Loved by a Soldier: A Military Romance Collection Read online

I’m startled awake from the bed shaking. I look over to see a pained expression on Remy’s face. He’s shaking and sweating as he tosses and turns in bed. I glance over at the clock to see it’s seven-thirty in the morning. I don’t know what to do. Should I try to wake him or let him ride this out and see if he wakes himself? He jerks awake in bed next to me, panting with beads of sweat running down his face. “Are you okay, love?” I ask cautiously.

  When he looks over to me, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. It seems that’s the moment he realizes that he’s safe. He still has said nothing, and I’m trying to give him a moment to compose himself. “I need to shower. Will you come with me?”

  “Of course.” I slip out of bed to start the water.

  He comes into the bathroom a minute later, and he’s already looking way better. The color in his face is back. He looks calm.

  “Want to talk about it?”

  He shakes his head. My brows shoot up in a questioning look. “Not yet, it’s Christmas morning. I had plans to wake you in a much nicer way, but my stupid nightmare ruined it,” he says with frustration.

  “Hey, you need to cut yourself some slack. You’ve been through a lot. Let’s shower, and I’ll take your mind off those nasty nightmares of yours.”

  I see the hint of a smile before he says, “Be right back.” He runs off out of the bathroom and returns a minute later with a small bag. He pulls out bottles of men’s body wash and shampoo. He slips into the shower and I climb in behind him. Squirting some of his soap in my hands, I rub them together creating a lather that I then gently rub all over his body, paying special attention to his semi-hard cock. He groans deep in the back of his throat. His eyes close, and his head goes back as I continue to work him up, stroking him slowly with my hand, but I want to taste him. I make quick work of rinsing him off before I kneel in the shower. Wasting no time, I wrap my lips around his now fully-erect cock. He sucks in a quick breath as I begin working him, taking him deeper each time.

  “Fuck me, you have an amazing mouth.” He wraps his fingers into my damp hair. He tugs on it lightly and starts moving his hips, fucking my mouth. I’m taking him deep, the tip of his cock touching the back of my throat. “I’m going to fucking come.” He pauses so I can swallow down all he’s giving me.

  He grabs me by the arms and pulls me to my feet, pressing my back against the wall. His mouth crashes down on mine bruising my lips. His hands are back in my hair, and he uses it to pull my head to the side, giving him better access. Trailing kisses down my neck, he’s a bit rough, but damn, it feels good. His day-old scruff is chafing my skin. He glides his hand up my body, grabbing my breast. His movements are needy and demanding. I pour all my feelings into this, letting him know that I’m here for him and I love him. Our eyes meet and so do our mouths. He lifts me, pressing my back against the wall of the shower. He spreads the globes of my ass, squeezing them as he slips inside of me. I press my forehead to his and roll my hips as I hold onto him.

  “My God, love, you feel so good,” I pant as he moves his hips, thrusting his cock deep inside of me. I love the way he makes me feel; we’re so connected. He picks up the pace, hitting all the right spots. “I’m going to come,” I tell him as an orgasm tears through me. He buries himself balls deep one last time, and empties all he has inside of me. I gasp. He didn’t use a condom. He slips out of me, placing my feet on the floor of the shower. I close my eyes and look to the floor. I’m on the pill, but I’ve never done that before. I’ve never had sex with a man without a condom.

  He suddenly realizes what’s happened. “I’m so sorry, sweet pea. I don’t know what came over me.” I look up to see he’s panicking as he runs his hand through his hair.

  “I’m on the pill, but I’ve never done that before. I’ve always told my partner to use a condom, even Daniel after two years of seeing each other.” A small smile spreads across my face. “But, I have to admit, that felt really nice.” I turn shy all of a sudden, looking at the floor.

  He gently lifts my chin and looks into my eyes. “It felt amazing.” His voice is full of emotion. “Everything with you feels so amazing. I get lost when I’m kissing and touching you.” He presses a kiss to my lips. “I promise you, that was the absolute first time I’ve ever gone without one, and I’ll be honest, I liked it.” I’m practically glowing with excitement. I thought he would be mad and his mood would turn again. “Let’s wash up,” he says, “We need to get to your aunt’s house, so I can meet your family.”

