A Blued Steel Wolfe (4 page)

As the song ended, he smiled and took her hand, leading her back to their seats. Then the Bride and Groom took the floor for their first dance as Husband and Wife.

They watched the younger couple dance, but their hands stayed together with their fingers interlaced. Cammie glanced over to where Nathan sat on his grandmother’s lap. She knew her son already liked Justin too, and she smiled as she looked back at the man who made her pulse race. His eyes met hers and he smiled back. No words passed between them for some time, as the festivities went on around them. They merely enjoyed each other’s presence and closeness.

Shawnda and Joshua played with their grandson, but snuck occasional glances at Justin and Cammie. They knew too that something was happening. They’d only seen that look on their daughter’s face once before, and that was when she was going to marry Juan. They recognized her look. But this time, they looked at each other with tears in their eyes and nodded in silent agreement. They would give their blessing to their daughter, where they hadn’t given it before.

Anthony also saw the looks passing between Cammie and Justin. His smile grew even wider as he squeezed Linda’s hand. His wife, still fiery haired with a few white streaks through it that she refused to color, smiled back at her husband.

“They’re in love,” she whispered to her husband. “It’s about time, too!”

“I agree, my darling,” he replied just as quietly, his voice the same sepulchral bass tone that she’d fallen in love with thirty years ago. “She will be good for Justinian, and he will be good to her. If he isn’t, I’ll teach him his error myself.”

“You know as well as I do that our son won’t harm her!” Linda admonished him quietly. “Besides,
if
he does any such thing, I’ll beat you to it!”

They looked into each other’s eyes and laughed quietly together. Anthony’s coal black eyes met Linda’s stunning blue-green gaze, which she’d passed on to their son. Other than having her eyes, their son was the spitting image of his father, thirty years in the past.

Justin leaned closer to Cammie and whispered in her ear, “Have dinner with me tonight.”

Cammie’s breath caught in her throat before she recovered. “I thought you’d never ask,” she replied, her smile growing.

The festivities died down after the toasts and dances, and the ceremonial cutting of the cake. Then after the cake, they had the Garter and Bouquet toss. It might have been fate or sheer coincidence, but Cammie caught the bouquet, and Justin caught the garter.

Everyone clapped as the Best Man and Maid of Honor came together and hugged each other. Then Justin took a chance and leaned down slightly. Their hearts raced as their lips touched in a chaste kiss.

Justin felt the sparks as an electric shock went up his spine and his blood began to pound. Cammie felt much the same, as she found that she could barely breathe. A light-headed feeling of euphoria overwhelmed her at first. But then she grinned and reached up, pulling him down by the back of his neck for another, much longer and deeper kiss. Their tongues danced together as they shut out the world around them.

Justin, for the first time in his life, didn’t care about what might be proper decorum. He wanted to stake his claim on this beautiful woman, before any other man could do so.

Camille, for the first time since her husband died, felt that she was ready to love again. She felt ready to allow a man into her heart. She knew Justin already. She knew how good and honorable he was. She also knew how her body reacted whenever she saw him. She became uncomfortably aware of that, the day he’d come home three months after informing her of her husband’s death. He dropped by to see if she needed anything at all. If he’d made a move on her then, she wouldn’t have resisted him. She would have resented him afterward, though. But always the gentleman, Justin never made a pass at her… until now.

She found herself welcoming his kisses and touches now, though. The more he showed his kindness to her, the more she found herself falling for him in spite of herself. However, after fighting those feelings for so long, this day marked a turning point for her. She was done fighting an unwinnable war against her deepest emotions.

For his part, Justin found himself surrendering to his emotions as well. As much as he’d denied it to himself, he knew that he was falling for Cammie too. When she’d hugged him tightly after he helped Royce rescue Tam, he felt the change within him. Her supple body pressed against his in that moment. And after she embraced him, she’d touched him gently, almost sensuously, as she checked him for any signs of injury. Now, he waved the white flag of surrender as his feelings took over as he kissed her for all he was worth.

He also felt the primal need within him, but now wasn’t the time for that. He came back to his senses in time, breaking the kiss. Her glazed expression mirrored his, as she felt her panties soaked with her arousal. She shuddered, bringing herself back to the present.

She glanced downward, suppressing a grin as she saw the prodigious outline of Justin’s manhood tenting the front of his Dress Blue pants. They looked around at the assembled guests, and found all eyes on them. Those faces were also grinning, making their embarrassment even more acute. Justin recovered a little faster than Cammie, who glanced nervously at her parents.

Her mother, Shawnda just smiled and winked at her daughter, while holding her hand over Nate’s eyes. She figured the boy was too young to see his mother kiss a man like that, and Cammie mouthed, “Thank you” to her mother.

Joshua was likewise amused by the show. When he caught Justin’s eye, he smiled and nodded to give his blessing for their newly blossoming relationship. Justin smiled and nodded back to Joshua, letting him know in an unspoken promise that he would never cause Cammie harm.

Royce walked silently up to them and it took Justin a second to realize that the former cat burglar was standing next to him. He looked and saw the grin on Royce’s face.

“Get out of here, you two,” Royce said quietly. He looked at Justin. “Thanks for coming and for being my Best Man. Now, take your new lady and go.”

Justin grinned back and shook his friend’s hand. “Thank you too, brother. Now, we need to get out of here. We have a dinner date.”

Cammie walked over to her parents. “Mom, can you watch Little Man while we’re at dinner?”

“We’ll watch him all night, child. Now get outta here and claim your Man,” Shawnda said with a wink for her daughter.

“I didn’t need to hear that, but what she said. Get gone, young lady,” Joshua supplied with an amused snort.

