Steve arrived at the airport at 2:15
He had no idea if Shauni's plane would arrive on time or not, but he simply couldn't stand another minute at the office working on mind-numbing paperwork when all he wanted to do was see her….and hold her…..and know that she was "home".
Shauni would arrive in a terminal reserved for private planes since Derek had sent the Steele's private jet to pick her up after her last show. Steve used his badge and position as Commander of Five-0 to get past security checkpoints, and even though this wasn't an "official assignment or investigation", he didn't feel the least bit guilty about it. Sometimes power had its privileges, he smiled to himself.
He made his way to the private lounge and waited. Happily, he was informed that her flight would be arriving on time. He tried to busy himself by looking at his smartphone, but he kept casting glances towards the sky for when her plane would make its descent.
Derek and Olivia eventually joined Steve to wait for her arrival, but he didn't mind. He actually welcomed their company since it helped the wait go by more quickly. Plus, he understood their need to see her since it had been weeks since they had done so. However, HE would be the first one to welcome her. Olivia had already told him he could be the one waiting for her when she disembarked from the plane.
After what seemed like hours but actually only amounted to about half an hour, they were told the plane was approaching. Steve, Derek, and Olivia all had their eyes peeled to the skies as they saw it coming in for a landing. Steve felt his heart rate pick up and couldn't believe how much she had changed his life in the few shorts months since they'd met. This was the real deal. He had no doubt about that since he had never had his heart race at the thought of seeing someone like he did with Shauni.
Shauni disembarked from the plane and started making her way up the terminal. When she noticed Steve coming to meet her halfway, her eyes lit up. She dropped her bag and began running to him. Steve opened his arms to her and she quickly jumped up to wrap her legs around his waist. Holding his face in her hands she kissed him like it had been months since they'd seen each other rather than just days. Finally, Steve pulled apart from her and whispered, "As much as I would love to continue this right now, your Mom and Dad are waiting in the lounge…..So we might need to cool it."
She pouted at him as she lowered herself back to the floor and Steve couldn't hold back the smirk that crossed his mouth at how adorable she looked. He understood the sentiment; He couldn't wait to be alone with her either, but at the moment, they needed to greet her parents before making their way back to Steve's house. Shauni and Steve emerged from the terminal hand-in-hand as she made her way to her parents for hugs.
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Back at Steve's house…
Steve grabbed Shauni's bags out of the back of his truck and followed her up to the front door. She unlocked the door and walked inside before turning to give Steve a look hot enough to melt his insides. He dropped the bags just inside the door and couldn't help but notice the 'want' in her eyes; It mirrored his own. She started walking towards the staircase before turning back to look at him.
Shauni started slowly unbuttoning her shirt, "I'm going to take a shower, okay?"
Steve was mesmerized as she started to slowly unbutton her shirt. She was teasing him which he loved and hated at the same time.
"Sure," he managed to choke out once he found his voice again.
She dropped her shirt on the floor and started walking up the stairs. She removed her shorts about halfway up and took a couple more steps before removing and dropping her lacy red bra. When she reached the top step, she glanced back down at Steve.
"Maybe you can join me?" She smiled at him seductively before removing her panties and giving him a view of her perfect bottom and sauntering off towards the hall bathroom with the garden tub and large walk-in shower.
"Damn," Steve muttered as he shook his head and smiled to himself. He'd never seen anything so sexy, and as much as he wanted to join her, he seemed to be frozen in place. He just kept looking at the staircase, unable to move. One thing was certain; If Shauni said "yes" to his proposal, life would be interesting to say the least.
He couldn't wait for the adventure.
Everyone who knew him would be surprised by that declaration, but it was true. He…..couldn't….wait.
Steve finally shook himself out of his stupor to practically sprint upstairs. Shauni heard him walking into the bathroom where she was already standing under the hot water. She kept her back to him knowing he was watching her. Feeling his eyes on her was one of the most erotic experiences of her life.
Shauni looked at him over her shoulder, "See something you like, Commander?" She smiled coyly.
Steve didn't answer. He just started removing his clothes and leaving them in a pile on the floor. When he opened up the shower door to join her, Shauni was the one who was speechless. Good heavens, the man was beautiful. As long as she lived, she didn't think she would EVER get used to seeing him like this.
Steve turned her around so she was facing him and made quick work of moving her back against the shower wall. Then he moved his hands up to cup her face as he leaned down to kiss her. She opened her mouth to him and Steve took over. His hands made their way slowly….. tortuously…down her back until they reached her bottom. As he squeezed her perfectly toned ass, he lifted her up so her legs instinctively went around his waist again.
He broke the kiss long enough to look into her eyes, "Now…..where were we?"
Feeling dazed, all Shauni could manage to squeak out was, "Huh?"
Steve chuckled, "At the airport….You started this and we had to stop. So….where were we?"
