“Do you?” She tilted her head in the direction of the small no frills building that was on the other side of the wall where they now stood. She raised her eyebrows.
“Oh yes,” Ty kissed her. “Very much.”
Léonie turned back toward the road and the entrance to her building. She unlocked the gate and looked about trying to gauge the presence of any other people. She opened the door for Ty and pointed in the direction that he should begin walking as she closed and locked the gate behind her.
When they finally made it into her room she closed the door and put a finger over her lips. Ty moved forward, pulling Léonie into his arms. His hands felt warm on her body. They moved under the hem of her shirt and brushed across the soft skin of her belly. Another shiver rocked through Léonie’s body. Her lips quivered with the expectation of what was to come.
Ty’s fingers worked each of her buttons then she pulled the linen fabric off her body as she watched him take his uniform off. He was fast, each piece of multi-green clothing hitting the floor with a thud. His weapons already placed delicately on the table she usually used to make tea, study, or write home to her aunt.
Both discarded their clothing as if were burning their bodies until Ty’s naked body pressed against Léonie. He lifted her legs and butt with her back still pressed against the door. Her legs were strong enough to wrap around him, while his hands held her ass in place.
Léonie gasped, her breath dragging in through her throat. Ty looked her in the eye and entered her. As he began to move inside of her she felt like her body must be radiating energy. That everyone in the city must feel the powerful energy force that was moving between the two seemed inevitable.
Ty’s eyes looked at her in a way that let her know he saw her.
A line of sweat moved down his chest and Léonie felt her ass hitting the door. She pushed herself back, using Ty to brace, she pushed her body into the door so Ty could move with more control. Her body lifted higher.
“I’m going to come,” She said as she watched his face and leaned her head back against the door. Even in the throws of passion she didn’t lose the frank clarity of thought and found no reason to cover it with disingenuous paroxysms.
His body rubbed across her clit again and she opened her mouth waiting for the explosion that waited for release. Her body twitched, her back contracted and Léonie watched in the shadowy daylight of her room as Ty came with her.
They stayed there, both held in the grip of sensation until Ty’s shoulders relaxed. He moved forward putting his head against her chest. She smelled him and brushed her hand down his slick back, then gave him two small smacks. She began to loosen the grip of her legs around his torso and Ty put her feet on the ground.
Léonie put on a robe, deciding to take a shower once Ty had gone. She tied the belt around the thin material while she watched Ty. He put his uniform back on like he’d done it hundreds of times, which of course, he had. He had strong legs, thick with muscle, a hard, flat stomach without the sort of indentations that glowed off of underwear models, a spattering of dark hair across his chest, and muscular arms. There was something distinctly American about his looks. His straight teeth, playful smile, the thickness of his muscles. She’d never expected to find herself besotted with a man like him. She’d really never expected to find herself besotted with a man at all.
His eyes looked at her as he walked over.
“I’ll see you tomorrow?” One strong hand cupped her waist and pulled her in close to him.
She smiled a girlish smile that felt strange but nice on her lips. Then as her mind began to work again the smile faded.
“I meant to tell you—” She hesitated and the look on Ty’s face changed.
“Tell me what?”
“They are sending me back to Paris.” Léonie looked down at her hands then back at Ty, whose eyes we taking her in. “The hospital will be on a very limited staff and they want to bring new doctor’s in for it, they think everyone ought to go home after such a traumatic experience, take a rest or something.”
“But… could you stay? If you wanted to?”
As she exhaled Léonie’s spirit seemed to go with it. “No, I asked, but I’m going to petition the office back home.” She had decided to push as far as she could but she knew that it wouldn’t do any good.
Ty nodded and looked around at her room.
“Ok, well, we’ll figure it out ok?” He turned back to her and held her face with his large rough hands. It was what she’d hoped he would say. She’d been afraid that he wouldn’t even care, wouldn’t want to stay in touch, wouldn’t want to see her anymore. But, she could see in his eyes that she didn’t have anything to worry about. There was something glowing there.
