Wounded Love (A Rocky Harbor Novel Book 3)

by Marianne Rice

  “Cool. I have a scar on my knee from when I fell on a step. Wanna see?” CJ pulled up his pants and Colton squinted hard to find the tiny scar.

  “The first of many, I’m afraid.”

  “Can I see yours? Did the bomb blow up anyone else? Did stuff catch on fire? Did it explode in your face?” CJ asked excitedly in between making sound effects only a boy could make.

  “CJ. People died. This isn’t—”

  “It’s okay.” Colton laid a hand on his son’s thigh and looked up at Ellie, showing her he didn’t mind CJ’s excitement. He was too young to understand the repercussions of war and death. Colton appreciated Ellie’s concern. She stepped further into the room and took a seat across from them in the white wicker chair.

  “Are you sure?”

  He wasn’t sure about anything except how much he loved her and their son.

  “This is my prosthetic.” Colton picked it up from the nightstand and showed CJ.

  “Cool. It’s like Iron Man. Do you have one for your arm too?”

  “My arms are in good working order. Just the leg.”

  “Does it have superpowers? Can you run really fast or fly?”

  “CJ.” Ellie sighed in frustration.

  “I wish. That would be totally awesome.”

  “How does it work?” CJ touched the prosthetic, his eyes round with excitement. “Cool.”

  Colton untied the excess sweatpants and rolled them up. “First, I put this sleeve on my knee so it has something to attach to.” He explained each step, asking for Ellie’s help when he struggled reaching down to his foot. His incision had healed well and the stitches would be out soon. Then he wouldn’t need Ellie’s help anymore. Hopefully she wouldn’t kick him out of the Inn. Or her life.

  Once everything was attached, he stood, showing CJ how the contraption helped him walk. After CJ had studied it, asked a billion more questions, and said, “cool” a dozen more times, Colton lowered his pant leg.

  “I’m going to tell all my friends at school that my dad killed a bunch of bad people and has an Iron Man leg.”

  Pride swelled inside. It was the first time CJ referred to him as his dad, and Colton nearly lost his balance when the word slipped so easily out of his son’s mouth. Ellie caught on too, her eyes full of emotion. She blinked whatever she was feeling away and turned her back to them.

  “Don’t overdo it, you two. I’m going to do my chores.” She fled before Colton could ask her about the catch in her throat or the tremble in her hand.

  Leaving Ellie to take care of the Inn, Colton and CJ went downstairs to the private living quarters and played a few non-active games on the Wii, followed by a puzzle, too many games of checkers, and a turkey sandwich.

  “You look beat,” the kid said. “I’m going to take a nap. You ready to crash too?” CJ had been copying Colton all day, from his mannerisms—CJ rubbed his hands over his face in frustration when he wasn’t sure where to move his checker—to his expressions. Colton would have to watch what he said around his son.

  “I’m beat too. I think I’ll crash as well.” Colton followed CJ to his room and sat on the edge of his bed, tucking him in.

  “I had fun hanging out with you today. Much better than the hospital, huh?”

  “The hospital is boring. I like playing with you too, Dad.”

  If Colton didn’t watch it, he’d be crying like a baby again. Not making a big deal about it, he ruffled CJ’s hair. “Get some shut eye.” CJ closed his eyes and his body relaxed. Colton stayed for a few minutes watching him sleep. So innocent. So perfect.

  Ellie greeted him in the hallway when he closed the bedroom door behind him. “Kid crashed fast.”

  “He’s always been like that.” Ellie toyed with her hands before lifting her gaze to meet his. “We need to talk.”

  “Doesn’t every bad breakup start this way?”

  “Since we’re already broken up, I…I’m sorry, Colton.” Tears pooled in her eyes, her bottom lip trembling as it stuck out far in a whimper. Too caught up in Ellie’s beauty, he missed half of what she said.

  Not wanting to wake CJ, Colton took her arm and steered her into the next room. Ellie’s bedroom.

  “I’m the one who needs to apologize. You were right. I didn’t fight for you. For us. I let my ego and my fear get in the way of what could have been a beautiful future. You didn’t do anything wrong, Ellie.”

