by Vonnie Davis
His passion for her drove him wild and his hips pistoned into her. “Mine. Tell me you’re mine.” Shards of electrical shocks slipped down his spine. Too soon…too soon. His balls grew with the need to empty and the power and length of his climax jolted him.
He rolled off her and lay on his side, pulling her into his embrace. “Jesus, woman,” he exhaled on a winded breath, “the things you do to me. I wanted you to come again, Kitten.” He kissed her temple. “You know you never told me what I wanted to hear.”
Her lips smiled against his shoulder. “Yes, I’m yours for as long as you’re here. For as long as you want me.”
For some reason her response didn’t settle so well with him. Probably because he was giving so much thought to living in the moment and not focusing on the future. He’d learned the hard way the present was all he was guaranteed. The future was iffy, at best, especially in his profession. Still, he didn’t want to lose her—ever. What kind of craziness was taking root in his mind? His military service had caused his first marriage to fail. What made him think he could keep a long-distance relationship together?
—
After breakfast, Dustin and Kelcee went to some car dealerships. He’d learned some things about her over eggs Benedict—her birthday, favorite color, and bands, many of which he liked, too. They held hands as they walked around the lots. He wanted something low and sleek; his prosthesis preferred getting out of a car on a smaller angle.
“Looks like my leg and I are going to have to compromise. Dammit.”
She bumped him with her shoulder. “Life is full of compromises, big guy. There are sporty cars that don’t sit so low to the ground.”
His grunt was supposed to show what he thought of compromise. Instead, it got him a swat on the ass. “What?”
“Don’t you give me that macho grunt.” The corners of her lips teased into a grin.
He lay his arm across her shoulders. “Okay, I’ll look at some ʼstangs.” A test drive, a couple tries at getting in and out of the car, and he was signing paperwork on a silver Mustang with matching leather interior and automatic transmission. And years of payments. He and JJ would come pick it up tomorrow afternoon after it had been serviced and black swirl decals applied.
Kelcee hooked her arm in his. “Where will you store it when you go back to base? Do you have an apartment there?”
“Yeah, a small one on base. NCO housing. Damn, I can’t stop looking at it.”
She laughed. “So I notice. Do you still want to go swimming or stand here for the afternoon? I bet they have chairs you could rent by the hour.”
He scooped her into his arms and carried her to the truck. “You, young lady, have a bit of smart-ass in you.”
She bit his earlobe, sending fuck-me signals to his brain. “More than a bit, big guy. Think you’re up for it?” Her one eyebrow arched in question.
“Woman, you’d be surprised what I’m up for.”
Two hours later, Dustin was enjoying the hell out of watching Kelcee’s exuberance over going swimming in the pond beneath the waterfalls. Personally, he’d be just as happy to lie where he was, basking in his after-sex glow.
“Wait until you walk under the force of the water. It’s a rush!” She pulled a T-shirt over her bikini. She glanced at his erection from watching her wiggle into that tight little black number. “There’s no way. There is no freaking way, you’re ready for sex again.”
“Can I help it if I find you damn sexy?” She slapped her hands on her hips, sending an unspoken message even a dumbass like him could interpret. He rolled out of bed, reaching for his swimming trunks and prosthesis designed for underwater. “I’ll be ready in a minute. Grab some towels, baby.”
Once they stood at the top of the path to the pond’s edge, he asked how deep it was in the center.
“There are smooth stones shaped like steps that go out for about five or six feet. Then it drops over my head.” She tugged off her shirt and tossed it on top of the towels.
He held her hand and together they descended the natural stairs, or had they been placed there centuries ago by Natives? The water was the temperature he expected: initially cool, but easy to warm up to since the sun had beat on it all day.
A few steps and they were under the surface. He looked around. The current created by the waterfalls felt like home. Damn, I missed this. The frogman swam around, investigating plants and rocks. Kelcee tapped his shoulder and pointed to the falls. She was eager to show him. He nodded and took her hand.
She led him toward the muffled roar of the waterfalls. They surfaced to walk under them, picked their way over the mound of rocks worn smooth over time, breached the force of the falls, and stepped into a cave. After the initial foot or two, the grotto was dry and about the size of a small bedroom.
