A SEAL's Vow (SEALs of Chance Creek Book 2) (35 page)

“I’ll go greet him.” Clay looked from Boone to Jericho. “Thanks for pitching in and making this possible.”

“I’ve known from the day you landed here you and Nora belonged together,” Boone said. “I’m going to go help the women with those lights.”

“I agree with Boone,” Jericho said when he had gone.

Curtis walked up, his arms full of folding chairs. He dropped them at Clay’s feet and clapped him on the back. “Here’s the man of the hour. I don’t know how you did it, but I’m forever in your debt.” He clapped his hand on Clay’s shoulder again and shook it. Tipping his head back, he yelled, “Drinks are on me tonight, everyone!”

A ragged cheer went up from everyone who was busy working to set up for the wedding.

“The drinks are on me, actually,” Clay said. “What are you going on about?”

“You saved my ass, man. I was due at the altar to marry some loser Boone caught trolling the Internet. But you beat the deadline. I’ve got forty more days. And I’m going to put them to good use. Starting tonight.”

He gathered up the chairs he’d dropped and staggered off.

“He’s happy,” Clay said.

“Come on,” Jericho said. “Those chairs aren’t going to set themselves up.”

“So what’s it going to take for Savannah to realize what she’s got in you?” Clay asked him.

“After what it took for Nora to see the light about you? I’m not sure I want to know.”

It gave Nora
peace to think that her mother was here somewhere, watching over her as she took this important step, but as Nora left the tiny house flanked by her friends, she was all too aware of her father’s absence from her life.

She was just deciding that she was okay to walk down the aisle on her own since she’d come this far without a father, when Walker stepped forward from where he’d been leaning against the front of the house.

He crooked his arm and held it out to her. “Don’t know if you want me…after everything.” His deep voice rumbled with sincerity even as his sentence trailed off. Nora’s heart filled all over again. She knew Walker held himself responsible for what had happened to her. So many people did. She hoped that would fade in time, because the truth was Andrew was the only one responsible, and who knew what demons drove him? He was gone, and she was safe. That was all that mattered.

“I’m the one who would be honored,” she repeated truthfully. She was soon grateful for the large man’s solid presence by her side as Riley, Avery and Savannah took their places in front of her, dressed in their best gowns, to act as her bridesmaids. They led the way toward the crowd—the enormous crowd—assembled on folding chairs in the closest pasture.

Someone had rigged an arch of flowers, under which Reverend Halpern stood. Clay stood in front of the makeshift altar, with Boone and Jericho beside him. Her husband-to-be’s handsome face was serious as he watched her step along the aisle left between the seats, leaning heavily on Walker’s arm, but when Walker handed her over to Clay, he smiled, and the happiness in Nora’s heart nearly overflowed.

“Thank you,” she mouthed to Walker, who took his place next to Jericho. Then she faced the reverend, clinging tightly to Clay. She trembled, but not from fear or any kind of trepidation about the life she was agreeing to. It was joy that filled her. Joy to be alive. Joy to be marrying the man she loved.

And joy to be cherished and nurtured by a community like the one that waited behind her for her to say her vows.

“Dearly Beloved,” Halpern began. “We are gathered here today…”

Clay squeezed her hand, telling her what she already knew. That he loved her.

That they would be together forever.

That she’d never be alone again.

“Should I tell
our guests to go home?” Clay asked Nora several hours later, when he led her into their new home. Renata had stuck to the bargain he’d struck with her and kept her cameramen focused on the celebration when he and Nora slipped away. In return he agreed they’d do an in-depth interview about their relationship sometime soon. It was worth it to be alone with Nora now.

“No. I’m glad they’re here. I like knowing we’re surrounded by people who care about us,” Nora said, drawing off her gloves and placing them on the small kitchen table. It was possible to hear music and the murmur of voices through the open windows. Nora was right, it was a comforting sound. As long as no one bothered them, Clay didn’t mind if they partied on forever outside. Even Curtis’s raucous celebrating made him smile. The man would have a hell of a hangover tomorrow.

He led her to the bedroom. All night he’d been anticipating this moment, but now that it was here, he wondered if it was possible to make love to Nora without hurting her shoulder. And what if their lovemaking brought up fears or bad memories of being attacked? He wished they’d had time to talk about it before.

“I’m fine,” she told him, as if reading his thoughts.

“You’ll have to tell me what to do. I don’t want to hurt you,” he said, pulling her gently to him.

“I will and you won’t,” she assured him. “You’ll have to help me undress, though.”

“Gladly.” Clay turned her around. He took his time undoing the ties of her dress and peeling it off her. Dressed in her stays and chemise, she looked so sexy, he allowed himself the pleasure of drinking in the sight of her until she squirmed in his arms.

“Undo my stays,” she directed him.

“Yes, ma’am.” He made short work of them, moving carefully when he took them off. He laid them in a drawer, shut it and returned to Nora, bunching the fabric of her shift in his hands.

“I want to be naked with you,” Nora said. Her desire for him was plain in her voice, filling him with pride, but Clay didn’t speed up. He wanted to start off right. He wanted his wife to want him desperately when he filled her tonight.

So he kissed her with her chemise still on, despite her protests, exploring her mouth with his tongue until she kissed him back, clinging to him and pressing herself against him. When he couldn’t stand it anymore, he leaned back, lifted the garment gingerly over her head and tossed it away.

