Hallowed Ground (6 page)

Chapter Six

Josh

Three fucking days.

I tried not to think about it as we drove toward Louisville, but that was like ignoring the countdown on a nuclear bomb. Not going to happen. No matter what I did, the thought was there, tainting everything around me. Even Ember’s coffee creamer was a reminder that she’d be drinking it in an empty house in just seventy-two hours.

Because I’d be back in Hell. It would be different this time, right? I’d be medevacing the wounded, saving lives instead of taking them. The rescuer instead of the rescued. I’d be paying back what I owed to the crew that landed under fire to get my sorry ass.

So if everything would be different, why had the nightmares started up again? For the first year or so, they’d been hellish, but I hadn’t had them since Ember and I got together senior year in college. Now they were coming damn near every night. I’d never been so thankful that she could sleep through a hurricane.

She didn’t need this on her plate, too.

It sure as hell didn’t help that we’d had hardly any time together. Getting me progressed for flying in time meant flying odd hours and staying even longer ones at work prepping to leave. When I had managed to be home, she’d been at school.

“So where exactly are we going?” I asked her as we got closer to the city, threading through the traffic. Her feet were up on the dashboard of my Jeep, newly painted toes wiggling. It wasn’t my old Wrangler, but she looked just as good in the front seat of the four-door model as she had in my first one.

“Ummm…” she mumbled, flipping through screens on her cell phone like she did when she needed to distract herself from the speed I was driving.

“You could just put the address in the GPS, babe.” Besides, curiosity was killing me. I’d been instructed to pack for an overnight, and that was the only information I’d gotten until she pointed me toward Louisville and said, “Drive.”

“What’s the fun in that?” she asked. “Okay, in three miles you’ll get off.”

The corners of my mouth lifted. “Will I?”

She smacked my shoulder. “Seriously.”

I caught her hand and brought it to my lips, pressing a kiss against the soft skin. “But, honey, don’t you want to give me a good send-off?” I glanced over with fake puppy-dog eyes. “I’m going to war, you know.”

A laugh tumbled past her lips. “Did that really work for you the first time?”

My smile slipped. “I didn’t leave a woman behind last time.”

She stroked the back of my neck. “You didn’t have one to come home to, either. This isn’t like the last time,” she finished quietly.

“I’m not planning on leaving any pieces behind this trip,” I tried to joke. It fell flat, and I regretted the words as soon as I saw her turn to stare out the window. “Hey,” I said to get her attention. She looked back at me, her eyes holding a depth of sadness I couldn’t tease my way out of. “It’s going to be okay.”

She didn’t bother to fake a smile. “This is our exit.”

I followed her directions until we pulled into a posh hotel in Downtown Louisville. “Nice choice,” I said with an appreciative nod once we hit the art museum-style foyer.

She smiled like a little kid at Christmas. “Wait until you see what else I have planned.”

She signed us in while I waited by our bags, checking out the artwork. Hell, she’d barely let me get the luggage when we parked, even insisting on unloading the car herself. She was so hell-bent on making this weekend perfect, and it was adorable, but she had to realize that we could have spent the time binge-watching Netflix on the couch and it would have been just as perfect.

I only needed her.

“Let’s go!” She waved the room keys, and I followed her lead, taking the elevator up and up until we reached the penthouse.

The doors opened into the kind of hotel room seen in movies, the kind where black-tie parties were the norm, and butter-bar lieutenants didn’t belong. “This is amazing,” I said, already having mentally kissed half of this paycheck good-bye on what it would cost us.
Entirely worth it.

She looked into the separate bedroom, and then checked out the view from the window while I checked her out. The afternoon sunlight made her hair a brighter red, the locks heavy where they hung down her back.

I came up behind her slowly, memorizing everything about her, as if the thousands of memories I already had wouldn’t be enough. She tilted her head, and I took advantage, sweeping the soft strands away from the delicate arch of her neck. She leaned further, giving me better access, and I set my lips to her skin.

Heaven. She tasted like heaven, and home, and just…December. Her breath caught as I lightly sucked the small patch of skin just under her jaw. That sound was my undoing, like always, and I pulled her back against me. All weekend in this hotel room had never looked so good. No friends. No distractions. Just us.

