He hoists the bag on his back with a grin. “Got it,” Liam puffs up. He stands with sheer determination across his face. Then, he bows down and lifts me into his arms.
“What are you doing?” I ask practically yelling.
“You said to stay off your feet. So, you’re staying off your feet.” He somehow manages to shrug while holding me.
“Liam!” I laugh but wrap my arms around his neck. “I could get used to this, but you know if we make it through this, I’ll just get bigger.”
“I’ll make sure I keep hitting the gym,” he smiles.
He walks with me to the car and frowns when he sees I brought my car.
“Oh, stop it. I hate driving your car.”
“When is our flight?” he asks opening the door.
“We should head to the airport now. I tried to space it in case you were late, but I think we should get there sooner than later,” I explain getting in my seat and he nods. “Why?”
“I wanted to see Aara if we had time.”
I don’t think he could be any more perfect. My heart swells, and I lean up as he fusses over me and grab his face. He looks at me with wonder and then I pull him close. Our lips touch and his hand threads in my hair. I’m whole again. No matter what happens from here, we’ll save each other. If I lose this baby, if his mother passes, if the world around us collapses, we’ll make it.
My mouth opens and Liam’s tongue clashes with mine. He licks and pushes me back into my seat. I let him take the lead as I hold his lips against mine. I want to kiss him forever, but we have to go. I push him back, but when his blue eyes hone in on me, I pull him to me again.
Liam smiles against my mouth and gives me a small peck. “You’re so cute when you want me.”
“I’ve missed your smart ass,” I laugh and he kisses me once more before closing the door.
We head to the airport and the sweet mood of reunion morphs into the fear of what we’re heading to. During the drive, I explain to Liam the information I have and he calls his father while we wait for the plane to board. Liam slips into his mask but keeps his hands on me in some way. His hands never leave my skin other than when he has no choice.
Early in the flight to Cincinnati, Liam and I talk briefly about what he’s missed with Aaron and Aarabelle.
“Are you going to tell me why no one could get in touch with you?” I ask. It’s been driving me insane, but I wasn’t sure whether to bring it up.
“It was a clusterfuck.” He looks away.
“Is that all I get?” I ask softly. There’s a line between significant other and SEAL. He and I have to establish it and this is one of those defining moments. It’s not a matter of trust and I know this. It’s a matter of protection.
Aaron wouldn’t tell me much other than it was no day at the beach. I knew that was his way of saying the discussion was over. Only once did he ever go in depth about a mission, and it was when they lost their three friends. He came home and lost it. I held him in my arms as he sobbed. That funeral was the most horrific day. All three caskets draped in our nation’s colors. The tears flowed relentlessly through the entire ceremony.
“I wish I could tell you, but it’s a lot. There wasn’t one fucking thing that went right. Not one. It was as if there was someone sabotaging every move we made.” He runs his hands down his face. “I swear, Lee, I work with some really smart guys, but they were all dumb that day.”
I nod and hope he’ll go on.
“They forgot batteries, rounds, a clip, I mean either that or someone was swiping shit before we left. But then we’d get it straight and all set and then something would break. We got to this one area to do some intel and none of our radios would work. I couldn’t communicate with anyone. The guys were pinned down in one area of the village, and I stayed hidden until Quinn made visual. I figured the coast was clear, but it wasn’t. As soon as we figured out we were being trailed, we split off again. The radio wasn’t working, and I couldn’t risk using the sat phone.”
Liam grips my hand and looks away. His head rests against the seat as I wait.
“We’re lucky. It was straight luck that we were able to get out of that one, but we had to double back a different route to make sure nothing led us back to the rest of the team. There were hostiles watching our every move. I wasn’t able to get the intel we needed because of what a mess everything was. As soon as we got to a safer place, I got the message, and we high-tailed it home.”
“I was so worried.”
“I can imagine. But you’d have never known if this wasn’t happening.”
I let out a deep sigh and look down at our joined hands. “That doesn’t comfort me either. I know you’re at risk, but I’m pregnant again. I don’t want to raise two babies as a single mom.”