Guarding Brielle (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (Guardian SEALs Book 5)

by Nicole Flockton

  The doors slid open and he led her out, pausing briefly as he looked up and down the hallway. Always on alert. Did he ever let his guard down? That was a ridiculous notion. He would always be on alert and aware of what was going on around him. His life depended on it.

  “What’s your room number?” he prompted.

  Geez, he must think I’m a complete flake. I haven’t spoken to him since we entered the hotel.

  “Sorry, Tim. You’re being so kind and thoughtful to escort me back to my room and I’ve ignored you since we walked in.”

  He chuckled. “It’s fine and it really isn’t an ordeal. I’m making sure my date gets safely to her door, just like my dad taught me to. So how about you tell me your room number?”

  Heat suffused her cheeks and she was damn sure if she looked in the mirror they would be rosy red. “I’m staying in room 1065.”

  Their footsteps were muffled as they walked down the carpeted hallway. Tim’s hand at the small of her back burned through the thin silk of her dress, warming her flesh. They reached her door and she fumbled for her keycard. Nerves slammed her stomach when she looked up and saw Tim studying her intently.

  If attached by an invisible thread she swayed toward him and his hand cupped her cheek. She clenched her fingers around the card and purse, so she didn’t drop them to the floor. His touch light and comforting ignited a flame of desire within her.

  “Brielle?” Her gaze lifted at the soft way he spoke her name.

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  “I wasn’t going to ask this, but you’re here looking so beautiful, that I have to ask.”

  “Ask what?”

  “Can I kiss you?”

  Her heart rate kicked up a notch, for the first time in her dating life she was being asked this question. Most times her dates had leaned in and so had she. It had felt natural, but this, this moment with Tim was so special because he wasn’t assuming anything. This was a night she would never forget, and she feared she would now compare every date she went on in the future with this one.

  “Yes,” she said. “I’d like that very much.”

  His smile was the last thing she saw before his lips took possession of hers and her eyelids drifted shut. His touch was warm and light, almost tentative as though he was testing the waters. She flattened her hands against is chest, and she angled her head a little to the right. He took the hint and deepened their kiss. Her mouth opened beneath his and she sighed when his tongued dipped in for a brief taste before it retreated along with his lips as he ended their embrace.

  It was hands down the sweetest kiss she’d ever experienced, and she wanted more…and more was impossible. Not only was she only here for one more day, but she had no idea where Tim lived. Not to mention his career. There were so many factors working against them. This one night together was forever destined to be a moment in time. A moment to be cherished. A moment to be etched for eternity in her memories.

  Stepping away from him, Brielle gripped her keycard. “Goodbye, Tim.”

  Chapter Four

  The wheels of the military transport bumped onto the runway and the reverse thrust roared through the cabin of the plane. Motion from across the cabin had him looking up and he saw Italy and Joker both reach into the top pockets of their uniforms to extract their cell phones, no doubt itching to speak to their women.

  “How long now, Joker?” he asked.

  “Three weeks, but Suzie’s been dealing with moving into our new house while I’ve been away. I hope she’s been sensible and hasn’t done too much. But knowing my fiancée, taking it easy isn’t a phrase in her dictionary.”

  “I’m sure Erin and Antonia helped,” Italy murmured while he studied his phone.

  Tim was sitting next to his team lead and noticed the way Robot straightened at the mention of Antonia. Robot had been very tightlipped about the situation between him and Erin’s best friend. The rest of the team knew better than to question him. Besides at the end of the day, it was their business and Tim really didn’t need to know his leader’s issues.

  The plane taxied to a halt and he was more than ready to get out so he could shower off the two weeks of grime that coated his skin. They’d gone back to India on a recon mission. The leader of the insurgent group that had taken Brielle had resurfaced. Their mission had been to observe and not engage. It had been hard to not take out the fucker who’d hurt Brielle, but he’d controlled the urge.

