Chapter 40
SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER, NOVEMBER…
“ I ’m impressed, Harpsichord,” Aldo whistled through his teeth as they rounded a corner on the path. “A few months ago, you couldn’t run the length of a football field, and now look at you.”
Harper rolled her eyes at the nickname and tossed a smug look over her shoulder. “I could say the same about you,” she teased, enjoying the pace he set.
“Yeah, but I’m a perfect physical specimen. I’m designed to run no matter how many legs I have. You were a late-sleeping desk potato.”
She gasped, her breath forming a cloud in the brisk morning air. “Desk potato?”
“Someone who doesn’t watch a lot of TV but spends all their time sitting at a desk.”
“Where do you come up with this stuff?”
He tapped his finger to his temple. “It’s all up here. All the secrets of the universe.”
“Let’s see if those secrets of the universe help you move a little faster.
” She picked up the pace. Aldo was right.
A few months ago, the thought of a five mile run before 7 a.m. would have had her pulling pillows over her head.
And now, here she was, feeling her legs come to life beneath her as her feet skimmed the surface of the jogging path.
She and Aldo hit the park once a week together for a longer run. The man was a freaking machine. His physical therapists were thrilled with his progress, and her heart warmed at the fact that she no longer saw frustration lining his handsome face. Love was the ultimate motivator.
Gloria and her genuine sweetness had worked wonders on the depression that had threatened to envelop him. The woman had probably single-handedly saved him from murdering or being murdered by Mrs. Moretta.
“Now you’re just showing off,” Harper laughed as Aldo sped by. “Don’t let your leg fall off,” she called after him.
“Gotta get there before sunrise!”
Harper lengthened her stride and caught him on the down slope.
In a mile, the wooded path opened to the lake and the perfect view of the sunrise.
It was her favorite part of the day, when she got to see those colors bleeding across the sky into the waters of the lake.
She felt like the sunrise was a gift from her parents, telling her everything was going to be okay.
That life was beautiful and it would be crazy to waste a moment of it.
“So, you ready for Luke to come home? Next week, right?” Aldo asked conversationally. The sprint had taken nothing out of him.
“I’m trying not to think about it too much, so only every half second or so,” she sighed. “We didn’t have much time before he left, but I still feel like I’ve been missing a limb—no offense—for the last six months. I’m excited and terrified and everything in between.”
“Terrified?”
“Our relationship has lasted seven months. Six of those, he was on the other side of the world. What if he doesn’t like me anymore? What if everything is different? What if I can’t handle the reason he didn’t tell me about Karen?”
Aldo stopped and put a hand on her arm.
“What’s wrong? You need a break?”
He smirked. “Do I look like I need a break?”
His olive complexion glowed with healthy exertion. His hooded National Guard sweatshirt and track pants covered all the hard planes of his body, every inch earned with hard work and dedication.
“No. You look like you could breeze through a half marathon if you wanted to.”
“Damn right. And stop worrying. You two have what it takes to make it.
“I love you, Aldo.”
Surprise lit his eyes.
“Not like that. ” Harper rolled her eyes. “You’re the closest thing to a brother that I’ve ever had, and I love you.”
“Well, shit. I love you, too, Harpsichord,” he said, gruffly.
“Don’t say it because I said it!” She punched him in the arm.
Aldo put her in a headlock and ruffled her hair. “I didn’t, dummy. You’re the little sister I never wanted.”
They started forward, slowly working their way back up to speed. “So, you planning to surprise Luke when he comes home?”
Harper snorted. “Can you think of anything he’d hate more? No. In fact, he told me he doesn’t even want me to meet the bus. He wants to meet me at the house.”
“You know why he wants it that way.”
Harper sighed. “I do. But it still hurts my heart to think of him coming home with no one there to greet him. It’s been so long.
I don’t want to waste the time it would take him to drive home.
Ever since he told me that he’s coming home, every second feels like half an hour.
I just want him here. I want to look into his eyes and… ”
They broke through the woods just as the sun began its climb over the trees. A lone figure in fatigues stood facing them, his back to the spectacular sunrise.
“No,” Harper whispered, shaking her head. Shock flooded her system. “I…”
He opened his arms, and Harper was in motion, sprinting to him.
He was running too now, and they collided in mid-air. Luke boosted her up, clutching her to him. Harper wrapped her legs around his waist and cupped his face in her hands.
