Watch Over Me: A Military Romance (Uncharted SEALs Book 1) (2 page)

“I heard you talking to the waitress.”

“Oh.” He’d tried to keep his voice lowered so he wouldn’t attract her attention. Either he was slipping, or she had super-power hearing.

“You here on vacation?” she asked.

Why would she think otherwise? He pressed his thumbs against the knots at the back of her neck. “I am.”

“Alone?”

“Yeah.”

“My dad send you?”

His hands stilled, then he massaged again, but he figured she couldn’t have missed his immediate response. So, the question hadn’t been stupid after all. “How’d you guess that?”

“You have a SEAL’s body. And your chin’s lighter than your cheeks, like you just shaved away a beard.”

He grunted, not giving her verbal confirmation, but then, he didn’t have to. Nicky Martir was as smart as she was pretty. Now that his cover was blown, he wondered how far she’d let him continue his casual massage. Irritation at having been made so quickly gave him an itch to turn the table on her, make her squirm, but only just a little. He rubbed her back, moving downward, fingers wrapping around her sides, touching the sides of those creamy breasts.

Her breath hitched, lifting her body a scant inch. “Careful there.”

“Just being thorough.” A smile tugged at his mouth, but he moved down again, leaning over her, kneading the small of her back.

Her breaths deepened. So did his. When he paused to drizzle more hot lotion over the tops of her exposed buttocks, she chuckled—a soft, choked sound. But she didn’t reach back to shove away his hands, so he guessed she was okay with him getting fresh.

Her ass was toned, the skin a smooth tan. When he shifted the top of the sea blue thong, a pale line betrayed the fact her immodesty wasn’t something she reserved only for when she was on vacation. Something he liked in a woman—courage, confidence, and an animal sensuality.

He kept his hands on the tops of her cheeks, fingers well away from the crease bisecting her anatomy…although the temptation to follow the deep curve was there.

“Don’t be shy now,” she whispered. “I’ll have a pink stripe down my butt.”

He shook his head, his grin widening. “You this bold with every stranger you meet?”

“Since you’re here at my daddy’s request, I figure you’re safe to flirt with.”

“Think I won’t take advantage?”

Her head turned, one eye raking his frame, then clinging to his face. “It’s not taking advantage since I asked.”

The thing he’d fought from the moment he’d first spotted her nearly nude body happened. His cock stirred, thickening. “Damn,” he said, his fingers curving, smoothing lotion into the sweet divide. “I’ll have to borrow your towel.”

“You could always lie down beside me, seeing as you have to keep watch over me anyway.”

“Gonna rub lotion on my back?”

“And anywhere I think needs it,” she said in an amused drawl.

“Lady, anyone ever tell you you’re a tease?”

She smiled and came up on an elbow, rolling onto her side and exposing her lovely breasts. “I don’t tease.”

Pink. Her nipples were pink. “You trying to get us arrested?” he whispered due to a suddenly dry throat.

“No one cares.” Her glance went to his rigid cock. “No one except you.” And her mouth curved into a cat-like smile. She reached for the bottle beside him and drew a line of cream across her chest, then smoothed both hands over her skin, fingers skimming her lush breasts as her nipples drew into hard little points.

Deke cussed under his breath. His cock was hard, aching. And if fifty people weren’t lounging nearby, and if he wasn’t on the job, he might have leaned in for a kiss. The sly curve of her mouth was that tempting.

She lay on her back, an arm draped over her chest. A token of modesty she didn’t really mean. The twinkle in her narrowed eyes told him she was waiting to see what he’d do next. So he picked up the bottle and drew a line up her long legs, across her belly and up to her arm. Then he turned in profile, letting her see exactly what she was doing to him.

Her indrawn breath filled him with satisfaction. But he didn’t dare look at her face, because if he’d read arousal there, he’d have tossed her over his shoulder and to hell with the mission.

