HOT SEAL Hero

by Lynn Raye Harris

  Neo laughed. “So do I need to find another roommate or what?”

  Ryan’s heart thumped. “One thing at a time.”

  Money snorted. “Yeah, better get to advertising, Neo. Dirty’s joined us on the dark side.”

  “Man, don’t let Ella hear you call her the dark side,” Cowboy replied.

  “Figure of speech, my friend. Dark side, light side, best fucking side ever even if I thought I never wanted to go there. What was wrong with me back then?”

  “You hadn’t met Ella?”

  “Oh yeah, guess there was that.”

  Dr. Puckett strode down the hallway toward the waiting room. “Which one of you is Ryan Callahan?”

  Ryan’s chest tightened. “I am. Is everything okay?”

  Dr. Puckett smiled, though she still managed to look slightly angry. “Yes, everything is okay. Chloe suffered a heck of a beating, but there was no internal damage. She’s going to be sore for a while as she recovers, but she will recover. And she’s asking for you.”

  “I can go to her?”

  “Yes. But don’t tax her strength too much. She’s going to need it in the coming days.”

  Everything hurt. Chloe lay in the hospital bed and stared up at the ceiling. She didn’t hurt too much at the moment, but she knew it was because of the drugs they’d given her. She didn’t remember a lot about the ride over here, but she remembered Ryan. He’d found her. And he’d saved her.

  Tears leaked down her cheeks and she reached up to wipe them away. The door to her room opened but all she saw was a blurry shape coming toward her.

  “Baby, how are you?” Ryan’s voice. Relief rolled through her. She held her hand out and he took it, dragging a chair over to her bedside and pressing a kiss to her palm.

  “Sore. Deja vu, huh?” she said.

  “Yeah, I guess so.” He squeezed her hand lightly. “I’m sorry, honey. I tried like hell to get to you sooner.”

  “I know you did. But we thought Pruitt was the end of it, right?”

  “Yeah, we did.” He sucked in a breath. Let it out in a rush. “I knew there was a militia muster happening in Virginia a couple of weeks ago. But after we got Pruitt, I thought the danger was over. We—me and the guys—watched for Travis anyway. He didn’t leave Alabama, according to all our sources, so I didn’t tell you about it. Except he did leave, and he went to a lot of trouble to hide it.”

  “Of course he did.” Chloe had always known, on some level, that she’d have to face Travis again someday. He wasn’t the type to give up. “He said he’d known for months where I was. That he’d been watching me. I don’t know how he knew, or why he didn’t come for me sooner.”

  “Honestly, I think he was shitting you about how long he knew where you were, though we may never know the truth about that. Still, I should have done a better job protecting you. I should have told you about the muster, but after we caught Pruitt I didn’t want you scared again.”

  How did she feel knowing he’d kept that information from her? Did it really matter? She’d always thought Travis might come to town. She’d lived with the idea he could turn up at any moment—which meant that knowing about a muster wouldn’t have changed a damned thing. It wouldn’t have made her more vigilant. And it wouldn’t have stopped Travis from surprising her at the salon.

  “Oh Ryan—I think you did the best damned job you could. I’m here. I’m alive and you’re alive—and Travis won’t ever bother me again. You couldn’t be with me twenty-four hours a day—and you couldn’t know Travis was sneaking up here to find me. He took pains to hide his plans.”

  He pressed her hand to his cheek. His stubble was rough. She rubbed her palm against it, loving the very real feel of him. “I’m so proud of you for stabbing him, though I’m sorry you had to do it. And I’m sorry you had to see what I did.”

  She blinked. “See you shoot him, you mean?”

  His eyes were filled with regret. “Yeah. It was brutal and violent. Not the kind of thing I wanted you exposed to. I know he beat you and you fought back. But ending a life… that’s not something any of us do lightly. And it’s not something you should have seen.”

  “I don’t think you had a choice. Travis pulled a weapon. You had to shoot him.”

  “I did. But I could have lived happily for the rest of my life knowing you didn’t see me do it.”