  No one on the team knew he’d seen Brielle, the woman they’d rescued from their first trip to India. There seemed no point in saying anything as the chances of him seeing her again were slim.

  The doors opened, and he stood, stretching to release his tight muscles. “It’s good to be back.”

  “I hear ya,” muttered Robot.

  They filed off the plane, all reaching for their sunglasses. The sun bright after being cooped up in the plane for hours.

  “We’ll be meeting with Commander Black in ten minutes. Make your calls and I’ll see you there,” instructed Robot.

  Greg “Cowboy” Robertson shook his head. “I wish they’d wait until we could shower before they debrief us.”

  “You know why they do it,” commented Thomas “Red” Grant.

  “Yeah,” grumbled Tim. “It’s not like we don’t have twelve hours on a plane to come up with a story we can all agree on if a mission goes to south.”

  “Somehow I don’t think Robot would let us come up with something other than the truth.”

  “Red, you’ve got that right. Come on, hopefully we won’t be stuck here for hours and can get out and have a drink.”

  “Right on.” His teammate held up his palm and Tim slapped it. Red and Cowboy were new members to the team, but they’d gelled immediately, an important aspect for a SEAL team to be effective. If there were issues between team members, it put them all at risk on a mission.

  Three hours later, Tim walked out of the debriefing room and came to an abrupt stop when he spied a blonde at the end of the hallway talking to Commander Black’s assistant. A very familiar looking blonde.

  He rubbed his eyes; sure fatigue was making him see things that didn’t exist. Nope, once his vision cleared the blonde still stood there.

  His feet took off before his brain engaged and his long strides ate up the distance. “Brielle? What are you doing here?”

  She whirled around her mouth dropping open in surprise when she spied him. “Tim?”

  “You two know each other?” asked Don, Commander Black’s assistant, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. He was obviously aware of who Brielle was and was familiar with her rescue mission.

  No way was he going to let Don know that he and Brielle had been on a date. “Well, yeah, our team rescued her. How have you been? I hope you’ve recovered from your ordeal?”

  Nice, casual innocuous questions. Questions that seemed perfectly reasonable ones to ask. He just hoped Brielle didn’t give away that this wasn’t the first time they’d seen each other since her rescue.

  “The recovery has been slow, but I’m getting there,” she answered quietly.

  Yes, she understood his silent message. “That’s good. Well,” he looked over at Don who was still watching them both intently. “It was good to see you again. Keep safe.”

  “You too. You okay?”

  He could hear the worry in her voice and he knew he must look a sight. Two weeks beard growth over his cheeks and chin, not to mention the stench coming from him, as well as the cuts on his face from having an argument with a wayward tree branch. That accident had caused an enormous amount of hilarity from his team, particularly Joker who kept making lame jokes. Tim noticed he didn’t seem to be doing it as much these days as he used to. “I’m fine.”

  “I hate to break up this little tete-a-tete but Commander Black is ready to see you Ms. Wilson.” Don’s voice was firm, and Tim had been around him long enough to know not to argue with the other man.

  Tim nodded at Don. “Bye, Brielle.”

 
“Bye.”

  He executed a parade style turn and headed back in the direction toward the showers. He was looking forward to getting home and sleeping in his own bed. But he couldn’t deny that he wouldn’t mind seeing Brielle again, question her as to why she was on his base in Virginia and not in San Diego.

  Tim yawned as he walked toward his car. Thank goodness he had the next couple of days off to recover from this last mission. Commander Black informed them he would keep them stateside until Joker’s baby was born but cautioned that could change if the situation in India worsened. Tim hoped for Joker’s sake the asshole remained quiet.

  Oh, maybe that was why Brielle was on base. With her kidnapper appearing back on their radar, she could be in danger again. He clenched his fists in anger at the thought of her being threatened again. An irrational emotion considering he’d only spent an afternoon and evening with her. But he couldn’t deny a connection had been forged with her when he’d pulled her out of the room she’d been locked up in. Which was weird as Brielle wasn’t the first time he’d been the one responsible for pulling people out of danger. Perhaps it was the way she’d clung to him. Or the way he’d seen her distress at Aces in San Diego and had instinctively gone to her side.

