Expecting the SEAL’s Baby by Katie Knight

Fourteen

Jeremy tucked her next to him and she relished the feeling of his body, so warm and strong next to hers. She looked up through a break in the jungle canopy at the stars overhead, feeling as content as she ever had in her life. Being with Jeremy had been amazing that night in his apartment when she’d needed comfort and let herself give into her attraction for him. This time had been different, somehow better and more intimate.

His hand languidly stroked over her body, pausing low on her belly.

“Looking for something?” she whispered, guessing what he was seeking.

“Hard to believe there’s a baby in there.”

“There is,” she said, a little dreamily.

“I’m not doubting it, but it still blows me away. We’ll be parents soon.” He sounded stunned, but excited, too. “I think I’ll sketch you throughout the pregnancy.”

She laughed. “Naked like this?” They’d have to keep those pictures to themselves.

“Maybe, you’re beautiful this way. Any way.” He kissed the top of her head. “I’ve drawn you before. From memory.”

That surprised her. “You have?”

“Yeah, I can show you the sketches when we get back to San Diego if you want to see them.”

Of course, she did. But why had he drawn her? “I’d like to, but I’m curious why.”

The faintest smile flickered across his face. “I may have had a crush on you.”

“A crush?”

“Okay, an attraction. And Blake liked to talk about you, so when I felt homesick or just low, I’d get him to tell me stories about you.”

“What kind of stories?” she asked, wondering what her brother had shared.

“There was the one about you rescuing a kitten in the sixth grade.”

“The poor thing had been caught in a terrible rainstorm.” She thought of the gray tabby she’d had for years.

“Or the one about your high school prom night.”

Gina laughed out loud. “Not that. What a disaster!” She’d gone with a guy who she’d thought was everything that was high school cool until she’d found him in the lobby wrapped up with another girl. She’d handled the situation, though, and walked out of the prom with her head held high. She may have taken his car keys and had a little joyride with her friends in his daddy’s expensive car, but she’d returned it with no damage done other than to his ego when he’d tried to leave the party with his new girl and didn’t have any wheels.

“I imagined you going through a drive-thru and getting fries and a shake in the overpriced car,” he said.

“We did. It was awesome. More fun than the prom itself. What else, Jeremy?”

“Lots of things.” He mentioned other stories about her from when she was a little girl all the way through college. “And then I met you.” His hand smoothed over her hair as he spoke.

“That was a while ago.” She remembered the first time Blake had brought his teammate home to visit. She’d been twenty and had felt an instant pull in his direction despite him being a military man. He’d been an irresistibly sexy combination of handsome and tough. Her infatuation with him had soured her on other guys.

“Yeah, but you were just as appealing then as you are now.” He gave her a lingering kiss.

“I had a thing for you, too,” she admitted. Somehow, it was easy to exchange intimacies out here in the jungle when they were truly alone. Or maybe it was the baby that built the bond between them.

“You did?” He seemed surprised—and that, in turn, surprised her. She really didn’t think she had played it cool when she was younger. From her perspective, her crush had been painfully obvious.

“Definitely. I was thrilled whenever Blake had leave and was coming home, but doubly so when you came with him.” During Blake’s intermittent leaves, Jeremy often made an appearance for a family dinner or barbeque or a day at the beach.

“Being with your family was more fun than being with my own,” he said.

“I’m sorry you aren’t closer to your family.” Her heart went out to him. Family was everything to her. She knew some things about his. With his father’s political standing, they were hard to miss. She’d seen photographs of his parents and brother, but Jeremy always seemed to be missing from the images—even in the ones from back when he was just a kid.

“It’s fine.” He brushed off her comment. “I’m used to it, and I consider myself lucky to have found a brother in Blake.” He was silent for a moment. “And then, there’s what we have.”

“And what’s that?” she asked softly, not at all sure of his answer.

When he pulled her on top of him and kissed her, her question no longer seemed important. He was showing her and that’s what mattered. She ran her fingers through his short hair and got a moan from him when she nipped his earlobe between her teeth. “I want you again,” he said, and she felt his hardness against her stomach.

