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“Let me have this,” he breathed shakily, blinking rapidly. He had been okay making his goodbyes to his sister last night at the bonfire at Flyboys, shaking hands, hugging friends, but this morning was brutally savage in a way he never expected.
“I want you to remember me kissing you, holding and touching you, us dancing or talking… not me sobbing like a little boy who just skinned his knees.”
“I would never think that.”
“But right now, you look at me like I’m your hero – and I need to hang onto that.”
“You will always be my hero,” she whispered, her voice so painfully thick that he immediately had to clear his throat and wipe his eyes just before pulling her into a tight hug.
“I love you so much,” he breathed in the scent of her hair, ran his hands up and down her back, feeling her curves and memorizing them, committing her shape to memory.
“Hey,” Destiny said tearfully, smoothing his shirt and not looking at him. “We are going to be fine. This is good. We are happy… and when you come back? We are going to make love as much as possible, hold each other, talk until we are blue in the face… and hopefully work on putting together a baby’s room.”
“Man, that sounds like heaven,” he breathed, wiping his eyes again.
“You just need to not forget what you have waiting here, okay?”
“Never,” he whispered fiercely – kissing her passionately and tasting her tears as a sob slipped out from her, nearly breaking him. “I love you – and I need to go.”
“I know.”
“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“I’ll try to be all belly,” she smiled tearfully – and he laughed thickly.
“If not, we’ll just keep trying regardless. You didn’t marry a quitter,” he smiled. “Now, I want you to go back to bed and get some rest. I will email you once I land, and see if I can sneak in a call between layovers.”
“No,” she said ruefully. “I need to keep busy, so I’m running to the grocery store, then getting a cup of coffee somewhere, or curling up with a book. I need to keep my mind off of you, so I don’t sit here all pouty. I might actually call Harvey to see if he can use an extra hand tonight at the bar since I’ve been off a few days.”
“Just be safe and try to rest.”
“I promise.”
Killian winced as he heard the horn again – and Destiny smiled weakly.
“Go,” she breathed, leaning up to kiss him. “I’ll be fine.”
“I love you,” he whispered, his eyes scanning her face, before nodding.
“I love you, too.”
Now, hours later, he was on a flight next to Paradox, who didn’t look much better. The man was like looking at a stone statue. His jaw was clenched, his eyes red, and he was glaring at everything like it had just taken a personal offense to his person.
“Are you okay?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Did Mallory cry?” Killian said softly, offering him a half of his Twix bar that he bought before boarding the plane. Paradox looked at him, down at the Twix, and then back at him again, raising that snooty eyebrow.
“Do I look like I’m in a stupid commercial?”
“No,” Killian chuckled, shaking his head. “Not at all, but I know I’m trying to drown my own pain, fear, and worry that Destiny’s going to be okay while I’m gone, by shoveling chocolate in my face every chance I get before we get back to base.”
Paradox looked at him, cursed softly under his breath, and snatched the Twix.
“We are not the same.”
“Never claimed that we were.”
