Protecting the Future (SEAL of Protection Book 8) (20 page)

“Patrick, let me down! I have to—”

“What you have to do is let me love you. Let me show you how much you mean to me. We’ll get a good night’s sleep…after…and then tomorrow you can worry about packing.” He dumped her gently on their bed and caged her down with his body and arms.

“I love you, Julie Hurt. I know you worry about the team, and their women, but I want to give you ten days of worry-free vacation time. Just you and me.”

Julie put both her hands on Patrick’s face. “I love you. Thank you for seeing the good in me, even when I wasn’t sure it was really there. I’d be more than willing to stay here in our house, in our bed, with you for ten days, but Hawaii? You’re so getting lucky, mister.”

Patrick smiled down at his wife. “I’m counting on it, Babe.” He leaned down and kissed his wife, and neither came up for air for a good long while.

M
elody threw
her head back and tried to get some much-needed air into her lungs. She gripped Tex’s sides, knowing she was probably leaving marks on his skin, but not caring. Every time he thrust his hips forward, he rubbed against the bundle of nerves at the top of her mound to make her cry out.

When he scooted forward and pulled her ass farther up onto his lap, Melody’s eyes popped open and she looked up. Tex had an intense look on his face as he looked down to where they were joined. He moved one hand and put his thumb over her clit and rubbed her hard as he continued to shift his hips back and forth.

“If you aren’t already pregnant, you will be after tonight, I can feel it. Take my seed, Mel. Take it.”

Melody couldn’t have stopped the words from flowing out of her mouth if her life had depended on it. She and Tex had always had a healthy sex life, but now that there was the possibility she could get pregnant, Tex seemed to be even more vigorous. “Yeah, I want it. Give it to me, Tex. Give me your baby.”

“Oh fuck, Mel. I love you so much.” Tex’s words were torn from his throat as he planted himself inside her as far as he could go and frantically rubbed her most sensitive spot. “Come with me, Mel. Squeeze me dry.”

That was it; that was all it took. Mel’s back bowed and felt herself squeeze Tex as she exploded in orgasm. She shuddered and shook, and it wasn’t until much later that she realized Tex hadn’t pulled out or otherwise moved.

She could feel that he wasn’t hard anymore, but he hadn’t made any move to change position. Melody stretched and arched her back, throwing her arms over her head, enjoying the look of lust in her husband’s eyes as he took in her body below him. “Usually we’re snuggling by now,” Melody said lightly, keeping her arms above her head.

“I want to keep my sperm inside you as long as possible,” Tex said in a low voice.

Melody laughed, and felt Tex slip out of her.

“Oh man, you weren’t supposed to laugh, Mel.”

She couldn’t help it—that made her giggle more. Her laughter stopped when she felt Tex’s finger entering her and swirling in their combined juices. “You don’t think you’re pushing it all back in, do you?” she managed to ask semi-seriously, eyeing Tex as he didn’t take his gaze from her sex.

“No. Okay…maybe.”

Melody smiled again. Sometimes he acted so far from the bad-ass SEAL he used to be, she couldn’t even imagine him on a mission. She had no doubt he was as lethal as any SEAL could be, she’d seen him in action when Diane had threatened her life, but it was times like this she treasured the most. “Come here, Tex. Snuggle with me.”

Tex scooted backward and let Mel’s legs drop. He immediately turned her onto her side and spooned her from behind. One hand went under her head, and the other went to cup her sex gently. They lay like that for quite a while and Melody even dozed a bit before Tex finally spoke.

“All my life I’ve been told how smart and talented I am. I joined the Navy and was told how strong I was. I earned a spot on a SEAL team and gave my life over to them and was told I was a team player and valuable as a SEAL. When I was injured, people still told me that I could use my computer skills to help others. It hurt that I couldn’t be out in the field, but I did the best I could to help anyone and everyone I could. I enjoyed it. But I have to tell you, Mel, I’ve never been happier in my entire life than I’ve been lying next to you here in my bed. My ring on your finger, my come coating your insides, and hopefully my baby growing in your belly. I love you. I’ll protect you and Akilah and any children we might have with my life.
You
are what I’ve waited my entire life for.
You
are why I lost my leg.
You
are my reason for being here. You make me happy just the way you are.”

