Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Kelli gasped and threw a hand over her head to brace herself against the headboard as Flash thrust in and out of her, hard.
“Yes!” she exclaimed.
She’d needed this. After everything that happened, she’d needed to feel alive. And there was no better way than to have the man she loved lose control as he fucked her.
Yesterday had been scary. Terrifying. She’d come way too close to dying. If Flash and Smiley hadn’t shown up…No, if Bree hadn’t been in the parking lot at the exact right time, the outcome would’ve been much different.
But Bree had been there, and Flash and Smiley had shown up.
Her leg throbbed, but even in the throes of passion, Flash was careful not to grab the bandaged appendage. He’d been reluctant to make love to her at all, but Kelli was insistent. It was probably way too soon, but she didn’t care .
She’d gone to the hospital, where she’d received stitches, and where Flash had paced and generally made everyone uneasy with the amped-up alpha vibes emanating from him.
A detective from the Riverton Police Department had arrived and taken her statement while she was waiting for the doctor to stitch up her leg.
Since the man was already familiar with Brant Williams and their case, and he knew he was wanted for the kidnapping back in Jamaica, Flash and Smiley weren’t in imminent danger of being arrested. Especially not after seeing Kelli, and hearing her harrowing story of how she was kidnapped…again.
Kelli didn’t know where Smiley and Bree had gone, though she assumed they were at his apartment.
He and Flash had immediately switched back to their own homes, the rest of their teammates generously pitching in to pack up and move everyone’s belongings to the appropriate apartments.
By the time she’d finished at the hospital the previous evening, they’d been able to go straight to Flash’s place, where they both crashed hard.
However, Kelli had woken up just hours later thanks to a horrible nightmare, and she’d decided what she needed to get back on track, to wipe away the bad dream, was her boyfriend deep inside her. Injuries be damned.
And now here she was, getting fucked hard and fast, just the way she wanted it.
“Get there,” Flash ordered, as he moved one hand between her legs and began to strum her clit, just as roughly as he was thrusting inside her.
Kelli had already been close, but his touch sent her soaring. She barely heard his triumphant yell as he let himself come deep inside her .
They were both sweaty, and Kelli could feel her heart beating hard in her chest. She smiled. Yup, this was what she needed. To feel alive…to celebrate the fact that they’d won.
“Damn, woman,” Flash complained, as he gently eased out of her and arranged her carefully on the bed so he wouldn’t jostle her leg. Then he snuggled up against her, on his side, one arm over her belly, his leg hitched up on her uninjured thigh, his head on her shoulder.
This position was a reversal of how they usually slept. Usually it was Kelli who was draped over him , but she actually loved being the receiver of the snuggles, rather than the giver.
“Did I hurt your leg?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“You were kind of…aggressive…are you sure you’re okay?”
He wasn’t wrong. Kelli had been aggressive.
Insistent that he fuck her, overriding all his objections about her injuries.
“When I was on that floor, looking up at him holding that knife, I knew that was it. I was going to die. Even when we were in that bus underground, I hadn’t felt that way.
I don’t know how, but the possibility of us being able to escape was always there in the back of my mind.
But yesterday? Even knowing Bree had been in the backseat, and that she had her phone, I didn’t think anyone could get there in time.
Not when all it would’ve taken was one quick stab.
And the only regret I had was that I wouldn’t get to see you again. ”
She felt Flash’s surprised inhalation. But she kept going.
“I wasn’t going to just lie there and let him stab me to death.
I was going to fight, but I knew the chances were slim that I’d be able to hold him off for long.
Life is short, Flash. I’ve spent too much time just going through the motions of living.
I’m done with that. I’m sure people will look at our relationship and smile to our faces, but behind our backs, say that we won’t make it.
That we moved too fast. That I’ve got some sort of savior complex thing going…
or whatever it’s called. That I’m only with you because you rescued me… twice. But that’s not it. Not at all.
“I love you, Wade Gordon. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to get my degree in electrical technology and be able to go over to Remi’s house and fix her lights when they conk out.
I want to fix that light that’s out at Aces Bar and Grill.
I want to cry when you go on a mission, and rejoice when you return.
I want to hang out with Wren and the other girls and get drunk and talk about how great our sex lives are.
I want to be an honorary aunt to Maggie and Addison’s babies.
