“That’s good,” Annie said softly.
Frankie heard someone yell for Annie in the background. “You need to go,” he guessed.
“Yeah, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I know how busy you are. Thank you for calling,” Frankie said.
“I called as soon as I got back to the post and could get my phone,” Annie told him. “My commander’s on my ass to get over to the hospital.”
“Jeez, Annie, you haven’t seen a doctor for your injuries yet?” Frankie asked.
“No. I needed to hear your voice.”
Again, he wished he could see her. She sounded off. Which wasn’t like her at all. Typically after missions, she was hyped on adrenaline, or worried about the men on her team. Today she sounded…defeated. Which didn’t sit well with Frankie. At all. “Well, you’ve heard it,” he said sternly. “Now get your butt to the doctor.”
She laughed, a sound that made him feel better. But only a little.
“Okay, okay, I’m going. I’ll call when we get to Germany and when I have a bit more of a concrete timeline on when I’ll be back.”
“Sounds good. I love you.”
“Love you too.”
“See you soon.”
“Can’t be soon enough for me,” Annie said. “Bye.”
“Bye.”
Frankie clicked off the phone, but didn’t move. He stood in the middle of the living room staring off into space for a long while.
Something was wrong.
Well, maybe not wrong…but definitely different.
He and Annie needed to have a talk. He hated knowing something was bothering her and not being able to do anything about it.
He thought about something his godfather, Cooper Nelson, had told him a long time ago when he’d first met Annie.
“Wait until the time is right. She might want to go to college, or fly to the moon, and you have to let her. Just let her know that you’re right there beside her, cheering her on, whether you’re literally beside her or thousands of miles across the country. When the time is right for you to claim your woman, you’ll know it.”
They’d been talking about Frankie wanting to marry Annie, and he’d taken Cooper’s words to heart. Frankie would do anything for the woman. He’d stuck by her through junior high and high school, college and boot camp. They’d been stationed in three different cities in the years she’d been on active duty, and Frankie would live in a hundred more if it made Annie happy.
Tonight was the first inkling he’d gotten that she wasn’t.
Maybe it was the adrenaline dump after an intense mission. Maybe it was the fact that she was hurting more from her injuries than she was letting on. But Frankie didn’t think so.
He’d never heard Annie sound so…sad before.
When he’d asked her to marry him, Annie had warned him about how hard being a military spouse would be, especially married to someone in the Special Forces. She’d lived it with her mom being married to a Delta Force operative. Frankie had reassured her that he’d follow her to the ends of the Earth, that he’d love her unconditionally no matter what.
Even Fletch, her dad, had tried to warn him. Telling him that things would be tough.
Frankie hadn’t cared. He’d understood and heard what everyone was telling him, but what they didn’t understand was that he would do whatever it took to keep Annie happy. And being in the military, being part of a Special Forces team, had been her goal literally her entire life. Frankie wouldn’t stand in the way of that, would encourage her and cheer her on every step of the way.
Taking a deep breath, Frankie moved toward their bedroom. He was exhausted, and he had to get up at his regular time in…Looking at his watch, he sighed. Three hours. It would be a long shift at the Veterans Affairs hospital tomorrow, but talking with Annie was worth any tiredness he’d have to struggle through.
Working with veterans who’d lost some or all of their hearing was a calling for Frankie. He’d always known what it was like to live as a deaf person in a hearing-centered world. And helping men and women transition to that world was something that gave him a deep sense of accomplishment.
Frankie’s dad had arranged for him to get a cochlear implant when he was in the sixth grade. It had been a tough adjustment at first, and a very patient and understanding counselor at the hospital had helped him become accustomed to his new normal.
One of the best things he’d ever heard in his life was Annie’s giggle the first time he’d called to tell her he could now hear.
Walking to the bathroom, Frankie brushed his teeth, then he slipped under the covers of the bed that seemed too big and empty without Annie. He took off the external microphone, sound processor, and transmitter system he wore behind his ear, which allowed the internal receiver and electrode system to receive signals, permitting him to hear. The magnet that held it in place made removing and attaching the device simple and easy.
Even now, it was still hard to believe this technology existed.
Closing his eyes at the blessed silence, Frankie rolled onto his back. He was grateful that he could hear. It made his life so much easier, but he couldn’t deny there were times he was glad to be able to turn off his ears as well. His other senses took over when he couldn’t hear and he could appreciate things differently than a hearing person.
Like the scent of Annie on the pillow under his head. He always switched pillows when she was gone, wanting to have something of her, even if it was just her scent, close while she was deployed. Even after she’d been gone for a week and a half, he could still smell her. Opening his eyes, Frankie could see the shoes Annie had toed off before she’d gotten in bed with him the night before her deployment, still sitting in the middle of the floor. He’d refused to move them, liking the sight of something so ordinary that reminded him of her.
Then there was her taste.
He shifted restlessly as his cock thickened. He really needed to get some sleep if he was going to function tomorrow, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Annie, especially after that phone call. She was exuberant and had no problem taking charge in almost all aspects of her life, but in bed, she let him take the lead. She was almost shy, even after years together. Still blushing when he parted her legs and tasted her.
Turning onto his side, Frankie ignored his erection. He wasn’t in the mood to masturbate. Not when he knew right that moment, Annie was seeing a doctor because she was hurt.
A few days and he’d get to see for himself that she was all right. That she was safe.
He took each deployment as it came. He couldn’t think about the future. About where she might be sent and what she might be doing. For now, he was relieved that she’d made it through one more mission. He’d love and support her until she was deployed again.
She’d never know just how much he worried about her while she was gone. He never wanted to be a burden, so he’d get through each day as it came, smiling and supporting the only woman he’d ever love.
Chapter Three
Annie’s homecomings weren’t like those for other soldiers. There were no parades, no huge crowds lined up to welcome the returning heroes. Most of the time, no one even knew the soldiers getting off the plane at the military airfield when Special Forces came back from a top-secret mission that could’ve saved dozens, hundreds, or thousands of lives.