Para Bellum

Veronica's voice rose steadily in volume as she moaned in response to Jack's thrusts, until she put her own hand over her mouth, knowing she was far enough along toward orgasm that stifling her outbursts would not interfere with her progress. She felt Jack begin to tense up and saw him grit his teeth and close his eyes, just as the skin of her face, neck and breasts begin to feel very hot and sweaty, in conjunction with her uterus beginning to contract, rapidly.

"Jack!" She shouted once, and felt her body shake as her orgasm and pent-up anxiety about being caught, crashed into one another and drained the tension from her body. "Oh, baby... that feels so good..." She whispered gently as a wave of pleasure and soothing warmth swept through her. She closed her eyes and trailed her fingers through the short, sweaty hair on Jack's head as she felt him begin to breathe slowly and deeply in the wake of his ejaculation. "Oh, shit!" She thought. "Jack, baby, we have to clean up! Please, baby, let me down, I have to get cleaned up before your sperm stains my dress!" She whispered frantically to him, tapping his shoulder.

Jack felt his cock swell and surge as he ejaculated inside of Veronica, and an instant later felt her hands tightly gripping him as she exclaimed his name and then whispered soothingly to him. Then, he noticed her body stiffening as she warned him about the need to clean up, and he realized she was right. "Shit. Sorry, Ronnie!" He said, pulling himself out of her and letting her down gently. Despite the mini-crisis, Veronica smiled at him and kissed him quickly, holding her dress above her waist so as to ensure none of his sperm that now dripped out of her pussy and down her leg, got on it. Jack watched her walk awkwardly to the bathroom, enjoying the way her round, perfect ass swayed with each of her steps, then he pulled his pants up and re-zipped, and buttoned them before re-clasping his belt. He went to the kitchen and quickly wiped his face and head with a paper towel, taking one more deep breath to calm himself as he heard the doorbell ring. "Right on time, Jimmy!" He thought.

XXI.I

Monday, 1755

Jimmy and Grace arrived at the door to Jack's condo, and Jimmy was just about to ring the doorbell when something he heard gave him pause.

"Jimmy? What is it?" Grace asked, noticing the look of confusion on his face and the way he canted his head, looking similar to a bewildered Labrador Retriever.

"I don't know, I think I hear something, but it doesn't sound like the tv..." Jimmy said.

Grace let go of Jimmy's hand and leaned forward, putting her ear to the door. She listened for several seconds and then quickly pushed away from the door, blushing and smiling.

"Jimmy, they're having sex!" She whispered, her smile impish and naughty.

Jimmy, too, grinned, and began to lean forward so he could also hear more clearly, but Grace stopped him, shaking her head despite her blush.

"Let's come back in 15 minutes or so..." She told him, taking his hand in hers and smiling as they walked back toward the elevator.

XXII

Monday, 1809

Jack opened his door and welcomed Jimmy and a sexy, brown-eyed and voluptuous blond woman into his condo.

"Wolfman, thanks for having us." Jimmy said, holding out his hand and smiling shyly. "We're not catching you at a bad time, are we?" He asked, and he felt Grace squeeze his hand in warning.

"No, of course not, this is a perfect time, thanks for coming, Jimmy!" Jack said, blushing and smiling as he shook Jimmy's hand before turning his attention to Grace.

"Are you 'Grace'?" Jack asked, holding out his hand to her and smiling charmingly.

"Hello. Yes, and you must be Jack. Why does Jimmy call you 'Wolfman'?" She asked him as she shook his hand, though she looked inquiringly at Jimmy as they took off their shoes, noting that Jack wore only black socks on his feet.

"Oh, that's my old Army nickname, well the polite nickname that our platoon sergeant used to replace the not-so-polite nickname I had when I first came to our unit." Jack explained.

"It's a reference to a famous American radio DJ, 'Wolfman Jack.'" Jimmy explained to Grace. "Jack got that nickname because he's named Jack, and because he was loud and fierce like the real Wolfman Jack."

Grace nodded her head and was about to ask Jimmy about his nickname, when they all paused as they heard the soft patter of Veronica's thin, foam sandals as she emerged from the hallway and entered the room.

"Grace, Jimmy, this is Veronica, my girlfriend, and the love of my life." Jack said, turning to look at Veronica and indicating her to them with his open hand.

