SEAL for Her Protection (SEALs of Coronado Book 1) (12 page)

Brad looked like he wanted to disagree, but the waitress showed up with their food before the photographer could say anything. After the woman left, Hayley blatantly changed the subject, asking Chasen how the week’s training had gone.

“It was okay. Mostly tracking and hostage rescue stuff,” he said, trying to figure out how to tell her something interesting to satisfy her curiosity without getting into the details of exactly what they’d been doing. Because all that running around the rugged mountain terrain of Fort Irwin had been with a very specific target in mind. Somewhere at a SEALs headquarters, some really smart people were taking the lessons he and his Team had learned during that training and applying them to a future mission—if not for his Team, then for another one.

“I guess you guys have to do that kind of training a lot, huh?” Jillian asked. “With terrorist groups like Boko Haram kidnapping so many people.”

“Pretty much,” he said, answering the question without really saying anything.

“Well, I’m certainly glad you do all that training,” Hayley said. “Though I have to admit, I’m shocked the ambassador actually had the pull to get you guys over there. Nigeria isn’t exactly a high-profile posting.”

“Actually, it wasn’t the American ambassador who got us over there,” Chasen said with a shake of his head.

“It wasn’t?” Hayley said. “Who was it?”

Chasen sipped his beer before using the top of the bottle to point at Brad. “He did.”

Both women turned to look at Brad, but he was staring off into the distance. Chasen wasn’t even sure the man heard what had been said until he spoke.

“I didn’t even realize Hayley had left the university compound we were staying at until Kalu—one of the local kids who did odd jobs for us—asked me if she’d come back yet,” Brad looked at Hayley, and Chasen could see his eyes were filled with anguish. “I freaked when he told me you’d taken one of the Land Rovers that morning and gone to Dalori hours before.”

Brad picked up his beer and took a swig, his hand trembling. “I went looking for her right away,” he said, glancing at Chasen. “I found the Land Rover flipped over in a ditch ten miles outside the village. She wasn’t in the Rover, though. I found blood and lots of footprints like a bunch of people had been walking around the wreck, so I went to the village hoping someone had found her and brought her there, but no one had seen her.”

He gaze down at his beer bottle, as if memorizing the label. “I tried to look for her myself but realized it was a waste of time, so I went back to the compound. For all the good it did. Those morons kept telling me Hayley was probably woozy and had wandered off somewhere. I finally had to threaten to go public with an article saying the government had failed to protect a foreign journalist before the soldiers got off their asses and started looking for her.”

“That was pretty ballsy,” Chasen said. “They could have just as well shot you.”

“Maybe, but I didn’t care. Still, I didn’t have much faith in the Nigerian Army or their government finding Hayley, so I called every international correspondent Hayley and I ever worked with, getting them to put pressure on their countries and the US to do something before those assholes…”

Brad’s voice trailed off, but Chasen knew what he’d been going to say.
Before those assholes killed Hayley.
The thought made Chasen want to shoot someone.

“I was so relieved when they found you alive I almost passed out when I heard,” Brad finished quietly.

“I’m sorry I put you through all that,” Hayley whispered.

Hearing the story had obviously hit her hard. There were tears in her eyes and she looked a little pale.

Brad shrugged, giving her a small smile. “You’re a friend. You would have done the same for me.”

She reached over and took his hand, giving it a squeeze. “I sure as hell would have.” When she sat back, those earlier tears were about to start rolling. “Now look what you did,” she complained with a sniffle. “Is my makeup running?”

Brad and Chasen both shrugged, so it was up to Jillian to grab Hayley’s hand and head to the bathroom with her.

“Hayley owes her life to you as much as she does to the SEALs,” Chasen said after Hayley and Jillian left.

Brad shook his head. “I didn’t do much. It’s not like I stormed into that hellhole and got her out.”

“Maybe not, but your calls to those international journalists got Hayley’s abduction on the Department of Defense’s radar,” Chasen said. “You’re the reason the DOD sent my Team over there to rescue her. Without a friend as stubborn and bullheaded as you, she wouldn’t have made it.”

