Seal of Honor Page 5

  They turned on their sides until her back was spooned against his hard chest. She felt the tip of his cock at the entrance of her sex. He took her slowly, his hot breath against the back of her neck. Zack cupped her breasts, fondling the nipples and massaging the heavy globes as they made love.

  “Oh, Zack, I feel like I’m being bathed in heat,” she said and he thrust deeper into her wet sex.

  “Baby, I may die right here from all the pleasure you’re making me feel.” He nipped at the soft skin of her neck. “I’m going to come.”

  “Come with me,” she pleaded. She reached behind her and dug her fingers into the hard muscles of his thighs.

  Oh, God, if he can make me feel like this while I’m pregnant… She lost the thought as he picked up speed. Zack said her name achingly and she could hear the pleasure in his voice. Jordyn closed her eyes and let her orgasm wash over her with a soft cry. Zack followed with a harsh cry of her name. They were so connected, she didn’t know how that moment in time with him could get any more perfect.

  “I think that I should cut the Java Hut a check,” he said behind her.

  “Why?” Jordyn sighed when Zack kissed her shoulder. She had no problem with him kissing any part of her body like that for the rest of their lives.

  “Because, honey, it was their coffee that brought me to you and this point right now.” He rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom and came back and began to clean her up from the remnants of their love making. “I should pay them for a lifetime of coffee.”

  “You’re nuts.” Jordyn laughed. “And I love you for it.”

  He got back in bed. “Are you cold? Should I find the pajamas I packed for you?”

  She snuggled close. “You’ll keep me warm.”

  “It would be my pleasure.”

  Zack kissed her gently and ran his hands lightly over her shoulders and down her arms until the constant movement lulled her to sleep. The last thing she heard was him whisper I love you before sleep claimed her. It was the best feeling in the world after such an amazing night.

  Chapter Five

  “I can’t wear a blindfold forever, Zack. What are you up to?” she called from the patio.

  “Just a few more minutes,” he called back and then cursed.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Fine, honey, just don’t peek,” Zack said and cursed again.

  They’d arrived home after a blissful trip and romantic night away to packages for the nursery already piled up on the doorstep. Zack proceeded to move the boxes to his home gym until the nursery was ready for the furniture. Even paint had been delivered and she watched him while he painted the room pink and after lunch they put up the rainbow borders and unicorn pictures on the wall. She tried telling him that everything didn’t need to be done that day, but he kept working. Now he had her with a blindfold outside while he was doing God knows what and probably getting hurt in the process by the sound of his cursing.

  “Okay,” he panted. “You can take the blindfold off.”

  She whipped off the mask and looked around into the darkening evening and saw nothing. “What am I looking at?”

  He plugged in a cord he held in his hand to the outside electrical outlet. “Voila!”

  Jordyn laughed and clapped her hands as the three palm trees in front of his house lit up with multicolored Christmas lights. Zack had even managed to hang oversized ornaments somewhat precariously on the palm fronds.

  “So this is why you were cursing up a storm,” she said. “It’s beautiful. I love it.”

  “I couldn’t get a snow maker in time, so I did this instead,” Zack said. “I got plenty of scrapes and scratches up there. Let me tell you, palm trees suck for climbing.”

  “And you did it all for me.” Jordyn was moved at the gesture. It meant so much to know he’d do anything, even climbing a palm tree, to make her happy and to see her smile.

  “I’d do that and more for you.” He kissed her nose. “You know that.”

  “Then let me help you by fixing those boo-boos.” Jordyn held out her hand. “Help me up so we can go inside.”

  Zack pulled her out of her seat and into his arms for a lingering kiss before they went inside. He brought her the peroxide, cotton balls and nu-skin so she could tend to his wounds. Zack laughed each time she dabbed him with wound cleaner and blew on it to take away the sting.

  “There. All done, monkey man. No more climbing trees for you.” She pressed a kiss to his lips.

  “Hey, I still hurt in places,” he protested.

  Jordyn smiled. “Where?”

  “Here.” He pointed to his neck and she could see nothing, but she kissed the spot anyway.

