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

by Delilah Devlin

  Deke swallowed hard and handed Little Joe his beer.

  “Thought the mission was over,” Little Joe said, chuckling.

  Deke ignored him, making a beeline for Nicky as she stepped off the porch. They stood facing each other a foot of space between them, too many inches to his mind. His hands itched to sink into her silky hair and pull her close for a much-missed kiss.

  A throat cleared beside them, and Deke blinked, angling his head and finding the congressman standing beside him.

  Martir offered Deke his hand. “Good to see you, Deke. And thanks again, for everything.”

  “Anytime, sir.” He returned his gaze to Nicky, who stood silently staring up at him. When their gazes locked, every argument he’d had with himself over the last week dissipated like vapor. He’d missed her. Until he’d met her, he hadn’t known what was missing from his life. Now, all he wanted was a chance to make this thing between them work.

  But did she feel the same way? Or had her former reservations about what he really was and the dangers he faced tarnished what they had?

  “I’ll leave you two alone to talk,” the older man murmured. “She rode here with me, but I imagine she could hitch a ride back home with you…?”

  Deke gave him a vague nod, never looking away from Nicky whose cheeks were turning a deep rose.

  The congressman moved away.

  “I think my dad just hooked me up.”

  Deke’s lips twitched. “If you’d rather have someone else take you home…”

  “No.” Her chin jutted out.

  She blurted it so quickly, he almost grinned. This was the Nicky he adored. Brazen, impetuous. “Do you think they’d notice if we snuck out the side gate?” he asked, lowering his voice so only she could hear.

  “Yeah, I do,” she whispered back. “But I think that move is expected.”

  He glanced around to find all heads turned their way, smiles on his buddies’ faces, Little Joe smirking openly. He gave them all a blistering gaze, and would have lifted his middle finger, but remembered there were kids around. He grabbed her hand. “I’ll apologize to Commander Callahan’s wife later.”

  They made their way quickly out through the gate and down the car-lined street until he reached his pickup. Handing her up into the cab of his F-150, he couldn’t resist trailing a hand along her naked arm. There was so much more he wanted to touch, but maybe she wasn’t ready to go full-on so quickly, if ever, with him again. Most importantly, he didn’t want to rush her. If she wanted to be wooed properly, he’d take care of his sudden affliction himself in the shower tonight.

  He jogged around the front of the truck and climbed into his seat. He gave her a quick glance. She was smiling, her finger twisting around a curl of hair as she eyed his clothed chest.

  His resolution to take it slow vanished. He started the truck and drove to the nearest hotel.

  They lay in the bed, side-by-side, pillows stacked behind their shoulders, holding hands. Thankfully, they’d made it past the threshold and closed the door before they’d begun tearing off their clothes. The coverlet and top sheet of the bedding were wadded on the floor exactly where he’d tossed them. He’d wanted nothing in the way of his getting inside her as quickly as he could. Thank God, she’d been just as desperate.

  Now that they could breathe again, neither could seem to stop smiling.

  She pouted her lips. “Why didn’t you call me? I gave you my number.”

  “I remembered verbatim what you told me that last night on the island.” He ran his thumb over the ridge of her knuckles. “I figured once you got back to the real world, you’d have second thoughts. I wanted you to have some time to think. Plus I needed time to think.”

  “You still beating yourself up about losing me at the hotel?”

  A muscle ticked in his jaw. “I should never have left you alone in your room.”

  She shook her head. “I should have followed orders and never opened that door.” She laughed. “All I could think of was how many showers we’d need before morning came.”

  “We both made the mistake of acting like we were really on vacation. That trouble wouldn’t find us.”

  “Oh, trouble found me all right,” she said, walking her fingers up his chest. “More than I was sure I could handle.”

  “And now?” he asked, smiling, but barely breathing because he didn’t want to miss a word of what she might say. If she was willing to have him, he’d already decided the time had come to reconsider his life. He’d do anything to keep her, even give up the navy.

