Loved by a Soldier: A Military Romance Collection Read online

  “Joanne, I’m done with my lunch,” Nana calls from the kitchen.

  Emily looks at us, confused.

  “Joanne is my mom, her daughter. She confuses us now.”

  Emily nods and says, “I’m sorry. I know that can be hard too.”

  I thank her and run into the kitchen to find Nana trying to stand all by herself, “Nana, please wait for help,” I say, taking her elbow. “Where do you want to sit?” I ask her, but then Emily and Aunt Kenderly come into the kitchen.

  Aunt Kenderly takes her arm and says, “Mom, how about we go take a bath?”

  As they walk off toward the bathroom, my cell phone rings and I’m secretly hoping it’s Remy, but when I look, I see it’s my friend Jazzmine from Boston. “Hey, girl,” I say into the phone as I start cleaning up from lunch.

  “I miss you,” she whines.

  I laugh. “I miss you too.”

  “How are things going down there?”

  “I met someone,” I say with excitement.

  “No way! That’s great!” she screams into the phone. “Who is he? Tell me about him.”

  “Well, his name is Remy, and he’s a sweet southern boy. Born and raised here in Georgia, and he’s now stationed at the Army base for the next few years until he retires.”

  “I bet he’s all buff, huh?”

  “Yeah, I mean we’ve only gone on one date so it’s not like I’ve seen him naked or anything, but yeah, he’s pretty hot,” I say with a giggle.

  “What are you doing to enjoy your summer off?” I ask her. Jazzmine is a teacher at the school where I taught. We met on the day I began setting up my classroom, and we clicked. Her class was next door to mine, so we always had each other’s backs and would watch one another’s class if need be.

  “Oh, you know me. I’ve been hitting the beach and chilling with Marcus,” she says like it’s no big deal. Marcus was her boyfriend, but they decided they got along way better when they were friends instead of in a relationship.

  “Still just friends?” I ask her as I pull the chicken from the fridge.

  “Yeah, he drives me crazy, because when we’re friends he’s so easygoing and so much fun, but the second we try to make it more he turns into an ass.” I feel bad. She sounds so frustrated.

  “You’ll find someone, Jazz,” I try to comfort her.

  “I doubt it, not with school starting.”

  “I thought you said the teacher taking over my classroom was cute.”

  “He is, and I’m hoping he’s single because I can tell you I’d be on him for sure.” She suddenly starts to cheer up.

  “Listen, girl, I don’t mean to cut you short but I have a package of chicken in front of me that I need to get cooking for my nana’s dinner tomorrow. Can we catch up later?”

  “You got it. It was good to hear your voice,” she says. I can hear in her tone she genuinely misses me.

  “You too, Jazz, my offer still stands. You can take a school vacation to come stay with me for the week.”

  “We’ll make plans soon,” she says before saying goodbye and cutting the call. I get busy cooking the chicken, and a few minutes later, Nana comes walking out of the bathroom freshly bathed, with Aunt Kenderly on one side and Emily on the other. They’re all laughing about something and I don’t care what it is. I’m just happy I was able to calm everyone down so poor Emily didn’t end up fired.

  “It smells good in here.” Emily comes into the kitchen.

  “I cut up the chicken, breaded it, and I’m cooking it in a little coconut oil.”

  “Mmm, I love coconut oil, and it’s definitely good for you,” Emily says with a smile. She looks over her shoulder to make sure we’re alone and then says, “Thanks for your help today. I didn’t know what to do.”

  I smile at her. “No worries. Aunt Kenderly is really sweet as a peach but you need to realize her father has passed on, and so have her sister and brother-in-law. Nana and I are all she has left.”

  She gives me a sad nod. “I understand. I promise to try and keep that in mind as I work with her,” she says with a sympathetic smile.

  “Thank you.” I give her a warm smile to show my appreciation.

  “Great, now that we’re past that. Nana is resting in the living room and would like to play Go Fish. Are you in?”

