Protecting Her: A Romance Bundle

by Mia Ford

  Thankfully, my prayers are answered and when my eyes open he’s still there, clinging onto me, hopefully loving me just as much as I do him. Our eyes linger on one another for a few seconds, before reality kicks in.

  “We better get going then. Your physio awaits.”

  28

  Jordan

  “How does it feel to be home?” I ask with a smile as Veronica hobbles inside. “I hope I kept it tidy enough…”

  To be honest, I haven’t been home much since Veronica has been at the hospital. Only fleeting visits to pick stuff up. I tried to do a mad tidy up yesterday when I found out she might be coming home, and I hope it’s enough. The last thing I want is for her to feel stressed out. She needs to be calm and relaxed to aid her recovery.

  “It feels good,” she replies in a small voice. “So good. You have no idea. It’s been such a long time.”

  I know that feeling, I remember it well from when I returned from my tour. It was so overwhelming that it was actually a challenge to face it. And what I’d been through was nothing compared to Veronica. She’s doing so well, moving on at such a rapid pace it’s hard to remember what she’s been through. Every so often I forget that I found her in that dreadful place in such a state, my brain erases that part from our history.

  But she has, no amount of forgetting will change that. I need to respect just how much this might be for her to take in, so I step back while she runs her hands softly over everything she can touch. She’s feeling it like she’s a new born baby and it’s the first time she’s experienced everything in the world. I suppose it probably feels that way to her. She thought she was going to die, she didn’t think she would end up here again.

  “Are you alright?” I ask quietly, not wanting to interrupt the moment too much. “Do you need me?”

  When Veronica turns back to face me there are tears streaming down her cheeks. “I’m just so glad to be here.”

  I race to her and hold her, embracing her tightly. I slide my eyes closed and really feel the magnitude of having her in my arms. I will never ever be able to take her for granted, not after all of that. Every touch with her is wonderful, amazing, unexpected. It could not be happening, she could still be in Afghanistan, or dead. I have to be grateful to just be in the same room as her. I don’t know how we’ll ever be apart again.

  “I’m glad that you’re here as well. Everything about having you back is amazing.”

  “Being back is amazing and it’s all because of you. If you didn’t come to rescue me…”

  “Someone would have come for you.” I couldn’t take all the credit. “They would’ve saved you.”

  “But you are the one who came. And I won’t ever forget that. You risked your life for me when you shouldn’t have had to. If only I had listened to you in the first place we wouldn’t have gone through that.”

  We haven’t talked about all the arguments that came before because it really hasn’t been the time or place, but it seems now she wants to. I suppose it’s better to get it out the way early so we can start moving on.

  I move into the living room while wiggling my finger and indicating for her to come with me. Veronica almost tiptoes behind me as if she feels nervous for us to start this chat but it has to happen. There have been a lot of things that we’ve been skating around and I don’t want to do that anymore. It shouldn’t be like that. If we’re going to really start again then I want to do so in an open and honest way.

  “I just want to start off by saying that I’m sorry.” I sigh loudly. “I’m sorry that I was a jerk to you.”

  “No, no.” Veronica shakes her head violently. “You were right, I should have listened.”

  “I wasn’t right though, really. I didn’t know that was going to happen. I just… I thought I knew better than you because I’d been to Afghanistan. But what you experienced was so much worse than me.”

  “But you were right… you did know that something bad would happen. I was stubborn.”

  “No, the way I presented it was wrong. I should never have shouted and yelled like an idiot.”

  A heat burns my cheeks as I think about how I acted. I couldn’t believe I’d been so cruel. Honestly, the thought that she could have died with those petty conversations being the last thing she remembered of me… it was a reality check, and one that I’ll take with me forever. I’m stunned to the core at my behaviour.

  “Well, I wasn’t exactly great either. I said some things I didn’t mean as well. I think we both have to just move past what happened and look towards the future, don’t you? I know it was bad, but we’ve learned.”