  “I think after the initial shock, I handled things pretty well, don’t you?”

  She was still teasing, with her twinkling eyes, with the fingers that had backtracked and were now walking south.

  He caught her wandering hand and held it away. “Baby, don’t play with me,” he grumbled. “I’m trying to have a conversation.”

  “So, I’m listening.” She rolled to her side and began caressing his chest then smoothed her hand downward.

  Why in hell is this so hard? He caught her other hand. “I want to see you,” he gritted out.

  She laughed. “I don’t think there’s an inch of me you haven’t already seen, Deke.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Maybe we should have this conversation with our clothes on.”

  “And I thought we dealt better without.”

  Smart ass. Deke rolled over, trapping her hands and legs against the mattress as he loomed over her. “I want this to be more.”

  “For a guy who’s usually so succinct describing what he wants, you seem to be having a little trouble here, SEAL-boy.” Her smile was soft. Doe eyes glittered.

  He closed his eyes and ducked his head into the corner of her neck, feeling like a coward because what he was about to say would leave him naked. Vulnerable as he’d never been before. So, he kissed her cheek, nuzzled her ear, delaying the moment because he was girding his already heavy loins. When he finally lifted his head, rising over her, his mouth an inch from hers, he whispered, “I love you, Nicky Martir.”

  She gave an exaggerated sigh. “Whew. I thought you’d never have the guts to say those words.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Seriously?”

  Her smile was wide, her happiness there in her gleaming wet eyes. “I love you, too, but I said some things, things I didn’t mean.” She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “Okay, so I meant them at the time, but I didn’t really understand why I thought that way. My mom didn’t love my dad. Simple as that. If she had, she’d have waited on the tarmac after every mission, waving flags along with the other wives. She wouldn’t have harbored so much resentment over being left behind, left to shoulder a load she was fully capable of handling on her own. Because she wasn’t really alone. She was just selfish.” Her gaze flicked to the side and then reconnected with his. “She forgot all about me, too. When she cut her ties, she didn’t give a moment’s consideration over what the divorce would do to me or my relationship with my father.” She paused, taking a deep breath, and then gave him a tearful smile. “I’d wait for you.”

  Deke swallowed hard, his own eyes burning. “Do you think this is happening too fast?”

  “Not at all,” she said, shaking her head. “We’ve already been through the worst together and come out the other side whole.”

  “Your father…”

  “Told me I couldn’t do any better than you.”

  “Huh.” Amazing. He let go of her hands, settling his weight on top of her then releasing her legs, which she immediately drew up along his sides. Deke encircled her with his arms and rolled, not stopping until she was on top, her smile fading while her eyes narrowed with heat. “You said you liked being on top.”

  She straightened, shaking her hair back before tilting her chin. Another challenge thrown down. “No more doubts?”

  “Not a one.” He couldn’t hold back a wide grin.

  “Glad to hear it,” she said, then bent over him, gliding her lips across his cheek to his mou
th, and sucking his lower lip between hers. She arched a brow as she bit his lip, pulling it outward as she raised her head, and then taunting him with a grin to retaliate.

  Deke chuckled, and then groaned when she began to circle her hips, grinding down on him, moist heat igniting a fresh lick of flame. “No more teasing.”

  “Don’t dish what you can’t take.”

  Again, he rolled, found her center, and thrust deep, loving the sound of her indrawn gasp and the way her fingernails dug into his back. In the back of his mind, he wondered if her dad had been doing some matchmaking by pairing them together. Deke couldn’t imagine a better fit. They’d both had their baggage to overcome. Both were stubborn and both were loyal to the core. “I’d leave the navy for you. Take a job at a desk. Anything to make you happy, sweetheart.”

  “I’d never ask it. Being a SEAL is not a job; it’s who you are. And I love who you are, Deke.”

  Reading sincerity in her voice, he gave a short, satisfied nod and began to move inside her. Setting a steady rhythm, he kissed her, pouring everything he had into it. Whatever the future held, whatever hellhole he might enter, there’d always be a sweet light at the end of a dark tunnel. Her loving light to watch over him.

