SEAL Brotherhood 06 - SEAL My Destiny (14 page)

Her body answered his with a long, deep, rolling orgasm in tandem, leaving her completely wrung out. He stayed pressed inside her. She loved the way their bodies joined, and rode the wave of their pleasure all the way to the top of the hill and down the other side, where they slid into mutual entwined serenity.

He woke up
groggy from their lovemaking, not sure how much time they had been sleeping in the little vintage travel trailer, but loving the feel of her body beneath his. Her lips were still red, even though he’d kissed most of her lipstick off. He loved gazing at her while she slept. She was all the things he wanted in a woman, and she’d said she was in it for the long haul.

He thought about what Kyle had told him, and Nick had underscored. She not only was the someone he would lean on, he would learn in time to trust his need instead of trying to cover it up. His own beliefs had told him he wasn’t good enough, that he needed to stay away, that he wasn’t worthy. But she stood up for the part of him who wanted to connect on this intense level. The little thread which knew it was okay to ask for help, to need someone. That being a man was about facing your fears, and not always conquering them. He knew she would love all the rough edges and bumps out of him.

And for the first time in his life, he’d found someone strong enough to handle what he knew he might dish out. Her telling him not to quit had made a big impression. He knew about not quitting. He knew about not ringing the bell.

“I’m still here,” he whispered to the line of helmets he’d seen at BUD/S. To the line of men who hadn’t had a chance to find what he’d found in a woman. He was overwhelmed with gratitude.

‘
I like complicated, entangled. I want to be sorely missed when I’m gone.’

Baby, there’s no fuckin’ way I’m letting you anywhere out of my sight or my heart again. Not ever.

‡

T
he party wound
down, and finally the mobile DJ played to an empty dance floor, using up his already paid-for time. Caterers appeared and began cleaning up plates and gathering paper items in large black garbage bags.

Colin and Stephanie bid the dwindling crowd a farewell. Just before they left, Luke’s sister tried to toss Julie her bouquet, but one of the bridesmaids stepped in front of her and snagged it for herself, holding it up in a triumphant salute as though she’d won a gold medal.

Luke ran to Julie’s side immediately, as if to quell the bad luck. “You don’t need one of those. You already got the guy.”

Her fresh face leaned into his lips to accept the kiss he planted on her cheek. “Tell me more about this guy,” she said, as she turned, weaving her arms up around his neck and losing her fingers in his hair. “Does he like to go camping?”

“Only in Airstreams,” he said with a growl. “And I like my ladies to wear peach chiffon, which matches…”

He realized his voice was carrying when her fingers closed over his mouth and she shushed him with a kiss. Somewhere behind him he heard titters. He reacted by giving Julie a moan. When they separated at last, he whispered while nibbling on her lips, “Julie, you are too delicious for my health. I just want to spend the next week staying naked in bed with you.”

“Camping.”

“Whatever you like, sweetheart. But room service sounds better than making you slave over a campfire.”

Her right eyebrow lifted. “You’d rather have me slave in the bed underneath you?”

“Yes, baby. Absolutely. Underneath me, or anywhere for that matter, Julie. As long as you’re naked. As long as we’re both naked.”

She giggled and snuggled into his neck. The smell and feel of her in her chiffon was such a turn-on he was going to have to work to keep himself paced. He glanced around the winding-down party. The DJ looked sad as he played a slow song, swaying from side to side in tune with the music, earphones bulging and tethering him, eyes closed, in his own private world of music.

“One last dance?” he whispered.

“Love to, Sweetie.”

He led her to the dance floor, which would be removed shortly. Taking Julie in his arms was so familiar. The way she arched against his chest and allowed her thighs to straddle his as they made slow progress across the floor, pressing their abdomens together was a thing of beauty. The sound of her flounces reminded him of the gift of her sex he had opened earlier, like a favorite birthday present wrapped in tissue. The delicate flower of her pussy made his mouth water. He kissed her neck, and she slid her arms up on his shoulders, locking her fingers behind his head. She scraped her pubic bone against his right thigh and he nearly lost it. He angled himself so she could feel how hard he was for her and was rewarded with one of her little moans, and her eyes twinkled back at him just before she closed them.

He wanted to say something but suddenly felt hesitant. Everything had gone so fast, he didn’t want to spook her. He was unafraid to show her how much he loved being with her, especially since she’d promised to visit him in Coronado, and they’d see where things went from there. It might be like the cart before the horse, but he wanted to ask her to marry him right now, at this impulsive moment, but he held himself back.

Being the wife of a SEAL was a special assignment, and there was no training for it, except the school of hard knocks. There was a community of wives who looked out for each other. And not all the stories from overseas made it home to them. The smart wives knew this. He knew it was a lot to ask of someone. He didn’t want to fall for a lady who couldn’t possibly understand what she was getting herself into.

But that was a completely crazy thought, because he’d already fallen for her. He decided he’d just put it out of his mind, and not discuss anything future-related, to keep the pressure off them both. Nothing wrong with having a little bit of—well, a
lot
of—fun in the next few weeks before his deployment.

He held her under the starlight. Feeling eyes on him, he saw Julie’s parents eyeing him from their kitchen window, smiling. He couldn’t maintain the eye contact, though, because odds weren’t in his favor. He wasn’t prince charming, or Sir Galahad riding in on his white horse. He was just a guy other guys sent in to blow stuff up, grab people and hopefully get out before getting shot or caught.

And his intentions, although he liked to think of them as honorable, were merely to do everything in his power to be as irresistible as possible to her so when he left,
he’d
be the one she’d miss. And then maybe she’d wait for him. Maybe she’d wait until he got fully well. It was a lot of ifs.

