Her Relentless SEAL (Midnight Delta Book 10)
Page 20
“You can’t help what some madman did.”
Evie was at the refrigerator pulling out a beer. “I’m going to have one. Maybe two or six. Better get one now before they’re all gone,” she said bitterly. She took a long swig.
“Listen to me,” Aiden begged.
“No! Why do you keep harping on this?”
“You just said that the Avery girls bury things, didn’t you? You said that Maddie and Zoe are going to drag Chloe to counselling. You killed a man that day. Do you think you don’t have any psychological scars? Evie, I love you to death, but you’re seriously fucked in the head about this.”
“Nice, Aiden. Real nice.” She slammed down the beer bottle.
“For three weeks, I’ve tried nice. I thought I would try ‘Avery Speak.’
“So hit me. Give it to me straight, Doc. After all, you’re a medic.”
“Sit down on the couch.”
“No. I’ll stand for this.” He squeezed the bridge of his nose. She was such a stubborn wench.
“Did the guy you kill almost have his gun out of the shoulder holster? Just answer yes or no.”
“Lydia would have-”
“Yes or no.”
“Yes. But Lydia would have shot him in time.”
“She says she wouldn’t have, are you calling her a liar?” He pinned her gaze. She glanced down at the floor.
“No, she’s not a liar.”
“Okay, you saved her life. That’s point one.”
Evie glared at him.
“Whose idea was it to have Maddie go to the back of the house and distract them so you two could kill those fuckers?”
“Lydia would have come up with it.”
“Just answer the Goddamn question.”
“Mine.”
“That’s point two.”
“I didn’t get it done in time, Chloe was still beaten.”
“Is she dead?” Aiden asked relentlessly.
Evie finally shook her head ‘no.’
“That’s point three. And then there’s the point I really want to make. The point that abso-fucking-lutely amazes me.”
Evie looked up at him with a dazed expression.
“Somehow, when you get a call from a man who tortured you, a man who has your sister and her baby, you have the balls and intelligence to lie and negotiate with him, even when he drops you to your knees. I loved you before that, but after that, I worshiped you.”
Aiden watched as tears dripped down her face.
“I could have gotten them killed,” she stuttered. “I was bluffing. I didn’t know what I was doing.”
“Nobody could have done better than you did.”
“I threw up.”
“Most men would have shit their pants. But not my Avery girl. She got the job done.”
Evie stood in the kitchen, shudders coursing through her body.
“Did you hear me this time? Did it get through that head of yours that you’re a fucking hero?”
“I’m not.”
Aiden pulled out his Navy SEAL Trident pin and pulled her close. He pinned it on her collar. “Yes. Yes, you are a hero.”
She collapsed in his arms.
***
Evie wasn’t even sure how she ended up in their bedroom, or how much time had passed, all she knew is that she was surrounded by a man who represented safety, security, home.
“Aiden.”
“What, Eva?
“Just Aiden. I whisper your name sometimes. It makes me happy.”
In the moonlight, his lips found hers. Whisper soft.
“I can’t take your pin.”
“You’re a hero, aren’t you?”
She smiled. A real smile, from the heart. He saw it. She got another kiss.
She’d be putting his pin back on his uniform in the morning, but his gesture? She’d never forget the moment when he pinned that on her collar. Her eyes had finally opened.
“I love you, Aiden. Every day, every night, you give me something new to hold onto.”
His arm curled behind her back and pulled her high so that she was looking directly into the dark blue depths of his eyes.
“Make no mistake, Eva, I am never letting you go. So, you go right on ahead and hold on tight. This is a ride that is going to last to the end of this life and beyond.”
She hooked her arms around his neck and took a deep breath. The scent of her man. Aiden. Safety. Love.
Evie trailed kisses up his jaw and then their lips met.
It was an explosion of want and need.
Tongues tangling, she arched into his hold, and gloried in the feel of his big hand cupping her breast, his thumb caressing her nipple through her blouse.
“More,” she panted as she fumbled for the buttons of her top.
“Be still.” He pushed her down on the bed and took long minutes uncovering her flesh to his heated gaze.
“Hurry,” she begged as she clawed at the collar of his shirt. Finally he relented and stood up beside the bed. The best part of the night started as he stripped.
“You’re gorgeous, you know that don’t you?” Even in the dim light she could see him flush. He opened the nightstand, his hand hesitating.
“What?” she asked.
“Eventually, I want six daughters. No son, just six daughters who look like you.”
Evie gut clenched. “I want boys and I want them blond. But we need to practice.”
He knelt on the bed and whispered in her ear. “We have time, first I want a few years with just us.”
“A year,” she negotiated.
He slid between her legs and she sighed with pleasure. She bent her knees and caught him closer, their hands clutching at one another as he thrust and she arched. He kissed her throat and she scraped her nails up his spine, he plunged deep and she moaned her pleasure.
“Please, just a little more,” she begged.
He lifted his head and laughed. One last push and she careened off into space. She heard him shout her name and she sighed, contented, then fell into a blissful sleep.
***
“Aiden Carlos, she’s precious. I’m happy now.”
Aiden woke with a start. He looked down at Evie, she was sound asleep. He listened to her even breathing. This time he recognized the woman’s voice. It was his mother’s.
He looked out the window and saw the vast expanse of sky. “I love you, Mom.” He whispered. Then he quietly got out of bed and went to his office. He had a phone call to make.
“Did you get it done?” Drake asked.
Aiden had snuck out of their bedroom after Evie fell asleep to call her brother.
“Yes. I think it finally worked. I think she finally gets that she was incredible that day.”
“Thank fuck. Good job, man.”
“That’s not the reason I’m calling, though.”
“What then?” Drake asked.
“I want your permission to marry Evie.”
There was a long pause. Aiden didn’t take it personally, he knew this was gravely important.
“Be good to her, Aiden. She deserves the sun and the moon.”
“I know. I’m going to do my best to give them to her.”
The End
Biography
Caitlyn O'Leary is an avid reader, and considers herself a fan first and an author second. She reads a wide variety of genres, but finds herself going back to happily-ever-afters. Getting a chance to write, after years in corporate America, is a dream come true. She hopes her stories provide the kind of entertainment and escape she has found from some of her favorite authors.
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Books by Caitlyn O’Leary
The Found Series
Revealed, Book One
Forsaken, Book Two
Healed, Book Three
Beloved, Book Four (Coming Soon)
Midnight Delta Series
Midnight Delta Box Set Volume One (Books 1-5)
Her Vigilant SEAL, Book One
Her Loyal SEAL, Book Two
Her Adoring SEAL, Book Three
SEALed with a Kiss, A Midnight Delta Novella, Book Four
Her Daring SEAL, Book Five
Her Fierce SEAL, Book Six
Protecting Hope, Book Seven
(Seal of Protection & Midnight Delta Crossover Novel
Susan Stoker KindleWorld)
A SEAL’s Vigilant Heart, Book Eight
Her Dominant SEAL, Book Nine
Her Relentless SEAL, Book Ten
Shadow Alliance
Declan, Book One
Cooper’s Promise, Book Two
(Omega Team and Shadow Alliance Crossover Novel
Desiree Holt KindleWorld)
Fate Harbor Series Published by Siren/Bookstrand
Trusting Chance, Book One
Protecting Olivia, Book Two
Claiming Kara, Book Three
Isabella’s Submission, Book Four
Cherishing Brianna, Book Five