  If you enjoyed this Uncharted SEALs story, be sure to check out

  Her Next Breath and Through Her Eyes!

  Also from the Uncharted SEALs series

  Her Next Breath

  (Read the excerpt below)

  Ex-SEAL Jackson Keller’s first mission with the Charter Group’s spec ops unit is a bust. Instead of capturing a drug lord in his Mexican compound, he finds a beautiful, naked woman. But she may have information they need to nail the narco-terrorist, so he takes her, sealing his fate. She’s his to watch, his to “manage” until the op’s done.

  Suri McAnally’s made some mistakes—mainly trusting her college roomie who just so happens to be the son of one of Mexico’s most dangerous drug lords. If Jackson can save her, she’ll do whatever he says, mirror his moves, and try to keep her insta-lust under control. Her next breath depends on it.

  Through Her Eyes

  Ex-SEAL and expert sniper, Wolf Kinkaid, is taking a little downtime while he considers his options. Being wooed by two elite black ops groups, he’s enjoying Charter Group’s beach house while he considers his options. A loner by nature as well as occupation, he wonders if he’ll ever really connect to the people around him. Afraid his loner nature will sentence him to spending his life alone, he’s not sure he wants to continue looking down a scope, even if the pay’s good.

  Bounty hunter Piper Ames loves the adrenaline rush she gets from her high-stakes hunts, but now, she has time on her hands as she waits for her collar to pop up his head so she can take him down. While she’s waiting, it doesn’t hurt that a big, buff, ex-military type is staying right next door. Not the least shy about going after what she wants, she’s surprised when he’s equally as aggressive. Their chemistry is off the charts, and the sex is the hottest she’s ever had.

  While Wolf and Piper connect in the only way their independent natures allow, danger lurks. When her target comes, guns blazing, they have to pull together to make it out alive.

  And while you wait for more Uncharted SEALs, try Delilah’s Adventure Girls, Inc. stories:

  Dangerous Liaison

  A pampered travel agent, roughing it at an anti-terrorist training school, escapes through the jungle with an undercover DEA agent when a drug lord mistakes her for a rival’s daughter.

  Mutiny’s Bounty

  Expecting an adrenaline-packed adventure, a travel agent finds more excitement than she can handle when she falls into bed with an ex-SEAL, and then into deep water, swimming with sharks when the yacht they’re sailing on is taken.

  It Takes a SEAL

  A travel agent visiting friends in the Bahamas is stranded on a desert island with a sexy ex-SEAL after their private pleasure cruise is interrupted by men who mistake her lover for a reclusive billionaire.

  About Delilah Devlin

  Delilah Devlin is a New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of erotica and erotic romance with a rapidly expanding reputation for writing deliciously edgy stories with complex characters. She has published over a hundred forty erotic stories in multiple genres and lengths, and she is published by Atria/Strebor, Avon, Berkley, Black Lace, Cleis Press, Ellora’s Cave, Grand Central, Harlequin Spice, HarperCollins: Mischief, Kensington, Montlake Romance, Running Press, and Samhain Publishing.

  You can find Delilah all over the web:

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  Or email her at: delilah@delilahdevlin.com

  Excerpt from HER NEXT BREATH

  As the last man dropped to the ground inside the compound, Jackson Keller glanced around, confirming what the first man over the wall had whispered on the radio.

  This mission looked like a complete FUBAR—Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition.

  The compound deep in the Sierra Madres echoed like the hold of an empty ship. Scraps of paper whispering on the flagstones, and the whistling wind that pushed them along, made the only sounds inside the ten-foot-tall stucco walls as his team continued to stealthily infiltrate the drug lord’s family home.

  “Don’t get too comfortable,” he whispered into his mike. “Watch for tripwires, booby traps.” Not that he expected them. Diego Guzman wouldn’t like to come back to a shell of a home.