Melody knew there was nothing she could say that would sum up how happy she was, and how much she loved her husband. She settled for the completely understated statement of, “I love you too, Tex.”

P
enelope Turner
, the so-called Army Princess, stood at attention in her dress uniform and watched as two coffins were lowered into the ground at Arlington National Cemetery. Lieutenant James D. Love and Sergeant Richard S. Hess were being laid to rest in a private ceremony. She watched as two men she never had a chance to get to know were buried and thanked for their service to their country.

Deep down, Penelope couldn’t shake the survivor’s guilt she continued to feel.

She’d met with therapists and had some long talks with her brother, but she still couldn’t get rid of the feeling that if it wasn’t for her, these two brave men would still be alive today, laughing and joking with their friends and family. She vowed to find some sort of therapy group back home in San Antonio. She wanted to find others who might have gone through something similar to what she did…she probably wouldn’t be able to find anyone who’d been kidnapped by a terrorist group and held for four months, but there had to be others out there who’d been held against their will and had some of the bad feelings churning inside them as she did.

Penelope looked over at the family members who’d gathered to pay their respects. She only knew what she’d read in the newspapers, but she assumed the gathering included their parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, and even an aunt and uncle or two. Neither man was married, not that it made Penelope feel any better.

She watched as the family members left and the cemetery workers continued their work to bury the coffins in the ground. She stood and watched as the dirt was tamped down. She stood still even as a light rain began to fall.

Cade, as well as all the other firefighters had offered to come with her today, but she’d declined. It meant the world to her that Moose, Crash, Squirrel, Chief, Taco, and Driftwood had even offered. They weren’t the touchy-feely kind of men, and knowing they cared enough about her as a member of their team was enough to make her break into tears.

Penelope sighed once, continuing to mourn the life of Lieutenant Love, who’d copiloted the plane that had gotten her out of the shithole that was the refugee camp and her temporary prison. She thought about Sergeant Hess. She’d never spoken to him, but he’d been the one to grasp her hand and help her onboard the MH-60. She’d looked into his eyes and seen nothing but confidence that they’d get the hell out of there in one piece.

She turned to leave—and stopped abruptly.

Standing behind her in a single-file line, at attention, were seven men, all in their Navy dress white uniforms. They wore no medals, no ribbons, only their name badges. They stood there, supporting her, and supporting the two dead Army soldiers behind her.

Refusing to cry, Penelope walked slowly over to the men standing so stoically and still. Knowing she was probably making a fool out of herself, she started with the first man. His name tag read, “Keegan.” She’d never met him, but supposed this was probably the elusive, Tex. Before she could chicken out, she stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly for a moment, before letting go and stepping back. “Thank you for finding us, Tex,” she said softly, watching as the man nodded in return, but didn’t say anything.

She moved to the next man in line. His nametag said, “Cooper,” but she knew him as Dude, the man who’d first freed her from her prison. He was ready for her, and hugged her back when she wrapped her arms around him. “Thank you,” Penelope said softly.

Then it was Benny’s turn. His nametag read “Sawyer.” She hugged him, and again, simply said, “Thank you.”

Penelope moved down the line of men, hugging each one in turn. “Reed”, otherwise known to her as Mozart; “Knox” who was Cookie; and “Powers” who was Abe. To him, she said “Thank you,” but added, “You looked like shit the last time I saw you, glad to see you clean up well.”

Ignoring his chuckle, Penelope moved to the last man in line. Wolf. The man in charge. The man who’d taken responsibility of this group and had moved heaven and earth to get her the hell out of Turkey and away from ISIS. The man she knew she’d never forget as long as she lived.

She wrapped her arms around him and felt him hug her back so hard, he lifted her off the ground in his embrace. “Thank you, Wolf. Thank you for not giving up on me.” She wasn’t expecting his response.

He eased her back to the ground, but didn’t let go of her. “Thank
you
, Tiger, for being the kind of woman, and soldier, who could hold on until we could get there. Go live your life in peace. You’ve earned every second of happiness you can get. You’ve got seven big brothers in us now. We’ll be watching out for you. Wherever you go, whatever you do, if you need us, all you have to do is ask.”

