Read Online Claiming Her SEAL (ASSIGNMENT: Caribbean Nights Book 1) by Kat Cantrell - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Kat Cantrell
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empathetic audience for her explanation, and the story poured out of its own accord.
“Chris. He was my fiancé. I… Rachel didn’t like him from the first. Creeped her out she said. Then he started checking my phone. Covertly, of course, but it’s not hard to put two and two together when my e-mail app is open. Followed me to and from work a few times, or at least that was how many times I caught him.”
Fear of her fiancé hadn’t developed yet. That would come later. Too late. She’d tried to chalk up his obsession with her activities to the fact that he cared about her. He was interested in her and what she was up to, which came part and parcel with a devotion she’d never experienced before. Chris had flowers delivered, bought her jewelry and clothes. Declared romantic things like, “You’re mine forever.”
She wasn’t experienced enough with stalker mentality to know that it wasn’t a romantic statement, not the way Chris meant it. No, she’d gotten caught up in the promise of a stable life with someone who doted on her—the opposite of what she’d had growing up.
“I started to feel smothered,” she recalled. “He was going too far, but we’d already agreed to get married. I felt obligated to stick it out for a little while longer. Then he spun this pretty picture of how great it would be to live together. He moved in, and that’s when it got really bad. He tried to cut me off from Rachel and would only let me go to work if he drove me.”
She hadn’t talked about this in a long time. And never with a man. Only Rachel and Dr. Morris, the therapist Emma had seen twice a week until she fooled both of them into believing she’d gotten better.
In a lot of ways, she had. She’d vowed to be free of the past, free of the belief that a man could fix her life. But the final step—putting her head under the water—eluded her.
Still did. Even at this moment, the ocean surrounded her and she hadn’t frozen, thanks to Dex, but the thought of continuing out into the depths had her hyperventilating. Shallow, quick breaths rattled her ribcage, and pinpoints of light erupted behind her eyelids.
“Shh.” Dex’s hands came up and covered her shoulders, drawing her closer to his heat and good heart, both of which she desperately craved.
She snuggled into his chest as he held her, and the quaking stopped. Instantly. This man was like a security blanket that she could not get enough of. How did he make her feel so safe without saying a word?
“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me the rest,” he murmured, and the words rumbled under her cheek.
“Oh, but I do.” She drew back enough to glimpse his face, which was rather breathtaking in the moonlight. A smattering of stars provided a backdrop that, combined with Dex, could well be the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. “It’s important that you understand. Rachel had been begging me to get out, to break up with him. Finally, I did it. It was horrible. He didn’t take it well.”
A fierceness stole over his expression. “I’m not going to like how this story ends, am I?”
She started to say no, but then realized the story didn’t have an ending. Not yet. That was the whole point of this. To come up with a different future for herself than the one Chris had tried to dictate for her. He hadn’t succeeded in killing her, but he’d very effectively ended her life as she’d known it.
It was time for a rebirth.
“I had to call the police to get Chris out of the apartment.” She shuddered as she relived barricading herself in the bathroom with her phone and a can of Raid, the only thing that passed for a weapon in her house—or rather the only thing she could have conceivably used on another human. “Three days later, he called me. Said he wanted to talk. It was the calmest he’d ever sounded. Said he wanted to apologize, nothing more, and I believed him. What he meant was, he wanted to drive off a bridge to punish me for
“Chris. He was my fiancé. I… Rachel didn’t like him from the first. Creeped her out she said. Then he started checking my phone. Covertly, of course, but it’s not hard to put two and two together when my e-mail app is open. Followed me to and from work a few times, or at least that was how many times I caught him.”
Fear of her fiancé hadn’t developed yet. That would come later. Too late. She’d tried to chalk up his obsession with her activities to the fact that he cared about her. He was interested in her and what she was up to, which came part and parcel with a devotion she’d never experienced before. Chris had flowers delivered, bought her jewelry and clothes. Declared romantic things like, “You’re mine forever.”
She wasn’t experienced enough with stalker mentality to know that it wasn’t a romantic statement, not the way Chris meant it. No, she’d gotten caught up in the promise of a stable life with someone who doted on her—the opposite of what she’d had growing up.
“I started to feel smothered,” she recalled. “He was going too far, but we’d already agreed to get married. I felt obligated to stick it out for a little while longer. Then he spun this pretty picture of how great it would be to live together. He moved in, and that’s when it got really bad. He tried to cut me off from Rachel and would only let me go to work if he drove me.”
She hadn’t talked about this in a long time. And never with a man. Only Rachel and Dr. Morris, the therapist Emma had seen twice a week until she fooled both of them into believing she’d gotten better.
In a lot of ways, she had. She’d vowed to be free of the past, free of the belief that a man could fix her life. But the final step—putting her head under the water—eluded her.
Still did. Even at this moment, the ocean surrounded her and she hadn’t frozen, thanks to Dex, but the thought of continuing out into the depths had her hyperventilating. Shallow, quick breaths rattled her ribcage, and pinpoints of light erupted behind her eyelids.
“Shh.” Dex’s hands came up and covered her shoulders, drawing her closer to his heat and good heart, both of which she desperately craved.
She snuggled into his chest as he held her, and the quaking stopped. Instantly. This man was like a security blanket that she could not get enough of. How did he make her feel so safe without saying a word?
“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me the rest,” he murmured, and the words rumbled under her cheek.
“Oh, but I do.” She drew back enough to glimpse his face, which was rather breathtaking in the moonlight. A smattering of stars provided a backdrop that, combined with Dex, could well be the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. “It’s important that you understand. Rachel had been begging me to get out, to break up with him. Finally, I did it. It was horrible. He didn’t take it well.”
A fierceness stole over his expression. “I’m not going to like how this story ends, am I?”
She started to say no, but then realized the story didn’t have an ending. Not yet. That was the whole point of this. To come up with a different future for herself than the one Chris had tried to dictate for her. He hadn’t succeeded in killing her, but he’d very effectively ended her life as she’d known it.
It was time for a rebirth.
“I had to call the police to get Chris out of the apartment.” She shuddered as she relived barricading herself in the bathroom with her phone and a can of Raid, the only thing that passed for a weapon in her house—or rather the only thing she could have conceivably used on another human. “Three days later, he called me. Said he wanted to talk. It was the calmest he’d ever sounded. Said he wanted to apologize, nothing more, and I believed him. What he meant was, he wanted to drive off a bridge to punish me for
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