by Zoe York
She was blushing, and he felt a good amount of heat, too. But his mom and Hannah were both beaming, when he finally tore his gaze away from Chelsea, and Travis gave him a thumbs up. And on the phone his mom was holding, Chelsea’s parents were clapping enthusiastically.
His headlights swept across the front of the cabin as Ben pulled up. Before Chelsea could open her door, he reached for her, kissing her in a lingering, promising way. “Sit tight.”
Then he went around to her side and opened her door. She gave him a secret smile as she stepped down, then they walked hand in hand to the cabin door.
“Fair warning, I’m going to carry you over the threshold when we get back to your apartment, too.”
“I think it can be our apartment now?”
“May not need the stuff the movers are trucking back to San Diego after all.”
“I don’t know, do you have anything good?”
He laughed as he unlocked the door. “Truth be told, I don’t remember.” He scooped her up in his arms and stepped into the cabin. “That’s from the before times.”
“Before what?” She nuzzled into his neck.
“Before you. Before love.”
She made a happy sound as she kissed his skin above his collar. “It’s funny, but I think it’s true for me, too. Everything changed that night. And now you’re my husband.”
“Damn straight.” He carried her all the way to the brass bed, then turned on the gas stove to warm up the cabin more before strolling back to her. “You’re my wife now.”
She swayed into his embrace. “And this is our wedding night.”
“I’ve wanted to be alone with you all day.”
“The dinner we had was nice.”
“I barely tasted it.” He unzipped her boots, then peeled off her tights, revealing her soft thighs and long calves, bare for the first time for his eyes in hours. A lifetime. “But I liked watching you be so happy with our family.”
“Our family, Ben. I love the sound of that.” She pushed at his suit jacket, encouraging him to start getting undressed, too. “Next Christmas is going to be noisy. Be warned.”
“I can’t wait.” He tugged his tie loose, then unbuttoned his shirt slowly, loving the way his wife’s gaze was locked on his fingers. Once he shrugged out of the shirt, leaving his chest bare and him only in his dress pants, it was her turn again. “How do I unzip this thing?”
She turned around, showing him a hidden zipper. He lay a line of kisses on the bare skin it revealed once open, then she pulled her dress up and over her head, and he was a goner. Under her sexy but sweet velvet wedding dress she was wearing pure sin lingerie, black lace that hid nothing and encouraged her lush skin to overflow in all the right directions.
He cupped her breasts in his hands, touching as much of her as he could at once, then followed with his mouth, sucking her nipples against his tongue through the fabric until they were hard peaks and she was panting his name.
Her hands clutched his back, then lower, pulling his hips against hers so she could rub on him like a kitten in heat, and fuck, he needed her so much. Needed to taste every inch of her, and needed to be inside her, too.
They had all night. He could have her, all of her, in every possible way.
His wife, perched on his lap. Bent over the side of the bed. Stretched out on the floor in front of the wood stove, to keep warm while he feasted on her sweet pussy.
But first, they had a marriage to consummate.
He guided her hands to his belt, encouraging her to touch him, unzip him, and make him bare. There would be nothing between them this time.
She moaned as she wrapped her hand around his eager length, heavy and slick at the tip, ready to be inside her. He peeled off her bra and panties, then pressed her legs apart and grazed her swollen flesh with a first touch, then circled in tighter with each pass.
She kissed him as he primed her to take him, and he knew she was ready when she sank her teeth into his lower lip and groaned. “Ben…”
“I know. God, Chels, I know.”
“Now.”
He braced himself over her and pushed into her, his cock reacting immediately to the tight, warm sheath by swelling bigger than he’d ever been before.
She cried out his name again, and wrapped her hands around his neck, clinging to him as he sank into her again and again, immediately wild. He felt her wedding ring on his skin, and looked at his own band, on the hand braced on the bed beside her head.
“This is the rest of our lives,” he rasped. “I’m yours. Forever.”
Her gaze locked on his face as she moved with him. “I love you.”
“So damn much. I can’t believe you’re mine.” He shifted his balance so he could cup her breast again with his left hand. The sight of his big, veined hand, wedding ring glinting in the dim light, against her sweet, soft flesh undid him. He thought about filling her with babies, and knowing she’d always be there waiting for him, no matter what, and then he blinked and she was staring up at him in adoring lust.
It was all too much.
Too good, too hot, too perfect. He crushed his mouth to hers, then hitched her hips up, locking her legs around his waist. “Touch yourself,” he whispered against her lips. “Let’s get there together.”
“I’m close.”
“Me, too. Ready to pop. Want to fill you up, but I need you to come first, I want you to pull it out of me.”
