Tall, dark, and dangerous—the phrase flashed through her mind. Slightly long black hair caught in the light breeze. Amusement sparkled in his dark eyes. She blinked then closed her eyes on a long, slow breath that did nothing to calm her nerves. When she looked again, he was still there.
“May I come in?”
His deep slow baritone was a welcome caress to her ears. She blinked again. She had not dreamed him up. Her heart beat like a trip hammer. Blood roared in her ears. Trembling, she stepped back and opened the door wider.
He stepped inside and dropped his bag on the floor. Peering intently at her, he kicked the door shut behind him. “Are you all right?”
She nodded shakily and found her wayward voice. “Surprised to see you.”
He grinned, fast and lethal, and her heart lurched. “Shocked is more like it.”
“What are you doing here?” She stared at him, her voice a hoarse whisper.
Her knees threatened to buckle beneath her as she unsteadily crossed the room to the nearest chair. She fell rather than sat in it and struggled to bring her ragged breathing under control. She could not drag her eyes from him. He dropped to his knees in front of her. The blood rushed from her head. The room spun for a minute. She flopped back and let the chair support her.
“I’m sorry, Laurie. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Concern darkened his eyes as he looked her over again. “Or upset you.”
“You didn’t,” she said breathlessly. “Just shocked the hell out of me. I did not expect to ever see you again.”
She tried but failed to keep the hurt and misery of the last six months out of her voice.
But her heart swelled at actually seeing him again. His dark, penetrating stare caught and held hers for endless seconds. She sucked in a deep breath and struggled not to drown in the deep brown pools of his eyes.
“What are you doing here?” she reiterated in a low whisper.
“An experiment,” he murmured, staring intently at her as he lifted a hand to her face.
His fingers trembled just slightly on her skin as he traced to curve of her jaw. Sharp tremors of desire shot into her. She clenched her hand tight together to keep from touching him.
She blinked as his words penetrated the sensual fog in her head.
“Huh?”
ALWAYS A WARRIOR Patricia Bruening
95
“I want to see if I can be a civilian,” he clarified. “My second enlistment is up in thirty days.” He shrugged but his gaze slid from hers. “Normally, I would have re-enlisted without a second thought.”
Her mind cleared and she looked at him in consternation. That didn’t sound like Damien.
She could not imagine him as anything but a Navy SEAL.
“Why didn’t you?”
On a slow deep breath, he took her hands in his and peered directly into her eyes. The glimmer of uncertainty quickly vanished. Her own concern must have shown. Determination radiated from him but his gaze remained steady.
“For the last six months I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you,” he admitted with quiet intensity, his eyes dark but steady. “After a mission, sometimes in the middle of one, I thought about you. I wanted you, dreamed of you—and Stacy. I started to want things I gave up as impossible long ago.”
He paused for so long Laurie began to wonder if he intended to finish. The faint glimmer of uncertainty flickered in his eyes again. His hands tightened around hers as though he had to make himself finish.
His voice dropped to a low, husky whisper. “I came back to find out of you meant it when you said you love me.”
Her heart stopped for a second then pounded erratically against her ribs. Hope welled in her heart but was immediately tempered by caution. Doubt reared its ugly head. He did not want her love, just her body. What did he want now? She tried to pull her hands from his, but he tightened his grip and dragged her closer.
“Did you mean it?” he persisted, a harsh gleam in his eyes.
She gnawed on her lower lip, showing confusion. But she would give him honesty, at least.
“At the time, yes,” she admitted raggedly.
His gaze sharpened. He tensed and shifted closer, his mouth only a breath from hers.
Only their hands touched.
“And now?” he demanded quietly.
Need turned his eyes even darker. She swallowed hard and eyed him warily as she replied softly, “I don’t know.”
Her gaze dropped to his chest and she stared at him until her vision blurred with helpless tears. She wanted desperately to throw her arms around him and pledge her love forever. But six months was a long time to hurt, a long time to want someone who wasn’t there, someone who was never coming home.