“He’s alive?” I mumbled as if asking myself the question. “How? How can he be alive?”
His dad swept into the room, taking my hands to pull me up off the sofa. I was wrapped in his warm embrace as he said, “The men escaped. They got a phone and made a call that got them rescued. They’re on the ship coming back now. As soon as they’re close enough, helicopters are going to be sent out to get them. They’ll be taken to the Naval Hospital, Balboa, in San Diego. We’ll leave in the morning to get there and be waiting for him.”
“Is this real?” I had to ask. “I just had a dream about him. This isn’t a dream, is it?”
He held me by my arms as she looked into my eyes. “This is no dream. He’s coming back to us.”
Tears clouded my vision as I began to cry. I felt feminine hands take me as his hands lifted me. Troy’s mother and I held each other and cried together. Her son and my heart was coming home. It was over. The waiting and wondering were all over.
Troy was coming home!
That night went by so slowly. The ride in the suburban all the way into San Diego that next morning was so excruciatingly slow before getting to the hospital. The nurse told us where to wait for the men to be brought in. We found out they were in choppers only a couple of hours out. In a couple of hours, I’d see the man I loved again. In a couple of hours, I’d feel his hands on mine again. In a couple of hours, I’d be complete for the first time since he left.
Minutes ticked by as we all waited in a waiting room with glass walls that were near the helipad just outside of the emergency room. As soon as the men were brought in, they’d have to pass right by us. In the next hour, that little room filled to capacity as the other men’s families showed up. The SEAL team left with six members, but only came back with five. We all gave that man who wasn’t coming back a moment of silence. It could’ve been ours who’d died out there, and we all knew that.
The sound of helicopters was heard, and the energy inside that room exploded. I’d never been so filled with excitement. The baby was kicking me, as if he could feel it too. We were having a boy. I’d just had the sonogram done the week before. I had all kinds of great news for Troy. The first chopper was unloaded; two men were brought in on stretchers. Neither man was Troy. Nearly half the people went into the hallway to greet their men.
I held hands with Troy’s mom as we waited for our turn. The doors opened and in came two more men on stretchers. Troy wasn’t one of them, and worry began to fill me. “Could something have happened?”
No one answered my question. We all were silent as we were the only ones left in that room. Everyone else was talking excitedly about seeing their sons, husbands, and fathers. We had nothing to say. Troy wasn’t with them, it seemed. I gulped back the lump that was lodged in my throat and stepped out of the room, looking for one more stretcher. I didn’t see that, though.
A side door opened and in walked my man. “Troy?”
His hair was shaggy and so was his handsome face. He was dirtier than seemed humanly possible. And he was walking toward me, his arms held out and a smile on his face. “Come here to me, you gorgeous woman!”
It seemed like a dream. It couldn’t be real. He was home and he was walking to me. “Troy!” I broke into a run and we met in the middle of the hallway.
As dirty as he was, he smelled like heaven to me. “Oh, baby, how I’ve missed you.” We hugged and cried, then his lips touched mine and I knew it was real.
Troy was real, and he was standing right there. Suddenly, more arms were around us as his parents, Tatum, and her grandparents couldn’t wait to join us. We all laughed and hugged and it felt surreal. I’d never experienced anything like it. The man who made me whole was back. I could breathe again.
“We need to see to you, Troy,” one of the doctors said, looking for his elusive patient.
Troy took my hand, taking me with him. “You got it, doc. But I’m not about to let her go. She’s coming too.”
The doctor nodded, and I looked back at his family, who were all smiles. “I’ll be back to let you know how he is.”
Troy looked back at them. “I’m fine. I’ve never been better now that I’m home.”
We followed the doctor, who led us into a small hospital room off to the side of the emergency room. “You were cleared by the paramedics, Troy. We just need to do a thorough physical and draw some blood. I need you to take a shower. Maybe your girl here can help you. Then put on that gown over there and I’ll be back in, say, half an hour?” He winked at Troy.
