Just Once
Page 23
It was the last word that pulled me in. I realized she wasn’t only asking me to face my fears, but to trust her. To show her it wasn’t her I was afraid of. With my heart racing a hundred miles an hour, I nodded.
“Come on.” She climbed from the car and immediately came to my side.
I tried to place all of my worries on the boat and watch it sail away, like the therapist taught me to. It was supposed to be a way to let my problems and fears go, but this was probably more than I could handle. The calm blue ocean that was supposed to occupy my thoughts was marred with floating pieces of shrapnel, and balls of fire.
Joey opened the door and reached her hand inside. If I didn’t get out of the car and get on that plane, I’d let fear win.
I couldn’t let that happen, so even though my knees shook, I stepped from the car, my eyes locked on the plane. Joey kept a tight hold on my hand as she led me across the tarmac, as if she knew I’d run if given the chance. She talked to the man standing next to the plane, not that I heard a word of the conversation, and all too soon we were getting settled into the cockpit, my breathing becoming even more labored when the headset was placed on my head.
Images filled my mind, some of them memories I wanted to forget, others merely flashes from nightmares I’d had over the past few years; totally fictitious, but chilling nonetheless. None of them were comforting. None made me want to stay in my seat.
Then a warm hand landed on my thigh. “You can do this,” the sweetest voice whispered through the headset. The propeller whirled to life and I closed my eyes against the sight. If I didn’t see it maybe it wasn’t really happening.
The plane lurched forward as it taxied down the runway and I had no choice but to face reality.
My chest felt like an elephant was sitting on it. Spots danced across my vision. For one brief moment I thought I might pass out.
“Colin, you need to breathe. You can do this. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She kept talking, telling me how much she loved me and how proud of me she was. Slowly, my vision cleared. Her voice continued to pull me from the past. The weight on my chest lessened, making it easier to draw in a breath. The woman beside me was my rock in a world full of uncertainties and danger. She held my hand and shared her strength with me. Soon enough, I found myself watching her instead of the horizon. Completely mesmerized by her ability, I forgot to be afraid.
“I knew you could do it,” she whispered.
I glanced up to her face and saw the tears shimmering at the edges of her eyes. “Not without you I couldn’t.”
Joey took the plane toward the runway, landing with ease. The whole flight had lasted less than fifteen minutes but the impact was immeasurable. I’d faced my fears and conquered them.
The second she was unstrapped, Joey jumped in my lap, taking my face in her hands.
“I’m so proud of you.” Her lips pressed to mine.
Things turned heated quickly, my hand sliding up the back of her shirt, causing her to lurch back, almost falling off my lap. I grabbed her hand and pulled her forward.
We both burst out laughing. It felt so good. It was a special moment; like two old friends who’d been apart for way too long.
Suddenly her face turned serious. She stood, her hand out to me.
“Let’s go home. I want to finish what we started.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The ride home wouldn’t be fast enough for me.
***
I stared at the paper in my hands. Disbelief, excitement, and a flood of other emotions rushed my system. All of the blood, sweat, and tears had brought me to this moment; a moment I hadn’t been sure was within my grasp. And there was only one person I wanted to share it with.
Climbing out of the car, I grabbed the paper and jogged up the stairs. The door swung open and the most beautiful woman in the world stood there, her ocean blue eyes filled with trepidation. Without a word, I handed over the paper and waited for her reaction.
“Oh my God.” Her eyes focused on what she was reading. “Sgt. Maj. Colin Dunham, reassigned to the First Battalion Rangers.”
She flung her arms around my neck. I held her tighter to me. “I never would have been able to do it without you.”
“I always knew you could do it.”
I bent down and scooped her into my arms, just how I’d wanted to so long ago. Stepping into the apartment, I kicked the door shut with my foot. Dipping my mouth to her ear, I said, “Thank you for always having faith in me.”
“I will always believe in you.”
When I reached Joey’s bedroom, I let her body slide down mine, inch by inch, until her feet touched the floor. Wasting no time, I divested her of the shirt and bra. Her eyes lit with desire.
Needing to taste her skin, I bent my head and kissed the spot right below her ear and watched as she shivered at my touch. I didn’t stop there, tracing my tongue down her chest to twirl around her nipple and a soft moan that shot straight to my dick escaped her lips. I lowered her to the bed so I could feel her beneath me. For so long I’d wanted to worship every inch of her body and now that I could, I didn’t want to waste a minute.
Crawling back up her body, I braced my arms on either side of her head. “Can I taste you?”
Her fingers slipped into the hair at my nape. “Please,” she begged and brought my mouth down to hers.
