The Bodyguard: A Navy SEAL Romance

by Penelope Bloom

  “I need you to relax,” he says.

  I raise my eyebrows. “I feel very relaxed right now, Liam.”

  He chuckles. “Good. Because this is going to be a tight fit.”

  He grips himself at the base of his cock and rubs the velvety head of his length against my folds, spreading the wetness from my opening across me and igniting a fresh explosion of warmth and pleasure across my body. He presses himself into my opening and at first there’s only a stretching sensation, I wonder how something that big is going to fit in a space so small.

  He pushes in and out, easing himself in fractions of an inch with every thrust. The slight sting of my core stretching to fit him gives way quickly to an unbelievable sense of completeness, of knowing I’m connected to him in the most intimate of ways possible, that right now we’re completely absorbed in each other.

  There’s a slight give when he is a couple inches inside me, and I distantly realize it’s probably my hymen. He groans with pleasure, as if knowing now he has really taken my virginity in the truest sense. I grip his broad back, digging my fingers into his hard muscle as he continues to push himself deeper and deeper inside me.

  It seems to take forever before he’s worked the entirety of his length inside me, but it feels more amazing than I ever guessed it would. He works his hips into me, finding a rhythm that has me on the verge of cumming again within seconds.

  “I’m going to cum again,” I gasp

  “Fuck,” he groans. “I love how easy you cum for me, sweetheart.”

  I blush, biting my lip and letting the explosion come again. Each orgasm seems more intense than the last, and this one has me gasping out so loudly that I’m worried someone might have heard.

  Liam’s eyebrows draw together and he closes his eyes, pumping himself even harder into me. His grip on my hips tightens and he increases his pace even more until his cock is a blur of motion inside me, pistoning in and out. I’m already about to cum again when he squeezes my hips almost painfully tight and groans, leaning his head back. I feel his cock pulse inside me and a sudden warmth.

  Oh my God. He just came inside me. Even though I should be terrified because I’m not on the pill, the intimacy of it pushes me over the edge. My core clenches around his length, squeezing him tighter, as if my body wants to milk every last drop of his cum. He finally sags against me, grinning with satisfaction and planting a quick kiss on my lips.

  “Fucking incredible,” he says.

  I laugh. “I feel dizzy.”

  He chuckles. “You have no idea how hot it is that you cum so easily. Goddamn.”

  “That’s not normal?”

  “No, but it’s amazing. Never change, sweetheart.” He kisses me again, and I lean into the kiss, closing my eyes and wishing this moment never had to end, but the sky is already staining red from the rising sun, and I know we have to get our clothes back on and get to our room before some family with kids stumbles on the naked couple who just had sex on the mini golf course.

  “Oh,” I say, realizing there’s some blood between my legs and on him. “That’s so embarrassing. I’m sorry,” I say.

  “What?” he asks, “This?” he motions to the blood. “It’s fucking sexy as hell, sweetheart.”

  I would’ve expected a guy to be grossed out by it, and the fact that he isn’t sends a swell of emotion through me. It’s kind of a strange thing to like about a guy, but as someone who has always been a little insecure, knowing even my most intimate and embarrassing moments don’t gross him out means the world to me.

  “We should probably get back to our room,” I say. “Maybe we can take a shower together? I’ve always thought that would be fun.”

  “You read my mind,” he says with a smirk.

  I smile mischievously at him, even though my mind is going a mile a minute, trying to piece together how this all fits in. If he came inside me, he must be willing to risk a pregnancy, right? Am I ready to risk that? I don’t even know. I mean, my gut reaction is an emphatic yes. The idea of a baby, especially with Liam, makes my chest tingle and my head buzz, even if that’s completely crazy after only knowing him less than two weeks. But crazy doesn’t make it wrong. He’d probably want to marry me for real, then, and then Donna would have actually been right--this whole fiasco wasn’t always doomed to end in disaster. That would be one time I’d willingly admit she was right and I was wrong, even if it would put a smug smile on her face.

