by Aliyah Burke
The devil rode her hard and it took so much for her to keep that request from escaping. She swallowed. “You said we had plans.”
αβ
Bennett watched the woman beside him as she gazed over the view while hiking in the Koolau Mountains. The sun gleamed off the blonde streaks in her hair. The longer he watched, the deeper he fell. She was a woman he could see spending the rest of his life with. Easily.
He wanted to share this with her and was glad that she’d not backed down, not even with her hangover. He knew it still bothered her, but she was with him, not complaining.
And his mind continually drifted back to her comment about debating if she had time to masturbate. Christ, she was keeping him aroused all the time.
He loved the awe in her expression as she looked up at the view. He followed her stare. The vibrant greens sliced by the numerous waterfalls streaming down. The mist above that hiding some of the peaks.
“I’ve lived here nearly five years now,” she said, not taking her attention from the view. “And I still see new wondrous things. Thank you for this. For bringing me here.”
“I’m glad you came with.” He stepped closer to her and draped his arm around her shoulder, squeezing lightly.
“Do you ever sit there and wonder how you got so lucky to be here? On this island?” She rested her head against his shoulder. “I mean, like why did you pick this island over the other ones? They’re all spectacular. How did you settle on Oahu?”
Capturing her hand, he led her along the barely there trail. “I grew up on this island. My mother still lives here. As do my uncles.” He gave a short bark of laughter. “All five of them.”
“Big family.”
She stopped to smell a flower. He thought she may try to pick it, but she didn’t, just gave it a sniff and continued on.
“You said the other night that you had been thinking about your father. And that you’d never met him. How did he die?”
“He was in the Navy as well. According to my mother, they’d just gotten married when he was deployed. She found out she was pregnant and he was looking forward to coming home and meeting me but he never did.”
His chest tightened and he ignored the urge to rub it.
“I was raised by my mom and uncles and joined the Navy at eighteen. Went into the SEALs until I was injured and couldn’t serve any longer.” More bitterness. “I was having a hard time settling back into civilian life and Mom said I should come home. So, I did. Been here ever since. And this island…I can’t see myself living on the others. I happily visit them but this one is my home. The others feel, I don’t know, different to me.”
“I’m sorry for everything. Losing your father and not being able to serve your country any longer.”
They paused by the base of a smaller waterfall and she crouched, tugging free of his hand to dip her fingers in the rushing water.
“Like I said, hard to miss what you don’t know.”
She hopped out onto the first rock and continued from rock to rock until she got to the other side. Ellie faced him, hands on her hips.
“I lost my father too, Bennett. And I will respectfully disagree with you. I know it’s a personal feeling on how it affects you, but to me, seeing the other children with their parents and not having them, it was hard.”
He traversed the rocks and landed with ease beside her. “You said parents, not father.”
“Speaking in a general sense.”
“Ellie?”
“I had my mom growing up. And I had Piper’s parents. But it wasn’t the same. I was always the girl with no father.” She gave an easy shrug. “It was hard and I missed having one, even though I never knew what it was like.”
He saw it from her point of view. Tipping up her face, he brushed their lips together. “I’m sorry you’ve lost your parents. Who’s Piper?”
“Thank you, and she’s my best friend in the whole world. Been trying to get her to come see me here but she won’t leave Kansas. I mean, look at this place. How can you refuse to leave a flat nothing and never come to see this beauty?”
“Perhaps she doesn’t like to fly.”
She shook her head. “No, she won’t leave her shop. She’s a control freak and doesn’t want to risk anything happening with her not being able to get there in five minutes to fix it. She’s like a female version of Dogfish, only nicer and cuter.”
He laughed. “Does she know about Dogfish and that you are comparing the two?”
“Nope and she won’t find out either.”
He dipped his head in closer to hers. “Is that a threat?”
“Promise.” She pushed him back and carried on. “Tell me what injury you sustained to keep you out of the Navy?”
A cold chill skated up his spine, but he bit back his instinctive no. He wanted to share with her. How could he justify moving forward with a relationship if he wasn’t willing to talk about this?
He found a rock and sank to the cool surface, allowing his boots to trail in the water. It wasn’t that high and he didn’t really care if his boots were wet, they were prepped for being in water. Ellie joined him but he didn’t look in her direction, merely picked a spot off in the distance and fixed on it.
“We were in a hostile environment to exfil…well, anyway. It wasn’t a safe place. We’d gotten our package and were humping it to our exfil point when we stumbled onto an ambush, led to it by the guide we’d been using for months.”
She gasped and took his hand in hers.
“During the firefight, I took a few slugs to the chest. Two in my lung and one that lodged right next to my heart. They had to take part of one lung to save my life. And while I’m fine for normal activity there’s no way I could ever be a SEAL again. So, they medically retired me.”
“Those are the scars.”
“Yes. An ugly reminder that I’m no longer a full man.”
“Bullshit.”
