To Dare a SEAL (Sin City SEALs) (13 page)

She shook her head.

“Natalie.” He reached for her. His fingers curled around her bicep. And for a second, she feared he’d hold her here and force her to face a future that would lead to heartbreak.

“Let me go.
Now
.” She pulled free from his grasp. Then, she turned away and rushed out of the bathroom.

“Wait. Please—”

But she kept going. She scanned his bedroom—and her torn dress—grabbed the white button-down shirt he’d stripped off three orgasms ago and pulled it on.

“When you start measuring time by orgasms,” she murmured as she grabbed her cell off the floor and headed for the door. “It is definitely time to end the naked slumber party.”

A future filled with pleasure, happiness, and heaven help her, Jack—that was too good to be true. She’d had a taste of happiness, a taste of him, and she couldn’t risk another.

Chapter Twenty

T
he hotel room door slammed, stealing away Jack’s chance to turn his long-standing fantasy into reality—Natalie in his life and his bed, night after night.

He stood in the middle of his hotel bathroom, the shower raining down behind him. His condom-wrapped dick jutted out from his body, still eager for a future that was never going to happen.

Should he go after her? He stepped toward the bathroom door and froze. What the hell could he say that he hadn’t already put out there? He’d made it clear that he’d wanted her long before the bet. Maybe he could chase her down the hall and explain.

His jaw tightened. He could guess at her response.
Don’t play Prince Charming with me.

No, he was done playing “Prince Charming.” He’d said everything he had to say.

I want you, Natalie. No bets. No escape routes. Just you.

What else could he possibly say to keep her?

Nothing.

He opened the shower door and stepped back under the warm water. He closed his eyes and tipped his head back. He’d fought for so long—against his brothers, against everyone who doubted he had what it took to become a SEAL, and against fucking terrorists hell-bent on destroying everything he believed in, like his country and his freedom. But this was one battle he couldn’t win.

Because Natalie wasn’t a prize.

When she said those words—shit, he’d known she was right. And he should have listened to her. He should have demanded clothes and conversation, not a quick fuck in a hotel bathroom. This wasn’t about who came out on top. And if she’d stop running and think about it for a minute, she’d realize this thing between them wasn’t about who set the scene in bed.

Tell me how you want to take me.

His body ached at the memory of those words on her lips. He had a list to complete that would take them months, maybe years given his near-constant deployments. But he’d blown his chances of ever making that happen. Natalie had made it clear she didn’t want him.

And her rejection hurt more than every damn hit he’d taken as a kid. More than his brothers’ ugly words. More than anything he’d faced during his time with the SEAL teams.

They were done. She’d left him alone.

Damn, he wanted to escape the pain.

Leaning forward, he pressed one hand against the shower wall. He wrapped the other around his dick and stripped off the condom. He sure as hell didn’t need it for this. He pumped his hand up and down. The mental image of Natalie on the counter, her arms behind her, breasts jutting out and her legs spread. He’d never forget how she looked at that moment. And how damn much he wanted to take her and make her
his
.

“It’s a fucking fantasy,” he said, water rushing over his back as his hand worked faster. He didn’t need to draw this out, not when he was alone in the shower.

He closed his eyes and came, releasing a moan. It felt good, sure. But right now he’d take a simple conversation with the one woman who listened, who understood how the past drove him to make stupid calls—like the bet. He’d set out to claim her on his terms. And he’d fucking failed. He sure as shit wasn’t going to figure out how to fix this mess while self-gratifying in the shower.

“If
I can fix this,” he muttered, opening his eyes and staring out into the empty bathroom. Maybe defeat had finally caught up with him. He could beat his brothers. He could take down terrorists. But making the woman of his dreams open up her heart and take a chance on him?

Fucking impossible. He should go back to sitting on his side of the bar and tossing out stupid one-liners to women who didn’t give a damn what he said as long as he smiled.

A
ny minute security would turn the corner and demand to know what she was doing running down the hall in a barely buttoned men’s shirt with her cell phone pressed against her ear.

Please pick up, Cade. I promise I won’t complain about the fact that Mufasa spends most of his time with me when he’s really your dog. Please. I need you now.

“Natalie?”

“What’s your room number?” she demanded, praying his suite was on the same floor as Jack’s room.

“One nine zero five,” he said.

“Nineteenth floor
.
Oh thank God.” She slowed and looked at the sign by the elevator bank. She was so close, only one more stretch of hopefully empty hallway to run down without her underwear.

