by Bex Dane
"Shh. Don't talk about it. I want to be with you, and I'm willing to face the consequences."
Wrinkles appeared on her forehead, and her jaw worked, but no words came out. Not the reaction I was hoping for.
"Hector asked me to marry him."
My whole body tensed. "What the hell?"
"I talked to him after what you said at the banquet and asked him if he had feelings for me. He said he's been waiting to tell me. He loves me and wants to marry me."
"So what're you doing here fucking me?" I shoved her off my lap. I might have found her indignant expression comical if I wasn't blinded by a rising haze of fury.
"I didn't say yes." Her voice was argumentative, like I'd done something wrong by throwing her off my dick when she'd just dropped the bomb Firefighter Bustillo proposed to her. I got up and zipped up my pants. She couldn't have waited a few minutes for my dick to stop pulsing before she blurted out something insane like that?
"Did you say no?"
"No. But I'm going to." She grabbed my undershirt off the floor and slipped it on.
"You are?"
She nodded slowly. "I'm in love with someone else."
"Me?"
"Yeah."
"Shit."
"Let's get married. Today. In Vegas. We'll go to the courthouse. It only takes a few minutes and we could be married."
"Why the hell do you need to get married right now? You're only twenty years old. You're gonna meet lots of men."
"I already met the one I want. I don't need more time. Don't you love me too?"
Do I? "Damn, I don't know. I'm slipping down the steep hill to loving you. I'm in so deep, I can't turn back. You're it for me, crazy beautiful and full of fire. Smart, fun, gorgeous tits."
A feline grin spread across her plump lips. "Then let's get married."
"No. Stop talking bullshit."
"I'm being serious." She pouted and gave me puppy-dog eyes.
"Hey, you just sprang a bunch of shit on me. With really bad timing too."
"I'm sorry."
I took a few deep breaths as I returned to the lounger. "C'mere. Lie down on me. We'll sort this in the morning."
She crawled back on and curled up beside me. She snuggled her nose in the crook of my neck. "I love you, Boggs."
Well, shit.
Chapter 7
I woke to find Eden had opened the safety glass and climbed through a narrow gap to get outside. She sat on a ledge only wide enough to hold her butt, her feet dangling down to infinity below.
"We're five hundred feet up here."
Ice shivered down my spine when she threw her wine glass and leaned forward to watch it fall.
"Bones."
"What?"
"We're all just bones. They take them and cook you to ashes in an oven."
"Don't think about that now."
"Or they bury you and wait for your skin to decompose. And your family comes to kneel by the grass where you'll eventually become fertilizer." She swayed left to right.
"You need to get back in here, now." The little opening she'd crawled through was too small for me to get to her.
"If Nathan's in heaven living as an angel looking down on me still stuck in this body, it's such a waste. If his soul is alive, he should be here. He should be drinking and falling in love, being hopeful for his future. Not me. The crazy little sister. Why am I the one stuck here?"
"I don't know." I took silent steps closer to the glass. If I could get my shoulder through that gap, I might be able to reach her.
"The military is a business where lives are the commodity. If a deal goes bad, you lose your brother. His body comes home a mangled mess of blood and bones." She buried her head in her hands. "These bones should be dead, not his."
As she wobbled forward, I pushed as much of my arm through the opening as far as I could manage. The glass clamored when my chest hit it and couldn't pass through, but I grasped her bicep seconds before she would've fallen to her death.
She looked confused as I struggled to get her back through the window. Once she was inside, her eyes opened wide when she looked up into my furious face. I spun her around and smashed her up against the glass.
"These are my bones crushing your bones. You're alive. Don't do anything stupid to change that because who would you hurt then? Your father, your mother, me. You'd cause them that pain again?"
I grabbed my undershirt and yanked it off her.
"Look outside." With my hand on her throat, I forced her gaze upward. "Vegas can see your bones pressed up against the glass. They can see me behind you, holding your bones in my hands." I squeezed her windpipe enough to constrict her airflow and scare her. My other hand gripped between her legs. "Your life is in my hands."