The music stopped while he was kissing her ear through her hair, and holding her tighter as she melted into him. He liked that they were dancing, because their thighs made soft caresses, and the dress, that yummy dress, made all those whispering noises. He just knew every time he heard the sound of layers of chiffon, he’d get hard. It was going to be something he’d have for the rest of his life.

Unwinding from her warm body, he pulled her across the party floor towards the house. On the way, he asked her a question he was hoping she’d answer in the affirmative.

“I still have the room at the Hilton.”

Her breath hitched a bit as her spine straightened.
Okay, the Hilton is a non-starter.

“So, what is it you want, Julie?” He held her elbow to keep her from crossing the threshold into her parent’s kitchen.

“Some place else,” she said to her shoes.

“I know a spot Nick told me about.”

“Nick?”

“My buddy who lives here. He’s starting a winery. Retiring from the teams.”

“Okay. Something not like the Pink Slipper in Coronado, right?”

“Right.” He squeezed her and whispered, “Sorry about that.”

“I think at the time I was just glad it wasn’t a public beach or the back of a pickup.”

“Funny. But it was all I could think of.”

“Roger that, sailor. I was in the same boat, trust me.”

Julie rushed up to her room to get a few things to bring along. He wished he could follow her there. He wished no one else was in the house, that he could be with her under the twinkle lights, pay the DJ to play all night long so they could dance and go out to the Airstream, or barricade themselves in her old bedroom. Something normal and warm and happy. He liked the light-hearted feeling she created around them. He had visions he could get used to this feeling, and it had been too damned long since it had been part of his psyche.

He slung her bag over his shoulder and led her through the gauntlet of the remaining few partygoers. He thought they’d made a clean exit when her mom waylaid them at the front door.

“Sweetheart. Your dad and I want to have breakfast tomorrow morning with you two. Can you join us?”

Luke’s heart skipped a beat or two and he decided to let Julie handle it. “Mom, we might be taking off. I’m not sure what our schedule will look like tomorrow.”

Her mother was not taking “No” very well. “Silly, before you leave, then. We can do it early, if you want. Then your dad and I can go to church afterwards.” Her mother went in for the kill shot, had been holding Julie’s hand and then reached for Luke’s and squeezed it. “Please. One little favor to humor the mother of the groom?”

She had a way of looking down coyly, like Julie, that pulled on his heartstrings. The woman was lethal.

Then her mother delivered the kill shot. “After all, we’re family now.”

There was no way out of coming to breakfast tomorrow morning, of having to spend time face-to-face with the parents of the woman he was going to fuck all night long. He’d get to look into their eyes, and try to make at least a little sense, while he munched down his eggs, and chewed bacon, and sipped black coffee. All while having the biggest hard-on imaginable. He could see the scene already, in living color.

What are you doing, Luke? You are a freakin’ dog.

Oh yeah, there was the earlier thought about the life together with her. The part about how he loved her. That part. And yes, they were family. And yes, he’d be the gentleman, but tomorrow morning, not tonight. Tonight he hoped she’d be anything but a lady in his arms.

“I think we can arrange it, Julie,” he said to her disappointed face. “We can make the time, don’t you think, hon?”

Julie frowned. It didn’t appear to be what she’d had in mind at all, but she went along with him. “Okay, Mom. We’ll come by, but not early. How about nine?”

“Fine.” Her mother beamed. “See you then.” Her sparkly eyes were the last thing Luke saw, since they’d lingered on his face longer than on her daughter’s. The lady knew full well what he was about.

He wasn’t quite sure she approved.

But what difference could it make, anyhow?

He checked out
of the Hilton after making sure the hotel Nick recommended was available. It was going to set him back a quarter of a month’s pay, but he went ahead and took the room for two nights.

When he drove up to the Waterwheel Inn, a the silvery lights illuminating the olive trees at the entrance echoed the carpet of twinkling stars scattered across the dark sky. The texture of golden stucco walls was highlighted in shadows created by ground-level lighting hidden in the landscaping. When they entered the reception area they could hear water flowing beyond glass doors, which opened onto a courtyard fountain. Maps painted directly on the walls and frames of old early California artifacts adorned the reception area like an upscale museum.

They checked in. He was struggling to remember if he had enough on his credit card for all this, but forced the thought out of his mind. He wanted this to be special for her. Right now, it was all that counted. He wanted to blot out their time together at the Pink Slipper—not the urgency, but the cheesy locale. He vowed she’d never have to stay in a seedy place again for the rest of her life. At least, not if she was with him.

They ambled along the wet walkways to the sound of water sluicing over paddles of an enormous waterwheel. It churned slowly, emptying its contents into a shallow koi pond meandering throughout the property. This place was every bit as nice as Nick had said.

Up narrow, flagstone-lined steps, and there was their room. Luke opened the heavy hand-hewn oak door, and his chest tightened when she slipped past him, the whispers of her textured chiffon tickling his heart. She turned and looked, gazing at the tall exposed beam ceilings, the fireplace and overstuffed reading chairs at the hearth, the heavy tapestry curtains and bedspread on the massive king bed in the center of the room. Like a marionette, her head dipped to the side as her dress rustled, and then she faced him.

Whatever he had been before, she’d washed clean. He hoped he would be worthy of her love, and not just in a physical sense. The shadows of his PTSD would return, he was certain of it. More than a little sadness remained with him, though. They’d have to work through those times carefully, and he prayed for strength to be gentle with her on those days.

But for tonight all that was way off in the future he hoped they’d have. Even though, deep down, he still wondered if he was good enough for her.