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JADE DROVE TO HER HOUSE, Micah behind her in his SUV. She kept glancing back at him in her rear-view mirror, scarcely able to believe the day’s events. Excitement and joy and anxiety all taking turns in her heart.
When they arrived, she opened her garage and helped Micah carry the crystal-laden boxes to a table in the back where she did all her off-season work. Cleaning the minerals, preparing them for jewelry or shows. The boxes they brought in covered the table, overflowed on to the floor.
She stood there a minute when they were done, staring, her hand over her mouth.
She unlocked the door to her house and opened it wide so he could follow her in. He stopped in the doorway and looked around. One half of his mouth tipped up in a small, sexy smile.
“What?” she asked, looking around, trying to see her space as he would see it. Besides the usual living room stuff, she had rocks or crystals on every surface. Shelves of them hanging on the wall. Bowls and vases of them. Giant standing cathedrals of amethyst crystals.
She looked back to him, curious.
He just shrugged his massive shoulders. “It suits you.”
She went into the kitchen and got a glass, leaving him to follow her more slowly. She filled it with water and turned to him, sipping. “Can I get you a drink or anything?” she asked him as he ducked under the kitchen door frame.
Hands in his pockets, he shook his head no.
Great. She was trying to be cordial, to converse, to take things slow, but he was making it hard to do anything but drag him straight to her bedroom.
But then, why wait? She loved him, he loved her, and that was just the best thing ever. Mentally, her clothes were already off, anyway.
She put her glass down on the counter with a clink and then took the long way looking up at him. He’d been busy looking around, or pretending too, but he was staring back at her now.
“Catch,” she murmured, and then took a jogging step toward him.
He caught her, lifted her up, and settled her against him with his arms around her in one muscle-y move.
She grinned, and she kissed him, putting all her yearning, all her desire, all her love into it.
He kissed her back just the same, backing through the door frame into the living room.
“Bedroom?” he asked, and she pointed to the door. Would he even fit on her bed? Did she care?
While they made love, Micah’s hands never stopped moving, never stopped stroking, as if he was drinking her in through his fingertips, through his palms. His fingers brushed over her hair, down the side of her face, across her lips, only moving on when his lips took their place. And then down her neck, across her collarbone, over her nipple. Caresses, alternating between featherlight and hard as he moved down her body, touching everything within his considerable reach.
She could finally believe their reunion was real. She’d missed his touch, but she’d missed his comfort and his singing and his bashful smiles, too. She wouldn’t let Micah go again, didn’t want to go back to her life without him in it. He was her heart. And the way he held her, kissed her, stared into her eyes... she knew he was his too. Finally, she knew. He’d come after her, he wouldn’t let her go. Their reunion was complete and being with him soothed a raw place within her that had been hurting since the mountain. It was a relief of body and soul.
Afterward, she was lying on her back, trying to catch her breath and calm her heartbeat. It was so strange how just a few hours could change things. She had gemstones to sell to pay for her mother to go to a good home. The crystals were so top-notch, that she might even have money left over for herself. And Micah was here, beside her, and he loved her, too. From completely crushed to whole heart again, all because her Big Man had come after her.
She reached down and grabbed his hand, gave it a squeeze as she smiled at him. “You’re amazing.” And she meant it in every way possible.
Her big strong guy with an ooey-gooey heart. The most down-to-earth person she’d met that still believed in mystical stuff. Who was mystical. He was her diamond in the rough. Her Elemental Warrior.
He brushed the hair from her cheek, eyes glowing with gold. He didn’t say anything, but this time he didn’t have to. She knew he wanted her, cherished her. Loved her.
She leaned over and gave his lips a kiss. Not a let’s-get-our-clothes-off kiss, but just a... my-heart-is-yours kiss. And he returned it.
She smiled at him as she pulled away and sat up, but he grabbed her hand.
“Jade...”
She stopped, her smile slipping. His face was so serious.
“Yes, Micah?”
He dropped his eyes but kept her hand. “It would mean a lot to me if you could spend some time with me at the base. I’d like you to get to know the others, and maybe spend some time between my shifts with me.”
Jade studied his face. His facial expressions were often impassive, but she was learning to read him better. He was excited, hopeful. Fearful. And that was just amazing.
There was no other way she could reply.
She squeezed his hand. “Of course. But I still have to care for my mother and work. So I hope you’ll spend some time here with me, too.”
He was going to say yes, of course he was. But even confident of that fact, she wasn’t immune to the nerves low in her belly that he must’ve had to conquer too. It was a big step, to merge their two lives.
He didn’t answer with words, but his smile was the only answer she needed. His smiles were more precious to her than all the gemstones in the world.
She’d spread herself out over him, grabbed his face and was kissing it all over when his phone rang.
She moved to the side so he could reach his pants and answer it.
“Micah,” he answered.
There was a low rumble of conversation on the other side, but nothing she could make out. She bit her lip.
“Going good,” he said, and cleared his throat, a bit of red darkening the brown skin on his cheekbones. Was he blushing? Why?
But then his eyes widened with alarm, and her heart dropped.
“Is everything okay?”
His relief was palpable at whatever was said on the other end of the line. “Okay,” he said, and then repeated. “Yes, sir.” He disconnected with a smile creeping across his face.
“What is it?”
“That was Walker. Levi’s new baby has just been born. He and Brooke would like us to come visit.”
“Us?”
“Us,” he said with another small grin. “They specifically requested you come.”
She didn’t know Brooke, didn’t know Levi other than what she’d learned from her short visit to base before. Why did they want her there?
“These people... they are the closest thing I have to family, but I’ve been shutting them all out for years. I want to get to know them, and I want them to get to know you.” Micah held out a hand. “Will you come?”
He was utterly serious about her going, and about the people at base being his family. She’d already committed to blending their lives, she just didn’t realize it would happen so soon. But there really was only one answer.
She smiled at him and saw the tension leech from his shoulders. “Absolutely.”