A SEALed Fate (13 page)

Originally the thought of having a baby because she couldn’t handle her alcohol or supposedly depressing life had scared her shitless. But the moment she heard the heartbeat something changed. Oh, she was still terrified.
Really
fucking terrified. Yet her incomparable anxiety was overshadowed by the fact that she now knew
exactly
what she’d be doing for the rest of her life—being the best goddamn mom she could. To the surprise of herself, her sister and her parents, Amelie Holloman had
direction.
She had drive. Shit, she even had an actual business plan and steady work.

She was now a journalist for one of the largest magazines in the country
and
was well on her way to becoming a regular guest host on a major pop culture outlet on television. There was something about having a baby that had pushed her to take an extra look at where she was going. Amelie had no plans to leave Virginia, of course. Her entire life was here, but she was in such a good place that the idea of leaving home, starting over elsewhere, didn’t give her a panic attack. She wasn’t examining Brielle’s life and making comparisons anymore. She wasn’t even questioning if she’d ever find the love her sibling had discovered. Particularly because she was pretty certain she already had it. Even if it was attempting to eat her from the inside out.

“Hey, hey, hey! At some point I’m going to start hitting back!”

Finally he or
she
settled down.

“Thank you,” Amelie breathed as she opened her refrigerator in search of something that would send her womb’s nightmare back into a long and peaceful slumber.

Five months, five
long
months, and not a word from Declan. She didn’t worry that he was avoiding her. He had way too much honor for that. He wouldn’t run from responsibility. Any man who could risk his own destruction each and every day wasn’t a man that would hide from his duty.
That
was
what worried her. What if there hadn’t been word from him because there was no word to be sent? What if he was…?

“No.” Amelie shook her head and wrestled a container of Japanese take-out from the back shelf. “He’s alive and well and a total dick for making me worry.”

After discovering she was carrying the usurper they’d created, she’d immediately called him. Of course it had gone straight to voicemail, but there was something therapeutic about hearing his voice, remembering the resolved look on his face the morning he’d left her. So Amelie had done it every week. She called to tell him she slightly hated him. She called to tell him how fat she was getting. She called to tell him how excited she was. She called to tell him
everything,
hoping that at least one time—just
one—
he’d answer. He hadn’t, but she refused to assume the worst. She
couldn’t
assume the worst. Not when something so horrifyingly wonderful had happened to her.

“All right, squishy chicken teriyaki sound good to you?”

She received no objections in the form of kicks and pushes, so she took that as a
yes.

Amelie had just lifted the first forkful to her mouth when banging sounded on her townhome’s front door. A quick glance at the clock told her she’d been digging for food for about fifteen minutes which meant either a mass murderer was on her doorstep or…

“
Declan
?”

***

Message one:
“You goddamn twat-koala! You knocked me up!”

Message fifteen:
“So I heard the heartbeat today and…I just…I can’t stop trembling, Declan. There is an actual
living person
taking up residence in my uterus. Eating and shit! Existing!”

Message twenty-one:
“You’re still a twat-koala but…I’m actually
excited.
I mean I’m losing my shit mentally and I’m pretty sure I haven’t showered in three days which is really gross but I’m
excited.
The baby’s growing at an extremely alarming rate. My doctor says they come out pretty hefty. But God can’t possibly hate me that much can he?
”

Message forty-five
: “So I hate you again. Why? Because I can’t stop peeing! I pee
constantly.
Who pees this much! Is this even normal? It
can’t
be normal.”

Message fifty-eight:
“Er…well, I just wanted you to know that you better come back whole and unscathed and whatnot. I want to maim you myself. Can’t do that if you’re already hurt. You’re not, are you? Jesus, why am I even asking that…”

Seventy messages. Seventy messages that he’d listened to over and over and over again. Seventy messages that made him laugh, that made his eyes burn with what felt suspiciously like tears. They’d done it. Amelie was pregnant. She was pregnant with
his
baby. And it was healthy,
she
was healthy. How was this real life?

