Commanding Her Seal (Plus Bonus Novella)(2)

“Hey, it’ll be okay,” Charlie said, keeping his voice low and rhythmic. “The first couple of minutes will put some sweat between your shoulder blades, but grab on to your straps. Center yourself. Breathe. Close your eyes. And then open them because you don’t want to miss a minute. It’ll be spectacular, I promise. You’ll hit the boat when it’s over and immediately be an addict.”

The kid nodded, his pupils still a little dilated, but he lost a lot of the I’m-about-to-yack from his expression as he searched Charlie’s face, apparently on board with the speech. “Yeah, okay.”

Audra took off her sunglasses and closed them with a click. Her eyes were blue. A shocker. He’d have expected green for some reason, maybe to match the fabric cradling her impressive breasts. Her slim brows arched as she eyed him. “I thought you said you’d never been parasailing.”

No, but he’d definitely done his share of counseling his men before they went into a situation they weren’t too sure about. Yeah, SEALs were hard core. But they were human, and sometimes mind over matter didn’t work to psych up a guy enough to jump out of a plane at 15k, knowing he was going to land in the middle of a hotbed of ISIS terrorists carrying machine guns and butcher knives.

“Haven’t,” he agreed easily. “But I know my way around a parachute.”

He left it at that. Over a decade in Special Warfare made you careful about what you divulged. Always.

The boat captain began the process of strapping Charlie into the harness as he’d volunteered to go first. The parasailing outfitter checked his lines, and then Charlie double-checked. He trusted God, his commanding officer, and every guy in his platoon. No one else made the cut.

“Thank you,” Audra mouthed as he got into position at the rear of the boat per the instructions.

A grateful woman. The best kind. A grateful, thrill-seeking woman was a hot bonus that he couldn’t help but latch on to. His mind instantly started cooking up some thrill-inducing scenarios, starting with Audra in that green bikini, a secluded beach, and her crying out his name as he tongued his way through a list of things designed to make her come.

He grinned and shot her a thumbs-up. The boat sped up, and in moments the wind caught the sail and, with a jerk, he drifted above the rushing turquoise ocean, air currents ruffling his shorts and hair.

God, yes.

Exhilarated, he let out a whoop as the amazing panorama of clear water unfolded below his feet. Duchess Island beach ran along his peripheral vision. In the distance, land masses rose up out of the blue, and he catalogued it all instantly, storing the coordinates in the map he always carried in his head. Abaco to the east. Countess Cay and Baroness Cay to the north, and off the tip of Duchess Island lay the tiny pink island called Ilhota Rosa.

That one was his favorite. The pink sand had earned a double take as he’d passed it on the way to the resort in the speedboat Jared had sent to retrieve Charlie from Freeport upon arrival. The driver had laughed and said, “Yeah, the sand really is pink. It’s one of the local wonders.”

From this vantage point high above the water, the island glistened in the sunlight. Pink sand, green native foliage, and turquoise water clashed in a bright jumble, but Charlie thrived in chaos. It spoke to him like nothing else, made him feel alive when he started putting it in order.

Adrenaline pounded through his veins, but it was pure pleasure instead of the normal cocktail of nerves and other crap that went along with deployment. The hot redhead might have had a hand in that. The lack of enemy bullets whizzing by his head was the other reason.

Why hadn’t he done this before? Parasailing companies dotted the landscape near the beach in California; you’d think he’d have found his way down there from his little house near the base at some point. But then, this was the first real leave he’d had in ages. Deliberately.

He refused to follow in his old man’s footsteps, and that meant he had to prove himself in a completely different arena than the communications sector. Becoming a SEAL had provided that platform, and he’d excelled, earning battlefield promotions simply because he wasn’t afraid to die and had a burning drive to come out on top. Always.

But Charlie had a secret. Lately, he’d been thinking about getting out. None of the other guys in his platoon knew, and he wasn’t going to mention it. Over a decade in hell seemed like about enough, and he was starting to think he’d prefer to spend the next decade in paradise. Like this one. Maybe. He had two weeks to contemplate what he could possibly be if he wasn’t a SEAL while he crossed the other four things off his list.