by Low, Gennita
Not since he’d worked Mace through Afghanistan with the rest of the team.
He buried his nose in her hair, pressing kisses along the length of her neck. Using his teeth, he gently nipped her earlobe. She shuddered in his arms and curled into his chest.
Flynn felt the way he used to years ago, before Afghanistan, strong and healthy, confident. He wanted to fight Willow’s dragons. And get back to living life.
Willow suddenly dropped to her knees in front of his erection, and he didn’t remember anything for a very long time. As her mouth enveloped him with heat, he tried to imagine what he’d done to deserve her.
Willow ran her hand over Flynn’s broad back as he laid facedown on the mattress, exploring the striations of the muscles. The man had made her drool from the first time she’d seen him. Now that she’d enjoyed his body and knew what it was capable of, she couldn’t turn off her need. But it was so much more than physical.
His lean face turned sideways on the pillow to look at her.
She thought about pulling a t-shirt on or something, but the appreciation in his eyes made her grin. Where other men had seen chunky, he saw voluptuous and curvy. He’d told her that over and over again just in the way he ran his hands over her, as if he couldn’t get enough.
Willow felt more secure in her body than she ever had before, because he appreciated her. She was afraid to hope that this could be a long-term relationship. As gorgeous as he was, he could choose any woman out there.
But he was here with her now.
She leaned over to kiss him on the cheek and his gaze followed the sway of her breasts. Laughing, she pecked him on the cheek again and sat back.
“I think you’re a hound dog.”
The half of his face not planted in the pillow winked at her. “I don’t think I’m the only one.”
Willow carefully straddled his lower thighs and ran her hands down the divots of his spine. “How can I not be a hound dog with this luscious ass within my reach?”
His body shook with laughter beneath her as she squeezed his ass cheeks. Twisting beneath her, he managed to turn himself face-up without dislodging her. Willow was happy enough to plant herself on his flaccid cock, knowing that just a little bit of grinding would get him ready for her again.
But when her eyes connected with his, he’d gone serious.
“I’ve heard it’s against post-coital protocol to talk emotions after sex, but I have to tell you how much I, I…enjoy being with you. I can’t believe how lucky I was when I spotted your office sign.”
Her heart clutched in her chest at the hesitation. Was it possible he was as insecure as she was?
Then she realized what he’d said. She raised a brow at him, laughing. “You stopped because of my sign?”
Grinning, he shrugged beneath her. “I was looking for something close to the apartment when I moved in last year and I remembered your sign from the drive to work. The dog is cute.”
Shaking her head at him ruefully, she leaned down enough to press a kiss to his lips.
Cupping her breasts, he lifted his knees, pressing her higher against him. When she would have shifted away, he pulled her deeper. Willow moaned, knowing that she could go again.
Instead, he pushed her vertical again.
Willow sat up on his semi-erection, tempted to grind enough for him to slip inside.
Strong hands tightened on her hips as he stared up at her. “I want you to know that I appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”
She shook her head. “I didn’t do anything.”
He frowned at her. “Just listen for a minute. You have. Over the past year you’ve been nothing but nice, even though I was pretty abrasive when I started coming in here. I apologize for that.” He ran his hands down her arms to her hands. “I feel like I’m not up to being in this relationship.”
Cold fear shot down through her and she rocked back, all thought of sex gone. “What?”
“I haven’t been in a serious relationship for the past few years. I had a girlfriend when I went over, but it wasn’t serious enough to keep together over deployment. I have no idea what I’m doing.”
Willow started to lever herself off. “If you need time…”
He grabbed her thighs to keep her where she was and sat up in the bed, hardly straining as he adjusted her weight. “You don’t understand. I don’t need time. I need guidance.” Another hand swiped through his hair. “I’m going to fuck something up and this is too important for me to do that.”
Relief flowed through her. He wasn’t trying to break up.
“Don’t worry about fucking something up. As long as you talk to me when you’re not sure, we’ll be fine. I’m not perfect. I can count on one hand the number of relationships I’ve been in and most of them were with animals.”
Flynn snorted. “You know, I can see that.”
Willow tweaked his right nipple, making him grin.
“I do know that we’re different enough from everybody else that we’re going to have to create our own reality. But that’s part of the fun.”
He nodded at her words. “I’m good with that. I just want you to know that I will give my all to this. And to us.”
“Then that’s all I can ask,” she whispered, leaning forward to press her lips to his. Drawing in a deep breath, she reached for a star. “I love you, Flynn.”
His gray eyes darkened with intensity. “And I love you, Willow. You’ve completely changed my life.”
Tears clouded her vision, but she was secure because he wrapped his arms around her.
“And you’ve changed mine,” she whispered.
Epilogue
‡
Willow watched her man walk toward her, struck all over again by how handsome he was. Women turned to watch his tall, muscled frame in the too-tight t-shirt as he skirted the crowd to her table. The wraparound shades hid his eyes, but she knew they would be scanning back and forth, searching for threats.
