A SEAL's Vow (SEALs of Chance Creek Book 2) (3 page)

But Clay needed a wife far too soon for them to experience anything like that. She’d explained that to him. He’d said he didn’t have a choice. Someday soon he’d marry.

And she’d still be alone.

As much as she tried to enjoy the beautiful setting and the soft morning air, that thought kept intruding, along with memories of Baltimore. The last few years hadn’t been easy. After her mother’s death following a long illness, Nora had been lonely and vulnerable, an easy mark for a teenager with a grudge.

It had been several weeks since she’d really thought about her stalker, and she wished he wasn’t on her mind now. She had an unsettled feeling, the same one she always got when the wind shifted around to herald an oncoming storm. As she watched the creek roll past, she allowed memories of her stalker’s messages to seep through her defenses. She shut her eyes when his voice—his awful, mechanically distorted, gritty voice—filled her mind instantly with echoes of his violently sexual messages. He was always harping on the relationship between them. That she’d been the teacher, but now she’d be his student.

I’ll teach you so many things you don’t know. You’ll like it when I touch you. You’ll get wet for me. You’ll beg for more.

She hated the way his words had twisted her insides around with shame and fear.

I’ll tease you until you’re shaking, until you open for me, hoping I fill you full. I know you like it rough and it’ll get rough—I promise you that, Nora.

She hated the way he’d used her name over and over again until she’d thought about changing it legally when she left Baltimore. How unfair that someone could take something so personal and make it so ugly—as if he owned more of her than she did.

None of that was what kept her up at night, though. It was the violence in his later messages. The detailed descriptions of how he’d kill her. The way he’d twisted it together with sexual images until her flesh crawled with the dread of his hands on her skin.

I’ll fuck you long and hard. Until your screams leave your throat hoarse. Until you can’t scream anymore. And that’s when the real fun—

“Nora! There you are!”

Nora shrieked when someone hurtled at her out of the woods, scooped her up and swung her around in a circle. Adrenaline sliced through her as she kicked out her feet and pummeled her fists against her attacker. She screamed again, fought to shake him off, but he had her in such a tight hold she couldn’t move.

“Nora!”

She flailed and kicked and thrashed but she couldn’t get free. She couldn’t—

“Nora, it’s me! It’s Clay! Baby, you’re all right.” He set her back down on the stone and circled quickly around to crouch before her.

Nora couldn’t breathe. Hyperventilating, she scrambled to her knees to ward him off. “No…no!”

Clay backed away, his hands held out to appease her. “It’s just me. Calm down! I’m sorry I scared you.”

She sat down again on the rock with a thump, wrapped her arms around her stomach and bent over, trying to catch her breath. Her heart was racing, her pulse tripping and catching in her veins. Tears pricked her eyes but she refused to let them fall. Damn it, what had Clay been thinking, sneaking up on her like that?

“Are you okay?”

She straightened. “No… I’m not… okay.” She wasn’t, not even close. Her heart wouldn’t stop and she pressed a hand to her chest, willing it to slow down. It was hard to breathe, too. She tried to suck in air but somehow it wouldn’t reach her lungs. Clay’s expression changed from worry to outright concern.

“Nora, look at me.” She did so. “Count. One, two, three…” He led her up to ten, back down again and repeated the exercise. Nora did her best count with him. Was her heart slowing? Maybe.

They did it again. Bit by bit, the air reached her lungs.

Finally she was able to let her shoulders relax, and the world stopped spinning. She felt like she’d woken from a nightmare, shreds of the dream still flapping around her.

“I’m sorry.” Clay’s gaze searched hers. “I won’t do that again.”

Nora could only nod.

Clay sat down beside her. “So much for impressing you with my romantic fervor.”

Despite everything, she laughed, a funny little gulp that was almost a sob. “Yeah. So much for that.” She fought for composure. “I was thinking about Baltimore. About that kid…”

“The one who stalked you?” Clay raked a hand through his hair. “Shit, I didn’t even think…”

“It’s okay,” she assured him, embarrassed by her overreaction.