Veronica smiled shyly and walked forward, her hand out. She was dressed in an elegantly cut, casual white dress of some soft material that clung seamlessly to her curves. She wore her hair brushed straight pulled into a simple pony tail. Her lips and nails were cherry red and shiny, and she wore a faint smudge of white eye shadow that only emphasized her flawlessly dark and rivetingly beautiful skin. Grace smiled and shook her hand before Jimmy did so as well. "It's so nice to meet you, Veronica!" Grace said, in a genuinely pleasant voice, noting the distinct glow to Veronica's skin as she smiled at them. "I hope I glow like that after an orgasm!" Grace thought to herself, admiringly.

"And you, too, Grace! Oh, you can call me 'Ronnie,' if you like." Veronica said, smiling spectacularly and taking in their appearance as she held Jack's hand. "I'm actually meeting Jack's friends!" She thrilled inwardly, and now she began to really feel like his girlfriend. Jimmy was tall and dressed very outdoorsy, his hair a darker blond and slightly longer than Jack's, but he wore it in a 'high-and-tight' style with bangs that were long enough for him to comb into a somewhat less martial-looking haircut. And whereas Jack's eyes were the creamy-jade green of a cat's, Jimmy's eyes were deep blue and seemed softer and more boyishly-curious. Grace wore black leggings that showed off her very curvy (but not fat or even slightly plump) figure, an ivory colored off-the-shoulder blouse which accentuated her large and round breasts, and wore her platinum blond hair in a pony tail, identical in style and, interestingly, in length to Veronica's own hair. "I love your sandals!" Grace gushed, smiling wide and her bright, sanguine brown eyes sparkled as she noticed Veronica's subtle black sandals.

"Oh, thank you! I have another pair, brand-new and never worn; would you like to wear them while you're here?" Veronica asked, beaming at the compliment from Grace that she knew was genuine, as only a woman's instincts for, awareness of and interest in so many unspoken messages could or would notice.

"Yes, please!" Grace said, taking off her very fluffy looking, pink socks, stuffing them into her shoes, and following Veronica as they walked toward the master bedroom, striking instant rapport in their similar and complimentary tastes for shoes, clothing, makeup and now, men.

Jack and Jimmy had watched the exchange in awe, feeling as though they were the 'and guests' to Grace and Veronica's long established friendship and recently paused conversation. They both smiled enigmatically and shared a look, each slightly shaking their heads in amazement of the ability that women, internationally, have to immediately size one another up, and if possible, hit it off.

"Let's talk." Jack said, and he and Jimmy walked toward Jack's home gym to discuss Jack's gambit. They could hear, from the opposite end of the hallway, Veronica and Grace getting on, as Veronica learned that Grace, too, was an immigrant, coming to the US from Argentina when she, too, had been seven years old. Grace and Veronica spoke about their mutual interest in colorful nails and spectacular lipstick shades, their shared experience in beginning intense relationships with younger men, and the accompanying feeling that in that short time of only three days, each of them felt closer to and falling more deeply for their men than they'd ever known in previous relationships.

Jack closed the door behind him and for the next 20 minutes, disclosed to Jimmy how he'd met Veronica, and how she was hiding in his apartment out of options for dealing with the drug dealer who'd sworn to kill her for her petty theft of less money than he spent in a single evening on the town.

Jimmy had digested Jack's story, word for word, and his quick mind and innate sense of chivalry had admired much of what Jack had told him, and led him to what he felt in his gut was an informed understanding of the events. "Okay, I agree, that's a good reason to want to help her. But what are you planning to do, Jack? Why do you want to surveil that skeezy club?" Jimmy asked.

"I don't think you want to know everything; let's just leave it at this: I'm going to make sure that shitbird never does anything to hurt her." Jack assured Jimmy.

"Are we talking about doling out dirt-naps here, Jack?"

Jack didn't answer him, but smiled in that uniquely 'Jack' way of his, a simultaneous mixture of cryptic, resigned and lethal implications. Jimmy was not good at reading body language, and only slightly less inclined to even try than was Jack, but he recognized Jack's nonchalance about killing someone in cold blood in CONUS as an alarming development. There were supposed to be rules against that sort of thing...

"Jack, you can't bring that kind of attitude home. You're not at war here; you shitcan someone here, methodically, it's murder. You do it to intimidate his strap-hangers, it's terrorism. You really okay with the consequences for that kind of thing?" Jimmy asked, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stiffen and stand-up. Jack was not merely following his deathwish, he seemed to Jimmy to have descended to a level of, at least latent, sociopathy that was very alarming to him.

