Her Adoring SEAL (Midnight Delta Book 3) Read online

  Her Adoring SEAL

  Midnight Delta 3

  By Caitlyn O’Leary

  © Copyright 2016 by Caitlyn O’Leary

  All cover art and logo © Copyright 2016 by Passionately Kind Publishing, Inc.

  ISBN # 978-1-944248-65-9

  Edited by Lynne St. James

  Cover by Valerie Tibbs

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from the author.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, and places portrayed in this book are entirely products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  If you find any eBooks being sold or shared illegally, please contact the author at [email protected].

  Dedication

  To All of Our Men and Women Who Have Served.

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Epilogue

  Biography

  Books by Caitlyn O’Leary

  Excerpt of Xan’s Feisty Mate

  Excerpt from Broken Surrender

  Excerpt from A Soldier’s Gift

  Excerpt from Ronin’s Bondmate

  Chapter One

  They were going to kill her. Jack gripped his gun as he looked into the storage room. Griff was across the square in the bell tower, and Jack had just gotten word he found three of the other doctors and could take down their captors. Aiden and Dex were on other floors of the hospital looking for hostages and tangos. Their lieutenant was outside ready to give the command to Aiden to start taking out the targets. That left him in the basement to find this horror.

  The woman was on her knees, her shirt torn, breasts spilling out, and a face covered in blood and bruises. She had one arm wrapped around a man’s hips like a lover, her cheek pressed against his thigh, and her blonde hair tangled with his pubic hair. That’s where the farce ended. The tip of the knife she held was pressed against his balls, and Jack could see a trickle of blood.

  “Come closer and I will cut off his cock,” she said in raspy Spanish.

  “Kill her.” The man commanded to the three other men in the room.

  “Sir, the bullet could hit you.”

  “You’re two feet away. You can’t shoot straight? Kill the bitch!”

  The woman flinched, and the knife bit into the man’s tender flesh. He yowled.

  “Kill her now, she’s cutting me.”

  “You keep talking and threatening me and you’ll never father a child. Tell them to back off.”

  Jack admired her bravery, but what did she think she was going to accomplish? How in the hell did she think she was going to get out of this mess?

  He backed away. He couldn’t start shooting now because it would endanger the other doctors. They needed a coordinated effort.

  He sent a quick text saying he needed a “Go” and fast or they were going to lose a hostage.

  His lieutenant replied with ‘two minutes’.

  “Just walk up and put a gun to her head, you dumb ass,” the leader said to one of the men.

  Fuck!

  He’d have to walk in and not shoot for two minutes.

  Jack sauntered into the room.

  “I wouldn’t do that. Drop your weapons or I’ll kill you all.” All three men wore the exact same uniforms from the penitentiary where they had escaped after the earthquake. Their weapons were guns they probably stolen from the armory there. They eyed Jack’s automatic weapon with trepidation.

  “Don’t do it. There are three of you and just one of him!” the leader screamed.

  “Don’t forget her.” Jack tipped his head at Carys Adam’s, the American doctor they had been sent to rescue. “She seems to be on my side, and she has your leader by the balls.” He heard her choked laughter.

  “Shoot him!”

  “I’m supposed to take you in, and return you to the warden, otherwise you’d be dead. Now drop your weapons.” The men hesitated.

  “Shoot him!”

  A shot rang from upstairs.

  Thank Fuck!

  He unloaded his gun on the three assholes. Hearing a shriek he turned his head, and saw a spray of blood as the leader’s groin was sliced open.

  Jack rushed to the doctor. She was on the floor, underneath the bloody mess of a soon to be dead man.

  “Dr. Adams, are you all right?” She didn’t answer. “Carys?”

  “I killed him? Did I kill him? I didn’t mean to.” She started to shiver. Jack used what was left of her shirt to wipe away the blood and saw the cut on her chest. He tapped the radio on his wrist.

  “Aiden, you done?”

  “Affirmative. All tangos down.”

  “Get to the basement. Dr. Adams is injured.”

  “Roger.”

  Their whole SEAL team had been sent to Las Flores after the earthquake because of Dr. Carys Adams, the American doctor from Doctors Without Borders, who had been taken hostage.

