Night with a Seal (Hot SEALs #1)

by Cat Johnson

  The commander dismissed them, and the unit moved out of the room. It wasn’t until they’d reached their quarters that the grumbling began.

  “Announce ourselves?” Zane’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Are they kidding?”

  Sitting on the edge of his rack to yank off one boot, Thom let out a puff of air. “We might as well forget about the night missions and just walk up to the front door in broad daylight.”

  “Better yet, let’s just drop them a letter. Let ’em know when we’re fixin’ to come. Then maybe they’ll all relocate and we won’t have to go at all.” Brody shook his head, and then glanced at Jon. “You’re awfully quiet. Don’t tell me you have no opinion on this bullshit.”

  Jon had plenty of opinions, but not one would do them any good. He shrugged. “Let’s just get out of this shithole and back to the states alive.”

  His goal was getting home before the good idea fairy made a casualty out of him. After that, he’d have to see. Until then, he’d take it one day at a time. He’d done it before.

  Sometimes, when surviving even a single day seemed too overwhelming, it was more like one hour at a time. Jon flashed back to BUD/S, when his future as a SEAL depended on both physical and mental endurance and the instructors made sure to test both beyond the limits. He remembered making deals with himself on a daily basis—just get through until lunch. Then, after he accomplished that, he’d think I just have to make it until dinner.

  Hell Week deprived the candidate of sleep until some men hallucinated, put them in the cold ocean water for so many hours they nearly reached the point of hypothermia, but they always were fed in exchange for their efforts. That they’d get even a short break in the torturous training to eat was the one thing he’d depend on and he’d held on to that knowledge like a life preserver.

  Sad that in light of how he was feeling right now, those seemed like the good old days.

  Jon forced his mind to brighter things. “I got an email from Rick.”

  Grant glanced up. “Yeah? What’s up with him?”

  “He and Darci are having a New Year’s Eve party. He says if we’re home in time, we’re all invited.”

  Zane let out a snort. “Hope he doesn’t expect an RSVP. We’ll know when we’ll be home about the same time we touch down.”

  “You ain’t kidding.” Brody laughed as his gaze cut sideways to Jon. “So, he’s still living with Darci?”

  “Seems like.” Jon nodded.

  Brody nodded but didn’t comment, even though Jon had fully expected some razzing about Rick living with his little sister. That had Jon wondering. Was Brody more interested in Rick’s current living situation or Darci’s? Definitely an intriguing concept since Brody and Darci had always been polite with each other, but that was it. Brody’s brother Chris, on the other hand, teased the girl relentlessly, like a schoolboy pulling the pigtails of the girl he liked. Maybe Brody was inquiring on behalf of his brother. Interesting.

  Thoughts of Darci brought up memories of Ali, which happened far too often for Jon’s liking considering he’d been the one to set the limits between them. One night of fun. No communications afterward.

  Even so, when Jon had first arrived in Afghanistan, he’d half expected to find an email from Ali waiting on him. He figured it would be easy enough for her to wrangle his email address out of Rick by way of Darci. Then again, he sensed she was smart so she and Darci could probably figure out his email all by themselves. If Ali inserted his name in lieu of Rick’s in his old military email address, she’d come up with Jon’s. It wasn’t as if the government used a real tough code to create those addresses.

  But there’d been no email, or letter, or care package. Crazy as it seemed, he couldn’t deny the undercurrent of disappointment he felt that she’d actually stuck to their agreement.

  Maybe she was pissed at him for running out so fast that night.

  The memory of her on her knees by the door, big hazel eyes staring up at him as she deep-throated him, had a long unsatisfied need surfacing from deep within. Over five months later he could relive that night in his mind with such vivid, visceral recollection it made him weak in the knees. Of course, it had been five sexless months spent in a comfortless hellhole, so that could be part of the problem.

  Once he was home, Jon figured he’d be able to get his head on straight. But when he thought about getting back to Virginia, he didn’t think about hitting the bar his first night and seeing who he could bring home, like Zane probably would.