  “And here.” He pointed to his chin and she kissed the area.

  “Don’t forget here,” Zack said and tapped his lips.

  She raised her finger. “Uh, I already did that one.”

  “Then do it again,” he said softly.

  The tingle of arousal ran through her as she leaned forward to kiss him again. He took over the kiss and Jordyn had no problem giving herself over to him. He could kiss better than any fantasy she could ever dream up.

  “Zack, you make me want you each and every time you kiss me,” she said on a sigh.

  “Then you can have me, baby,” he replied and sucked on the sensitive skin of her neck.

  “Can I rip your shirt off?” she asked.

  Zack gave a sexy chuckle. “It’s a thin T-shirt. Go ahead. Even better, I’ll get it started for you.”

  He grabbed the collar and gave it a tug and the material gave way beneath his strong grasp. He called her forward with the crook of his finger and Jordyn took over, ripping it the length of his lean chest and Zack let it fall away.

  “Bite me right here,” he growled and pointed to his chest. She followed his direction and bit him lightly before trailing her tongue down his torso just a bit to tease his nipple with her teeth. His breath hissed out between his teeth. “Bedroom, now.”

  A trail of clothes from the living room to the bedroom was left in their wake and by the time they were at the door both Zack and Jordyn were naked.

  He devoured her lips and penetrated her mouth with his tongue while his hand went straight between her legs, teasing the most sensitive part of her as they backed into the room. She felt the edge of the bed hit the back of her knees and knew this was the stopping point and sat down. He slipped his fingers between the sensitive folds of flesh and rubbed her clit with slow deliberate movements until her hips moved reflexively. She whimpered into his mouth and he slipped his fingers deep into her. She spread her legs wider to give him more access.

  “Oh, yes, make me come.” She tore her mouth away from his and threw her head back panting and moaning his name.

  “Damn, you feel so good,” he muttered.

  When she came, she held on to his shoulders and buried her face in his chest. “More,” he said harshly. Without hesitation, Zack bent between her legs and she felt his tongue tasting the remnants of her orgasm. He sucked at her swollen clit and used his fingers to bring her to the height of passion once more.

  “Take me,” she panted and got on her hands and knees on the bed.

  Jordyn felt him run the tip of his cock up and down the swollen lips of her sex before penetrating her doggy style in one smooth thrust. With his hands at her hips he fucked her slowly with tempered thrusts. Even in his need he had a care to her condition and kept the pace slow and easy. Need coiled a tightening band inside her, making her moan and ask for more. Zack reach forward and gently rolled her hard nipples between his fingers, making the pleasure almost unbearable. Jordyn felt herself slipping over into the abyss of passion and embraced it fully, crying out as it took her in warm waves of pure bliss until she was spent.

  “Jordyn.” He said her name almost reverently. Zack moaned and his hips picked up the pace before she felt his seed fill her. They lay pliant for a long time just basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking before they took a shower togethe
r in his huge shower stall. Jordyn was dressed in light cotton pajamas and Zack was in sweats when they went back outside to enjoy the lights he’d taken pains to put up for her. With hot chocolate and cookies in hand, they sat on the swing on the patio and enjoyed the night. A sense of Christmas filled her and she sighed as she leaned back against him.

  “Next year Marianne will be here and she can watch as you put the lights up again,” she said.

  “Oh, no, sweetheart, they are staying up there. Well, at least the lights. I’ll fish the ornaments down with the limb cutter,” Zack said.

  She laughed. “I wonder if she’ll be walking by Christmas next year.”

  “Watching her grow up will be a pleasure,” he said. “I even bought stuff to baby-proof the electrical sockets, cupboards and drawers and the sharp corners of the coffee table.”

  “You’re going to be the best daddy ever,” she said.

  His chest seemed to swell with pride. “Do you really think so?”

  Jordyn tipped her head up and kissed his chin. “Yes, I do.”

  “I can’t wait to meet her,” he said.

  “Me too.”

