She turned and announced to the little group on the couch her intention to take a walk with him. Wilson, Jeffrey, and Sarah were watching an old Bachelorette episode Jeffrey had starred in. His cousin nodded his head stoically, but Jeffrey gave him a wink and a full on Hollywood smile. Sarah was so engrossed in the program she didn’t look up.
Outside the front door, Danny noticed an old folded blanket and a glass bottle of homemade lemonade sitting on a wicker chair. Birds were chirping in the bright pink bougainvillea vine that had tried to take over her mother’s porch.
“Where are we going, Luci?”
“There’s a little trail to a frog pond I used to walk as a child. I haven’t seen it in years. Maybe the frogs are gone, the water too for that matter, but I want to see it again.
He laced his fingers through hers, and she squeezed tightly, and then let go. He found his arm fit well around her waist, his palm resting on her hip as she took long flowing strides.
A chorus of frog sounds abruptly ended when they walked through some grey-green brush. Luci pulled the reeds aside, and he saw a small pond being fed by a tiny stream.
She laid the blanket out and slipped off her shoes. Danny handed her the lemonade jar and did the same.
“I started coming here when my uncle wouldn’t stop trying to come after me.” She turned her delicate neck, and, with dancing eyes, gave him a warm smile. “This was like my own little secret garden, like the children’s book I loved so much. Do you know it?”
“I’m sorry, no.”
“Well, it’s a story about an unwanted little girl and her two friends, one the son of a servant, who finds solace and health in a secret garden locked away after the death of the mistress of the house. Inside this garden, they are protected by a high wall that also masks the sounds of their play and their laughter.”
Danny was sorry he’d never been told that story.
“I learned about it in school. I took to reading quite early, thank God. I never had parents who told me the legends and ways of our people, Danny. Not like you did.”
He knew he was lucky to have had the influence of his grandfather, something he had to admit he hadn’t realized until the old man was gone.
“I used this place to get away from the harshness and dangers of my world. To a place where miracles happened and people’s souls were healed.”
Danny looked out over the cool water. “Reminds me of some of the fishing holes Grandfather took me to as a child. Wilson would come, too. We’d camp out under the stars. The sky seemed so much bigger then.”
Luci, nodded. “I don’t have memories like that. But Griffin will. He’ll have all that.”
“Yes, he will,” Danny admitted.
A gentle breeze floated by them. A hummingbird hovered over a cactus flower. Several brave frogs resumed their singing.
“He never raped me, Danny, but I felt unsafe and violated just the same. I’m glad I didn’t have to kill him, but you know, I dreamt about it every night.” She pointed to the pond with her outstretched hand. “This place gave me the courage I needed. I knew that some day I would have to deal with Uncle Corwin, and I vowed I’d be strong when that day came.”
Danny wasn’t shocked. The deliberate way she’d handled herself under pressure had indicated to him she’d planned it for years.
“I learned how to shoot a gun, and I learned some self-defense. I knew some day I’d need all of that.”
“I’ll bet. Watching you yesterday, Luci,” he took her hand in his and rubbed the back of her palm with his thumb, “I could see you’d thought about it for a long time.”
Danny wasn’t sure how to bring up what he hoped would be their future.
“Luci, I’ll be going back to San Diego with Jeffrey in a few days. Would you consider coming with us?”
Her answer was immediate. She shook her head.
“I’m not going to leave Sarah here alone.”
“But she has your mom.”
“I can’t ask that of her just yet.”
“Then bring her. Bring them both.”
“I’ll think about it, Danny.” Her honest mouth demanded to be kissed. She was looking up at him, searching his eyes.
“Marry me, Luci,”
“You don’t even know me, Danny.”
“Yes I do. I’ve known you my whole life.”
She traced his mouth with her forefinger. “We’ll see. We’ll see where this takes us, and then we’ll decide. Together.”
“You aren’t going to be able to make me stay away, Luci,” he said as he covered her mouth, tasting her need and the sweetness of her spirit.
