Invaluable (The Trident Code Book 2)

by Alana Albertson

  My poms were still in the air when I noticed that one of the Leapfrogs was heading right toward my section.

  My breath hitched. And I brought a hand to my chest as tears started to form. It was Kyle.

  My chest rose and fell, my breathing galloping like a wild horse, and I broke my formation, not caring whether or not I would get in trouble, and ran toward him. He sprinted across the field and before I knew it, he had scooped me up into his arms. Our lips met and the electricity exploded between us. Or maybe those bright flashes were the cameras goin

  “I can’t believe you’re here! That was quite an entrance.”

  “I had to pull some strings to swap with the guy who normally does this. But seeing you was worth it.” He smirked. “Baby. Let me look at you.” He pulled back, his teeth digging into his button lip. “Wow. You look amazing. I just wanted to see you in that Navy pinup uniform. I had a feeling you’d be wearing it. Of course, it will look better on my floor.” My cheeks flushed bright pink. He was what I thought about when I was alone. “I missed you, babe. I’m back. And I can’t wait to see you do your thing. I’m gonna watch you dance for me up in the box with some of my old teammates. But when this game is over, I’m taking you home. In fact, you’re never going home alone again.”

  23

  Kyle

  It was good to be back home. We’d returned a week ago but I had been so busy debriefing my commander and readjusting to civilian life, I was anxious. I needed to be with my girl. But I didn’t want to see Sara until I could make her my top priority. My only priority. Until the only thing I saw, breathed, and tasted was her.

  Plus I wanted to arrive in style. I was bringing the romance. She deserved it.

  I relaxed in the box seat and for a moment, I was back in my old life. A baller. Surrounded by my former football friends. I dined on catered lobster and sipped Cristal. And while I appreciated the finer things in life, it didn’t have the same effect. Don’t get me wrong, it was great. Just different.

  My old buddy, JaMarcus King, eased up next to me. Always good to see one of my boys. “Hey, T.K. Man, good to see you.”

  “You too, man. How you been?”

  JaMarcus pointed to his knee. “Good, bro. Good. My knee is busted but doc says I should be able to play next season. How ‘bout you? Ever think of coming back?”

  I shook my head. “Nope. Not for me.”

  He bit his lip and leaned in close. “Hey, you never told me. Why did you leave? I mean the truth.”

  I exhaled. I had held this truth to my chest for years. My fellow frogmen didn’t even know the reason. But after vowing to start new with Sara, I decided to break my silence. JaMarcus had always been a good friend. A true friend. “Remember that night? In Dallas? With those girls?”

  He nodded. “How could I forget? Damn those bitches.”

  Damn those bitches indeed. JaMarcus knew exactly what I meant. I didn’t need to go into the details. But I planned to bare my soul to Sara.

  But for now, I would enjoy a vacation to my past. I stared down at the field and watched my girl light up the field. She was on fire, completely magnetic. When the cameras focused on her smile and she lit up the 160-foot screen, I knew I was the luckiest man alive.

  24

  Sara

  I changed out of my uniform. My nerves rattled. I’d been anticipating my reunion with Kyle for well over six weeks. But I hadn’t been prepared to see him today. On any given day, the time sped by or moved slower than molasses. I was ready then I wasn’t. I just wanted everything to be perfect. Finally enjoy this. Enjoy us.

  Maya spritzed me with perfume. “Look, I want you to be happy. Maybe I was wrong about Kyle. Just make sure he treats you right or he’ll have me to deal with me.” There was the Maya I knew.

  “Maybe?”

  I laughed and she hugged me. “Okay, I couldn’t have been more wrong. I love you, Sara. You saved my life. You’re my family. I want to see you happy. You deserve it.”

  Her eyes watered and I pulled back. “Don’t make me cry. I just touched up my makeup. Horror show is not exactly the look I’m going for.”

  She threw her head back and laughed. “I love you. Take care of yourself.” Bringing her hand to her chin in fake wonderment, she added, “See you in what? A week? I’ll know it’s you by the penguin waddle.”

