by Vivian Wood
“Really?” she asked. Her heart gushed. Please be real. Please be real.
“Yes! Of course! Do I have to spell it out for you?”
“Yes, please,” she said. Her lips curled up in a smile.
“I love you, kitten. What can I say? And I’m… I’m going to be around for as long as you’ll have me. Okay?”
Ellie didn't trust herself to speak. It was all she’d ever wanted, and now it was happening. She wanted to press pause, to make the world stop so she could memorize everything. The shirt he was wearing, and how his hand rested on the steering wheel. How he shook his leg up and down nervously. All she could manage was a nod. She leaned over and kissed him. Their lips met in perfect synchronicity. She couldn’t believe there was a time when all she wished for were those lips on hers, and now she could have it forever. “I love you, too.” It was all she needed to say.
“Come on,” he said. “You ready to meet Aunt Mary?”
“Aunt Mary?” she asked. “Wait a minute. I thought she...”
“What?” he asked. He looked at her confused.
“I thought she was dead,” Ellie said in a low whisper.
Henry busted out laughing. “Dead? I never said that!”
Actually, she guessed he hadn’t. She’d just assumed. He talked about her in the past tense all the time. “I guess not,” she said. “Sorry. I just… I always pictured you living alone. Kind of sad and…”
“Kitten,” he said as he placed his hand on her thigh. “I know I’m a pretty big project, but I’m not that much of a mess. Aunt Mary had cancer when I was a teenager, so there was a time when I took care of her instead of the usual other way around. She had a surgery that made it uncomfortable for her to sit for long, so that’s why she stopped dropping me off.”
“Oh.” Ellie blushed with embarrassment. “So… you live with her?”
“Not really,” Henry said. “She spends a lot of time at my place now, though. When I joined the military, she needed someone around on a regular basis to help her out. She’s usually with me on the weekends. But, actually… I think it’s time she moved in with me though. I’m not active anymore, and she needs to be around family.” He looked at her sheepishly. “I’m a mama’s boy at heart, what can I say? Or aunt’s boy in this case. So. Ready?”
Ellie chewed at her lip. She was nervous for an entirely different reason now. She pulled down the mirror and examined her face. “Henry, I look like crap,” she said. What was his aunt going to think?
“You look great!” he said. “Besides, you have nothing to worry about. She’ll love you because I do. She’s going to love the person who makes me this happy.”
Ellie smiled. Maybe he was right.
“You trust me?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Good. She’s been cooking since ten this morning, so I hope you’re hungry.”
A roar went through Ellie’s stomach at the mention of food. She was famished. The hospital food had, sadly, lived up to its reputation. She’d been subsisting off of Jell-O and stale Hawaiian rolls for two days. “Oh? So I’m finally going to get a peek at what your real life is like, huh?” she asked. “Where it all started.”
“That’s right. And, I probably shouldn’t tell you this. It’s probably to my own detriment. But she’s going to love telling you embarrassing stories about me as a kid.”
“This I need to hear,” Ellie said. Henry came around to her side, opened her door, and lifted her down. The surgery site pinched slightly, and she put her hand to her abdomen.
“Sore?” he asked.
“I’m okay.” It saddened her to think that’s where their baby was just a couple of days prior.
“I’m sorry, kitten,” he said. She brushed off the feeling. It was a part of her now, this scar. One day, she knew she’d appreciate it and it would bring only joy—not melancholy. It would just take time, like everything else. She had learned how to get better at that. At waiting. It was a little easier now that she knew for a fact how sweet the end result could be. She looked up at Henry, amazed that he was finally hers. For real. For keeps.
“So. What’s she making?” she asked as Henry guided her up the walk. His hand enveloped hers, warm and protecting.
“Your absolute favorite,” he said.
“What’s that?”
Henry pulled at her hand slightly when they reached the landing and winked at her. “Pasta with bolognese sauce.”
33
It was amazing how quickly a month could pass by, or how agonizingly slow. Slow when you were shrouded in heartbreak, lovesick for the person you were certain had abandoned you. And fast, so fast, when caught up in passion. It had only been a month since Ellie had been discharged from the hospital, and here she was, saying goodbye to Eli and Meredith.
They hadn’t been back in their family home since Eli had taken office. “Oh, I’m going to miss you so much!” Meredith said as she hugged Ellie tight.
“Mer!” Ellie said. “I’m just going to California. Not Calcutta.”
“I know!” Meredith said. “But still. It’ll be strange, not having you just a few miles away.”
Ellie watched Henry hug Eli goodbye before they slapped one another on the back. She wasn’t sure exactly how everything had unfolded with them, but she’d come to realize it didn’t matter. Whatever it was, that was their relationship. She had to get used to the idea that they had a little lifetime of memories and togetherness before her. Sam had asked if that made her jealous, but it didn’t. It was comforting in a way, to see all the people she loved intertwined in different ways.”
“I’m glad you and Eli are good again,” she whispered to Henry while everyone else chattered.
