Code Name: Luminous

by Natasza Waters

“You do?”

  “Yes.”

  “Should I ask?”

  “Yes, you should.”

  He scratched his chin and the days’ stubble reminded him he needed to find his razor. “Are you going to tell me?”

  “You’re going to take my virginity.” She did a dramatic about-face, marched across the vast great room, up the stairs into her room, and shut the door with a thunk.

  His mouth smacked shut after gaping for a few seconds. Blinked. Blinked again. “What?”

  Chapter Four

  Tony hammered on the door she’d disappeared behind. “We talked about this, Lumin. I’m not the one.”

  Lumin grinned to herself. He thought he was so darn smart. She didn’t survive Vegas without having some brain cells, nor two years toward a law degree. She quickly removed her clothes, brushed her fingers through her hair, squeezed her cheeks, and then waited next to the door.

  “Lumin, I mean it,” he yelled from the other side. “We’re on the same side here. We’ll, we’ll…hang out, play cards, go for walks…”

  Swiping the grin from her lips, she yanked the door open. “We can do all of that when my mission is complete.”

  “Oh! Oh, shit,” he shouted, and slapped a hand over his eyes, taking a step back. “For the love of God, woman, give me a break.”

  “Remove your hand, Petty Officer Bale.”

  “No,” he barked. “Please, put your clothes back on.”

  “Are you trying to tell me I’m ugly?”

  “No, damn it.” He spun around. “I’m going downstairs.”

  She grabbed the back of his pants and he jerked to a stop. “Turn around, SEAL.”

  “No. No. Fuck no.” His jaw cinched tight. “Sorry.”

  “What is the matter with you? Tell me exactly. I might not live to see tomorrow and I don’t want to die a virgin,” she chirped at him. “Why is it so wrong that I want to know what sex feels like?”

  Tony shook his head vigorously.

  “You’re the one acting like a virgin. Did you send the message about dripping pussies to yourself?”

  Tony grabbed his head with both hands before whipping around, snapping his eyes closed. “Please, just do what I say, and stop using that language. It’s not you.”

  A hefty grin popped onto her lips and she smothered it. Gripping his wrist, she tried to pry his hand from her arm, but although he held on, he didn’t hurt her. “Let go.”

  “Why?”

  “Let go.”

  Slowly he released her and she guided his hand, but as soon as he realized where it was headed, he pulled it back. “Lumin, stop,” he ordered with a firm voice, and opened his eyes to glare at her. “I’m not saying you’re not beautiful. You are,” he stuttered. “I’m not saying I don’t want you. I’m not. I’m telling you I can’t. I won’t. All right. Now stop fucking around, and put your clothes back on.” He flinched. “Shit, sorry. Aw, damn it.”

  Her heart sank with the heavy-handed words and the stern look he poured all over her. Deflated. Definitely embarrassed, she stepped away.

  “Lumin.”

  She closed the door, cutting him off from her. Maybe she didn’t know people as well as she thought. She’d seen desire in Tony’s eyes, but it wasn’t covered in a cheap plastic coating like it always was in the men drifting through Vegas. She quickly dressed and swept up her backpack, adjusted it, and secured the belt around her waist. Pushing open the window, she checked her surroundings. A large tree grew next to the house, and she stepped onto the ledge and grabbed hold. Carefully, she clambered down and jumped the remaining four feet to the ground. Giving her pack a quick wiggle, she headed for the highway. It wasn’t more than a mile or so. Maybe she could hitch a ride. She didn’t want to go back to Vegas. Maybe she’d head north to her brother’s place.

  It didn’t matter. Staying with Tony after he made it clear he didn’t want her, not to mention embarrassing herself, was impossible.

  * * * *

  Tony stood at the door two hours later, hoping she’d cooled off. He knew he’d hurt her, but it was the only option to put things into perspective. She didn’t know what she was asking. Lumin was the kind of woman who needed to offer her innocence to the guy who would love her till death do they part. He was most definitely not that guy.