She never thought she’d get him to come here.
When he drew close enough, she smiled up at him as she took the big glass of lemonade from his hands. “Hey, Gorgeous. Thank you!”
With a final broad look behind, he settled onto the bench across from her. As Willow took a heavy swallow of the sweet drink, she glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one had gotten too near. “You’re doing perfect. I don’t think I need to tell you that.”
He grinned at her and nodded. “Nobody said anything about Maya and they kept a wide berth once they noticed her vest.”
He and Maya had grown tremendously together through the months of training and she wore her red service dog vest proudly. But this was a huge step for both of them.
It was the middle of the day, so the serious noise hadn’t started on the midway yet of the Denver County Fair, but it was still busy. People wandered through the animal barns and ate fried food, enjoying the bright August day. The games were just starting to open up, but the rides wouldn’t start for a couple hours. They’d be gone by that time, but this would still have been an awesome trial.
A little boy of about three wandered over from one of the nearby tables. He only had eyes for Maya though. The dog wagged her tail as he walked closer but glanced behind to Flynn, as if seeking permission. Flynn nodded and only then did she lick the little boy across the cheek, sending him into giggles. The little one patted her on the head, laughing when she nuzzled his cheek.
Flynn barely tensed when a woman rushed over to snatch up the boy. Willow saw her glance at the vest and cringe. “I’m so sorry he bothered you. He’s just so fast.”
Flynn waved a hand and even smiled at the woman. “No big deal. The dog appreciates the attention.”
The boy’s mother relaxed and even smiled at Flynn, a little dazed, before turning back to her own table. Once seated she glanced behind her for one more peek.
Willow watched the exchange with interest. “I think that’s one of the most laid-back reactions I’ve ever seen you have.”
>
He turned his head to her and she wished he would take off his glasses so she could see his clear gray eyes. “Maya knows when something’s not right. Like that guy last week. I’ve learned to follow her lead.”
Willow nodded. The two of them had been on an embezzling investigation last week and when Maya and Flynn had sat in on an interview, one of the suspects had put Maya on edge. She’d paced and whined and stared until the man had been intimidated enough to confess. Not what she’d been trained for, but it had worked out that day.
Man and dog had learned to rely on each other more and more. Maya had learned to anticipate trouble areas, sometimes sooner than Flynn did himself, and she guided him out of them faithfully. If he called her Mace here and there, she didn’t seem to mind.
“Still, though, it’s been an amazing year.”
“It has,” Flynn agreed softly. He leaned toward her across the table, pushing his shades up onto his head. Willow met him part way to press a kiss to his lips, tickled that he’d shown her his eyes. When she would have pulled away, he cupped her head in his hands. “I can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate you. If you hadn’t seen what you did and suggested training Maya for companion work, I wouldn’t even be here.” He turned his head enough to glance around, before focusing back on her.
Tears filled her eyes but she wiped them away. “I love you, Flynn. I think you would have found a way to live again eventually, but I can’t say I’m not happy to be the one to bring you out of it. I think Mace sent you to find Maya and you were meant to walk through my door with her in your arms. Because I know in my heart I was meant to love you.”
He nodded and swallowed heavily, pressing another kiss to her lips before pulling away. There was a sheen to his eyes now, too, which choked her up all the more.
Willow was shocked at how quickly the year had flown by. As a couple, they did everything together, but it was never enough. At night, as they rocked each other to oblivion, then held each other afterward, they both agreed that if they could become one with the other person, they would do it. Their connection had strengthened to the point that just a look could convey an entire conversation.
Sometimes, when he seemed sad, it was because he hadn’t seen Mace in a long time. At those times, though, he would always reassure her, telling her ‘I’ve lost one dream but gained another’.
There was no limit to the amount of love she felt for her SEAL.
As he left his bench to circle around the table and settle behind her, she interlaced her fingers with his and rested them on her tummy, softly rounded with another of their dreams.
*
If you would like to read more about the disabled heroes of the Lost and Found Investigative Service, check out these books:
The Embattled Road (FREE prequel)
Embattled Hearts
Embattled Minds
Uniform Desires anthology
Other books by J.M. Madden
Second Time Around
A Needful Heart
Wet Dream
Love on the Line Book 1
Love on the Line Book 2
The Awakening Society – FREE
Tempt Me
Urban Moon Anthology
Connect with J.M. Madden
If you’d like to connect with me on social media and keep updated on my releases, try these links:
Newsletter
Website
Facebook
Twitter
And of course you can always email me at [email protected]
About the Author
I am a wife and mother of two. I am a stay at home writer, which I dearly love, and I recently added the title USA Today Bestselling author to my moniker.
