulled on a robe. “It’s almost noon, Brett. We’ve had three hours to ourselves,” she added as she fastened the ties and left the room.