Code Name: Nina's Choice (Warrior's Challenge)

by Natasza Waters

  She squished herself against his hard chest. “Don’t give up, Mace. Please.” His strong, tender embrace made her heart swell. “We have only begun to fight,” she said giving him a look from beneath her bangs before she pulled away and reached for her pants.

  “Sooo, ah, how often did you go to this place, Nina?”

  His question came with an underlining statement. Stuffing a leg in her pants, she faltered. “Never.”

  “Never?” His gaze followed her movements.

  She clasped the button at her waist and reached for the towel to start mopping up, then stopped and gave him a raised brow. “Just because I like things a little different, doesn’t mean I hang out at those clubs.”

  “Nina, is what we do enough? Or should I say what we did?” He grasped her arm, halting her movements. “I don’t want you to hold back from me.”

  She shook her head. “No, that’s not me.” Maybe she wasn’t enough for Mace. That was a huge concern. “But I’ll try anything for you.”

  “You didn’t answer the question. Is what we do enough?” The alpha in Mace thrust its head up with concern.

  “You’re enough. I turned into a trembling, quaking mess when you kissed me on the beach, if you want the truth, but when you tied me up the first time and went all warrior on me, I had never felt anything so earth-shattering in my life. You are definitely enough.”

  He nodded, surveying her, then slid the towel from her hands and threaded his fingers through hers as he backed her up against the wall, stretching her arms above her head. The intensity in his eyes made her tremble. “If you want more, I have more to give.” Slowly, he brushed his lips over her mouth? “Truth is—” His gaze pierced her and a flash flood let go between her thighs. “I love what we do. I love the trust and passion you show me. Tell me the truth, Nina. Does my mate want more?”

  The squeeze in her core made her squirm. “Yes,” she said weakly.

  Mace grazed his clenched jaw against her cheek, his lips brushing her lobe. “I want to fuck you so hard you scream.”

  Oh God, not the dirty talk. He rarely did it and because it was so unlike him it started a lightning storm between her thighs. “Yes,” she squeaked when Mace’s lips kissed a trail under her arm. Bracing her against the wall, he removed her shirt, and burned her skin with the stubble on his cheek. He pinched her nipples, and then tongued her peak. With deft fingers, he made quick work of removing her pants. Mace ran his index finger from her shoulder across her nipple, circling it once and continuing down her body. “How hard do you want it, baby?” Mace’s thumb circled her nub of nerves while he laved her breast with his mouth.

  She sucked in a wanton breath when his fingers slid inside her, and his thumb strummed her. “Hard,” she breathed, closing her eyes. Mace unhinged something inside her, and the door always opened when he touched her. He shuddered when she released his zipper. “Please.” She couldn’t finish when his mouth took absolute possession of hers. His shaft pressed against her hand and she wrapped her palm around his smooth skin, stroking it, her heart growing as he allowed her to touch him. It wasn’t firm, but it was still thick, even in a relaxed state. Mace could make most men jealous. She guided his length to her folds, rocking her hips to cover him with moisture.

  Mace drew back just enough to breathe his words on her lips. “Am I being possessive if I say you belong to me? That no other man will touch you like this again. Only my hands, my heart will love you, every cell of you.”

  She squeezed her thighs closed around him, and rocked. Her breath became choppy as his shaft rubbed against her sex. “No, no one,” she stuttered.

  Mace’s finger thrashed her nub. His tongue flicked against her nipple and he bit down with his lips, sucking hard. She came unraveled, her body shattering and quaking in his arms. His low voice growled against her ear. “Even if I never cum again, I’ll give you my share, but I’ll never share you, Nina.”

  “Mommy, Mace?” Gabbs knocked on the door. “Are you still cleaning up? Mom, I need help with my hair.”

  Nina chuckled and popped her brows. “Get used to it. You’re still going to have to share.”

  At the same time he brushed her cheek, his piercing eyes swallowed her whole. Mace had a smile that made her all squishy inside, and he knew it. “I have the two prettiest redheads in the universe in my life. No man could be happier.”

