“Zoey?” Phantom asked.
“I’m okay. Thanks.”
After Phantom had closed the door to the other room in the suite, Zoey looked up at Bubba. “Is he okay?”
“I don’t know. Phantom doesn’t talk about his life. At all. But from things he’s said here and there, it’s been obvious he didn’t have a good childhood. I’m thinking the two of us will have more to talk about now.”
Zoey turned and straddled his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her forehead against his own. “Are you okay?”
“No,” Bubba told her.
“What can I do to help?”
“This. Hold me. Be there to listen when I need to talk. Tell me stories about my pop. And just be you, Zo. That’s what I need.”
“Deal.” Then she draped herself over him, her nose nuzzling the skin of his neck as she did her best to burrow into him.
Surprisingly, having her in his arms did help. It made him feel not quite so alone. He’d lost his brother and father, but he’d gained a partner. It was funny how life turned out.
Chapter Twenty
Zoey smiled as she watched Mark light a fire in the fire pit outside their accommodations. It had been a tough month for both of them, but especially for Mark. He’d had to go back to Anchorage twice to talk to prosecutors who were preparing for Tracy’s pre-trial hearing.
He’d dealt with putting his dad’s house up for sale and going through both Colin’s and his brother’s belongings. Each time he got off the phone with someone from Juneau, or came back from Alaska, it took him a while to get back to being himself.
Zoey hated it, and wanted to see him happy and smiling again. So she’d arranged for this glamping trip in the hopes it would bring a little joy to his life. She remembered them having a conversation about glamping when they’d been in the Alaska wilderness and figured this would be a way to hopefully put their past behind them once and for all, and look forward to the future.
So far, her plan had worked. They flew up to Sacramento then drove the forty-five minutes to Colfax, California. A small, quaint town. She’d rented the Mongolian-themed yurt because it seemed almost ridiculous in the northern California setting. From the outside it just looked like a regular white tent, but inside, it was over-the-top colorful and ostentatious, and the first time Mark had seen it, the smile that spread from ear to ear had been worth every penny she’d spent on the place.
There was also a hot tub, outdoor shower, sauna, swimming pool, and hammock that they could take advantage of. But thus far they’d been content to laze around and hibernate away from the world. Inside the lavishly decorated tent, they could pretend they were the only people in the world.
Now, they’d ventured outside to sit around the fire and enjoy the night air. After Mark had gotten the fire going, he’d gone inside the yurt, grabbed a blanket from the bed, and sat behind her, wrapping it around them both. Zoey knew Mark wasn’t cold, he was never cold, but she loved him all the more for going out of his way to make sure she was warm enough.
Looking up at the stars, Zoey relaxed against Mark and sighed.
“Happy?” he asked.
“Very. But I should be asking you that.”
“Any time I get to spend with you makes me happy,” he responded.
Zoey wrapped her hands around his forearms, which were across her chest. “I’m worried about you.”
He rested his cheek against hers then said, “I know. And I wish we were starting our lives together without all this drama hanging over our heads.”
“Everyone has drama,” Zoey retorted. “Lives aren’t all puppies and flowers like on social media. I just wish I could do more to help you.”
Mark snorted.
Zoey frowned and turned her head to look at him. “What?”
“Zo, I’m not sure I could’ve gotten through any of this without you by my side. Knowing you’re there for me is the best thing that could’ve ever happened in my life. And this trip has gotten me to thinking.”
“About what?”
“Us. How everything in our lives is interconnected. How one little decision can change the trajectory of our lives for good or bad. If I’d refused the charter flight that Kenneth put together for us…that his wife arranged…I’m not sure we would be here right now. You might’ve died out there in the wilderness. Malcom and Tracy might’ve gotten away with killing Pop. There’s a hundred little decisions we’ve made that have led us right here. And while I wish my pop was still here, and my brother hadn’t been a complete idiot, I can’t regret finding you through it all.”
Zoey’s eyes filled with tears. His words meant the world to her. For him to go through all the hurt he’d experienced, to lose his only family, and still be happy to have her in his life…it was almost too much.
“I love you,” she said, squeezing his arms. “When I was in high school, I liked you because of the way you looked. As I got older, I admired you because of the stories Colin told me and what you were doing for our country. But now that I’ve gotten to know you, I love you because of the man you are.”
“That means everything to me,” Mark said. “I won’t always have my muscles. My hair’ll probably fall out and I’ll gain a hundred pounds. The things I’ve done will be nothing but a memory and a footnote in some top-secret drawer buried in the Pentagon somewhere, but I’ll always be exactly who I am. And who I am is a man who will do whatever it takes to keep you safe and happy.”
That was it. Zoey was done sitting around the fire. Even though they’d just ventured out there, it had lost its appeal. She struggled to stand, needing Mark’s help to get herself untangled from the blanket. She stood in front of him and held out a hand. “Take me to bed or lose me forever.”
Since Mark had said he’d never seen the movie Top Gun, she’d made him sit down and watch it with her one night.
Without hesitation, he replied with Goose’s iconic line from the movie, “Show me the way home, honey.”
Then he grabbed her hand, yanked her forward so she fell over his shoulder, and he stood with her, heading for the opulent tent they were calling home for another couple of nights.
Giggling, Zoey propped herself up by putting her hands on his ass, and she gasped when he dumped her on the mattress inside the tent.
Looking up at the intense expression on her man’s face, Zoey had a feeling they wouldn’t be emerging from the yurt until morning. “Do we need to worry about the fire?” she asked, not wanting to kill the mood but concerned about leaving it unattended.
“I’ll get up and take care of it…later.”
“Okay.”
Mark leaned over her, caging her in with his arms and practically touching his nose to hers. “I love you, Zoey Knight.”
“And I love you back.”
He shut his eyes for a moment as if in pain, but when they opened again, all Zoey could see was lust. For her.
Several hours later, Zoey lay boneless and exhausted in Mark’s arms. He’d fallen on her like a man dying of thirst and the only way to quench it was by drinking the nectar from her body. He’d eaten her out for at least an hour before he’d allowed her to take a breather. But even then, he’d played with and fondled every inch of her body while she did her best to recover.