  Jon wasn’t going back to his wife like Grant was, or to his kids like Thom. When Jon thought of getting off that bus on base, getting into his truck and heading somewhere for his first night back, he thought of Ali. Pictured driving to her house. Knocking on that front door she’d forgotten her key to. Kissing her silly while backing her up all the way to the bedroom where he’d spend the next eight or so hours taking her every way a man could . . .

  And now he was hard as a rock. In the middle of the sleeping quarters while surrounded by the guys.

  This wasn’t good. He’d had plenty of sex with women over the years, so why was this one different?

  It had to be because he’d only had that one night. Usually he’d stick it out for a little while, keeping it casual but monogamous, and then something or another would make him break it off. He’d never had that opportunity with Ali. That time to see the flaws, the insurmountable issues.

  Maybe that’s exactly what he needed. More time with her so he could get her out of his system.

  His dick sure liked that plan. It hardened to the throbbing point.

  “I’m hitting the showers.” Jon announced it to the room in general.

  He and his team worked opposite hours of most of the rest of the camp since their missions often depended upon the cover of darkness, but the post-op bullshit had taken so long it was now mid-morning. He hoped to God the showers were empty this time of day. He needed to relieve this pressure somehow and even with a shower curtain to shield him, he’d prefer privacy while he did it.

  CHAPTER 8

  The door swung wide and the warm glow of the lights inside flooded the doorstep where Ali stood thinking that she should have remembered to wear gloves.

  “Ali, hi.” Darci smiled. “Happy New Year!”

  “Happy New Year to you too.” Ali accepted Darci’s greeting and hug with a smile, all while balancing the tray of cookies in one cold hand. “Where should I put dessert?”

  “On the counter is great. Thanks.” Darci backed away from the door. She eyed the tray covered in clear wrap as Ali walked by. “Mmm, those look really good.”

  “Thanks.” Ali had become quite a baker, thanks to the lack of other distractions in her life—such as a boyfriend.

  She’d also put on another five pounds. One of the unsung gifts of the holiday season. Tomorrow, along with the rest of the country making resolutions, she’d go on a diet. Until then, there was no use worrying about it. It was a holiday.

  Darci, of course, never seemed to gain weight for any reason. Ali pocketed her envy and took in Darci’s slinky black dress and higher-than-high heels. “You look nice.”

  “Thank you. I figure you can’t go wrong with basic black, right?”

  Ali raised one brow. “Right.”

  Not if basic black was also cut low in the front to emphasize what little Darci had there, pushed up to the limit by a bra that was working miracles.

  Her best friend was dressed to impress. To impress who was the question. Ali intended to find out. “So, who’s coming?”

  Darci’s grin told her the answer. Ali’s eyes popped wider. “No.”

  “Yes.” She nodded, grinning wider. “They landed in the States yesterday and they should be back to base in time to get here for tonight.”

  As her brain swirled with a kaleidoscope of thoughts and emotions, Ali knew she had to say something in response to the news that Darci had dropped like a bomb. All she could manage was, “Wow.”

  The siblings had bee
n hinting that there was a good chance Rick’s former team would be stateside some time around now, but even as a civilian Ali had been friends with Darci long enough to know scheduled troop movements changed often, sometimes delayed by weeks. Maybe that was on purpose, to keep everyone in the dark since theoretically no one should know when or where the units were traveling.

  It seemed to Ali a whole lot of people knew, at least general information, if not specifics.

  None of that mattered. What did matter—what had Ali’s heart suddenly pounding—was that she might be seeing Jon again.

  It had been six months, almost to the day. She hadn’t heard hide nor hair from him since he’d nodded goodbye to her at the front door on July fourth.

  How was she going to act around him? Casual was a given, but should she be aloof and uninterested? Or flirty and fun but without any expectations? It seemed beyond her to be around the man who still affected her as if she’d been with him only yesterday.

  Six freaking months. Her body and mind should have moved on. But the dreams she occasionally had featuring one sexy dark-haired man and his soaring angel wings of ink—dreams that had her waking feeling needy—told another story.

