Tempting Target: Heart of a SEAL (18 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Emmy wasn’t sure what was going to happen today. From the moment this wild ride of a trip started it was like she didn’t recognize her life and sometimes…herself. The housing area that they’d given to Matt was nice and cozy. The one-bedroom apartment with a dining room, living room, full bathroom, and kitchen was complete with furniture, and the man who brought her to the house also took her to the base shopping center too so they were stocked up on food and niceties that made any house a home in her book.

She’d taken one last look around the house, and she hoped there would be enough room for them all. This was a very small place, but she had lived with her four brothers and parents, so she knew how to pack it in when she needed to. Then, she headed to the hospital.

The hospital elevator dinged and she stepped off of it and went to Matt’s room, trying to keep her tension at bay. She took a deep breath and opened the door.

“There you are.” Matt was sitting in the loveseat all ready to go.

“If you were ready earlier, why didn’t you tell me to come and get you?” Emmy looked around the room and wondered why it was so quiet.

“If you’re looking for my mother and Candy, they aren’t here. They left early this morning.”

“Why? I would have thought they would be afraid to leave you alone with me.” Keeping the smart ass bitterness out of her voice was difficult, but before she slept, she kept replaying the words that had awakened her from her uncomfortable nap in the lobby.

“Well, they were… until the doctor said that they think I have a mild cast of amnesia, and they think that you can help me with it.”

“Really? What do I have to do?” She was willing to do whatever for Matt. Not only had she fallen in love with the protective man, but he’d saved her life more times than she was willing to think about. Not that she would tell him about the love part. She knew that this was supposed to be a fling, and even if he didn’t remember his reservations about them being together right now, she did and she’d remind him of that, too.

“They think since I spent the majority of the time right before the accident with you that being with you now will bring my memory back. They need me for a special assignment. It was created just for me. I was brought here to get my final instructions and then deploy with the specialized crew they set up for this particular task.”

“Can you remember anything about it?” She knew that he couldn’t tell her that much about the mission, and she didn’t want to know about it; she just wanted to see how far they were from his baseline.

“They told me the specifics when I got on base, and I was hit soon after that. Just like the time I spent with you. Sometimes the memories hover right under the surface, but I just can’t reach them. The doctor’s think that you may be the key to solving that problem. Just by being you…”

That seemed like a lot of pressure to be in charge of so much, but she could just be her and hope that was enough. It was something because back home she was the person that everyone watched out for and tried to make more comfortable. She’d had a leaky heart valve, and when she was young, she was often out of breath and sickly, but with her metallic valve working like a charm, she was fine. Her parents had kept the death of her favorite aunt away from her until she had graduated because they thought the stress would be too much. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. When she got her inheritance from her wonderful aunt, she decided to take a trip to all the wonderful places she’d always wanted to go but let her family scare her into thinking she couldn’t go alone.

“If you want me… just being me. I have that in spades. Are you ready to go?” She wanted to get out of this hospital as soon as she could. Having spent so much time in the hospital as a child, she refused to go back. Even when her brother’s wife’s had children, she’d wait until they brought them home. Sure, she claimed that she didn’t want to overwhelm the mother at the hospital and she wanted the immediate family to bond. It was true, but that wasn’t the real reason she didn’t go. When she was released from the hospital, she had the icky feeling she always had, but it didn’t occur to her to leave. She wanted to make sure Matt was okay, and with all the commotion of increased patients and not enough staff, she didn’t mind taking care of him.

Matt stood up and tried to grab his bags.

“Should you be lifting anything?” Emmy jumped in front of him and took the bag from his hand.

“Yes, sexy nurse, I got my discharge instructions, and they said that I’m fit as a fiddle. I’m a bit weak from laying around just that little bit of time, but I’m going to be going to physical therapy a few times a day just to get myself back together.” Matt pointed to the little cart they’d given him to roll his items out to the car.

“That sounds like a plan.”

Getting him to the car and back to the house was not a problem. It’s a good thing that he was a SEAL because his rigid workout regime and powerful body had done a lot to make what could have been a more debilitating injury very minor.

He was tired from the short trip home but was able to take a shower and get dressed alone in the bathroom. It was weird being with a man she knew so intimately but now felt like a stranger.

When he returned from the bathroom, she wanted to rub her hands all over his body and enjoy him, but she felt shy. He walked toward her and pulled her into his arms. Matt was always so good at reading her and tonight was no exception. She had wondered before if he was good at reading her, or if it was the fact that he was just good at that in general, and now she had her answer

“The look on your face says you wanted some contact, but if I’ve misread your expression, let me know.” He was much gentler than he used to be, and she figured that he thought she was as fragile as he thought she was when he first met her. She’d changed his mind then, and she’d do it again.

Lifting her face toward him, she wound her fingers in his hair and brought him down for a kiss that was Matt-worthy. She loved the way he kissed her, it was always so hungry and needy—although she doubted he would describe it like that. It felt like he was trying to meld them together into one person. The fierce need and desire had always made her wet instantly. Now it was her turn to meld them together, and she found out why he must love doing that as much as he did. It was empowering. The sounds of their lips coming together and his grabby hands increased the fervor of the moment until she had to stop to catch her breath.

