Code Name: Luminous

by Natasza Waters

  “Petty Officer Bale?” Admiral Austen crossed his arms and gave him a long look. “I’d like you to relocate Miss Edenridge elsewhere.”

  “Why’s that, Ghost?” Admiral Pennington asked.

  Austen didn’t even spare him a glance.

  Tony stood, and she did the same. “Where, sir?”

  “Where I found Snow White.”

  Tony didn’t blink, and nodded shortly. “Yes, sir.”

  “Where’s that?” Admiral Pennington asked, obviously not liking the evasiveness.

  Austen turned his attention to the Base Commander. “Her old condo at the Landing.” With a cold gaze he said, “You’re dismissed, Bale.”

  “Thank you, sir.” She and Tony left the admirals to their confab. When the tepid early morning air struck them, Tony gave her a tired smile. “I know where I can buy you a lousy cup of coffee.”

  She breathed out a short laugh, relieved she’d survived the intensity of the meeting. “Sounds good.”

  Grabbing a couple cardboard cups, Tony led her down to the beach and they found a log to settle against. They watched the sun rise. She’d never done that before with a man. There were a lot of things she hadn’t done with a man, especially one like Tony. Her mind swatted at her mother’s words warning of sin.

  As the sun breached the horizon, a group of men jogged down the beach. “Why does the Admiral want me to stay at Kayla’s condo? Wouldn’t I be safer here?”

  Tony’s brow tightened. “That’s not where Ghost found her.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “It means Ghost doesn’t trust anyone. He didn’t reveal all of the conversation he had with the President, which means this is far more complex than we thought.”

  “Was Kayla lost?”

  “Long story, but he didn’t find her at her condo. I have to take you into the mountains. Captain Cobbs has a ranch up there.”

  “Won’t they follow us?”

  He turned a small smile onto his lips, and she instantly warmed. Tony was such a handsome man. Something about him spoke loud and clear. He was capable, smart, and in charge of his destiny, something she’d lost in the last day, or given Tony to decide for her.

  “We’ll make sure they don’t.”

  A shout drew her attention. “What are they?” she asked, seeing the group of men remained in formation as they ran down the beach.

  “Phase Two class.”

  “How can you tell?”

  “Color of their shirts.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Tony hooked an arm around his knee. “Means they’re luckier than most. By the end, there might be eight guys who make it.”

  “How many were there to start with?”

  “Hundred plus. It varies.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “No, ma’am.”

  The men were ordered to stop a little farther down the beach, and they all dropped to do pushups. “How many passed in your class?”

  “Ten of us.”

  “It’s very difficult to become a Navy SEAL, isn’t it?”

  He turned to gaze at her. “Yeah, I don’t want to sound like a conceited pr...bastard, but only the best make it.”

  “How old were you when you started?”

  His grin broadened. “Are you trying to figure out how old I am?”

  She jerked her head, caught in the act.

  “I’m thirty, soon to be thirty-one.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  A sly smile made his eyes twinkle in the early morning light. “If I fessed up, so should you.”

  Seven years difference between them. That wasn’t a lot, but he might think so. “I’m legal.”

  He chuckled. “I’d hope so if you’re working in Vegas. Why don’t you want to tell me?”

  “Twenty-four,” she said and watched his expression flick with concern. She’d hoped there would be none. He emptied his cup and crushed it with a slow squeeze of his hand and a long look out over the ocean. “Tony, I—never mind.”

  She jumped to her feet, and his gaze crept up her body, but a curtain dropped in front of him, cutting his energy off from her. She knew it by the tone of his voice.

  “I never asked whether you needed to call someone.”

  “If I call Steven Porter, he’d go nuts. My parents asked the Porters to look out for me, and he takes the job too seriously.”

  “I meant…” he stood, his expression blank, “I mean, someone you’re close to.”

  “Who?” She’d already told him her parents were in Europe.

