Formatted Seal Of Honor edit2 (7 page)

Zack gave a sexy chuckle. “It’s a thin T-shirt. Go ahead. Even better, I’l get it started for you.”

He grabbed the col ar and gave it a tug and the material gave way beneath his strong grasp. He

cal ed her forward with the crook of his finger and Jordyn took over, ripping it the length of his lean

chest and Zack let it fal away.

“Bite me right here,” he growled and pointed to his chest. She fol owed his direction and bit him

lightly before trailing her tongue down his torso just a bit to tease his nipple with her teeth. His breath

hissed out between his teeth. “Bedroom, now.”

A trail of clothes from the living room to the bedroom was left in their wake and by the time they

were at the door both Zack and Jordyn were naked.

He devoured her lips and penetrated her mouth with his tongue while his hand went straight

between her legs, teasing the most sensitive part of her as they backed into the room. She felt the

edge of the bed hit the back of her knees and knew this was the stopping point and sat down. He

slipped his fingers between the sensitive folds of flesh and rubbed her clit with slow deliberate

movements until her hips moved reflexively. She whimpered into his mouth and he slipped his fingers

deep into her. She spread her legs wider to give him more access.

“Oh, yes, make me come.” She tore her mouth away from his and threw her head back panting

and moaning his name.

“Damn, you feel so good,” he muttered.

When she came, she held on to his shoulders and buried her face in his chest. “More,” he said

harshly. Without hesitation, Zack bent between her legs and she felt his tongue tasting the remnants

of her orgasm. He sucked at her swol en clit and used his fingers to bring her to the height of

passion once more.

“Take me,” she panted and got on her hands and knees on the bed.

Jordyn felt him run the tip of his cock up and down the swol en lips of her sex before penetrating

her doggy style in one smooth thrust. With his hands at her hips he fucked her slowly with tempered

thrusts. Even in his need he had a care to her condition and kept the pace slow and easy. Need

coiled a tightening band inside her, making her moan and ask for more. Zack reach forward and

gently rol ed her hard nipples between his fingers, making the pleasure almost unbearable. Jordyn

felt herself slipping over into the abyss of passion and embraced it ful y, crying out as it took her in

warm waves of pure bliss until she was spent.

“Jordyn.” He said her name almost reverently. Zack moaned and his hips picked up the pace

before she felt his seed fil her. They lay pliant for a long time just basking in the afterglow of their

lovemaking before they took a shower together in his huge shower stal . Jordyn was dressed in light

cotton pajamas and Zack was in sweats when they went back outside to enjoy the lights he’d taken

pains to put up for her. With hot chocolate and cookies in hand, they sat on the swing on the patio

and enjoyed the night. A sense of Christmas fil ed her and she sighed as she leaned back against

him.

“Next year Marianne wil be here and she can watch as you put the lights up again,” she said.

“Oh, no, sweetheart, they are staying up there. Wel , at least the lights. I’l fish the ornaments

down with the limb cutter,” Zack said.

She laughed. “I wonder if she’l be walking by Christmas next year.”

“Watching her grow up wil be a pleasure,” he said. “I even bought stuff to baby-proof the

electrical sockets, cupboards and drawers and the sharp corners of the coffee table.”

“You’re going to be the best daddy ever,” she said.

His chest seemed to swel with pride. “Do you real y think so?”

Jordyn tipped her head up and kissed his chin. “Yes, I do.”

“I can’t wait to meet her,” he said.

“Me too.”

When Jordyn said the words, the baby moved in her tummy as if to say she couldn’t wait to

meet them either. She rubbed the spot and could see the outline of a tiny little foot. Soon there’d be

a number three in their family and she could not wait to hold her baby in her arms.

* * * *

The days leading up to Christmas were fil ed with love and bliss for Jordyn and Zack. They

finished up the nursery and put up the Christmas tree and even hung stockings from the gas-burning

chimney. Each stocking had their name written on it in golden letters. The tree was real and it

smel ed of pine and cinnamon sticks and made Jordyn smile each time she inhaled.

