Embattled SEAL (19 page)

The night vision scope he’d spent several grand on was a piece of trash now. The front crystal was totally obliterated. That had been what had screwed his eye, those little tiny shards. Seemed ridiculous that something so small could have such devastating impact.

He was thankful it hadn’t been more than that though.

When he returned to the room an hour later he felt like he could sleep. Tomorrow they were going to look at houses and neighborhoods. Then the following morning Cat and the kids had to fly back to Virginia. He refused to be saddened by that.

They would be back.

They had an
interesting day exploring the outskirts of Denver. Cat loved how vital the city felt, as if there were always something going on. They identified a couple of areas where they would think about having a house. It was kind of a given that Harper wanted to be out of the city. She did too and the kids needed decent schools, but any more than that she would leave up to him.

That night they ate dinner in, wanting to spend as much time as possible together before their early morning flight out. The four of them watched silly TV and played, savoring being a unit again.

When Harper tucked the kids in that night Tate cried. “I don’t want to leave you. Why can’t I stay?”

Cat’s eyes filled with tears as she watched Harper brush his hand over Tate’s dark hair. “Because, buddy, we don’t have a house or anything yet. While you guys finish out school I’m going to find us a place to live. That’ll take a while. You have to pack up all your stuff and help Mom out. She has a bunch of work to do too to get ready. I promise you that we will be together as soon as we possibly can. I’ll talk to you as much as I can, okay?”

Tate nodded and seemed to calm.

Dillon didn’t say anything, just hugged Harper for several long minutes around the neck before releasing him. But Cat could see the glisten of tears in her eyes. Harper pressed a kiss to her forehead before leaving the room.

“I haven’t felt this gutted,” he growled, “since the day I left Virginia. Those kids are killing me.”

Cat opened her arms and he stepped into them, tucking his face into her neck. “I love you,” she told him softly. “And I think this is good for everyone. We all had a chance to reconnect—now we’ll let the connection mature and remind us that we have an amazing family. We’ll be back together in no time.”

He nodded, lifting her to carry her to bed. There was an unquenchable fierceness to his loving that night and she stayed awake as long as she could to absorb all those emotions. They would have to last her for a while.

They parted with
tears and love. And determination to keep the lines of communication open, no matter what.

As Cat pressed her mouth to his for a final kiss, and then another final kiss, she fought back tears. They wouldn’t do any good and would probably make the kids more upset.

Harper’s jaw was clamped tight and his sunglasses on to shield the emotion he was feeling. The public didn’t need to know how hard he was fighting right now to keep it together. Cat knew, though. She’d been with him long enough to recognize the signs that he was fighting for control. So even though she wanted to stay to the absolute last second, for all of their sakes she forced her legs to move. “Come on, guys, we have to get through security.”

Tate sniffed and wiped his arm on his sleeve but followed along. Dillon gave Harper a last squeeze then walked away as well. All three of them kept glancing back as they went through security, until they couldn’t see him any longer.

They’d been home
a couple days when Cat called her mom and told her what was going on.

Angie Morgan seemed shocked but Cat could hear her trying to be understanding and she appreciated the hell out of her mom for doing that.

“Why Colorado, though? That’s so far away.”

“That’s where his job is, Mom, and we’ve been apart long enough.”

She sighed. “This is so sudden, though.”

Cat sighed as well. They’d been over this a couple times already. “Mom, if we’re going to move it will be easiest over summer break. Then the kids can settle in and start fresh at the beginning of the new school year.”

“I guess,” she agreed. “At least Harper wasn’t hurt more. It sounds like he was lucky.”

Cat thought of the rifle. “Yes, he was definitely lucky.”

And so was she for not losing him.

This separation had
been so vastly different from the last. Harper called at least once a night just to talk to her and the kids. Sometimes he used the Facetime app to see her and watch her go about her daily life. Cat propped her phone on a stack of recipe books and they talked about their days while she cooked dinner for the kids. It wasn’t romantic in any way but it ended up bringing them closer than they’d ever been before, because it exposed Harper to a lifestyle he’d not really seen before. Even after he’d gotten out of the hospital a couple years ago and been home for several months he had been too lost in his own issues to take much notice of what she did with the kids.

