I buckled her into her car seat while he loaded his bag and then shut the hatch. As I passed by on the way to my side of the car, he caught me, and pressed my back against the hatch of my SUV. The August breeze lifted my skirt slightly, and he slipped his hand discreetly up the back of my thigh before he kissed me.
This kiss left me raw and wanting in two seconds flat. He took possession of my mouth, his other hand tangled in my hair and slanted over me, finding the best angle. Our mouths joined perfectly, like they hadn’t spent the last nine months apart. Within a minute, I was ready to climb him in the parking lot.
“Take me home,” I whispered against his mouth, and arched my hips against his raging erection.
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied with another kiss. “God, I missed you, Samantha.”
“Good, because I missed the hell out of you, Grayson.”
We made it home in fifteen minutes. Delaney jumped out of the car and raced inside. We were slower, holding hands as we made our way down the hallway. She came back with a black sharpie. “Mommy said we had to wait until you were here.”
“So she did,” Grayson said, taking her hand and letting her tug him around the corner to the pantry door.
He opened it and waited for her to slip off her little ballet flats. He tickled her toes, and Delaney’s laughter echoed through our home. Then he leaned her up against the door and marked a line over her head, and dated it.
“Whoa! You grew a ton while I was gone!” he exclaimed, swinging her into his arms. “What have you been eating?”
“A lot of tacos,” she said with a very serious face that looked way too much like her father’s. “Can you cook tomorrow?” she whispered very loudly.
“Hey!” I joked. “It’s time for you to get to bed, young lady.”
“Can Daddy take me?”
I nodded, and Grayson kissed my cheek before running up the steps with our daughter. She was a perfect balance of us both, with Grayson’s reflexes, my sarcasm, and a stubbornness that rivaled us both.
I turned back to the door and smiled as I heard them giggle upstairs in her room. The door had come with us to Fort Rucker, then for a stint at Fort Bragg, and now was hanging again here at home in Colorado. On it were etched the tiny lines of Delaney’s life, and our story.
Grayson’s arms wrapped around me, and I jumped. “That was quick.”
He shook his head. “You’ve been zoned out for about ten minutes. Where are you?”
I turned in his arms. “Here. With you.”
“Good, because I need you.” He swept me into his arms and carried me up the stairs to our bedroom. We waited until the door was closed and locked before our clothes hit the ground.
I damn near shredded his uniform to get him out of it, and I know I heard more than a few rips in the fabric of my dress as he took it off.
His body was even more cut, defined, and my mouth watered. “You look amazing.” I sighed, running my fingertips along his abs.
“I pretty much worked out every time I wanted to jump my wife through the webcam. Hence, I worked out a lot. You’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever put eyes on, Samantha Masters.”
He picked me up, and words were forgotten in a flurry of hands, mouths, moans, and sighs. When we were finished, we got in the shower, and then started again. After we’d worn ourselves to the bone, and the sun began to warm the sky, I snuggled into his side. “Welcome home, baby.”
He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I’m so damn glad to be here.”
I smiled and let my eyes drift shut for the hour or two of sleep we could manage before Delaney knocked on the door, content for the first time since he’d left nine months ago.
And though he’d been the one halfway around the world, in his arms I felt like I’d finally come home, too.
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Acknowledgments
First and foremost, thank you so much to my Heavenly Father, who gives me strength when I have none, and heaps upon me the blessings I don’t deserve.
Thank you to my husband, Jason, who inspires delicious book boyfriends because he’s the kind of man fictional characters have a hard time living up to. Oh, and he makes me go to bed at two a.m. on deadline. Thank you to our children, who fuel me with kisses and hugs (while Dad fetches coffee), and make me believe in a better tomorrow. Thank you to my parents, who never doubted this crazy little path I chose. To my sister, Kate, who reads everything I write with no complaint and never hesitates to pick up the phone. My brothers, Doug, Matt, and Chris, who wouldn’t think twice to bury an unknown object if I needed them to.
