Loved by a Soldier: A Military Romance Collection

by Alison Mello

  Chapter 21

  Remy

  I’m pulling up to Kenzie’s house, nervous as hell. I haven’t seen her since before I left, and even the week before I left I didn’t get to see her. I just left her notes and gifts trying to tell her how I feel about her. I don’t even think it truly hit me that I love her until I got hurt again. I take a deep breath, pick up the flowers from the passenger’s seat of my car, and walk up to her door. The door is shut, and I know it’s because she’s getting ready for dinner at Mama’s house. I knock on the door and wait with her flowers in front of my face. I feel silly, but I’m waiting to see if she realizes it’s me.

  I finally realize I’ve been standing here for a few minutes now, and she hasn’t answered the door. I’m starting to think she didn’t hear me knock, so I lower the flowers to knock again when I see her standing frozen in her kitchen with tears running down her beautiful face. I guess she realized it was me. I smile as I pull the screen door open, turning the handle on the inside door to find it unlocked. As soon as I’m through the door, she runs into my arms, squeezing me tight. I wince in pain, but I refuse to let her go. She feels so good in my arms, pressed against my body. I whisper in her ear as I take in the fresh vanilla scent of her hair, “I’ve missed you so much.”

  “I’ve missed you too,” she says before she starts peppering kisses all over my face, causing me to laugh. She looks into my eyes with so much concern and asks if I’m okay. As soon as I tell her I’m fine, I press my lips to hers, slip my hand into her hair at her neck, and deepen the kiss. Her lips are so soft. I lick across them, begging for entry. Her tongue meets mine, and it causes my dick to twitch in my pants. I have to break this up. Mama is expecting us, and she’ll kill me if I’m late. Looking into her eyes, I ask her to go fix her makeup so we can get going. I busy myself putting her flowers in a vase.

  About ten minutes later, Kenzie comes walking back out with a huge smile on her face all ready to go. “I still can’t believe you’re here, I feel like I’m dreaming,” she says, taking my hand.

  “Oh I’m really here, and I’m hoping when I bring you home tonight you won’t send me away.” I wink at her.

  “Oh most certainly not. We have time to make up for, and some of that is my fault.” She looks to the floor.

  “Not today,” I tell her, lifting her chin so she has to look at me. “We’ll talk, but I want to wait until after Christmas, okay?” She smiles and nods at me. “Good, now we need to get going so Mama doesn’t kill us for being late.” She grabs her purse and keys to lock up.

  We make the short drive back hand-in-hand, and it feels so good. I can’t stop smiling. I’m so happy to be home and to have her by my side. When we pull up outside the house, there are a bunch of cars here already. I know they’re all family, but I really wish I had some time alone with Kenzie instead of a huge family dinner. I glance over at her. “Ready?”

  “Yeah, let’s go have dinner.” She has the same big smile I’m sporting, and it’s gorgeous on her. I jump out of the car and run around to her side to open the door for her. Taking her hand yet again, I walk her into the house. I think it’s going to take days for me to let go of her. I’m so glad I have a few days off before I have to report in for my evaluation.

  When we step inside, everyone yells “surprise!” I’m not sure if they’re yelling it to Kenzie or to me, but the noise level is not good. I freeze in my spot. I’m not able to move. I suddenly see men all around me running and taking cover. Everyone is shouting, and there are mortars blowing up shaking the ground. “Remy! Remy! Look at me.” I finally shake it off and look at Kenzie, who is staring at me with a frown on her face. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, sorry, the screaming.” I plaster a smile on my face. Kenzie gives me a wary look but drops it, and goes about hugging my family who is so excited to have her at dinner. I make a mental note that Keaton is here alone. I wonder what happened to him and Lilly, but now’s not the time to ask. I shake hands with my father and thank my mother for keeping my arrival a secret so I could surprise Kenzie.

  Dawson hugs me and welcomes me home. “Welcome home,” Kayla says, handing my godchild, Beau, off to Dawson. “I’m going to go see if Mama needs help in the kitchen,” Kayla says to him.

  “Want to hold him?” my brother asks.