  “I’m Senior Chief Aiden O’Malley ma’am, the team medic,” Aiden said as he got to the storage room and rushed to her side.

  “Team?”

  “We’re Navy SEALs. We’re going to get you patched up so we can get you home.”

  She turned to Jack. “Are you a SEAL too?”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  “Thank you. You saved my life.”

  “It looks to me like you were well on your way to saving yourself.”

  ****

  By the time he got home he was worn out. His team had stayed in Las Flores for three long weeks, helping to track down and capture the remaining escaped convicts. It wasn’t the normal duty for American SEALs, but their lieutenant had made quite a convincing argument to the brass to help the locals.

  Unlike most of his team mates, who lived near the Pacific Ocean, Jack lived more on the inland side of San Diego. He liked the dry rolling hills during summer, it reminded him of the part of Texas where he was born and raised. When he opened the door to his condo he was hit by a wave of heat and went straight to the thermostat. Jack breathed in a sigh of relief as the air conditioning kicked in. Going to the kitchen he filled a pitcher of water and headed to the cactus and succulent garden near his sliding glass door. They were still doing well despite his absence. Obviously Mrs. Marsh had checked in on his plants. After watering them, he finally did what he’d been longing to do.

  A trail of clothes marked his path to the bathroom in the master bedroom. He grimaced as he looked in the mirror. He’d lost weight, and he didn’t want to jump on the scale. He needed to take leave and g o home. A week of Rosa’s cooking should put him back in fighting trim.

  God, the shower felt like heaven. He stayed in the spray until the water ran cold. He got out and dried off thinking about sinking into the comfort of his own bed when he realized how keyed up he was. He pulled on some shorts, and went to the kitchen. He grabbed a Shiner Bock beer from the refrigerator and took it onto the deck. Now that he was refreshed from the shower, the heat felt good as he sat in the lounge chair. Looking off into the horizon, he let images of Las Flores wash over him.

  He’d always been good, exceptional even, at compartmentalizing things. But it had been tougher this last trip. He thought about the convicts he’d captured, and in some cases been forced to kill, and he realized it didn’t bother him. Taking out the “trash” was something that made him feel worthwhile.

  What was making it hard to sleep was thinking of the pain and suffering of the locals. Seventy percent of them were without homes after the devastation of the earthquake. Thousands of people lost their lives during the original quake and hundreds more in the aftershocks. He’d had two nightmares about the bodies being bulldozed into the mass grave. Then there was the shanty town the locals built for themselves. At night when his team should have been getting shut-eye they’d been helping put up roofs. If you could call the pieces of tin a roof.

  Where there was power it was off of generators, so mostly there wasn’t power. Forget running water. Instead there were kids running around barefoot in raw sewage. The aid trucks with food were bombarded each time they showed up, and after they were sucked dry there were still hundreds who left empty-handed.

  The first call he had made when he had got stateside was to his stepfather, Richard. He knew the man had a lot of pull with many people and charities. He’d told them how devastated the city was. Richard hadn’t peppered him with stupid questions. He’d just said he’d take care of it, and Jack knew he would do whatever he possibly could, which would probably include a sizeable donation of his own. That’s just the way Richard Preston operated.

  It had been the same way when he had taken Jack into his home all those years ago and adopted him. Jack had been a belligerent little shit, but Richard had seen through to the scared little boy, and had loved and accepted him. It was years later that Jack had learned Richard had paid his real father a lot of money to give up all parental rights so that he could adopt him. That was Richard, he made obstacles go away.

  Jack took a final pull off his beer and thought about getting another one. God, he loved Shiner, it always reminded him of home. He decided against a second. He’d be in San Antonio tomorrow, and he wanted his next Texas beer with fajitas made by Rosa. He hadn’t told his mother he was taking leave. He wanted to surprise her, and he couldn’t wait to see her expression. God, He missed her. Jack went inside and fell into bed, grateful that he didn’t need to set the alarm.

  Chapter Two

  “Jack!”

  There was the smile he’d been hoping for. God, his mother was beautiful. She had the same white blonde hair and blue eyes he did, but on her it looked good. She gripped her cane and started to get up from her spot on the couch.

