Military Romance Collection

by E Cleveland

  Chris and I walk ten feet over to the alter and stand tall under the lowering sun. Early hints of pink and mauve are starting to creep across the sky to celebrate another day worth living. Like nature’s lazy fireworks.

  Our minister, a leathery, sun-soaked man named Greg smiles at Chris and I. “Are we ready?”

  “We’re good,” I nod.

  “Perfect.”

  He waves his hand at the hotel staff in behind the few chairs filled up with family and friends. All together, there’s about ten guests. My parents are sitting next to each other. Mom already has her handkerchief out, ready for the tears. Dad keeps rubbing small circles on her back, soothing her. They’re tears of joy, I know. However, I’m sure there’s another small part of her that’s thinking about how she never got this opportunity with Ben. How it was stolen from them.

  Cameron’s plus one is seated next to them. Lauren was pretty disappointed when he said he was bringing someone to the wedding. I know she had her hopes set on getting her sister and him together. I keep trying to tell her that he’s got some growing up to do before he’s gonna settle down with anyone, but she’s convinced that they’re going to end up together somehow. Dad must have steel willpower, or his eyes are truly only for my mother, because Cameron’s date is all cleavage and blonde hair. Although, on second though, I don’t see the appeal of a girl like that anymore either. Why settle for a girl when you can have a lady?

  Next to her is Lauren’s mother. Her eyes are twinkling with happiness. Even at her age, her skin is still glowing with youth.

  The rest of the chairs are filled with unfamiliar faces. A couple of Lauren’s cousins and work friends. It’s a small crowd, just the nearest and dearest. It’s definitely not the big hype-a-palooza I was looking to avoid, and I couldn’t be happier for it.

  Soft ukulele music floats on the air as Cameron walks with Chelsea on his arm up the center of the chairs. It’s not a long walk, but you can see it written all over her face that she’s envisioning what it would be like to take those steps down the aisle toward him as her groom rather than them participating in our wedding.

  I don’t have time to dwell on it, it’s not really my problem anyway. Right now I’m struggling to breathe because Lauren is standing at the end of the aisle and she looks like a dream. The pastel sky is reflecting across her white sundress, splashing hues of pink and violet over her gown.

  She glances up at me from under her dark eyelashes, and I feel like a live wire is bouncing around in my skin. How is it that I can debrief Colonels? I can sit with Cooper Sanders for interviews? Hell, I can even get a medal pinned to my chest by the Commander in Chief himself, but one little glance from Lauren can turn me into a bundle of nerves?

  Because she’s the one.

  She’s always been the one. Since the day I dried her tears after she scraped her little knees in grade one. From that moment until now, my mind has only drifted to her. My heart has only ever beat her name. My soul has only ever cried out for her to make me complete.

  As she walks toward me, each step affirming our love, I know that she is everything I need. I might be missing my leg. My time in the dessert may have torn a piece of my spirit. But, for as long as I’m with Lauren, I will be unbroken, unscarred, unwounded.

  Whole.

  “Come on,” I mumble into Lauren’s ear, “let’s get out of here.” I can feel the heat of her skin tempting my mouth to taste her as she looks around at the stragglers still drinking and dancing around us.

  Almost everyone has gone back to the hotel now. Our parent’s and Chris left hours ago, leaving us to drink and dance under the stars with a live band and the ocean’s waves competing to serenade us. Even Chelsea called it a night once she realized that not only is every single lady in the hotel trying to get into Cameron’s suite tonight, but he’s trying to figure out a way to make it work.

  Lauren’s eyes lock onto mine and she presses her body tight into mine. “Ok,” she whispers, “let’s go.”

  My cock throbs against my pants, if there wasn’t anyone around I’d pick her up and fuck her right here on the outdoor dance floor. I’m guessing that the hotel might frown on public, drunken sex shows though. Just a wild guess.

  Instead, I wrap my fingers around Lauren’s wrist and lead her through the darkness to the stone divider marking the edge of the beach and beginning of the hotel’s sprawling lawn.

