Reclaiming Love: Forever Safe Romance

by Brynn Paulin

  “Please,” I whimpered. “Please, Jordan. Don’t make us wait anymore.”

  “No more,” he agreed. He reached between us, and for the first time ever, he aligned his glans with my opening. I was breathing so hard, the rhythm falling apart, now that this moment was finally on us. Jordan’s chest moved in a choppy cadence, too.

  “Oh, God!” I cried as he started to push in.

  “So tight. Savannah…baby. You feel so good.”

  “More,” I begged. “Please. Give me all of you. Take all of me.”

  “I have all of you,” he growled.

  “Not this one last thing. Take it. It’s yours.”

  I barely finished the last word, and he surged forward, tearing through the barrier I’d saved just for him. I gasped at the shock of pain, my whole body stiffening beneath him. My nails dug into his shoulders. I shook, just taking it all in. The ache was short-lived, eclipsed by the reality that I was now fully his. Our virginities were gone into the ether, forever history, together.

  “Yours,” I whispered, smiling up at him.

  “Mine. Fuck you feel good,” he agreed with a growl. “Okay?”

  “So, so, so okay. I don’t think I’ve ever been more okay.”

  “Let’s see what we can do about that.” He smirked, pretty damn satisfied with himself. Then he started moving, and I had to agree with his satisfaction. It just got better and better.

  I may have worried we were out of step, but together in this bed, we were completely in tune. And when I went over the edge, Jordan was right there falling with me and filling me, marking me, claiming me forever.

  Chapter Six

  ~ Jordan ~

  “Tell me everything about your life here,” I said. Van and I were lying entwined together against the pillows. After we’d made love the first time, we’d barely made it a few minutes before going again. Now, I was determined to give her tight, little pussy a break. Just thinking of being inside her, my cock started to swell again. I shifted to hide it, though likely, she was completely aware.

  “I don’t know,” she replied. Her head rested on my shoulder, her front to my side and her leg curled around one of mine. She played with the bit of hair between my pecs. “I work in the hotel’s restaurant. If I hadn’t practically tripped over you at the beach, you probably would have found me there when you got something to eat.”

  “How did you end up here? I mean, I’m glad, but…it’s…random.”

  “Isn’t fate random?” she laughed.

  “I guess.”

  Her fingers skimmed down my thigh. “How’s your leg?”

  “Fine.” Didn’t want to talk about that…

  “Jordan,” she chided.

  “We’re talking about you.”

  “You were limping earlier, then you carried me…then we were pretty vigorous. I just want to know you’re okay.” Her hand stopped moving, and she flattened it over the spot marking how I’d almost been taken from her. “And what happened?” she added in a whisper.

  I sighed heavily. “Got shot there at the same time as when I was hit in the chest. Nicked the artery and the bone. Managed to rip up the muscle, too.”

  “You were almost killed.” She shook though she clearly fought to maintain her calm façade. My strong girl.

  I didn’t want to share the details of how I’d almost bled-out there on the sand, how if they hadn’t taken out the insurgents so fast and gotten to me in less than a minute, it would have been too late. How I’d almost died anyway because I’d lost so much blood. So I just said, “Yeah.”

  She turned her face into my chest, her arms squeezing me tight. She didn’t cry, but I felt her body shaking from emotion. Van was accepting my explanation for now, but I knew we’d come back around to the discussion again.

  Her hot breath blew over my nipple as she held me, and I fought back my reaction. I was not taking her again yet. She needed a break from my cock pounding her. I honestly had no idea how long we’d hold out.

  “A college friend of mine told me about the job here. The resort is owned by the Woods family, my friend’s aunt and uncle. When I’m not at the hotel, I walk around the town a lot. It’s really pretty here. I like to explore and wander around the beach. Or I go to the library. Since I’ve been saving to get an apartment as soon as one’s available, I try to do stuff I don’t have to pay for. The Woods pay me pretty well, but it’s just for the summer, so I’ve been saving and looking for another job. They have a third-grade teacher position in the next town over that I applied for. I also applied to substitute teach for the county, but that might be some driving every day.”

  “You really were planning a life in this place.”

  “I was.” She grinned. “Now, we are…I mean, if you’re sure.”

  “I’m sure. You doubt us?”

  “Not us. Just your commitment to staying in Cherish Cove.”

  “I’m not liking the weather so far.” It was still pouring as if it would never stop. “But I’ll trust you on this one.”

  “I love it here. The only thing missing was you.”

  “And your family. You know they miss the hell out of you.”

  “So you said. After… Well, after. It was hard to be around them. I knew they wouldn’t understand, and I felt like I’d disappoint them when they found out. Sometimes, I feel like they all love you more than me.” She laughed, but it was tight. I knew her family had hurt her, even if it wasn’t on purpose. They loved her. “Plus…all my sisters-in-law are having kids. I’m happy for them but it just… It’s hard. Because I can’t.”

  “I understand. It might be better away from my mom, too. She thinks I’m a fragile little bird, and it’s annoying the shit out of me. I’m surprised she didn’t try to take this trip with me.”

