Semper Fi Quotes

“I felt everything. I felt the moment when she let herself believe in me, in our fierce love that a decade apart hadn’t been able to kill; the moment she believed in herself, and everything that I knew she felt, too; and the moment that my heart knew I’d spend the rest of my life with this woman … this amazing, brave, fearless, loving woman.”
― Jane Harvey-Berrick, Semper Fi

“I hated hearing her talk about her ex-husband, and I definitely didn’t want to hear that he’d taught her to sail. That skewered my heart. I knew it was irrational to hate something that had happened long before Caro and I had gotten together, but I did. I hated every single second that she’d ever spent with him. I hated that he’d been her first. I hated that he’d nearly broken her, and if I ever saw that fucker again, I wouldn’t be responsible for my actions.”
― Jane Harvey-Berrick, Semper Fi

“I’m not going to touch you, Sebastian,” she purred, “and you’re not going to touch me. Yet. I’m going to show you how good I am with words.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about baby, but it’s making me feel horny.”

She smiled. “That’s the point, Sebastian. I’m going to make you so hard, I’m going to get you so wound up, I’m going to turn you on so much, that all I’ll have to do is touch you with one finger to make you come.”

“Fuck!”
― Jane Harvey-Berrick, Semper Fi

“Was that supposed to be funny? “Why is she saying stuff like that to you?” I bit out.

Caro rolled her eyes.
“Oh, don’t be such a prude, Sebastian! It’s just a joke. She’s always nagging me to find a man.”

“What about me?” I growled, my tone angrier than I’d intended.

Caro huffed quietly. “I haven’t told anyone about you. I like having you to myself. But I will, if you want me to.”

Was she ashamed of me? Was this just a summer fling to her after all?
The old fears rushed back—I was a secret, her dirty little secret. Again.”
― Jane Harvey-Berrick, Semper Fi

“Do you see anything of him … David?” I grit out the name of her ex-husband, managing not to spit on the street as I said it.”
― Jane Harvey-Berrick, Semper Fi

“I watch as his muscles ripple under his silky skin—the blue of the sky, the green of the sea in his expressive eyes; the sun forever fixed in his golden hair. The kindness and goodness that matches his beauty on the outside.

He turns to smile at me, his eyes asking me why I’m staring at him so intently. The answer? Because I know I’m loved. My skin will wrinkle and my hair will go gray, my body will bend with age—and I will be loved. In this life and in the next. I will be loved. Whatever the world throws at us, wherever the next adventure leads, I will be loved.
Sempre e per sempre.”
― Jane Harvey-Berrick, Semper Fi

“I love you, Sebastian, please don’t push me away. I love you.”

“Oh God. I just don’t know what I’m doing any more; I’m so fucked up—I feel like I can’t fucking breathe. Don’t give up on me, Caro. Please don’t give up on me. I need you, baby. I love you so much. I’m so sorry…”
― Jane Harvey-Berrick, Semper Fi

“Caro, I don’t understand,” I gasped. “Why do you love me?”

“Just because … because the sky is blue and the sea is green.”

And then I broke.

Everything she’d told me was true. She’d loved me ten years ago, and all the years in between, and she still loved me now. And I didn’t know why; I didn’t understand, but maybe that didn’t matter, because she loved me, and I loved her and I always had. It had only ever been her. My Caro.”
― Jane Harvey-Berrick, Semper Fi

“Caro, my love,

Just writing these words makes me happier than I can remember being for a very long time—ten years, in fact.

I’m not one for words—I leave that to you—my beautiful, talented Caro. But we’ve had the news we were waiting for and soon we’ll be heading out. I hope you never read this letter, but if you do, it means I’ve gone on to the next big adventure.

Knowing that you are in the world and wearing my ring, makes me the happiest man alive, and the last two weeks have been the best and happiest of my whole life.

Be happy, Caro, because that’s what you deserve.
I love you, I have always loved you, and wherever I go after this world, I will always love you. Sempre e per sempre.

