Hot SEALs: SEALed For Life (Kindle Worlds Novella) (9 page)

“Innuendo?” Gower asked.

Melina snorted. “Fact,” she said roughly.

Gower laughed and felt ridiculously proud as he headed to the kitchen. Melina had resorted to sexual innuendo. There was hope for him yet.

***

The next week was the best he could remember having with a woman. As her leg healed, Melina got bolder. The day she rode him until he was blind with pleasure was going to be a memory he took to the grave.

They saw each other at least every other day. Mornings were spent on walking and working out. Afternoons were spent in bed—also working out—but in other ways.

But it was the weekends that meant the most to him. Friday night pizza. Movies on the couch. He did plenty of wishing that their situation was permanent after they put Dillon to bed.

Saturday mornings were perfect. Dillon and Melina watched TV while he made breakfast.

Two weeks and three weekends into what he considered their relationship—which is exactly what they had—he wanted his wishing to become a reality he could count on. He could tell Dillon wanted it too, but the boy seemed afraid to voice any wish about Melina aloud. Instead, he just kept cuddling closer and closer every chance he got. Not that Gower could blame him, since he kept doing the same thing.

Melina’s arm tightening around his son every time they came over to her place was evidence he couldn’t ignore. Her pull on his heart tightened his resolve to make them into a family if he could. It was so clear to him how perfect it was.

The only question he had left about it was how to best talk Melina into marrying him. He’d have an easier time talking Dillon into the two of them going with her if she got relocated. Dillon wanted Melina to be them all the time anyway.

So he watched and he waited and thought and planned. He was so happy with it all that Gower forgot how often life threw the unexpected into your path.

Melina glanced at the clock before answering her phone. Who could be calling at two in the morning? Then she saw the number. Her Sergeant Major. Shit.

“Sir?” she said, clearing her throat as she answered. “Yes, sir. What can I do for you?”

Those were the last words she spoke for fifteen minutes. Her closing was to tell him she’d be ready to go in a half hour. They were sending someone to retrieve her since she wasn’t supposed to drive herself to base yet.

She touched the icon to end the call, but her superior already hung up. He’d known her answer would be yes. The explanation he’d given her was a courtesy. She’d never let medical leave stop her from doing what had to be done.

Turning, she saw Gower’s gaze on her face. “I have to go.”

“Where?” he asked.

“Where the team is,” Melina answered, unable to be specific. “The desert at the moment. Jack…damn I still can barely say the words. Jack’s hurt—pretty badly from what I hear. Flying shrapnel from exploding supplies they were picking up from a local company. Several other team members are hurt, but not as bad. Jack got the worst of it. The bottom line is they need me there. They’re shipping Jack home. I have to go, Gower.”

“Melina…” Gower stopped her exit from the bed with a hand on her arm. “I know. But…”

Her mouth coming down hard on his answered some of his concern. The rest wasn’t erasable. Suddenly he had a lot of sympathy for those that had to stay behind when people they loved left for duty. He never imagined he’d one day be one of them. He’d been thinking about Melina getting out—not shipping out to fight.

But why hadn’t he? He’d known from the beginning what she was—who she was. He just hadn’t thought this particular scenario through before he’d gotten attached. He wasn’t prepared to watch her go, but there was nothing to be done about it.

Melina pulled away, touched Gower’s lips. “I’ve never left anyone behind before. I don’t like how it feels, Beckett. Be flip and piss me off. Make the ball of lead in my gut go away.”

“I can’t, honey. I’m going to miss you too and I’m going to worry. But I’m not going to say a damn thing against what you have to go and do. I would never do that to you. You’ve given the Marines most of your life. Just don’t give them the rest of it if you can help it, Melina. Come home to me.”

Melina pulled away and nodded. “That’s always the goal for everyone. It just doesn’t always work out. Jack, I was giving him hell before he left. I can’t stand thinking I won’t be able to take that back. He’s a great Marine—the best. More level headed than me. It’s just where they are. People kill there for nothing, even for an lame idea that doesn’t serve anyone. How can we fight that?”

“I don’t know, honey,” Gower said, watching the weight of her worry for her team descend on her. He knew exactly what that was like. He also knew what she needed to hear.

