Chapter Sixteen
Bella
“ Yes, babe, I promise… she ’ s fine … Harley is standing right here in front of me. Here, I ’ ll let you hear for yourself,” Cole says as he hands the phone to Harley.
“ Harley… Oh my God! Thank you, God!” I cry into the phone as our mothers both exhale loudly and then hug each other, crying with relief.
“ Oh, Bella, I ’ m so sorry for all this. My stupid choice caused suffering for everyone,” Harley is distraught and crying.
“ Oh, honey, please don ’ t beat yourself up. You do not bear one ounce of burden on this. These are evil men who prey on innocent women, and they will pay the price now,” I say gently, and I mean it. “ We ’ re just so thankful you ’ re alive, and that ’ s all we need to focus on for today.”
“ Thanks for that, Bella. And more importantly, thank you for sending the Calvary! I don’t know how you managed that, but I sure as hell am grateful for it,” Harley exclaimed. Imagine my surprise when I realized that one of my rescuers was none other than Cole Jensen,” she says with genuine shock and surprise in her voice.
“ Um, yeah. Well, I told Siri to call 1-800-Rent-a-Hero, and what do you know? Cole answered!” And we all share a moment of relief mixed with laughter.
“ I can think of easier ways to help your bestie get her ex back than getting kidnapped, but hey… I ’ m glad I could help,” she says dryly. And in true Harley fashion adds, “ You better name your firstborn after me!”
I ’ m relieved to hear that she sounds like herself despite what she ’ s been through. Part of that is likely pure adrenaline, and like most people in Fight or Flight mode, she ’ ll probably crash from exhaustion when the adrenaline levels out. But that ’ s when she ’ ll rest and heal physically.
Her mental/emotional healing will most certainly benefit from therapy. I ’ ve heard that sometimes PTSD is delayed after a trauma, but Cole has already said that they have an entire resource team that specifically focuses on victims of human trafficking. We ’ ll make sure she ’ s in the right hands.
Cole gets back on the phone and gives me the rundown.
From all accounts, it sounds like things went pretty smoothly. Cole was surprised at how well he fell in with Bravo Company. He said they worked like a well-oiled machine despite not having trained together or been on missions together. He points out the level of consistency with the training across the board.
In his synopsis, he told me of two hiccups – one minor and one major – and both came at the front end of the mission. Sometime between the time of the last drone surveillance report and the insertion of Bravo Company, the Los Merreco leader received intel of the incoming raid and, as a result, was able to flee in his private helicopter only minutes before our guys arrived. Our guys were denied permission to engage the enemy in the air and ordered to complete the mission as planned on the water, likely due to the unknown number of innocent civilians on the yacht.
Despite that being a significant loss – since they’d hoped they might be able to cut the head off the snake in this one mission – they continued with the orders to proceed.
The minor glitch occurred when one of the guys landed wrong rappelling out of the helicopter and snapped his ankle. It didn’t sound minor to me, but then again, I’m not a SEAL. True to the “ I will never quit ” SEAL motto, the guys simply carried the injured teammate to a protected perch, and he became a stationary sniper.
There was some small-arms fire exchanged, but Cole makes it sound like it was child ’ s play. Even though their element of surprise was blown because of some snitch on the inside – likely within the corrupt local law enforcement – they still managed to take control of the situation in fairly short order.
The good news is that JTF: SHIELD counts this as a significant victory in the war against trafficking. Not only were 30 victims of both genders and various ages liberated, but they uncovered and seized a massive amount of drugs, contraband, equipment, weapons, and cash. Not to mention, the three sons of the Los Morreco leader and their security team are going to prison. With the seizure of millions in assets, including the superyacht itself, and getting key leaders off the market, this may not chop off the head of the snake, but it will certainly cripple it.
“ That ’ s the gist of it, Bella, but I ’ ll fill in the blanks tonight,” Cole says, wrapping it up because they have a lot of paperwork to complete and processing to be done.
“ Well done, babe. I ’ m proud of you.”
“ And I ’ m proud of you. You’re so brave and handled this beautifully,” he says, giving me a warm feeling. “ We got this, baby.”
“ Yep, we got this,” I say with a huge smile.
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That night, I found Cole out on the patio after I checked on Harley and our moms for the umpteenth time. We checked them into the bungalow next to us, and they were all three understandably exhausted.
“ She ’ s finally asleep,” I tell him as I hand him a beer and sit down. “ Poor girl. Been through hell.”
“ She ’ s lucky to have made it out the other end, and apparently without too much damage done,” Cole says. “ There ’ s countless others who aren ’ t so lucky.”
