SEALed With A Kiss: Heroes With Heart

by Low, Gennita

  Willow quickly moved to do as he instructed, but he shook his head.

  “No, I want you up on your knees. Right here on the edge.”

  A shiver of arousal shuddered through her, and her clit tingled. She shifted to her knees and presented herself to him, arching her back.

  Flynn groaned and swept a finger into her wetness, circling her aroused clit. Willow’s hips shifted with his movements, trying to guide his finger. When he started to rub her with two, she completely melted down. Rocking her hips faster, she reached for the pleasure he offered her, crying out sharply as she tumbled over the edge.

  He waited just a few seconds for the peak of her climax to pass before he guided his length inside her. His timing was impeccable because as he rocked into her, harder and deeper than she’d ever been fucked before, her second orgasm rippled through her. Flynn’s rhythm faltered at the feel of her body gripping his, then increased frantically as his own orgasm rushed at him. As Willow melted into the bed, she felt his body release into her own.

  As they tried to catch their breath, Flynn rolled away from her but kept his arm just barely touching her own. Willow appreciated that. Yes, they were sweaty and sticky and had just had some of the raunchiest sex of her life, but she loved the closeness, and he seemed to enjoy it as well. She didn’t know what his dating habits had been like previously, but he seemed to really enjoy being close. It had been a little difficult getting into his tough shell, but now that she had, she truly enjoyed the man he was showing her.

  She leaned up on her elbow to look down at him, shoving her hair over her shoulder. “You don’t act like you’re hurting.”

  Flynn grinned. “It’s not like I could feel anything else. As soon as I saw you I had to have you. Single-minded determination.”

  Willow laughed and reached out to run her hand down his tight abs, coming to rest near the scar. “This looks like a devastating injury. It’s amazing you can move as well as you do.”

  He rocked his head toward her. In the dim light, his eyes were already shadowed, but the laughter had faded from his expression. She hated to put a damper on the evening, but she wanted to talk to him about some things.

  “It is amazing,” he admitted. “The bullet destroyed a couple sections of bowel, shattered my hip. I was in the hospital for months.”

  Unable to think of anything else to do, she leaned forward and rested her lips against the silver flesh. “I wish you didn’t have to go through that.”

  He shrugged, resting his hand on her back. “At least I came back. A lot didn’t.”

  She continued to rub, debating how to proceed. “Were you injured at the same time as Mace?”

  He blinked at her once before rolling to sit up on the edge of the bed.

  Willow thought she’d pushed too hard. She waited for several minutes and was about to head to the shower when he sighed.

  “Yes, we were injured at the same time. Hell, same bullet even.”

  She crawled to where she could see his shadowed face. “The same bullet? Are you serious?”

  Flynn nodded. “One of those crazy freak things that happen. As SEALS, a lot of times we had bounties on our heads. The dogs, too. As soon as we went outside the fence, we had targets on our backs.”

  Willow stroked her hand over his back, wishing she could ease the pain she heard in his voice. “Can I ask what happened?”

  Broad shoulders rippled with a shrug. “We were heading out on an op. In this quiet little village at night looking for a target. We were easing up when Mace spotted the ambush a few yards away from our position. He’d just started to jump over a pile of trash to engage when the first insurgent fired. The bullet went through the leghole of his vest, shredded his heart, through his belly and hit me.”

  Flynn fell silent for several long moments, his face buried in his hands. Willow crept closer to him and wrapped her arm around his shoulders.

  “I knew as soon as he fell he was gone. It took me a few seconds to realize I’d been hit as well. Then I went down like a ton of bricks. My team carried both of us out of there, fighting the insurgents the entire way.”

  Willow rested her head on his shoulder, tears dripping down her cheeks. “He protected you.”

  Flynn nodded. “If the bullet hadn’t lost some of its momentum before hitting me, my pelvis would have been shattered. I would have bled out before the Medevac could get there. As it was, it hit the ball of my femur, totally obliterating it. They flew me to Landstuhl then to the States, where I had the hip replacement.”

  “How long had the two of you worked together?”

  “Four years,” he sighed. “Three combat tours. Too many individual ops to count.”

  Willow continued to rub his back. What a horrendous event. She could only imagine what would happen if something that traumatic happened to Guinness. Leaning forward, she gave him a smile, trying to lighten the mood. “So, you have a part of him in you. Any urges to sniff crotches or chase balls?”

  He stared at her incredulously for a few seconds before belting out a laugh. Catching his breath, he looked at her again and continued to laugh till tears glistened in his eyes.

  Willow grinned as he wrapped his arms around her. She wanted to hear about his lost partner, but she didn’t want him to dwell on issues that he couldn’t change. Over the past year Flynn had, for the most part, been a pretty dire human being. She would have liked to think she’d begun to thaw him out a little.

  Flynn pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Willow lifted her face and he captured her lips for a long, heartfelt kiss.

  Maya whined outside the door. The emotion inside the room had reached pretty epic proportions, so she probably wanted to be part of it. Willow pulled back enough to look into Flynn’s eyes.

  “I want you to observe something, Flynn.”

