“Nope. It’s all mine.” I shoved the phone into my pocket and grabbed her hand, hauling her up against me. She rested her palm over my heart and I smiled down at her, so f**king happy it hurt. “Just like you are.”
She opened her mouth to talk, but I didn’t let her. Instead, I trapped her mouth under mine, swallowing the words. My mind returned to the odd phone call I’d gotten earlier. I’d called three more members of my unit, and none of them had gotten a call. Just me. I didn’t know what to expect or what it meant, but I needed to tell her about it.
Where were they sending me? And why? How long would I be gone? I had all these unanswered questions in my head, and it was driving me f**king insane. If they sent me away, I couldn’t be Carrie’s bodyguard. And if I wasn’t here, I couldn’t be with Carrie.
If I didn’t have Carrie to kiss every single morning…then who the hell was I? I wasn’t sure I wanted to know, but I had a feeling I was going to find out.
Her arms wrapped around my neck, dragging me closer, and I deepened the kiss before swinging her into my arms. As I walked up the pathway and up the stairs, I refused to break contact. I needed her as desperately as I had before I’d ever had her.
Maybe even more, if that was possible.
I unlocked my door and kicked it open, then shut it with my hip. Even though I wanted to carry her straight to my bed, I didn’t. I needed to tell her about the strange call I’d gotten first. No more secrets. No more waiting.
She tried to kiss me again, but I stepped back and unwound her arms from my neck. “Hold on. We need to talk.”
“Why?” She bit down on her lower lip. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing too serious.” I cupped her cheek, running my thumb across her lower lip. I loved doing that. Loved seeing her smile, and the faint freckles that danced along her cheekbones when she did. Loved seeing her light up when she helped another person. Loved seeing her on a surfboard. Fuck, I loved her. “I got a phone call from my commanding officer. I have to report to base this weekend.”
She blinked at me. “But it’s the wrong weekend, isn’t it?”
“It is.” I hesitated and tugged on my hair. I’d have to cut it again. “I don’t know what he wants with me, but he mentioned a possible deployment.”
She lowered her eyes. “You mean war?”
“I’m not sure yet.” I cleared my throat and met her eyes. “The thing is, I called a bunch of guys from my unit, and none of them have to go in. It’s just me.”
She shook her head. “But what does that mean?”
“I have no f**king clue,” I said, reaching up and playing with her hair. I loved the way it felt against my fingers. “It could mean ten million things. I really have no way of knowing until I go and hear the news. But there’s definitely something going on.”
She nodded, her eyes never leaving mine. “Is this a bad thing or a good thing?”
“I really can’t say,” I said, shrugging. “I can speculate and freak you out with all the what ifs, but until I go and hear the news? It’s pointless. I just didn’t want to not tell you.”
“Thank you for being honest right away,” she said, after letting out a sigh.
“I won’t keep anything from you. Not anymore.” I leaned down and kissed her gently, knowing she probably needed a minute to absorb all this. “We’re in this together.”
She rose up on tiptoe and kissed me, not replying. She curled her hands into my shirt, a desperation in her kiss that hadn’t been there before. She was freaking out, and I needed to make it better. I broke off the kiss again, taking a deep breath of air.
“Ginger, it’ll be okay.”
She nodded, her mouth pressed tight and her eyes narrow. “I know. Just kiss me. I need you to kiss me now.”
Well, when she put it that way, who was I to say no?
So I kissed her.
Carrie
Okay, I was trying really, really freaking hard not to start panicking.
I mean, he’d said he wasn’t going to war, or at least his unit wasn’t, so that sounded promising. But still, he’d thrown out the word deployment. I might not know much about the military, but even I knew that meant he’d be leaving me.
And if he was leaving me, I wasn’t happy.
When he closed his mouth over mine, I shut off my mind and stopped thinking. He’d already told me all he could tell me about the call, so focusing on it wasn’t the healthiest choice. We had to wait until this weekend to hear anything more. Until then we were just sitting ducks.
And if I was going to be forced to wait, then I’d do it my way.
He picked me up and carried me to his bed. He was so hard and solid and it drove me insane every time he moved his tongue over mine like that. His teeth scraped my lower lip, and I whimpered into his mouth. His fingers moved over my butt, slipping between my legs and rubbing against the spot where I needed him most.
As he lowered me to the mattress, he started to climb on top of me, but I broke the kiss and shoved at his shoulders. “No,” I said, locking gazes with him. “It’s my turn. Just stand there.”
He stilled, instantly giving me what I wanted. “Your turn for what?”
“Control,” I said, my cheeks heating. “I want to undress you. And then I want to wrap my lips around your…your…”
When I drifted off, uncertain what to call his penis, he chuckled. “Cock. It’s a cock, Carrie. Say it.”
My cheeks heated. I knew what it was called. It just sounded so dirty and wrong. “Around your cock,” I said in a rush, my cheeks getting even hotter.
“Okay.” He fisted his hands at his hips, watching me from beneath his lowered lids. When he looked at me like that—like I was his dessert or something—it made everything inside me quiver and beg for his touch so much it hurt. I licked my lips and crawled to the edge of the bed on all fours. He twitched and took a step toward me; as if he couldn’t hold himself back anymore, but then he stopped.
He stood there because I’d asked him to.
I ran my hands over his chest, then up over his shoulders. Just touching him made me feel like the luckiest girl in the world, and I wanted to do everything to him. Everything in the romance books I read at night, and then more. Even though my mother had never figured it out, I used to sneak them out of her library after she was finished with them. I’d started it in sixth grade. Now I bought them with my own money.