Night with a Seal (Hot SEALs #1) (15 page)

“I know. Preaching to the choir, dude. But there’s nothing any of us can do about it.”

“Isn’t there?” The solution came to Jon like a light being turned on overhead.

“What are you talking about? As long as you’re under their command, you follow their rules.”

“Exactly.” Jon nodded, his pulse racing as an idea formed. “I don’t want to leave while she’s sleeping but after Ali is awake, I want to call a meeting.”

“What kind of meeting?” Rick asked.

“A team meeting.” Jon smiled as he said it, liking this idea more and more.

“Uh, I’m not on the team anymore. Remember?”

Jon shook his head. “For this, that won’t matter. How about we all plan to meet today, noon, at the bar. I’ll contact the rest of the guys.”

“All right. Call me intrigued. I’ll be there.”

“You’d better be there. I’m gonna text the guys, and then go check on Ali. See you later.”

“Later.”

Jon disconnected that call and then wrote a single group text to Brody, Chris, Zane, Thom and Grant.

I need to talk. Can you all meet at the bar at noon?

He hit send and then powered through the remainder of the cereal. While he worked to chew through each fibrous mouthful, the responses came back. He had to hand it to the guys, not one asked why and not one said no.

These men always had his back. He hoped they’d agree to continue to do so after he told them his idea.

Finally finished with the torturous breakfast, he rinsed the bowl and spoon he’d used and stuck them in the dishwasher. Satisfied he’d left the kitchen as clean as he found it, he crept back to Ali’s bedroom door and pushed it open just a crack.

“I’m awake.”

Jon opened the door wider and took a step into the room. “I’m sorry I woke you.”

He’d left the bathroom light on as a nightlight in case she woke up disoriented during the night, so he saw her now as she sat up. “No, it’s fine. I’d rather be awake. I’ve been drifting in and out in that state where it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s a dream. I kept thinking I was still there . . .”

That she’d had to go through that tore him up inside. He moved to the bed and sat on the edge of the mattress. “Is there someone you need to call to tell you’re all right? Family?”

Ali shook her head. “My parents are in Florida so I doubt they saw it on the news. I’ll call them in a little while. I’m not sure I’m up to it right now.

“Okay. You hungry?”

She shrugged. “Maybe after I wake up a little more I will be. I wouldn’t mind some hot tea though.”

Ali flipped the covers back, as Jon stopped her with a hand on her arm. “No, stay. I can manage to make you a cup of tea.”

She shook her head. “I wanna get up.”

“Okay.” He rose from the bed. She swung her feet over the edge of the mattress and stood gingerly, took one step across the floor and stopped. Jon moved to stand next to her, ready to support her if she fell. “Are you dizzy?”

“No. Just stiff from sitting on the hard floor for all those hours, and then from being in bed for so long.” She glanced at the morning light filtering through the closed window blinds and then at him. “You stayed all night?”

“Yup.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to.”

She laughed. “Okay.”

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

“There was a night I wished you’d stay and you didn’t. And then last night, while I’m out like a light, you stay?” Ali shook her head. “I just find that funny.”

“Ali, if you hadn’t been nearly blown up, there’s nothing that would have kept me off you last night. I’m sorry if that’s crude or inappropriate, but it’s true.”

She had no idea how true his words were. Not only because it had been a long time since Jon had slaked that particular hunger, but mainly because he’d almost lost her yesterday. That near miss had awakened a feral urge inside him to claim her, make her his. Lying above her, plunging inside her, feeling her writhe beneath him would have been a far better way for him to satisfy the need to possess and protect, than watching her sleep and making her tea.

She pursed her lips but didn’t speak. Instead she led the way to the kitchen and Jon followed. He let her fill the teakettle herself, even though every instinct in him wanted to make her sit down so he could do it for her.

“You know all those reasons you listed in July that made it stupid for us to be anything but a one night fling?” She eyed him where he sat at the small table, watching her move around the kitchen.

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“Those reasons are all still valid. You still get called away all the time, sometimes for months at a time. You still need your head one hundred percent on your job and not clouded by a relationship. Nothing’s changed.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” Jon wobbled his head.

He wasn’t trying to be coy, but he had a lot to think about, and his crazy seed of an idea needed the buy-in of a lot of other men before it could become a reality.

She set the kettle on the burner and turned to face him. “Jon, I could have died yesterday. My ears are ringing. I feel like I could sleep another twelve hours and it still not be enough to make my limbs stop feeling like they’re made of lead. You’re going to have to spell things out for me here because I’m in no shape to guess what you mean.”

He stood and moved around the table to pin her between his body and the counter. “I know you could have died and I’m sorry that’s what it took for me to realize I want you as a part of my life. And no, nothing’s changed yet, except for me and how I feel. I want to try to make this thing between us work, and when I set my mind to something, I usually don’t rest until I make it happen.”

A small smile tipped up the corners of her mouth. “All right.”

“All right what?”

She rested her hands on his chest, before moving them around to his back. “We’ll give this a try. Whatever it is.”

He cupped her face in his hands. “We’re gonna start with us going on a real date as soon as you’re up to it.”

She raised her gaze to meet his. “I’d rather have it start with a kiss right now.”

