by Jenny Frame
Quincy appeared shocked at her outburst and said nothing.
Holly wasn’t stopping. “Remember these words? You think I’m emotionless and that I don’t notice you, but my eyes adore you when you don’t know I’m watching. I love the way you live each breath of your life with fun and enthusiasm, feeling every moment. Sometimes when I look at you, I stop breathing and wish I could be the one who makes you smile and laugh, but how can I be that for you when I can’t feel? If I let myself feel, I would—well, I don’t know what I would become, but it is terrifying to me. You can’t keep those feelings locked up.”
She turned around and hurried to her bedroom.
Chapter Twenty-two
When Holly got behind her bedroom door she threw her handbag on her bed. Tears were spilling over, and she was sick of being emotional. This wasn’t Holly—Holly was the life and soul of the party, always having a smile on her face.
This Holly was a lovesick fool, just like the last time she had loved a woman. She should never have gotten close to another woman in the first place. Her heart being ripped in two was not what she’d had in mind. She couldn’t even enjoy a date with Story because of bloody Captain Quincy.
She fell down on the bed and growled in frustration.
There was a knock at her door. She got up and opened it, and Quincy walked straight in. She stroked Holly’s cheek. “I’m sorry for the way I am, and I’m sorry I told you to go out with Story—it killed me. I want to be different. I love you, Holly, and I want you to help me.”
Holly was not expecting this. It was her dream come true, but dreams so often turned into nightmares. Holly pushed Quincy gently. “I can’t do this again and have you run away. I can’t go through a broken heart again, Quin.”
“I won’t run. I was scared that I would hurt you,” Quincy said.
“I told you that nightmare was a one-off. You’d just spent the evening telling me things you probably didn’t even tell your doctor when you got home. Am I right?”
Quincy nodded. “No one knows all of what I told you, and you’re right, since I told you, I feel lighter. Maybe I felt guilty because of that and looked for excuses. I got a medal for bravery, and I wasn’t brave enough to give you all of myself.”
Holly was surprised when Quincy started to undo her tie.
“I have to be brave enough to show you everything, my scars on the inside and out.” Quincy took a step towards Holly and placed her hands on her buttons. “I’m ready. I want to be yours, if you still want me, after you’ve seen everything.”
She was actually going to lay bare everything, and that trust meant so much to Holly. “Thank you for your trust. I love you.”
Quincy still tensed and looked scared as Holly opened the first button on her shirt. “It’s okay. You’re safe.”
Holly undid the buttons one by one. Underneath the shirt was a high necked vest. She threw the shirt to the side and inched the vest up slowly.
As Quincy’s scars were revealed, Holly couldn’t stop the tears from falling. Quincy’s shoulders and arms were muscular and well developed. She was a soldier through and through. Her pink burn scars ran from her belly button and stopped just at her collarbone, but they weren’t unsightly in any way. They were the mark of the brave heart that beat inside Quincy’s chest.
Quincy tensed, and Holly stopped her. “No. You went through so much for your men and women, for your best friend.”
She dropped the vest and now Quincy was naked from the waist up. Holly ran her fingers over her scars reverently. “How could you ever think you weren’t capable of emotion? Love gave you these battle scars.”
“But my men are dead, and Jacob is—” Quincy’s voice cracked.
“You see these scars as if they represent your failure, but as I see them, they represent your bravery, your love for your unit. You gave everything in you to save them, and I love you for it.”
The more Holly touched Quincy’s chest the more Quincy relaxed. She ran her fingertips over Quincy’s breasts, which didn’t have as many scars, and then brushed her nipples, and they hardened.
“You’re beautiful and handsome, Captain. Everything I’ve ever wanted.” Holly turned around and said, “Take me out of my dress.”
“Anything you ask.” Quincy unzipped the dress and it pooled at Holly’s feet. Quincy was captivated and released from all restraints. She had shown Holly everything and she still wanted her.
She felt so light, like a huge tonne weight was suddenly gone, and as long as Holly loved her, it would not return.