  * * * *

  Nina’s mom mentioned the lawn tractor had gone on the fritz last week. Mace had to keep himself occupied while Nina grabbed an appointment with her stylist, so he wandered out toward the garden shop, which was bigger than his parent’s house. The exterior matched the guest and main house on the property. A fenced oval pool sat on the east side of the landscaped acre. He meandered the groomed pathway. The gardens bloomed with groupings of flowers and bushes every few feet. Dirt and carefully set rocks mounded to give interest to the landscape. There were plants here you’d never see in California. Massive spiraling cedars stood guard, providing privacy from the neighbors. Nina had grown up with money. His family could barely make ends meet. Everyone pitched in and helped. As soon as they were old enough they were on a paper route or working at some pizza joint. A SEAL’s salary would never provide this kind of luxury, and he wondered if that concerned Nina. She said it didn’t, but how could it not?

  “Wait up, Mace.” Gabbs ran at full-throttle down the path until she caught up to him. When she reached him she slid her hand into his. Man, this kid was something else. She never turned off, and was smart as a whip. “Where ya going?” she asked, her steps quickening to keep up with him.

  “To fix your lawn mower.”

  “The garden man does that,” she said.

  “Well, I’m not doing anything. I’ll give him a hand.” He stopped at a flowering bush and admired its blossoms. The tangerine blooms tugged at the stems with their weight.

  “But you’re a guest. Guests don’t work.”

  “Why not? It feels good to help out.”

  “It’s pretty,” she said fingering one of the flowers. “This is Mom’s favorite bush. It’s called an azalea,” she said confidently.

  “I can see why.”

  He carried on walking, holding Gabbs’ hand. Nina had pulled her hair back into a single ponytail like Nina often wore, and it bobbed as she trotted beside him. “Are you going to marry my Mom?”

  He knew the question would eventually come, just not this quickly.

  “Everyone at my school has a dad, but I don’t. I’ve got pappy, but he’s my grandpa. If you love Mommy that would mean you’d have to love me too, right?”

  They reached the garden shop, and Mace drew open one of the wide double doors. “That’s what it would mean.”

  Gabbs stopped at the door and hung on to it. “So, could you?”

  Mace dropped to one knee, and curled his finger. Gabbs wandered toward him, but she looked uneasy. “I could easily do that, Gabriella. If it was okay with your mom and you.” His heart melted with the smile that grew on her pixie features. She flung herself at him and he lifted her into the air.

  “It’s okay with me, and I think Mom’s okay with it too.” She nodded, satisfied all was well in the world. “When will you be my daddy?”

  He carried Gabbs across the open work area and plopped her on the bench. With a hand on each side of her, he leaned over and looked her in the eyes. “When the time is right, I’ll ask both of you, okay?”

  “Not me,” she squealed, and laughed at him.

  “Why not? I’ll ask you for permission to marry your mom.” He brushed her chin gently. “But we have to wait.”

  “For what?” He turned toward the tractor and pulled open the hatch covering the engine. Gabbs jumped off the bench and scuttled onto the tractor seat. “Why not now?”

  Nina had kept Kayla’s disappearance from Gabbs. She said Gabbs bugged her all the time as to why Kayla hadn’t called her. Sadness coiled in his chest, and he understood what his captain was going through right now. If something ha
ppened to Nina, he’d go crazy trying to find her. “There’s a right and wrong time to do everything, Gabbs.” Becoming this little girl’s father would be too sweet. Good sense warned him it might be too early to be thinking of them as a family, but he couldn’t help doing it. Coming home to both of them after a mission would make him the happiest man on earth. Sometimes a man got lucky in life. That encompassed everything from coming home alive to being loved by a good woman when you did. Ghost had finally found someone to live for when he set his eyes on Kayla. They all prayed she was still alive.

  “You look sad, Mace, what’s wrong?” Gabbs’ little hand covered his, drawing him from his thoughts.

  This little gal noticed everything. “I was thinking about a friend. He’s going through a tough time, but he’ll be okay.” He offered her a reassuring smile.

