“We’re married.” No matter how many times Jenna said it, that sentence felt foreign and unexpected. Yet oddly right. She squeezed Sean’s hand as they walked back to the hotel. “At some point will this feel less surreal?”

“Probably not. But it’ll be an awesome story to tell our grandkids.” He stopped in his tracks and hauled her in for another quick kiss. “My wife. God, that sounds good.”

“How do you want to celebrate?”

He skated his hand up her back, pressing her against him. Maybe she wasn’t the only one reeling from what they’d just done, and he needed to hold on tight. “Horizontally?”

“Obviously.” She gave him a dopey smile. She wanted him like crazy, constantly, and she knew that was probably painted all over her face. “But what about after that?”

“Whatever you want to do.” He nuzzled his nose into her hair. “We haven’t gone out for dinner in a few nights. Maybe we could go someplace nice.”

They stopped at the front desk of the hotel and got a recommendation, and a reservation for that evening.

Once in their room, Jenna kicked off her shoes as Sean unbuttoned his shirt. This was easy now. This was sweet and wonderful and familiar, and the fact they were married didn’t change that at all.

Except it could.

Jenna twisted her arms in front of her body. “So…we’re married.”

“You keep saying that.”

She stuck her tongue out at him. “Yes, but this time it isn’t because of the surreal thing. More of an…administrative detail.”

“Oh?”

She swayed closer to him. “So the thing is…I have an IUD. If you’ve been tested recently, we could ditch the condoms…”

He held out his arms, and she went to him, letting him pull her close. He threaded his fingers into her hair, his eyes hot as he searched her face. “I have. And I haven’t had any activity in that regard in a while.”

“Same.” She swallowed. “I figured our wedding night might be a good reason to bring that up.”

“I love you.” His hands tightened in her hair and he leaned in. “So much it scares me.”

He hadn’t admitted that before, and it made her racing heart slow down. She caressed his cheek. “We’re still us. This is a promise, not a chain. Nothing’s going to change.”

He leaned into her touch. “Since we’re covering administrative details, we should talk about that—what’s going to change, and what won’t.”

She nodded. It had been bouncing around in her head, too. “I thought some of that might sort itself out once we were home in the summer. I’m not tied down anywhere, and you travel a lot. We can figure out a new normal that keeps us together as much as we want.”

“I can move out west.”

She shrugged. “Let’s cross that bridge when we get to it. I’ve never lived out east.”

“I can’t wait to show you my hometown.” He kissed her gently, his lips soft and coaxing.

She’d follow him anywhere, she was sure of it.

“We should also talk about the next of kin thing.” His voice got rougher as he said that. He twisted his head and kissed the palm of her hand. His jaw tightened, and she let him sort out his thoughts. It didn’t matter. She didn’t say her vows to get listed on his life insurance.

Finally he dragged in a deep breath and turned back, pressing his forehead against hers. “The thing is,” he said quietly. “You could be in danger. You work twenty clicks from the Syrian border. The camp has armed guards for a reason. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that you could be targeted as a valuable asset if anyone knew that you were married to a Canadian army officer.”

Her heart stopped cold. Oh. He wasn’t worried about his life insurance. He was worried about her life. “What?”

“I know that sounds like crazy worst-case scenario talk, but it’s part of what I do. I run all the possibilities and plan to avoid the ones that don’t work for my goals.”

“And your goal here is…”

“Getting my wife back to Canada in one glorious, gorgeous piece. Safe and sound.”

Her heart slammed back into gear. She nodded shakily. “Good goal.”

“There might be some complicating factors on your end, too. I don’t know if you have a duty to report any changes of circumstances. I probably do, but I’d rather beg for forgiveness later.”

“I don’t think I do.” She touched his face again, smoothing her fingers over his brow then running them up into his hair. “I don’t want you to worry. We can tell people when we get back to Canada. Although my co-workers know we travelled together…”

“And I’m not going to be able to keep the fact that I’ve met an amazing woman from my team. I just won’t tell them we’re married or where you are.”

She could keep her ring in the wooden box he bought her. “I can work with that.” She pushed off his shoulders and stepped back. “Any other administrative details we need to discuss, husband?”