“Melina, you’re one of the strongest people I’ve ever met, and that includes all the SEALs I’ve served with. You’ll go and do what is needed. You’ll be careful and bring the rest of your people home. I believe that. I believe in you.”

Unable to respond yet to Gower’s instant support, Melina walked naked to her closet and pulled out her uniform. She’d be fine once she got it on. There was a certain kind of survival instinct that came with wearing it. Training kicked in. Purpose came with the chevrons.

Bending, she pulled her ready bag from the back of the closet. When things like this happened, she was always glad she kept it updated. It had uniforms that fit and all the necessities for travelling.

Frowning over her reluctance to dress, Melina turned back and started dressing anyway. She thought of Jack being shipped to the VA facility in Arlington. She thought of two others being patched up in a nearby city before being marshaled back to the unit. One of them was Carlyle. Hopefully, the kid was hanging in there. He was probably scared to death inside.

Melina watched a naked Gower climb from his side of the bed and retrieve her weapon holster without being asked to do so. He checked the leather and the fastenings with attention to every detail. Whoever came to pick her up would have her weapon. Her Sergeant Major had seen to it.

She frowned at the leather turning in Gower hands. What the hell was bothering her? She fucking had to go. It was important. It was her unit. She had hurt men counting on her.

Melina choked up as Gower met her worried gaze and started walking her way. The closer he got, the more she wanted to cry. Bad idea… crying. Bad timing. Bad… everything. She was going to miss him, but shit. Why was she on the verge of crying?

“Damn it, Beckett. Stop making me emotional. I can’t be emotional. I’m a hard-ass Marine.”

“You absolutely are,” Gower agreed calmly, waiting for her to finish dressing. “I’m counting on that fact to keep me sane while you’re gone. Button up your shirt and put this on. I’m sure your pickup will have your gun on him.”

Melina obeyed automatically. Somewhere in the last two weeks, she’d given the man in front of her that kind of power. There was an insistent knock at the door. “They’re here. Do not answer the door naked, Beckett. Stay in here until I’m gone.”

Gower chuckled at her stern command. “Feeling possessive, Gunny Angel?” He slipped the holster over her head and reached under her breast to clip it. “I know I fucking do.”

Then there was no more stalling. Another insistent knock sounded.

Gower wanted to crush Melina against him and not turn loose. He wanted to declare he loved her, but that would only make it harder for her to leave. All he could do was hope she came home. He’d tell her then. He’d tell her like it was and spend the rest of his life convincing her to believe it.

“Don’t worry about anything here. I’ll lock up your condo tomorrow morning before Dillon and I go home,” he whispered.

“Okay. Will you explain to Dillon about why I had to leave? I don’t want him to worry but I…” she rubbed her forehead. “Shit, Beckett. This will never do. I’m barely maintaining. I’m about to fall apart.”

“No. Hell no, you’re not.” Gower stepped into her then and pulled her in tight.

The band of her leather holster rubbed against his naked chest. There was no getting around reality for either of them. He pressed his mouth hard to hers, then pulled back and kissed her gently.

“You just have more to come home to now. That’s all this is, Gunny. Now go do your job, damn it. We’ll work through the rest when you get back.”

She pulled her cover on over her hair. Where she was going, she’d need the hat to shield her eyes from the sun and to hide she was female. Some parts of the world were so fucked up, but she’d committed to helping them… at least indirectly. It was what Marines did. It was what she did.

Picking up her duffle, Melina raised her chin and walked around the man she’d come to care for—maybe too much. She turned back just as he turned to her.

“Watch that cute ass of yours, Gunny Angel. I’m heavily invested in it now. I consider it mine… and its owner. We’ll debate that when you return. Now go. They’ll be busting down the door if you linger any longer.”

Melina swallowed the knot his words caused in her throat. She couldn’t speak… couldn’t give the words back. All she could do was nod as she hurried to answer the third and most insistent knock.

She couldn’t think about what she was leaving behind. She could only think about where she needed to go.

Gower walked into the pet store and sighed. It had only been a week since he’d followed Melina here. He should have come back sooner. He should have bought the damn dog that very day and given Melina one more reason to retire.