  “You need to pay attention, T-Rex, otherwise you may get jumped.”

  Time stopped when he looked to his left and found Brielle leaning against his car. Three things stuck out to him, in the afternoon sun, she looked more stunning than she had at the wedding. How the hell had she known which car was his? And how had she got access into the restricted parking area?

  “Brielle? What are you doing here? This area is not accessible to the general public.” His words were harsher than he’d intended them to be and the joy that had been shining out of her disappeared.

  “I, uh…” Her breath huffed out. “This was a bad idea. I guess I should go.” She made to walk away.

  God, he was such an asshole. Hadn’t he wanted to spend more time with her when he’d seen her in the hallway? Hadn’t he wanted to hold her close and inhale the vanilla scent he associated with her? And here he was practically scolding her for waiting for him.

  “I’m sorry, Bri, that was rude.”

  “A little, but I got the message loud and clear. I’ll see you around, T-Rex.”

  Her disdain at his apology dripped from her use of his nickname. She’d taken a dozen steps away from him before he got his head out of ass and strode after her. As he wasn’t sure if she still had anxiety attacks he didn’t want to just grab her. “Brielle, stop. Please,” he called out when he was closer.

  She stopped abruptly and turned to face him, hands on her hips. “What?” she snapped. Her eyes fired gold barbs at him and he bit back a smile. He didn’t think she’d appreciate it if he smiled at her. Tim also suspected he was seeing the woman Brielle had been prior to her kidnapping. It was nice to see the spark in her.

  He stuck his hands in his pockets so as not to reach out and pull her close. All signs of tiredness that had been dogging him since they landed back stateside, disappeared in an instant. “Do you want to go get a coffee or something to eat?”

  “Why?”

  Okay, he had a lot of ground to make up. He wanted to find out why she was on the base and how she’d got to where his car was parked. “Because I’m happy to see you, and I want to spend some time with you.”

  Her eyebrows rose in surprise. “Reaaalllyy? Could’ve fooled me.”

  As much as he tried, he couldn’t keep the grin off his face any longer. “I know. I was an ass. I’m sorry.”

  Her shoulders relaxed, and a hint of smile ghosted her lips. “You were.”

  Feeling confident that any touch from him wouldn’t set her off into an anxiety attack, he reached out and took hold of her hand. Elation burst through him when she didn’t yank it out of his grasp. “Can we start over, please?”

  “Not sure I want to go back to the place we first met,” she said sardonically.

  He squeezed her fingers. “No, we don’t want to go that far back. We only want to go back here.” Tim walked them back to his car where he placed Brielle in the same position she was when he came upon her. “Hi Brielle, it’s good to see you.” He leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her cheek. Her breath sighed out between parted lips, and the tension riding Tim’s shoulders leached out of him.

  Thank God, he hadn’t fucked things up permanently.

  Never in a million years had Brielle thought she’d be standing in the middle of a carpark on a military base with the sexy Navy SEAL she’d spent the last two months dreaming about.

  After her trip to San Diego, where she’d encountered Tim, her therapy sessions had progressed well. It appeared her shrink had been right, and her mini vacation had begun to break the shackles binding her.

  Granted, she wasn’t completely over her ordeal. There was no way she’d ever truly be the person she’d been prior to her trip to India. But the woman she was now was completely different to the woman she’d been when she’d seen Tim at Gemima’s wedding.

  In a good way.

  “Do you want to go get a coffee?” he asked again.

  Brielle looked up into his gorgeous brown eyes, the sun glinting off his black hair and her fingers itched to reach up and touch the thick strands. He kept it longer than the military haircuts she’d seen on television. But he’d been away so maybe he was due for a haircut.