Sebastian”
― Jane Harvey-Berrick, Semper Fi

“Oh, fuck!”

Stupid useless, clueless, pathetic jarhead!

“What? What’s wrong?” she asked nervously.

“I forgot to give you the fucking ring. Fuck it! I wanted this to be so smooth. I said it enough times in my head.”

She started to smile, and her hand covered her mouth as if she was holding back laughter. I couldn’t blame her—I was a freakin’ idiot.”
― Jane Harvey-Berrick, Semper Fi

“With her in my arms, all the bullshit fell away. The years of wanting her and missing her and trying to hate her; surviving boot camp; the hell that was Iraq. Ten, long, lonely years of wanting what I couldn’t have.And in four days I’d be gone again, knowing what I’d be missing, daring to hope that she’d wait for me this time.

“God, Caro. You make it all worthwhile. Thank God for you.”
― Jane Harvey-Berrick, Semper Fi

“I groaned and closed my eyes, images of her naked in my bed, eating meals off of her perfect, olive skin.

“Months?”

“Years,” she said softly. “A lifetime.”

My eyes snapped open and I sat up quickly, my heart beating too fast. “Do you mean it, Caro, a lifetime?”

Her eyes were serious as she replied.
“Yes.”

I closed my eyes again, breathing in deeply. When I looked up, a huge smile stretched across my face.”
― Jane Harvey-Berrick, Semper Fi

“Sometimes you can be very sweet.”

Her words were like a punch in the gut and I couldn’t look away from her. Ask any of the guys that I’d trained with or fought with and ‘sweet’ is not a word they’d use to describe me. But to hear it from her for the first time in ten years, all the walls I’d built around me crumbled.

“Tesoro, what did I say?” she whispered, her forehead creasing with concern as I continued to stare at her.

I looked into her eyes, so she could see the truth of my words.
“I love you, Caro, so much. I haven’t changed how I feel. I still love you—I’ve always loved you. It’s only ever been you.”
― Jane Harvey-Berrick, Semper Fi

“But you’re not the person I knew ten years ago. The Sebastian I knew was sweet and gentle and loving, but you … you can be like that, but your anger scares me. The hatred I saw in your face and heard in your words—that was hard for me. I can see that you think I let you down badly ten years ago, or when you were 21 … and I can’t tell you how sorry I am for that, but I can’t fix it either—I can’t change the past.”
― Jane Harvey-Berrick, Semper Fi

“The Marine Corps was the family I’d never had. And for three years it was home, even though I traveled all over the world. And then I was sure, so sure that Caro would find me. Because after three years, my fucking parents couldn’t touch us—and her ‘crime’ of sleeping with me when I underage was beyond the Statute of Limitations. But she never came. And I hated her. I thought I hated her—I tried.”
― Jane Harvey-Berrick, Semper Fi

“I really want to hear how hard you tried to find me. You knew my fucking father was forcing me to enlist because of you, but you didn’t even bother to make a few fucking phone calls. Three years I waited for you, Caro. Three fucking years, while you were off building your career and having a great life traveling all over the world. So yeah, I fucked some women who deserved it, because I’d already been fucked over once and I wasn’t going to let it happen again.”
― Jane Harvey-Berrick, Semper Fi

“What? What the fuck are you ‘just saying’?” I grit out, unable to stop my voice growing louder with each syllable. “You were a fucking journalist, Caro! You could have found me any time if you’d wanted to. It would have been so easy for you. So easy! I didn’t even know your last name. I was so desperate to find you that I even tried to see that prick of a husband of yours, but he slammed the door in my face and called my CO. I was on fucking punishment duties for weeks after that. But you didn’t give a shit, did you? It’s just lies. You just tell me what you think I want to hear. How can I ever trust you?”
― Jane Harvey-Berrick, Semper Fi

“I was looking at her. I felt grateful to be here: this woman, this time, this place. Second chances didn’t come any better.”
― Jane Harvey-Berrick, Semper Fi