“Danny Begay, I have no intention of making you stay away,” she whispered back to him between kisses.
He followed her body as it gently rested against the quilt. Unfastening the latch on her silver and turquoise belt, he took his time unbuttoning her white cotton blouse, each time kissing the flesh he was exposing, parting the sides, and tracing a line from her navel to the bottom of her bra.
Her hands squeezed over his buttocks as she pulled him into her, raising her knee and lifting her skirt so his groin could rub against the soft tissues of her sex. His hands relished the soft skin of her backside. When he drew toward her center, he peeled her panties to one side and pinched her bud, then slipped a finger inside her as she arched to receive him. Her delicate neck craned backward as he kissed down her middle until he dropped his head under her skirt and his tongue found her opening.
He heard the singers again. Thankfully, his grandfather was quiet, but the singers’ sweet song mingled with Luci’s moans as he could feel her strength build with the crescendo of her desire.
Love me, Luci. Can you do this? Am I enough for you?
He climbed on top of her, releasing his pants, then stopped and began to sit up. “I wasn’t prepared. I—”
“Shhh,” she said as she covered his mouth with her three middle fingers, pulling him by the collar against her chest. “The chances are slim right now. Besides, I’ve waited a whole year for this.”
He entered her slowly, watching the emotions cross her face like the white billowy clouds of the Four Corners. Her eyes filled with need the more he rooted deep inside her. She resisted, matching his body’s hardness and strength, and then she melted underneath him, surrendering fully, becoming pliable. He rode her body like a cascading wave, savoring her, bringing her to the brink of release and then changing the tempo, kissing her softly and allowing her to catch her breath. Finally, she demanded more, pulled him deep, as she ground her mound into him furiously.
He vowed he’d convince her in the days ahead that the only place she belonged was at his side. He’d be a father to Griffin. He’d be her lover, her protector, and the keeper of her flame. He’d dedicate his life to giving her more than she’d ever expected or thought she wanted.
There were details to work out. He would be leaving soon for a long workup before his first deployment. But they were just details. He was done with the search to find himself, finding her in the process. This gentle soul and his young son would become the focus of his life. There wasn’t anything to prove and everything to come home to. If she’d take a chance on him, he’d keep his promise and make her feel like the luckiest girl in the whole world. Nothing could keep him from coming home.
Chapter 16
‡
Danny and Jeffrey reported to the SEAL Team 3 building on Coronado, watching as others arrived. They were a contingent of ten newbies—tadpoles, as someone had told them. A tall, blue-eyed man in camo gear came over and introduced himself to the two friends.
“I’m Kyle Lansdowne, your LPO.”
“Special Operator Begay. Glad to be here, sir.” Jeffrey did the same. Their LPO shook both their hands firmly. A tall SEAL to his right introduced himself as Calvin Cooper, Corpsman. “I fix shit, too.” Others stepped in and shook hands with each newbie, one at a time.
“You both from Class 388?” Asked one of the old guys. Some of the newbie
s were medically rolled from Class 386 and a couple other classes.
“Yessir,” both he and Jeffrey answered.
“Parker, we want you to work with Fredo and Rory. Follow everything they do, if you can. Fredo runs our explosives and operates the communications. Does all our hookups and Invisios and shit. Begay, I’ve assigned you to Armando, our shooter. You get to watch an A-1 sniper at your side. You better hope we don’t need him, just like Fredo here, because it means we’re in serious shit.”
“And if you get operated on by T.J., you better hope he sews your ears on frontwards and gets your dick on straight,” Brady boasted.
T.J.’s booming voice shook the air. “Contrary to popular opinion, I don’t do vasectomies or sex changes on weekends.”
Everyone laughed. Danny was relieved by how free-spirited the team was. He could see the respect they all had for LPO Lansdowne. Some of the apprehension he’d had began to dissipate.