  “You’re not a coward. You’re the bravest man I know.”

  “You obviously don’t know too many.” Colton pulled her into his arms and slid his hands up her neck. “I don’t deserve you, Ellie, but I’m going to fight for you anyway.”

  “No.” Ellie placed her hands on his cheeks and stared into his eyes. “You’re a good man, Colton Riley. I understand why you were so angry with me. You loved me and our baby so much and were hurt in the most horrific way. I don’t know what I would have done if one of your family members came to me to say you got rid of our baby and never wanted to see me again. It would have torn me up so much inside that I wouldn’t have been able to make a life for myself. You took that anger and did something good with it. I’m proud of the man you are. The Marine you became, the way you respect your mother, the way you love our son.”

  The sun streamed through the windows and bounced off the gleaming surfaces, or maybe it was the brightness of her blue eyes lighting up the room. Suddenly everything was clear.

  “God, Ellie. You had me from the first time I saw you in that little black bikini taunting me like a vixen, to the way you used to eat your ice cream cones, challenging my raging hormones with every lick. You branded my heart with every smile. It was our walks on the beach that first made me fall in love with you. Your love for life. Your innocence. Your beauty, inside and out. It was the way you cared about everyone around you, even the lowly pool boy with only a first name. You accepted me with no strings and I fell so freaking hard for you that summer.”

  Colton swiped a tear from the corner of her eye with the pad of his thumb. “Your laughter made me forget I wasn’t deserving of you. And when you told me you were pregnant…” Colton leaned his forehead against hers. “I thought I could use the leverage of a baby to keep us together forever. I knew one day you’d wake up and realize I didn’t fit in with your prep school friends and family. Having that baby meant I could hold on to you a little bit longer.”

  Words he didn’t know were inside of him rolled out. He’d never allowed himself to look deeper into his issues with Ellie and why her supposed abortion tore him up so much that he abandoned his family. The psychologists and psychiatrists and military personal he was forced to meet with deemed his sour mood and distant personality results of his accident, not of a life changing event that happened before he enlisted.

  Even the rejection of his birth mother didn’t have as lasting an effect on him as the thought of Ellie rejecting their baby. His love. If she rejected his love now he’d…he didn’t know what he’d do. He wouldn’t walk away or give up easily, that he did know.

  “Ellie Renee Fairfield. You’re the best mother a man could want for his child. You’re beautiful and caring and kind and funny and great in bed. And in the shower.” He lifted his forehead and kissed her lightly on the lips.

  “Slathered in that god-awful face mask, wearing puke smelling pajamas or sexy ass jeans, or lord help me, buck ass naked, you’re beautiful. Inside and out. I have nothing to offer you. I’m a wounded Marine with a chip on his shoulder, a missing leg, a dog who sheds, and the only jobs I have are the ones you’ve given me. I don’t know how to be a husband, but I’ll learn. I don’t know how to be a father, but I think I’ve been doing okay.”

  He’d never spoken so many words in such a short time—or in an entire day—and needed to give his brain a rest, so he did what his mouth did best. Taking her lips in his, he savored her sweetness. Sweet, warm, syrupy. Colton’s tongue found entrance to her mouth and she opened willingly, giving as much as receiving.

  Ellie slid her hand
s up his chest and around his neck, drawing him nearer. Needing to be closer, he backed them up until her knees hit the bed and she fell backwards. Colton hovered over her, not wanting to crush her with his body. Fast moving hands made quick work of both their shirts, their lips separating only for a brief moment while their clothes were shed.

  Somehow they both crawled, naked, to the top of Ellie’s bed. She slid her hands up and down his chest and he knew he’d shoot off like a pubescent teenager if they didn’t slow things down.

  It wasn’t until he inched his way down her body that he realized he was naked, his prosthetic heavy and awkward. They hadn’t made love yet with him fully unclothed, keeping their positions simple so he wouldn’t have to expose his ugliness. It would be easier without the leg attached.

  This was all so new. On so many levels.

