The SEAL's Christmas Baby Read online

  “Well, if you’re sure, then yeah. I’d say go ahead and cancel your reservation.” She tucked her hair behind her ear and tied a napkin around Parker’s neck before filling up her own bowl with chili and grabbing a piece of garlic bread from the basket. “I mean, sharing my lodgings is the least I can do since you’re stuck watching over us.”

  Preston snorted. “Hardly. I had a great time today.” At her incredulous look he grinned and shook his head. “Really. I did. It’s no bother at all. When I first came up here, I thought I wanted to be alone, but having the two of you around has shown me how much I miss companionship,” he looked up and caught her eye, colour dotting his high cheekbones before he looked away. “Spending time with you two—it’s been the best part of this whole vacation.”

  They ate in silence for several minutes, Lila churning all of that over in her mind. Honestly, she felt the same way about Preston. She’d thought coming up here to the lodge would be a way of putting her past to rest and moving forward, but finding him here again, remembering what they’d had together, just made her yearn for him all the more. He’d not said that he felt the same way about her, but she caught glimpses of heat in his eyes when he looked at her and heard the hint of nostalgia in his tone when he talked about the summer they’d spent here, and deep down she knew that old connection between them was still there. Every touch, every look, every moment they spent together only made it stronger, deeper. It might be wrong. It might be crazy. It might be impossible.

  But for now, it was the most real, natural thing in the world to her and she wasn’t ready to give it all up and lose him once more without ever really having had him again.

  After dinner, Preston cleaned up in the kitchen while she put Parker to bed, then she took a shower herself and towel-dried her hair before returning to the living room. Preston had removed his sweater and holster—placing the sweater over the back of the sofa and the holster and gun on the side table nearby—leaving him in just a T-shirt and jeans. He was tending to the fire, his crouched position highlighting his muscled thighs and broad back. Her heart skipped a beat. He was so gorgeous.

  As she walked over to him, time seemed to slow. Snow was falling gently outside and Christmas carols were playing low on the stereo in the cabin. The light from the tree in the corner glittered and glistened and for this one night, this one moment, everything felt at peace.

  He might not be around forever, but Preston was here now and she wasn’t about to miss her chance.

  “Hey,” she said, placing her hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her and set the poker aside, straightening to stand before her. “I just wanted to thank you again, for everything you’ve done so far for me and Parker.”

  “Not necessary,” he said, his gaze wandering down the front of her plush white robe before returning to her eyes. She felt that slow appraisal like a physical caress, every nerve ending in her body standing at attention. No mistaking the heat in his eyes now, or the molten warmth spreading outward from her core to her extremities. She curled her bare toes in the rug beneath her feet. “Though I’d say seeing you all fresh and pink from your bath is payment enough.”

  Her pulse doubled and she couldn’t resist placing her palm on his chest right over his heart, feeling it pound in time with her own. Same old feelings, same old attraction. Sex would surely complicate things, but Lila couldn’t bring herself to care. “Preston, make love to me.”

  He swallowed hard, the sleek muscles of his throat working. “Are you sure? I don’t want you to hurt yourself anymore and you need your rest and—”

  Lila reached up and placed her finger over his lips, stopping him. “The only thing I need right now is you.” Then she undid the belt of her robe and let if fall to the floor, leaving her naked. “Make love to me, Preston. Please.”

  That was all it took. Preston moaned low in his throat and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tightly to his chest as he kissed her deeply. She ran her hands down his chest to the hem of his T-shirt, tugging it up over his head and off, craving bare skin to bare skin. She’d dreamed about being with him again so many times over the years that now she had him there, she couldn’t seem to get enough of him. Touching him, tasting him, feeling his hardness pressed against her, proof that he wanted her just as badly.

  She took his hand and led him down the hall to her bedroom, then closed the door behind them. After turning down the covers on her bed, Lila sat on the edge of the mattress and gestured for him to join her.