  “Oh, boy have we learned.” I nod knowingly. “But I don’t think we can move on just yet.”

  “We can’t?” Veronica furrows her eyebrows in confusion. “Why not? Is something wrong?”

  I feel like a jerk, especially when I’ve been kissing her in the hospital, but I truly believe that this is something that we need to address first. After everything we’ve been through I don’t think it would be wise to jump in with blinkers on. We need to make some conscious decisions and stick to them.

  “Yes. We do. I think we need to discuss it all. We need to work out how we’re going to be together.”

  “You mean…” All the color drains from her cheeks, making me feel even worse. I should have planned out this conversation better, this isn’t how I wanted it to go. “Don’t you want to be with me?”

  “Oh no, it isn’t that at all. I don’t want you to think that, I just think we need to be smart. We’ve had issues, and our issues have come from our jobs. They’ve put us in danger. I hated it when you were in danger and I’m sure that you felt the same way about me.” She nods once more. “So, we should sort it, don’t you think?”

  “Yeah,” Veronica murmurs back. “I suppose that makes a lot of sense actually. We want it to be right.”

  I breathe out a sigh of relief. At least she gets what I’m saying. I’m not trying to say anything which will damage us here, I just want our relationship to continue down the right path. I want us to be truly happy from here on out. I don’t want it to all seem okay now, just for issues to come up later on. Issues that could have been avoided with better communication. This is us starting afresh, I want it to be perfect.

  “I never got around to telling you before because we were in such a bad place, but I applied for a desk job just before you left. I didn’t want to go back to Afghanistan to fight for so many reasons, some of which I’m sure you understand better now, so now my career is back here in the US, so I can be home all the time.”

  Veronica gasps loudly and clutches her hand to her chest in shock. “I never realized,” she garbles. “I didn’t know. I guess I was just waiting for you to go back again, to leave me.”

  I take her hand in mine and smile at her. “I know. It’s my fault, I should have told you. We both just got so caught up in pettiness, it’s silly. I cannot believe I kept such an important life change from you too.”

  “But how were you in Afghanistan for me? How did you save me? Were you not with a team?”

  “I came over especially for you. As soon as I heard the news I demanded to be a part of the team.”

  “You… you saw the video? Did they play it on the news or something?”

  “I don’t know about that. I heard it through the military. They were keeping tabs on you the whole time for me. I might have been too much of an idiot to actually communicate with you myself, but that didn’t mean I didn’t care about you. I had people watching your every move so I knew that you were safe… until you weren’t.”

  “Wow, that’s… that’s too much. I can’t believe it. I thought that you hated me.”

  I stared at her searchingly. “Did you really think that? Because I could never hate you. I love you.”

  “I love you too… it was just so bad. You didn’t even come to the airport with me. I don’t know what I thought.”

  She looks so bewildered, I feel bad for over loading her with so much
information at a time when she really doesn’t need it. Maybe we should have waited a bit longer before unlocking this box.

  “Well, I do, and now I want to be in this country for you, forever. This won’t happen again.”

  “Well, if you’re staying here to be safe, then I will too, because obviously, I love you as well. I always have and I always will. No terrorist asshole is going to change that! I might even quit my job at channel six and find something else. I keep thinking it might be time to start looking at print media instead.”

  “Are you sure that’s what you want? Because if you are, of course I will support you, but don’t feel like you have to quit because of this. I’m pretty sure Oliver will give you whatever you want because he’ll be so scared of you suing him. If you ask him to give you certain jobs, then he will do it. And he would have to be the dumbest idiot on the planet to send you somewhere dangerous again. I guarantee it won’t happen.”

  “You think?” I don’t think she looks sure, but that’s okay. I don’t expect her to be certain of anything at the moment. “Well, I suppose I don’t need to make a choice right now, do I? I have time.”