  When Jordyn said the words, the baby moved in her tummy as if to say she couldn’t wait to meet them either. She rubbed the spot and could see the outline of a tiny little foot. Soon there’d be a number three in their family and she could not wait to hold her baby in her arms.

  * * * *

  The days leading up to Christmas were filled with love and bliss for Jordyn and Zack. They finished up the nursery and put up the Christmas tree and even hung stockings from the gas-burning chimney. Each stocking had their name written on it in golden letters. The tree was real and it smelled of pine and cinnamon sticks and made Jordyn smile each time she inhaled.

  Zack really got into the Christmas spirit, playing Christmas music through the sound system and even decided to make a ham. He was excited as Marianne’s birth date was nearing. Jordyn was now moving slower, her back was aching constantly and Zack had read that using tennis balls to rub the lower back helped relieve the pressure. At her usual OBGYN visit, Dr. Patel told her she was two centimeters dilated and fully effaced and her cervix was thinning so the baby could come anytime. There had been no word from Sergei’s mobster mother, but that didn’t mean Zack wasn’t keeping his ears to the ground. His contacts told him they left the island a day after their confrontation. And in New York they had more to contend with, the FBI was sniffing at her door.

  He found out a couple days before Christmas that she’d been arrested after the agency had compiled enough evidence. People were coming forward against her. They were no longer willing to live with her threatening their livelihood. Even her bodyguards and close ties were turning on her; the Brighton Beach Dame’s reign was over.

  The information the doctor had given them worried Zack since Jordyn’s Braxton Hicks contractions were more frequent lately. He hated leaving her to go onto base for the usual operation briefings. Luckily, they were not scheduled for any away missions and only standard training applied to their SEAL team. They were in a well-deserved lull. The radio forecasted that for the next several days a messy weather system would be moving over the islands dumping rain and bringing high winds that could cause flooding. There would be no problems there since he and Mrs. Pond’s house sat on a hill. Yet he knew that getting to the hospital in bad weather could be difficult so he mapped out alternative routes just in case.

  It was Christmas Eve and the rain was pouring outside, which made the inside that much cozier. He’d turned on the gas furnace in the chimney and took the chill out of the house and dimmed the lights so the Christmas tree twinkled and glowed off the presents stacked underneath. For dinner, he’d made ham and mashed potatoes, little rolls and green bean casserole. He’d even made sweet potatoes with a brown sugar candy coating. When dinner was ready and the table set, he woke Jordyn but she wasn’t hungry and went back to sleep, which worried him.

  Zack left her alone knowing he could wake her up later and they could sit in front of the fire and eat while listening to the rain outside, then at midnight open the few gifts they had gotten for each other. Zack loved and marveled at the feelings he felt in his chest each time she walked into a room he was in or he felt the baby move in her belly. Maybe he was a sap, but then he wouldn’t give a damn who thought so. He’d fought in wars, killed people, saved them and watched others die. In his life, he’d seen so much cruelty and tragic twists of fate it could warp any man. From Sudan to Afghanistan, he’d seen it all. Having this woman with him, this amazing beauty, gave him something to live for. She saved him, saved his heart from shriveling in his chest. Jordyn was it, Marianne was it, and by God, he would cherish them both.

  “Zack.” Her voice from the hallway brought him out of his thoughts.

  “Honey, I would have woken you, but I wanted to let you rest. It’s eleven now.” Zack smiled, but when she didn’t smile in return he went to her. “What’s wrong?”

  “My water broke, I think,” she said and then moaned and held onto the door frame. “Oh, yeah, it broke. She’s coming.”

  “But New Year’s…but…” Zack said and took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s get you in the car and to the hospital.”

  She moaned. “Oh, I don’t think we’re going to make it to the hospital. I feel so much pressure down there and I have the urge to push. I think I may have been in labor for a few days.”

  “The book called it back labor, damn it. Damn, I should’ve remembered that!” Zack said. He could hear the panic in his own voice.

  “Oh, it hurts,” she whimpered.

  He lifted her up and took her back to the bedroom and laid her on the bed. “It’s okay, baby, it’s okay. I’m calling the ambulance and Dr. Patel.” Just as he snagged both of their phones off the bedside table, the lights flickered and went out. “Well, this is absolutely great.”