“Do you need help with Mufasa?” he asked.

“No, your dog—”

“Our dog,” he corrected.

“Mufasa is fine.” She stopped in front of room nineteen zero five. “I need you, Cade. And I’m outside your room.”

The door swung open as she lowered her phone from her ear. Her best friend, and her only hope for surviving this night that was sliding so far out of her control, filled the entryway. He was wearing boxers and an inside out T-shirt, but he was still overdressed compared to her.

“What the hell?” he said, his eyes widening. But he didn’t hesitate. He stepped back, holding the door wide open. “Get in here.”

“Is Lucia—”

“She’s here.” He closed the door, turned the lock, and moved into the room. He kept his gaze fixed on the floor.

“Natalie?” Her sister stood by the bed securing a bathrobe tie around her waist. “What happened?”

Cade bypassed her and headed for the bathroom. He returned with a white hotel robe that matched her sister’s.

“Here.” Cade held out the oversize robe. “Put this on.”

“Thank you.” She set her phone on the floor and pulled the soft fabric over her half-buttoned shirt.

“Now sit down.” He made the command sound like an invitation. With Cade, it was always a request spoken in his deep voice. Unlike Jack—

“Tell us why you’re running through the hotel in Jack’s shirt.” He claimed one of the armchairs in the sitting area that was an exact replica of the space in Jack’s room, and he motioned for her to take the other. “And nothing else.”

And now it was her turn to dissect the carpet pattern, her gaze fixed on the floor.

Deep breaths. No tears. Cade will understand.

He’d run fast and hard from commitment for so long. For years, they’d had their own club of sorts.

“Natalie, if he hurt you—” The big, bad Navy SEAL’s voice shook.

“If who hurt her?” Lucia demanded, crossing to the sitting area. She placed her hands on her hips. “Is this about Jack? Why would he hurt her?”

“I’ll tear him apart,” Cade continued as though he hadn’t heard his fiancé. “I don’t care if it lands me in a Vegas jail the night before my wedding.”

She looked up. Her best friend sat on the edge of his chair, forearms resting on his thighs. His expression was a mask of concern. And her sister—Lucia looked like a furious angel in her white robe.

“He didn’t hurt me,” Natalie said.

Liar. Jack Barnes had taken a jackhammer to her defenses, breaking down the walls around her heart. And she was so afraid he’d fought his way in.

“Then where are your clothes?” Lucia asked.

“I was in a rush—”

“To get away from him.” Cade clenched his jaw and shook his head. “Look, I’ve been trying not to get involved in your bet. But I know Jack. He doesn’t give up. I know he admitted defeat. But if he made one more play—”

“He won the bet,” she said softly.

“I’ll fucking kill him.” Cade was on his feet, his hands balled into fists at his side.

“Bet?” Lucia said, her sharp gaze moving between her fiancé and Natalie.

“Don’t blame Jack,” she said, looking Cade straight in the eyes. “I wanted him. After the bachelorette party yesterday, I gave in. I let him win. And then today he told his team that he was giving up and—”

“What. Bet.” Lucia spoke loud and clear over their rapid-fire conversation.

Oh shit.

“You said you would tell her,” Cade said.

“Someone better tell me now,” Lucia demanded.

“Earlier this week, before we left for Vegas…” Natalie began. She told her sister about Colton’s challenge, how she’d overheard, and how she’d sworn Jack would never win. “I planned to tell you,” she added. “After the wedding. After Jack lost. Only he didn’t lose…”

And I’m terrified I’m falling for him.

Only she couldn’t say those last words to her best friend and sister—two people who’d found love and fought for it.

“Cade.” Lucia turned to her fiancé. “Maybe you should visit your dog. Natalie and I need girl time.”

Her sister turned to her, and Natalie braced for a rush of angry words. They’d just started to rebuild their relationship, and she’d kept a secret from her sister—one that was blowing up the night before Lucia’s wedding.

Natalie closed her eyes. When was she going to stop messing up her little sister’s life? Ever since their parents had died, she’d managed to rain chaos and pain on her little sister. This was exactly why she’d kept her distance from Lucia for so long.

But Lucia didn’t yell at her, or turn into Bridezilla. Her sister waited until her fiancé picked up his phone and the stack of room keys. She remained silent while Cade kissed her long and hard on the lips before slipping into the hall.

Then Lucia turned to her, her eyes shining with determination. “We’re going to fix this, Natalie.”