He turned slowly, imagining Apache women treating their Native sons, fathers, and husbands who’d returned from battle injured. “If only these stone walls could talk.”
“Wait, there’s more to see.” She grabbed a flashlight from the top of a high boulder, took his hand, and led him back to an opening, so narrow they had to turn sideways to maneuver their way through to whatever it was she wanted to show him. At one point, she flashed the beam higher. “Look.”
There were crude, yet beautiful etchings of horses, men, deer, and buffalo. How old could these be? Centuries? If they had a more powerful light and the time to do it, Dustin bet they’d find these drawings were stories of battles of long ago. Important stories. His curiosity was definitely chugging into high gear.
A sharp turn illuminated by the flashlight’s beam veered toward the left and eventually they stepped into an opening. A bubbling pool of water about eight feet across centered the area with a six-foot flattened dirt perimeter.
“In here are the famed healing stones with magical healing properties. It’s kept secret. Only a handful of people know about it, otherwise it would become infested with tourists. Our town, these falls, this spot, we keep as pristine as we can in honor of the Apaches who once lived here.”
“Wow. I read both of the books and there was no mention of these boiling springs.” He dropped to his knees and dipped his hand into the water. On an impulse, he scooped a handful over his scarred cheek. What the hell? What could it hurt? The water burned his skin, made it tingle below the surface.
“If the book’s written by an outsider, we block off the narrow passage with boulders so the author or researcher has no idea there’s more than the initial grotto.”
“Good idea. I wonder how deep this pool is. Have you ever gotten in here?”
“No. I was afraid there might be bones of Apaches and other warriors down there and I didn’t want to disturb them.”
She was very big on protecting the sanctity of this place. He could understand why. There was a spirit here; he could sense it. To stay too long would be an intrusion.
“Please understand I’m trusting you with something very special. Frank didn’t show this to me until he was almost too ill to make the swim here. Owning the property across the street, he was always the unofficial caretaker of this secret. The town council knows and he was on it. Now, as owner of the bookstore, I serve on it, too. I’m one of the secret bearers. We reveal the secret to no one or the one person we trust the most.” She placed a hand on his chest and pierced his gaze with her green eyes. “For me, that’s you.”
Dustin barely knew what to say. She’d honored him with something very precious—her trust. He cupped her cheek. “Thank you. I won’t betray your trust. I promise. I like this town the way it is, two traffic lights and all.”
The low-hanging ceiling was closing in on him. His heart rate was accelerating. “Let’s head back out. I want to swim around the pond some more. Work out this new prosthesis.”
“Sure. Are you okay? You’ve got an odd expression.”
“Cave shadows.” He needed to get out of this place. His PTSD was surfacing. Retracing their steps, they stood under the force of the falls for a co
uple minutes before diving into the pool. They swam and played some more before leaving the water. With the sun starting to set, a chill was claiming the air.
They walked across the narrow street, arm in arm. “Why don’t you take your shower first, Kelcee. I’ll need to clean my prosthesis.” He followed her slowly up the steps, still unaccustomed to this make of artificial foot. He’d be glad to get his running or everyday prosthesis back on.
“How about you shower while I hard-boil a couple eggs for tuna salad?” She opened the refrigerator and reached in. “I’m in the mood for a light supper.”
“Sounds good.” He crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe into the kitchen. “I’ve been thinking. Got a question for you. What if I want to keep working on this relationship after I go back to active duty?”
She peered around the opened refrigerator door at him, her green eyes wide. “What did you just say?”
Chapter 13
“Hell, don’t look so shocked. Did you think you were just a short fling? That I wasn’t developing feelings for you? Could you handle a long-distance romance?” The words were already out there floating around the air like that pretty butterfly tattoo beside her pelvic bone. He might as well ask. “Or aren’t you developing feelings for me? Am I presuming too much? Do you think of me only as a friend with benefits?”
No answer came from the pretty face wearing a flush.
