He found Laila's spot and miracle of miracles, she was there. When she opened the door, she stared at him, stunned into immobility.
"Dec?" Her bruised mouth started to smile. "How do you keep surprising me?"
He leaned against the doorway. "My talent, I guess. You want to invite me in?" He visually devoured her body, gorgeous without its burka wrap. Her long legs were encased in faded jeans and she wore a pink t-shirt. Her black hair swung over her shoulders, just as he'd fantasized about it.
She pushed the door wide. "Absolutely. There is nothing I'd rather do."
He grinned at her. "Good answer."
She jumped into his arms. That felt as good as anything he'd ever experienced. He kicked the door shut. She kissed his neck and he stiffened. He hadn't missed her bruised mouth.
"Don't kiss me," he said quickly.
"What?" She drew back, her eyes confused.
He touched her mouth, a feather light caress. "I can't kiss your mouth. But if I could, I'd spend the next hour kissing you there, and it wouldn't be long enough."
She smiled. "My mouth doesn't feel as bad as it looks."
"Perhaps there are other places I could kiss that you might enjoy as much."
"Dec." She smoothed her hands down over her breasts, deliberately enticing him, and then she lifted the bottom of the t-shirt and drew it over her head.
"My God," he breathed out. "No kissing at all?"
"We only have one hour. The girls are at a therapy group every afternoon but I'll have to leave in an hour to pick them up."
He touched her nipples. "I like the way you're thinking. But we have a few things to talk about." He yanked off his own gray t-shirt.
"We do?" Her eyes glommed onto his chest.
"Yeah." He reached behind her and unhooked her bra. He pulled it off, and sucked in an audible breath when her breasts were exposed. "So beautiful." He plumped them both in his hands.
"I never did get to thank you for saving our lives." She smiled, but her eyes were starting to glaze over, in a way that thrilled Dec. "Thank you. And thanks to your crazy colleagues too. You are a formidable bunch."
"We try."
"The more time I spent with you, the more I knew I could depend on you." She placed both of her hands on his pecs, and slowly, slowly, trailed them down.
"Why didn't you just ask for my help from the beginning?"
She sighed. "In hindsight, I know I was wrong. But, at the time, I could only think about keeping my sister safe."
"You thought we'd hurt her?"
"Not on purpose. But I believed, and still kind of do, that when violence explodes, no one is safe."
She opened the button on his jeans.
"You're ignoring all our training," he managed.
"I might have, before I saw it in action." She drew down his zipper.
Action, he repeated. Action. He had to focus because it was important that they bridge the difference in their outlooks. Him—military. Her—NGO priestess.
"You have a point," he said. "When bullets are flying, no one is guaranteed to be safe. If we could abolish violence, yeah, that would be better. But we have to eliminate evil first."
She sighed, resting her hands right above his favorite body part. "Sometimes I think all my work is useless. How will we eradicate evil?"
He cupped her face in his hands so he could capture her gaze. "Education is always important, Laila. You can influence minds. You can help people who've been hurt by war. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that because good deeds don't work on everyone, there's no point in trying."
"When all is said and done, though, the NGOs fill only a part of the solution."
"The military is also only part of the solution. I have no trouble seeing that." He unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans. "I'll tell you what's just as important as training or education."
"What's that?" she asked breathlessly.
Dec pushed down her pants. "A good brain. Whatever made you think of humming that song?"
Her eyes widened in surprise. "I made up my mind that I would just keep humming until you found us."
"Until I found you?" he repeated in stupefaction. Her skin was so soft it almost stalled his brain. "What if I never had?"
"I knew you would."
He shook his head, but his hands were happy on her butt.
"What else could I do," she asked softly. "Alyssa couldn't move, and I couldn't leave her. Those were facts. My hope about you was—just that—a hope. But it was all I had to cling to, and so I clung to it."
"I love you." He dropped to his knees and kissed her right at the juncture of her thighs.
She moaned and began trembling. "I—I'm going to fall, Dec."
He looked up at her. "In love, I hope."
He caught her up, took two steps to the sofa against the wall, and laid her down. He eased apart her legs, put his mouth to her again, and held her hips. She began convulsing instantly.
When she was finished, he lifted his head and looked into her eyes. "Should I be flattered," he murmured, "or was that not what it seemed to be?"
She grabbed his hair and urged him up her body. "Oh my God," she said, "stop talking and get inside me."
When they were both sated, they were lying tightly pressed together on the sofa, which turned out to be Laila's bed.
"That wasn't what I meant when I said we had to talk," Dec said, running his fingers through her silky hair. "Although it was a lot more fun."
She giggled. "We have time for another round."
He pulled lightly on a strand of hair. "Let me say my piece, okay?"
She turned on her side, crossed her arms between them, and looked at him. "I'm all ears."
"My current enlistment will be up in six months," he began. "They're already offered me a training slot for the six months."
"What does that mean?" A slight frown appeared between her brows.
"I'll be guaranteed to be stateside for those six months. In Virginia."
Laila dropped her gaze, and his heart sank. But he'd made up his mind, and he was willing to do what had to be done.
