Waiting... On You (Force Recon Marines)

by S A Monk

  With that final order, Lance slid inside the vehicle. Ty Sharp went around to the driver’s side and ordered Corporal Vincent to slide over. “I’m in charge of the itinerary tonight, bud,” he retorted. All three men rolled down their windows to wave at Nick and Hanna.

  Nick walked up to the side of the car and pointed at Lance. “Stay out of trouble, little brother. I’m not coming to your rescue tonight.” Then he leaned down to look through the front passenger window, past his young aide to his SEAL buddy. “Ty, don’t make me sorry I let you show my little brother a good time.”

  “Go enjoy yourself, Kelly. God knows, you need it!”

  NICK AND HANNA ATE AT THE OFFICER’S CLUB, which was also within walking distance. But it was noisy and crowded on a Friday night. As a result, they didn’t discuss anything serious, just what each had been up to the past two months.

  Hanna told Nick about her sailing trip, going into detail about how challenging it had been and how much she had enjoyed the adventure and the scenery. She wasn’t surprised when he chastised her for going alone, but she was when he admitted how impressed he was with her for sailing solo over such a great distance.

  Nick told her about his training adventures, his teams’ challenges, and the men he’d been assigned to prepare for a particular mission. He couldn’t tell he what that mission concerned, of course, but what he did tell her was fascinating. He had an amazing skill set, and the Marine Corps used him to train and lead some of its best teams. As a major and now more so as a colonel, he would be in command of greater numbers of men and teams. Hanna wondered if he would finally be in the field less and away from direct action more. Wasn’t it about time he got some safer assignments? Some responsibility that entailed less personal danger?

  As she listened to Nick talk and watched his face across the table, she understood more fully how much he really loved his life and career. While it had its drawbacks, he took real pride in doing his duty to the best of his ability and in the fraternity he found with his teams and many of his fellow officers. She knew the adventure of it all appealed to him, too. He’d always been an adventurer. She couldn’t ask him to give up the life he had carved for himself. She’d already thought long and hard about whether she could be a military wife. She now knew the answer to that, but she still had no idea if Nick intended to ask her to marry him.

  “Shall we take a walk along the beach?” he murmured against her ear as they left the club. His arm was wrapped securely around her waist and Hanna was leaning slightly into his side.

  “The beach first, huh? Not your quarters?” she inquired.

  Her teasing smile prompted a kiss to her cheek. “I still have a few things I need to say, and then… if you still want to….” He left the sentence unfinished.

  “I’m pretty sure I’ll still want to,” Hanna laughed and kissed him back, this time on his lips.

  It was a short distance to the paved pathway that led to the beach. After passing a couple of runners, several bicyclers, and a very old couple walking slowly hand in hand, they veered onto another pathway that led to a tunnel which ran under the Silver Strand Highway. The footpath afforded foot travelers, bikers, and beachcombers the opportunity to cross from the bay side of the peninsula to the Pacific Ocean side.

  When they got to the beach, Hanna took her sandals off and wiggled her bare toes in the sun-warmed sand. Nick sat on a beached log and removed his shoes and socks, then fold his pant legs up past his calves.

  Setting their shoes side by side on the log, they joined hands and walked toward the waves that surged against the shore. The cold water lapping over her bare toes and ankles made Hanna laugh and shiver. Nick helped her into her cream-colored sweater and hooked an arm across her shoulders, pulling her close to his side as they looked out over the ocean.

  “When I saw you standing there with Lance this afternoon, holding his hand, I thought for sure he had asked you to marry him, and that you had agreed,” he confessed, turning her to face him and looping both arms loosely around her waist. “It nearly killed me to think he might have come down here with you to ask me to be his best man. All I could think about was how was I going to go home again and watch the two of you together.”

  Hanna lifted her hand and stroked his recently shaved cheek, her fingertips lingering lovingly over his square jaw and the chiseled features of his beloved face. She decided to tell him exactly how she felt about him. She figured the risk was worth it. He was worth it. If he had been so distressed by the possibility of her marrying his brother, he had to care deeply for her. Maybe she had protected her heart too long anyway.