  “Drink?” Darci’s question dragged Ali away from the turmoil happening in her own head. “We have wine, champagne, beer. Soda, vodka, bourbon and some expensive scotch that smells like rotting dirt that Rick likes.”

  Ali eyed all the bottles on the counter and the big stainless bowl she’d seen Darci use for salad, which tonight contained ice and assorted white wine, champagne and beer bottles. “Champagne is good. Thanks.”

  In light of who was coming, Ali would need a big one, and for Darci to keep ’em coming.

  Like a bartender, Darci stood on the other side of the kitchen island behind rows of clean glasses and reached for the open bottle of champagne. “Rick wanted to bring the big red cooler inside, but I told him no. So don’t worry, we have plenty of everything on hand. It’s just outside on the deck.

  “This looks much nicer for a party. And I can help keep an eye out and refill it, if you need.”

  “Thank you. See? I knew a woman would understand.” Darci shook her head. “Men.”

  Men, indeed. Ali wished she had a man to be exasperated about. Even if he were a brother. Especially if he was a brother who came with a posse of hot best friends like Rick did.

  Standing on the other side of the island where Darci had the bar set up, Ali glanced across the kitchen at the clock on the microwave. “What time are you expecting . . . everyone else?”

  “We told people around seven-thirty. Rick invited a couple of guys from the power plant too, so it wouldn’t be a pitifully small party if our surprise guests somehow didn’t make it. But last reports looked pretty good they’ll be here.” Darci grinned.

  Ali processed that information. She’d arrived a little early in case Darci and Rick had needed help setting up. It wasn’t lost on her she’d yet to offer any help as she noticed one host seemed to be missing. “Where’s Rick?”

  “Out buying more ice.” Darci handed Ali the glass she’d just poured, and grabbed the second. “It’s not like we could ask the guys to stop at the store on the way over and get us ice after they only stepped foot on US soil less than twenty-four hours ago.”

  That comment brought Ali’s attention back to the subject of Jon, and her mixed feelings over seeing him. “So it’s certain then? They’re definitely coming tonight?”

  “Yeah, I think so. I heard Rick talking on the phone this morning and it sounded like the guys were boarding a plane up north somewhere to get back here. Unless something happened that they couldn’t take off, they should be back by now. The single guys like Zane and Jon, should all be here, but I’m not sure about the guys with families. I’m sure Grant’s wife has plans. And Thom might want to go straight to see his kids.” Darci shrugged.

  Ali tried to process that she would indeed be seeing her one-night stand again. Fresh from deployment. Her heart thundered as she wondered if a second one-night encounter six months after the first still counted as a one-night stand or not.

  Would it be for only one night this time? Jon wasn’t going to be on his way out of the country like last time. Would he want something more?

  Ali knew from being friends with Darci that even when not deployed, Rick had traveled a lot. He said it was for training, but they suspected that sometimes it was for missions. Missions the general public wasn’t meant to know about. On those occasions, even close family members were kept in the dark.

  That secrecy and uncertainty would make it tough to have a relationship, but some guys in the teams managed to do it. Have wives and kids, even.

  Funny how back in July Ali had told Darci she wasn’t interested in any relationship with any SEAL, and here she was trying to figure out how to have one with Jon. What a difference one hour of incredible sex could make, especially when blown out of proportion by six months of fantasies about it.

  The front door opening startled Ali. She spun to see Rick standing in the doorway. He bent to grab a plastic bag full of ice in each hand, and then shouldered the door closed behind him. “Wasn’t easy getting this. The first place I went to was sold out. Frigging insane you can’t find ice this time of year. It’s not like it’s beach weather.”

  “No, but it is probably the biggest party night of the year.” Darci moved forward and took the bags from him. “I’ll throw these on the back deck. It’s cold enough that they should keep fine.”

  Rick nodded and walked to where Ali stood. “Hey, girl. You look nice.”

