Corps Security: The Series (28 page)

Our lovemaking is hard and quick. Before I know it, we are both crying out in our shared climax.

I fall back onto his chest, slick with his perspiration that is sliding against my own.

“Good morning, Princess,” he mumbles into my hair.

We both laugh and I hold him closer, enjoying this new lightness between us. We cuddle there for a while before he gets up to clean himself off. I smile when he walks back from the bathroom with a washcloth in hand.

“You do know I know how to clean up myself, right?” I joke.

“My job. I like seeing my come all over your skin. Mine. This is my job.” He continues to wipe me clean before leaning down and giving my sensitive skin a kiss that causes me to moan long and loud.

He laughs lightly, falling back next to me in the bed.

“We might want to get up at some point today,” I note, looking over to the window. The sun is hanging high in the sky, letting us know we have missed a good portion of the day.

“I’m happy right where I am and have no plans of leaving this bed today.”

“Hate to point out the obvious, Axel, but we might want to eat at some point.” I look into his smiling eyes before continuing. “I mean, I don’t know about you, but I plan on enjoying this fine-ass body some more today and I will need some fuel!”

His body shakes with silent laughter and I cuddle back down next to his side. Reaching out, I touch the hands of the angel tattooed on his other side. I can’t see the body from here, but from what I remember of the tattoo, it was done in almost a loving and peaceful way.

“Why an angel?” I ask.

He is silent for a few seconds before answering. “Look closer,” is all I get.

Puzzled by his answer, I crawl over his body and bring my face closer to the tattoo. I gasp when I get my first good look at her face. It’s me. Holy shit, that’s me.

“Um . . .” I offer lamely.

“I told you, you were the only person I have ever given my heart to. You have always been the angel in my life, Izzy. You came into my life when I needed you the most, always happy and so full of love for me. Not one day went by that I didn’t know how you felt. I got this a few years ago. You might not have been by my side physically but I couldn’t deny you were there mentally. Every day I was gone, it was the memory of you that pushed me, and even when I thought I had lost you for good and through that anger . . .” He trails off and I look up into his eyes. “Even through the anger of losing you, I still knew you were my angel. My light.”

Oh my God.

“I love you, Princess.”

“I love you, too,” I croak and fall into his arms.

In that moment, I know that whatever was broken over the years has finally been put back together again.

I am whole.

CHAPTER 18

One Month Later

Axel and I have been going strong since that weekend we spent locked in his house. It is sometimes shocking for me to think back to the scared and lost girl I was just months ago. He brought out the old me. And I am shining. We have new dreams and plans for our future, and for once, I’m starting to think fate is done with me.

I am happy.

I am loved.

I have overcome.

Over the last few weeks, we have spent almost every second together. Axel likes to joke that he is making up for lost time—a joke that often falls short because it would always remind me of the time we spent apart. Until he starts taking my clothes off. Our desire for each other is like an itch we can’t scratch.

We haven’t spent a large amount of time with our friends, but we have had a few nights out with them for dinner or drinking. I am able to do all of my work from Axel’s house, and he spends the majority of his time doing his from home as well. The first thing we did when it became obvious that neither one of us wanted to part from the other was buy office furniture. We now both use the large library space as our dual office. His area takes up much more space. Computer monitors and other technical equipment are spread over every surface on his side of the room. I have a small corner, but that is all I need. We work in silence mostly, but we are together, and at this point, it is something we both need.

Another big purchase we made together was a kitchen table and comfortable couches for the living room. If you didn’t know what his house looked like before, you wouldn’t be so shocked, but slowly we are turning this large, empty shell of a house he bought into a home for us both.

We were back to ‘us’ for three weeks when he told me I was moving in. There wasn’t any room for arguments, and honestly, I wasn’t going to put up any. It might seem soon to most, but with all the time we had lost, it made sense for us. We made the pact to move forward, and that’s what we are doing. Picking up the pieces we had lost and putting them back together.

Continuing with our dreams.