  “Oh my god. Stop.” She winked at me before walking backward in the opposite direction, heading to meet up with the other girls. As we separated, I walked out of the locker room and made a beeline to my right. I didn’t make it far. Kyle was standing there across the hall in the corner holding a dozen roses. He had shed his parachute gear and uniform and looked so handsome in a fitted designer suit. Too handsome. He took my breath away.

  “Hey, beautiful.”

  “Hi. I still can’t believe you’re here,” I intoned softly, inching closer to him.

  He put his arm around me and led me outside. Even though it was January, San Diego was still warm in the evening. A stretch limo awaited us and suddenly I became overcome with emotions. It was foreign to see him go all out.

  He kissed the side of my neck, causing goose bumps to travel across my skin, then opened the door, stretching out his hand so I’d go in first. The limo driver promptly set off and Kyle and I wasted no time and necked like two teenagers. I’d never get enough of him. His scent. His touch. They intoxicated me.

  “I don’t roll like this anymore. But tonight is a special occasion.”

  “Oh really? What is that?” I teased. All I really needed was him.

  “Our first date.”

  I couldn’t help it. I laughed. We’d had sex twice, once was a hot one-night stand, next time was on a war bunker. We were kind of doing this backward. Then he’d saved me from terrorists. Yep. Most definitely backward.

  But that didn’t change the fact that we didn’t really know each other at all. I had strong feelings for a man I knew only on the surface. We were bound together by these incredible experiences, but did we have enough in common to build a future?

  I’d find out tonight.

  25

  Kyle

  I never got nervous, never. Not before a mission, not before a football game, not even during drown proofing at BUD/S. But I had to admit, Sara made me nervous.

  Tonight, I would spoil her. The limo dropped us off at the Grand Del Mar hotel and we walked into the upscale French restaurant, Addison. I was more of a steak and potatoes guy, but this place was supposedly the best and Sara deserved the best.

  Well, at least this place was romantic. The lighting was dim, and we were escorted to a huge private booth near the blazing fire. I hadn’t done this romance stuff in so long, my hands grew clammy as we sat. I wiped them on my pants. We ordered the chef’s twelve-course tasting menu and a sommelier picked our wine pairings.

  As we indulged in oysters and champagne, I took Sara’s hand. If I was going to be honest, now was as good a time as any.

  “Look, I wanted to tell you something. Something I never tell anyone.”

  Her eyes brightened. “What?”

  “Why I stopped playing ball.”

  “I’m dying to know. But you don’t have to tell me, Kyle. It’s apparent it’s hard for you to talk about it if you’ve kept it to yourself for this long.”

  She stared at me through long, fluttering lashes. I exhaled. The words that I’d held back. I was going to speak my truth. She squeezed my hands, signaling it was all going to be okay. And I cleared my throat.

  “After playing for a few years, I was getting tired of the scene. But, I’ll be honest, I was addicted to the lifestyle. When I told my then girlfriend I was considering leaving football, she dumped me. She wanted to be a football wife.”

  Sara squeezed my hand again and I couldn’t help staring at the way the candlelight illuminated her chest. Every time she took a breath it rose like what I said hung on a knife’s edge. “That’s horrible, Kyle. She obviously wasn’t right for you.”

  “No, she was
n’t. I see that now. But, it really got to me then. I felt that everyone around me was just after my money. No one liked me, the true me. But, for a while, I was just pissed and started acting out. It all blew up one night. My buddy JaMarcus and I had only one night left in Dallas. After a year on the road, it had turned into the same thing every night. Different state, different girl. We’d met two girls in the bar that night. They didn’t seem like typical groupies, not that we would’ve cared if they were. So we took them up to our suite. I started to kiss one of the girls and she was super aggressive and handed me a condom. Now, I always had my own stash, but she insisted. She was hot and I was drunk so I tossed caution to the wind and rolled the condom on, and there at the tip was a hole. A fucking hole. She had poked a hole in the condom. How sick is that? I pulled up my pants and told her to get out. To say I was mad was an understatement. But I had a revelation that night. I was on the wrong path. I used people just as much as they used me. I was a damn opportunist with a god complex. I didn’t even recognize myself anymore. When I did, I felt alone. People’s loyalty ended the minute the benefits stopped. The sex wasn’t the only thing that was dirty. And I should have known better. That’s the thing about being shallow—it doesn’t take long to be emptied and sink to the bottom. So I chose to walk away and find my own peace. Because that person, yeah, that person wasn’t me.”

