Finding Kenna (SEAL Team Hawaii #3)(94)

Kenna looked up at him. “Really?”

“Really. I’ve never felt as helpless on a mission as I did tonight. I had no plan. I was frozen in fear for you. I knew if I made the wrong decision, it could result in your death. I didn’t have my team at my side—well, not all of them, and Jag and Pid didn’t have a plan either. That’s a shitty feeling for a SEAL. And above everything else, I knew I wouldn’t be able to survive if something happened to you. I’d never recover. So yeah, it sucked.”

“Marshall,” she whispered.

“I’m proud of you,” he told her, moving one hand to her nape in the familiar hold they both loved so much. “From the first time you jumped on my head, I’ve known you’re a woman of action. You’d never sit back and do nothing when someone was in danger, including if that someone was you.”

“I didn’t jump on your head,” she grumbled without heat.

“I love you,” Aleck said. “So much it almost scares me. You’ve somehow changed my whole outlook on life. The sun seems brighter, the water is crisper, the air is cleaner. I wake up thinking about you, and I go to sleep with you on my mind as well. You’re literally the best thing to ever happen to me, and I have no idea what I’d do without you in my life.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” she told him. “You’re stuck with me.”

“Forever?”

“Yup.”

“Good. So we’re getting married?”

Kenna snort-laughed. “Um…”

“You said forever.”

Kenna leaned up and kissed his lips. It was a short kiss, and Aleck so badly wanted to deepen it. But there would be time to reaffirm that they were both alive later. He had plans to make love to her for days. Long and slow, hard and fast. Staying inside her long after they were both satisfied. He needed their connection. Needed to feel her heartbeat against his chest as he held her.

“Yes,” she said simply. “But not tonight. And not tomorrow. And I want a luau. With the whole roasted-pig-in-the-ground thing. It should be a big party, not all dressy. I want everyone to be comfortable and happy. Um…if that’s all right,” she said a little sheepishly.

Aleck chuckled. “As long as we end the day with my ring on your finger, and yours on mine, you can have any kind of wedding you want.”

“And our parents should be here,” she added.

“Of course. I can’t wait to introduce you to mine,” he said, knowing his mom and dad would fall head over heels in love with Kenna, just as he had.

“Same,” she agreed. “I love you, Marshall. So much. I was so scared about you doing something that would get you killed.”

“It’s over,” Aleck told her, ignoring the niggling voice in the back of his head that reminded him of the loose end in the situation.

“You two ready to go?” the nurse said as she came back into the room, making Kenna flinch against him as the woman startled her.

Aleck tightened his hold for a second, then slowly let go. She turned and nodded at the woman. “We’re ready.”

Twenty minutes later, they were sitting in the backseat of Slate’s black Chevy Trailblazer. Kenna pretty much kept the conversation going all the way back to his condo, being careful not to mention anything about Shawn, Duke’s, or what had happened.

Slate pulled up as close to the front doors as he could and walked around to hold the door as Kenna and Aleck climbed out. It was nearly three in the morning now, and no one was around, which Aleck was glad for. He wanted to get Kenna upstairs and in bed before she crashed.

Slate surprised the hell out of him when he yanked Aleck into his arms for a quick but heartfelt hug. “I’m glad you didn’t get dead.”

Then he nodded at them both before jogging back around to the driver’s side of the car.

“I love your friends,” Kenna said softly.

Aleck did too. “Come on, let’s get you inside.”

“And you. Your leg has to hurt.”

It was beginning to throb a bit, but Aleck wasn’t going to admit that to Kenna. He was more concerned about getting her settled.

They nodded at the nighttime security guard but didn’t stop to chat.

Without discussion, as soon as they entered the condo and the door shut behind them, Kenna and Aleck headed for the master bedroom. They changed, brushed their teeth, and climbed into bed.

Kenna carefully snuggled into Aleck’s side, and for the first time since he’d seen Shawn holding her captive at Duke’s, he relaxed.

Neither spoke. There were no words that needed to be said. They were both alive, and for the moment, that was enough.

Kenna nodded off almost immediately, but it took Aleck a bit longer. He lay in the dark holding the most precious and important thing in his life, reflecting on how differently the night could’ve gone. He finally fell asleep to the vision of Kenna, covered in sand, lying in the pouring rain and smiling up at him. She might not need a man, but he sure as hell needed her.





Epilogue





“No. Absolutely not,” Kenna said emphatically. She and Marshall were mostly healed from that horrible night two weeks ago. They’d spent the first week holed up in his condo. Robert had heard what happened and had taken it upon himself to make sure they had everything they needed. Elodie had sent over the most mouthwatering meals, and Lexie and Ashlyn texted nonstop.