“ She ’ ll need therapy moving forward, but I think she ’ s going to be okay,” I reply with a nod. “ At any rate, she ’ s back, safe, and in one piece. That ’ s the best possible outcome I could have hoped for. I don ’ t know how I would have moved on with my life if she wasn’t in it anymore.”
“ It ’ s no easy thing,” Cole says, and I get the distinct impression he ’ s referring to when I walked out of his life.
He stands up and extends his hand for me to take it. “Care to join me for a stroll down to the beach? It’s a beautiful night.”
I take his hand, and as we walk, I can’t help but appreciate the full moon and crystal clear night sky—the perfect metaphor for the clarity I’m feeling about Cole and our future together.
We walk in comfortable silence for a bit along the lit path through the tropical foliage. As we reach the deserted beach, I break the thoughtful silence.
“ I owe you an apology,” I tell him.
“ For what?” Cole asks.
“ Breaking up with you,” I say, and he chuckles.
“ That ’ s nothing to apologize for,” he says. “ You did what you felt you needed to do at the time, and I respect you for it.”
“ I broke your heart.”
“ We broke each other ’ s hearts.”
There ’ s silence for a moment as we settle onto a lounging daybed in one of the private beach cabanas, and then I speak again.
“ That may be so,” I admit. “ But you ’ ve brought a lot of healing to my heart in the past week, Cole. And I ’ m not just talking about what happened to Harley. This past week, I’ve gotten to see you and know you again. I see a lot of the old you mixed in with the older, wiser you, and I admire how you ’ ve grown into an amazing and honorable man. I’ve realized that my love for you twelve years ago has actually been there all along.”
“ I ’ ve never stopped loving you, Bella,” he replies evenly. “ I love you just as much this moment as I did the day you gave me the ring back. I loved you just as much that day as I did the day I asked you to marry me. I can keep going until I get back to the day I met you.”
My eyes are wet with tears at his words, and I drag my hand over them.
“ I regret giving you the ring back and not trying harder. But I ’ m trying to remind myself of that adage ‘ There are no regrets in life… just lessons’.”
“ It’s a good one and I have a favorite to piggyback on that,” he says. “My dad was a big auto racing buff, and one of his favorite quotes was by Enzo Ferrari…‘W hat ’ s behind us doesn ’ t matter ’ . I think it’s pretty appropriate in this case , don ’ t you?”Cole’s soulful blue eyes are bright in the moonlight, and I could swear I see some mist in them as he thinks of his father.
“ Yep, I sure do. ”
Without a word, he reaches into his wallet and pulls out a ring – my ring – and I’m completely speechless.
“ I ’ ve held onto it since that day,” he says. “ It ’ s always been yours.”
He slides it onto my finger, and I look down at it admiringly.
“ Twelve years is a pretty long engagement,” he says, and I laugh.
“ I hardly dare ask,” I say. “ Is this –”
“ If you want it to be,” he says. “ I ’ d marry you tomorrow, Bella. I mean that.”
I can ’ t hold back the tears any longer. They were already starting to fall, but I dissolve now. I put my hands on either side of his face and kiss him. It ’ s slow at first, but the passion builds until we ’ re making out like we did when we were teenagers.
Cole breaks the kiss and, without a word, stands up to pull the curtains of the cabana closed. Even though no one is down on the beach at this late hour, it’s probably a good idea to give us privacy if our make-out session turns into more. And I have a feeling that’s exactly what is happening.
“Good call,” I smirk. “Great minds —”
“I’ve missed you so much all these years,” Cole says as he moves to lie beside me. He cups my face in his hands and resumes kissing me, my lips parting to allow his tongue to explore my mouth.
Our kisses gain steam, and I feel my body responding with heat and hunger. He stokes the fire when he gives my lower lip a little nip and then sucks on it gently. My hands grip his muscular arms and then move to his chest, while one hand travels down to palm the growing bulge in his shorts. He groans in approval, and I want him now.
I need him now.
I break the kiss and pull my tank top up and over my head as Cole does the same with his t-shirt and quickly steps out of his shorts and boxer briefs. He then hooks his fingers under the waistband of my athletic skirt and pulls it down over my hips and all the way off. The humid air and light ocean breeze cause goosebumps to appear on my skin and my nipples to stand at attention.
He smiles as he stands over me, admiring my body, and then reaches down to stroke my bare breasts lightly, rolling my hard nipples between his fingers. My eyes close, and a soft moan escapes my lips as he lays beside me and begins kissing and licking my nipples, showing equal attention to both.
One of my hands slides down his taught stomach to linger at my favorite V-spot for just a moment before gripping his raging hard-on. He groans softly, his mouth still on my breasts.
As I stroke his stiff cock, his hand moves down my belly, and I open my legs, inviting him in. With a featherlight touch, he explores my warm wetness with his expert fingers as I moan in approval.
