Chapter 18 #2
He went on. “If you come here after you get off work, it’ll be late.
I’ll be in my meeting by the time you leave to go to Duke’s, so I can’t drive you there.
It’s probably not a good idea for me to pick you up, because then your car will be in the garage in Waikiki all night.
I could come to your place and pick you up after you get home, and bring you back here, but if I’m going to drive out there, I might as well stay.
I just…I’ve thought about you for six weeks, and being with you relaxes me in a way I can’t fully explain. You calm the demons in my head.”
“Marshall,” Kenna whispered.
“But if you’re not ready for regular sleepovers, that’s okay,” Aleck tried to reassure her.
“I’ll do what I can to see you as much as possible some other way.
I don’t want to go back to the way we were before I left though.
Seeing you once a week just isn’t going to be enough.
” He finally took a breath, realizing how fast he’d been talking, as if that would help convince her.
“You done?” Kenna asked with a small smile.
“I’m done,” he confirmed a little sheepishly.
“I would love it if you came over tonight. My place is nothing like this one, but anytime you want to come over, you’re welcome to. There aren’t any kick-ass security guards like Robert, and there’s no beach to lie on, but I do have a pretty amazing beanbag,” she said.
“I love you,” Aleck blurted. He refused to feel bad for saying the words so early in their relationship.
“I love you too,” she returned a little shyly.
“You think you love me or you know you love me?” he prodded.
She smiled confidently. “I know I do. I’ve known it for a while. But last night I was feeling off-kilter, I think. I was blown away that you could actually love me back.”
Aleck leaned down and kissed her gently. As much as he wanted to push her back on the couch and show her physically how much he cared about her, they didn’t have time. So he kept his kiss light. “If you text me a bit before you’re done working, I can head out there and meet you at your apartment.”
“I’ll make a copy of my key this afternoon before I go to work,” Kenna said. “So you can come and go as you want. I also don’t have a nifty biometric lock. You’re going to have to deal with a regular ol’ key.”
Aleck closed his eyes and let the warm feeling from her words flow through him for a moment.
“Marshall?”
“I’m good,” he said without opening his eyes. “I’m just memorizing this moment.”
He felt her shift next to him and then straddle his thighs.
He opened his eyes and found himself face-to-face with Kenna.
She used one hand to grip his nape, the other on his cheek.
He felt surrounded by her, and immediately wrapped her in his arms, holding her close.
If this was how she felt with his hand on her nape, it was no wonder she liked it.
It was an intimate hold, and he loved how it felt.
“I am independent,” she said. “I’ve been on my own a long time.
I pay my own rent, buy my own groceries, make my own decisions about where to work, who my friends are, and what to do in my spare time.
But that doesn’t mean that I don’t want you in my life as much as possible.
Sometimes it’s lonely being independent.
I didn’t realize how much until I met you.
I’ve been driving in the dark for years, and no one has ever said a word about it.
I like that you’re worried about me. I like that you want to make things as easy as possible for me.
But I feel that way about you too. You work damn hard, and I never want to add to the stress in your life. ”
“You don’t,” Aleck told her without thinking twice about it.
“Well, things are still new with us,” she said with a smile, running her thumb over his clean-shaven cheek. It felt a little odd after having a beard for so long, but he wasn’t sorry he’d shaved it off. He liked being able to feel her touch against his skin.
“You are not an added stress in my life,” he insisted.
“And I have a feeling you never will be. I don’t care if we’ve been together a month or forty years.
I know how damn lucky I am to have you, and I’m going to do whatever it takes to not fuck it up…
and to spoil you as well. Driving an extra twenty to thirty minutes to go to work is completely worth it if it means I get to say goodnight in person and wake up next to you in the morning. ”
“You’re too good to me,” Kenna whispered.
“No such thing,” Aleck said.
Her fingers flexed on his neck, and he leaned forward and kissed her forehead gently.
After a moment, she said, “Feel free to bring some stuff over so you don’t have to worry about bringing a bag all the time.”
“I will,” he said with satisfaction. He couldn’t think of anything better than seeing his clothes and toiletries mixed in with hers at her apartment.
Actually, yes, he could—having all her things here, in his condo.
But if she lived here, that meant she’d have to make the drive in the dark after work all the time. He frowned as he thought about the logistics of moving their relationship forward.
“What are you frowning about?” she asked.
“Logistics,” he answered honestly.
“Of what?”
“Us. And we can talk about that stuff later. For now, I’m excited that I’ll get to see you tonight,” he said. But he was already thinking about the future. Maybe he could sell his place here and find a condo down in Waikiki. There were plenty of luxury condos closer to her work.