He turned and ambled for the bathroom, the weight of the world suddenly pressing on his shoulders. Don’t I feel like an ass? I’ve misinterpreted everything. Or am I simply rushing her?
Cool air hit his backside when the shower curtain was pulled back. Bare breasts rubbed his shoulder blades. “Hand me the soap, sweetheart, I’ll wash your back.”
Her hands began scrubbing his neck and shoulders. “I want you to know you caught me off guard a few minutes ago. I haven’t been looking forward to your leaving, so I’ve been holding back on some of my emotions. That’s why I looked so shocked when you mentioned working on a long-distance relationship.” Her soapy hands rubbed over his ass cheeks. “We’ll have to talk about it some more. Like, can you tell me before you go out on a mission? Will I have enough time to get to you for a goodbye kiss? How will we keep in touch while you’re gone?” She pressed her lips to his back. “I think it might be worth a try if I can see you when you’re back in port, or whatever they call it.”
“So much of what I do, where I’ll be going, and how long I’ll be gone are secret. It takes a special woman to live like that. You’ll want a boyfriend you can depend on for Valentine’s Day dances or Christmas parties. Your birthday. I can’t promise you that. I don’t have the option of taking a day off when I want. You might get sick or need some kind of surgery and I won’t be able to come be with you, to take care of you. Being a SEAL’s girlfriend isn’t the easiest. I shouldn’t have asked, but I’m a selfish bastard and a possessive one, too. I’d expect you to be faithful just as I’ll be faithful to you.”
“Dustin, turn around.” He did and took in her serious expression. “I’m not a party girl. I never was, even before…” She bit her lower lip. She was hiding something again. “Even before I moved here. So, your being away for holidays and birthdays, I can handle. But I will worry about you, afraid you’ll be hurt and no one will know to contact me.”
“I’ll put your name on my contact information along with my mom’s.” Kelcee was soaping his chest and it felt so damn good. She had these magic fingers that made him feel alive and full of hope. Her sassy personality had brought him to life when he’d first come to Warrior Falls.
“So what does this make us? Going steady?” Her forehead wrinkled. “I’m twenty-six, a little old for that term.”
He laughed and wrapped his arms around her. “It means we’re in a serious relationship. That you are my top priority after the SEALs. That I’ll take care of you.”
She was soaping his hardening cock and his mind was able to focus on one thing only as all the blood left it in a race to his growing hard-on. “Baby, I don’t have a condom in here and while there’s nothing I’d like better than to take you against the shower wall with your luscious thigh wrapped around my hip, I don’t think that’s a wise idea.”
“I know, but what about this?” She dropped to her knees and wrapped both hands around him, taking his erection into her mouth. My God, she had such a sweet mouth.
—
They ate their tuna salad sandwiches in bed, wrapped up in each other and talking. She teased him about being in a hurry to get his new car. He offered to let her keep it while he was at base. Truth be told, he’d bought it with her in mind.
“No. I am not using your car. After another month of running the bookstore, I’ll have a better picture of my finances. I need to see if Frank’s customers are going to stick with me instead of switching to ordering off the Internet. Then I’ll know how much of a car payment I can handle.” She gathered their plates and took them out to the kitchen.
Self-reliance. She oozed it, and he liked that about her. He loved her inner strength. At times like this, snuggled in bed, having a quiet meal, and talking, he really wasn’t looking forward to going back to active duty. Hell, he didn’t want to walk out of this life, the one with Kelcee. They were so damn good together.
She returned and he held the covers back for her. A laugh escaped from her luscious lips. “I know you. You’ve got that look again.”
“What look?”
“Well, it’s a combination.” She bit his chin. “There’s that sexy grin you’ve got going on and the flagpole that’s raised signaling the SEAL is prepared for duty.”
He scooped her under him and he kissed her slowly. “This will be no duty, Kitten. This will be all pleasure.” He kissed her below her ear and chuckled. “Look at me. I’ve got a steady girlfriend.”
She rapped her fist against the hollow between his pecs. “I am not your steady. A steady girlfriend wears your high school ring.”
