I think—no, I know I love this woman.
But I can’t tell her yet, not until we’ve told Angie. I can’t tell her until I know we can be together forever.
“How long are you going to keep me waiting, huh?”
“As long as I damn well please,” I say playfully. “Don’t forget, Snapshot. You’re mine, my property.”
“Like luggage,” she giggles. “Are you going to check me?”
“And let another man handle you? No fucking way.”
She laughs and then mock-pouts at me, which is a dangerous game for her to play. It’s like she doesn’t know how difficult it is for me not to drag her into the cabin and make use of her captivating body. Every second, I fight the urge, and when she pouts it makes me think of those lips wrapped around my pre-come-slick shaft, so she can taste my need on the end of my cock, sliding her mouth closer and closer to my base.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” she says.
“I’ll never keep secrets from you,” I growl. “Honesty matters as much as loyalty. We’re going to be a family one day… one day in the not-too-distant future if I have my way. We need to be honest with each other.”
She stares, waiting.
I sigh, my mind full of bullets and men roaring and the smell of smoke and sand.
“It’s focus, Tessa. Focus. That’s what I’ve taken away from my military career. That’s what I took away from war. When you’re over there and shit hits the fan, nothing else in the world exists. It’s just this moment, thinking about the right orders to issue, the right place to aim your gun, the right way to keep your men alive. It’s focus on the mission and your brothers and nothing else.
“People say war is bad, evil, and that’s true. Men who’ve been to war know that better than anybody. But what civilians will never understand is the fucking rush war brings with it. Not because it feels good to cause harm. Not because we’re sadists who want to hurt people. But because we’re alive, truly alive, in a way few people ever experience. To live in that moment – and that moment alone – it’s a rare thing. It’s hard to explain.”
She keeps staring, her eyes filled with patience.
“And yet I feel it with you,” I say passionately.
She flinches, those cute naive eyes going wide.
There’s a vestige of suspicion in her then, as though a piece of her still thinks this could be a joke. I watch her visibly push it away, stunned that I can read her so easily.
But then, of course, I can.
We were made for each other.
“Really?” she whispers.
“Yes,” I snarl. “That was what struck me so damn profoundly when I walked into the diner and saw you standing there… standing there like you’d been waiting your whole life for me.”
“I have,” she says, voice cracking with emotion.
“The same focus came over me. I can’t explain it. I just know it’s true. It was the feeling that nothing else mattered anymore, at that moment. Of course, Angela matters. But nothing else. Just me. Just you. Just our family.”
I reach over and brush budding tears from her cheek with my thumb, feeling the heat of her, burning through my skin and simmering up my arm.
“Come on, Snapshot,” I say. “Let’s eat our food before it gets cold.”
“I feel the same,” she murmurs as we turn to our plates. “I can’t explain it either, but I feel it. Just me. Just you. Just us.”
“Forever,” I growl, knowing how true it is.
Chapter Fifteen
Tessa
“Do you mind if we take a short walk?” I murmur after dinner.
All through our meal – as the drone delivered more drinks and some dessert – Trent continued to watch me with possessive need in his emerald eyes. It’s burned into me deeper and deeper with each passing moment, causing an answering song to flare awake inside of me.
I know where he wants to go.
The cabin, the bed, collapsing into each other as though this is a battle and the rest of the world can wait.
And I want it too.
My body screams for it.
But nerves still try to twist inside of me, working their way into my conviction, poisoning it.
“Sure,” he says. “But are you sure you’re wearing the right shoes?”
“Hey.” I mock-glare at him, loving the way he smirks back banteringly. “I’m a big girl. You don’t need to worry about me.”
He chuckles and stands up, striding around the table and standing over me. His face is one of complete concentration, as though a forest fire could be blazing around our platform and he wouldn’t even flinch.
“Come on then, Snapshot, show me how capable you really are.”
I take his hand, squeezing tightly, savoring the feeling of strength and protective security in his touch.