Zack real y got into the Christmas spirit, playing Christmas music through the sound system and

even decided to make a ham. He was excited as Marianne’s birth date was nearing. Jordyn was

now moving slower, her back was aching constantly and Zack had read that using tennis bal s to rub

the lower back helped relieve the pressure. At her usual OBGYN visit, Dr. Patel told her she was two

centimeters dilated and ful y effaced and her cervix was thinning so the baby could come anytime.

There had been no word from Sergei’s mobster mother, but that didn’t mean Zack wasn’t keeping

his ears to the ground. His contacts told him they left the island a day after their confrontation. And in

New York they had more to contend with, the FBI was sniffing at her door.

He found out a couple days before Christmas that she’d been arrested after the agency had

compiled enough evidence. People were coming forward against her. They were no longer wil ing to

live with her threatening their livelihood. Even her bodyguards and close ties were turning on her; the

Brighton Beach Dame’s reign was over.

The information the doctor had given them worried Zack since Jordyn’s Braxton Hicks

contractions were more frequent lately. He hated leaving her to go onto base for the usual operation

briefings. Luckily, they were not scheduled for any away missions and only standard training applied

to their SEAL team. They were in a wel -deserved lul . The radio forecasted that for the next several

days a messy weather system would be moving over the islands dumping rain and bringing high

winds that could cause flooding. There would be no problems there since he and Mrs. Pond’s house

sat on a hil . Yet he knew that getting to the hospital in bad weather could be difficult so he mapped

out alternative routes just in case.

It was Christmas Eve and the rain was pouring outside, which made the inside that much cozier.

He’d turned on the gas furnace in the chimney and took the chil out of the house and dimmed the

lights so the Christmas tree twinkled and glowed off the presents stacked underneath. For dinner,

he’d made ham and mashed potatoes, little rol s and green bean casserole. He’d even made sweet

potatoes with a brown sugar candy coating. When dinner was ready and the table set, he woke

Jordyn but she wasn’t hungry and went back to sleep, which worried him.

Zack left her alone knowing he could wake her up later and they could sit in front of the fire and

eat while listening to the rain outside, then at midnight open the few gifts they had gotten for each

other. Zack loved and marveled at the feelings he felt in his chest each time she walked into a room

he was in or he felt the baby move in her bel y. Maybe he was a sap, but then he wouldn’t give a

damn who thought so. He’d fought in wars, kil ed people, saved them and watched others die. In his

life, he’d seen so much cruelty and tragic twists of fate it could warp any man. From Sudan to

Afghanistan, he’d seen it al . Having this woman with him, this amazing beauty, gave him something

to live for. She saved him, saved his heart from shriveling in his chest. Jordyn was it, Marianne was

it, and by God, he would cherish them both.

“Zack.” Her voice from the hal way brought him out of his thoughts.

“Honey, I would have woken you, but I wanted to let you rest. It’s eleven now.” Zack smiled, but

when she didn’t smile in return he went to her. “What’s wrong?”

“My water broke, I think,” she said and then moaned and held onto the door frame. “Oh, yeah, it

broke. She’s coming.”

“But New Year’s…but…” Zack said and took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s get you in the car and

to the hospital.”

She moaned. “Oh, I don’t think we’re going to make it to the hospital. I feel so much pressure

down there and I have the urge to push. I think I may have been in labor for a few days.”

“The book cal ed it back labor, damn it. Damn, I should’ve remembered that!” Zack said. He

could hear the panic in his own voice.

“Oh, it hurts,” she whimpered.

He lifted her up and took her back to the bedroom and laid her on the bed. “It’s okay, baby, it’s

okay. I’m cal ing the ambulance and Dr. Patel.” Just as he snagged both of their phones off the

bedside table, the lights flickered and went out. “Wel , this is absolutely great.”

“Contraction!” Jordyn gasped and began to pant. “I need to push.”

