Page 44 of A SEAL's Protection
My shoulder aches as she leans on it, but I don’t care. Allegra needs me, and I’m here for her.
20
ALLEGRA
Marcus wraps his arms around me, and I lean into him. I’m exhausted but restless. The day’s events replay in my mind. The gunshots, Marcus swinging over the edge when I thought he was falling, their struggle and the gun I fired. My hands feel heavy with the weight of it, as if it’s imprinted into my palms.
I have the samples, but the victory feels hollow. As if I gave too much.
Marcus’s eyes are shadowed in the flickering glow from the embers. He’s masking the pain of his shoulder and his own exhaustion. He’s put them aside to take care of me. He’s carried me through this, and he’s still carrying me.
A surge of gratitude courses through me, along with something deeper.
I reach inside me for the fire, the hunger that gnaws at my insides. The hunger pushing me on through university, through post grad, the hunger to prove myself on my own. But it’s gone. With Marcus, I don’t have to prove myself. I simply am.
“Marcus…” I tilt my head up, and his eyes find mine.
I don’t know what I want to say, only that I need to speak. I feel raw and fragile, and for the first time, that’s okay. I don’t want to be strong tonight. I just want to be.
My hand touches his injured arm. “I’m sorry.”
He gives me a half-smile. “Don’t be sorry. I’ve been patched up from worse.”
My fingers trace down his arm and over the tribal tattoos that lace around his forearm, the intricate swirling patterns that I don’t recognize.
“What do these mean?” I suddenly want to know everything there is to know about Marcus.
He keeps his gaze on me as my finger traces the swirl of his tattoo.
“It’s the banner of my iwi. My father’s people.” There’s a hint of pride in his voice. “My grandfather was Maori.”
On the other arm is the SEAL trident. Both his cultures inscribed on his skin.
“Do you miss New Zealand?”
My finger swirls around the underside of his arm, and his body tenses under my touch.
“My sister wants me to go back and help with the farm,” he says quietly.
“Will you?” I keep my eyes on his tattoo, my finger moving in a slow circle as I follow the lines.
I don’t realize I’m holding my breath until he answers.
“I don’t know.”
He’s been honest with me. And I appreciate it even as my heart clenches. He might leave, and that should be fine. I have no claim on him.
But it isn’t.
I finish tracing the tattoo, and Marcus slides a finger under my chin, tilting my face to look at him.
“I’m here now, Allegra.”
The words are reassuring, and they come with a new meaning. He’s here now for tonight. We have tonight, and beyond that, nothing else is certain.
I lean forward, and my lips brush his, gently, then more forcefully. If he’s just here for the night, then I want this. I need this.
He hesitates, and I sense his confusion. I’m a mission to him. He’s working for my father. He’s just seen me at my most vulnerable, and he cared for me. But I need this. I need him.
