Chapter 42

Harry couldn’t believe how trusting Rory was. She’d been through hell, and yet she was allowing him to have his hands free. He was bigger and stronger. Much stronger now since she’d lost so much muscle mass while she’d been held captive.

The trust she placed in him made him feel amazing. He would never abuse that trust. She was precious and he would make sure she knew exactly how deeply he loved her.

When he slid into her pussy, she arched up and moaned. It was one of the sexiest sounds he’d ever heard. They were perfect together.

The trust and love she showed him made it hard to hold back. He wasn’t going to last long, knowing Rory trusted him.

He pumped in a few times, but it was enough to take him over the edge. After he’d come, he lay beside her, letting his fingers trail over her body.

She turned to stare into his eyes, and he noticed tears. At first, he worried that he’d hurt her, but then a smile spread over her face.

“Thank you,” Rory said.

“I’m the one who should be thanking you.” He went up on his elbow and stared down into her face. “You’ve given me the best gift anyone can ever give.”

Rory shook her head. “I’m screwed up, and my brain is still playing tricks on me. I’m a mess.”

“You’re my beautiful mess, and I love you. You trusted me. You really trusted me to love you, and I think that’s the most beautiful thing in the world.”

“How can you say exactly what I need to hear?”

“I don’t know. I just want what is best for you. For us. I know we have a long way to go because we need to get to know each other, and you need to recover, and I have my work and everything else, but I have faith that this is right.”

She ran her fingers over his shoulders, then up his neck to his face. She pulled him down for a kiss. It was sweet and perfect. This was exactly what they needed. One thing he didn’t want was to get ahead of himself, so he kept thoughts of forever out o this head. Rushing Rory would put too much pressure on her, but he wanted it all with her.

Excitement filled him, but he didn’t want to scare her, so he lay beside her, not holding on too tightly.

“I think I need to rinse off,” Rory said.

“Can I join you?”

She nodded. “Of course.”

The next morning, he was up early to head to base. Rory stumbled into the kitchen, wearing one of his t-shirts. His heart accelerated.

“That looks way better on you than it ever did on me.”

She snorted and grabbed a mug for coffee. “I have therapy today, and then I think I want to start looking for somewhere to apply for a job. ”

He paused, studying her body language. “Are you ready?”

She turned and took a sip of her coffee, then nodded. “I think I am. I’m just going to start looking at what I could do. It would be a while before I actually got any job.”

He moved to her and took her coffee mug before pulling her into a hug. “As long as you think you’re ready. You don’t have to, but I understand wanting to do something.”

“Yeah, it’s hard not having anything to do.”

He kissed her, then stepped back because he had to leave, and holding her longer would only make him late. “Text me to tell me how therapy went.”

She nodded as she picked up her mug, looking a little distracted. “Sure.”

A part of him didn’t want to go, but they would spend time together this weekend. The drive to the base didn’t take long. They began their day with a run and then time on the obstacle course. After their shower, they were pulled into a meeting and were briefed on a developing situation.

Midway through the meeting, things turned tense. He feared they would be sent overseas. Normally, he wanted to go, but if he left now, what would happen to Rory? He shouldn’t feel this way. He took his duty as a SEAL seriously, but he didn’t want to leave Rory right now. He needed to get his head on straight.

Close to five, they left the conference room. He grabbed his phone from the cubby and checked messages. Rory said her session went well. He breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Hey, Harry, what’s wrong?” Bear asked.

His head whipped around. He didn’t know Bear was right there. “Nothing. ”

“Bullshit. You were worried during the meeting. I could see your agitation. Don’t tell me nothing is wrong when you were obviously distracted in the meeting.”

He pushed open the door and stepped out into the heat. Normally, the ocean breeze cut the temperatures, but the air was still like they were in the doldrums. It didn’t bode well.

Harry let go a sigh and shrugged. “I’m letting this situation with Rory get to me. While we were sitting in there, I was worried we would be sent over.”

“I get that. I worried when I first got with Ingrid. Her ex was a risk I couldn’t deal with. You know how it was back then. We were all searching for him, trying to make sure he wasn’t coming for her.”

“Yeah, it was rough when he was still out there.”

“And Wild dealt with shit when he first got custody of the girls and then with Ava.”

Harry chewed his lower lip as worry spun through him. “How did you get over it?”

“We did what we could to protect our family and then trusted that everything would be okay.”

“Hey,” Wild said as he came up beside them. “I overheard you two having a serious conversation.”

Harry hated that Wild heard what was going through his mind. He didn’t want to be a bother. No question, his job required him to have his head on straight, but with Rory still dealing with the abuse she’d suffered, he didn’t know how to keep his thoughts from straying to her.

“He’s worried about Rory,” Bear said.

Harry flinched. “I’m being an idiot.”

“It’s difficult to go from being totally independent to having someone you care about left at home. Knowing you can’t do something if trouble surfaces makes it hard. But that’s why you set up measures to help them if stuff goes south while you’re gone.”

“You know,” Bear said. “With Rory’s background, she is capable?—”

“She lost a lot of muscle and doesn’t think she is capable.”

“Okay, there is that, but she has training.”

Bear was right. She did have training. She just had to recover enough to believe in herself. He needed to find a way to help her. If they left on a mission, he knew the other women would help, but there would still be nights she would be alone.

“I know I need to work on this. I can’t have worry about her filling my days.”

Wild shook his head. “No, you can’t. You need to focus.”

Frustration filled Harry. “I guess I need to work on that.”

“It will get better,” Wild said. “She will heal, and you will find a way to make it work when you’re out on missions.”

Harry nodded. “I know. I need to have faith in her, and you’re right. There are people who will help.” He clapped Wild on the back, then Bear. “Thanks for talking with me. I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

“Sure, and give her an extra hug from us,” Wild said as he walked away.

Harry needed to get his act together before they went out on another mission. If he didn’t, it could be disastrous for everyone. Rory could hold her own, and she had support for when she couldn’t. They could make this work, somehow.