by Kirsten Lynn
He shifts so I’m cradled in his arms. “We will talk about all your fears one by one and sort it out.”
“Okay.”
“I just want to be clear, I am listening, but right now I really need to be inside you.”
“Yes.” I smile.
“But before anything, let me address why you’re here. You are the balm to all my wounds. And if you don’t think you’ve been healing the hearts of Michael and Ella, you haven’t been watching them. They come to you when the storms hit, because they know you will keep them safe. You’re the warrior who fights their fears.”
I rest my forehead on his chest. “So, I fight their fears, you fight mine?”
“We fight together, Angel, like always.”
“Caleb.” I breathe his name as if he’s the one who gives me breath.
He jostles me again. “Now, we only have eighteen hours and that’s just enough time for us to get started.”
I meet his smile with one of my own. “And then we have to put away those leftovers.”
His laughter is booming and glorious, and I always count it a win when I can make him lose all that Marine control and give an actual laugh. “We’ve got the whole house—where?”
I nod to the stairs. “I’m going to be boring and say bed. After years of wherever, whenever, it’s nice to have a bed.”
He starts climbing the stairs, and I hold tight. “Agreed. Bed gives me more access to all of you.”
“Why does that sound like a warning?”
“A heads-up.”
He sinks his knee into the mattress laying me on the bed, before capturing my mouth again, and the kiss is just as tender and masterful as the first, but this time joy replaces all the sorrow. The kiss lasts forever and I sink farther into the mattress as he presses his hard angles into my curves. I tighten my arms around him again, raking my fingernails over the rough edges of his hair. Completely drunk off his taste, I moan and hold him to me when he shifts.
He hovers over me, his gaze pure blue fire. “What do you want, Angel?”
I rake my fingernails down his chest watching the flames ignite. “I want you to fuck me to that sweet oblivion where I can’t form a thought let alone worry about anything.”
“Nice.” He trails kisses down my neck and then nips my earlobe, and I rock under him. His breath is warm against my ear. “Let’s find that oblivion.”
I comply, raising my hips so he can tug my tights and panties over my hips. He pushes my legs open with his calloused palms and I grab fistfuls of bedding as my back bows with the first contact of his tongue on my sex. My torso twists, but he holds the bottom half of me stable as he circles my clit with his tongue and then sucks the swollen nub before turning his attention to every part of my pussy.
I try to grab for him, but he’s under my skirt, which makes the experience more erotic, feeling him, hearing him devour me, but unable to see him. My mind shatters into a million stars. “Caleb!”
“Mmmm…” He brushes a kiss to one inner thigh, and then the other, even as my legs continue to tremble. “I missed those sounds you make. Now, lose the clothes, Brynn.”
I nod and start stripping, too sex drunk to speak. When I blink and clear my vision, he’s standing naked before me and I lift my gaze to his. He winks. “Looking at me like that will get you everything.”
Before I can answer, he kisses me again and there is nothing tender in this kiss—it’s raw, white hot and all-consuming, swiping everything but him from my mind and heart. When he breaks this kiss, he gently turns me on my stomach and nips my shoulder. “Open for me.”
I spread my legs and bite my bottom lip as he guides his thick cock inside my sex. The stretch is almost unbearable in its pleasure, and I exhale a whimper when he pushes deeper then covers me, smoothing his palms over my arms until he links his fingers with mine. My inner muscles work his length as he moves just enough to build that magical friction but remains buried deep inside me.
Angling my head, I accept his kiss and moan into his mouth when he releases one hand to mold my breast and circles my nipple with his thumb. I start moving my hips to match his rhythm and break the kiss, resting my forehead on the bed as the sensations become overwhelming. Reality fades. Whether I’m in a little house in Maine, or the desert of Afghanistan, it all blends into moments of being a part of Caleb in the most base way.
I feel him surround me and inhale the clean scent of the soap he uses, mixed with his scent and the scent of sex heavy around us. I struggle to breathe with the humidity of the room, his thickness filling me, and rising tension pulling every tendon tight, even as my bones feel like rubber and my blood lava. Our bodies are slick with sweat, adding salt to his taste when I press a kiss to his bicep. He skates his hand over my torso and then pushes low on my belly where his cock stretches.
“Caleb!”
“Shhh, Angel, just let me consume you.”
I tighten my grip on his hand. “Yeees…” I moan deep from my soul.
His strokes become harder and deeper, and added to our grunts is the thunderous sound of his flesh clapping against mine and his cock sliding in and out of my wet heat. I can feel him growing inside me as his climax starts, and then he strokes my clit and I go wild under him as the power of my orgasm robs me of sanity and all primitive instincts shout for what only he can give. Over and over he strokes me as he continues to ride me through his orgasm and demand my pleasure to continue until I hold onto life by the thread of the life he pours into me.
With one more deep push, he makes his claim complete. I cry his name into the bedding. Every nerve and tendon tensed to the maximum releases and I melt under him, and rest my forehead against the cool quilt. My breathing is harsh with the rise and fall of Caleb’s ribs against my back and the throbbing of his cock still inside me.