With a jerk, Léonie sprang back into his arms.
Chapter Ten
Ty walked back to base slowly. Major O’Donnell had been giving him a lot of leeway in the last few days. If Ty was needed for the press, Major O’Donnell gave Ty the gist of what he was allowed to say, then off Ty went. He was also given a few days off of his normal duties. This had given him the freedom to see Léonie but he knew that wouldn’t last even if she were to stay at the, now mostly defunct, hospital.
As he walked through base his own men and many he didn’t know called out to him, slapped him on the back, and gave him nods of approval. Ty gave a halfhearted smile back. He enjoyed the praise but also felt like he hadn’t done quite enough to deserve it. He hadn’t died in the building, really all he’d done was to set other soldiers in motion to get people out of the building, then got stuck in a room where, yes he may have died or been hurt, but ultimately wasn’t.
He rubbed a hand down over his face. He’d just done what he was trained to do, what common sense told him to do, and what any other commanding soldier would have done.
Ty walked back to the MWR where there was always a line for internet but Ty thought he’d better email home to let his mom know he was just fine. She would probably hear something on the news if she hadn’t already. Ty felt a pang of guilt for waiting so long. Because of the lines in the MWR and the expense and trouble at the Internet café or trying to set something personal up with a few other guys, Ty had decided to use the Internet sparingly. He would usually write out letters ahead of time of his laptop, transfer them to a USB drive then just paste them into emails for his family and friends.
He could hook his laptop up to the MWR wifi but because so many soldiers were all hooking onto the connection, it was abysmally slow. The few times he’d tried it Ty ran the risk of throwing his laptop, breaking it in half over his knee, or throwing it headlong into another soldier. So he’d stopped trying to stretch a bandwidth that didn’t want to be stretched.
“Hey,” Ty nodded to Rahim who was just leaving his own computer session.
“Dude, how are you? I heard you got caught in a building saving some hot doctor.” Rahim laughed and smacked Ty hard on the arm. If Ty had been hurt in the explosion Rahim would have just made it worse. Ty shook his head.
“Yeah, sort of, the doctor was trying to save another worker that couldn’t be moved so I really just stayed, you know.”
“Sure, I know,” Rahim winked. “I wouldn’t mind being stuck with that girl for a few hours myself.”
Ty gave Rahim a heavy-handed slap in response, “Shut up, Rahim.”
Ty’s newly “special” status did nothing for him in the MWR, no one suggested he move up in line, something that Ty would have accepted gladly.
By the time he was on the computer Ty was ready to go back to his tent. He logged onto his email and a flurry of bold email addresses and fresh subject lines popped up in front of him.
“Dear lord,” He said aloud. He had a thirty-minute limit so he decided to pick and choose. He was in the middle of deleting all the junk when his cursor hovered and Ty stopped moving. On the screen in front of him was a name he hadn’t seen in his inbox in three years. He’d expected an email from her almost every time he opened his email b
ut he was always disappointed. Now, with the name shining out at him, he could hardly believe it was real.
Rachel Bey. The subject read: I saw you on the news.
Ty put both of his hands in his hair and held them there as he stared at the bold name in his inbox. Rachel. He’d been thinking of Rachel so much before the explosions that it almost seemed like he’d conjured her out of nowhere. That he’d been the one calling her.
Exhaling slowly he looked at his other emails. Nothing of consequence. A few people he would need to respond to but he could do that another day when he had more time. Ty pulled up a blank email and jotted off a quick letter to his mom since that had been the purpose of his getting on a computer in the first place. Once he’d hit send he scrolled back down and looked at the name again. He pulled the cursor over it, not completely sure he was doing the right thing, and clicked.
Ty,
I turned on the TV tonight and whose face did I see? Are you ok? Were you hurt? I can’t tell you what I thought and how I felt when I saw your face. I wasn’t sure what the context of the story was at first so the sight of your photo made me… I think I almost fainted. I thought something—I mean, I know what happened was terrible—but I thought something even worse might have happened.
