Chapter 20
Ren woke to the sound of gentle waves lapping on the shore, and bright Hawaiian sunlight seeping around the curtains.
And the feel of warm hands tugging at his boxer shorts.
He looked down and saw Halle press a kiss to his stomach. His muscles clenched. Her loose, silky brown hair was everywhere. He slid a hand into it and tugged it to the side so he could see her pretty face. She smiled up at him.
Damn, she made him feel so damn much.
Then she circled his cock, closed her mouth over the top, and sucked him into her mouth.
He groaned. “My girl loves sucking my cock.” His words made her suck harder. He let her play, every muscle clenched to stop from coming in her sweet mouth.
When he couldn’t handle it anymore, he pulled her off and dragged her up his body.
“Good morning.” He kissed her plump lips.
“I wasn’t quite finished.” She sank her teeth into his bottom lip.
They were on Maui. Sawyer’s cousin lived on the island and had married a Hawaiian woman. It seemed her family had welcomed Sawyer like one of their own. Halle and Ren were staying in a holiday villa owned by… someone in the extended family. Ren couldn’t remember everyone’s names.
The villa was small, but pretty, and perched right on the beach.
Halle’s lips moved along his jaw. Then she shifted and kissed the bandage on his shoulder. After their rescue on Molokai, they’d both been checked out by paramedics. Halle had a matching bandage on her arm.
She was safe.
That thought kept echoing in his head.
He planned to keep it that way. He was not going to let her out of his sight.
They’d also been debriefed, and the Chinese agents, along with Mark Davis had been whisked away to who knew where to be interrogated.
Halle looked up at him. “Love you.”
He slid a hand into her hair. “I love you too. You’ll never know how much.”
“Ren…”
“Everything I saw and did. Every fight, every loss, every sacrifice, this makes it worthwhile. You make it worthwhile.”
Tears welled in her eyes.
He touched her cheeks. “These better be happy tears.”
She sniffed. “They are.”
He stroked the silky strands of her hair. “So sweet and smart and beautiful. Loves cotton candy, and old corny TV shows. Loves dolphins—”
“And sharks,” she added with a smile.
Love overflowed inside him. “And sharks.”
She straddled him, her pretty breasts in his face. She shimmied against him.
Ren groaned. “We can’t. We’re meeting Tom for a late breakfast, remember?”
After Molokai, Vander had flown back to the mainland. Tom had come with them to Maui. Ren suspected the man needed some more time to reassure himself that Halle was all right.
Halle’s lips attacked Ren’s earlobe, her slick pussy rubbing against his cock.
“We have time,” she murmured.
He groaned again. “But he’ll take one look at you and know I fucked you.” He clamped his hands on his waist, and got distracted by her soft skin.
She rubbed again, and he could feel how wet she was.
“He’s going to have to get used to that,” she murmured.
With a growl, Ren rolled her under him. She was too tempting, and all his. He closed his mouth over hers and nudged her thighs apart.
“Hold on, baby. This isn’t going to be slow or gentle.”
Her smile was slow and sexy. “Good.”
Cradling his beer,Ren watched the sunset. They were at a small, local restaurant which was still currently empty, but there were great smells coming from the kitchen.
“So, the great Lorenzo Santoro has fallen.”
Ren glanced at Sawyer beside him. His friend was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, a beer bottle dangling from his fingers.
“Yeah, he has,” Ren said.
“You look happy about it. Once, I remember you telling me there were too many beautiful fish in the sea, and you’d never let yourself get hooked.”
“I was an idiot,” Ren said.
Sawyer cocked his head. “No, you don’t just look happy about it, you look…right.”
“I never expected to fall in love. Or wanted it.”
“You always were stubborn.” Sawyer sipped his beer.
Ren spotted Halle and Tom. They were walking in the gardens. Halle wore a flowing dress, with a hibiscus flower tucked behind her ear.
He’d never be good enough for her, but she was his. No matter what.
Someone called out Halle’s name and Ren looked over. Sammy, Fitz, and Ryan were walking over. Sammy was holding two cocktails with leaves, flowers, and umbrellas sticking out the top.
The three scientists had joined them that morning, eager to be reunited with Halle.
“God, she’s amazing, Sawyer. It’s not just the big stuff. It’s the small stuff too. She just has to smile at me, and the world feels lighter.”
“First Vander got married. Then Boone and Shep fell in love with their women, now you.” Sawyer shook his head. “I hope it’s not catching.”
“Sawyer—” Ren grabbed his friend’s arm. “Don’t cut yourself off from living.”
Sawyer chuckled. “Ren, I’ve got lots of friends here. I’m a part of the community, whether I want to be or not.”
Ren shook his head. “I know how easy it is to be alone in the middle of a crowd. To keep things locked up inside you. To keep protecting yourself.”
There. He saw a dark flash pass through Sawyer’s green eyes before his friend looked back at the ocean.
“I know what happened to you,” Ren said quietly. “You have to remember you survived.”
At that moment, Halle looked up and caught Ren’s gaze. She smiled at him, and he smiled back.
“That’s in the past,” Sawyer said, tone flat.
“Just… If you meet her, the right one, she’ll help you. She’ll pour glue in all the cracks. She’ll make you feel whole again. You just have to let her in. I’m speaking from experience, here.”
Sawyer just grunted.
