Page 119 of Beast

“Love you, too.”

Annie and I went to my childhood room and snuggled up in bed. My Little League awards were still on the shelves, a cheesy poster of a topless Britney Spears wearing nothing but white cotton panties trimmed with pink lace hung on the wall. Exactly as I had remembered.

Annie glanced around the room. Probably wondering why my room was stuck in a time warp and hers had been turned into a museum. “I love your mom. She’s so different from mine. Sweet and warm.”

This was my opportunity. I had to tell her. But I couldn’t. She seemed so happy, and I didn’t want to ruin it.

“She’s your family now. And she means it—when I’m gone, if you get lonely, fly up here. She’ll take care of you and Gabriel. I need you to promise me you’ll come see her.”

“Of course, I will.” She kissed me. We lay there a while in the dark. “Pat, I’m worried about telling my parents we eloped. You’re coming with me, right?”

Damn straight. She wasn’t setting foot in that house without me. And if my talk with her father went as I expected it would, I doubted she’d ever see them again. “You can count on it.”

She drifted to sleep in my arms. Before I met Annie, my only goal in life was to survive and protect my fellow men. But now, my attention was split. I felt torn by my desire to protect her and loyalty to my Team. Maybe this is why I’d always felt the Navy didn’t want the SEALs to have wives or families, despite what they said about the importance of a support system. Because, if I had to choose between my Team and Annie, without a doubt I’d choose her.

39

Patrick

I WOKE THE NEXT MORNING to the sound of Gabriel singing Thomas the Train songs. Annie was missing from my bed. I threw on some clothes and followed the scents of coffee and bacon into the kitchen.

After breakfast, I’d planned to show Gabriel and Annie around my town.

“Why don’t you two newlyweds sneak away? I can take Gabriel to the river train. I want to bond with my grandson.”

I looked at Annie. We hadn’t been alone—like ever. Except that hour on the beach in Coronado.

“It’s fine, Mom. We can all go to the train together.” I didn’t feel right leaving Gabriel alone. I trusted my mom, but he didn’t know her.

Annie put her hand on my thigh. “Gabriel will be fine. Don’t worry about him. Let’s get out of here.”

“Relax, Pat. I raised you; I can watch my own grandson. We will have fun.”

“Fine, Mom. Call me if you need anything. We’ll be nearby.”

Annie and I said goodbye to Gabriel, and left.

I didn’t have a fucking clue where to take her. “I’ll show you around Sacramento.”

Annie had a glint in her eye, she licked her lips. “I have a better idea. Let’s go to a hotel.”

Didn’t have to ask me twice. “Sounds like a plan.”

Blood rushed through my body, my mind went wild. Yes, Annie was my wife. And we’d made love every day since we’d been married. But I couldn’t help but hold back. Gabriel was always around, and I was still paranoid about Annie having flashbacks. All my fantasies about her just didn’t seem right knowing about her past. My only goal was to make her happy. So our lovemaking had been sweet, tame, loving. Incredible, emotional, intense. But I wanted to get raw, dirty, nasty. Did she?

I tossed the valet my keys. Annie wrapped her body under my arms, stroking my leg, nuzzling my neck. We walked up to the reception desk, Annie’s hands all over me.

“Welcome to the Sacramento Hilton. Do you have a reservation?”

“No, we don’t. Just a room for the night, please.”

Annie whispered into my ear, “I want you. I can’t wait for you to touch me. Fuck me.”

The middle-aged clerk with mousy brown hair pulled into a tight bun raised her eyebrow at us.

Annie was giggling, kissing me. I kept my cool and handed the clerk my credit card.

I couldn’t race to the room fast enough.