Jeffrey was grinning widely, nodding, and shaking hands and fist-bumping the other guys. Team guys had heard about Jeffrey’s invention and wondered if he’d thought about making an action game based on their training. SEALs had been busted for doing so several years ago.
“That’s what they did wrong and it got them busted,” Armando stated.
“Shoot, that’s what all the homies want, Armani. They wanna feel like they’re playing with the big boys,” Fredo quipped.
Danny knew Jeffrey had an answer for them. “Not to worry, guys. I do Zombie Apocalypse. We use all futuristic weapons—cyborgs with lasers embedded in their skulls. My worlds have humans and cyborgs working together to destroy the zombies.”
A brief hush fell over the room as it became clear Jeffrey had instantly become the most popular member on the team. Then everyone started talking at once.
During the weeks that followed, consistent with a protocol they were told they’d get used to, they did a variety of training including daytime jump school, midnight HALO jumps, building search and hostage rescue, and intensive deep water rescue and ship boarding. They also did a week in the Nevada desert “shooting zombies” as everyone started calling it while barreling across the sand in various vehicles at high speed, firing off more rounds than most Marine divisions used in a month. The end of the day exercises began to take on Mad Max proportions when the serious work of the day was done.
When he could, Danny tried to call Luci at home.
He and Jeffrey rented an apartment together with a balcony overlooking the ocean. The rent on the place was more than several of their members’ house payments, and at first, Danny didn’t want to take Jeffrey’s offered generosity.
“You helped get me through BUD/S, big guy. We do this thing, and we do it together. Only thing I won’t do is sleep with your girl. Or change little Griff’s diapers.” Jeffrey’s smile followed just about every statement he made.
“I’d say it was the other way around, Jeffrey. I’d not have graduated without you.”
Jeffrey waved it away.
Their apartment was outfitted with a couple of game machines Jeffrey was beta testing for a Silicon Valley firm and quickly became the hangout for all the newbies and several of the unattached regulars. It was known as the Zombie Bachelor Alliance. The new Alliance members got their frog prints tatted on their forearms, like all of Kyle’s team, but with bloody outlines, indicating they were part of the new Zombie Alliance, not one of Kyle’s old regulars who sported neat little black prints.
Jeffrey even helped Danny with some tickets to fly Luci out for a long weekend before they deployed.
Luci was interested in their life and fit in well with the other SEAL ladies. She especially got close to Mia and Gina, Armando and Fredo’s wives.
Those were some of the best days of Danny’s life. He woke up in the morning, Griffin making a hot, sweaty scene in the middle of their bed, but he liked sleeping with the baby even though he’d have preferred sleeping next to Luci. Griffin was comfortable around him, rewarding him with smiles, his dark eyes dancing. At night sometimes he woke up, and Griffin would be lying there watching him. Although too young to really know, Danny sensed the baby knew he was his father.
They had a beach bonfire with the kids and wives the last night before their travel. Danny noticed it was hardest on the guys who were headed for their fifth or sixth deployment, like Kyle, Cooper, Fredo, and Armando, all of whom were married and had at least one child, most of them two. He wondered how they found the ability to put their families second to the service of their country. It gave him courage to see these men of steel be tender with their kids and ladies, knowing what they were feeling inside. It wasn’t common to lose a SEAL or one of the support teams, but when it happened to a couple of SEALs on Team 5, he understood how it impacted all the Teams. Everyone grieved. All the families were embraced.
Not that that was enough, of course.
“I promise you I’ll come back, Luce. I keep my promises.”
“Danny, just want you to know, I love all this. I can see us living here, doing this. Your friends, the ladies and wives, they’re awesome. I love how all the little ones play together.”
“That’s the way it is. Someone doesn’t come back, everyone else helps out.”
Luci had stiffened.
“Not going to happen, Luce. I’m coming back. I mean it.”
He’d bought a co-sleeper bed for Griffin so he could properly say goodbye to Luci their last night together. Her long, hot body filled all the cracks and fissures in his psyche. His fears were smoothed over with her kisses and the feel of her thighs against his as he loved her all night long. The gentle singing spoke to him in rhythm.