She gasped and ground her ass against me. Only Eden would get off on me pretending to kill her.
"Say you're alive." I released my grip for her to answer.
She sucked in a huge breath of air. "I'm alive."
"Say you'll keep living."
"I'll keep living."
I freed my cock and worked my way inside her. My thrusts squashed her boobs against the glass. Her breath, condensing on the window, grew larger and smaller as I restricted her breathing. The lack of oxygen to her brain seemed to calm her and her body relaxed. My angry thrusts became slow, languid caresses. When she came on my cock, I followed her over the edge, not knowing where I ended and she began. We were just one combined mass of bones against a glass window in Las Vegas.
I turned her to face me and gently ran my fingers over the red marks on her neck. "When you start thinking those thoughts, you remember this as proof you're alive and promised me to keep living."
"Yes."
"I'd be a mess of bones if I lost you." I wiped the tears from her cheeks and tucked her wild hair behind her ears.
"Marry me, Rogan. Now. Today. To prove we're alive."
"No, Eden."
"Why not? Why not get married now, while we've just found each other and we're on the top of the mountain."
"It's reckless. I'm leaving for selection. If I make the unit, I'll be gone."
"I'm going to miss you whether you're my husband or not. Why not take the chance? Don't you feel this connection between us? It's magical."
"I feel it. I never want to see you on a ledge again. I don't want anyone else fucking you."
"Then marry me. We'll get to know each other over time, but let's get married now. No fear. No games. Just you and me and our honest love for each other."
Why were her words making sense to me? I knew from the first night, I wanted her as mine. Could not get her off my mind since.
If I didn't marry her, Hector would be waiting to take my place. As upset as she is about Nathan, when I leave, she'll turn to him again and he'll make his move. In her state, I think she'd say yes to him.
"My dad wants me to marry Hector."
"No."
"Why do you care if I marry him? You don't want me."
"That's not true. I want you, but I'm still figuring out how to bring this up to your dad. Starting with we got married isn't gonna go over well with him."
"You're considering it now?"
"Yes, babe. I'm considering it. You got me thinking all kinds of crazy thoughts. If I leave on a mission, you'd be alone here with your father pressuring you to marry Hector. I couldn't do anything to stop you from halfway across the world." Knowing her, she'd want to please her father to earn his affection.
The reasoning was screwed up. I'd seen plenty of girlfriends cheat on their men when they were deployed. Not like a wife couldn't cheat on her husband, but the commitment would be there. Hector would see her promise to stay faithful on her finger.
"How uncomfortable was everyone at Diesel and Coral's wedding yesterday?" she asked.
"No one enjoys weddings."
"Imagine, just us, promising to love each other forever. No one else there to judge us or interrupt us. Take the leap with me. We'll figure out the details later."
&
nbsp; "Let's go downstairs." I picked up her dress and handed it to her.
"Why?" She slipped the dress over her head and worked it down her hips.
"C'mon," I said as I sat on the lounger to put my shoes and shirt on again.
She grabbed her heels and followed me out the door. I kissed her in the elevator on the way to the lobby before marching her through the entrance to a jewelry store.
"You want kids?" I asked her.
"Um, I don't know."
"If you want kids, we wait till I'm off active duty."
"Kids?"
"You understand I gotta leave for long periods? You won't know where I am. We won't be able to talk. I might not come back."
"Yes. Yes."
"Pick out a ring."
Tears welled in her eyes. "Oh my gosh!"
"No crying. You're right. You're mine, I'm yours. Separation won't change that. Time won't change it. We seal the deal now and it's set in stone."
"Are you asking me to marry you?"
"Are you saying yes?"
"Of course, babe. I love you so much." She jumped up and wrapped her legs around my waist.
"Get down so no one can see my future wife's ass. That's for my eyes only now." She hopped down and laughed. "If you want a new dress, we'll go shopping for one."
"This one's close enough to white for me."