She moaned when I set my teeth lightly to the junction of her neck and shoulder, and my body immediately responded.

“You have to stop that,” she whispered, her hands digging into the front of my thighs.

“Why?” I asked, running my tongue along the shell of her ear.

“Because it’s almost two o’clock and we have plans.” Her voice said she regretted making them.

“What if my plans only involve you naked against this window?” I asked, spinning her in my arms.

Her eyes dropped to my lips, and hers parted.
Gotcha.
I wrapped my arm around her lower back and stepped forward, putting her back against the glass. “Josh,” she whispered, more a plea than anything.

“December,” I answered, loving the feel of her name on my lips. Then I kissed her. She opened for me, and our mouths fused together, a perfect melding of tongues and teeth. I used the hand not pinned between her and the window to tangle through her hair and tilt her head so I could get a better angle.

The only con about driving Ember crazy was that she took me along for the ride. It was impossible to kiss her without losing myself in the process, giving myself over to every arch of her back, every gasp from her lips.

“Ugh!” She ripped her mouth from mine. “As much as I would like nothing more than to climb you like a tree, we have to go, or we’ll be late.”

“I don’t care. There’s nothing outside this room that could possibly interest me more than getting you out of your clothes.” It had been days since I’d been able to get my hands on her, and I was about to spontaneously combust if I didn’t remedy that.

“That’s only because you don’t know what we’re doing.” Her eyebrow arched, and she had that look—the one that said she was getting her way and there was nothing I could do about it.

I took a steadying breath and begged my dick to soften. She’d gone to a hell of a lot of trouble to plan this weekend, so I’d have to keep my horny self in check for a few more hours. “I do get you naked at some point today, right?” I asked.

“Oh, most definitely,” she promised, and that little sweep of her tongue across her lips almost broke me
and
her damn plans.

I high-fived myself for self-control and stepped away from her. “Then lead the way.”

The smile she gifted me with was well worth it.

Ten minutes later, we parked in front of Louisville Arena. I killed the ignition and took note of the nearly empty parking lot. What the hell were we doing?

“We’re here?” I said in a light tone that I hoped didn’t show my confusion.

“Yep!” she said with a giddy smile. “You ready for some hockey?”

Hopefully she didn’t think today was Sunday, because…well, God, I didn’t want her feelings hurt. “Babe, you know it’s Saturday, right?”

“Yes.”

“And you know the Bobcats aren’t playing today, right?” I internally cringed, waiting for her to realize we were a day off.

“I know,” she said with a slow nod. “They play the Rangers tomorrow. I was honestly hoping for the Avs, but Colorado’s not on the schedule until next month…”

“And I’ll be gone,” I finished for her.

“You’ll be gone,” she agreed with a watery smile before opening the door and jumping down from the Jeep. I met her at the back, where she was opening the hatch. “Besides”—she heaved my giant bag of gear to the ground—“I never said you were here to watch.”

What?
“I don’t understand.”

She surged up on her toes, meeting my mouth in a sweet kiss. “You don’t have to. You just have to take your gear inside, and don’t forget your stick!”

She headed toward the arena, waving me on as she walked away. More than a little baffled, I searched the back of the Jeep for my stick, then slipped it into the side straps of my rolling bag. Did she realize that there wasn’t exactly an open skate time here? Regardless, I followed her into the arena, hauling my bag behind me.

I crossed the threshold and found her talking to a security guard in low tones. He glanced over her shoulder, furrowing his giant silver eyebrows, and nodded.

“Lieutenant Walker,” he said, putting out his hand. “Thank you for your service.”

I shook it. “Thank you very much.” My eyes flickered between his smile and Ember’s Christmas-morning face. God, she was lit up like the tree, except she’d always been my present.

“I’m Earl Singer,” the guard said. “If you’ll follow me?” He turned and walked off, radioing something in his hand-held.

“You ready?” she asked.

“For what?”

She tugged her lower lip between her teeth with a grin and shrugged, then turned around and walked down the promenade, following the guard.
Where you lead, I follow.