Brad flushed. “I’m just glad she’s safe.”

Chasen considered that, then figured he needed to go ahead and scratch the itch that had been building since they’d all sat down. “Have you and Hayley been working together long?”

Brad studied the label on his beer bottle again. “Ever since she started working at the paper ten years ago.”

The anguish Chasen had seen on the man’s face earlier suddenly made a lot more sense. It seemed obvious Brad was interested in Hayley as more than a friend. There would have to be something more between them after so many years together. “Does she know how much you care for her?”

Brad looked up sharply and for a moment, it seemed like he might deny it, but then he shrugged. “We both made the decision a long time ago that our friendship was too important to risk it by trying to be anything more. It’s a decision I’ve never regretted.”

Chasen nodded and they were both quiet for a while, sitting there drinking their beers. “Mind if I ask you something personal about Hayley?”

“Depends.”

The guarded look on Brad’s face told Chasen the man wasn’t going to share any secrets about his friend. Chasen could appreciate that.

“I don’t know her as well as you do, but is she okay?” Chasen asked. “Sometimes I get the feeling she’s still trying to deal with the stuff that happened over in Nigeria.”

Brad relaxed. “I think she is, too. But she’s stubborn and worried about her place in the pecking order at the paper. The boss is trying to give her some time, but she’s more interested in going after this story on Nesbitt and the damn hacktivists who first leaked the rumors. Truthfully, I’m not sure who she should be more scared of—Nesbitt or the hacktivists. But she’s blind to both of them. It’s like she doesn’t have an off button when it comes to putting herself in the line of fire.”

Chasen frowned. He’d never thought about that. Which was stupid considering Hayley was a journalist who clearly spent a lot of time overseas on assignments. Usually he was the one running headlong into danger all the time, not the woman he was dating. It felt a little uncomfortable and for the first time, he wondered if this what Melissa felt like when the chief went on a mission.

Across from him, Brad straightened in his chair. “They’re coming back. I guess it’s time to be a good sport and play nice with Jillian.”

Chasen chuckled. This guy was okay.

Even though Chasen had a better time on the double date than he thought he would, he was still glad after dinner when Hayley suggested they take off and give Brad and Jillian some alone time. Brad didn’t look thrilled to be on his own with Jillian, but he gave Hayley and Chasen a smile and a wave as they left anyway.

Finally, he could have Hayley all to himself.

“See?” Hayley said after they were in his truck. “I told you Brad and Jillian were perfect for each other.”

Chasen didn’t bother to correct the misconception. He got the feeling Brad would be a good wingman and take one for the team. The problem would come if Hayley tried to push the relationship further. What the hell would Brad do then? Jillian seemed nice, but Chasen didn’t think there was anything there as far as Brad was concerned.

* * * * *

Hayley had missed Chasen, but she hadn’t realized how much until she’d seen him walk into the restaurant tonight. That’s when her heart had started to speed up and a weight she hadn’t even known was there lifted from her shoulders. She knew she probably shouldn’t be getting so geeked up over a guy she’d only recently met. But there was something inside her that didn’t care about how long she and Chasen had known each other. He was special and that was what mattered.

She was thrilled at how well the evening had gone. Okay, she hadn’t been too happy when the conversation had veered into a discussion of her kidnapping in Nigeria and she’d been forced to go to the ladies’ room with Jillian afterward and fix her makeup. But the entire rest of the night had been awesome. The food had been great, Brad and Jillian had gotten along swimmingly, and she’d been stoked to have Chasen back from his training exercise.

She was even more excited at the prospect of getting him alone for some quality make-out time. The man had spent an entire weekend teasing, pleasing, and satisfying her in every way imaginable then left her high and dry for five whole days. That was plain cruel and there probably should be a law against it. But in the meantime, she intended to do as much catching up as she could, starting the moment they walked into her apartment.

