F-BOMB: SEALs Love Curves Series

Lily

Lily fiddled around in the kitchen. She hated feeling useless, but she wasn’t much help to Archer. She heard him on the phone in the office as she pulled a batch of cupcakes out of the oven.

Busy work, Jaymes always said, but when he went to the store, he bought the supplies she needed. He stocked the things he knew she liked to eat, or bake, but rarely had anything for himself. Lily took care of that part and made sure Jaymes had plenty of snacks around.

She dried the mixing bowl and set it back under the stand mixer Jaymes only bought because she loved it. It would be awhile before the cupcakes were cool enough to frost, but Lily needed a sugar jolt to start her day. She was usually up early, but she was not a morning person, and being woken up by a guy breaking in to the apartment did little for her ability to function. Caffeine never helped, but sugar would.

Sugar, milk, butter, and vanilla went into the bowl. The rhythmic whirr of the blades lulled Lily. The kitchen was her happy place. She loved computers and running the systems for St. Nicholas Hospital, but cooking was her passion and her love.

Lily hummed to herself as she spun the ingredients into frosting. When it thickened and stuck to the edges, she turned the mixer off and lowered the bowl. She swiped her finger through the white paste and licked it, closing her eyes for a second to savor the sweet burst.

“Cupcakes?” Archer asked from behind her.

Lily jumped and spun, her finger still between her lips. She nipped the tip. Shaking it, she nodded. “I bake a lot. Is that okay?”

Archer shrugged. “They smell good.”

Lily couldn’t stop the rush of pleasure at the depth of his voice. His gaze flickered from her face to the bowl and then to her chest. Her nipples tightened under his appraisal, and she fought the urge to cross her arms. He couldn’t see through her sweatshirt, although he’d gotten a hell of a look earlier.

“They’re not really cool yet. If you eat fast, though, you can have one. I usually end up sticking them in the freezer so I can eat them faster.”

Archer stared at her long enough that she grew uncomfortable. She turned back to the stove and grabbed the plate of cupcakes. She stabbed a knife into the frosting and slid it over the top of one of the cupcakes.

When it was done, Lily turned and handed the cupcake over to Archer. He raised one dark eyebrow and took the cupcake. His eyes locked on hers as he peeled back the baby blue wrapper and took a bite of the still warm cupcake.

He groaned as he chewed. His pink tongue darted out to capture a crumb that lingered on the edge of his mouth.

Lily licked her lips at the same time, imagining the taste on him. Her mouth watered at the thought. She had to turn away or she’d do something she regretted. Like find out what her cupcake tasted like on his lips.

She frosted her own warm cupcake and busied herself with eating it. Archer’s was gone in three or four bites. She tried to be dainty about it, although she could have done the same. The last thing she needed to do was remind him that she had a few too many curves.

“Damn, that was good. Do you bake for a living?”

Lily snorted. “Um, no. I’m the Assistant IT Director for St. Nicholas Hospital.”

Archer’s brows winged up, but his eyes darkened. “You are?”

She nodded. “Yeah, why?”

“I called a buddy of mine. If Jaymes was taken, we think it had to do with his computer skills.”

“Okay.”

“If you’re in the same field, you could be a target. Especially if they know both of you. Have you noticed anyone around?”

A chill raced up Lily’s spine, and not a good one. It was terrifying enough that Jaymes was kidnapped, but the idea of someone watching her and coming after her made her feel violated.

Lily absently rubbed her arms and shook her head. “I haven’t seen anyone. Do you really think someone’s watching me?”

Archer shrugged. “There’s no way to know. I would like to check out your place. If you’re okay with that.”

Lily nodded. “Yeah, of course. If it’ll help Jaymes, I’ll do anything.”

She stuffed her feet into her sneakers and headed for the door. She grabbed her keys out of her purse and opened the door.

“Aren’t you going to take your purse? Or anything else?”

“I live downstairs. I can come back up and get...it. Oh, um. You probably want the place to yourself now that you’re here. Sorry. I wasn’t thinking.” She closed the door and moved to collect some of the things she had. “I’m so used to staying here, especially on the weekends, that I didn’t think about leaving. I’m not trying to get in your way.”

With heated cheeks, Lily grabbed her purse and one of the cupcakes and walked out. She could feel Archer following her, but he was silent as he moved. She stuffed the cupcake in her mouth to keep from blabbering that much more. She hurried down the flight of stairs until she came to her door.

Her hand shook as she tried to guide the key into the lock. Lily pulled back and shook her hand out. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

“Let me, Lily,” Archer said, running his hand down her arm until he gripped her fingers.

She stepped to the side and let him open her door. He went inside first and stopped, putting his hand out.

“Lily, does your place always look like this?”

She peeked around him, and ice slid down her spine. She shook her head. “No. It doesn’t.”