Ralph and I aren’t together anymore. He told me that he can’t be in a relationship with a woman who is still in love with her ex. I guess he saw what I couldn’t see. He was right. Completely right. I think I was just scared of your getting hurt or killed out there. When you were overseas last time I woke up to nightmares every night. I dreamed of you being shot at, blown up. I remembered the stories you told me about the guys you’d known in Iraq and I couldn’t get those images out of my head. I guess I thought that if I broke up with you, if I found someone else, then I could sever myself from those feelings, from worrying about you everyday. That I could eventually forget you and fall in love with someone else.
I was wrong. Ralph was a nice guy but he wasn’t you. I never did stop worrying about you, at least not until you came home. I know this is probably too little too late but seeing your face on TV tonight, thinking for just a split second that you may have died, I knew that I had to tell you how I really feel.
Could you do me a big favor? Could you Skype with me? I know that I’m asking a lot but please. I really need to see your face, to see for myself that you are alive and well. If for no other reason, then for old times. Please do this for me—just give me a time and I’ll be waiting.
Talk soon.
Love,
Your Rachel
Ty sat staring at the words for a long time. He reread them then read them again. He had imagined this happening man times before but he didn’t feel the way he’d thought he’d feel. He used to think that she would come running back, that she would realize her love for him was real and her feelings for Ralph were fake. He’d dreamed about that happening in the first year after they’d broken up but since then she’d taken on a ghostly quality. He imagined her, he thought about her—especially out here, but she’d been the Rachel of his imagination.
She wanted him to Skype with her. He would see her face and she would see his. This was all just a reaction to the news, a reaction to the extreme scenario she’d played out in her mind. It wasn’t real.
Ty wasn’t sure what he should do but he knew he couldn’t refuse. His curiosity about her after all these years was enough to make him want to talk to her. There was so much that she’d just left hanging between them. He’d asked to see her when he’d come home from his second tour but she’d refused. She’d said that, “closure is a fallacy.” Just the sort of thing she would say. Exactly the sort of sentiment that he would never agree with. She’d stuck to her guns and dropped contact with him completely. No calls, no email, no meetings, just radio silence.
For him, it had been the most painful way for her to go. He’d wanted closure, to ask questions, to try and understand if he’d been experiencing something totally different then what she’d been experiencing. Now he had his chance. Three years too late maybe, but still.
Ty hit the reply button and stared at the empty box.
Rachel, he deleted her name, it felt like too much.
He started again. I was surprised to get this message. I’ll come to the computer room around 8:00 a.m. my time which should be 10:30 p.m. your time. I may be running late or early depending on the how crowded the room is.
He decided not to sign off on the message. Then, after reading it a few times through, he hit the send button. Done. Immediately he thought about Léonie. His stomach twisted. His mind was beginning to run loops around his head.
Ty logged off and headed for the base bar. The “bar” was a bit ragged but it served its purpose admirably. One wall was missing and the space on that side was open to the elements. Ty walked up to the counter and sat on a stool. There were only a few stools and most of the space was decked out with picnic tables where guys sat drinking beers. Ty ordered a beer from a chubby guy behind the counter. The guy popped the top off and handed it to him. Ty raised the bottle in salute and took a long sip.
The fizzy liquid swam smoothly down his throat and for a moment Ty let himself forget all about Rachel. Then as he opened his eyes, Léonie’s blue eyes swam in front of him. Truthfully Ty didn’t know Léonie all that well even if he felt like he did. It had only been three days since he’d met her—and that sort of connection was bound to be false. Wasn’t it?
There was undeniable chemistry with Léonie but he had history with Rachel. He was sure that he knew her, good and bad. He’d lived with her for four years. That was a long time. As much as he wanted to let this new thing with Léonie take over him, he also couldn’t help but remember how much he’d wanted an email like this from Rachel to appear.
“I thought we were going to work out yesterday?” Donnie Cartwright sat down next to Ty and gestured to the plump guy who got Donnie a beer as well.
