Page 59 of Embattled Return

Logan moved carefully, but she didn’t seem to need that, the wetness from her release almost pulling him in. He rocked forward, pushing his hips as tight to her as he could, before withdrawing, then gliding deep again. Mari huffed out a breath each time he rocked into her, then began to moan and twist beneath him. Reaching down, he gripped her hips in his hands, trying to get them the tiniest bit closer as his release slammed into him.

Mari cried out with him, their bodies moving together like they’d always been lovers. Logan lost track of everything as the fire consumed him and flung him from the edge of a glorious cliff. With a final focus, he made sure Mari went with him, and they tumbled together.

It took them several long minutes to recover their breath and control of their bodies. Logan forced himself to roll away and do a slow walk to the bathroom to dispose of the condom. When he returned, Mari was on her side, watching as he neared her. And even though he’d just had her, he knew he could go again in a little while.

Marigold flung the sheets back for him to climb in, stayed long enough to give him a kiss, then slipped out of the bed. “I’ll be back. I need a shower,” she laughed.

Logan watched her pretty ass disappear into the bathroom, then let himself sink into the mattress. He stared at the ceiling, remembering the pleasure. He felt something hard beneath his hip. Oh, yeah, the dildo. He set it on the nightstand with a grin. They would have to do that again.

Marigold was seriously messing with his no commitment mandate. Hell, it had pretty much gone out the proverbial window. She was winding him around her little finger. And he didn’t think he minded.

Two weeks ago he’d been almost ready to put a bullet in his brain, but the thought left him cold, now. So many things had changed. He had family now, quite an extensive one, and the beginnings of a relationship that he hadn’t expected. There was a group of men nearby that had been through the exact same things he had, so theyknewwhat he was dealing with, and they didn’t hesitate to offer their support.

It was a paradox, though, because as happy as he was, his guilt had also increased. Miller would never be with his family again or love a woman again. Logan didn’t understand why he’d been the one given the chance to live on.

Early next week, he needed to go see Miller’s mom. She deserved it and he’d put if off long enough. If he could get some kind of resolution with Lisa and Ashley, he would feel like he could move on, maybe. There was no way he would ever completely move on, but maybe he could start to take the steps. Maybe he wouldn’t feel guilty living life if he could settle Miller’s loss in his mind.

John Palmer deserved a huge thanks, as well. Feeling motivated, he reached for his cell phone and typed out a message. Then he turned on his side to wait for Mari to come back to bed.

17

When John rolled into the kitchen with a broad, shit-eating grin on his face, Shannon couldn’t help but be leery. “What’d you do?”

John stopped his chair beside her, looking affronted. “Why would you think I did anything bad? Maybe I did something good? Maybe I’m helping my community.”

Shannon gave him a look and handed him a dripping dish. Snatching the dishtowel from the cupboard rack, he started to dry it. “I didn’t do anything bad. Really. I might have sent in a few recruiter cards. With a few names I knew.”

Turning, she pinned him with a look. “What do you mean, recruiter cards?”

“You know those postcards that you get at the library and stuff. ‘If you would like information on Joining the US Air Force, drop this card in any mailbox’.”

He grinned, looking so satisfied she had to laugh at him. “And whose names did you give them?”

“Oh, just Chad and Zeke. Maybe Duncan. I thought Flynn might be interested too. Diego and Grif I combined into one name because I ran out of cards, but they’ll get a nice big information packet at the Vail office.”

Snorting, she went back to washing dishes. “You’re incorrigible.”

“Hey, you have to keep things lively, and the guys connected. Gives us something to talk about in our chat group.”

That damn chat. Right about nine o’clock it seemed like the LNF men started to get bored, because the chat notifications began to ring. More than once she’d told him to turn down the volume because she was trying to get the boys to settle down.

It was going on ten and the kids were well asleep. She’d wanted to finish the last few dishes from dinner, then she was heading to bed. It seemed like she was jet-lagging, bad. “I’m heading to bed early,” she told him firmly. “Can you let the dog out and make sure she has food? Give her one of those treat bones she likes, too.”

John rubbed the small of her back. “I can do that. I can do this, too, babe. Go ahead and go to bed. I’m probably still up for a while. I’m working on a trigger replacement for Harper. I told him we’d go shooting Sunday.”

Shannon nodded. The far side of the garage had been converted to a small gunsmithing area, John’s version of a man-cave. They’d mounted a big heater in the corner of the space so that he didn’t freeze, and he was modifying the area as he went along. With a fridge and TV out there, he could stay for hours and not even notice the time passing. There was also a monitor so that he could hear the kids if they roused.

“Don’t work too late,” she cautioned him.

“It’s Friday night. I’m allowed to play a little later,” he laughed.

John would go out there and even though he worked with most of the idiots he chatted with, they would be snickering like school boys over memes and videos into the wee hours, sometimes. Shannon never said anything about it because she knew they loved the connectedness of it.

Leaning in, she dropped a kiss to his lips. “I love you, sexy.”

“I love you, too, babe,” he said, cupping her face.

His phone dinged with an incoming message as she drew back.

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