She made a desperate sound, like she needed that, too, and then her fingers were between their bodies, and she was rubbing herself in a tight, focused circle as he snapped his hips, burying his erection deep on each thrust. Hitting the mark that made her cry out, beg for more, and then arch her back just in time, her whole body going rigid just as his own orgasm hit.
He kept himself inside her, savoring the connection as their bodies recovered. And when he finally rolled off her, it was only to pull her on top of him.
“My wife,” he murmured as he trailed a hand up her damp back. “I’m going to enjoy calling you that for a very long time.”
“I’m never going to tire of hearing it.” She kissed his chest, then sighed. “I think I have the best ever what did you do on Christmas break story for when I go back to school.”
Ben starting laughing, and it took her a minute, but then she groaned and joined in. “Not this part!”
“I know.” He kissed the top of her head. “But it really was the cherry on top for me.”
She propped her chin on her hands. “It feels different, doesn’t it? Just a little.”
He touched her ring. “Yeah. It does for me. I never would have thought I’d be this deeply romantic or traditional, maybe? But here we are. And making love to my wife? Best thing ever.”
epilogue
Christmas Eve, one year later
For the second year in a row, they had a Christmas tree in an empty room and all of Ben’s belongings were on a moving truck. But this time, Chelsea’s were, too.
They’d watched the last of them be loaded onto the truck six blocks away, then zipped ahead to open the house up.
After a year of sharing Chelsea’s apartment, and keeping his apartment because he’d signed a lease, but using it as the world’s biggest walk-in closet, they’d found the right house to make their new family home.
It had a dedicated craft room next to the future nursery and a big front window with plenty of room for the prettiest Douglas fir to make the prettiest girl in all of Coronado blissfully happy.
They even had a dining room that would seat fourteen with a bit of squishing, so the entire Doyle clan was coming over for Christmas dinner tomorrow. The first piece of art they would hang in there was the sketch Chelsea did of him the year before.
Tonight, though, was his night alone with his wife. In a few days, they would celebrate their one year anniversary. The best year of his life.
And then a few days after that, he’d be getting on an airplane and leaving with his team for a few months overseas. They’d b
een damn lucky this year, his team had been tasked with training and a few short active duty tasks, but no long rotations.
Chelsea returned from her post by the front door.
“They’re here,” she said softly.
He caught her in his arms and pulled her close. “Let’s take one more minute with the tree.”
“Are you thinking about last year?”
“Yep.”
She pressed her cheek to his chest and hugged him tight. “The next few months are going to speed by. I have Mel to keep me company. And Hannah’s wedding to plan. You’ll be back before I know it.”
It was a stretch of the truth, but he appreciated her positive spin on it. He needed to know she’d cope well with the longer absence.
A year and a half ago, he’d been preparing for the same kind of extended mission, but the headspace had been completely different. Would he be leaving anything important behind this time? Only everything.
His heart. His hope.
And most precious of all, his beautiful wife.
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Want more Ben and Chelsea? Click here and get a bonus epilogue, seven years later, delivered straight to your email inbox.
* * *
And if you want another magical Christmas romance for a Navy SEAL, click here to read Fall Hard. (Links are also on my website at http://zoeyork.com/books/seals-undone/fall-hard/)
An excerpt from
LOVE IN A SMALL TOWN
(PINE HARBOUR #1 - small town military romance)
It was bad enough that after going through a very public divorce from the man Olivia still loved, she had to serve him breakfast four times a week. That she looked forward to those mornings…well, that wasn’t great either. But Rafe worked two jobs and lived in a tiny one-room apartment. And the other option for eggs and bacon was his mother’s café.
Liv shuddered at the thought of spending even one morning a week with her ex-mother-in-law. So she couldn’t fault Rafe for keeping his regular stool at the diner she worked at, even if it didn’t help the official party line held by all six hundred people in their small town of Pine Harbour—that their split had been her fault and Rafe was completely innocent.
The former point was true. The latter was not. Parsing the difference with the town busy-bodies was a futile effort though, so she let the whispers slide. They just added to the steaming pile of crap that was her life.
But the absolute worst was that today, Rafe had brought a date to breakfast.
And she’d serve him eggs and paste on a smile, but then she was calling a real estate agent. Whatever cosmic joke had made her fall in love with Rafe Minelli had delivered its final punch line.
He wasn’t in uniform today—either of them—but he still looked achingly good. Faded blue jeans that she recognized from the irregular rip on one of his solid thighs. Old enough that she’d washed them many times. The denim would be soft, and when he turned around, his wallet would be clearly imprinted in his back right pocket. And even though she wanted to grab a butter knife and gouge his heart out, first she wanted one more look at his magnificent ass.