  “I will after dinner.” My brows furrow. “I’m a bit jittery after all the screaming.” He simply nods his understanding, and I start talking in baby jabber to my godson.

  “Hey, everyone, I just took some appetizers out of the oven, so go help yourself while Mama and I finish dinner.” Brooke smiles at me and winks before she runs back into the kitchen to finish dinner.

  I watch as Kenzie is chatting with my father. I walk over, wrapping my arms around her from behind, she presses her back into my chest. They’re discussing her nana and the reports Nurse Emily has been giving him on her condition. “You know that if there are any changes you’re concerned with, to call me immediately and I will be over as soon as I can?” my father assures her.

  “Thank you, Dr. Bennett, I appreciate that.” I kiss her on the head for support. I can see she’s saddened by her grandmother’s condition. “When I saw her this afternoon I gave her a book that I made with pictures of the entire family in it. It seemed to make her quite happy, and when I left, she and Aunt Kenderly were going through the book with my aunt pointing out who everyone was.”

  “What a nice idea.” My father encourages her.

  “Thanks, I just hope it doesn’t make her sad. I’m afraid she’ll feel alone if she remembers that a lot of our family is gone.”

  “Unfortunately, that’s something only time will tell.”

  “We’re all going to Aunt Kenderly’s tomorrow, and her kids will be in town with Nana’s great-grandchildren, so I’m hoping that’ll cheer her up and remind her that she still has a family.”

  “What time do you have to be at your aunt’s?” I ask.

  “Whatever time I want. My cousins are getting there early, so I’ll probably go a little later in the day to give my aunt and uncle a chance to visit with their grandbabies first.”

  “If you’ll excuse me.” My father walks away to leave us to ourselves.

  “Why? What are your plans?” she asks me.

  “I was hoping to hang with you.” I give her a small smile.

  “Why don’t you come to dinner with me? You can meet my family.” I can tell she’s a bit nervous about asking.

  I turn her around to face me, then lift her chin. I rub my fingers across her soft lips. “I’d love to meet your family, if you think they’d be okay with me being there.”

  A smile spreads across her face. “They’d love to have you. I’ll text my aunt to let her know you’re home and coming with me. Trust me, she’s a typical Southerner that makes enough food for an army. It won’t be an issue.”

  He laughs. “Okay, I guess it’s settled then. After dinner, I’ll grab clothes to wear to your aunt’s tomorrow.”

  She reaches into her purse to grab her phone and send off the text. When she’s done, I rub my nose against hers and press a soft kiss to her lips.

  “Okay, lovebirds, dinner is ready,” Mama says. When we pull apart, we realize we’re the only two left in the room.

  We each take a seat in the dining room sitting next to one another and as soon as we do Mama says grace, then we start passing plates around, and soon we’re all digging in. There’s a lot of food here, and it all looks so good. There’s ham, pork tenderloin, and more fixings than you can count. “Mama, this is so good,” Keaton says, devouring the food on his plate.

  “It sure is, Mama,” Dawson adds.

  “Y’all are talking like Mama has ever made us a bad meal. Her cooking is always the best.” I wink at her.

  “Dude, you’re such a kiss-ass,” Keaton says, busting my balls.

  “Keaton Michael Bennett, watch your mouth. There are children at the table.”

  He gives me a dirty look and says sorry to ou
r brother and sister-in-law. Becky looks at Dawson and says, “Daddy, Uncle Keaton uses bad words.”

  We all begin to laugh. “Yes he does, sweetie, and that’s why your nana yells at him.”

  “Does he have to go in time out?” she asks with her hands planted firmly on her hips.

  We all continue to laugh, and Keaton rolls his eyes.

  “No, sweetie, Keaton is a big boy now, but you know what? If he doesn’t watch it, Nana is likely to smack him on the back of the head again.”

  “Dawson, stop teaching her that,” my mother scolds, barely able to contain her laughter. Poor Keaton blushes, embarrassed our niece called him out.

  Mama changes the subject, coming to Keaton’s rescue. “Kenzie, what are you doing tomorrow?”

