Hemingway - Zoe Dawson Page 0,91
important to you. Would this be justice?”
Maybe before BUD/S, before SEAL training he would have reacted differently, but now he was different, leaner, stronger, so much more than the boy she’d met in that bar. He was supporting her because he understood. Her heart felt suddenly too big for her chest. He would have killed for his sister, maybe he even had.
“You already carry the burden of losing your sister. I would die if you also lost yourself,” he said gruffly.
She closed her eyes. “I want to kill him, Atticus, with everything inside me. I don’t know if I can let it go.”
Hemingway exhaled heavily and pressed his cheek against the top of her head. “Then if that’s what you want, babe.”
She closed her eyes tighter and swallowed hard. “Thank you.”
He nodded as she slid both arms around him and hugged him hard. She hung onto him for a long time.
He slid down so he was face to face with her. He smiled a soft, lopsided smile, his eyes smoky with emotion. “Can we talk about what you whispered to me when I was deep inside your beautiful body?”
She feigned innocence, reaching out and cupping his face, the scratch of his stubble rough against her palm. “What would that be? Cavemen? You want to talk about cavemen?”
He chuckled. “You are so damn sassy. You know what. You know what I want.”
She forced a droll tone into her voice. “Do I, sandman?”
“Yes, you do.”
Atticus Sinclair had been her catalyst. He had been right from the very first. He had tempted her, teased her and taught her about sacrifice, determination, and courage. She wanted a life with him more than anything, but killing Bates stood between them. She was beginning to believe that letting it go and taking what she wanted had been planted in her heart when she watched a brave and selfless SEAL candidate anchor a boat, catch and hold his unconscious boat crew member, and save his boat crew.
“I love you, Atticus. I don’t want to be away from you anymore. I don’t want distance and noncommunication. I want to see you when you come home and be with you, build a life that we can be proud of and bring new life to nurture and grow. It’s what Maddy would have wanted.”
That goofy grin faded, and he dug at his eyes, then met her gaze. “I have been waiting for you to say that. I love you, Shea. You taught me about pure, real love. I had never experienced it before, and I’m glad I never had. You are in my heart and through this whole training to be a SEAL, I never once stopped thinking about you. It’s more than I ever dreamed it would be, and you are more than I ever dreamed I could have. Marry me. Be mine forever.”
She slipped her fingers over his lips, working at releasing the tightness in her throat so she could speak. “Ask me that again after this is all over.”
Gathering her up in a rough embrace, he caught the back of her head and held her tight against him. “I will,” he said gruffly. “You can bet your beautiful ass, I will.”
At six am or zero six hundred and after a cup of strong coffee, Hemingway’s team fast roped out of the helicopter as it hovered over the dense jungle. Max went down with Jugs clipped to his harness, and Shea went down clipped to Hemingway, face to face. She held onto his arms and he smiled. “It’s a blast, right?”
“Oh, yeah, a blast,” she responded wryly, looking down. The ground seemed too far away.
Bates was lowered on his own. When they were all on the ground and unclipped, Shea pulled out a map.
Dodger said, “It’s that way, mate.” He pointed to the north and grinned.
“Human GPS,” Mad Max growled.
“Take point, Max,” Fast Lane said. “Dragon, Pit, Saint, 2-Stroke cover our six.” They moved to the back of the line sandwiching Bates and her in the middle. Hemingway positioned himself in front of her. All of them carried large packs. She had her own backpack, but it wasn’t nearly as heavy as the ones they humped. “Move out.”
She was dressed in khaki pants, a short sleeved green safari shirt, and a vest over top. The jungle was steamy, moisture dripped, and the air was filled with water. She was drenched in a matter of minutes.
The sounds around her were filled with the movement of creatures, the drop of