I want to have my own. I want to have wild monkey sex with my husband when we’re in our fifties, sixties, and even later.
I want it all, Flash. I’m greedy. And I realized all this as I watched Brant come toward me with that knife, with a maniacal look in his eyes.
“So, yeah. I was aggressive. Because I knew you weren’t going to touch me, since you were afraid to hurt me. But you’d never hurt me. Ever. I know that down to my very marrow. I hope you don’t mind that I jumped you…because I have a feeling I’m gonna be doing that a lot. ”
“Marry me.”
Kelli stared at Flash. He’d picked his head up when she’d begun talking, so he could look into her eyes—and she was momentarily speechless.
“I want all that too. I want to be the loudest person in the auditorium when you get your degree. I want to take pictures of you in your overalls and tool belt as you’re on top of a ladder, fixing shit.
I want to come home to you after every mission, and after every day of work.
I want to hang out with my SEAL buddies as we watch over our women, getting sloshed during a girls’ night out, then bring you home and fuck you drunk.
I want to be a father, have babies that look exactly like you, teach them to be strong and confident, just like their mom.
“And you already know I love you too. I almost lost my mind when I walked into that room and saw Williams trying to stab you. Fuck anyone who thinks we won’t make it, because I intend to spend every day of my life making you happy.
Proving I’m the man you think I am. Because the truth is, I’m kind of a dick.
At least to people who annoy me. Marry me, Kelli.
I’ll gladly have wild monkey sex with you when I’m eighty, although I might need some medical assistance to get it up by then. ”
Kelli couldn’t help it. She laughed. This was a momentous occasion in her life, and she was giggling. Which made it all the more perfect. She didn’t need the grand gestures. Him going down on one knee. She just needed Flash.
“Yes.”
“Yes?” he asked, as if he couldn’t believe what he’d heard.
“Of course, yes. I love you,” she said simply .
In response, Flash’s head dipped, and Kelli knew he was trying to regain his composure. When he lifted his head again, she saw that his eyes were sparkling. Flash might think he was a dick, but not to her. Never to her.
“We’re going to be wedding’d out in the next few months, huh?” she asked. “With Remi and Josie marrying Kevlar and Blink, our own ceremony, my cousin’s and your sister’s…it’s going to be crazy.”
“We’re eloping,” Flash said without hesitation.
“What? Really?”
“That is, if you agree. I want my ring on your finger, and yours on mine, as soon as possible. I don’t have the patience to plan a big thing, and besides, the people who’ll be at Kevlar and Blink’s party at Aces are the same people we’d invite to our own reception.
I’d rather put that money toward a down payment on a house. ”
“Yes!” Kelli said happily. “But we might need to invite my mom to whatever ceremony we have. I think she’d be heartbroken to miss it.”
“How about Vegas? It’s a little cliché, but we can invite your family and mine, and have a party there on the Strip afterward.”
“Um…no offense, but after what happened to Bree in Vegas…no. Maybe we can just go to the courthouse here?” Kelli asked.
“Done. So we’re doing this?”
“This?”
“Getting married, buying a house, making babies, having wild monkey sex when we’re in our nineties.”
Kelli giggled again. The age of them having this crazy sex kept creeping up. “We are,” she confirmed .
Flash smiled, then got serious. “Thank you for not giving up,” he whispered.
“Never,” Kelli vowed. “Will your team be mad if they aren’t invited to our wedding? They certainly weren’t happy that they missed everything with Brant.”
“They weren’t happy because they knew you were in danger and scared. Because Smiley and I didn’t have them as backup. They won’t be upset if we go to the courthouse and get married. Promise.”
“Okay. Um…do you think maybe we can take a short honeymoon to that resort in New Mexico?”
“The Refuge?”
“Yeah.”
“They’re pretty booked up, but I can at least call them,” Flash said without hesitation.
That was reason number eight hundred and twenty-six why Kelli loved this man. “It’s just that I’d love to meet the woman who tried so hard to find Brant. But with him staying in that abandoned house, I’m thinking there’s no way she could’ve found him.”
“I think that’s a perfect idea. I’ve heard such great things about The Refuge. You know about Melba, right?”
“Who’s Melba?” she asked.
“Their resident cow.”
“No way!” Kelli exclaimed, her brows flying up.