“No, don’t do that, honey. Breathe, breathe.” He imitated the breathing pattern for her to fol ow

as he dialed nine-one-one on his cel and pressed the speed dial button for Dr. Patel on hers. “Hel o,

we need an ambulance at seventeen forty-two Grove Lane. My wife is in labor.” He switched phones,

putting her phone to his hear. “Dr. Patel, yes, Zack Hennessey here. Jordyn is in labor. She said she

feels like pushing.” He switched phones again. “What do you mean no ambulance can get to us right

now? A bad accident where?” His mind was spinning as he tried to listen to both phones at the

same time now, one phone at each ear. “You want me to check her what?”

“Zack, give me Dr. Patel. You deal with emergency services.” Jordyn plucked the phone from his

hand. “Hel o, Dr. Patel. Zack is on the phone trying to get an ambulance out here.”

Zack focused on listening to the dispatcher. “How long before you can get us an ambulance out

here? Jesus, half an hour may be way too long. I mean, she is ready to push!”

His mind reeled. The pleasant thought of being in a nice hospital room, holding her hand while

she was completely numbed and then feeding her ice chips and being an encouraging husband was

flying out the window. Hel , it jumped and took the rope with it, leaving him stranded.

“Fine, just hurry out here. My neighbor is a registered nurse. I’m going to go get her to help. Just

fucking hurry!” Zack snapped. He threw the phone on the bed and looked at Jordyn. “What’s he

saying?”

“He said to check my dilation.” Jordyn began to pant again. “Here comes another one! Oh,

God!”

“I need to find a damn flashlight!” Zack ran off to the kitchen where he kept the LED lanterns

under the sink al the while cursing the Oahu power company. He was back in minutes and helping

her shimmy out of her undies. Put the phone on speaker so I can talk to the doctor. “What does it

mean when you can almost see the top of the head with hair?”

“It means the baby is coming now. She’s crowning.” Dr. Patel’s voice came through the phone

loud and clear. “How long have you been tired and your back aching, Jordyn?”

“The last two days have been awful,” she admitted. Then cast a sorry, tear-fil ed look at Zack. “I

didn’t want to worry you.”

He was by her side instantly and kissed her. “Don’t cry, honey. But next time worry me, please

worry me.”

“Zack, is there anyone you can cal to come over and help you, at least until the ambulance

arrives?” Dr. Patel said.

“My neighbor Mrs. Pond is a retired nurse. Wil that do?” Zack asked.

“She wil be fine. Go get her and be quick about it. This child is not waiting,” Dr. Patel said.

“Okay.” He kissed Jordyn. “I’l be back in a flash, honey. Keep doing your breathing. I love you.”

“I love you too. Oh, here’s another one. Hurry!” She began to pant in earnest and Zack almost

said fuck it to running for Mrs. Pond. But if Jordyn or the baby had problems he wouldn’t know what

to do, so with one last look in her direction he was rushing down the hal and out the front door to the

pouring rain outside. His sneakers were soaked and muddy as he ran through Mrs. Pond’s

pineapple grove and around the house to her front door. Zack continued banging until the old lady

opened the door and a revolver was pointed at him.

“Zack Hennessey, I could’ve shot you!” she yel ed. “What the hel are you doing out in this storm?

”

“What the hel do you need a gun for?” he shouted in return.

“For situations when crazed men come banging on my door,” she snapped. “Jesus Christ on a

cracker, you almost got capped.”

His mouth dropped open. “Who talks like that? Real y, what have you been watching on TV? Do

you even know how to shoot that thing?”

“Mr. Pond made sure I was taught. Why are you here?” She put a hand on her hips.

“Jordyn has been in labor for two days and we didn’t know. Her water broke earlier and the baby

is ready to come out. Ambulances are tied up with a highway wreck and can’t come right away,”

Zack said in a rush. “The doc is on the phone, but he says we need you to help or deliver or

whatever. Just come.”

“Let me get my shoes and my medical kit from my bug-out bag,” she said.

“Why would you need a bug-out bag?” Zack knew exactly what she was talking about. It was an

emergency kit that contained items that one would need in order to survive for days, maybe weeks.