“Wow.” I studied this fearless woman in front of me. A woman who embraced challenges. But a woman who didn’t seem to be able to relax and enjoy life. “Thanks for telling me. Now let’s go to the bike shop.”
She bit her lip. “Wait, why? I just told you I’ve never ridden a bike.”
“Right. So, it’s time for you to learn.”
She shook her head and grabbed my arm, her eyes wide and pleading. “No, seriously. Now’s just not the right time. One day I’ll learn. Maybe when I have kids. But now, it would be too risky.”
I lifted her chin up with my thumb and stared into her eyes. “How would it be risky? The next Olympics aren’t for another three years. You told me you don’t know what you’re doing next. Now’s a perfect time. Live a little, baby. It’s just a bike, not a motorcycle. My buddy’s five-year-old son can ride without training wheels. You will be fine.”
Her eyes turned a darker shade of green, and she fired a glance at me. “I said no. Just drop it, okay?”
“Fine,” I bit out.
She touched my shoulder. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Why did her reluctance to ride a bike bother me so much? I paused for a minute to figure out my thoughts. It wasn’t that she wouldn’t try something new with me; it was that I was certain she was holding back a huge part of her life for me. Like she had made a decision and already knew exactly what she planned for the future, yet she refused to tell me. What could it be? Had she accepted a job somewhere far away? Joined the circus? I didn’t have a clue and refused to speculate anymore.
But I was determined to get answers.
We walked down the beach, and she leaned up to me. “I have a better idea anyway.”
“What?”
Her hand reached around me, and she squeezed my bicep. “Let’s go back to my place. I’ve missed you.”
Fuck yeah. I pulled her body into mine and my cock pressed against her thigh. “You’re right. That is a better idea.”
She laughed, and I kissed her in front of the Del, the waves crashing on the shore nearby. She escaped my embrace and jogged down the beach, and I chased her. I couldn’t wait to get her alone.
16
Aria
My stomach fluttered from the anticipation of being with Erik again.
And this man. Oh my god. The things he did to me. I was so turned on watching him slay the “O” course. And then he fulfilled my dream by allowing me to try it.
But the best part of all wasn’t watching him or even him letting me have a crack at it. The best part by far was the way he made me feel when I completed some of the obstacles. I’d been trained by top coaches who had believed that the only way to get someone to succeed was to berate them.
“Aria, you are slow like turtle and have arms like noodle,” my coach Olga used to yell at me. “Your feet look like duck. Are you duck? Quack Quack.”
It was almost comical to think back on it now. But at the time, those words destroyed my soul.
But Erik calling me champ, believing in me, cheering me on . . . the look on his face when I finished the slide of life, that type of encouragement made me want to do better, make him proud.
If only I could have his support and aid going through BUD/S, then without a doubt I would make it.
I ran up the street where my cottage was and after opening the gate, and my front door, Erik followed me eagerly inside.
I let Flounder out into the yard, and before I even stepped foot back into my place, Erik pinned me to the wall.
I writhed under his body, his big, strong chest pressing against mine. He kissed down my neck, but I escaped from his grip. My hands explored his arms, tracing his muscles before I lifted his shirt off. We’d fucked in the ocean, and he had pleasured me back at his place.
But now it was my turn to take control.
I undid his belt with a single motion, and his shorts dropped to the floor.
“Yeah, baby. Suck my cock.”
Yes, sir. I should salute. Well, he was an officer. My hands squeezed his firm ass, and I pulled down his black boxer briefs. His cock was gorgeous. Hard, long, thick. I couldn’t wait to suck him off.
I grasped his balls in my hand and kissed around the base, inhaling his masculine, virile scent. Maybe he had been right about not having females on the Teams. This man was so hot that I had to admit I’d be jealous if I was his wife back home and he deployed with a woman. But I focused my thoughts back on my current mission. To give him the best blowjob he had ever had.
“Stop teasing me, babe.”
I licked down his length and spat on my hand before I grasped him. A few more kisses on the head before I took him in my mouth. He exhaled and ran his fingers through my hair.
“That’s it, baby. You like my cock in your mouth?”
I fucking love it. My mouth bobbed up and down, taking him as deep as I could while using my hand to also please him. I created a seal with my lips, his head pressing on the back of my throat.
I loved submitting to him, pleasing this sexy man. The only man who I felt had ever seen the real me. Not the champion, but the timid, insecure woman who was afraid to express her needs.
My current need was him.
I could feel a shift. He began to take control back from me, pulling my head into him, fucking my mouth. It felt dirty, illicit. I couldn’t get enough of his cock.
“Damn. Your mouth is so hot.”
I dug my nails into his ass as he thrust his cock deeper into my mouth.
“I’m going to come, baby.”
I can’t wait. He tried to pull away, but I wouldn’t let him. I sucked him so hard, so deep, craving to taste him. He grunted and filled my mouth with his hot cum, and I lapped up every bit and then swallowed.
“Fuck yeah, Aria. Damn. You deserve a gold medal for that performance.”
I wiped my mouth. “You haven’t seen anything yet. That was just preliminaries.”
He laughed, pulled up his boxer briefs and then embraced me. “I’m crazy about you, do you know that?”