  “Your parents must really hate me.”

  I shook my head. “Nah. They don’t get it—they know how the two of us are—but they definitely don’t hate you. They’re worried about you, too.”

  She groaned into me. “Seeing everyone is going to be rough.”

  “I’ll be with you. It’ll be okay. Telling them all that we’re not staying will probably be more difficult.” I glanced at my watch. “Do you think City Hall is still open? It’s just four.”

  “Yeah, for another hour.”

  “Good. I want to go get married.”

  “Now?”

  “Yes.”

  “Um…”

  “What? You’re not getting out of it,” I teased, nipping her neck.

  She giggled, squirming away. “I must look like crap after getting soaked then rolling around in bed. All my clothes are wet, too.”

  “You’re beautiful.”

  “And you’re biased or the heat in the Middle East affected your vision.”

  “I still see twenty-twenty. Use my stuff in the bathroom. You might have to wear your damp jeans but I’ll find you a dry T-shirt.”

  “You’re serious?”

  “Completely.” I smacked her firm, little ass. “Go get ready. We’re getting married!”

  * * * *

  We weren’t getting married.

  I wanted to kick the dirt as we left City Hall. It had stopped raining, but the day remained gray, made worse by my mood. Apparently, Michigan was one of the few states that still had a three-day waiting period.

  Van cuddled into me, her sweet scent calming my attitude. I hugged her close and buried my face in her neck. “I love you,” I murmured.

  “I love you, too, babe. Cheer up. This time on Thursday, we’ll be married. It’ll be less than a week after when we originally planned.”

  “I’m just anxious to have you be mine.”

  “I’ve been yours since that first day of kindergarten. Nothing’s changing that now.”

  She was right, but I was still raw from our three-month break-up. I wanted my name attached to hers. I wanted her to be Savannah Camden. But she was right. She would be in a few days.

  “How about a tattoo?” I teased.

/>   “Your name on my forehead?”

  I looked off in the distance. “Maybe.”

  She bumped her shoulder into mine. “How about…a walk on the boardwalk toward the lighthouse and the pier? Then we can have dinner out on the deck of Landings Grille. It overlooks the lake and we can watch the sunset. Now that the sky is clearing, it’ll probably be pretty spectacular.”

  “We can do whatever you want to do. I want to move your things to the hotel suite, though. We should do that first.”

  “Jordan—”

  “I’m not kidding on this, Van. I want you with me, and the thought of you in a little camper makes my blood run a cold.” God, anything could happen to her there at the campground by herself. What if a bad storm with high winds blew up and knocked the thing over or some asshole hit on her or accosted her? I couldn’t stand the idea of her there, unprotected.

  She must have seen the determination on my face. “Fine.”

  And she wasn’t happy.

  “Do you really want to be away from me?”

  She sighed. “No. You’re right. You’re just being pushy.”

  “No pushier than I’ve always been. I’ll always do what’s best for you—even if you don’t like it sometimes. I always have.” She’d never had to worry about anything the entire time we’d been in middle and high school when bullying was the worst problem.

  “I know you have.” Her foot ran along a crack in the sidewalk. “You know…you being away the past four years, not having you there, was hard. Not just because I missed you but because it was the first time for as long as I could remember that I was completely on my own. Sure, my family was there, but it was different. You were always there for me. Then you weren’t.”

  I’d never realized how untethered my leaving must have made her feel. I’d had the discipline of the Army and my training; I’d thought she had college and it would keep her so busy she’d barely miss me. Obviously, I’d been very wrong.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “No, don’t be,” she said. “Military service is important. What you were doing was important. I’m just sharing my feelings, now that you won’t be leaving again. I couldn’t tell you before. That would have been pretty shitty of me, laying a guilt trip on you—and this isn’t a guilt trip. Just being transparent with you. I know you were getting training that will help in working with my brother and not bury us under a mountain of student debt as we were starting out. I admire what you’ve been doing and your bravery.”

  I still felt like I’d left her flying in the wind without realizing it. I hid my concern and nodded. I didn’t want her to be reluctant to share in the future. “You never need to be on your own again.”

  “Okay.”

  “So are we getting your things?”

  She shook her head with a smile, but I knew it wasn’t a no.

  As it turned out, Savannah didn’t have much. All her things fit in my rental with lots of room to spare. For the time being, we took only her suitcase, laptop, and a few personal items up to the room. It was a balm to my agitated soul to have her in this space with me. I’d also made sure my ring was back on her finger where it belonged.

  “I want to get cleaned up and changed,” Van said with a smile after we got to the suite. We were still planning to go out to the boardwalk and restaurant tonight. She looked over her shoulder as she headed toward the shower. “Coming?”

  Oh, hell yeah.

  Chapter Seven

  ~ Savannah ~

  Jordan had me against the wall the second the water was on and we stepped into the enclosure. He lifted me, and my legs went around his waist. My head dropped back against the tile while he kissed my neck.

  “Why did we wait so long for this?” I asked on a moan.

  “Lots of good reasons, but fuck all of them now,” he replied.