He grinned. “None that I can think of.”

She reached for her bag. “Then I’m going to slip into something special.” Her cheeks heated up, but they were no match for his gaze.

“Really?”

She nodded shyly. She wasn’t normally the silk and satin type, but it was a special occasion. “I went shopping the other day when you were running, and I bought something silky.”

She’d bought it for their last night together, but this was even more special.

He licked his lips, and whoa, that little reaction did some big things to her insides. “I can’t wait.”

She grabbed the small bag she’d tucked away, and dashed into the bathroom to take off the sundress she’d worn for the ceremony. She didn’t close the door, and from the other room, she heard Sean moving around. He took off his boots with two heavy thuds. He pulled back the blankets with a soft swoosh, and her nipples tightened in anticipation.

The lingerie she’d bought was little more than scraps of silk connected by criss-crossing ribbons, and it floated over her body like a whisper. She smoothed her hands over the flat of her belly and then glanced at her reflection in the mirror. Looking back at her was a woman she hardly recognized. No scrubs, no hastily gathered ponytail, and no dark circles under her eyes. Her hair fell in loose waves around her shoulders and her face sparkled with excitement. Bright eyes, pink lips.

Marriage suited her, even as it filled her with nervous energy. She dragged a deep breath into her lungs and reached for her toothbrush. She was delaying now.

And it wasn’t going to work.

With a gentle knock, Sean came into the bathroom. He was still in the cargo pants he’d worn for the service, but he was barefoot and bare-chested. He took her breath away.

“I…”

He laughed gently at the toothbrush in her hand, but gestured for her to continue. “It’s fine. But I couldn’t wait any longer,” he murmured, settling his hands on her hips.

She did a quick back and forth on her teeth, and when she leaned forward to spit out the toothpaste, he brushed her hair off the nape of her neck and whispered what were fast becoming her two favourite words.

“My wife.”

A thrill raced through her at how unbelievably special that sounded coming out of his mouth. The shivery-good feeling intensified as he kissed her back, his breath warm at the top of her spine.

She filled a glass with water then rinsed away the toothpaste taste.

Sean didn’t let go of her hips. He watched her in the mirror, his gaze hot. It was domestic and intimate, and as she wiped a water droplet off her lower lip, he tightened his grip.

Here?

Sure, why not consummate their marriage bent over a vanity? She bit her lip and leaned forward again, bracing her forearms against the counter as she watched him in the mirror.

With quick, efficient jerks, he undid his belt. The chink of metal was followed by a growling zip as he opened his fly.

Her husband.

* * *

Sean tugged her negligee up, baring her bottom, and she pressed up onto her toes. He told himself to slow down, but fuck, there was no chance of him forgetting this.

“I love you,” he said as he curved his hand over her hip, tracing her soft skin to where she was both soft and wet. “Is this is okay?”

He caught her gaze again in the mirror. She looked wanton and sexy as fuck as she smiled at him. “It’s perfect.”

She bit her lip and leaned forward, tipping her hips back, and he was done for.

No more going slow.

She was his, and the need to claim her roared loud and fierce inside him. She gasped as he rubbed against her, and her hand skittered forward to press against the mirror.

She was perfect. Smart and fierce and brave. Humble and kind. Gorgeous. Sexy as fuck.

She’d changed his life in two short weeks.

And now she was giving him this gift, her body, with nothing between them. Her gaze, lusty and aroused, locked on his face in the mirror.

But her gaze wasn’t enough. He needed her mouth, he needed her hands on him. Pulling back, he spun her around and lifted her onto the vanity. Her legs went around his hips, pulling him back into her body. Hot, wet, tight heat surrounded him as he surged into her, and he didn’t miss the way her breath hitched.

This was affecting both of them on a deep, fundamental level.

He buried his face in her neck as he grappled with his tenuous hold on his self-control. “My wife.” It was a chant, a prayer, a promise as he started to move inside her.

She rocked against each thrust, her bare heels digging into his ass. She tugged on his hair, urging him to lift his head up, and he took her mouth in a savage kiss, as primal as their mating. So much better than anything he could have imagined.