  “Are you sure, sweetheart?” he asked once more, staring down at her with blatant desire on his face.

  “I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life.” She opened her arms to him and smiled as he knelt beside the bed to take one of her taut nipples in his warm, wet mouth. Her smiles soon turned into gasps of pleasure as he licked and stroked every inch of her body, making her cry out in wonder and ecstasy when he spread her thighs and ran his tongue over her slick folds. Making love to Preston that long ago summer had been a revelation. Being with him again now, with so much more experience between them was beyond anything she’d ever known. Every kiss, every sigh, seemed to hold so much more meaning now.

  After bringing her to orgasm twice with his mouth and fingers, she felt dazed and more relaxed than she could ever remember being, endorphins masking every bit of her lingering soreness. Beside the bed, he stood and removed his jeans and boxers, putting on a condom before careful laying atop her on the mattress, supporting his weight on his elbows beside her head as she wrapped her legs around him and urged him on by digging her heels into his butt.

  “Please,” she asked again, feeling the tip of him rubbed against her most sensitive flesh. “Please, Preston. I need you so badly.”

  “Yes, sweetheart,” he said, entering her in one long stroke then holding still while her body adjusted to his. “Anything for you, Lila. I’d do anything for you. Now and always. Forever.”

  He began to move inside her, setting up a slow, steady rhythm that had both of them teetering on the brink all too soon. She wanted this night to last forever. She wanted him to bring her to orgasm soon before she lost her mind from wanting. In the end, he reached between them to stroke her most sensitive flesh again and that was all it took.

  Lila’s world exploded into a million iridescent shards, her body straining, convulsing around his as Preston buried his face in her neck and thrust hard, once, twice, then went whipcord tight in her arms as he joined her in climax. Time seemed to slow and the world stopped. There was only the two of them, holding each other so tight, it felt like they’d never let go.

  Once it was over and they’d drifted back to earth, the sounds of the fire crackling merged with their panting breaths. Preston rolled onto his side, spooning her back against him. He wrapped the covers around them, his warm breath tickling the hair at the nape of her neck.

  “Okay, sweetheart?” he asked, his voice low and tender. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

  “No. I’m fine.” She raised their joined hands and kissed his knuckles. “I’m wonderful, actually. I think that was just what the doctor ordered.”

  “Really?” He snorted. “Because I was in the room when Dr. Basmati came in and I don’t think I heard her mention having mind-blowing sex as a treatment plan even once.”

  They both cracked up, his laughter rumbling through his chest and her back, filling her with such joy she thought her heart might break. And as the snow continued to fall and they each drifted off to sleep, Lila couldn’t help but smile.

  Despite the attack, the holiday stuck in the cabin, and the fact that the future was uncertain, for right now, all was right with her little corner of the world.

  Twenty-Two

  Preston awoke before dawn the next morning, stretching and yawning in Lila’s queen-sized bed.

  He winced slightly at the crick in his back, then tucked his arm around Lila’s waist once more. She was still sleeping. It was hard to believe he was back beside her again. After years thinking he�
�d never find this kind of peace again, here he was, graced by heaven on earth once more.

  Snuggling down, he was just about to fall back to sleep when a strange scraping noise had him wide awake again. He knew better than to assume it was nothing. While Lila continued to snore softly beside him, Preston propped himself up on one elbow and listened intently. Maybe it was just the pine trees outside scraping against the side of the cabin. It had gotten windier since the night before.

  But…nope. There it was again, louder this time and coming from the direction of the living room.

  Damn. His thoughts immediately went to the asshole who’d tried to attack Lila in her hospital room. Doing his best not to wake her, he slid out of bed and tugged on his jeans from the night before. Thank God he’d had the presence of mind to go back out to the living room to grab his gun and holster during the night and bring them into the bedroom with them. He might’ve been a man sated on incredible sex, but he was still a SEAL at heart and SEALs were never caught unprepared. After zipping up his fly, he pulled out his Glock, checked the magazine and flipping off the safety before creeping silently toward the door.

