You Promised Me Forever (The Dirty Ankle Series Book 1)

by Lizabeth Scott

  Nicole didn’t open her eyes until she felt Will above her. His eyes were the first thing she saw when she felt him nestle between her legs. She felt his hardness press into her tummy as he leaned down and kissed her. She opened her mouth, letting him in and joined her tongue to his.

  So lost in his kiss, she didn’t notice he’d pushed part way inside her. She felt stretched and full but it didn’t hurt. Will lifted himself up off of her and locked his eyes to hers.

  “I love you, Nic.”

  Nicole had no trouble seeing the love in his gaze. She knew without a doubt that this would be the man she spent the rest of her life with. “I love you, Will.”

  Will slowly pushed his way in and stopped. Again he kissed her until her mind was fogged up with nothing but the feel of his mouth doing delicious things to hers. He leaned on one arm and took her breasts in his other hand. As if he’d choreographed it perfectly, he pinched her nipple and pushed past the barrier at the same moment. With the way he played her body, she never noticed the slight discomfort.

  Without moving he let her body adjust to his size.

  “Is that it?”

  Will shook his head and grinned. “Nope, we’re just getting started.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  “Hurry, Will.” Nicole grabbed him as soon as he entered the door of the tree house, and pulled him inside their secret meeting place.

  Will stopped short when he saw her standing there with all of her creamy skin glowing. “Jesus, Nic, you’re already naked.” His heart beat rapidly in his chest as he reached out to touch her. She always had the same effect on him. Nicole was the other part of himself. She always had been and she always would be. Their stolen moments together were singularly the best part of his life. How will I ever survive without her when I leave?

  “We’ve got to hurry, Will. My grandparents will be back soon. Here.” Nicole handed him a foil packet and pulled the back of his shirt over his head while he made quick work of stripping his shorts and underwear off.

  “How long?” He rolled the condom on and pushed her down on the pallet of blankets they had made into a bed almost two years ago. He spread her wide with his knees and began to play with her breasts. She was so sensitive there. Once, he’d even made her come just with his mouth and fingers on her breasts. Just the thought of Nic’s coming was enough to make him harden even more; his body began to tremble with need. It was, after all, his favorite sight in the world.

  “An hour, maybe longer,” she said frantically, before Will clamped onto a nipple and sent her reeling. “Oh, Will! I love it when you do that.” Nicole arched her back, offering more of her breasts to him.

  “I know, love,” Will mumbled through a mouth full of breast, and felt goose bumps on her skin from his breath.

  Nicole whimpered as his fingers began to tweak the other nipple. He felt her tense and the muscles in her core begin to tighten, signaling her release. He knew she was fighting it, denying herself completion because she didn’t want their time together to end.

  “Don’t play with me, Will. I want you inside, now,” Nicole pleaded.

  Will wanted to go slowly and love every inch of her body. They had such a little time left, but he could never deny his girl anything. He wanted to remember the way her skin felt smooth, warm under his fingers, and he wanted to remember her glorious auburn hair spread behind her with the sun burnishing the golden strands. He wanted to remember the way her gray-green eyes darkened to a deep jade just before she came.

  Will looked deep into her eyes, painting the moment in his mind. “I love you, Nic.”

  “I love you too, Will.”

  Their bodies glowed as they lay still connected, complete, and replete for the moment. He lowered himself and pressed his lips gently to hers then took the kiss deeper as his tongue entered her mouth tasting and memorizing every infinitesimal nuance that was Nic. Her taste, he knew, he would never forget. No matter where he traveled in the world, nothing would quench his thirst for the taste of Nic.

  As always, once was never enough for them. His body stirred to life as her nipples harden against his chest. He smiled against her lips and captured her sigh as he pulled out slowly to the tip and then just as slowly re-entered her warm tight body. Her hips tilted, searching for the position that would take him even deeper. He’d wanted to love her slowly and thoroughly, but his need for her was simply too strong. He couldn’t hold back any longer. He drove home again and again until she screamed out his name and came hard around him. Her inner muscles gripped and massaged him from inside, calming him once again.

