The Navy SEAL's Secret Baby: A Second Chance Romance

by LK Shaw

  “I’m glad we decided to stay in tonight. With everything going on, I don’t think being at the club right now is a good idea. I’m so tired of fighting with you.”

  Marcus cleared his throat, “I don’t want to fight with you either. I also know you want more than I can give right now.”

  I reached over to clasp his calloused hand, squeezing his fingers in support. “I want you to talk to me. I want to know if there’s anything I can help you with to relieve you of some of your burdens. You do such a great job taking care of me, that I want to take care of you in return. That’s what people in relationships do, you know. They support each other with whatever is going on in their lives, and help them with any problems they’re having. If you’re having a problem, I want to help.”

  Leaning over, Marcus pulled me out of my chair and into his lap. I snuggled closer, inhaling the familiar woodsy smell, and wrapped my arms around his muscular shoulders. His arms surrounded me, with one arm around my back and the other across the top of my thighs. His fingertips traced invisible patterns on my hip, where a bruise still showed.

  “I appreciate your concern, I do. Honestly, though, it’s better for you if you don’t know. I know that’s not what you want to hear, but that’s the best I can do right now. Now, we’re done talking about this. Are you finished eating, because I’m ready for dessert.”

  Mentally smacking myself on the forehead, I groaned in frustration, “Damn, I forgot dessert. I was going to stop for a coconut custard pie, and it completely slipped my mind. So, unless you’re having a craving for banana ice cream with chocolate and walnuts, you’re out of luck for dessert.”

  He moved his hand from my hip to slip between my legs, and he teased my slit. “This is all the dessert I need right here.” He plunged two fingers inside my weeping sex. Pleasure cascaded through my body at his touch. He never ceased to inflame me with a single brush of his hand or finger. I was so in love with this man that I was always ready for him. He had brought me out of my shell and showed me how it felt to be desired by a man. He never failed to tell me every day how beautiful I was. My confidence soared, and I truly believed I was as beautiful as he said. I had finally learned to love myself.

  My fervent wish every day was that Marcus would realize he was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I just didn’t know if he felt the same. There were times when I swore I saw love in his eyes, but it was always gone before I could be sure. Even if he decided today to end things between us and move on, there would never be another man like him. Never again would I let a man take away my confidence and belief in myself. He’d either fully embrace me and take me as the gorgeous, curvy woman I knew myself to be or he’d be gone. I would never subject myself to another toxic relationship.

  “Make love to me, Sir,” I purred against his ear. I rose up from his lap and threaded our fingers. With only a slight tug, I pulled him to his feet and blew out the candles on the table before leading him to my bedroom. I stood at the foot of my bed and slowly began undressing him. I gently ran my hands up the rock-hard abs and chest I’d exposed inch by glorious inch as I raised his shirt higher and higher before pulling it up over his head. I dropped to my knees and, with great care, unbuttoned then unzipped his pants and lowered them to his ankles as he raised one foot after the other to step out of them. Lovingly, I reached my hand out to clasp the cock that had sprung free of his pants and now stood at attention. With a quick swipe of my tongue, I laved the end, before sucking the full length deep into my mouth. Before I began to fully enjoy myself, Marcus groaned, “Stop,” and pulled me up to my feet.

  “Sir, I wasn’t done,” I complained, giving a mock pout.

  “If you continue your current course, this will be over before it even begins. Now, be quiet and let me enjoy unwrapping my present,” he scolded as he slowly unbuttoned my dress. It was agony waiting as he gently released each button, torturing me with his relaxed pace. I was about to burst and he prolonged my agony by taking his time, but I knew not to rush him. He would go at his own pace and not a second faster, no matter how much I begged and pleaded. I accepted that he controlled things right now.

  He brushed my collarbones as he pushed the material off my shoulders and down my arms. It caught briefly on my hips before cascading down to pool on the floor around my feet. My nipples pebbled beneath my bra in the cool air as his heated gaze skimmed my breasts.