Shauni leaned in to kiss his cheek before making her way to his neck. When she reached the spot between his jaw and ear, a low, rumbling moan escaped him causing 'tingles' all over her body.
"I hate to tell you this, but I can't wait any longer." Steve admitted.
Shauni looked into his lust filled eyes, "Then, don't."
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Sometime later, Shauni lay happily in Steve's arms in his bed. This was one of her favorite things: Having him hold her close as her head rested on his chest and she listened to his heartbeat.
"That was quite a 'welome home'." She giggled happily. "Maybe I need to leave more often."
"Don't even think about it," Steve said as he playfully swatted her bottom. She heard the smile in his voice as he said it.
Shauni snuggled a little closer, "Don't worry. I wouldn't be able to stand it either. This tour was fun, but not like in the past."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I never had you before. I've always loved traveling and meeting people, but this tour wasn't quite as fun for me since you weren't there."
Steve sat up a little and Shauni raised her head off his chest to look at him, "I know what you mean," he agreed. "So let's not do that again for a really long time. Deal?"
She leaned up to kiss him, "Deal!"
"So listen…..since you've been traveling so much, I've planned something tomorrow for us to relax and spend the whole day together."
Shauni leaned up to look at him again. "Just the two of us?" she said hopefully.
"Yep, just the two of us. Now…..I'm hungry, so what do you say we go downstairs and see what we can find?"
They made their way to the kitchen where Shauni whipped up a delicious meal from what Steve had on hand. As they went outside to enjoy their food, Steve shook his head in awe, "You made all this from what I had in the kitchen?"
Shauni turned uncharacteristically shy as she shrugged, "What can I say. I love to cook. Besides, this is pretty basic. Chicken parmesan and pasta isn't that hard to make."
"Well, it's amazing. Thank you." Steve complimented.
After enjoying a couple of bites in companionable silence, Shauni asked, "So what are we doing tomorrow?"
"Uh-uh. It's a surprise."
And no matter how much Shauni tried to get details out of him, he wouldn't give anything up. They eventually made their way back upstairs to continue making up for lost time. Shauni fell asleep in Steve's arms and he knew he had never been so happy. Hopefully tomorrow was going to be one of the best days of their lives.
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Steve woke up first and showered. As he came out of the bathroom, Shauni was just starting to wake up so he allowed himself a few minutes to watch her. When she opened her eyes, she saw Steve with only a towel around his waist fresh from the shower. She stretched languidly and Steve found he couldn't take his eyes off of her.
He seemed to be like that a lot lately.
It was actually quite distracting.
But today was important, so he encouraged Shauni to get a quick shower, put on a bathing suit, and they would be ready to go. As she showered, Steve made his way downstairs where he packed a cooler with some drinks, fruit, and sandwiches for lunch. She met him in the kitchen looking refreshed and totally tempting. Holding on to the cooler with one hand, he put his other arm around her to pull her in for a quick kiss.
"Ready to go?" he asked.
"Yes, but you still haven't told me what we're doing today. Can you give me a 'hint'?" she pouted.
Steve couldn't resist. God help him if they ever had daughters who looked like Shauni because that pout would be his undoing every time. "Okay…..One little hint: I'm borrowing a boat from a friend."
Shauni looked somewhat appeased but still curious, "That's it? That's all I get?"
Steve smiled at her, "Trust me. You're going to love it. Come on…..Let's go."
They both grabbed a bagel with cream cheese to eat on the way as well as travel mugs of coffee before making their way to Steve's truck to begin their day.
Within the next hour, they had secured all of their gear onto Steve's friends boat and were making their way out into deeper water. Steve was at the helm as Shauni sat in one of the "captain's chairs and admired her man. He was confident and very knowledgeable about handling the vessel they were on.
But of course he would be, silly girl, she mused. He was in the Navy after all.
It made him sexy as hell. As if she needed another reason to find him irresistible.
Steve noticed Shauni watching him and grinned, "Okay, so now that we're out on the water, I'll let you know what we're doing."
Shauni clapped her hands excitedly.
"We're going to a private beach….Another favor from a friend. We're going to have a picnic….Hang out…..Maybe go snorkeling. ….and enjoy the day. Have you ever been snorkeling?"
"Once a long time ago. We went on a family vacation to St. Lucia. I loved it but haven't been since."
"Well, this is a great place to go. We'll have a good day, I promise."
Shauni stood up to put her arms around him and kiss him….deeply. When she pulled away, she looked up at him contentedly, "I don't care what we do as long as I'm with you."
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Steve and Shauni spent the afternoon snorkeling, enjoying the private beach and having a picnic Steve had brought along. When they first arrived, she was surprised to see that a beach blanket with an umbrella had already been put up for their picnic lunch.
Shauni looked at Steve curiously, "Another friend help you with that?"