  “Lumin, come on out. We’ll talk.” He rolled his eyes with the silent treatment. “Lumin, I’m coming in there if you don’t come out. If it’s so damn important, I’ll explain myself. Open up.”

  He ran a hand through his hair, and then reached for the knob. It turned and he grinned to himself. So she wanted him to come to her. Fair enough. He might have to grovel a little…but… “Lumin? Where are you?” A quick scan of the bedroom made him sprint for the bathroom. The curtains fluttered across the open window next to the bed. “Shit. No. Lumin!” He practically threw himself out the window. She’d escaped using nature’s fireman’s pole.

  God damn it. He vaulted down the stairs, snagged his keys off the coffee table, and ran for the front door.

  Sitting in a hick town, three hours later, he absentmindedly spun his cell in circles on the restaurant tabletop.

  “Refill?” the waitress asked.

  “Can I get it to go?” Tony asked.

  “Sure, be right back.”

  He picked up his cell, and then put it down again. He’d done it several times already. How the hell was he going to explain he’d lost his mission in under thirty minutes? Fuck. He fisted the table. He’d texted her, and received one back, it said Forget I called. He’d sent fifty so far and it went from ordering to begging to enticing and back to begging. His cell buzzed and he snapped it up. Shit!

  T-man, how’s it going?

  Was he going to admit to Mace he’d lost her? No. He would find her. He was a friggin’ SEAL. He could find a lizard in the damn desert. He sure as hell could find a beautiful woman in his own backyard. He texted back.

  Great.

  A thumbs up was Mace’s response. While holding his phone another text came in.

  I’m safe. Your mission is over. Stand down.

  He chuckled with the terms she used. She paid attention.

  He texted back. Unless you’re with me, my mission is not over.

  He bit his lip waiting. Talk to me.

  Over.

  Not. I care about you. Not over.

  The seconds ticked by as if covered in sap.

  You’re lying.

  He let out a breath. Will you please answer my call?

  He dialed her number. She answered but didn’t say anything.

  “Please, Lumin. Where are you?”

  “I’m safe, Tony. You can go back to San Diego.”

  “No, you’re safe when you’re with me, but you’re not.”

  “I’ve lived on my own for years. I’m quite capable.”

  He sighed and tried to hold onto some patience, but it was getting harder to do with this woman. In a lot of ways. “I know you are, but there are people looking for you, and I know how to protect someone. I’m the SEAL, you’re the beautiful, delicate…” His fingers drummed on the table. “Why me?” It came out of left field, and it was a stupid question.

  Her breath hitched. “Because you never looked at me like a thing. Because I thought you saw me, not just—the cover.” She paused and then said, “Because you make my heart race and that’s never happened before. I’m not totally ignorant. I read books. I just never experienced it until I saw you for the first time.”

  The waitress placed a large to-go cup in front of him. “Your coffee, sweetheart.”

  He nodded his thanks. What could he say? Truth—for a change. “Lumin, I’m exactly the opposite of what you think I am. I’m a guy who plays the field and never revisits where he’s been, if you know what I mean. I’m the biblical textbook asshole your mother warned you to stay away from. It wasn’t that long ago I was sitting on a beach thinking that I didn’t want to end up like those old retired single SEALs sitting in front of a TV with a
wifebeater on and a fridge full of beer. It lasted all of a week before I was deep inside another woman, and the next night a different one. That’s who I am. That’s—who my father was. We’re the same. That’s just the way it is. You make my pulse beat hard too, but it won’t last, and I’ll hurt you, and I don’t want to hurt you.”

  Ball was in her court. The line remained open, but silent. He drummed his fingers, waiting.

  “No, it’s not. I can read people, Tony. That’s how I’ve stayed out of trouble in a town that’s nothing but trouble. My mother taught me to listen. She told me I could learn things, even things that aren’t spoken out loud.”

  A small smile crossed his lips.

  “You’re smiling now, aren’t you?”

  He blinked with surprise. “Yeah, I am.”

  “When I look in your eyes, I don’t see a sailor or a SEAL. I see a man with a heart who’s trying to hide it from everyone.”

  Tony sat back with a plunk against the bench seat. “Why do you think that?”

