by Susan Stoker
“Tex, you and your family can stay in the garage apartment,” Fletch said softly. “Truck and Mary, you’re welcome to stay, and you guys,” he told his teammates with a head jerk, “can bed down out here.”
“I can’t spend the night,” Mary said immediately, standing up so quickly she swayed on her feet.
“Easy,” Truck murmured, catching hold of her elbow, steadying her.
“I’m fine,” Mary insisted, jerking her arm out of Truck’s grip.
“I’ll take you home,” Truck told her, easing Annie’s head off his lap and standing up next to Mary.
“No. I need my car.”
“Why?”
“Because,” Mary said stubbornly, glaring at Truck.
“I’ll pick you up in the morning and bring you back here to get it,” he said evenly.
“That’s stupid, Trucker. I’ll just drive it home now.”
“When’s the last time you ate?” he asked weirdly.
Mary’s brow scrunched up and she said, “What’s that got to do with anything?”
“You’re unsteady on your feet. Your skin is pale, and you can barely keep your eyes open. There’s no way I’d let you drive home in this condition.”
Mary opened her mouth to protest, but Akilah beat her to it. “He is right. You should let him care for you. When you find a good man, you should,” she paused as if looking for the right word, then finished, “treasure that.”
Mary’s mouth closed as if she knew she couldn’t argue with the teenager. She looked up at Truck and said quietly, “Okay. I am tired, and we need to talk. Thank you for the ride.”
The smile on Truck’s face spoke volumes, though no one commented on it. “Thanks. Emily, Fletch, congratulations. I’m so happy you’re officially part of our family, even though you were already by default.”
“Thanks, Truck,” Emily said.
Fletch held out his hand and Truck shook it heartily.
Then there was only Tex, his family, and the Delta guys.
“Go on to bed,” Beatle told Fletch and Emily. “You two look exhausted.”
“But Annie—” Emily protested.
“I’ve got her,” Beatle said quickly. “I’m getting pretty good at this babysitting thing. It won’t be the first time I’ve put her to bed.”
“I put her flower girl basket with her Army men in it by her bed. For whatever reason, they’re her favorite toys right now. She pitched a royal little girl fit when we left the church without them.”
Beatle grinned. “She wanted to put her own stamp on the wedding,” he said, as if he were able to read Annie’s mind.
“She sure did.” Emily laughed. “If you’re sure you’re okay with putting her to bed…” Emily said hesitantly.
“I’m sure,” Beatle said firmly.
Fletch put his arm around his wife’s waist and tugged her into his side. Her arms went around him and she snuggled into his embrace. “Tex, the key to the apartment is on the key rack by the side door. Sheets are clean on the bed, and you can pull out the bed in the sofa. We’ll expect you at breakfast in the morning.”
The SEAL smiled and nodded. “Wouldn’t miss it.”
“Thanks for being here,” Fletch told him.
Tex got up with the help of his wife and walked to the entryway of the living room with a slight limp. Obviously the day had been harder on him than he was willing to admit. Fletch would’ve worried about him, but he knew Melody would take good care of her husband. The love between them was easy to see.
Just as they were about to exit the room, Tex turned back and looked at Emily. “Through all that happened today, I didn’t get to give you a wedding present.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but Tex didn’t give her the chance. “Fletch told me that Annie has been begging you guys to let her get her ears pierced. She might be all tomboy now, but I have a feeling by the time she’s a teenager, she’s gonna be a fashionista. I can’t say that I really approve of someone her age getting her ears pierced,” he looked down at his infant daughter sleeping peacefully in his wife’s arms, then back up at Emily, “but I figured with her big blue doe eyes and cute face, you’ll give in sooner rather than later. So I brought her a pair of small pearl studs that she can wear.”
“Oh, uh…thanks,” Emily stammered, not at all sure how she felt about the present. It wasn’t exactly a wedding gift.
Tex smiled as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. “These are a very special pair of earrings, Emily. The kind that will help you, and someone you know and hopefully trust, to keep tabs on your daughter at all times. We live in a sick, crazy world, and I know for a fact when Hope gets old enough to be mobile, she’ll have her own pair.”
Akilah spoke up then. “And I have some too,” she said, brushing her hair back and showing off the small blue stones in her ears.
Tex smiled at his daughter and put his hand on her head lovingly. Then he said softly, “Goodnight, everyone. We’ll see you in the morning. Congratulations again, you two.” And with that, Tex and his family left the room.
Emily immediately turned to Fletch. “What was that about?”
He smiled down at her and didn’t beat around the bush. “The earrings have tracking devices in them, love.”
“What?”
“The same kind of tracker that’s in Tiger’s necklace that she never takes off. The same thing all the SEAL wives wear every day. Tex giving that to Annie is his way of letting us know that we’ll never have to worry about her disappearing. Ever.”
“I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that. I feel like it’s spying on her.” Emily chewed on her lip in indecision.
“We won’t have access to the data, love. Just Tex will. Remember how you felt when Jacks kidnapped you? Well, if anyone ever dares to try anything again like that with our daughter, we can be there before anything bad happens.”
“Well, jeez, when you put it that way,” Emily mumbled.
