Page 12 of Shielding his Legacy (Shattered SEALs #7)

His wide hand stroked her back as he murmured soothing words into her hair. “It’s all right. I’ve got you.” The fabric of his shirt was wet beneath her face. “We’re going to take care of this. It’s going to be okay.”

She cried so long she lost track of time, her hanging onto him for dear life and him gently rubbing her back and cooing soft reassurances against her scalp.

It occurred to her she no longer smelled eggs, and that he must have taken them off the heat before pursuing her.

If their roles had been reversed, she might have burned the entire cabin to the ground.

“Thank you,” she said when she trusted herself to speak. Leaning back, she met his stare in the dim firelight that spilled into the foyer, surprised to see the clear mark of desire displayed in their deep green depths.

An answering urgency leapt to life at her core. How easy it would be to go up on her tiptoes and take his mouth with her own. She imagined their kiss, the heady power that would lace itself around her spine when he gave in to her with a groan of urgency and need.

She was just about to do it when he abruptly released her and ran a hand through his hair, leaving it disheveled.

“Jesus,” he said quietly, crossing his arms over his chest like he was considering his strategy going into war.

“I forgot what it’s like to be near you.

” He appeared dazed before finally gesturing back toward the living room. “We should sit.”

His words echoed in her mind as she took a seat.

I forgot what it’s like to be near you. He wanted her, still—and that knowledge dug into her heart like a climber’s ice pick on a frozen mountain.

Lots of men had expressed an interest in her physically, but only Gavin had orchestrated an answering crescendo in her very soul. And he felt it, too—even now.

Following him back to the sofa, she took a seat.

She looked away, staring into the fire, its warmth radiating toward her and heating her skin. Fireplaces had always seemed magical, a glowing realization of home and safety and love, a symbol made all the more poignant by the fact that she’d never had one of her own.

“Tell me why you’re upset,” he said softly.

Her eyes stayed glued to the dancing flames. “I don’t remember what I told you about my family.”

“Not a word.”

She looked at her hands, knowing she needed to begin at the beginning, with what her pregnancy had cost her.

“My father is a fundamentalist minister. We lived about thirty miles outside Phoenix, in an area with a lot of really religious people. There was a whole community of LDS.” She glanced at him.

“Mormons, though that’s not what we—“ She tried again. “What my parents are.

“My dad started this church before I came to live with them. Really traditional stuff. The man is the head of the family, the woman needs to know her place, homosexuality is bad because the Bible says so, but you can eat all the pork you want because the Bible was only kidding about that part—you can fill in the rest.” She sighed heavily.

“They raised me to be a wife one day, to be quiet and obedient and good.”

One of his brows went up almost imperceptibly. “I haven’t seen a whole lot of the quiet.”

She cracked a smile despite herself. “I didn’t do so great with the obedient part, either. As you can imagine, premarital sex is a big no.”

He frowned. “Were you still living with them when you found out you were pregnant?”

“Only until I started to show. They kicked me out when I told them about the baby.”

“I’m sorry.”

She blew out air. “It’s not like I was a teenager.”

“But you were in college. Are you still?”

So, he remembered that detail, and it made her wonder what else he remembered about her.

They’d shared a slice of themselves that made her feel like she knew him intimately—both in and out of bed.

She’d memorized just about everything he’d said to her, so it was some consolation that he could recall the basics about her life.

“I only had a semester left. I finished my degree a month after Abby was born.” She shrugged.

“It wasn’t that I couldn’t get a job and provide for myself.

It just hurt. They didn’t just kick me out of their house.

They kicked me out of their lives, like I didn’t even matter.

Like their granddaughter didn’t matter. My father wasn’t a surprise, but my mom… ” her voice trailed off.

Leaning forward, he braced himself on his knees, his gaze intense. “I wish I’d known. I would have been there for you and the baby.”

She rolled her eyes. “Right.”

“I would have, Eva. If I’d known you were pregnant, I would have done everything in my power to help you.”

“After you shit your pants and punched a hole through the wall.”

“That’s not fair. I would have been surprised, sure. Weren’t you surprised when you found out?”

She hadn’t meant to roll her eyes, but now that they were into the real meat of the matter, she wasn’t about to back down. “You would have been horrified, just like you were when we showed up at HERO Force.”

“I wasn’t horrified. I was in shock.”

“Just admit it, Gavin. You never wanted to see me again. Then I walk in with a baby.”

Now he just sat there—staring at her—and the desire to get away from him was back, strong as ever.

“Just forget I said anything,” she said, coming to her feet.

“We’ll hang out here until it’s safe for us to leave, then you can wash your hands of us once and for all.

” She headed for the kitchen to get their dau—

No. Not their daughter, hers.

She headed for the kitchen to get her daughter. Then she was going upstairs to Gavin’s big, empty bed and going to sleep—eggs and toast be damned.