Penelope felt Wolf move his hands down her back and rest on her ass for a moment before he let her go. It surprised her, but she figured it was an accident. The seven men saluted her, then left, fading back into the trees. She watched as they disappeared, not bothering to wipe away the tears that fell from her eyes and dripped down her face.

She turned to walk back to her car. She was spending the night in Washington DC, the President was awarding her with the Bronze Star the next day in a very public and televised event. She wasn’t very excited about it, knowing there were others way braver than she’d been who would never be recognized publically and couldn’t even tell anyone they’d been over there with her. But she’d take the reward on behalf of Lieutenant Love and Sergeants Hess, Black, White, and Wilson, and even that poor Australian soldier who had been killed in front of her eyes. Penelope thought about the Delta Force soldiers as well, they’d never get any recognition, other than her undying thanks and devotion.

The war with ISIS wasn’t going to end anytime soon, but Penelope was done fighting it. She’d met with her commander and they’d agreed she was done with the military. She had a few more commitments she had to the government, but for all intents and purposes, she was free to be a full-time firefighter for the rest of her life. Her honorable discharge papers would be waiting for her when she got home.

She put her hands in her back pockets as she wandered down the too-long row of tombstones. Feeling something strange, she pulled her hand out and stared down at the small black object in her hand.

What the hell?

She unwrapped the folded piece of paper and found a small pendent in the shape of a Maltese Cross. The paper it had been wrapped in said,
Our men rescued us, and since they rescued you too, you’re now one of us. Wear this and you’ll never be lost again.

Penelope thought about it and finally smiled for the first time that day. It sounded like it was a gift from the wives of the SEALs who had rescued her. Not only that, but apparently it was also a tracker like the men, and their women, wore. Wolf had slipped it into her pocket.

A tracker.

His words suddenly made sense and her smile grew. They’d be watching over her. It felt good. Right. She felt better for the first time in a long time. If she ever needed anyone at her back again, she not only had her firefighting buddies, but she had an entire SEAL team, and apparently their wives, as well.

Feeling stronger than she had in a long time, Sergeant Penelope Turner took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. She’d make it through today. Then tomorrow. Then the next day. Then the next day after that. No problem. Piece of cake.

A
uthor’s Note
: This is the end of the SEAL of Protection Series, but as you can probably imagine it’s not the end of the road for some of your most loved characters. The Delta Force team you were introduced to in this story gets their own series, starting in Feb 2016, and of course you’ll see Penelope and her firefighting teammates in a future series as well. And if you couldn’t tell, Tex will continue to be the behind-the-scenes lifesaver in future books. That man knows everyone!

T
hank
you for your love and interest in my SEAL team. I never dreamed you’d fall as much in love with them as I did as I was writing them. In the meantime, check out the Badge of Honor series, featuring law enforcement/firefighter heroes, and of course, Tex makes an appearance as well.

T
he first book
in the Delta Force Heroes Series is NOW available for pre-order. It will arrive on Feb 9th. Pick it up now and find out more about Ghost in
Rescuing Rayne
. For an exclusive peek at Ghost’s story, scroll to the end of the book for the first two chapters!

R
escuing
Rayne

As a flight attendant, Rayne Jackson is used to cancellations, but she never dreamed her latest would lead to a whirlwind tour of London with a handsome stranger…or a life-altering night in his bed. One evening is all the enigmatic man can give her, and Rayne greedily takes it, despite suspecting it will never be enough. 

Heading home after another extreme mission, Keane "Ghost" Bryson hadn't planned to seduce someone during his layover, but Rayne is too sweet to resist. Being a Delta Force member means lying to protect his identity, which is unfortunate, considering Rayne seems made for Ghost, right down to the tattoo on her back. For the first time in his life, regret fills him as he slips away the following morning. 

Both are shocked when, months later, they meet again—under the worst possible circumstances. Seems fate has given them a second chance…if they can survive the terrorist situation they're in. If Rayne can forgive Ghost his lies. And if Ghost can trust Rayne to be strong enough to endure the secrets and uncertainty that come with loving a Delta Force soldier. 

** Rescuing Rayne is the 1st book in the
Delta Force Heroes
Series. Each book is a stand-alone, with no cliffhanger endings.