Page 33 of Guarded By the SEAL

I need to call the cops. I don’t have any chip in my arm and someone tracking me, so I will have to make the call myself. Only the phone is downstairs, and I am up here. Any movement might get me killed…

Wait. Before I can get into too much of a tailspin, my brain shuts me down. Is that… Harry?

The moment I recognize him, excitement floods me and the anticipation takes on a brand-new feeling. I leap up and bounddown the stairs, so excited to greet him. How the hell has this happened? Just as I decided that I needed to see him, he seems to have the same feeling. We’re linked somehow. Connected.

I fling the door open and greet him with a smile. I’m definitely not playing it as coolly as I want to, but I’m proud of myself for resisting the urge to jump into his arms. We aren’t at that stage yet.

“Harry,” I gush out. “What are you doing here? I wasn’t expecting to see you.”

He’s in a suit. I’m in a dress. This is some ungodly hour, and we’re dressed up like we’re going on some kind of date. I want to laugh, but Harry has a really serious expression on his face.

“You’re awake,” he says. “I didn’t think that you would be. I thought that this was a crazy idea to come this late, but it was too late by the time it hit me. I was already in the cab.”

“No, well, I was actually going to come and see you too.” I giggle, but now because I’m uncomfortable. “It feels like it’s been a long time since we’ve seen one another, doesn’t it? And it was stressful before.”

“I should have come to see you before now.” He hangs his head low. “I’m sorry for that. I ran away because it freaked me out. The whole thing freaked me out. I ran away because of what happened to your dad. I couldn’t face what I did, and I thought that you were going to hate me. I couldn’t face it.”

“You ran away?” I cock my head curiously to one side. “I didn’t even know. I only just got out of the hospital earlier today. I just thought that you didn’t want to see me in the hospital.”

“Oh.” He doesn’t look like he understands any of this, like he knows what to say. “Right, well, I’m still very sorry. I feel very bad. I don’t know what the protocol in this sort of situation is.”

“Come inside.” That much makes sense. “There’s no point in hanging around in the cold.”

He follows me into the house. Instantly, it seems more like a home than it was before. It feels like a warm and inviting place that I could sleep in easily. It seems that I just need someone else here with me.

“Thank you for coming here to see me,” I say once the door is closed behind me. “I appreciate it.”

“It should have come sooner. I have no excuse for my behavior. It feels wrong.”

I don’t like seeing this version of Harry where he isn’t sure of himself. It doesn’t seem right. The Harry that I have gotten used to is confident, crazily so, and I need that man back. But I have a feeling that there aren’t any words to change his mind. Only actions will change it. I want to leap on him, like I did once before, but I’m scared of him shoving me off. I don’t know if I can face that. I won’t be able to come back.

“You did nothing wrong,” I murmur while shimmying over toward him. “I don’t blame you.”

I reach forward, just a little, to see how he’s going to react. I’m testing the boundaries, seeing how far I can go, and since Harry doesn’t recoil in horror, I hook my arm around his neck and pull him toward me.

Oh, wow. Within moments, we are kissing and it takes me back to the happy place, reminding me of what it felt like when wewere on the island. This is the sort of lust worth fighting for, so I will.

His tongue snakes around mine. His arms sneak around my waist. He holds onto me, clings to me like he never wants to let me go again. I don’t want him to, either. This is better than talking. It feels so much nicer than being awkward. Maybe we don’t need to have any kind of conversation. We can just kiss the past away. We stumble through the house, refusing to break apart even for a second, and we somehow end up in my bedroom. Harry has never been here before, so he can’t know where it is, and I barely know where I am, but we end up on the bed, tumbled and tangling together in a heap regardless.

It feels incredible, overwhelming, beautiful. This is exactly where we need to be, together in one another’s arms. This is my happy place. This is what I need to move forward. This man is everything to me.

26

HARRY

There is so much that I still need to say, so much that I planned to let her know, but I can’t say any of it when she’s sending my body to heaven like this. Her kisses alone are enough to drive me absolutely wild. Those plump lips, her soft fingers as she explores my chest and body, her legs entangled in mine…

“Oh, Petra.” I slip my lips off hers to lick and suck the exposed areas of her throat. I adore tasting the beads of excitable sweat already dancing over her skin. “You taste so fucking good.”

She doesn’t reply with words. Instead, all I get are delighted moans. Her back arches as I hook my fingers underneath the hemline of her dress in preparation to whip it off. Now that I have my hands on her and I’m in the process of losing my mind over her, I can’t get enough. Petra’s naked flesh is all I want.

“You’re so beautiful,” I groan as I pull back just enough to slide the dress off her. “Fucking hell, Petra.”

A visible shiver races down her spine as I lift her upright. Petra keeps her big, gorgeous eyes fixed on mine until the dress getsin our way for the briefest of seconds, but as soon as it’s gone, I get a glimpse of that dark, hooded desire once more. Fucking hell, this woman is sex on legs. Pure seduction. She draws me in without even trying. I don’t know how any man could treat this woman badly.

I hook my hands around Petra’s back and pop her bra off while she works her magic on my shirt and jacket. Her fingers run all over my chest, exploring every muscle, every ripple, while I lean down to take her rock-hard nipple between my lips. My cock springs to attention even more so as I taste her, as I finally have her in my arms once more. I intend to taste every inch of her body while I can.

“I want you in my mouth,” she murmurs as her hand cups my bulge. Her words are so hot they might as well light me on fire. Flames flicker all over me as she hurriedly takes my trousers apart and down. “I need to taste you, Harry. You have no idea how much I’ve missed having you between my lips.”

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