“I don’t know which kid it was, but one of the younger cousins couldn’t say Declan, so they called him Dickiefor ages.Our grandmother, realizing how much Declan hated it and that it was starting to stick, switched it to Deckie and worked with all the kids to make sure if they couldn’t get Declan out right, they at least could say Deckie.”
“Thank God for small favors and Nana.”
A commotion came from the other side of the yard near the house as a man who looked a whole lot like my husband joined the gathering with a beautiful woman and several boys in their teens. They were followed by another man and a gorgeous teenage girl who yelled, “Adam!”
One of the men at the grill turned as she yelled, his face stoic and unapproachable, until he caught sight of who called out. He took off toward the newcomers, and the girl flew across the yard, jumping into his arms, wrapping herself around him like a spider monkey. I didn’t know either of them, but I’d never had anyone that excited to see me.
Declan cleared his throat and said, “That’s Adam. His husband, Brock, is the other guy manning the grill. They work for Holt, too. Well, for the private military sector, anyway. The girl is Margot and the younger man of the group who just came in is her dad, Roman. Adam and Brock were SEALs. They served with Roman’s husband Carson, who I’m guessing is not with them because he doesn’t let Roman or Margot out of his sight when he’s at home. The couple who came in right before them are my cousin Foster, his wife Julie, and their brood. Foster was Adam, Brock, and Carson’s commanding officer before he left the teams to head up the PMC division of Holt.”
I looked down at him, and after being separated from Declan for so long, even though we hadn’t known each other but a handful of days before I deployed, I could understand why the man wouldn’t want to let his loved ones out of his sight.
“I just realized how that sounded…”
“No, don’t justify it. I didn’t take it that way at all. I was thinking I could see the appeal.”
Declan’s face blossomed, which sounded stupid but was the only way I could describe the look that came over his face. He set the tongs he was holding down and turned to me, pressing himself against me. His eye turned to bluish-green fire as he whispered, “You just earned yourself a treat.”
My cock, which had been half hard since I laid eyes on him, surged to life, sliding down the leg of my uniform pants. I groaned under my breath, dipped my head, and whispered, “Fuck, vato. You trying to kill me? All the blood in my body just rushed to my dick.”
The fucker smirked at me and turned back to continue filling his plate while rubbing his ass against my throbbing hard-on.
“You keep that up, and I’m going to turn you over my knee, chico.”
He didn’t respond. Not verbally, anyway. Instead, he pressed his ass into my crotch more. I thrust into him and shivered when he moaned.
“Forget the hose. I’m going to push you into the pool if you don’t stop that shit.”
I looked up, and Heidi stood there, looking at us with tongs in her hand, twitching them back and forth to point at the two of us. I hoped the expression on my face was as innocent as I was going for, but the guy manning the grill just laughed.
“Hide, they’re newly married and spent close to two months apart. I’m shocked they’re still dressed.”
“Right? We’re being good,” Declan said.
I pressed a kiss to his head and moved away from the food line now that I’d filled my plate. Everything looked delicious. My mouth watered at the smell, and I couldn’t wait to dig in. I turned back to look for Declan, and his face had gone white.
“Carinõ, what is it?” I asked, taking his plate and setting them both down on one of the tables near the outdoor kitchen.
“My parents are here.”
“What?”
“My parents just walked in.”
I followed his gaze, and sure enough, another couple had walked in. Older than Walker but with features similar to all the Holt men who stood around the backyard, and even the boys darting between adults who Declan said belonged to his cousin Foster.
“Don’t they live in Texas?”
Declan nodded. “Yeah, Daddy’s the ranch manager. He rarely leaves the place. Very rarely. Like fucking never. I’ve been in Cali for years, and he’s never come out here before. Mama has a couple of times with Aunt Viv and Uncle Matthew, but Daddy never has.”
“So, you didn’t know they were coming?”
His gaze swung from his parents to me, his eyes stretching so wide I feared his eyes would pop out of his head.
“Oh, God, no. I wouldn’t do that to you. I planned to see if you had some leave time so I could take you back to Texas and introduce you to them, but I wouldn’t have done this. I wouldn’t have just popped them up on you like this.”
I swallowed, glancing back at them as I asked, “And they won’t mind their son-in-law is a Marine, an enlisted Marine, with nothing but…”
“Stop right there. No one gives a fuck about that.”
