A SEAL's Pleasure (15 page)

“Aren't you the philosophical one,” she teased.

“Go on enough missions, fight enough battles, and it's hard not to be,” he said with a one-shouldered shrug.

But she knew it was more than that. His upbringing, his heritage, even that layer of sweetness in his personality—they all played a part.

Tessa swallowed hard as the realization of what he really was hit her.

Sure, he was a gorgeous man.

Sexy, amazingly sexy. Charming, amusing and tempting, undoubtedly.

She already knew that he was incredibly talented in bed. He probably knew things that she, in all her varied experiences both personal and anecdotal, had never experienced. But he was just as schooled in life. He'd dragged himself out of a humble, challenging childhood to embrace a career that he obviously loved. He was one of the elite, which meant he was not just dedicated, but damned good. And he was so smart with insights that saw right to the heart of an issue, no drama or fluff.

But the bottom line was, he was a warrior.

A man driven to protect, to fight, to serve.

A man who understood her, she realized. Inside and out, he saw her for who she was better than she did herself.

And he made her feel incredible about that.

Feeling as though she was on the edge of a terrifying cliff and about to fall into the scariest emotion in the world—love.

“I don't like seeing you upset like this,” he told her, looking more angry for her than he had for himself. “Since my usual MO when I see something I don't like is to either fix it, distract from it by having sex or blow it up, I'm in a quandary.” Looking as if he was more than willing to settle on the third option, Romeo lifted her hand to his lips and brushed a gentle kiss against her palm.

Her eyes filling at the sweetness of his gesture, Tessa blew a mental kiss at the idea of keeping her heart locked away. And just like that, she felt herself fall over the edge of that cliff. It wasn't a fall, though. It was a headfirst dive into love.

Her laugh was a little husky, her heart pounding with confusion and excitement.

She wasn't ready to tell him yet, though.

So she went with her favorite option instead.

Sex.

“Actually, you can help me out,” she told him in a soft voice.

“Yeah?” His smile glinted in the afternoon sun as he reached out to twirl a strand of her hair between his fingers. “What can I do? You name it.”

“Me,” she said simply. “Do me.”

12

D
AMNED
IF
HE
didn't feel incredible.

A nice change from the previous night. But hey, great sex, a fabulous view and a woman who made him feel like some kind of hero did amazing things for a guy's mood.

His elbows on the railing overlooking the beach, Gabriel grinned as he watched Tessa work out on the beach with Livi and a handful of other women. With the sun setting behind them, they made quite a picture. Especially Livi's aunt, who was sporting a neon green Mohawk and wearing high-top sneakers.

But as distracting as the neon was, his eyes were locked on his angel. God, she had a gorgeous body. Subtly muscled, she moved through a series of jump-squat lunges with ease. He'd love to get her in a gym and see what she could press. He'd bet she could put a few guys he knew to shame. It was easy to get distracted by the sexy curves and silky skin and miss the strength.

His smile faded as he thought back to their earlier conversation. He wasn't sure what had surprised him more. That she was sporting so many doubts about her talent, or that she'd told him. He'd hid his shock, but he should have offered more solid feedback, maybe some support. He'd meant to. But then she'd distracted him with sex, sending all thoughts—along with most of his blood supply—south of his zipper.

As the group moved on to push-ups Livi went from person to person, adjusting their stance or offering encouragement. But not Tessa. Nope, his angel had perfect form and dived in without instruction or, apparently, any need of praise. He wasn't sure if that spoke to the solidity of their long-term friendship and was a part of their workout style or if the fitness coach simply overlooked Tessa because she was so self-sufficient.

That was why she needed him. To lean on, to depend on. He saw her strengths, appreciated her talents, but he also recognized her vulnerabilities. He knew how to push her, how to encourage her so she felt good about herself even when she didn't realize she'd been feeling bad.

He figured a woman like Tessa could take care of herself financially. She didn't need a man for security and she could readily find plenty to fill her sexual needs—although not nearly as well as he could. But no other man would ever understand her, would ever value her the way he did. And that was what he brought to their relationship.

That, and a desire to spend the rest of his life showing her just how amazing they could be together.

Damn.

Gabriel tried to swallow, but he had no spit.

Dry-mouthed and slightly ill, he stared down at Tessa as she stretched out on the sand.

Was this love?

He suddenly understood why Tessa had run away the day before. Amazing was scary. Scary as hell.

But he'd never backed down from a challenge before. He wasn't about to start now.

Nope, now it was time to up his game and go for the ultimate challenge.

He'd caught his angel.

Now he just had to keep her.

Before he could begin to figure out how, someone stepped up to the railing next to him.