Fletch chuckled. “You don’t have to decide right away. Think about it.”
“I will.”
Fletch nodded and kissed the top of her head. “Make yourselves at home, guys,” Fletch told Hollywood, Beatle, and Blade, who were unabashedly eavesdropping on their conversation and grinning. “Don’t bother me unless the house is burning down,” he added.
“Wouldn’t dream of it, man,” Blade said with a smirk.
“Before you go off and enjoy yourselves, Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher, can I have your Wi-Fi code? I want to check my email.” Hollywood said.
“Really? Anyone we know?” Fletch asked, before giving his friend their Internet code.
Hollywood smiled and shook his head. “No, but hopefully you’ll meet her at the Army Ball in a few weeks. We’ve been messaging back and forth for a while now…and I like her. She’s honest and refreshing to talk to.”
“Cool,” Emily told him with a grin. “What’s her name?”
“Kassie,” Hollywood said, but didn’t elaborate.
“I can’t wait to meet her. You sound…serious about this one.”
Hollywood shrugged, but his lips twitched up into a small smile. “I think I am.”
“Awesome,” Emily told him earnestly. Then she looked at the others. “Anyone else need anything?”
“We’ll be fine. Go,” Beatle ordered, sitting on the couch next to the still-sleeping Annie. “We’ll just hang out for a while and watch television…you know…so we won’t be able to hear anything.”
Emily blushed and wrapped her arm around her husband’s waist.
Narrowing his eyes at Beatle, admonishing him without words for embarrassing Emily, Fletch merely nodded and steered her down the hall to their room.
He might’ve been embarrassed to be spending his wedding night with his friends down the hall, but with all the team had been through together, them knowing he was balls deep inside his wife was low on his give-a-shit meter.
Fletch could feel Emily’s curves against him as they headed down the hallway to the m
aster bedroom. He’d licked, kissed, and caressed every one of those curves, but the thought of making love to her—in bed, lying down and taking his time—sent his heart racing into overdrive. The quickie earlier had taken the edge off and been nice, but now it was time to show Emily how much he loved her and that she’d made him the happiest man alive today.
8
For some reason, Emily was nervous. She stood in their bathroom and ran her hands down the front of the ivory nightie she was wearing. Rayne had given it to her as a wedding present and it was beautiful. It had spaghetti straps and a deep vee in front, showing off the inside curves of both breasts. It clung to her waist and hips and flared out just a bit over her ass. It was short. Really short. Coming to mid-thigh. The back was completely bare down to her ass crack, and was only held together by a tie at the middle of her spine.
Surprisingly, or not, it wasn’t that comfortable. The lace at the edge of the bodice was scratchy and she felt extremely exposed…which she supposed was the point. Emily knew without a doubt she wouldn’t be wearing the slinky material for long, but still.
She knew Fletch thought she’d be coming to bed wearing the undergarments she’d had on under her wedding dress, but she liked the thought of surprising him.
It was silly to be nervous about walking into the room she shared with Fletch. He’d seen her naked, of course he had, but it seemed different tonight. Maybe it was because of what had happened earlier and knowing that the night could’ve ended up very different if anyone had been seriously hurt. Maybe it was the weight of her wedding ring back on her finger, where it felt like it belonged. Taking a deep breath, Emily let it out slowly. She took one last look at herself in the mirror and nodded. She wanted her husband. It was time.
She pushed open the bathroom door and walked into the bedroom—and stopped in her tracks and gazed around in disbelief. While she’d been getting ready, Fletch had been busy.
There were small votive candles everywhere, flickering in the slight breeze from the ceiling fan. The comforter had been pulled back invitingly on their bed and rose petals were on the sheets. Not a lot, but enough to let her know that her new husband had gone to quite a bit of trouble to try to make the night perfect.
And speaking of her new husband, Fletch was standing next to the bed in nothing but a pair of boxer briefs. She hungrily took him in from head to toe. His hair was adorably mussed, his broad shoulders and biceps rippled as he stood and stared back at her. The tattoos on his arms seemed even sexier in the low light…and maybe because it was their wedding night. His trim waist led to his groin, where it was more than obvious he was eager for their night to start. His thick thigh muscles flexed as he took a step toward her, then another, until he was right in front of her.
“Jesus, Em, you’re always beautiful, but tonight you take my breath away. I thought your corset was sexy, but this…damn. Turn,” he ordered, lifting a hand and swirling his index finger in a circle.
Emily turned, intending it to be a quick spin because she hadn’t had enough of looking at her husband, but he stopped her with the simple action of putting his hands on her waist and holding her still when her back was to him.
“Fuck. Me,” he breathed, and Emily felt his warm breath on the back of her neck. Goosebumps rippled down her body and she closed her eyes.
Fletch used a finger to trace the straps of the nightie from one side to the other, then returned to the bow and leaned over, kissing his way up the middle of her spine to her neck. Emily’s head dropped, giving him access to her nape.
“This is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen,” Fletch uttered, more to himself than her. His finger traced her spine again, going over the bow in the middle and continuing down until it nestled in the crack of her ass.
Emily shifted in his grasp, pushing her butt back against him. His hand moved to her belly and pulled her flush against him. He was hot. Radiating heat.
