21 Marine Salute: 21 Always a Marine Tales (128 page)

“You don’t know where you’re going?” She studied him, her dark eyes filled with unreadable emotion.

“Not precisely.” His unit had returned from an overseas deployment a few weeks before the holidays. “We’re at Pendleton right now, but that can change to meet whatever needs they have.”

“That’s California, right?”

Running a hand over her hip, he nodded. “Yeah.”

“Well, I hear there are some really nice beaches in California.” It took a moment for the implication in her words to penetrate.

“What?”

“Well, maybe I’m reading too much into this, but if you’re worrying about not seeing me—planes do go both ways, and I can always visit. You know…if you want.” Hesitancy filled her voice and he kissed her.

“I want.” Hell, he wanted a lot more than a visit. “If you marry me, we can get base housing.”

Her mouth opened in a silent
O
and he rushed on, determined to make his case. “You love me. I was an absolute ass for more years than I care to remember, yet you
still
love me. We’re good together.
We
fit. This last week has shown me I’ve been missing a piece of myself—you. I don’t want to miss it anymore. You’ve always wanted to see the world, see other places, and you want to go to school.”

Catching her chin in his hand, he locked his gaze on her eyes—all but willing her to believe him. To choose him. “Being a Marine wife has benefits, including education. You’ve got good people here, and they can take care of the community center. You can train someone or fly out and visit. And hell, if I get deployed overseas, you come home and stay with your mom or my family. In a couple of years, I take my out, and we do whatever we want. I know we have a lot of things to figure out, but…but dammit, I’m not taking no for an answer this time.”

Her eyes took on a dangerous glint and her lips pursed. “Really?”

“Yes, really.” He caressed her cheek. “I want this. I want us. I don’t want to be a few hundred miles away when we can be together. If it were up to me, fine. I’d be here and drive you nuts until you said yes. But I have to report. so you’ll just have to go with me.”

Period. End of story
.

“So you’re telling me I have to go. Isn’t that a little pushy?” The challenge brewing in her tone warned him.

Firming his grip on her hip, he met her gaze evenly. “Damn straight I’m pushing. I don’t know if I was too young or too stupid to know what we had before; we’re different now. We’re adults. I want you. You turn me inside out and get me on a level no one else does. Even when it pisses me off, you get me.” Time to lance the wound once and for all. “I hated that you gave our son up for adoption, but I didn’t hate you or your choice. I hated that you had to make the choice and that I failed to be there for you. I should have been. Even in my blind, pigheaded state, what I wanted was to be there for you and not thousands of miles away. You made the right choice—the choice for him. I will spend the rest of my life trying to make up for punishing you for it.”

Tears rimmed her eyes and one splashed onto his chest. It killed him to see the sadness there.

“Z, I’m sorry, I’m not trying to hurt you again….”
Dammit, why do I keep screwing this up?

She sniffled. “You didn’t hurt me, and that’s the first time you’ve said I made the right choice. That you didn’t hate me for it.”

“Oh, baby, I could never hate you, not for real. I never stopped loving you, even when I was so mad.” Cupping her face in his hands, he pulled her down for a kiss. “I love you so much, it hurts. Forgive me?”

“I forgave you a long time ago, Isaac. I’ve only ever wanted to love you.” The salty and sweet flavor of her kiss stole into his heart, bandaging the last tear their separation had rent. She broke away and rested her forehead against his. “And to have you love me.”

“I loved you like a boy, a stupid, immature little jerk who thought you only belonged to him and that you’d be exactly as I left you when I came home.” A harsh truth to realize about himself, but he was man enough—Marine enough—to recognize it. “Let me love you like a man who knows what duty, devotion, and loyalty really mean. Marry me, Zehava. Be my wife. We can handle anything together.”

Her quiet worried him, but he’d committed to the course. It didn’t matter how many times he had to ask or what he had to do, he would win her again. He was stubborn that way.

