After returning to the states I joined the National Guard. I retired from the Guard with thirty years of service.I worked for the National Guard, in t...e maintenance division. We kept up the jeeps and other vehicles for the weekend warriors; that's what we call our part-time Guardsmen. I won't take anything away from them, they were good men and many were sent overseas to fight. Others helped when we had emergencies here at home. They were a damn good group of men and deserved to be called. I had never seen her look unhappy and I could see Tahlia grow as that balance of power fell more and more in her favour. She thrived on this, her body language oozed confidence, and she actually enjoyed the misery she could create. While Denny shrivelled away into the background like a scared little girl Tahlia become more and more confident.My pride at Carly was very quickly being replaced by fear at the atmosphere Tahlia had created. This wasn’t going to end well. By now Carly had slipped her. ’ The man went to the back door and admitted three dogs: a massive blue Great Dane, an oversized grey Weimerarner and a brown sled dog of unknown breed. The dogs barked once each, growled, sniffed and then laid down in a semi-circle in front of the agents. The two larger dogs appeared to nod off, the brown one did not. Her eyes never left the two strangers. ‘The little one is the only one you really have to worry about, she’s a little pscho when it comes to her homestead…she was an orphan.. She rolled over and off me, though she stayed in my arms. “Seriously, our first time is not going to be battling mosquitoes by the lake!”That statement made my eyes pop wide! “There’s going to be a first time?” I asked.Kelly pulled away and propped herself on an elbow like me. “There’s always a first time, Grim, unless you want to become a priest. I don’t want to become a nun. It would be your first time, too, wouldn’t it?”Thank God it was now too dark for Kelly to see me blush. “Uh ... uh...”.