Deceitful Choices (15 page)

Chapter 27

Lindsay

“Where are you staying?” Zack asked as he led me toward his rental.

“At Taylor’s parents,” I said in response, just as we reached the car.

I turned around to face him and he stepped closer, pinning me against the car. “I rented a room in Peoria. Will you and Camden stay with me?” He licked his lower lip and my focus fell to his mouth. “I don’t think I can go another night without the two of you.”

“Yes.” I wanted nothing more than to be wrapped in Zack’s arms. I had missed his touch every single day since he left. I just wanted to feel safe and secure again.

Haven and her recent drama had really drained me. For days I had worried about it. What would it do to Zack and me if it were true? What would it mean for our future and theirs?

I felt the weight of the world lift the moment she shouted she wasn’t pregnant.

And though I am not an aggressive person by any means, slapping Haven across the face was a front runner for one of my best moments. Damn, it felt good, and the look on her face when she registered she had just been smacked was the cherry on top. Standing up to her was liberating, and if I had the chance I would do it again and again.

She had once again threatened what I had, and I would not allow myself to feel guilty for the way I behaved. I had told myself I would never allow myself to become the hateful people my parents had become. But this was warranted. Haven deserved it—and more.

After a trip to the Shumaker’s to get our son and the things we had brought, we headed to the hotel. Camden was so excited to see Zack that when we had to place him in his car seat, he got so pissed he screamed the entire way, reaching for Zack.

You could see how much he wanted to take him from his seat and hold him close. Halfway to the hotel, we pulled over and Zack made me drive so he could get into the back seat and snuggle our son as he leaned against the car seat and rubbed his face soothingly.

Within moments, Camden was relaxed and lay his head against the side of his seat, staring at Zack in awe. Just like that, my heart hammered in my chest as I fell even harder for the guy who came back for us.

Zack was such an amazing man, and each day I realized more and more just how very lucky I was to have his forgiveness.

I had pulled the unthinkable, and he found it in his heart to forgive my mistake. Never again would I ever hold the truth from him. I was grateful for everything he had given me and nothing was worth losing that.

***

I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel securely around my body. Stepping up to the mirror, I used a hand towel to wipe away the steam that fogged the bathroom.

Hearing the click of the door behind me, I looked up to see Zack entering the bathroom. He wore a pair of basketball shorts and nothing more. Turning around to face him, I leaned back against the sink as his gaze raked over my body.

Chills covered my skin as I registered the smoldering look in his eyes.

The bandage on his thigh peeked out from beneath the hem of his shorts, and it made me realize I had yet to ask about the events that led to him being here with me now.

“You gonna tell me about it?” I asked as I pointed toward his leg. He only shook his head as he stepped closer.

“Not now,” he whispered as he placed his hands on my hips and leaned in to kiss the side of my neck. “I don’t want to talk about it now.” Another kiss, this time nipping at my ear. “All I want to do now is get lost inside you.”

Maintaining my focus was not possible when this hot-as-sin SEAL was kissing me the way he was, spouting off promises like that. As if that in itself was not enough, there was a very impressive erection pressing against me, just waiting for attention.

I rose up on my tip toes and began torturing him myself, licking along his jaw and kissing his neck. “Is he sleeping?” I asked and he nodded his head.

Before I could speak another word, he placed his hands on the backs of my thighs and lifted to place me on the vanity behind me. I guessed that meant we were doing this right here and right now.

Zack pushed my thighs apart and the towel gave way, exposing me completely. I watched in amazement as he ran his finger along my inner thigh before grazing my clit. I whimpered, and it only seemed to drive him further as he lowered his finger and toyed with my slickness. “So wet,” he whispered.

I wanted to ask him how I could not be, but my head fell back as he pressed a finger inside me and began to pump it in and out slowly.

“So beautiful,” he stated. “I love to watch you get turned on. It’s one of the most mesmerizing things I’ve ever witnessed.”

I couldn’t think. The way he was fingering me, crooking his finger just right, made my body hum.

“You are perfect, Linds,” he whispered as he placed his lips to my collarbone. “So perfect.”

I lifted my head and looked at him in awe as he stared back at me.

“And you’re mine,” he added, as he pulled his finger from me and lifted it to his lips, sucking off my essence. Another whimper escaped me. He made me so vulnerable and raw; that feeling had never felt so damn good.

“I’m all yours,” I said in confirmation.

He seemed pleased with my words as he lowered his hand and began to lower his shorts. His cock sprung forward, and I instantly reached out and wrapped my hand around him, pumping slowly.

