Warrior (First to Fight #1)(45)

He releases me for a moment to look into my eyes, our lips just barely touching. He presses a series of soft kisses to my jaw, my eyelids, then back to my lips. Then we’re kissing slowly, deeply. One arm rests beneath my head, the other cupping my jaw as he claims me completely.

No matter how much I’ve tried to deny it, I’ve never been anything but his.

My fingers slide down from where they’re clutching his shoulders to the muscles of his back. Oh God, and I swear there is nothing more perfect than the weight of him above me. I open one leg and encircle his hip, arching against him.

He breaks the kiss to inhale deeply. When he looks up his eyes are burning with desire. For me. I remember this feeling all too well. Our one night together was fuel for a year of fantasies and Ben far exceeds all of them in real life.

He starts to dive down for another kiss and we freeze at the sound of Cole’s cry over the monitor.

My fingers dig into his back for a second, then I let loose, tapping him on the shoulder. “I, um, I should go get him.”

Ben lifts up and I scoot out from under him, thankful for the cool air. I hear him plop on the bed and groan into a pillow behind me.

One day and I couldn’t even keep my hands off of him. I press a hand to my hot face as I walk into Cole’s room, body still thrumming from our kiss.

He is trouble. A big, hot, nearly-naked-in-my-bed pile of trouble.




The baby squeals as Ben topples the tower they’ve been working to build. I smile from where I’m sitting on the patio. After this morning, I’ve strategically kept my distance. Much as I like kissing Ben, I’m not sure it’s the best thing for either of us right now.

Ben looks up as Cole slings the blocks around on the blanket. “He was born on—”

“May 17th.”

“Why Benjamin Cole?” Ben asks as he watches Cole’s antics with a smile on his face.

I blush. I hadn’t considered when I named him that I would have to explain the story. I clear my throat. “I wanted him to have a part of you—that’s important to me. But I also wanted him to have his own name to go by, no offense.”

“None taken,” he murmurs as we reach the swings.

“Anyway, I know Marines are also called warriors. I may or may not have looked up all the boy names that mean warrior. Plus, Cole Walker sounds pretty badass, doesn’t it?”

He chuckles. The sound is low and sends ripples through my stomach. “It does.”

As Cole plays, Ben smiles at me. “Thank you.”

I glance up at him. “For what?”

He opens his mouth to answer, but Cole squeals in happiness and urges Ben to knock the tower down. Ben gives me a small smile and turns his attention to the baby, who is over the moon with all of the attention. As I take in the sight of them, I feel my heart squeeze.

“I’m sorry that you had to go through his surgeries alone,” Ben says.

“Thanks. He came through them like a champ, though.” Cole punctuates the statement with a squeal as the tower falls.

“I promise you won’t have to go through anything alone again.”

I turn sharply to study Ben’s face to see if he realizes what he just said, how much it meant to me, but he’s lifting Cole from the blanket and snuggling him to his chest.

I admire the picture they make for a moment before my phone starts ringing in my pocket. Because of Cole’s condition he can’t spend too much time doing strenuous activities, so I motion to Ben and we start heading back inside.

I answer the phone as Ben starts picking up the toys.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Olivia, it’s Logan.”

“Oh, hey. What’s up?”

“We have some new developments. Can I meet you at your house?”

All happy feelings from the morning with Ben and Cole turn immediately to panic. “Sure,” I reply around the lump in my throat. “We’ll be here.”

“Good. Give me about ten minutes. Is Ben there or should I give him a call?”

“No, he’s here.” Ben perks up and sends me a questioning look. When I’m unable to do little more than send him a frightened look, he carefully lifts Cole and comes to my side.

“Good. See you soon.”

“Who was that?” Ben asks.

“Logan. He’ll be here in a few minutes to discuss the case.”

“Did he say what it was about?” Ben rests his spare hand on the small of my back as he guides me back inside.

“Just that there were new developments. He didn’t go into much detail.”

We wait in the living room for a few tense minutes watching as Cole entertains himself on the floor. When the bell rings, Ben is up in a flash. Murmured male voices come from the entryway and they appear in the living room. I pick Cole up so I have something to do with my hands as Logan takes a seat on the couch.

“Hey, Livvie,” he says, running a hand over his nearly-bald head.

“Logan. Tell me you’ve got some good news.”

“Of sorts. Do you know Chad Trenton?”

My lips pull into a frown. “Of course. We went out a couple of times until—” I break off and glance back at Ben. “Until a few days ago. Maybe a week? It was a little bit before the incident. I haven’t seen him since.”