Two Weeks With a SEAL (The Wakefield Romance Series) (6 page)

"Why is that,"
Chad's smooth voice met me as he bent to help me pick up a few of the items,
holding up the sexy teddy I had packed and giving me a raised eyebrow as he
handed it to me.

I blushed, snatching it
from him, "Because he passed out while I was trying to take his pants
off." The look that Chad gave me made me blush, again, his laugh filling
the quiet night air. Seeing that I wasn't laughing, he choked back the sound,
pulling me into his chest his Old Spice scent washed over me.

"Do you hate
me," I asked, worry filling me that the man I had dreamed off and pined
over would reject me because of my drunken interest in Duke Orr.

He swept me up into his
arms, his lips finding mine as he made the way over to his truck,
"No," he whispered, setting me in the passenger seat. The ride to his
house was silent except for the radio, the top nine country songs of the day
played at nine o'clock on the dot. When he put the truck in park outside of his
house, I paused, my heart racing.

His smile eased me out
of the truck and through the rest of the night, his laugh bringing smiles to my
lips. His lips bringing pleasure to my body, the dark sky turning light as we
lay awake, exploring each other. As Chad was in the bathroom starting the
shower, I called into work, Jenna answering the phone. "Hey, I'm not gonna
be able to come in today, I'm not feeling well," I say, hearing a slight
giggle on her end.

"Yeah right,"
she laughed, bringing a smile to my lips, "Have fun with the hunk,"
she joked, issuing a goodbye and accepting mine with another giggle. I throw
myself back against Chad's pillows, his bed ultra-soft and inviting. Pulling
the comforter up near my nose I giggle uncontrollably at the overflow of
happiness that is bubbling within me.

"You gonna join
me," Chad's blue eyes peek out from the bathroom, his perfect naked body
standing before me, my eyes roaming it unashamedly. I practically jumped out of
bed, running at him with a wide smile, leaping into his arms and wrapping my
legs around his waist as he laughed into my kiss, the loud lip smacking sounds
that I made making his laugh rumble throughout the quiet morning air. The
peaceful shower was shattered when my moans rang out with the flowing water,
Chad having me pinned up against the shower wall, smiling into my skin at every
little sound I emitted.

He threw us down on the
bed, not bothering with a towel, and I was splayed across his chest my legs
straddling his waist. "I'm in heaven," he huffed out, brushing the
wet strands of hair off of my face. Did I just hear that right? I thought, my
heart finding my throat and throwing my brain into overdrive at all of my
forlorn fantasies.

"Me too," I
whisper, finding his lips and tangling my fingers in his hair.

I could lay here
forever, just kissing him and feeling the warmth from his body as he holds me
tight. I never want to give this up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chad:

 Friday January 20,
2012

I was throwing the last
sleeping bag into the bed of my truck, pulling the black snap cover over and
shutting the tailgate as my phone started to vibrate in my sweatshirt pocket,
playing the theme song from 'The A-Team'. I didn't have to look at the touch
screen to know that it was Reno Martinez, one of my SEAL Team-mates.
"What's up brother," I say, his voice laughing on the other end.

"Hey Chief, packing
up?" his slight Mexican accent laden voice chuckled over the line.

"Yeah, just
throwing the last few things in the truck before Ray gets home from work,"
I double checked that the snaps on the bed cover were all pushed down before
hopping up the steps back into my house. It was quiet without Rhea being here
and I had been extremely lonely the last few days when she worked her day job
then nights at the bar. Yeah I went in to Muncy's and hung out with her,
catching up with some old high school friends and nosy locals, but I wanted
that woman all to myself every second of every day.

"You need me and
Rosa to pick up anything before we head out?" Reno and his wife Rosa lived
down in Virginia Beach, right near the base in a nice little condo right on the
beach. It was our hangout place when we had some down time, which was rare.