Henry laughed. “It’s taken some time, but we’re getting there. It was one hell of a month though, I’ll tell you that.” Ellie looked at her lap. She’d always feel bad about that, but there was nothing she could do but step back and let their wounds heal. “Ain’t timing a bitch?” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean… Eli and I are just now getting back to normal, and here you and I are. About to drive cross country and move to California.”
“Yeah,” she agreed. “Timing.” It had been her nemesis her entire life it seemed. It wasn’t until the cabin that it seemed to finally be somewhat on her side. She was still a bit scared of it, though.
“I can’t believe you two are driving,” her mom said. “Ellie’s doctor said she was perfectly capable of flying. I imagine sitting in a car for so long—”
“It’s not about that,” Ellie said.
“Oh. It’s about the journey, then?” her mom asked.
“Wow. Super clichéd, Mom,” Ryan said between bites of the sliders he’d brought.
“I wish you wouldn’t eat that stuff,” her mom said. She wrinkled her nose. “The sugar, the salt, the meat—”
“Okay, okay. Lecture me when it’s not Ellie’s farewell shindig,” Ryan said.
“Aunt Mary made it okay?” Eli asked Henry.
“Yeah, I just talked to her this morning. I mean, you can’t complain about a first-class ticket and direct flight.”
“She didn’t have to fly commercial, you know—”
“Hey, Mr. POTUS. Let us common folk think that first class is as good as it gets.”
Back at the brownstone, their boxes stacked and waiting for the movers, Ellie couldn’t stop thinking how happy she was. Nobody gets everything they want. That’s what they always tell you, except the fairy tales. She’d always thought every good stroke of luck came at the loss of something else. Ellie had even tried to make trades with the higher powers herself. Give me straight As, and I won’t make the track team. It seemed to work so many times, she was convinced for a while. One night freshman year, she was buzzed with Sam and told her about the theory. “Did you ever think you’re the one making these so-called trades come true?” Sam asked. “I mean, speaking from the whole cognitive aspect of things, our brains are really fucking go
od at making what we think and believe a reality.” In less than one minute, Sam had brought her whole theory crashing down.
Ellie had still clung to the thought for years, but now Henry had destroyed the last of it. “What are you staring at?” he asked from across the living room. She was leaned against the window frame, and he had been sifting through one of the boxes to make sure everything was set. “My ass?” he asked, and he wiggled it at her.
She giggled. “Thank you for making up with Eli,” she said.
“Don’t thank me,” he said. “Sorry to burst your bubble, but you’re not always the center of my universe you know. I had to make up with him, it’s that simple. He’s my closest friend.”
Ellie walked up behind him and draped her arms around his neck. “I know,” she said. “But I’m happy you did it so quickly. Before we left at least.”
“I aim to please,” Henry said, folding the box back together.
“How about a reward?” she asked as she kissed his neck. “For making nice?”
Henry raised an eyebrow. “Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah,” she said. “I just got cleared,” she continued in a singsong voice. “The doctor says I’m all good for sex.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” he said, and he picked her up for the first time in weeks, but gently. He made sure not to touch her surgery scar and cradled her in his arms.
“One last christening before you say goodbye to the old abode?” she asked. He set her on the bed. It was already stripped of its sheets.
“You could say that,” he said. He sat beside her and traced a hand up her bare leg, toyed with the hem of her sundress.
“I’m sorry you couldn’t find renters,” she said. “Had to sell. Henry… I’m so lucky to have you.” His hands unbuttoned the tiny buttons at her chest. Her underwear was pulled to her knees. “Seriously, what did I do to deserve you? Willing to give up everything, move with me—”
“I didn’t give up anything, kitten,” he said. “I’d go anywhere for you.” He kissed along her collarbone. “Do anything for you…”
“I know,” Ellie said, and she beamed at him.
“Speaking of… is there anything I can do for you?” he asked. He nipped lightly at her neck. “To you?”
“Now that you ask,” Ellie said, and he pushed her onto her back. “I’m kind of disappointed that I’ve been indisposed for so long. This is kind of our last chance to make use of every room in the house…”
“Every room? You know we’re supposed to drive out of here in six hours.”
“Six hours is nothing!” she said. “We could do every room twice in six hours.”
Henry shook his head and feigned frustration. “I know it’s not the best time to bring up his name right now, but Eli was right about you.”
“What do you mean?” Ellie asked. Curiosity coursed through her. “What did he say?”
“The first time him and I talked, really talked, while you were still drowsy from surgery? He told me I was in for it because of you.”
“What does that mean?”
“He said you’re a handful,” Henry said with a laugh. “Said you’d have me wrapped around your little finger so tight that I wouldn’t know what to do with myself.”
“He did not,” she said, and slapped him playfully on the chest.
“Swear to God,” he said.
“Oh my God,” Ellie said, suddenly mortified. Eli could be so embarrassing.
“Hey,” Henry said. “All I’m saying is—he was right.”
“You know, when you said you’d do anything for me, talking about my brother when you haven’t fucked me in a month isn’t exactly at the top of my list.” He looked at her with lust.
“My mistake, kitten,” he said, his voice shifted to that sultry tone reserved just for her. “What can I do to make it up to you?”
“You can start by getting back to what you were doing,” she said. “We haven’t got all night. Actually, we’re probably down to five hours and fifty-five minutes by now.”