“Can we start over?”

“I guess so.” She couldn’t help but notice the way the sunlight brought out the color of his eyes. He was so close to her she could see faint traces of laugh lines radiating out from the corners of them. His concern was plain and she relaxed a little more. The SEAL was so damn handsome.

And such an ass for scaring her like that.

He took a deep breath. “Nora, there’s something I want to ask you. Something really important—” He cut off and frowned as if he’d changed his mind. “You know what? I’d probably better walk you back to camp. It’s getting late and we’ve got a lot to do to prepare for the wedding.”

She nodded, gathering herself together, but she wondered what he’d really wanted to say. Had he been about to ask her out?

No. She’d made it perfectly clear she wouldn’t date him.

He reached out to help her up, then snatched his hand back quickly, probably afraid she’d decline after his botched attempt to sweep her off her feet. What had he been thinking when he’d scooped her up like that? He’d said it was a romantic gesture, but they’d agreed he would leave her alone.

Had he changed his mind?

It didn’t matter, she told herself, because no matter what, he was out of bounds. He’d sworn to marry quickly. She’d sworn to only wed when she really and truly could say she knew her fiancé through and through.

But as she stood up and matched her steps to his as they turned their backs on the creek, she wished once again that things were different.

‡

O
n a moonlit
evening several days later, Nora stood arm in arm with Savannah and Avery, and watched Riley and Boone ride off on Behemoth, a large black stallion, to their honeymoon tent on the far side of the ranch. Their wedding had gone off without a hitch, and Nora was thrilled for Riley. Her friend had positively glowed at the altar as she exchanged vows with her husband-to-be. It was almost enough to make Nora believe in marriage again.

Almost.

The champagne she’d drunk toasting the happy couple had gone to her head and she swayed a little on her feet as they watched Boone and Riley go.

“That was so romantic,” Avery sighed as the horse disappeared in the dark night.

“Riley is so lucky,” Savannah agreed.

“Nora, how about another dance?” Clay appeared suddenly by her side and Nora blinked up at the tall SEAL, wondering not for the first time how he could possibly look so good dressed as he was in the old-fashioned uniform of a British redcoat. All the men of Base Camp were dressed in the same way—the closest equivalent to the ladies’ Regency wear they’d been able to come up with on short notice. Riley had wanted a Jane Austen wedding, and the men had done everything they could to accommodate her. A local seamstress, Alice Reed, had the uniforms on hand. Nora’s heart was full when she thought of how hard these hardened warriors had worked to give Riley a wedding she’d remember all her life.

“Okay,” she said, although she knew she shouldn’t. She was finding Clay difficult to resist tonight, though. She’d danced with him half a dozen times already. He’d held her carefully in his arms during the slow numbers, and executed the complicated steps of the Regency dances perfectly. Nora couldn’t help but feel she’d been transported into a fairy tale, and for once she decided to kick common sense to the curb. It wasn’t like Riley would ever marry again. This night would never be repeated.

Besides, Clay was intelligent, thoughtful, and she was… well… tipsy, at the very least. “You did good tonight,” she told him as he led her back into the barn where the reception was being held. The men had cleaned it top to bottom and strung fairy lights all around the rafters. It was a magical space, and the music and champagne combined to make Nora feel relaxed and happy. She placed her hands on his shoulders and he rested his briefly at her hips before he pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her. Pressed against him, Nora tingled all over, all too aware of his body.

“Jericho and I snuck out to their tent earlier today. Made sure they’d have champagne on ice and everything else a couple of lovebirds might want.”

“You didn’t play any tricks on them, did you?” Nora pulled back. If they had, Riley would laugh it off, but Nora knew she wouldn’t like it.

“Nothing like that,” Clay assured her. “Boone and Riley deserve more respect than that. They’ve worked hard to be together despite everything Fulsom threw their way. I know it wasn’t easy for either of them.”