  “Nick Kelly, there’s never been anyone but you. I’ve waited my whole life for you. You were my first date, my first kiss, my first lover— my only lover. My heart has always been yours, only yours. I’ve loved you since you rescued my kitten. And I’ll love you into death.”

  Her confession was made with such vulnerability and candor it utterly and thoroughly humbled Nick. It made him understand that her love had been something fragile and cherished that she’d kept to herself all these years. In that instant, staring into her shimmering, tear-filled, emerald green eyes, he saw her soul and knew that he was a lucky, lucky man to have been loved so long by such a devoted woman.

  “Hanna, why didn’t you tell me how you felt three years ago, when we first made love?”

  She smiled as tears trickled down her face. “I was scared. I wasn’t sure why you had made love to me. I didn’t know if you loved me. Men feel differently about making love, don’t they? I mean it doesn’t have to mean anything....”

  He put a finger over her lips. “It meant a lot to me, Hanna. I made love to you that night because I wanted the compassion and honesty you were offering— and I wanted you. It wasn’t just about sex for me. We’ve been best friends for years, but there was always more than that, it seemed to me. I’ve just never been home long enough to explore it.”

  “You wanted to be a Marine, like your Dad. You love the Corps. I didn’t want to interfere with your dream. I still don’t.”

  “Oh, Hanna, had I known you loved me, I would have found a way for us to be together.”

  “But you left right after I came out of my coma.” The tears just kept coming. “I tried to tell you that I loved you after I’d been shot. I didn’t want to die without you knowing how I felt about you.”

  “Oh, sweetheart!” He folded her in his arms and pressed her head to his chest, then eased away enough so that he could look into her eyes again. He needed her to understand. “Lance told me that you wouldn’t be happy living on one base after the other, away from your family and career. I was afraid that was true, and that it wouldn’t be fair to ask you give all that up to become a military wife.” His hands slid over her shoulders to curl fiercely around her upper arms. “I love you, Hanna. I want us to be together, as much as we can, for the rest of our lives. I hated these past two months. I was miserable without you. Maybe it isn’t fair to ask you to marry me. I may have to go back to Afghanistan, but I want you too much to walk away from you again.”

  Hanna couldn’t seem to stop the tears from spilling down her cheeks, over her lips. She couldn’t seem to respond yet, either.

  “I’ll retire, if that’s what you want. I’ve already made the request to my commander, although he’s deliberately ignoring me.”

  It stunned her to hear Nick say he was willing to give up the Marine Corps for her. That alone told her how much he really must love her. She felt immensely blessed. “Oh Nick! You’re all I’ve ever wanted! If you want to stay in the Corps, then stay. I’ll deal with your dangerous lifestyle.” She laughed. “I have for twenty years anyway. And I’ll live anywhere, as long as it’s with you.”

  “Marry me, then, sweet Hanna.” His lips brushed over her wet cheek, then traveled to her even wetter lips, savoring the salty sweet taste of her. After a few moments, it became something deeper and more erotic. They clung to one another for a long time before Nick lifted his head an
d eased his embrace.

  “Tell me you love me again.” Hanna had waited all her life to hear him say those words to her! She wanted to hear them over and over again.

  This time when he wrapped his arms around her, he lifted her off the ground and whirled her around and around on the sand. “I love you! I love you! I love you!” With each revolution, he repeated his declaration. On the final spin, he dropped dizzily to the sand on his knees, with Hanna locked tightly in arms. In between their mutual laughter, he kissed her repeatedly. “Now put me out of my agony and tell me you’ll marry me.”

  “I’ll marry you!” There was no hesitancy in her mind or heart or soul.

  His kisses turned into one long passionate possessive one. Kneeling together in the sand, with their arms wrapped fiercely around one another, it went on and on until Nick finally rose to his feet, lifting her with him. “Let’s go celebrate, pretty doctor.”

  “Let’s go to your quarters, Colonel.”

  Nick laughed and set her on her feet. “Exactly where I had in mind for a celebration.”

