Reminding The SEAL (Navy SEAL Military Romance) (12 page)

Chapter Seven

Matthew weighed his mind for just a couple of seconds. The truck or the stallion? The truck won. He threw his knapsack inside the mini cab behind the driver seat and hopped behind the wheel. The muddy tracks of the truck that took Leah were easily seen. They detoured onto the road leading to a few other ranch houses, going west. The tracks led down the muddy path and then got lost at a junction with several other tire tracks, like a vehicle fest happened there recently.

He strongly suspected that they’d taken her to the Smith’s ranch, a family he’d known since childhood. The place was now deserted as the family was mostly deceased. He took that road and ended up stalling for a few minutes in a mud hole. After he managed to get the truck going again, it was near 1800 hours and with the daylight fading by the minute.

The place looked like a ghost town. The old house had broken windows with no doors, and the stable roof was completely gone. He still gave the place a once over, but it was obvious Leah was never taken there.

As far as he knew, there were three other ranches in this area, and the only one he could think of was near the canyon all the way back behind his acreage. He went back on the road he’d come by and turned further west. It was dark when he got to the ranch. He could not remember who the property belonged to as the owners had bought it after he left for the Navy.

The place seemed deserted as well because it was in total darkness. He jumped from the truck and pulled out his flashlight, using it to scan the area. There were some machinery not belonging to a farm that caught his attention. Matthew moved closer to the heavy equipment. There was a crane, a drilling rig, and a couple of front loaders.

“What the heck would they be doing with a drilling rig?” He whispered into the darkness.

To the left of the main house was a metal container about twelve feet long. He was curious about it and walked up to it. The metal door was bolted from the outside and padlocked in several places. He hadn’t brought any kind of tool to break the locks. At close inspection, he saw they were titanium locks, which meant they were almost indestructible with normal tools. It would be a waste of time to try and break them, plus time was running out for him to find Leah.

He searched the house, but no one was inside. He saw that the living room was turned into some kind of office. He picked up several papers with what looked like diagrams for drilling, but he wasn’t sure what kind. Whether it was water, oil, or gas, he couldn’t be sure. When he was certain that no one was around, he visited the other homes, which were occupied by their respective owners. None of them had seen Leah.

Yet, something about the other place was pulling him back. Perhaps the people who brought the equipment were involved, and he was very curious about the container unit. He headed back on the dirt road, but veered off before he reached the gate and parked some distance from the yard, where he decided to camp for the night. Perhaps the morning may reveal something useful.

*****

Earlier that afternoon… around 6 PM.

“Here, if you need to go, use that,” Burly shoved a plastic pail inside the unit. Leah named him ‘Burly’ because she hadn’t heard their names. The younger one she named ‘Pet’ because he seemed to follow orders like a dog, and he was kind of cute. She knew he would have been nicer to her had it not been for the other fellow and Myles.

After some time, Burly returned with a bowl of beans and bread with a bottle of water. She looked at the food distastefully and shoved it aside. She was not going to eat their food.

“Eat, you need your strength,” he said. “Here,” he plucked a small penlight from his pocket and shoved it in her hand. “For emergencies. It’s going to be really dark in here.”

“What do you mean?”

“See you in the mornin’, Suga,” he grinned. “Myles was right, you are very pretty.”

“You can’t lock me here alone,” she protested, but he was already closing the metal door with a clang.

“Wait!” She pounded the door with her fists. “You can’t leave me here like this.” There was a clank and a click as the locks clicked into place. “LET ME OUT!”

When the door closed, the inside got dark quickly. She had to blink several times to allow her eyes to adjust. She pressed her ear to the cold metal wall and listened. She could barely make out any sounds. Once the door was shut, no sounds could get in. It was no use wasting energy on screaming. It didn’t seem like they were in any sort of bargaining mood.

No one came back to the unit to check on her. She suspected that she was alone on the property; however, it felt like she was alone in the world. Would Matthew care enough to find her? She had no clue. He was so angry that morning that she wasn’t sure if his passion the previous night was just a booty call or not. She hoped it was more than that, because right there in that cold, dark cell, she missed him. She missed his eyes, the way they changed color with his mood.