  “But you made a change. You left and joined the Navy.”

  “Yes, I joined the Navy to be a SEAL. But honestly, I didn’t change my personal life. Being a SEAL didn’t change that—just as many women want to be fucked by a SEAL as they want to be fucked by a baller. Now I was honest about my intentions up front. People could take it or leave it. Women every night, frog hogs, and groupies, I was just a notch on their belts. Not saying I was any better, but at least I wasn’t a liar or a user. They’d been warned. I figured as long as I served my country and devoted my life for others, I’d be absolved of the shitty things I did on my downtime. Basically, I lied to myself and didn’t give a fuck. Until I met you.” She stayed quiet and stared at me, appearing conflicted. Fuck it. Might as well finish. “I’m not going to lie to you. Or sugarcoat things to sound pretty. At first, I thought you were no different than the rest. I told you I played professionally, and you went home with me. The whole situation reminded me of going to the hotel with the chick from Dallas, only I was controlling the situation.” She let go of my hand, and it was like being thrown into freezing water. “I have to finish, Sara.” She motioned for me to continue but kept her hands on the table. And it took all I had not to reach across the table and demand she place her hands back on mine. She needed to understand she was part of me now.

  I’m so sorry, baby.

  “Speak, Kyle.” So I did.

  “Still, I had no intention of calling you. Ever. Even if I hadn’t deployed. But you seemed so open and honest. The following week I told myself I was doing the right thing. If you were as amazing as you seemed, then getting mixed with me was a bad idea. I was doing you a favor. Then seeing you in Afghanistan was a total shock. I knew I couldn’t stay away from you. On our night together on the bunker, I started to feel something, but I was so stuck in my way of life. It was selfish of me to get involved with you again when I didn’t have my head on straight. And I almost told you before you left, but I punked out. But I’m telling you, Sara, when they took you…” I paused, trying to lock down my anger, “I mean it. I lost it. I had to find you. I don’t think I ever would’ve recovered if I had lost you. Please.” I covered her smaller hands with mine. “That feeling of being used is something I unfairly inflicted on you, even when you showed me you were kind. You trusted me and I failed you. And for that I’m sorry. It’s hard to trust people when all you’ve ever gotten was burned. But that’s no excuse. And that’s not how I should have treated someone I had fallen in love with.” Her lips trembled, and she closed her eyes. “Sara?” And that’s when I saw it. She looked like she was fighting back tears. And I was done hurting her.

  I slid next to her. My fucking heart hurt seeing her like this. “Baby, look at me, please.” Cupping her face, I brought it up to meet mine. I was ready to apologize until I was blue in the face. Whatever it took to have her look at me again on her own free will. But before I had a chance to utter another word her eyes opened and she kissed me. Feel-it-in-my-bones kissed me. My groin hurt as her warm mouth pressed against mine and she sank her tongue in my mouth. I could feel her everywhere, and I grew harder. Cornering her in the booth, I gave zero fucks that we were out in public. She worked my mouth hungrily and I couldn’t get enough. I couldn’t explain it. Had no idea why she was kissing me, and I wasn’t going to question it.

  I let go of her face, bracing one hand on the table and the other behind her head, pulling her in and kissed her back, swallowed her moans, drank in her lips, and willed time to stop because I never wanted this moment to end. When she pulled back from my lips, her breath uneven, I started to worry she’d regretted it.

  “I-I’m not upset. I’m relieved,” she panted. Swallowing, she spoke more clearly. “I had the same reservations. I just fell faster than you did. I’ve known for some time now I fell in love with you. I just didn’t say anything because I was afraid you didn’t feel the same. You hide your emotions better than anyone I know. When you were being honest about our beginning, it just opened a fresh wound for me. The more you spoke, the more uncomfortable you seem to get, and I started to think you brought me here to relieve your conscience and back out on what you’d said.”