He trails kisses over my shoulder and then on the back of my neck as he skates his palm back over my torso.
“Caleb.”
“Shhh…I’m gonna let you rest a bit, Angel.”
He eases his length from me and turns me on my back. I groan and every muscle revolts at being moved. Caleb hovers over me, his hair damp, his eyes still fire, an extremely satisfied grin curving his lips. He brushes his mouth over mine, then he runs the tip of his tongue over my lips. “Between your pie and you, it’s a toss-up for what satisfies my sweet tooth more.”
I stretch under him and smile, resting my hands on his biceps. “Once, in Afghanistan, you told me you’d be happy just holding my hand.”
He presses his lips to mine for an all-to-quick kiss. “To be connected to you in any way is solace for my soul. There were times in my last deployment when I’d hold my hands out and think of them laced with yours, healing seeping into my veins. I would think of how these hands have had the surreal pleasure of touching you like I’m touching you now.”
I’d been trying to keep it light, but his words solidify the depth of our connection. “There were times after the children went to bed, I’d do the same, examining the hands that have felt the strength of yours around them, that have touched you like I’m doing now.”
“Then I’d pick up my M4 and head out on patrol, praying these hands would get one more chance to touch you.”
“Then I’d pick up the toys left on the floor praying these hands would feel you again.”
He presses his forehead to mine. “This is all I need, Brynn, to touch you and know you’re mine.”
“Me, too.”
With one more quick kiss, he rolls from me and I shiver as the cold air hits the flesh he’d warmed with his. He pulls me to him and tucks me close, sheltering me from the chill.
His chuckle causes me to frown. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing really funny. I was just thinking how fucking lucky I am that I get to know all of you. None of those other Marines would think you had a soft side the way you barked orders. I will forever hear your voice as you called for CASEVAC.”
“You’re crazy.”
“Rea
lly, I’m the crazy one? When all five foot four of you is yelling down the Devil Dogs from the sky and threatening holy hell if they didn’t land for me.”
“I don’t like to think of that day, Caleb. It was too close, and I might have been tough on the aviators, but tears were also streaming down my face. And then when your hand left mine when they carried you off—”
His arms tighten around me. “Don’t think about it. My hand will never be pulled from yours again.” He squeezes me. “Why don’t we put those leftovers away, maybe refuel?”
“Sounds good.”
When I scoot away from him and grab my T-shirt and shorts, he takes my hand. “Sorry I fucked up the moment.”
“You didn’t fuck anything up. It was—It was how it always is with us, which I don’t think there’s a word…Yes, it was transcendent.” Lifting his hand, I kiss the palm. “Let’s go eat.”
CHAPTER NINE
Caleb
I study Brynn as she chews a bite of stuffing. Her gaze shifts to me. “Stop staring.”
“Can’t. I’ve decided it’s definitely you I prefer to your pie.”
“You keep it up and you’ll get lucky again today, Marine.”
“I’m going to get lucky a few more times today and then a few more tonight.”
She leans closer. “You think so, huh?”
I respond in kind, leaning forward. “You don’t?”
Her nose wrinkles. “Yeah, you’re going to get it a few more times.”
“I’m going to give you a thousand more transcendent orgasms.”
She tosses a napkin at him. “Don’t make fun.”
I frown, but smile at the same time. “I’m not, I love when I’ve given you such a hardcore orgasm you toss out the big words.”
She winks and shoves a bite of turkey in her mouth, then proceeds to chew slowly and methodically. She holds my stare as she pokes the tip of her tongue between her pink lips.
I clear my throat and lean back on the bench. “I’ve been thinking about that list you gave me. Might be we can work it out.”
“List?”
“Of fears.”
“Caleb, it’s on me.” She raises and lowers one shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll figure it out.”
I narrow my gaze. “Not worried. And it’s us now. You said you’d started school for a nursing degree—how long do you have left?”
“Three semesters.”
“That’s outstanding, Angel.”
Her cheeks turn pink. “Thank you.”
“I’ve been working my internal whiteboard and figure you could finish school, then I’ll complete my degree after. That way the kids only have one of us buried in books at a time.”
She cocks her head to the side. “What’s your degree?”
It’s my turn to shrug. “Once I realized I was coming back here and the Marines weren’t going to be a career I knew I had to decide what I could do as a civilian. I started getting an education degree, thought I might give teaching math a try—and don’t laugh.”
Her nose wrinkles, and she tosses another wadded-up napkin at me. “Wasn’t going to, I think that’s perfect for you.”
“I was inspired by your parents.”
“That’s sweet.”
“Better than taking after my father.” With a quick breath I continue before we get sidetracked about parents. “In the meantime, I can talk to Mr. Sanders. He said I could get my construction job back anytime. It was thirteen years ago, but he’s always been a man of his word.”
She stares at me and I watch her features change as she works through all the possibilities. “I think it’ll work, and I won’t have to feel guilty. But you can wait?”
“One of us will have to, and you’ve been serving a year of single mom operations. My turn to step it up.”
