Page 85 of Stand Fast

“Okay, then. What doyouwant?”

“I…” She looked away, seemed almost shy as she answered. “I would love to marry you.”

Ah, sweetheart.He closed his eyes, pressed his cheek to the top of her head. “No take backs. You said that loud and clear.”

With a soft laugh she tipped her head back to kiss him. “I wouldn’t ever take it back.”

“Are you worried about what your family will think?”

“No. They don’t get to decide who I marry.”

His heart swelled. He loved her so damn much. “When do you want to do this?”

She frowned. “I don’t know.”

“You know the best thing about being a black sheep?”

She shook her head, a smile tugging at her sexy mouth. “What?”

“They do whatever the hell they want. So let’s elope.”

Her eyes widened again. “Elope?”

“As soon as I’m done with this deployment, I’ll meet you in London and we’ll elope.”

“Hmmm, I think I like the sound of that.” She traced a fingertip over his chin, tickling his beard. “You gonna shave this thing off for the ceremony?”

“If you say yes, I’ll shave any damn part of me you want.”

Her soft laugh twined around his heart and squeezed tight. “Then yes. Let’s run away and elope.”

Hell yeah.Zaid buried his hand in her hair and took her mouth in a hungry kiss.

Epilogue

Jaliya eased the hotel room door open and crept inside to set the tray down on the dresser. Closing the door quietly behind her, she tiptoed over to the bed and stood admiring the sight of the man in it.

Her husband of less than eighteen hours was sprawled out on his stomach in a puddle of early spring sunshine streaming through the window. The crisp white sheets lay low across his hips, exposing the long, muscular line of his back and the length of his powerful arms where he’d tucked them up beneath the pillow.

His dark hair was longer now than it had been the last time she’d seen him a few weeks ago in Kabul, and as promised his beard was gone, exposing the hard, strong line of his jaw. Her heart fluttered at the mere sight of him, and even though she wore his ring and remembered every heartfelt word he’d said to her during their vows, it was still hard to believe he was really hers. A small part of her felt guilty about not including their families, but eloping had been a lot less hassle and it suited their independent natures.

Things had moved fast between them, but there was no part of her that questioned her decision to marry him, and she had no regrets. He was loyal and strong and steadfast, and she was so damn proud to be his wife.

The weeks without him while she’d waited for him to finish up his deployment had dragged by, even though she’d been swamped and in the midst of applying for a transfer to D.C. She’d buried herself in work to keep busy, helping to unravel the network Nasar had created, including arresting Colonel Shah.

Nasar was still in the CIA facility awaiting trial, but word had trickled through the grapevine that his young son had received a transplant in Mexico and was doing well. David had told her Nasar had broken down and sobbed like a baby when he heard the news. Jaliya was glad he’d been informed about his little boy, and no matter what the courts decided when he finally went to trial, the harshest sentence of all would be to live the rest of his life without ever seeing him again. She was sure Nasar thought it was worth it, though.

Zaid’s breathing was deep and even, each rise and fall of his ribs shifting the muscles in his back.

And he’s all mine.

Setting one hip on the plush mattress, she woke him by gently running her fingers through his hair, adding pressure as she moved to his nape before dragging them down the length of his spine in the way she’d learned he loved. Zaid let out a sleepy, sexy rumble in response and opened his eyes.

The slow smile he gave her as he turned onto his side sent a wave of arousal through her. If frenzied sex with Zaid had been good back in that Kabul hotel room, lazy, sensual sex here where they had hours of uninterrupted privacy was unbelievable.

They’d already made love twice since the ceremony out in the gardens of this gorgeous hotel, and she was eager to do it again—but she didn’t want to spend their entire first day as husband and wife holed up in their room. Besides, the anticipation would only make it better later on when they finally made it back here.

“There’s my sexy bride,” he murmured, reaching for her hand and bringing it to his lips for a lingering kiss that made her heart beat faster.

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