SEAL's Code (12 page)

He admired her slender frame, her long legs, and the simple, white ruffled top she wore over her jeans that couldn’t hide her round bottom. He loved how her light tan skin contrasted with the bright white cotton. Her dark eyes took in everyone and everything, and she still had time to coo and play with the baby.
His
baby.

The only part of her that was flashy were her turquoise cowboy boots with the red lizard trim. The pattern was stitched intricately, but someone had painted flowers in bright colors at the toes and up the outside edge where they hugged her calves.

See me.

The air was thick with the connection he felt for her as if a wedding blanket had been draped over them both. He thought about making love to her by moonlight on the banks of a babbling stream, the lights from the stars present in her eyes. His lovemaking would make her cry, like it did the first time. He knew what that was. She didn’t have to tell him.

See me, Luci,
he willed in his mind again.
Do you know how much I want to hold you in my arms? Can you feel the vibration the singers are bringing to you? It’s a message, my love.

And just as his ancestors had given him the gift of his heritage, he was granted the gift of her attention, for she turned slowly at first, looking at him from the corner of her eye. She bent her head down, not because she was shy, as someone outside the community might misunderstand. She bent her head to acknowledge the deep rumble in her own belly. He knew that was the case.

Her neck was long as she peered over her shoulder, one breast pushed up, as she nursed his young son. Just as she was giving her body to the child for strength, he knew that some night very soon, she’d give her body up to him again. Like the night they’d made Griffin.

And all would be right with the world.

Lucy had gone
to the hospital to be with her mother and Sarah. The crowd of rescue vehicles and the curious onlookers had dissipated by morning. He felt like a boy of fifteen again with a new crush. Although filled with emotions he was deliciously enjoying, he was unable to categorize or manage. So he let them run free. He’d spent the night with Jeffrey and Wilson, and the three of them hadn’t slept more than an hour, they were so pumped up.

He was filled with anticipation as he saw her again at first morning’s light. She’d worn another white smock, but this time adorned it with a silver and turquoise belt that gathered the white material in a flair over her hips. Her light blue denim skirt had been adorned with beadwork he knew to be done by hand. He couldn’t speak.

Jeffrey had watched their gazes toward each other, and he’d caught his SEAL buddy whispering things to Wilson. Luci’s mother was still in the hospital. That left Sarah in the company of Wilson and Jeffrey, something Sarah was enjoying immensely.

Jeffrey acted the perfect gentleman, bringing her water, smiling down at her, and patting the top of her head as if he were her big brother. Wilson had stopped swearing. Danny felt a balance had returned to his world at last. Less than twenty-four hours ago he’d learned he was a father. He also nearly lost it all within that same stretch of time. Now equilibrium was returning. A new future was blooming right in front of him.

The three of them watched TV, Sarah sitting proudly between the two Navy men. It seemed important to resume somewhat of a normal routine after a day of such high emotions.

Except Danny welcomed the emotions. They were elixirs and concoctions he felt could heal him. Part of his spirit was expanding, and he could see things he hadn’t noticed before. Little things like the sweet peas along Luci’s back fence he remembered from his own grandmother’s garden. The little blue lizards that hid whenever he walked in her backyard. He saw the streaks of pinkish clouds in the now-fading afternoon sun. The warm rosy hue of the soil contrasted with the bright blue of the sky in this land of the changing woman,
his
people,
and his
land. The colors were more vivid than he’d remembered.

He hadn’t touched Luci except to place a hand on her shoulder and whisper a request, to see if he could be of service to her in some small way. He spoke carefully, softly, working to bring her as much honey in his voice as he could find. He noticed the hairs at the back of her neck rose whenever he talked to her, and felt the glorious tickle of the hairs around the side of her face when he spoke softly into her ear.

Quite unexpectedly, she walked toward him after putting the baby down for a nap, placing her palms against his chest, allowing her breasts to brush against him. She did this without shame or trying to hide her feelings. Her eyes searched his without a question residing there. Danny found himself covering her hands with his, then lifting each palm one by one, kissing the undersides right in the middle. Her natural body oils infused into him. Her loveliness was indescribable. She matched his kissing of her palms with motions of the same kind, and then they just looked at each other, at the miracle of the culmination of generations of Dine who had stood honestly face to face, and became a partnership with more than their bodies.

She turned and announced to the little group on the couch her intention to take a walk with him. Wilson, Jeffrey, and Sarah were watching an old Bachelorette episode Jeffrey had starred in. His cousin nodded his head stoically, but Jeffrey gave him a wink and a full on Hollywood smile. Sarah was so engrossed in the program she didn’t look up.

Outside the front door, Danny noticed an old folded blanket and a glass bottle of homemade lemonade sitting on a wicker chair. Birds were chirping in the bright pink bougainvillea vine that had tried to take over her mother’s porch.

“Where are we going, Luci?”

“There’s a little trail to a frog pond I used to walk as a child. I haven’t seen it in years. Maybe the frogs are gone, the water too for that matter, but I want to see it again.

He laced his fingers through hers, and she squeezed tightly, and then let go. He found his arm fit well around her waist, his palm resting on her hip as she took long flowing strides.

A chorus of frog sounds abruptly ended when they walked through some grey-green brush. Luci pulled the reeds aside, and he saw a small pond being fed by a tiny stream.

She laid the blanket out and slipped off her shoes. Danny handed her the lemonade jar and did the same.

“I started coming here when my uncle wouldn’t stop trying to come after me.” She turned her delicate neck, and, with dancing eyes, gave him a warm smile. “This was like my own little secret garden, like the children’s book I loved so much. Do you know it?”

