G.I. BABY (20 page)

He was afraid to move. She might stop. He didn’t want her to ever stop.

Her lips were even softer than he remembered, even sweeter.
 

It was’t enough. With his hand coming up to slide at the back of her head, he deepened the kiss.

His tongue drove in and it was an explosion of his senses.

Blood surged like a flush flood to his cock. He was rock-hard in seconds.

He hauled her onto his lap and devoured her lips, refreshing his memories of her taste.

His hand crept inside her dress and cupped one of her breasts. He squeezed gently and milk dripped down his fingers. Sweet fuck, he wanted to rip her dress off of her and suck her breasts like his son did as he slid his cock inside her, slam to the hilt and never leave her depths.

But it was not possible at the moment.

It nearly killed him but he had to pull away from their kiss.

“Andi, sugar…”

She groaned, kissing him again.

He leaned back, evading her lips. “Baby, we can’t.”
 

Her eyes were glazed with arousal, mirroring his own and he wanted nothing but to fuck her to exhaustion. This was pure torture.
 

“You’re not completely healed yet.”

She stared at him, then flushed in embarrassment. “I’m sorry. I…”

She tried to pull back but he wouldn’t let her.
 

“I’m not sorry, but I’m afraid if we carry on, I won’t be able to stop myself from coming in my pants. That’s definitely a first for me in like fifteen years. I’m already dripping. It’s been so long.”

“Is that so bad?” She squirmed on his lap, her butt grinding at his massive erection.
 

He groaned. “Stop that, baby, please. I’m trying so hard to be your friend here. And you’re making it hard for me, pun intended.”

That elicited a giggle. Ah, how he’d missed that. He wanted to hear her laugh more often.
 

Her arms went around his waist, hugging him tight. “Okay, my friend, we can just cuddle.”

He kissed the top of her head. He would call her doctor tomorrow and ask how soon can they have sex, but from what he’d read,
 
two months was the minimum. It had only been almost two weeks since she gave birth. A long way from Homecoming Queen, pun intended, too.

Meanwhile, yeah, they can just cuddle.

Fuck.

Yeah, he wished.

——*****——

He was thankful his vacation was not
being interrupted by urgent calls from his superiors. He would really hate to leave his family at this time.

Family.

That felt good.

He had a family of his own now. They were instantly made and a package deal, too, but he couldn’t complain now that his son was born. He was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, next to Andi, of course. He cannot imagine not having them around anymore.

It was scary, these new realities in his life. Months ago he would have balked at the slightest idea of fathering a child, least of all taking care of a child and a woman, protect them with his life, provide for them and live with them, but he took to the role naturally. He was constantly surprising himself, too.

They’d settled into a routine, took turns watching over Richard. They all still slept in the nursery. He’d brought in a sofa-bed and slept there while Andi used the bed. He could share the bed with her but he preferred not to sleep
 
too close to her. Curtailing the clawing hunger of his body took some monumental effort, no kidding, but testing his limits too often was lunacy.
 

Almost a year of not having sex was pure hell, but Andi was the last woman he’d been with. He didn’t want to tarnish her memory by assuaging his lust with some pussy he’d forget the next day. It would be so easy. Tommy was just a phone call away. But he just couldn’t do it.

It was Andi or nothing. He had to make do with his hand in the confines of the master’s bedroom when his need drove him to the brink it hurt to even move or think. Fuck, he’d never deprived his body of sexual sustenance before, but this self-imposed sacrifice was something he took seriously.

Funny how his lifestyle had turned around in such a very short time, but he was loving every moment of it.

Loving.

Yeah.

Fuck me.
 

Love. Who would have thought? But he was in the love zone. He was man enough to acknowledge that. He loved his son in this manner that he cannot define, only that he would die for him.

And Andi…Ah, sweet Andi.

He smiled as he watched her stack dirty plates and pans into the dishwasher. They just finished dinner. He could do this forever, watch her gracefully move around the place. She was so feminine and yet she radiated strength. Jesus, if you don’t call pushing a baby out of your body like she did in the delivery room strength, he didn’t know what was. He definitely saw women in a different light now after that nerve-wracking, unforgettable experience.

“So, you have siblings back home?” he finally asked her that one thing he’d been meaning to for days now. She was a great listener but she wouldn’t share her thoughts unless he asked.

“Who told you that?”

“Frida, of course.”

“My aunt has a big mouth.”

“I like your aunt. And answer my question. Please.”

“Two. A brother and a sister.”

He waited but she didn’t elaborate.
 

“Did I tell you the three of us have different fathers?” she added after a pause.