  My smile grows. “Of course I’m in. Who can pass up a game of Go Fish?”

  My phone buzzes on the table. I check it and see a text from Remy.

  Remy: How’s Nana?

  I smile at the idea of him taking time out of his day to check on her.

  Kenzie: She’s well. We’re about to play Go Fish.

  Remy: Nice. Have fun and I’ll talk to you after work.

  Kenzie: ;-) Have a good rest of the day.

  Chapter 9

  Remy

  I’m picking up Kenzie for dinner. I took her on a picnic, but now I want to take her somewhere nice to eat. There’s a great little restaurant on the other side of town. It’s small, quiet, and the food is delicious. They serve everything you can think of. I’m hoping she really likes it. I did warn her this time so she wouldn’t be upset when we walk into Blake’s and she feels underdressed. I knock on her screen door, hearing her shout, “Come in.”

  I step inside and shout back, “It’s me,” ensuring she knows who it is.

  “I know it’s you. I saw your car from my window.” She saunters into the room. Lord have mercy, she looks beautiful. Her hair is down and curled with a few small pieces pinned out of her face. She’s wearing these pants that flow around her legs, making it look like she’s wearing a skirt. They’re black and end at her ankles. Her shirt is a beautiful shade of purple that makes her hazel eyes pop.

  Taking a step closer, I slip my hand into her hair at the nape of her neck and whisper, “You look beautiful.”

  She bites her lip, and looks down for just a second before looking into my eyes. “You’re looking pretty good yourself.”

  I press my lips to hers. Her mouth opens, and she licks my lips. I instantly open my mouth, and our tongues collide. The kiss turns heated. It kills me, but I break it to tell her we have to go. “We have reservations, and if we’re late they’ll give our table away,” I say with my forehead pressed to hers. I give her a small side smile and wiggle my brows. “However, if you’d like to continue this after dinner, I’m game.”

  She laughs. “Let’s go, big guy.”

  “Big guy, huh?” I question as we walk out the door.

  “Yeah, you’re a big guy. You know, you’ve got all these muscles.” She runs one hand down my arm and the other over my chest. “And I know from experience that this muscle down here is pretty big too.” She slips her hand down my hip and over my cock.

  I growl, taking her hand and pulling her down the porch to the car. If I stay here any longer I may lose complete control, and we won’t make it to dinner. She, of course, is laughing as we go.

  When I open the car door for her, she slips in and I close it, then run around to the other side of the car. We’re now running late. “That growl was quite sexy.”

  “So is that outfit you’re wearing, and if we don’t get a move on we’re not going to make dinner.” She giggles, crossing her legs, exposing more of her smooth, lean legs. I have to remind myself to stay focused on the road so we don’t crash.

  We pull up to the restaurant a short time later, and glancing down at the clock, I see we made it with about four minutes to spare. “Come on, before they give our table away.” I rush around to her side, open her door, and take her hand to help her out.

  We get inside, and I say to the woman, “A table for Remington Bennett, please.”

  She nods and says, “Right this way sir.” We follow the hostess to our table, hand-in-hand. When we arrive, I pull her seat out for her. She sits. Once I’ve taken my seat, the hostess says, “Cindy is your waitress tonight, and she’ll be right with you. Enjoy your dinner.” We both thank her before she walks away to greet more guests.

 
We both pick up our menus and begin looking them over. “Do you know what you’re having?” she asks me.

  “Yeah, it’s going to be messy, but I love the ribs here, so it’s ribs and fries for me.” I put my menu down. “What about you?”

  “I’m going to have the barbecue chicken with cauliflower and the baked potato.”

  She places her menu on top of mine, and as she does, the waitress comes over to take our drink order, but we tell her we’re ready with our food order as well. We both tell her what we want, and while I order water since I’m driving, Kenzie orders a glass of wine.

  “When do you start working at the school again?” I ask her, trying to keep the conversation light. I want to find out more about her family, and I’m hoping she’ll loosen up once she’s had some of her wine.

