by Zoe York
“Piper.” She took a deep breath and smiled. “So you’re…”
“My husband is a SEAL.” Cassie fanned herself with a hand-drawn sign. It was a scorching day, and the mid-morning heat was already warming up the hangar they were waiting in.
“Do you want some water or something?” Piper gestured to the refreshments table at the back. Nobody had touched the drinks yet, but for a pregnant woman, surely etiquette could take a backseat to health and safety.
Cassie shook her head. “I’m okay. I’ve got water in my bag. Besides, I think that might be them!” She pointed at a pair of approaching helicopters.
Bigger than Piper expected, the black machines took a while setting down, and even after they were on the tarmac, it took several long minutes for the rotors to stop turning. Finally, the doors slid open, and one by one, men climbed out. They lined up, and Piper’s breath caught in her throat as she saw Miles for the first time in more than a month.
“That’s my husband,” Cassie whispered, pointing out the tallest of the bunch, standing one man over from Miles.
“My boyfriend is two guys to his right,” Piper whispered back.
Cassie flashed her a happy grin. “So you’re Miles’s girl! I didn’t know your name, I’m sorry. Jared doesn’t get the value of gossip the same way I do. Most of our conversations are baby or house related.”
Piper laughed. “Fair enough.”
“But I heard you went to see him in Germany. That must have been a big relief.”
Piper nodded. “I was so lucky that I was just a train ride away. That phone call was so scary.”
They shared a quiet moment of understanding. It wasn’t easy loving someone who lived for the fight. Piper thought about Cassie’s baby. Would that make it harder, having a child together? She knew even if it was harder, it would be worth it. A tall, lean boy with blond hair and a wicked grin, or a dark-haired bouncing baby girl to twist Miles around her chubby little finger. She shivered. Maybe someday. Then she smiled.
The officer who’d greeted the men quietly turned and spoke to the crowd briefly, but Piper didn’t really hear anything he said. All she could hear was the pounding of her heartbeat as Miles caught her gaze and held it, the corners of his mouth twitching up even at a distance.
Then they were moving toward the hangar. Around her, people waved signs, and some started to walk forward, like Cassie.
Miles picked up his pace, and she matched it, meeting him on the edge of the tarmac as he broke into a jog. He picked her up, his arms strong and true around her waist, and spun her around in a big, sweeping circle.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed him so tight he groaned, but she didn’t care.
“Hey, hey, hey,” he said quietly, and she realized she was sobbing, and his neck was wet with her tears.
Damn. “You’re home,” she said, sniffling as he set her down. She grinned up at him. “These are happy tears.”
He laughed and kissed her quickly, his lips strong and sure against hers, his tongue just stealing the quickest of tastes before he set her down again. He gazed at her, brushing his fingers along her cheekbones and the bridge of her nose. “I love you.”
She’d already known it, and she felt the same way, but hearing it was something special. She nodded, a tiny little wobble of her head. “I love you, too. So much. It’s kind of crazy.”
Grinning, he kissed her again before lacing his fingers through hers and tugging her back into the hangar, because they were in public and he was in uniform. There’d be more time to say that again, over and over, and show it as well, when they were truly alone.
He introduced her to Cassie and Jared Sutter, and Vince Nash, and a few other guys, including his roommate, Trick Novak, who used to be on his team but had been moved to another SEAL team earlier in the year. The whole time he held her close to his side, his arm banded possessively around her, his hand on her outside hip.
She nodded and smiled, but most of it went over her head, and by the time the small reception was over, she was zonked.
“How did you get here?” he murmured in her ear when they had a minute alone.
“I drove,” she whispered, tipping her face up to his.
“My car is in storage.” He held her gaze, the heat in his eyes promising he’d find a way to wake her up again. “Do you think you could give me a drive home?” He nodded across the hangar to where Trick was laughing with one of the Air Force pilots. “Trick’s going to Gaby’s tonight.”
“So…” Piper took a shaky breath. “It was good that I packed an overnight bag?”
He didn’t bother to glance around before lowering his face to kiss her again, and this time there wasn’t anything quick or chaste about the embrace. When they came up for air, she was blushing and so was he. “Yep, good. Okay, let’s get out of here before I get charged for doing inappropriate things while in uniform.”
— NINETEEN —
“Excuse me, miss, can you show me where your travel books are?”
Piper glanced up from re-shelving and straightening mystery paperbacks and smiled at the customer standing a few feet away. “Definitely. Follow me.”
“I’m going to France in the fall, and I’d like something that talks about getting around by train, if you have it…”
“As a matter of fact, I know just the book.” She’d read it herself, and it had helped a lot when she’d gone to Gare de l’Est in Paris, frantically looking for the first train to Landstuhl, Germany.
“Have you been to France?”
She grinned, nodded, and asked a few questions, and soon had the middle-aged woman bundled off to the cashier with three books. Even though her own trip to Europe had been cut short, she’d learned enough in preparing for it that she was confident she’d answered the woman’s questions and pointed her in the right direction.
