The Honor Anthology

by Emily Snow

  Waiting became my life: waiting for a letter from him, waiting for a phone call, waiting for an email, waiting for any word at all. When I finally did hear something, it wasn’t from him. No, Xander’s brother, Stiff, called, telling me that he had been shot. The call should have been one of relief; instead, it became the most dreaded moment of my life. I kind of let loose on Stiff, but I was losing my shit. A woman could only be strong for so long.

  The man I’d loved since high school—who I’d stood behind when he’d joined the Marines, who I’d kept vigil for when he’d had to go away for short periods—had been shot during this last long deployment. The worst part was I couldn’t visit him. They took Xander to a hospital in Germany then brought him back to the states to Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda for recovery and to serve out the rest of his time in the Marines. I thought I could visit him once he came to the States, but instead, I talked to him over the phone.

  Time stopped when I heard his voice for the first time in months. After so much worry, I tried my best not to cry. I knew he didn’t need that weight on his shoulders. But it was hard, and I broke, anyway. His voice was the best sound in the world. Just hearing him made so many things right in my world.

  I wished it had been perfect, but something inside of Xander changed while he’d been deployed. He was different when we talked. The laugher didn’t come as easily as it once had. Neither did his jokes. A few times, he even barked at me like he gave orders to his men.

  It hurt because he’d always been good about separating our life from the military. I sucked it up, however. I knew he’d been through a lot. I mean, hell, he’d been shot. That right there was huge. Therefore, I could handle a little attitude. For him, I would. I’d do just about anything.

  “Hey, Gabby.” A deep voice came from my right, and I jumped.

  Turning, I saw Stiff standing tall, intimidating, and covered in leather. Stiff road with a local biker club called the Vipers Creed. I’d spoken to him a few times since Xander left, but we weren’t close. We didn’t hate each other or anything, but I wouldn’t say we were friends, either. To be honest, he scared the ever loving shit out of me with his bald head and magnetic looks. Not just that, though. The overall power that radiated off him could bring anyone to their knees. Even as we stood in the airport, people stopped and stared at him, openly gawking. I couldn’t blame them. Stiff was a force to be reckoned with.

  Stiff brought his arms around me, pulling me to his body in a tight hug, which I reciprocated.

  “Hey, Stiff,” I replied quietly as he pulled away, eyeing me.

  “No more tears. Our boy’s back.”

  I swiped at my face, not wanting another tear. He was right, and I needed to get my shit together.

  “Right. Is your mom coming?”

  Stiff shrugged. “Probably not. She’s got a new piece, and even though her kid’s been at war, she more than likely can’t tear herself off his cock long enough to get here.”

  I choked on a laugh as a woman with gray hair and a cane openly stared at Stiff, her mouth dropping to the floor at his language.

  Instead of responding to it, Stiff said, “Hello, ma’am,” in the sweetest voice imaginable coming from this huge man.

  The woman shook her head and walked off.

  “You sure do have a way with the ladies,” I muttered, feeling the joy come back into my life for the first time in twelve months.

  Stiff had a lot of Xander’s joking mannerisms. With him being older, I assumed Xander got it from him because I knew neither of them had a father growing up.

  Stiff winked. “You have no idea.” He looked around. “Why are you here and not up there?” He pointed to the area where passengers were sitting and waiting for planes.

  “Because of stupid laws. With all the shit that Xander was fighting for over there, we now have to wait over here to see him. Apparently, it is a security risk for us to be up there, and we have to have a ticket.” While grateful that I’d see my man today, I wanted to be right there when he got off the plane with my arms open for him to run into. Damn laws.

  “All you need is a ticket?” Stiff asked, and I nodded. “Come on.” He pulled me to the ticket counter off to the right of the exit.

  “Need two tickets,” Stiff said, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out his wallet.

  “Where to, sir?” the overly bubbly airline worker asked, eyeing Stiff with great appreciation.

  I rolled my eyes.

  “Don’t give a fuck, just need to get up there,” he told her, pointing to the seating area.