  A baby… A husband… I blow out a long breath as I follow Liam back to our room. I’m just glad he can’t hear my thoughts, because he’d probably think I was certifiably insane to be willing to have his baby or be his real wife this fast. But I’ve waited so long already, and I’ve been waiting for the right guy. I thought when I found him I’d know it, and I’m becoming more and more sure that I do know it. Liam is the guy I’ve been waiting for. He’s everything I’ve always imagined in the perfect husband. It’s perfect.

  Except of course the complication with his ex-wife and Jake. On one hand, Sophie could be taken away from him, on the other hand, Jake has been turning into something I don’t even recognize--something hateful and cruel and determined. If he keeps going down this path, I don’t know what he would stop at to get me back, or even to keep Liam from having me.

  The thought sends a chill through me, so I hold on tighter to Liam’s hand, letting his protective warmth soothe away some of my unease.

  37

  Liam

  Fucking hell. Aubrey has me acting like a horny teenager. Since I took her last night on the mini golf course, I’ve had her in the shower, in our bed, on the couch, on the deck of our room, and even in the bathroom by the buffet, and it’s only noon. The idea of sleep briefly occurred to us at some point during all of that, but somehow we never got around to it. I think a small part of my frenzy has to do with trying to distract myself from what happened yesterday.

  Linda saw me kicking the shit out of Jake and she saw me doing it in front of Sophie. I can’t imagine that’s going to make it easy for my lawyers to convince a judge that Julianne is lying about me. And I’m starting to have trouble seeing a future that doesn’t involve long, drawn out legal battles just to have the right to keep my own daughter.

  It’s doing a serious number on my mental health. For starters, I’m craving a business trip like nobody’s fucking business. All the chaos and factors out of my control make me want to plow into my work at full speed, to dominate every obstacle in front of me. Except I can’t. No matter how strong the urge is, I’m needed here too much. I know it means I’m not the perfect father by any stretch, but I’ve never been able to stay for more than a few days when the need hit me before. Even if it meant missing out on parts of Sophie’s life while I was away and forced to video call her instead of seeing her in person. I justified it to myself by believing I needed to scratch the itch if I was going to be a good father. I thought I had to be fulfilled and striving toward some kind of greatness or I would just be a shell of a man.

  I’m not so sure anymore. Even though I feel the call just as intensely as ever, something in me has changed because I’m able to section it off in my head. It could be that Aubrey is starting to fill whatever void the distraction of work was filling for me. Whatever it is, I’m just glad I can fight it now. My family needs me. Aubrey needs me. And I’ll be fucking damned if I’m going to let them down.

  We catch up with Sophie and mom at the buffet, and I can’t help from glancing toward the bathroom and recalling taking Aubrey in there less than an hour ago. I’m sleepy as hell, but there’s an excitement running through me that chases away the possibility of sleep right now.

  “You look sleepy, Daddy,” observes Sophie.

  “That’s an understatement,” adds my mom. “You both look like you could use a long night’s sleep.”

  “Nah,” I say, rubbing my eyes. “We’re good. So what’s the plan for today?”

  “We docked in the Keys,” says Sophie. “I want to get off the boat and cruise around
the little town. See the sights. Touch the things. Pet the--”

  “Let’s do it,” I say.

  Aubrey is either glaring at me, or she’s falling asleep where she’s sitting, but she limps out of her seat to get another helping of eggs and orange juice. Thirsty, I note, and hungry. I feel a stab of guilt. I should have held back a little. It was her first time on the golf course, and whether she was just as starving for it as I was or not, it wouldn’t have killed me to give her some time to recover. My mom doesn’t fail to notice, and she shoots me a disapproving look, which I try to ignore.