  “Because of the way you took the admiral’s words to heart, and they scared you. I saw your expression, and how deeply his words affected you. The way you are with Mace and the other members of your squad. They have your loyalty until the end of your days. That tells me you’re a man with a huge heart, not a cold one.”

  A billowing silence filled him, and it stilled years of clattering doubt that never seemed to shut down. “My father left us when I was five. I found him again in my twenties and asked him why he’d left. ‘I was having too much fun, kid. I like the ladies. What can I say? Didn’t want the party to end.’ He was a cold, heartless bastard.”

  “Maybe he was, but you’re not. My parents are performers through and through. They’ll walk the wire until they can’t anymore, but that doesn’t mean I will. I want to help people. People who don’t have the money to hire an expensive lawyer, but need justice. I am a performer, but I choose not to remain one.”

  A wave of acceptance settled in his chest. Like lying in a pool of warm water, the thin walls he’d erected to keep her away dissolved.

  “Are you hungry?” he whispered.

  “Yes.”

  “Can I take you out for dinner?” He barely breathed the words while his nerves jumped inside him.

  “I’d like that.”

  He chuckled with relief. “Why don’t I pick you up and we can grab something? I know this great ranch. It’s got a lake. A perfect place to have a picnic under the stars. I’m not saying I’ve changed my mind about—things, but…”

  “I’m in Lakeside.”

  Shit, so was he. “Where? Lumin?”

  “Look to your left behind that big trucker with the funny hat.”

  He vaulted out of his seat. She smiled at him from a booth on the other side of the restaurant. God, she was beautiful. He wove his way through the tables and slid in across from her. “I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”

  He looked to the ceiling as if there might be some help up there. A soft, small hand covered his and he looked down at them and then into her eyes. The sea had nothing on her. He could drown in them and love every minute of it. With a gentle brush, he stroked her hair across her shoulder, and leaned over the table to steal the breath from her soul, because Lumin had turned the light on in his.

  * * * *

  The creatures of the night created a symphony for them as they lay on a blanket staring up at the stars beside the lake. Lumin’s eyes followed the green laser beam of light that Tony rolled across the heavens, pointing out the different constellations in the sky. It pierced the heavens and seemed like it actually touched each star.

  “The Navy certainly teaches you a lot of stuff,” she said, and rolled her head to smile at him.

  “I used to wonder why they filled our heads with stuff, too, but eventually I used it in some way.” He rolled onto his side and propped his head in his hand, letting his other hand trace her chin, her cheek, and eventually her lips. Since they’d returned to the ranch three hours ago, he’d given her many first kisses, and he was a lifetime away from stopping. He could sense her impatience, but he wasn’t going to rush a damn thing. Mainly because he hadn’t figured out how he could make the experience pleasurable for her. She was waiting for him to lead the way. “Why do you want to lose your virginity now? I want you to wait.” The next words out of his mouth shocked the shit out of him. “I can wait.”

  She clutched his finger and brought it to her lips and kissed the tip. “I told you why.”

  He chuckled. “You’re not going to die tomorrow. Or the next day.”

  “You don’t know that.” She rolled onto her side to mirror him.

  “Yes, I do.” With a slow brush, his finger traced her collarbone and caressed her sleek arm. She was lean, but her muscles were developed from the strap act she performed.

  “Did the Navy teach you how to be psychic?” she teased.

  While his fingers skirted her arm, he let his thumb graze the fullness of her breast. “In a way. It’s called confidence. Believe in yourself. Believe in your skills. Believe in your team. That’s how you create the future.”

  “Tony, I’ll admit I’m a little nervous, but I want you to show me what to do.”

  This time when he passed his hand down her arm his thumb swept against her nipple, rounding it with a gentle caress. “Tell me what you feel.”

  Her eyes shuttered with his touch, the response under his thumb made him impatient and needy.

  “It aches, but in a good way.”

  He was actually loving this. There was no need for speed, and although he’d been lying there with a stone-shattering erection for the last two hours, he wouldn’t let it possess him or her until she was ready.

