—*—
I’ve been lying awake for quite some time, just watching my girl as she sleeps.
She’s so beautiful it’s painful, so sweet there are no words for it, and so fucking perfect for me it’s unbelievable.
We made love all night and I barely whetted my appetite, I’m never going to get enough of her.
The past week has been the best of my life and I don’t fucking care if things between us have been moving too fast.
Fuck, if anything, I wish I could move them even faster.
And to think that I could be lying alone in my cold bed at the base right this very moment if the toss of Jonny’s coin hadn’t decided on Plumeria.
Seven days ago, I didn’t know Kenna was alive in the world and now… now I love her so much it’s insane.
Seven days ago, I was firmly convinced it was a good thing there was no one waiting for me to come back every time that I left; not having much of a personal life seemed like a great idea at the time, not anymore, though.
I don’t care if it’s painful, I don’t care if it’s impractical, or downright nuts to think like this after a week, but I’m ready to change my entire world around her if it comes to that.
I love her too much for anything else to matter.
I’m going to meet my obligations, do my duty, work my ass off and risk life and limb as I always do to make things better where our regiment is needed, but then I will come back to her and there will be no leaving her ever again.
I don’t know what I’ll do: maybe I’ll retire early —it’s not like I need to work for a living— or maybe I can find another way to contribute to our military efforts, work as a trainer, or any other helpful position that’s gonna keep me stateside.
I look out of the window and frown.
It’s dawn. I’m going to have to wake her soon.
So we can…
I feel an ache in my chest and I rub at it, absentmindedly.
I gulp down air.
… so we can say goodbye.
I stroke Kenna’s baby-soft face with the tips of my fingers and she burrows into my chest with a little annoyed grunt that makes me smile.
Fuck, I hate to wake her: it makes the fact that I have to leave her soon all the more real.
Just then, my phone chimes with a text.
I pick it up from the nightstand and sigh when I see it’s from Jonny.
“Man, we gotta leave in 20.”
Another text.
“You there?”
Shit.
I quickly tap a reply.
I look at her and then at my duffle bag already packed on the floor, feeling pulled in two different directions until I’m about to split in two.
I take a breath and kiss her forehead, her eyes, her cheeks, her lips, calling her name softly until she’s looking up at me.
For a second she smiles big at me, then she remembers and her big blue eyes fill with tears.
“No,” she whispers, her arms going around my neck as I pull her into my lap, hugging her as tight as I can, just a sheet between me and her naked skin.
I stroke the back of her head, her long wild curls falling all over us.
“I’ve got to go, babydoll,” I tell her softly, my lips on the shell of her ear.
“I know, I’m sorry…”
Kenna trembles against me as I stand from the bed, bringing her with me.
The sheet gets stuck between my boots and slips off of her body, leaving her naked and shivering even more in my arms.
I pull slightly away from her, tug my own Ranger T-shirt off of me and I slide it over her head until she’s covered. I bring her into my chest again, my lips on her hair and then on her neck as I swing her side to side while we say goodbye, my eyes blurring as she sobs into my naked chest.
“Listen to me, Kenna. This is not the end of us. Okay?”
She nods against me. “You gonna call when you get there… wherever that is?” she asks.
I kiss the side of her head. “I will.”
She hugs me harder. “And you will stay safe?” she asks.
“I will do my best, love,” I tell her. “Now, I need you to be strong, okay?”
“Yes,” her voice is so small and shaky it nearly kills me.
“I love you, babydoll. To the edge of eternity, you are my forever, always. I promise.”
Kenna’s hands slowly move up my sides and to my jaw.
She cups my face. “I will wait for you. I love you, Wyatt. To the edge of eternity, you are my forever, always. I promise.”
I kiss her hard, pulling her up into my arms until her little feet are dangling off the floor.
I don’t know how are we going to survive being away from each other for so long without going crazy.
She’s in my arms and I already miss her.
Chapter 1
KENNA
Five days later…
I clutch my phone in my hands and start to fidget on the sofa again.
Wyatt told me that he wouldn’t be able to contact me for a couple of days but promised he would call at least once as soon as he reached his destination wherever that is, but it’s been five days since I last saw him and he hasn’t called or texted yet.
I know the number I have is correct: he programmed it into my cell himself and then gave his own a ring from it to get mine.
I’m nervous and starting to get a bit worried now.
I didn’t sleep a wink last night.
I don’t know where Wyatt is and what’s going on with him and I already miss him so much.
It’s almost unbelievable how deeply connected I feel to him, considering we only had a week together, but we spent every waking moment of those seven days in our little perfect bubble and shared so much about each other, our dreams, our hopes, that it feels like I’ve known him my whole life and loved him for just as long, maybe for longer.
Veronica has been grumbling about me falling so hard and fast for him, she has attempted to belittle our whirlwind magic romance in every possible way, but I don’t care.
I know what we have is special and I don’t need months to be sure of my feelings. I love Wyatt.
I fell for him at a glance the moment our eyes met across the dance floor. I could feel in moments what he would be to me, that we would be forever, and she can laugh as much as she wants, I’m not changing my mind.
After I left the party and ran from that idiot, Barry, I got truly scared.
The farther I ventured onto the dark, deserted beach, with him hurling insults behind me, the more I felt like I had veritably jumped out of the frying pan into the fire.
With every step, my heart got higher in my throat.
At the party, there were people and my handsome mystery hunk. I could have attracted the attention of someone and Barry would have probably slinked away like the snake he proved to be, but there on the sand, in the stillness of the night with just the full moon as witness, I was easy prey.