Code Name_War 0f Stones

by Natasza Waters

  “Yes, ma’am!” she shouted back. Holding Damon’s strong hand, they strode into the backyard of green grass, flowering plants and the best people on the planet all in one place. “Guess I better see what they’ve got planned. Besides, by the look of Dad, he wants you front and center.”

  They both gazed at her father, and with only those piercing aqua eyes, the man the SEALs called Ghost, demanded Damon’s presence.

  “I’m about to get the lecture, aren’t I?” Damon offered and then chuckled.

  “Yup.” She gave him a gentle push. “I’m sure you’ve been through worse.”

  He laughed. “I’m not, but I’ll endure the interrogation because I love you and I respect him.”

  She winked at Damon. “Good answer.”

  Epilogue

  Sloane wandered out of the palm-covered trail. She paused before sinking her feet into the soft, white sand. Spotting her husband sitting near the tideline, the seawater crawled up the beach to reach his feet. Damon leaned back on his powerful arms, his skin covered in water droplets magnifying every muscular curve rippling down his back. He wore his hair a little longer these days, and she liked it. Especially now, sun bleached and wet, curling with salty water. His skin wasn’t a toasted marshmallow color, more like a delicious caramel toffee, and he was delicious.

  He didn’t turn around when he said, “Are you coming down here, or you going to stand there and stare?”

  She chuckled. She’d been as quiet as she could and he’d still sensed her, but SEALs were a different breed of men. She often called him Superman, which he hated, so she used it all the time.

  Sloane wandered onto the beach and plunked her butt in the sand beside him. “Do your three mile swim with the sharks?”

  “Out-swam them,” he said, drying off under the equatorial sun.

  “And how many times did you run around the island?”

  “Only five.”

  “It’s a mile and a half in circumference.”

  He shrugged. “Did you call your dad?”

  “Yup. Just wanted to know how his daughter was.”

  “You tell him my wife is just fine?” He grinned at her across his shoulder and then curled an arm around her waist.

  Not satisfied with just an arm, she straddled his lap and draped her hands over his broad shoulders, putting herself front and center of his attention. “He only gives you a bad time because you’re part of the family. It means he likes you.”

  “I don’t know about that. The look he gave me when he handed you over in front of the priest looked more like he wanted to take me out than welcome me to the family.”

  “That means he likes you,” she said, drawing a line of suntan oil across her palm and proceeding to rub it very slowly across Damon’s shoulders. His smoldering eyes turned up to her, peering between wet bangs. “It was nice of Mom and Dad to give us this honeymoon. A deserted island. Only one other couple on the other side. A luxurious grass hut.”

  Damon grinned at her like a wolf and fingered the tie behind her neck, then slowly pulled the string, exposing her tanned breasts. He took the bottle of oil and returned the favor. “Wouldn’t want these to get burned,” he said, circling her nipple, his jaw becoming more rigid, his breathing a little deeper, seeing them pebble with his touch.

  “Dad also mentioned he didn’t want to be a grandfather before he’s sixty-five.”

  Damon’s fingers stopped their delicious sweep and his brows shot up. “Guess we activated that mission a little early. Did you tell him?”

  “Nope, thought I’d leave that up to you.”

  “Oh no, we’re doing that together.”

  “Are you scared of my pa?” she asked with a southern accent, rubbing her butt against his lap with a seductive sway.

  “Of course not.” He shook his head. “Hell, yeah,” he corrected, nodding straight away. “These are getting fuller already.” He leaned back, bringing her with him, taking a nipple into his mouth and toying with the tip.

  “I’m only two months pregnant, there can’t be a change yet.”

  “Oh, there is.” He stared up at her. “All over, every day, you’re more beautiful than the last.” He cupped her butt and lifted both of them. Carrying her in his arms, he headed for the thatched daybed with crisp, white sheets fluttering in the sea breeze.

  “You better take advantage now, I’m going to be losing my figure real soon,” she teased.

  “Can’t wait.”

  He kissed her till her mind spun, then laid her on the bed. Getting comfortable beside her, he perched his head in his palm. With a lazy finger, he meandered across the sway beginning to show on her belly.

  “For a guy that wasn’t necessarily interested in having children, you certainly changed your perspective.” When they’d first ventured into dating territory, he’d made himself perfectly clear he wasn’t a family man.