  “You have all the time in the world, babe. I don’t mind what you want to do as long as you’re safe. Nearly losing you like that killed me. I couldn’t stand it. It made me see what I was doing to you as well because you must have felt that way every single day when I was away, and you didn’t have anyone keeping tabs on me.”

  I hate that this happened to us, I really do, but the fact that it has makes us see one another a bit clearer. I feel like we can both climb into one another’s heads a little better. We can’t have each other’s experiences, I’m not assuming that much, but we can have a degree of sympathy. Some good can come from this, if we let it.

  “So, we’re no longer going to be the career-oriented couple with a terribly modern long-distance relationship?” Veronica asks me with a shove and a chuckle. “We’re going to be a boring normal couple.”

  “Boring and normal…” I muse. “Who would have thought they would become the most attractive words in the dictionary? After everything we’ve been through, I think we need some boring times, don’t you?”

  Veronica laughs out a sound that comes right from the pit of her belly. “Life with you won’t ever be boring, Jordan Miller, but it’s got to get a little easier. I don’t think it can get much harder than that.”

  “If we can survive that and come out of it the other side, then I’m pretty sure we can survive anything. That’s more than most couples go through in their entire life.”

  “It would tear most people apart.” Veronica slides her hands into mine and she gives me the most adorable smile. “But then again, most people aren’t as strong as us. They don’t love each other as much as we do. I’ve always thought that.”

  I lean in to kiss her, liking the way her words feel. We really are strong and in love. Who could ask for more than that?

  29

  Veronica

  Jordan leads me up the stairs in our home towards the bedroom while giving me a loving stare the entire time. I can feel my insides churning up excitedly as we go. Now that we’ve had the talk that I was reluctant to have at first, we can move forward more secure and together. I just hope we don’t face any more dramas along the way. It feels good, I feel as secure as I did when we first left college. The world is our oyster.

  A deep shiver races up and down my spine, I spot a glint behind his dancing irises. I think it’s pretty obvious now where tonight is headed. This is something I day dreamed about a lot while sitting in that cell, but I didn’t think I’d ever get to be here for real. Honestly, I don’t know what I did right to get so lucky, but I am.

  “You look so beautiful right now,” Jordan murmurs as we head towards the bedroom. Our bedroom, not that it’s felt that way much since we moved in. One of us has always been away. “Better than ever before.”

  I chuckle coyly, knowing that can’t possibly be true. I just got back from the hospital for crying out loud. I’m in baggy clothing that looks a little bit scruffy, my hair is scraped back and piled on the top of my head, I don’t have any make up on… but the look in his eye tells me he really does feel that way. I guess now Jordan will find me beautiful whatever because he almost lost me. I feel exactly the same way about him. The green eyes that I’ve always loved are now my oasis, I want to swim in them forever more. His dimples as he smiles gets my heart racing at a million miles an hour. His black hair, which is starting to grow a little bit longer than he normally has it, begs for my fingers to run through it. And his muscles, the strength in his body is what saved me. I love that most of all. I just want to touch him everywhere, to run my hands all over him, the craving is so damn deep.

  Jordan doesn’t let go of my hand for even a second as he takes me in and he lies me down on the bed. His touch is delicate, he’s being careful with me, which I appreciate but don’t need. I want him to be grab me roughly, to take me, to do all the things he’s been fantasizing about since I’ve been away. There must have been a part of him that thought about this very moment, just hoping that one day it might happen again…

  I curl my fingers around the collar of his shirt and drag him down to me. He tries to resist kissing me hard, but I won’t let him. My arms hook around the back of his neck and I let him know just what I want from him. I need everything. I want to feel him inside of me, sending me to heaven, making me forget everything.

  “Are you okay?” Jordan murmurs while I writhe underneath him. “I don’t want to do anything to hurt you.”

  “You aren’t.” My impatience gets the better of me. I tear his shirt apart, ripping the buttons all the way down. “Stop worrying, I’m fine now. I’ve been in the hospital for long enough to heal. Don’t panic.”