Quincy watched Holly step out of her underwear and unclasp her bra. The sight of Holly’s body was too much for Quincy. She held Holly’s hips and kissed her. Now that Quincy had let go, her love, want, and need were like a torrent that would never be sated.
Quincy lifted her, and Holly wrapped her legs around Quincy’s hips. She walked Holly over to the bed and laid her down.
When Quincy began kissing down her belly, Holly pulled her up and said, “No, just kiss me, just kiss me. I want you to kiss me until we come.”
Quincy gazed at the love shining from Holly’s eyes and was transfixed. “I can’t believe you love me and gave me another chance. I’m sorry for how I treated you the last time.”
Holly cupped her face and locked her legs around Quincy’s backside, drawing their bodies as close as she could get. Their lips were barely touching, and parted, each breathing in the other, and Holly said, “I couldn’t do anything else but love you. There is no one else in the world I could have fallen in love with, Quin.”
Their lips met softly and tenderly, not with the feverish want that had marked the first time they slept together. Quincy followed Holly’s lead and sank into her. Nothing had ever felt so intense or all encompassing. This was not how she’d ever imagined sex. This was love, and Quincy was never going to let go.
Quite naturally their hips started to move together slowly, to match their soft wet kisses. Quincy felt like she was melting into Holly, who kept her legs tight around her, squeezing them together. Their tongues danced, loving and giving, and Quincy was becoming lost.
Her orgasm built, and she thrust her hips faster. She could feel Holly’s wetness on her sex, mixing with her own. They were melded together now, and nothing was hidden.
She pulled her lips back from Holly’s and said in a shaky, breathy voice, “I’m going to come. I can’t—”
Holly wrapped her hands around the back of her head, holding Quincy close. “I want you to come. Just let me look at your gorgeous blue eyes.”
Quincy nodded, rested her forehead against Holly’s, and hastened her thrusts. Holly kept her hands on Quincy’s cheeks, and she felt more connected to Holly than she could have thought possible.
Her orgasm soared and crashed across her body. When she cried out, Holly kissed her, taking all she had to give.
***
Holly began to surface from sleep. Images of Quin touching her, loving her, floated across her mind. It had been perfect, and Quincy had allowed her to touch her most scarred places, emotionally and physically. But even before she opened her eyes, there was a big part of Holly that expected Quincy to have left her bed.
She cracked open her eyes, and there, with her arm and leg draped across her body and gazing at her with big open eyes, was Quincy.
“Good morning, darling Holly.”
“Morning, Stompy.” Holly was tense and frightened that anything she might say would cause her to run.
Quincy smiled and stroked Holly’s hair softly. “Your hair is even more beautiful tousled than styled.”
“Hardly. It’ll be a mess. I never even brushed it last night,” Holly said.
Quincy shook her head. “You know, the first time I saw you, I wanted to run my fingers through your hair.”
“You did?” Holly was surprised Quincy wasn’t tense, she wasn’t running, and she was still naked, and not hiding her scars.
Quincy nodded, and Holly caressed her cheek. “It was your eye
s. The first time I saw you, as grumpy as you were, I was lost in these blue eyes that were beautiful but had seen terrible things. I wanted to soothe your pain. Plus you’re an Adonis, so that helps.”
“But I tried to stop you at every turn,” Quincy said.
Holly giggled softly. “I just had to unravel you first.”
“Given our positions, I think you have,” Quincy joked.
Holly pushed Quincy onto her back and leaned over her, smiling. “Was that a joke, Stompy?”
Quincy pulled Holly on top of her and stroked her fingers up and down Holly’s bare back.
“I think so, but then I’m so unaccustomed to humour, I couldn’t be quite sure. But you always know what I’m feeling, so I defer to you,” Quincy said.
When she had woken up and felt Holly’s arms, Quincy felt safe for the first time in her life. Which was astonishing, given that she had shown not only her deepest feelings, but the scarred body that she was so ashamed of and which caused her such guilt.
