I Promise You: A Dark Military Romance (Scarred Executioners Book 2)
I Promise You: Chapter 16

Saying goodbye to my friends was harder than I thought. I was so happy to see them celebrate another year of life with me. I almost didn’t make it to this day.

Soon, I’ll be making a trip to my brother’s tombstone to talk to him, to catch him up on how much of a rollercoaster my life has been since he’s passed. Also, to reassure him of how much I love his Bronco and that I take it to get deep cleaned monthly. I wonder if he’ll teach his nephew how to play guitar in heaven and if it’ll be a Sublime tune or Mana.

God, how this fucking hurts.

“Good night, Mom. Thank you for coming.” She squeezes me tight, and I hold my breath for a second.

“Happy birthday again, mija. I’m happy to see you’re doing better.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

My mom helped me clean up the house after almost everyone was gone.

Danny still chats with Lopez and Zeke on the front porch. They both begged him to keep drinking longer, but he refused. He hasn’t gotten drunk since that one night when he confessed everything to me and I’m so proud of him.

I know he has a long way to go, but it’s a start.

“It’s because of Danny, isn’t it? He hasn’t left your side through it all, has he?” she asks, holding my hands in hers.

I watch my possessive Navy SEAL give Lopez a brotherly hug. I wonder what they’re talking about. I study Lopez’s mouth, trying to read his lips and decipher his words.

I’m cleaning up leftover dishes in the kitchen. I’m incredibly exhausted, but it was so worth it.

Finally, I’m able to make out some words along the lines of, “I look up to you, man.”

I break away from eavesdropping. I shouldn’t pry, but I admire how much everyone looks for guidance through Danny.

Lopez is the youngest one at around twenty-five.

“Ma…” I still get uncomfortable talking about my life with my boyfriend or anything regarding our relationship.

I hug my mother goodnight.

She leaves my house and bids Danny, Lopez and Zeke farewell before walking to her car.

I’m yawning through every motion as I clean the leftover dishes. Tonight was so much fun. I reunited with all my friends and family…all because of Danny.

For the first time in a long time, I’ve forgotten about the trauma I’ve been through this entire year, and I can’t thank him enough.

From losing Paul, going to Iraq as a civilian contracted nurse, to falling for my brother’s best friend, to getting pregnant and losing our baby so violently in one fucking year…

Tonight was a breath of fresh air and it felt good to forget I was broken, even if it was for only a few hours.

I finish with the last dish and glance over to the front of my house, looking through my windows.

Zeke has left with Violet, leaving only Lopez and Danny, and they’re smoking, sitting on the chairs on the front porch, deep in a conversation.

I don’t want to bother him. I want him to enjoy his time with his friends as well. I feel like today was much needed for the both of us.

I take a deep breath and shut the faucet off, drying my hands with a kitchen towel. I’m tired, my muscles ache, my mind running miles per hour with uncertainty and I can’t shake that something is missing…

Will I ever be whole again?

I shut the kitchen lights off and walk into the dark hallway. I don’t even make it to the first door when my phone buzzes against my thigh from inside my pocket.

I think Meredith forgot something. She always does, but I remember doing a quick sweep after everyone left and didn’t see anything.

My fingers search for my phone in my pocket, my fingers gripping it when I touch the cold plastic phone cover in the dark. I take it out, not expecting to see the name reflect on my screen saver.

Kane: Happy birthday to my favorite nurse. Good night, Ari Alvarez.

I re-read the text repeatedly at least five times.

I blush red, my fingers flick with hot nerves but I don’t respond. He didn’t speak one word to me tonight but he decided a text is more fitting? What does he expect me to say?

Knowing there are feelings behind his words…it isn’t right.

I turn my phone off and touch my lips like a gasp will escape my throat. My fingertips console the bewilderment I feel on top of my lips.

I won’t entertain Kane.

He left my party early with Meredith, hand in hand, lust glowing in their eyes. She kissed his neck as they left my front porch. It doesn’t take a scientist to know what they must be up to tonight…so why is he texting me?

I push out thoughts of Kane and keep walking in the dark, my feet thudding against the floor softly. Each step I take has me puzzled. I’m about to open the door to my bedroom but decide against it. I palm my wooden door like I’m about to push it forward, but I can’t go through with it. I don’t want to go to sleep just yet. I don’t want to cry myself to sleep like I usually do every night, fearing that Nora will be outside my window twirling a knife like a game. I don’t want to drift to sleep, terrified I’ll be dreaming of my brother’s guitar.

