By Honor Bound (22 page)

“Yes and no. It depends on how you look at it.”

“Go on.”

For the first time in her life, she heard hesitation and uncertainty in Blayne’s voice. “I’m returning to my unit in the Middle East in three weeks.”

The pain, filled with the realization she feared for his safety, hit her in the stomach. “You were worried you wouldn’t be back with your men, right?”

“Right.”

“Then it’s a good thing.” She swallowed hard. “And it’s a bad thing.”

He nodded and they went silent. Finally he asked, “Your love will keep me safe, Sweets. I promise.”

Tears returned to her eyes. “I’ll accept whatever you have to do. Your Army career is a part of you. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

With a groan he said, “I love you. I love you so much.”

She smiled around the tears. “Now that’s what I like to hear.”

“Our deployment might be for a long time. You know how it is.”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“I want us committed to each other.”

He sounded so stern, so military-man that she grinned widely. “How do you propose we do that?”

“I took another chance. There’s something in my jeans you’ve got to see.”

She cocked one eyebrow. “I’ve seen what’s in your jeans.”

He tickled her side and she giggled. “That’s not what I meant.”

He stood up and found his jeans.

When Blayne pulled out a little red box, her heart about stopped. He couldn’t—he hadn’t—oh God. Maybe he
had
.

Heart pounding with anticipation and special delight, she sat up. He got on one knee, naked as the day he was born, and turning the little box toward her, he opened it.

Inside an emerald-cut diamond solitaire sparkled in white gold against the red velvet box lining.

“Oh my,” she whispered, her voice choking up. “Oh my.”

He took the ring out and slipped it on her ring finger. His eyes twinkled, a mixture of amusement and hope. “Please say that’s a yes. Be my wife.”

“Graham knew about this, didn’t he?”

He nodded, bringing her hand up to his lips for a soft kiss. “Yeah. I decided I’d put him and your father at ease. I called them both and asked for your hand in marriage.”

She gasped. “You did?”

“Yep. I could tell it impressed the hell out of them.”

She laughed. “So you gave them some satisfaction in thinking maybe they did have something to do with whether or not we were together?”

He shrugged. “For you, I’d do anything. I want you in my life, in my arms forever.”

With a tiny gasp of delight, she launched into his arms and they tumbled back onto the floor.

Between each kiss she told him what he wanted to know. “Yes, I’ll marry you. Yes. Yes. Yes.”

“Thank you, God.”

When they came up for air, he said, “I’ve ached for you all week.”

“I fantasized about you.”

An intrigued look turned his gaze hot with intentions. “Oh?” He clasped her hand gently and brought it down her belly until their fingers joined in the nest of curls, brushing with tantalizing strokes over her clit. “And did you touch yourself?”

Excited, she closed her eyes. “Yes.”

 “Show me how you did it, Sweets.”

“With pleasure, Major.”

Epilogue

Fort Carson, Colorado

Eight months later

Jemma waited with Blayne’s family for the buses to show up. Crowds of people gathered in the parking lot, families and friends of the soldiers coming back from the long deployment.

She chewed on one lip with impatience. She knew Blayne’s mother, father, and cousin Polly must feel the same thing. His family had flown in to Colorado Springs yesterday just for the reunion.

While she’d been nervous about meeting family for the first time, Jemma quickly discovered they were friendly people. Blayne’s father, Abraham, with his craggy good looks, dazzling blue eyes and slight Texas drawl, looked like an older version of Blayne. Blayne’s mother Angela was a slightly plump woman with hazel eyes, light brown hair and a glorious smile that held generous warmth. His adopted sister and first cousin Polly was also tall with light brown hair and as affable as she could be. Their acceptance of her warmed her soul. His sister Anne, a Army nurse, couldn’t be here for the reunion since military duty kept her away, but Jemma knew Anne was here in heart.

And while she’d loved getting to know Blayne’s family, Jemma could barely stand the hours, the minutes that had passed from the time he’d left eight months ago to this moment. She’d yearned for him with the power of a woman deeply in love.