  This time, he grabs my shampoo. He washes and conditions my hair before washing his own. We both quickly wash our bodies, flirting and bumping one another as we move around in the shower.

  I finally make my way to the kitchen, where I find Remy has coffee made and is now making us some breakfast. He looks far too big for my small kitchen. Leaning against the wall at the entrance, I watch him move around the room with grace and efficiency. He really knows how to cook and take care of himself. It’s such a turn on. Daniel was so needy all the time, and I’m not talking about sexual needs. Those are different. The guy couldn’t boil water. He tried following a cookbook once and still screwed the entire meal up. We ended up going out for dinner, and he left me with a mess. I vowed to never let him cook in my kitchen again.

  Remy turns to me with a huge grin on his face. “What are you thinking about?” he asks.

  “Just how happy I am that you can manage a kitchen without blowing it up.” I smirk at him.

  “You’ve never seen a man cook?” he asks.

  I shake my head. “Not like you. My ex burned everything and would leave me with a mess. The man couldn’t boil water.”

  He laughs. “I’m no top chef, but I can hold my own.” He takes my hand and pulls me to the table. “Take a seat.” He pulls my chair out for me.

  He places a cup of coffee and a plate with two eggs, bacon, and toast in front of me.

  “This looks delicious, love.”

  He kisses the top of my head. “You’re welcome. Dig in, mine will be ready in a minute.”

  I sip my coffee while I wait for him, so we can eat together. “Do you have an ex?” I ask, realizing he’s never spoken of one.

  “Not a recent ex. I dated in high school, but left for the Army right after graduation. My high school sweetheart and I tried the long distance thing, but I was a bit more committed than she was.”

  My brows furrow. “What do you mean?”

  He sits across from me with his coffee and plate. “Well, Keaton, the king of players up until recently, found my then girl having sex in the back of my friend’s SUV at the drive-in,” he tells me, pausing for a minute as he thinks back. “Told me he saw his truck and went to say hello, and when he saw what was happening, he snuck away without saying a word. He wrote me a letter the next day. I broke it off with her over the phone as soon as we were able to make calls.”

  “I’m sorry,” I tell him. No man training to serve our country deserves that.

  “I’m not. I had a feeling she had already been cheating on me. Keaton just helped me realize I was right and that it was time to move on. She tried sobbing into the phone, telling me how sorry she was and that she’d never do it again, but I didn’t believe her. I knew she would. She wasn’t in love with me, but with the idea of being with the ‘hometown hero,’” he says, using his fingers to show imaginary quotation marks. “She loved to be in the spotlight, and I hate it. I was so much more relaxed when it was over. From that point on, I focused on my military career and where I wanted it to go.”

  “Good for you,” I say with pride. I use my toast to wipe my plate clean of my egg yolk. After I plop the last piece of toast into my mouth, I jump up to begin the process of cleaning up from breakfast. There isn’t a ton to do, so I get busy rinsing dishes and placing them into the dishwasher, while he finishes his coffee.

  “What time are we supposed to be at your aunt’s?” he questions.

  “Anytime we want. She’s not eating until later, so we can go over and visi
t for a little bit and leave before they eat or we can stay and have lunch with them. She serves it around three.”

  “Sweet pea, we can do whatever you want.” He glides his hand across my cheek and into my hair, pressing his lips to mine.

  “I’d like to stay for lunch and then take Nana home to get her settled for my aunt, so she can enjoy her time with her family.”

  “Then that is exactly what we will do.” He shows me his gorgeous smile.

  “Don’t you want to see your mama today?”

  His brows furrow. “We saw my family last night. Today is about you and your family.” I wrap my arms around his neck and whisper a thank you.

  We pull up to Aunt Kenderly’s house, a beautiful two-story home. The left side of the house is completely faced with stone and the right side is painted a gorgeous gray. Uncle Jasper has worked hard on his pristine landscaping.

  “Your aunt’s house is gorgeous,” Remy says, climbing out of the car to open my door. When we get to the front door, it opens and we are greeted by my uncle.

  “Kenzie,” he says with a huge smile. “I’m so glad you made it.”

