MILITARY ROMANCE: The War Within Himself (Alpha Bad Boy Marine Army Seal) (Contemporary Military Suspense & Thriller Romance)

by Claire Branson

  He was home because he had to be. His father was getting married to a girl from Orson and the wedding was that weekend. He had a few stepsiblings he was supposed to meet and though it didn’t matter what he thought of the new family, Jeffrey had asked him to come. His father didn’t ask for much, so he figured he had to do at least that one thing for him. Dante would be his best man and though it was far different then what he did nowadays, it was nice to be back as a civilian.

  Dante had gone into the Navy with his heart set on the SEALS program. He wanted to be the best and he knew that if he could become a SEAL, he would be able to help more people. His mother had been victim of a deadly mugging in the city and he knew that part of him leaving was to run away from that. In the military he could hide his feelings of what happened, as well as position himself to help others or stop similar things from happening. He got to get the really bad guys as a job and Dante couldn’t think of anything better than that. It had been a win-win in his eyes, except for the girl he had left behind, her sad blue eyes haunting him for the past six years. She was the stick that others were measured from and none of the women he had dated ever measured up.

  Pulling up to the old house that his parents had fought over and his father had finally received in the divorce, Dante realized he was slightly nervous. He hadn’t seen his dad in over a year and he knew that meeting his new fiancée was important to him. They were actually getting married. It made him think of his own love life or the lack there of. If his old man could find his love in his late forties, Dante figured it was about time for him to find his own lady to love. Ana. Why did she keep going through his mind? It surely must be because he was back home and so many things reminded him of her.

  Jeffrey was at the door, opening it as he got out of the car. He smiled big and moved down the stairs to give him a hug. Dante was still in uniform and it impressed his dad. Jeffrey beamed with pride, proud of what his son had accomplished. It was not every day that he got to see him, so it was several minutes before he let him go in the house. The questions started as a barrage and he even forgot to introduce him to his fiancée.

  Dante took the offered hand of the fair-complexioned woman that was standing in front of him. Her eyes were dark blue, the same as the one he was thinking of. He wondered if it was a sign that he was supposed to find out what had happened to Ana. Ana was a little darker, but she had the same eyes and the same features. Clenching his jaw, he told her he was happy to finally meet her, the one that had changed his father along so drastically.

  “It’s nice to meet you Dante. You have certainly grown since the picture was taken that Jeffrey showed me. You are quite huge!”

  He chuckled. The training made him grow out every muscle he had and then some. When he had left he was not scrawny, but his muscles had been wirier, whereas now he was bulky. Jeffrey sent his to-be wife a look. She was practically fawning over him.

  The threesome went into the kitchen and they all got something to drink. “We are planning to go out to The Village Inn that you liked so much, but we are waiting on Carol’s daughter.” He turned to Carol. “Sweetie, why don’t you call Ana and see when she is going to be here?”

  “Ana?”

  “Yeah, you guys used to go to school together. She and Christine will be here in a bit.”

  “Is Christine your other daughter?” His throat was dry, but he hoped that she was. Then it would not be the Ana she was thinking about. Surely her daughter wasn’t his Ana. Or was his Ana.

  “No, that is her daughter, my grandchild. I know I don’t look old enough to be one, but Ana insisted on starting early.”

  There was a moment of silence and the older woman went into the other room to make the call. Dante waited until she was out of ear shot and leaned in. “What is her last name?”

  “Ross.”

  The color drained from his face and he realized then that he was going to get to see his old flame, a lot sooner than he had expected. Guns, grenades and bombs didn’t bother him, but the very idea of seeing Ana again, made his heart lurch in his chest like it wanted to escape. He was not ready to see her, but then the front door opened and a small little girl with dark brown curls ran into the kitchen and gave Carol a big hug.

  The little girl named Christine, turned around and stared at him for a minute. Her dark brown reflected his own consternation. “Who are you?”

  ***

  Chapter 3

  “Now Christine, don’t be rude. Why don’t you introduce yourself first sweetie?”

  “How do you do? My name is Christine Ross. What is your name?”

  Ana smiled, “Better.”

  Dante was at a loss for words. He looked up at his soon-to-be-stepsister and his heart made the final jump into madness. She was right there in front of him and he didn’t know what to say. As many times as he had played it in his head, he couldn’t have actually accounted for the way he would feel to see her again. He could still see the young girl that was crying in his truck as he told her the bad news.

  “His name is Dante, Christine.”

  “Yes, sorry, Dante Everys.”

  “Your eyes are just like mine.”

  “So they are.”

  Ana broke the moment up, the man looking too closely at his own offspring for her liking. She didn’t want him to figure anything out. He was just going to be there for a couple of weeks and she didn’t want him to change his plans because of some feeling of obligation. Dante had always been big on doing the right thing and that was the reason she had never told him. If he had come back, she was afraid he would have resented her for the life not led, or even worse, stayed because of Christine. Ana didn’t want that kind of existence and she had thought the best thing was to let him go once again. She just had to shut off the silly heart that pitter-pattered for him now that he was near.