I felt it. I saw it in his eyes. But I was holding something back. I could never fall in love with this man or let him fall in love with me until I was honest with him.
I let Flounder back in the house. “Do you want to come with me to Isa’s house tomorrow? She and her husband are having a superhero costume party for their anniversary.”
“Sure. I’ve met Grady once. Guy’s a fucking badass. I’d be honored to get hammered with him.” He cocked his brow. “Who are we going as?”
I gave him a playful grin. “Aquaman and Wonder Woman. We can work on our costumes tomorrow.”
He laughed and gave me a wink. “Kickass, but I already have a costume. Aquaman is my favorite superhero. You know, the first time Orin and Diana met before they became Aquaman and Wonder Woman, Triton attempted to take her away before Orin saved her. They kissed passionately before parting ways.”
I pinched him. “I detect a hint of geekiness. Don’t get me wrong . . . it’s sexy. Let me guess; you go to Comic Con every year.”
“Damn straight. We should go together next month and cosplay.”
My test tightened, knowing I would be in Officer Candidate School. “That would be fun. Maybe next year.”
He wrinkled his brow at me. I quickly changed the subject.
“Anyway, the party is at seven. You can just meet me here at six.”
He sat on my sofa and grabbed the remote control. “Better yet, I’ll just spend the weekend with you. I’ll stop by my place later and pick up some stuff.”
A lump grew in my throat. I had wanted to spend the rest of the day training. But maybe I could make some adjustments. I had already done the “O” course today.
And for the first time in my life, I had a glimpse of what it would be like to be in a real relationship. Could I ever be happy living outside of the limelight? Maybe I could love and support someone else’s dreams instead of selfishly focusing on my own.
>
Or better yet, maybe we could lift each other up.
“Sounds good. You hungry?”
“Starved. I can order a pizza.”
“No, it’s okay. I have some food.” Pizza was a treat I rarely indulged in. Despite how much I craved the gooey cheesy and greasy pepperoni, eating it just made me feel guilty.
I walked over the fridge and stared at the contents. Watermelon, grilled chicken, brown rice, eggs, and bell peppers. I was even depriving my refrigerator of having some fun.
“Actually, yeah, a pizza sounds good.”
He grabbed his phone. “On it, babe.”
I glanced back at him. This sex god was sitting on my sofa petting my dog. Today had already been such an incredible day. Erik had shown up at my class, forgave me for storming out of his place, and had let me run the “O” course.
I vowed to embrace the rest of the time I had left with him. Really explore having a relationship.
But first, I had to tell him the truth.
17
Erik
I pulled on the leather pants that I’d purchased last year for Halloween and clutched my massive trident, though the long metal spear couldn’t ever replace my real trident that had been pounded into my flesh upon my BUD/S graduation. Standing there with my class, looking at my family in the audience, my father’s face beaming with pride, without question had been the best day of my life.
“Babe, let’s go. I don’t want to be late.”
Aria emerged from the bathroom door, and one look at her caused my heart to beat strong in my chest. Stunning, simply stunning. She wore thigh high red and gold boots, a short blue skirt over black boy shorts, a red bustier, and a long black wig.
“Damn, woman. I’m going to be fighting off men at this party.”
She laughed and then whipped her gold lasso at me.
I grabbed the lasso and wrapped it around her. “We can use this later tonight.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
My hand clutched her ass, and I kissed her. My hand traced over the metallic rope. The truth lasso. If only it actually worked. Then I would be able to force her to be honest with me. “Let’s go, babe.”
We left her place and got into my car. I drove over the bridge and headed toward Grady and Isa’s place. I was looking forward to talking to Grady alone, find out what really happened to him in Iraq, off the record. I knew too well how the media embellished war stories. Grady was no doubt a hero, but I wanted to hear his account in his own words.
I was also curious to see Aria in a casual party setting. Would she let loose? Get drunk? Have a good time? I worked my ass off, but I also knew how to chill out.
Aria gripped my thigh. “So, I know you can’t tell me details of your job. But, in general, what are deployments like? Where do you go?”
I appreciated her interest in my job. Most girls I’d dated didn’t care at all about it, even if they had pretended that they thought it was cool that I was a SEAL.
“Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria. We go everywhere, but different Teams have different regions.”
“What’s your exact job?”
“Well, I’m an officer, but a junior one. Kyle is my superior officer. But SEALs are all operational, officers and enlisted. I plan the missions, interpret Intel. I was an Economics major at Annapolis.”
Her eyes widened. “Wow. That’s so cool. I considered majoring in comparative literature, but I ended up declaring HumBio.”
“What’s that?”
She blushed. “Oh. Sorry. Stanford lingo. Human Biology—the relationship between biology and social science. It’s really cool. I was pre-med also.”
“Really? So, are you going to apply for med school? UCSD has a great one. And they are the Tritons.”
She averted her eyes. “Maybe. I’m not sure.”
There she went again . . . being evasive. “You aren’t sure about what? I’m finding it hard to believe you don’t have every minute of your life mapped out.”