  Ellie propped herself on her elbows and looked down at him. “Take it off. I want you completely naked.”

  Colton worked on the straps he could easily reach while Ellie came up behind him, rubbing her naked breasts against his back and kissing his neck. “This is going to be over before it starts if you keep this up.”

  “Hmm.” She slithered around, her body as smooth as a seductress, and unstrapped his device like he’d shown her last night.

  Today there wasn’t any embarrassment, but instead an emotion that was a cross between unbridled lust and more love than he ever thought his heart could handle. When he was free from the extra weight, careful of his incision, he laid her back down and picked up where he left off, trailing kisses from her belly to the inside of her thigh.

  “Colton,” she begged.

  There was no more talking; the only noise came from their joining bodies and the singing of his heart.

  ***

  “So is that a yes?” Colton had finally regained his breath and caressed Ellie’s naked body that lay entangled with his. Her legs were entwined around his left side, careful to avoid his stitches, and she trailed her hands across his stomach, causing parts south of the border to stir.

  “Yes?”

  “Is that a question or an answer?”

  “I don’t remember you asking me a question.”

  “Were you even listening?” Colton propped himself on one elbow, ignoring the pain in his stomach, causing Ellie to slip off his side and lie on her back. Her hair spooled around her head, a dark contrast between the white pillows. That was them. A total contrast. “I spilled my guts out and proposed and you don’t remember?”

  “Proposed?” Ellie shot up, her naked breasts bumping into his face.

  “Do that again?” He reached out to cup her and she smacked his hands away.

  “As in marriage?”

  “Is there another kind?” Colton shifted his body so he sat up as well, pulling down the sheet when Ellie tried to lift it to cover her nakedness.

  “You didn’t even ask me.”

  “Yes I did.”

  “No, you didn’t. That’s something I’d remember.”

  “The sex was that good, huh?” Colton couldn’t help the manly pride that stirred inside—and outside—of him.

  “Stop it. I’m serious.” She smacked his arm. “When did you propose?”

  Colton’s throat got suddenly dry. The long monologue about her being too good for him, and how beautiful she was, that whole spiel and she didn’t hear him?

  “I told you I’d be a shitty husband.”

  “And that’s your proposal?” Ellie crossed her arms, covering the fluffy mounds he wanted to get lost in. Again.

  “I’ve told you before, I’m not great with words.”

  “Your words were beautiful. I’ll remember every one.” Ellie lifted the sheet and moved over him, straddling his lap. “And never in that perfectly, beautiful, moving speech did you ask me to marry you.”

  “You know what I mean. What I meant.”

  “Do you love me?” Ellie whispered close to his mouth.

  “I said that too.” She raised a thin eyebrow and shook her head, her breasts swaying with the movement, distracting him again. “I didn’t?” She slid her body further up his legs, closer to his growing excitement. “Implied?”

  “Not good enough.”

  When Colton moved to kiss her, she pulled back and scooted off his legs. Forgetting to be self-conscious of his body or to care about his stitches, he pounced on Ellie, pinning her to the mattress.

  “Listen now and listen good ‘cause I’m only saying this once.” Which was a total lie. If she said no he’d chase her for the rest of their lives until she said yes. “Eleanor Renee Fairfield.”

  “You did not just call me Eleanor.” When Ellie tried to push him away, he pinned her hands above her head.

  “Ellie Renee Fairfield. I love you more than life itself. Well, you and CJ. I love you differently. I don’t know how to explain it, but I want you both in my life. Forever. You as my wife, he as my son. And more kids if you want them. We never really talked about it. But I need you with me every day. By my side, under me, on top of me, holding my hand, taking care of CJ together. I love you and don’t want to spend another minute of my life without you in it. Will you marry me?”

  The tears in her eyes were different, not the nasty ones he’d given her too many times before. Little blue swimming pools stared up at him for the longest time and he held his breath. Waiting.

  Like a movie playing in slow motion, he saw her again, young and innocent, lounging by the pool, taunting him with her long limbs and sexy laugh. Their bike rides by the ocean when the only worries he had was when he’d see her again.