Maybe better because he hadn’t, really—who could anticipate this? He was lost in her.

She tasted fearless, and when he pulled back, just for a second, just to see her, she looked fearless, too. Her skin was flushed with passion, her eyes endless pools of want as she tugged on him. She looked on the edge of abandon and he was going to follow her right off that cliff.

He hadn’t even gotten her naked. That’s how desperate he’d been to forge this connection with her. As he skated his hands over her body, over the silk that decorated her curves, a foreign emotion welled up inside him, a need to bare his soul to her. To be tender.

He kissed her again, soft and coaxing, as he moulded her against him. As close as two people could be. Fused in every way. They’d need this moment to get them through the next few months. Need this promise, this vow, as much as the ones they’d spoken out loud.

He loved her with every inch of his body, with his strong legs that powered each thrust, with his arms that held her tight.

She reached between them, and he pushed harder, catching her fingertips as she rubbed her clit. He pressed his forehead against hers as they ground against each other, and he watched her face as she came apart. Then he followed her into the abyss, his brain exploding as he buried his cock deep inside her for his own release.

Holy. Fuck.

She clutched the back of his neck, breathing hard, and he crushed his mouth against hers.

His wife. His. Forever.

“I love you,” he whispered, his own breath ragged.

She whispered it back, and it filled him with an intense joy.

He kicked his pants out of the way then carefully eased her back against the mirror. Her legs shook visibly as she watched him run warm water and grab a washcloth. He pressed his hand to her knee, and she giggled.

“That was…”

“Wow.”

“Very wow.” She sighed and lifted her legs up, pressing her bare feet against the counter. He squeezed the cloth out, then carefully stepped between her legs again. She gasped as he wiped her, but she didn’t stop him.

He’d never done that before. It was messy. He liked it.

He washed her carefully, then dropped to his knees and kissed her tender flesh.

He licked her until she was squirming and breathing his name on every moan, and then he picked her up and carried her to the bed. He peeled her out of the silk, then covered her with his body and made love to her again, slow and long and perfect.

* * *

“Did you always know you wanted to be a soldier?” she asked after, as he spooned her and played with her hair.

“It was a given. We were raised to be soldiers. My father was a career officer. And I didn’t mind. All I wanted to do when I grew up was run away from home. I always knew I’d be here, somehow. I didn’t imagine it exactly like this…” He laughed as he kissed her shoulder. “But finding you, and falling in love on the other side of the world… that sounds about right. And I bet teenage me would definitely approve of you as part of the fantasy.”

“Do you miss your family?”

“Sure.” He said it readily. It was true. Just because he couldn’t wait to get away didn’t mean he didn’t also leave a part of himself back home when he flew the coop. “How about you?”

She should miss them more than she did. “I don’t have any homesickness.” She stretched her arms out and twisted onto her side, pillowing her head on her arm as she looked at him. “I grew up wanting to see the world, and not being able to afford to. This is the first time I’ve been able to really live anywhere other than the Vancouver area.”

He traced the line of her jaw, then picked up a strand of her hair and let it run through his fingers. “When we get back, where do you want to work?”

They’d talked about this already, but getting married changed things. It had changed him—but not his desire to come back and do another tour. He hoped it was the same for her.

She searched his face. “I don’t know.”

“You said we could try to be together as much as we want.”

She nodded.

“I want to be together. Period. I don’t want to try to fly back and forth across the country. I want to build a home with you. Wherever.”

That got a smile that did wicked things to his insides.

He leaned in and tasted her neck. “Or we don’t need to pick one place to live,” he whispered against her skin. “As long as we’re nomads together.”

“Nomads who serve the greater good?”

“That sounds perfect.”

She dusted her fingertips over his body, and his muscles jumped against her touch. “You want to do more tours.”

His chest tightened, because yeah, he did. But now he had a wife to think about. “If possible.”

She nodded. “Me too.”

Oh, thank God. He let out a shaky exhale. “Probably should have brought that up sooner, eh?”

She laughed. “Worried I wouldn’t have understood?”

“Not when I think about it for a second.”

“I understand.” She kissed him, her lips gentle and soft. “It’s all going to work out. Promise.”