"Groceries, if you
guys want anything specific, Rhea and I are gonna get some basics and stuff we
like." Tonight was the night we were heading out to Randy's cabin in the
Blue Ridge Mountains to meet up with my SEAL buddies. It'll be the first time
Rhea meets any of them and they all knew Randy, except our newb Bobby Timmons,
but he was just a young guy of twenty one. Most of the Team were in their late
twenties, but if Randy was still alive we'd both be the second oldest at
thirty. Timmons, Martinez and I were being joined by Fred Black and our Team
Leader, Austin French, both of them bringing their dogs because they didn't
have wives or girlfriends. In my line of work it was hard to keep a
relationship, being deployed whenever and wherever, Martinez was a great
example of that. Rosa and him had been married just over three years and they
had been separated more than a dozen times, always getting back together then
having something like distance separate them again, Rosa moving in with her
mother. Giving Reno a few last minute directions and ideas on items to pick up,
I issue a 'see ya later' and go back to making sure I've packed all the items
that I need.

The whole breaking up
thing is what scares me about getting involved with Rhea. I love her, I always
have, but I don't want to hurt her. She's the light beacon in my darkness, her
smile always bringing me out of myself, making me a better man. She doesn't
know that she's the only woman I've had sex with and if I told her she probably
wouldn't believe me. I had given her my virginity the same night I had taken
hers on the basement floor of Heather Rachel's house, the night of that huge
house party. I had felt guilty afterwards when Randy and I were back on base
and I had confessed to him, falling to the wrath of an angry brother. We had
brawled, fists flying, until our other Team members had broken us up but not
before Military Police showed up, tossing us both in the brig for the night. We
had suffered two weeks of hard labor and humiliation as punishment, Randy
barely speaking to me the entire time.

It was two whole months
and a deployment to the Middle East that Randy finally spoke to me about it. He
had asked me one thing, "Do you love her," and I had answered a
truthful, "yes". After that, we were back to normal, two peas in a
pod.

Years later when we were
taking two suspected terrorist links back through a small valley pass, both
blindfolded and covered with hoods, Randy spotted goat farmers coming towards
us. We had taken defensive positions, two of our Team mates going out to
intersect and pat down the three Iraqi men. Hearing the 'all-clear', we resumed
our path, Randy being at the back of our group, watching our tails as I
escorted the links by the goats. I'll never forget the yell of 'bomb' three
seconds before the ear piercing blast rang out, sending all of us to the dirt,
my body going over top of our prisoners to protect them in case of gun fire.

My ears were still
ringing as I got to my knees, readjusting my helmet, hearing yelling throughout
our walkie system. "Rooster," they yelled with no answer. Randy
always responded to his nickname, "Rooster!" "Chief, chief they
got Rooster," echoed through my head, my steps wobbly as I got to my feet,
pulling the two prisoners up with me. The memory makes me take a seat at my
dining table, my head in my hands as I recall the sight of my best friend, or
rather, the lack thereof. He had been obliterated by a suicide bomber, there
was nothing left of him except a black mark on the ground. Keeping your
composure is a huge part of being a good solider, but once we got back at our
base, I broke like a twig in the wind. Martinez had found me, still in my
combat gear, sobbing like a child as I lay in my bunk.

An ironic twist brings a
smile to my lips, remembering that only two weeks before that day Randy had
said "You better marry my sister or I'll kill you", leaning on me one
night when we were at the bar. It was one of the first times that he had
brought Rhea up since the whole fight we had had over her, and I had shrugged
him off because he was drunk. Now, well now I felt as if Randy was nudging me,
telling me to get off my ass and make his sister happy. "Honey," my
mom's voice comes from the front door and I hurriedly wipe away the tears from
my cheeks, getting up to meet her in the front hall.