  My eyes hooded, and I grew mad at myself. I’d put that doubt in her.

  “No.” I lightly kissed her lips. “I want you. I need you. All of you, all the time. I’ll be faithful to you. Come home from deployments only to you. This,” I pointed at her chest, “I’m never letting it go.”

  She leaned in and gave me a soft kiss on the lips then worked her way to my neck, kissing her way up to my ear. “Kyle… Let’s get out of here.”

  I turned and signaled to the waiter. “Check please!”

  26

  Sara

  He made me wait. Prolonged being devoured by him. Initially I’d felt like pouting. Not having my hands all over him was cruel. But I was beginning to see why he’d done it. The view was breathtaking. And it felt good to be okay with just being silent with him. We were comfortable with each other. We strolled hand in hand across the lavish grounds of the resort. Walking under the moonlight on this night reminded me of the first night I went home with Kyle. I’d never in my wildest imagination would’ve believed that six months later we would be dating after falling in love a world away.

  My heels clicked on the cobblestones that paved the elaborate grounds as Kyle led me into the lobby of resort. This place was spectacular. A huge crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling and the scents of pine cones and nutmeg filled the air. A gigantic Christmas tree still graced the center of the room.

  My pulsed picked up when Kyle checked in and the bellhop led us to our room. Or shall I say suite. There were rose petals on the heart-shaped bed and a fresh bottle of Cristal on the rocks. Why was he spending so much money on me?

  My fingers tingled. Was I nervous? I’d already had sex with this man twice before, but for some reason I felt like this time would be very different.

  He’d set the mood. This would be the first time we made love.

  I had barely turned to face him when Kyle had already pulled me back into his arms. He brushed my hair off my neck and planted a soft kiss there, then on my chest, taking a moment to inhale me. Made sure I was real. I was very real. And this was happening. My hand grasped at the nape of his neck. His mouth turned up to mine and our lips met. Our one chaste kiss turned deeper and harder as the intensity built between us.

  Our breaths picked up speed and he reached a hand around my back and unzipped my dress in a single motion, its fabric pooling on the floor. My mind went fuzzy, not knowing where to put my own hands. One heady grasp of my chin as he cupped it to kiss
my lips and I snapped out of it and went to work on the buttons of his shirt, desperate to see his incredible chest underneath. I pushed the shirt off him and stopped to pause and just stared.

  His eyes sparkled. He was staring right back at me, as I stood before him in nothing but my black lace bra, thong, and heels. “You’re so beautiful, baby. Come here. Let me worship you.”

  Stepping closer, he slowly guided a hand over my body, pausing at the center of my breasts and placed a single open-mouthed kiss on my skin before straightening and tracing the hand down the curve of my back until it landed on my ass. One smack. Two. Swallowing hard, I stared into his eyes and he gave me a smile before he took his other hand and stroked my nipples through my bra. His left hand remained on my bottom as he rubbed the tantalizing burn away. I let out a moan and this only caused him to smirk wickedly, and with one sweep he raised the hand and undid my bra. My exposed skin was on fire.

  My hands undid the belt on his pants and they dropped to the ground. He stood in his boxer briefs and my eyes couldn’t help but focus on his bulge. I was so ready for him, but he continued to tease me. This was sweet torture.

  He placed me sitting on the bed and knelt in front of me. Then brought his mouth to my right breast and took my nipple between his teeth and he lightly grazed it. This slow burn was pure torment for me. I’d been wanting him for so long, imagining our reunion—this was almost unbearable. I could hardly believe we were back together, starting our life together. The man in front of me loved me.

  “You look like an angel. Damn, Sara.” And this was heaven.

  He slowly pulled my panties down as he kissed his way down my inner legs. His teasing was growing more and more torturous as his lips made their way back up my legs. He paused and smirked, giving me small bites across my thighs, before kissing the final stretch to the top and taking a long lap of his tongue straight up my center.