Liam’s hands travel my body as he fondles my breasts, paying extra attention to my already sensitive nipples. I moan and his mouth moves to my neck as he nips at the skin by my ear. My hand releases him, and I press against his chest as I climb off the bed. He looks at me before I drop to my knees.

He groans before I even touch him. I smile and keep watching him watching me. My mouth opens, and I take him between my lips. Liam’s head falls back with a deep sigh. His fingers thread in my hair as my hands grip his ass.

“Fucking hell. Your mouth . . .” he mumbles as I glide his cock to the back of my throat. Every muscle in his body tenses, and I repeat the motion. “Natalie, I can’t. You’re going to make me. I-I . . .”

I take joy in the fact that he can’t form a coherent sentence. My fingers snake around and grasp him while using my mouth to perform the same motion. His hand grips my hair harder, and he pulls my mouth off him.

“The only place I’m going to finish is inside of you. Get off your knees.”

I stand, and he lifts me into his arms. Even though we’re only a foot away from the bed, he carries me there. Liam places me down and crawls on top of me. My love for him swells and overwhelms me. “I love you, Liam Dempsey.”

Liam stares at me and closes his eyes. When they open he looks at peace as if the world just righted itself. “I love you, Natalie. More than my own life.”

“Make love to me,” I request.

As if abandoning his plan, Liam settles between my legs and then enters me. The emotions engulf me. I never want this to end. He’s going to leave soon, and I’ll have to hold on to this in the days where it’s hard. I try to take myself back years when this was the life I lived. When the last kiss could be my last kiss. The times where loneliness could annihilate me if I let it—and I can’t let it. I have to hold on to this feeling when he’s gone.

“I’ll never be able to leave you again,” he tells me. “Now that I’ve had you again, I can’t walk away.”

Liam thrusts harder as I cling to his shoulders. “Good.”

“You fucking own me and you’re mine.”

He pushes deeper inside of me and my orgasm builds. “Liam,” I whimper.

It astounds me how attuned we are in every way. He knows my heart, soul, and body. He can elicit pleasure from every fiber in my body. He flips us so I’m on top.

“Ride me, sweetheart.”

I rock back and forth, my hands resting on his chest. I climb higher with each bit of friction. My eyes close as I lose myself in the moment. My orgasm takes me over the cliff and I fall. Liam holds my hips as he follows me over, and we ride out the moment together.

My chest falls to his and I smile against him. Being in his arms is everything I want.

But he leaves soon.

I stop myself from going there. If I start preparing for goodbye, I won’t enjoy the time we have.

Liam’s hands glide up and down my back as we remain connected. I lift my chin and rest it on my hand. “Hi,” I beam.

“Hi yourself,” his smile mirrors mine.

“This was quite a way to welcome me to South Carolina.”

He chuckles and pushes my hair from my face. “I’m happy to welcome you any time.”

I start to get up, but he pulls me back against him. “I need to clean myself.”

“No point. I’m going to enjoy making you dirty again,” he says as his hands drift to my ass. He lifts a tiny amount and rolls me onto my back. “I told you this was going to be a long day.”

His lips press against mine and we get lost in each other once more.

“What time is our flight tomorrow?” I ask Liam as we walk along the harbor with his arm slung around my shoulder.

He sighs and kisses my temple. “Too early. I’d like you to stay with me and see me off. I know that’s asking a lot, but if it’s possible, I want your face to be the last thing I see before I get on that plane.”

We stop and I turn into his arms. “I don’t know if I can.”

Aaron used to ask me the same thing, but I never could. There was something about having to say goodbye in front of everyone that was too much. I tried once and driving home was a nightmare. I ended up sitting in my car for almost an hour sobbing as the plane took off. You feel so helpless watching the one thing you want more than anything possibly leaving you forever. It’s heartbreak and fear on overload.

“I don’t understand.”

“I can’t watch you leave and then have to keep it together. I don’t know if I can handle it,” I admit. I hold back the rest of my concerns because I know he can’t worry about it. He needs to be focused, and my fears will only weigh him down.

Liam rubs my arms and stays quiet. “Then we’ll say goodbye at my apartment. I don’t want you to drive if you’re going to be upset.”

“Of course I’m going to be upset. You’re leaving for six months. We’re barely at a secure place in our relationship,” letting more out than I planned.

Liam grabs my hand as we sit on the bench with the water behind us. “There’s a lot I worry about with leaving. Aaron is living in the house and I won’t be around. I worry it’ll be easy for you both to fall back into your old life. I wonder if when I’m gone you’ll think it’s too much.” He looks at our hands, and I follow his gaze.

His fears are valid. We have a lot of obstacles in our way, but small holes of doubt will only leave gaping issues. There are no guarantees. Neither of us can assure the other that the fears we are struggling with aren’t real.

“I worry you won’t make it home. That I’ll be dealing with this all over again,” I huff. “We’re quite a pair.”

“I’ll do everything I can to be sure I come home to you.”

“I promise to handle things with Aaron so we can move forward.”

We both stay silent as we make the only promises we can to each other. They aren’t concrete and I can only assume mine doesn’t give him great comfort. I refuse to make things worse for him, but I can’t lie.

“How do we do this, Lee? I may sound like a fucking idiot, but I don’t know how to do a deployment with someone at home.”

I sometimes forget that in a way we’re both learning all over again. Liam hasn’t ever had to think about the consequences of his actions at home. I’ve heard from Aaron and Quinn how he’s the risk taker. While he never gambles with anyone else’s life, he’s more than willing to put himself in danger for the success of the mission.

My head rests on his chest while I try to form the right words. “Well, you focus on coming home, I guess. We email, Skype, write letters, and you call when you can.”

“Do we get to naughty Skype?” he asks and raises his brow.

I start to giggle and slap his leg. “You’re so stupid.”

“Imagine how fun it would be . . .” he trails off with a glimmer in his eye.

“We’ll have to see how well you behave,” I toy with him.

I nestle back into his chest and try not to let my worries get too far ahead of me. He’ll be safe and he’ll come home. That’s going to be my new mantra, because otherwise I’ll lose my mind.