  The woman’s smile faded, and she went on alert. “Why do you need to do that?” she asked, looking over to another agent who wasn’t paying attention. Great … She probably thought we were going to blow up the place or something.

  I stepped in. “Ma’am, my boyfriend is coming home. He’s a Marine and was hurt overseas. We just want to get up there to meet him off the plane.”

  Her demeanor instantly changed at my words, going from alert to almost soft.

  “Do you have a copy of his orders?” she asked with a smile now gracing her face.

  It was my turn for my stomach to fall. “No, I—”

  “Hang on,” Stiff cut me off, reaching inside his leather vest then pulling out a manila envelope. “This is a bunch of shit I got while he was gone. I was gonna give it to him.” He opened up the envelope and began rifling through some papers. Then I pulled one out and handed it to the agent. She smiled wide.

  “I just need your IDs, and you’re ready to go.”

  “Just like that?” Stiff questioned.

  “Yes, sir. A new law was passed that, as long as you give the airline the orders, family may go up and greet their service member upon arrival.” Her smile never faltered.

  We were given a piece of paper to hand the guard at the gate. My cheeks hurt from smiling. This was perfect.

  “Let’s go see my brother,” Stiff said, his smile making his face look not so scary.

  Excited—no, ecstatic was more like it—we went through security where Stiff had to get a pat down and came out clean. I couldn’t lie and say I didn’t hold my breath the whole time, because I did. Thank God he’d left whatever he carried in that holster at home.

  I bounced from foot to foot, unable to keep myself still as we waited outside his gate. We had fifteen minutes. While I had waited about a year, I swore these last fifteen minutes were going to kill me.

  “Calm the fuck down,” Stiff said, reclining in the black plastic chair, cool and calm as could be. How could he not be wound up with excitement? This was huge, and there he sat, stoic.

  “No,” I answered, continuing my pacing in front of the window. Every emotion I’d ever felt flowed through my veins in a continuous loop. My hands sweat and heart thumped wildly.

  When the plane touched down, my stomach dropped. When I waited and waited for him to come off the ramp, I panicked. A woman with a small child came into the airport, and my anxiety ratcheted up. Where was he?

  Then Xander stepped off the ramp and into the airport, taking my breath away. Standing so tall, he had his hair cut sharply against his head, his facial bone structure a bit more pronounced. His piercing blue eyes scanned then locked on me.

  Tears welled. I couldn’t hold back. I tried, but there was no use. I lurched myself at him, wrapping my arms around him and breathing him in.

  He dropped whatever was in his hands and put his arms around me, kissing the top of my head as I let the tears flow. He was here … in my arms, holding me. Finally.

  Chapter Two

  Xander

  I inhaled my girl, loving the feel of her in my arms. Damn, I’d missed her.

  Her body shook as she cried, and I held her tighter. Seeing my brother out of the corner of my eye, I lifted my chin to his smile. He would wait.

  There wasn’t one single night, day, or afternoon that I didn’t think of my Gabby: what she was doing, how she was getting along without me around, how her job was
, her life, her anything. I’d missed so damn much, but I had a job to do.

  While I didn’t complete the mission I was injured in, my brothers went back and got it done. Fuckers were taken out and the entire structure blown. While I hated that hell hole, I wanted to be back with my team, fighting for justice. Nevertheless, the doctors said I couldn’t fight.

  I spent months in rehab and had surgery before that. Those assholes put two bullets in me, shattering part of my shoulder that needed to be rebuilt.

  Not being in the action didn’t sit right. Sitting, feeling pain, and going through therapy sucked. Doing it without my girl made it worse.

  I knew I was lucky. Some guys there lost limbs. One lost both his legs. Another had part of his face burned from an explosion. I had it good compared to them, but my girl had always seen me as her hero. I couldn’t let her see me in so much pain, broken and weak. Therefore, I told her she couldn’t come to visit, which wasn’t entirely true. There were visiting times, but I couldn’t let my girl see me like that.

  Did it make me a coward in some ways? Yes. Was it selfish as fuck? Yes. Regardless, it was what I needed to do.