  “Come on Christine. Why don’t you go potty before we go out to the restaurant? They have your favorite, shrimp alfredo.”

  The small girl cheered and ran up the stairs to do as Ana asked. She had been thankful for such an obedient daughter.

  “Do you guys know each other?”

  Ana looked to Jeffrey. “Yeah, you could say that.”

  “Well good, then we won’t have that awkward silence in the beginning.”

  “Yeah.” Ana didn’t know what to say. She had always thought about seeing him again, but it was not going the way she had thought it in her head. Her only saving grace was the way that he had looked at her when he had come in. He was happy to see her. It was clear on his face.

  “Yeah, you look real good Ana. Not much has changed since I saw you last.”

  She nodded, though it was hard not to note that his eyes landing on her breasts. They were quite a bit larger since she had Christine and Dante definitely noticed. For the longest time, he was the only one who had seen her in all her naked glory. Her eyes looked down as she saw the lust within his. He had always turned her insides to jelly.

  “Alright now Dante. That is going to be your sister in a few days.”

  Dante turned towards his dad, his face slightly red. If his father knew what he had done with his sister, they would not have been so eager to get them back together. He could already feel her underneath him. The noises she would make turned his blood to boil.

  “You look good in your uniform. I can’t believe you actually did it. I knew you could though. Did you make SEAL?”

  “You remembered.”

  “Of course.”

  “I did. Just a few months ago, but I finally did it.”

  “Congratulations.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I’m ready!!”

  Christine announced herself and was pulling everyone’s attention off the two lovers that were meeting after so long. Ana noticed that Christine looked at him in a strange way, but she tried to ignore it, to tell herself that she was just seeing things. She was seeing what she wanted to see, like there was a bond that didn’t need anything but shared DNA to exist.
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  The little girl insisted on holding his hand, as well as her mother’s, swinging between them. Ana caught a glimpse of Dante in the corner of her eye. He was looking down at his daughter and for a second she worried that he knew. After seeing him in his uniform, obviously doing much better out of dead-end Orson, Ana was even more determined to make sure she let him go.

  ***

  Dante was enamored with the two girls in front of him. Ana had a daughter so different than herself. While one was loud, the other was quiet, the coloring was opposite, as well as their eyes. He would have never guessed she was hers, but it was noticeable sometimes in the way Christine smiled. Dante liked to see Ana so domestic, something he thought he would like the idea of so much. They had been wild teens, but Ana had talked of wanting children one day. The very idea had scared him to death and he remembered never wanting to have kids or the responsibility that comes with it.

  The real surprise came with the food and he watched the little girl separate everything, putting her shrimp in a little pile on the side. She ate every group individually, meticulously almost. He looked down at his own plate and noticed the same pattern, yet he had learned to be less noticeable about his quirks. He caught Ana’s blue eyes for a moment, but she looked away without saying anything.

  The parents tried to get the kids to talk. They were not aware of why they were acting strange, but neither one could act like they did not feel the tension in the air. “So Dante, what do you plan to do? Are you going re-up for some more time or?”

  Dante pulled his eyes from the little girl that had finally made it to her grilled shrimp. “I had thought about going civilian, but I don’t think I can. I just finished the program, so now I pretty much have to reenlist.”

  “What’s reenlist?”

  “It means that he will help keep the country safe for a little while longer. That is his job.”

  “Oh. That’s a good job.”

  Dante nodded. There was something about the girl that pulled at his heart strings. He just told himself that it must be because of who her mother was.

  ***

  Chapter 4

  “So are we really not going to talk about this?”

  Her heart panicked for a minute, her mind going to Christine, but when she looked at him confused, he quickly went on. “You know, about us and being together before.”

  “No, why would we? It is all ancient history and I don’t want to confuse the weekend. Let them have their day and when it is all said and done, we can say something. But I don’t think we should ever tell them. You will be gone soon, so there really is no point.”

  “No point. I guess you are right, though I will not deny that I hoped that you might want to make history again.”

  She groaned. “You are just as bad as before, never really getting anything.”

  She moved away and he still had a look of puzzlement on his face. Dante knew that he had seen desire in her face, her chest rising and falling rapidly with her excitement. He stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Are you telling me that you do not want me? I bet if I slipped between your legs, I would find no panties and a very wet pussy.”

  Ana pushed him away. “Stop, you can’t possibly think that this is a good idea. Our parents are getting married in a couple of days. I am going to be your sister.”

  “Stepsister. Tell me I am wrong Ana. Tell me you are not dripping wet for me right now and I will walk away.”

  She couldn’t and she knew that he knew, so there was no point in even trying to deny it. His hand moved down her body, his own pressed up against her from behind. Dante had slid into the bathroom right after her and now she was locked inside with a man who was about to know how much she needed him. “I’m not wet.”

  Dante was not taking her shaken words for the truth and he called her a liar low in her ear. They could hear the people in the other room, moving plates around and talking. She whimpered as his fingers moved higher, his other hand trying to coax her legs apart. “Please don’t.”