I used to enjoy hearing that song; it used to be good nostalgia for our childhood memories, but now it’s an ominous sound that has me quivering with trepidation.

I don’t want to see my brother anymore, at least not right now. If I hear his guitar, it only means Death is nearby, and that’s…that’s terrifying.

I head toward my office room instead.

Since Danny refuses to let me out of his sight, I turned an extra room into a place of work for us.

I walk into the room, and instead of turning on the room lights, I reach for the lamp in the corner of the wooden table.

I turn the little black dial until it clicks twice, soft yellow light illuminating the room, revealing a cozy space.

It’s small but welcoming.

I have my diplomas from high school and college and my RN certification perfectly framed, exhibiting my accomplishments on one side of a wall.

Danny made a shadow box of our son’s beanie, a picture of his little feet blackened prints, and a ‘Future Navy SEAL’ onesie inside. It hangs on another side of a wall, displayed perfectly in the middle. It’s the first thing I see against the light blue colored walls, and it makes me happy. Danny is good at those things. He’s exceptional at building things, doing handy work around the house, and always taking out the trash for me.

He said he didn’t want to be a father but he had bought him a crib, clothes, and a guitar so he could follow in Paul’s footsteps. Even then, he knew it would be a boy. After I told him we were pregnant, he did all that the morning after.

Now, all of it sits inside storage.

I stare at the shadow box. I feel like I’m watching what should have been my future hang on the wall instead of living it. It does something to me. I’m in a trance, my thoughts running wild and I feel something twitch inside me.

It’s an ugly, sickening, unfamiliar darkness I don’t recognize. I’ve never felt it before.

Instead of feeling sad…I’m angry. I don’t want to feel this pain anymore. I refuse to let Shane win.

My fists clench at my sides, and everything stings. I’m going through the stages of grief all over again.

“Ari.”

Danny’s shielding voice interrupts my lucid thoughts, but not enough to make me move my eyes.

“Yes?”

“Everything okay?”

I glare at the wall, tearing my gaze away from the frame, refusing to answer his question.

I look down at the floor, my eyes pacing nervously against the hardwood floors.

“Look at me,” he demands, and I take a few seconds before I give in to him.

I turn around and a tear escapes me. It rolls down my cheek, fast moving against my lips.

“I need to forget,” I concede with a harsh tone that breaks at the end. I swallow the growing edge in my throat, looking at the man I love deeply towering over me.

“Forget?” His jaw clenches as he lifts his hand, tucking a piece of my hair behind my ears, but he doesn’t stop there. He caresses one side of my face with his palm, his thumb brushing against my cheek soothingly.

I close my eyes, relishing every second he touches me before he pulls away like he has been since the attack. He refuses to touch me these days, really touch me…and I resent it.

“I need to forget the bad. I don’t want to feel like this anymore. I don’t want to remember anything,” I breathe painfully. “Danny…it’s still my birthday,” I whisper as another tear falls down my cheek, through closed eyelids, and I tighten them harder until I’ve given it all my strength and it burns.

He stops caressing me, about to retreat from my face, but I grab his hand softly, stopping him.

“Help me forget a little longer,” I plead, my eyebrows pinching desperately as I inhale scathingly, narrowing my eyes at him.

Danny’s face hardens and his whole body goes rigid at my request. With his other hand, he brushes his hand through his dark blonde hair, contemplating. His blue eyes darken, and I step closer, daring him.

“I won’t be able to control myself with you.”

“Then don’t. I don’t want you to,” I tell him, and he finally moves his hand again, his thumb brushing my bottom lip, and he hums dauntingly.

I feel like my words struck him so profoundly because it’s a look he gave me before when it was my first time.

I can sense his unease when his jaw contorts, as if he’s lost in his thoughts.

He closes his eyes as more tears fall down my cheeks. He leans down, and I can feel his cool breath, scented woodsy, rebellion, and whiskey.

Danny’s scent alone has me aching for his touch.

His lips brush across mine, softly at first. His beard tickles my chin and I can’t help but love when it does that.

Everything about him, every little thing, will always draw me to him.

He dangerously grabs the back of my hair, pulling it as his tongue demands entrance inside. I grant him immediate access and return with my own.

His kisses feel different than ever before, and I can’t quite put the words to describe him, but he has me breathless, panting. The arousal that pulses with need won’t stop and it just gets stronger when he squeezes my ass, pulling my waist closer to him, feeling him.