“Yo.”

As soon as Gabriel glanced over, his smile faded.

His senses went on high alert, his body tightening and his mind clearing in preparation for whatever was about to hit him. That he'd be hit was a given. That it'd hurt was probable. That he could deal with it?

He gave a mental shrug.

The way he felt right now, he could deal with anything.

“Irish,” he greeted with a jerk of his chin. No point in asking what was going on. He'd be told when it was time. “When did you hit the island?”

“Just now,” the other man said, looking at the beach with a frown. He jerked his chin toward his pregnant fiancée, who was now stretching her arms overhead as if greeting the sky. “Is she taking it easy?”

“Yeah. I watched the workout. She's dialed it back to mellow.” Gabriel angled his head to get a better view of Irish's face. The setting sun cast an orange glow over his features, but didn't disguise the strain. Gabriel glanced back at the women, then at Irish again.

Damn it all to hell.

“Problem?”

“Mission details.”

His tension ratcheted up a few tight notches. Gabriel shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels, contemplating what those details might be. Bile curdled in his belly as he wondered if he'd ever find out. Details were issued on a need-to-know basis. If he wasn't on the mission, wasn't on the team, he didn't need to know.

Jaw clenched, his eyes shifted back to where Tessa was stretching. Her moves were sinuous and smooth, so enticing that even his anxiety over his career couldn't stop him from getting hard. That was the thing about Tessa. She was so comfortable in her sexuality that she seduced without trying.

He'd told her that sometimes life didn't offer choices, just fallout. It looked as if he was about to get his. His gut churned but he cleared his head. Worries and fear were deadly in battle and in life.

“Am I in?” he finally asked, needing to know if he'd completely blown it.

“You're solid,” Irish assured him.

Gabriel let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. But there was something in Irish's tone, an edge that kept him from relaxing completely.

“And?” he persisted. If he were in, asking wasn't against protocol. But the fact that he had to ask rather than Irish readily volunteering the information warned him that there were problems.

“And so am I. We leave in five days.” Without another word, without even looking at Gabriel, Irish walked away. Not toward the women, but back inside the hotel.

Irish was supposed to get married in seven days.

Gabriel closed his eyes with a silent groan.

Son of a bitch.

He should have stuck to his guns, followed his rule. He should have stuck with his plan to deal with Jeglinski. It'd seemed like the right thing to do at the time, but look what breaking his rules got him.

He didn't mind taking his knocks when life changed. He owned his own actions. But someone else paying for what he'd done? That went against everything he believed, everything he was.

A movement on the beach caught his eye as Tessa took a bag of towels and mats from Livi. Even from a distance he could see her chiding her friend for doing too much. He thought back to all of the stories she'd told him, all of the stress she'd gone through over this wedding.

All to make sure her best friend was happy.

That was what she did.

And him?

He ignored his own rules and let people down.

* * *

T
ESSA
FELT
LIKE
the goddess of great sex had sprinkled her with happy dust. Fresh from her shower, revved from her workout, she'd dressed with one thing in mind. Seducing Gabriel again after dinner.

She felt great as she stepped into the hotel lobby.

She gave a little hum when she saw the crowd of cute Navy guys gathered by the check-in desk. Looked as though wedding week was about to get a whole lot more interesting. Of course, she already had her cute Navy guy, so she was already set.

Wouldn't that be a great article?

How, like most things in life, it all came down to the fact that great sex made everything better.

Her smile widened as she sashayed toward the restaurant.

“Tessa, where the hell have you been?”

Her smile stiffened.

Okay, almost everything.

“Hey, Pauline,” she greeted, determined to keep a friendly face on for Livi's sake. “I thought the festivities were through for the day. Did I miss an update?”

It was definitely possible, given that she'd set her phone to ignore all notifications of the other woman's emails, texts or messages. Livi would let her know if she wanted something.

“If you'd check your phone you'd know I've been sending SOS messages for the past hour,” Pauline said, her face creased tight.

Tessa tensed. Given the older woman's latest cosmetic “touch-up,” it took a lot of worry to move that skin.

“What's the matter?”

Pauline shot a quick look around the lobby, then grabbed Tessa's arm to pull her toward the front entrance. Despite being a good half foot shorter, Tessa managed to hold her own with the other woman's long strides. But as soon as they reached the relative privacy of the side garden, she pulled away.

“What's going on?” Her voice iced with fear, Tessa crossed her arms over her chest. “Is Livi okay?”