  The look of raw passion on her face as she came would forever be the first thing he thought of each morning when he woke and his last thought each evening before bed and every single moment in between.

  Later, words of love exchanged, last touches and kisses of assurance given, they dressed and climbed down from their sanctuary. They walked through the hedge and up to her grandparents’ house.

  Will wrapped her in his arms and tucked her head under his chin. She was such a little thing she fit quite nicely, like she was made just for him. “You know I can’t call for six months.”

  “I know, Will.” Her arms wrapped around his waist and held on tightly as her cheek rested above his heart, taking comfort from the constant thumps. “You’ve told me. But I can write and you will write me back.”

  “Nic, when you need…me, I want you to do what I taught you to do. I want you to close your eyes and pretend that it’s my hands between your legs.” He smiled when Nic buried her head deeper under his chin and refused to answer him. He would never understand how she could be embarrassed to talk to him about things but not embarrassed about doing them.

  “Nic, do you promise?” He felt her head shake and grinned; that was all he was going to get from her in the way of acknowledgement.

  “Go to my mom if you need anything, even if it’s just to get away from them for a few minutes.” He rubbed her back, reassuring her.

  “Yes, Will. I promise. Your mom will probably get tired of me coming over so much.” She tipped her head up and smiled into his eyes.

  Will kissed the tip of her nose. “You know she won’t. She loves you almost as much as I do.”

  His parents and brothers, Matthew, and Rob, loved her. Their house had become the home Nic never had. At his house, she found peace, love, and acceptance. She didn’t have to mind her manners or speak properly or be afraid she would spill something on expensive linens and be sent to her room. She never measured up to her grandmother’s expectations. Will knew that sometimes she felt like a visitor in her own house.

  “When I’m through basic training, I get two weeks off before I’m assigned a post. I’m talking to your grandparents then. You’ll be eighteen, and my ring will be on your finger in six months and two weeks.”

  ***

  “Oh, Will, I want that more than anything, but are you sure we shouldn’t wait?” Her grandparents had relented somewhat. Her grandmother now knew about her relationship with Will. That had been the only time she’d stood up to her grandmother. To this day, Nicole still didn’t know how she’d won that argument. She had her suspicions that her grandfather may have had something to do with it. They’d agreed to allow her to date Will and to pay for her college if she waited until she graduated to marry.

  “I would marry you tomorrow if I could, move you to my folk’s house, and sign you up for college classes. That’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to know that during the four years I’m away, you’ll be happy, protected, and doing something you have always wanted to do, and away from them.”

  “I’m scared, Will. Going to college is a big step for me. What if nobody likes me? What if nobody wants to be my friend?” She hated being insecure about something so insignificant when Will was going to be serving his country and putting his life at risk every day.

  “Shh, Nic.” He touched his lips to the top of her head. “Everybody will love you. Rob and M
atthew are going to take you to school every day. They’ll show you how to get around and will be there for you if you need anything.”

  Will had promises from both of his older brothers to look after her while he was away. She knew they wouldn’t let anything happen to her, and that would give Will some comfort and peace.

  Will took her face in his hands and kissed her slowly and completely. “I love you Nic, and I promise you I will be back and we can begin our life together. Remember, you’re my girl.”

  “I love you, Will, and I promise I will wait for you and love you every single minute for the rest of our lives.” Nicole kissed him once more before she watched him turn and walk back through the hedge. The same hedge where it had all began ten years ago.

  Once safely back inside her room, she finally let the tears that had threatened all day flow freely. Four years—how would she survive four years without Will? She worried she would only go through the motions of living and would only exist for the moments when Will would be home on leave. The sadness that engulfed her went bone deep and brought her to her knees. She curled into a ball and wept for herself, for Will, and for what they would have to endure before they were finally back together again. Whole.