Holly had loved her, loved all of her battle scars, as Holly put it, and when Quincy fell asleep, she hadn’t dreamt her nightly terrors. She wasn’t naive. Quincy knew her past was something she would always live with, but now her pain, her fear, were subdued by the love in her heart.
And yet there was still one secret she hadn’t shared. Garrett.
“What are you thinking?” Holly said.
Quincy didn’t know if she could verbalize what was in her heart. She tried, but she stuttered and stammered.
Holly, sensing her difficulty, filled the gap. “You know, nothing happened with Story last night.”
“I know. You told me,” Quincy said.
“Yeah, but I mean nothing. When we were dancing at the gala, she saw me looking at you and guessed that I was involved with you.”
Quincy was surprised. She had met Holly’s eyes a few times, but she didn’t think she had distracted Holly from her date.
“Involved?” Quincy questioned what that meant.
Holly traced her fingernail down around Quincy’s eye to her lips. “I told her I was in love with you.”
Quincy could only say, “You did?”
Holly nodded. “She understood. Story’s quite nice to talk to, actually, when she’s not with her entourage or worrying about her publicity. She asked me back to hers to talk, and we did. That’s all.”
“Because you were in love?” Quincy repeated.
Holly nodded. Quincy knew she had to share what she knew about Garrett. Holly had given so freely to her, and she had to do the same. Queen Beatrice was her best friend, after all.
Quincy rolled them over so she was on top. “I have to tell you something, but you must promise not to tell anyone, not Queen Beatrice, not Lali.”
Holly looked worried. “What? Why, what’s wrong?”
“Do you promise? This is really serious, Holly,” Quincy said.
“I promise, just tell me.”
Quincy sighed. “You know the messages I’ve been getting?”
“The threats to Bea? Yeah, what about them?”
Quincy rolled off Holly and sat up against the headboard, and Holly did the same.
“I’ve had an old friend from military intelligence looking into it, and she’s found out the messages are coming from Garrett.”
“Garrett?” Holly said loudly. “That bloody creepy Garrett is plotting to hurt Bea? I’m going to kill her.”
Holly went to get up, but Quincy caught her. “Hang on, Supergirl. Listen to me—she’s taking her orders from someone else. We need to find out who, so we can’t let her know we are on to her.”
Holly sat astride Quincy’s lap. “You mean I have to look at her, be around her, and not let her know I want to kill her for threatening my friend?”
Quincy took Holly’s hand and kissed it. “Yes. I know keeping your feelings to yourself is a hard thing for you, but this is so important.”
“Was that another joke?” Holly smiled.
“Yes, I’m getting better at it. Please, Holly, I shouldn’t even have told you,” Quincy said.
Holly leaned forward and pressed her hand to the middle of Quincy’s chest. “Oh no, Captain Stompy. You tell me everything. Do you promise you’ll keep Bea safe?”
“I promise you. No one will hurt Queen Beatrice.”
“I love you,” Holly said.
“I love you, darling Holly. Thank you for last night. You chase away the darkness inside me. You make the sun come out.”
Holly stroked her cheek. “You are heartbreakingly beautiful. What a lucky woman I am.”
Chapter Twenty-three
Bea watched Holly in the mirror, as she straightened her hair for her. She looked miles away, but not in a happy place, which was strange since she and Quincy were together now. “Holls? Are you all right? I thought you would be happy as a pig in mud now that you and Quincy were together.”
“Sorry, I am. I—it’s just some of the things Quin told me about her mission are playing on my mind.”
“The mission she won the VC for?” Bea asked.
“Yeah, that’s it,” Holly said a little too quickly.
Holly finished with her hair and began to touch up her make-up. “So is your Adonis everything you hoped she would be?”
Holly giggled and snapped from her concerned looking mood. “Oh yes, and then some.”
Bea wiggled her eyebrows. “I bet.”
Queen Georgina walked into the dressing room holding Princess Edwina.
Holly curtsied. “Morning, Your Majesty.”
