Though she’d only been gone a few days, the apartment smelled musty, like it hadn’t been opened at all, which she knew wasn’t true. Grif had returned several times for items she needed.
Dropping her clothes to the floor as she walked in, she headed straight for the shower. “I need help in the shower, Grif.”
His rich blue eyes flared with heat. Kendall adjusted the faucets while he took off his clothes, the prosthetic and the neoprene-like liner from his arm. The skin on his stump seemed irritated. She cradled it in her hands to look closer.
“Why is it red like this?”
He pulled away from her touch and stepped under the water.
“You haven’t been taking care of it like you’re supposed to, have you? You’ve been busy taking care of us.”
Kendall carefully walked into the stall. The water flowed over her shoulders, breasts, then belly and it felt so good. The disinfectant stink from the hospital had pervaded her pores, souring other scents. Reaching out, she rested her hands against Grif’s chest. Knowing he wouldn’t let her fall, she rolled her head forward to let the water loosen the knots in her neck.
She indulged herself for a couple of minutes before turning her attention to Grif. He’d been by her side, or Ortiz’s, or her father’s the entire time they’d been in the hospital. She doubted he’d taken care of his amputation the way he was supposed to in that time. He’d told her he was supposed to wash the sleeve out every night. There wouldn’t have been a place to do that. Knowing Grif, he wouldn’t have deliberately hindered himself by taking off the prosthesis in the hospital room. He would have been on guard for her the entire time.
Lathering the bath poof with his soap, she urged him to face away and began to lather him down. He groaned, sagging against the wall of the shower. His amputation hung on her side, so she carefully lathered it as well. The skin looked red and aggravated in patches, as if he had poison ivy. She turned him into the water and held his arm up toward the faucet to make sure all the soap was rinsed. Then, with a quick shampoo and a final rinse of her own, she urged him out of the stall.
She wrapped one towel around herself, knotting it at her breast, then began to pat him down with another. “Do we need to put anything on these spots?”
He shook his head. “They’ll heal up pretty quick if I leave them to air dry. It’s just where moisture had built up inside the sleeve.”
She turned to the sink, where he’d left the sleeve. She had watched him wash it out before, so she started to run water inside it.
“Don’t do that, Kendall. I can take care of my own shit.”
Continuing to slosh water inside the device, she crooked a brow at him. “I know you can, but you haven’t been because you’ve been taking care of other people. You are just as important.”
“No, I’m not. Don’t. That thing stinks. I’ll do it later.” He tried to pull her away from the sink, but she resisted.
“You might as well let me finish. Do you need to put soap in it?”
“No,” he sighed. “Just water.”
Water sloshed inside as she closed the end with her fist and shook it back and forth, then dumped it again. She repeated the process half a dozen more times before he told her it was enough.
“Let it drip for a minute then put it on the rod to dry.”
The appliance to dry the sleeve looked like a paper towel holder with a rounded top. Positioning it carefully, she left it, not convinced she’d done it correctly.
“It’s fine, Kendall. Leave it. You didn’t have to do that.”
“Yes, I did. And I’ll do it many more times in my lifetime, I’m sure.”
His look sharpened on her face, but she turned away.
“I’m ready to just relax. I’ll dive into business stuff later.”
Unwrapping her towel, she ran it down her legs, then squeezed her hair to get out the excess moisture. Padding across the bedroom, she crawled into the bed naked. It had gotten to the point that any sleeping position other than her side was out of the question, so she laid down on her left side to watch Grif dry off.
They were both needy. She smiled when she realized he had already begun to harden. It had been almost a week since they’d made love, the longest they’d gone without since they’d married. A tingle of arousal swirled down through her body.
Grif tossed the towel aside and crawled into bed facing her. He ran his fingertip over the pouting tip of her breast and she gasped. They had become so sensitive.
He shifted up onto his right elbow and ran his left hand over every part of her body he could reach, swirling around her belly, then lower to her ready heat. Pressing his mouth to hers, slipping his tongue inside her mouth, he mimicked every action his finger made in her slickness. As he circled her clit, hovering on the high side like she liked, he whispered into her neck and ear how much he’d missed loving her.
Kendall ran her fingers over his chest, then up his neck. Stubble had begun to darken his jaw and it rasped under her nails as she pulled him close, panting into his neck as he sent her into a white haze of rippling pleasure. When she’d caught her breath, she ran her hands down his body, pulling him to her. Lifting her right thigh over his hips, she angled for him to enter her.
When they made love this way it was slow and easy, but this time there was an urgency that hadn’t been there before. As if they were conscious of exactly how close she and the baby had come to dying. Even as he surged into her body, he clutched her to him, mouth never leaving her own.
They both began to move faster, searching for that perfect resonance that would carry them to that peak, and they both found it at the same time. For a breathless moment, they hovered on that brink, before tumbling into climax. Kendall cried out, arching against Grif as he spasmed and released into her body. Heat spread through her womb as his hips continued to surge, no longer under any kind of control.
It took several long minutes for their heart rates to return to normal and their bodies to stop quivering, but they held each other the entire time.
“Well,” he sighed, “I don’t know about you but I’m ready for a shower.”