This woman holds your soul, your spirit. Take from her only what she gives. Leave something for her in return. Make her feel the love burning in your heart for her every night until you return. Make her remember. Give her the gift of your dreams of love.
If she was scared, she didn’t show it. In the morning, they lolled in bed. He was stunned when she rolled to the side, picked something up from the lamp table, and handed him a little package, wrapped up in parchment and tied with straw.
“Should I open it?” he asked her as she snuggled up, wrapping her legs around him as he took the packet carefully.
“No. Keep it intact. Hold it close to your heart, Dine man. It contains the pollen of our People, a lock of my hair and that of Griffin’s. We go with you on your great mission. Do not forget us.”
They hadn’t talked about the future. He didn’t want her agreeing to something out of pressure because he was going into harm’s way. But now seemed the perfect time. He turned to lay sideways against her naked body. “Marry me, Luci, when I return. Will you do this?”
“I will wait until you ask me when you return, so I can properly say yes. We have no time now.”
He flipped her up on top of him, holding her hips, allowing her to rub her sex against his groin, which was stiff and becoming stiffer.
“Marry me, Luci,” he said as he found her opening, holding her in place with just the head breaching her peach. He felt her vibration, felt he was at peace, home with her. Wanted to stay one with her forever.
She smiled and leaned over, her large breasts touching his chest, her long hair covering him. She pushed herself harder so his hands could not hold her hips, and she hungrily swallowed him deep between her legs.
“Marry me, Luci,” he said as he began to pump, thrusting up inside her, rocking her pelvis on his thighs. Her eyes were closed, her mouth forming the “Oh” he loved to see as she began to shudder.
“I need you to say it, Luci.”
“Yes, Danny, I am yours. Forever and ever.”
Chapter 17
‡
Djibouti was a much busier place than they’d been told by returning teams, who had spent a lot of time playing video games, doing short training missions, and hours of P.T., or physical training.
Barely a week there and they were called on a Special Ops covert night mission. Th
ey’d flown to Turkey and, with the help of Kurdish fighters took a midnight drop into Northern Iraq to rescue a high-value target and friend of the United States who had garnered some critical intelligence. He’d been a former Iraqi military officer who’d been trained by them on previous deployments, whose family had been slaughtered in the recent bloodshed. The man was buying his freedom and that of the life of his only remaining living family member, a young son four years of age.
They met in an abandoned soccer stadium which gave Yazen and his son, Ali, shelter and occasionally clean water. He even had power from time to time on an intermittent basis, enough to charge a cell phone and other batteries. The Iraqi had constructed a bunker that was impossible to trace from the outside, and only went out at night to forage for supplies, sometimes food.
The Team was waiting for information on extraction once contact had been made with Yazen. The SEALs went out in pairs along with one Kurdish fighter, carefully surveying the surrounding area for bad guys and verifying no one from the village a few hundred yards away was interested in them or the stadium. Several hovels remained of what used to be a sports complex and neighborhood shopping district. Dead animals were left to rot in the streets. Wild dogs roamed, skittish and distrustful of anyone. Goats from untended flocks and chickens survived by eating anything they could and were the onIy animals that looked healthy.
It was planned that the center of the soccer stadium, with pinkish puddles from some chemical spill instead of green lawn, would make a good rendezvous point for the birds.
Danny watched young Ali and wondered about his own son, safe at his mother’s breast. This little boy slept in his father’s arms, covered by a crudely skinned hide on dusty rags and stained prayer rugs.
Later that day, he could read in the boy’s dark eyes the damage from seeing carnage and horrors of war. Yet, he watched as, incredibly, the youngster played with colored rocks and shell casings he found. He would pile them up, sorting by color and size. He began making necklaces from strips of string and leather and colored glass from broken bottles. He made pretend medals with bits of wire, lanyards, guns, and knives small enough for the boy’s tiny hands.
SEAL's Code Page 9