Sexy SEAL Box Set: A SEAL's Seduction\A SEAL's Surrender\A SEAL's Salvation\A SEAL's Kiss (10 page)

“Congratulations on your retirement, sir,” Cade said. “The base won’t be the same without you.”

You had to hand it to him, Cade rocked this social bullshit. And the admiral ate it up with a spoon.

“I did my best to leave a strong mark,” he claimed before giving Blake an indulgent look that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. “And I like to think I’m leaving behind a legacy. That my influence will carry on, if you know what I mean.”

“The mark of a great leader is the impact he leaves on his troops,” Cade agreed.

Blake didn’t have to look at him to know that beneath his social tone, his buddy was smirking.

“And speaking of legacies,” the admiral said, pulling on that social smile again, “Landon, there’s someone I’d like to introduce you to.”

“Sir?” Shit. He didn’t want to meet anyone.

“My daughter. A lovely young woman. Articulate, bright and gainfully employed. Top-security clearance, a solid portfolio, and being my daughter, she’s well versed in what’s required to support a military household.”

Obviously Pierce didn’t play matchmaker very often.

And Blake wished like hell he wasn’t doing it now. He wasn’t stupid. He knew what game the admiral was playing. The old guy liked Blake’s story. SEAL, linguist, decorated soldier triumphing over a pathetic childhood. The son-in-law ad practically wrote itself.

Except Blake wasn’t in the market.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Blake said. “I’d be happy to make your daughter’s acquaintance, but I won’t be asking her out. I’m seeing someone.”

It wasn’t until he saw the shock on his superior’s face that Blake realized this was the first time he’d said no. His shoulders twitched again. It wasn’t as if he’d refused an order, he told himself. All he’d done was sidestep the questionable honor of being dangled in front of the admiral’s daughter.

“Elliot, darling,” Mrs. Pierce said, giving Blake an apologetic smile before dismissing him with a tilt of her head. “It’s time for the toast.”

“Excellent,” Pierce said, arching his brow at Blake. “You’ll wait, of course. I’d like to finish this discussion.”

Blake almost saluted out of habit.

“I’m a soldier, not a lapdog,” he muttered instead as soon as the old guy was out of earshot.

“What’s the big deal? You meet his daughter, play nice, then skip out to hook up with that hot redhead again.”

Blake frowned.

“What? You didn’t think I could figure out why you’ve been mooning all night?” Cade laughed. “Dude, it’s practically written on your face. I’m surprised you can drink that beer with the hook stuck so tight in your lip.”

Like feeding jackals, denial was pointless. Besides, Blake shifted uncomfortably, he wasn’t a hundred percent sure that he wasn’t hooked good.

He was spared the need to think of a comeback thanks to a chiming crystal bell.

First time he’d ever been grateful for a speech.

The gratitude lasted about five minutes.

“I hate politics,” Blake decided under his breath, not for the first time.

“You want to get anywhere, get anything done, you play the game.” Cade shrugged as though it didn’t matter. But his lips twisted, a bitter indication that he, too, thought the game sucked.

Blake ignored the droning accolades, letting his mind wander back to Alexia. As soon as this toast was over—regardless of who the admiral wanted him to meet—he was outta there. He wanted to see her. To talk to her. To taste and touch and have her.

No surprise, really, since he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind. Except the wanting to talk to part. That could probably be filed under shocking.

But as hot as things were between them, he knew she wasn’t going to be satisfied with just sex much longer. She’d already been pushing, hinting. He remembered the aggravation in her eyes that morning. She wanted more, and if he wanted her, he was going to have to pony up.

He shifted, his uniform suddenly tightening like a straitjacket. Sharing his past wasn’t an issue. Admitting his job? It was going to take a whole lot of charm to get her naked after he fessed up to being not only navy, but a SEAL, too.

He was pretty sure he had enough, though.

“Well, now...” Cade murmured, his grin wicked.

Blake followed his gaze.

He recognized the man first. Strawberry-blond hair fashionably tousled, alligator tuxedo lapels indicating not just custom, but way-out-there custom, and a ruby pinkie ring that glinted as he waved a friendly greeting to the crowd.