Kendall giggled, knowing he spoke the truth but not wanting to move. Lethargy had moved in with a vengeance and it was all she could do to keep her eyes open. “Just let me close my eyes for a minute.”
He snorted but pulled her closer anyway. “Okay.”
Grif watched Kendall sleep and felt a contentment he’d never known before. She’d drifted away as soon as she’d closed her eyes, but he didn’t blame her. This week had been the most harrowing of his life, even more so than when he’d lost his hand, and it had been just as trying for her. Constantly wondering if the baby would be okay had put shadows under her eyes. Her father’s health had also kept her on edge because of his cardiac history. She’d whispered to Grif one night that she worried his heart would give out from all the crises going on at once.
But Frank now seemed stronger than before, as if the lack of Deedra’s malevolent energy in his life had finally begun to let him heal. It didn’t hurt that Emily now catered to his every whim.
As if she hadn’t before.
Movement in his peripheral caught his attention and it took him a moment to realize the baby had moved. Grif stared, waiting for another bump, but he had quieted. Just when he was about to turn away, the baby moved again. Conscious of not waking Kendall, Grif rested his hand against her belly.
The baby kicked, as if to say hello. Tears came to Grif’s eyes at the thought of looking into his child’s determined little face for the first time. The boy would be hardy, just like his mom and dad. Grif had been desperately afraid he would never get the chance to do that this week. Happiness didn’t normally stop into his life, certainly not to stay, so the past few months had been like a dream. He’d been waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Kendall’s hand moved from her hip to cover his on her belly as the baby continued to kick. When he looked up, tears had seeped from her eyes to the pillow be
neath her. “He loves you as much as I do.”
The whispered words didn’t register at first. “What?”
Her smiled faltered and another silver tear spilled to the pillow. “We love you. I love you. When they were telling me everything we’d gone through, all I could think about was that I hadn’t had enough time with you yet. And that I hadn’t told you that. And then I didn’t know if I should tell you in case something happened with the baby. I didn’t want you to feel obligated to stay with me.”
He cringed at her assumption that he was only with her because of the baby. Then he realized he hadn’t given her any reason to think otherwise. “Even if there wasn’t, I would still be here for you. I have no idea if anything I do will be right, but I love you too. Have for a long time, I think. The baby was just a fortuitous excuse to get you to marry me.” She choked out a laugh and burrowed into his chest.
“Are you sure? It was my mess up and I don’t want you to feel like you’ve had to sacrifice your life for my mistake.”
“Honey, do you seriously think I couldn’t have pushed you away that night? It was a mutual mistake, but I’ve come to realize that we were meant to hook up, if not then it would have been soon.”
Some of the tension left her body and she snuggled into him, her belly pressed to his.
Grif cradled his wife and child to him and wondered, truly, what he’d done to be given this gift.
Three and a half months later...
Kendall smiled down at him, sleepy and rumpled. “Good morning, sleepy head. I’m sorry to wake you, but I need your help.”
Grif lurched into a sitting position. “Sure babe, what do you need? Glass of water?”
He scrubbed his face, blinking against the light from the bathroom.
“I need you to run me to the hospital so I can have our baby.”
Grif lurched to his feet, tiredness being replaced by fear. “What? Are you sure? Are you in pain? They’re not the Braxton things you’ve been feeling?”
Kendall’s head nodded and shook as each question was asked, and it would have been ridiculous had it been any other type of situation.
“My water broke, Grif.”
He blinked at her.
“Get your ass moving, Marine!”
Grif bolted for the bathroom and his arm. He rolled on the sock and slammed the prosthesis on as quickly as he could, then lurched for the bedroom and clothes. He realized in passing that Kendall was already dressed in a flowy dress and sandals, and her bag sat at her feet. “How long have you been up?”
“About half an hour.” She held up a notepad. “I’ve been timing my contractions and they’re getting closer.”
“How close?”
His gut quivered in fear as he paused for the answer.
“I’m not going to tell you because it’ll freak you out. I need my calm-headed hero to get us to the hospital.”
Fuck!
Grif ripped on clothes as fast as he could, stumbling into the wall as he bounced on one foot trying to get his shoes on. Kendall giggled and sailed out of the room ahead of him. “I texted Calvert to let him know we’re leaving. Here are the keys.”
He caught them one handed then bolted for the door. Then realized what a dumbass he was and went back to grab the hospital bag from her hand and guide her to the door.
“Grif, chill. Calm headed, remember?”
Grif did not chill until three hours later, when he looked down at his screaming son in the clear bassinet. He reached out his hand to brush against the tiny little fingers and the boy’s entire fist suddenly opened to grip his finger.
“Wow, you are a hoss, little man.”
Grif knew he looked stupid in his shorts and long-sleeved button-down shirt, but he didn’t care as he looked down at his red-faced boy.
“It’s a good thing you got here when you did,” the kind-faced nurse told him. “Any later and you’d have been delivering him yourself.”
Grif actually felt himself pale. Damn. That had been too close for comfort.
The nurse swaddled his son in a striped baby blanket, wrapping him up like a little burrito. Then she lifted him and held him out to Grif.