  HIS QUARTERS WERE DEFINITELY BACHELOR’S QUARTERS. He lived on the first floor of a two-story complex that housed single officers of both sexes. Senior officers got the best units, but it was still just a very plain one bedroom apartment with a little kitchen, a simple living room, and a single bathroom— all furnished by the military, all very spartan and unadorned. The only thing that made it look lived in were his clothes draped over some furniture, his brown leather bomber jacket on a hook by the door, and some framed photographs of his family and hers.

  To her surprise, there were several photos of her. Hanna walked over to the bookshelf where they were displayed. With a tiny cry of dismay, she picked up a small framed photo of their senior prom. My God, they looked so young! There was another photo of her when she’d graduated from medical school. Hanna remembered sending that one to him years ago. The third photo had been taken three months ago, the first Sunday he’d been home, in fact. She was wearing that wrap-around sarong skirt and silk blouse she’d bought right after getting her hair cut and frosted. She remembered hoping her new look would catch his attention. Boy, had it!

  He came up behind her and slipped both arms around her waist to nuzzle his face in hair. “I love that photograph of you. Colleen sent it to me a month ago. You took my breath away that day.”

  His big sun-browned hands were locked over her tummy. She covered them with her own. Tears shimmered in her eyes. “Yes. I was always such a looker.”

  Turning her in his arms, he narrowed his beautiful gray eyes on her in admonishment. “Guess you haven’t been reminded much these past two months of how beautiful you are, have you, Dr. Wallace?” His stern expression evolved into a sensual grin as his eyes zeroed in on her mouth. “My fault— for listening to my brother’s dumb advice. Guess I’ll have to make up for that— starting now.”

  With one hand on her bare shoulder, he steered her into the bedroom, managing to unzip her dress along the way. When he got her to the edge of his unmade double bed, Nick spun her around to crush her in his arms and give her a bone-melting series of kisses. Her little sundress came off easily, and Hanna shivered in the dark, trembling with anticipation as his hands and long fingers relearned every curve.

  Reluctantly, Nick stepped back to remove his own clothes. “God! You’re so sweet, and it’s been so damn long!”

  Hanna could barely see him in the darkened room. She reached down to the bedside table and turned on the lamp. When she turned back to him, she saw that he was impatiently attacking his boots and socks. He looked so adorable in his unrelenting haste, Hanna couldn’t help giggling as he rose to rip off his shirt. “Want some help?”

  He looked up at her and froze. “Gez, woman! What is that you’re wearing?”

  It was a lingerie set she’d bought just before coming down here. It was a very sheer delicate white lace strapless corset and a tiny pair of matching bikini panties. Not even the black silk set Christine had bought her was as blatantly sexual as this outfit. She’d purchased it as a gift to herself, for him. She wondered if it was too over-the-top? Too outrageous? Too not her?

  “It’s called a bustier. It’s like a corset. I just thought it might help— you know— if we got this far.” Looking at his face, blushing, she couldn’t quite tell what his stunned reaction said. “Do you like it? Or is it too...”

  “Oh no! It’s.... Yeah, it’s....” he stuttered, yanking his jeans down over his hips. “I definitely like it!”

  Since he was having some difficulty getting his jeans over his hips, Hanna decided to assist him. She brushed his hands aside, and efficiently unhooked the rest of the buttons on his jeans. He was heavy and swollen, making it a difficult task. Carefully, she pushed them over his erection and down his hips. When he was finally free of his jeans and briefs, she curled her fingers around his sizeable arousal.

  Magnificently naked, he grew larger with each slow squeeze. Her free hand slid very, very slowly over his muscled chest. He was gorgeous, and he was all hers, for the rest of her life! She could barely believe her fantastic fortune.

  “You keep looking at me like that, Doctor, and....”

  “And what? You’ll jump my bones?”

  “Hell, yeah!”

  Her hands wandered across his broad shoulders, slowly along both biceps, down his dark haired forearms, over his tight firm buttocks, then back around to his muscular thighs. She felt the strength and power in them. Bending at the knees, she reached down to stroke his kneecaps, his rock hard calves. The downward motion of her lace-clad body rubbed sensuously against his naked one. She felt him shiver and tremble. She kissed his stomach, then touched him with her tongue.