Because she was a glutton for punishment, and Rafe delivered in bucket loads. Tall, dark, and handsome didn’t do him justice. Olivia grabbed a washcloth and wiped down the counter as she watched him guide his date to a booth under the window.
No! She wanted to shout. You sit at the counter and ask me if it’s been busy. I bug you that you need a haircut and we both remember that time I gave you a trim in the bathroom. How you slid your hands under my shirt and teased my nipples while I squealed for you to hold still. The walk down memory lane cut sharper than usual because it wasn’t shared. Even though she knew she needed to move on, let go of Rafe and start dating again, she wasn’t prepared to see him do just that. And the pretty blonde woman sitting across from him twisting the shit out of a sugar packet was wearing one of his plaid shirts, so Olivia couldn’t even pretend it was a breakfast meeting—not that Rafe would ever have business that needed to be discussed in a diner.
He was a full-time police officer and a part-time soldier. Had been a full-time son and a part-time husband, too. No room for a wife, definitely no room for a side job. No, this was definitely a morning-after-a-sleep-over breakfast and Olivia had to serve him fucking coffee. She wrenched the carafe from the warmer, grabbed two menus from under the counter, and pasted on her sweetest eat-shit-and-die smile before squaring her shoulders and approaching the couple.
“Coffee?”
They both nodded and Olivia silently lifted each of their white ceramic mugs and poured. For someone who just got laid, Rafe didn’t look happy. His eyebrows were pulled together, hooding his gaze, and he had faint dark circles under his eyes. Maybe he was realizing just how awful a human being he was to bring…
“Do you need to see a menu, Natalie?” His voice sounded strained too. He dumped two creamers in his cup and stirred roughly.
Natalie, huh? Olivia swung her gaze to the other woman. She looked nervous. Had he told her that he used to be married to their waitress? Used to wake her up with his tongue and his hands and his love, but not as often as he didn’t—he’d have to be home for that—and now they pretended to be friends a few times a week?
“I’ll just have some toast, please,” she said quietly.
Rafe sighed. “Don’t be silly.” He looked up at Olivia, his dark brown eyes unreadable. “Two breakfast specials please, one with bacon, one with—” He broke off and turned back to Natalie. “Sausage? Ham?”
“Sausage, I guess. Look, I can just wait for my friend outside, we don’t need to have breakfast.”
“It’s fine.” He reached across the table and squeezed her hand before looking back at Olivia again. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“We’re swamped,” she said breezily, waving at the mostly empty diner. “I’ve got ketchup bottles to refill and napkins to stack, so—”
“One minute, Liv.” He pushed out of the booth and towered over her. “In private.”
He didn’t wait for her to respond, stalking to the small office behind the washrooms like he owned the place. Well, he could wait. She had a job to do, even if it wasn’t exciting or overly important.
“Natalie, is it? How did you want your eggs?” Rafe wanted his over-easy. At some point in the future, she’d forget all the stupid little things she knew about him. She hoped. Hadn’t happened yet.
“Scrambled. And rye toast if you have it.”
“Sure thing. Be right back.” She went straight to the pass-through window, dinged the bell and tacked the order up on the carousel. Frank gave her a knowing look from his perch at the grill. “Shut up,” she told her boss without malice. “I need five minutes.”
“I’ll holler if anyone comes in, I guess.”
If anyone came in, they’d pour themselves a cup of coffee and wait. She wasn’t worried. It wouldn’t be the first time Pine Harbour had heard Rafe and Olivia Minelli have a knock-down, drag-out fight. Probably wouldn’t be the last. Another reason she needed to leave. This couldn’t be her future—petty jealousy and tension-filled terse conversations with her ex. She took a deep breath and shoved the office door open.
* * *
CONTINUE READING LOVE IN A SMALL TOWN RIGHT NOW!
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acknowledgments
This book was originally drafted as a short story for a newsletter reader project organized by Kennedy Fox, so I’m eternally grateful to Lyra and Brooke for being the spark!
Over this year, both my book coach Hudson Lin and fellow author Selena Blake have been excellent cheerleaders as I’ve thought about how to round out Ben and Chelsea’s story to a proper HEA ending. Ellis Leigh also gets a big thank you for suggesting the Reno wedding!
Kim Cannon was a helpful copyeditor, as always. Remaining errors are because I futzed with something at the end!
And as I mentioned at the start of the book, my husband went to art school, and he
did a lot of sketching for this project, too. I always appreciate his enthusiastic support and willingness to be a research subject.
about the author
Zoe York lives in London, Ontario with her young family. She’s currently chugging Americanos, wiping sticky fingers, and dreaming of heroes in and out of uniform.
www.zoeyork.com
copyright
Copyright © 2021 Zoe York
All rights reserved.