"Yes, ma'am,"
I reply giving her a smile that spread to her own lips. My mom was an angel to
all those who would let her be, her purpose in life being to make others happy
since my father's death when I was ten. My dad had been a giant of a man
standing just under seven foot tall, serving in the Army when he was a teen and
then starting up a surveying business that grew when I was little. He died of a
heart attack stemmed from smoking and my mother had been crushed. She had
picked herself up, with the help of Rhea's mom, Ruth, and she had been the best
mom a kid could ask for.

"Getting ready to
leave son," she asked looking around as if she was searching for
something.

"Yeah momma, just
waiting for Rhea to get home from work," she stopped straightening the
couch pillows, and I can see a sly smile cross her lips. She knew that I was in
love with Rhea, hell she had known right off when I first realized, I mean
really realized it, when I was fifteen. Rhea had been only ten, so I brushed my
feelings off as puppy love, but she was always there in my heart and in my
mind.

"When are you gonna
tell that girl that you love her," she turns to me, tossing the pillow at
my head.

Catching it, I toss it
playfully back at her. "It's not that simple mom," I say, running my
hand through my hair, brushing the waves back. My mom hated my long hair,
always telling me to cut it and shave my beard, but I liked it, and better yet
Rhea seemed to like it. My mom scoffed at me, waving her hand dismissively.

"Oh please, 'not
that simple', just tell the girl how you feel," she threw her hands up in
the air, seemingly swatting at imaginary cupids flying around her. "She
loves you, you love her, just admit it to each other," she came up to me
placing her strong loving hands on my shoulders, "you better do it before
some asshole like Duke Orr gets her pregnant and she feels obligated to marry
him." Her cocked eyebrow gave me a sense of dread, the thought of Rhea
marrying Duke filling my gut with bile. I knew how that would end. Rhea would
be overly pregnant and barefoot in the kitchen, a fresh black eye across her
beautiful face as Duke sat in his lazy-boy chair chugging down Coors Light and
yelling at her for dinner. Yeah, definitely not going to let that happen.

"Mom," I say,
taking her into a hug, her small stature only coming up just below my chin, standing
a little taller that Rhea. "Don't worry, you'll get your
grandbabies," I chuckle as she swats me in the chest, pushing away from me
and giving me a ridiculous look.

"You know that's
not why I'm sayin' it, Chadwick," oh man, she used my whole name, she
means business. I grin at her and she breaks the seriousness, giggling at me
like a little school girl. I hook her arm in mine, walking towards the front
door because I've concluded I have all of the things for the weekend.
"Just don't let her get away," she says, her sweet voice ringing in
my ears as she kisses me on the cheek.

"Yes, ma'am,"
I say as she issues her 'goodbyes' and 'be safes', walking across our side
lawns to the house that I purchased for her, to get her out of the trailer
park. My mom was right, I needed to let Rhea know how I feel sooner rather than
later. Checking my phone I see that it's a little after six and Rhea should be
home soon, so I double check the tailgate of my truck, hopping in and starting
her up.

This weekend was going
to be fun.

This weekend was going
to be life changing.

Rhea

I had been home only
about ten minutes when I heard the gravel shifting in my driveway, looking out
my bedroom window seeing Chad's truck pulling up near the porch. It sends my
stomach into flip-flops, my mind fluttering and my pulse racing. It was so
crazy that he drove me wild even after three nights of crazy, unbridled sex we
had had. I shake it off, getting back to making sure I have everything I need
for the weekend. I had gotten another waitress to cover my shift at the bar and
Kendall was going to meet us up there after her shift tonight.

The sound of his truck
door slamming shut sends my mind wandering from my task, getting to my feet I
shove a few more shirts, pairs of jeans and lingerie items into my bag, meeting
Chad in the hallway. "Ready," he asks, his hands going to my waist
and pulling me to him, a crooked grin on his lips. I let my bag drop as I go up
on my tip toes, wrapping my hands around the back of his neck and letting his
mouth find mine. His hands find the edge of my tank and his fingers send
shivers throughout my waist as he trails them along the bare skin.