  “You did it to protect me. You’re a good man, Ryan, and I love you for it.” Chloe’s heart pounded in spite of the sedatives. She’d told him she loved him in that farmer’s field, and he’d said it back, but that had been a few hours ago now. What if he’d responded in the heat of the moment? What if he hadn’t really meant to say it? What then?

  He stood and leaned over her hospital bed. Then he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “I love you too, Chloe Evans. More than you realize.”

  Her heart filled to bursting. She didn’t deserve him, but she damned sure wasn’t letting him go. “I think I do know. You protected me from Darrell Pruitt, took care of me when I needed you, and saved me from Travis. And you did all of it when I was still trying to push you away sometimes. I’d be crazy not to realize how perfect you are.”

  He laughed softly. “Not perfect, baby.”

  “Perfect for me.”

  “Okay, that I can do.”

  Happiness enveloped her. “I’m yours, Ryan. And you’re mine. We belong to each other.”

  “Yeah, we do.”

  25

  2 months later

  * * *

  “You haven’t taken your eyes off Chloe for twenty minutes now,” Neo said.

  Ryan jerked his gaze toward his former roommate. They were in the back yard of Chloe’s house—his and Chloe’s house, since they’d made Avery an offer and she’d accepted it because she’d caught Jimmy cheating on her and kicked him to the curb—and Chloe had just served them fried chicken with corn on the cob, green beans, and strawberry pretzel salad for dessert.

  It was a gorgeous summer day and the shadows were stretching long across the back yard. Chloe loved this yard, and he understood why. It was perfect for summer barbecues and long lazy afternoons sitting in the shade and drinking sweet tea with mint and lemon.

  “Sorry,” Ryan said as Chloe dragged out the cornhole boards and bags. She and the other women were about to play. Cowboy took a sip of his beer and snorted. Money laughed outright. Cage and Viking merely smirked. Blade was busy staring at Quinn, and Camel and Bailey were playing with little Ana while Kayla bounced on her heels and laughed at something one of the women said. Shade was sitting in a lawn chair with his chest bared and his head tipped up to the sun. Avery kept throwing glances his way, though there was no way in hell she was ready for anything serious after her spectacular break up with Jimmy.

  Well, Shade wasn’t ready for anything serious either, so maybe the two of them could hook up and scratch an itch. Wasn’t Ryan’s problem, really. JoJo wasn’t here because she had a date with an Army guy she’d met at Buddy’s.

  “You look happy, man,” Neo said. “Just teasing you.”

  “I am happy. Got the woman of my dreams, working on fixing up this house with her, and enjoying every single fucking day that I wake up beside her.” In their new bed that they’d picked out together. A huge damned king-sized bed where he could spend hours making love to her. He especially loved that they’d bought an iron bed so they could tie each other to it and get kinky from time to time.

  Kinky or not kinky. Didn’t matter. He just loved making love to his woman. This morning, she’d sat on his face while sucking his dick. Then he’d flipped her over and impaled her, loving the way she moaned as he drove into her. The way she begged him to fuck her harder.

  “Ryan,” she’d panted. “I love your dick. Love. It. So. Fucking. Much. It’s perfect. Ohhhhhhhh, Goddddddddd…..”

  Shit, he had to stop thinking about that or he’d never be able to get up from the table. But wow, she came hard. Then he came hard, shooting deep inside her. Filling her to overflowing.
It was such a turn on to pull out and see his cum spilling from her. He’d never gone bare before her. She was on the pill, but he imagined one day they’d take the next step and have a baby together.

  But first they had to get married, which they were in the process of planning. Big fat Southern wedding. That’s what she wanted and that’s what she was getting. His girl got what she wanted, whether it was a foot massage, lunch at her favorite restaurant, flowers, cards, jewelry—or, his personal favorites, his tongue on her clit or his dick in her pussy. What Chloe wanted, Chloe got. Because he was her willing slave in every way. She made his life complete.

  Even Aunt Becky, who’d always had reservations about Megan, had none about Chloe. She’d come to visit and they’d put her in the guest room. She’d cornered him the morning after her first night and said, “That girl’s a winner, Ry. Even if she does cook with too much butter. Marry her and make me some grandnieces and nephews, would ya?”

