Latched (Coronado Series Book 1) (17 page)

She felt the weight of him on top of her and wanted to crawl up inside of him. She felt his fingers slip inside as she moaned into his ear and pushed her hips into his hand. She heard him whisper in her ear, “You’re so wet. Are you ready?” All she could do was nod her head. He lifted himself on his arms and framed her face with his hands. He looked at her as he pushed his hips forward and buried himself completely in her.
Home…. I am home.
As he pulled out a little and pushed back in, he was watching her closely to see what was working for her. He felt her pushing her hips against his and she looked very blissed out, “Keep those eyes open baby, keep looking at me.”

She tried to keep her eyes open but was feeling too much. He thrust gently as he lifted one of her legs over his arm. He was able to go even deeper and had to close his eyes for a moment to gain some control. He wanted to start moving hard, but knew that she wasn’t ready. He held himself deep inside and could feel her softening slowly as she tilted her pelvis up. He took it as a sign that he could start moving faster. He opened up his eyes and looked down at her as he started to lose control. He started pumping hard, she could feel herself start to slip over as her eyes fluttered closed. “No baby stay with me, keep your eyes on me.” He felt her start to contract all around him. He saw a look of wonder cross her face as she called his name and came and came.
 

He pushed into her twice more and then exploded into her in fierce, hot jets. He yelled her name as he felt his heart trying to beat out of his chest. He collapsed on top of her and tried to breathe. He knew he had to roll off but couldn’t get the message to his limbs. He was finally able to, and saw that her eyes were closed with a smile on her face. “How you are doing sweetheart?” She didn’t say anything, she just waved her hand and gave him a thumbs up. “Did you lose the power of speech?” She nodded and put her head on his chest and promptly fell asleep. He looked down and wrapped her up in his arms, “Goodnight Birdie, I love you.” He knew what he said and didn’t care if it made sense. It was the truth. It would be the same truth next month, next year and at the end of their lives. He loved her.

CHAPTER TEN

TUESDAY

Mark tried to roll out from under Birdie without waking her. It was 4:30 in the morning and he wanted her to get some more sleep. He got up, walked quietly to the other bathroom and got dressed. He didn’t want to wash Birdie off of him, so he just put his uniform on and was ready to go. He walked back in and leaned over and kissed her cheek and she started to wake up, “Where are you going so early?”
 

He sat down for a minute and took her hand, “Baby we are going on our training op. I will be home on Friday or Saturday, I’ll call you when I get back. Go back to sleep.” He leaned over, kissed her again and brought the blankets over her shoulders.
 

She looked up and smiled, “Be safe and come home to me.” He stood up and started to walk out the door. He stopped and looked back at her, “Always baby, I love you.”

Her eyes were closed and she wasn’t quite asleep when she heard what he said. She smiled to herself,
He loves me. It may not be real, but he said he loves me.
She snuggled down into her nest of blankets and fell back to sleep, dreaming of a life with Mark.

TUESDAY AFTERNOON

Birdie stood at the table in the back of her shop creating the center pieces for one of her favorite clients. She heard the bell on the front door and walked out to see who was coming in. James swept in and called her name, she was often struck by how good looking he was. She wondered what it was like to be that perfect in the world. “Tell me everything that happened this weekend, you went completely dark and I want details.” He plopped himself down on one of the stools and looked at her expectantly. Birdie radiated happiness and her smile reflected it.
 

She walked to the other side of the table and finished the arrangement she was working on. “I cannot begin to explain what happened to me, but I will try. It may require a bottle of wine or two. Should we start now or wait to go to my house?”

James flipped his hand, “Just get on with it. I will get the wine and you finish what you’re doing.” He went into the office, grabbed the glasses and chardonnay and brought everything back to the table. He opened the wine and settled in awaiting the details of Birdie’s fabulous weekend.

