Page 20 of Claimed By the Sailor

Phoebe tilted her head to the side and observed me with a sweet smile. “You’re pretty amazing, you know that?” Then she smirked and teased, “Such a sweet guy.”

I growled, and in seconds, I had her flipped on her back, her tank top off, and my body covering her from head to toe.

“I'll show you sweet,” I muttered.

She giggled, but her laughter faded into a moan when my lips wrapped around one of her big, delicious nipples.

Over an hour later, I carried a very satisfied, boneless Phoebe into the bathroom so we could take a quick shower. Once we were dressed, we made our way to the kitchen, and while Phoebe puttered around looking for something to make for breakfast, I put a call into Deacon.

“Does she know who it is?” Deacon asked as soon as he picked up the phone.

“No, but the hooded figure at the diner entrance looks familiar to her. I'm going to have her describe the scene to you, and maybe you’ll be able to pick up on any details that she recalls by trying to remember it."

“Good idea,” Deacon replied.

“Baby,” I called to Phoebe. I motioned for her to join me at the kitchen table. When she neared, I grasped her hips and pulled her down onto my lap. “I want you to close your eyes and think back over those seconds in the footage. Then try to describe what you were looking at to Deacon.”

“Describe the person?” she asked dubiously.

“Everything. Anything you noticed. Other people, cars, colors, signs, anything.”

Her nod was hesitant, but she obediently closed her eyes and began to talk.

I was impressed with the amount of detail she was able to recall.

When she finished, I smiled at her encouragingly. “That was fantastic, baby.”

“I think you may have noticed a few things that we didn’t,” Deacon added. “Impressive, Phoebe.”

She beamed at me, and lost in her smile, I mumbled, “Thanks, Deacon. Let me know what you find out.”

After hanging up, I shifted Phoebe so she was sitting with her legs hanging on either side of mine. “I’m proud of you.”

She sniffed haughtily. “I am good, aren’t I?”

Laughter bubbled in my chest, and I bent my head to give her a long, deep kiss.

“I better feed you,” I muttered against her lips. “Then I'm going to have you for lunch.”

Phoebe giggled. “I don't think that will satisfy you.”

“Challenge accepted. Hooyah.”

11

PHOEBE

Ihad been racking my brain for the past day, trying to remember where I’d seen the woman in the video. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t place her, no matter how much I tried. I had really been hoping that we’d be able to identify her before this morning so I wouldn’t have to be afraid anymore.

I was supposed to be at the office in a couple of hours, but Silas had talked me into taking a sick day since my paid time off had already kicked in at work. I’d been nervous to call in, but my boss was sweet and just told me not to worry about it and to take care of myself.

Unfortunately, Silas couldn’t play hooky from the base with me no matter how much I wished he could. The schedule of a Navy SEAL was much stricter than a marketing assistant in the hospitality industry.

Curled around my pillow on my bed, I pouted up at him as he pulled on a pair of workout shorts. “Are you sure you have to go?”

“Sorry, baby.” He flashed me a sexy grin and padded over to the side of the bed. Pressing his palms into the mattress, he leaned over to give me a quick kiss. “I have to go in for morning PT, but I won’t be gone too long. And it’ll allow me to brainstorm this situation with the team. Maybe one of the guys will have an idea how to find this bitch.”

“Okay,” I huffed, burying my face in my pillow with a sigh.

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