“I can do that.” He covered her mouth with his, sinking in to the first of hopefully many kisses in their future together. He didn’t let it go on for nearly as long as he wanted it to, in deference to the trauma Ali had been through.

When he pulled away, she raised a brow. “You know, I wouldn’t mind more than a kiss.”

He let out a laugh. “Believe me, neither would I. But not right now. Drink your tea. Get some food in your stomach. Then, maybe, we’ll talk.”

A frown creased her brow. “Talk?”

He had to smile at her persistence. “We’ll talk about possibly doing more than kissing. Deal?”

“All right. Deal.”

“I have a meeting with the guys at noon. It shouldn’t take too long, but after that, I’ll be back here . . . if that’s okay with you.”

A small smiled bowed her lips as she dropped a teabag into a mug. “Yeah, it’s okay.”

“Good. Um, you might want to rest up while I’m gone, because if you’re still feeling up to more than talking when I get back, that’s exactly what you’re going to get. I was away for a long time, so it could get a little intense.”

“Promises, promises.” She smirked.

“Mm, hm. It is a promise.” He moved in closer, pinning her against the counter. “And I always keep my word.”

He pressed a long kiss to her lips before forcing himself to break away. “Now, I’m going to cook you something to eat, then go home to shower and change so I can meet the guys.”

“You might want to stop at a store while you’re out.” Her gaze cut sideways to him as she reached for the steaming kettle.

By the fridge where he’d been about to grab some eggs to cook for her, he paused. “Sure. What do you need?”

“More condoms. I figure a man so long denied might need more than the two banana-flavored ones left in my nightstand from last July.”

A grin he couldn’t control spread across his face. “Yeah. Two’s probably not going to cut it.”

They’d both denied themselves this for too long. Making up for it could take all night and tomorrow as well. And God help the command if they called him back in before he had a chance to make up for lost time.

CHAPTER 15

“So we’re all here now. What’s up?” Rick leaned forward and rested his forearms on the edge of the table in the back corner of the bar. At noon, the place was still pretty quiet—a good place for a meeting.

“I’m considering a change.” Jon delivered the words he’d thought long and hard about, but his announcement was proving more difficult to say out loud than he’d imagined.

Zane’s brows rose. “What kind of change?”

The silent stares of the men around him gave Jon a clue that they might have guessed what this change entailed, but only Zane had asked for clarification outright.

Jon drew in a breath. “Yesterday at the bank really started me thinking. We’re trained to deliver precise effective action, but we spend half of our time waiting for the command to let us.”

“When they’re not coming up with plans to rein us in while we’re doing it,” Thom added.

“Exactly.” Jon nodded. “I’m thinking about forming a civilian company. Contract protection work. It would mean I’d have to leave active duty. It’s a gamble, and I’m probably crazy for even thinking about it, but if any one of you guys want in, as equal partners, I’d love to have you.”

“Wow.” Thom let out a short laugh. “It sounds great to be our own bosses, but I got kids and child support to pay. I need the benefits and the steady paycheck and the pension. Dude, I gotta go to twenty years.”

“I know and I understand. Believe me. If I had anyone depending on me I wouldn’t even be able to consider this.” Jon’s gaze cut to Chris and Rick, the two who’d already gotten out of the military to join the civilian ranks. They were his best hope for partners. “The work would likely be sporadic at first, so you guys could keep doing what you’re doing and just jump in when we’re hired for a job.”

Chris cocked a brow. “Hell, I can do that. I’m only working at the gun shop to keep busy since I retired, but what kind of jobs are we talking here? Who do you reckon will be hiring us?”

“I’m thinking, for one, shipping companies worried about secure passage through the Gulf of Aden.” Jon had spent time at the SEAL camp located on Camp Lemonier in Djibouti.
 

Thanks to the proximity of Somalia and Yemen, the Horn of Africa region was then, and continued to be now, a hot spot. There was a collective nod from the men around the table who’d been there with him.

Grant bobbed his head. “All the publicity for the shit that went down with the Somali pirates on the Maersk Alabama is gonna be your best advertisement.”

“Yup. That’s what I’m thinking.” Jon nodded. “Then there could be domestic needs. Big, high profile events might need additional on-site security. We could do that. And I’m hoping after our name gets out we could be the first call when shit goes down. Kind of a quick reaction force for civilian corporations.”

Zane laughed. “Big rich corporations who are willing to throw money at us for a speedy, low profile resolution.”

Jon’s gaze cut to Zane because of the words he had chosen. “Us?”

Zane was in the same boat Jon was as far as years in, and years left to go before they’d be eligible to retire with a full pension. Right now Jon couldn’t imagine being active in his current position for another decade.

Ten years until retirement felt like it might as well be a hundred.

How long before his body wouldn’t be able to take the physical abuse anymore? Before he was too slow or too tired to be sharp enough to keep both himself and his team alive? His current position was a demanding job—a young man’s job—and as every new BUD/S class emerged with a crop of fresh young SEALs, Jon felt a little older.

Aside from the aging of his body, his attitude was beginning to shift. That could be more dangerous than his body eventually failing him. Where he used to be able to focus and get the job done, now his mind rebelled. He took precious seconds to question the orders, to think how he’d do it differently. Those seconds could one day get him or someone else killed.