“Okay? How could she be okay? After everything I've done, all the effort and energy, arranging and rearranging. And now it's ruined.” Punctuating every third word with a toss of her hands in the air, Pauline paced the patio. “I didn't say a word against his career because I didn't want to project my fears, my issues with her father, onto her life. I've bit my tongue, I've bent over backward to make this something special for her, something she'd always happily remember, no matter what happened.”

When the older woman's rant degenerated into mutters interspersed with creative streams of cussing, Tessa made herself review the rant twice to be sure she had it right.

Finally she took a deep breath and, risking being mowed over, stepped in front of Pauline.

“Just to clarify,” she said in her most calming, reasonable tone. “There's an issue with the wedding because of Mitch's job?”

“Job? A banker has a job. A lawyer has a job. Hell, even the garbage man has a job. That isn't a job. It's a death sentence on all relationships it comes into contact with.”

Then Pauline scared the hell out of her by bursting into tears and throwing herself into Tessa's arms.

Oh, shit.

Tessa tried to regulate her breathing so she wouldn't hyperventilate as she patted the other woman's back. But Pauline's panic spiked right through the tears with painfully contagious clarity.

“Is Mitch okay?” Tessa asked, needing a few more facts before she let her anxiety take over. “He's safe?”

She took the wet, sniffling grunt as an affirmative.

“But something about his job is going to ruin the wedding?” she asked, hazarding a guess.

The snuffling grunt was louder this time.

“Can we fix it?” Whatever it was, it had to be fixable.

Pauline didn't grunt this time, just sobbed louder. Realizing she wasn't going to get anything useful out of the woman, Tessa cast a frantic look around. Spotting the side door into the bar, she edged closer, Pauline still clinging like a bad date. Tessa managed to catch a waitress's eye and with one hand indicate a drink before pointing at Pauline. The waitress looked a little horrified, but earned a big tip by grabbing the nearest bottle and a glass and hurrying through the door.

“Thanks,” Tessa murmured before telling her to charge it to her room.

“Do you need anything else?” the girl asked sympathetically.

Tessa frowned, then nodded. “Can you page Roz Evans to come out here?”

Livi's aunt and mother got along like oil and water, but there was only so much comfort Tessa could handle, and she needed all of it for her friend.

She managed to get Pauline to sit in one of the pretty little bistro chairs, and stuffed a handful of napkins into her hand before pouring a stiff shot of whatever the waitress had brought into a glass.

Tessa knocked it back, then grimaced.

Cheap rum. Nasty
, she thought, before refilling the glass for Pauline.

She'd barely convinced the older woman to take it when Roz sauntered through the door.

“I was inspecting their bar and heard my name. What's up?”

“You are,” Tessa said, thrusting the bottle into her hands. “I've got to go help Livi.”

Three minutes later, her head swirling from the low-grade booze on an empty stomach, Tessa knocked on Livi's door. She'd have made it in two but she'd stopped at the gift shop for emergency chocolate and tissues.

She stuffed her worries into deep freeze, put on her most supportive expression and knocked.

“Hey,” Livi greeted when she opened the door. “I thought you said you had dinner plans.”

Her arms half-lifted for a hug, Tessa opened her mouth, peered closer at her friend's face, then closed her lips.

Livi didn't look devastated. She didn't even seem upset.

Tessa's arms fell and her shoulders slumped.

What was going on?

“I heard there was a problem,” she said slowly, looking around the room in case there was a clue. Or maybe a dead body to hide. She knew if she'd been as Zen as Livi had for this long, she'd definitely have to kill someone.

“A problem? Maybe. But it'll work out,” Livi insisted, her smile only a little shaky around the edges. “Really, there's no need to worry.”

Tessa almost threw the chocolates against the wall. What was it going to take to get Livi to show a little anger and act like herself again?

“Apparently there is reason to cry hysterically,” Tessa pointed out acerbically. “I just left your mother bawling on your aunt's shoulder.”

Livi opened her mouth, looking as if she were going to whitewash that with flowers and puppy dogs, too, so Tessa added, “Over a bottle of cheap rum.”

“Oh.” Livi grimaced. “That's bad. I'll have to find her and smooth it over.”

“Oh, no.” Tessa stepped sideways to block the door. “No more smoothing. You're smooth enough for everyone. Why don't you tell me what's going on instead.”

After a quick frown at her blocked escape route, Livi shrugged and sat on the bed. Knowing how sneaky she could be, Tessa tossed the chocolates and tissues on a chair in case she needed her hands.

“Mitch just got word that his leave has been changed,” Livi said, her voice hitching. “He's been assigned to some special mission. He won't tell me anything except that he has to report on Thursday.”

Her worst fear confirmed, Tessa leaned against the door and shook her head.