“Thanks, Papa,” Cammie beamed, and then turned and almost ran back towards where Justin was waiting patiently.

“What about Nate?” Justin asked with a concerned look.

“Don’t worry, Justin. Mom and Papa are going to watch him tonight. I’ll go pick him up in the morning,” she replied, running her fingers lightly up the arm of his tux. “Where are you taking me for dinner?”

“How about Mario’s?” Justin asked with a smile. “I know how much you love Italian.”

Cammie almost blushed, but recovered quickly. “I do enjoy Italian cuisine,” she said with a smirk. Then she leaned up and whispered in his ear. “Especially
large
Italian sausage.”

Justin shuddered slightly as she brushed her fingers across the front of his pants. He almost growled as a look of lust filled his eyes. “Later for that, Cammie, please. I’m hungry for food first, since I haven’t eaten anything besides that piece of wedding cake.”

“So am I, sweetie,” she laughed back. “Let’s go.”

***** ***** *****

Justin and Cammie talked while waiting for their dinner. They hadn’t had much time to catch up, with the wedding planning going on, so they did so now.

“How were your last four months in?” she asked, for lack of a better opener. She freely admitted to herself that she worried for him while he was over there.

“It was good,” he said with a shrug. “I spent my last tour as company commander, after Captain Halloran got promoted to Major. We managed to take down a few more companies of Taliban and a couple of Al Qaeda cells. It wasn’t a picnic, but we accomplished quite a bit. What about you? Nate looks like he’s getting to be a handful.”

“He’s almost four, now,” Cammie said with a smile. “He takes after Juan so much.” She seemed mildly surprised that she no longer cried whenever she saw her deceased husband in their son.
I’m moving on. It’s time
, she thought.
I didn’t even realize how much Justin has been in my thoughts lately. The wedding just made it all real for me.

“But what about
you
? Are you ok, with everything that happened?” Justin asked, his brows drawn together in concern for her.

She knew what he was referring to, with Tam’s abduction and their daring rescue.

“Yes I am,” she replied with a smile. “Royce couldn’t have rescued her without you, you know.”

“I just helped,” he said with a half-smile and a shrug. “Royce is a very capable fighter.”

“Tam told me what happened, sweetie. I know that you saved his life during the rescue,” Cammie admitted, raising one eyebrow.

“Ok, ok!” Justin replied with a chuckle. “I did what needed to be done in that situation. I always do my best to make sure everyone comes home.”

His words hung in the air, and his greatest failure came back to him in a flash. He lowered his head, expecting Cammie to bring up the past. She read the look of pain on his face, and knew that he was remembering that day in Afghanistan.

“I know you do, sweetie,” she said softly. Her hand reached across the table and found his. “I know that if there’d been any way, you would’ve brought him home.”

As she squeezed his hand reassuringly, he raised his eyes to meet hers. The look of pain in his gaze nearly made her cry, but he smiled sadly, as he squeezed her hand in return.

“Oh, honey. I’m ready to move on,” she said softly, running her thumb over the back of his hand. “I want to move on with
you
and see where this takes us, Justin. Do you want the same thing?”

Justin nodded as he looked into her beautiful dark brown eyes. “Yes, I do. I want to see where this goes too, Cammie. Until today, I saw you as a very good friend. Then you took my breath away. When you looked into my eyes and smiled when Tam said ‘I do,’ I saw you as you truly are; a very beautiful woman with a strong will and a good heart.”

Cammie blushed as she smiled shyly.
He’s devilishly handsome, charming and witty, highly intelligent, and yet here he is! Thank you God!
She thought to herself.

They ate in comfortable silence, once their food arrived. Justin reflected briefly on his past relationships. During High School, he’d had a few casual relationships with other students. At West Point, he’d had one casual liaison with a female cadet. His time away at war, in fact his entire life, had left little time for romance.

There was one nurse back at Kandahar who’d been his “friend with benefits” for some time, until she rotated back to the States. Including her, he could count the women he’d been with on one hand.

Now, here he was, preparing to embark on his first truly serious relationship. He looked at Cammie with new eyes now, and he loved what he saw in her.
Is she really the one?
He thought to himself.
Is Camille Jenkins the lady I’ve been looking for all my life? Is she the one? Well, if I don’t at least try, then I’ll never know.

They finished eating, and once again, their hands found each other. The band started playing a slow, romantic song, and Justin smiled as he stood up from the table.

“Would you care to dance, Cammie?”

“Why yes, I do believe I’d care to dance with you, Justin,” she replied formally. He held out his hand to her, and she took it as she arose from her seat. His fingers interlaced with hers as he led her to the nearly empty dance floor.

His strong arms encircled her waist as hers came up and around his neck. She laid her head on his shoulder and pressed her soft supple body against his lean and muscular frame.

Justin loved the feel of her body molded to his. He closed his eyes and focused on her closeness. He reveled in her closeness, and swayed with her in time to the soft and sensual love song.

Cammie enjoyed the feeling of warmth between her thighs at the thought of Justin Wolfe. Her nether region throbbed in anticipation of him taking her.
Why did it take me so long to see him as a man, and not just as a friend?
She asked herself silently. His muscular arms held her protectively, and she felt a thrill as she pressed against his abdomen. He couldn’t help his reaction to her closeness, and she could not stop her own reaction as her body cried out silently in need.

After almost three years without a man’s touch, Cammie felt that need now, more than ever.
Juan would want me to be happy. He would want me to move on with a man worthy of my love
, she concluded as each thought entered her mind. She could no longer deny her feelings for him, nor did she want to, any longer.
I think Justin is worthy of my love
.
Will I be worthy of his love, though?