Instead, he rubbed the lotion over her long, silky legs, moving upward, fingers providing a clinical, light massage, bypassing the mound barely contained by the tiny triangle of fabric hugging her to perfection. Her sex was outlined, the fabric riding the center. But he didn’t dare touch her there. He smoothed over her stomach, his fingers pausing to tease her belly button which caused her belly to quiver, her indrawn breath sinking her stomach and lifting her chest.

If they’d been alone, he would have bent over her to nuzzle away her arm and lavish her full breasts with kisses and nips until she was panting hard. Over a year had passed since he’d been intimate with a woman, and the lack of sex play was pressing hard on his good intentions.

Her breaths were already shorter, sexy little gasps intermixed with laughing moans. “You’re cruel,” she whispered.

“You started this game.” One that raised his heart rate with lusty anticipation.

“It’s not a game,” she said, her voice huskier now.

Incredibly sexy. Her eyes were wide, her mouth moist and round. His control snapped. He reached for the scrap of material she’d discarded, which was caught beneath her body, and pulled it away. Then he held it up, dangling from a single finger. “Time to cover up. You are not walking through the hotel lobby naked.”

“You’d mind?” She batted her eyelashes and grinned.

“Hell no, but I can’t promise I wouldn’t bend you over the first sofa I found. That would raise a few eyebrows.”

A hint of heat flashed in her liquid eyes. “I think I like you.”

“Like” was not the word he’d hoped for. He dropped his eyelids to half-mast. “Since I’m about to kiss you, I’m relieved.”

Her laughter was tense, but her widening smile took away his breath. How had things gotten so out of hand so fast?

“Move the arm,” he growled.

She slid it slowly to her side, waiting docilely while he spread the fabric cups over her breasts, his fingers light, only glancing over her distended nipples, and then he pulled the strings around her sides. She leaned up on an arm, her chest coming against his as he reached around to knot the strings across her back and at her neck. Only through sheer will did he keep himself from inhaling the scent of her hair.

Then he bent to the side and scooped up his towel which he stuffed into her beach bag along with the tanning lotion. “Anything else you need?”

At the shake of her head, he stood, the bag giving him some much needed camouflage, and reached for her hand.

When he pulled her to her feet, he was surprised. She was tall. She barely had to tilt back her head to meet his gaze—and she fit perfectly against him, another thing his body approved of.

Remembering where they were, what he was supposed to be doing, he flicked a quick glance around the beach and into the bar. Nothing amiss caught his eye. Not a single prickle lifted the hair on the back of his neck. The sixth sense he’d developed after dozens of ops gave no warning.

Then glancing back down at her, he did the thing he’d been telling himself he shouldn’t. Not here. Not with her.

He kissed Nicky.

‡

N
icky couldn’t believe
this was happening. Yes, she’d been attracted from the moment he’d stepped out of the hotel and taken a seat nearby, barely able to drag away her gaze as she’d watched him from the corner of her eye. The man was kryptonite, weakening her usually SEAL-proof will. She’d met so many over the years due to her daddy’s career, but had never succumbed to the fascination.

This time was different. She’d taken in the broad, muscled chest and thick thighs before she’d turned away, holding her breath as she listened while he’d seated himself a short distance away. Before she’d turned, the intensity of his hazel gaze as it swept over her that first time, the patient way he’d nursed the two drinks the grumpy waitress brought him—likely pure juice—and yes, his killer body, had clued her in pretty quickly as to exactly what he was. Even before she noted the pink scar from a bullet hole riding the waistband of his swimming trunks. Her father had been so adamant about her staying home
and
inside that his capitulation the day after she’d booked her flight seemed suspicious. She should have known he’d send someone to shadow her every move.