  Giving one final glance over his shoulder at Lila sleeping on the bed, he eased out of the room and inched down the hallway toward the living room. Each step only confirmed for him that someone else was in the cabin, someone who shouldn’t be there. As he passed Parker’s room, he stopped and glanced inside, heart in his throat as he thought about the open lock on the window and how he’d rather die himself than have anything happen to harm his precious son. He might not have known about Parker long, but now that he did, he’d do anything to protect the boy. Anything.

  Another scrape issued through the pre-dawn gloom and Preston’s pulse notched higher.

  By the time he reached the end of the hall, he felt like a live wire, bristling with adrenaline and ready to take out whoever might be there to harm Lila and their son. His best bet was surprising the intruder, since he had no idea who it was or how many might be there. Plus, if it was the same guy from the hospital, he was well trained in combat.

  Taking a deep breath, Preston closed his eyes and said a silent prayer for safety as he always did before a fight, then flipped on the lights and rounded the corner into the living room simultaneously, gun raised. “Hands up, asshole!”

  The next few seconds happened in a blur. A loud curse sounded, followed by a sharp blow across Preston’s forearm, knocking the gun from his hand and sending it clattering across the room, out of reach. Then the intruder rammed into him hard, knocking him to the ground. Preston was able to drag down the other man with him, landing several punishing blows to his assailant’s head and torso. He wrestled the man beneath him and got a look at him, not that it did much good. The guy was covered from head-to-toe in black again, with a ski mask over his face. Same dude from the hospital though, based on his build and his skills.

  Before Preston could yank the mask off the guy’s face, however, the attacker punched hard right into Preston’s ribs, and a sickening crack reverberated through him. Yep. Broken. He’d been through far too many battles not to know that sound. Sharp pain radiated through his right side and each move he made was agony. Still, he wouldn’t give up, couldn’t give up. He was Lila and Preston’s best and only line of defence.

  They continued to fight, Preston managing to slam his fist into the guy’s temple and spot a tattoo on the guy’s wrist—a snarling skull with fangs. He committed the image to memory as he dodged his attacker’s fist again.

  “What the hell is happening?” Lila yelled from the hallway. “Preston?”

  “Get Parker and lock yourself in your bedroom. Call the police,” he yelled just before the intruder elbowed him in the stomach, stealing his breath. Preston wheezed, momentarily losing his grip on his assailant, allowing the guy to scramble to his feet and limp toward the front door. “Hurry.”

  He’d scrambled up to race after the intruder, but he was not quite fast enough as his assailant clambered through the open front door and out into the snow. Preston gave chase, but the guy managed to reach a car idling at the curb and got away, the vehicle’s red taillights glowing in the darkness and back tires fishtailing on the ice and snow as he sped off.

  Cringing, Preston held one hand to his side and limped back into the cabin. The guy had picked the front lock again, from the looks of the fresh gouge marks in the wood. Back inside, Preston secured the door then leaned back against the wall to catch his breath. Inhaling deeply with his injured ribs was like the ninth circle of hell, but he needed to make sure Lila and Parker were okay.

  He retrieved his gun from where it had slid beneath the sofa, then made his way back to her bedroom, stopping to check Parker’s room and the bathroom to make sure there was no one and nothing in the place that shouldn’t be there. Luckily, there was no sign of trouble. He knocked on Lila’s door and waited while she unlocked it to let him in.

  “Oh my God,” she sobbed, throwing her arms around him and holding him tightly. “Are you okay?”

  Preston couldn’t help his gasp of pain at her embrace. “Yeah, I’m all right. Did he hurt you or Parker?”

  “No. We’re good,” she said. “Parker barely even woke up. He’s a good sleeper. You’re hurt though.”

  “Yeah,” he said, clicking on the safety on this Glock before limping over to where Parker was lying asleep on her bed, curled into a tiny ball on his side. His heart tugged at the sight. “Guy hit me hard in the ribs. Pretty sure a couple are broken.”