He’s hard with anticipation and greed.

“I’ll help you forget everything…” He grabs me aggressively by my waist, pushing me against the desk, and my heart skips a beat from his voracious need. “But me.” He turns me around hard, fast, and determined.

He lifts me high in the air, my feet leave the floor, and I’m in the air for a second or two before he sits my ass on the desk.

I start to breathe heavily with anticipation. Danny looks like a beast who hasn’t been fed in years.

He pulls down my scrub pants fast, deliberately, until they’re on the floor. Goosebumps pebble over my skin.

I’m already wet, ready, I’m so fucking ready.

Make me forget Danny. Make me forget all the darkness that keeps threatening to destroy us both all year.

“I won’t ever let you forget how fucking much I worship you.”

I need him. I miss him. I miss when he can’t stop devouring me, even if it comes with his sadism.

He palms his hands on either side of me on the desk and kisses my lips roughly, with need, and there’s nothing in this world that can stop him.

“I’ve missed you,” I breathe through our feral kisses.

He crashes himself against me, his tongue slipping in momentarily before he pulls back, but barely. He smirks against my lips, and his growl sends me a whirlwind of adrenaline.

We’re both in a frenzy to feel each other.

“You miss getting fucked by me, baby?” His voice is deep and beguiling. He kisses me one last time before one of his hands goes to my throat. My eyes widen with lust, watching the dangerous, forbidden man who begged me to stay away from him, fierce with need. He grips my throat hard, choking me; the last breath I held escapes me like a gasp.

“Y-Yes.” I push that one word out when I realize the pain he promised me has returned. I never thought this would become a part of me…but Danny showed me it was a revelation hidden…a part of me that I will always welcome, unashamed.

He showed me it was always there within me like a candle, waiting to be lit by the right man.

I’m naked from the waist down, and he hums sinfully. His eyes trail down from my eyes, my lips, my breasts, and then my bare core.

He loosens his grip when he sees I’m ready for him to claim me the way we both yearn for, like we need this to survive.

“I want to pretend I’m okay just a little longer,” I murmur through his chokehold. “Like the past two months didn’t happen. Like I’m still me.”

He hesitates, and I can see that he’s debating to take me the way he truly desires, and I feel like he’s going to stop.

“Don’t you dare treat me like I’m broken tonight,” I taunt him. “At least just for right now.”

He deadpans but then quickly shifts into the man who has always intimidated me with one look, taking my breath away.

He won’t treat me like I’m fragile and I’m internally burning with anticipation as I read his body language.

He’s back.

He kneels, his lips hovering over my clit, and I bite my lip anxiously. I haven’t felt this intimacy from him for what feels like years and I think I might die if he doesn’t act soon.

I want to cherish this moment. Avoid every single dark thought that has been eating me alive since I lost my baby.

Since Shane and Nora scarred me forever.

“I don’t deserve you, but I’m keeping you anyway,” he tells me as he inserts two fingers in, slowly making me arch my back from the unexpected entrance.

His fingers go in deeper, moving in and out. My nipples harden through my scrubs, and I whimper with pleasure as I feel his familiarity.

The way he glides through me sends me into euphoria.

Forget.

All I want to do is forget.

This seems like the perfect way to feel like I’m still me and not battered with trauma.

Sliding in and out, he murmurs, “Baby, you’re so wet and I haven’t even started.”

Then his fingers disappear, and I’m left conflicted.

I’m breathing heavily, panting hard with lust. His lips brush against my clit and then I feel it. A moan escapes me, loud, when I feel his tongue at my slit, he stops at my clit, touching it, and a bolt of nirvana strikes me. My head falls back, and I swallow the screams.

“Your cunt is only mine to taste, to fuck, to break.”

“Please,” I beg, closing my eyes shut tight.

Then he towers over me again, and I’m confused.

“Stop teas—”

“I know it’s been a while, but don’t forget who you’ve missed, Ari. Do I need to remind you of the way I like to fuck? Who exactly owns this cunt?” My eyes circle when I feel his lips on mine again, moving ferociously, and then he pulls my hair tight, and I gasp against his lips. “Let me see you cry for me, baby.”

I don’t want him to stop.

He tilts my head back so I’m looking at the ceiling. My neck is exposed as he hovers over it.

“Say it, Ari. Who does this cunt belong to? I want to hear you scream it.” His breath lingers on my neck.