Not that she didn’t understand the need, but she’d chosen this island because it wasn’t a big tourist draw and would make logistics harder for the sort of threat that might follow her. Frankly, she was relieved her father had gone to such lengths. And now that she’d gotten an up close and personal look at her bodyguard, she was tempted to play this out. He was a SEAL. And his duty was to keep her safe. Something she found sexy as hell, so why fight the attraction that had blossomed so quickly between them? Too much time had gone by since she’d enjoyed a sexy, casual liaison with a man. And she’d never taken her pleasure with a SEAL. Growing up in that small, incestuous community where her every date was vetted and intimidated by a gauntlet of her daddy’s buddies pretty much killed any secret crush she’d ever had. But this time, she was far from the community and prying eyes.

Plus this hardened warrior wouldn’t report her antics to her daddy. No, this situation was getting more delicious by the minute. First, his callused hands rasping over her skin had made her quiver and tension wind tightly inside her core. And now his kiss…

His lips circled, dragging on her mouth, rotating so sweetly, she had to follow. She gasped to draw a deeper breath, and his tongue plunged inside her mouth, taking control. Enjoying the hint of fruit and his own distinct flavor, she knew where this was leading. This was a prelude to further delights. Thrilled, she surrendered, her arms encircling his back, fingers tracing over hard, ropey muscles and the deep indention of his spine. No, this man was far, far different from the desk jockeys she’d dated over the years.

When he drew back, she sighed. “Wow,” she whispered.

“Yeah,” he said, his jaw tightening a second later. “I’ll follow you to your room. To make sure you’re locked up tight.”

“With you?” she asked with a waggle of her eyebrows.

“Only if you ask.” His lips twitched. “I’m supposed to watch over you.”

“Even while I sleep?”

“You tired?” he drawled.

She laughed and dropped her head, sliding her cheek on his bare shoulder. “Not in the least.”

“Good.” And then he turned her, his hand slipping down to the small of her back as he escorted her inside the hotel.

Nicky wasn’t really into whirlwind affairs. Her last boyfriend had wooed her for a good six months before she’d let him into her bed, but this tall, intense man had a very visceral effect on her. Her body shivered, her breasts were tight—and there, between her legs, she was already wet. Arousal stirred inside her, so strong, so immediate, she wasn’t going to ignore her need. No, she intended to enjoy this for as long as it lasted.

“I’m on the third floor,” she said, stepping into the elevator.

He punched the button, his gaze darting outward to scan the lobby as they left.

She liked the way he kept focused on the job while his hand was there, radiating heat against her hip. “You know my name, do I get the same courtesy?” she asked, giving him a flirty sideways glance.

“I’m Deacon Warrick. But everyone calls me Deke.”

Everyone wasn’t a woman. She preferred Deacon, liked the way the two names rolled together on her tongue as she silently repeated them, but said aloud, “Hi Deke,” and then tilted her chin.

His mouth was curved in a slight smile. His gaze was direct, but questioning.

She probably wore the same bemused look. This was happening so fast.

“I’m not usually this fast,” he said.

Interesting how his words echoed her thoughts. “Me neither.”

“Good to know.”

She liked that he wasn’t much of a talker. That his sentences were narrowing to sparse, bullet-like phrases. The tension between them was building; her tummy was tight, her nipples ripening, something his flicking glance didn’t miss.

That he didn’t ask her the room number probably meant he’d already scoped out her room and had likely registered in one near hers. Right now, she liked his efficiency. Her gaze swept his chest, broad and lightly furred, muscled in a way that had nothing to do with a gym.

When the elevator chimed on the third floor, her heart beat faster. And a sudden note of anxiety caused her breaths to shorten. Reality intruded.

An unwanted niggling of doubt intruded.

Was she really going to do this? If he was vetted by her dad, he was a good guy. But the closer they strode toward her door, the more her doubts over whether this was a wise act grew exponentially. If they followed through on the unspoken promises their embrace had made, she’d be nude inside a minute. With a complete stranger. Her boldness on the beach had been fueled by a spike of anger at her father for not respecting her wishes, which had escalated when she’d gotten a good look at her protector. She’d acted rashly, without considering consequences.