  We spend a few hours exploring the island. The weather is perfect as we stroll--and roll, in my mom’s case--through the streets. The whole island has an aura of casual leisure to it, like time doesn’t apply here, like the stress and unhappiness of the real world never found its way to this place. Once we’ve made a run of the local shops and I have bought Sophie whatever little knick-knacks and souvenirs she wants, we grab a quick snack at a place that serves ice cream. Afterwards, we end up on a small beach we found by accident, which the main throng of tourists from the boat seem to have missed because it’s sectioned off by rocks on either side, and the only way to it was through a narrow alley Sophie wanted to explore.

  “This is gorgeous,” says Aubrey.

  “It’s so pretty!” squeals Sophie. “This is like the beach in that movie. The one where they get stranded and… Ahh! Why can’t I remember the name?”

  She wanders toward the surf and starts looking for shark teeth, which is about the only thing she ever wants to do at the beach. I help push mom’s chair to a place in the shade of a patch of palm trees, where she sighs contentedly and gazes out over the water. It’s a rare sight, because my mom usually finds something to glare or grumble about.

  “Look!” says Aubrey, who is pointing to a hammock strung between two palm trees a few dozen yards from where my mom is sitting. “I’ve always wanted to try these.”

  “You’ve never been in a hammock?” I ask.

  “Have you?” she asks, raising an eyebrow.

  “Probably,” I say, suddenly unable to remember if I have either. I climb in first and help Aubrey down beside me, and the hammock rocks softly while I hold her in my arms, feeling like I could fall asleep in about two seconds. And I guess I do, because when we got in the hammock it couldn’t have been much later than two or three in the afternoon, but when I open my eyes, the sky is stained red and purple, and the sun is dipping below the ocean in front of us.

  Sophie is lying on her stomach, building some kind of castle and plugging shark’s teeth into decorative positions, and my mom looks like she decided nap as well, because I can hear the rumble of her snores even though she’s a few dozen yards away. Aubrey snores softly on my chest, and I smile down at her, realizing I couldn’t even dream up a more perfect woman, not just for me but for my family.

  Aubrey stirs, sucking in a surprised breath and looking up at me.

  “Come with me,” I say, a sudden idea occurring to me and striking me with all the force of a thunderbolt. “C’mon,” I repeat, grabbing her hand and helping her out of the hammock.

  I lead her down the beach until we pass Sophie, who looks up curiously at us. Even Roxanne tilts her head up from her doze to look. The tide rolls in over our bare feet, cooling our skin. Aubrey looks up at me with mingling confusion and excitement. I blow out a breath. I should feel nervous for what I’m about to do. I could be reading her wrong and I could be about to embarrass myself completely. I should, but I’m not. I only feel the electric certainty that I’m doing the right thing. My family and the rest of the life I’ve been building may be on the verge of shattering, but this is something I can control.

  I fall to one knee, keeping my eyes locked on hers.

  Her hands come up to her mouth and her eyes well with tears. Good sign, I think.

  “Aubrey. Not long after we met, I asked you to pretend to be my wife to help save my family. But now I have to ask something more of you. Will you marry me? No more pretending.”

  She sucks in a shuddering breath, smiling.

  Sophie sits behind her castle, watching us and tilting her head, clearly confused. She probably can’t hear us from where she is, but she can certainly see me kneeling like I’m proposing.

  “Not just for show?” asks Aubrey.

  “When I asked you to pretend to marry me, I thought I was doing what was best for my family. Now I realize the best thing for my family is you. The best thing for me is you. We need you, Aubrey. And I want you so fucking bad it hurts. Marry me. I’m not too proud to beg if you--”

  She silences me by falling to her knees and kissing me. The force of her kiss knocks me backward, soaking me instantly, but I barely notice. I kiss her back, letting the surf wash over us and letting the fading sun warm the cool water from our skin.

  Aubrey pulls back, smiling down at me as she lays on top of me. Her hair is wet and drizzling and the orange glow of the setting sun makes her look even more beautiful than usual. There are tears in her eyes but a happiness in her face like I’ve never seen. She’s my fiancée, for real now. This woman is going to be my wife, and I don’t know how, but I know that means everything else is going to work out.

  We walk back up the beach hand in hand, and Sophie stands up as we approach.