Michael?

What was he doing here? Was he a part of the entertainment? Blake wondered what he’d missed while he was obsessing over Alexia.

He watched the younger man reach out to assist someone onto the raised dais. His hand closed over slender fingers. It took an obvious tug to get the rest of the woman’s body to move. Despite his confusion, Blake grinned. Somebody didn’t like the spotlight.

Then, as people shifted, he saw who Michael was trying to drag onstage.

Her hair tumbled in loose curls over one bare shoulder, the red so deep it was almost black in places, so light it shone gold in others. Something black draped a tall, willowy body, the effect saved from elegance by the slender rose tattooed on her bare shoulder. The fabric was deceptively loose, but wrapped in a way that drew his eyes to the sweet curve of her breasts, the slender indention of her waist.

Breasts he’d tasted just hours before. A waist he’d gripped as he’d held her body over his, watching as she slid in a glorious rhythm, up and down his straining erection.

Alexia.

His sexy temptation.

His gaze shifted from her to the man of the hour, suddenly seeing the resemblance in the shape of their faces, the arch of their brows.

The tiny hairs on the back of his neck that warned of trouble stood on end.

Alexia was the admiral’s daughter?

Shit
.

* * *

S
TANDING
ON
DISPLAY
, Alexia kept her expression neutral and her shoulders erect. She hated these things. Her mother was as social as the admiral was bossy, which meant growing up there had been four over-the-top fancy functions a year.

Since Margaret Pierce came from money—lots and lots of money—that meant the parties were not only boring, but super-upscale boring. The only upside was that events on this scale meant that other than assuring themselves their offspring were in attendance and properly behaved, the admiral and Mrs. Pierce were too busy to do anything but ignore them all night.

When it came to her parents, Alexia usually believed that being ignored was best. But she’d forgotten how hellishly boring it was.

“Hide the ennui,” Michael whispered. Thanks to her heels, he only had to lean sideways, so the exchange wasn’t that noticeable. Good thing, since their mother was a stickler for social protocol.

“I’m swimming in ennui,” she whispered back, her lips barely moving from their frozen smile.

Actually, she was swimming in anticipation. She glanced at the ornate grandfather clock on the landing and sighed. Only an hour till midnight. That meant a few boring speeches, a couple ostentatious odes to her father’s brilliance, and whatever pompous response he ended the toast with, and she could leave.

Go back to her place and wait for Blake.

She’d been so amped up after he’d left, she’d finally dug into the packing boxes. Sure, she’d opened the first one in search of her favorite teddy, a confection of black lace and red satin. But within a few hours, she’d turned her barren bedroom into a comfortable oasis. One she’d be happy to spend another two days of sexual ecstasy in.

The image of Blake popped into her mind, his eyes intense, his incredible body poised over hers. So delicious.

She sighed, a soft fog of sexual warmth wrapping around her as it always did when she pictured the two of them together.

She couldn’t wait to touch him again. To feel his body inside her. To taste the intense heat of his kisses. But first, before she let herself have any of that, the two of them would be sitting down for a little chat.

Because as wonderful as things were between them, she wasn’t having sex with a stranger again. And, despite the fact that she now knew his body as well as she did her own, facts were facts. Blake was an
emotional
stranger to her.

“Why isn’t Dr. Darling here to distract you?”

Guilt, sharp and cutting, sliced through Alexia’s sexual fog. She had no reason to feel bad. There was no commitment between her and Edward, either concrete or implicit. It was stupid to feel guilty. Just because she’d spent the previous couple of nights rolling around naked in the sand, surf and sheets with the hottest, sexiest, most passionate man she’d ever met instead of calling the guy who wanted her to be his one and only?

She winced. Nope. No reason for guilt.

Michael’s nudge reminded her that he was waiting for an answer. Since this probably wasn’t the right moment to share her emotional confusion, she shrugged and went for humor instead.

“Are you kidding? Bring a date to a family affair?” she whispered back in mock horror. “That’s never a good idea.”