His fingers tighten against my scalp, pulling hard again, and I squint from the pain. But it doesn’t hurt. What hurts more is the fact that he stopped kissing me.

“It belongs to you,” I tell him through ragged breaths.

He pulls again a third time and a harsh moan escapes my lips, and I tighten my legs wrapped around his waist in response, pulling the front of him until his bulge against my heat.

I miss his monstrous size.

“Scream my name,” he demands, his mouth against my ear. My clit pulsates with need.

“Danny!” I scream loud, but it comes out like a high-pitched moan.

He rests his forehead on the side of my head, satisfied.

“That’s right, baby. It’s all mine.” His tongue trails the skin on my neck to the side of my cheek. Then he lets my hair go, and he’s back down between my legs. “My little angel cries so pretty.” He lifts my legs over his shoulders, so now my calves are on each side of his face and then he devours me to the point of seeing golden sparkles. I close my eyes and the grandest of smiles reach my face.

He’s so magnetic. My heart is beating, pounding hard for him. His beard pricks the side of my thighs and damn how I missed that.

He’s fucking me with his tongue and playing with my clit with his fingers so right, so good.

My elbows are the only thing keeping me from collapsing from the orgasm, threatening to obliterate me with each flick and stroke of his tongue and finger. He removes his fingers and replaces them with his mouth instead.

He takes my entire clit into his mouth and sucks on it.

Oh… God.

Each suck has me close to riding his face.

“Oh…”

Then, he bites down on it so precisely that instead of pain, my back arches from the intense pleasure.

My entire body shakes from that one nibble, and I scream.

“Oh fuck, Danny! I’m about to finish.”

I snake my hands through his hair, pushing his face down harder onto my clit, and he smiles against my pussy.

“No, you’re not. I didn’t allow you to finish just yet, little angel.” He stands, retracting his mouth.

He steps closer until his waist is between my thighs instead of his mouth. He rips open my scrub top, exposing the skin on my chest and bra. It had buttons that started from my collarbones down to my midsection on my abdomen, but they’re long gone now. The buttons dislodge into the air, falling onto the floor, and my breasts jump up and down from the sudden exposure.

Danny stiffens; his blue eyes drawn to my chest. He’s captivated by my bare breasts and then he pulls my bra down to my ribs to where my boobs are out of my bra, spilling over.

Then his hands are at my neck, gripping me hard, squeezing me tight like a necklace. Every one of his fingers wraps around my neck, tight, but I can still breathe just fine.

“You’ll shatter all over my cock when you finish the first time. The first of many to come for the rest of the night.”

“Yes, please.”

His hands are still choking my neck when I feel his lips command my mouth. We lose ourselves in each other. Our kisses don’t stop; they’re fast erotic, and then his tongue dominates mine. I can taste myself on his tongue.

He always wins.

I reach for his belt. I pull it out so fast from his waist, throwing it to the floor when it escapes every loop on his waistband. He still has his all-black shirt on. With one hand still on my neck, choking me, the other pulls down his slacks just enough to expose his massive, thick cock. He strokes himself a few times, positioning the head of his cock right at my entrance.

“Fuck me, Danny,” I rasp.

I look up at his beautiful face. He narrows his brows at me and he looks handsome as hell when he looks at me like this. His blue eyes overflow with ecstasy.

Then he pushes the first inches of his length inside me, and I moan, gasping for air and screaming at the intrusion.

“Damn it, Danny, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get used to you.” I almost try to scooch away from him, but he holds on to me tighter, his fingers digging more into my skin.

“My handprints will be carved into your body by the time I’m done with you,” he growls, not missing one beat.

Why do I love it so much when he grips me tight?

It hurts too good.

I’m not used to him anymore. I almost forgot how it feels to have him inside me, stretching me so much to the point I bleed. He hasn’t even pushed his entire length inside me yet and an orgasm almost overcomes me.

I try to move myself in a better position, but he secures me tighter, pulling me toward him as he’s forcing me to take more of him.

I moan loudly as I swallow my fate.

“It hurts.”

“Good. You’ve always been able to take it. I’m not going to stop until I’ve claimed what’s mine.” He groans deep through his broad, muscular chest and then smiles as he watches his cock move deeper inside me. The waistband of his pants is below his dick, hugging his thick, tensed thighs.

“I warned you. Once I start, there’s no stopping me from making my little angel fall from heaven on my cock.”

I’m trapped. There’s no stopping Danny’s need to feel me tonight…and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Fuck.” He snarls. As I feel myself continuously drip for him.

