Never Forget: A Novella in the Echo Platoon Series (17 page)
Read Never Forget: A Novella in the Echo Platoon Series Online
Authors: Marliss Melton
Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #Military
“Oh, my God,” she breathed as the paroxysm faded. Her eyes drifted open and she regarded him in wonder as he lifted his head. “I totally forgot how amazing that could feel.”
Tamping down his ridiculous pride, he grinned as he clambered up and over her, holding himself there so she could absorb the full impact of her effect on him. “I’ll remind you any time you want,” he promised.
Her gaze touched him like a warm caress as she took in the breadth of his chest, following the line of tawny hair that arrowed toward the band of his boxer briefs and then the head of his sex peeking out of the slit at the front.
To his gratification, she slipped her hand through the opening to encircle him. A growl of anticipation rumbled in his chest and his jaw clenched as he moved within her hold.
“I want to feel you inside me,” she admitted. “Now.”
“My lady gets what she wants, whenever it’s within my power.” He hustled to remove his underwear, not sure where they landed when he tossed them behind him. Then, starting with a kiss, he penetrated her, slowly, carefully, joining their bodies with a sense of awe he doubted he would ever grow immune to.
As he’d predicted, their first joining was not a marathon, more like an incredibly satisfying sprint. Between the warm welcome of her silken passage and his galloping enthusiasm, he struggled to hang on, feeling as green as a teen having sex for the first time.
Maya pressed closer, her pillows tumbling to the floor. He surged into her, taking as much pleasure from her grasping inner muscles as from her small cries of satisfaction. Only when she seemed to melt around him did he let go, his release coming like an unstoppable train on the tracks.
At last, he came to rest with his face buried in her hair, his heart thudding against hers. Exhaustion broke over him without warning. It was all he could do to withdraw from her before he slipped into a warm tide of unconsciousness. He forced himself to roll out of bed and wash up.
By the time he returned from a quick visit to the bathroom and rejoined her in the bed, pulling her limp body into his embrace, she was sound asleep…with what looked to be a smile on her face.
Rusty closed his heavy eyes and sighed. Never in a million years could he have predicted the way his date would play out. Highs and lows included, he wouldn’t change one thing about the way it had all fallen into place.
Epilogue
‡
“Y
OU DON’T NEED
to be nervous,” Maya reassured her son as she, Curtis, and Rusty sat outside the military judge’s chambers, waiting for Curtis to be called to provide his testimony.
The case against Goddard, Smith, and Lubber had proceeded beyond an Article 32 hearing to a full-blown court-martial. In deference to Curtis’s tender age, he had been summoned to testify before the judge and the JAG officers only. The judge would fill in the jury later, and the accused would never even lay eyes on him.
“I’m not nervous,” Curtis insisted, then promptly belied his statement by wiping his palms on his dress pants.
Maya and Rusty shared a look.
She tried again. “Will Goddard is looking at ten years in jail, at a minimum. Even if he managed to send someone in his place to get back at you, they would never find you.”
They had moved out to Never Forget Retreat on July Fourth, just in time to shoot off dozens of celebratory fireworks.
Curtis sat back with a laugh. “I hope he tries.” He looked over at Rusty and shook his head. “Good luck getting past Draco and my stepdad.”
Maya hid a smile. She and Rusty weren’t married yet—they’d planned a fall wedding—but Curtis had obviously taken to the idea of having a SEAL for a stepfather, although he’d made it clear he was going to be a Marine dog handler when he grew up.
“So, you’ll just go in there and tell the judge what happened, and that’s that,” she said.
“Mom, I’m okay. I’m just worried about leaving Draco by himself for so long.”
“Oh,” she said, nodding and meeting Rusty’s twinkling gaze again.
Suddenly, the door to the judge’s chambers opened and out stepped Santana, looking surprisingly clean-cut in a button-up shirt and slacks that had probably belonged to his father. He met Curtis’s expectant gaze and grimaced.
Curtis stood up suddenly and made his way over to him. Maya watched as they exchanged a hand-clasp and a few words. She had heard that Santana and his mother had taken Will Goddard’s threats seriously and, with the help of the U.S. Marshall Service Witness Security Program, they were moving out of state.
This was goodbye for the two friends. Maya still didn’t appreciate Santana for embroiling her son in his uncle’s criminal life, but she had thanked him personally for having the courage to do the right thing, to show them where Curtis had been imprisoned, and to testify against his uncle.
“Bye, Santana,” she called as he headed for his mother who at that moment stepped out of the ladies’ room.
The JAG waiting at the door cleared his throat. “The judge is waiting, Curtis.”
Maya resisted the urge to usher her son into the room while whispering last-minute advice in his ear. Instead, she threaded her fingers through Rusty’s, closed her eyes, and willed this ordeal to be over soon.
Thank God Rusty is in my life
. As the thought rippled through her head, she realized it had replaced the mantra,
If only Ian were still alive
.
“Are you going to miss this?” he asked, shifting closer and putting an arm around her shoulders.
Two weeks ago, she had given NCIS notice she would be leaving her post as special investigator. After fifteen years of ferreting out criminals, the time had come to do something more uplifting with her time. Helping to run a non-profit that improved the lives of special operators was proving far more satisfying, and Rusty had even offered to pay her to offset the loss of her income. While she helped Rusty maintain the retreat, at the same time raising money and awareness, Curtis cut grass on the riding lawnmower and put up with Draco in his bed. Life was a dream.
“Not at all,” she answered truthfully. She sent him a smile. “I know you have a lot to do back home. Thanks for coming this morning.”
He squeezed her hand. “Family comes first.”
She searched his dear, rugged face. “We’re not married yet.”
He shrugged. “That’s a formality. Family is a feeling.”
Apparently those vows whispered in the aftermath of lovemaking were what really counted. They had sworn to love each other forever, to raise Curtis to be hardworking, honest, and patriotic. Maybe Rusty’s visions of ghosts were like feelings—you couldn’t see them or examine them, but they existed, nonetheless.
“You’re right,” she agreed, leaning closer to kiss him. “Family is a feeling.”
*
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am so privileged to be surrounded by loyal readers and talented friends. Without their helps my stories would fall far short of gratifying those who read them. My deepest thanks goes to my beta readers, Joyce, Penny, Pam, and Elizabeth. Thank you to Wendie for brainstorming with me at the beginning and to Suzanne for your professional final edit. All of these ladies are amazing. As for my best friend and developmental editor, Sydney Jane Baily—there’s no one in the world who could take your place. As we say here in Virginia, y’all are the best!
OTHER BOOKS BY
MARLISS MELTON
Echo Platoon series
LOOK AGAIN (Novella #1)
DANGER CLOSE
HARD LANDING
FRIENDLY FIRE
HOT TARGET (coming 2017)
Taskforce series
THE PROTECTOR
THE GUARDIAN
THE ENFORCER
Navy SEAL Team 12 series
FORGET ME NOT
IN THE DARK
TIME TO RUN
NEXT TO DIE
CODE OF SILENCE, a novella
TOO FAR GONE
LONG GONE, a novella
SHOW NO FEAR
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