Harper was definitely keeping those lines open now.

After the kids had gone to bed one night he’d also confessed to going back to the counselor. Cat wanted to cry because he truly was doing everything in his power to get them back together.

At night he also whispered how much he missed her. And what he was going to do to her next time he had her in his arms.

Then one afternoon she went to answer a knock at the door. It was Harper.

Cat flung herself into his arms with a squeal. “What the hell are you doing here?”

He looked a little pale in the face so she tugged him into the house. Coming back here to his old stomping grounds had to be hard.

He didn’t give her a chance to baby him though. Kicking the door shut with a heavy boot he picked her up in his arms, his mouth slamming into hers. Cat opened for him, more than ready for anything he had to give her. After a month of going without her body craved his.

Dropping her feet to the floor he ripped her jeans open and shoved them down her hips. Cat arched with need, loving the desperation she could feel in him. She peeled her shirt over her head, then her bra. Harper knelt in front of her to pull her jeans off her feet, first her right then her left, but paused when she stripped.

“You don’t know how much I need you right now,” he groaned, burying his face in her breasts. Capturing a nipple with his lips, he suckled hard.

Cat cupped his head to her, her knees threatening to buckle. He still had his shades on but rather than deter her it spiked her arousal. “I’m right there with you, babe.”

Pushing to his feet, Harper opened his own fly, exposing his heavy erection. Cat wanted to drop to her knees and take him into her mouth but he didn’t give her a chance. With two hands behind her thighs he lifted her up against the foyer wall. Cat flung her arms around his neck and her legs around his hips. The head of his cock prodded at her opening and she angled her hips to take him in as he lowered her down.

They both groaned at the breach but they couldn’t stop. Harper braced his feet and slammed into her over and over again. Cat cried out, her lips searching for his. He gave her a single kiss, then ripped his mouth away to surge back into her. Cat arched, her release looming closer. “Oh shit,” she moaned.

Harper clenched her butt in his hands. Cat knew there would be bruises later but the sharp desperation was exactly what she needed right then. Harper gave a lusty groan and began to lose his rhythm, but Cat had gotten what she needed. With those last few strokes her orgasm washed over her in a euphoric wave. Harper found his own release, knees giving out as the orgasm consumed him.

When Cat opened her eyes she had to chuckle. They were crammed against the floor and wall, panting and a little sweaty. But she was exhilarated. Her skin tingled and she still rippled with aftershocks. “Well,” she murmured, “I didn’t expect that when I opened the door.”

Harper began to laugh and he hugged her to him. Then with a hand braced against the wall he lifted them to their feet.

Cat hated the feel of him slipping out of her but she found her feet. It was amazing how quickly she’d become addicted to him in Colorado. This past month without him had been hell.

Harper slipped his glasses off and dropped them to the entry table and for the first time she could see his eyes. They were creased with humor and appreciation. Gray irises looked clear and healthy. There were some scars but they weren’t nearly as pink and angry looking as they had been. All of the bruises were gone. He looked damn good. She stroked her fingers over the skin. “Still hurt?”

He shook his head. “I still get headaches but not like I used to.” He winked his right eye. “This one’s still dead but every once in a while I think I see a flash of something.”

Cat’s brows lifted in surprise. “Really?”

“Yeah, but I don’t think it’s anything. I followed up with the doc we use at LNF and he didn’t seem particularly interested. He said it happens sometime when a synapse connects unexpectedly, or some shit like that.”

He tugged on her hand, leading her down the hallway. “Let’s go wash up real quick. I have something I want to do.”

The classroom they
stopped at was packed with yelling kids. It was the last day of school for Dillon and Cat had debating even sending them. There definitely wouldn’t be learning going on today.