  “You know, Aunt Becky,” he’d said. “I think I probably should have been calling you mom all these years. Because you are my mom and I love you.”

  Aunt Becky had cried. He’d gotten misty. They’d had to agree he wasn’t suddenly going to start calling her mom now, but his children would call her grandma when the time came.

  “Got some news about Sheriff Blake, if anyone’s interested,” Viking said casually.

  Ryan perked up at that. “You mean you’ve been sitting on this all afternoon? Spill.”

  Viking shrugged. “Hey, didn’t want to discuss it earlier when we were all having a good time talking and eating. Which, by the way, damn that woman can cook. You’re gonna weigh five hundred pounds if you ever stop burning so much energy at work, Dirty.”

  “Yeah, yeah. What about Blake?” Ryan asked.

  “Had to resign. The good citizens of Cedarville weren’t pleased with his handling of some of the funds there. He’d been embezzling from the food fund for years.”

  “Food fund?”

  “Yeah, in Alabama the sheriffs get to keep the excess money left over after they feed the prisoners. So they order shit food like corndogs and pocket the rest.”

  “So it’s not embezzling.”

  “It is though because there’s a new law about it, but Blake wasn’t obeying it. Plus he used a lot of the money to buy himself a beach house in Gulf Shores. Along with the kickbacks he took from Travis James, that didn’t wash with the citizenry. So he’s out.”

  Ryan didn’t know how Mendez and Ian Black had done it, but they’d made sure that Chloe and the SEALs didn’t get mentioned in connection with Travis James’s death. A hunting accident was how it played out. The militia members who’d been there that night weren’t talking either. Ryan didn’t know why and didn’t care—but he imagined screws were being twisted somewhere.

  “You’ll be interested to know that the DEA and ATF raided James’s farm…” He looked at his watch. “About five hours ago now. Illegal weapons, methamphetamines, and human trafficking are only a few of the charges the James Gang is about to face.”

  Ryan blinked. The other SEALs sat with wide eyes, all staring at Viking. “Whoa,” Money said. “Ivy tell you that?”

  “She may have mentioned it. Though not before it happened, I should stress.” Viking didn’t look too pleased about that part, but of course he understood the reason for it. He didn’t share information about missions with his wife when they were classified, same as she didn’t share information with him.

  “Good fucking riddance,” Ryan said.

  “Amen, brother,” Neo added.

  Best they could figure, Travis had found where Chloe was through Sheriff Blake. The sheriff been watching for information to pop up on her for his good buddy. He’d eventually found her employment record for Hair Affair because she’d had to use her real name and social security number. Then he’d shared the information with Travis James, though they didn’t know when it had happened. Probably before the Virginia muster since Travis had gone to such lengths to cover his tracks.

  They didn’t know exactly what James’s plan had been, but once he’d found out that Chloe had taken up with a Navy SEAL, he’d probably had some gleeful idea about killing Ryan to prove his superiority over a US military man.

  The rest of the afternoon wore on lazily and with much fun. Eventually, everyone called it a night and said their goodbyes. When Ryan and Chloe were alone, and all the dishes were dry and put away in their homey little kitchen, he swept her up into his arms while she gasped and giggled. Then he took her to their room and slowly undressed her, kissing and caressing every part of her.

  Only when he had her on her knees, her hands gripping the headboard, her body quivering from the orgasm he’d just licked her into, did he slide deep inside her and start to lazily move in and out, dragging the pleasure out with long slow strokes.

  “Ryan,” she gasped. “You’re torturing me.”

  “No, baby. I’m loving you. With everything I have.”

  “If you love me you’ll finish this.”

  “I do love you. And I’m going to finish. In a couple of hours.”

  She groaned. “What? Noooo, it’s torture.”

  He laughed. Didn’t she fucking know he couldn’t do this for two hours? He could do it a few times over two hours, but no way could he do it for two hours straight. She was far too exciting to hold out that long.

  “Don’t laugh at me, evil man.”

  “Not laughing at you. Laughing at me. You think I can really hold off an orgasm for two hours? With you? No way in hell.”

