Her only choice was to fight. She’d spent hours in martial arts classes as a kid and teen, working her way up through the gradings until she received a black belt at seventeen. She’d been trained never to attack except in self-defense, which described this situation precisely. The gun he held on her was the first thing she had to deal with. And then him.
“Maybe we can find some other way,” she said as she subtly moved her feet to improve her stance. Thank goodness she’d worn flats and her dress had a full skirt. She’d have the freedom of movement she needed. “I could pay you compensation.”
“With what?” He chuckled maniacally. “Your business is on the ropes.”
“The safe’s full of jewels,” she countered. “I could open it, and you can take your pick. Take it all.” She’d tempted him. She could see that by the greedy gleam in his eyes, but he didn’t look away as she’d hoped he might, giving her the opportunity to strike.
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Watching me get picked up by the police when I tried to pawn some fat diamond. No, there’s only one way this is going to end. You’re going to die here in the store your family stole from mine. The ultimate revenge. I wish my mother could see this moment, see the destruction I caused. The fire was so beautiful. Even the smell of the ashes”—he drew in a breath—“is sweet. She’d be so proud of me. I got revenge for all the wrongs your family caused.” He stared straight at her as he spoke. The gruesome satisfaction she saw in his eyes terrified her, but she fought to stay calm.
“Our mothers were friends,” she said. “Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
“Yeah, it means your mother’s a bitch. She backstabbed a friend. I think I’ll go after her next. I almost got your sister in the fire, but her time will come.” He inched even closer, within range of a strike. Any second now, she’d take her chance. “I’ll save your little boy for last, to make sure the family name can’t continue.”
The mention of her son filled her with power. When a noise to his left distracted him for a split second, she went into action, targeting his weak left leg with a powerful kick and knocking him off balance. The gun dropped from his hand and she kicked it away, but she wasn’t finished. With all the force in her, she drove an open hand up and into his nose, feeling the bone crunch. He screamed in pain but came at her, landing a punch on her jaw and sending her back into the cabinet. Before she could right herself, he was on her, grabbing her hair.
“That’s it, you bitch. I’m going to kill you with my hands.” He raised a fist to punch her again. Before he could, he was yanked backward and thrown to the floor.
Zach was on him, landing blow after blow to his face and body. Oh, God, he was going to kill him. Enough violence had already occurred without that. She rushed forward, risking a hit to put her hand on Zach’s shoulder.
“Stop, Zach,” she pleaded. “He’s not worth killing.”
Another punch connected with the man’s face before Zach stood up. Dale Huntly was out cold.
“He would have killed you,” Zach said, turning to her. His arms went around her, pulling her against his chest. She could feel his hammering heart and knew hers was going just as fast from fear and adrenaline, but she’d survived.
“You stopped him,” she said. She’d hurt Dale, but she had no illusions about what would have happened if Zach hadn’t come in at that moment. She owed him her life.
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” Zach whispered into her hair, “for last night and this morning.”
“Shhh, we’ll talk later. Just hold me.” His arms tightened around her, and they stood together until brakes squealed on the street and a man ran into the store.
“Shit, you got all the fun.” Alex assessed the situation, looking from them to the prone man.
“Call the police,” Zach said to Alex, “and let Colin know he can stand down.” He loosened his hold on her, touching her face before stepping away. “I’m coming home with you tonight.”
“I’m not arguing,” she said, not wanting it any other way.
Hours passed as she retold her story to the police, filling in the details of what Dale Huntly had done to her business. Her mother and sister arrived to comfort her and corroborate details of the story. Through it all, Zach stayed by her. Finally, they were home, with Austin in bed, thanks again to Zach’s brothers.
“Let me,” Zach said, taking the ice pack from her and holding it to her jaw. He sat on the coffee table, facing her. “It’s still going to hurt in the morning.”
“It’s okay. Taking him down was worth one punch.” An aching jaw was way better than what could have been if Zach hadn’t arrived when he did.
“Not to me. I should never have let you get in that situation.”
“You couldn’t have stopped it, Zach.” She’d replayed the scenario, recognizing that she should have been more aware of her surroundings but knowing that Huntly was going to come at her no matter what.
“I could have, by sticking with you when we knew you were in danger,” he argued.
“No one knew he’d pick today to attack.”
“After the fire…I should have—”
“Stop blaming yourself,” she declared.
“I’m so sorry about what I said last night. I was…”
She waited, knowing how difficult it was for him to talk about his feelings, when showing emotion was perceived as a weakness.
“I was out of line,” he continued, lowering the ice bag. “You are nothing like my mother. I’ll never know her reason for leaving us. Maybe it was my father’s abuse. I don’t know. What I do know is that you’re an amazing mom, so loving and caring. Everything you’ve done has been to protect your family and Austin. You’d never abandon them.”
“Or you,” she said, wanting to make that clear. “I won’t abandon you again.” His eyebrow went up at her again, and he shook his head, but she went on. “I feel that’s what I did when I broke our engagement. I let you down because of my fears. I was so scared you wouldn’t come back from a mission that I had to put distance between us. I guess I preempted the risk of you abandoning me—even if it wasn’t your fault—by breaking it off with you. It seems so silly now. We could have had that time together.”