He braced himself by placing one hand on each side of me. Both of us focused solely on my movements. His hips moved just enough to help me glide over his hardness before he pushed forward once more. “Damn that feels good,” he assured me. “But being inside your pretty pussy would feel better.”

I allowed my hand to fall away as I was eager to have him in me. His smirk was confirmation he had picked up on my eagerness.

“This what you want?” he asked as he pushed the head of his cock inside me only to pull back and leave me wanting more.

“Yes,” I gasped. Placing my hands on his hips, I tried to pull him forward and his smile grew.

Without another word he thrust his hips and entered me, making me squeal in pleasure.

“Fuck baby, I’ve missed this,” Zack groaned as he began to move. With each thrust, my ass slid along the marble counter, but he held me tight and kept up the perfect rhythm. I could feel the building tension within me as I moved with his thrusts, arching just enough to gain the right friction I needed to meet my release.

“Damn you feel so fucking good, Linds.” His voice sounded strained. “So sweet, baby. Perfect.” He was mumbling his praise, yet all I could focus on was the coiled pressure in my lower stomach.

Lifting my legs, I wrapped them around his waist just as my orgasm hit, and I yelled out his name as he picked up the pace. I swear I saw stars, closing my eyes tightly as I pulsated around him.

The deep moans escaping him were sexy, and I loved knowing it was me who made him feel so good.

Within seconds he was emptying himself deep inside me as he whispered my name again and again.

Chapter 28

Zack

I returned my rental and drove back to Pickneyville with Lindsay and Camden.

For the first time since I left Iraq I felt at peace. I had battled feelings of abandonment, not my own, but for abandoning my men. I didn’t like that all the men I considered family, my brothers, were still there and I was here. I felt guilty.

But since the first moment I lay eyes on Lindsay, those feelings faded enough that they no longer felt crippling.

I knew if I could physically be there with them I would, but for now I would have to work hard to get myself back to the shape I was in prior to being shot. It would take hard work, but I would get there, I had no doubt. I wouldn’t let it be any other way.

For two days, I had lounged on Grams’ couch and watched my son who had started crawling. Lindsay was finished with school for the semester, and there was nothing holding her here any longer.

Her grandmother announced last night that she would be selling her house and moving to San Diego. The way Lindsay’s face lit up with the news gave me a warm feeling in my stomach. There was nothing I wanted more than for her and Camden to have everything they wanted.

We no longer had Haven and her drama hanging over our heads. Taylor honestly hit the nail on the head when she came up with the idea to make Haven feel as if she was being cut off from her daddy’s money, and that I would have a difficult time supporting her and a child. Never in my life had I ever witnessed someone backtrack the way Haven had in that moment.

Knowing she was, in fact, lying about the pregnancy was the best fucking news. Not that I didn’t one day want more children; I just didn’t want them with her.

I was due back to Coronado in two days to begin my therapy, and I was battling with the idea of leaving Lindsay and Camden behind again. I had already gone without them for too long in my opinion, and I just wanted to load them on a plane and take them with me. But Lindsay insisted on helping her Grams with packing and settling everything here first.

Was it wrong of me to want to hire someone to take care of everything, and force her Grams to come with us, too?

“What are you thinking about over here?” Lindsay asked as she stood over me and ran her fingers over my hair. It was soothing to feel her hands on me.

I closed my eyes for a moment and just allowed the calm to settle over me before reaching out to hook her legs, pulling her close.

She sat on the couch at my side and I placed my hand on her thigh, hooking the other around her waist, needing her closer.

“I want you in California with me.”

She started to explain once again why she wanted to stay, but I cut her off. “I know you want to stay here to help, I got that. I just want you to know that it’s gonna be hard leaving you again. I feel like we are always leaving one another, and I am ready to end that pattern.”

“Two weeks,” she whispered as she cupped my jaw. I couldn’t help leaning into her touch, it was unstoppable. “All I need is two weeks. We’ll pack everything and the movers are showing up to load the truck. Grams already has two offers on the house. I don’t want to be apart either but we have to settle things here in order to move forward.”

I knew she was right, but I still didn’t like it.

“After this we’ll be together,” she whispered.

I stared back at her in awe. She amazed me daily.

The life she lived, the disappointments she faced, and she still turned out to be this amazing women.

We all make mistakes, and if we’re lucky we learn from them and choose to make our life better from the lessons they teach us. Lindsay wasn’t the person I thought she was. Hell, she was actually more mature than most of the guys I served with. She was the sweetest person I had ever met, and somehow she made everything seem better. Just being near her made things feel right.