"Laila." He touched her chin to bring her gaze back up to his. "I want to be with you more than anything. I'll give up the SEAL teams if that's what it takes."
She gasped. "I would never ask you to give up who you are."
He smiled, despite himself. Her words didn't change anything, but he appreciated them just the same.
"You didn't ask," he said. "I offered."
"No." She shook her head as if to emphasize her refusal.
"What are you saying 'no' to?"
"No, I don't want you to give up the Navy, or whatever you call it, for me."
He leaned back as much as possible in the confined space, so he could see her expression. What the hell was she saying? Did she not want to be with him? She'd welcomed him into her arms, literally. But maybe he'd misread her. Maybe she was happy living here with her sister, helping her to move into her new world.
But he had to ask. No matter how painful the answer.
"Does that mean you don't want me?" His voice quavered just a bit there at the end. He prayed she didn't notice.
"Declan." She pressed her bruised mouth to his shoulder. "What are you asking me? In what sense do you want me to want you?"
He felt his eyebrows climb as his mouth dropped open. "You have to ask? I want to be your husband. That is"—damn, he was messing up big time—"I want you to be my wife."
She stared at him for a long moment, time in which he ceased to breathe.
Then she threw her arms around him. "Yes," she cried. "Yes, I want to be your wife!"
He wrapped his arms around her as relief and euphoria filled him. He hugged her tight. "That's all I need to know. The rest of it can be worked out."
"The rest of it?" She pulled back her head.
"Well, there's Alyssa and Aveen—"
"Alyssa is mine, and Aveen is yours"—
—"and they go together," he finished.<
br />
She nodded, as a big smile broke out on her face. "Thank you so much for understanding. I know it's not the ideal way to start a marriage."
"Love is the ideal way to start a marriage," he said, "and we'll have plenty of that."
* * *
The End
A Note from Carly
Thank you for reading Taken by the SEAL. I hope you enjoyed it. Please check my Carly Carson Website for all my books.
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Carly Carson
Carly writes contemporary romance, sometimes with a touch of paranormal (her Love Charm Series, and the upcoming Atlan Fairies series). Carly enjoys her own personal romance with her husband, Traveling Man. She has three children, who provide a daily dose of reality, even though they are almost perfect (just ask them!). Carly loves traveling, outdoor sports, reading, and visiting with friends and her large extended family. Carly Carson Newsletter
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SEALed with a Vegas Kiss
by Xandra James
I'm in Vegas to stop a wedding. I've been in love with Molly ever since I could remember but I'm no good for her, so I've stayed away...when I could. But now her brother—and my CO—has found out the groom-to-be is a dick, and I have no intention of ignoring a direct order to take him out of the picture. My mission is to stop the wedding at all costs, but success hinges on whether I can keep my hands to myself and my heart under wraps.
Chapter One
Sunlight was already warm against my body as I took my early morning run along an almost deserted Las Vegas Boulevard. Cleaning crews washed down pavements and tended to the green grass at the front of expensive hotels while revellers staggered home from a night out partying.
It was 4:38 a.m., according to my watch, and I hadn't slept last night. Tired and stiff, I had travelled from the middle-east to get to the United States after my last assignment. I should be pleased to be on home soil—I was—but I wished it was on better circumstances.
Being asked by your commanding officer to stop his older sister from getting married was far from normal. But I was a SEAL and he was my buddy. Whether it made me feel uncomfortable or not, I'd do it because he couldn't.
Vegas was a great place to be, though. And normally, I'd be having the time of my life, celebrating making it back from another mission abroad. This time Sin City filled me with dread. I was about to see the one woman who could turn me inside out, and she had no idea I'd been obsessed with her for years.
Fun times.
I gritted my teeth as I ran up the long entrance toward the main doors to the hotel. Molly Tucker was the last woman I needed to see after four months away. I should be banging a beautiful, willing dancer and losing my shit at the tables. Not this. Never this.
I dodged a small family pulling along suitcases on wheels who stepped out from the main doors. I easily manoeuvred around them, slowing down as I reached my destination. Sweat trickled down my back, slickening my white t-shirt against my skin. It was good to move and push the fatigue from my body, but sleep was beginning to edge closer in my brain.
I stopped by the doors and rested first one foot then the other on a tall plant stand, stretching out my muscles and going through my normal routine, almost without thinking.
My fingers pushed through my dark short hair, feeling sticky and a little sore. I was ready for a shower, then bed. Maybe not in that order.
Once Molly arrived, the two days Alex—her brother and my best friend—had arranged for me to stay would be hard. In more ways than one. I cursed under my breath. It was a helluva favour Alex had asked of me. Anyone else, I would have told them where to go, but we were talking about Molly getting married to some prick who could see nothing but her money. And that wouldn't do at all.
The ride up in the lifts was quick. I was almost at my suite, courtesy of Alex—the heir to old money—when I peeled off my damp t-shirt. The cool air-conditioning chilled my torso, puckering my nipples.