  She crossed the room to the door and let Maya in. The dog immediately went to Flynn for reassurance, not for herself, but for Flynn. The dog’s concern was almost palpable.

  “What am I supposed to be observing?” He looked up at her as he stroked Maya’s head.

  “Her reaction to your emotional state. I talked to a buddy yesterday and I think you should consider training Maya to be a state-certified PTSD dog.”

  The movement of his hand on her head stopped and he looked down at the dog, then back up at her in consternation. “What?”

  Willow took a breath. “That dog reacts to your emotional and sometimes physical state. You’ve had a couple of flashbacks since you’ve had her and what has she done?”

  Flynn frowned and shook his head.

  Willow waved her hand at the dog’s current position. “She parks her head within reach of your hand. Even when you sleep and you have dreams, she’s right there with you. It took me a while to figure out that she was reacting to your emotions, not her insecurities.”

  “When we were on the trail,” she continued, “and the rangers came with their lights, you had a flashback. She stayed right there with you, even when you lost the sense of who she was. You called her Mace, but as soon as you touched her, you started to calm.”

  Flynn looked down at the dog beside him, thinking about what Willow had said. Could it be that the dog was reacting to his emotions like that? He tried to remember the flashback on the mountain, but it was a little too foggy. Mace had been there, of course, but he had seemed solid. Had it been because another dog had taken his place?

  He glanced around the room, but Mace was nowhere to be seen. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen him in a couple days.

  Maya looked up at him with her concerned brown eyes. It was a little disconcerting to think that his insecurity had been the motivating factor to her attention, not her own.

  “Are you sure? I haven’t been with her long enough to have developed that kind of bond with her, or she with me. It took Mace weeks to get used to me and for us to build a solid working relationship.”

  Willow shrugged. “They’re different dogs. I’ve watched her, though.
She’s consistent. Nothing shakes her up. Until you get upset. When you get quiet in your mind and something’s going on, she’s right there to be with you.”

  Dragging in a breath, he looked down at the mutt. She stared up at him, unflinching. For the first time in three years, he wanted to have a flashback to see how she reacted. The bad part was, he would not necessarily remember having it. He had been stressed a few times, though, and Maya had come to him without coaxing on his part.

  As if she were reacting to his stress level…

  Flynn sat back, deep in thought. For years he’d been unable to cope with certain situations. Crowds, especially. Crowds at night, even more so. If there were a chance Maya could be trained to help them out there, his life would change. It would be like having Mace back.

  His throat tightened at the thought of his lost companion. Nobody could take his place.

  “Did any of your counselors ever talk to you about getting another dog?”

  Flynn blinked up at Willow, standing a few feet away. “They did, but I was pretty closed off to the idea. I think a couple even talked to me about the PTSD dogs, but I wasn’t interested.”

  Willow gave him an ironic look. “I think she’s kind of decided for you. If she’s that attuned to your personality, you would be a fool not to train her to help you out as much as she can.”

  He frowned, agreeing that it would make sense.

  Did he want to be that dependent on another dog though, that would leave him long before he was ready?

  Willow seemed to understand he felt overwhelmed with the subject, because she smiled and crossed to the bed to drop down beside him. “There’s no pressure and you certainly don’t have to decide anything right this minute. This is just an option that is available to you. I’ll support whatever you want to do.”

  Flynn dropped a kiss to her mouth, appreciating the care he could see in her face. It was more than he’d ever gotten from his family or anybody else. “I’ll think about it. Promise. We need to get ready for work, though.”

  Willow sighed. “I know. Let’s go.”

  Flynn moved through the day waiting to see Mace. The apparition of the dog usually appeared to him at least once a day, but it had been less frequently recently. Duncan could tell he was battling some issues, so he let him off again. Heading home, Flynn tried to let his mind wander. Mace usually appeared out of nowhere.

  As he thought about it, though, he realized that was wrong. Mace had only ever appeared when he felt some kind of stress, either physical or emotional. Jogging, pushing himself in situations, crowds.

  Flynn turned the truck toward Arvada and the pizza restaurant Willow had taken him to. It was almost noon, so the lunch crowd should be growing.

  Luckily he didn’t recognize any of the wait staff. He requested the very back booth and sat against the same wall as before. The waitress came and took his order and disappeared through the door that had caused him so many issues last time. This time, Willow wasn’t here to spot for him. Every time a body plowed through that door, he tensed, ready to fight. None of the staff paid him any attention.

  Flynn glanced beneath the table across from him. No Mace.

  The waitress brought his meal and drink, but he couldn’t touch either one. His eyes scanned the room for threats and he craved the feel of a gun in his hand.

  Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. When he looked over, Mace sat beneath the table across from him. His dark head was cocked as if he were trying to understand what Flynn was doing. Even as he watched, the dog pushed to his feet and jogged out of the restaurant. Flynn dropped cash on the table and followed him out, but once on the bright street, no longer saw the MWD.

  Frustration burned through him. Feeling like a pansy ass in the middle of a restaurant was not how he’d ever envisioned himself.

  Decorated former Navy SEAL found hiding under a table in local restaurant…that news and more at eleven.