“Sorry man, I got caught up with some red tape. Had to write out reports about the explosion while it was still fresh.”
“It’s not nearly as fun to lift when you’re not there grunting beside me,” Donnie smiled at his own words.
“Thanks, the feelings mutual,” Ty smiled too.
“So what’s up? You seem a bit more somber then you did yesterday. The joy of escaping a falling building with your life, wearing off on you?”
“Rachel emailed.” Ty leaned forward on the bar and turned to look at Donnie. They’d known each other since Ty’s first tour and Donnie, who was also based out of D.C., had met Rachel a number of times.
“No shit,” Donnie’s expression looked as surprised at Ty’s. “Is she marrying that jackass…what’s his name?”
“Ralph—no, she’s not. In fact, they split up. She basically declared her love and all that. I told her we could Skype in the morning.”
“Damn,” Donnie leaned forward on the bar too. “So is this bad news? Cause you don’t look very happy about it.”
“Well, it’s just that I met this… woman but it’s early… I mean I spent three years waiting for Rachel to come back to me, you know?” Ty took another long swig of his beer.
“Other woman?” Donnie leaned back and looked at Ty. “Are you talking about that doctor?”
Ty ignored the question, “What should I do?”
Donnie didn’t seem to mind being ignored and faced back into the bar counter thinking over Ty’s situation.
“Well,” Donnie lightly tapped the bottom of his bottle on the counter. “ I think, if I were you, I would just play both hands. See what happens with Rachel then decide about the doctor.”
Ty shot Donnie a look but Donnie was no longer looking at him.
“I mean,” Donnie hesitated over his words. “The only thing is that, Rachel Dear Johned you. I mean, I don’t know if she deserves a second chance, even if she is hot.”
Ty shook his head, “Right.”
“Sort of different types aren’t they?” Donnie was obvious
ly thinking over both women in his mind, not that he’d ever met Léonie. He may have seen her out by the hospital or on the news but that was it. Of course there was no denying that the two were very different physical types. Rachel was five eleven, thin and athletic, with milky brown skin. She was always dressed up in pantsuits, shoes that cost half of Ty’s rent payment, and perfectly manicured everything. She wouldn’t leave the house without makeup and her hair done, went to the salon once a week, and once Ty had seen a receipt for a ninety-dollar manicure and pedicure. Ninety fucking dollars for something that chipped off in a week.
He really couldn’t say much about Léonie’s style in Paris but here she wore plain clothes that covered what was necessary for a woman working in the Middle East. Her short hair took care of itself, she didn’t wear makeup here, and Ty honestly couldn’t imagine her spending money on her finger nails. She had creamy white skin, dark hair, with large blue eyes, and she couldn’t be more then five six, maybe less.
What Ty liked the most about Léonie was the way she looked at him. There was something remarkable about her ability to communicate with just a look. He couldn’t remember ever thinking that about Rachel, but then again, if it were at the beginning of their relationship that would have been more then seven years ago.
Chapter Eleven
Ty hadn’t been able to sleep, ironic since he’d slept like a baby the night after the explosions. Now, it was the thought of a woman keeping him awake. He would sit up one moment deciding to write back and tell Rachel that he wouldn’t Skype with her, that their relationship was well over, he appreciated the email, but he was safe and what was done was done. Then he’d decide that talking to her, seeing her, would be a good idea. It would be healthy for both of them.
Finally, after a few more up and downs Ty’s mind turned to Léonie and once again he would decide to cut Rachael off. At 7:47 a.m. he wasn’t so sure. A phone call couldn’t hurt. Talking over things was always helpful, wasn’t it?
A niggling feeling in the back of Ty’s mind kept pressing on him but he couldn’t pinpoint what the feeling was telling him to do and he felt like he’d better just go through with it. Sitting down at the furthest computer he could find, which wasn’t far enough, Ty plugged in headphones so at least one side of the conversation would be hidden from the random ears of guys who constantly came in and out of this room.
Romancing the SEAL: The Complete Box Set (SEAL Military Romance Series Book 4) Page 6