  Tony brushed a hand through his hair, and his jaw sharpened as if he didn’t want to say it. “I should have asked if you had a boyfriend before, before, well…what I did.”

  “No, it’s umm—I don’t have one.” She paused and felt her cheeks heat. “It’s been a while.”

  “Are we talking a month or a year?” he asked.

  She swallowed. “Umm, well, the last one was eighth grade. It lasted a whole day.”

  “Eighth…grade,” he repeated, shock dawning across his sharp features.

  “I moved around a lot, remember?”

  “You’ve been in Vegas for a few years. You’re telling me you never…no one ever?”

  “Vegas is a short stop.”

  “But there are people who live and work there.”

  “I refused to be distracted from my schooling.” She knew where this questioning was going.

  “Lumin—” his mouth gaped.

  “My father was very protective of me, and so was my brother. I wasn’t allowed to date, and we moved around so much I hardly had time to make friends.”

  Tony blinked. “Have, have.” He shook his head. “Have you even kissed a guy before?” The words rushed from his mouth.

  She laughed and bit her lower lip. “Of course, an hour ago, or was it that bad you’ve forgotten already?”

  Tony’s jaw sagged then he sputtered, “Are you trying to tell me, I was—”

  “My first kiss?” She locked her fingers behind her back. “Yes.”

  The shock flashed across his features like a lightning strike. “You have got to be kidding me.”

  She shrugged. “I was home schooled. When my brother Jed and I weren’t learning the fundamentals of math and English, we were training with mom and dad.” She debated for only a second. “My parents are very religious. I grew up with strict rules, especially when it came to boys. Why do you look so shocked?”

  He shook his head to clear it. “I’m—I don’t know. It’s just not—common, I—”

  “I get that after seeing your text message.”

  Tony’s cell bleeped and he swept it from his belt. “It’s time to go. We’ll take you to Cobbs’ ranch. I’ll have one of the guys from Team Three stay with you.” He gazed into the sand instead of at her.

  “What do you mean? I thought you were staying with me.” She actually took a step back when a cold and determined stare came to rest on her. This was the warrior, and he’d made a decision. One he wasn’t including her in.

  “No, Lumin. I can’t.”

  A squeeze of failure or maybe inadequacy made her shy away. She’d thought this man was different, but he wasn’t. “I get it. I don’t send text messages telling guys how dripping wet my girly parts are.” She turned away, but he caught her arm.

  “If I go with you, I will take what doesn’t belong to me. You don’t understand because you don’t have the experience.” Tony’s brow shot together. “I can’t be around you.”

  “Why?”

  “You want honest?” He shook his head slowly. An internal battle waged war inside him, and the determined SEAL was winning. “Sex is all I think about when I stand too close to you. I don’t deserve you, but that won’t stop me from trying to possess you. I don’t do virgins, Lumin. You’re twenty-four; our age difference is enough, but you most definitely can’t give me what you should only give to the man you fall in love with, and I’m not that guy.”

  Rebuked, her he
art shriveled. The man she’d dreamed about, maybe worshipped a little, pushed her back across an invisible line. She nodded then straightened her shoulders. At least he was honest, but it didn’t stop the canyon of disappointment that cracked open inside her. She couldn’t help but wonder whether his decision would be different if she weren’t a virgin.

  * * * *

  Six hours and one award-winning decoy later had Lumin safely on Cobbs’ ranch. She stood on the wrap-around deck, and Tony stood on the ground staring up at her. The moment was identical to the night he’d left her in Las Vegas. The difference this time was he knew for certain he was walking away from something special, and seeing her uncertainty made it harder.

  Mace nudged his shoulder. “What the hell are you doing, Tinman?”

  “What do you mean?” he said, giving her a nod good-bye and heading toward the vehicles. He was going to lock himself inside and handcuff his wrist to the door.

  “You’re letting Ross stay here to watch her?”

  He turned his gaze on his friend. “It’s safer that way.”

