The Soul of a SEAL Page 17

  * * *

  Pacing in her personal quarters, Kimberly was more than prepared to talk to Bennett, who had been out of the test hours and hours ago. She had called him and sent texts without receiving any response, and she needed him. If it hadn’t been for Sally’s regular updates, she would have worried that Bennett had been killed or hurt. According to the computer, Bennett’s life signs were fine, and the tests were performed within acceptable limits and currently complete.

  Well, for now he was okay, but when she got a hold of him… What? She’d kiss him! Apologize for spilling the beans. Shout at him, because she wanted to yell at herself. Oh hell, what a mess!

  Footsteps from the bathroom alerted her to Bennett’s approach as the door slid open and he poked his head in the door. “I’m picking up my notebook,” he said.

  “That’s all you’re going to say? Why didn’t you come straight here after the test? ” She blocked his path out of the room. “Where have you been?”

  “Busy.” He stepped around her without a second glance. “I have to go. This isn’t the time to canoodle, as much as I enjoy it. There are problems to solve to stay on track for the launch.”

  “Hold on there, SEAL. No word from you in hours and hours, and you give me a lame line and leave?” She had to stop him in his tracks and force him to talk to her, so she grabbed his arm. “I get it…that we need to keep our minds focused. But what about us?”

  The look he gave her was laughable: as if she could stop him. She didn’t care! Her whole life she had dated men who couldn’t handle strength and courage wrapped in brains and common sense. Her instincts told her that Bennett would be the exception to the rule, that he could handle whatever she dished out. “Want to play? Fine! I’m not sorry I told SECNAV and Ouster. Just so you know, I could have skewed those tests in your favor, Bennett. Just made you look like the king of all the tests and sent everyone else home.”

  “So why didn’t you? Because you don’t have the guts to skew anything.”

  “I don’t need to. You are the real deal, Bennett.” The weight of everything she had said and done hit her. She might not only have jeopardized the launch, but Bennett’s career too. What a diva she’d been.

  In his jaw, a muscle spasmed. “I don’t believe you. You love this—all these individuals competing for your attention. Who will win Dr. Warren’s favor?”

  “How can you say that? It’s uncomfortable, almost painful watching everyone compete.”

  “I disagree. I think you like it. The all-powerful Dr. Warren.” Bennett’s words were cold. “Ouster has ordered me to stay away from you for the good of the mission. Your superiors want us apart, so here I am, I’m following orders.”

  “The mission. Seriously! That’s the excuse. If you don’t want to be with me, just say so. Or are all SEALs famous for their sly talk and their ‘fuck ’em and flee’ flight plan?” She stomped her foot. “So, just get on with it, if I’m the reason you need to ditch. Go!”

  “SEALs have honor.” He spun back toward her, a look of pure male anger on his face. “Don’t go there. Slurring my brethren or me is uncalled for. I’ve been honest with you. Besides, it’s you. You don’t really want me. I’m convenient.”

  “Don’t I?” She grabbed his hand and yanked him closer toward her. Her fingernails dug into his flesh until he responded. “Don’t walk away from me. Don’t you ever dare to do that, Boss!” No one likes getting yelled at, but it was even worse when your lover gave up “for the good of the mission.” She wasn’t going to let that crap stand. “For the record, there’s nothing easy or well-timed about you. Convenient, my ass! Do you think love comes every day? No! It doesn’t. It’s rare, you idjit!”

  He stilled. Something in his gaze softened. “Kimberly, I can’t protect you if I’m falling for you. Love… I… Let this—us—go.” The pain in his words was clear. It was impossible for him to hide his emotions.

  Love. Did she love him? Christ, he loved her. Bennett wanted her. He desperately needed to hold her and touch her. It felt like his heart was being split apart. This thin slip of a woman, a female like Kimberly Warren, was no match for his physical strength—though her emotion and her mind, with that unbridled passion and darned logical thinking, teased his soul. He knew as he tilted her chin up toward his lips that this “fight” was about to change direction.

