Forever You're Mine (MINE #4)(40)

He shrugged. “I do crazy shit for the people I love.”

“So what happened next?”

“What do you think happened? They fell in love.”

“Then what happened?”

“Life.”





Courage is found in unlikely places.

J.R.R. Tolkien





It had been so long since I allowed myself to think about any of this, much less relive it. The pain wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be though, coming here, facing my past, my memories. My parents hadn’t pushed me, neither had Cora. Everyone was letting me go at my own pace. It was me who wanted to push.

I’d buried his memory long enough.

With the strongest breath I could find, I continued. “He had his pick of any school he wanted. Nikki had settled on Auburn and Landon was set to do the same until I enlisted in Navy SEAL program. Once Landon heard about it, he signed up the very next day.

“What? Why?”

“Said he didn’t think college would be for him, but I think deep down he worried if it would be a big enough challenge. He was an overachiever. Had a 4.0 GPA and enough skill to play pro football. He was meant for something far bigger. Being a football star would have made him great, but being a SEAL made him a hero.”

“You cared about him a lot.”

“He was my best friend, my brother. We served three tours together. I was the best man at his wedding. Godfather to his son. Yeah, I f*ckin’ loved him.”

She remained silent.

I did too.

Then after a while, she finally asked. “What happened to him?”

I swallowed past the lump in my throat but it only grew tighter. “He jumped on a live grenade to save five of his men, including me.”

Cora gasped, tears filling her eyes.

My emotions threatened to choke me. I gritted my teeth before clearing my throat. “We were on a mission to rescue an American reporter that had been missing for thirty-seven days. Once we were finally able to pinpoint the location of where they were hiding him, we went in. Made a clean sweep. All routine. We were working to secure the hostage when a kid crawled out from under a small crate in the corner. He couldn’t have been more than six or seven years old. It all happened so fast, but the second Landon spotted the grenade in the kid’s hand, I knew what he was going to do. When the grenade fell from the kid’s hand, Landon jumped on top of it.”

“Every goddamn day I wish it would have been me instead. Landon had a wife, a son. I hesitated. Like a f*cking coward. He had far more to live for.”

She climbed over to straddle me, invading my space in the comforting way she always did. Her hands soft on my neck soothed my aching heart and her breath on my lips worked to calm my fear. “You are so brave.”

“No, I’m not.”

Tears rolled down my face. I wiped a fist across my burning cheeks, trying to fight the heaviness in my chest, but it was no use. They fell anyway. Dad told me once, it took a real man to cry. To express true emotion and be unashamed is a testament of the soul. The very place that harbors your secrets, your lies and all the shit you hide inside. Only when you set it all free will you find peace.

I never understood what he meant until this moment.

Until I let it all go.

Until there was nothing left to hide.

Until there was only…

Peace.

I’d finally found it here, in her.

In our love.

Cora held my soaked face in her hands, wiping away my tears with a strength I’d never known. The shadows around us were dark, but not dark enough to dim the light reflecting back at me. Her lips brushed mine, soft, sweet, and trembling with her undying love and affection. Heat erupted in my chest as my need for her grew substantially in that moment.

Was there an emotion greater than love?

If so this was it.

This…was everything.

I whispered her name, moving my lips across her jaw, down her neck, across her collar bone, savoring the taste of my true love. Her sighs were breathy and warm against my ear, setting my blood on fire. I found her mouth once more, threading my fingers through her soft hair.

“I want you,” she said.

I met her eyes and let go of her long enough to take off my shirt. Cora lifted her hips and unbuttoned my jeans, her eager fingers fumbling with the zipper as she worked to set me free. Then she stood up and shimmied out of her shorts and panties while I scooted back and wadded my shirt to tuck beneath my head.

She resumed her position, palming my cock. “Cannon,” she said, sounding more desperate as she leaned down to kiss my neck.

I wrapped my hand around her neck, aligning her mouth with mine. “I want you to ride me, but I want you to do it start slow. I wanna feel every single second with you, every goddamn inch.”

“Just me and you,” she said breathless upon my lips.

My heart beat faster.

“Just me and you,” I repeated as she eased down on me.

With my fingers digging into her thighs, she placed her hands next to my head and began rocking back and forth slowly. Her hot * gliding up and down my cock, coating me in her slick, wet heat. I grunted, reaching around to grip her ass while lifting my hips to meet hers while continuing the slow and steady pace.

“I…I need you,” she whispered.

“You got me baby.”