Somebody's Angel (#5 in a Military Romance / BDSM Romance series) (Rescue Me) (79 page)

“Of course it’s a yes! On all counts, Sir.”

Marc’s eyes filled with tears, but he didn’t care. Through a throat suddenly closed off he whispered, “
Grazie, amore
.”

Remembering the ring, he took her hand again and slipped the sleek, elegantly carved platinum ring over her finger. He knew she wouldn’t cook with an elaborate gemstone ring on her finger without constantly removing it. This ring, he wanted to stay on her hand more often than not. He kissed the ring before standing and pulling her to her feet again.

“Angelina, I’ve been trying to find the words to ask you to marry me since New Year’s, but until now, I never knew what to say. Well, as you can see, I botched it a bit.”

She shook her head. “Those were the most beautiful words anyone has ever spoken.”

“I’ve changed so much this year—for the better, I hope. But I finally understand what it is I want—I need—and what I have to offer you.”

She nodded. “Oh, yes, Sir. You most definitely have a lot to offer. I’m just glad you can see it now.”

He smiled, a little more relaxed. “I’m finally beginning to understand who I am, why I act the way I do. I’m no great prize for womankind, but you,
mio angelo
, you have made my life complete by accepting my ring—and my heart. I will do everything in my power never to disappoint you…ever again.”

* * *

Angelina couldn’t tear her gaze away from Marc long enough to look at the ring. She’d never seen him so at peace, despite his nervousness. How could he think she would not have accepted such a heartfelt proposal?

When she’d seen a momentary flash of anxiety in his eyes, all she could think was
“trust me
.”

“Marc, I would be honored to remain a part of your life for the rest of time.”

Tears dampened her cheeks, but she dashed them away.

“Cuor mio
. Marc, you will always be my heart. Always.”

He pulled her toward him and kissed her until she lost her balance sending them both tumbling onto the fur rug. She bumped her head on the coffee table and giggled as he cradled her, checking her forehead for injury.

“If I bring you back to your brothers with visible bruises, Rafe might rescind his reluctant blessing.”

She pulled away and grew serious. “You asked Rafe for his blessing?” That’s what Marc had talked with her eldest brother about?
Wow
. That he would brave the lion’s den to make such a request warmed her heart, but knowing he’d done so even before he’d completely made his peace with the past during this journey of discovery melted her to the core.

Marc grinned. “Well, he balked at first. I think I’m going to be on probation for years, maybe decades—or until I give you the first few babies—before he will believe I can make you happy.” He sobered.
“Amore,
I promise I will spend every hour of every day making sure I achieve that mission in life.”

“What, giving me babies?”

He drew his brows together, replaying his words probably. Realization dawned. “No! I mean, of course I want us to have babies one day, but I meant my mission to make you happy.”

“Good, because having babies will be one of those details you’ll need to consult with me about.” Angelina hadn’t really thought about being a mother until she’d spent so much time with Marisol this spring. Nothing would please her more than to give Marc a house full of tiny D’Alessios.

Marc grinned. “Duly noted.” He pulled her face to his and pressed his lips against hers. She opened wider, allowing him to deepen the kiss.

When his hand trailed to her breast, she pushed him away.

Angelina cleared her throat before she could speak past the tears. She had some words to say, too. “Marc, being your true partner is all I’ve ever wanted.”

“Before any children, we’ll need to decide where we’ll live. We’d quickly outgrow your—.”

“Oh, Marc!” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “You said, ‘we’ll need to decide.’ You really have changed!”

His chuckle rumbled against her breasts. “I’m trying, pet. I can’t promise I’ll always think to consult with you before I act—I do have this tendency to make rash decisions—but something as important as where our
bambini
will be raised requires your input.”

“As long as we’re all under one roof, we’ll be where we belong.”

He nodded. “In the meantime, I look forward to a long honeymoon period in your house in Aspen Corners before we start making all of these babies. It’s the perfect place for newlyweds. Reminds me of Mrs. Milanesi’s.”