I blush when I see that he grinds his teeth impatiently. He’s about to lose control, and I’m more than ready.

“Don’t hold back,” I dare through his chokehold.

He smirks as a wave of exhilaration possesses his body.

“Never have, never fucking will.”

Then he ultimately enters, and my head falls back.

My nipples harden from the pleasure and I don’t want this ever to end.

He’s not soft, he’s not gentle, he’s unforgiving. Relentlessly fucking me harder and harder. It’s so hard that my breasts bounce with each deep, rough stroke. He’s pounding me so hard I could fall off the desk. But he holds my body in place with his large hand wrapped around my neck.

I’m close. Way too close.

The short hair on my face, breasts, and palms bounce up and down from each strong thrust that sends me up in the air before he pulls us back onto the desk greedily.

“Yes,” I shriek with lust. The sensation of having him inside me makes me lose myself, silently begging him for more.

The desk moves underneath me, thundering as the friction beneath the wood scratches at the floor.

It collides with the wall hard and rough, making each thrust of Danny’s hips known. Marks and dents appear when his thrusts become more violent.

We’re about to break the desk.

Then, the most detrimental sound chime sounds between our skin slapping.

His phone rings, and I almost roll my eyes in annoyance.

For the love of God.

He slows his thrusts, groaning in frustration.

He can’t ever miss a call or a text because of his role on the team. Then he pulls out his phone from his pants that are just below his groin, to read the caller ID. He sighs, frustratedly pissed off. Someone is calling him, ending our first time together since the attack.

I hate his job so much at this moment.

He answers the phone, still inside me.

“Hello?” He clenches his jaw tight, looking away from me. One of his hands lets go of me, and I watch him, disappointed. He shifts his wrist vehemently to look at his watch straight forward and not slanted. He looks at the time above his cuff impatiently. His demeanor changes for a second.

“Now? Tonight?” he asks, his brows pinching together, staring at his watch.

I jolt, trying to push myself off of him.

It’s such fantastic timing.

I’m midway off him when he puts his phone on his shoulder, muffling the mic and grabbing me angrily.

“Where do you think you’re going? You’re not going anywhere,” he growls, narrowing his eyes at me.

I bite my lip and I don’t dare move anymore.

He picks up his pace as he places his phone back on his ear, and I grab a hold of my breasts with one hand for balance.

“Yup, message received,” Danny tells the caller, his tone emotionless and rugged.

Then, another deep, harsh thrust. And another and another until he’s full-blown breaking my body.

I’m going to come.

He feels so good. His cock hits all the right spots.

But before I come, I am going to make him regret taking this phone call.

I remove his hand from my neck and bring his thumb to my mouth, licking it first, then I place it right above my bottom teeth, then I slowly place the top of my tongue on his like I would the tip of his cock.

His blue eyes light up like he first saw me naked in Iraq, I’ve got his attention now. I raise my brows at my small victory.

“Yeah, I-I’m listening.” He stutters his words and I smirk in satisfaction as he thrusts inside me. He glares at me, shaking his head as a devilish grin tugs at the side of his lips. My eyes widen innocently at him, and I shrug my shoulders.

My mouth closes on his thumb, and I suck on him hard, moving it in and out of my mouth as he fucks me.

He stops his thrusts. He’s breathing hard when he realizes what I’m doing.

“I’ll be right there.” Then he hangs up, scowling, throwing his phone on the desk hard. I wouldn’t be surprised if it cracked from how hard he threw it.

He’s leaving? Don’t they have other Navy SEALS to bother?!

“Oh, Ari. You’re playing games. You know, I always win.”

He turns me around so fast. My ass is off the desk and I’m on my toes. My palms rest on the counter and I curl my fingers at the edge of the desk to stabilize myself. He has me bent over with my ass on his cock, and I’m biting my lip.

“The birthday girl needs to be punished for that.” He snarls behind my ear.

Then a hard slap echoes against my ass, and I yelp from the collision. His hands grip my waist on both sides of my hips, hard and tight, positioning me the way he wants. I know the bruises will reflect in the morning.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about—” He doesn’t let me finish. Another slap on my ass cuts me off, and it burns, and then he’s inside me again.

My eyes roll to the back when I feel the deep, fast thrusts, and then I’m shattering when he hits a spot deep inside of me.