  “I have a key card so I can go into my classroom anytime to get it set up, but we got an email saying the janitors will be going through to put a heavy coat of polish on the floors so they’re nice and clean for the first day. I’m waiting until that’s done. No sense in moving my desks around for them to move them to the side again.”

  “True. What do you have to do to set up your class?”

  “Well, since I didn’t teach in this school last year, I have to bring all my supplies from home to set up my desk. I have to figure out what I want to put on all the bulletin boards and what posters to hang around the room. I saved some stuff from my old classroom, but some of it was old so I’ll replace it.”

  I smile at her as she talks about her classroom. She’s so animated as she tells me about some of the things she’s already ordered for her class, and some of the things she’s excited to teach this year. You can tell just from watching her she loves her job and is excited to get back to it.

  “I’m really excited that I convinced the principal to let me try out my idea for a genius hour.”

  “What’s that?”

  The waitress drops off our drinks and informs us she’ll be back with our food shortly.

  “Well, kids at this age need to start learning how to do research, so I’m going to give them a range of topics they can choose from. For example, the first week we do this it’ll be sports. They can research any player or a specific sport they’d like. They have to take notes on the player or sport and come up with a presentation for it. I’m going to teach them that week one is all about research and gathering notes. Week two is all about organizing your notes, figuring out what you want to use, and starting your presentation board. Week three is actually presenting, hopefully without staring at your board or notes.”

  “That’s a pretty cool idea.”

  “Thanks, the principal thought so too.”

  We both go quiet. There’s nothing I can tell her about my job or what I do. I handle such secret information, I’m even careful about telling people that I’m Military Intelligence when out in public.

  I notice she’s just about done with her first glass of wine, and since she’s in the mood to talk, I take a shot at learning more about her family. “Tell me about your family.” I lean forward, trying to show my interest.

  “There’s not much to tell.” She shrugs. “All I have left for a family is Aunt Kenderly, Uncle Jasper, their two kids, and Nana. My cousins moved away quite a few years ago so I hardly see them.”

  “Again, I’m sorry about your parents.” I reach across the table to take her hand in mine.

  “Thanks, I was young when I lost my dad, and it hurt. After he was gone, my mom and I became very close. When she died of cancer, it broke me. I was an adult and understood the pain I was feeling from the loss.”

  Our food is delivered. She looks up at the waitress. “Thanks. Can I get another glass of wine?”

  “Absolutely, I’ll be right back,” she says before leaving us with our dinner.

  We begin eating, and she finally says, “What made you join the military?”

  “I had the desire to serve my country from a young age. I didn’t really have anything happen to me that made me want to do it.” I pause as the waitress drops off her wine. She thanks her, and I continue. “It was just something I always wanted to do.” I wipe my hands. “I started looking into different job options when I was in middle school. Once I knew the direction I wanted to go in, I started figuring out what I had to do to get there.”

  “Was it hard leaving your family at a young age?”

  “At first. I’m one of the few people who truly enjoyed the challenge of boot camp. In my mind, it was step one in the direction of my goals. I think the hardest part was receiving letters from my mom. I could sense her fears, and I would instantly write back to let her know that I was fine, so I could try and ease her worry.”

  She nods, and we both continue eating so we can finish up. The waitress comes back over and says, “Can I get you anything else?”

  I look to Kenzie. “I’m all set, thank you,” she says.

  “Just the bill, then,” I tell her with a smile.

  She pulls the bill from her pocket, and I pull my credit card from my wallet, handing it right over to her so she can run it. She returns a minute later with the slip for me to sign, and she tells us to have a nice night. I quickly jot down her tip and sign the slip before taking Kenzie’s hand to walk back out to the car.

  We pull up to her house after a very quiet ride home. When I walk her to the door, she unlocks it. I’m a bit surprised when she turns to me and says, “Are you coming in?”

  “Sure, I can stay for a little bit.”

  She pulls me in and closes the door behind us. “Can I get you something to drink?”

  “Water’s fine.” I smile at her.