Axel has been hinting at marriage, but I’m not sure I’m ready for that yet. Yes, I know it will happen and I know it will happen with him, but we have only been back together a little over a month. Hell, he has only been back in my life for a few months. I feel like we need time. Time for what, I’m not sure, but when the time is right, we will know.

He isn’t happy about that. I can tell he wants to have me married and pregnant as soon as possible. His argument? We aren’t getting any younger and we both know it will happen, so why wait?

It is the only thing between us that doesn’t feel settled.

It is Saturday morning and Christmas is just two weeks away. With my move to Axel’s, I have missed my daily dose of Dee. I miss my best friend. I know she is way beyond happy for us and has been busy herself, but it is still an adjustment, going from being dependent on her for my only happiness to seeing her every few days.

We have plans to spend the day shopping, visiting Sway, and having dinner with the gang at Heavy’s. Axel has some business he needs to take care of in the office and will be gone most of the day anyway. This is the perfect day to spend with Dee.

I have just finished getting dressed when I hear the doorbell echo though the house. I finish zipping my favorite brown leather boots up over my skinny jeans, and with one last check in the mirror, I run through the hall, down the stairs, and to the foyer.

Throwing open the door with a large smile, I have just enough time to brace myself before Dee is throwing herself in my arms.

“Girlfriend, I have missed you!” she sings in my ear.

“You just saw me the other day, stupid.” I laugh and pull away, straightening my cream blouse back into place before looking up into her twinkling brown eyes.

My friend is happy as always, but now that
I
am happy, it is almost like she will burst at any second. Her happiness has hit nuclear levels.

“You’re glowing, Dee. I swear to God, one of these days all that joy you keep inside you is going to come pouring out. Like some deranged leprechaun.”

She laughs before following me through the foyer, and around the hallway, and into the kitchen.

“Let me grab my purse and we can get going. What time are our appointments with Sway?” I ask while searching through all the junk on the counter for my phone. I know I threw it down here last night when Axel and I had got home from dinner. He practically attacked me when we walked in the door.

“Noon. He said we needed to, and I quote, ‘get our fine little skinny white asses over there with a quickness so Sway can get all the good gossip about our new man candy.’ Her impersonation of Sway is disturbing.

“Okay, okay. Well, Ax is going to be in the office all day. He got a call from Mad early this morning and took off quick. Did Beck say anything about it?” I look over at her face, losing its smile slightly before quickly hiding the slip. “What was that, Dee? Are you and Beck having issues?” She has been ‘dating’ Beck for a few months now. From what I can tell, that just meant they were having regular sex because they never went out alone.

“Ahhh . . .” She looks down at her phone, trying to avoid my questioning eyes. “We decided to cool it for a while.”

“Okay,” I respond. I can tell she doesn’t want to talk about it, and knowing Dee, if she doesn’t want to talk about something, she won’t. “Are you okay with that?”

“Sure I am.” Her face takes on a fake smile. “It was my idea, okay? He wanted more and I am not ready for that. It’s fine, really. You ready?”

Okay. Guess that means the topic is closed.

We climb into Dee’s Lexus before heading out to do some much needed Christmas shopping.

I somehow manage to cool her shopping high down today and it is an almost pleasant experience. I pick up some clothes for Axel and a kickass black leather jacket that I decide he has to have, plus a few sexy pieces from Victoria’s Secret for myself. I run into the local jeweler and pick up the piece I had commissioned out for his Christmas present.

I can’t wait to give it to him. I had the jeweler custom make a dog tag necklace for him. I used the tiny diamond from my old promise ring he had gave me the day he left for boot camp and engraved a message for him underneath it. You could hardly see the tiny diamond until the engraver placed some marks around the spot, highlighting it perfectly. It was hard for me to part with that ring. It held so many memories and promises. Knowing that Axel would open his gift and know what that diamond meant is the only reason I was able to do it. I spent hours searching for the right words to engrave on his dog tag. It finally hit me one day and the words just popped into my head.

When you are with me, I am free.