Down the hallway, a flight of steps, and more than a few twists later, I found myself entering the arena from the ice level. The temperature drop brought me home to the smell of the ice, the feel of the stick in my hands, the quiet roar of adrenaline through my body. As much as I loved flying, the ice would always be my first love.

The glass came into view, and the familiar noise of a practice filled my ears.
Holy shit.
The Louisville Bobcats were on the ice, practicing. “They don’t usually practice here,” I said to Ember as the guard opened the door in the glass behind the net.

“No, but today isn’t usual,” she said with a hundred mega-watt smile.

My brain shut down, unable to handle even the possibility that I was about to get anywhere near that ice, those players. “I don’t understand.”

“Luke, my friend from school?”

My eyes narrowed. “The guy you grab coffee with?”
The excessively smart one pushing you toward the dig, which makes me like and hate him all in the same breath.

“Yeah. His dad owns the Bobcats.”

I blinked.
Seriously?

“Ooh, they’re calling us.” She tugged my hand, and I left my gear outside the glass as I stepped onto the ice.

“Hey,” Chase Miles, the Bobcats’ captain, skated over to us, taking off his glove. “You must be Lieutenant Walker.”

“Just Josh,” I answered as I shook his hand.
Don’t say anything stupid.

“Well, Josh, we hear you’re shipping out in a few days and thought you might want to jump in on a little pick-up game we have going.”

No. Fucking. Way.
I found myself speechless for the first time since…ever, and gawked up at him.

“Is that a yes?” he asked.

I nodded, almost afraid to blink. Hell yes, it was a yes. Playing in the NHL had been my dream since the first time Mom laced my skates. All those early morning practices, long weekend tournaments, bills that piled up because she wanted me to have the newest helmet.

“Great. Singer will take you back to the locker room. We have a little something for you. See you in a few.” He nodded and skated back to the other players who had all gathered here to play…with me.

“You did this?” I asked Ember as Singer closed the boards.

“Luke helped,” she answered, that smile still bright enough to compete with the ice.

“And they all agreed?” My eyes darted back to where at least a dozen players waited, goalies included.

“I only asked for a few, but when the rest heard it was for a soldier, they jumped at the chance to come play,” she finished. “Do you like it?”

My heart was ready to burst. She’d done this, pulled some magical string to hand me a chance to live out my dream. My throat closed, and words, if I’d had any, were impossible. Instead, I took her in my arms, one hand weaving through her hair and the other lifting her against me. My eyes skimmed her perfect features, from the porcelain texture of her skin to the deep blue of her eyes. “I love you,” I whispered just before I kissed the hell out of her.

She broke away after a minute, her breath uneven, and put two fingers against my aching lips. “Go get dressed. I can’t wait to watch you out there.”

My gaze swung to where they skated, and I couldn’t ever remember being happier. “Okay.” One more swift kiss, and I met Singer where he waited at the door.

“Quite a girl you have there,” he said with a grin as he led me to the locker room.

“She’s everything.”

He took me to a locker on the end that had been labeled “Walker.” Inside was a Bobcat jersey with my name. I was torn between lingering in this moment, taking my time with every piece of gear, and ripping the pads from my bag so I could get out there quickly. The second impulse won out, but I snapped a few pictures of the locker.

I’d unzipped the pocket of my bag and reached in to take out my tape when my fingers brushed against the soft texture of the small box I’d hidden there a month ago, knowing it was the one place Ember wouldn’t accidentally stumble onto it. Giving in to my number one dream, I hid it with a smile and took off for the ice, so excited I barely remembered to remove my skate covers.

The hallway opened to the players’ bench, and the lights from the arena shone down, making me feel small and godlike all in one breath.

“Please welcome to the ice, from the University of Colorado, number thirteen, Josh Walker!” The announcement through the PA system rocked me in a way I wasn’t prepared for, emotions hitting me as hard as the players slapping my back as I skated onto the ice.

Just before the puck dropped, I looked over to where I knew Ember would be cheering me on from behind the glass. One glimpse of that smile and I was fueled for the entire game. We’d come full circle—me on the ice, showing off for the red-headed girl in the stands, knowing that for just this amount of time, I had her attention, her focus.