Nerves prickled in her stomach. No matter how many times she’d envisioned this day, fantasized about being in her fiancé’s arms again, Jemma knew once Blayne touched her, she would be in heaven. Now that he was safe and coming home to her, pure delight made her yearning grow stronger each minute.

Her gaze landed on the sparkling engagement ring on her hand, and she smiled. Soon she’d be Blayne’s wife.

She felt a warm hand press her shoulder, then Angela’s soft Southern voice. “He’ll be here soon.”

Jemma turned toward his family and smiled. “I can’t wait.”

Abraham chuckled. “I’m sure he can’t wait to see you, too.”

Finally two green buses pulled into the huge parking area. Joy did a dance in her heart. The crowd in the parking lot started to cheer and tears of happiness stung Jemma’s eyes and ran down her cheeks.

Two other buses parked near the passenger vehicles and within seconds dumped olive drab green duffle bags one on top of the other with careless abandon.

When the passenger doors opened and men in desert camouflage uniforms filed onto the blacktop, her heart started to pound. Her gaze flew from one man to the other.

How would she tell which one was Blayne from this distance? She grinned. They all looked alike.

Then she saw that distinctive, brash walk and knew.

There he was.

After shuffling around to find his duffle bag, he moved toward her and his family.

Other soldiers met their squealing, excited families and friends and the happy atmosphere added to Jemma’s elation.

As he came closer and closer her heart felt like it would burst with excitement. He waved and she waved back and smiled. He quickened his pace and when his gorgeous face came into perfect view, more tears welled in her eyes. She didn’t try and stop them as they poured down her face.

“Hey, Major,” she said as he strode toward her. “It’s been a long time.”

“Too damned long, Sweets.” She saw his lips tremble, as if emotion had taken him by force, too. “Too damned long.”

He dropped his duffle bag. She ran into his arms.

As they kissed frantically his hands caressed her back, plunged through her hair. When they parted for breath, he stared into her eyes and she into his.

“I missed you so much,” he whispered.

“I’ve waited for this day forever.”

His family, staying back so he could enjoy his reunion with Jemma, finally surged forward to greet him. A round of hugs and kisses ensued. Polly and Angela wiped tears from their eyes, and Jemma thought she saw the sheen of moisture in Abraham’s gaze as well.

Abraham clapped a hand on his son’s shoulder. “It’s damned good to see you, son.”

“Good to be back, Dad.” He sighed. “And because it’s Saturday, our commanding officer has given us two days off before we have to go in for a debriefing.”

Jemma, Angela and Polly let out little whoops of happiness and hugged him all over again.

As Blayne turned back to Jemma, he smiled down at her. “Come on. “Let’s go home. We’ve got a wedding to plan.”

About the Densie A. Agnew

Suspenseful, erotic, edgy, thrilling, romantic, adventurous. All these words are used to describe award-winning, best-selling novelist Denise A. Agnew’s novels. Romantic Times Magazine called her romantic suspense novels DANGEROUS INTENTIONS and TREACHEROUS WISHES “top-notch romantic suspense.” With paranormal, time travel, romantic comedy, contemporary, historical, erotica, and romantic suspense novels under her belt, she proves her gift for writing about a diverse range of subjects. (Writing tales that scare the reader is her ultimate thrill.)

Denise’s inspiration for her novels comes from innumerable sources, but the fact she has lived in Colorado, Hawaii, and the United Kingdom has given her a lifetime of ideas. Her experiences with archaeology have crept into her work, as well as numerous travels throughout England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Denise currently lives in Arizona with her real life hero, her husband.

Website: http://www.tilt.com/authors/deniseagnew.htm

Email: [email protected]

Denise Agnew welcomes mail from readers. You can write to her c/o Ellora’s Cave Publishing at 1337 Commerce Drive, #13, Stow, Ohio 44224.

Also by Denise A. Agnew:

The Dare

Deep is the Night: Dark Fire

Deep is the Night: Haunted Souls

Deep is the Night: Night Watch

Over the Line

Primordial

Winter Warriors anthology

CHARMING ANNIE

Arianna Hart

Acknowledgements

First, I would like to thank all the men and women that serve in the armed forces in whatever capacity. Know that those of us here at home appreciate you.