“Good morning, Holly.”
Bea said to George, “We’ve just been talking about Captain Quincy and what an Adonis she is.”
George raised an eyebrow. “Indeed?”
Bea looked George up and down and said, “Cammy let you wear jeans today? My, my.”
“Special dispensation since we are going to Story Park. I’m told not to get used to it,” George joked.
They all laughed. Today the royal party was touring a large theme park and opening a new part of the attraction. Princess Edwina was very excited to meet all her favourite characters from Story Park.
“Are we nearly ready? Teddy here is getting a bit fed up,” George said.
“Mummy,” Teddy whined and reached her arms to Bea.
George carried her over to Bea. “Tell Mummy who you want to meet, Teddy.”
Bea took hold of Teddy and kissed her head. “Tell Mummy who, Teddy.”
Teddy looked at her with the same blue eyes as George and said, “Big Bear.”
Big Bear was one of Story Park’s most famous characters. “I’m sure we’ll meet him, and Mum will buy you a cuddly Big Bear to be friends with your Rupert Bear.”
“Yes, yes!” Teddy said excitedly.
There was a knock at the door, and Lali walked in, holding her ever-present computer pad, and curtsied.
“Morning, Your Majesties. I just wanted to go over the itinerary for today again.”
Holly rolled her eyes. “Again, Lali? I think we know what we’re doing.”
“Fire away, Lali. It never hurts to go over one’s battle plans again,” George said.
“Are we expecting a battle, Georgie?” Bea joked.
“A figure of speech.”
Holly was looking forward to today. Bea had asked her to go and help with Teddy since the theme park and the crowds would be a bit much for Nanny Baker. She wouldn’t have to count the hours till they got back to see Quincy again, although she was worried about Garrett and whatever she was up to. And tonight, when they got back to the hotel, Quincy promised to take her out to a swish LA restaurant—but the more Holly thought about it, all she wanted to do was have dinner here, paint some soldiers, and make love.
Lali began to read out the plans. “We will be met at the entrance by the Story Park executives and park manager. After introductions, a young member of staff will come forward with flowers for you Bea, and a toy for Teddy.”
“You hear that, Teddy?�
� Bea said.
“Hey, I hope I get a toy too,” Holly said.
Lali continued, “Next, you’ll be taken to the new section of the park. There will be a stage where you, Queen Bea, Princess Edwina, and the execs will sit. Queen Georgina, you will be introduced, and then you’ll make a speech—”
It was then that they heard shouts and commotion outside.
“What the devil is that?” George hurried to the door, and Holly followed. They found Quincy being dragged off Garrett by Lang and the team.
“Get her off me,” Garrett shouted. “She attacked me. She’s a psycho.”
Lang held Quincy back. “I’m sorry to disturb you, ma’am.”
George said, “What on earth is going on here?”
“A petty squabble taken too far,” Lang said. “Quincy, go back to your room and stay there.”
Holly was furious. To get Quincy to react like that, Garrett must have said something very bad.
“Yes, sir.” Quincy looked at Holly before starting to walk off.
“No, Inspector Lang, Garrett—” Holly started to say.
“No, Holly.” Quincy cut her off. “Just leave it.”
***
Holly had to wait for what seemed like hours, but was only half an hour, to see Quincy. Inspector Lang and the Queen had to speak to her first.
Quincy opened her door and Holly jumped into her arms. “Oh my God. I thought I’d never get to see you.” She gave Quincy a kiss on the lips. “What happened, baby?”
“Come and sit,” Quincy said.
They sat on the bed and Holly held Quincy’s hand. “Tell me.”
“I’m sorry for letting my temper get the better of me, especially after me telling you not to react to Garrett,” Quincy said.
“I know it takes a lot for you to lose control. What happened?” Holly asked.
“Ever since our security briefing this morning, Garrett had been chipping and chipping away at me. It was as if she was determined this was going to happen. In fact when I grabbed her and pushed her against the wall, she smiled at me.”