  Damon shrugged a shoulder. “Never thought I’d marry either, but you changed my mind without saying a word. Looking into our future, I couldn’t stop imagining how much fuller our lives would be with a family of our own. When you told me we were having a baby, my first thought was I can’t wait to hold him or her in my arms.”

  His blue eyes were the exact color of the warm water surrounding their tropical paradise, a liquid blue with the tiniest tinge of green. Expressive eyes, and it didn’t matter if there was hope, heat or frustration in them―she could read all his emotions now―but most of the time she saw love.

  “When I think about how close I came to…” She pressed a finger to his lips. He kissed her, then dropped his gaze to the sheets. “I never want to feel that empty again.” His hand rested over her stomach and a small laugh gusted from him. “You mean so much to me, and making the Admiral a grandfather is worth the father to son-in-law talk ending with I’ll-tear-your-balls-off-if-you-fuck-up lecture I’ll be getting in the SEAL Cave.”

  “Mom’s excited.”

  His head jerked back with surprise. “She knows?”

  “Of course. Before I even told her.”

  “How?”

  “Last time we were over for dinner, she said I was eating like an entire SEAL team. Same thing happened when she was pregnant with my brother, Adam.”

  “You know, the Admiral looks like a different man when he gazes at your mom.”

  “Like when you look at me?” She ran a finger across his pectorals and up to his shoulder. He leaned forward and kissed her softly, turning up the heat and making her all gooey inside.

  Damon chuckled. “Yeah, something like that. She fell in love with a SEAL, too.”

  “She fell in love with a no-good SEAL.”

  “Is that where you got the phrase?”

  She grinned and nodded. “When she’s mad at Dad, that’s what she calls him.”

  Damon grinned and kissed her again, longer and deeper, until her heart began to pound knowing he was going to love her slowly, bringing them to a fiery place.

  “Since we’ve already made a new SEAL pup to add to the Stone-Austen dynasty, I guess the only thing to do, Ensign Austen, is practice for next time.”

  She laughed and curled her hand around his neck. “A warrior never stops training, Commander.” She pulled back. “Hey, I just remembered something.”

  “Now?” he said, looking a little put out.

  “When Mom fell in love with Dad, he was a Commander, too.”

  The look of a hungry wolf shimmered in his eyes, and he dove for her neck, making her squeal.

  “Women think about the strangest things at the strangest times.”

  “I’m just saying…”

  “Stop saying and start kissing,” he ordered gently.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Don’t stop until I tell you.”

  She laughed and gave him a peck on the nose.

  “More,” he growled.

  “Wouldn’t want to tire the old guy out. Sure you don’t need a rest?” she teased.

  A wicked spark shot through his gaze. �
��We’ll see who gives out first.” His fingers sought out her moistness. “Again and again, Mrs. Stone.”

  As he rolled her on top of him, his hands and his strength made her sizzle. Sloane palmed his cheeks and she kissed him sweetly.

  “I’m glad you picked me,” she whispered onto his lips.

  “Easy choice since I’ve always had faith in you.” Damon claimed her mouth, her mind and her body, making them his.

  * * * *

  Kayla sat under the stars in her favorite cushioned lawn chair. Her arm tingled as Thane’s warm, rough hand ran down her skin and threaded his fingers with hers. She smiled and turned a look across her shoulder. Her husband’s tropical-colored eyes glimmered in the moonlight as he gazed back at her. “What’s going on in that alpha brain of yours?”

  He chuckled. “Just doing as my wife ordered and taking a time out.”

  Nodding slowly, she stared up into the heavens. “You’re retired, Ghost. You’re on permanent time out.”

  “Think she’s okay?”

  Now the truth comes out. She knew his mind whirled with concern for their daughter. “Honey, Damon is a good man. You said so yourself. She’s on her honeymoon. Of course, she’s safe. It’s time for you to stand down.”

  Thane winked at her. “I know she is.” He tugged a little on her hand. “You know, this lounger I’m sitting in hasn’t been put to good use in a while.”

  She spit out a laugh. He’d fixed and reinforced the old piece of rickety crap from his bachelor days at least ten times. Ghost wasn’t a sentimental man by nature, but he refused to throw away the chair where they’d made out for the first time so many years ago.