“I’m sorry, no.”

“Well, it’s a story about an unwanted little girl and her two friends, one the son of a servant, who finds solace and health in a secret garden locked away after the death of the mistress of the house. Inside this garden, they are protected by a high wall that also masks the sounds of their play and their laughter.”

Danny was sorry he’d never been told that story.

“I learned about it in school. I took to reading quite early, thank God. I never had parents who told me the legends and ways of our people, Danny. Not like you did.”

He knew he was lucky to have had the influence of his grandfather, something he had to admit he hadn’t realized until the old man was gone.

“I used this place to get away from the harshness and dangers of my world. To a place where miracles happened and people’s souls were healed.”

Danny looked out over the cool water. “Reminds me of some of the fishing holes Grandfather took me to as a child. Wilson would come, too. We’d camp out under the stars. The sky seemed so much bigger then.”

Luci, nodded. “I don’t have memories like that. But Griffin will. He’ll have all that.”

“Yes, he will,” Danny admitted.

A gentle breeze floated by them. A hummingbird hovered over a cactus flower. Several brave frogs resumed their singing.

“He never raped me, Danny, but I felt unsafe and violated just the same. I’m glad I didn’t have to kill him, but you know, I dreamt about it every night.” She pointed to the pond with her outstretched hand. “This place gave me the courage I needed. I knew that some day I would have to deal with Uncle Corwin, and I vowed I’d be strong when that day came.”

Danny wasn’t shocked. The deliberate way she’d handled herself under pressure had indicated to him she’d planned it for years.

“I learned how to shoot a gun, and I learned some self-defense. I knew some day I’d need all of that.”

“I’ll bet. Watching you yesterday, Luci,” he took her hand in his and rubbed the back of her palm with his thumb, “I could see you’d thought about it for a long time.”

Danny wasn’t sure how to bring up what he hoped would be their future.

“Luci, I’ll be going back to San Diego with Jeffrey in a few days. Would you consider coming with us?”

Her answer was immediate. She shook her head.

“I’m not going to leave Sarah here alone.”

“But she has your mom.”

“I can’t ask that of her just yet.”

“Then bring her. Bring them both.”

“I’ll think about it, Danny.” Her honest mouth demanded to be kissed. She was looking up at him, searching his eyes.

“Marry me, Luci,”

“You don’t even know me, Danny.”

“Yes I do. I’ve known you my whole life.”

She traced his mouth with her forefinger. “We’ll see. We’ll see where this takes us, and then we’ll decide. Together.”

“You aren’t going to be able to make me stay away, Luci,” he said as he covered her mouth, tasting her need and the sweetness of her spirit.

“Danny Begay, I have no intention of making you stay away,” she whispered back to him between kisses.

He followed her body as it gently rested against the quilt. Unfastening the latch on her silver and turquoise belt, he took his time unbuttoning her white cotton blouse, each time kissing the flesh he was exposing, parting the sides, and tracing a line from her navel to the bottom of her bra.

Her hands squeezed over his buttocks as she pulled him into her, raising her knee and lifting her skirt so his groin could rub against the soft tissues of her sex. His hands relished the soft skin of her backside. When he drew toward her center, he peeled her panties to one side and pinched her bud, then slipped a finger inside her as she arched to receive him. Her delicate neck craned backward as he kissed down her middle until he dropped his head under her skirt and his tongue found her opening.

He heard the singers again. Thankfully, his grandfather was quiet, but the singers’ sweet song mingled with Luci’s moans as he could feel her strength build with the crescendo of her desire.

Love me, Luci. Can you do this? Am I enough for you?

He climbed on top of her, releasing his pants, then stopped and began to sit up. “I wasn’t prepared. I—”

“Shhh,” she said as she covered his mouth with her three middle fingers, pulling him by the collar against her chest. “The chances are slim right now. Besides, I’ve waited a whole year for this.”

He entered her slowly, watching the emotions cross her face like the white billowy clouds of the Four Corners. Her eyes filled with need the more he rooted deep inside her. She resisted, matching his body’s hardness and strength, and then she melted underneath him, surrendering fully, becoming pliable. He rode her body like a cascading wave, savoring her, bringing her to the brink of release and then changing the tempo, kissing her softly and allowing her to catch her breath. Finally, she demanded more, pulled him deep, as she ground her mound into him furiously.

He vowed he’d convince her in the days ahead that the only place she belonged was at his side. He’d be a father to Griffin. He’d be her lover, her protector, and the keeper of her flame. He’d dedicate his life to giving her more than she’d ever expected or thought she wanted.

There were details to work out. He would be leaving soon for a long workup before his first deployment. But they were just details. He was done with the search to find himself, finding her in the process. This gentle soul and his young son would become the focus of his life. There wasn’t anything to prove and everything to come home to. If she’d take a chance on him, he’d keep his promise and make her feel like the luckiest girl in the whole world. Nothing could keep him from coming home.

‡

D
anny and Jeffrey
reported to the SEAL Team 3 building on Coronado, watching as others arrived. They were a contingent of ten newbies—tadpoles, as someone had told them. A tall, blue-eyed man in camo gear came over and introduced himself to the two friends.

“I’m Kyle Lansdowne, your LPO.”

“Special Operator Begay. Glad to be here, sir.” Jeffrey did the same. Their LPO shook both their hands firmly. A tall SEAL to his right introduced himself as Calvin Cooper, Corpsman. “I fix shit, too.” Others stepped in and shook hands with each newbie, one at a time.

“You both from Class 388?” Asked one of the
old guys.
Some of the newbies were medically rolled from Class 386 and a couple other classes.