“I can make it happen in that amount of time, doc. See you then.”
The doctor left us alone, and Troy began to unbutton my blouse. “Are you serious? You feel up to sex?” I was flabbergasted.
“Sex?” He shook his head as he pulled my shirt off then went to work on my pants. “No, I’m not up to sex. Making love to the woman I’m going to marry as soon as I’m cleared to leave here? Yeah, I’m totally up for that. Come on, baby, let’s take a shower.”
In no time at all, we were naked and in a warm shower. I have no idea how much dirt came off him. All I knew was that he was wrapped around me like a second skin and his body felt amazing.
Our tongues danced as he pressed me against the tiled wall and filled me with an erection that defied imagination. I was fully charged when he went inside me. My body was shaking and I was having an orgasm almost immediately.
“You missed me, huh?” he whispered.
“Like you’ll never understand,” I said as I moved my body to feel as much of him as I could. “How is it you’re walking and the rest came in on stretchers?”
“I guess I had more to look forward to. How’s our baby doing?”
My stomach wasn’t huge yet. There was a pretty good-sized bump, though. He ran his hand over my stomach, then moved it around to cup my ass and pick me up.
I wrapped my legs around him as I panted. He had me so hot for him. “He’s good.”
His mouth came down hot on my neck as he bit me. “Did you say, he?”
“I did. We’re having a boy.”
He gave me three sharp thrusts. “Hell, yeah, baby. You gave me a boy.”
“I did.” I moaned as he swirled his cock in a way that always set me on fire. “Oh, Troy!”
Then he made hard strokes as he looked at me. We stared into each other’s eyes. Eyes I knew we’d both prayed we’d see again. He jerked and went stiff as his cum filled me.
“I love you, Blyss.”
“I love you, Troy.”
Then tears ran down his cheeks and we hugged and stayed just like we were, connected. Entirely connected. He and I knew our love was as solid as it gets. There wasn’t an ounce of fear in me about what we had. I could marry that man without one single doubt that he’d love me forever. As we held each other and cried, it cemented us in a way nothing else could.
If no marriage license ever came, it wouldn’t make us any less married. But I knew Troy would make sure every piece of paper he could get that would bind us would be taken care of. I’d be all entwined in him, heart, body, soul, and legal documents combined.
When we stopped crying, I shampooed his hair, washed every nook and cranny of his much skinnier body, and kissed over every inch of him. “I’ll have you back to your former self in no time, baby.”
“I bet you will.” He pulled my hair, then smacked my ass. “Man, I missed smacking that fine ass, Blyss.” He gave me another pop, and I groaned.
“Damn, baby, you have to stop doing that. You’re getting me all horny again. And I need to get you out to see that doctor so we can get you home.”
“Home?” he asked as he shook his head. “Straight to Vegas. I’m marrying your ass as fast as I can. I’m never letting you go, either. So don’t ever think about that.”
“Not to worry. I’m not ever leaving you or letting you leave me. You’ll play hell getting away from me again. You’re stuck like Chuck.”
“And so are you.” He pulled my hair back and kissed m
e hard and demandingly.
Yeah, he’d be back to normal in no time at all!
Troy
The ride to Vegas in Dad’s suburban was hard to take, mostly because I wanted Blyss naked and to myself. It was impossible for me to keep my hands off her. But I wanted to spend time with Tatum too. And Mom was kind of clingy as well.
I had a haircut and shave, and a great suit that Dad bought me to leave the hospital in. There was a bevy of reporters we had to speak to as we left the hospital. It was nice to be on the good side of the media, instead of where I was a few months before that. Hearty congratulations were given by all the reporters when I told them Blyss and I were off to Vegas to tie the knot. Not one word was said about the BDSM club fiasco, something I was thankful for.
Blyss told me about telling Tatum and her grandparents the truth about our fake marriage. And she told me how she wanted to adopt Tatum as soon as she could. I was happy about both things. I wanted Blyss to be Tatum’s real mother in a legal aspect, and I was glad the lie was out in the open.