  Lila rushed to his side to help him sit on the edge of the mattress. “Let me get dressed and I’ll take you to the hospital.”

  “No, no hospital,” he shook his head. “I’m fine. Nothing they can do for me anyway except take x-rays then tape me up. As long as you have a first aid kit with a roll of gauze I can tape myself up just fine here. Had enough practice out on the battlefield.”

  “Are you sure?” Lila was kneeling beside him now. “I think maybe we should—”

  “It’s fine,” he said. “Trust me. Did you call the police?”

  She blinked up at him a few seconds then shook her head, straightening. “No. I was so focused on getting Parker safe listening for anyone trying to get in the bedroom door that I didn’t have a chance to grab my phone yet. Then you were here and the guy was gone. I’ll call them now.”

  “Wait,” he said, grabbing her wrist as she started to move away. “Let me make another phone call first.”

  Lila hesitated a moment, then nodded. “Okay.”

  She was visibly shaken as she climbed up onto the bed beside Parker, her fingers trembling as she stroked his hair. Renewed determination flared white-hot inside him. He needed to know who he was dealing with. An image of that tattoo he’d spotted on his assailant’s wrist flashed back into his head. He’d seen that mark once before, on a guy he’d met over in Afghanistan. If his hunch was correct, this clue might help narrow down the attacker’s identity.

  He snatched his phone off the nightstand and hit the speed dial button for his CO.

  James picked up on the third ring. “What’s up?”

  “I just about got my ass handed to me on a platter tonight. That’s what’s up,” Preston said. He relayed what he could of the attack. “Remember that special forces platoon that got those special tattoos after the takedown in Syria?”

  “Yeah. Why?” James asked.

  “The guy who attacked me tonight had one of those tattoos. I knew he was well trained, from when I crossed paths with him in the hospital and now I know how. If he was special forces, then he’s got the same skills as me.”

  “Dammit.” James sighed. “Okay. Let me do some checking on my end. Can you give me a physical description?”

  “I didn’t see the guy’s face but he was about my height, bulky—maybe two-fifty or three-hundred pounds of solid muscle.”

  “Okay. Let me see what I can find. I’ll call you right back.”

  After ending the call with his CO, Preston stood and
went into the bathroom to grab the first aid kit, Sure enough, there was gauze and tape inside. He sat down on the bed again, careful not to disturb Parker, and laid out the stuff on the bedspread.

  “Here, let me help you,” Lila said, coming over. “Tell me what I need to do.”

  Preston raised his right arm, hissing at the pain, and stared at his side in the mirror. Red and purple bruises were already starting to form. “Tape me up, honey.” He held one end of the roll while she wrapped it around him. “Tight as you can. It hurts at first, but it will help in the long run. That’s it. Good.” To take his mind off the agony, he reached for the TV remote and flipped it on, turning the sound off. An all-night news network was on and from the closed-captioning at the bottom of the screen, it appeared they were talking about the same story he’d heard about earlier. The manhunt was ongoing for the dude from the mob in Southern California. They showed the same grainy photo behind the anchor woman. Still could’ve been anyone, from what Preston could tell.

  Finally, Lila finished wrapping his torso up like a mummy and Preston tore off a large piece of tape with his teeth and secured it all in place. Not exactly perfect, but fine for now. After he’d finished cleaning up the mess from the first aid kit and pulled on a sweatshirt over his bandages, his cell phone rang with a return call from his CO.

  “What did you find?” Preston asked, walking back down the hall to the living room so as not to disturb Parker. “Anything useful?”

  “Maybe. There are two guys who left that special forces unit right after the team got those tattoos. One was working as a consultant in DC until he went off the grid and moved to South America a few years back.”

  “Huh. Might be him, I suppose, if he travelled back up here. Still doesn’t give me a reason why he’d come after Lila and Parker though.” Preston slumped down on the arm of the sofa and scowled. “What about the other one?”