An excerpt from BESIEGE...
Finally, the most
special Wednesday of the entire year arrived. I jumped out of bed with extra
spring and took an extra long shower, humming to myself about my boyfriend
being back, hey la, hey la. I dressed carefully then drove to base a whole hour
before they were scheduled to arrive. They checked my license at the visitor
center, handed me a pink slip and let me drive through the gate with a knowing
smile.
I stood at the
designated waiting area with the others. Our excitement was a living, breathing
thing, so palpable, you could almost reach out and touch it. We looked at each
other—wives, girlfriends, family, and friends—with unconcealed excitement
bursting all over our faces. Some people had created welcome signs, others held
balloons and flowers in their hands.
I only had the hopeful heart pinned prominently
on my sleeve.
Everybody cheered
when the bus appeared from around the corner. We cheered when it drove into the
parking lot, and we cheered when it pulled up in front of us, but we were
deathly silent when the bus hissed to a stop, as if shushing us.
We all held our
collective breaths when the door opened, and I swear, it must have taken five
minutes for the first person to step down off that bus, but when he did, a
woman squealed from somewhere within the crowd. My eyes remained glued to the
bus door as airman after airman stepped down. My heart lurched in my chest
every time those tan boots came into view; I thought I’d pass out after about
the tenth guy who wasn’t Henry.
Then he appeared
and, for a few moments, I forgot how to breathe.
Henry stepped
from the bus and cast his gaze around. From across the sea of people, our eyes
met and his sullen face broke out into a smile that lit up his entire face. I honestly
don’t know how I managed to walk towards him when all of my brain cells were
all currently fried, but all at once I found myself standing in front of him.
He was within touching distance but I suddenly couldn’t figure out what to do
with myself.
“Oh, Els.” He
bent down and buried his face in my neck, holding me tight for a long, wordless
while.
I couldn’t stop
the tears if I tried. Feeling him in my arms again felt like surfacing from a
deep ocean and finally taking a breath. I pulled away and held his face in my
hands, enjoying the sight of him. He was thinner, the skin under his eyes a
little darker, but his blue eyes carried the same intensity as before.
“Will you just
come here?” he said with a grin and pulled me to him, our lips mashing together
in six months worth of pent-up frustration. When we finally pulled away to
breathe, he pressed his forehead to mine and said in that husky, gravelly
voice, “God, I’ve missed you.” His thumbs wiped away the tears on my cheeks and
he kissed me again.
“I missed you
too,” I said and hugged him to me.
We walked back to
my car hand in hand. He walked around to throw his stuff in the trunk but when
I went to open the driver door, he was suddenly behind me, boxing me in with
his arms. He pressed his erection into my back and whispered against my ear, “I
can’t wait to be inside you again.”
I was instantly
wet, ready to jump on him then and there, but he was in uniform and we were
surrounded by people.
“Get a room,” one
airman called as he walked by.
“Shut up,
Jackson.” Henry said with a tight smile
My face flushed
as I dodged out from under his arms. “To be continued,” I told him and got into
the driver seat before I did something I would later regret.
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BESIEGE, second in the DISARM Series is coming soon!