by Susan Stoker
He’d reverted back to shades of the person he’d been when he’d first started attending the special school. But Kiera had confidence he’d bounce back quickly.
Without looking up, Frankie slowly signed, “I was scared when my mom came to take me away. But Ms. Kiera was suddenly right there with me. She didn’t let me be taken.” He looked up then. “I love you.”
Kiera’s eyes filled with tears and she smiled at the little boy. “Come here,” she signed. He got up and came over to her. Kiera pulled him into her lap, put her arm around him, and signed to him, and the rest of the class.
“I love you all. You are special to me. I will always do everything I can to keep you safe.”
Frankie turned in her arms and ran a little finger over the worst scratch on her face. It was scabbed over and bruised, but she didn’t even feel his gentle touch. “You got hurt.”
“So did you,” Kiera said, touching his upper arm gently where she knew he had bruises from the tight grip his mom had on him.
Suddenly, he smiled. A smile so wide she was momentarily blinded. “We used our secret language.”
Kiera grinned back at him. “Yes, we did.”
“I like it.”
“You like to sign?”
He nodded. “I can talk to people without anyone knowing what I am saying. Like you did when you told me to run. Like Cooper and his friends do.”
Kiera wanted to laugh and rejoice in the resilience of children, but she needed to get a word of caution in before she did. “It’s not nice to talk about people when they don’t understand. You don’t like it when people talk in front of you and you can’t hear what they’re saying, do you?”
Frankie shook his head.
“It’s the same sort of thing, sweetie. Don’t ever be a bully and make fun of people or purposely talk about them when they don’t understand.”
“But if we need to, like when my mommy stole me, it’s okay?”
“Yes, in emergencies, it’s okay.”
“Okay,” he signed, then squirmed to get off her lap.
“Anyone else want to share anything before recess?”
As if she’d said the magic word, all the kids leaped up from their spots on the floor and ran toward their cubbies.
Kiera laughed, knowing that would be their reaction. Remarkably, even though Frankie had been taken from the playground, the other children didn’t seem to have any aversion or reluctance to go outside. The adults, however, were another matter.
The principal had made sure all of the gates were locked the very next day and was making plans for even more security. It had been a rude awakening for a school that hadn’t ever had any violence directed toward it, but danger was always a threat and should be mitigated as much as possible. He apologized to Kiera for being reactive rather than proactive, but she’d told him he had nothing to be sorry for. No one could’ve predicted Frankie’s mom would’ve done what she did.
Kiera felt an arm curl around her waist as she stood at her windows watching the kids run around outside. Frankie and the others might be okay with being on the playground, but she was having a harder time.
“Good afternoon, sweetheart,” Cooper said into her ear.
Kiera relaxed back into him. “Hey, how’d your meeting with Patrick go?” She turned in his arms and rested her hands on his chest.
“Really good. He listened to my entire presentation, all twenty minutes of it, without a word. I was sweating bullets, thinking he was merely humoring me and he was about to tell me I wasn’t qualified, or that it wasn’t a good idea.”
“And?” Kiera asked when he paused. “What did he say?”
“He said the job was mine as soon as I opened my mouth. Bastard made me go through my entire presentation for nothing.”
Kiera grinned up at Cooper. “I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks. But don’t be proud yet. I haven’t even started.”
She shook her head. “You’ve come a really long way, Cooper. You told me yourself that you had no idea what to do when you retired. Now you’re learning sign language, really quickly as a matter of fact, and you made your own job as a consultant to the SEALs teaching them that language. It’s amazing.”
He shrugged. “The longer I thought about it, the more I realized it was really important for the SEALs to all be on the same page when it came to our signals. I’ve seen Wolf and his team talk with each other via signals and didn’t understand anything they were saying. The same with Swede. When we were playing with the kids that day, I was trying to signal him to go one way and he had no clue what I was trying to say. I know a lot of the teams stay together for a long time, but sometimes they don’t. It would be so much easier if the signs everyone used were the same. Especially if we needed backup in the field.”
“I love you,” she told him.
“I love you too,” he returned. “And I have a present for you.” He loosened one hand from around her waist and moved it to one of his front pockets. “Hold out your hand.”
She did. He placed a plastic device in her palm, and Kiera blinked down at it in confusion. “Uh…thanks…what is it?”
Cooper chuckled. “It’s a glass popper.”
She nodded in understanding. “Like the one you used?”
“Yup. It fits nicely on a key ring. You never know when having a little device to easily break a car window will come in handy.”
“Thank God you had yours in your pocket when you came after us,” Kiera mused, still looking down at the lifesaving device in her hand. “It wasn’t like he was going to open the door and let you in.” She told him something he knew.
Cooper didn’t say anything but instead returned his hand to her lower back and pressed her into him. “Move in with me.”
Kiera’s gaze whipped up to his. “What?”
“Move in with me,” he repeated. “We’ve been living together for the past week or so and dating for the last couple months.”
“Are you asking because of what happened?” she asked gently. “Because that was a fluke thing.”
“Yes and no,” he told her. “When I realized that it was you in the back of that car, I swear my life flashed in front of my eyes in a way it never had before. I’ve been in tight spots in the past, but nothing had prepared me to come face to face with the reality of my life without you. I’m not an idiot, I know either one of us could be in a car accident and killed tomorrow. We could get sick, a crazed terrorist could blow up an airplane we just happened to be in, or we could die a hundred other ways. But I want to spend as much time with you as possible. I want to hear your laughter before I go to sleep each night and I want your beautiful blue eyes to be the first things I see when I wake up each morning. I think you more than proved you can take care of yourself last week. I just can’t imagine not spending the rest of my life with you, and I want the rest of my life to start as soon as possible.”
