SEAL Brotherhood 06 - SEAL My Destiny by Sharon Hamilton Read Free Book Online Page A

someone when they didn’t come back. That was no way to treat another human being. Much better to keep them from waiting at all, from ever knowing him. It would be kinder.
    Except it was too late now. He knew her, all right. He knew her little mewling sounds, the way her body yearned for him, her pure heart. Though he’d known it was wrong, he hadn’t been able to help giving her hope in a happily ever after. He’d wanted, for just one night, to live the fantasy of being someone’s hero—to be her hero. The guy who could rock that sweet woman’s world and give more than he would take. It was almost like a little piece of bright crystal had broken off her and had lodged in him somewhere. Some little piece of the good that was her spirit.
    Though emotionally injured, he wanted to be the warrior who was worthy of the medals he wore, still worthy of the Trident he’d earned. Be the man who could feel emotions without having to cover them up under a hundred pounds of equipment. Who didn’t have to dive from a plane at midnight just to feel fully alive, to be present without the risk of death to define his boundaries.
    He fell into a deep sleep.
    The woman in red came to him, finding her way under the covers, stretching out against him, her face hovering just above his. He was aware she was a dream, because he didn’t feel her so much as sense her, see her. She gave him the look that said she wanted to be taken. But when he lifted his mouth to hers in his dream, her lips were not there. Her iridescent body called to him, just as her lips had, but he could not touch her. He could hear her, but couldn’t hear the sound of his own voice. He heard the steady pulsing of her heartbeat and her breath pushing in and out of her lungs as if she was inside him. Their hearts beat in unison.
    Luke, the lady whispered. I’m waiting for you, Luke. Her voice faded while he watched the ambulance take her beautiful, warm body to some eternal resting spot. Where she wouldn’t laugh or cry, or hear the sound of her own child being born. He’d done that. He’d taken it all away from her. He’d taken it from himself, too.
    Luke. I’m waiting.
    He was just about to follow her, figuring he’d better hurry, when he woke up.
    His body was heaving like he’d been running, and he was short of breath. He’d fallen asleep in his clothes, which were so soaked they dampened the sheets as well. His clammy T-shirt stuck the front of his blue shirt tight against his chest.
    He sat up to listen. He’d heard breathing. Or was it the ocean? He’d seen her slip under the sheets, but he was above the sheets in his tiny motel room.
    He lay back into the white cotton pillows, staring through the blackness toward the ceiling he couldn’t see, and tears rolled from the outside corners of his eyes and onto the pillowcase. The torment and pain of knowing he was not whole scared him. Rolling to the side, he brought his knees to his chest. He buried his face in the cotton pillowcase, bringing one arm over his ears to block any sounds of her breathing or her heartbeat. If she called his name he didn’t want to hear it.
    He began to cry in the dark and all alone, hoping sleep would come soon and give him peace.

Chapter 9
    ‡
    J ulie got a call on her cell from a number she didn’t recognize. It was a San Diego area code, so she figured it was one of Stephanie’s friends.
    It was Luke.
    “I hope you don’t mind.”
    Part of her wanted to tell him to go to hell, but she heard something in his voice that alerted her concern. “I don’t mind. Are you all right, Luke?”
    He paused for a few seconds. She heard traffic in the background on his end of the line. He was outside somewhere, or near an open window.
    “No.” He cleared his throat and, into the silence he asked, “Are you still there?”
    “Yes, Luke. I’m here.”
    “I wanted to apologize for my behavior—”
    “Where are you?” she asked.
    “Over at Aroma Roasters.”
    She looked at