  “Ryan, please, I want to see your eyes when you come. I love the look on your face with you lose control.”

  He pulled out and she turned over. Then he lifted her hips, situated himself between her legs, kneeling as he slid into her again, right up into the heart of her. She was so wet, so perfect. He loved everything about her. He’d never known that being with one woman again and again could feel so damned exciting. So right. He’d thought his teammates were nuts. Pussy-whipped.

  Well, if this is what pussy-whipped felt like, then he was all about it.

  “Touch yourself, Chloe.”

  She did as he told her, her manicured fingers sliding over her wet little clit, her eyes rolling back in her head as she bit her lip. He pulled out and slammed back in and she gasped. “Oh, yessss….”

  It didn’t take long for her to come. Her eyes opened wide and she stared at him, her mouth opening in a silent scream. He bent over and kissed her, then fucked her hard and fast to draw it out. When he came, she had her hands on his jaw, cupping his face softly.

  “That’s it, baby,” she said. “So gorgeous when you come. I love the look on your face.”

  His eyes burned into hers as he groaned, spilling everything he had inside her. When it was over, they collapsed together, facing each other, her leg thrown over his body, his hand on her breast.

  “Love you,” he said. “Love our life together.”

  “Me too.” Her smile was soft and lovely. And all for him. “I’m so happy your truck was in my way that day.”

  “Yeah, I planned it from the start.”

  She giggled and kissed his shoulder. “And then there was the perfect part of your plan—answering the door naked. I was smitten.”

  He snorted. “Right. You were half-convinced I was a creeper.”

  “Only half. Now I’m totally convinced you’re a magician.”

  “A magician?”

  “You have a magic touch on my body. And my heart. I’m more in love with you every day. You’ll always take care of me. And I’ll take care of you. I hated Travis for what he did to me—but you have no idea how grateful I am to him now. If he hadn’t been who he was, I’d have never left Cedarville. And I’d have never found you.”

  Ryan kissed her then. Softly, slowly. Gratefully, because she was his.

  And he was hers. Utterly and completely. For the rest of his life.

  Neo hated it when the party broke up because that mea
nt he couldn’t look at Kayla anymore. She was studiously avoiding him and he couldn’t talk to her about it. He watched her with her daughter and felt like a jerk. He wanted her. Wanted to strip her naked and make her scream with pleasure.

  He’d done it once. She’d been vulnerable—they both had—and they’d fallen into his bed. They’d known better, but they’d done it anyway.

  And everything changed. The friendship, the easy way they behaved with each other. It all vanished in a poof of smoke.

  He didn’t know how to bring it back. Didn’t know how to rewind the clock.

  He hated going home alone, but he did. He hadn’t found a new roommate yet. Hadn’t really looked. These days he wasn’t good company for anyone. He walked across the street and unlocked the door, then went inside and grabbed a beer from the fridge. He had a decent buzz going and he wanted to keep it there. He didn’t want to be drunk, just wanted that nice mellow feeling of, well, not feeling.

  Dirty and Chloe were a good couple. He was happy for them. How did Dirty make it happen though? How did he get from bachelor living over here with Neo to happily engaged guy buying a house and planning a wedding and making love to his gorgeous fiancée every night?

  Neo shook his head and turned on the television. He found a Mecum Auto Auction and started to watch that. Maybe watching people pay exorbitant prices for classic cars would numb his brain for a while.

  They were auctioning off a rare 1963 Corvette with the split window and the price was climbing to astronomical levels when the doorbell rang. Neo thought about ignoring it, but it might be Dirty or Chloe bringing him some extra dessert. God he loved that strawberry pretzel shit Chloe made.

  He got up and shuffled over to the door. Jerked it open.

  Kayla stood on the other side. She looked up at him, her blue eyes wounded and vulnerable. His heart twisted. Her blond hair was in a ponytail and she wore the same shorts and tank top she’d had on earlier.

  “Hi, Zach. Can I come in?”

  He gripped the door. Hard. He should tell her no. Send her away. But he couldn’t. Damn him, he couldn’t. He stepped back and opened the door wider.