To that end, she turned to Chasen as soon as he closed the door behind them, then wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss. Her Navy SEAL didn’t seem to mind the ambush. He slipped his warm tongue between her lips to tease hers and spun her around to press her up against the door. Then he placed his hands on the wood on either side of her like he was trying to keep her from escaping. As if she wanted to.

One kiss was all it took to make her knees weak. She was glad she was leaning against the door, otherwise she might have melted into a puddle on the floor.

She trailed her fingers down the front of his shirt, popping one button at a time. When that strong, beautiful chest was fully exposed, she let her fingers play, gliding her nails all over the rippling muscles.

Chasen reached for the hem of her shirt, likely to yank it over her head, but she batted his hands away. She had something else in mind to start things off, something she’d been thinking about doing since he’d called her earlier today.

Pulling away, she spun him around before he could complain, putting his back to the door this time. When he open his mouth to say something, she silenced him with a finger to the lips.

“Shh,” she whispered.

Slipping his shirt off his shoulders, she let it fall to the floor then reached down and worked his belt buckle loose. The buttons on his jeans soon followed then she was shoving his jeans and underwear down. Chasen helped her by kicking everything off and stepping out of them.

Hayley sighed at the sight of him standing there in front of her completely naked. He looked so good she could eat him up. And that’s exactly what she intended to do.

Taking Chasen’s hand, she led him slowly over to the couch. The only light in the room was the one over by the door she’d turned on when they first came in, so she flicked on the lamp beside the couch so she could see exactly what she was doing. His eyes turned molten as she nudged him back until he had no choice but to sit.

God, he was beautiful.

Dropping to her knees in front of him, she wiggled closer until she was between his legs, her hands resting on his muscular thighs.

“Here’s the deal,” she said softly, running her hands up and down his powerful thighs. “I know you’re going to have to leave for training and missions a lot. I get that. I just want you to know the only thing I care about is that you come back safe and sound. And to make sure you work extra hard to come back safe and sound every time, I’m going to show you exactly how happy I am to see you. And every time you come back, I plan on showing you again.”

Chasen started to say something about her not having to show him anything, but the rest of what he might have said turned into a groan when Hayley leaned forward to wrap both hands around the base of his extremely hard cock and take him deep in her mouth.

He slid his hand in her hair as she moved her mouth up and down his shaft, bathing every sensitive spot she could find with her tongue. She’d licked him like this last weekend, but each of those times had been as foreplay, to arouse and tease as a prelude to one kind of amazing sex act or another.

But this time, it wasn’t the start of something else. She was going to make him explode this way.

She paused her up and down movements, focusing her attention on the sensitive head of his cock for a while, alternating between flicking her tongue along the underside and nipping lightly with her teeth. He groaned long and low, and she could taste his excitement as his shaft hardened even more in her hands.

Since he obviously like that so much, she settled into a new rhythm, first moving her mouth up and down to take him deep before stopping every once in a while to flick and tease. When she wasn’t busy using both hands to caress him, she let one wander around, tracing her fingernails over his taut abs, his strong chest, his tense thighs. She could comfortably sit here and explore his body the rest of the night.

But then Chasen’s fingers tightened in her hair and his encouraging tugs became more insistent. His hips lifted off the couch in little thrusting motions. He was close.

Hayley moaned and leaned forward, putting a stop to the teasing and bobbing her head faster. She not only wanted this to be the most amazing thing Chasen had ever experienced, she wanted it to be something he’d never forget.

Was it kinky to wish she had a camera on them at the moment so they could watch it together later and she could see every expression and move Chasen made as she pleased him? Probably, but the thought got her even more excited than she already was anyway.

She squeezed harder with her hands, taking him as deep as she could.

Chasen let out a hoarse groan and she felt his body tense. When his essence filled her mouth, she moaned right along with him. Knowing she was bringing him this much pleasure was the most amazing feeling.

Only when the tremors racking his body started to subside did she slow her movements, lazily tracing her tongue over him. Then, when she was absolutely sure he was done and that there wasn’t a single ounce of pleasure left to be wrung out of him, she stopped what she was doing to sit back on her heels and look up at him.