“Matthew, are you looking for me?” She said to herself. “I hope you are. And when you find me, I’ll prove that what we shared was not a deliberate plan to get you to sell your land.”

Leah wasn’t a woman to cry often, but the stinging behind her eyes was not something she could control. She squeezed her lids together to try and stop them from welling up, but the tears forced their way through and slid down her cheeks.

Leah curled up in one corner of the unit. Her sniffles were for her ears only. There, she fell asleep and awoke some time later, having no clue of what the time was. Matthew was the first thing that popped into her thoughts in the quietness.

* * * *

It was getting light out as the dawn broke over the mountains with a yellow glow, indicating the rising of the sun. Matthew waited to see if there would be any activity on the ranch, seeing there were heavy machinery parked there. Some sort of drilling was about to take place in the region and he wanted to know what it was. A feeling that his land was connected to this project rested in the back of his mind. He was sure that Myles Connor had something to do with Leah disappearing. There was no way she left without her belongings and there was no means for her to get to town on her own. She’d returned the truck she rented and he would have been the one to take her to town if she had really planned on going. The fault was all his. He shook his head at the memory of their argument. Why did he doubt her?

He hid the truck behind some bushes, and for what was left exposed, he cut some branches to cover it. He then went to a vantage point where he could see the road clearly from the junction off the main path. At around 0600 hundred hours, a twin cab was rolling in.  The truck was similar to the one that Myles Connor had come to the ranch in, but a different color. The one Myles drove was silver and this one was navy.

He made his way to the compound to wait. Shortly after he arrived and positioned himself behind one of the digging equipment, a man in a dark suit came out and went into the office. Matthew watched him come back out with a stack of papers and got back into the truck. Did he have the wrong place? Was the place legit? He hung around for about an hour and had decided to go back to the ranch, in case the kidnappers showed up there, when the silver truck laden with mud drove in.

The truck stopped and Myles came out, followed by two men, who looked like bouncers. He could see the guns in their pants waists and knew they weren’t office clerks. Matthew knew they were up to no good.

The big guy with the scowl was the one he watched and the first place he went was towards the container. At his position, he was unable to see inside the door, but the guy opened the locks and stepped in. Soon after, he came out and spoke with Myles.

Something’s in that unit,
he thought.

The guy picked out a white plastic bag with what appeared to be snacks and carried it to the unit. He was in there all of five minutes before he returned and Myles went in. They were in there for about ten minutes when Myles stepped down and walked to his truck. He drove out, leaving the two goons behind. A few minutes later, the big guy came out and stood guard in front.

“I have to see what’s in there,” he determined, moving stealthily behind the machinery.

“Who’s there?” He was focused on the big guy with the frown that he’d missed the other fellow.

Matthew stopped and sidled up close to the digging machine, hoping not to be seen. He waited to see if anyone would check it out before making a move. The scowl faced dude closed the unit door and motioned to the other fellow.

Matthew smiled in anticipation of taking down two men. He was anxious to get to Leah, for he was now certain she was held in that metal container cell. Why else would they take food in there? What was the purpose of two bouncers guarding the unit with weapons?

He saw the first one come around the corner and he remained quite still. The fellow with the dark hair did not see him and he continued on his way, looking this way and that. Matthew was wedged between two large cylinders on the machine. The fellow came within touching distance and Matthew held his breath, then his hand lifted for a ridge strike and landed in the crook of the man’s neck. He went down with a soft thud.

Matthew looked through the iron piping on the machine and saw the big guy moving towards the crane. His back was to Matthew. Well, he just had to follow the guy. It was that or wait, and Matthew was really getting impatient now. Leah was the only thing on his mind the entire night. They didn’t know each other well, but they had something. He could feel it. He feared that he might have messed it up for good. And now this, she may be so scared that she would return to California. The best thing he could do for her now was to save her from these people. As he left the digging machine, his hand brushed against a giant piston. A dark, sticky substance came off in his hand.

It was crude oil.

“Whoa,” he whispered to himself. “I’ll be…,” he barely had time to register his find when he heard a shout.

The fellow had turned around and was coming straight at him. Matthew swore under his breath when the guy pulled the gun from his waist. He left the rifle back in the truck.