  “That ache is going to become a sizzling need, Lumin,” he said, placing a deep kiss on her mouth. With a gentle prod, she opened for him and he let his tongue roam her sweetness. She was uncertain, but not tense. Hesitant for only a few seconds, then she began to explore herself.

  When she laid her head back, he followed. He nibbled at the edge of her mouth and kept tasting until he found the pulse in her neck, licking the strong beat of her heart with his tongue.

  A niggling thought crept into his mind. She is yours. As if she read his mind, she sat up and with one swoop removed her top, then turned her back to him. His hands actually shook as he reached for the clasp. He brushed her wisps of blonde hair away, and slowly unhooked the claws. She vaulted to her feet and drew her shorts and panties to her ankles then stepped out of them.

  His pulse fired on all cylinders, and his heart drummed heavy in his ears. Under the moonlight with the rays catching her straight locks of hair, his eyes had no hope but to become addicted. Totally, overwhelmingly addicted.

  Full breasts like teardrops, a flat stomach with the tiniest hint of tone narrowed to rounded hips and taut thighs. Like Adam and Eve, they had the garden all to themselves. A warm summer breeze blew with a whisk of mountain air to keep them cool, but he still couldn’t get enough oxygen into his lungs.

  “I’ve seen many beautiful women, Lumin, but I’ve never seen exquisite until now.” He rolled to his feet and drew his T-shirt over his head, flinging it to the ground. His body flexed, and her breath hitched in her throat. “I sure as hell hope you know what’s in these pants.”

  She laughed. “Pretty sure I remember a little bit about the birds and bees.”

  He reached for his button and hesitated. Maybe he should keep them on. His need, their need would become primal. Something wild was growing inside him. It wanted to fuck the daylights out of her, but he wouldn’t allow it. For the first time, he was going to make love.

  “Why are you stopping?” Her eyes were like blue cups of light catching what the heavens cast down on them.

  “Because we do this slowly. Come to me.” He swallowed seeing her step without hesitation at his command, and he’d never felt like more of a man than in that second. He began at her neck and his hands glided a breath away from he
r skin, not touching her, just letting the thought seep into her mind that he was close and he would have her. She shuddered, impatient and excited. Finally, his thumbs made contact across her nipples, puckered and perfect.

  She sucked in her breath, her eyes widening even more. Would he find what he hoped he’d find if he carried on? He bent to one knee and raised his eyes to watch her. She followed his hand as it drifted down her body, stopping just above her mons.

  Releasing her gaze was hard, but he leaned forward and brushed his tongue across her fold. With the lightest touch, he circled her flesh, and tasted her excitement. His heart swelled and so did his shaft when she exhaled a perfect little moan. Forking both her hands in his, he laid her down on the blanket and this time showed her the pleasure of his mouth on her breasts.

  Another sigh escaped her lips and she arched into him, squirming as he circled her nipple and sucked it slowly into his mouth. Kissing his way to her thighs, he probed once with a quick kiss on the beautiful nub jutting from her fold, and her fingers dove into his hair.

  “Oh, God,” he hissed. She was so wet her silk dripped down her cheeks in streams. He was going to have to lose his pants soon or he’d have a permanent zipper mark on his skin. Rising to his knees she sat up with a start, and he laughed, kissing her back to the blanket. With a quick hand he freed himself and tossed the pants. “Listen to me,” he kissed her again. “This part is up to you. I’m going to make you feel things you’ve never felt before, but it’s you who has to tell me when you want me.”

  “How will I know?”

  He smiled down at her. “You’ll know. Trust me.”

  She offered him a sweet smile, her hair framing her like a golden mane, and he had no other recourse but to kiss her again. Long and hard. She broke the kiss when his thumb began to strum her wet bundle of nerves and she gave a little cry, closing her eyes. “Look at me, Lumin.” Her eyes flashed open, filled with a sexual fury that drove his heart into hard, pounding beats. He knew what was coming, but she didn’t. Nature was in control, and its need to fuel a man and woman’s prime directive pushed away all thought and allowed touch to steer the course.