  Gabbs deliberated his answer. “We could send him a card. I know how to do that. I made some in school and we took them to the hospital and gave them to kids who are sick. Is he sick?”

  “No, he’s not sick.” Ghost would never admit he was scared to death. The man’s love for Kayla had begun to heal years of what war had destroyed. If she died, so would Ghost. He knew it as well as he knew his own name. The warrior would give up everything to spend eternity with her. “I don’t think he needs a card. I think he needs our prayers.”

  “We can do that before bed,” she said with a hopeful expression.

  “We’ll do that. Now, are you going to help me fix this thing?”

  “Of course,” she chirped with a bright smile. “Does it need oil?”

  “Let’s find out.”

  Chapter Seven

  Mace pulled up to a schoolyard overflowing with kids and parents. A sea of running shoes, gym shorts, and ball caps swarmed near the enormous playing field.

  “I’ll drop you guys off here, and find a place to park,” Mace said, turning in his seat toward Nina and Gabbs, who bounced in her seat with excitement.

  “How will you find us, Mace?” Gabbs asked.

  “Don’t worry, if I can find a bad guy buried in the middle of the desert, I can find two beautiful redheads in a sea of people.”

  Nina chuckled, and leaned over top of her daughter to kiss him.

  “Mommy, Mace, stop kissing. I want to go.” Gabbs pushed on each of their chests to separate them.

  “Find us,” Nina said, giving him a wink.

  A block away he found a spot big enough to fit Nina’s one ton. The woman liked her trucks big and her men bigger, she’d said last night when she slowly ran her hand up his leg to his hopeful shaft. Why the hell couldn’t he get a full hard-on?

  He was still digesting what Dr. Dorchester had explained as the reason he had erectile dysfunction. The doc explained the difference between psychogenic and reflexogenic erections. Psychogenic erections involved visual or auditory inputs that interface with the cortical organizing regions of the brain, whereas reflexogenic erections involve genital sensory stimulation through a spinal cord reflex. It was all Greek to Mace. All the reasons behind the syndrome didn’t hit home until the doc mentioned severe trauma and PTSD.

  They discussed his mission and what had happened. The doc also assured him his case appeared to be temporary. Dr. Dorchester attempted to explain that his initial injury caused the lack of response, but it was being exacerbated in his mind. The physical injury had healed, but Mace’s mind had decided he was incapable of having an erection. It sounded like a lot of gray area bullshit to him, but there was no doubt he couldn’t get it up, and it drove him crazy, which meant the doc might be onto something. How the hell did he convince himself if his need for Nina was there, but it still wouldn’t stand up like it should?

  The hardest part to swallow was the doc’s summation. It’s in your cognitive ability to change this, you just have to put the doubt aside. When Mace balked at drugs, the doc said that as the trauma of the mission subsided, in time the dysfunction would disappear. He half-way believed him, when he’d initially come home there was nothing, at least now there was some response, but not enough to penetrate Nina. They’d tried once, and he’d given up in frustration, although he did his best to conceal it from her.

  Getting away from San Diego and the naval atmosphere rejuvenated him; now if it could only rejuvenate his junk, he’d be one happy man. For the last week he’d been filling his days with avoidance tactics, evading Nina’s sister, Dawn. Helping Gabbs run faster and longer preparing for today had given him a chance to make himself stronger. When he and Nina had a moment alone, he took all the loving he could handle from her and it was something he could do for the rest of his life.

  Coming to Canada had been the best thing he’d ever done. At least he understood his condition a little better. In the last week his confidence rose more than it had with three weeks of therapy at home. The rest of his body was operating at satisfactory levels. He wouldn’t be able to pass the physicals yet for the teams, but he knew he was going to get there.

  He’d also made his mind up on something else. Nina and Gabriella were his future. Between making himself useful around the house, wrong—mansion, and trying to impress the hell out of her parents, Nina played tour guide. She took him to every nook and corner of Victoria and the surrounding area. Victoria was a Navy and Coast Guard town as much as it was a favorite tourist hangout.