  He brushed his lips over the tip of her cheekbones, and then her nose, before he caressed her lips.

  She moved closer, winding her arms around his neck, and her fingers slid from his skin like butter on a hot griddle.

  As he grabbed her waist gently, almost reverently, he said, “Are you sure you want to go down this path?”

  “Yes, I am. I’m not fragile. I’m strong.” Her lips brushed over his. “Keep that in mind. I’m not someone you can just thrust aside. I fight.”

  “I’m getting that.” His eyebrow rose. “What about the mission? No one wants us together.”

  “I do. Isn’t that enough?”

  “Yes.” Relief flooded him. It was clear she was as committed as he was. With her by his side, he could defy any odds.

  “I love the way you look at me like you’re seeing into my soul.” Her eyes flashed with heat before closing to half-mast. She licked her lips and then held eye contact with him. “You’re stuck with me, Boss. I’m never going to let go. The mission will work out. I have faith—in you and me and this project.”

  “I apologize about before… I believe you, Kimberly. More importantly, I believe in you.” He held her gaze, opening himself to her. This woman was under his skin in a way he could never have imagined, and if he walked away today, she would still be there for the rest of his life. How could he deny that truth…about her?

  “Can we get naked now?” She cupped his bottom and squeezed.

  “I think that’s my line.” He laughed. This sexy woman wanted him as much as he wanted her. He pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it to the floor, then brought his face close to hers.

  Her lips brushed his, teasing him. She pulled out of his grasp easily, as if he hadn’t been holding her at all.

  What was she doing to him? His eyes scanned her. He could see the hunger in there, the warmth, the want, and the need.

  “Kiss me. Really knock my socks off, and don’t hold back.” She stood there, waiting and wanting.

  “Aye, aye.” He grinned as hunger rose to the surface. He lifted her into his arms and then laid his mouth against hers, drinking from, pillaging, and dueling with hers.

  Kimberly’s arms twined around his neck at first and then her hands moved, gaining greater purchase. Her fingers dug into the muscle mass around his shoulders. The small bursts of pain as she changed her grip added more levels of heat to his already boiling desire.

  Hands fumbled with clothes, tugging and tearing until they were both naked.

  Their primal natures took over as Bennett carried her to a desk full of books. With one arm, he swept them aside. They crashed to the floor, and he laid her down on the bare surface, moving between her legs. His hands needed to stroke her, his mouth and tongue to touch her, taste her, delve into the sweet depths of her pleasure.

  “Bennett,” she moaned, thrusting her body down, toward his tongue. “More.”

  The movements increased as he drove his tongue faster over her clit. As she came, he buried his mouth between her legs to drink deeply of her passion.

  Her breath shuddered out. “I’m never letting you go.”

  “Me neither.” Coming from between her legs, his mouth slick and eyes blazing, he grabbed a condom from his pocket, covered his cock, and then primed himself at the sweet, silky slick of her opening. He gently slid himself inside. Pushed all the way to the hilt, it felt like coming home, a connection he’d never had with anyone else. He wanted to deny he had it with her, a stubborn and oftentimes obstinate woman like Kimberly, but he did. She ch
allenged him in a way no other had before, and her sex drive, her heated passion, always simmered just below the surface of her skin.

  He thrust his hips and watched her eyes widen and then go back to half-mast. A wicked smiled played on her lips as she beckoned him to her.

  Leaning down, he touched his lips to hers.

  “I can taste me on you. I like that.”

  “Have you done that…tasted yourself before?” Curiosity might have killed the cat, but this tidbit was sure to give him additional fuel for his fire.

  “I’m a woman. We all know how we smell and what we taste like. We appreciate our own deliciousness.” Her hands locked around his head, forcing his lips to hers as she kissed him with wild abandon.

  Sure enough, his satisfaction with her answer only made him want her more. Nothing was sexier or more attractive than a woman who was comfortable in her own skin.