My strength. My heart. My everything.

Our love now continues forever.

Amor Vincit Omnia

‘Love Conquers All.’ It is perfect. And it is us.

Axel has been secretive about what he has planned. He has gone off shopping a few times but never came home with anything. Something told me to expect a proposal, and even though it freaks me out slightly that it is too soon, I know I will never be able to tell him no.

He is my dreams.

He is my future.

It is almost time for our appointment with Sway, and I am both looking forward to and dreading the appointment. I just know that when Sway figures out who Axel is there will be a big flamboyant display.

“What’s with the big goofy grin?” Dee asks, interrupting my thoughts.

“I didn’t even realize I was smiling. I was just thinking about how Sway will react when he realizes the giant hunk of sex in the building next to his salon is Axel.”

“Oh my God! I completely forgot about that! Girl, this is going to be hilarious!”

“You are not kidding. I was hoping that he wouldn’t find out, but when I told Axel the story, he thought it was too funny to pass up. Apparently the boys are coming over to say hello while we are there.”

She looks over at me in shock before continuing the drive to the salon. I expected humor, but she looks almost panicked.

“Are you okay, Dee? I know we don’t get as much time to talk as we used to, but you seemed fine the other night.”

A slight frown crosses her face before she quickly clears her expression. “I’m fine. Just busy at work.”

Liar. I make a mental note to ask Axel if Beck has said anything lately.

“All right, but you know if you need to talk, I’m here. I’m always here for you, Dee.” Ever since I moved out, things have felt strange with Dee. I know she is happy for me and I know she loves Axel, but there is something going on. “I love you, Dee. I hate knowing something is bothering you and you don’t want to talk.”

“It’s nothing.” She sighs. “Just have some stuff on my mind, but I need to work it out on my own. Promise.” She gives me one of her trademark smiles and it reassures me enough to drop it. For now.

We pull up at the salon fifteen minutes before our appointments. Sitting in front, looking at the rows of businesses in the small strip, I can’t help but smile when my eyes hit the simple, bold words—Corps Security. The windows are blacked out so we can’t see inside, but I know he’s there. My man is close. As if my heart knows, it starts picking up speed.

We get out of the car and start toward the building. Dee looks beautiful in fitted jeans, a long-sleeved sweater, and of course, her pencil-thin heels. She attempted to get me to shed my old clothes, but I stuck with what was familiar. I will never have her classy style, but I am finally holding my own.

I can see Sway inside waving at us like a crazy person through the floor-to-ceiling windows that line the salon. He is dressed similar to Dee, with skin-tight skinny jeans and a long pink sweater. But his sweater flares at the waist and elbows. He looks like a giant cotton candy ball. His boots are up to his knees, but unlike my flat soles, his are sporting five-inch heels. He has his long blond wig pulled up into a sleek ponytail. Jesus, if I didn’t love him, I would laugh.

“He looks wound up today.” Dee laughs.

Right when my feet hit the landing in front of Sway’s salon, the door to Corps opens wide and Axel is standing in front of me, his arms crossed over his wide chest and a smirk firmly in place. I am frozen with my hand outstretched to open the door and Dee bumps into me from behind.

“Oh wow,” I hear her mumble behind me. Oh wow is right.

His dark denim jeans are molded to his powerful thighs and his long-sleeved green Henley is stretched tight. His thick black hair has the same look that it did this morning when I had just gotten done running my hands through it and holding him tight to my pussy. Those green eyes I love so much shine bright.

My panties are instantly wet.

“Get over here and give your man some love,” he rumbles out, causing another surge of wetness to hit my panties.

I throw my purse into Dee’s arms and run over the short distance to Axel. Jumping up slightly, he catches me under my ass and hauls my body up his own. I can feel every hard inch rubbing against my front. I let out a soft moan before sealing my lips to his and diving into one of the best kisses ever.

He gives my ass a squeeze before releasing my lips and smiling down at me. “Hey, Princess.”

“Hey, baby.”

And that’s when the shrieking began.