I don’t think I can speak around the lump in my throat, but I cup the back of his neck, leaning forward so our lips are inches apart. “I don’t deserve you, West. But so much has happened since that night. Please, forgive me. Tell me you’ll give us anotherchance.”
His lips brush mine, and I melt into his embrace, careful of his wounds. His tongue gently teases the seam of my lips, and I part for this man I’m falling in love with, savoring the rasp of his stubble against my cheek, the hard muscles under my palms, and the growing arousal straining his Levi’s. I’m half in his lap now, and his fingers tangle in my hair. With a light twist, he urges my head back to meethisgaze.
Eyes the color of the bluest summer sky shimmer slightly with his words. “I love you, Cam. I passed out begging Ryker to find you and tell you, afraid I wouldn’t wake up again. But…love requires trust, and trust worksbothways.”
“I know.” Still reeling from knowing how close I came to losing him, I rest my head on his chest, letting the steady beat of his heart calm me. “When I got blown up, Royce blamed himself. He put out the fire eating through my suit, got a tourniquet around my leg, and held my hand as I screamed for what felt like hours waiting for the MediVac to show. And then hedisappeared.”
A single tear soaks into the soft blue cotton. My life story unfolds as West holds meclose.
“When I was fifteen, my father lost his job, and my grandmother came to live with us. We didn’t have any money, but I was smart, and the honors program at my high school gave me a computer. Part of a fund to get more minority girls interested in science, computers, and math. They signed me up for a college-level programming class, and to meet with my professor, I needed awebcam.”
I wipe my hands on my thighs, unprepared for the nerves that seem certain to send me over the edge. “I told my parents I was doing medical transcription at night to help pay the bills. But really, I put on a bikini and danced for men.” A laugh escapes, too high and thin to be anything other than hysterical. “After the first six months, I’d saved enough to pay for almost anything I wanted. Including a collapsible pole I hid undermybed.”
I risk a glance at West. If he’s horrified, I can’t tell, so I rush to tell him the rest. “By seventeen, I had a full college fund my parents didn’t know about. But a month before graduation, Nana broke her hip. I couldn’t hear my mother knocking on the door, so she had my father break the lock. The look on his face… The day after I graduated, Papa told me I had a month to move out. I’d brought too much shame to the familytostay.”
West balls his hands into fists. “You wereseventeen.”
“I was an adult in his eyes. If I could do adult things, I could support myself. I’d been accepted to Stanford, but college didn’t mean a thing without my family. Papa always said how honorable it was to serve your country. So I asked for a deferral on my admission, and I enlisted on my eighteenth birthday. Two days before hisdeadline.”
He swears when I tell him my mother wouldn’t even speak to me when I thought I was going to lose my leg, rubs my back when I talk about Lucas, and tightens his embrace when I recall the day Royce told me about histumor.
“My life has been one big broken promise, West. I learned early on to guard my heart, to trust no one, and then I met you.” Angling my head so he can see the truth in my eyes, I take a deep breath. “No one has ever understood me like you do. I’m sorry I couldn’t see thatuntilnow.”
I straddle him, careful to avoid the bullet wound, and cup his cheeks. “I spent every night we were apart wishing I could talk to you, wishing Ihadtalked to you. I won’t make that mistakeagain.”
I seal my words with a tender kiss, and when our lips part, he brushes a lock of hair away from my cheek. “I won’t let you. You’re it for me, angel. My life never flashed before my eyes when I was bleeding out in the jungle. I only saw you. I livedforyou.”
My heart skips a beat as I stare at this man I don’t ever want to be without. “I love you, West. That’s apromise.”
19
West
Her soft breathtickles my cheek. The sheet does little to hide the gentle swell of her breasts, the curve of her hip. We covered two lifetimes of secrets in a single day, fueled by pizza, beer, and painkillers. Now, the light of the moon casts my angel’s face in a pale glow, and I’ve never felt socontent.
The doc in Bogota warned me against getting on the plane, but once I’d regained consciousness and realized I’d been out for two days, nothing could keepmedown.
Cam whimpers in her sleep. The bandage sticks to my skin as I stroke my hand down her arm. “I’m here, angel.You’resafe.”
I watch her until I’m sure she’s settled, then stifle my groan as I swing my legs over the side of the bed. This is going to hurt. Standing leads to a wave of dizziness, but I breathe through the pain and stumble out to Cam’s living room to retrieve myduffel.
With fresh bandages in my hand, I make my way to the bathroom, and once I’m shut inside, I peel off the bloodygauze.
Better than I’d feared. Only one stitch threatens to pop, and while the wound oozes, the antibiotics the doc forced on me seem to beworking.
“Let me help.” Cam slips into the bathroom, her gaze locked on mine. “You should have listened to yourdoctor.”
“Pretty sure he was aveterinarian.”
Her mouth forms a sexy little “o” as she eases the bandage from my hands. “And you’re going out on one of these missionsagain?”
“Ryker spent fourteen months in the hands of some of the worst men in the world. Now, he wants to save others from the same fate. I can help him. I…don’t know what I’ll do the next time he calls, but I won’t make that decisionwithoutyou.”
With a gentle touch, she presses the fresh bandage to my side, and her naked breasts brush my arm. My cock stirs, reminding me just how long I’ve waited totasteher.
“Easy there, soldier. You’re in no condition for extracurricular activities.” Cam grins at me in the mirror, but when I stroke my hand down her flat stomach to the curls that cover her mound, sheshivers.
Her arousal coats my fingers as I continue my slow exploration, dipping inside her once, twice. As I stroke her clit, her knees buckle, and I brace her against the counter so I can scrape my teeth over one peakednipple.
