Page 52 of Her Marine
“I’m surprised you’ve taken this much time off. You usually just let your leave accumulate and lose whatever you can’t roll over.”
Killian shrugged. “I thought I’d switch it up a bit.”
“How many days will you roll over at the beginning of the year?”
Killian thought about it for a moment. “This year, including the weeks I’ll take off for Christmas, I’ll have used about eight weeks. So, I’ll roll over nine weeks. That doesn’t include the special accrual that took effect because of Covid, but I doubt I’ll ever use all of those.”
Slate stopped the glass he was bringing to his lips and raised a brow. “Are you saying you worked enough in hostile and imminent danger areas over the past couple of years to earn sixty SLA days on top of your usual leave?”
Killian just stared at his cousin, taking a drink from his glass. Slate knew that he couldn’t and wouldn’t answer him. But he had worked enough to accrue special leave, and since he only usually took three weeks off during the year, the others rolled over. So, Killian typically started each year with one hundred and six days of leave.
When Killian was quiet for several minutes, Slate changed the subject. Though he knew his cousin knew the answer. He was a retired Seal, and his assignments had been just as classified as Killian’s.
They talked about a car Slate was restoring until their food came, and the conversation switched to an auction Slate planned on going to at the beginning of the year. It was one of the largest in the area and was only held twice a year. Killian knew Slate had gotten great deals on a few of the cars he’d restored and sold.
Slate paid when they finished breakfast, and they went back to the car. Killian decided he would hang out with him the rest of the day. He knew that Journee was having lunch with Kaydence and then dinner with her sisters. So, he’d give her time to spend with them and call her later that evening.
13
Journee followed behind the host with Kaydence as they were led to a table in a bistro they enjoyed frequenting together. She’d texted her friend the night before, asking if she’d like to have lunch together the following day. Since Journee would be having dinner with her sisters and grandmother later that evening, she figured she’d make a day out of it.
She was still slightly sore from the delicious treatment Killian had given her body over the weekend. Journee had enjoyed every minute of it. Much like she enjoyed any intimacy between them, however, this weekend left her feeling in ways she didn’t want to think about, and she’d decided to take her mind off of it.
“How was dinner with your parents last night?” Journee questioned once the host left them.
“It was good. You know I’m such a Daddy’s girl, and I missed seeing their faces in person.”
Journee was well aware that Kaydence was a Daddy’s girl. When it came to Courtney and Ian, Journee considered herself one, and they weren’t even her parents. They treated Journee and her sisters like their own. Stepping in to help their grandmother after their parents were killed in a car accident when Journee and Kaydence were in junior high.
She’d just entered her first year of junior high, meeting Kaydence on that first day, and the two hit it off. During the second semester, Journee lost her parents, and she began to shut everything out aside from taking care of her sisters and trying to make things easier on her grandmother.
Kaydence was the only friend that hadn’t gotten fed up with her withdrawing into herself and pretty much remaining silent. The other woman hadn’t been bothered. She’d still walk to classes with Journee, talking enough for the both of them. She continued to sit with her during lunch, sometimes talking and other times just sitting and allowing Journee to be in her silence.
Even as young as they were, Journee realized that Kaydence was showing her real friendship, and the two had been inseparable since.
“I have to make sure I see them before they leave. Maybe I can talk Courtney into making me a strawberry-filled cheesecake,” Journee responded.
Her friend raised a questioning brow at her. “You know I can make those too, right? Besides, I’m thinking of having Thanksgiving at my house this year. So, you’ll see them there.”
“I know, but there’s just something about Courtney’s that makes it a little better than yours,” Journee countered with a smirk, which caused Kaydence to nod in agreement and laugh. “It’s been a couple of years since they were here for a holiday, so that’s a good idea,” she tacked on.
Their waiter came over and introduced themselves, taking their drink order. When he asked if they needed a minute to review the menu, neither woman felt the need—at this point, knowing the menu from memory.
“So, how are things with Killian?” Kaydence asked.
At the question, Journee traveled back to the previous two days. Images of them flashing through her mind caused her to shift in her seat before squeezing her thighs together. It was as if she could physically feel him at that moment. His touch, lips, di...a light pinch to her hand caused her to jump as she jolted from her thoughts.
“Come back to reality,” Kaydence told her with an amused smirk.
Journee felt heat rising to her cheeks that she knew wouldn’t be visible as a blush. She was a little embarrassed that she’d gotten distracted that quickly thinking about their weekend.
“KD, I…I don’t even know what to say. He’s so… I’ve never dated someone like him before. He’s so dominant without having to say a thing, but considerate and attentive. Not to mention he had my ass on bed rest all yesterday.”
Journee had only gotten out of bed yesterday to soak in the bathtub, use the bathroom, and shower again that night after he’d ravaged her again. Other than that, she’d been in bed with him, watching movies and talking between them being intimate.
“Say what?” Kaydence questioned. “He laid it down like that? And you know they say real dominance is felt, not heard.”
“And then some,” Journee groaned and placed her face in her hands. “It was beyond anything I’d ever experienced, but I feel so…easy.”