  “Uncle Jasper, this is my boyfriend, Remy Bennett.” Remy holds out his and my uncle shakes it, narrowing his eyes at him. “Uncle Jasper, be nice.” I catch the look he’s giving Remy.

  “Oh, you know how your uncle is.” Aunt Kenderly steps around him to give me a hug. “Come on in, you two.” We follow her into the house, and when we get into the living room, she turns back to us. “Remy, it’s nice to finally meet you.”

  “It’s nice to meet you too, ma’am. Thank you for allowing me to be here with Kenzie today.”

  “It’s no problem at all. You know how it is down here. There’s always room for one more.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he says with a smile. I think he’s already won my aunt over, but my uncle still looks a bit leery.

  My cousin, Scarlett, comes running into the room. “Aunt Kenzie’s here!” she screams, wrapping her arms around my leg. She’s my cousin, but given I’m an adult they have her refer to me as an auntie. “Hey, sweet girl.” I pick her up. “Can you say hi to Remy?” I ask her. She waves and buries her face in my neck. “She’s a tad shy,” I explain to Remy, who smiles at the blonde beauty in my arms. Scarlett is the youngest of the kids.

  “Hi, Kenzie,” my cousin, Susannah, says, taking her daughter from me.

  “How are you, Susannah?”

  “I’m well.” She takes Scarlett back into the playroom leaving Remy and I to ourselves.

  “I’m sorry,” I whisper. “Out of us three cousins, we’re the two who aren’t very close. Come on.” I walk over to Nana with Remy in tow. “Hey, Nana, how are you feeling today?”

  “Like an old lady.” She winks at me.

  “Nana, I’d like to introduce you to my boyfriend, Remy.”

  Remy shakes her frail hand. “It’s very nice to meet you, ma’am.”

  Nana smiles. “He’s cute.” She winks at me, and I swear I blush fifty shades of red.

  Remy rewards her with a mega smile. “Why thank you, ma’am.”

  “Polite too.” Nana turns to me and adds, “I like this one. You can marry him.” Oh my Lord, could this get any more embarrassing? I can’t even look at him anymore.

  Remy bursts into laughter. “Give us some time, okay?” He winks at her. We are saved by my cousin.

  “Did I hear my cousin Kenzie’s voice?” Calvin asks as he wraps his arms around me, squeezing me tight.

  “Hey, Calvin,” I give him a brief hug then continue with introductions. “This is my boyfriend, Remy.”

  Calvin sticks out his hand. “Good to meet you, man.”

  “Same here,” Remy says with a smile. We walk into the kitchen, and I see Annabel sitting at the table helping my aunt with dinner.

  “Hi, Aunt Kenzie,” Annabel says, waving.

  “Hi, sweetie. Merry Christmas.” I plant a kiss on the top of her head. “Auntie has gifts for you guys.”

  “Yay,” she starts cheering as her hands are full of dough.

  “You can open them after lunch,” my aunt says, making her sad. “Oh, don’t pout, we’ll be eating shortly.”

  After Uncle Jasper spent the last hour or so moping around, we’re finally sitting down to dinner, and he’s been really quiet. “So, Remy,” his voice stern. “I want you to know that I consider Kenzie a daughter.”

  “I understand, sir.” He looks my uncle dead in the eyes.

  “She has been through a lot with this ex of hers, and I don’t take kindly to men hurting my family,” my uncle says, looking angry.

  “Well, then I guess it’s good for me that I have no intentions of hurting her. I love her and want to do nothing but make her happy.” He is handling this so well, and to be honest, I didn’t warn him because I didn’t see this coming. They continue on back and forth discussing his career and his plans to retire in the near future. He’s unsure what he wants to do when he gets out, but he’s working on figuring that out.

  Susannah is none too happy with the conversation revolving around me and my boyfriend, so she acts as though we don’t exist and talks with my aunt while I talk with Scarlett, Annabel, and Everett.