She holds her hand out to shake. “Deal. Thank you.” When I accept her hand, I turn it and press my lips to her palm before releasing her hand.
“And about my father ever taking those kids, that will never happen, Angel, not on my watch.”
“Our watch.”
“Absolutely.”
She raises an eyebrow. “How about school and living in a lighthouse? You got a solution for that?”
I smile at the tinge of challenge in her voice. “I might. Right now, let’s keep it status quo. But for spring semester, let’s get Michael involved in some things in town. Whatever his interests are. Then this summer we’ll reevaluate. Why didn’t you keep Mark and Liz’s place?”
“They already had it sold for the move. We had to double-time it to get their things in storage. I should have looked for a place, but we settled into life here and this little house became the home I wanted it to when I bought it.”
“We’ll monitor the situation.”
She leans forward, a V forms between her eyebrows and her lips tighten. “You do realize Michael and Ella aren’t Marines?”
I finish chewing a bite of turkey. “Yet, they’re not Marines yet.”
Her laugh is filled with pure joy and I wonder how with all the shit she’s seen and been through. Taking her hand, I lace my fingers with hers and her laughter dies as she curls her fingers and squeezes my hand. “As for me just sticking around because hey, I’m Captain America and that’s what I do? Negative. I’m staying because I love you, I love those kids, and I want a lifetime with you both. I’m sure you’ll change my mind about Maine.”
“I never called you Captain America.”
I shrug. “It was implied.”
She pushes her plate to the side. “So, you’ve got it all figured out?”
“Not even fucking close, but these are the plans I’ve come up with. If you’ve got something else lay it on the table, before I lay you on the table.”
She shakes her head, but can’t hide her smile. “They’re outstanding.” She strokes her thumb over my knuckles.
“But?”
“But now I don’t want to talk about the serious things, or plan the future.”
“I can get behind that.”
She doesn’t release my hand, but walks around the table and straddles my lap and cups my face. “I still can’t believe you’re really here.”
I slide my hand over her thigh and then back up and under her shorts to the curve of her ass. “I thought I’d given some pretty convincing evidence.”
“True, you’ve far surpassed the fantasies I’ve had.”
“Why don’t you tell me about one of those fantasies?”
Her gaze drops, and instead of the sexy smile I expect she frowns and covers the scar on my chest with her hand. I pinch her ass. Her frown remains, but her eyes now meets mine. “None of looking at the bad times. Fantasy?”
She sinks onto my lap and finally I get that sexy smile. “My fantasy starts with us hand in hand—”
“Sounds good.”
“Walking through a Christmas tree lot—”
I have a horrible suspicion this is not the fantasy I was hoping for. I squeeze her ass. “Brynn—”
“Shhh…you’ll like this.”
“Okay, we’re walking through a Christmas tree lot.”
“And we pick out the perfect tree and bring it here and you, me, and the children spend a cozy evening decorating the tree with cookies and hot chocolate after. Then the children go to bed and we snuggle on the couch enjoying the Christmas lights and a fire in the fireplace. Then you carry me to bed and then—”
I’m sold on her fantasy. “Then—”
A smile I don’t recognize touches her lips. It’s tender, sweet, and something I can’t put my finger on. “The baby cries and—”
“Baby?”
“Our baby. Don’t you want a baby with me?”
“Absolutely.” I really hadn’t thought of it before, but now it becomes a fantasy we share.
“Really?”
“Yes, ma’am. But—”
“But?”
“I think we should wait a bit, give Michael and Ella time to adjust to us as
an us and all of us as a family.”
“You’re just the Marine with the plan for everything today.”
“If you don’t agree, just say. We’re partners.”
She skates her fingertips up my torso and my belly flexes under her touch. “I don’t know, it’s only been a few days since you got here. So far, there are times I think we’ll need to wait, other times I think we should all jump in, see what happens. We’ll monitor that as well.”
“Agreed.”
She presses closer until her breath brushes against my cheek like a caress. “I’ll let you in on a secret.”
“Okay, Angel.”
“This was a fantasy, too. For the last year I’ve sat out here after the children go to bed dreaming of you and me sitting like this talking everything through.”
“Sorry it took me a couple years to get here.”
“You’re doing very well at making up for lost time.” She tucks her head between my neck and shoulder and kisses my neck before nipping and sucking. These past few days have been my fantasies, just being with Brynn any way I can. She exhales a whimper when I move my hand under her shorts, moving closer and closer to her sex.
In a blink she pushes back. “When did that happen?”
“What the fuck, Brynn?”
She pushes the shell of my ear forward and starts inspecting. “This scar here, it’s not that old. What happened over there?”
“War. You’ve been there.”
“What happened? Who was the corpsman?”
“Piece of some shit ricocheted and cut me. Manelli. It wasn’t that bad, didn’t even have to slow me down.”
“Manelli’s good.”
I pull her hand down from where she examines the old wound. “Kiss it again and make it all better.”
She leans forward and resumes driving me wild with kisses, nips, and sucks.
“Fuck, that feels good.”