“Good,” she whispered, “because I want you, too.”

* * *

Jeremy slid away from Gina and rose to his feet. He could let her sleep for a few more minutes while he went to the nearby stream to fetch some water for their morning coffee. Silently, he covered the twenty yards and knelt down, attuned to the sounds of the jungle. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and he felt they were safe for the moment.

Which was good since he needed a minute to himself to process what had happened the night before. He couldn’t believe they’d made love again—twice—but, damn, it had been good. He felt a goofy grin on his face. The evening might have been called romantic if they weren’t in the jungle to locate her missing brother.

They’d made love and talked while watching the moon rise. The whole experience of being out there with Gina was surreal, but it was also surprisingly comfortable. He felt happy despite his unfamiliarity with relationships and domestic life.

Not that this setting exactly qualified as domestic.

He strolled back to the camp, taking in their surroundings. This wasn’t a house in the suburbs but being with Gina felt right to him. It felt easy and solid. As he reached the camp, the satellite phone chirped. He reached for it immediately, so the sound wouldn’t wake Gina, but her eyes were already open.

“Hey,” he answered.

“Mornin’,” Mason’s voice responded. “Sleep well in the jungle?”

“Like a baby.” Jeremy shot a grin at Gina. She’d gotten out of the bedroll and was pulling on her clothing. Watching her dress threatened to steal all of his attention, so he turned away to focus on what Mason said. “Anything new?”

“I’ve been working my way through the digital files. The last communication you received from your informant—the one with the coordinates that led us into the trap…it came from within our team. It was routed to hide the origin by someone who knew what he was doing, but there’s no mistaking where the signal came from.”

“One of our own then. Just as Blake had thought.” Jeremy scrubbed a hand over his face, all of his earlier feelings of contentment disappearing.

“Yeah. Took me awhile to untangle it. You need to be careful,” Mason said. “Someone who took the time for this kind of deception is dangerous.”

“Agreed. Good thing you’re a tech genius.”

“Sometimes I find stuff I don’t want to, but it’s better that we know.”

Jeremy could guess that Mason was feeling the same anger as he was about being sold out by a teammate. “What else?”

“Percy’s got some new intel for you, more sightings and movement in the jungle. He’ll contact you soon. You might want to stay where you’re at until you hear from him since the signal’s strong there.”

“Will do. Thanks, Mason.”

“Just bring our man home.” The line went dead, but Mason’s final words left Jeremy with a sense of belonging and responsibility.

Jeremy might have been forced into retirement, but he wouldn’t give up on Blake just as Mason and Percy hadn’t given up on him. They still saw him as part of the team, and that meant something to him, filled a hole that had formed since he’d been separated from the SEALS.

“Did you learn anything?” Gina had brushed out her hair while he was on the phone and was now braiding it. He liked it loose, falling over her shoulders as it had been while they’d made love.

“Some.” While they fixed breakfast together, he relayed the information Mason provided and they talked over what it meant. The proof that someone disloyal, even dangerous, was on his team pissed Jeremy off. The fact that he hadn’t realized until it was too late made it even worse. Blake had paid the price so far, but Jeremy wouldn’t let it stay that way.

“So Blake was right?” she asked when he was done talking. “One of the men couldn’t be trusted.”

“Looks like it.” Jeremy hated the reality of that, but there it was.

Now that he had a better sense of who the enemy might be, he felt the need to be even more cautious. Whoever was behind this would be as highly trained as Jeremy but with no scruples—and he’d be backed by the gun smugglers, making him dangerous.

They finished breakfast and packed up. Before leaving the area, Jeremy had Gina wait nearby while he removed any trace of their campsite, including obliterating the signs of their fire and any footprints they left.

“How’d you do that?” She was studying the place where the camp had been. “I can’t tell we were ever there.”

“A basic SEAL skill,” he said with a shrug. He didn’t add that it was one that could save lives. Being invisible had its advantages.