She finished up her arrangement, put it in the cooler and came back and took a healthy sip of her wine. “I have had the most amazing weekend of my life and I think my new boyfriend may turn out to be my future husband.” She noticed James choked a little and his eyes were huge. “I had the best sex of my life several, several times with the sexiest man on the planet. Did I mention sexy? Because that man is a god …. a sex god! I don’t know if I think that because I don’t have a lot of experience or if he really is one. But I have to tell you it’s like driving a Ferrari. He took me to the beach and bought me two wetsuits to make sure I would have what I need to go surfing. He introduced me as his girlfriend to someone who I had never met. Then he announced it to his team mates the first chance he got. He is very excited about having a toothbrush at my house, in a sort of crazy way that I don’t understand. He wants to see me every day, he is smart, funny, handsome and sexy. He is also a hero in the literal sense. I know I wanted someone to break my rut, but I think he may be staying awhile.” She looked at James and was trying to figure out what he was thinking, she took another sip of wine and waited.
 

James finished his wine and poured himself another glass, “It could not happen to a better person, you deserve every happiness.” He got up, hugged her and kissed her head, “Tell me when I should start planning the wedding.”

She let out a big breath and sat down, “I think we should wait. I’m sure we are about to discover all of the things that make us crazy. Let’s see if we survive that. It’s hard to believe that I’m falling for him so quickly. I’m not even trying to resist; I’m falling into him. I’ve never done this before, I usually analyze everything to death and suck every ounce of joy in the process. It could be the amazing sex, but underneath all of that is an exceptional man. I don’t really know him, but I know what kind of person he is and maybe that’s why I’m opening myself up to him.”

James leaned back on his stool and thought about it for a moment. “Maybe because you know that he’s a good man, you are allowing your heart to open up. It could be that or he has put you in a sex coma and you would agree with whatever he suggested.”

“It could actually be a little bit of both. I know he’s a good person and he puts me in a sex coma, either way I like the magic that he’s got. Let’s go to my house and order Chinese, I’m starved. We can watch Dancing with the Stars.”

They gathered their stuff and Birdie locked up and they walked back to her house. “Thank you, James for being such a good friend.”
 

He held her hand and started swinging it back and forth, “Ditto Birdie, ditto.”

TUESDAY EVENING

Mark sat in the barracks with his Platoon, they had debriefed after the day’s ops and were making progress on the new equipment. They finished up and starting walking to the mess hall at the other end of the base. Frisco and Sam were walking with Mark and going over what they needed for the following day. They were going to have the helicopter available and wanted to make sure to make use of it. They all went through the line and found a table, Mark looked down at his tray and it made him miss Birdie’s cooking. He had eaten so much bad food over the last eleven years and it never bothered him before, but today it did. He probably just missed Birdie. Sam sat down and looked down at his tray, “I wish I was home eating my wife’s cooking, even if she’s putting too much salt on everything.”

Josh looked down at his tray, “I wish I was still on my honeymoon with my beautiful bride. I can’t remember what I ate, but it must have been good.”
 

 
Mark looked up at Sam, “Why is she putting too much salt? Usually she’s a really good cook.”

Sam looked down at his tray again and then at Mark, “It’s the pregnancy. She is craving salt and puts it on everything even her fruit. The doctor told her to cut back, but she’s not really doing it yet. I have to keep a close eye on her without her knowing what I’m doing. I want her to be healthy but I don’t want to piss her off. There is nothing worse than an unhappy, mad pregnant wife. I would rather face a nest of Tangos than face my wife when she’s mad. I’m not afraid to admit it either, she scares the crap out of me.” Sam was bigger than Mark and the known expert on explosives, many people thought he was a mean son of a bitch. Yet he was openly talking about his being scared of his wife who was 5’2” and a kindergarten teacher. “I love that woman like crazy and I would do anything for her, but sometimes I have to watch my step.”
 

“Good luck man, I hope you both survive.” They finished up and headed back to barracks, 0400 would be here soon enough.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

FRIDAY MORNING

The training op went better than they expected, the new equipment was working and they all thought it was going to be useful in the field. They had one more exercise to go through and then they could head back to base. Mark was looking forward to seeing Birdie, he missed her like crazy.