  The moon was blanketed by thick clouds. A security light on a tall pole provided the only illumination. Not a light shone in the windows of the mansion facing the deep valley. From the debris littering the ground and the fact satellite had shown that not two hours ago the cobblestone parking area had been filled with SUVs, Jackson knew the compound had been abandoned in a hurry. Still, his team would have to clear it room-by-room on the off-chance they scored any intel to give them Diego Guzman’s current whereabouts.

  The team spread out, taking up their predetermined positions around the main house. Along with Deke and the team members who’d penetrate the front entrance, Jackson ran up the steps of the veranda and pressed his back against the wall next to the massive, oaken front door and pointed at Deke, telling him silently he’d be the first to breach. He waited as Deke tried the door handle. The latch lowered.

  Deke took cover against the wall opposite Jackson, quickly pushed in the door, and ducked back a moment in case it had been booby-trapped. Nothing. He stepped inside.

  Jackson followed, his weapon raised, his gaze turning to the living room he passed, his night-vision goggles taking in the rich furnishings drugs, kidnappings, and extortion had bought. A plush sectional that would have filled his whole apartment, a large-screen television that covered an entire wall, a well-stocked bar. He continued through the foyer toward the stairs. Everyone had their task—he and Deke would search the upstairs bedrooms, the rest of the team would spread out to cover the ground floor.

  Following Deke, he climbed the staircase with its ornate, wrought-iron balustrade.

  Deke paused at the top of the stairs and headed to the right.

  Jackson took the left. In his ear, he heard his team announce, “Clear… Clear… Clear,” as they searched below stairs. He tried the first door, opening it, leaning away then peering around the corner before stepping inside. Quickly, he checked closets, the bathroom, then under the bed. “Clear.”

  He checked another room then went to the next door. Inside, moonlight filtered through gauzy curtains. Circling the room, he ducked into the bathroom to the right, checked the shower stall, the linen closet, and then quickly reentered the bedroom, heading toward a large, king-size bed with a canopy and more panels of thin lace. He pushed aside the curtain with the nozzle of his weapon and froze. A figure huddled with her back against the headboard, a sheet pulled up to cover her breasts. A manacle attached to a chain enc
ircled one wrist.

  Jackson flipped up his goggles, pulled his flashlight from his utility belt, and shone the light over the woman.

  Wildly curly, matted blonde hair hung loose around her shoulders. Large eyes narrowed against the harsh beam, but even with her features scrunched as she moved as far from him as the chain would allow, he could tell she was beautiful.

  Into his mike, he said, “Second floor, bedroom on the east end; I’m gonna need a translator.”

  The woman frowned. “I speak English.”

  Accentless English. American. And in a voice that was slightly husky. “Cancel that. But we have a live one. Deke, you clear the rest of the bedrooms.”

  “Roger that.”

  Jackson kept the light on the woman. “Mac, check the junction box. Jave, bring in the dog. Make sure this place isn’t wired to blow. Then let’s light up the place. Search it.”

  “What about the prisoner?” Deke said, stepping into the room behind him. “Need help bringing him out?”

  “What about it, ma’am?” Jackson said, keeping his voice even. “Will you give me any trouble?”

  She swallowed, but lifted her chin. “Depends on who you are.”

  “Name’s Jackson Keller, and I’m with Charter Group.”

  Her eyebrows lifted in question.

  “I’m an ex-Navy SEAL, ma’am. So’s most of my team.”

  “And that just means you know more ways to kill someone than the average criminal.”

  Jackson grunted, surprised by her grit. “We’re a spec ops company, contracted by the U.S. government. Strictly legal.”

  “And I’m to take your word on it?”

  Jackson gave her a steady stare. “Seeing as you’re chained to a bed in Diego Guzman’s house, I’d say you don’t have much room to complain.”

  Her chin lifted higher. “I’m not here by my choice.”

  Her words bit like pellets. Her tone was bitter. Jackson’s heart stilled. “Were you kidnapped, ma’am?”