She remembered how she’d felt then, so justified in her actions and not thinking about what it did to him. When he didn’t respond to her messages about the coming baby, she’d been sure she’d done the right thing. How wrong she’d been.
“We can’t change what happened,” Zach said, taking her hand, “and I’m done being controlled by the past.”
She’d seen the danger of letting the past rule your life in the way Dale Huntly had felt the need for revenge, even if his beliefs weren’t true. The past could be toxic. “We have to let it go and be in the present.”
“The present isn’t enough,” Zach said quickly. “I love you, Carolyn. I never stopped in all the time I was away. I was angry with you, but I couldn’t help loving you. Now, though, the love I feel…when I thought I might lose you today…I never want to spend another day without you in my life.”
If she could have planned what she wanted to hear from him, it would have been those words. She smiled at him and scooted forward on the couch until their knees were touching. “I love you, too. I tried hard not to when I thought you were ignoring your son and me. Now, I know you’d never do that. You’d never let your family down.”
“I’ll never let you or Austin down.” He said it as though it were a pledge, and she believed him.
“Let’s go to bed, Zach.” More quickly than she would have thought possible, he stood and lifted her in his arms.
“Are you going to carry me up the stairs?” she asked, delighted by his actions.
“Are you objecting?” He walked toward the steps. “I don’t want to get on your bad side. I’ve seen what you can do to a man,” he teased.
“No objection.” She put her arms around his neck and kissed him, not stopping until they reached her bedroom. “You are
one talented man to kiss me and still be able to climb the stairs.”
“It’s my superior training.” He lay her on the bed and knelt between her legs.
“I didn’t know that carrying women off was part of SEAL training.” She sat up to let him remove her dress, his fingers trailing up her torso and lighting little fires wherever they touched.
“We have to be prepared for any contingency.” He touched her jaw gently, first with his fingers and then his lips, slowly coasting over the injured part before moving on to her temple, her cheeks, and finally her lips.
She grabbed hold of his shoulders, taking him down with her to the mattress and kissing him so deeply she never wanted to stop. His hands moved over her, removing her bra and panties, but he continued the kiss.
“You’re talented,” she murmured against his lips. “I can’t figure out how to get you undressed.” She’d untucked his shirt, letting her hands play with his taut muscles, and managed to unbutton his jeans. But removing them in this position was a challenge.
“Do you want help?”
“I want you.” She nipped at his lips. “So I think I’m going to have to accept help. Roll over.”
He did as she asked, looking up at her with a grin when she straddled him.
“Arms overhead,” she ordered and whisked his shirt off. She placed her hands on his bare chest, feeling the ridges of muscles on his lean form. He was hers. That message beat in her brain as he stretched upward and put his hands behind his head, seemingly relaxed. All hers to play with. She traced the recent scar on his left pec, giving him a curious look.
“Shrapnel. No big deal,” he said in answer to her unspoken question.
“You’re probably lying to me, but I’ll let it go.” She kissed the scar and flicked her tongue over his flat nipple, making him suck in a breath. She felt empowered and moved her lips over his flat stomach toward his open fly. She thought he’d like where she was headed.
“Christ,” he muttered when she pushed his jeans and boxers down and took his dick in her mouth. His exclamation only encouraged her to take him in deeper. She sucked him, moving her mouth up and down on his hard length. His breathing was labored, uneven, as she twirled her tongue over his tip before plunging back down on him.
“Ride me, sweetheart,” he gasped.
“If that’s what you want.” She looked up, meeting his blue gaze. His eyes were hooded with desire, telling her she had him exactly where she wanted him. She dragged his clothes the rest of the way down so they could come together with no barriers.
Crawling up his body, she positioned herself so his dick rubbed against her before coming down on him in one swift movement. God, she loved the way he filled her. His hands went to her breasts, kneading and arousing, as she controlled their rhythm. She tried to prolong the moment, enjoy the ride, but he had other ideas. He put one finger between them, stroking her clit, and the tightness in her began to unfurl.
The orgasm slammed into her, leaving her breathless. He gripped her hips, driving up into her until she felt his hot seed deep within her. She collapsed onto his chest, their bodies still connected, and she knew nothing would ever be better than this.
18
Zach looked back with a grin, offering her a hand on the steep trail as they neared the summit. They’d started early that morning, knowing the trail was best at that time of day.
“I’ve got it,” Carolyn said, finding her footing between the rocks and tree roots. Although the trail could be difficult, she knew it well—or had two years before. When they were engaged, they had often hiked it for the view at the top and the challenge of the ascent.
“What if I just want you to hold my hand?” he asked, his hand still outstretched. Austin was strapped to Zach in a backpack carrier. The child had happily kicked his legs and pointed out every squirrel, bird, and chipmunk as they’d hiked.
“You should have put it that way.” Carolyn placed her hand in Zach’s and let him pull her up the last yards to the highest point, where a valley opened out before them. The green of late summer showed vividly on the wooded areas and in the grassy meadows. Sunlight reflected off a meandering river that cut through the valley below. “So beautiful,” she breathed, “and I think that’s a little coolness in the air.”