  Mace’s brows rose. “Safer for who? You? Her? I’m not saying Ross won’t keep her safe, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the guy can’t stop gawking at her. You leave them here alone, and—”

  “Nothing will happen, believe me. Besides, Ross is cool. He’s a good man.”

  “Look at me.” Mace hammered him on the arm. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean? You’re not? Get a grip.”

  “When it comes to her, the truth is I won’t be able to keep it in my pants, all right?” He stalked away, but Mace kept stride.

  “So what? She obviously likes you.”

  “She’s a bloody virgin. I kissed her this morning, and it was her first kiss for fuck’s sake.”

  Mace stopped, and gripped him so he would too. “Seriously?”

  “Yeah. Seriously. I guess I assumed living in Vegas she was like every other hot-blooded woman and had a past. She’s been very sheltered up until a few years ago, and by the sound of it, her mother breathed fire and brimstone about the debauchery of the male species.” He shook his head. “And she’s right. I wouldn’t even know what to do with a virgin, and staying with her is too much temptation. Besides that, she’s only twenty-four. Almost seven years difference between us.”

  “She’s twenty-four, big deal. What’s the real reason?”

  The question stunned him. “What do ya think?”

  “How about you might have feelings for her, and that’s why you’re concerned about her innocence. That doesn’t make you a prick. It means it’s time you take a look at yourself and see what everyone else sees.”

  Tony shrugged.

  “Don’t fucking shrug it off. You fell for Nina. You went the distance for us, even though it might have meant our friendship would have been severed. For some reason you’ve always thought less of yourself, and the women we rolled around in the sheets with who gave it up freely were the only type you deserved. You’re wrong.”

  “Problems?” Ghost’s throaty timbre broke the tense stare between him and Mace.

  “Yeah, he’s being a stupid shit,” Mace spouted.

  “I ordered you to watch over her, Petty Officer Bale, not Ross. Why is he putting his gear in the ranch house?”

  “Because I told him to. I start deployment in five days.”

  “You,” Ghost growled. “Do as ordered. The President has viable information that the bacteria was not only weaponized in the U.S. as Miss Edenridge confirmed, but it might have fingers extending into American cooperation. They need to follow the trail until the lab is found, along with someone who will talk. Alpha Squad is the only group of men I will trust with the information.”

  “We can trust Ross.”

  “Everyone remains outside of the circle until proven otherwise. Get your gear and tell Ross he’s taking the drive back to San Diego. Now.”

  “Admiral—”

  “Now, Bale.”

  “Yes, sir.” Tony marched away from Ghost and Mace like a man on his last walk to the gallows, trying to convince himself he could resist his desire for the woman who watched him from the porch. No big deal. He would just keep his distance. Treat her like a friend. He heaved his sea bag over his shoulder and headed for the house.

  “You’re staying?” Lumin asked, nervously watching him approach.

  “Apparently, I’ve been ordered to stay,” he said, not looking at her as he strode up the steps.

  “Tony, I didn’t ask—”

  “I know you didn’t.”

  Mace followed him in, carrying a box of groceries and sat it on the kitchen counter. “I’ll let you put these away.”

  “Tinman,” Ditz called from the kitchen table, stepping away from a laptop he’d connected. “I’ve set you up. You’ve got scrambled communications through a satellite link. If you select this icon, it will send a message to all our cell phones on the squad, simultaneously.”

  “For what?” he asked, and strode over to see what the squad’s communications guru, Clay “Ditz” Sacks, had invented now.

  “A distress signal,” Ditz said, running the cursor over the alarm bell icon.

  Smartass! “Thanks, Ditz, but I’m sure we’ll be fine,” he said, staring out the back window to the deck and fire pit that sat in the backyard.

  Ditz surveyed him and said, “What the hell’s the mood about? You’re shacked up with a beautiful woman with nothing around but ducks and beavers. I’ve sure as shit never gotten a mission like that.”

  Tony shot him a patronizing glare.