  “Contraction!” Jordyn gasped and began to pant. “I need to push.”

  “No, don’t do that, honey. Breathe, breathe.” He imitated the breathing pattern for her to follow as he dialed nine-one-one on his cell and pressed the speed dial button for Dr. Patel on hers. “Hello, we need an ambulance at seventeen forty-two Grove Lane. My wife is in labor.” He switched phones, putting her phone to his hear. “Dr. Patel, yes, Zack Hennessey here. Jordyn is in labor. She said she feels like pushing.” He switched phones again. “What do you mean no ambulance can get to us right now? A bad accident where?” His mind was spinning as he tried to listen to both phones at the same time now, one phone at each ear. “You want me to check her what?”

  “Zack, give me Dr. Patel. You deal with emergency services.” Jordyn plucked the phone from his hand. “Hello, Dr. Patel. Zack is on the phone trying to get an ambulance out here.”

  Zack focused on listening to the dispatcher. “How long before you can get us an ambulance out here? Jesus, half an hour may be way too long. I mean, she is ready to push!”

  His mind reeled. The pleasant thought of being in a nice hospital room, holding her hand while she was completely numbed and then feeding her ice chips and being an encouraging husband was flying out the window. Hell, it jumped and took the rope with it, leaving him stranded.

  “Fine, just hurry out here. My neighbor is a registered nurse. I’m going to go get her to help. Just fucking hurry!” Zack snapped. He threw the phone on the bed and looked at Jordyn. “What’s he saying?”

  “He said to check my dilation.” Jordyn began to pant again. “Here comes another one! Oh, God!”

  “I need to find a damn flashlight!” Zack ran off to the kitchen where he kept the LED lanterns under the sink all the while cursing the Oahu power company. He was back in minutes and helping her shimmy out of her undies. Put the phone on speaker so I can talk to the doctor. “What does it mean when you can almost see the top of the head with hair?”

  “It means the baby is coming now. She’s crowning.” Dr. Patel’s voice came through the phone loud and clear. “How long have
you been tired and your back aching, Jordyn?”

  “The last two days have been awful,” she admitted. Then cast a sorry, tear-filled look at Zack. “I didn’t want to worry you.”

  He was by her side instantly and kissed her. “Don’t cry, honey. But next time worry me, please worry me.”

  “Zack, is there anyone you can call to come over and help you, at least until the ambulance arrives?” Dr. Patel said.

  “My neighbor Mrs. Pond is a retired nurse. Will that do?” Zack asked.

  “She will be fine. Go get her and be quick about it. This child is not waiting,” Dr. Patel said.

  “Okay.” He kissed Jordyn. “I’ll be back in a flash, honey. Keep doing your breathing. I love you.”

  “I love you too. Oh, here’s another one. Hurry!” She began to pant in earnest and Zack almost said fuck it to running for Mrs. Pond. But if Jordyn or the baby had problems he wouldn’t know what to do, so with one last look in her direction he was rushing down the hall and out the front door to the pouring rain outside. His sneakers were soaked and muddy as he ran through Mrs. Pond’s pineapple grove and around the house to her front door. Zack continued banging until the old lady opened the door and a revolver was pointed at him.

  “Zack Hennessey, I could’ve shot you!” she yelled. “What the hell are you doing out in this storm?”

  “What the hell do you need a gun for?” he shouted in return.

  “For situations when crazed men come banging on my door,” she snapped. “Jesus Christ on a cracker, you almost got capped.”

  His mouth dropped open. “Who talks like that? Really, what have you been watching on TV? Do you even know how to shoot that thing?”

  “Mr. Pond made sure I was taught. Why are you here?” She put a hand on her hips.

  “Jordyn has been in labor for two days and we didn’t know. Her water broke earlier and the baby is ready to come out. Ambulances are tied up with a highway wreck and can’t come right away,” Zack said in a rush. “The doc is on the phone, but he says we need you to help or deliver or whatever. Just come.”