  His hips picked up the pace, rocketing in and out with long, deep strokes until he could feel the moans coming from her throat and the convulsions tightening over his cock. He didn’t want it to end, not this soon.

  Pulling out, he felt her body shake and shiver. “Bennett?” she said. He knew she needed more; so did he. How had he gotten into this situation, where his mind and body were so drawn to her that he could defy orders from his Admiral and his own good sense about the mission to be with her? Dwelling on it right now wasn’t useful. He’d examine that motivation another time. As his favorite instructor had always said, “Be in the moment. Whatever you are doing…give it one hundred percent of your attention.” And that was exactly what he was going to do.

  Picking her up, Bennett carried Kimberly to the couch and sat down with her still in his arms. This time, face-to-face and eye to eye, neither of them could deny how they affected each other. Body language didn’t lie.

  She was mounted on his lap. “Thank you for staying…for not running away when I shouted at you. You’re the first man to appreciate my strength.”

  “I better be the last.” The comment was out of his mouth before he realized it. The shock of it was reflected in her face. He cleared his throat. “Your turn.”

  That wicked gleam was back in her eyes. “My pleasure.” Her voice was deep, arousing, and sultry. He wished he could bottle that sound; he only heard it when she was in the throes of intense pleasure. God, it was an aphrodisiac!

  Her hips lifted up slowly and came down even slower. It was almost painful how pleasurable it was.

  His eyes started to close.

  “Uh-uh-uh…” she said, touching her fingers to his cheeks. “Watch me.”

  He nodded and forced his eyes to feast on her. Those creamy, silky breasts with their gorgeously pert areolas—he needed to taste them. He pulled her closer to lock his lips over each of them in turn and pulled tenderly at their darkness as his tongue laved the tips.

  Her motions changed, became more frantic, as he tended to her. Kimberly tried to bat him away, but he was unrelenting. She finally cried out, and her body pulsed up and down his cock.

  He flipped her then, putting her back onto the couch and priming himself over her. “Have you had enough?”

  Her eyes were sleepy as they looked up at him, but fire still blazed in them. She dared him: “Never.”

  His own mischievous grin met hers, and he slid his cock in and out of her until they were both on the pinnacle. As an orgasm broke over him, he could feel her completion too. Together, they collapsed on the couch.

  Carefully putting the bulk of his weight on one side of her, he cuddled her close. “Dr. Warren,” he murmured, “you can fight with me anytime.”

  Her small fist punched the side of his chest. “Thanks, Boss.”

  He lifted one eyebrow. “Will you ever say my nickname without sarcasm?”

  “Never.”

  His fingers found a tickle spot at her waist. “Maybe,” he said as his fingers made her squirm, “I can change your mind.”

  She smiled. “Perhaps.” Her head nestled under his chin. “Catch a few winks with me. Please, Bennett, hold me.”

  “As you wish, Doc.” His whole body was spent and highly relaxed, but sleep was nowhere near coming. There was a lot on his mind: the flight, the race to space, the murderer—and her.

  What had he gotten himself into? It was impossible to keep his distance from her, no matter how hard he tried, and obviously the same was true for her. Dr. Kimberly Warren was a handful, and he honestly did not want to let her go, not ever. Did that mean he needed to make peace with it? Yes. Otherwise, how was he going to be able to focus on the mission?

  God help him. Hugging Kimberly tightly to him, he closed his eyes and allowed himself a few seconds of comfort.

  Chapter 9

  Sitting in a cubicle in the R & D Center of the Lester Facility, Melo finished his fourth cup of coffee as he reviewed the hardware and software issues associated with the Warren Shuttle. The brain of the shuttle kept shorting out.

  He could sympathize. His brain had been going down so many different roads, he felt as if he were spinning in circles, too.