Why had it never occurred to him that Melina would be pulled off medical leave? He was in denial about her being a lifer. That was the only reason he had.

“Why are we here, Dad?”

Gower looked down at his son. “We’re here to pick up a dog for Melina. We’re going to take care of it until she comes back. It’s a present for her.”

Dillon nodded. “Okay. But I still don’t see why our Gunny Angel had to leave. We just found her. We never came up with her superhero name. I liked spending Friday nights at her house. It was fun to watch TV with her. We like the same things.”

Gower swallowed. And Melina was also the first woman Dillon had gotten close to since his mother died. It was the second time she’d saved his son.

“I agree with you that her leaving sucks, but Melina had no choice. And it’s not like she wanted to go. It was part of her job. What she does as a Marine is very important. She’ll be back soon, Dillon. As soon as I know when, I’ll tell you too. Maybe we’ll go meet her when her transport lands. Maybe you’ll get to see her helicopter. In the meantime, let’s see if the little dog she likes is still here. Cross your fingers.”

“I want a dog too. You said I couldn’t have one. Why does Melina get one?”

Gower looked at his son’s bent head. What should he say? What could he say? Didn’t his son need to know what love did to a man? It was making him go after a dog when the last thing he wanted was more responsibility.

“Can I tell you a secret, Dillon?”

His son’s shrug was deep. The boy was barely looking at the barking dogs. Gower recognized the attendant as the one Melina had spoken to. In the glass room, he saw lots of cages. Unfortunately, he didn’t see the dog Melina had liked in any of them. Damn it. What was he going to do now?

His sigh was loud enough to get Dillon’s head to raise. It had been a hell of day already. He’d paced the floor after she’d left in the middle of the night. He’d paced and watched the sun come up and wondered where she was. It was going to be a long, lonely wait. Maybe for months. He could barely bring himself to consider it.

“Can I help you?”

Gower pulled his attention back to his purpose. “Hi Joe. You don’t know me, but I’m…”

He stopped and hesitated. Would Melina kill him for this?

Gower heard an excited yap behind him. He heard Dillon giggle as his son swung around. A young woman walked around both of them with the dog Melina had held in her arms. There was a pink bow above one ear. The dog looked ridiculous. His relieved smile probably matched.

“Joe—I’m here to get
that dog
,” Gower declared, pointing at the squirming yapper. “What kind is it anyway? Looks like a tiny Cocker Spaniel.”

The woman walked back with a smile on her face and knelt to let the dog lick Dillon’s outstretched hand. Gower shook his head. If this didn’t work, he was going to be stuck with a dog. But if it did… he thought about how much joy the animal would bring her.

He looked at the attendant who was now staring at him silently.

“Sorry. Just thinking it through. You see… I’m in love with Melina Angel. I spied on her the other day when she was in here. I know how badly she wanted that dog.”

“Why doesn’t she come get it then?”

Gower never lowered his gaze. “Melina can’t. She shipped out this morning. I don’t want her to miss the chance to have it. That’s why I’m here. Can my son and I adopt her?”

“Are you sure about this? That’s a pretty big risk to take. Ms. Marine has been avoiding dog ownership for years. What if she turns you and the dog both down? What then?”

Gower watched Dillon petting the dog. He didn’t look at the man. “I guess I’ll at least have part of her if that happens. This is how it is, Joe. I’m in love with Ms. Marine and plan to marry her… if I can convince Melina to have me. Failure is not an option. That’s her motto, but I’m making it mine in this case.”

“Nice sentiment, but do you know what Melina wants to do with the dog?” Joe asked.

Gower shook his head and sighed again. “No. No idea. We didn’t get that far. I just know the dog made her laugh every time she talked to it. She doesn’t seem to laugh at much else. I have to practically stand on my head to even get a snicker out of her.”

Gower watched the attendant stand and walk to a nearby rack of books. The elderly man pulled a big one from the stack and brought it back.

“If I let you take the dog, you’re going to need a copy of this as well. It will help you understand things—maybe give you the edge you need with your Marine.”

Gower perused the cover. “Dog shows?
That’s
what she wants to do?”