  “Stay there. I’m coming to you.”

  “Posh, I can get up to hug my son.”

  Eight steps later he was across the great room and helping his mom up and had her wrapped her in a gentle bear hug. Despite her petite size and the cane she felt sturdy. Healthy. Like Mom. He breathed her in and felt safe and happy. He blinked rapidly.

  “Baby boy. You’re home safe and sound. I love you so much.”

  “Love you more.” He kissed her cheek.

  “Jack, you look tired. Sit down beside me, and tell me what you can. I know you’ve been in Las Flores. Richard already started gathering donations, and put Margaret Lester on setting up a benefit in San Antonio. She has the Marriott booked near the Riverwalk, and she’s already sold half the tickets.”

  Jack shuddered as he discreetly helped his mom settle back down onto the sofa. “That woman scares me.”

  Grace Preston looked around, pretending someone might overhear, and then leaned in and said, “She’s scared me for years. I don’t know how your father does it. But he has her eating out of the palm of his hand.”

  “Don’t lie to me mom. She’d do anything you asked and you know it.”

  “Only because I’m Richard’s wife.”

  Jack shook his head. As much as people loved his dad, you could double it for his mom. They were a power couple in San Antonio society. Considering where she and Jack started in life it was saying something.

  “Honey, why don’t you go tell Rosa you’re here. You know she loves you, and she’s definitely going to want to cook your favorites. You look like you could use some good meals under your belt.”

  “Fajitas?” he asked hopefully.

  “I’m sure she’ll make anything you ask for.”

  He gave her another kiss and squeezed her hand.

  “You stay put. I’ll be right back.”

  “My hip isn’t bothering me today.”

  “I’m here to lean on, so use me while I’m here.”

  “How long do we have you?”

  “I’m here for a week.” He loved the grin that crossed his mother’s face. It made her blue eyes sparkle.

  “That’s wonderful, Jack. Okay, go see Rosa and come right back.”

  ****

  It tickled him to be back with the family. He’d spent part of the afternoon in the kitchen with Rosa, basically getting in the way as she tried to cook. It was an old routine they had going. He would pretend to help, but actually filch food, and she would pretend to be annoyed and give him bites to taste.

  “We’ve missed you, Jack. You should come home more often.”

  He snagged a piece of cornbread, and she handed him some honey butter to put on it.

  “With food like this it’s a wonder I ever left.”

  “Your mother misses you.” Jack shot Rosa a hard look.

  “No, nothing like that. She’s fine. That man of hers thinks the sun rises and sets on her head. She worries when she watches the news. We all worry, even your brother, David.”

  Jack thought about his stepbrother and grinned. It had taken awhile for them to come to terms when they first started living together, but now David was his best friend outside of his team mates.

  “How is Julia?” Jack asked with a sly grin.

  “How can he not see her for the cat she is? It’s been over a year and he still hasn’t realized she wants him for his money and position.”

  “He hasn’t proposed yet has he?”

  “No. I’m hoping she shows her hand before he does.” Jack made a mental note to talk to David and see where his head was at.

  “Are he and Dad going to be home tonight?”

  “Just your dad.”

  “I better go get ready for dinner.” He gave Rosa a quick hug and went in search of his mom. As he reached the great room he checked his phone and saw he’d received two calls from a San Diego number he didn’t recognize. He called back and was soon standing against the wall listening to his commander.

  “This is strictly volunteer and you can turn this down. I know you’re on leave. Hell, this isn’t even your own team.” Jack rarely talked to Captain Ivers. Most of his orders came from Lieutenant Jeffries.

  “But you’re saying they asked for me, and it would be a personal favor to Captain Osterman? Would you like me to do this, Sir?”

  “Yes. I wouldn’t be asking otherwise,” came the decisive reply.

  “Where do you need me and when?” Jack didn’t want to cut short his leave, but if this was important enough for Ivers to be calling, he wanted to help.

  “Lieutenant Gault will be calling you shortly. He heads the Midnight Delta unit. I don’t know a lot of the details myself, but he and his team are on a special assignment. I know it is critical, and they asked for you specifically.”

  Shit. Midnight Delta? “I won’t let you down.”