I was a Deputy Sheriff in Ohio for nine years, and I found myself tapping that experience as I wrote Second Time Around, my very first book. No, I didn’t tackle and cuff my husband, although there was that time in K-mart… Anyway, it was quite a change going from writing technical reports with diagrams, witness statements, inventories, etc., that would stand up in court to writing contemporary romance. I’ve always written, though, and it was always a dream to do something with that huge, leaning stack of spiral bound notebooks.
I’ve now published 13 books, with many more on the way. I thank you so much for taking an interest in my work!
Stay tuned! There’s a lot more coming!
SEAL My Destiny
Sharon Hamilton
Copyright © 2014 Sharon Hamilton
EPUB Edition
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Chapter One
‡
Navy SEAL Luke Paulsen had that dream again.
Her red lips felt like tiny pillows against his cool mouth. Though he was buried in his Afghan dugout bunk, he could feel the delicate vibration of her moan as her lust for him whispered things. Unmentionable things. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t recall her words. He could only remember the heat washing over him as she breathed life into him. Again. Like she did every night.
A sharp crack of gunfire forced him to open his eyes. He caught a glimpse of Carson’s frightened face in profile just before the young Marine caught a round in the chest that ripped through him, between his shoulder blades. In a graceful dance Luke had seen all too often, Carson fell into his arms and he watched the youngster’s life bleed out onto the sandy pit and all over his boots. He held Carson’s clear blue gaze, and, without saying a word, told him he’d see him again one day as he witnessed the young Marine’s passage from his arms into the arms of death. The boy’s eyes remained open and fixed after his soul had departed.
A split second later, Luke remembered who he was and why he was here. A day’s ride by donkey from anywhere. He lifted the tiny mirror on a wire, the sun to his back.
Still clutching the body of the lifeless Marine, he traced the trajectory of the round that had killed his young apprentice, and caught the glint of dark blue steel disappearing into a blackened doorway. Laying the Marine down gently, he picked up his H&K MP5, counted to five while he clicked the safety once. Before he saw the barrel of the ragman’s rifle again, he fired off several rounds which landed exactly ten inches above the protuberance, and then saw the red spray of a kill.
Was it wrong that the color of the spray reminded him of her crimson lips? That he died a thousand little deaths with each of her kisses?
His dreams were stealing his present.
A week later, SO Luke Paulsen watched the sun pour itself into the horizon on one of San Diego’s white sand beaches. The afterglow felt good. So did the blush on his face from the three beers. He usually drank with the rest of his SEAL Team 3. But this last DT, Dissociative Tour, in Afghanistan had honored him with a cadre of young Marines eager to prove themselves, including Carson, the medic-in-training.
But Carson had drawn a different card and had taken the short flight to heaven while his body took the long flight home. Luke raised his long-necked IPA to the sunset and toasted the kid.
“To all the young hearts you won’t break,” he whispered to the soothing waves and the sunset.
It was a damned shame. He believed Carson would have made an excellent doctor.
Luke heard laughter as two lovelies in shorts ran past him to splash in the surf. Slender, tanned legs kicked droplets of white foam into the air. He loved watching the girls’ carefree spirit, just being goofy and lacking an ounce of self-consciousness. He couldn’t help but smile.
The dark-haired girl, the one with the cut off, inside-out sweatshirt that showed her muscled midriff, stopped and turned to face Luke. Her brown eyes were set wide apart over a thin nose that led to full lips that were stained bright red. She licked those lips and pushed her chocolate brown hair from her forehead, exposing a delicious ridge of little worry lines on an otherwise sm
ooth and flawless forehead. She cocked her head at a tiny angle and waved in that embarrassed way her mother must have told her never to do. Especially to a strange sailor sitting alone on the beach with empty beer bottles at his feet.
Luke waved back, using the same three middle fingers she used, sending his communication off with a shy smile. He imitated the angle of her head and felt the dangerous curiosity and wonder of their chance meeting.
He wanted her in the worst way.
The blonde was pulling her friend, gesturing to a spot down the beach, but the dark-haired girl wasn’t having any of it. Luke’s unspoken message clearly had touched her, and the golden tethers of his thoughts drew her to him, just as if he had special powers. It was lovely when that happened. He could almost believe in the supernatural, like those paranormal guys his sister read about in her romance novels.
The exquisite young thing with the well-defined legs came to within striking distance. If he wanted to—and hell, yes, he wanted to in the worst way—he could reach out and bring her into his arms. And he could tell she wouldn’t resist. But it would be so much better if he showed a little restraint.
Those who wait? What was that saying?
No matter. Luke felt the confusing enchantment like vamps did in those books. It was a pleasant fantasy. Let her have her way with him. Yes. He could tell she felt she had a date with destiny.
I can be your destiny for one night, darlin’.
She disposed of her friend with a sharp command and, alone now, stepped closer to Luke. “You look like you could use some company,” she said as she swung her upper torso from side to side. Her feet had planted themselves in the sand and he watched her pink nail polish peek out between the grains.