  She hands me the water and turns the TV to a music channel. We both take a seat on the couch, and I narrow my eyes at her. “Tell me three things about yourself that you think are important for me to know.”

  She smiles. “I like pink, I love to dance, and I fear spiders.”

  I laugh at her choice of three items, but a slow song comes on the TV, so I take her hand and pull her to her feet. I wrap my arms around her waist, and we start swaying to the music. I’m looking into her eyes, trying to see if she feels this date is going as well as I think it is. I think my question is answered when she goes up on her tippy toes, pressing her lips to mine. We stop swaying as the kiss deepens. Both my hands wrap around the side of her face to the nape of her neck, holding her to me. Our tongues are battling it out, and her hands are on my ass, pressing my cock against her. She backs me up and lowers me to the couch, sitting on top of me.

  She grinds against me as my fully-erect cock is pressing against the zipper of my khaki pants. My hands slip under her shirt, and she shivers as my fingers press against her bare skin. She begins trailing kisses to my ear, where she begins licking the outer rim before she takes my earlobe into her mouth, sucking and nibbling on it. Turning my head, I lick the vein in her neck, and she pulls away, arching her back as I lick down her chest to her cleavage. Looking up, I see nothing but pure pleasure on her face. Her head is back and her eyes are closed as my hands slowly slip up her body, removing her shirt to reveal a simple white lace bra. I continue licking down her cleavage, sucking and biting as I go.

  She rubs her pussy against me one last time before she slips down off my lap to the floor. She pulls my shirt up, kissing over my abs as she unbuttons my pants and slips my zipper down. Her hand slips into my pants and pulls my cock from my boxer briefs. Her warm fingers wrap around my cock, and she slowly begins stroking it. My head shoots back on the couch, my eyes closed. Suddenly, I feel her warm lips wrap around the tip of my cock. “Fuck, Kenzie.” I moan as my cock twitches in her mouth. “Damn, sweet pea, that feels fucking amazing.” My hips start to move in sync with her mouth. She’s taking me deeper and deeper each time.

  “Kenzie, you need to stop. I can’t hold on.” I moan, but it only encourages her. She sucks me harder and deeper into the back of her moist mouth.

  “Hope you’re ready,” I warn just as my seed sho
ots into her mouth. She keeps going, taking every last drop.

  I wrap my hands around her shoulders, picking her up and placing her under me on the couch. I press my lips to hers, tasting myself on her tongue. I break the kiss and press my forehead to hers. “That was unexpected, but absolutely amazing.” She gives me a proud smile as I slip my fingers into her elastic waistband, and I think to myself, Thank god she’s wearing pants with an elastic waist.

  Finding my way through her folds, I discover she’s incredibly wet for me as I roll my fingers over her clit. She whimpers and begins grinding her hips as I kiss her neck. Licking and kissing my way down her chest, I suck on her nipple through her bra, making her moan. I press my finger to her hardened nub, and when I glance up, I see her eyes are closed and she’s biting her lip.

  “Open those eyes for me, sweet pea. I want to watch you come.” Her eyes shoot open as her body begins to shake, so I continue pressing and rubbing my finger over her clit as she rides out her orgasm.

  She smiles up at me as I pull my hands from her pants and suck my fingers into my mouth. I close my eyes, savoring her sweetness. She giggles at my reaction, and it makes me laugh.

  “Can I see you next weekend?”

  “Sure, what do you have in mind?”

  “The county fair is next weekend. Are you game for walking around, maybe going on some rides and playing some games?”

  She smiles at me. “I love the county fair and have missed it. They have carnivals up north, but they are nowhere near as good as our county fair.”

  “Great.” I pull her up from the couch to sit next to me. “We’ll meet for our run, and then once we’re showered we’ll go.”

  “I’m excited.” She snuggles against me.

  I wrap my arm around her shoulder and kiss the top of her head. It’s getting late but I can’t manage to go just yet, so I’ll hold her for just a bit longer.

  Chapter 10

  Kenzie