  Kenzie explains how we’re going to her aunt’s house so I can meet her family and we can spend some time together. Dawson jumps in and explains that we get together on Christmas Eve so that they can spend Christmas day at their house in the morning, and then go to Kayla’s mom’s for lunch on Christmas day.

  After everything is cleaned up from dinner, we all sit around the Christmas tree watching as Becky opens her Christmas gifts from everyone. Of course, Mama being the awesome person that she is, took care of getting gifts for Becky and my godson for me. Kenzie is sitting next to me holding Beau. I hold up my phone and take a selfie of us on the couch. Becky notices and says, “Can I take one too?”

  “Sure, come here, darling, and sit on Uncle Remy’s lap.” She climbs up, and I take another picture of the four of us. She jumps down, excited and goes back to opening her last gift. She’s very excited she got this baby doll she wanted, and is now begging Dawson to open it.

  “Are you almost ready to go?” I ask her.

  “Whenever you are. I don’t want to cut your family time short.”

  I give her a dirty grin and wiggle my brows. “I’m more than ready. I’ll be right back.” I get up from the couch, careful not to wake Beau, who is now out cold in Kenzie’s arms, and shoot upstairs to get an overnight bag together. When I get back down, Kayla is peeling Beau from Kenzie’s arms and buckling him into his car seat. They are getting ready to go too. It’s getting late, and they need to get Becky home to bed so Santa can come.

  “Mama, I’m not sure of my plans for tomorrow other than going to Kenzie’s family’s house, so I’ll keep you posted.”

  She hugs me. “You’re a big boy now. You do what you have to, you hear?”

  “Yes, Mama,” I say as she continues to hug me.

  “I’m so glad you’re home.”

  “Me too,” She finally let’s go of me. We say goodbye to everyone and head back to Kenzie’s for our own Christmas Eve celebration.

  When we pull up to her house, I can’t help but notice she looks nervous. I want to hold and comfort her, so I climb out of the car, grab my bag, and open her door for her. When we get inside she says, “Come on, you can put your bag in my closet.” She locks the door, and I follow her to her room. I never noticed how big her closet was until I go to put my bag in there. When I turn around, I find her sitting on her bed taking her shoes off. I step in front of her, and when she stands her body is pressed to mine.

  “What’s wrong, sweet pea?”

  She shrugs. “I guess I’m still a bit shocked you’re here. Happy, but shocked.” She has a small smile. I press my lips to hers, and our kiss instantly becomes heated and passionate. Scooping her up, I lower her onto the center of her bed. I’m trying not to show the twinge of pain that I feel on my side. I’m not supposed to be lifting anything heavy until next week. Toeing off my shoes, I slip on the bed next to her, brushing her hair away from her face with the back of my knuckles. I notice her eyes well up. A tear slips down her cheek.

  “Why the tears, sweet pea?” I ask, staring down into her big hazel eyes.

  “Because I screwed up with us and then I thought I was going to lose you and now here you are. I’m so lucky to have another chance.” I smile at her words, and she continues, “It took me almost losing you to realize that I love you. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

  I sigh in relief, and I see a flash of panic spread across her face, so I quickly explain. “I’m so glad you said that, because I’m in love with you too.”

  Her panic quickly turns into a smile. “Remy, will you make love to me?”

  “All night long if you’d like.” I lower my lips to hers once more. I kiss her slowly and gently. Slipping my hand into her hair, I lick her lips, and she sticks out her tongue so they meet. I slowly slip my hand down her neck to her breast, massaging and kneading it through her bra. I feel her nipples harden and her back arches pressing her into me. Breaking our kiss, I look down at her with a huge smile on my face. “I love you,” I tell her as I slip my hand up her shirt.

  Her smile grows, and she responds. “I’m so in love with you.”

  I sit up, pulling her with me to quickly dispose of her shirt and bra. She lies back down, smiling at me as I lower my lips to her neck. I begin to nibble, suck, and kiss my way down to her breasts. Sucking one of her nipples into my mouth, I roll the other between my fingers and continue massaging it.

  Pulling away, I make a popping noise and continue kissing down her toned stomach. “I. Want. To. Taste. Every. Inch. Of. This. Sexy. Body,” I say between kisses as I go, and it causes her to giggle. I smile as I lick around her belly button and slowly peel her pants and panties down, tossing them to the floor.