My lips moved across her cheek and down her chest until I reached her belly button. I swirled my tongue around the outside, unbuttoning her pants at the same time. Once I had them undone, I continue to taste her skin all the way to her waistband.
“These need to go,” I whispered against her smooth stomach, feeling the goose bumps that peppered her skin as I pulled the rest of her clothes off and dropped them to the floor at the side of the bed.
“Oh God, please . . . touch me.”
“My pleasure.”
I bent and swiped my tongue through her core. Her hips lifted off the bed. I loved seeing her fall apart. Holding her hips down, I circled my tongue around her clit, taking the time to suck the little bud between my lips. I looked up her body to watch. Her eyes were closed and she was biting down on her bottom lip to keep from screaming out. I continued my sensual torture, her body writhing below mine, begging for more.
“Please, please, please. I need to feel you.”
Sucking hard on her clit, I reached up and pinched her nipples at the same time. Joey came so hard, her back bowed off the bad. Without waiting for her tremors to subside, I climbed up onto the bed and slid into her wet warmth.
The woman beneath me would always be my home: the one place I felt safe and loved.
Thrust after thrust, I watched the flush spread up her body as I promised her with my body that she’d always be mine.
As I neared the point where I couldn’t hold off my orgasm any longer, I held her gaze. “I love you, Joey Brant.”
She cried out, her body pulsing around me, taking the last of my control. It was the most spectacular orgasm of my life. When my body had nothing left to give I fell to her side, pulling her with me. Joey curled into my arms and I knew in that moment, life couldn’t get any better.
“I will love you forever,” she whispered.
Maybe it could.
Epilogue
Colin
Nine Months Later
“You’re freaking insane.” Greg followed close behind me as we boarded the bus that would take us back to our families.
“How much did you spend on that shit?” Tanner asked, taking the seat next to me.
We’d just landed from our latest deployment—my first back with my unit. By the time my transfer came through, they’d just returned, which meant I had six months to prepare to leave again. As the time grew closer my nerves tried to take control, but I used all of my coping techniques to push the fears back. And it worked.
No nightmares.
Nothing.
Joey had helped me to prepare. And now that we were home, I w
anted to do something special for the woman who helped me get my life back to where I expected it to be. She brought me back from the brink. I’d known for months that I wanted to spend my life with her, but I couldn’t figure out the best way to ask her. One night on a mission in the desert, I looked up and the idea clicked.
The first chance I got, I called Danielle and put it all into play.
“Not a ton. Danielle called in a few favors.”
Tanner punched me in the arm. “Stop using my wife as your personal assistant.”
“Hey, she wanted to help.”
The faces of our family and friends came into view. Danielle waited with Marissa and Joey.
That’s right: Marissa and Joey.
I’d never expected them to form a friendship the way they had, but with Danielle and Marissa being so close, there was no way Joey wouldn’t eventually come face to face with her. I knew their first meeting was incredibly awkward but after a long conversation, Joey understood what I knew so long ago: Marissa and I were never meant to be. But I was glad through all of this that we could all still be friends.
The moment the bus came to a stop, I grabbed my bag and bolted off the bus right into Joey’s arms.
“I’m so glad you’re home,” she said when I reached her.
“I missed you so much.” I pressed my lips to hers. A quick swipe of tongue and a throat cleared behind me. If I didn’t already have plans I would have knocked someone out.
I turned and placed a quick kiss on both Danielle and Marissa’s cheeks. “Ladies.”
Marissa rolled her eyes. “Go back to making out with your girl.”
I winked and held Joey tighter to me. “You know me so well.”
Tanner and Greg got their own hugs and kisses. When everyone was distracted, I pulled Danielle off to the side.
“Everything’s ready to go,” she whispered, slipping a small box into my hand.
“Thank you. I owe you.”
“Just make her happy,” she said, then added, “Oh, and get on making Nate a playmate.”
I chuckled. “I’ll see what I can do about that.”
“Go on, get out of here.” She looked at her watch. “You only have about forty-five minutes.”
I smiled and walked over to Joey. “Ready?” I whispered.
“Very.”
“’Bye, everyone.” I waved. “We’ll see you all later.”
I took Joey’s hand as we walked through the parking lot to the car.
“Where to?” she asked when we were both buckled in.
“Can we stop by my place for a quick change? Then I want to head to the park.”
“The park?”
“Yeah, I want to see grass and water. No sand, please.”
She laughed and started the car. “That I can understand. The park it is.”
After a stop at my place, we were finally lying on the blanket I’d laid out, staring out at a sky that was clear as a bell. It was the perfect day.