There was still no obvious plan as to how I was going to get Molly to come to her senses and not marry Herbert. Or whatever the fuck his name was. And there was still the teeny, tiny problem of me having to get near her to do this.
It was a class A job I'd done, if I did say so myself, of staying the fuck away from my best buddy's sister all these years. Now, the shit was really going to hit the fan. Molly barely knew I existed, and I was a horny mush of hormones when I was near her.
"Shit," I sighed swiping my key-card to the room and stepping inside. The small suite was in complete darkness. I blinked, my eyes adjusting to the black-out blinds still pulled down. I clicked the door shut behind me and my body immediately started to shut down, ready for sleep. Years of having to sleep at a moment's notice, regardless of where you were, helped in situations like this. And facing Molly for the first time in probably three years I definitely didn't need to be sleep deprived.
I shucked out of my shorts and heeled off my shoes and socks. Padding naked toward the general direction of where I thought the bed was, I cursed as I trod on shoes or some such shit.
Tiredness was overtaking me fast and I stumbled forward onto the soft mattress and cool sheets. I stretched out my large legs and relaxed my body. Five seconds and I'd be out.
A sweet perfume smell drifted over me and I groaned. Even in my near sleep, I was still fantasising over Molly fucking Tucker. I turned into the pillow and promptly fell asleep knowing, if I dreamed, they'd be full of a blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman.
Chapter Two
A sound woke me and I glanced at the bright LED lights of the alarm clock on the bedside table. 9:12 a.m.
Fuck. There was no way I'd been in bed long enough. Turning over to grab some more zzzz's my hand grazed along something soft. My fingers stopped their movement and lingered. Skin. Softer than a peach. Mmm.
My mind was a blur, well and truly jet-lagged, so my imagination must have been working overtime. Conjuring up women in my bed was my way of dealing with Molly and her lack of interest in me.
Maybe Alex had arranged a present for me as a thank you. Yeah, that was probably it, my sleep-addled brain told me. My hand ran up what I assumed was outer thigh and I breathed out, deeply. I was too tired to even do anything with said woman right now, but it was nice to have one here.
The perfume, once again, lingered. It smelled of mangos and it made me hungry. This lady had the same perfume I remembered Molly wearing years ago.
Molly.
I turned over, wanting to spoon with my dream woman. My dick stood to attention as I brushed against skin so soft it could make a man cry. Soon I would bury myself up to my balls in this fantasy, but sleep now...
Drifting again, my mind blurry, I heard a feminine sigh and I smiled into her hair, snuggling closer. She made a small murmur of satisfaction as my fingers threaded in with the cotton panties, my hand journeying downwards to grasp her ass.
"Harrison," She said quietly. "You shouldn't be here. It's unlucky."
Harrison? If I could have doused my brain in cold water, it just happened.
Immediately I reached for the remote control on the bedside table and stabbed a button to open the blinds. Moments later sunlight filtered through the room, and everything became crystal clear, though I couldn't quantify it.
I blinked, watching the head below mine still comfy on my pillow. Molly Tucker—the woman I was supposed to be stopping the wedding of—was in my bed and I'd been groping her ass.
This was bad. This was very bad.
Chapter Three
The moment sunshine illuminated the form of Molly Tucker in my bed, something inside gave up.
Fate was a fucker, that's for sure.
For twelve years I've always tried to be detached. Since the first mom
ent I saw her, I'd been infatuated. Back then I knew she was too good for me. I was the kid from no-good parents who refused to follow rules. She was marriage material—I knew that even back then—and that meant she wasn't in my league. Then or now.
Trouble was, having her within arm's reach in my bed, half naked in just her underwear, all bets were off. I was disciplined, but I wasn't a fucking monk. She really was a fantasy come true. Every part of me wanted to curl into her and wake her up in the best possible way.
"Molly." My voice was gruff at holding back. Pent up lust from when I was barely a teenager stuck in my throat.
"Huh," she said, rolling over onto her back and ending up closer to my body. I grimaced as her hip touched my hard on. Reluctantly moving back I tried again, definitely not looking at the way her boobs spilled out of lacy cream material and how her stomach flattened down under her panties into the forbidden zone.
Nope. Wasn't looking.
"Molly, you're in my bed."
Her eyes fluttered open. Sleepy confusion looked directly at me until her brain obviously began firing on all cylinders. Shock had her mouth dropping open as she simultaneously sat up with her hand going up to her mouth.
My gaze lowered as her boobs jiggled. I groaned, knowing the only way I was getting rid of this erection was if I went and jumped into the arctic sea. There was about as much chance of that as there was of not admiring the sexy woman in front of me.
"What have you done with Harrison?" Her voice was sexily filled with sleep. It did all sorts of things to my insides that I didn't want to acknowledge. It was all starting again. Shit.
"He's under the bed, tied up. I thought he'd be comfortable under there." Her little hand dropped momentarily from her mouth and fisted the cotton under sheet. Molly's gaze dropped down my body and I knew she'd seen how pleased I'd been to find her next to me in bed.
Field Stripped: 15 Steamy Military Romances Page 127