He cupped the top of her head and lowered his lips to hers. “You’re definitely more than a steady.” Then he bit her lower lip, tugging on it so he could sweep his tongue inside, touching every part of her mouth, her teeth, her tongue. Clothes were ripped off and thrown helter-skelter around the room. Hands skimmed across glistening skin. Kisses were bestowed everywhere. Gentle nips were followed by soothing licks of the tongue. Whispers of affection amid moans of need filled the room. Together, they shared a gentle, yet passionate lovemaking that sated their souls and bodies.
Dustin disposed of the condom and enveloped her in his arms. Her deep breathing pulled him closer to slumber. Dear God, I don’t want to lose her.
Wysocki was behind Dustin when they entered a building identified as an ISIS stronghold. They made sure every room was clear in standard SEAL formation. In a small room, rugs were rolled up and something metal caught Dustin’s eye. A toddler on the floor, crying and holding out his hands, snagged Wysocki’s heart. The father of three knelt and asked the child what was wrong. Just as he went to pick him up to offer comfort, Dustin saw the wire across its chubby legs. “Noooo!”
The explosion rocked the building. Blood and body parts flew everywhere. Kent Wysocki’s left hand with his wedding band landed on Dustin’s chest. More body parts covered him and he tried his best to wipe the horror away. Pain seared his body. The weight and dust of falling rubble made breathing difficult. Part of his eyesight was gone or covered in blood. He couldn’t tell which. He struggled to roll over and crawl free.
“Wysocki…Wysocki…” His SEAL brother was dead. The coppery stench of Kent’s blood damn near suffocated him.
“Dustin! Dustin! Wake up, honey!” Someone shook him.
His eyes popped open. He grabbed whoever it was and shoved him away. Someone hit the floor and grunted. “Who the fuck are you? Stay the hell away! I’ll shoot you, you bastard! You killed Wysocki!” He frantically brushed his palms over himself. “I want his hand off me! His guts! His fucking guts are all over me!”
Sweat poured off him and he trembled as he freaked out.
“Dustin, it’s a dream. You were having a nightmare. You’re Stateside.” Someone shook his foot.
“A nightmare? Not real?” The mental fog, the smoke, the stench of war slowly dissipated.
“No! Not real. It’s me, Kelcee. You’re with me.”
The scent of jasmine replaced the odor of blood. “Kelcee? My Kelcee?” He sat on the edge of the bed, the heels of his hands in his eyes. “Fuck, I never wanted you to see me like this.” His elbows propped onto his thighs while he kept his eyes covered. He didn’t think he could bear to see her scared face. “Ah hell, baby, you must think I’m one step away from insanity. Maybe I am.”
The memory of pushing someone away floated back. He lowered his hands. “Tell me I didn’t hurt you.” He reached for her, and thank God, she didn’t shrink from him. “I pushed at something. Tell me that wasn’t you.” How could he continue if he’d hurt this sweet, yet sassy spirit?
“I just fell out of bed. You didn’t know who I was. You couldn’t help it.” She reached for the light and a muted glow from the lamp on her nightstand illuminated the room. “How often do you have nightmares like this? Are they normally so disturbing for you?”
“It’s always the same one. The day my friend Wysocki died and I was injured. For months, I had it every night. Since I came to Warrior Falls their frequency has slowly lessened.” Sleeping with his arms wrapped around her last night, he’d had his first pleasant dream in a couple of years. His last thought tonight before drifting off was about keeping her in his life. He didn’t want to lose someone else the way he’d lost Wysocki and other SEAL brothers over the years. Maybe that’s what brought the night terrors back.
“Are you afraid of me now?” He opened his arms for her, alarmed that she might not come to him as naturally as before. The distress of how her avoidance would rip him apart frightened him to his core.
She approached him with a slight limp. “No, Dustin. Of course not.”
“You are hurt! Where?” He turned her around. Her left ass cheek was red. “Damn it to hell.” He kissed her ass gently, trailing fingertips over the discoloration he’d caused. Granted, he hadn’t meant to mar her, yet he had. “I won’t sleep with you anymore. I won’t risk hurting you again.”