Impossible.

But one question chased that thought like a cool drink of water following a shot of burning whiskey.

“How?” she murmured. “I ran away, left him in the middle of… It wasn’t a good time to go. And I took his shirt.”

The phone’s shrill ring was like an alarm bell punctuating the rising panic in her voice. Lucia walked to the nightstand and answered it.

“Yes, she’s here with me. Cade went to look after his dog,” she said, her words tight and sharp. “You might want to wait and return her clothes in the morning.”

Jack.

Of course, any man with half a brain would call around to make sure the woman who’d raced out of his room half-dressed was all right. And Jack wasn’t stupid. Not by a long shot.

Her sister hung up the phone and crossed the suite to the sitting area.

“Lucia, I’m sorry—”

“I’m sorry Cade’s stupid teammate bet he could sleep with you.” Lucia sank into the chair across from her. “But if he hadn’t, you’d probably have ignored him while he fought for your attention.”

“I think that would have been better than this,” she muttered. The chaos. The fear. “I ran down the hallway without my underwear.”

“What happened? Why did you leave in the middle…” Her sister waved her hand in the air.

“I gave myself one more night with him.” She closed her eyes. “But then we…in his bathroom…the shower was running, and I was so close to saying, ‘Yes, I trust you.’”

Lucia’s brow furrowed. “And that’s a bad thing? He’s a good guy, Natalie. The bet was stupid. But we all have our Achilles’ heel. I’m guessing Jack’s brothers are his weak spot. That doesn’t mean you can’t trust him. Cade trusts him to cover his back while they’re off fighting who knows where.”

“I know.” Natalie had faith that he’d keep her safe. But this went beyond his physical demands. She trusted him not to hurt her while she had her arms behind her back and her body hovered over the bathroom sink. But—

“I don’t trust him with my heart.” There. She’d put the massive roadblock into words. She could give up physical control and admit that she liked it when he gave orders in bed. But she couldn’t give him free rein to trample her emotions. When he said those words—trust me—she’d known that she needed to escape.

“Did he ask you to hand it over?” Lucia asked.

“This isn’t just sex for the sake of winning a bet, or even for the sake of sex. Not anymore. I care too much. And I think he might feel the same way. He lost that bet for me, Lucia. He wanted me more.”

Lucia smiled. “I know it’s scary, falling for a gorgeous warrior determined to prove he wants a place in your life—trust me, I’ve been there. But when the alternative is walking away from the person you love? From a future where the good outweighs all the bad—past and present—simply because that person is a part of your life? I think the odds are in your favor.”

She shook her head as tears trailed down her cheeks. “Not for me. Good things don’t happen to me. Our parents died in a car crash. Two foster families sent us back. Because of me. And the third—”

“What happened to me was not your fault. If you had been there…” Lucia drew a long shaky breath. “If you had been there, the bastard might have gone after you.”

“I know.” She spent years wishing she’d stayed home, that she’d drawn his anger away from Lucia. “I should have been there that night.”

“No!” Lucia was on her feet the minute the words slipped out, crossing the sitting area and drawing her up into her arms. “I hate what that man did to me. But I have never blamed you. Not once. You were there for me. Always. Even in some of the darkest moments, you were my good thing.”

Tears ran down Natalie’s face, and she clung to her sister. “But I barely got to see you. When you were in the hospital, and then after…”

Lucia drew back and met her teary-eyed gaze. “But even when I was lost in pain and anger, I knew I had a sister who loved me, who would jump to my defense, even going as far as sending her best friend to play bodyguard. I’m just sorry I haven’t been here for you. You deserve the love of a good man, Natalie. You deserve a SEAL.”

“But what if—”

“Shh.” Lucia pressed a finger to her lips. “Stop waiting for the sky to fall.”

She pulled free from her sister’s embrace and wrapped her arms around her waist. “I’m not sure it’s Jack. He…he pushes me out of my comfort zone.”

And yes, she’d chosen those words carefully. She was not about to discuss sexual positions or kinks with the little sister she was just getting to know—or anyone else. Not even Cade. He knew her better than anyone on the planet. But there were some lines they didn’t cross.

Lucia laughed, her eyes, damp from tears, sparkling. “Cade did the same thing. And it was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“What if I try and it doesn’t work?” she said softly.

“You’ve still won,” Lucia said firmly. “Because you gave the relationship a shot. And I bet you’ll succeed. I’ve never known you to back down from anything.”