Loved by a SEAL (11 page)

As Brody pulled her oversized T-shirt up and over her head, it appeared he wasn’t opposed to her new attitude either. He groaned again as he discovered she wasn’t wearing a bra under the shirt.

He ran his hands over her bare skin as his gaze raked down her. “I missed you today.”

She frowned at him, trying to hold on to her train of thought as he brushed her nipple with one thumb. “I only left your house a few hours ago.”

“But I couldn’t touch you like I wanted to at all during the day.” He bent and pushed her shorts down her legs, leaving her bare.

“But we got to play Scrabble with Miss Eleanor.” Ashley drew in a sharp breath as Brody ran his hands up between her legs.

“Please stop talking about my grandmother while I’m making love to you or we are in grave danger of me losing my abilities.”

She reached between them to prove him wrong. “I’m not too worried. Everything feels fine to me in that department.”

Brody’s eyes narrowed as his gaze took her in. “I guess you’re enough incentive to keep visions of Grandmother at bay.”

He lowered his head to meet her lips with his, backing her up toward the bed as he did so. When her legs hit the edge of the mattress, her knees buckled and they both tumbled on top of the covers.

Groaning, he slid down the bed and positioned himself between her legs. “I’ve imagined all the things I could do with you in an actual bed.”

Ashley had done the same, more times than she’d like to admit. But all of her imaginings were never as good as the reality of having Brody there with her.

The heat of his mouth on her. Having his weight pressed against her. Of being encased in his strong, thick arms as he wrapped them around her.

Her imagination had missed all the good stuff that making love with Brody included.

The warmth of his breath against her skin. The soft sigh he let out as he slid inside her. The way he shook as he came.

Ashley tried to memorize it all. Every detail. It would be all she had once he’d left.

That one thought broke her resolve to not cry until after he’d left.

Unaware, Brody rolled his weight off her, but kept her held in his arms as he kissed her cheek.

He muttered a soft cuss and pulled back. “Are you crying?”

“No.” She tried to keep the sound of her tears out of her voice but it didn’t work very well.

He brushed his hand across her cheek, capturing a fresh drop of the moisture that spilled from her overflowing eyes. “Liar.”

“Sorry.”

Brody blew out a breath. “No. I’m the one who’s sorry.”

“Sorry that we did this?” she asked.

“No, that I’m making you sad. That I’m leaving you. Again.”

They were both quiet for a moment. She didn’t know what thoughts were running through Brody’s head but in her own mind she was replaying the last time he’d left. The horrible scene the last time she’d seen him.

He had stood there in front of her then, looking thinner and tired but happy to be home for a short visit after finishing boot camp. He’d opened his soul to her by asking her to follow him. To be with him forever. Offering her the tiny band of gold with a small diamond in it he held between his fingers with a promise he’d buy her a better one when he could afford it.

When she said she couldn’t do what he asked, she had seen the mingled hurt and anger in his eyes, at least what she could see through her tears.

“What did you do with the ring?” she asked.

“I carried it around with me for a while. Looked at it. Felt shitty. Finally I tossed it into the surf off Coronado.” His laugh was short and humorless. “It was so small, so light, it barely reached the water even with me throwing it as hard as I could manage.”

That image twisted her already pained heart. A shuttering sob escaped her.

“Come on, Ash. Don’t cry.”

“Why not?” This time tomorrow, Ashley would be alone in her bed and Brody would be gone again.

“Things won’t be like before. I’ll call you. And when I can’t call, I’ll email.”

From somewhere far away and dangerous, she knew. They didn’t talk about that though. Instead he held her for a long time, and she tried not to sniffle as a fresh wave of tears inevitably replaced whatever calm she’d managed to achieve after conquering the last bout.

Eventually, Brody kissed her forehead. “I should probably get going.”

His announcement set off a panic inside her. “Will I see you in the morning?”

“No, I’m leaving before dawn to try to beat the traffic.”

It was late. Dawn was only a handful of hours away. Even if he went directly to sleep when he got home, he’d be exhausted for the long drive tomorrow.

He stood and retrieved his clothing, piece by piece, from where he’d tossed it.

“Brody?”

“Yeah?” Brody bent to grab her T-shirt and handed it to her.

Ashley sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the mattress. “Do you really forgive me?”

 
“Yeah, I do. Because you were right. I didn’t see it then but I do now. We were too young. I ended up being away more than I’m home. You had nursing school to finish.” He lifted one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug.

After pulling the shirt over her head, she stood and moved closer to him. He grabbed and held both of her hands in his larger, warm ones. She let him, as grateful for the small contact as for the fact that he was still there. That he hadn’t left her yet.

The tears streamed unchecked down her cheeks again.

Brody sighed and pulled her to him. “I know, Ash, I know. Saying goodbye sucks.”

Yes, it did, but she didn’t see him descending into a blubbering wreck like she was. Of course, she supposed big bad Navy SEALs didn’t cry. Only the women they left behind did.

He pulled back and kissed her in spite of her streaming tears and runny nose. She was a mess and this was going to be his final memory of her, but he didn’t seem to mind.

Lifting his hands, he cradled her face within his palms and deepened the kiss, thrusting his tongue against hers.