It was dark when we came into Vegas and seeing Tatum as she saw all those lights for the first time was priceless. “OMG! Daddy, look at all those lights!” She peered out the car window, pointed out almost every one of them, and told me to look.
“You should let her pick the hotel we’ll stay at, Troy,” Blyss said as she held my hand tightly.
“Can I?” Tatum asked with wide eyes. “Please, Daddy!”
“Pick one out, princess. It’s up to you.” I leaned over while Tatum was preoccupied with finding the perfect hotel to whisper in Blyss’ ear, “It’s not like we’re going to give two shits about what the hotel is. I’m not letting you out of bed for two days anyway.”
“You bad boy,” she purred in my ear. “I’m going to hold you to that.”
Tatum pointed out the hotel with the flashiest lights, and that’s where we stopped. We got out, and the valet took the car away as Tatum chattered away. “I’m gonna be the flower girl, and I’m gonna be the best one ever. Natalie, my friend from school, she was the flower girl at her sister’s wedding, and she thinks she was the best one ever, but I’m gonna have lots of pictures to prove that I’m the best one ever!”
She had us all laughing as we went inside. The first thing we did was find the chapel, then set up the wedding and signed the papers. They sent us to where we could buy clothes for the occasion and Tatum found a basket of rose petals she could toss around before Blyss walked down the aisle to me.
Nothing else mattered to me more than making Blyss mine for real. That’s all I’d thought about for so long, I couldn’t remember not wanting it. And the night was upon us when it would finally happen. Blyss picked out a gorgeous dress that was so puffy from the waist down, you couldn’t even tell that our son was hiding in there, from what mom said about it.
I hadn’t been allowed to even lay eyes on her with it on. Bad luck was something all of us wanted to avoid like the plague. Blyss and I had already experienced a bit too much of it. We didn’t want any of that bad mojo to affect our marriage.
With everyone ready, we got right to it. Dad stood by my side as my best man. We didn’t need to buy new wedding rings. Blyss always wore hers and she’d brought mine with her to the hospital. Dad held them for us. This time, when we put them on each other’s fingers, it would be legit.
As he and I stood there, waiting, he said, “You know, son, I could never have chosen a better girl for you. Blyss is one of a kind. The way you found her was a bit off the wall, but I’m glad you did.”
We hadn’t talked about how Blyss and I had ended up together. I’d had to tell my parents about what happened to her and how she ended up hurt and needing our help. I did have to confess to the whole thing. But neither of them forced us to talk about it anymore than I already had.
“Thanks for not judging us, Dad. We’ve never told you and mom how much we appreciate you two not giving us sermons over what we were doing. I’m sure it’s not something you can easily understand.”
The look on my father’s face was confusing to me. It was a mix of saucy and raunchy. “If you think your generation invented that kind of stuff, you’re dead wrong. Your mother and I weren’t always this old, son. We get why you were doing what you did. Don’t you ever tell your mother I told you this, but she and I had a few things stashed away for when you kids went to summer camp. The house would get a little dark for those three weeks each year.”
“Oh, hell,” I muttered as my mother came down the aisle to take her seat. I blushed horribly as my father chuckled.
So my parents were freaks, too, once upon a time. I suppose it was good to know that I came by my fetishes naturally. And at the very least, my parents weren’t ashamed of what Blyss and I had done. Things could’ve been so much worse.
The music started and the man who would marry us came to stand with my father and I at the altar. We watched little Tatum come out from the back and toss red rose petals all over the place. She stopped once and looked at her grandfather. “Papa, take lots of pictures, please. I need proof I’m the best flower girl there ever was.”
Laughter filled the little chapel as she finished her job, making sure she used every petal that was in her basket. She even shook it upside down, then looked at me. I gave her a nod. “I’ve never seen a more efficient job of flower girl done. You are, hands down, the best ever. Don’t let anyone take that title away from you, princess.”
She did a few fist pumps into the air and a funny little dance, then she went to sit by my mother. “I was good, huh?”