Even with the time difference I was wide awake, nervous adrenaline pumping through my veins. Joey’s body curled into my side, her hand drifting up and down my back.
“Better?” she asked.
“Almost perfect.”
“Almost?” That’s when I heard the plane heading in our direction. Danielle really was the master planner.
I pointed to the sky. “Now it’s perfect.”
Right above where we were lying, the pilot began to spell out the most important message of my life. A gasp escaped her lips as the pilot made the last pass.
Joey, will you marry me?
Rolling to my side, I pulled out the box Danielle had handed me earlier and opened it. “Joey, I met you that first night and regretted walking out on you every moment until I saw you again. I love that you’re a solider and a strong woman. You believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. Without your strength, I’m not sure I would have ever found the man you met that night again. I want to spend every moment of the rest of my life with you. Please say you’ll marry me?”
She pushed my shoulders back and straddled my waist. “Yes,” she screamed. “Of course I’ll marry you. You were never really gone, you just had to protect yourself for a while. I’m so glad I could help you find the light again.”
I pulled the ring from the box and slipped it onto her finger, the light catching the stone and casting fragments of light across the beautiful person who I would call mine for the rest of my life. She leaned down and took possession of my lips.
She looked back up to the letters still in the sky. “That’s amazing. I would have never thought of it.”
“See,” I said, pulling her close, inhaling the smell that was pure Joey and happiness. “Perfect.”
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Colin’s story had been one in the making for so long. When Tanner and Dani’s story was complete, I knew there was more to Colin and that Marissa wasn’t his happily ever after. Only I didn’t know who was, until I met Joey.
I’m not sure Joey and Colin would have their story without so many people to support me.
Miranda, I’m not sure if Colin’s story would have ever been told, so thank you. Your notes and support throughout this story have been invaluable.
Lindee Robinson and Sommer Stein, you’ve done it again. This cover is everything I’d been searching for and couldn’t find without you. Thank you so much for working your magic and making me something so gorgeous.
Ryn, I’m not sure what I would do without you. No matter the question, you are always there to help me find my way. You make everything better. Words cannot express how much that means to me.
Christine and Kelley, I’m not sure where I would be without you. Every question, thought and crazy moment; you walk me through and keep me with two feet on the ground.
Rebecca’s Readers’ you guys rock, I love hanging out with you. Thank you for helping me find names, and make decisions when I can’t figure out what to do.
BFFs, I love being able to talk and have the support we offer each other. I can’t wait until August we are going to have so much fun.
Brandy, you keep me sane when I’m just not sure that it’s possible anymore. Your suggestions and ideas are everything I needed. Thank you for talking through things with me. I look forward to working on Sean and Ashley.
And, to my family. Every moment of support and guidance means more to me than you will ever know. I love you with all of my heart.
OTHER BOOKS BY REBECCA BROOKE
Forgiven Series:
Forgiven
Redemption
Healed
Acceptance
Standalone Titles:
Letters Home
Coming Home
Beautiful Lessons
Ryder
Traded
Second Chances
The Folstad Prophecies:
Twin Runes
Coming Soon:
Binding Consequences
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rebecca Brooke grew up in the shore towns of South Jersey. She loves to hit the beach, but always with her kindle on hand. She is married to the most wonderful man, who puts up with all of her craziness. Together they have two beautiful children who keep her on her toes. When she isn’t writing or reading (which is very rarely) she loves to bake and watch episodes of Shameless and True Blood.
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/Rebecca-Brooke-Author-397664770332282/
Twitter
@RebeccaBrooke6
Website
www.rebeccabrooke.com
Table of Contents
DEDICATION
(Untitled)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Prologue
Chapter 1
Colin
Chapter 2
Colin
Chapter 3
Colin
Chapter 4
Colin
Chapter 5
Colin
Chapter 6
Joey
<
br /> Chapter 7
Colin
Chapter 8
Joey
Chapter 9
Colin
Chapter 10
Joey
Chapter 11
Colin
Chapter 12
Joey
Chapter 13
Colin
Chapter 14
Colin
Chapter 15
Joey
Chapter 16
Colin
Chapter 17
Joey
Chapter 18
Colin
Chapter 19
Joey
Chapter 20
Colin
Chapter 21
Joey
Chapter 22
Colin
Chapter 23
Joey
Chapter 24
Colin
Chapter 25
Joey
Chapter 26
Colin
Chapter 27
Joey
Chapter 28
Colin
Epilogue
Colin
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
OTHER BOOKS BY REBECCA BROOKE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR