Page 69 of Enemy Within

One night beneath the stars.

28

Simushir Island - Okhotsk Sea

“YOU CAN’T SEE ANYTHING like this in DC.” Jack sat on the sand, his arms wrapped around his knees, and stared up into the night sky. “It’s breathtaking.”

Ethan gazed at Jack. “Yes. It is.”

Starlight and firelight painted diamonds over Jack, carving brilliance over his cheekbones and curling around his smile. Flickers of flame danced up his skin, like the fires in Ethan’s heart, his soul, coming alive and caressing his lover. A river of stars stretched overhead, and the black ocean reflected their glimmer, an endless wash of sparkling perfection. The whole world seemed to revolve around this one point, this one island. Somewhere, far away, distant decisions placed the world’s fate on a deadly axis, but there, on the sand-strewn beach beneath the jewel-studded sky, Ethan saw only perfection.

His heart burned, searing in his chest, suddenly too large for the cage of his body. Jesus, he loved Jack. He’d never known it was possible to love someone this deeply, this entirely. His whole world had been remade, and even himself, reborn into a new man. A man who shared half a life, and half of his soul, with the one person who meant everything. With Jack.

He reached for the pocket on the front of his jacket. Dipped his fingers within, and touched two rings, sitting over his heart.

They’d survived everything. Finding each other through the winding paths of each of their lives. Accepting the spark, and growing their friendship, and then their love. Protecting that from the world. Protecting each other from the world.

How many times could they have called it quits? Thrown in the towel, said it was too much, too strange, too difficult to be in love with each other? They’d kept going, kept loving, in spite of it all.

And then Jack had tripped over Madigan’s hate, over a grenade dropped in his heart in the shape of his dead wife. It was the perfect attack; resurrect an unfinished piece of Jack’s life, a hole in his heart that hadn’t had the chance to mend.

But the trap had failed. Faced with Leslie again, Jack had finally found the closure he’d been robbed of. Discovered the hole in his heart had been filled with healing. With Ethan. “I’m not the same man who married her,” Jack had breathed earlier, resting in Ethan’s arms as the sun set on the cold sand. “I’m someone new. What I dream for is different. Who I love has changed. What I want, more than anything else in the world, is to be with you. Forever. No matter what.”

He’d held Ethan’s hand while they watched the fire burn, watching the logs turn to cinder and ash. “Once, I wanted her back. I wanted her back from the dead, like magic. But… that was a selfish dream. I would never wish that on her, or anyone. Captured and held for so many years? No. It’s better that she’s gone. At peace. I loved her, and we were good together. But in the end, she gave me the greatest gift of all. The confidence to start down the path that led me to you.”

Facing Leslie had revealed to Jack that his love for Ethan truly was bone-deep. Something that lived and breathed in his soul. Something that couldn’t be broken and couldn’t end, he’d said. “I was never more certain of anything in my life than coming back to you. Choosing you, Ethan, over everything.”

It was Ethan’s turn. Time to show Jack just how deeply he felt. How much Jack meant to him, and what he dreamed for the two of them, every single moment.

Fears he’d once had melted away, slithering from his heart and his soul like mist burned away by the sun. There was nothing in the world that could stop their love. Nothing at all.

He slipped the smaller ring from his pocket, palming it before Jack saw. It had dulled a bit, bouncing across two continents. The black titanium had smudges from his fingers where he turned the rings over and over, imagining their future. But the diamonds gleamed, a perfect circle all the way around the band. An eternity circle, for a love without end.

Jack grinned down at him, catching Ethan’s stare. “I meant the stars are breathtaking,” he teased. A flush crept over his cheeks and stretched down his neck.

“I know.” Ethan smiled. He lay on his side, propped up on one elbow beside Jack. “You’re just more so to me.”

Jack laughed.

Ethan reached for him, for his left hand, and gently pulled Jack’s fingers to his lips, pressing a lingering kiss to his knuckles.

How was it possible to feel this much love for someone? His heart felt like ten hearts, or a thousand, all beating as one, all burning incandescent with love for Jack. He rested his cheek on the backs of Jack’s fingers, breathing him in.

He pulled back and looked into Jack’s eyes. Stared into his soul. Slipped the ring onto Jack’s finger, slowly. “Marry me,” he breathed. “Marry me, Jack.”

Shock slammed into Jack, seeming to snap through him like a bolt of lightning. His eyes blew wide and his jaw dropped, and he gasped, a ragged pull of shaking breath. His hand clenched down on Ethan’s, squeezing tight. His gaze flicked from the ring to Ethan and back again. “Ethan—” He choked on his words, and his lips moved soundlessly, struggling to speak. “Ethan,” he whispered, his voice cracking. “Ethan, my God…”

Jack tumbled sideways, crashing into Ethan on the sand. He tore his hand from Ethan’s hold and grasped his face, cupping his cheeks and brushing their noses together. “Yes, yes, yes,” he breathed, his voice wavering. “A thousand times yes, Ethan.”

Ethan pressed his lips to Jack’s and tasted salt as Jack moaned into the kiss. Jack’s hands wound around Ethan’s head, gripping him like he was afraid Ethan would disappear. “Where did you—” Jack tried to say, in between kissing Ethan, nonstop. “How did you get a ring?”

Smiling, Ethan brushed his thumb over Jack’s cheek, chasing away a tear. “I had them made before Sochi. I’ve carried them with me since.”

Jack curled forward, pressing his forehead against Ethan’s. “Ethan…”

“Shhh.” Ethan kissed his eyes, his cheeks. “That’s the past. And we’re stronger for it. Our love has been tested by fire. Nothing can tear us apart. Not now.”

Jack shook his head “Not ever. I never want to be without you.”