  Their late night ice cream cones as they strolled down the beach hand-in-hand. The picture he carried with him, not only in his heart, but also in his pocket, helping him get through the loneliest of nights.

  The pictures of the past blended into present day. Those few stolen moments when he’d had Ellie to himself. Their one night out, and the night she thought he broke into her room, face painted with crap, looking sexier than he’d ever remembered. Making love. Kissing her. Feeling her silky skin rub against his.

  And then the three of them. He, Ellie and CJ, gathered around the dinner table. Playing UNO in CJ’s hospital bed. Putting together Legos.

  He locked his gaze with hers and held his breath waiting, hoping. Her skin was flushed from their lovemaking, a stream of tears trickled down her cheek and soaked the pillow under her head.

  “Colton James Riley. Nothing would make me happier than to spend the rest of my life as your wife. Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you.”

  “Can you promise me one more thing?”

  “Anything.”

  “Don’t tell my mother how I proposed to you.”

  “And why not?” Ellie licked her bottom lip, taunting him with her tongue.

  “It wasn’t the flowers and fancy proposal that my brothers had for their wives. Hell, I don’t even have a ring.”

  “Those things are nice, yes. But I don’t care about the material things. I want you, your heart open and honest and your body…naked.” She licked her lips again, inviting his mouth to join hers. This time when they made love it wasn’t fast and furious but a slow melody of touching, tasting, pleasing, and loving.

  Epilogue

  Colton

  Colton woke with a smile on his face, as he’d done for the past few weeks. It had been a while since he woke up on Christmas morning to a tree and presents. And never had he woken up with the best unwrapped present lying next to him.

  “Merry Christmas,” Ellie murmured, her eyes still closed as she stretched like a cat, sliding her naked body against his before kissing his lips. Her ring shone even in the darkness. Not wanting a big audience, he let her open her Christmas present last night after putting CJ to bed. He didn’t have fancy words to accompany it and Ellie didn’t seem to mind. As soon as he placed the ring on her finger she stripped him down and pulled him into the bathroom, where they made love in her big tub.

  “Ellie. You can’t do that to me now. CJ
’s going to come flying in here any minute.”

  All the willpower and Marine training in the world couldn’t resist Ellie’s sweet moans.

  “What’s the matter, big guy? Can’t control yourself?” The tease nipped at his earlobe, knowing what she’d done to his lower half.

  “Payback, sweetheart. I can’t wait for Christmas dinner at my mom’s.” He kissed her swiftly and swiveled his leg over the side of his bed. They’d been going to his mom’s Sunday family meals and last week he’d taken full advantage of her skirt and the long tablecloth that covered their laps. His hands had worked their way up, flirting with the edge of her panties while his family ate and joked and argued around him.

  Ellie’s face had turned a beautiful shade of burgundy and Maggie had asked if she was feeling well. Colton slid his finger under the elastic and she yelped, “I’m fine. Must be the wine.” Then turned and gave him the death glare.

  Enjoying her squirm, he didn’t relent until he thought she’d scream out her orgasm across the family table. Not exactly gentlemanly. He’d pulled away, unable to hide how much he’d enjoyed teasing her.

  “Dude. I know that look.” Graham had snorted and put his arm around Maggie. “Luke looks the same way when he comes over after—” Maggie had smacked him on the arm and the brothers had laughed.

  He’d been outed and he didn’t feel one bit ashamed.

  “Don’t you dare.” Ellie came up behind Colton, wrapping her arms around him from behind. “I nearly died at dinner last week.”

  “Died and gone to heaven?” He turned his head to wink at her.

  “Maybe. Your mother was on to us. I could tell.”

  “She’s happy that I’m happy.”

  “Everyone’s happy that you’re happy. You were a real grouch before I swooped in and fixed you.”

  “A grouch, huh?” Colton moved stealthily like he’d done back in his Marine days and had her pinned before she had a chance to blink.

  “Totally.”

  “Yet you love me anyway.”

  “Madly.”

  “Damn straight. Now stop distracting me. I need to turn on the Christmas tree and start the fire before CJ wakes up.”