  “Wait, stop!” Lauren stops dead in her tracks only five feet from the reception, “I’ve got a rock in my shoe, I need to get it out.” She leans over and begins to take her shoe off, like I’ve got nothing better to do than wait for the princess and the pea here to get her sweet ass back to the hotel room.

  Nope.

  “Hey, what…what are you doing?” She giggles as I hoist her up over my shoulder like a firefighter evacuating casualties from a burning building. “Put me down,” she squeals and kicks her feet lightly against my chest.

  I pass through the gate in the stone wall and glance at the hotel. How does it still look so far away? The property is immersed in a long stretch of darkness before the wall of lights they have aimed at the hotel. I glance back at the party we abandoned, if anyone has noticed that we left, they certainly don’t care. I know I can follow the stone path leading back to the main entrance of the hotel. I know I can carry Lauren the entire way if I want to. Take her back to our room and fuck her until we both pass out. But where’s the fun in that?

  “Mack!” She giggles, “put me down.”

  The lady gets what the lady wants. I stumble off the path and make my way to the inside of the stone wall, gently placing Lauren back on her feet. “What are you doing?” She looks up at me from under her long eyelashes as desire sweeps over her beautiful features. She knows damned well what I’ve got planned for her. And if the lust in her twinkling brown eyes is any indication, I’d say she’s just as eager as I am.

  “I’m not taking you all the way back to the room,” my voice is gravel, “I want you right here, right now.”

  “Here? Do you want me to do this?” She steps into me, her hand snakes down my body until she finds her prize, grasping her fingers around my ready cock. “Or maybe this?” Lauren slides down to her knees, she quickly opens my belt and frees my dick from my dress pants.

  “No, I want to…mmm,” my mind goes blank as she slides her perfect lips over my cock. Her tongue swirls around my shaft, making it throb with excitement. Fuck she feels good. I look down at the goddess on her knees, worshipping me. If there’s anything sexier, I’ve never seen it.

  I drop my hand against her hair and push myself in past her lips slowly. Watching my cock inch into her mouth makes me crazy. I want to thrust myself deep. I want to watch my shaft disappear into those pretty lips. I want to cum in her mouth and have a lipstick ring tattooed around the base of my cock when she’s done swallowing every drop of my seed. I want to, but that’s not what I’m going to do. Not now anyway. If she wants to give me her mouth, then I’ll give her mine.

  “Get up,” I demand. Lauren looks up at me with surprise, but she doesn’t argue. She lets my cock slip from her lips and a I almost regret my words. “Let me help you,” I hold out my hand and pull her back to her feet.

  “You don’t want me to…” her pout is so adorable. I lean over and give her bottom lip that she’s got stuck out a little nip.

  “Of course I do,” I whisper with her flesh between my teeth. “It felt amazing.” I let go of her thick lip and pick her up like the bride she is. My bride. Mine.

  It’s a few steps to the wall and I turn around, sliding down it with the stones slipping across my back. With Lauren safely nestled in my arms and the stars twinkling above us, it feels like a dream. And I’m about to turn this dream into a fantasy.

  “Do you want my cock in your mouth?” I growl. She nods, silently answering me as she bites her bottom lip. “Good, I want you to suck me off, but there’s just one thing,” I look into her questioning eyes.

  “What?”
>
  “I’m gonna eat your sweet fucking pussy while you do it.” I watch the surprise on Lauren’s face give way to desire. I love bringing out my good girl’s naughty side. A side that’s always just for me.

  “Ok.” Her voice is barely a whisper.

  She sits up straight on my lap and leans over me until I can feel her breath hot against my exposed flesh again. I wrap my hands around her hips and flip her onto her belly. Lauren lets out a little gasp of surprise, but she doesn’t protest. I flip her sundress up over her until her legs and ass are exposed. She’s wearing sheer, white, lace panties underneath.

  I grab each of her legs in each of my hands and guide them back to my shoulders, slowly pulling her back until I can smell her desire and her pussy is an inch from my face. Lauren pulls my cock back from my pants and I can feel her warm tongue swirling back around me as she takes me deep into her mouth. Fuck she feels good.