  “You are so beautiful, Penny. I don’t ever want you to forget that. No matter what happens in the future, know that you are a strong, gorgeous woman who deserves only the best in your life.”

  My heart skipped a beat at his words. I also sensed something almost like regret. For some reason, I didn’t want to dig too deep to find out. I wasn’t sure I’d like what I discovered. Later, I would realize I should have dug deeper.

  “You make me feel beautiful, Sir. Never before has anyone done for me what you have. You’ve given me everything I ever needed. More than I ever dreamed. You make me a stronger person. I know you may not want to hear this, but I love you, Marcus.”

  I stared into his green eyes and knew beyond a shadow of doubt that my love was returned. He didn’t respond beyond threading his fingers through my hair, wrapping his other arm around me, and pulling me flush against him. He looked into my eyes for a second longer, and for a brief moment, I thought he was going to say something; instead, he lowered his face to mine and placed the gentlest of kisses on my lips. He kissed my lips again before moving up to my nose and then my eyes as they fluttered shut. He rained soft kisses over my face before returning to my lips where he deepened the kiss.

  He unclasped my bra, and it quickly joined my dress on the floor. He broke the kiss and helped me step out of the puddle of clothing before leading me to and laying me on the bed. He worshipped my body with his touch as he traced his fingertips down my arms to my fingers and back up again. He made his way to my breasts before giving each nipple a slight pinch to increase the pleasure. He followed my breast bone down the middle of my chest, over my belly, and stopped right before he reached the place that ached for him. I closed my eyes as I reveled in his touch.

  “Sir, please,” I begged. I needed him tonight more than ever. I could have been killed the other day, and I didn’t want to waste one second of my life.

  When he didn’t say anything, I peered up at him. His hand shifted to the bruise on my hip as his eyes followed suit. “I’m so sorry you were hurt. I’m sorry I didn’t protect you. I won’t let it happen again.”

  My brows furrowed in confusion at his cryptic words. “Marcus, it wasn’t your fault. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was an accident. Regardless, I don’t want to think about it anymore. Make me forget.” I brought his head down to me and poured all my emotions into the kiss, transferring my love to him.

  When I tried to deepen the kiss, he pulled back a hairsbreadth. “There’s no need to rush, Sweetness. We have all night.” He gentled the kiss, tasting every inch of my mouth, softly, sweetly. We kissed for what seemed like hours as he softly caressed my side, his thumb resting just below my breast. He reached out to grasp my hand and brought my arm up next to my head where he interlaced our fingers. He moved on top of me, and I spread my legs wider to make room for him, never breaking our sensual kiss. This gave him access to my other hand, which he positioned to mimic the other, so both of my arms were bent near my head and our fingers were intertwined together.

  He broke our kiss and stared straight into my eyes, no words spoken between us. With our gazes locked, I felt him shift and his cock slide up and down my slit, becoming wet with my juice, until he reached my pussy. His cock slowly entered me with gentle ease, his eyes never leaving mine. Once he was fully imbedded, I wrapped my legs around his waist as he began to thrust, taking his time, pausing slightly when just the tip was left before pushing back in. With every thrust of his hips I counter thrusted, bringing us as close as two people could get. Every time our pelvises met, the friction increased on my cli
t.

  We continued our dance, until the pressure that had been building exploded and a kaleidoscope of colors burst across my vision, but I refused to break eye contact. Within seconds of my orgasm rushing over me, I was awash with his seed as Marcus reached his climax right behind mine. On and on tiny tremors continued to rush through our bodies until finally my body relaxed.

  I unlocked my legs from around Marcus, and he rolled to his back, taking me with him. I cuddled up next to him with my arm across his chest and my head rested on his shoulder. His heartbeat thudded against my hand where it rested on his chest, and I matched my breathing to his until our hearts beat in harmony. I savored the moment until exhaustion overtook me and I drifted off.

  “We need to talk.” I heard the tense voice whisper behind me, as I lay basking in the afterglow of the most beautiful lovemaking I’d ever experienced. I turned my head to peek over my shoulder at Marcus.

