Collateral Damage

“Great,” he mumbled. “Can’t wait to see what kind of greeting I get tomorrow.”

“Well at least this time I’ve got a ring on my finger,” Ace said, wriggling the fingers of her left hand to show off her engagement ring. She’d worn it on a chain around her neck while she was overseas.

“Yeah, so that’ll get me one cheek slapped instead of two, I guess,” he muttered.

Ace chuckled and wound her arms around his waist, leaning her head on his shoulder. “You just stay close to me. I’ll protect you from the crazy blue-haired psycho in my family.”

Just then Liam’s broad-shouldered silhouette appeared in the archway leading to the lobby and a wide smile broke over Honor’s face. Her heart sped up and her body began to tingle as she watched him move. On him that custom-made suit should be illegal. The man was raw, alpha sex appeal, and he was all hers.

Watching her, Erin chuckled. “I’d say if anyone’s going to have trouble keeping their hands to themselves through the ceremony, Honor, it’s you.”

Honor shrugged good-naturedly and gri

Just look at him, she thought.

Maya punched her gently in the shoulder. “We’ll leave you guys alone for a couple minutes. Better get your groping in now, chica, before the ceremony starts.”

Erin waggled her brows in encouragement and looped her arm through Wade’s as the others strolled onto the lawn to take their seats and Ace went to help Devon with her veil.

Pulling off his shades as he approached, Liam’s gaze traveled over the length of her body, igniting sparks of heat wherever it touched her. He paused at her breasts and bare legs before zeroing in on the heels. “You are so damn hot,” he said as he reached her.

“Thanks. That suit makes me want to do bad things to you.”

He gri

“Filthy,” she whispered, biting her lip.

Liam’s hands closed around her hips and he tugged her close, bending his head until his mouth brushed her ear. “I can’t wait to get you alone later,” he murmured, the warmth of his breath raising goose bumps across her skin.

“Quickie in your truck before the ceremony?” she suggested, leaning up to tease his mouth with hers. The man did insane things to her libido. They’d had sex last night after he’d arrived in town and again this morning before they’d gone to the VA hospital to visit Blinski and his wife. The Night Stalker was recovering from his fourteenth surgery and his wife was sticking to his side, supportive and loyal and determined to make their marriage last. Honor loved the woman for it.

After a busy morning topped off with the drive to Leavenworth, it felt like forever since she’d had her hands all over Liam. She couldn’t wait to find herself pi

Her growing arousal must have shown in her eyes because he let out a half-growl that vibrated throughout her entire body. “I wish, but there’s no time. And just to warn you, there’s nothing quick about what’s go

“All right you two, don’t make me go hunt down a crowbar to pry you guys apart,” Ace called from the doorway of the room where Devon was waiting. “Go tell everyone to take their seats.”

Liam gave her a long, slow kiss before raising his head, his eyes twinkling as he slid his shades back on. “That means we’re one step closer to getting to the hotel.”

She sat between him and Maya right behind Devon’s family, with Erin and Wade on Liam’s other side and Ryan next to Maya. Everyone watched Cam come down the aisle with Jackson a few paces behind. Both men wore their dress blues, the left sides of their chests bedecked with ribbons and medals they’d earned over the course of their service.

The music started up and the little flower girl and ring bearer came down. Ace came next, looking like a runway model as she glided her way to the altar, casting Ryan a sultry smile on the way by. Then Devon appeared at the top of the aisle on her brother’s arm, and Honor felt her throat tighten. Her friend looked radiant in her flowing white gown, and when Honor glanced over at Cam, there was indeed a sheen of tears in his eyes as he watched his bride walk toward him.

Honor pressed her lips together. A feminine hand appeared before her face, holding a tissue. She took it and smiled her thanks to Erin, then leaned into Liam’s side and he tucked her against him. The vows Cam and Devon exchanged struck a powerful chord deep inside her.

For better and for worse, through sickness and in health.

Simple phrases, but they were the keystones of the kind of commitment it took to make a marriage work. Every single one of her friends here today had overcome tragedies with their partners, and all of them had come out the other side stronger for it.

Most people here probably knew Dev and Cam’s story, but maybe not to the same degree that Honor and her Bagram buddies did. When she looked at Cam and Dev, she saw two people who had been willing to fight and nearly die for one another while stranded behind enemy lines.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

She fully understood that Bible passage now, because she had lived it. She and Liam had gone through their own version of hell and were now stronger than ever because of it.

So when Cam leaned in to kiss his new bride, the tears in Honor’s eyes overflowed. She felt Liam shake slightly against her and knew he was laughing at her, but she didn’t care. Weddings always did this to her. They were a celebration of life and love and hope.

Everyone cheered and whistled as the kiss went on…and on. When Cam finally let Devon up for air, he laced his fingers through hers and walked her back up the aisle. Honor and Liam filed out after them with the other guests. But after they’d gone through the receiving line with everyone else, Liam pulled her aside instead of going to the reception room.

“Take a walk with me?” he asked.

Now? She glanced at the reception room, figured they had a little while before anyone would miss them. Maybe he’d changed his mind about the quickie. “Sure.” With her arm laced through his she let him lead her back across the lawn, then right, to a path that led down toward the river. “Where are we going?”

“Not far.” He shot her a cocky grin. “I did a little recon earlier while you were hugging it out with your pals.”

She followed him down the path to a small deck built on a secluded spot overlooking the river. “Wow.”

“Yeah.” He stood at the deck’s railing with his hands in his pockets, gazing out at the water as it rushed and swirled around the large boulders, the opposite bank filled with deciduous trees ablaze with bursts of vivid scarlet, persimmon and gold.

She eyed him. There was no way she was having sex here out in the open, so it had to be something else. “So…what’s going on?”

When he turned to face her he pulled his hands free of his pockets and she caught a glimpse of pale blue in his hand. Her gaze zeroed in on the ring he held between his fingertips. The same aquamarine she’d given back to him before.

Stu

He nodded. “I carried it with me on every mission I flew, like a good luck charm. I wasn’t ready to let it go, and now I know it’s because I was meant to give it back to you one day.”

Honor’s hands went to her mouth as he dropped to one knee before her, his gaze locked with hers. “I love you, and always will. When I go to Bagram this time, I want to know this is back in its rightful place.” He paused, gazing up at her with such sincerity her heart turned over. “Marry me when I get home, Honor.”