  I twist her panties to the side and thrust my tongue in past her folds, quickly finding her sensitive nub. Lauren bucks her hips as she sighs against my cock. Tightening my grip on her thick thighs, I press my nose in past her ass cheeks and surround her clit with my bottom lip. My tongue flickers against her, twirling and lapping against her as she pushes my cock all the way in, burying it in her face.

  I lick up her nectar, savoring her sweet, fruity tang over my tongue. Even her juices taste like heaven. She’s perfection.

  Lauren moves her head up and down, sliding her tongue over my shaft like a stripper on a pole. I can tell from her quivering thighs that she’s close. I won’t stop until I make her fucking cum. Gently, I suck her clit into my mouth, just slightly pulling it in my lips as I batter my tongue against it mercilessly. Lauren jerks back and my cock drops from her mouth as she screams my name, “Mack!”

  I’ll never get tired of hearing that.

  “Oh, shit. I’m cumming! Oh!” Lauren writhes in my hands, the pleasure twisting through her body. She presses back into my face, chasing her ecstasy shamelessly as my nose is pressed up against her tight little asshole. “Oh!” She cries out again, but this time it’s with satisfaction. Lauren pulls away from me slightly, I’m certain she’s feeling sensitive now.

  I help guide her legs to my side and she leans back on her knees looking at me with peace in her eyes.

  “Come here,” I stand up and hold out my hand again, helping her back onto her feet. Her legs wobble slightly like a newborn colt, so I hold her arm to steady her.

  “You wanna go?” She asks, her voice raspy from her cries.

  “I don’t wanna go,” I pick her up and she instinctively wraps her legs around my waist, “I wanna cum.” I turn around and thud her lightly against the stone wall. Supporting her with one arm, I reach between her thighs and pull her panties aside with my free hand and press my cock against her wet entrance. My cock sinks into her tight pussy until I have her pinned to the wall. I can feel her muscles bearing down against me as I thrust into her fast and hard.

  I fuck her like I’m about to go to prison. Like every thrust into her perfect pussy will be my last ever. There’s no making love. There’s no sweet and gentle. Just fast, hard fucking.

  Lauren squeezes herself around my cock tight and I can’t take another second. My orgasm shudders through me like hot, blinding light. I push myself as deep inside her as I can possibly go until I empty all of my seed inside her, shuddering against her. My breathing is ragged and the world around me is slowly reappearing as the last spurts of cum leave my cock.

  The animal has been tamed, for the time being, my sensibilities are slowly returning. I slowly step back from Lauren, gently placing her feet back onto the ground as I give her nose a kiss. “I love you. I fucking love you so much. I always have, I always will.” I whisper to her.

  “I love you too, Mack Forrester. Forever.”

  Most people might look at me, a guy who lost his leg, lost his men, some even say lost his mind for a while, they’d look at me and say luck has never touched my life. But they’re wrong. I’m the fucking luckiest guy in the entire damned world. With Lauren as my wife, there’s not a man who walks among us who can say he’s luckier than me.

  43

  Present Day

  Lauren

  “What a gorgeous day, “I look up at the dark blue sky and breathe in a lungful of air that somehow feels cleaner. Like it always does in September.

  “You wanna talk about gorgeous? Look at you two,” Mack leans over and kisses me on the cheek and then over further to kiss our ten month-old daughter, Honor, on her button nose.

  Honor giggles and grabs her daddy’s face with both hands and slobbers with an open mouth down the side of his beard. She hasn’t quite perfected the art of kissing yet.

  Mack laughs and wipes the baby drool off with the back of his arm.

  “Can I hold her?” Chris interrupts.

  I’ve gotta admit, I was nervous when I first learned I was pregnant with Honor. The age gap between her and Chris seemed too insurmountable for them to ever be close. I’m so happy that my fears were unfounded. Her big brother might be a lot older than her, but their bond couldn’t be better. He absolutely adores his baby sister. If anything, it seems like the age gap has worked to his benefit. He’s had eleven years of being an only child and soaking up all the attention, he seems relieved to share the limelight with someone new. We’ll see how that goes once the infamous teen years hit, but right now, I’m just enjoying living in the moment.