  “But the physio said…” I snort, shutting that thought down immediately. “The therapist said…”

  “I don’t want to think about the hospital right now.” I might sound a little petty but I’m done. “Stop it.”

  Jordan pulls back to give me a look, he stares at my face searchingly as if she’s trying to find out how serious I am. I give him a lopsided smirk in return. I want him to know that I’m not trying to be a dick, I just want him to make love to me. I want to really feel him everywhere. We deserve this after all this time. We’ve earned it.

  By the time Jordan crashes his lips back against mine, this kiss is far more passionate. Finally, he’s caved and come around to my way of thinking. His hands move up and down my body feeling my peaks and dips with purpose which makes me writhe desperately underneath him. The pulsing in my panties intensifies, I feel hot and wet all over. There’s an electrical tingling all over my skin, zig zagging all the way through me. It’s a powerful zinging that makes me gasp and pant desperately already. He hasn’t even touched me yet.

  “Oh God, this feels so good,” I groan while rolling my hips into him. I grind against his rod of steel, my head spinning as I feel how much he wants me too. “Oh, Jordan, I’ve missed you so damn much.”

  My tee shirt flies over my head, revealing my flushed skin with goose bumps popping all over it. Jordan shimmies my trousers down and I flip my butt off the bed to make it easier for him. Then I sit up to unhook my own bra while he undresses himself. I’m too impatient. I need him right now or I might scream.

  Jordan returns his lips to mine but he kisses me slower as he drags my panties down. He’s savouring the moment, but it makes me much more impatient. I fist the sheets beneath me, trying not to freak out.

  “You’re driving me crazy here,” I warn him. “I’m about to lose my head here.”

  Jordan chuckles into my throat, allowing the sound to vibrate and tickle my skin. I squeal and wriggle beneath him, but I’m not looking for an escape. “That’s what I’m aiming for. I want you to lose your head.”

  I slide my eyes closed and simply lose myself in the sensation of his silky fingers gliding over me towards my white cotton panties. The moment that he
dips his hand inside and he drags them tantalizingly slowly down, I dig my nails into his skin to let him know how desperate I’ve become. I’m on fire, I need him, I want him now.

  I kick my panties off and tug at his boxer shorts while he touches my soaking wet slit. The guttural moan that flies out of his mouth is another indication that he can hardly wait either. There’s a storm brewing, circling around us, filling the air with a thick, heady lust. I roll my hips into Jordan, pressing his fingers deeper inside me, and it’s like fireworks exploding all through my body, shattering my insides. It’s a relief to have him finger fuck me, but I need more. I’m hungry for him and I need to be sated now.

  I wrap my eager fingers around his thick, throbbing length and I slide my hand up and down, loving the way that he immediately begins to tremble. The thick muscles in his arms struggle to keep him upright. I can tell this that he’s losing control. I want him to lose himself completely, to succumb to me.

  “I need you,” I rasp desperately into his ear. “I want you, I need you now.”

  Happy to comply with whatever the hell I want, Jordan whips his hands away and he moves into a sitting position. As he goes, he yanks me onto his lap and hugs me there. We cling onto one another, soaking wet with sweat, panting desperately, and simply holding onto one another while he teases my entrance. I roll my hips against him while I rest my forehead against his, staring deeply into his eyes.

  “I love you,” Jordan tells me in a raspy tone of voice. “You have no idea how much.”

  But I do know, how can I not know? He came all the way to Afghanistan to save me after making the decision not to return. How could I not be aware that he loves me now? There are no insecurities.

  “I love you too.” I can’t wait anymore. I slide down onto him taking control. “I love you so much.”

  My head lolls to one side as a hot ball of desire buzzes in my stomach. I can’t keep myself upright anymore because having him fill me up feels so damn phenomenal. It’s even better than I remember. We fit so well, connect so intensely, between me and Jordan it’s absolutely incredible.