Chapter 41 #2
He rolled her beneath him and slid inside, fully hard and ready. “For answering correctly, you get a prize.”
“Oooh, what kind of prize?”
“This kind.”
He pulled out, slammed back in, and Diana forgot to breathe. Again.
But it was worth every toe-curling moment.
Ghost sat on the huge wraparound porch at the Suttons’ house with his guys while the women were inside helping Mrs. Sutton put away all the dishes that the guys had washed before coming out here.
Doc Sutton and Theo were watching football. Ghost and the team would join them soon, but they’d somehow all gravitated to the porch with their beers.
Ghost had snagged the porch swing and he used one foot to propel himself back and forth rhythmically.
He’d told them about Athena when he’d returned from Washington a couple of weeks ago.
They’d been predictably angry, but it’d been Chance who’d laughed first and said, “Fuck ’em.
And thank God for ’em too. Because I have Rory.
Wouldn’t have met her if we hadn’t moved down here. ”
The rest of the guys quickly agreed. Ghost was pissed at the manipulation, but he couldn’t disagree either. Life in Sutton’s Creek was better than anywhere else he could have gone. This was it for him now.
Diana, his team, their ladies and kids, and Sutton’s Creek.
“Still can’t believe it’s ours,” Kane said. “They’re really calling the property and all the equipment a bonus for services rendered?”
“Yup,” Ghost said. He’d gotten word from the president’s chief of staff that morning. Apparently, Stephen Adler had come through with even more than Diana had asked for. She’d been ecstatic when he told her.
He’d pulled his guys aside after they’d arrived at the Suttons earlier and told them in one of the fancy parlors Mrs. Sutton had decorated with antiques and oil paintings. They’d reacted the way he had: happy, shocked, hopeful.
The future was theirs now. One Shot Tactical would keep providing training and services—and hell, it was probably gonna grow if Daphne had her way. Which she would because she was good at it and there was no reason not to expand.
“We’re free,” Blaze said. “We can get married, raise our kids, and make our lives here permanently.”
“Fuck yeah,” Ethan replied.
“This has been a perfect day,” Seth said.
“How so?” Chance asked. “Not disagreeing but want your perspective.”
“Not just the range, but this.” Seth waved a hand.
“Us. We’re have the love of amazing women, we love our jobs, ain’t nobody gotta bug out in the middle of the night for weeks downrange, and we just had a kick-ass Thanksgiving dinner in a gorgeous house with wonderful people.
I couldn’t have imagined this would be my life when I sat in that briefing room almost a year ago and agreed to give up everything for an unknown mission. ”
“Yeah,” Ghost said, sipping his beer. “It is perfect, isn’t it?”
A sudden burst of laughter had them all looking up.
Six women walked onto the porch, smiling, giddy, carrying drinks and talking rapid fire.
They came over to where the men were and split up, each woman going to her man, sitting in his lap or next to him.
Diana sank onto the porch swing beside Ghost, her beautiful face glowing with happiness.
“Daphne had an idea,” she said. “You have to hear it.”
A chorus of female voices drowned out his groan.
“Okay, I’ll bite,” Ghost said. “What’s the scheme, Daph?”
She stood as if she were about to give a speech.
Then she grinned and spread her hands. “Gentleman, you are about to hear an idea that’s going to sound crazy but hear me out.
We have the venue. We have the time to plan.
We have the opportunity to throw the biggest, best wedding and/or reception this town has ever seen.
Next May, assuming everyone is on board, we can get married.
All of us, at once, like a Jane Austen movie, only it’s six couples and not two—we get married and we throw a party.
It doesn’t even have to be the formal wedding, if you want to get married in a church first, and then we hold that big bad party on a gorgeous day in May.
There will be bands. There will be dancing. There will be tremendous food—”
“Will there be goats?” Ghost drawled.
“No goats! No way.” Daphne shuddered. “Just a big old party to celebrate all of us marrying all of you.”
“Personally, I love this idea,” Emma said.
“You are my sisters and I want to celebrate with you. We’ve waited this long, and our little girl will be a couple of months old by then.
Also, Mama thought it sounded fantastic.
I could already see the wheels turning in her head when we left to tell all of you. ”
“Nobody will forget anybody’s anniversary,” Rory added, her arms around Chance.
Ghost looked at Diana. She was grinning. “You like this plan?” he asked her.
“I think it sounds perfect. If anybody wants to get married before that, or after, or not at all, we can still hold a big party.”
“Dammit, Daphne, I think this might be your best idea yet,” Ghost said, taking Diana’s hand and kissing it. “Because I am so marrying this woman.”
“Really?” Daphne asked. “You like it?”
Everyone said they did. That it was perfect. And why the hell not? Throw a big old party, invite the whole town.
“Wait—maybe we should consult Colleen,” Kane said. “Find out if the spirits agree. Or the aliens.”
“About that,” Seth said while everyone laughed.
“I stumbled on a Reddit forum. There’s a group of hobbyists likes to fly drones at night.
They attach lights and take video because they’re trying to create viral vids for YouTube.
They show up in Sutton’s Creek every few weeks because Benson Chambers is part of the group, and they fly over the fields near his house. ”
Everyone was quiet for a long moment. Then they started to laugh.
“But hey,” Emma said when the laughter died down. “There are things she hasn’t been wrong about. You have to admit that.”
Ghost tucked a lock of hair behind Diana’s ear. “True. She said when I needed her, the huntress would be by my side. And here she is. My very own goddess.”
“Sweet talker.”
“Marry me in May?”
She kissed him. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Thank you for reading Alex and Diana’s story!