“Yes,” Kiera said as soon as he finished speaking.
“Yes?”
“Yes,” she repeated. “I’ll move in with you. I love you. I’ve loved being with you every night and morning over the last week. I crave it.”
They smiled at each other for a long moment before Cooper said, “I’m going to ask you to marry me, you know.”
“Good. I’m going to say yes.”
“Swede says he wants us to come to Montana and visit him and Allie. And he promises that it’ll be more laid back than his vacation down here was.”
Kiera burst out laughing. She liked Swede. Not only did he help come to her rescue, he was funny and down to earth. And with the stories he told about his wife, she had a feeling she’d like her too. “I’m sure I can get a few days off. It’s not like the principal is gonna deny me,” she said with a grin.
“I love you, Kiera Hamilton. You scared ten years off my life last week.”
“I think they were scared off of me too,” she admitted. “Thank you for coming to my rescue. In case I haven’t told you yet.”
; “Only eighty times,” Cooper teased.
They heard the kids entering the hallway, coming in from recess.
“Looks like break time is over,” Kiera said unnecessarily. “I’ll see you at home?”
“Home. I like that,” Cooper said. “Yeah, you’ll see me at home.”
He kissed her quickly before the kids came into the room, then pulled away. He greeted each child as they entered and headed for the door. Kiera watched as he turned in the doorway. He signed “I love you” to her, then turned to Frankie and gave him a small chin lift.
The little boy returned the gesture, grinning from ear to ear.
Kiera smiled, knowing Frankie would be okay. And so would she. Bruises would fade, as would the memories of the week before, but her love for the gentle, badass former SEAL, who by some miracle loved her, would last a lifetime.
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If you have enjoyed this story, be sure to pick up Elle James’ book, Bride Protector SEAL…which is Swede and Allie’s story.
Also be sure to check out the rest of the SEAL of Protection Series, beginning with Protecting Caroline…which is currently FREE.
And if you liked Cutter, the administrative assistant to Patrick Hurt in this book, pre-order Protecting Dakota …which is his story and will be out in September!
PROTECTING DAKOTA Blurb:
Dakota James's life has become the stuff of nightmares. The leader of the Ansar al-Shari'a terrorist group has become obsessed with her, determined to take her as his wife. On the run, she'll have to pin her hopes on the retired SEAL charged with finding and stopping Aziz Fourati before he can carry out plans to bomb more US airports.
Recently recruited to join a sleeper SEAL team tasked with fighting terrorism on US soil, Slade "Cutter" Cutsinger, with the help of some Special Forces friends, has located the one woman who can identify the deadly Ansar al-Shari'a leader. That was the easy part. Keeping her safe proves more difficult than anyone ever imagined.
When she and her new friend, Caroline, are kidnapped by the terrorist group, Dakota can only pray Cutter and the SEALs will reach them before they're taken out of the country--and away from their men forever.
** Protecting Dakota is a part of the SEAL of Protection Series. It is also in the "Sleeper SEAL" connected series. Each book is a stand-alone, with no cliffhanger endings.
Each book in this multi-author branded series is a standalone novel, and the series does not have to be read in order.
Also by Susan Stoker
SEAL of Protection Series
Protecting Caroline
Protecting Alabama
Protecting Fiona
Marrying Caroline (novella)
Protecting Summer
Protecting Cheyenne
Protecting Jessyka
Protecting Julie (novella)
Protecting Melody
Protecting the Future
Protecting Alabama’s Kids (novella)
Protecting Kiera (novella)
Protecting Dakota (Sept 2017)
SEAL of Protection: Legacy Series
Defending Caite (Sept 2018)
Delta Force Heroes Series
Rescuing Rayne
Assisting Aimee - Loosely related to DF
Rescuing Emily
Rescuing Harley
Marrying Emily
Rescuing Kassie
Rescuing Bryn (Oct 2017)
Rescuing Casey (Jan 2018)
Rescuing Sadie (April 2018)
Rescuing Wendy (May 2018)
Rescuing Mary (Nov 2018)
Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes Series
Justice for Mackenzie
Justice for Mickie
Justice for Corrie
Justice for Laine (novella)
Shelter for Elizabeth
Justice for Boone
Shelter for Adeline
Shelter for Sophie (Aug 2017)
Justice for Erin (Nov 2017)
Justice for Milena (Mar 2018)
Shelter for Blythe (July 2018)
Justice for Hope (TBA)
Shelter for Quinn (TBA)
Shelter for Koren (TBA)
Shelter for Penelope (TBA)
Ace Security Series
Claiming Grace
Claiming Alexis (July 2017)
Claiming Bailey (Dec 2017)
Claiming Felicity (April 2018)
Stand Alone
The Guardian Mist
Special Operations Fan Fiction
http://www.stokeraces.com/kindle-worlds.html
Beyond Reality Series
Outback Hearts
Flaming Hearts
Frozen Hearts
Writing as Annie George:
Stepbrother Virgin (erotic novella)
About the Author
New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author Susan Stoker has a heart as big as the state of Texas where she lives, but this all American girl has also spent the last fourteen years living in Missouri, California, Colorado, and Indiana. She’s married to a retired Army man who now gets to follow her around the country.
She debuted her first series in 2014 and quickly followed that up with the SEAL of Protection Series, which solidified her love of writing and creating stories readers can get lost in.
If you enjoyed this book, or any book, please consider leaving a review. It’s appreciated by authors more than you’ll know.
For more information:
www.StokerAces.com
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