“Fall’s coming,” Zach agreed. “We’ll plan to come back here when the leaves turn.”
“I’d love that. I’m hoping the fall is calmer than the summer was,” she commented. It had been a week since the capture of Dale Huntly, a week of answering questions from the police and trying to undo the damage he had caused to her technology systems. Considering the charges against him, Huntly would be behind bars for a long time and her family would be safe. She hoped he received the mental health counseling that he so clearly needed.
“Could it be nuttier?” Zach turned sideways so Austin could see the flight of an orange-and-black butterfly that went past where they stood.
“I don’t think so. It’ll be busy, though.” She’d learned some lessons about herself that summer, lessons that gave her courage to try new things. With Zach’s encouragement, she’d decided to pursue designing her own line of jewelry. Even though she had ideas for a variety of pieces—rings, necklaces, bracelets, and brooches—she planned to take it slow for now. She’d bring out just a few pieces at a time. With input from her mom, she’d selected the ones she wanted ready for the store’s grand reopening in a few weeks.
There was still a ton of work to be done to meet the deadline she’d set. Her mind turned to the store itself. Her insurance company, convinced she was the victim of arson after Huntly’s arrest, had paid up, and she was forging ahead with the redo. The display area had been gutted down to the studs to remove all vestiges of the fire and smoke damage. She was looking at the valley and trees but seeing the drywall, paint, carpeting, and furnishings necessary to bring the store back to life.
“What are you worried about, sweetheart?” he asked, seemingly in tune with her emotions.
“The remodel,” she admitted. “It seems daunting, but it’ll come together.” She had faith in that. “The new windows will be installed tomorrow. That’s a big step.”
“No more plywood?” he teased.
“Thank goodness. I want the exterior to start looking decent again. The inside’s going to take a little longer.” She wanted to get her employees back to work as soon as she could, too. “I think I might be foolish for going with the same look again, but I’m hopeful that the third time’s the charm.”
She’d considered changing the interior design, but she liked the modern look of glass and chrome that would be dazzling again once the work was complete. She had decided to add more of the vibrant blue accent color this time, though, since people seemed to like it.
“Just because things didn’t go as planned with it the first two times is no reason to give up,” he said.
“Didn’t go as planned?” She laughed at his understatement. “If someone had told me that my summer would include robbery, arson, and three grand re-openings, I’d have said they were nuts.”
“Was the summer all bad?” His tone was much more serious now, as the topic shifted from the store to them.
She studied the way the sun glinted off his dark hair and brightened the blue of his eyes. No, it wasn’t all bad. Parts of it were just plain wonderful, but she had questions before they could go forward.
“Were you going to look me up?” she asked him, matching his serious tone with her own. It was a point she’d wondered about since Zach came back into her life. If he hadn’t been called to the hostage situation at the store, would he have attempted to contact her? She’d pieced together that he’d been out of the navy for just weeks when she first saw him. He could have easily deduced she could be reached at All That Sparkles and called her there. Was he planning to?
“I told myself I wasn’t going to. That it was over between us. But my biggest fear was that you’d moved on. I didn’t want to see you with some other guy.” H
e squeezed her fingers. “It kept me away, because I don’t think I’d have handled it well.”
“I was with another guy.” She nodded to where Austin, looking so much like his daddy, still watched the butterfly.
“So you were. You’re a great mom, Carolyn.” He’d repeated that to her several times during the past week, even though she’d told him that she’d forgiven him for comparing her to his own mother. “Austin’s a lucky kid.”
“Even luckier now that he has both of us.”
She’d come to understand in the past few weeks that she was enough for her son, for Zach, for her family. The self-doubt left over from her tainted relationship with her father had evaporated as she realized how much everyone relied on her to be strong. They all assumed she could handle their troubles and looked to her to be the one to pull it all together. That was true after the robbery and the fire. And she’d done it both times.
She was way tougher and more resilient than she’d ever thought. She hadn’t seen herself for the woman she’d become, but still as the wounded, abandoned child. The experience of the summer had taught her to let go of the past and embrace the present while she worked toward building a future. So, no, the summer was definitely not all bad.
“I hope I measure up as a parent,” Zach said. “I’m trying.” Like her, Zach hadn’t had a good father figure until the Admiral came into his life, so he was working his way through the fatherhood thing. Quite well, she thought.
“Seriously?” She smiled at him. “Look at you. Your son is strapped to your back as you take him on an adventure. What could be better?”
“Being there for him and knowing how to love him.” His reply came out quickly as he acknowledged his fears.
“You’ve got those down. We both do,” she said, “but I think we better let him play for a bit so he doesn’t get restless on the way back.” She lifted Austin from the pack, keeping a firm grip on his hand. When Zach took the child’s other hand, the pieces of her life settled happily into place. This was all she needed. Almost all. She stole a glance at Zach. She could think of one more thing, but would Zach offer her marriage a second time? Or would he be content with the arrangement they had?
The SEAL’s Surprise Son: The Admiral’s SEALs Book One Page 12