Mom nodded and hugged her as she looked at me with a smile on her face. I loved seeing my mother with her only grandchild. She loved her so much and it came so easily to her. Where Tatum was concerned, my parents could’ve taken that badly too. Instead, they welcomed her and her grandparents with open arms. If I was only half as wonderful as my parents were, I’d still be proud of myself.
The music changed to the bridal march and I waited to see my beautiful bride come down that aisle to me. And I waited, then I waited some more. Mom jumped up after much too long had gone by and went to see what the problem was.
“Well, what do you suppose the problem is, son?” Dad asked me, as if I knew.
“Maybe pregnancy stuff,” I said. “It couldn’t be cold feet, could it?”
“Surely not,” Dad agreed. “Why would she get cold feet? For goodness sakes, she’s been staying with us and planning on living there with us, even if you weren’t there. I just don’t see it being that.”
“You don’t think this is all just too much stress for her, do you?” I asked him as I began to get really nervous. “She’s so fragile. I bet I made her do this marriage thing much too soon. I barely got back from being missing. She must’ve thought I was dead at times. Why did I push her to do this so fast? I’m always making mistakes where she’s concerned. She’s like a porcelain doll that I have no idea how to handle. Damn!”
“She’s a lot tougher than you give her credit for. This is a wedding. There’ll be pictures you guys will have forever. I bet she was crying, because her hormones have her doing that a lot. I bet she wanted to fix her makeup. That’s probably all. You’re pretty hard on yourself where she’s concerned.”
“Only because it’s true. I should’ve waited. I could’ve waited. I mean, look how long she stayed with you guys, waiting to see if I’d ever come back. She has the patience of a saint, and I have none. No patience at all. Man, what have I done? I bet she’s a mess and that’s why she’s not coming down this aisle to me. I bet she’s wondering if I want to get married just because she’s pregnant and she’s thinking she doesn’t want a marriage based on an impending baby. She wants to get married for love and love alone.”
“That’s just nonsense, son. You should calm down before you stress yourself out. You do have a problem with patience, that much you have right about yourself. You should’ve taken more time at the hospital and let them help you get some nutrients into you. Y
ou shouldn’t be physically taxing on yourself right now. And you have the honeymoon coming up in just a little while.” He stopped as something came to his mind. “I wonder if she’s worried about that. You know, worried you’re not up to that yet. I bet that’s it. I bet she’s thinking you guys should give it a while before you think she expects sex out of you.”
“Wrong,” I said as I shifted my weight. “She and I did that already.”
Shock filled his expression. “When in the hell did you manage to do that?”
“In the hospital room, in the shower. The doc left us alone.”
“Did he know what the hell you were doing?”
“He winked at me before he left. I suppose he did know.”
“Well, he shouldn’t have even allowed that. You’re depleted. That was just dangerous. Damn, son!”
“I felt a hell of a lot better afterward, let me tell you.” I thought about what he’d said, and there was just no way she wanted to hold off the marriage for the reason he thought.
The man who was going to marry us leaned up to whisper, “Maybe we should reschedule this. I have a couple coming in at midnight. That’s only an hour away. There’s the matter of vacuuming up the rose petals, you know.”
“We’re not rescheduling until I find out what the problem is.” I tapped my foot and looked at my watch. “I’ll give her five more minutes, then I’m going back there myself. I don’t care if it is bad luck to see her in the wedding dress or not. This is ridiculous!”
“Daddy, is Mommy going to come up there with you and get married or not?” Tatum called out. “Cause I’m gonna be so mad at her if she don’t!”
“Mommy must be having problems with her dress, princess. Don’t be mad at her for it. She won’t leave Daddy standing at the altar like some kind of loser. Not after all Daddy’s been through. She’d never do that.”
Would she?
Would she actually leave me like that? Did some idiotic fear surface in her and she wasn’t going to go through the wedding?
The Naughty One: A Doctor’s Christmas Romance (Season of Desire Book 2) Page 108
