Page 54 of Savage SEAL's Virgin
“It is. You’ll be able to tell your class things about the winery even the tour guide doesn’t know, I betchya. Things like how you’re a third-generation heir to it. How cool is that?”
“Really cool!” She was excited and I was happy for her.
The two of them talked about the tour all the way home, then Tatum ran to her grandparent’s house to tell them all her news. But she didn’t have all of it. She didn’t have the news that her daddy had to leave that night and wouldn’t be back for at least a few days. I had no idea when he thought he’d spring that on her. And I had no idea how I was going to sleep that night, without him by my side. Knowing he was going somewhere dangerous was a gut-clencher.
He and I went up to our bedroom, where he took out some things and placed them on top of the dresser. There was a gold watch that hung on a chain. It looked old and expensive. There was a set of plain gold wedding bands that hung on a gold necklace. Then there was a silver chain with a set of dog tags hanging from it.
“Can I ask you to do something for me, Blyss?” He turned away from the dresser to look at me.
All I could do was stare blankly at the things he’d laid out on top of it. “You can.”
He took me by the shoulders and gave me a bit of a shake to draw me out of the daze I’d gone into. “Baby?”
I blinked, then looked at him. “I’m sorry. I’ve just never felt so afraid. Not ever. Not even when that man …”
He kissed me. “Don’t talk about that right now. Don’t think about any of that shit right now. I’m going to be fine. I’ve never had anyone except my parents to worry about while I’m on a mission. This isn’t easy for me either. I’ve got you and Tatum now. This is something I prayed wouldn’t happen before I got out of the Navy. But it has, and there’s nothing I can do about it now.”
“Just don’t go.” It was a good idea, I thought. “Tell them you’re sick.”
He shook his head. “It doesn’t work that way, baby.” He gestured to the things on the dresser once more. “The watch was my grandfather’s, on my mother’s side. The wedding rings were my great-grandparents, on my father’s side. The dog tags were from my first year in the Navy. I thought I’d lost them and had to get another set. Later, I found them in the bottom of a boot. They have special meaning to me.”
“And why is that?”
“I wore them on a mission where I nearly drowned It was a rescue mission, there was flooding, and I went in to save a couple of kids who had gotten themselves swept away. That water was brutal, and when I got out, I was naked as the day I was born. Some of my gear was found later and returned to me. My boots and cap were all that was found.”
“And you found your tags in one of those boots?” I ran my hand through his wavy hair. It had gotten longer than when I first met him, but I was pretty sure they’d cut it back down to nearly to nothing when he went back to base.
“A few years later, I did. And it reminded me of how I thought I was going to die that day. Anyway, enough about that. I don’t want to make you cry. I just want you to give Tatum the gold necklace with the wedding bands, give Mom the watch, and you keep the tags. If I don’t come back.”
That was all I could take. I grasped his arms, my fingers curling around them as I held tight. “No! No, Troy! Don’t go! Please!” Sobs broke out as rivers flowed from my eyes. I couldn’t take it. I couldn’t let him go. He pulled me close and shushed me as he rocked me, trying to comfort me. There was just nothing he could do to accomplish that, except not go.
I knew he had no choice, but my brain was flying with ideas for him to use to get out of it. There was no reason for me to say any of them out loud, though. He was an honorable man who had a duty to our country. No one could stop what he had to do.
Picking me up, he took me to the bed and sat down with me on his lap, brushing my hair back. “I’ll come back. You’ll see. It’s all going to be okay.”
I had something I was going to do the next morning. Something I hadn’t told him about. I was weighing my options. Should I find out, or wait for him to come back before I even tried to find out?
Troy
Blyss kissed me, then climbed off my lap. “I need to use the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”
Watching her walk away from me had my heart hammering in my chest. I didn’t want to go; I didn’t want to leave them. There was nothing I could do about it, though. I was a SEAL and my team needed me. That was that. I laid back on the bed. I wouldn’t get to hold Blyss that night. I wouldn’t get to read Tatum a bedtime story, either. I would have to leave right after dinner to make it to the base on time.
As always with secret missions, I would have no idea where I was going until we were on a ship, underway to the destination. Only then would we find out what kind of shit we were about to get into. I’d gone on a mission a month before I went to Portland. I’d had a close call with the enemy, narrowly avoiding gunfire. I knew every time I went out, I might not come back alive. And I’d been all right with that.
Not anymore.
There was a gnawing in my gut that ate at me. If I didn’t make it back, what would become of Blyss? Tatum was settled. My family would be there for her for the rest of her life. She was a Masterson. I’d filled out the papers, and she carried my last name. Blyss and I had a fake marriage, and she had no permanent place with my family.
The only thing that Blyss had going for her was that she’d become a wealthy woman. She could move on, but what would that do to Tatum if she did? I’d never felt so torn in my life. I couldn’t expect Blyss to stay with my family and take care of my daughter if I never returned. No one should ask that of anyone. And I wasn’t going to ask her to do that.I couldn’t.
The bathroom door opened and I sat up. “You okay, baby?”
Blyss was pale as she held up a little white stick. “I was going to do this in the morning. It said it was better to use morning urine for the test.”
“Morning urine?” I got up to go to her to see what the hell she was holding.
“Yes, morning urine. But it seems I had enough hormones in my system to get positive results.”