The kiss went on and on, but not nearly long enough. She leaned forward to prolong the contact as he pulled back and leaned his forehead against hers. “If I don’t leave now, we’re going to end up back in that bed. Then I’ll never be able to bring myself to go.”

That sounded like a good plan to her. Ashley swallowed away the sorrow. “Okay.”

He drew in a breath and dropped his hold on her before turning toward the window to make his exit.

“Don’t you want to use the door?”

Pushing the window wide, he glanced back and grinned. “Nah. Down’s easier than up.”

As sad as she was, his sneaking in and out of her second story bedroom by the window was so ridiculous she almost smiled.

He swung one leg over the sash and treated her to one last grin before he slipped out.
 

She stepped closer and was in time to see as he lowered himself by the strength of his arms alone, and then let go of the window sill and dropped straight down to the ground as she gasped.

He glanced up from where he’d landed on the lawn below, stood and offered up a wave before turning and taking off at a jog.

Obviously, he was fine from the fall. Ashley, on the other hand, might never recover from tonight, and watching Brody drop from the second story was the least of what would stick with her for a long time. Possibly forever.

She went to the bathroom to wash the tears from her face and brush her teeth before bed. She didn’t anticipate getting any sleep tonight, not with the knowledge that Brody was just across town but would be gone by morning, but at least she’d be clean as she lay there not sleeping.

As she walked back through the door of her room she saw her phone light up on the nightstand. Diving for it, she saw Brody’s name on the display and his text.

Don’t be sad. Talk soon.

The tears started to flow anew.

With a sigh, she headed for the bathroom again and grabbed a wet washcloth to mop the salty tears from her cheeks.

It was going to be a long night.

CHAPTER 11

After battling traffic and one long ass drive he hadn’t been in the mood to make, Brody made it back to base and to the meeting room just in time.

Rocky took one look at Brody’s expression and asked, “What’s up with you?”
 

Brody let out a derogatory snort at Rocky’s question. “You mean besides that I left before sunrise and drove eleven hours from Alabama in the middle of what was supposed to be my weeklong leave?”

All for some bullshit meeting. About what, he didn’t know. No one would say what it was about. Even the guys who hadn’t been on leave didn’t seem to know.

Thom busted through the door, the last of the team to arrive. He looked as unhappy to be there as Brody.

“What the fuck are they calling us in for? Anybody know?” Thom asked as he lowered himself into the empty chair next to Brody.

“Nope.” Brody glanced at Thom, looking disheveled. He took a guess at why. “Girlfriend still in town?”

“Yeah.” Thom blew out a breath. “She’s not gonna be happy if we get sent out.”

Since he was there, Brody hoped they did have a mission. It would really suck to have cut short his time home for nothing.

And Ashley—her sobs had haunted him for a good part of the drive reminding him of exactly how unfair it had been for him to have started things back up with her knowing he would be leaving.

“All righty, boys. Let’s get down to business.” The team commander entering the room tore Brody’s mind away from Alabama and back to business—whatever that might be.

Brody glanced up, about to wait for the answer to his unasked question, when a second man walking into the room behind the commander had his eyes widening.

“Some of you who’ve been around for a bit might recognize this man . . . ” As the team commander finished the introduction, Grant Milton stood shoulder to shoulder with him. “He’s been brought in because of his first hand knowledge and experience with our target and the area. I’m going to let him take over.”

Apparently Grant’s request to move back from his training assignment had been approved. At least for this assignment.

Whatever this mission was, they were about to find out as Grant stepped forward.

“Boko Haram.” Grant’s gaze hit on Brody and Thom. “Those of you who were with me on this team last year are intimately familiar with this enemy and with the men currently in N’Djamena working to stop them.

“The Multi National Joint Task Force and the member countries of the Lake Chad Basin Commission have met to organize a joint force to fight Boko Haram. A private military company staffed by former DEVGRU operatives has been brought in to advise on and implement the plan, including helping to train the forces.”

From what he knew from Chris, and that Grant had looked directly at him when speaking, it wasn’t too much of a stretch for Brody to guess that the PMC mentioned was GAPS and the men currently in Africa training others and brainstorming some sort of battle plan were Chris, Jon and Zane.

Grant continued, “In addition to the kidnappings, and the suicide bombings that continue to kill hundreds of locals, we have proof that Boko Haram has sworn allegiance to ISIS.”

Rocky mumbled a cuss beneath his breath that echoed pretty much what Brody was thinking. Separately the two terrorist organizations were bad enough. Allied, they’d be worse.

“The joint forces will be deployed to two command posts. One in Nigeria. One in Cameroon. The timetable is to eradicate Boko Haram from the region within three months.”

Brody had to smother his reaction to that ridiculously unrealistic timetable as he wondered which politician came up with it.

He had to wonder one more thing. What did this have to do with his unit?

When Grant drew in a big breath to continue, Brody had a bad feeling he knew and that for the next three months he wouldn’t be enjoying any of those American amenities he’d missed while in Turkey over the past six months.

And then there was Ashley . . .

They’d just found each other again and now they’d be on two different continents. She wasn’t going to be happy about that. He wasn’t thrilled about it himself, but he was used to this life. She wasn’t.