For the last three weeks, while settling into working and seeing Miles a lot and her family a little, and generally being ridiculously happy, a little itch had niggled at the back of her neck.
She had found more in Europe than she ever would have hoped for. But she hadn’t come back with a better sense of self—she was the same old Piper, filled with wanderlust and self-doubt. Now she just had a loving boyfriend and a different set of priorities.
She still wanted to figure out what she wanted to do when she grew up.
As she returned to the mystery section, a kernel of an idea made itself known in her mind. By the time her lunch break rolled around, it had turned into a full-blown oh-my-god-I-need-paper plan.
It might be a decade too late to be an original idea, but Piper was going to start a blog. While she scarfed a sandwich from the shop next door, she sketched out a messy header image idea, and a schedule of blog post categories. Miss It Mondays would feature places people had been and wanted—ached—to go back to. Wild Wednesdays would be adventure travel. And on Thankful Thursdays, she’d help people get their travel questions answered.
The answers were already out there—on forums and social media groups, other blogs…but like the woman who’d come into the store earlier, not everyone spent their free time trolling the Internet for the cheapest way to get to Prague or how to read a Japanese address.
Piper did. And maybe that wasn’t a completely useless way for her to spend her time after all.
Her phone beeped at her, reminding her she only had five minutes left in her break. She quickly searched for a web hosting company. The first one listed offered a website and a hosting package for fifty percent off for the first year.
It’s a sign, said the devil on her shoulder. Should you talk this out with someone first? asked the angel on the other side.
She didn’t need to. She already knew how that conversation would go, because the only person she’d ask was Miles, and he’d tell her to go for it. He wouldn’t hesitate a beat.
She grinned, and clicked the purchase button.
— —
Miles was in a weekly SITREP meeting whe
n his phone vibrated, indicating he had a new email on his personal xmail account. Three short vibes differentiated those emails from his work ones. He kept that account pretty tight—family, Piper, and the guys he worked with were the only ones who used it regularly, although some friends he’d made over the years had it, too. Other special forces guys. So his fingers itched to check it, but before he could surreptitiously look, he was being called on to do the Latin American brief.
Before the meeting broke up, his pocket had vibrated twice again.
Three emails, all from Piper.
By the time he got to the last one, he was grinning from ear to ear. As soon as he sat down at his desk, he opened a browser window and went to the link she’d sent him. It was just a template, a place holder, with her blog title at the top and a subscribe button on the right. He clicked on it and filled in his email address.
His phone rang right away.
“Look at you, taking over the world,” he answered, knowing it was Piper.
“You subscribed to my blog,” she said, her voice all soft.
“Of course.”
“I don’t even have any posts yet. Or a header picture. But I will. I have a drawing of what I want it to look like. The drawing has a mustard stain on it, but I think that might add something special.”
He laughed. “Speaking of mustard, what are you doing for dinner?”
“Hoping my boyfriend wants to cook something while I use his laptop to build my new blog so I don’t have to drive all the way home.”
Piper lived in the northern suburbs of San Diego, but when she’d returned from Europe, she’d gotten a job at a bookstore in Coronado Beach. Miles tried not to read too much into that, but since the only other thing in Coronado for her was him, it was a challenge.
He didn’t always try hard. He was a planner—that was his nature. He knew Piper was it for him, if she could wrap her head around being a navy wife. So he watched and listened and planned—dinner on the days she worked, visits up in her neck of the woods when she didn’t. More and more of her clothes were being left at his place. He didn’t make a big deal about clearing out a drawer in his dresser, but as she peeled off layers at the end of a day, he put them in his laundry hamper.
If the clean clothes went into that drawer instead of a bag for her to take home…well, that was just a test balloon.
“Okay. I need to pick up some groceries because my girlfriend just invited herself for dinner, but—”
“Hey!” She giggled.
“Love you. See you in an hour or so?”
“Definitely. Love you, too.”
— —
Piper could hear Miles moving around the kitchen, putting dishes away. Not only had he fed her, but he’d made fancy grilled sandwiches which could be eaten with one hand so she could keep working while they ate. He read a book next to her for a bit, then went to tidy up.
She glanced in that direction, catching glimpses of his tall, swimmer’s-build body. Lean compared to some of his SEAL friends, but big for anyone else, Miles moved effortlessly through his space. He’d changed into cargo pants and a white t-shirt when he came home, and every time he lifted a dish to the top shelf, his shirt pulled up and revealed a distracting slice of taut, male skin.
He looked up and caught her watching him, and heat filled her chest as he held her gaze, a slow, sexy smile curling up his handsome face. “How’s it going?”
“I’ve got my first few blog posts scheduled, and a list of places where I want to promote it. I even have a giveaway set up!” She set the laptop on the coffee table as he came closer, and took his hand, standing to meet him. “It looks like a real blog and everything.”
“Amazing.” He grazed his knuckles along her jaw, sweeping her hair back before leaning in to kiss her.
“Hardly,” she murmured, her words brushing against his lips.