“Oh God!” I shout, curling my fingers into my palms against the desk. And I squeeze my hands into fists as the orgasm implodes every single vein with fire. Every nerve flares with sparks of dark euphoric pleasure, and I feel like I’m floating. I moan his name over and over again, but he doesn’t let up.

Slap.

Slap.

Slap.

Another harsh slap on my ass as he goes in deeper.

“God can’t hear you, little angel. My name is the only one you will ever cry out for.”

His pace races with greedy speed, followed by a loud monstrosity of a groan.

He squeezes my thighs to the point another moan escapes me. My hands go to his, tightening around his wrist, scratching his skin as he thrusts like he can’t get enough. He inflicted havoc on me like a built-up craving and I was his release.

He’s filling me up with his come again, fierce and never-ending voracity. He’s making sure I take it all in. I enjoy every second of this devastatingly amazing dark reunion.

He pulls out of me, and everything slowly falls past my inner thighs.

He’s watching everything flow on my skin, dripping down, and he hums with satisfaction, pushing some of the fluid back inside me. He licks his lips, then reaches for his pants.

“You know I’m on birth control,” I breathe. “I’m on the pill,” I admit, trying to recover from my bliss.

“For now,” he replies, pulling his pants up.

Heat swirls into my chest. Does this mean what I think it means?

Would he be open to the thought of being a dad again?

He grabs me, turning me around gently. I’m no longer bent over. Instead, I’m standing as tall as my short frame allows me to. I tip-toe when I realize he’s changed his demeanor. He’s smoother, careful, and slow—the complete opposite of moments ago.

He kisses me with so much passion it sends butterflies through my stomach.

Best birthday ever.

My front door swings open, cold winds blow through and it causes me to shiver. Danny hesitates at the door.

What is it about this man in a military uniform with camo paint on that has me disoriented with lust?

It feels like the time he left me in Iraq. When he went on his mission for Damon and it took me back. I don’t want him to leave.

The familiar dreadful emotion of worry and anxiety swirls in my stomach.

The devastating reminder he could end up in a casket like Paul haunts me. It will forever haunt me. I don’t like watching him leave because then I’ll be sleeping alone to deal with the Grim Reaper visiting me when I sleep, and the constant worry of my boyfriend’s safe return.

I can’t tell him about Kane now. He needs a clear headspace. I don’t need Danny and Kane to get into disagreements when they work on the same team. The thought of his confession hindering their friendship and work… I don’t want to imagine them fighting, or worse, while they’re out on a mission.

“I’ll make it up to you when I get back.” Danny stands in the doorway, tucking a knife into his vest. He’s in the uniform he uses for his missions with a substantial tan-colored bag slung over his shoulder.

“I hate this,” I complain, hugging my velvet, silk sleeping gown to my body to keep warm. I have the heater on, yet I’m still shivering from the cold weather.

“I know.”

“Sometimes, I wish I could change my past so my future wouldn’t be so hard to live in.” I don’t know why I said it. It was an intrusive thought. I look up at Danny, my eyes bleeding for comfort. “Are there things you would change about your past?”

He shakes his head.

“I wouldn’t…because my past led me to you.”

Fuck, I could melt. His past held a lot of darkness, and he still wouldn’t change it?

I lean on one side of my hip, biting the inside of my cheek.

“Danny?”

“Yes?”

“I just want to tell you that I’m proud of you. I’ve noticed the way you’ve begun to change. I may not love your job, but I love that you try to save everyone you can. And I want to thank you.”

“For what?”

“For being the only man in my life that hasn’t left me.”

“I’m sorry this job takes so much out of me. I’m doing my best not to let it consume everything and anything left of my humanity, but you have everything to do with that. I’m a better man because of you. So, thank you.”

“Where are you going? When are you coming back?”

He’s silent. That’s an answer all on its own. He either can’t tell me, or he doesn’t know.

Then he smiles. It’s a smile that tries to disguise what he’s feeling. He feels guilty. Something I wasn’t used to seeing. This is the first time I’ve seen him feel bad about leaving me. That’s…new.

He drops his bag in the doorway. I stroll toward him, and he closes the distance before I get to the door. He takes two steps forward and grabs me.

He cups both sides of my face and kisses me slowly. Fire fuels every vein that pumps to and from my heart when he touches me. I’m weak when he kisses me. I’m weak when he looks at me.

“I’ll see you soon.” He smiles against my lips before planting another soft kiss on them, and butterflies flutter. My hands replace his and I gently squeeze.

I smile, finally opening my eyes to see his light blue ones.

“See you soon.”