  He closed his eyes and rubbed his thumbs over his temples. He let go of all predetermined parameters and allowed his brain to move wherever it needed to go—romping free was the term his macroengineering professor had used. By releasing the tension and going beyond the current focus, an answer oftentimes presented itself. It was usually that simple.

  Simple. Simplify, he thought. Back to basics. One foot in front of the other. Walk. Don’t run. Keep it simple, stupid—KISS—the term many people use in advertising and in life. Simple.

  Nothing in the tests or associated paperwork suggested that it was sabotage or any kind of hacking problem. Check.

  In Melo’s opinion, the underlining enigma was actually something easier to define. Much more simply, keep it singular. Right! The demands being made on the technology exceeded its scope. In other words, he needed to delimit the array of tasks demanded of the current hardware by writing code that asked it to do less, and then develop a separate technology for each remaining task.

  He picked up his notebook, a small black school one, and took it down the hall to a room holding twenty of the greatest design and engineering minds in the world. He handed the notebook to James Henner, team leader for the first part of the problem. He didn’t envy the individual attempting to keep the engineers and the designers speaking the same language. It was akin to speaking English to a room full of French and German speakers: only a few words made it through. Melo presented the data to Henner and watched as the man shifted from exhaustion to excitement and exuberance.

  “Hold up. We have a new attack. There are three systems that need to be changed. The electrical is going to be single-tracked with these chip sets.” Henner held up a circuit board. “The fueling system will be set up on this one”—he pointed to another—“and the manual extras, such as the enlarged wings, et cetera, will be on this set.” He raised up a third board. “Then and only then will we link them into a motherboard for ‘monitoring’ only. In that way, if one subsystem gets overloaded or shits the bed, there are easy options to reroute it.” He smiled at Melo. “Now, does everyone know what they are supposed to be doing? Because each group has four hours to implement it before testing.”

  Henner patted Melo on the back and said, “So simple. I don’t know why I didn’t see it before. Somehow we were asking the system to do too much, and that was frying it. Now we should be right as rain.”

  “Glad I could help. Sometimes you just need fresh eyes and a different perspective.” Melo shook hands with Henner and headed over to the next group, which was meeting in a room down the next hall.

  Shouts of frustration came from the ten souls meeting in there. This group was tackling the problem of keeping the laser array locked in one position without the possibility of its being hacked or changed by someone else.

 
He opened the door and peered into the room. It looked like the Sunday morning after a Saturday keg party, at least the way Melo remembered it from college. The men wore stained shirts, nobody had showered for what smelled like days, and crumbs of food stuck to their mustaches and beards.

  A brief image of hosing them down and adding some soap zipped through his mind, but given how heated the group already was, Melo did not want to test their tolerance.

  His eyes sought the leader, Ula Parks. She was in charge of this cacophonous group, which was attempting to lock the array in place.

  Advances in technology were happening too fast to assume that today’s secure devices couldn’t be overcome by tomorrow’s brilliant minds. At least here they were tapping a lot of experts for a solution.

  “Frankly, all that needs to happen is that an object with enough mass hits the array, and all of a sudden it’s turned toward us. Boom! Lasers are blasting all over the place, and we’re the ones hiding from our own creation. It’s too easy for this whole plan to backfire,” shouted George Quoag.

  “Hold up, everyone,” said Ula. “Let me talk to Melo and see what he’s found out.” She turned to him. “Thanks for visiting our dungeon of gloom. I thought I was going to see you only in the R & D Center.” She gestured Melo closer and examined his notes.

  She smiled and then chuckled. “This is good, Melo. It’s a great idea! I’m glad you’re on our side.” She turned back to the band of the great unwashed and said, “Okay, geeks. Listen up. What if we did a combination of the two? First, the array is set up—that function works well. Second, it is shifted into an outward position—yes, it is physically moved. Third, a chip is put into place that forces the telemetry to be set outward from Earth in order to function. And here’s the kicker: this chip has a bio element that cannot be duplicated, so it becomes unhackable.”