She smiled, brushing a lock of hair from his forehead. “What will you do about your business in Denver?”

“Brian runs the day-to-day stuff, and there’s plenty of wild areas to be found in your part of the state. We may even open a second branch of the store in Breckenridge. Or start a restaurant where you can attract guests from around the world to enjoy your fabulous cuisine. I have a need to…”

When he didn’t continue, she quirked her head. “To…?”

“You said you wanted us to be equal partners, but what will that mean to our Dom/sub relationship?”

“I didn’t say equal; I said
true
partners. There will be many times when we won’t be able to maintain an equal partnership. We’re both stubborn Italians, remember? And I would die if you didn’t take me in hand from time to time to assert your authority over me.”

He grinned. “Love to.”

Angelina held up her hand. “But that’s in the bedroom. Well, in whatever room we’re having sex or getting kinky in. But
I
will have control over my own career. I’ll probably need to have control over the household finances, too, because you truly have no business sense whatsoever.”

“They’re all yours.”

She smiled. “Thank you, Sir.”

He grew serious. “But when you submit to your Dom, you will behave and be a good girl.”

“Yes, Sir. Most of the time.” He swatted her butt. “Oh, you know you love it when I’m your naughty little brat.”

He acknowledged her statement with a grin. “No, pet. What I love is punishing your brattiness. With you, I’ve learned what it means to have the responsibility of a Dom, not just the kink and fun. So you’ve been warned.”

“Perhaps once a year, you’ll allow Mistress A to see to your needs, as well, Sir.”

His eyes smoldered, making her wonder if he hadn’t enjoyed that a little bit. She certainly had. Angelina giggled. Maybe she was a bit of a switch.

No, not really. Being the Top was more work than she wanted to do. She preferred to have him do all the planning and let her simply unclutter her mind—and feel.

As his wife and his submissive, she wanted nothing more than to devote herself to making this man happy. She bit the inside of her lip. “Sir, you’ve always been the perfect Dom—the heroic guardian angel—for me.”

Marc grew serious. “I’m nobody’s angel,
cara
.”

She leaned in closer. “Marc D’Alessio, you’ve been a heroic angel to many. Ask Damián if you don’t believe me. He told me once you were the reason he didn’t kill himself after Fallujah. You wouldn’t give up on him from that rooftop in Fallujah or that hospital in Germany or even the hospital in San Diego. You even called Adam out to Balboa when you thought you were losing him.”

He grew serious once more. “I’ve spent a lifetime playing the Dom—and the hero—but I’m not sure I ever succeeded. I know I did a lousy job of saving myself.”

“That’s because you needed me to save you, Marc. We saved each other.”

“Thank you for letting me be a part of your life,
tesoro mio
.”

Tears filled her eyes. “You’ve been my special avenging archangel and owned my heart from the moment you rescued me from Allen, even if it took me a while to recognize you without the mask.” She sobered. “Marc, life has no guarantees. We’ve both learned that the hard way. And lots of times we aren’t going to have a clue what to do or why something is happening. But we have guardian angels watching over us now—my papa and your brother.”

She stroked his cheek. “Don’t you ever forget that, Sir. But I’m even more blessed because I have my angel here in the flesh, too. As far as I’m concerned, you’re
somebody’s
angel, Marc—mine.”

Alla mia bellissima ragazza
—Italian for “to my very beautiful girl”

Bambino mio
—Italian for my boy;
bambini
for children

Bebé
—Spanish for baby

Cara
—Italian for dear

Cover
—military term for head covering or hat

Cuor mio
—Italian for my heart

Desert Digitals
—a description of the desert Marine uniform used by older Marines (also see MARPAT)

Devil Dog
—term for a Marine

Dio
—Italian for God

DM
—Dungeon Monitor (volunteer usually at a play party or club who ensures the safety of those in scenes/activities)

Grunt
—term for a Marine

Had My/Your Six
—has our back; watching out for you

Head
—bathroom (Navy jargon)