  Hours later Nicole pushed her drained body up from the floor and wearily made her way to the bathroom to wash her face. She wandered to the window and looked out, hoping to catch one final glimpse of Will.

  No, she would not wallow and waste her time pining for him. He wouldn’t approve of that. All Will ever wanted was for her to be happy, and that is what she would try her best to be. Going to college and making friends, just being a normal teenager was what would make Will proud.

  She picked up the picture of her and Will at his twelfth birthday party. She had snuck through the hedge to have a piece of cake after all of his guests had gone. The picture was taken by his mom on their back deck. Will had refused to eat any of his birthday cake until he could share it with her. His mom had saved them a huge piece and given them both a fork. Nicole could still taste the rich, moist chocolate cake and the creamy vanilla frosting.

  The day Will told her he wanted to join the Marines was a very bad memory. They had their first real fight.

  “What do you mean you joined the Marines? Isn’t that something we should have discussed?”

  “I told you I was thinking about it.”

  “Thinking, Will. Thinking. Not joining the Marines behind my back and ruining both our lives!”

  “Nic, honey, calm down. It’s not like that. I’ll only be gone for four years.”

  “Four years!”

  “They’ll pay for my education. And when I come out, I’ll have money to marry you and provide for you like you deserve.”

  “Oh, Will. All I need is you.”

  “But I need to give you more. If I go to college when I graduate I’ll be just as broke as I am today. Even more so. We’ll be buried under college loans. This way I can get my education while I’m serving our country and then be ready to make you my wife when I get out.”

  Nicole turned her back.

  “Nic, I need you to support me with this. I can’t do it without knowing you’re okay with me leaving. I’m doing this for us.”

  She’d tried not to be angry at Will, and she eventually realized she was only angry “for” herself not “at” Will. She had been angry she would, for once, have to learn to navigate the world without him there to guide and reassure her. Depending on him wasn’t healthy for her or Will. He needed a wife to stand beside him, not cower behind and wait to be told what to do. She had a lot to learn before she was ready to be Will’s wife.

  She wandered again to the window; she had four years to become the wife Will needed. She wasn’t going to spend those four years pinning away. She would put them to good use and make Will proud of her. Then when they got married she would have something valuable to bring to their marriage. She would make Will proud.

  ***

  Nicole smiled at the sparkly pattern the ring on the third finger of her left hand made on the box she carried to the post office. When the sun hit the facets, flares of light danced across the box. Will had been right about several things. First, he’d asked her to marry him exactly six month and two weeks from the day he left for basic training. She had turned eighteen only a few days before. He’d come home after basic training and taken her to the beach for the weekend. Her grandmother had glared at her the entire time she’d been packing but she never said anything to stop her from going. Nicole probably had her grandfather to thank for that. He’d actually snuck a hundred-dollar bill in her pocket as they were leaving and told her to have a good time.

  The day they got to the beach they checked into the hotel, tested the bed out thoroughly and then took a walk.

  “Honey, do you mind if we stop for a minute?”

  They’d been walking on the nearly deserted beach for about half an hour. The sky was filled with color as the day ended and night woke up to take its place. A gentle breeze blew in off the water as they walked barefoot along the edge of the surf.

  Nicole stopped walking and went into Will’s arms, ready for his kiss. They’d been apart for six long months. The longest they’d ever been apart since she’d met him when she was eight-years-old.

  “I missed you so much, Nic.”

  “I missed you, Will. I miss your hair too.” Nicole giggled as she ran her hands through his sheared head, the short hairs tickling her palms. She really did miss his longer hair, especially the curl that always got in his eyes.

  Will turned her towards the ocean and wrapped his arms around her, resting his hands on her stomach and his chin on the top of her head as they watched the color play in the sky. “Do you remember when you first realized you were in love with me?”

  “I don’t remember a time I didn’t love you. I’d watched you for years from my bedroom window before we ever met. I think I knew even then that somehow you would be important to me.