  The thought of snapping in the middle of a group of people like that chilled him to the bone. He had no doubt he would kill somebody if it ever happened. The thought of breaking in a group of people like that with Willow present made nausea surge. No way would he allow himself to do that.

  Discouraged, disgusted with himself, he turned for his truck.

  Chapter Seven

  ‡

  Willow waded through a backlog of patients. When the Search and Rescue call had come in, she’d rescheduled as many of the routine appointments as she could. Now it was time to play catch up.

  Not that she minded the work. She was just worried about Flynn. He’d seemed a little shell-shocked when she told him about Maya. And honestly, if she’d been in the same situation, she probably would be too.

  A dog like Maya came along only once in a great while, and there was still the chance that if they did send her to be trained, she would not pass the tests for certification. That worry was so minor, though. She was already doing exactly what Flynn needed. Getting Flynn to accept her as a therapy dog would be the big thing.

  Five o’clock rolled around and her excitement began to build. Would Flynn be over tonight?

  She checked on the animals one last time and was about to leave the office when an emergency call came through. A Chihuahua had had an altercation with a door. She had no choice but to wait for the owner to bring the little dog in. Nicky waited along with her, and she was glad for the assistant’s help when they had to put pins in the tiny little leg to hold the break together.

  It was past seven o’clock by the time Willow headed down the paver path to her house. The dogs were so happy to see her. As she let them through the gate into the exercise yard, she grabbed up a couple of tennis balls. They would play for a while, in spite of her tiredness.

  When Flynn didn’t show by eight, she went ahead and ate dinner by herself. Maya watched the door and paced, just as anxious as she was. Willow debated sending him a text message, but tossed the phone away. If he wanted to talk to her, he would.

  Half an hour later she picked up the phone again, unable to keep her worry in check.

  Maya misses you, she typed out.

  She plugged the phone back into the charger then cleaned up her dinner mess. When it buzzed on her counter a few minutes later, she forced herself to walk calmly across the floor.

  I miss her too.

  She grinned at the response, the same one she’d given him days ago.

  But I miss you too, he continued. Can I come over?

  Willow frowned at the question. Of course you can!

  Why hadn’t he just come over? Weren’t they beyond the tentative beginning stage?

  The fact that he felt the need to ask her was worrisome. Maybe she just felt like she was further along in the relationship.

  While she waited for him to come over, she started a load of laundry. And puttered around the house. Brushed her teeth.

  Maya gave an excited yelp when she heard the back door open. Willow got there just a few seconds later, but stopped at the jamb until she could see what kind of mood Flynn was in.

  Dressed in running shoes, t-shirt and shorts, she had an idea where he’d been. As he looked up, eyes dull with tiredness, she had to shake her head. “Why do you keep doing this?”

  His grin flashed for a moment before he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. Willow buried her nose against his neck, pressing a kiss there, but pulled away to frown up at him. “You don’t smell very good. Hot shower time?”

  He nodded gratefully. “Join me.”

  Willow smiled. “I’d be happy to.”

  They left a trail of clothes all the way to the bathroom, then had to stand on the cold tile and wait while the water warmed. Flynn used the time to run his hands over her ass and around to her belly. “I love your shape. You’re so soft and welcoming.”

  That was one of the sweetest things anybody had ever said to her.

  It was so strange. She appreciated his hard, cut-muscled shape, but he appreciated her softnes
s. They were a pair.

  Willow was taken aback at how thoroughly Flynn paid attention to her that night. He washed her hair and body, dried her completely, then tucked her into bed. Disappointment filled her when she realized he planned to go to sleep, but concern for him outweighed it by a mile. He’d been running from ghosts again and was worn out.

  Maybe someday he would tell her about his ghosts.

  When they woke in the morning, his somber mood was gone. They made love like she’d wanted to last night, and it was as wonderful as all the other times they’d done it. But he seemed to have something weighing on his mind.

  Willow took another shower and started to dress for work. Flynn met her on the patio with scrambled eggs and toast. “Wow. Thank you! I was just going to grab a banana but this is much better.”

  They sat at the patio talking about what they had planned for the day, but Flynn avoided the topic of training Maya.

  “And you need to know,” Willow told him, “that you are welcome here at any time. I can give you a key, too.”

  Flynn frowned at her, his gray eyes narrowed. Willow felt like she’d blundered somehow. “You don’t have to come over, but I want you to know that you can. That’s all I’m saying.”

  Some of the strain left his face. “I appreciate that, Willow. I better get going.”

  They gathered up their dirty dishes and put them in the dishwasher. Willow turned her face up for a kiss and Flynn pulled her into his arms, squeezing her between the counter and his hips. Though they’d made love less than an hour ago, she could tell he was ready again. When she lifted her brows he grinned at her. “What can I say? You bent over to drop your plate in and all thought disappeared.”

  She wiggled against him. “I guess so. If I had more time I would take you up on this.”

  “I have a lot of making up to do, so you’d better be ready later.”

  Heat swamped her body and hardened her nipples. Flynn’s need was the most potent aphrodisiac she’d ever encountered. Made even more thrilling because he’d opened up only to her.