I would also like to thank my sister Patti of the First Army Augmentation Detachment based out of Fort Gillem, GA., who has been in the Army for almost twenty years. I relied upon her knowledge for everything from ranks to hand grenades. Any errors are completely my own.

Please note, I took some creative license with the floor plan of Walter Reed Army Medical Center to fit the story, any and all descriptions of the hospital come from my imagination, as do the characters.

Dedication

This book is dedicated with enormous thanks to my sister Patti for all her help.

Also, to my “partners in crime” who created such a wonderful family to draw inspiration from. Thanks Denise and Kate (and Bree and Martha) for making me part of the family.

Thanks also to all my online buddies who support and encourage me while I’m writing. You always know when I need a pat on the back or a kick in the pants and I’m grateful for both.

As always, thanks to my husband for putting up with me, and my family for always being there. I don’t know what I’d do without you, and I hope I never find out.

Chapter One

Walter Reed Army Medical Center

Taking the stairs in the parking garage at midnight probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but Major Anne Forbes had an aversion to elevators that went back to the days when her brother would lock her in the closet as a joke. Blayne had thought it was funny to hold the door closed while she screamed and kicked. She didn’t find it all that amusing. To this day, being stuck inside a small, enclosed space bothered her to no end.

Annie had just about made it to the floor where her car was parked when the ground quivered and shook beneath her feet, knocking her down the last two steps.

“What the hell was that?” Annie rubbed the spot where her head thunked against the door and cautiously opened it.

To a scene out of a nightmare.

A car had exploded and smoke was blanketing the garage. Several men in black clothes with ski masks over their faces were poised at the elevators with assault rifles. Annie saw one civilian nurse bleeding from a head wound, and several other people crying and whimpering as they were hauled off the elevator. Fire alarms blared, and the noise echoed against the cement walls adding to the chaos.

Her brain had gone on hold, flashbacks to her tour as a field nurse in Iraq raced through her head. Visions of bearded men with fanatical eyes and gleaming knives assaulted her as the smell of smoke and gasoline washed over her. Annie was caught in a vicious film loop of pain and destruction that played over and over again.

She couldn’t move. Her fingers froze on the door handle, immobile and helpless. A small voice in the back of her brain screamed at her to shut the door and run for help, but her body wouldn’t move. Fire, smoke, the screams of the injured and the shouts of the attackers mixed together until she couldn’t tell what was real and what were memories.

A hooded head started to turn, and Annie watched it in slow motion. Suddenly, a hand covered her mouth, and an arm pulled her away from the door. Panic clawed in her belly as she slammed into a hard, male chest.

No! She wouldn’t go down without a struggle. Turning her head she tried to bite the hand that held her. Annie fought back using her training, but her captor was too strong.

“Lady, I’m on your side! Calm down, we gotta get out of here.” Annie stopped struggling.

As soon as she calmed down, the hand dropped from her mouth and she turned around. And saw the best-looking man she’d ever laid eyes on.

 “Come on, we need to go before they decide to start checking the stairwells.” Her sexy savior gave her a quick once-over, pausing briefly at her breasts.

“Who’re they? And who are you?”

“Later! We don’t have time for twenty questions now.” He grabbed her arm and dragged her up the stairs behind him.

Annie’s brain started working again, and she raced to keep up with the man yanking her arm out of its socket. He was barefoot, wearing pajama pants and a johnny, and she could see the tape from his dressing over his ribs.

Some Army nurse she turned out to be, getting saved by a patient. “Could you at least tell me your name?” Annie asked between gulps of air. How many flights had they already gone up?

“Mace. Mason O’Keefe, Captain, Aviation.”

“Major Annie Forbes, Medical.” Like her hospital whites didn’t clue him in on that. “Where are we going?”

“To the roof. If we can reach the roof before they secure it, we can get out of here and get help. Do you always talk this much?”