  They’d wandered down Government Street and mixed it up with herds of people on the beautiful waterfront positioned regally against the Empress Hotel, bistros and the Province’s capital building. It wasn’t the White House, but it was damn impressive. They had dinner together. Gabbs was either on his shoulders, in his arms or holding his hand. He couldn’t shake him, nor did he ever want to. Holding that little girl’s hand made him instantly proud. Whoever her father really was, he was missing something special not being part of her life.

  Sports Day was a big deal here in British Columbia. It signified and celebrated another year of school and the onset of summer vacation. The June sun shone warmly, but it wasn’t stifling like it could be in San Diego. Colored banners fluttered in the wind, representing at least twenty schools. He swam through the people toward the track where parents cloistered together chatting. Kids mulled about, but he couldn’t tell what kid belonged to whom. A starter gun fired off and a group of kids barreled down the track, heels flying and arms pumping. It looked like a hundred meter dash, and the kids running gave it all they had.

  Gabbs would be in several events today: long jump, high jump and some sprints. His little redhead could put on a load of steam. He bet she’d win at least a few of the races against her age class.

  “Mace, over here.” He heard Nina call out, and zeroed in on her standing with a group of women fifty feet to his right. He veered off, and Gabbs wiggled from her mother’s hold and ran toward him. She jumped into his arms, and he hinged her on his hip. When they reached the group of gaping women, Gabbs said, “This is Mace, Mrs. Tickner, he’s going to be my dad one day.”

  A brunette with friendly eyes elbowed Nina and she gave her a wink. Leaning forward, she brushed Gabbs’ chin. “Well, then you’re a very lucky little girl, Gabriella.”

  “I know,” she said spritely, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “Mace Callahan,” he greeted, extending his hand.

  “Nice to meet you, Mace, I’m Wanda Tickner, Gabriella’s teacher.”

  “And my friend,” Nina added. “This is Kate, Carla, and Ruby,” she said introducing three other women. “They all work in Esquimalt on the base.”

  “Hi, ladies.”

  “Navy SEAL, huh?” Ruby the tall, lithe blonde said.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “My husband is deployed right now. He’s serving as XO on the HMCS Algonquin.”

  “When’s his tour over?”

  “Not for a while yet, I’m afraid.” Ruby sighed.

  A tall blond, broad shouldered man stepped up to the circle. A whistle hung around his neck and “Coach” was embroidered on his pocket.


  “Hi, Mr. Mitchell.” Gabbs gave him a wave.

  “Well hello, Gabriella. How’s my star sports girl?” he asked, showing a perfect row of teeth when he smiled. Blue eyes glinted in a tanned face.

  “Good.”

  “Nina, it’s a nice surprise to see you here. How are you?” Mr. Mitchell’s gaze stalled on her for a little too long. Mace watched the other women’s expressions, and they all muffled a grin.

  “I’m good, Jack.” Nina’s eyes darted to him. “Ah, I’d like you to meet Mace Callahan.”

  Jack worked him over with a territorial survey. Mace had little to figure out. Competition, but was he?

  “Mace.” He extended his hand and the grip confirmed his suspicions.

  “Jack, I guess you’re one of Gabbs’ teachers?”

  “Physical education. I’m not supposed to have favorites, but Gabriella is the best in my class.”

  Yeah right, he was sure she was, but voicing it was to suck up to her beautiful mother.

  Jack grilled him with a look. “What do you do for a living, Mace?”

  Gabbs piped up. “He’s a hero, Mr. Mitchell.”

  “A hero, huh?” he echoed, but the glint had left his eyes.

  “United States Navy,” Mace explained. “Not a hero.”

  “Nooo,” Gabriella corrected. “United States Navy SEAL, they’re better,” she said proudly.

  Jack Mitchell’s face almost contorted with dislike. “Gabriella knows better than that, don’t you? War is not the way to resolve global conflicts. It wastes money and lives.”

  Mace didn’t blink.

  “Gabriella understands the military just propagates hate and unrest. Those who support it do the same. It’s hypocritical for countries to be killing off young men in a fight that doesn’t concern them, especially the United States.”