“I. Am. Amazed,” he repeated, sliding their bodies together, curving over her as he kissed her again, harder this time. “Do you have any more to do tonight?”
Slowly she shook her head, left and right, left and right, a thrill chasing through her body as he tightened his grip on her.
“Good. Take off your pants.”
She laughed as he released her suddenly and reached for his belt, but he was right—that was an excellent plan. “Shirt, too?”
He wet his lips as he looked down at her. “Nope. Just the pants for now. I love you in a t-shirt and panties.”
Good Lord, she should have Miles say “panties” more often. Her heart thudded hard in her chest as she complied with his request.
As soon as they were both bare-legged, he swept her backwards onto the couch and settled on top of her, a delicious weight she wanted more of.
“You drive me crazy,” she said quietly, winding her arms around his neck. “One look, one word from you and I’m all turned on.”
“That’s how I’ve felt since that very first night.” He flexed his hips, showing her the feeling was mutual, and they both groaned. “I looked across the bar and there you were, all curves and dark hair. I had the most inappropriate fantasy about you in a dress shirt…”
She hissed and rolled against him. “Do you even own dress shirts?”
“Clearly you haven’t snooped in my closet.”
“Not yet, but maybe I will.”
“That would be easier if you had a key…” He trailed off, kissing wet, open-mouth marks down her neck. He tried to tug her neckline down, then got frustrated and just shoved her t-shirt up, sighing happily when he had a handful of boob.
“True, I’m a terrible cat burglar.”
He laughed and squeezed her breast. “Gorgeous, that was me, offering you a key to this place.”
She blinked up at him. “Really?”
“Yeah. Of course.” He shook his head as he lowered his face to hers. “Well, maybe not of course if you didn’t realize. Don’t you know how much I love you?”
“Yes,” she whispered, kissing him back.
“What’s mine is yours.” Lacing his fingers through hers, he stretched her arms over her head, holding her in place as he used his lips and his tongue to explore every inch of her mouth. He kissed her until they were both breathless and panting hard. “And you are mine.”
“All yours.”
“All?” His eyes flashed above her. “Come on.”
He hauled her up, his hands all over her hips and up her shirt, groping and stroking as he tried to kiss her neck and walk her toward his bedroom at the same time.
Shivering with want, Piper swayed inside his arms, letting him move her at his own pace because the journey felt good. When he slid both hands up her shirt, cupping both breasts at the same time as he ground his erection into her ass, her knees almost gave out from how good it felt to be desired like that. Like he just couldn’t get enough of her.
They were barely inside his room, the door still open, when his hand slid inside her panties.
“Jesus,” he growled. “You’re so wet for me.”
“Mmm-hmmm.” She rocked her hips, rolling her pelvic bone against his fingers as he explored her folds, stroking her aroused flesh in a way that was working her up, but not getting her off. “Touch my clit, Miles. Make me come.”
“Bossy, bossy.” He circled her nub gently, coaxing it out from under its hood, making it swollen and eager for more. “Maybe I want you to come when I’m inside you. I love how tight you squeeze me.”
“Okay, that sounds good, too,” she panted, leaning in vain toward the bed. He just banded his other arm beneath her boobs and held her where she was.
“What’s the hurry?” His breath was hot against her ear.
“You. Are. Cruel.”
He laughed as she bounced against his hand, so close to release she could taste it. Cupping her sex with one hand, he picked her up around the waist with the other arm and carried her to the bed, tugging down her panties as soon as he had her positioned on all fours.
Before she could growl at hi
m again, he had his cock free and was stroking the head through her wetness, searching for her opening. When he found it, he eased right in, skipping the preliminary pulses he often did to fit them together.
He didn’t need to—she was slick and swollen for him, completely primed.
“Mine,” he grunted, his hands on her hips, holding her in place as he slammed into her. Her orgasm started on the third repeating of the possessive claim, said in time with each rough stroke inside her. As soon as she started clenching around him, he let himself go, fucking her hard and fast a few more times before climaxing with a jerk and a gasp, his fingers tightening so hard on her hips she hoped she might bruise.
“I’m so glad you’ve found something you’re excited about,” he whispered against her temple once they were cuddled up against his pillows.
“I was already excited about you, about being home and together,” she said, not wanting him to think he wasn’t enough.
“I know. But now you’ve got something to keep you busy when I’m away next.”
Her heart squeezed. “You think about that? Me waiting for you?”
“Would you wait?”
“Until the end of time. You’re mine, too.”
— EPILOGUE —
“We need to leave for your parents’ place soon,” Miles reminded Piper as he climbed into his bed—where he’d left her when he went for a run—and kissed her shoulder.
“Yep,” she said distractedly, clicking away on her computer. She’d just gotten back from a travel conference in Los Angeles the day before, and her mind had been whirring with ideas ever since. He could practically see the smoke coming out her ears.
Miles knew his job was to support her—until she needed to take a break. Then his job was to make that break happen.
“What are you doing?” he asked, stroking one finger up and down her arm. “Can I distract you?”
“In ninety seconds…”