“Nice work SEAL!” He chided himself. “Nice going.”

Running behind the crane was the safest thing to do. He had just crouched behind the chassis when he heard a clank; metal on metal. The guy fired off another shot, then silence. Matthew moved, crouching low and running until he was behind the nearest equipment to the metal unit.

She heard the shot and knew something was going on. The door was unlocked. She knew because it was opened before the other guy shouted an alarm and then Burly only just shoved it in. Was it Matthew? She didn’t care. She was not spending another minute in that dark cell. She pushed gingerly and saw that the coast was clear. With wobbly feet, she stepped down and listened. Another shot rang out over where the machines were. She took the other direction and started running.

She was a few meters away when she heard someone coming behind her and Burly was shouting. She didn’t look behind, but continued running for her life. She stumbled on some stones and grazed her knee. It smarted like crazy and she brushed some mud away.

Willing her legs to carry her, she continued to run until she was in a grassy area, perhaps a pasture of some sort. She didn’t stop until she felt her chest burn and her breath was coming in gasps. She had to stop as her legs gave out. She was weak from not eating for an entire twenty four hours, because she had refused the food they offered her. Now, her escape was all in vain because she knew someone was catching up to her and there was no escaping.

She fell to the ground holding her chest, trying to stop the burning. Leah closed her eyes and waited for her fate, having no idea where she was.

He saw her slip from the container and started running on the path that lead to the wild pastures. Matthew believed, by his calculations, that the land behind this ranch was where the wild range was, connecting his ranch to this one. He started running after her, but made a sudden detour when he realized that the big fellow was following him. The gun was discarded, perhaps out of bullets.

The bouncer guy ran directly into his path and faced an onslaught of a roundhouse kick, landing square on his cheek, sending spittle flying around his face. Matthew pivoted and brought back the same heel to clip the chin of the big fellow. He slithered to the grassy ground like the snake he was.  

Matthew found Leah in the middle of the field, shaking. When he reached down to touch her, she flung her arms out at him and screamed.

“You’re not taking me again!” Her voice was hoarse. “Kill me now!”

“Leah, it’s me Matthew,” he tried to calm her, but her eyes were squeezed shut.

“NO!”

“Yes, it’s me Matthew, open your eyes,” he held her arms and she stopped flailing them. “It’s me honey.”

Her eyes shot open, and for a moment, she gave him a blank stare. “What took you so long?”

Leah flung her arms around him. They clung to each other while Matthew caressed her hair and murmured reassuringly. “I’m here. I’m sorry I took so long.”

Chapter Eight

He’d rescued her, now what? He still hadn’t apologized for what he said, so she finished packing and dragged her suitcase down the stairs. There was no way she was secure about a relationship with Matthew. He was the reason she was kidnapped so she had to make a decision.

He was out early to get the truck from its hiding place and would be back for breakfast soon. Waiting for him was nerve wracking. She didn’t want to go, but needed Matthew to want to keep her. Saving her may just have been out of obligation or duty, and nothing else.

When he came back, she was sitting at the kitchen table waiting to serve him breakfast. He washed up quickly and came through the door with a warm smile. He didn’t even notice that she was wearing a dress. It was light yellow that slightly flared at the hem, just below the knees. A little bit of her boobs was showing, but she couldn’t help that, with the V at her cleavage. It was hard to find clothes that covered her breasts completely.

“I’m starved,” he exclaimed.

“It’s ready,” she invited him to sit and served him bacon, baked beans, and toast.

The coffee was rich and strong, just the way he liked it, and he ate with much gusto. After she cleared the table, he got up and told her he would be out by the barn if she needed him, but she stopped him in his tracks.

“I need you to take me to town,” she said. “To catch a bus back to LA.”

His face drained of its color when he looked at her. “Oh… I… yes, I’ll go change,” he moved slowly towards the stairs, stopping once to turn and open his mouth as if to speak. He never said anything and continued on his way.

He took too long to change and Leah almost had to go fetch him. He packed her things in the truck and they headed out in silence. Halfway down the road, a heaviness settled in the pit of her stomach. She had been hoping that Matthew would ask her not to go, but his face was set in stone with a grim look in his eyes.