His fingers dip inside me and then gently spread my wetness around my most sensitive spot, massaging with just the right amount of pressure, causing me to gasp with pleasure. I’m so wet now, and I feel his two fingers easily slide into me. I nearly come off the daybed when I feel his thumb on my hot button at the same time.
Cole was always a skillful lover, but what he’s doing to me now is next-level. It feels incredible, and I tell him so. “Oh God, Cole, that feels so good,” I whisper desperately.
“Mmm,” is all I hear in response as his mouth is still busy on my breasts while his fingers work their magic down below.
My core is heating up, and I feel the tension mounting as his fingers massage me on the inside while his thumb runs circles around my sweet spot. It’s so deliciously arousing I never want him to stop. Still, my body takes over, and as waves of ecstasy crash over me, I try to stifle my cries of pleasure, just in case there’s anyone nearby enjoying an evening stroll.
When I open my eyes, I see Cole smiling with passion in his eyes as he clearly enjoys giving me pleasure and watching me experience it. My hand had lost contact with his cock when I was overcome with my orgasm, but I still feel him rock hard against me. When I grasp him again, I feel his warm, wet arousal gathered at the tip, and he groans as I resume stroking him.
The urgency we both feel to be connected takes over as he rises to his knees between my legs, his impressive length standing erect against his lower abs.
He uses his hand to guide himself to my warm, wet opening,rubbing the head of his cock against me for a moment. I moan, “Yes, Cole, I need you inside me,” and he presses just the head into me, pauses, and then pushes himself all the way into me, penetrating me to the base of his cock.
“God, Bella, you feel so good,” Cole breathes.
He pulls most of the way out before pushing into me again, this time holding as deep inside me as he can, both of us enjoying the feel of my body gripping him and stretching to accommodate his size.
We’re both so aroused, and it feels sensual yet so perfectly intimate. He moves slowly at first, wanting to make it last, and his eyes lock on mine, holding my gaze.
He moves in me slowly but deliberately, pushing into me again and again. My hands run over his back, my nails lightly grazing him as he grips my hips, steadily pumping deeply in me.
I wrap my legs lightly around him, lifting my hips to meet his thrusts as he leans forward to suck on my hard nipples, giving each equal attention. I love how he flicks his tongue around them and nibbles with just the right amount of pressure. He knows how sensitive my nipples are, and the sensations he’s creating in my body are incredible.
I can tell I won’t last long, “I’m close, Cole,” I whisper through my jagged breathing.
“Yes, baby. I want to feel you finish,” he groans.
I grip him as I feel the tension building inside once again, my hips moving along with his as he plunges in and out of me, increasing his pace and the force of his strokes.
We’re both covered in a sheen of sweat; the sound of our bodies connecting fills the humid air. Neither of us cares if we’re being too loud because, at this moment, it's only us in our own little universe, moving as one and baring our souls to one another in sensual bliss.
I feel my body clamping down around his cock as the waves begin to spill over me, and I bite my lip in an effort to keep my cries of pleasure at a reasonable decibel. He plunges into me one last time as his own pleasure erupts and buried deep in me, I feel his cock pulsing and emptying everything he has into me.
“Oh God, Bella!” He grunts and breathes into my neck, attempting to quell what would have been shouts of ecstasy were we in private.
I hold onto him as he finishes, and he wraps his arms around me, as well. We’re both out of breath and spent, lying naked in each other’s arms for a few moments, just listening to the soft lapping of the waves against the shore.
The level of love I feel for this man, whom I’ve been lucky enough to get a second chance with, is hard to describe.
“I love you, Cole,” I tell him. “So much.”
“I love you, too, Bella,” he says. “There are no words to express how lucky I feel to have a second chance with you.”
I smile and chuckle, pulling him closer.
“Great minds again?” He asks, smiling.
“Roger that,” I say, and he laughs.
“See, you were meant to be a military wife; you just didn’t know it until now,” he says, kissing me on the forehead, hugging me tighter, and making me feel safer than I've ever felt.
I guess this is what it feels like to let go of my anxiety and fear and simply embrace what life has to offer, even if that means I ’ ll be married to a SEAL. Something I thought I couldn ’ t handle. Yet, somehow, the thought doesn ’ t bother me anymore.
Cole ’ s right about life being fleeting.
In fact, my father used to say, “ Life is but a vapor” – and I ’ ll be damned if I ’ m going to waste one more day of that vapor without Cole in my life.
I ’ m sealing this night into my memory bank and will cherish the moment forever.
I've learned that fate is not just a matter of chance but also a matter of choice.
And I have no doubt whatsoever that I've made the right choice.