His serious tone squeezed her heart. Most men she knew treated anything akin to romance as a big joke. Clay was different. Maybe his time with the SEALs had taught him to value any true emotion wherever he might find it. The hardships in her life had taught her to feel that way. That’s why her friendship with Riley, Savannah and Avery was so important. No one else came as close to knowing her as they did. Was it the same for Clay, Boone, Jericho and Walker?

They swayed in time to the slow ballad the live band was playing, and Nora revelled in Clay’s comforting smell, the beat of his heart and the careful way he held her. “No, it wasn’t,” she agreed. “But Riley loves Boone, and I think he loves her, too.”

“He definitely does,” Clay assured her. “I think the two of them are proof that any problems between people can be worked out if they both make an effort. Don’t you?”

Nora was too smart to walk into that trap, but she couldn’t entirely disagree with him, either. Too many times she’d seen relationships in which one person made the effort and the other person didn’t. “If two people are willing to do whatever it takes, maybe, but that’s rare, don’t you think?”

“Rare, but not unknown,” he countered. As he guided her gently around the dance floor, Nora felt the play of his muscles under her hands. Clay was doing it again—holding her with such confidence she felt absolutely safe with him. Did he have any idea how often she dreamed about his hands on her bare skin?

A girl could fall for a guy like him.

Even if she knew she shouldn’t.

“When I set my mind on a goal, I give it my all,” he said lightly.

Nora glanced up at him and found him looking back down at her. She was finding it difficult to breathe again, her ribs hemmed in by the boning of her corset, but unlike down at the creek, this had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with the man who was holding her. “Have you set your mind on a goal?” Her throat was dry, the words hard to form.

His arms tightened around her. “Yeah. I have.”

A wild hope fluttered inside her chest that he’d decided to renew his attempts to be with her. Immediately she shut it down. Clay was off limits. He needed to stay that way.

“What do you think about that?” he asked when she remained silent, their two bodies moving rhythmically together in a way that didn’t satisfy her cravings at all. Nora wanted to be closer to Clay. She wanted to push aside the heavy lapels of his redcoat uniform, unbutton his white shirt and splay her hands over his chest. She wanted to kiss him. Taste him. But she only shrugged.

“You know what my goal is, don’t you?” he whispered in her ear. Nora shivered as his breath tickled her, and she inadvertently tightened her grip on his shoulders.

“I want to be with you,” he said. “Forever.”

Nora realized she was trembling. Caught between desire and common sense, it was hard to know how to proceed. Every time she came near Clay she lost her head, but it was far too soon to talk about forever.

If Nora was ever to think of marrying Clay, she needed time to get to know him—to fall in love with him…

Because whatever this was, this warm, encompassing excitement she felt whenever Clay was near, it couldn’t be love. It had to be infatuation, or lust, or…whatever you called it when you were alone too long, and someone finally paid attention to you. Love—true love—took time to grow.

Clay refused to give her time…or rather, he didn’t have it to give.

“Nora?” Clay said softly when she didn’t answer.

“Yes?”

“I’d like to kiss you.”

No. She needed to say no. But she couldn’t force herself to say the word, not when her whole body wanted him to. She lifted her chin to look up at him again. He bent down and brushed his mouth over hers, and Nora was lost. She went up on tiptoe and clung to him as he kissed her. Time slowed and the moment went on and on until Nora wasn’t sure where they were anymore. She was dizzy, and happy, and… in love, despite what she told herself. When Clay stopped dancing and began to move toward the door, she took his hand and hurried after him, not minding that he bundled her out of the barn and into the deep shadows outside.

Just this once, she told herself. Just this one night she’d relax her rules and enjoy herself. Circling around the barn to the back of the building, he found a place hidden from prying eyes. Clay pressed her up against its wooden walls, hemming her in with his body, and gathered her into a tight embrace. His kisses deepened, grew hungrier, and Nora met him willingly, trailing the tip of her tongue along his lower lip, then nipping at him, wanting something she knew she couldn’t have.