  “Sure, bud. You can hold her.” I carefully move Honor into my son’s arms. She’s still not walking yet, but she’s so squirmy she can be difficult to hang onto. Luckily, today she’s feeling pretty snuggly, so she tucks her head in against Chris’s chest and shows off her new teeth in a tiny grin. With her mocha skin and large brown eyes, she’s already breaking all the baby boys’ hearts.

  “Guys! Hey! Look, you’re on the kiss cam!” Chelsea excitedly points to the giant screen across the stadium. I look over to where her finger is waving and, sure enough, Mack and I are smiling at ourselves from across the field.

  “Well, we wouldn’t want to let them down, now would we?” Mack wraps his arms around me tight. Our lips find each other, tenderly at first, but like every kiss with Mack, the spark of passion quickly ignites and burns like a sparkler in a child’s hand on July 4th.

  Around us, I can hear clapping and whooping for our lip lock. However, above all the commotion I can hear Chris groaning. “Mom! You’re embarrassing me!”

  I pull away from Mack and save my son the public humiliation of his parents’ love.

  “Thanks for letting us know about the camera, Chelsea,” I look over Mack to her but she doesn’t hear me. Now that the intermission is over, she’s completely immersed back into the game. My sister the super fan. I can’t help but wonder if she would be so invested in the game if Cameron Armstrong wasn’t the quarterback on the field right now.

  My money is on no.

  “Did you see that?” Chelsea screams and points to the field. It’s over! They slaughtered that game.” She yells excitedly.

  I didn’t really see it, with Mack and my beautiful children distracting me, this game was little more than background noise on a perfect day. Still, I appreciate that Cameron got us these seats. Now that we’ve sat this close to the field twice, it’s spoiled me. I could never sit in the cheap seats for an entire game again.

  Mack’s arm slides off my shoulders and he jumps to his feet as the players clear the field. I stand up next to him and take Honor back into my arms, giving her a kiss on her chubby cheek.

  People around us start to shuffle around and gather their things to leave, but Mack doesn’t move. I have a feeling I know why.

  Sure enough, I see Cameron pull off his helmet and slowly jog over to us. It’s like I’m having a flashback to two years ago, but I have a feeling that this time he’s not coming over to talk to Chris.

  I glance over a Chelsea and she’s running her hands over her hair nervously. I swear these two ar
e like a couple of kids admiring each other across the cafeteria at lunch, but never saying ‘hi’ to each other. It’s too bad that king quarterback Armstrong has been too busy indulging in his own fan club for the past two years. I really thought him and Chelsea would’ve at least gone on a date by now. I’m not sure who’s more disappointed that it never happened for them, me or her.

  No, I’m kidding. It’s her. Definitely her.

  “Hey man, great start to the season! You’re killing it out there,” Mack shakes Cameron’s hand.

  “Thanks, gotta shine for all those scouts, right? Apparently college doesn’t go on forever. Eventually they hand you a piece of paper and ask you to leave campus.” He smiles over at Chelsea.

  I look at my sister and her grin could stop traffic. Subtle. Real subtle.

  “Awesome game, Armstrong,” Chris holds out his hand confidently. My heart swells with pride. He’s quite a bit taller since he got a tour of this stadium a couple years back. I’m so grateful for Mack and Cameron talking to him and helping him get the closure he so desperately needed.

  “Hey man, long time no see,” Cameron shakes his hand. “Did you ever make it onto the team?” He looks at my son and I can see that Chris is flattered that the quarterback remembered his goals.

  “I did. I’m a running back on the school team,” he puffs his chest out proudly. He has every reason to be proud. After I got Chris a fresh start in a new school district, you never would have known he had been the same kid who had been expelled. He studied hard and got on the honor roll and his report cards went from a day we both dreaded in the year to glowing.

  “Great job, man. Keep working on it and maybe you’ll be the one catching a scout’s eye.” Cameron claps his hand on Chris’s arm.

  “Well, you’re really making a name for yourself here,” Chelsea interrupts. “I bet you’ll get picked up the draft first,” she smiles.

  “I’d like to think that’s true. But I thought I made a name for myself in high school too, but you don’t remember me from back then do ya?” He puts her on the spot.