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RYAN AWOKE AT FIVE on Monday morning when his alarm buzzed, and he leaned over and brushed a kiss across Sarah’s forehead before he got out of bed. She was fast asleep, her hair spread out like a halo of sorts around her.
God, she was beautiful.
He wanted nothing more than to wake her with soft kisses and a slow lovemaking session before he headed into base. She shifted slightly as he stood, the covers moving down so that he could see the supple curve of one bare breast.
His cock immediately began to harden, and he turned, striding toward the master bathroom.
As much as he’d love another lazy morning like yesterday, he had to get ready for work. Sarah had her physical therapy patients later this morning as well, and he didn’t want to wake her just for a quickie. Not when he’d prefer spending hours with her in bed. Deciding a cold shower was the way to go, he quickly showered and then dressed.
Monday morning had come too damn fast. When he was single, the weekends had been slow and leisurely. He’d get together with friends, work around his house, occasionally meet a woman. All that had changed in an instant during that near-fatal mission involving Ice’s team. Although Ryan and Sarah had danced around their attraction to one another for months and months, when he’d told her about Patrick’s injury and she’d stood there crying in front of him, there’d been no going back.
He’d taken her into his arms, and that had been it. They’d gone from friends to lovers almost immediately after that—and they’d been inseparable ever since.
Walking into his kitchen, he brewed some dark roast coffee to bring with him to base, smirking at the bridal magazines scattered on the kitchen table. Like everything, Sarah had flung herself full-force into wedding planning. She did life with no regrets and was passionate about her interests. Even though they’d just gotten engaged, she already had stacks of magazines that she’d picked up and apparently had Pinterest boards full of planning ideas, whatever the hell Pinterest was.
Twenty minutes, later, Ryan pulled onto the tree-lined drive heading into Little Creek and flashed his badge to the guards. They looked young as hell, and he realized again just how damn long he’d been in the Navy. He pulled into a parking spot and saw Hunter “Hook” Murdock, the leader of the Delta team, climbing out of his own SUV a couple of spaces down.
“Sir,” Hunter said with a nod as they fell in step beside one another walking in.
“Delta team is drilling out on the water today,” Ryan said.
“Yes, sir. Perfect weather for it, too,” Hunter said. “Some of the guys were grumbling last time when we did a rescue simulation in stormy seas.”
Ryan chuffed out a laugh. “They’ve all gone soft on you.”
Hunter smirked. “Guess that’s what happens now that they each have a woman of their own. Speaking of women, is there any word on the other missing American down in Mexico?”
“Negative,” Ryan said. “I hope like hell we’ll hear something new soon. That’s no situation for a woman to be stuck in.”
“I hope the woman Ice’s team rescued is doing okay—that shit is brutal.”
“I’ll see if I can find out anything on her condition. There were no updates on the men who escaped over the weekend, either,” Ryan said with a frown as they entered a building on base. “Of course, that’s not my primary concern. They had scouts all over the U.S. sending them women as part of their sex trafficking operation. We don’t need any of them sniffing around here for information about the men or their families.”
“We’ll all be on alert,” Hunter assured him. “I don’t like that the Alpha team’s names were leaked.”
“It’s a problem,” Ryan agreed. “It would be easy enough for them to assume that U.S. Special Forces were involved in the rescue—and the locations of bases aren’t Top Secret. A quick search on the Internet will find most of what they need to know. Hell, some of the Mexican government officials knew they were SEALs. If they wanted to track the guys down, they could. It’s only a matter of time.”
“Understood,” Hunter said. “We’ll all be vigilant in case someone is out for revenge.”
The men parted ways as Hunter headed into the locker room and Ryan to his own office.
He had a briefing with some Top Brass at the Pentagon in an hour, and he needed to catch up on the latest updates. His chest tightened at the thought of his men being put at risk on U.S. soil. The names of active SEAL team members were never released to the public. Their locations and missions were kept under wraps.
Having the names of his men out there amongst criminals was unnerving. And although his men could handle themselves, they had families. Wives, girlfriends, children.
Setting his coffee down on his desk, he frowned. Ryan logged into his computer and read through the latest SITREPs. With multiple situations around the world that he was monitoring, there was only so much attention he could give to the trouble down in Mexico. When they got word on the second woman, they might be sent in for a second rescue op. Until then, there were multiple other pressing matters.
His cell phone buzzed with a text, and he saw Sarah’s name flash on the screen.
You didn’t wake me up this morning, baby.
He smirked. She’d been dead to the world when he left. And although Sarah loved his attention in the bedroom, a Monday morning when they both needed to get ready and leave for work wasn’t the ideal time for leisurely lovemaking.
He thumbed a quick text back before he had to attend his briefings.
We’ll have plenty of time tonight, baby girl.
Miss you.
His phone buzzed one more time with her reply.
Miss you more.
Warmth flooded through his chest, but he pocketed his phone and stood, gathering the papers he needed. Sarah would be heading into her office soon, and duty called. He’d see her tonight when they both got home and talk then. If it was urgent, she could always reach him, but there was work to be done.