  “Brielle? Are you okay?” Panic tinged his words and his hands grasped her shoulders, warming her flesh beneath the thin fabric of her button-down shirt.

  “Yes, I’m fine.” She managed to get out, her brain was short-circuiting at his touch.

  “Thank goodness, I thought you were about to have another attack.”

  God, she’d been standing mute, no wonder he imagined her drifting off into her panicked state. “No. No, I’m good. Honestly. And I’d love to go get a coffee with you.”

  The grip on her shoulders loosened and he trailed his fingers down her arms, until he reached her fingertips. She expected him to withdraw his hand, but he kept the pads of their fingers connected in a light touch. Her skin prickled and a bubble of excitement burst in her belly.

  How could the merest connection feel as though he was holding her in a tight hug?

  “I’m glad,” he murmured. “I take it you parked in a visitor’s spot at the front of the base?”

  “Uh-Huh.”

  “How about I drive you to your car and then you can follow me?”

  A tiny shard of disappointment that he didn’t want to drive her lodged in her heart, until sensibilities returned. Of course, it made sense that she follow him. The guy had returned from being away, the last thing he probably wanted to do was act as her chauffer.

  “Sounds perfect.”

  Twenty minutes later, they were seated at a table in a coffee shop not far from Tim’s base. An iced coffee in front of her and a smoothie in front of Tim. There were also two pieces of lemon pound cake in the middle of the table.

  For a few moments, Brielle watched as Tim looked around the café. He’d picked a table at the rear and shifted his chair so his back was to the wall giving him a view of the whole area, and a direct sight line of the front door. His actions should’ve scared her, instead they comforted her with the knowledge that should anything happen he would spring into action, not only to protect her, but the other patrons as well.

  “You’re always on alert, aren’t you?” she mused after she’d taken a sip of her drink.

  He searched her gaze. “Yeah, always. Does it bother you?”

  “Oh no, I feel quite safe when I’m with you. I have from the moment you lifted me in your arms in India.” Damn, that sounded way more suggestive than what she really meant. “I thought my life was over, but then you and your partner burst in and…well, here we are. I can’t thank you enough.”

  If someone had told her tough Navy SEALs could blush she would’ve laughed in their face. But there it was, a light dusting of pink bloom
ing on his cheeks. “I’m glad we got to you in time.”

  “Me, too.”

  Silence fell over their table and Brielle concentrated on eating some of the cake. Tim did the same. Her eyes drifted to his mouth as he brought the cake to his lips and took a bite. She’d never considered eating to be sexy, but Tim eating a piece of cake was damn sexy indeed.

  “Why were you on my base? Why are you here in Virginia?” he asked after he swallowed the morsel of the dessert.

  Brielle hesitated in explaining her reasons. The only highlight of the visit had been seeing Tim again. But she was aware she couldn’t avoid his question, considering the main purpose of her visit involved their very first encounter. She could answer the easy question before tackling the other. “I live in Virginia, not San Diego. If you remember, I told you my shrink told me to take a vacation and then Gemima called and invited me to her wedding.”

  “Right, I remember, I guess I assumed you lived in L.A. or something. Not sure why.”

  “I look like a California girl, do I?” she teased.

  He leaned forward and crooked his finger. She followed suit. “You’re far prettier than California girls.”

  Now it was her turn to blush at the compliment. “Thank you, but I think you’ve been looking at the wrong girls if you think that.”

  Tim crossed his arms over his broad chest, the blue t-shirt he was wearing pulled tight, delineating his pecs and the muscles of his arms. She’d been held against that chest a couple of times, so she knew the strength that lay beneath the soft cotton.

  “Nope, I’m never wrong. I know a pretty girl when I see one.”

  She laughed. “Oh, T-Rex. That is a line if I’ve ever heard one.”

  He cocked an eyebrow. “I thought I told you to call me Tim?”

  A flash of hurt sliced into her good mood. “You don’t like me calling you by your nickname?”