He angled his head to look at her. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me fine. Just because you can’t serve any longer doesn’t mean you’re less than a man. Whoever got that thought in your head is a fool. What about those who’ve lost limbs, are you saying they are less than they were because they are missing a limb?”
“No. I’m not saying that. I’m saying that for me this has ended my career. You don’t get it, you wouldn’t understand.”
“I understand better than you think I do. I’m just not buying into your pity party like others around you are doing. You’re a fully functioning male. And I do mean fully. You’re the one holding yourself back from doing what you want. I get it, you can’t serve anymore and that sucks big pink monkey balls. But that doesn’t mean your life is over, does it? Is that all you were? A SEAL? Weren’t you your own man? Capable of thinking for himself and putting together a life outside the military?”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “You need to stop.”
“No, I don’t think I do. I think you need to hear this. Because, like I said, I’m not one of those who will accept this pity you have for yourself. You wouldn’t have been able to be a SEAL your whole life, so what would you do when that day came?”
“It wouldn’t have come for a good number of years, so I don’t know.”
“Surely there was some thought in the back of your mind. For God’s sake, Bennett, you were a SEAL. You can’t expect me to believe that you never thought you’d ever get injured.”
“Let it go, Ellie.”
“No.”
He slid off the rock and walked off. She appeared directly in front of him. “Answer my question.”
“No, I didn’t give it any thought because I didn’t think I’d get injured like this. I thought I’d either come home alive or in a body bag.”
“And you came home alive,” she shouted at him. “Live your life.”
“What do you know, haole? You’ve never served a day in your life.”
Pain flashed in her eyes but she didn’t back away. “We all have some kind of sen
tence we serve, just not everyone had a choice.” She looked beyond him. “I’ll be back at the truck whenever you decide to come back.”
Ellie walked away, not once glancing to see if he followed. Bennett cursed himself even as he trailed her, just to make sure she didn’t run into any danger. By the time they reached his truck, he was beside her but she wasn’t speaking to him. In fact, she acted as if she were completely alone, for which he didn’t blame her for. He’d been as ass about it all.
I wasn’t as ready as I’d hoped I would be to discuss this. And I sure as hell wasn’t ready to hear her tell me what no one else has been brave enough to do.
All the way back to her place, he tried to find the right words to say to her, but his mind was blank. She was out of the truck and heading up to her apartment even before he came to a complete stop and had killed the engine.
Grinding his back teeth, he parked and hastened up after her. He reached her just as she stepped into her apartment and shut the door directly in his face. Message received, loud and clear. This was the end of their day together.
Chapter Six
Ellie slammed her dishes around as she made herself some food. Of all the… How dare he…
She was beyond pissed. He acted as if her words hadn’t meant a goddamn thing. Funny though, when he’d fisted one big hand, she’d not even considered that he would strike her. A big step forward in her mind. It was all about his own frustration and wanting her not to pursue this line of questioning.
“Okay, so maybe I shouldn’t have pushed him, but damn it. He’s got all those people telling him and catering to his damn pity party.” She rooted around in the drawer for a knife and dropped it on the cutting board. “He needs to do something with his life. He’s acting as if he’s not good for a damn thing but to drink the rest of his life away and I can’t even call him an alcoholic.”
And she couldn’t, the man didn’t overindulge. He had nursed his few drinks over the amount of time he stayed in the bar.
What he did during the day, she hadn’t a clue. She snorted and reached for the freshly washed pepper, plucking it out of the blue silicone strainer.
“I suppose he could be at home drinking all day before he comes in there at night. Doesn’t strike me as that kind of guy, but hey, we all know how my choice in men runs. Shitty.”
It burned at her that he would assume she didn’t know anything about what he was going through.
“Damn it!” She dropped the knife and sucked on her finger, the sharp metallic taste spreading over her tongue.
Too much blood, this wasn’t a little nick. There went dinner. Wrapping her hand up in a dishtowel, she went to the door, juggled for her keys, and got shoes on before heading out to the car she rarely drove. It took her a bit to get it turned over so she could head to the hospital.
She parked and readjusted the towel before walking through the entrance and letting them know what she needed. In a short time, she found herself sitting on the edge of a bed while a nurse stitched up her finger.
Thankfully the local she’d been given worked wonders and she didn’t feel a thing.
The male looked up at her and arched an eyebrow. “You doing okay?”
“I was going to ask you if you could do the stitches in pretty colors but I see you’re almost finished.”
“Sorry, one color for stitches. I can wrap you up in some bright colors if you’d like.”
“Yes, please.”
No matter what it may seem like, she always claimed to be a child at heart. Two hours later and she departed the emergency room with new stitches and brightly covered wrapped finger.
The thought of going home to fix a meal didn’t sit well with her, so instead she drove to a local spot she ate at often and parked in the lot. She stole a glance down at her attire and rolled her eyes, there was still blood on her shirt.
“Attractive, Ellie.”
Her stomach had already begun to rumble so she knew it wouldn’t do to leave and change. Her belly would be on a full revolt, especially after all the hiking she’d done with Bennett. Figuring it could pass as mud or something else, she entered the establishment.