Emily brought one hand up and laid it over his on her stomach, and reached back with the other to tangle her fingers in his hair. “I love you, Cormac.”
“I love you too, Miracle Emily. You’re my miracle. You and Annie. You have no idea.”
“Oh, I think I have some idea,” Emily murmured, fidgeting in front of him, getting more turned on by the second.
She spun in his arms, knowing the only reason she was able to was because he let her. Fletch wasn’t necessarily dominant in bed, but he did tend to be a bit bossy. He had a tendency to move her where he wanted, when he wanted, and most of the time it didn’t matter if she wanted something, he’d make her wait until he was ready to give it to her.
But she could tell that tonight he was on the edge. Just as she was. The adrenaline that had flowed through her veins, making her jittery and even a bit desperate to feel her husband inside her, had to be coursing through his body too.
Emily lifted her arms until her hands were clasped behind his neck and said softly, “The room is perfect, thank you.”
“Since we weren’t going to a hotel or anything, I wanted to make it special for you,” Fletch said quietly, his hands in constant motion, rubbing up and down her back, along her ribs, brushing against the sides of her breasts, and even dipping down under her nightie to cup her ass and press her hips into his own.
“Every minute of every day I get to spend with you is special,” she told him. “But right now the only thing I can think about is making love with my husband.”
Without a word, he took a step backwards, holding her to him so she had no choice but to step forward. He did it again, then again, until they were standing next to their bed. Still not speaking with his lips, but saying volumes with his eyes, Fletch sat on the edge of the mattress, and reached around her, grabbing hold of one of the strings to the tie at her back and pulling slowly and steadily.
Emily felt the material sag when the bow was undone and smiled when Fletch’s eyes dilated with lust. She shrugged one shoulder, letting the strap fall, then did the same with the other. The ivory material fell to her feet with a soft whoosh and she was standing naked in front of her husband.
Fletch spread his legs and pulled Emily forward until she was right in front of him. He put one hand on the small of her back, his little finger nestling once more in the crack of her ass, and placed the other at the side of her neck, his thumb caressing her jaw.
Looking up, he said softly, “I love you, Em. So much it scares me sometimes. Simply knowing you’re waiting for me when I get off work makes me feel a contentment I never thought I’d have. When I wake up in the mornings, the first thing I do is look for you sleeping next to me. I’ve spent many a night, and morning, watching you sleep, and knowing I’m the luckiest bastard to ever walk this earth. Thank you for trusting me. Even when you thought I was working with that asshole, Jacks, a part of you knew I wouldn’t hurt you. And I won’t. Ever. I was so scared tonight. Not for me, but for you. And our daughter. I can’t live without you, Em. I swear to God, I can’t.”
“And you don’t have to. I feel the same way about you, Fletch. Women like me don’t get men like you. No, don’t get offended,” she soothed when he frowned up at her. “I’m just saying you could have any woman in the world, but you chose me. I don’t, and will never, take that for granted.”
Fletch moved then, grabbing his wife by the waist and standing and twisting at the same time until she was lying on her back on the bed, and he was hovering over her. Emily could feel his hard length against her slick pussy and she wanted him inside her more than she wanted to breathe. She shifted and tilted her hips upward, pressing herself against him.
“I want you inside me,” she said softly, putting her hands under his waistband and pushing down as far as she could reach, which wasn’t far. “Take these off,” she ordered.
Fletch smiled and complied. Shifting to the side and stripping his underwear off in a move that would’ve been impressive if she’d been paying attention. But all Emily could see was her husband, hard and as desperate for her as she was for
him.
He came back over her, and Emily widened her legs, letting him settle between them. One of his hands eased down her body to her center, testing her readiness. He grinned down at her when he found her already slick with want.
Without a word, he grabbed the base of his cock and fitted it to her opening. Emily lifted her knees and put her feet on the backs of his thighs, fully opening herself to him.
Slowly, too slowly, Fletch pressed his length inside her. He was gentle, letting her get used to him, but he didn’t stop until his balls were pressed against her body.
Emily wiggled and lifted her hips, taking him deeper.
They both sighed in ecstasy.
Still without words, Fletch eased out of her, then pushed back in. He did it again, then again.
“Faster,” Emily begged, pressing her heels into the backs of his thighs.
“No,” he said, shaking his head to emphasize his point. “I fucked my wife earlier, now I want to make love to her.”
“You are,” Emily whined. “But I want you to go faster.”
“And I want it to last,” Fletch countered, continuing his slow, easy pace.
“We have the rest of our lives, Fletch,” Emily told him. “You can make love to me later.”
He grinned, but didn’t speed up his thrusts. “But every time I try to make love to you, you get impatient and want me to go faster.”
Damn him, he was right. Emily tightened her internal muscles when he pushed inside her the next time and was pleased with the small groan that escaped his mouth.
“You don’t play fair,” he grumbled, mock glaring at her.
“As good as this feels, you know how I like it best,” she informed him, because he did. She could usually only get off when he was pounding into her. She needed direct stimulation on her clit, and she loved it the most when he took her hard at the same time he manipulated her directly.
