Indefinite (Salvation #6)(50)

“I told you before that I talked to my commander.”

I nod. He did, but talking to and getting discharge papers from are two different things. This isn’t some abstract thought or hope. This is concrete. This is signed, sealed, delivered and he doesn’t ever have to go back.

My heart is pounding. “I . . . I can’t believe it.”

He steps closer, his hand touches my chin, lifting it gently to look at him. “I know that part of what our issues were before was that I didn’t talk to you about whether I should’ve stayed in or out. You wanted to be an active participant in our life together, and I wasn’t listening to you. I realize that I did that again, but I did it because I wanted you to know that I was doing it without any assurances that you were going to be with me. I wanted you to know that I love you enough to take that risk. I’ve broken promises. I’ve failed you, and I need to prove to you that I won’t make those mistakes again.”

My heart races. He did all of this before he even knew there was a baby. He chose me, which is all I ever wanted. He told me he’d done it, but I didn’t believe he would go through with it.

A tear falls down my cheek, and he wipes it away.

“Why are you crying?” Quinn’s voice is soft.

“Because . . .” I try to find the words to describe it. I don’t know why. There are so many different reasons.

“Because?”

I can see how uncertain he is, and that only makes me feel more things. Quinn is always the steady legs in the rough seas. He’s the guy who knows what he wants and makes the choice, damn the consequences.

Now, he doesn’t seem so sure of anything.

“Because,” I make another attempt. “Because you confuse me! I love you and then I don’t and then I love you and I don’t want to. I want to have a baby and then you knock me up! Here I was, worried about everything with you in the military and us having a baby, but then you take me on this date. Not just dinner and a show, but a show that you chose because of me. Because you remembered something about me and my heart. Why can’t you go back to being an idiot who didn’t love me?” I shout the last part and try to move away.

Quinn doesn’t let me. He grips my arms, holding me right there. “I was never an idiot who didn’t love you. I was an idiot who didn’t tell you.”

And right there is the exact moment that Quinn broke the very last part of my walls.





25


Ashton





“Kiss me,” I say breathlessly.

He doesn’t ask again or give me any chance to refute him. His lips press against mine, and I soften against him. My hands travel up his thick arms, his neck, and then to the back of his head. I hold him, drinking in the glorious way he attacks my mouth.

Our lips move together, and it’s as if I’ve finally come home.

I was a fool to think I’d end up anywhere but here.

He’s the person who I’ve wanted, and he’s giving me everything I want. I can’t possibly turn it down.

We’re lost in each other for a few moments, and I want to give him something this time. I don’t want another screw on the couch, not that it wasn’t fabulous, but this time, I want it to be more than that.

Giving myself to him, freely and without restraint.

“Quinn,” I say against his lips.

“What, sweetheart?”

I preen at the term of endearment. “Come with me,” I say as I drop my hand to his.

We walk wordlessly to my bedroom.

As much as I’d like to say that I didn’t anticipate this, that would be bullshit. I cleaned, made sure there were fresh flowers on the dresser, and strategically placed candles in the room—a girl has to plan for any possibility.

And, yet, none of that is noticed. Quinn is focused solely on me. “You’re so damn gorgeous.”

“You make me feel pretty.”

“Why is that?” he asks as he circles around me, finger grazing against the skin of my collarbone.

“The way you look at me,” I admit. “The way you kiss me.”

He stops behind me, his arm hooking around my front and his lips gliding along my neck. “There’s no other woman in the world who can hold a candle to you, Ashton. You’re the sun, the flames, the stars, the heat that consumes this world.”

My head falls back to his shoulder, and I close my eyes. It’s nice to feel adored. “And aren’t you afraid to get burned?”

Quinn rubs his nose along my ear, the warmth of his breath causing my flesh to break out in goose bumps. “I welcome the burn, fragolina. Your fire doesn’t destroy, it gives me life.” Then his hand moves down to my belly, resting there. “Look at what your warmth gave us.”

I still struggle with how genuinely happy he seems about this. “How are you this okay with it?”

He turns me so I can see his face. “When you told me you wanted to have another man’s child, I thought I would lose my mind. It was then that I knew I would do anything to be the man who gave it to you. I’m okay with it because I want this with you. I want everything with you.”

My fingers lift, touching his face. “For how long?”

He shakes his head as though I’m missing the obvious. “Indefinitely.”