“It’d help you decide if you want to take the relationship plunge, though,” Michael mused quietly. “What better way to see what a guy’s made of than let him go up against the old man? If he caves, you know he’s a wimp. If he cozies up, you know he’s an ass.”

Alexia shrugged. The only measure of her father she cared about was that any guy she was in a relationship with was nothing like the man who’d sired her. Other than that, she didn’t care how he acted around the admiral.

She was just about to ask Michael to run interference once the toast ended—so she could slide out the door—when she caught the steely disapproval in her mother’s stare. Alexia subtly nudged her brother, who straightened, too, both of them shifting their fake-smiling faces toward center ring as their father started speaking.

As the cadence shifted, winding down, she felt some of the tension seeping from her shoulders, out her fingers. They were in the end zone. She focused in on the words, listening to her father thank a laundry list of dignitaries, ranking officers and political cronies for their support of his career over the last four decades.

She leaned toward Michael.

“Think he’ll include us?” she whispered.

“Nah,” he whispered back. “The only time we come up in a speech is in terms of the challenges and struggles he’s had to overcome.”

“As soon as this is over, I’m outta here,” she muttered.

“Not so fast. Remember, we’re part of the receiving line. You have to stand and smile until everyone’s done worshipping—I mean, congratulating Dad. Besides, you should stick around.” Michael’s smile was pure delight. “I’ll bet your night improves.”

“I’m sure it will.”

Just as soon as she got out of here and called Blake. She surreptitiously glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner, noting it was already eleven-thirty.

Why couldn’t her father have toasted goodbye to all his glory at a reasonable hour, instead of pushing it to the limits and forcing everyone to stay so late? She glanced around. Most of the guests were pretty darned old. They probably wanted warm milk and their beds instead of a boring speech and champagne.

Skimming the crowd, her gaze flew right past one particular face. Then, her brain screaming a warning, her eyes flew back so fast she probably lost a few lashes.

Blake?

Brow furrowed, she shook her head in denial.

What was he doing here?

Then her focus widened. Horror filled her with a cold, icy sort of misery.

No!

Her eyes bounced from his uniform to the medals glinting off his chest, back to his face and then to the crowd of men he was standing with. SEALs.

Navy SEALs.

The man who’d driven her crazy, who had her thinking forever thoughts and craving a relationship, the one who made her want to play house—naked—was also the one thing, the only thing, on her forbidden-relationship list. Military. Elite military, and up until one speech ago, under her father’s command.

How had she missed the signs?

Why hadn’t he told her?

And when the hell would these speeches be over so she could run away?

* * *

B
LAKE
WATCHED
the expressions chase across Alexia’s face. Shock, then disbelief, quickly followed by fury. Then she shifted. Her body weight, the tilt of her head and her expression. It was as if she’d slammed the door shut.

Shit
.

As much as he wanted to avoid any matchmaking from the admiral, he was equally determined to hold on to the sweet, pleasurable oblivion Alexia’s body provided.

Hurry, hurry, hurry
, he silently urged his commanding officer, knowing the longer Alexia had to stew, the harder it would be to charm her out of her snit.

Thankfully, the older man chose that moment to raise his glass in thanks. Blake absently followed along with the rest of the room, raising his, as well. But his eyes didn’t leave Alexia.

A good thing, because as soon as the crowd shifted, she lost herself in it. Clearly, growing up with military influence had taught her a thing or two.

Of course, Blake had some pretty solid training on his side. He noted the direction she was going, then skirted the outside of the crowd, cutting her off before she reached the door.

He placed his hand on her shoulder with just enough pressure to stop her escape. She hissed, a sound like cold water being thrown on a sizzling fire.

Blake dropped his hand.

“Surprise,” he said quietly, suddenly very aware that they were surrounded by her family and his superiors. None of whom needed any details as to his and Alexia’s relationship. “I didn’t realize you were Admiral Pierce’s daughter.”

“And I didn’t realize it mattered who my father was.” Her tone was as cold as her eyes. A temperature he’d have sworn a woman as hot as she was could never drop to.

“It doesn’t,” he said, dancing out of that trap. Alert, knowing there were more to come, he weighed his words carefully. “I hadn’t realized we had mutual interests.”