“One day,” I whispered in return and she tilted her head to the side, slightly confused. Fuck she was cute. “You’re it for me, you know that?”

She bit her lower lip and stared at me in silence.

“And one day, I’m gonna ask you to marry me.” I told her and her eyes widened enough for me to notice. “I just want you to be prepared for that.”

All she did was nod in response as I hooked the back of her neck and pulled her mouth toward mine.

When I looked at Lindsay I saw my future. I envisioned her by my side through every obstacle or accomplishment in my life. She had quickly become that person I wanted to share everything with, the good and the bad. When shit happened for me, whether it be heartbreaking or monumental, I found myself wanting her to be the first person I told, and that shit was huge.

She gave me the hope and drive to be better, to do better, and to give every single thing in my life my all. Lindsay and Camden made me want to conquer the world and all its darkness, only to make sure they had the best of everything.

They were now my life, my joy.

Epilogue

1 Year Later

Lindsay

Life in California took some getting used to. But now that we were here permanently with Grams only a short distance away, it was beginning to feel like home.

Zack and I had fallen into a comfortable pattern. It felt like we had always been side by side, tackling the hardest of obstacles. He had quickly become my biggest fan, and I his. Together I felt there wasn’t really much of anything we couldn’t beat.

At first things were rocky, not with us but with him. He struggled throughout his healing and his therapy. He’d grown angry and irritable not being able to do the things he always had. Then he dealt with the guilt of not being with his men. I would watch how he’d crawl into his own little shell after every email or Skype he got from Rigdon and the other guys. In time it would pass, but it was heartbreaking to see the stages he went through each time.

Four and half months ago his team came home.

The joy in his eyes the moment they each came up to him, receiving individual welcome homes, was breathtaking. He and his men shared such an unbreakable bond, one that was captivating and inspiring.

His dedication to the men he served with only proved he was, in fact, the man I thought he always was. The man I loved. The father of our son.

Zack was my best friend, my true hero, for many reasons. I didn’t worry about all the little things anymore. I no longer thought about the time we lost or the way things began; I focused solely on the love we now shared.

We two were unbreakable.

***

Zack

Sometimes I would catch myself in a trance, just staring ahead at the woman I loved and the son who was my everything. I would tell myself over and over again just how lucky I was to have them both.

The path was rocky.

But we got through it.

We found the importance within all the madness and came out on top, stronger.

Each day I thanked God I’d gone to the beach in Alabama. Had I not, I wouldn’t have had the chance to meet the girl who changed my life. The way we met and the deceit of those couple of days no longer mattered. It was the now that meant everything.

Camden and Lindsay were my future.

And it was time she understood just how permanent we were.

I stood from the couch and walked toward the kitchen where she stood with her back to me. Camden stood at her side tugging on her pants as she passed him bite size pieces of peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

He saw me coming and yelled out “Dada” as I knelt at his side. Fuck if that single word didn’t melt my heart every time I heard him say it.

Lindsay turned and looked down at the two of us with a huge smile on her face until she noticed what I held in my hand. Her mouth fell open just slightly and the surprise in her eyes was humorous.

The sticky fingers of my son wrapped around my forearm as I stared up at his gorgeous mother. “Zack,” she said in a whisper, as she looked at me and then the ring I held.

“I was gonna take you out to a fancy dinner, maybe take a walk afterward so I could propose to you in front of anyone who took the time to stop and listen to me confess my love.” I paused as I looked at Camden and then back to Lindsay. “But I realized we don’t need any of that. Everything we need is right here. So I’m asking you now.” I pulled the ring from the box and took her hand in mine.

“Lindsay Lauss, you changed my world. Without you and Camden my life would feel so empty. I go to bed every single night thankful that I met you, happy for the life you’ve given me. And every morning when I wake up, I feel like the luckiest man because you chose me.” Tears glistened in her eyes as I continued to convey my love for her. “I told you that one day I would ask you to marry me, and that day is now. I love you so much, and nothing would make me happier than you taking my last name.”

Her lower lip trembled, and it was the sweetest thing to see her bobbing her head without speaking the words.

“Will you marry me, Linds?”

“Yes,” she said just as the tears fell and she, too, dropped to her knees pulling Camden along with her as she hugged me close. “Thank you for giving us this life,” she whispered, and in the moment, I, too, felt raw and consumed with the love I felt for her. She was such a beautiful person inside and out.