Free Marine Under the Mistletoe (Always a Marine) by Heather Long Page B

objections. Swallowing around the lump in her throat, she rubbed her cheek to his chest. Tears swam across her vision and she blinked rapidly to keep them from falling. “Why this time? You’ve had leave before, surely—where did you go, if not home? Why did you decide you needed to come home now?”
    “I was tired and I think I needed to remind myself of what I was fighting for. Most of the leaves I took, I stayed close to base or headed somewhere to fish with the guys. I didn’t think anyone here could really understand—I disconnected from the life I had, to live the life I needed to live.” He cradled her closer and she slid a leg over the top of his. “This time, I got the e-mail from Mom and knew I wanted to be home. So I had the time, I got the approval, and here I am.”
    “I have an idea.” She eased from his embrace and sat, wanting to see his face. He turned his head, keeping one hand on the small of her back. “You need to spend time with your family and your friends tonight, at the circle, celebrating Yule and dancing, and laughing—all the things you would have done.”
    “Not liking where you’re going with this unless you plan to be there, too.”
    “I do, but—” She stared at him until he halted his objection. “But you’re focusing on me. I’m easy—but I want to know it’s me you’re focusing on and not the fact that I’m not them . Does that make sense?”
    “In a vaguely insulting way, yes.” Irritation deepened his grumble, but he sighed.
    “I’m not going to disappear. But we’re in this bubble—you and I. It’s intense and, yeah, I want to see where it goes. I’d like to kiss you all night long—again—but naked this time.” Bold and brassy as she sounded, her face flushed until she must resemble a tomato. “But I want it to be because that’s where we both want to be and not because either of us is hiding.”
    “Are you hiding, Rowan?” Something shifted in his manner, his gaze, seemed to sharpen, become almost predatory. Something told her he sized up her objections, her ideas, and he was the type of man to come up with a plan. Her practical side worried, but the rest of her—that deep feminine part he made purr sat up and took notice. If she ran…
    …he would chase.
    “Maybe. I don’t usually disappear for hours at a time with a man I’ve just met.”
    His fingers flexed against her jacket. “Only me.” It wasn’t a question or a request.
    “Yes, sir, Sergeant Grumpy. Only you. So—do we have a deal?”
    “I’ll dance, I’ll chant, I’ll go to the circle and celebrate with my family and our friends.” The emphasis wasn’t lost on her. “And then after—it’s you and me.”
    Stomach flip-flopping, Rowan agreed. “You and me.”
     
    The woman tempted him like no other and strained his patience to the breaking point. Since their lazy walk back from the lake side, she’d been around , but kept her distance. He thought he could coax her into at least a nap, since she’d been awake all night, but she diverted right into the kitchen to break up her cracker crack for the feast later that day and smacked his hand when he tried to snitch a piece.
    “You keep scowling like that, your face is going to freeze.” Jensen leaned next to him, mirroring his posture.
    Sparing the little man a half-smile, Kaiden shook his head. “Aren’t you supposed to be fixing the damage to the rec room?” He’d heard his mother corralling the children earlier after discovering that they’d turned the big game room in the basement into an unmitigated disaster for “Nerf War” while most of the adults slept off their all-night vigil.
    “I didn’t actually make the mess.” Jensen shrugged. “I fell asleep on the sofa. That was the other guys.”
    “And you’re not helping your cousins or your friends? Not cool, man. Not cool.” Kaiden shook his head in disappointment.
    “But I didn’t do it. Why should I have to help?”
    “Doesn’t matter. You have