Two Weeks With a SEAL (The Wakefield Romance Series)

by Hewitt, Theresa Marguerite

  Stopping just around a stone pillar, Chad wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me back into his chest as I looked out at the flames that were surrounding us. His touch sent me reeling, my head lolling back against his chest as the light and warmth surrounded us. "Eternal flames," I whispered more to myself, my breath noticeable in the fire light, Chad chuckling, the vibrations running throughout my body making a smile caress my lips.

  "Cool right," he said, turning me around with his hands on my shoulders, the look in his eyes catching me off guard. The fire danced around inside his eyes like it was coming from his soul and it took my breath away, his hands moving in opposite directions, one down my arm to snake around my waist and the other to come up under my chin, tilting my face up to his. His thumb brushed along my jaw and my eyes closed, waiting for him to kiss me. I could feel his heart racing as my palms rested on his chest, his breathing fast and short. "Look at me," he whispered and my eyes snapped open as if under his spell, his face only an eyelash away from mine, the heat from his breath washing over me as his eyes roamed my face. "This is hard for me," he said, a sudden wave of sadness running through his features.

  My eyebrows furrowed as I got up on my tip-toes, running my hands over his chest to his neck and shoulders, interlacing my fingers behind his head, tangling in his hair. "What's hard for you," I ask and I can feel the desire lingering in my voice, the rapid beat of my heart as his arm squeezed me tight to his body.

  "I don't want to hurt you," he said, his forehead leaning on mine, his hand massaging at the back of my neck, the sensation making my eyes close and my fingers grip into his hair, my body involuntarily arching into his. I could feel the grunt run through Chad's chest and my eyes opened to see him biting his bottom lip, his eyes on mine and I couldn't take it anymore, I lifted my chin and brought my mouth to his. His hand gripped the back of my head to hold me fast, his arm squeezing around my waist as my feet left the ground, his stature lifting me off of the wet earth.

  Our lips moved in sync and I could taste the lingering wintergreen on his tongue from the Skoal, but it didn't bother me, I didn't care. I'd take this man with a mouthful of shit if the opportunity came up, so my lips moved with his, our tongues mingling like they were hungry. He broke the frenzy with his hand on my cheek, our foreheads going together and our breathing heavy and quick. "I don't want to hurt you," he breathed out, his hands gripping the side of my face making me look up at him, his eyes filled with concern.

  "Stop worrying about hurting me," I say, tears finding my eyes, silently spilling out, "start worrying about loving me the way a man should." A smile came to his lips and it felt like a weight lifted off of him, his mouth finding mine for a long, hard kiss before he surprised me by swinging me up and over his shoulder, my stomach nestled to his chest. "What are you doin," I giggled, the heat still flooding my body as the flames disappeared back into the trees, Chad carrying me out the way we came.

  Before I knew it, the back door of his truck was opening and Chad was sitting me down on the edge of the seat, his hands on my waist and his eyes locked on mine. There were no words needed in that moment, my lips taking his and pulling him into the back of his new truck, his hand pulling the door shut, darkening the cab to the outside world. Our clothes hurriedly disappeared as our lips and hands searched the dark, small giggles flowing from my lips as Chad's beard tickled my skin. Reaching into the front and turning the radio on, I pull Chad back to me as Staind's "So Far Away" softly played in the background. It felt right. It felt awesome and I savored every second of having this man in my arms again.

  Our love- making fogged the windows, Chad wiping the moisture away as we pulled our clothes back on. I was looking for my tank top as the familiar tickle of Chad's beard found my back, his hands moving slowly around my bare stomach, his lips moving their way up to the side of my neck.

  "Will you stay with me tonight," he whispered against my hair making little lightning bolts move across my skin as his fingers trailed up my stomach and across my black lace push-up bra. He was asking me to stay the night with him? Really? Was this happening? Was it all finally falling into place? No it was too early to be thinking that.

  "I have to work tomorrow," I whispered, my hands finding my tank next to my leg as I leaned my head back against his bare shoulder. Damn my bills, I cursed in my head.