“Well, then,” he said as he kissed down her chest and opened the top of her dress to reveal that snowy skin, “I guess I’d better get to it.”
Henry pulled the dress off her shoulders, down her torso, and tossed it on the floor. Knelt between her knees, he began to kiss his way back up. She felt his lips on her calves and across her knees. He worked up the insides of her thighs to her pelvis. There, he paused. Ellie looked up. He eyed the scar. “Is it bad?” she asked. She knew the answer. She’d analyzed that scar every time she got out of the shower for a month. It was a little better now that the sutures had been removed, but there was no denying it. It was a beast of a scar and she’d never be the same again.
“You’re beautiful,” he said simply.
“You have to say that,” she protested, embarrassed again. With Henry, since that first time, she’d never thought to have reservations about her body. It was clear every time he looked at her. He just wanted her so much.
“I don’t have to say anything,” he said, and he kissed the length of her scar from where it began near her hip bone all the way to the apex. When he caught her eye, she could tell. He didn’t look at her any differently. It was still that same intensity he’d always had, and in that moment any worries about the scar disappeared. “But,” he said, “what I do have to do is eat that sweet pussy.”
“Henry,” she said as he started to work his way down between her legs. Before he even arrived, she had started to arch herself toward him. Would it be different now? After everything?
As soon as his mouth was on her, she knew it was the same. Would always be the same. The only difference now was the guilt was gone. They had complete freedom to be together, to be themselves. “Henry,” she said again. She was going to come fast, it had been too long. She tangled her fingers through his hair to slow him down.
“No time for taking it easy, kitten,” he murmured from between her thighs. “We’ve got a lot more rooms to get to.”
If you loved this story...
There is an extended epilogue coming out, just for you! All you have to do to get it is join Vivian’s Vixens mailing list and wait until June 25th. PLUS while you’re there, you’ll get a FREE book. :)
For now, satisfy yourself with SEAL’s Bride, a complex second chance love story. Remy and Sawyer await!
SEAL’s Bride
For Margaret, without whom this book would not exist.
1
Four Years Earlier
Remy River stood amongst the sugarcane buds, the tiny, grainy, black and white picture laying flat in her hand. Tiny green shoots were just beginning to poke through the dirt around her boots, the sign of burgeoning life all around her.
Biting her lip, Remy held in the tumult of emotions she felt. Tucking the picture into the back pocket of her jeans, she walked across the rich, dark soil of her family’s sugarcane farm.
Her cowboy boots left neat tracks in the soft soil as she walked to the tallest point on her family’s lands. From the big hill, she could look right across at Roman Ranch. She could see his house from here, if she squinted.
No Sawyer, though.
Her high school love, the prom king to her prom queen. Tall, dark, and handsome to her fair-skinned blonde beauty. The perfect couple… until he joined the Navy.
He’d left Remy in the dusty quiet of their shared past, and moved on to what she presumed were much more exciting things. Sawyer was probably capturing terrorists and winning medals right this second, and what was she doing?
When he’d come home to visit two months ago, Remy’d known he wasn’t here to stay. The same song had been playing on the same radio, and just like always, she hadn’t been able to resist his heated looks, the way his touch lit her up inside.
She bit her lip, feeling tears begin to well up as she pulled out the photo again.
The sonogram. A little white blob surrounded by darkness.
Her baby.
She ran a fingertip ove
r the image, swiping at the tears that spilled down her face before they could splash onto the photo.
She couldn’t stop thinking about the last night that Sawyer was in town, and all the sweet things he’d whispered. He’d told her that he couldn’t write much — SEALs didn’t stay in one place too long.
He’d made promises… promises that she wanted badly to believe…
Still, she’d rose at dawn and left him sleeping in his room, slipping away with the sunrise. She loved Sawyer, loved him with all her heart, but when he didn’t write…
She was hurt, but not surprised.
No, the surprise had come today. She’d gone to the town doctor, complaining of fatigue. The last thing in the world she had thought was that she might be pregnant…
She pressed a hand to her flat stomach, uncomprehending.
“What am I going to do?” she whispered, her words blowing away in the cool spring wind.
She was 25 years old, no longer a girl. She’d made a mistake, a huge one. And she had no living idea how she was going to fix it.
She had a part-time job at a bar in town, lived at home in a house that was already cramped with five other people. She’d gone to community college, but never made it any further.
The father of her child was halfway across the world, serving in the military and not answering her letters. She could tell Sawyer’s father, perhaps… but even the idea of telling Colonel Roman made her cringe. She didn’t know what the retired Navy man would say, but it wouldn’t be kind.
At least Sawyer has good genes, she thought. My baby will be healthy.
She pictured herself holding a newborn, looking down at a baby with those stunning hazel eyes.
Sawyer’s eyes.
A low sound escaped Remy’s lips. She sank to her knees, burying her face in her hands.
Stupid, stupid, she thought. I’ve been so stupid. Now I’m all alone…
She let herself cry for a few minutes, releasing all the pent-up anger and fear and worry in her heart. When she’d exhausted her rage and self-loathing, she straightened and blew out a breath.