Ren sipped his drink and watched Halle clink her glass against Sammy’s. He hoped his friend got the message.
Because if he did, good things were waiting for him.
Six months later
With her wetsuitdangling at her waist, Halle finished making the coffees in the mess of the Atalanta. She added extra cream and sugar to Ren’s.
Banging and crashing came from the galley. She raised her voice. “Good morning, Chef.”
There was a pause in the banging, then a grunt. “Dobroye utro, Halle.”
Smiling, she headed outside to find her man.
Her fiancé.
She held her hand up and the ring on her finger glinted in the morning sunlight. Ridiculous happiness filled her.
It was an oval diamond surrounded by a ring of small aquamarine stones. Blue like the water she loved. He’d done a good job. She adored it.
Ren had proposed a few weeks ago on the bow of the Atalanta. They’d been huddled under blankets, looking at the stars. He’d given her cotton candy, that he’d once again gotten Chef Petrov to make, and the ring had been hidden inside. She’d almost eaten it.
She sighed. It had been perfect. Ren had even called her father to get his blessing.
Her dad had come around to the idea of her and Ren as a couple. He was happy for them.
They were planning a long engagement so she could finish her studies.
“Hi, Halle,” Damien called out as she passed him on the stairs.
“Have you seen Ren?”
“He’s giving the new crew members a hard time on the main deck.” Damien flashed her a smile.
Halle continued down to the main deck. She’d left the Navy project. She hadn’t wanted to work on anything that would make her a target again. She was finishing her postgraduate work on a different project aboard the Atalanta.
She loved it. Being out at sea, swimming in the ocean during the day, and sleeping in bed with Ren every night. It was her idea of heaven.
“I want this deck cleaned until it shines,” Ren ordered. “Rogers, get the storeroom organized and everything stowed where it belongs. Masry, I want the new submersible, Jack, cleaned until you can see your reflection in it.”
“You got it, Ren.”
He stood there wearing his navy-blue polo shirt and tan cargo shorts. Heat curled in her belly. God, her man was hot.
The new crew members all scurried off with nods.
Ren turned and spied her. His gaze ran over her bikini top. It was white today.
“Good morning, Ms. Bradshaw.”
“Mr. Santoro.” She handed him his coffee.
He took a sip, then set it down on a crate. “You know it drives me crazy seeing you in those bikinis.”
She smiled. “I know.”
He growled and pulled her in for a kiss. It turned hot, their tongues tangling.
He took her mug and set it down beside his. Then he lifted her off her feet.
“Ren.” She clutched his shoulders.
He carried her into the lab and slammed the door closed. It wasn’t currently being used on this trip. He yanked her wetsuit down to midthigh, then set her on the edge of one of the benches. His hand slid under her bikini bottoms.
She gasped, and lifted her hips.
“There’s my sexy Halle.” He slid a finger inside her.
“Ren, I need you,” she gasped. She tore at his shorts while she kicked off her wetsuit.
He shoved the cups of her bikini top down and her breasts spilled out. She opened her legs.
He opened his shorts and pulled his hard cock out. “I need you too, baby. Always.” He shifted between her thighs.
The next second, he thrust inside her.
She moaned.
“Can’t get enough,” he gritted out. “Never enough. It always feels so right.”
She stroked her hands down his back. “Because I’m yours. I was made for you.”
He started thrusting—hard and fast. The pleasure built, filling every space inside her. She felt fiery sparks ignite in her belly.
“Look at me, baby,” he demanded. “Look at me while I’m loving you.”
She met those sexy, brown eyes. They weren’t as dark and conflicted as they’d once been. These last few months, she’d seen happiness and contentment on his face so much more.
And she’d keep loving him until the old, hurtful memories were just that, memories.
“Love my Halle.” He pumped into her, his muscular body straining against hers. “Now I want to watch you come.”
She felt his hand between their bodies. He found her clit and rubbed.
She scratched her nails down his back. “Ren.”
Halle came hard, intense pleasure coursing through her. He kept thrusting inside her, moving faster.
Then he slammed deep and poured himself inside her with a low groan.
Riding the waves of pleasure, she turned her head and kissed his neck.
They both caught their breath.
Lazily, she ran her lips over his salty skin. “Mmm.”
His lips found hers. “I really like your bikini.”
She smiled. “I could tell.”
He rubbed his thumb over her ring, his brown gaze moving over her face. “I can’t wait until you’re mine, in all ways.”
She pressed her palm flat against his chest. She felt his heart beating steadily. “I’m already yours, Ren. I have been since you kissed me on my 20th birthday. I can’t wait until you’re my husband, but you already have my heart.”
He’d had it for a long time. And she never wanted it back.
“And you have mine.” He leaned back. “Now, I think you have some dolphins to swim with. I saw a pod earlier.”
“And maybe some sharks.” She slipped down off the bench and pulled her bikini back into place, then shimmied her wetsuit back up to her waist. “We picked up the trackers of some good specimens in the vicinity.”
Ren froze. “No. No swimming with sharks.”
“We’ll see.” She threw her arms around his neck. “Have I told you how much I love you?”
“Yes, but that’s still a no to the sharks, Halle.”
With a heart full of love, she laughed and kissed her man. She knew that wherever they went, he’d love her and keep her safe.
And she’d return the favor. She’d love him unconditionally, and keep his heart safe.
I hope you enjoyed Ren and Halle’s story!