They were near the path that led onto the ranch where she was held captive, when he made a sudden stop. “I’m sorry, Leah, I shouldn’t have doubted your intentions,” his voice was raspy as he spoke to her.

“I’m sorry about asking you to sell the ranch. It wasn’t my place,” she quietly replied.

“And what happened to you, I’m truly sorry. I hope you can forgive me for putting you in danger.”

“Thank you for saving me.”

He reached over and placed his hand over hers, “I want you to stay. Can we start over?”

“Yes.”

With a smile on his face, Matthew turned his truck around. He promised himself that he’d be good to her and open up to her about what’s happening in his life. He also needed to make a plan with her about Myles Connor and his goons. Chances are, they would return to do damage control.

As he brought in her suitcase from the truck, he told her, “There must be something on this land they want.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” she said. “Do you think those heavy machinery have anything to do with it?”

“I suppose. I found oil on one of them. Not sure what it means.”

She bit her lips, “Do you think oil is on your land?”

“Anything’s possible,” they reached the living room. “But Leah, I’m not selling my ranch.”

“I never
wanted
you to sell your ranch, Matthew. I just thought you might like to think about the pros and the cons before saying no,” she touched his arm. “I’m sorry I gave you the wrong idea.”

“He took the hand she rested on his arm, “I’m sorry I doubted you.” A sheepish look came over him. “Leah, I want you to stay… for good… to be my wife. We’ve already taken the next step… you know.”

“You mean, had sex?”

“Yes, that,” his ears had gone red and Leah laughed softly. He walked to the side table and pulled out a black velvet box from the drawer. Leah’s stomach fluttered when Matthew turned to her with a diamond ring. “I want you to wear this. We can get married officially later on and wear these,” he showed her the two other rings for him and her.

She didn’t know what to say. He was waiting for her answer and she had no idea how to respond. “Are you asking me to be your wife?” She asked.

“I suppose. I know we haven’t known each other long and it might be too soon, but…,” he trailed off. He did that quite often.

“Okay, but promise me something,” she gave him her left hand and he slipped the ring on her finger.

“Yes?”

“That you’ll do it right sometime in the near future… I mean… your proposal. When you know the time is right.”

“It’s a deal.”

He picked up her suitcase and headed up to her room with her right behind him. Her eyes wandered to his ass and admired how tight it was. His thigh muscles moved so darn tantalizingly in his pants that she wanted to rip them off and ravage him right there in the passageway. When he reached her room, he set the suitcase inside the door and turned to her.

“Will there be anything else,” he asked.

What kind of question was that?
She asked herself. This wasn’t a hotel. He stood waiting for her answer, but she wasn’t sure what he meant until she caught him eyeing her cleavage.

“Well, you could help me with something,” she murmured and walked by him into the room.

Matthew followed her and closed the door. Slowly, she turned and allowed him to unzip her dress. It fell to the hardwood floor in a puff. She felt his hands on her shoulders, running gently down her arms. He pulled her up against him and kissed her bare shoulder, then her nape, sending excitement up her spine.

“Hmm,” she purred.

Leah leaned back against him. He was already hard and she was so wet. She turned to face him and searched his eyes. They were a deep hue of blue, she recognized this as desire. She took his hand and guided him to the bed where she lay back, watching him.  He flung his shirt across the room and unbuckled his jeans, pulling them off in a somewhat jerky fashion. They were followed by his boxers, which he also threw away.

As he approached the bed, Leah sat up. She wanted to touch it, feel it in her palm and perhaps kiss it. She reached a hand out and brushed it with her finger. It jumped at her touch. She looked into his eyes, just before she lowered her head and kissed the tip. Hearing him suck in his breath gave her heart a jolt. She ran the tip of her tongue along its length, then rounded her lips on the pink tip.

Holding him with her hand, she reached under him with the other and cupped his balls, caressing them as she methodically sucked him into her warm mouth. She reached under the balls to the muscled between his anus and scrotum and began to massage it with her middle finger. Her mouth made a sucking sound as she slid up and down its length, leaving it moist and supple.