  “I should have told you this before last night. I meant to. You looked so beautiful sitting there in the candlelight. The desire to touch you was beyond my control. My body overruled my mind and not touching you was no longer an option. Then one thing led to another. Penny, I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I have some things going on that I need to take care of for a little while. Things I can’t really talk about right now. I wish it were different. When I get everything taken care of, I’ll call you. In the meantime, I think we need to take some time away from each other. Time away will also give you a chance to re-evaluate your feelings. I think you’ll find that they are as I said before, gratitude.”

  I rolled over and my brows and forehead crinkled in confusion. “What are you talking about, Marcus? I don’t understand. Does this have something to do with the accident? Or Evan?”

  Not even looking me in the eyes, he only repeated what he’d said. “I’m sorry, Penny, but I think we need to spend some time apart.”

  When he didn’t say anything further, I realized he was serious. I felt my heart shatter into a million pieces. I stopped breathing for a minute and sucked in a shuddered breath when I started again. I fought to bring it under control. I would not let this man see me cry. I was in such shock that all I could do was watch him stand up from the bed and dress. All thought processes stopped. I shook my head back to awareness when what was happening finally started to sink in.

  “Wait. Just like that, you’re leaving? After everything, this is the goodbye I get? You give me some bullshit reason about having to take care of things, yet you don’t even have the balls to tell me what you need to take care of? It sounds like a cop out. You know this isn’t gratitude, Marcus. How do you explain last night? You and I both know last night was different.” With each word I spoke, the confusion and sorrow gave way to fury. “You call it what you want. Last night we made love and suddenly, you’re throwing it away for reasons you can’t, or won’t, explain?”

  “Penny, I’m sorry I can’t say any more.” Marcus sighed, as he finished putting his shoes on.

  “Bullshit,” I spat. “You just won’t. Fuck your gratitude, Marcus. I’m not going to beg you to love me or beg you to stay. You want time away? Fine, I’ll give you all the time you want. Now, get out.” I rolled over and turned my back to him. A few seconds of silence passed before I heard the light snick of the door being shut behind me as Marcus walked out without even a goodbye.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Marcus

  One month. Thirty-one days. Seven hundred and forty four hours. Thousands of minutes. That was how long it had been since I walked out of Penny’s bedroom after the night we’d made love. I had done my damnedest to stay away from her even though it was killing me. I went to work every day, going through the motions. Existing, but not really living. It sounded melodramatic when I thought about it, even if it was true. I made sure that Penny was still being protected. Even though it seem as though he’d moved on, I wouldn’t put it past that bastard Evan to try something. At least I hoped he’d moved on. I had no new reports that he was still following her. If I had gone through all this effort to push Penny out of my life to protect her and something happened anyway, I’d kill that son of a bitch. Donovan told me she still went to Eden every weekend, although she never played with anyone. Not even him. I was spending yet another late night at work, burying myself in paperwork, when my phone rang.

  “Hello,” I answered after the third ring, not bothering to check the caller ID. I had hoped whoever was calling would have given up when I didn’t answer quickly enough.

  “Marcus?” came the familiar voice on the other end of the line, its tone speaking volumes.

  Dread hit me hard. A lump formed in my throat, and I was barely able to respond. “What’s happened, Connor?” I finally choked out.

  “Marcus, you need to come to the safe house. Now.” My stomach dropped when I heard this. Oh God, Hailey, Grace. I knew, then, that the world as I previously knew it would be changed forever. “I called the police, but you need to get over here right away.”

  “Is Hailey alright?” I choked out.

  “Marcus, I think it would be best if you —”

  “Answer the fucking question, Connor. Is my daughter dead?” I felt a scream building.

  “Hailey is fine. Marcus, Grace is dead. So is Evan.” Connor reluctantly offered the news.

  “I’m on my way.” I disconnected the call before he responded.

  Not even bothering to shut anything down or turn out the lights, I raced out of the building and sped away in my car, driving like a bat out of hell to get to Hailey. Within forty minutes, I turned down Coach Street, and in front of the safe house where I’d placed Grace and Hailey were police cars and other emergency vehicles. The flashing lights lit up the night sky. I moved in what seemed like slow motion. I’d had to park two houses down and walk up the sidewalk toward the house. I hadn’t even made it to the driveway when I was stopped by a police officer.