What else could
Declan do but drive all the way across town, breaking every speeding law Tidewater had to reach Virginia Beach? Nothing. He could literally do
nothing.
He gunned past Lynnhaven, shooting down I-264 without the slightest concern.

The exit for Birdneck road came up and he took the fork, following the curve to the left. In under five minutes he was pulling up to the gated community of condominiums fifteen minutes away from the ocean front. Without hesitation he typed in the code Brielle had given him and rode through until he was parking in the guest spot of a home he’d re-imagined over and over again. It didn’t matter how late it was or if she’d take his head off and use it as a candy dish when Halloween came around. One concern, that was it. That was all he had. He simply wanted to get his hands on Amelie Holloman again, put a palm to her belly and feel for one of the kicks she’d complained about so much in her messages. He wanted to kiss her, the right way.
He wanted to tell her all the things he hadn’t gotten a chance to say before he was called away. Declan wanted to spend however much time he had home listening to her mocking laughter and her inappropriate humor. Declan wanted
her.

Five months away hadn’t quieted any of the desire that had kneed him in the gut the morning they woke up in bed together. All that time, all those reservations about ruining a friendship--he cared about
none
of it. Because the funniest, most insane individual was carrying
his
child and she was happy. Amelie was happy and excited and had to be fucking
glowing.

So he lifted his hand and he knocked. He knocked and he waited for her to open the door. Once she did, all bets were off. No reservations, no hesitation, no fear. She was his.

Three

One minute she was opening her mouth to once again call the male standing before her a twat-koala, and the next she was swallowing down a groan as said twat-koala took it upon himself to greet her with a kiss that made her nipples suddenly get
very
aggressive. She was standing in her doorway with a BDU-clad Navy man shoving his tongue into her mouth with barely anything on aside from a T-shirt that was riding up the curve of her belly and boy shorts. Ah, and her nipples were aggressive. This was…
strange.

Declan’s tongue flicked over hers, moving between her lips the way he’d moved between her legs months ago. Compared to the kiss he’d given her before leaving, this one was…
determined.
Determined to do what, she didn’t know, but that was the best word for it. God in heaven, his hands were roaming, grasping. They stroked over her shoulders and down her back, stopping at the curve of her spine to massage just above her tailbone. The firm caress made her moan. His palms grabbed both halves of her ass and squeezed, causing her to go up on the tips of her toes.

Amelie broke away with a gasp. “Okay, all right, okay…
wait.”

His fingers squeezed her buttocks and her labia began to argue with her logic again.

“It’s been five months, man, and you come strolling up to my door at 2 a.m., groping my ass and making my vagina give me more lip than I need at the moment. You wanna tell me what the hell is even going on?”

His chest heaved with an inhale. “We’re having a baby.”

She blinked. “And this explains your strange, erotic behavior?”

Declan swallowed. “Pretty much.” He released her and stepped back, his gaze zeroing in on her stomach. “Jesus, it’s huge.”

It took her all of a second to realize what he’d said and punch him in the shoulder for it. “Thank you very much!”

He winced as he dropped to his knees. “Sorry, darlin’, but it
is.
You sure we’re not having twi—”

She slapped a hand to his mouth. “You complete that sentence and I will try my hand at biting off your face.”

“Yes, ma’am,” was his muffled response.

Amelie lifted her palm. “Can we sit down and have a normal,
rational
conversation about this? You’re in the Navy, we had sex after a wedding, I ended up carrying your progeny and now you’re back from an almost six-month stint doing whatever it is you brave men and women do for our country—God, did I really just say that? This sounds like some fucked-up romance novel where the hero and heroine decide to get married for the sake of their child.”

He raised his head.

“Don’t even
think
it.”

Declan’s lips turned down. “It’s not the worst idea.”

“We don’t even
know
each other!”