  “Thanks.” She’d gone with basic black herself, but unlike Darci’s dress, Ali’s covered a bit more skin. Of course, that was because Ali had more skin to cover than Darci did.

  Rick dropped a kiss on her cheek and Ali had to think how convenient it would be if she could just have feelings for Rick, or him for her. He was nice and cute, and he had a good-paying civilian job with benefits and a pension plan. But alas, Darci’s brother had become like the brother Ali never had, and all three of them were happy with that.

  Sad that those last criteria Rick possessed were right up there with the first in Ali’s check list of what made for a good man. She felt like an old woman thinking about pensions and health plans as she got closer to the big three-zero.

  The sliding back door slammed closed and Darci came back into the house. “Damn, it’s cold out there.”

  “If you’d put on some clothes and dress like it’s almost January, you won’t be cold, now would you?” Rick reached for a beer bottle and twisted the cap off while shooting Darci a look.

  She wrinkled her nose at him. “Oh, shut up. It’s a party and it’s nice and warm in here.”

  It was nice and warm in the house, and when a knock on the front door had them all turning Ali realized that if who she suspected was standing on the other side it was about to get a whole lot warmer.

  “I’ll get it.” Rick shot a glance over his shoulder. “Get that scotch ready. If it’s the team, we’re going to need it.”

  She saw the direction this night could take and it only twisted her insides with more nerves and need. Jon would be drunk on scotch, sexually deprived from a six-month deployment in the war zone, happy to be home and alive. Ali would be just as sexually deprived and a bit tipsy on champagne herself, with no one to kiss at midnight.

  Why didn’t Rick just present Jon to her naked on a silver platter? She was already salivating like she was a starving woman and Jon was the only meal in sight.

  Bracing herself, she donned a smile and watched as Rick pulled open the door. “Dude. Good to see you back in one piece.”

  “Takes a lot to kill me. You know that.” Rick’s bulk blocked the entrance, but there was no mistaking the voice of the man at the door who’d replied.

  “Come on in. I got some beer cold and the scotch is ready to be poured.” Finally, Rick moved out of the way and Jon was there in view.

  “Oh, bro. Let me get somet
hing in my stomach before I start on the scotch.” Jon held up the six-pack he’d carried in. “I grabbed this at the gas station on the way over. Sorry, it’s not much. There were slim pickings.”

  “Don’t be silly. You being here is enough, but thanks.” Rick took the six-pack from Jon’s hands and swung the door shut.

  From the kitchen, Darci called out, “Hey, Jon.”

  Jon, dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt with no coat, moved farther into the room. “Hi, Darci. Happy New Year.”

  “To you too. Hot hors d’oeuvres are coming out of the oven now, and a lasagna is going in for later.”

  “Sounds good.” Jon’s gaze moved from Darci and Ali saw the exact moment he noticed her standing off to the side. He smiled and set her heart fluttering as he came closer until he was standing right there next to her. “Hey. Fancy meeting you here.”

  “Hi. Welcome home.” It was all Ali could do to respond as her throat clenched.

  “Thanks. How have you been?” he asked.

  “Good. Good. Thanks.” She sipped her champagne for lack of anything else to do with her hands or her mouth.

  “Good to hear it.” Jon turned toward Rick to accept the beer bottle he’d handed him, and that was it. The moment was gone. Not that it had been much of a moment to begin with.

  If this stilted attempt at small talk was how the whole night was going to be, she was going to need a refill. She blew out a breath and caught Darci watching her.

  Ali put down her glass and moved around the island, into the kitchen area. “Need help with those hors d’oeuvres?”

  Darci eyed her with more interest than the question warranted but finally nodded. “Sure. The platter is on the counter. Let me grab a potholder and get them out of the oven.”

  Jon and Rick moved out to the deck, presumably to stow in the cooler the six-pack Jon had bought. When Jon’s overwhelming presence was out of the room, Ali could think again. The way he made her feel, an evening filled with bits of casual conversation and not much else was probably best for everyone involved.