by Lea Griffith
He could do this. The alternative was unacceptable.
Hakes raised an eyebrow, rubbed a finger over his lips and contemplated Sam. “Well now, son, it looks like whatever you’re wanting to say is weighing mighty heavy on you.”
Sam nodded his head, the words stuck in his throat.
Hakes sat up straight and cleared his throat. “You know Sam, not too many years ago, I was sitting in that same chair talking to my superior and I probably needed to say the exact same things you want to say right now.”
The general stood up and Sam’s gaze was wary as he came around the desk and sat on the edge in front of Sam. “How are you feeling, Sam, since Angola?”
“I’m fine physically, General,” Sam responded automatically.
Sure his rib still ached sometimes and he had flashbacks on occasion, but he’d come away much better than Aaron. Much better.
“How about mentally, Sam? How about emotionally?” Hakes’ gaze was intense.
Sam wanted to squirm. “I know where I’ve been and I know where I want to head, General.”
Hakes stood then and walked to a bookcase that housed several framed pictures. Sam had never looked at the pictures—some things weren’t discussed on the job. But the general brought him one and Sam sat up straight in the chair, rubbing his chest.
The little girl was lanky with long red hair pulled into pigtails. Braces shining brightly in brilliant sun as she hugged the general, a smile of such joy on her face Sam’s eyes watered.
“Her mother was the love of my life. Hell, who am I kidding? She’s still the love of my life. But I was young when I found her, several years younger than you and incredibly arrogant. I thought I could hold her through all the bad things the military would put us through.”
Hakes sighed and stared out the single window in his office. “Then we had the girls and I was gone constantly. We grew apart but the love was always there just under the surface, waiting to be scratched but always staying pristine. She had needs I couldn’t meet halfway across the world. I had needs I didn’t allow her to meet because I thought I loved her too much. And the depth of that feeling scared me.”
General Hakes ran a hand down his face and speared Sam with his gaze. “She decided she didn’t want half measures anymore. She wanted everything I had to give and when she put the ultimatum to me I ran, buried myself in the military and just let her walk out on me.”
He pointed to the picture Sam held. “She grew up without her mom and dad in the same house. And she and her sister had to settle for whatever I had left of my time to give them. They did it, smiled and laughed every single time I came to get them but I wanted so much more for her, Sam.”
A minute slid by in which the general’s words punctured Sam’s heart. He traced the outline of the smiling child’s face and any hesitation he’d had about his decision to come here today evaporated.
“You’re a strong man, Sam. You’ve served your country well—given pieces of yourself we had no right to ask for. Sometimes, you have to make the right decision no matter how hard it is.” Hakes pointed again at the picture. “I let her mother go, Sam. Zoe deserves better.”
Sam stood then and placed the picture of father and daughter on the general’s desk.
“Thank you, General Hakes.”
Sam shook his mentor’s hand, feeling lighter than he had in over a year.
Hakes nodded and a small smile curved his lips. “You’re welcome, son.”
Sam turned and had almost walked through the door when the general’s voice stopped him.
“Tell my daughter I said hello, Sam.”
Sam smiled then, couldn’t stop the chuckle from rolling through him.
“Yes, General. If she lets me in the door I’ll tell her.”
Chapter Ten
Zoe took the next two days off from work. Her mind was preoccupied, better suited to moping than nursing. It had been two days since she’d given him everything inside her and he’d walked away without a word. One minute there, the next gone. It was a risk they shared. She’d known what she’d been getting. Didn’t stop the burning pain in her chest but at least she’d not gone in blinded by a fairy tale.
She snorted. Who was she kidding? She’d totally wanted the fairy tale. So much so that even now she wore the collar he’d placed on her. Hope in one hand and shit in the other, her mother had always said. Maybe hope would win this time.
Zoe pulled out a frozen dinner and popped it in the microwave. She sat down at the table and waited, unprepared when keys rattled in the door and it opened. Panic grabbed her by the throat, cutting and jagged. She grabbed up the knife she’d cut open the dinner packaging with and took a protective stance.
And there he was.
Sam held his hands up after he set his bag down, glancing at the knife in her hand with a raised brow. A deep breath and she lowered the knife, fighting not to run and jump in his arms. Interesting that her first instinct was to flee toward the one who caused her pain rather than away from him.
The microwave dinged and it drew her gaze. If she stared at him much longer she’d break down and beg.
She heard the soft thud of his footfalls on the hardwood floors and stiffened. If he’d come to hurt her more by loving her and leaving, or worse, by rejecting her completely, she’d break. Zoe needed him like she needed the air to breathe. If he left her again it would tear her heart out.
“Put the knife down, Zoe,” he murmured and his voice was infinitely deep.
He reached for her and she took a step back. Anger punctured her reverie. Vicious and biting, it was undeniable and soothing in a strange way.
“Don’t do this, Zoe.”
“Stop calling my fucking name, Sam! You left me again. You don’t have the right to say my name.” She managed to get the words out of a throat clogged with tears.
“I have the right to do whatever I want to with you, Zoe. You gave me that right when you took me into your body, pledged to be mine.”
Oh he was angry, was he? Fuck him.
“You lost that right when you left here,” she bit out.
“Then why are you wearing my diamonds?” he challenged as he continued to step forward. “Why are you wearing my collar?”
How could she answer that question? It would give him all the power and if he left her she’d have nothing but pain. How could she answer it? She couldn’t, so she didn’t.
He reached for her again, and she found herself against the cabinets in her kitchen. His hands settled on her shoulders, the heat soothing even as it built tension. Her nervousness was a white-hot thread that wound through her body and centered in her heart. He took her face in his hand and urged her to meet his gaze.
“Look at me, Zoe. See me,” he whispered brokenly.
Black fire lit the depths of his ebony eyes and Zoe knew. His finger trailed the contours of her face as he wiped her tears away, leaning down to sip at them with his lips. She reached up tentatively, afraid to believe as all the anger disappeared to be replaced with hope.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered against her lips.
“Damn you, Sam,” she replied softly. “Damn you.”
“I’m home.” A second’s pause, then “For good.”
She closed her eyes. This was her dream. No more missions. No more waiting at home wondering if this man, her husband, would come home to her alive or in a body bag.
“Zoe, did you hear me?” A soft kiss against the corner of her mouth, a breath held, a hope put into the space between them.
“Mine?” she questioned brokenly, unable to prevent the soft hiccupping sob that escaped.
He grabbed her close, murmuring promises that mattered but weren’t the one thing she needed more than all others. He lifted her face again, and her eyes opened slowly. His face, his beautiful face held a smile full of promise. Then he said the words that made her believe.
“Oh baby. Yours. Forever.”
About Lea Griffith
Lea Griffith began sneakin
g to read her mother’s romance novels at a young age. She cut her teeth on the greats: McNaught, Woodiwiss, Garwood. A firm believer that love makes the world go round, she still consumes every romance book she can put her hands on, but now she writes her own.
Lea lives with her husband and three teenage daughters in rural Georgia. Two dogs, three cats and a Betta fish named Coddy George complete a family always in motion. When not working at the EDJ, she’s usually at her keyboard, using every spare second to write. A multi-published author in several different genres, she obeys a muse who feels nothing is off-limits when it comes to her writing.
Lea welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email addresses on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.
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Mine & Yours
ISBN 9781419942914
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Mine & Yours Copyright © 2014 Lea Griffith
Edited by Julie Naughton
Cover design by Willo
Cover photography by maxim Boldyrev/fotolia.com
Electronic book publication January 2014
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