  While Calvin and his wife, Julia, jump in on the conversation with Remy and my uncle, I watch as my uncle finally starts to relax a bit. Calvin is Uncle Jasper and Aunt Kenderly’s oldest child, and Annabel and Everett are their kids. Everett is nine, Annabel is seven, and then Scarlett, who is Susannah’s daughter, is five. Susannah’s husband couldn’t make it because of work. He’s a doctor, and because he got Thanksgiving off, he had to work Christmas. I adore my family, but I wish Susannah wouldn’t be such a snob. Then again, I guess there’s one in every family. Calvin is a lawyer, and he and his wife live a couple hours’ drive away, and Susannah and her husband live in DC. Despite Susannah’s snobby behavior, I’m trying to make the best of this for Aunt Kenderly. She doesn’t get to see her family often.

  I excuse myself from the table to begin clearing my plate and cleaning up the kitchen. I know Susannah wouldn’t dare get her hands dirty. She has a nanny to take care of that stuff for her. Plus, I don’t want to be here all night. I want to give my nieces and nephew their gifts, and then head home to enjoy a nice night with Remy. He’s going to have to go back to work soon, and so will I.

  “You don’t have to do that.” Aunt Kenderly comes up behind me with more dishes.

  “I want to. You do so much for everyone, and I don’t want you to clean up by yourself.” I wink at her.

  When I get back into the dining room to grab more dishes, I find my nana on Remy’s arm walking back toward the living room. I smile and wink at him. He rewards me with a warm smile. I collect the dishes that are left and go back to cleaning up. It doesn’t take my aunt and me long and when I’m finally done, I go to the living room to play Santa and hand out gifts.

  I start with Scarlett, since she’s the youngest, and then hand Annabel and Everett a gift each. They all begin ripping them apart, and Scarlett cheers with excitement over her baby doll. She is so excited she can feed it and change its diaper. Annabel loves to draw and color so she got a huge Crayola set, and Everett got a Nerf gun and a ton of bullets. They are all so happy, and seeing the joy on their faces brings a smile to mine.

  Scarlet swings her doll up in the air and says, “Mommy, can we open it?” She’s so cute as she dances around the room full of excitement.

  “Sure, because once you get home you’ll only toss it aside to play with the American Girl doll Daddy got you.” Susannah gives me a snobby smile. I want nothing more than to punch her in the face.

  Scarlet comes back over and says, “I named her Jesse, and she’s going to sleep with me tonight.”

  “That’s great, sweetie.”

  Calvin tells the kids to say thank you, so they all come running and tackle me. Thankfully, I was sitting on the floor so I didn’t go too far, but I end up lying on my back with all three kids climbing on me, and hugging
and kissing me. I’m giggling at their silliness when Susannah says, “Scarlet, mind your dress, young lady.”

  “Leave her alone and stop being so snobby,” Uncle Jasper says as we continue to play. “I don’t know what has gotten into you, but you’re no longer the good girl I raised. DC has changed you.” He shakes his head in disgust as I’m sitting up with a grin on my face.

  “You’re all very welcome! I hope you enjoy your gifts.” They each take their toy and run off to the playroom, leaving us adults to ourselves. I see my nana nodding off in the chair, so I turn to Remy and say, “I think it’s time we get going.” I use my chin to point toward Nana.

  “If you say so. You’re in charge.” He helps me off the floor.

  “I’ll grab her coat,” my aunt says, getting up from the couch. Remy balances Nana as she stands up from the chair and helps her slip into her jacket so we can take her home.

  Nana taps him on the cheek and says, “You’re a good boy. You be sure to take good care of my granddaughter.”

  “I will, ma’am,” he gives her a soft smile.

  I say goodnight to my family, and we walk out the door with Nana holding on to Remy, so he can help her into the car. I realize while watching him that I just fell in love with him even more.

  Chapter 23

  Kenzie

  It’s been a couple of days since Remy’s been back, and I’m a bit worried about him. During the day, he seems fine. He’s been physically cleared by his doctor, so we’ve gone back to starting our morning off with a run, but the nighttime is a struggle for him and I’m not sure how to bring it up. He’s been staying at my place, and has had a nightmare every night since he’s been home. He won’t talk about them. He just keeps telling me he needs time. I know he’s pushing me away, because he doesn’t want to face them, and I’m trying to give him the time he needs, but it’s so hard to watch the man I love struggle.

  One thing he seems to truly enjoy is spending time at Nana’s with me, so today we’re going to her house to spend the day with her. Nana has taken a real liking to him, and I think it’s sweet.