  "Ah, you can call in this once," his lips moved against my exposed neck, the tiny hairs along his face sending a hot wave of desire through my soul. This man had me wrapped around his finger in the matter of moments and I was putty in his large, capable hands.

  "Okay," I breathed out feeling a smile caress his lips that were kissing my collar bone. Taking my mouth in a lingering, engine revving display, Chad stepped out of the truck letting me finally pull my shirts and flip flops on.

  Our drive back to my double wide was filled with comfortable semi-silence, my head nestled into his shoulder as he held me tight to his side having pushed up the center console that had separated us before. My legs were splayed across his lap, my bare feet up against the door, my finger twirling in his hair. The gravel crunched as Chad pulled next to my truck, throwing it in park and lifting my chin up so that his eyes met mine. The smile that crossed his face made my heart jump, a giggle running freely as he lifted me out of the truck with him, setting me on my feet and swatting me on the butt. Filling a small duffle bag with a few pieces of my sexiest lingerie, t-shirts, socks, pants, sneakers and bathroom items, I snagged my makeup bag and birth control pills from the sink drawer, leaving my bedroom with a smile.

  Making sure the windows were all shut and the lights were all off, I locked up the storm door to turn and see Duke's truck on my lawn, and Duke in Chad's face. How could I have missed the yelling, Duke's face beet red as I stumbled down the porch steps, dropping my duffel bag as I got closer. "Hey," I screamed, Harlan stepping in my path and holding my shoulders. I push at his hands, but he's a big farm boy and he held me tight.

  "What the fuck do ya think you're doin, boy," Duke's drunk slur made my stomach turn and I shoved at Harlan, trying to get around him. I punched at his chest with balled up fists and he grabbed them, twisting them in front of me and holding my back to his front as he spun around to face the two yelling men. They were toe to toe, Duke's face red and Chad's indifferent, mocking even.

  "Let me go Harlan," I screamed, pulling at the hold he had on my wrists.

  "No Ray," his deep, thick Southern drawl flowed like molasses, "let them finish it." I pulled at his hold, my wrists burning from the friction of his rough hands on my skin. Chad and Duke spared me a look at the same time, their eyes meeting mine.

  "Get outta here Duke," I yelled, Harlan finally letting me go and I fell to one knee with the momentum. "Get the fuck outta here," I screamed, pointing towards his truck.

  "No way," and he pushed Chad with both hands on his chest, Chad stumbling slightly back. I sprung up, even though a sharp pain shot up through my knee and headed for Duke's truck, hopping up on the step rail and reaching into the open bed for the ever present tire iron he kept back there. I saw Chad keep his composure, taking taunting words from Duke who was up in his face. Chad could kill him in a second, but he knew Duke wasn't worth it.

  "Leave or I'll smash your windows," I scream bringing the tire iron back as if I was going swing it, aimed right at the driver’s window.

  "Ray, this Navy boy is just using you," Duke yelled in Chad's face, his hands pushing him again, an evil smile sported on Chad's lips. "He'll leave ya high and dry just like Randy did." His words stung both Chad and I and the emotion flowed through my arm as I brought the tire iron forward, smashing the window of Duke's precious truck. The glass splintered, spraying the side of my face as I held my eyes shut, two hands pulling me to the ground, the smell of beer and chew washing over me. "You fuckin' bitch," Duke screamed, pinning me to the ground, and I squirmed to get out of his grasp, sliding on my back and getting to my feet, stopping Chad's approach with my hands on his chest.


  His eyes roamed my body as his hands went to my face, subconsciously making sure I was okay and I nodded my head, his eyes darting back to the retreating Duke and Harlan. "This is far from over," Duke spit at our feet as he slammed his truck in reverse, the tires spraying gravel up against my porch and the side of the trailer. His tires squeal three quarters of the way down my street as his tail lights faded around the corner, heading back towards town. I buried my face in Chad's shirt, sighing heavily as his arms surrounded me.

  "Tell me about you and him," Chad's voice was still edged with anger, my eyes seeing that he still watched the spot where Duke's truck disappeared. I scoffed, shaking loose of his grasp and picking my bag up off of the ground.