"We can get you something special."
"No, I don't want to waste any time."
She ran to the counter and picked out a plain silver band with a modest rock.
"You can go bigger, babe."
"I like this one. It's simple and honest. Like us. Can we see those two?" The woman behind the counter handed her an unadorned platinum band for me and the ring she'd picked.
I slipped it on her left finger and it felt good. It felt right. Eden Langbow Saxton was meant for me. She'd never be a Bustillo, always a Saxton.
She put the ring on my finger. "It fits. It's a sign it's meant to be."
Exactly.
Chapter 8
Baltimore, Maryland
Langbow slugged me in the kidney. I kept my hands by my sides.
In his fifties and standing six foot tall, his fist still delivered a decent punch despite his years riding a desk. My side ached, but I bit down my defensive instincts. I deserved to have my ass handed to me for marrying his daughter when I knew she was forbidden.
He landed an uppercut to my chin. I closed my eyes and breathed through the rattling in my brain.
"Stop! Daddy! Stop!" Eden stormed into her father's office with panic etched on her beautiful face.
"Get out of here, Eden." Her dad didn't take his eyes off me.
"I'm fine, Eden. Go." I broke eye contact with Langbow long enough to send her a warning glance. She needed to obey me right now, so Langbow and I could come to terms. Men like him worked through anger this way. Better to take the hits early than to have him shoot me in my sleep in a month.
"No. No. He can't punch you while you stand there and take it. You didn't do anything wrong."
Colonel Langbow spun on her. "Didn't do anything wrong? Taking advantage of my grieving daughter? Marrying her without my permission?"
"It wasn't him. It was me. I begged him to marry me. He gave in to comfort me."
Langbow turned back to face me, his brow drawn in confusion.
"That's not true," I said. "It happened fast, but I love her. I want her as my wife."
Colonel Langbow rubbed his knuckles and focused on Eden.
"All your life, you've wanted stability. Nathan's death has crushed you. Yet here you stand before me professing your love for a soldier. Not any soldier, a sniper with one of the shortest life expectancies on the planet. This is not the life I wanted for you."
"But it is the life I know. You and Mom love each other."
"And your mother has been through hell over the years."
She took the steps to close the distance between her and her father. She hugged him and he stiffly moved a hand to her back. "Please, Daddy. Let me love him. I know it's foolish. I know the risks, but I love him and he loves me. We'll roll with the cards as they're dealt, but I want to be with him, more than anything I've ever wanted in my life."
His face didn't soften. "Get it annulled." He glared at me over her head.
"Not doing that," I stated.
"I'll withdraw your recommendation for spring selection."
Shit. I knew it'd come down to this. "I'll ask you kindly not to do that. Making Delta has been a lifetime goal of mine, but if it's her or the unit, I pick her."
Eden stepped closer to me and took my hand.
Her father scowled at the gesture. "I'll make your life hell."
"That's your choice. I'm hoping that you'll come to accept me for her."
"You liked him." Eden spoke up. "You recommended him for Delta Force."
"The attributes that make a man qualified for Delta have nothing to do with being a husband. The ability to shoot someone with an M14 at long range will not help you when you're feeling down and need your man to be there for you."
"You don't know anything about him in that regard. He's kind and caring. He'll take good care of me. If you sabotage his career, you'll hurt me too. Please, give us a chance? Please, I beg you."
Langbow lowered his head and turned his back on us.
"You married her?" Hector Bustillo stormed through the door. He wore tight jeans and a tee tucked into a braided leather belt. Exactly what I need. A metro-sexual firefighter to add acid to the boiling cauldron of shit I'm in. His frame carried less bulk than mine, but he stood at about the same height.
"I did. You got a problem with that?"
"Of course I have a problem. You don't even know her. We've been friends for years."
"We're just friends, Hector." Eden's small voice didn't penetrate Bustillo's thick skull.
He squinted at her and took a step forward. "We crossed the friends' line a long time ago."