  “I can remember seeing you for the first time. You wore that ridiculous dress and your hair was in perfect ringlets down your back. I remember thinking the sun made your hair look almost golden. Like I’d found my pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I couldn’t understand half the things you said and all I wanted to do was to play with you. I think that was the day I claimed you as mine.”

  Nicole smiled and closed her eyes, listening to the waves cresting and washing to shore as she lost herself in memories of Will. She was so focused she didn’t notice his hand leaving her stomach or fumbling in his shorts’ pocket.

  She did feel the warmth of his body leave hers. Nic opened her eyes and turned around. Her hands went straight to cover her opened mouth as Will kneeled in the sand, holding a ring between his shaking fingers. She blinked and stared at the shiny ring and then looked into the eyes of the man she loved with all her heart.

  “Nic, will you let me love you every day of our lives? Will you have our children and let me love you through your days of morning sickness, every labor pain and every time you’re worried because our children are even a few minutes past curfew? Will you allow me to stand beside you as we watch our children grow into strong and caring individuals, marry and move on with their lives, and will you let me hold you when you cry because I know you’ll miss them terribly? Will you let me love you as we wait for our grandchildren to be born and celebrate through all their milestones? Will you allow me to love you as we sit side by side, rocking on our front porch, reliving the marvelous life we’ve lived? Nicole Mary-Margaret Montgomery, will you marry me?”

  As far as proposals go, Nicole knew that rated at the very top. There wasn’t another man in the world she could imagine doing all those things with except Will. With tears streaming down and a smile on her face, she knew she’d never love anyone the way she loved him.

  “Yes, Will. I’ll marry you.”

  After that things became sketchy in her brain. Somehow they’d gotten back to their ho
tel room and her fiancé spent the rest of the night making love to his fiancée.

  The second thing had been his prediction about her making friends. Over the two years she had attended college she’d made many good friends. Linda, who was also majoring in Library Science, was her best friend. They met on the first day of class, both scared of the new journey in their lives.

  “Thank you, Mr. Reid,” Nicole said, as she walked through the door held open by the town’s mayor.

  “My pleasure, Nicole. Have a wonderful day dear.” Mayor Reid tipped his hat.

  “Yes, sir. You do the same.” Nicole smiled and continued into the building.

  Nicole sat her package down on the counter and began to dig through her purse. “Good morning Mr. Whisnant. Is your wife feeling better?” She located her wallet and took out the proper postage, sixteen dollars, and forty-three cents.

  “Morning, young lady. Yes, she is. She said to thank you for the soup you sent. It hit the spot, and it was good, real good.” Mr. Whisnant wiped his hands on a rag before joining her at the counter.

  “I’m glad she liked it.” Cooking was one of the things Nicole thought a wife should know how to do, so she’d asked her grandparents’ cook, Hilda for secret lessons. After two years and many failed attempts, she could at least provide an edible meal for Will. Hilda finally told her there was nothing wrong with stopping to pick up food on the way home from a busy day at work.

  With Hilda’s help Nicole had made Will’s favorites to send to him overseas. Cookies, brownies, and a pound cake: a sour cream and chocolate marble pound cake. And frankly helping Hilda may have been stretching it a bit. Nicole had sat on a kitchen stool out of the way and watched. It seemed like it should be so easy. You have a recipe, you follow that recipe and then…you toss it in the trash.

  “Mailing another package to that lucky young man, I see.” Mr. Whisnant picked the box up and placed it on the scales.

  “Yes, sir.” Nicole pulled out a separate bag of goodies. “But these are for you and Mrs. Whisnant, if you want to share.” She winked, and she dug in her purse again, this time pulling out the correct forms needed to accompany the military package overseas. Every two weeks, without fail, Nicole mailed Will a care package. No matter where in the world he was, her packages would eventually find him. Sometimes they would take months to reach him, and other times he would receive several at once. It didn’t matter how he got them, only that she’d sent them, along with her love, every single month since he had been gone.