  “Okay. You got me,” says Sophie. “I’m totally confused. I thought you guys were already getting married.”

  My mom, who’s within earshot, chimes in. “You only have to do it once, son! Is your memory going already?”

  I grin. “It felt right to do it again.” I pull Aubrey close and kiss the top of her head. “It felt right.” Just when I think the moment couldn’t be ruined by anything, I notice a silhouette in the alley we followed to find this hidden beach. It’s a small, feminine figure with a hat. It’s too dark in the alley to make out any more than that, but the sinking feeling in my stomach tells me it’s Linda McCroy, and she just saw me propose to the woman who was supposedly already my fiancée.

  And the grave I’ve dug for myself on this trip gets deeper. Fuck.

  38

  Aubrey

  The glow of happiness follows us most of the way home from our trip. Sophie sits with me while we wait for Liam to handle checking us out at the dock back home. She’s wearing an uncharacteristically girly dress and has her hair done in a pony tail. I see so much of Liam in her face. She has his sharp, intense eyes that glow with an air of intelligence. She has his dark hair and his nose, too.

  “I think I’m okay with it now,” she says after we’ve sat in silence for a few minutes.

  “With what?” I ask.

  “You marrying daddy. At school we have hermit crabs as our class pet. They find a shell that fits them and make it their home, but if the shell gets broken or if they get too big, they find another shell. I think I know how they felt. It felt like my shell was broken, but I was afraid to get myself a new one. You marrying daddy feels like a new shell. One that isn’t broken.”

  “Hey,” she says, frowning. “Don’t cry.”

  I laugh, wiping at my eyes. “Sorry. I’m just really happy to hear you say that. You’re so special to me, Sophie. I know this hasn’t been easy. But I promise I’m going to always be here for you. No matter what you need, you just ask, okay?”

  A mischievous glint enters Sophie’s eyes. “Say a friend of mine wanted a pet turtle, but my friend’s dad wouldn’t let her have one. Is that a problem you could help my friend with?”

  I smirk. “I think I could try to help your friend.”

  “Okay, good. Because it’s me. I want the turtle and daddy says turtles are slow and boring. He just doesn’t understand turtles though. I did a science report on them last year. I bet I could find the poster still. You could use that to convince him.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  Roxanne laughs, startling me slightly because I thought she was napping in her chair beside me. “I used to worry about my son’s taste. It seemed
like every time he met someone new, it was a complete disaster, like he didn’t know how to find the right woman for him. I don’t think I need to worry about his taste anymore.”

  “You all talking about me?” asks Liam, who walks up with our suitcases in tow.

  I blush. “We were talking about turtles,” I say.

  He frowns. “Turtles? Of all the animals you could be talking about, you choose the slowest, most boring animal.”

  Sophie gives me a meaningful look that seems to say, I told you so, and it takes a serious effort not to laugh.

  I spend most of the car ride home replaying memories from the last handful of days, locking as much of them into my mind as I possibly can. I don’t want to forget anything. Not a smile, a touch, or a word. I especially don’t want to forget the golf course, or the shower, or the bed, or the deck of our room, or what we did in the bathroom by the buffet. I blush just thinking about it, but the embarrassment is followed closely by a burst of unstoppable, blinding happiness.

  I can barely wait to tell Donna. I was tempted to use the insanely expensive on-ship phones to call and tell her the night he proposed, but Liam kept me busy all night. Just remembering it makes me smile. I waited so long for my life to play out the way I dreamed it would play out and it started to seem like it would never happen. I started to look back and think of all the mistakes I made along the way and blamed myself for still being a virgin, for getting into a career for the sole purpose of hanging on to the memory of my mother, for agreeing to pretend to be married to some guy I barely knew. It was getting really easy to tell myself how stupid I had been or what I should have done differently.

  Except now I wouldn’t dare change a thing. I wouldn’t want to risk any minor incident changing the course of events that led to this. I’d suffer through every moment of pain, doubt, and confusion a hundred times for this. No hesitation.