  “Clear out, men,” Ghost called from the doorway. He checked over his shoulder to make sure the place was empty. Lumin had retreated upstairs. The Admiral advanced on him with a look he didn’t understand. “Until I give you the word, you protect her. It will be you and you alone that keeps her alive, Petty Officer Bale. Your deployment has begun, and this is your mission.”

  Tony bit down on a retort and breathed heavily through his nose to square himself off. “It doesn’t have to be me.”

  Ghost gripped his shoulder and burned him with a gaze. “I know my men. I know you, Petty Officer Bale. On these same floorboards I found heaven and faced hell. I hope you don’t have to go through what I did, but it’s time you dig deep. There are things that have held you back. Things in this,” he said, pinning a finger to the side of Tony’s head. “We all have a past to reconcile.” Ghost searched his eyes. “You are one hell of a SEAL, but you are also a leader who hasn’t stepped forward yet. We don’t conquer if we don’t challenge. It’s one of the first things you learn as a SEAL. Every man who wears a trident wears his past and everything he does in warfare.”

  Tony dropped his gaze to the floor concerned what Ghost could see, but he saw everything; that’s why he was still alive while too many other men were feeding worms.

  “Lumin called you for help. She sees, even if she doesn’t understand, that you are a man who will protect her and lead her through the fire. I can guarantee you, you’ll face fire, and I expect to see you both on the other side without a singe. Whether you know it or not, that woman upstairs will teach you something about yourself that you need to learn.”

  Ghost turned his mountainous presence away and walked out of the house without a backward look.

  Why the hell did his guts feel like they’d been twisted so tight he’d never be able to process a pea? He let out a stuttering breath, assimilating what Ghost had just rammed down his throat.

  “He’s pretty scary when he wants to be.” Her voice drifted down shaky and meek.

  Tony’s gaze darted to the landing above, where Lumin gripped the railing. He didn’t move. Didn’t feel like he could. Lumin glided down the stairs and approached him carefully, stopping only inches away from him.

  “Are you all right?” she asked, looking scared as a rabbit, as if Ghost had ripped her skin off and exposed her underbelly instead of him.

  He cleared his throat and nodded. “Yeah.”

 
; “Why do they call him Ghost?”

  Not really something he wanted to share with her. Their worlds were too far apart, and with her sheltered existence it was like dipping angel wings in blood. “We all have team names.”

  “I noticed. You’re Tinman because,” she paused, thinking. “Because you work with heavy equipment and explosives?”

  “That would be a great explanation, but,” he chuckled and scratched his cheek. “That’s not the case.” She waited for him to explain. “Ah, truth is on basic I had a bad habit of always screwin’ around with my knife. I’d open everything with it, including tin cans...I slit my thumb open three times. Needed stitches every time. After the third time, I got tagged with the name Tinman.”

  She broke into a hearty laugh.

  He couldn’t help himself. When she laughed her light encompassed him, and he laughed right along with her.

  Gaining control, she asked, “And Ghost?”

  “I don’t want to tell you, Lumin.” He swayed his head.

  “I’m not made of fine china, Tinman.” She chuckled using his name.

  She was to him, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. “Captain Redding gave it to him. He was Ghost’s lieutenant for many years. He called him Ghost because he said the Admiral could kill a man before he even knew his life was over.”

  Lumin nodded. “You, I suppose, have done that as well?”

  Tony drew in his bottom lip. She’d see him in a totally different light and he didn’t want that for some reason, but he nodded anyway. “We’re trained to lead in an environment of constant stress and chaos. Sometimes,” he glanced at her, seeing her rapt attention, “sometimes that means taking a life.” He swallowed heavily.

  “So…you don’t let doubt stop you.” She squared her shoulders. “You finish the mission. You don’t let anything stand in your way,” she said, her voice hitched to enthusiasm.

  He cranked a brow at her, not really sure what she was getting at. “Yes,” he drawled carefully.

  “That’s good to know,” she said brightly.

  “It is?” Now he was confused. Women were strange creatures.

  “I have a mission.”