Crossed the friends' line? She'd fucked him? She left that part of the story out. A red blush climbed up Eden's neck. She'd slept with the firefighter? I tucked Eden behind me. "It doesn't matter now. She's mine. We're married. Move on." My right foot inched forward slightly and a subtle bend of my knee let him know I was braced for a fight. Come at me, man. I could use a receptacle for the frustration brewing deep in my psyche.
Langbow's punches I couldn't return, but a stupid fireman I could beat the shit out of. Firefighters had no combat training. All they did was play with their hoses and climb ladders.
Fear crossed Hector's face as he watched my fists clench. His eyes scanned me from head to toe. With a deep sigh and a glance at Langbow, he paced away.
Smart choice, Bustillo. I didn't want to have to kick his ass in front of Eden's dad. Hector ran his hands over his sticky hair. He stopped to glare at Langbow. "You okay with this, Doug?"
Hector was on a first-name basis with Langbow? What kind of drama had I walked into with her?
"No, Hector. I'm not. But what can I do?" Langbow sounded defeated.
"Fix it! You fix everything else. Get him demoted, kick his ass out of the Army for this."
Had to give Bustillo credit for having the balls to talk to Langbow like that.
"He hasn't broken any rules."
Eden peeked out from behind me. "And my dad would never do something that would hurt me. Please, Hector. Accept this. I'm sorry about us. Rogan is the one for me. You'll see." Eden took a step toward Hector, but I pulled her back. They could have their goodbyes across the room. Wasn't gonna stand by and watch her hug him or comfort him. Hector could go work his sorrows out in a bottle of booze or a cheap blonde, but he wouldn't get that final hug from the girl that got away.
He scratched his forehead and stared at her with confusion and pain. Sorry, bro. Not your girl.
"Be happy, Eden." He turned his gaze to me. "You hurt her, I'll be right here to pick up the pieces. You make one mistake, it'll cost you."
"I'm not
concerned."
He huffed out a breath and I laughed at his fancy ass jeans. Hard to take him seriously in that outfit.
We all exhaled as Bustillo's energy left the room.
Langbow walked out behind him.
"Don't get killed, Saxton."
"I'll do my best, sir."
***
Wilmington, North Carolina
"Dipshit."
Falcon and I were alone for the first time since I'd told him I'd married Eden. On the plane from Vegas, he remained silent and stoic. He didn't say anything in front of Eden and didn't give me any clue what he thought about the news. Now, at Falcon's request, Eden waited in the living room while we talked in one of the guest bedrooms at the house he'd rented in Wilmington.
"Dipshit move. Marrying Langbow's daughter."
"I worked it out with her father." I pressed an ice pack to my side where he'd nailed me.
"Still, a total dipshit move from the smartest man I know."
"Why? Why is it a bad move?" I asked him.
"Distraction kills." Anger shone in his eyes as he stared me down.
"True. Distraction can also motivate and balance."
He shook his head and strode away from me. "Fuck motivation and balance. You had motivation; kill or be killed. Balance creates mediocrity. You were the best marksman I've ever worked with."
"I'm still the best marksman. She won't mess up my aim."
"Make sure of it. We got three weeks left to train hard. No showing up late or leaving early." He leaned forward as he spoke and pointed to the closed door. "You'll spend an extra hour at the range each day to make up for the hour you'll waste thinking about her."
"I won't lose my focus, Falcon. You know me. I'm good. I can handle the stress and have her too."
He pressed his palms to his eyes and growled. He lowered his hands and squinted at me. "She sucked my cock."
Oh no he didn't. He's not taking this there. "You jealous?"
"Not one bit."
"You talking shit about her?"
His jaw tightened as he stared at me. "Is that how it is? You're gonna fight me over her?"
"Not if you keep your mouth shut about being with her that first night. It's history. She's mine now. She won't be with anyone else."
He sat on the bed and ran his hands through his hair, his elbows on his knees. He took a deep breath and blew it out slowly as he focused on me again. "I'll give it a chance."