  "It was nothing," I say, shrugging my shoulders not turning around to look at him because I knew there was shame written all over my face. I could tell he was looking at me and his eyes were locked on mine when I spared a quick look over my shoulder. "I was drunk, it only happened three times over the last year, the last time can't even be considered sex," I choked, picking up the clothing that had spilled from my bag along with my makeup.

  "Why is that," Chad's smooth voice met me as he bent to help me pick up a few of the items, holding up the sexy teddy I had packed and giving me a raised eyebrow as he handed it to me.

  I blushed, snatching it from him, "Because he passed out while I was trying to take his pants off." The look that Chad gave me made me blush, again, his laugh filling the quiet night air. Seeing that I wasn't laughing, he choked back the sound, pulling me into his chest his Old Spice scent washed over me.

  "Do you hate me," I asked, worry filling me that the man I had dreamed off and pined over would reject me because of my drunken interest in Duke Orr.

  He swept me up into his arms, his lips finding mine as he made the way over to his truck, "No," he whispered, setting me in the passenger seat. The ride to his house was silent except for the radio, the top nine country songs of the day played at nine o'clock on the dot. When he put the truck in park outside of his house, I paused, my heart racing.

  His smile eased me out of the truck and through the rest of the night, his laugh bringing smiles to my lips. His lips bringing pleasure to my body, the dark sky turning light as we lay awake, exploring each other. As Chad was in the bathroom starting the shower, I called into work, Jenna answering the phone. "Hey, I'm not gonna be able to come in today, I'm not feeling well," I say, hearing a slight giggle on her end.

  "Yeah right," she laughed, bringing a smile to my lips, "Have fun with the hunk," she joked, issuing a goodbye and accepting mine with another giggle. I throw myself back against Chad's pillows, his bed ultra-soft and inviting. Pulling the comforter up near my nose I giggle uncontrollably at the overflow of happiness that is bubbling within me.

  "You gonna join me," Chad's blue eyes peek out from the bathroom, his perfect naked body standing before me, my eyes roaming it unashamedly. I practically jumped out of bed, running at him with a wide smile, leaping into his arms and wrapping my legs around his waist as he laughed into my kiss, the loud lip smacking sounds that I made making his laugh rumble throughout the quiet morning air. The peaceful shower was shattered when my moans rang out with the flowing water, Chad having me pinned up against the shower wall, smiling into my skin at every little sound I emitted.

  He threw us down on the bed, not bothering with a towel, and I was splayed across his chest my legs straddling his waist. "I'm in heaven," he huffed out, brushing the wet strands of hair off of my face. Did I just hear that right? I thought, my heart finding my throat and throwing my brain into overdrive at all of my forlorn fantasies.

  "Me too," I whisper, finding his lips and tangling my fingers in his hair.

  I could lay here forever, just kissing him and feeling the warmth from his body as he holds me tight. I never want to give this up.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Chad:

  Friday January 20, 2012

  I was throwing the last sleeping bag into the bed of my truck, pulling the black snap cover over and shutting the tailgate as my phone started to vibrate in my sweatshirt pocket, playing the theme song from 'The A-Team'. I didn't have to look at the touch screen to know that it was Reno Martinez, one of my SEAL Team-mates. "What's up brother," I say, his voice laughing on the other end.

  "Hey Chief, packing up?" his slight Mexican accent laden voice chuckled over the line.

  "Yeah, just throwing the last few things in the truck before Ray gets home from work," I double checked that the snaps on the bed cover were all pushed down before hopping up the steps back into my house. It was quiet without Rhea being here and I had been extremely lonely the last few days when she worked her day job then nights at the bar. Yeah I went in to Muncy's and hung out with her, catching up with some old high school friends and nosy locals, but I wanted that woman all to myself every second of every day.

  "You need me and Rosa to pick up anything before we head out?" Reno and his wife Rosa lived down in Virginia Beach, right near the base in a nice little condo right on the beach. It was our hangout place when we had some down time, which was rare.