  “Are you Mr. Allen?” the officer questioned.

  In a daze, I was slow to answer. “Yes. Where’s my daughter? I need to see her.”

  The officer held his hands out to me palms forward. “Sir, your daughter is being cared for at the moment. We need to ask you a few questions first. Please come this way.” He led me up the walkway and under the crime scene tape across the front door. A quick survey of the living room showed everything in complete disarray. Overturned furniture. Broken glass everywhere. Luckily, there were no signs of any bodies. We walked farther into the house toward the dining room where he directed me to sit at the table. “Have a seat please. I’ll be right back. I trust you won’t go anywhere.” It wasn’t a question.

  I sat where he’d indicated and waited, my leg bouncing in impatience. Within a few minutes, the officer returned, following behind a man in a suit. I stood as the man reached within an arm’s length.

  “Where’s Hailey? And Grace?” I asked again, impatience threading my voice.

  “Mr. Allen, my name is Detective Daniel Webber, please take a seat.”

  Reluctantly, I took the seat I’d vacated. I felt irritation building. “Someone needs to tell me what the fuck is going on. My security company said Grace is dead and no one will tell me where my goddamn daughter is.” I pounded my fist on the table in frustration and anger.

  “I’m sorry about Ms. Hathaway. She was apparently killed by a Mr. Evan Banks earlier tonight. Your daughter was upstairs during the confrontation. After speaking with your security team, it seems as though Mr. Banks forcefully entered the premises and began arguing with Ms. Hathaway. A physical altercation took place during which Mr. Banks pulled out a gun. From the reports, there was a struggle between Ms. Hathaway and Mr. Banks for possession of it. During the struggle, the gun went off and Ms. Hathaway was fatally wounded. Your security team entered the room, and Mr. Banks turned the gun on himself. He was dead before he hit the ground. Please accept my condolences on your loss.”

  Even though I already knew Grace was dead, hearing it confirmed by the police only m
ade it more real. The adrenaline rush I’d experienced since Connor’s call had disappeared, and in its place, numbness had taken over. My whole body began to shake as reality kicked in and a sob I tried to disguise as a cough escaped against my will. I grieved for Grace. More importantly, I grieved for Hailey, who would never get to know her mother beyond this moment. Detective Webber and the other officer excused themselves. I barely heard them leave, my sobs now uncontrollable.

  After speaking with the police, they’d finally allowed me to take Hailey, who had fallen back asleep, from Connor who had her sequestered in her room. Even though it was the middle of night and I was exhausted, I’d left with Hailey and drove the two hours to Grace’s parents’ house. I had asked the police to let me be the one to tell them what had happened. It had taken a lot of convincing before they relented, but I knew it would be best if they heard it from me. Her father knew something was wrong when I showed up at 2:00 a.m. with only Hailey in tow.

  “I’m so sorry,” was all I said before Grace’s mother sobbed into her hands and would have fallen to the ground had her husband not been there to catch her. Stoic and almost too composed, Grace’s father ushered me in as I cradled a sleeping Hailey in my arms. Having been to their home before, I knew which room was Hailey’s. I gave them a few moments to grieve privately as I carried Hailey up to her room. I laid her on the bed, and after tucking her in, I leaned in to kiss her forehead and breathe in her sweet baby scent.

  With a heavy sigh, I closed the door, keeping it cracked slightly before heading back downstairs to talk to Grace’s parents. Her mother sat on the couch with silent tears running down her cheeks, while her father paced the room with a tumbler in his hands, pausing every few steps to take a sip. I took a seat on the upholstered chair next to the couch, leaned my elbows on my knees, and hung my head between them.

  Her father abruptly stopped and turned on me. “What the fuck happened, Marcus? How did Evan find our Grace? I thought your security team protected her and Hailey. Please explain to me how this happened.”