“Yes.”

The whispered word was so soft he barely heard it. His gut clenched. “What?”

“Yes, Isaac Benjamin Janko, I will marry you.” Her eyes shone and another tear slid down her cheek.

He crushed her to him, his chest swelling with pride and adoration. “I will be a good husband, I promise.” He would not screw this up again. Hanukkah was a time of healing, reconciliation, and miracles and Zehava was the only
gelt
he’d ever desired.

“I know,” she assured him with a laugh. “Or I will kick your ass.”

The fierce declaration lit a flame inside of him. One that would never go out.

Always a Marine Book 19

By

Heather Long

~Dedication~

To hope. Blessed Be.

Aaron Fields’ naked ass was not the sight Kaiden imagined greeting him at the end of the two-mile-long trek up to the secluded Lake House.

“Well, well, well…G.I. Joe came home.” Aaron’s drawled greeting came with a broad smile and he pulled the front door wider, spilling near-tropical warmth out into the chilly December evening.

“So it would seem, and Malibu Ken is missing his tan.” The banter, familiar and yet alien in the same breath, twisted the need to greet an old friend with the desire to withdraw to more neutral territory. Refusing to run, he caught Aaron’s outstretched hand and gripped it firmly.

“I’d offer a hug.” Despite the humor in his tone, Aaron’s gaze held a measure of caution.

“I don’t want to touch your junk.” The men had agreed on that issue years before, and Aaron released him to back up and admit him into the house.

Parked at the edge of the lake, sheltered by trees and protected by an extensive privacy fence at the extreme edges of the property lines, Lake House, sounded far more cottage than it actually was—a twenty-one-bedroom estate house occupying nearly one hundred and fifty acres of prime, forested waterfront property. It defined exclusive and, once past the main gates, skyclad—bare-ass naked—was acceptable to the residents.

At last count, their coven consisted of over thirty active members and their families. The greater Sabbats always brought in old friends, guests, and the occasional curious seeker.

“Your mom and dad aren’t due until tomorrow.” Aaron gestured to the stairs. The main hall was empty, save for the two of them, but sounds echoed from above. “But you have your old room. We always keep it empty for you.”

“Ten years is a lot of holidays to not use the space.” The token gesture however, fit everything he remembered about his coven. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling of being a stranger entering an exotic world. A stampede of feet descending jerked his attention upward as three pre-teen boys raced down, pushing, shoving, and laughing.

The blissful ignorance of freedom in their still high-pitched voices aroused protectiveness in him that he’d thought long abandoned. The first boy to notice him slammed to a halt at the last step, teetering when the pair behind him collided with his back. “Whoa—you’re Sergeant Nelson.”

Bemused by the kid’s wide eyes and raw curiosity, Kaiden nodded once. “You can just call me Kaiden. At least here.” He traveled in his familiar MARPATS, but he’d take them off as soon as he made it upstairs to change. Shed them for civilian clothes and all the responsibilities and expectations that accompanied them. There, he wasn’t a Marine—he was Kaiden, a son, a priest, and a friend.
Maybe if I say it enough, I’ll start to believe it
.

“Do you have a gun?” The youngest of the three pushed his way to the front and swept his gaze over Kaiden as though searching for the aforementioned weapon.

“No.” He’d never bring a weapon there. It flew in the face of what few moral fibers he had left.

“Jensen.” Aaron folded his arms. “Is that how we greet anyone?”

“No, sir.” Jensen shrugged. “But Sergeant Nelson isn’t anyone—he’s a Marine.”

“Yeah, and he’s been to a real war. I bet he kicked some Al Qaeda butt!” This from the kid who’d stopped first. His red hair and freckled face reminded Kaiden of another, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint whom. Odd to think these boys had been two- and three-years-old respectively when he’d last seen them. He hadn’t paid that much attention to kids back then, not when he’d been so full of piss and vinegar himself.