  “Aw, Hanna, sweetheart,” he all but purred. “I can’t take that right now.” He let her fingers stroke him once more, then removed her hand with a sigh of regret and lifted her to her feet. “I’ve wanted you too badly for the last two months.” Turning her, he fumbled with the hooks at her back and groaned. “How do you get this thing off?”

  Hanna reached behind herself to assist him, laughing softly. “Oh, Colonel, don’t tell me you’ve lost your touch these past two months.”

  “There hasn’t been anyone to touch since you, Hanna.” After dispensing with her corset-like top, he cupped his hands over her breasts.

  They fell together onto his disheveled bed. Nick wrapped her in his arms and rolled with her until they were in the center of the mattress, then he lowered his mouth to her collarbone. His lips caressed the fading scar there with great tenderness.

  Without lifting his dark head, his mouth traveled the long length of her body. When he reached the edging of her stretchy lace panties, he tugged them down over her flat stomach and lower, to her thighs, exposing the vicious scar that marked the worst of her injuries. The wound was long and jagged. His big body shuddered as he kissed the line of pinkish-red stitch marks that marred her soft pale flesh.

  Breathless, Hanna quivered and wove her fingers through his short, dark, spiky hair. “Now I have battle scars like you, just not as many.”

  “I’ll never put you in a position to get anymore.” He lifted his head and looked up at her fiercely, his voice rough with emotion. “I’ll never forgive myself for causing that. You lost a kidney because of my stupidity.”

  She looked at him just as seriously, which wasn’t easy with him poised between her thighs. “You need to stop blaming yourself. I would have followed you even if you had refused to take me. And I was trying to save your life, so losing a kidney was a small price to pay for that. My second one is working just fine.”

  Growling, he gathered her tightly in his hard embrace, and then slipped one finger inside her sweet feminine passage to begin a slow deep rhythm. When he dropped his head to her breasts, he suckled them until she was writhing beneath him, calling out his name. “I can’t wait, Hanna. I’m sorry, but it’s been too long.”

  “It’s okay, Nick.” Her breathing came fast and ragged. “No
thing feels as good as you buried deep inside me.”

  Positioned where he wanted most to be, he shoved into her in one long slow stroke. “Aw, Hanna, sweetheart, I love you— now... forever....” And with each plunge of his body, he told her he loved her again.

  Cherishing each affirmation, she raised her hips and locked her long legs, then her ankles around his waist as tightly as she could. Nick took her with drugging passion and a ferocious desire that Hanna met with equal ardor. Her body confirmed everything she’d said to him on the beach. She had always loved him. She always would. Past. Present. Future. Their bodies wound around each other’s until there was no separation, only a rapturous joining that left them trembling, too overcome afterward to do more than curl wordlessly in one another’s arms and fall into sleep.

  ON SATURDAY, they took Nick’s big Harley up the Pacific Coast Highway to Camp Pendleton. After calling ahead, Nick took Hanna to meet his commanding officer. They had lunch with General Tyler and his wife, who were both elated to hear about their wedding plans. The general was especially glad to meet Hanna since he, too, had heard quite a bit about her.

  When Nick told him that he was withdrawing his retirement request, he was so elated he promised to find an appropriate assignment for Nick at Pendleton or at one of the San Diego Naval stations. He couldn’t promise to keep Nick completely out of Afghanistan even though the Marines were getting ready to leave there, but he did agree that Nick had been in the field, on the front lines, for far too long. It was way past time to give him some safer assignments closer to home. And the general also told Hanna that he would do everything he could to help her find employment with one of the many military and civilian hospitals in the area.

  Nick still had three weeks left of his current assignment. Once that was completed, General Tyler also promised him two weeks of leave to get married. He and Hanna had decided that they’d be married as soon as he returned to Port George. Hanna was unwilling to wait any longer than necessary. She had waited all her life for Nick, and she wasn’t going to wait any longer than absolutely necessary to become his wife. It gave her enough time to go home, give notice at the hospital and the college, and plan her wedding.