There was no mistaking the bitterness in her tone. Frida had warned him Andi was touchy about anything related to her mother. But he’d been open to her about his father, and truthfully, it set him free. Free to verbalize his pain bottled up inside him for ages. And God, that felt good. He had only to think of his son now and his pain would fade into a distant memory. Richard and Andi were changing him drastically but he wanted this change. He was evolving for the better. He had silently longed for a reprieve like this and he was grateful now that Andi came into his life. Now he wanted Andi to change, too, like he did. To get away from the hate and bitterness that had taken her prisoner for so long.

He shrugged. “Bella and I have different fathers,” he replied casually to downplay what she said.

“Your parents were married. I was a result of foolishness. So were my siblings. Our mother was a foolish, foolish woman who used sex and her children, hoping to trap a man to marry her.”

Definitely a sore topic. “Andi…”

She finished stacking the dirty dishes inside the dishwasher and turned it on. She leaned on the counter, her eyes on the floor.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“I was embarrassed every time people would ask why we have different skin color. I was tempted to tell them they’re not my siblings, but I couldn’t. I love my brother and sister. But I hate her, you know?”

“Baby…”

“I don’t know what fairy tale books she’d read that planted the notion in her head that she’d get some happy ending from a guy who only saw her as a good-time fuck, who was only with her during his RNRs until they faded to black, leaving her heartbroken. But she never learned her lesson. Not even after three bastards.” She shook her head, giving out a short, mocking laugh.

But her eyes were wet.

She met his eyes then and spoke firmly, the fire of conviction lacing her words. “I promised myself that I won’t be like her. Never like her.”

Now he truly regretted bringing up this delicate matter. He had reopened her old wounds and they were probably worse than his wounds.

She walked away without another word.

——*****——

He found her in the nursery, staring at their sleeping son.

Richard had been the strongest bond tying them together, the center of their attention, the force keeping their fragile union on the ground. But he shook their budding relationship with his careless curiosity.

Her words hit him with the impact of a sledgehammer swung at full force to his chest.

I won’t be like her. Never like her.

He watched her quietly at the door. She was strong, he knew that from the start. No woman had ever stood up to him than she had, young as she was. But he could see her weakness now, too.

Her fear.

And he just knew, he wanted to take away that fear. To smash it. To kill it.

In that moment, he had never been more sure of what he wanted to do.

He went to her and embraced her from behind. She only tensed for a bit but she allowed him.

They remained like that for a few minutes as they both gazed at their son.

Their fingers are linked at her middle. He inhaled her scent. So familiar. So comforting. He didn’t think he could exist a single day without smelling her sweet scent in the air now It was as good as Richard’s baby scent but they had different effects on his system.

“Not all men are like your father,” he said quietly.

“Aren’t they?”

“No.”

She didn’t reply, but he felt her stiffen again, as if she would bolt again. His arms tightened around her.
 

He obeyed his heart’s strongest desire at the moment.

“I won’t just be with you during my RNRs. I will be with you every chance I get, as my job would allow.”

“Craig, don’t—“

“Shhh. Listen. I’m saying these words in front of my son. These are sacred.”

He felt her melt in his arms.

“I don’t know much about relationships. I’ve never had a serious one. But I’ll learn, for you and Richard. I’ll learn to be a good man. For my woman.”

Her fingers tightened around his.

“Will you be my woman, Andi?”

She totally froze again.

But only for a few seconds.

“Yes.”

CHAPTER
13

BY ITS RING TONE, HE KNEW
it was USAF Central Command.

It was SOP to pick up the call right away but for the first time in his life as a soldier he let it ring longer than it should.

Andi glanced at him from the bed as she was nursing the baby. It was almost ten in the evening. Richard was mostly asleep during the day and awake half of the night. “Aren’t you going to get that?”

He finally took the call.

It was a brief conversation with his immediate superior with “Yes, Sir” the only words coming from him.

He grabbed the remote control from the side table and turned on the TV.

All the major channels were onto the biggest news that night.

CNN was extensively covering it.

Paris was in chaos. A series of coordinated attacks occurred just twenty minutes ago leaving an estimated 100 people dead.

ISIL claimed responsibility.

Rage filled his entire being. This latest tragedy was beyond horrific. Those innocent people didn’t deserve to die like this. The violence of it was unimaginable. They open-fired at restaurants,
 
strafed people with automatic rifles at a rock concert, detonated bombs at a football stadium through suicide bombers.

The evil motherfuckers had really gone too far this time. They were getting it big time, too.
 

He was asked to choose which plane to fly, the Raptor or the Eagle. He chose the latter. In this case, his expertise as a pilot was wasted on the Raptor. He would be more effective on the Eagle as he’d be directly involved in the action. He was ordered to report to the base in less than twenty four hours where his squadron was already preparing to launch massive air strikes on ISIL-controlled areas in Syria and Iraq.

That meant he had to take the earliest flight out of the country.

But he felt strange.

He was filled with rage, yes. His veins were pumping with bloodlust after being informed of a catastrophe where his immediate expertise was needed. But along with that came a new feeling.