  Now, I got to hold my girl. It didn’t matter how I arrived here; it just mattered that she was in my arms.

  “Shh …” I consoled when her tiny body shook harder. “I’ve got you, Gabby.”

  She looked up at her name, her eyes rung with tears. “I missed you,” she said quietly.

  I bent, sealing my lips to hers, missing the taste of her. She didn’t hesitate to kiss me back, and not until the applause came from the room did I pull away from her, searching the space. The noise jolted me into alert.

  Hundreds of people stared at us, clapping their hands in recognition. I had on civilian clothes, but with one look at my carry-on, they must have put two and two together. Shit.

  I nodded, saying “Thank you.” Overwhelming didn’t cut it; I never expected a thank you from civilians.

  Unfortunately, as my eyes cased all the people, my body went on full military alert. Over in that hell hole, we never liked crowds, were warned away from them because of the possible danger there. Even being on American soil where it was supposed to be safe, I couldn’t turn that off. Therefore, I scanned, looking for potential threats. I’d be damned if I let anything happened to Gabby.

  “Alright, get your tongue out of your girl and give your brother a hug,” Stiff said, coming up to my side.

  I gave Gabby a brief touch of my lips. “Give me a sec.”

  She nodded, wiping her face and nose.

  Stiff opened his arms wide, and I went directly into them. Stiff was the only family I really had. Sure, we had a mother, but she was always too self-absorbed to pay much attention to us kids. As the oldest, Stiff took on the father role, being the man I could depend on for anything. He made sure we had food, clothes, even a fucking roof over our heads when our mother was evicted, which was often. Stiff had always been my rock.

  “Brother, I’m so fucking happy you’re home,” Stiff said in my ear as he clapped my back, thumping it hard.

  I reciprocated, “Happy to be back home. Damn happy.”

  “So fucking proud of you.” He pulled away, sizing me up. “And I think you’ve fucking grown. I can still take you, though.”

  For the first time in what felt like forever, I laughed. “Nah, I’m quicker,” I chided, feeling a bit lighter.

  “Fuck no. I’ll wipe the floor with you,” he challenged back, slapping my shoulder. I was happy it was my healthy shoulder, because his strength was evident.

  “Never,” I threw back, getting a smile from him.

  Looking around the space, I was thankful everyone had disbursed and the crowd was down to nothing.

  I turned back to my girl. “Can we get the hell out of here?”

  Her smile graced her beautiful face. Even rosy from crying, she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen in my life. Her dark hair fell to her shoulders, framing her face. The blue eyes I missed for so damn long pulled me in. Damn, I loved this woman.

  “Yes,” she said as I bent down and grabbed my bag.

  As my brother put his arm around my shoulder, I felt his pride down to my bones. “Party tomorrow night at the club. Figured you’d be busy tonight.” He released me.

  “Fuck yeah.” My hand needed a damn break, and I needed to be inside Gabby. All fucking night long.

  I grabbed my duffle and stepped out into the Tennessee air, inhaling deeply. I’d missed the smell of home. Trees, lots of trees. I fucking loved trees. I could go a long damn time without seeing sand again … if ever.

  Stiff insisted on carrying my bag, and it wasn’t worth fighting over. Besides, I got to hold my girl’s hand as she led the way to her car.

  Outside, I stopped dead, shooting my head over to Stiff, who wore a huge, shit-eating grin.

  Motorcycles lined the lane of the parking lot where Gabby led us. The United States flag and Marine flag were prominently displayed on the backs of two of them.

  I looked at the leader, Spook. He’d been one of my brother’s best friends for what seemed like forever. He gave me a salute, as did Bosco, Boner, Dawg, Hooch, and several of the other guys. Fucking hell.

  “Thought you needed an escort home,” Stiff told me.

  “You prick. You want me to fucking do something stupid like fucking cry so you can hold it over me for years to come. Ain’t. Fucking. Happening.” Even if it felt damn good inside that his brothers in Vipers Creed were honoring me in their way, I would never shed a tear. That was just pure stubbornness. It didn’t have anything to do with macho bullshit. It had to do with my brother never letting me live it down. And he’d be up my ass all the time about it. No thanks.

