Chapter 32

INDIE

She allowed Seth to lead her to Sarah’s bedroom, realizing once again how large he was.

He looked uncomfortable as he sat down on the dainty dresser stool. the legs were so finely carved that Indie wasn’t sure if it would hold his weight.

She sat on the bench at the end of the bed. The white spindles of the four-poster bed were intricately carved vines, matching the rest of the feminine-looking furniture.

Though Sarah was tall, she was slight, and her sanctuary reflected that fineness.

“It was our grandmother’s bedroom suite before she married Nonno~. ~Sarah always loved it, and when we turned sixteen, Nonna gave her the suite with a stern warning.”

“Which was?” Indie asked, curiosity getting the better of her, just needing to hear his raspy voice.

“I wasn’t to jump on her bed. At that point, I weighed three times more than I did as a four-year-old, and would do some serious damage.”

He traced the vine pattern along the edge of the dresser. “There was one thing I often wondered about this bed, though…”

He glanced up at Indie, his green eyes giving a familiar glint, sending a shiver down her spine and telling her more than his words could.

Her heart stopped and restarted at triple the normal pace, her nipples hardened, and she felt her intimate parts swell.

“Seth…” His name was a sigh on her lips. In the next breath, he left his seat on the stool and knelt between her legs, his hands clenched on her waist as he pulled her closer.

She fisted her hands into his hair, relishing the silky strands between her fingers as they looked at each other. And then he kissed her.

The kiss was hard and hungry, trying to make up for the time they had spent apart.

She moaned at the ferocious invasion of his tongue, her body relaxing in preparation for the same invasion of his erection, and her eyes fluttered shut.

His answering groan vibrated into her and she gasped in relief when he pulled her to the edge of the bench.

She widened her legs to allow him to fit the ridge of his hardness to her yearning womanhood.

He cupped her buttocks and she thrust her hips upward. His fingers bit into her flesh as he fought for control.

“Indie…,” he groaned, his mouth blazing a trail of hungry kisses down her neck as he rocked against her.

She mewled softly as she wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him tighter against her.

He growled, slipping his hands under her sweater, his body shuddering when he touched her bare skin. “Fuck.”

She opened her eyes at his hiss and he reluctantly drew back, both of them breathing hard as he slowly pulled a hand from beneath her clothes to reach for his phone in the back pocket of his jeans.

He frowned as he activated it, leaning his forehead against hers.

“Wh—”

“~Talk~,” Indie could hear Sarah hiss at him. “~And ~not~ on my bed~.”

The call was cut and Indie started giggling as she read the mutiny in his expression, reminded of the same look on Amelia’s face.

“I guess the sister has spoken,” he muttered as he got to his feet, the action making them both moan as it caused more friction between their sensitized joining.

He settled her properly on the bench before placing a lingering kiss on her lips and moving to stand at the window.

She took a deep breath as she straightened her clothes, her sensitive breasts throbbing against the soft material of her bra, her body still pounding in rhythm to the erratic beating of her heart.

She watched his broad shoulders lift as he took a fortifying breath, his hands buried deep in the back pockets of his jeans.

“I’m not sure where to start, Indie.” His voice was soft, but the raspy whispers were powerful enough to reignite her body’s throbbing.

“Why don’t you start with what you were going to tell me the other night when we were interrupted?”

He dropped his head against the window frame, and Indie could see the pain from his profile.

She went to him and put her arms around his waist, laying her head against his shoulder as she hugged him from behind.

He clasped his fingers with hers and joined their hands on his stomach, his thumb caressing hers.

She heard his steady heartbeat against her cheek, the rhythm strong and without hesitation.

Unconsciously, he started rubbing the ring finger on her left hand. “Okay.”

SETH

^AGED TWENTY^

~Olathe, Kansas~

“What happened, Sarah?” His voice was hoarse with unshed tears, his body tense with the emotions he was trying to control.

After his outburst in Afghanistan, he had gone quiet, barely speaking unless it was to respond to one of his superior officers.

Burnsley hadn’t left his side since reading the letter, making sure that he was accompanied on the flight back to the States.

Sarah had been on the tarmac when he landed at McConnell Airforce Base with his truck. He had allowed her to hold onto him tightly, her tears silently running down her cheeks.

He had not been able to cry, sleep, or eat since Burnsley told him the day before, the double tragedy of losing Tia and then Ranya depleting him of all emotion.

Sarah’s tears touched him, but they couldn’t remove the numbness that had filled him. She had refused to give him the keys.

Instead, she had walked with purpose to the left of the truck, and he allowed himself a small smile. She was in ~older sister mode~.

She didn’t answer his question, not when he had asked it, nor on the two-and-a-half-hour drive between Wichita and Olathe, nor when they pulled up in front of their mother’s house.

She gripped the steering wheel tightly before wiping her eyes and opening the door.

“I’ll take you to get the answers after you’ve showered.” She climbed out of the truck but stood at the open door. “I’m sorry, Sethford. If I had known what she—”

Before she could finish the sentence, he had rounded the hood and pulled her into his arms, absorbing her heartache.

The sobs wracking her body made him shudder in response, and she clung to him, seeking his comfort.

He caught her against him, lifting her by her knees when they no longer supported her weight. He carried her to her bed and lay down with her, stroking her hair till she fell asleep.

With gentle movements, he extricated himself and fetched his duffel bag from his truck.

Seth climbed the stairs, his steps slowing as he reached the top, his feet nearly dragging by the time he reached his room, his body heavy with the emotions he was carrying.

Beneath the warm shower, Seth found the release he needed and cried like he hadn’t done since he was ten years old.

When he was able to gain some control, he shut off the shower and dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt before going back to his room.

The large framed photo of him and Ranya hanging between the two windows was like a magnet, drawing his gaze.

It had taken great effort for him to ignore it when he had put his bag down, but it was not allowing him to do the same now.

He swallowed back the new flow of tears, but they fell anyway when he picked up the pink stuffed rabbit Sarah had bought Ranya, the toy still smelling of his baby’s soft scent.

He sank to his knees next to his bed as his exhausted body crumbled, his body a tight ball of grief when his mother found him an hour later.