“Is it really you? Are you really here?”
She drank in the hazel eyes, the long lashes, the strong cheekbones, the growth of stubble on his perfect jaw.
“I’m home, baby.” His voice was rough and raspy.
A sob escaped her, and then Luke was pulling her in. His mouth found hers in a kiss laced with a frantic need and possession. The lick of flame swept through her as Luke’s tongue met hers. Alive. That’s how she felt with his hands on her.
She couldn’t breathe anything but his air. Didn’t want anything else. She had everything she needed in this moment.
Harper tasted salt and realized it was her own tears.
A whimper worked its way free from the back of her throat, and Luke groaned, slowly retreating from the kiss with her lower lip between his teeth. Her hands fisted in his collar to keep him close. His grip on her ass tightened.
Harper moved to kiss him again, but the clearing of a throat stalled her.
“You guys are ruining my view of a perfect sunrise,” Aldo teased.
Luke let Harper slide down his body, but he kept her anchored to his side.
“You knew, and you didn’t say a freaking word!” Harper smacked Aldo on the arm.
He grinned. “Surprise!”
“Thanks, man,” Luke said, wrapping his friend in a one-armed man hug.
Aldo clapped him on the back, a blow that would have brought Harper to her knees.
Her throat tight, Harper stepped back and gave them a moment. The one-armed hug moved into a crushing embrace of brothers. “You look good, Moretta.” Luke pulled back to ruffle Aldo’s dark curls.
“I feel good. Check out the hardware,” Aldo pulled up his pant leg to show off his prosthesis .
Harper saw Luke’s Adam’s apple work and knew that he struggled with the raw memory of his childhood friend in a pool of his own blood. He nodded, but no sound came out.
“Hey,” Aldo said, clapping Luke on the shoulder. “I’m good. I’m better than good.”
Luke’s jaw clenched, and he brought his friend in for another hard hug. “I’m sorry, man.”
Aldo smacked him on the back of the head. “Shut up. There’s nothing to be sorry for. Asshole.”
Luke gave him a playful shove. “Dick.”
Aldo wobbled, flailing his arms. Luke reached to steady him, concern in his eyes.
“Psych!” Aldo grinned, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Solid as a rock. Thanks to your girl there.”
Luke reached his arm out to Harper, pulling her back in. His hand skimmed under her jacket and tank to stroke the skin of her lower back. “She took good care of you?”
“She even got me a woman.”
Harper rolled her eyes. “Don’t make Gloria sound like a prostitute!”
Aldo checked his watch. “Love to stay and chat, but speaking of my woman, she’s waiting for me. That gives you two about forty-five minutes before you have to be at the diner.”
“The diner?” Luke looked at Harper.
Aldo’s plan hit Harper. “Oh, you’re good! Does anyone else know?”
He winked. “Nope.” He tossed Luke a set of keys. “Your truck is in the lot on the other side of the trees.”
“How did you get his truck here?”
“Gloria and I stole it from the garage last night. You’re one sound sleeper.”
“You riding back with us?” Luke asked Aldo, but his eyes were on Harper.
“Nope, Gloria’s waiting with my truck. I’ll see you soon. Glad to have you home, Luke. Later, Harpsichord!” And with that, he loped off toward the parking lot.
Luke didn’t waste time watching his friend leave.
He only had eyes for Harper. He pulled her into his arms. Her blonde locks were pulled back in a high ponytail.
She was covered from the neck down in spandex and Under Armor to block the early morning chill, and it was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen.
He hadn’t thought of anything but seeing those hungry gray eyes since he got his orders. Somehow she was more beautiful than when he had left. It had been a long time since he was this eager to come home.
Harper wrapped her arms around his neck and stared into his eyes.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” she said finally.
“Miss me, baby?” He tugged her off the path through trees and brush.
“Only every second of the last 189 days.” She brought her hands to his face and ran her thumbs over the stubble. “How is it possible to love you even more right this second than before you left?”
Luke let out the breath he didn’t know he had been holding. Was that relief? Deployment could and did change people on both sides. The thought that she wouldn’t wait or wouldn’t want him the way he wanted her when he came home had crossed his mind a few times in the long, dark hours of the night.
There had been too many nights that stood between him and those words.
He crushed his mouth to hers until he felt her knees give out.
