Timeless by Brynley Bush Read Free Book Online

to the Miami office for seven years. I moved to the Austin office a couple of years ago.”
    “I’m proud of you. I knew you’d kick ass and take names.”
    “You did not! You said you didn’t think I’d make it a week.”
    I wink. “I lied. You have more tenacity and spirit than anyone I know. You’ll always come out on top at whatever you choose to do.”
    “Obviously I could say the same for you,” she counters. “So why did you get a medical discharge?”
    I tip my head back, studying the mountains in the distance before answering. “I was shot during a mission in Afghanistan. I probably would have died if one of my men hadn’t realized how much blood I was losing and insisted the medic give me a transfusion with his own blood right there in the lifeboat.”
    I don’t tell her it happened less than a month after I’d walked out of the FBI academy that bright September day without a backward glance, or that I always suspected her father had been the one who suggested I be called to step in for the team’s commanding officer when he requested a leave of absence to be with his terminally ill wife. It had been the kind of mission that we all knew we might not return from. I had returned and mostly recovered, but my injury had devastating effects that would impact the rest of my life.
    “That’s terrible. I’m so sorry.”
    I shrug. “Everything happens for a reason.”
    “Like you being a guest speaker at the academy that day and realizing I was the FBI Director’s daughter?”
    I can’t help but smile at her forthrightness. “You might have mentioned it,” I suggest lightly.
    “You might have mentioned you were a Navy SEAL,” she counters.
    “I told you I was in the military.”
    She rolls her eyes. “That’s like saying chocolate mousse is just a dessert, or Louboutins are just shoes.”
    “Would it have made a difference?” I ask softly.
    She shakes her head. “Probably not.”
    “It was for the best.”
    “The best for who? You?” Her eyes flash angrily. “I’ve always wondered. What did my dad promise you? Did you get a promotion for leaving without a word? I know my dad. He didn’t think anyone was good enough for me, but definitely not a Navy SEAL who was older than me.”
    “Your dad was right. I was too old for you and I was gone for months at a time. You had your whole life ahead of you. What did you expect me to do?”
    “I expected you to fight for me, dammit!”
    Her eyes, bright with unshed tears, meet mine. A lone tear spills onto her cheek and I can’t stop myself from leaning forward and wiping it away gently with my thumb. She pushes me away and abruptly stands up, reaching for a towel as she gets out of the hot tub.
    “This was a mistake. I want you to take me back to the club now.”
    I climb out of the hot tub too, wrapping a towel around my waist as I face her.
    “I want you to stay.”
    “Why? You said yourself you shouldn’t have taken it as far as you did last night. But just because you’re not interested in me doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have a chance to find someone who is.”
    “Dammit, Ari. You obviously haven’t forgiven me for leaving, and maybe I don’t deserve your forgiveness, although I did what I thought was best for you. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you think I walked away because I didn’t want you.”
    “But last night…”
    I take her chin in my hands. “Last night I was sorry I let you manipulate me into flogging you, but seeing as how you were so intent on feeling the sting of the flogger, I’m not sorry I was the one to give it to you.” There was no way in hell I was going to let another man touch her while I was there. “But it certainly wasn’t a hardship. I’ve fantasized about you more often than I care to admit. I’ve never stopped wanting you, Ari,” I say softly.

 
 

Chapter Four
Marcus
     
    I brush my thumb over her bottom lip. It trembles, and just like that, I’m fucked. With a growl, I fist