He and Kendall had practiced this, because it had been a fear that he wouldn’t be able to handle him with the prosthetic. They’d ‘rented’ a life-size baby from the hospital, same weight, same everything. And it had been a breeze.
As he took his son now, though, all that practicing went out the window. He nestled into the crook of Grif’s elbow, with the prosthetic hand beneath his butt. Grif’s real hand was then free to do what he needed it to. The nurse smiled at him in encouragement and he turned to Kendall.
Though she’d been in labor for hours and her hair was mussed, her face flushed, tears tracks down her face, she somehow still managed to look glorious. She smiled when she saw him holding their son and held a hand out.
“You look very natural doing that.”
Grif grinned. “You know, I feel natural. It’s my son, so how could I not?”
She nodded against the pillow. “I have a suggestion for a name.”
He raised his brows. “Did you settle on one?”
They’d tossed hundreds back and forth for months, but nothing had sounded exactly right.
“I do, but you may not like it.”
Grif narrowed his eyes at her. “Why?”
“Jamison Herrington Parks.”
Emotion tightened his throat and he tried to clear it, but it didn’t work. Tears made his vision blurry as he blinked down at his son.
“We need to make your legacy a good one, and I don’t want you to have pain because of that name anymore.”
She reached out to them both, cradling them against her as he fought with his past and future. For years he’d been resentful of the name, but he realized now that Kendall had eased him past that. When he pulled away and nodded, pressing a kiss to her lips, she began to cry.
“I think it’s perfect,” he admitted.
Epilogue
Six months later…
The bride was truly radiant. As she walked down the aisle on his arm, Grif couldn’t help but beam as Emily took calm, measured steps toward her future husband. When they reached the altar Grif pressed a kiss to her hand and gave it to Frank, who stood tall and strong in front of the minister.
Grif took his place just behind Frank’s shoulder and glanced across the aisle to his wife, who had tears in her eyes. He smiled at her and she sent him a subtle nod, then turned back to listen to the proceedings.
Considering this was Frank’s third wedding, he should have been an old hat at it by now, but Grif knew the truth. His fingers quivered when he took Emily’s ring, and he would have dropped it if Grif hadn’t grabbed it. Emily, on the other hand, looked sedate and satisfied. She’d been waiting for this for a long time, and he prayed Frank kept his shit together.
Jamie squealed “ma” in the back of the room. When that didn’t get her attention, he started to chant it, making some in the audience giggle. Kendall glanced at him long enough to give him a little wave, which seemed to appease him.
As the ceremony drew to a close and the husband kissed his bride, the audience cheered. They walked down the aisle arm in arm.
Grif held his hand out to his wife. She snugged up against him as they walked down the aisle behind her father. Friends lined the walkway, and he wanted to be done with the requirements so he could talk to them and mingle. He was very curious about the woman Duncan had brought. His boss couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of her.
Ortiz stood just outside the door in the vestibule, as close as he could get considering the group of people. Grif shook the guard’s hand, glad to have his man back in action. The Halo had come off weeks ago and the scars on his forehead had finally begun to fade away.
Lilly brought Jamison out. The little boy lunged into Kendall’s arms, patting her cheeks. “Ma.”
Kendall giggled and tried to straighten his little suit, but it was kind of a los
t cause. “I see you, little Munchkin.”
The wiggly boy crawled across Kendall to latch onto his arm. Grif turned and caught him, pressing a kiss to his dark hair. He smelled of Cheerios and sweetness, but cuddled into his arms as if he’d been waiting for him for hours rather than minutes.
Jamison rested his head against his shoulder and Grif used his other arm to pull Kendall in closer, stunned yet again that this gorgeous woman had consented to join her life with his. He’d been a little freaked at first, but he was so glad they’d done it the way they had.
Everything had started to fall into place.
The cabin they were building was almost complete. The three of them would be able to move in within the next few months.
Frank had run his own investigation, with Grif’s help, to find out who on the security team had been spying into his personal affairs and recording conversations. It certainly hadn’t been done with Frank’s authorization. They’d traced the leak back to Goodrich, the head of security, who had been sleeping with Deedra ever since she’d come into the house. He was the first to be fired. Two other guards were also terminated for knowing about the crime but not saying anything about it. Frank found himself with a one man security team and desperately in need of more.
He’d been the first contract signed with the Vail branch of Lost And Found Investigative Service. News of Ortiz’s heroism had gained them a lot of attention before they’d even opened. They were now flooded with contracts.
Kendall leaned into his shoulder. She looked as radiant as she had on their own wedding day, months ago. Considering everything they’d gone through, it seemed like he’d been with her for a lifetime. “I want to amend our pre-nup.”
She looked at him, brows raised. “Really? What part?”
Grif pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I want to take the two-year trial out of the wording. I’m in it for the long haul. I love you, Kendall. I can’t imagine being with anyone else.”
Her face softened with love and she leaned around Jamison to press a kiss to his lips. “Well, that’s a good thing. We were going to have to scrap it anyway with the other baby coming.”
Uniform Desires (Make Mine Military Romance) Page 54