  "Groceries, if you guys want anything specific, Rhea and I are gonna get some basics and stuff we like." Tonight was the night we were heading out to Randy's cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains to meet up with my SEAL buddies. It'll be the first time Rhea meets any of them and they all knew Randy, except our newb Bobby Timmons, but he was just a young guy of twenty one. Most of the Team were in their late twenties, but if Randy was still alive we'd both be the second oldest at thirty. Timmons, Martinez and I were being joined by Fred Black and our Team Leader, Austin French, both of them bringing their dogs because they didn't have wives or girlfriends. In my line of work it was hard to keep a relationship, being deployed whenever and wherever, Martinez was a great example of that. Rosa and him had been married just over three years and they had been separated more than a dozen times, always getting back together then having something like distance separate them again, Rosa moving in with her mother. Giving Reno a few last minute directions and ideas on items to pick up, I issue a 'see ya later' and go back to making sure I've packed all the items that I need.

  The whole breaking up thing is what scares me about getting involved with Rhea. I love her, I always have, but I don't want to hurt her. She's the light beacon in my darkness, her smile always bringing me out of myself, making me a better man. She doesn't know that she's the only woman I've had sex with and if I told her she probably wouldn't believe me. I had given her my virginity the same night I had taken hers on the basement floor of Heather Rachel's house, the night of that huge house party. I had felt guilty afterwards when Randy and I were back on base and I had confessed to him, falling to the wrath of an angry brother. We had brawled, fists flying, until our other Team members had broken us up but not before Military Police showed up, tossing us both in the brig for the night. We had suffered two weeks of hard labor and humiliation as punishment, Randy barely speaking to me the entire time.

  It was two whole months and a deployment to the Middle East that Randy finally spoke to me about it. He had asked me one thing, "Do you love her," and I had answered a truthful, "yes". After that, we were back to normal, two peas in a pod.

  Years later when we were taking two suspected terrorist links back through a small valley pass, both blindfolded and covered with hoods, Randy spotted goat farmers coming towards us. We had taken defensive positions, two of our Team mates going out to intersect and pat down the three Iraqi men. Hearing the 'all-clear', we resumed our path, Randy being at the back of our group, watching our tails as I escorted the links by the goats. I'll never forget the yell of 'bomb' three seconds before the ear piercing blast rang out, sending all of us to the dirt, my body going over top of our prisoners to protect them in case of gun fire.

  My ears were still ringing as I got to my knees, readjusting my helmet, hearing yelling throughout our walkie system. "Rooster," they yelled with no answer. Randy alwa
ys responded to his nickname, "Rooster!" "Chief, chief they got Rooster," echoed through my head, my steps wobbly as I got to my feet, pulling the two prisoners up with me. The memory makes me take a seat at my dining table, my head in my hands as I recall the sight of my best friend, or rather, the lack thereof. He had been obliterated by a suicide bomber, there was nothing left of him except a black mark on the ground. Keeping your composure is a huge part of being a good solider, but once we got back at our base, I broke like a twig in the wind. Martinez had found me, still in my combat gear, sobbing like a child as I lay in my bunk.

  An ironic twist brings a smile to my lips, remembering that only two weeks before that day Randy had said "You better marry my sister or I'll kill you", leaning on me one night when we were at the bar. It was one of the first times that he had brought Rhea up since the whole fight we had had over her, and I had shrugged him off because he was drunk. Now, well now I felt as if Randy was nudging me, telling me to get off my ass and make his sister happy. "Honey," my mom's voice comes from the front door and I hurriedly wipe away the tears from my cheeks, getting up to meet her in the front hall.

  "Yes, ma'am," I reply giving her a smile that spread to her own lips. My mom was an angel to all those who would let her be, her purpose in life being to make others happy since my father's death when I was ten. My dad had been a giant of a man standing just under seven foot tall, serving in the Army when he was a teen and then starting up a surveying business that grew when I was little. He died of a heart attack stemmed from smoking and my mother had been crushed. She had picked herself up, with the help of Rhea's mom, Ruth, and she had been the best mom a kid could ask for.