“Me too,” she agreed.
Sighing, Aleck knew he needed to go if he was going to be on time for the AAR.
“You need to go,” Kenna said, as if she could read his mind. She caressed his cheek once more, then climbed off his lap. She held out her hand as if to help him up.
It made Aleck grin. He took her hand and stood. Then he hugged her. “Thank you.”
“For what?” she asked into his neck as they embraced.
“For being so amazing. For loving me. For letting me love you. For being so supportive of what I do.”
She didn’t answer, but tightened her hold on him. “You’re welcome,” she said softly. He felt her take a deep breath, then she pulled back. “I’ll head out with you.”
“Sounds good.”
Within a few minutes, they were holding hands as they headed down the hall toward the elevator.
They exited in the lobby, and Aleck was somewhat amused when Kenna dropped his hand and went around the security desk to give Robert a hug.
“Thank you so much for the treat this morning. It was such a great surprise! You totally didn’t have to do that, but we’re both so appreciative. ”
“It was my pleasure, Ms. Madigan,” Robert said with a grin.
“Do you think you’ll ever call me Kenna?” she teased.
“Probably not. Company rules, you know,” Robert told her.
Kenna just shook her head. “Well, I don’t care what you call me, I’m just glad to call you a friend.”
Robert looked taken aback for a moment, but then he smiled so big, Aleck thought he was going to dance a jig of happiness right there in the lobby.
“Drive safe, both of you,” he said as Kenna took Aleck’s hand once more and they headed for the front doors.
“We will!” Kenna called back.
Aleck gave the man a chin lift.
When they arrived at Kenna’s Malibu, Aleck took her face in his hands, studying her silently.
“What? Why are you looking so intense all of a sudden?” she asked as she held onto his wrists.
“I want to take you back inside, tear off your clothes, and bury my face in your pussy again,” Aleck blurted.
Kenna blushed, and her grip on his wrists tightened. “Yeah, well, we have to be adults and do adulty things,” she said.
“Fucking you until we both explode is an adult thing,” he quipped.
“True,” she said. “But I meant things like work, shop, take care of responsibilities…those kinds of adult activities.”
“All kidding aside, last night was the most amazing night of my life,” Aleck said seriously.
“Well, you were basically a virgin,” she said with a straight face.
“Everything seemed like it was the first time…because it was with you.” Aleck didn’t know where this sappiness was coming from, but he didn’t give a shit.
He was well aware Kenna was talking about the fact that he hadn’t ever made love to a woman without a condom before, but everything they’d done had seemed… bigger…more intense.
“Okay, where’s my big bad SEAL?” she asked.
“Right here, babe,” Aleck said. “I’ll fucking kill anyone who dares to hurt one hair on your head. Or I’ll get my friend Baker to track them down and make them wish they’d never touched you.”
“Wow, all right then. There he is,” Kenna said. She leaned forward and kissed his chin lightly. Then his cheek. Then his lips. “I like your sappy side as much as I respect and admire your SEAL side,” she reassured him. “And while I suppose I should protest the killing thing, it’s kinda hot.”
“You aren’t helping me control my urge to throw you over my shoulder and haul you back up to our bed,” he told her.
She laughed, then put her hands on his chest and gave him a push. It wasn’t a small shove either. Aleck dropped his hands from her face and took a step back so he didn’t fall on his ass.
“How’s that?” she asked with a grin.
“It sucks,” Aleck said. “But…thank you. I was on the verge of saying to hell with the Navy and damn the consequences.”
“I’m sure they wouldn’t have fired you,” Kenna said breezily. “Your team would’ve just come looking for you and made fun of your hairy ass for the rest of your life if they caught us in the act.”
“My ass isn’t hairy,” Aleck complained.
Kenna’s lips twitched.
“It isn’t!” he insisted.
Kenna burst out laughing. “Okay, okay, it’s not. But you should’ve seen your face!”
Aleck realized he’d smiled and laughed more in the last day than he had in ages. His cheeks almost hurt.
“Go on, get to work,” she said when she’d controlled herself. “I’ll talk to you later and see you tonight.”
“Yes, you will,” he confirmed.
He snagged her behind her neck and pulled her close for one more long, deep kiss. They were both breathing hard when he stepped away. “Drive safe,” he said.
“You too.”
“Love you, babe.”
“Love you too.”
Aleck followed Kenna’s Malibu out of the parking lot, honking once when she turned right and he turned left. It wasn’t until he was almost to the front gate at the base that Aleck realized he was still smiling. Life was good. Very good.