“I need you.” The words sounded harsh to his ears, but he couldn’t soften them. He was rock hard for her. His hands cruised over her body, unzipping her thin jacket and tugging up her long sleeve shirt so they could roam over her skin. Her breasts were bound by a sports bra.
“How do you get this off,” he growled against her mouth.
Harper’s husky laugh had him forgetting to be gentle. “I need my hands on you, Harper. Do you trust me?”
She drew back a fraction of an inch, wide-eyed, but nodding.
Luke pulled the pocketknife from his pocket and yanked the fabric away from her skin. “I’ll buy you a new one,” he breathed, slicing the fabric cleanly in two. He tossed the knife to the ground as her breasts tumbled into his palms.
He hefted her soft flesh and said, “Baby, we’re not going to make it to the truck.”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” she said, spreading hungry kisses down his throat and tugging at his belt.
He needed to be inside her, to feel her close around him. He wanted to watch her eyes go dreamy as she slowly came down from the high.
Luke stayed her busy hands and dragged her back into the trees. He yanked off his shirt and dropped it on the mossy ground. In a single fluid motion, he swept Harper’s feet out from under her and took her to the ground. She gasped into his mouth, and he got impossibly harder.
It would be a miracle if he could last beyond the first thrust. Luke tore his mouth away from Harper’s and moved lower. He pressed a kiss to her sternum before turning his attention to one perfect breast.
“I’ve dreamed about this,” he whispered against her straining nipple before taking it into his mouth. She arched against him, and he could feel her heat through the layers that separated them.
“Are you wet for me?” He already knew the answer, could almost feel it as he pressed his hard-on against her.
He moved to her other breast and licked and sucked until her nipple stood at attention.
She was so responsive to him. One touch, one taste, was all it took.
He captured the taut peak into his mouth and worked it with his tongue until she moaned his name.
He had waited so long to hear his name on her lips like this again.
“Once I start, I won’t be able to stop, baby,” he warned.
“Please, Luke. I just want you inside me. Please.” Her breathless plea had him ripping open his nylon belt and thanking God for the Velcro fly of his pants. Freed, his thick cock strained toward Harper’s heat.
She wriggled under him, trying to free herself from her running tights. With his help, they wrestled them down to her ankles before peeling off a shoe.
Unable to wait any longer, Luke pushed her back against the forest floor and positioned his erection at her wet entrance. He paused for just a second. He wanted to memorize her face. The devastating need. The desire she had for him to fill her, to take her over the edge. She belonged to him.
Luke drove into her in one fierce stroke. Harper buried her cry in his shoulder.
He was finally home.
He didn’t give her a chance to get used to him.
“Jesus, baby, you are so fucking tight,” he grunted as he thrust into her again.
All the way to the hilt, every inch of him was surrounded by her.
Again and again he drove into her, his heavy sack slapping against her.
Already he could feel the flutter of her muscles around him. She was so close to coming apart.
He leaned down and took her nipple in his mouth, suckling hard enough that he knew she felt both pleasure and pain. His thrusts became shorter, faster. Harper hitched her legs up higher on his hips.
He heard the snap of twigs, the rustle of leaves, but it didn’t matter. Harper’s eyes widened, and she turned her head toward the direction of the trail just feet away, but Luke clamped a hand over her mouth and turned her gaze back to him.
He shook his head and continued his assault, looming over her, driving into her, changing the angle at the last second. Harper’s eyes glazed over as he slammed into her again, grazing the sensitive ache in her deepest center.
It was a small group of joggers that thundered by on the path, but all Harper saw was Luke mouthing the word, “Come,” as he drove into her again.
Her quivering muscles obeyed, clamping down on him as he let loose inside her.
He let those beautiful squeezes milk him dry before collapsing on top of her, her bare breasts crushing into his chest.
She locked her legs around him to keep him inside of her. “Don’t leave me,” she whispered.
“Never again, baby.”
He rolled over so she was on top of him and stroked whatever bare skin his hands could find.
“I don’t know if I like you running with other men dressed like that. Remind me to get you some really baggy sweats.”
“I run with Aldo. Not every man wants to drag me behind a tree and ravage me,” she teased.
“Any man with a dick and half a brain would have those thoughts.” He pinched her hip as he helped her work her running tights back up. “Let’s go home so we can do this for the rest of the day.” His voice was husky as he placed a kiss to the flat of her stomach.
“We will, but first we have to make a pit stop.” She grinned at the thought of the surprise Luke’s family was about to get.