  “I’d rather you just fuck me.” I rocked my hips, trying to rub against his cock and urge him inside. He didn’t cooperate. “Jordan,” I complained. “Fuck me or let me get clean.”

  If he went for option B, I’d kill him.

  “Let me get you dirtier, first,” he offered. His hands cupped my ass, moving me so he could slide his cock up and down my slit. The head tormented my clit on each pass, and I felt myself growing slick. He angled down his head to take my nipple. With a hard suck, he drew back and gave just a bit of erotic pain before going to the other and repeating the action. Over and over, he worked me, getting me closer to orgasm.

  Just as I tumbled over the edge, he surged inside me.

  “Yes,” I screamed, not even caring if there were other people on this floor who might hear us. We were in the bridal suite so…newlyweds. We would be soon.

  Jordan pumped into me fast and hard, fucking me like the caveman I knew he could be. “Yes, yes, yes,” I chanted to urge him on. I wanted him to know I loved it, that I wanted more and more and more. Harder.

  “That’s right, Van. Take me. Take your man. Take it. You’re mine.”

  “Yes.” I seemed incapable of anything else resembling something coherent.

  “You like my dick in you, spreading those tight, virgin walls and making them have me. Owning you.”

  “Jordan,” I whimpered. “I’m yours.”

  “Always remember that,” he whispered against my ear, startling me with his change in demeanor but not taking me a hair from the edge I teetered on. “Never forget you’re mine. I will never let anything happen to you. I will never let you go. I will never give up on you and never let you give up on me, on us. Together forever, in sickness and in health, for richer and poorer…till death do us part.”

  “Till death do us part,” I agreed and wondered if even that would separate us. We were only whole together. That day we first met, it was our two halves finding each other. Destined. Meant to be.

  Jordan’s mouth landed on my shoulder, and I knew he was marking me. My nails were leaving their own little marks. My walls clenched around him.

  “I’m gonna…”

  “Give it to me,” he growled, and I careened into another release. Jordan never slowed. Somehow, he managed to get me to a third climax before his thrusts grew uneven and he grunted into my neck. Hot spurts of seed flooded into me. I tightened my legs around him, holding him in place and savoring the closeness of him still in me. We were as close as we could ever be.

  “I love you,” I whispered. I felt as if he’d married us, joined us soul to soul, tonight. He’d locked us together more fully than we ever had been before. Until this moment, it had seemed impossible. Now…we were one.

  * * * *

  “Mom,” I sighed.

  “Don’t you Mom me. I could just throttle you,” my mother exclaimed. After dinner and a twilight walk along the pier, Jordan had talked me into Skyping my parents from my laptop. It had been so beautiful out there, the orangey glow of sunset coloring the waves, and I’d felt warm and compliant from two glasses of wine and all the sex today. In the moment, I probably would have agreed to anything he wanted.

  Now, I regretted saying yes.

  “When are you coming home?” she demanded.

  “Well—”

  “And where are you!”

  “I’m in Michigan.”

  “Michigan? Where in Michigan? We’ll come to get you. Poor Jordan is back, and the boy is devastated about you jilting him. He deserves some answers from you, and we want you safely back home.”

  Jordan slid in beside me and dropped his arm around me as he kissed my shoulder. “No need for that, Ma. I’m taking care of things.”

  Even though I loved that he called my parents Mom and Dad, I elbowed him hard in the gut. “Suck-up,” I growled. He didn’t get to play the good guy while I got chewed out.

  Granted, I deserved it.

  His lips ghosted over my ear. “You’ll pay for that later.”

  I shivered, and my cheeks heated. I refocused on my mother, who now looked ready to explode with happiness. My dad, who’d slipped in beside her when he’d heard her rai
ling at me, had an open look of satisfaction on his face, as well.

  “When will you be back, Son?” he asked.

  “My reservation here is for three weeks, but…well, we’re coming back to arrange for moving our things, then we’ll be coming back here.”

  “What?” they both exclaimed, talking over each other as they argued. I couldn’t even understand most of what they said.

  “We know you guys aren’t on board with this, but Savannah likes it here. And I do, too,” he quickly added. “After my time in Afghanistan, I’d really like someplace with a lot less sand that isn’t fronting a lake.”

  “So you’re going to stay there and chase after her?” my dad said, letting me know just how pissed off he was. I was surprised he hadn’t had my brother track me down then showed up and dragged me home. Having his baby girl out of reach had probably worried and annoyed him. Right now, it was definitely the latter.

  Jordan squeezed me and leaned in to kiss my neck. “I hope to be chasing her for the next fifty years or so since she’ll be my wife come Thursday.”

  I smiled at him, not seeing my parents’ stunned expressions but hearing their reaction loud and clear.

  “What are you talking about?” my mom exclaimed.

  “You’re not marrying my daughter without me—us—there,” my dad growled. “Her family should be there, and your parents and probably your brother will want to see you get married, too. Have you told them yet?”

  “We haven’t told anyone,” I answered, in a small voice. Jordan pulled his arm from around me and pulled me onto his lap, scooting over to center us in the camera frame. He embraced me, holding me close to his chest and giving me the safety of his strength.