“What’s my favorite NBA team?”

“The San Antonio Spurs,” she answered without thinking. “Why?”

He smiled. “We know each other.”

Amelie threw up her hands. “This is ridiculous!”

“Is it?”

“Yes!”

“Then why did you keep it?”

She stopped, instinctively pressing a hand to her belly.

He placed his own hand over hers. “You could’ve…
you know.
And I would’ve never known. We could’ve gone back to our everyday lives doing everyday things without a second thought but you
kept
the baby, Amelie. That tells me all I need to know. We have so much to learn about each other, so many arguments to have about what’s best but I don’t think I need to search much longer to understand what it is I want—
you.
All I could think about, laugh about, was
you.
Then to come home and find out…” The awe on his face was more breathtaking than any smile he’d ever given her. “You want me to be rational? Sorry, love, that’s off the table. I spent enough time dancing around what I felt each moment that I was near you because I was too afraid to ruin the ridiculous bond we stumbled into but now, now I want to live in the moment. I’ve no idea how long I’ll be home before I’m called away again, and only God knows if I’ll come back, but if I can leave behind something wonderful, something that’s managed to bless me in ways I never even imagined, well goddammit, that’s what I’m going to fucking
do.
”

Holy shit, she was going to cry. She was going to cry and it was all his fault! As was the returned assertiveness of her nipples!

Declan stared up at her, bright eyes twinkling. “Are you going to call me a twat-koala again or…?”

She slowly shook her head, her bottom lip caught between her teeth.

“Does this mean I can kiss you again without you slapping me?”

Amelie nodded.

“Ah. Good.” He surged to his feet and grabbed her about the waist, pulling her into his chest as he walked her backwards and kicked her front door shut.

Declan’s mouth swept down onto hers, his tongue immediately prodding for entrance. She parted her lips and he delved deeper, bringing her flush against him as one hand slid up her torso, briefly stopping beneath the fabric of her shirt to run along her stomach only to continue until his palm brushed one hard nipple.

A grunt left her mouth and he cupped her breast, moaning. Declan released her lips. “They’re bigger.”

Her fingers worked the buttons on his shirt. “Side effect. A positive one to counteract the gas and the nausea.”

He chuckled while his other hand came up. “The most positive fucking thing I’ve ever experienced.” Lowering his head, he wrapped his lips around one of the points and sucked it in.

Amelie’s head fell backwards. “Is that supposed to make me feel like dancing?”

“Mm-hmm,” he murmured around her nipple.

“Great. Cool. Okay. Jesus, do that again.”

He flickered the tip of his tongue against her tit. “Pregnancy is
awesome
.”

“Yah,” she gasped. “Pants. Off. Now. Please.”

“But—”

“Now, man!”

Declan scrambled backwards and undid his belt buckle, then his zipper. Amelie followed, shoving at his chest, pushing him towards the couch. “Sit.”

“Let me get my boots off.”

“I said sit!”

“Okay! Okay!” He moved back, hitting the sofa. “You’re scary.”

“Yeah. Sure. Whatever.” She straddled him, not knowing what this newfound sensation was but loving it. Amelie had never been particularly sex crazed but apparently hormones could change that in no time and by God, she was going to get what she wanted!

Her hips undulated against his, rubbing the swollen knot above her opening over the steely length prodding between her legs. She rode that ridge, enjoying if far more than she had anything else in the last five months. Declan put his lips to her neck and found a spot just over her shoulder that made her pussy shudder with need. She could feel her first climax beginning to stutter up her spine and moved a little bit harder.

Declan played with the hair at her nape, asking softly if she was wet just for him. She nodded against his temple, lifting briefly when he slipped his fingers past the waistband of her panties, finding her clit with an unerring precision that made her eyes roll back as he encircled it with his thumb while thrusting two fingers inside her drenched passage.

Amelie’s hand fisted along his shoulders. “
Fuck
.”