Thank you to my editor, Karen, for knowing my voice better than I do and allowing me to send back funny, sleep-deprived notes in the margins. There’s not enough words to describe how much I freaking love you. Thank you to Jamie Bodnar Drowley, for your dedication to the Flight & Glory series, and opening that door for me! Thank you to the fabulous team at Entangled—Liz, Heather H., Heather R., Debbie, and Brittany, you ladies are simply phenomenal. Thank you to my amazing publicity team at SSFAB—Melissa, Sharon, Linda, and Jesey. You guys keep me sane, and my life wouldn’t function without you. Thank you to my incredible agent, Louise Fury—I couldn’t imagine a better copilot on this publishing journey.
Emily, 19 years, and you’re still my best friend. Let’s keep that going—it seems to work for us. Christina, Outer. Banks. Beach. House. Thank you to Lizzy Charles and Molly Lee. You girls. You’re everything and you know it. Babies, boys, and books, you two are my lifelines. Linda, my squirrel-chaser extraordinaire, thank you for keeping me grounded and as organized as you possibly can. I swear, I meant to do whatever it is I forgot. But mostly, thank you for your friendship! Mindy, Fiona, Katrina, Rachel, Cindy, Melissa, thank you for your inspiration and always spot-on advice. Corinne, Rose, Mia, Christine, Kristy, Laurelin, Claire, Lauren, EK, Whitney, Pepper, Aleatha, and Alessandre, thank you for giving me a safe place to figure out this whole writing gig. My Backspace Survivors, stop trying to make the Korean food happen. It’s not going to happen. Thank you to the bloggers who take their insanely valuable time to read, review, and share your friendship: Wolfel, Jillian, Allison, Alexis, Nadine, Lisa, Aesta, Vilma, Natasha, Mint, Marianne, Elbe, Book Baristas, and the countless others who are promoting authors: you astound me. My fabulous Epics, you guys rock my socks, and you know it. And the readers, you guys PM’ing me at eleven p.m. in tears over Ember, or laughing at something in the book group, you guys are what keeps me hunched over the keyboard. Thank you.
And lastly to my husband, again, because you know he only reads the first and last. You are my one constant, my anchor, my north star. Thank you for loving me.
About the Author
Rebecca Yarros is the author of Full Measures and Eyes Turned Skyward, a hopeless romantic, and lover of all things chocolate, coffee, and Paleo. A military brat by birth and a military wife by love, she’s given up on fully unpacking that last box, but always plants flowers…that inevitably die when she forgets to water them. She still holds out hope for an acceptance letter to Hogwarts, but she’d settle for a house in the Shire. Her blog, The Only Girl Among Boys, has been voted a Top Military Mom Blog the last three years and celebrates the complex issues surrounding the military life she adores.
When she’s not writing, she’s chasing her six kids, tying their hockey skates, or sneaking in some guitar time. She is madly in love with her army-aviator husband of thirteen years, and they’re currently stationed in Upstate NY with their gaggle of rambunctious kiddos and snoring English Bulldog, but she would always rather be home in Colorado.
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Discover the Flight & Glory series…
Full Measures
She knew. That’s why Mom hadn’t opened the door. She knew Dad was dead. Twenty years as an army brat and Ember Howard knew, too. Her dad would never be coming home. Then Josh Walker enters her life. Hockey star, her new next-door neighbor…and endowed with the most delicious hands that have a way of erasing her pain with a single touch. But just when Ember lets him in, Josh’s secret shatters their world. And she must decide if he’s worth the risk that comes with loving a man who could strip her world bare.
Eyes Turned Skyward
Since her sister’s death, Paisley, who shares her sister’s heart condition, is treated like glass by her parents. But nothing will stop her from completing her Bucket List—even if it kills her. And it almost does, until Jagger pulls her from the ocean and sets her soul on fire. Jagger is wickedly hot, reckless, and perfect for a girl living life to the fullest. Except Paisley is the commanding general’s daughter and her boyfriend is Jagger’s biggest rival. One wrong move, and they could crash and burn…
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