He smiled at her, and she wondered if he remembered anything.

“Did that jog any memories?” she asked, sounding like a marathon runner who was out of practice.

“I don’t know for sure, but I’m enjoying this method more than any other so far.” He was relaxed like she’d never seen him. It wasn’t that he was an uptight guy, quite the contrary, but his eyes had always seemed intense and calculating.

“I’m glad you approve.”

“I know it has to be hard for you to be with me when you feel like I’m a stranger to you.” Matt stopped talking abruptly. “Sex with a stranger… is that on a list?”

“Yes!” she screamed, and the noise seemed to break his thoughts. It looked like he was trying to get the thought back, but after a few minutes, he shrugged.

“That’s what I was talking about. The thought will be there just out of reach, but then it’s gone without me fully understanding what happened.”

“I probably scared it away.” She was disappointed that she’d made such a loud noise and interrupted the progress, but she’d gotten so excited that he’d remembered something. Emmy made a note not to startle him when he was remembering something.

“Don’t worry about it, Emmy; it’ll come back.”

She’d known it was hard for him to watch her be sad before the accident, and it seemed he still had that trait, so she tried to put on a smile for him so he wouldn’t worry. He had enough to deal with without bothering with her.

“So what else do you want to do that may stir up my memory?”

“You loved looking at my body.” She was going to have to work on not sounding like a gentle little lamb when she wanted to be a fierce lioness.

“I’m sure I did. Refresh my memory.” He walked over to the couch, sat down, and looked as if he was getting ready to watch one of the premier dancers at a strip club. It should have been a touch demeaning, but she liked his eyes on her, and it was like he was seeing her for the first time. She hoped that the accident didn’t affect the kind of woman he liked because if it didn’t she was confident that he was going to like what he saw.

“I didn’t dress to seduce you. I dressed to pick you up from the hospital.” She was unbuttoning her blouse slowly, but for some reason she wanted to turn off the light.

“It’s not the clothes on the woman that are seductive…it’s the woman wearing the clothes. Don’t be bashful now, Emmy. Just yesterday you had your tits bared and your skirt up while you played with your pussy as I watched.” His one eyebrow was cocked up the way it always was when he was amused.

“I thought you knew who I was then. You like to play games sometimes; I thought this was the ‘Hey, I don’t know who you are, but I’m going to have sex with a stranger game.’”

“That does sound like a great game, and I enjoyed it thoroughly, but since I’ve already seen what you have and I almost took out your eye with how hard I came, you shouldn’t feel bashful.” He had his eyes on her breasts, and she couldn’t stop herself from having a bit of fun with him.

She took off her shirt and pinched her nipples through her bra. They were already hard because of her present company, but the slight prick of pain made her gasp.

“I’m trying to give you the opportunity to strip, but if you’re going to be playing while you do it I may have to make this more interactive.”

This was the Matt she knew. Demanding, pushy, and used to his orders being followed.

“You like that?” he whispered.

“That’s what I’m used to from you, and yes, I love it.” She shed the rest of her clothes until she was in her bra and panties before she looked at him expectantly.

“Is that the end of the show?”

She nodded and wondered what it was going to be like being with this almost new man. He patted his lap, and she walked over and straddled him.

“Nice move.” He was studying her, and if it weren’t for the fact that she knew he didn’t remember her, she would have said that nothing really seemed off with him.

“I thought you’d like that. As much as I’d like to sit here and be cordial, I have to tell you that before your accident you kept me well fed. Before I met you, I didn’t even know how hungry I could get or what I wanted to eat, but when you came along you rectified that.” She knew she was talking in code, and that probably wasn’t good for the man working on his memory.

“You’re saying that you were famished when you met me, I helped you cultivate tastes for a new diet, and now you are starving and would like to eat.”

She let go of a breath she didn’t even know she was holding. “I’m so glad that you got what I was saying.”

“I don’t remember the last few weeks, but I do remember what double talk is and how to read between the lines. Plus, even if I didn’t know any of that, the way you’re grinding your sweet pussy on the seam of my jeans would be a clear indicator that you want to be filled with my cock.”

“How do you feel about that?” Asking him this was torture because if he said no she was going to have to deal with it, but she was hoping and praying that he wouldn’t say that.

He didn’t answer her with words, but he brought both hands up to her breasts and found her hard nipples easily with his thumb and index finger. Pulling them slightly, he brought her to him and moaned into her mouth. It was easily the sexiest sound she’d ever heard, and she didn’t think her first orgasm was going to be with him inside because she was so turned on right now.

“Don’t even think about giving my jeans what my cock deserves.” He looked up into her eyes, and she was lost. His beautiful cornflower blue eyes sparkled with mischief and arousal, and she was so full she prayed she could keep her mouth closed and the words of love locked behind her lips.