Read Online Rogue (SEAL Team: Disavowed Book 1) by Laura Marie Altom - Free Book Online Page B

tried drawing them away. But she held firm, refusing to let him go. “You’re done dying, Nash. I selfishly need you to live. If only I’d accepted your proposal all those years ago, just think of how different—how much better—everything might be now.”
    “Yeah . . .” But in the same respect, if that meant never having met Hope, or watching his child grow inside her—virtually erasing them from his memory—that was the last thing he wanted to do. He’d vowed long ago that if he couldn’t die and be with them, at the very least, he’d never be with another woman.
    No matter how glad Nash was to be reunited with Maisey, he had no intention of breaking that vow.
     
     

14

     
     
    MAISEY WOKE FROM a deep, dreamless sleep to find herself still cradled in Nash’s strong arms, with the sun peeking over the horizon. They faced a vast sawgrass prairie. After having spent hours breaking free of the tangled jungle, so much open space felt exhilarating. It didn’t matter that they still might be miles from civilization. That also meant they were most likely miles from Vicente and those other horrible men.
    She held her breath through another cramp, reassuring herself that it was normal. That it hurt less than the ones she’d had last night.
    Finding Nash again changed everything. Being with him made her feel like that grinning schoolgirl he’d rescued by the swings. With him by her side, she could soar to impossible heights. Nothing could bring her down.
    In the night, he’d wanted to push forward, but she’d fought him. They needed rest, and so he’d let the back down on the bench seat, forming a surprisingly comfortable bed. Nash piled three life jackets atop one another to make himself a pillow, and Maisey used his chest. The air had still been stagnant and hot, and the bugs ridiculous, but secure against him, none of that mattered. She blocked everything but how safe and precious he made her feel.
    The night they’d first made love had been the same.
    Looking back on it, their union had been such a high school cliché, but she wasn’t complaining.
    Stroking the coarse hair on Nash’s forearms, Maisey closed her eyes, letting the sun warm her face, letting memories take hold of the present.
    “Sure about this?” Nash cupped her face with his hands, brushing her bottom lip with his thumb.
    Maisey nodded. They stood outside their room—lucky 777—at the Holiday Inn where they’d danced the night away at their junior prom. Her mom thought she was spending the night in the suite Maisey had chipped in on with a bunch of her girlfriends from choir. She’d never before lied to her mom and felt terrible about doing it now, but obviously not bad enough to step away from the guy she loved.
    He lowered his lips to hers, still holding her face, kissing her as if she were a fragile, precious flower.
    She kissed him back harder.
    The two of them had been together forever. Officially, since he’d asked her to be his girl on Valentine’s Day when they’d been in eighth grade. They’d fooled around a lot over the years, and honestly Maisey was hungry—starving—for more.
    Giggling, high on the vodka her friend, Delia, had snuck into the dance in a pink flask, Maisey took the card key from Nash’s back pocket and slipped it in the lock. The light flashed from red to green. She opened the door with one hand and grabbed Nash’s arm with the other. “You brought the condom, right?”
    “Yeah. I got a jumbo pack in case we wanna do it all night long.”
    “You’re crazy,” she teased, using his tie to pull him toward her while the door slammed closed. “Oops. I didn’t know it would shut that hard.”
    “Doesn’t matter.” They fell back into another kiss.
    The hotel was new and according to the manager, they were “still working out the kinks”, which was why the prom committee had been able to afford the ballroom. It was super fancy with swirl-patterned carpet and massive crystal chandeliers. Their