Free A Candle for a Marine (Always a Marine) by Heather Long Page B

want to spend the time on it, but the fire burning him inside didn’t need to spread to the rest of the building. Refusing to let go of her hand, he followed her around the table. She found her purse, and he braced it with his free hand while she fished out her keys. Outside, he locked the door.
    First time he regretted not having driven to the center, and apparently neither had she. Eyeing her flats, he grinned. “Want to run?”
    Another laugh bubbled up. “I’m sorry?”
    “Yeah, I don’t want a leisurely stroll.” He turned his back to her. “Hop on.”
    “Isaac!”
    Bumping into her, he bent enough to help catch her thighs as she climbed onto his back. Despite her luscious curves and heavenly body, she’d never weighed much. He teased her with an oomph sound anyway and got a smack for his troubles. She tickled his ear with her lips and a breathy whisper. “You realize people will see us.”
    That gave him pause. “Do you care?”
    Her arms tightened around his shoulders and she kissed him behind his ear. “No.”
    Pure masculine delight unfolded within him. If being seen bothered her, he’d put her down, but he liked it better that she didn’t care. He wanted their neighbors and friends to see them striding down the darkened sidewalk. He wanted everyone to know. The night carried a biting chill after the relatively mild days the city experienced since he’d come home. He barely felt any of it; her warmth blanketing him kept the fires stoked.
    “I’m not too heavy?” Self-conscious worry layered the question and the little catch of self-doubt teased him.
    “Hardly.” He wasn’t about to compare to her an eighty-pound rucksack, but if he could handle that in searing temperatures and no sleep, without any promise of warm, pliable Zehava at the end—yeah, comparatively, clearing two blocks carrying her was a cakewalk.
    His ground-eating pace brought them within sight of her house in no time and fortunately— despite the celebration of the evening—no one was out to slow them down. Up the walk to her porch, he had to swallow a groan when she slid down, her hands lingering on his shoulders.
    Turning, he wrapped an arm around her waist, dragged her up against his chest, and indulged in another long, soul-searing kiss. When he came up for air, they both breathed raggedly.
    Uncertainty slid across her features. “Are we making a mistake?”
    Pushing past the painful shiv poking into him, he traced her cheek with a finger. “We’ve made a lot of mistakes, both of us. I think the bigger mistake would be ignoring what we feel. I don’t want to do that again.”
    She dragged her teeth over her lower lip, and he braced for the rejection. They were going fast by most expectations, and too damn slow by his. He’d had eight years to get over her, eight years marked by a deep longing, and he refused to waste any more time.
    “Isaac?”
    Here it comes . Swallowing once, he made a firm promise to respect her decision, no matter how much fire burned in his blood. He would take the time to prove to her she could trust him again. Saying no tonight didn’t mean no forever. “Z?” It came out huskier than he intended, and every muscle in him coiled tight.
    “I love you.” The unexpected, sweet declaration relaxed him in a way nothing else could have. She was still his.
     
    The admission startled her both in its intensity and content, although once the words slipped past her lips she didn’t regret them. Didn’t want to, either. Isaac closed the space between them and branded her with another kiss, as gentle as it was demanding. He coaxed her mouth open and delved his tongue in with a sensual invasion. Clinging to him was the most natural thing in the world and, when he showed no sign of releasing her, she nipped his lip. They had all night and she’d rather play in bed than neck on the porch.
    A deep, masculine chuckle vibrated her chest. “I’ve missed you, Z.”
    Slowly backing away, she fumbled with