  He paused for a moment, but he couldn’t resist. He had thought many times about how wet she would get. She was like a sauna and he had always thought it was the way it was supposed to be, until he found out that she was the exception. Ana had always been soaked and waiting for him. He was an inch from finding out if nothing had changed.

  “Oh God Ana. So fucking wet for me love. So wet. Tell me you don’t want me to bend you over right now and slam this fat cock inside of you.”

  She bit her lip. She couldn’t, but she had to. She needed it more than she needed to breathe it felt like, but all she could do was shake her head. He would be gone so soon and Ana would be left alone with Christine again. It wasn’t fair, but it was the way it was.

  “You may make me wet, but that’s as far as it is going to go. I need to get back to my daughter.”

  He let her go, a look on his face that she did not quite understand. Dante wanted to ask more questions, but there was no way that he was going to when she looked so angry at him. Could she really still be mad that he left, so long ago? One last look at her face before she left the bathroom, told him she was angry about something. Ana always had been a confusing woman. He had found most women not as complex, but in the end, not near as exciting. For so long he had pushed her out of his mind, more worried about what he had to do on a daily basis. Now that he was back home and Ana was thrust back in front of him, he remembered just how much she had meant to him. It was a shame to throw it all away.

  Ana put her daughter to sleep and went out on the porch to look at the moon. It was such a clear night, that a person could see miles away into the heavens. Christine was asking questions that she found hard to answer and she had instead just shut her mouth to most of them. Go to sleep, she told her, sometimes things don’t have answers. Christine wanted to know why Dante looked so much like her or her like him. She didn’t answer, just tucked her in and realized that she was getting far too smart and observant. Children picked up far more than they should sometimes.

  She half-expected Dante to pop up on the porch, but he didn’t and she finally went upstairs to get some rest herself. Ana knew that sleep would not come easily and it didn’t. Too many thoughts were dragged up with Dante’s presence and as soon as she woke up in the morning, she was out the door as fast as she could manage. Ana woke Christine up and they went back over to her friend Mary’s house. She needed to talk to someone who knew all about it.

  The girls went and played and Ana tried to get some useful advice from her friend. Mary thought he had a right to know and even though Ana laid out her side of it, her answer remained the same. “Just tell him that he is Christine’s father and let the chips fall where they may. You guys have always belonged together Ana, you know that. So he left? He is back now.”

  “But only for a couple of weeks and then he is gone again.”

  “So what? Is a couple days of happiness not better than any? You are different with him and I have never seen you happy since. It just seems sad to me I guess. You’re lonely, everyone can see it.”

  Ana didn’t like the turn of conversation. She was looking for support in decisions she had already made, but now she was second guessing what she had agreed was the right thing. “I don’t know. Maybe you are right, but we don’t need to ruin Mom’s day. I think it would be best if we wait until after the wedding.

  “So you are going to tell him? That Christine is his daughter?”

  “Yes. I will tell him the truth and hope that he doesn’t hate me for it.”

  Neither woman heard the gasp from the next room or the confused look on the little girl’s face.

  ***

  Chapter 5

  “Are you my daddy?”

  Dante sat up and looked at the little girl. “No sweetie, I am going to be your uncle now that my dad married your grandma.”

  “Oh.” Christine looked down, studying her hands. “Well then why did I hear mom tell Mary that you were my daddy?”

  “I don’t kn
ow why Christine, but if I had a daughter, I would want her to be just like you.”

  “Promise that you won’t hate mommy?”

  He looked confused, but nodded his head. “I could never hate your mommy.”

  Dante was at a loss for words, remembering Mary as one of Ana’s best friends. “Christine come on dear. It is time for your nap.”

  “I need to talk to you when you are done Ana.”

  “Sorry Dante, I have some studying to do.”

  “It wasn’t a question.”

  His tone made her look and he was obviously upset about something. “Sure, just give me a few minutes to put my daughter down.”

  Dante nodded and then he asked himself the question that had been so obviously there the whole time. Was that their daughter? It was clear the coloring could have been inspired by him. His mind tried to remember how old she was. She would have to be about 5, almost 6…

  Ana took her time and was not so quick to go back in the living room and hear what he had to say. The only part that seemed tolerable was that their parents were off on their honeymoon and wouldn’t have their day ruined by the situation. It was trying at best and she knew that it was as bad as it sounded. She had a child with her stepbrother and he didn’t even know it. Ana just knew that that was why he wanted to talk to her and she still was not sure what she was going to say about it all. How could she explain herself and did she really want to? He was the one that had told her he didn’t want that kind of life. He was the one that had left.

  She kept reminded herself of that as she walked back down the stairs. Christine had a few questions, but like before, Ana was still not sure of the answers herself. He was pacing when she finally saw him and his eyes were muddled a dark black, full of stormy emotions. She stopped when she got down the stairs and she could see him in the other room. She didn’t make an attempt to move any closer, his anger holding her body at bay. Ana had never seen him so upset and certainly not directed at her.