“Oh. Um . . .” She removed her hand from my thigh and looked out the window. “I already told you that I’m going to train back east after this summer. Then I’ll figure out what I’m doing.”
I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel. Why was this bothering me so much? I really liked this girl but I had only known her for two weeks so why did I care that she wasn’t opening up to me?
We arrived at Grady and Isa’s complex near San Diego State University. Isa buzzed us in, and we walked into their apartment. It definitely contrasted from my bachelor pad. Though the furniture was black, there were framed pictures, fresh cut flowers, and a bunch of those throw pillows on the sofa.
A few girls dressed as sexy superheroes and villains were talking to Isa, and there were a bunch of dudes who looked like jarheads milling around, but I didn’t recognize any of them.
Isa greeted us dressed as Black Panther. “Hey, guys! Oh my god, you both look awesome.”
Aria hugged her. “Thanks. So do you. Though with my red hair and your black hair we should probably switch superheroes.”
Isa laughed. “I know, right? Yeah, it’s a joke. You see I met Grady at a frat party. He was dressed as Hulk, and I was Black Panther. We went to the same party a month ago as Harley Quinn and the Joker but it wasn’t the same so we are back to being the Hulk and Black Panther. So we decided to hold an anniversary party and invite our friends. I can’t believe it’s been over a year since we met. If you had told me last year I’d be married, I wouldn’t have believed you. Anyway, let me take you to meet my friends.” Isa led Aria out to the patio.
Grady walked over to me. He dressed as Hulk but wasn’t wearing a mask. A lump grew in my throat when he came into focus. I’d met him before, but every time I saw his face, I was reminded of the risks I took when I deployed. Grady was ripped and masculine, but half of his face was mangled and horribly scarred. I forced myself not to stare at his glass eye or his misshapen ear.
Grady shook my hand. “Hey man, thanks for coming.”
“Anytime, bro. It’s an honor to hang out with you.”
I stared at his beautiful wife outside with Aria, noting how she looked at him so lovingly, as if he was the most handsome man in the world. I wondered what it would be like to find a woman who loved me the way Isa loved Grady. Could Aria be that woman? I had my doubts, especially since she refused to talk about any future with me nor even clue me into her plans for the next year.
“Can I get you a beer?”
“Yeah. That would be great.”
Grady went to the fridge and grabbed two bottles of local craft lemon shandies. He squeezed a lemon wedge through the neck and handed me one.
I knocked his bottle with mine. “Cheers man.”
“Cheers.”
He took a swig, and I did as well. It tasted refreshing—like a glass of summer.
“How you’ve been?” I asked.
“Good, dude. Trying to get through school but I have another surgery next month. I’m doing some work with wounded warriors, but the pay sucks,” he grimaced. “Not sure how much longer I can afford to do it. I still get offers to write a memoir, but I’m not into it. And I’m asked all the time to do speaking engagements . . . but I’d probably just have panic attacks, so I don’t know.”
My eyes scanned his place. It was nice and modern, but small. This badass was a medal of honor recipient. He’d jumped on a bomb to save his friends’ lives. Rage filled me when I thought about the celebrities who lived in mansions while Grady was struggling to make ends meet, medically retired from the military, unable to serve the country he loved. The entire situation pissed me the fuck off.
“That sucks, man. I respect the hell out of you. And I agree with you about not wanting to write a book. Most of the Team guys I knew who wrote them completely regretted it.”
“Yeah. It would all be some fake war propaganda. There isn’t that much to say. What do they want to write about? My fucked-up childhood? Basically, a grenade was thrown into the building I
was clearing, and I jumped on it. End of story. The rest would just be a pity fest.”
Now I liked this guy even more. Even some of the SEALs I met bragged about our missions. Grady was so humble. “Don’t downplay it, dude. You’re a beast.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that.” His gaze trailed off toward his wife, who was chatting with Aria, and his expression softened. “I’ll tell you, man; I wouldn’t still be here if I hadn’t met Isa. Before she came in my life, I had some dark times. I’d spent months wishing the bomb had killed me. She really saved me.”
Fuck. His words chilled me. I’d lost some of my own buddies to suicide. I patted his shoulder. “Well, I’m glad you found her. I’ve talked to her a few times at the pool, and she’s great. And she’s crazy about you.”
“Well, it’s mutual. I still can’t believe how lucky I am. Hey, do you guys have that new Glock 19? I’ve been dying to shoot it.”
“Hell yeah. It’s awesome. I still love my Sig, but the Glock is smaller. Do you want to come shoot on our range? I’d be honored to take you anytime.”
The half of his face that wasn’t scarred lifted and he smiled. “You mean it, man? The civilian ranges suck.”
“Yup, anytime.” I took out my phone, and we exchanged numbers.
“I’ll take you up on that.”
I placed my hand on his shoulder. “One more thing. I know you have Isa, but if you ever need to talk to someone who has been through war, call me. I mean it. I know you have your buddies, but I’m here for you.”
He swallowed. “Thanks, man. I appreciate it. I’m going to go feed everyone.” He brought a platter of burgers out to the grill.
Aria came back inside. “How long do you want to stay?”
TRITON: A Navy SEAL Romance (Heroes Ever After Book 2) Page 8