Matthew gripped the back of her head to help guide her, as if she needed the help. His face was all grimaced and his lips curled back to bare his teeth. She’d never noticed how nice his teeth were before. A little squirt escaped into her mouth. He quickly pulled back his hips and withdrew from her mouth.

“Too soon, I want to be inside you,” he grunted.

However, the next thing he did was cup her breasts, both of them in each hand, and proceeded to devour each nipple, nipping and tucking. At times, he plastered kisses all over them and gave her little bites. His chin stubble grazed her as he relished her boobs, but it only brought more pleasure.

His lips left her breast to continue their assault on her belly, which trembled at his caress.  He traced the path from her navel to her bikini line with his tongue, then kissed the V at her thighs. Gently using his thumbs, he nudged her thighs apart, opening her folds to expose her protruding clitoris. Tenderly, he licked it with the tip of his hot tongue. Shards of fire lit her entire body.

“Oh my,” she babbled.

“You taste as delicious as your cooking,” he murmured against her vagina, before plunging his tongue inside.

“Oh God!” She could hardly contain herself. “Wait, I can’t come yet, please stop!” But, Matthew wasn’t listening. He was fucking her with his tongue and it felt so darn delightful. “Please Matthew, I want you inside me, now!”  She begged.

Finally, he raised his head and looked into her eyes with a sly smile. Then, he raised himself and parted her thighs, bringing one leg to rest on his shoulder and the other he gripped behind the knee. He was kneeling and Leah waited for this new position she’d never done. Matthew used one thumb to rub her clit while he pushed his hip and slid his cock into her with one slippery move.

“Ahh!” She breathed, from the pleasure that shot up her belly.

He started slowly moving his hips back and forth, gliding in and out of her while stroking her clit. Her breasts jiggled with each jerking of their bodies. She gripped them and it occurred to her that she could reach her nipples. She bent her head and stretched her tongue, licking her nipples one at a time. She’d never done that before, but it felt fitting.

“Oh God, woman, what are you doing to me!” She heard Matthew growl.

She licked her nipples again and his gyrating hips picked up speed. Then, all too soon, she felt something explode in her belly and spread throughout her body, making her weak.

“Oh My God, I’m coming, I’m comiiiinnnng!” She screamed against her own breasts.

“Me too!” He grunted again, thrusting his hips violently, filling her with his huge shaft. He swung his head back, with one savage thrust, shooting off his seed into her.

“Haaa,” Matthew let out a breath and kissed her calf, which rested on his shoulder. He lowered himself atop her and nibbled her lips. She wanted a proper kiss, so she cupped his face and parted her lips for his tongue. He’d just wrapped his tongue around hers when he broke the kiss and his head shot up.

“What’s the matter,” she asked.

“An engine. A truck?” He lifted himself and walked to the window. “I knew it.”

Leah moved to the window to see what was happening. “Who is that?”

“I saw that truck at the site where they took you,” he told her.

There were several men on the bed of a blue pickup. Matthew pulled on his jeans and ran downstairs, leaving her to get dressed.  She put away her dress and opted for shorts and a loose shirt. Before she could finish getting dressed, she heard the clang of metal on metal. The sound was now familiar to her as she heard a similar sound at the old ranch.

The truck stopped and she rushed back to the window to see what was happening. The men on the truck ducked behind the cab and one pulled a gun. The left view mirror on the vehicle dangled like a pendant on a chain and she suspected that’s what Matthew shot at. Leah ran down the stairs to make sure Matthew was alright. He was on the porch with the hunting rifle. She plucked the other from the cabinet and joined him on the porch, raising the rifle and resting the stock on her shoulder. If there was one thing she knew, it was how to use a rifle, taught to her by her father.

Matthew looked at her in surprise and then a grin spread across his face. “I’m not selling my land!” He shouted. “If you don’t back off, I’ll have the entire US navy in here in no time!”

“You heard my husband, turn your truck around and leave!” Leah shouted as well.

There was silence for a while and then the truck began to reverse. When it was a few meters down the drive, it turned and sped away. Matthew wasn’t sure that they’d seen the last of Myles Connor, but he had an idea that might work in his favor. He was a Navy SEAL after all, with the entire United States army at his disposal. If there was oil on his land, they were sure to find it.

THE END