"Jimmy, this woman is perfect, she's pure, decent, the prime example of a citizen, a tax payer and an immigrant who got fucked over; she did all the right things and at every turn, everyone in charge just shit the bed and left her out to fucking dry with some of the worst scum. Don't get on your high horse and give me that shit; you're smarter than I am, Jimmy, and if you can see the raw deal she got and see a way to get this turd off her back now, tonight, then fucking tell me about it. What should I do? Nothing, and just hope that this ass-hat, who we have no direct evidence against for a criminal complaint, will just forget and leave her alone? Are we supposed to be fucking sheep now, just hoping and praying the wolves leave us alone?! Fuck that, Jimmy. You want to take off your balls and be a sheep, go a-fucking-head. I'll gladly die a sheepdog, here, OCONUS, wherever, rather than ever live one more fucking day as a God-damned, always-terrified fucking sheep! Fuck the wolf!!" Jack shouted. His anger had begun to build as Jimmy pointed out, inconveniently but accurately, the line Jack was preparing to cross, and the reality of those consequences combined with the visceral hate he felt for Dante or anyone who would threaten Veronica, implicitly or directly; If Jack had stopped to plumb the depths of that hate, he'd quickly realize that the hate he'd saved up over the entirety of his life stemmed from his father's treatment of his mother. It had frozen, as though stuck in some psychological version of a second meitotic interphase, but never gone, never fully exercised.

Jimmy heard Veronica and Grace fall quiet outside the gym, and saw that familiar pulsing vein in each of Jack's temples, the sharp, focused hard look in his eyes and the tight set to his jaw and the way his hands were squeezed into fists. Jack was about to throw down, and Jimmy did not want that.

"Brother, let's not do this." Jimmy said simply, looking Jack in the eyes but keeping his expression calm and his voice quiet. He saw that it drove a synaptic link to something in Jack's mind, hopefully a memory of his former military discipline.


Jack blinked his eyes and shook his head, took in a deep breath and looked at the floor and away from Jimmy. "What the fuck am I doing?" He whispered, more to himself than Jimmy.

Jimmy counted to twenty silently before very slowly and gradually taking a step toward Jack and putting his hand on Jack's shoulder. But something else had connected in Jimmy's mind. His head felt surprisingly clear of any headache pain and he felt some of the tension he'd been carrying, constant concern about what was 'right,' and what he was supposed to do, drop away, as he took a deep breath and thought, "The simplest answer is the best one."

"Wolfman, I got you. I'll help you. Just fucking be careful." He said quietly, intent that Grace not know anything about his involvement in a potential premeditated murder. "Afterall," Jimmy wondered internally, "Is this really all that different from my own research into the effects on an ecosystem of systematically removing predators?" When he thought of Jack's basic plan in terms of a research hypothesis and the drug dealer as merely a coyote, he felt a sense of clinical detachment push his fear of breaking the law away from his conscious train of thought.

Jack kept looking at the floor, willing himself to calm down, but he nodded as Jimmy confirmed he'd help, and eventually looked back up at Jimmy and patted his hand where it lay on his shoulder, not trusting himself to shake Jimmy's hand.

"I'll get you the cameras and the adhesive spray. Just let me know, GPS grids if you have them, where they are, and that's it. I'll do the rest."

Jimmy nodded again and left Jack in the gym to cool off. After another five minutes by himself, feeling calm, Jack quietly opened the door to the gym and walked back out to the living room, finding Veronica, Jimmy and Grace chatting casually on the sofa and sharing the wine that Jack had taken out and the hors d'oeuvre that Veronica had made, before they arrived. Veronica saw him re-enter the room and got up immediately and walked over to him, putting her hands gently on his waist and standing up on her toes, kissing him briefly. She looked into his eyes deeply, her concern for him clear to Jack. He was briefly happy for it, but then ashamed that he'd made her feel this way. "Sorry..." he whispered to her.

Veronica smiled sadly and gently shook her head. "Are you okay?" She whispered back, squeezing his lean sides where, if he were fat, his love handles would have been. He nodded very sheepishly and forced a smile. Veronica smiled back, looking happy and relieved, took his hand and intertwined her fingers with his, and walked back to the sofa, the two of them sitting back against the cushions of the couch and enjoying getting to know Jimmy and Grace as a couple.