  Positioning myself between her long, lean legs, I kiss the inside of each thigh and lick from her ass straight up through the folds of her sweet pussy, finding her clit hard and ready to be devoured. I suck it into my mouth rolling my tongue over it. She’s moaning and panting as I continue to feast on her. I slip two fingers inside her and begin moving them in a scissor motion, licking her clit at the same time. “Oh my…” she trails off. “I’m going to come.” She moans as she explodes all over my fingers. She tastes amazing. I’m lapping up every last drop as her pussy tightens around my fingers. My cock twitches, wanting to experience that same feeling itself.

  I look up at her before I lick my way up her stomach, between her breasts, up her neck to her ear. I whisper, “Are you ready for me?”

  She licks her lip. “Please, I need to feel you.”

  I quickly slip on a condom before lining up the tip of my cock with her opening. She closes her eyes as she waits for me to enter her. “Open your eyes, beautiful. I want you to see how much I love you as I bring you to another orgasm.” Her eyes shoot open and lock on mine. I slip my full length inside her and slowly roll my hips. Her breathing changes, but she never stops looking at me. I bite my lip as I gradually move my hips a bit deeper and faster. I need to hold onto control but it’s a struggle. It’s been far too long since I last had her and her pussy is so tight.

  She begins rolling her hips with me, meeting my thrusts. “Yes, love, this feels so good.”

  “I need you to come for me, sweet pea. I can’t hold on much longer.” I pick up the pace. She wraps her legs around my waist, changing the angle.

  “Yes, love, I’m…” she trails off again as she bites her lips. She never breaks eye contact as her pussy tightens around my cock, squeezing me for my seed. I slam into her one last time and still as I empty myself into the condom.

  “You’re beautiful, and that was amazing.” I press my lips to hers. “I love you,” I tell her one last time before I pull out to get rid of the condom. When I get back from the bathroom, she’s turned down the bed and is under the blankets. I slip in next to her to find her lying completely naked. I wrap her in my arms and kiss the top of her head.

  “What’s next?” she asks me.

  “How do you mean?”

  “For the Army, for us?” she asks.

  I shift in bed so I can see her better. I sigh. “For the Army, I have to finish physical therapy and pretty much prove I can still pass my physical fitness test with my injury. I have to do a psych evaluation, so they know
I’m okay after everything that happened, and then I’ll go back to my regular job on base.” I smile. “For us, I’m hoping we’ll start talking to one another, and we can move on from whatever it is you fear. I love you, and don’t want to lose you again.”

  “My fear of losing you is what kept me from you. I’ve lost so many people I love. My father was in the Army, and we lost him overseas,” she says as a tear streams down her face. “My mom spent so many nights crying because she was lonely while he was away, and when he finally was scheduled to come home, we lost him. She was devastated.” I wipe away her tears and give her a minute to continue. “I swore I would never date a military man. I didn’t want to feel the heartache and loneliness she felt, but then you came into my life. I tried so hard to stay away, but the harder I tried the more I wanted to see you. You turned my life upside down and I got scared. I didn’t want to lose someone else that I cared for so much, but then I realized that there will always be loss no matter the job, and when you left, it hit me that I should have been spending as much time as possible with you, instead of fighting how I felt.” Tears are streaming down her face as I continue to wipe them away for her. “I’m so sorry, Remy.”

  “Ssshh, you have nothing to be sorry for. I’m sorry you lost your father the way you did. It’s a hard thing to cope with.”

  “I thought I was over it until I met you. Meeting you brought it all back: the loss and my fears. I didn’t know what to do. My heart was telling me to stay, but my fears were telling me to run.”

  “No more running, okay? Well unless we’re out doing it together.” I give her a smile to try and lighten the mood.

  She laughs. “When can you go back to running? I miss our runs.”

  “Soon, sweet pea, soon.” I kiss away her tears. Her lips are soft and moist. She opens her mouth for me to deepen the kiss and when I do, it’s time for round two.

  Chapter 22

  Kenzie