The rich scents of the delicious food they cooked filled the air and tantalized her senses. She smiled at Laini, who rushed toward her for a hug.
“Ellie, how have you been? I haven’t seen you in here for a long time. We thought you’d found somewhere else to eat.”
“Gods no. This is my spot. I’ve just been insanely busy.”
Laini clicked her tongue. “You work too much. Come with me, I have a table for you.” Another smile. “Outside okay?”
“Always.”
She waived to a few familiar faces of the staff and followed her out to a small wrought iron table that overlooked the water.
“This is perfect, thank you.”
Within moments a tall iced drink sat before her and she had put in her order. Ellie turned her gaze out over the water and smiled. They just don’t have views like this back in Kansas. Some days she missed her home but then she remembered what she’d had back there, other than Piper and her family, and she wondered if Hawaii was even far enough away.
Her heart thundered in her chest and she bit back the whimper at the thought of having him back in her life. The cold sweat fought against the warmth of the night. She’d gotten herself calm by the time her food arrived.
Not using her injured hand, she ate slowly and enjoyed the night. Hunger abated, she ordered another drink and settled back to watch the darkness overtake the shoreline. After an unhurried dessert, she got up for a stroll. She looked at the tourists who walked hand in hand, the locals, and the overall ambiance of it all.
She’d fallen in love with this place and never wanted to leave. Buying herself some flowers, she returned to her vehicle and headed home.
Flowers in a vase with water, she turned her attention to all the blood on her kitchen counter. Damn it, I left the towel in the car. She grabbed her keys and headed back down, knowing she was going to get her comfortable clothing on, with plans to stay inside for the rest of the night.
She tossed it in the incinerator on her way back up to her apartment. Then she changed into some shorts and a tank top. Standing before her sink, she surveyed the damage.
“Serves me right for not paying attention to what I was doing and instead mooning over something I may or may not have done to piss off Bennett.”
She rolled out her trash can and picked up the cutting board. The pepper she pushed into the receptacle. The board she put in the sink along with the knife.
Her doorbell rang and she shook her head, padding to the door.
“Yes?”
“Open the door, Ellie.”
Bennett. Her heart skipped a few beats.
“Why?” Her hand trembled as she placed it on the door, almost like she could touch him through the wood.
“Ellie.”
She heard it in his voice. A tiny near indiscernible hitch to his voice. Undoing the locks, she opened it and swung it in, keeping her injured hand behind the wood.
“What can I do for you?”
He held up a case of beer. “Let me in, I’m here to apologize.”
“No need. I overstepped, you were right, I have no idea what you were going—are going through. Good night.” She began to close the door only to find it blocked by his hand. “What now?”
“Let me in.”
God help her, she wanted to, but this wasn’t a road she could afford to go down. He was too much of a risk for her to take. Bennett had the “it” factor for her, he was the one she could easily see in her future.
“No, I have some things to do then I’m making it an early night.”
He lowered the beer and put his hand on the door. “Don’t do this, let me explain.”
Her hand throbbed and she exhaled slowly, stepping back. “Whatever.”
Two seconds after she got back to the sink, he was behind her, pressing his hard form against her.
&nb
sp; “What the fuck happened to cause all that blood?”
* * *
Bennett stared at the large dried pool of blood on her counter and cutting board that lay in the sink. Peering down Ellie’s left arm, he noticed her finger all decked out in bright colors.
“What happened?”
“What’s it look like? I cut my finger.” She gestured to the mess. “It bled, I got stiches.” Ellie held up her finger. “Now I’m home to clean it up. Then I’m going to bed.” She gazed at him over her shoulder.
Her pointed look didn’t dissuade him in any way.
His heart slowed once more until it found its easy rhythm. He held out his hand, ignoring the bite of pain when she didn’t take it. Instead, she faced the sink once more and began to clean.
He allowed it for about five seconds, then he lifted her and plucked her down out of the way. “I’ll do it. You shouldn’t get your hand wet.”
“I don’t need you to clean up after me.”
“For Christ’s sake, Ellie. Let me do this. If I hadn’t been such an ass earlier, we would have gone out for dinner and you wouldn’t have cut yourself.”
“I tried to blame you for this, but you didn’t have any control over my handling of the knife.”
Ellie moved to the table and sat. She stared at her hand and he watched her in the window’s reflection as he finished up the rest of the cleaning. When he completed that, he fixed her a cup of herbal tea and placed it down before her.
She poked at the mug with her right hand, refusing to look at him. Bennett reached across the table and lifted her chin, so he could stare into her green-blue eyes. Such sorrow filled her expression.
“What’s wrong?” He stroked her lower lip with the pad of his thumb. “Is this because of today?”
“Nothing’s wrong.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
Defiance sparked and she pulled free from the grip he had on her face. “I’m not. I’m just really tired, is all.”
He nodded and pushed back his chair, getting to his feet. “Come on then.”
She finished her tea and stood. “Where to?”