  Kayla pushed herself up and then straddled her husband’s lap, facing him. “What will the neighbors say?” she teased, wrapping her arms around his neck. She knew the neighbors couldn’t see a thing with a solid cedar fence situated between each home and the darkness of night veiling them.

  A low rumble erupted from his broad, muscled chest. “Didn’t care twenty-five-years ago, still don’t care.”

  His firm lips brushed against hers. A snap of excitement tightened her belly. Gravity had its way with her as she aged, but she and Thane didn’t see the deepening wrinkles on each other. To Kayla, Thane was as handsome, exciting and sensual as he was the first day she set eyes on him in Base Command.

  Just as his warm fingers slipped beneath her top and roamed up her skin, headed for his two favorite body parts, her cell rang.

  “Seriously?” He groaned.

  She dug her phone from her jeans pocket, the unique ring belonging to Adam. She used a different tone for each Sloane, Adam and Kelsey. Answering the call, and then quickly poking the speaker button, she said, “Adam it’s late. What’s up, honey?”

  “Mom!”

  The one word had Thane sitting up straight, his body tight as a drum. “Adam, what’s going on?”

  She laid a hand on her husband’s shoulder to calm him, although her own instincts began to sing out with alarm.

  “Dad, is Kelsey at home?”

  Kayla shared a look with her husband. “No, she’s in Florida. Her firm sent her there for a client requesting some legal counsel. I told you that a week ago. Why are you asking?”

  Kayla rose and Thane stood up beside her.

  A long pause followed. “We’ve been tasked on a recovery mission. A Coast Guard base received a short distress call from the motor yacht Sterling Wind three hours ago, they said they’re being held hostage. The tangos haven’t identified themselves yet. They took out the AIS, but the Coast Guard have them on radar. The ship is sailing south toward Panama. Wheels up in thirty minutes. I just thought I better tell you, so you can keep Aunt Marg calm.”

  Thane’s brow wrinkled. “What does this have to do with Kels?” he asked sharply.

  “The woman on the radio asked the Coast Guard to call me. It was Kels. She’s onboard the vessel.”

  The heat of battle flashed in Ghost’s eyes, but this wasn’t his mission.

  Kayla inhaled deeply then said, “Adam, please call us when you know something.”

  The call disconnected. She and Thane gazed at one another.

  Her husband’s thick arms wound around her shoulders and he rested his head against hers. “Our son knows what he’s doing. He’s a SEAL. A good one. And SEALs never give in.”

  She squeezed him in a tight hug. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I think our son is in love with Kels.”

  Leaning back, he gazed down at her and smiled. “I know he is. That’s why I’m certain, he’ll bring her home.”

  THE END

  Other books by Nat

  Montana Freedom

  SEALed with a Weekend

  Twila’s Tempest

  Too Grand For Words

  His Perfect Imperfection

  Committed to Chase

  A Warrior’s Challenge Series

  Code Name: Ghost

  Code Name: Kayla’s Fire

  Code Name: Nina’s Choice

  Code Name: Luminous

  Code Name: Forever & Ever

  Code Name: Redemption

  Code Name: War of Stones

  Message from Natasza

  Thank you for spending time with Alpha Squad and the next generation. My crit partner and editor both think Adam and Kelsey should have their story. If you think so too, email or leave a message on Facebook. Might be able to squeak in an encore.

  I have two new series lined up for this year. For those of you who still love a Navy SEAL, “The Elemental Prophecy” series has a whole new group of alpha hotties to fall for. The second series takes place in Deadwood, South Dakota. Who can resist clues that might lead to a hidden gold mine or divulge secrets buried in the old west?

  Stay tuned.

  If you’d like to catch up on other stories I’ve written visit my author’s page on Amazon

  Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Natasza-Waters/e/B006HYRTGQ/

  Facebook https://www.facebook.com/natasza.waters

  Twitter https://twitter.com/NataszaWaters

  Email Nataszawaters@gmail.com

  Please continue to help Paws and Stripes. A nonprofit organization providing service dogs for wounded military veterans. http://www.pawsandstripes.org/ and Operation Gratitude who annually sends 100,000+ care packages filled with snacks, entertainment items and personal letters of appreciation addressed to individually named U.S. Service Members deployed in hostile regions, to their children left behind and to veterans, first responders, wounded warriors and their care givers. http://www.operationgratitude.com/

  88’s Natasza