Steve didn't answer. He only smiled as he helped her out of the boat, picked up the cooler he'd brought along and settled everything on the beach blanket.
By late afternoon, he said it was time to head back so they wouldn't be on the water after dark. Shauni hated to see the afternoon end. It had been perfect….and exactly what she needed after the hectic schedule she'd had the last couple of months.
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By the time Steve had returned the boat and they were headed back home, the sun had set. Shauni couldn't help but notice that Steve seemed a little distracted and unusually quiet.
"Everything okay?" she asked him.
He reached over to take her hand in his, "Everything's fine."
When they got to his house, he grinned and said, "Don't get out yet okay?"
Shauni's curiosity was about to get the best of her as Steve made his way to her side of the truck. He opened the door and helped her out. As they made their way to his front door, he stopped, covered her eyes with his hands and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "No peeking when we go inside. Don't open your eyes until I say so. Okay?"
A giggle escaped from her, "What are you doing, Steve McGarrett."
She could hear the smile in his voice, "Surprising you. Now….no peeking. Promise?"
"Yes….I promise! What is it?" she said excitedly.
Steve opened the front door and was happy to see that Sasha and Olivia had done exactly as he wanted. Tealight candles and rose petals formed a path from the front door to the French doors leading out to the lanai. Looking towards his backyard, Steve could see they had also lit some tiki torches surrounding a small table where a bottle of wine and a large bouquet of roses and two covered dinner plates were waiting for them. It was even better than Steve had imagined. He hoped Shauni thought so too.
Hmph, and Danny thinks I'm not romantic, Steve mused.
"Okay, open your eyes." He said.
Shauni opened her eyes and gasped. Her eyes immediately fell on the candlelit path before her. She followed the path until she noticed what was outside. It was beautiful. So very beautiful.
She turned to look at Steve, "What is this?" she whispered.
Steve didn't answer. He just took her hand and started leading her outside. He opened the French doors and led Shauni to the table. He pulled out her chair as she sat down.
"This is dinner…for my girl."
"What's the occasion?"
"Why does there have to be a special occasion? Don't you think I can be romantic?" he teased.
"Yes but…how did you do this? I mean, we've been gone all day."
"I had some help." He said and even though she tried to get more than that out of him, he wouldn't budge.
After they had enjoyed a dinner of steak, lobster, baked potatoes and salads, Steve excused himself to go inside for dessert.
"Dessert too? You thought of everything!" She smiled happily at him.
A few minutes later he returned with what looked like a small plate covered by a silver cover. He walked to her, "Before you can have dessert, I need to ask you a question."
"What's that?" she asked. Steve almost lost his train of thought as her big beautiful eyes looked up at him expectantly.
Then to Shauni's surprise, Steve got down on one knee in front of her. She held her breath…Could it really be?
"Shauni, you have changed my life. Completely and totally changed my life. I didn't really feel as if I was missing out on anything, but then I met you. Now I can't imagine my life without you."
He took a breath to calm the butterflies in his own stomach before looking at her hopefully.
"So I was wondering…..Would you do me the honor of being my wife?"
Tears filled Shauni's eyes as she leapt out of her chair and into his arms. The sudden action caused Steve to lose his balance and both of them tumbled backwards with Shauni landing on top of Steve, "Yes, YES….a million times YES!"
She started peppering Steve with kissed all over his face before finally meeting his lips.
After a few minutes of being lost in the moment, Steve laughed and said, "Don't you want to see the ring?"
"Oh yes!" she said as she sat up.
The dessert plate and cover had slipped out of Steve's hand under Shauni's exuberant reaction and she noticed a small black box had fallen out. Steve picked it up and opened it in front of her to reveal a gorgeous two carat round diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds and in an intricate antique setting.
"Oh Steve…." She said breathlessly. "It's beautiful."
Steve took it out of the box to put onto her finger, "It was my grandmother's. I was hoping you would like it, but if not, we can find you something else."
She looked up at him in disbelief before looking back at the ring on her finger, "No, way! Oh my gosh, .…It's perfect. It's exactly what I would've picked out for myself. But….."
"But what?"
"Well, shouldn't your grandmother's ring go to Mary?"
If possible, that made Steve love her even more. He shook his head, "No. Mary actually wants you to have it."
Shauni was quiet for a few minutes before looking at him again. The look of love in his eyes was enough to melt her heart. That look was for her, she realized. She had put it there.
Steve stood up and held out a hand to help her up. As soon as she was standing, he lifted her into his arms and kissed her.
"I'm going to be Mrs. McGarrett." Shauni said happily.
Steve kissed her again, "I can't wait."
Then, they made their way back inside to celebrate.
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The end! Hope you've enjoyed this story. I'll be working on a Part II soon…Just trying to come up with some ideas of where to take the story.
Thanks for reading. You guys are the BEST!