  I lifted Gabby’s hand and kissed it. She had fresh tears. The damn woman was going to float away at this rate.

  We stopped at a Chevy Impala, and Gabby remoted the locks open with a beep. I missed the old truck we had, but it had broken down, and she’d needed something reliable.

  “Love it, baby.”

  She shrugged. “It gets me from here to there.” She opened the trunk, and we loaded up.

  “We’re going to follow you to your place then veer off. You and me, we catch up tomorrow night at the club. Of course, your girl can come,” Stiff said.

  “Good thing, ’cause I’m not sure she’s going to be out of my sight.”

  He lifted his chin. “Make good use of your time.” He chuckled.

  “Unlike you, I know what to do with my dick,” I retorted.

  “You little shit.”

  “Okay, as much as I love seeing you boys go at each other, can I please take my man home?” Gabby said from beside me.

  I pulled her in close and kissed the top of her head.

  “You get this out, but you’ve got it comin’ to ya,” Stiff said as he moved to his bike.

  I gave the guys a salute then climbed in the passenger seat. I knew the address of where Gabby moved to, but I’d never been there, and I was on restriction from driving. I understood driving here would be different than overseas, but I could have handled it. Then again, I wouldn’t dismiss a direct order, either. It was only for a week, anyway.

  As we rode through town, every once in a while, the guys behind us would start blaring their horns and revving their engines, drawing attention from the people on the streets. It was strange, yet it was the best fucking welcome home.

  The guys rode with Spook in the lead then staggered two by two. I tagged my brother right away.

  We pulled up to a small ranch-style house with tan siding. Little bushes of flowers and plants lined it with a huge oak tree out front. Gabby pulled up to the garage as I turned and watched the guys drive by, waving to each. Then I looked back at the house.

  We lived in an apartment when I first joined the Marines. Gabby stayed there for quite some time, but she wanted to move to a house closer to base. The thought was we’d stay near base in case I was called to duty. Uncle Sam had another idea and medical
ly discharged me.

  “You did good, Gabby.” I loved it when I put that broad smile on that face. It was strange in a way. She was so familiar yet different. More woman than the shy kid I had fallen for back in high school.

  “I was so nervous you wouldn’t like it. I can’t wait—”

  “Baby, you can show me every damn thing in this place after I fuck you. A lot. So maybe in a couple of days or a week, we’ll come out of the bedroom.”

  She laughed and bit her lip. I missed that shit so damn much. “Alright big man. Gonna show me what I’ve been missing?”

  “Fuck yes. House. Now.” My granite cock urged me out of the car and searched out Gabby.

  Fuck, she looked good. She’d always had a killer body, but these past two years, she’d really filled out. Tits and ass. Fuck yes. Her wide hips turned me on so damn much. Fuck, I needed to be in her.

  She raced up to the front door, fiddling with her keys then opening it. I kicked the door shut, locked it, and then prowled toward my girl. I slammed my lips to hers as she jumped up and wrapped both her arms and legs around me.

  “Bedroom,” I mumbled, feeling the pain in my shoulder but ignoring it. It came and went, and I dealt. Out on missions, I went days without feeling anything because my life depended on it. I could go longer for Gabby.

  She ripped away quickly. “Down the hall, second door on the right.”

  She didn’t have to tell me twice; I was already striding that way, paying zero attention to anything else. I didn’t give a shit what the walls looked like, carpet, furniture—nothing. All I gave a shit about was being in my woman.

  I fumbled just a touch, not realizing the door wasn’t fully open, then found the bed immediately.

  I pulled away. “Baby, this has to be hard and fast. I’m not gonna last long. But then I’ll take you slow all night long.”

  “God, yes please.”

  “Clothes off.”

  She scurried, ripping her clothes from her body, and while I wanted to love every inch of her voluptuousness, I was about ready to burst and wanted it to be inside her heat.