“Did you, Sergeant? Were you with the men who got Bin Laden?” Not willing to be left out, the third kid shoved up to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with his friends.

“No, stupid,” Jensen said, obviously attempting to sound wise and informed. “The guys that got Bin Laden were SEALS. The sergeant is a Marine. He doesn’t do what the SEALS do.”

“Yes, he does.” The first kid elbowed Jensen. “Marines are badass—”

“Boys!” Aaron clapped his hands. “Manners.”

“But did you do it, Sergeant? Were you there?”

“Parker. Jensen. Spence.” Lifting, clear, and authoritative, the feminine voice silenced the boys in a way Aaron hadn’t managed. Backlit perfectly at the top of the stairs stood an auburn-haired woman dressed in a body-hugging sheath of a dress. “Aaron told you that was enough a few moments ago. And you didn’t listen. What have we told you about respecting our guests and Circle members when they arrive?”

Only his training kept Kaiden from laughing out loud at the crestfallen expressions all three boys wore. Old enough to appreciate the woman’s beauty and too young to be more than tongue-tied around her, not a single one could lift his gaze to meet hers. Instead, they shuffled their feet and kept their heads down.

“That’s what I thought.” She smiled and, even from ten feet away, the promise of sunshine warmed him. “Apologize and excuse yourselves. I think you’ll find that the circle hasn’t been raked nor has the area scoured for any leftover debris. You will work on that this evening
and
tomorrow morning.”

Aaron didn’t bother to hide his amusement and let out a faint snicker at the boys’ predicament.

“You can have Aaron inspect it when you’re done.” She tacked the last on as an afterthought because, while Aaron watched the boys, she watched Aaron and seemed to take note of his amusement at their discomfort. Disapproval echoed in the look she gave him.

He grunted but didn’t complain. The boys cleared out without further warning and the goddess in the pale-gray silk dress descended the stairs slowly. He didn’t get a glimpse of her feet, but the way the long skirt swirled around her gave her the effect of floating.

“Aaron?”

He parroted her tone. “Rowan?”

The man’s nudity hadn’t bothered Kaiden when he’d arrived, not really. He hadn’t been gone so long he didn’t remember the comfort most others had in their skin—hell, a comfort he’d once shared. But when
Rowan
achieved the last step, Kaiden fought the desire to strip off his jacket and throw it at the other man.

Realization dawned across Aaron’s chastised expression. “Oh. My apologies, you two haven’t met…I forgot. Rowan Harper—this is Lorraine and Henry’s son, Kaiden. Kaiden, Rowan Harper—she joined Blue Circle a few years after you enlisted, give or take.”

“Merry meet, Kaiden.” She smiled, walked straight to him, and brushed her lips to his—the contact a violent shock to his system and he blinked once, going completely still. “It’s truly lovely to have you with us this year.”

It took his mind what seemed like a full minute to catch up. “Hello.” The word came out strained and harsh, but either she gave him a free pass as they were strangers or she didn’t notice it. Aaron, on the other hand, did and shot an odd look in his direction.

Rowan gestured toward the stairs. “Shall I take you to your room? I put fresh sheets on the bed and fixed it up when your parents told me you had confirmed coming this year.”

He knew exactly where it was, but his manners finally kicked awake. “Please.” Following her up the stairs, he glanced back at Aaron once, aware of his amused gaze. Kaiden didn’t care for the sensation of being watched.
He’s a friendly. They’re all friendlies. This is home
.

The mental litany didn’t ease the tension winding him up. At the curve in the stairs, she paused to wait for him, and Kaiden picked up the pace. He might be fucked up, but that didn’t mean he had to be rude.

“Sorry, it was a long flight.” Mentally groaning at the obviousness of the comment, he sucked in a deep breath, determined to do better, and inhaled a fruity, deeply feminine, deliciously sensual scent that sent a shiver of awareness through him and his blood plummeted to southern regions.