Birdie went out to the garage and loaded her bag in the back, but as she went to start it, there was nothing. It was completely dead. She had not driven it in several days…. maybe had left a light on or something. She didn’t have time to call Triple A, so she grabbed her bag and headed to her store. She could drive the Wagoneer this one time, she was just taking flowers over to a house that was two miles from her shop. It would be fine.

FRIDAY AFTERNOON

Josh saw Ace running out from the hangar where they were packing up their equipment, he handed Josh the Sat phone and looked down. “It’s Maryanne, she needs to talk to you. The pilot is getting the chopper ready.” He put the phone to his ear and had a feeling of dread run down his spine.
 

 
Maryanne’s voice was a little shaky, “Josh, Birdie was in an accident. A drunk driver ran a red light and plowed into her - she was driving the Wagoneer.” Josh felt his legs go weak and he crouched down before he fell down. “They had to medevac her out and she’s at Scripps Mercy Hospital. I’m at the hospital with her. Her parents are on some European cruise and I can’t get a hold of them yet. They have her in a medically induced coma because she has some swelling on her brain. She is stable for now. Tell Mark and bring him with you, hurry please!”

Josh stood up and let out a string of curses as he walked towards Mark. “Birdie was hit by a drunk driver and they had to medevac her to Scripps. We have got to go, they have the chopper waiting for us.” Mark stared at Josh and tried to process what he just said, but his brain couldn’t do it. Josh pulled his arm and his legs finally started moving. Ace held both of their bags, Josh took them from him and they ran to the chopper.

Mark finally snapped out of it, “I fucking told her not to drive that car until I got airbags installed. Why would she do it?” They boarded the chopper and it lifted into the sky. Mark sat in his seat and closed his eyes, the images that ran through his mind were like watching a movie of the best moments with Birdie. He bowed his head and started saying prayers. He hadn’t been in church since high school, but somehow the words he needed were lodged in his brain. Josh looked out the window with his eyes closed - he was probably saying his own prayers. Mark lifted his head and caught sight of the small airport and looked at Josh, “Nothing can happen to her. I love her and she is going to be my wife.” Josh nodded his head as they jumped out of the chopper and grabbed a taxi to the hospital.

Maryanne met them in the waiting room of the ICU unit. She gave them a quick update and then went to find the nurse. The staff was hesitant to let Mark in, but Josh explained that they were engaged. Josh looked at how badly Mark was suffering, “You go in first. I will get the update from Maryanne and work on getting a hold of her parents.”

“Thanks man, I appreciate it.” He walked into her room, and saw that she was hooked up to a lot of equipment that was helping her body function. He stood next to her bed and took her hand and let himself look at her. She had major contusions on her face and a black eye. His legs felt weak and he managed to sit down before he fell. He had spent eleven years on the battlefield and visited most of the world’s hell holes. He had seen men being blown up and shot and had brought fellow soldiers home in bags. He thought he was beyond being affected by seeing someone injured, but he wasn’t. Seeing Birdie in a coma wiped him out. He kissed her hand and put his head on the bed and let go of his tears. He had not cried since he was a kid, but holding Birdie’s small hand had been his undoing. He sat there for a long time until a nurse came in to check on Birdie’s vitals. He heard the nurse speak and finally lifted his head. She was trying to tell him that Birdie was doing well despite all of her injuries.
 

He stood up and thanked her, “I’m going to let her cousin Josh come in for a minute and then I’ll be back.” Mark met Maryanne and Josh in the waiting room, and they looked exhausted and worried. “Tell me the son of a bitch who ran into her is dead, otherwise I need you to bail me out after I kill him.”
 

They sat in the chairs and Josh filled him in, “The guy spun out after he hit Birdie and then managed to hit a light pole. He died upon impact, apparently he had several DUIs. The Wagoneer is totaled, and it went to the junk yard. We are going to go in and see her and then you can go back in. Maryanne has her phone and has been getting in touch with the family. I’m going to continue to work on that tonight. Do you want us to stay and keep watch?”