“What about you?” She reached up to undo his shirt, but flinched when she raised her arm. Clay took over, making short work of getting undressed, until he was as naked as she was.

“Come on.” He led the way to the bed, climbed in and lay on his back. “Hop up on me. That way you can call the shots and I won’t hurt you.”

But she didn’t straddle him right away. Instead, Nora perched on the side of the bed and bent down to take the length of him in her mouth.

“Oh, God—Nora.”

She seemed to have taken his words to heart and decided to run the show. As she slid him in and out of her mouth, Clay could only lay back and surrender to her touch. She stroked him with her tongue, circling and playing with him, until his fingers clutched the bedclothes and twisted them. Now she was the one taking her time, until Clay didn’t think he could hold back anymore.

When she finally climbed on top of him, Nora bent forward to trail her nipples over his chest, making him catch his breath.

“Do you want me to wear a condom?”

“No. I’m ready to start our family.”

“I’m ready for that, too.” She was so beautiful, the swells of her breasts beckoning him to touch, the rock of her hips as she lowered herself onto him enough to send pulses of ecstasy through him.

He’d let her have her fun, but once she slid herself over him and he was pressed deep inside her, Clay took over. His hands on her hips, he pushed in and out until she matched his rhythm, moving above him.

Catching one of her nipples in his mouth, he laved and tugged as he made love to her, the soft fullness of her breast pressing against his lips only fueling the hunger inside him. He stroked in harder, pulled out and stroked in again. Nora bobbed with his motions, arching her back, presenting her breasts to his touch and moaning with delight when he thrust inside her again.

Soon their rhythm was beyond both their control, and Clay, no longer afraid of hurting her, let his need guide him, speeding up his thrusts until they both were panting, close to the edge.

When Nora went over with a cry, Clay chased her into ecstasy, his own grunts shattering the silence of the small room. Knowing she was open to him, that no barrier stood between them, made him come with a ferocity that drained him to the core.

When it was over, they lay in a tangled heap, breathing as one.

“Are you okay?” Clay asked, suddenly worried.

“More than okay.”

“Do you think you’re pregnant yet?” he joked.

She nodded. “I think I am.” Then she smiled a mischievous smile that made his breath catch in his throat. “But just to be sure, we’d better do that again. A lot.” She rolled over gingerly onto her back and spread her legs. “Like right now.”

“Give me a minute,” he growled, but he was already hardening again. He’d never grow tired of being intimate with Nora. As he bent to press a kiss to her thigh, he knew he was finally right where he belonged.

To find out more about Boone, Riley, Clay, Jericho, Walker and the other inhabitants of Westfield, look for
A SEAL’s Pledge
, Volume 3 in the
SEALs of Chance Creek
series.

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Other books in the SEALs of Chance Creek Series:

A SEAL’s Oath

A SEAL’s Pledge

A SEAL’s Consent

Read on for an excerpt of Volume 1 of
The Heroes of Chance Creek
series –
The Navy SEAL’s E-Mail Order Bride
.

By Cora Seton

‡

“B
oys,” Lieutenant Commander
Mason Hall said, “we’re going home.”

He sat back in his folding chair and waited for a reaction from his brothers. The recreation hall at Bagram Airfield was as busy as always with men hunched over laptops, watching the widescreen television, or lounging in groups of three or four shooting the breeze. His brothers—three tall, broad shouldered men in uniform—stared back at him from his computer screen, the feeds from their four-way video conversation all relaying a similar reaction to his words.

Utter confusion.

“Home?” Austin was the first to speak. A Special Forces officer just a year younger than Mason, he was currently in Kabul.

“Home,” Mason confirmed. “I got a letter from Great Aunt Heloise. Uncle Zeke passed away over the weekend without designating an heir. That means the ranch reverts back to her. She thinks we’ll do a better job running it than Darren will.” Darren, their first cousin, wasn’t known for his responsible behavior and he hated ranching. Mason, on the other hand, loved it. He had missed the ranch, the cattle, the Montana sky and his family’s home ever since they’d left it twelve years ago.

“She’s giving Crescent Hall to us?” That was Zane, Austin’s twin, a Marine currently in Kandahar. The excitement in his tone told Mason all he needed to know—Zane stilled loved the old place as much as he did. When Mason had gotten Heloise’s letter, he’d had to read it more than once before he believed it. The Hall would belong to them once more—when he’d thought they’d lost it for good. Suddenly he’d felt like he could breathe fully again after so many years of holding in his anger and frustration over his uncle’s behavior. The timing was perfect, too. He was due to ship stateside any day now. By April he’d be a civilian again.

Except it wasn’t as easy as all that. Mason took a deep breath. “There are a few conditions.”

Colt, his youngest brother, snorted. “Of course—we’re talking about Heloise, aren’t we? What’s she up to this time?” He was an Air Force combat controller who had served both in Afghanistan and as part of the relief effort a few years back after the massive earthquake which devastated Haiti. He was currently back on United States soil in Florida, training with his unit.

Mason knew what he meant. Calling Heloise eccentric would be an understatement. In her eighties, she had definite opinions and brooked no opposition to her plans and schemes. She meant well, but as his father had always said, she was capable of leaving a swath of destruction in family affairs that rivaled Sherman’s march to Atlanta.