IED
—improvised explosive device (homemade explosives, often detonated by vehicles on roadsides in Iraq and Afghanistan)

In-Country
—term used by military personnel to describe being in the country of deployment

Lido
—Lidocaine, a topical ointment used as a numbing agent for stings, cuts, or burns

Maman
—French for mama (Savannah’s mother and Savannah herself are referred to as maman)

Mamma
—Italian for mama (used only in places where Marc is actually speaking Italian)

MARPAT
—stands for Marine Pattern, a more recent term for the Marine uniform (also see desert digitals)

Merda
—Italian for shit

Mi muñequita
—Spanish for my little doll

Mio angelo
—Italian for my angel (
il mio angelo
in third person)

Mio Dio
—Italian for my God

PsychO/Psycho
—Navy jargon for a psychologist (Psych Officer)

Rack
—bed (Marine term)

RACK
—Risk Aware Consensual Kink. This is a BDSM scene that is negotiated ahead of time and doesn’t need to adhere to the standard of Safe, Sane, and Consensual (SSC). Most still have a safeword, unless the participants have a high level of play experience and trust built.

RPG
—Rocked-propelled grenade

SAR
—Search and Rescue

Scusami
—Italian for I’m sorry

SERE Course
—an intense training program teaching Marine and Navy personnel the tactics for survival, evasion, resistance, and escape

Sí
—Italian for yes

SNAFU (snafu)
—Situation Normal, All Fucked Up

Spazzolami i capelli
—Italian for brush my hair

SSC
—Safe, Sane, and Consensual kink scenes with a safeword that doesn’t carry the level of risk some edgeplay does.

Tesoro mio
—Italian for my treasure

Twentynine Stumps
—a derogatory term used by Marines who served or trained at the base in Twentynine Palms, Calif.

Kallypso Masters writes emotional, realistic Romance novels with dominant males (for the most part) and the women who can bring them to their knees. She also has brought many readers to their knees—having them experience the stories right along with her characters in the Rescue Me series. Kally knows that Happily Ever After takes maintenance, so her couples don’t solve all their problems and disappear at “the end” of their Romance, but will continue to work on real problems in their relationships in later books in the series.

Kally has been writing full-time since May 2011, having quit her “day job” the month before.
Masters at Arms
was her debut novel (published in August 2011), followed by
Nobody’s Angel
,
Nobody’s Hero
,
Nobody’s Perfect
and
Somebody’s Angel
. Next she looks forward to writing the long-awaited book of Luke,
Nobody’s Dream
.

Kally lives in rural Kentucky and has been married for 30 years to the man who provided her own Happily Ever After. They have two adult children, one adorable grandson, and a rescued dog and cat.

Kally enjoys meeting readers at national romance-novel conventions, book signings, and informal gatherings (restaurants, airports, bookstores, wherever!), as well as in online groups (including Facebook’s “The Rescue Me Series Open Discussion” secret group—send a friend request to the Karla Montague link below on Facebook to join; she also visits the Fetlife “Rescue Me! Series Discussion Group” regularly) and in live online chats. She hopes to meet you in her future travels! If you meet her face to face, be sure to ask for a Kally’s friend button!

To contact or interact with Kally,

go to Facebook (
facebook.com/kallypsomasters
),

her Facebook Author page (
facebook.com/KallypsoMastersAuthorPage
),

or Twitter (
@kallypsomasters
).

To join the secret Facebook group Rescue Me Series Open Discussion, please send a friend request to Karla Montague (
facebook.com/karla.montague.1
) and she will open the door for you. Must be 18 or older to join.

Keep up with news on her
Ahh, Kallypso…the stories you tell
blog at
KallypsoMasters.blogspot.com

Or on her Web site (
KallypsoMasters.com
).

You can sign up for her newsletter (e-mailed monthly) at her Web site or blog, e-mail her at
[email protected]
, or write to her at

Kallypso Masters

PO Box 206122

Louisville, KY 40250