“Stay here,” he said, drawing a gun from his back. He moved into her place, disappearing around the corner toward her one bedroom. She stood, door open, watching where he went from the hallway.

It felt like hours passed before Archer reappeared again. His gun was gone, but there was tension in his shoulders that was new.

“No one’s here. You need to go through all your stuff and find out if anything’s missing.”

Lily nodded and moved into her apartment. She felt violated knowing someone had been in there. She wasn’t the neatest person ever, but she definitely wasn’t as messy as they left her apartment. She had no idea what someone would have been looking for, but it bothered her that they went through her stuff. Her stuff was personal.

She went to her room first. Archer stayed in the kitchen on his phone. Her clothes were everywhere, tossed on her bed and scattered all over the room. The thought of someone touching her panties, her clothes, her books… She shivered.

When she was done putting her room back together and couldn’t find anything that was missing, she moved into the living room. Her computer was still in its normal spot. She turned in on and didn’t notice anything that was off. She went through the rest of the room knowing Archer was watching her as he talked on his phone.

Lily was trying to figure out where she was going to spend the night when Archer hung up the phone. Maybe it was ridiculous, but she wasn’t comfortable in her own home knowing someone was in there in the last twenty-four hours. She spent the night at Jaymes’s place hoping she was being paranoid and he would be back, but with Archer there, she lost her safe harbor.

“Pack a bag,” Archer said, moving into the living room and looking around. His gaze slid past her as she gaped at him.

“Excuse me?”

Archer finally turned the full brunt of his gaze on her. “You’re not staying here, Lily. So either you pack a bag and come back up to Jaymes’s apartment with me, or I’m bringing my stuff down here and sleeping on your couch. I’m going on the hunch you’re not too big on sleeping here knowing someone was in here within the last…”

“Twenty-four hours,” she said automatically, chewing on her lip.

“Twenty-four hours.” Archer paused and caught her eye. “Your call, Lily, but I can’t let you out of my sight until I know you’re safe.”

She finally nodded and went back to her room to pack a bag.

* * *

Archer

Archer breathed a sigh of relief when Lily walked away. He didn’t want to have to force a woman he’d met a few hours ago to go with him. It wasn’t his style, and it was, frankly, just a dick move. Even if it was for her safety.

The conversation he had with English was more than a little disturbing. Not just finding out that his brother’s phone went dark three days ago, but learning that the same people were likely in Lily’s apartment had him ready to tear up the whole fucking town to figure out what was going on.

Archer did his own search of the place while Lily packed. The mess had his fingers itching to clean it up. Twelve years of military service ingrained a need for everything to be neat and orderly in him. Seeing her items tossed around got to him, especially the colorful scraps of lace that were on her bed when he checked her room.

He adjusted his thickening cock at the image his mind conjured of her in just a pair of those. He really needed to get laid.

Lily’s apartment was similar to Jaymes’s except it was only a one bedroom instead of two. She still had the same small kitchen, but with a red mixer instead of the silver one upstairs. Her table was a bit more sturdy, and a lot more worn. Her couch was well broken in, but her laptop was new. Archer flipped it over and snapped a picture of the serial number and texted it to English.

Lily came back with a bag thrown over her shoulder and across her body, splitting the gap between her breasts and teasing Archer with the memory of what she looked like before he opened his damn mouth about her outfit. She could have stayed like that all day, but he had to call her out on her choice of sleepwear. Hell, he slept naked. What did that say about him?

Archer grabbed her laptop and took one of the bags in her hands, then swept the place one last time and followed Lily out the door.

As she was locking the door, one across the hall opened.

“Good morning, Lily,” said a deep voice.

Archer glared at the man who only had eyes for Lily. He was almost as tall as Archer, but wiry by comparison. He wore glasses and smiled at Lily like she was grandma and he was the big, bad wolf.

“Hey, Blake.”

“You going on a trip?”

Lily shook her head. Her lip trembled, and Archer had to step in.

“She’s staying with me,” he growled, sliding his arm around Lily’s waist.

Blake looked over as though he really hadn’t noticed Archer standing there. He extended a hand and smiled. “Blake Loren. Nice to meet you…”

“Archer Ford.”

“Ford? Like Jaymes?” Blake asked with eyes that flipped between them.

Archer nodded. “Yep. Staying with my brother. Lil’s going to stay up there with me, so I can have both my woman and my brother with me.”

Blake didn’t look as though he believed a word Archer was saying.

Archer had to sell it. If Blake was involved, he had to believe there was nothing strange about Archer being there, or about Lily leaving her place for a few days. If he wasn’t involved, Archer just didn’t need some random guy poking around.

He tugged Lily closer and pressed his nose to her hair. He inhaled deep, letting her cupcake and woman scent fill him. He hardened instantly.

Since he was already there, he took advantage of his position and gently suckled on her throat. She tasted as good as she smelled, making it hard for him to pull back.

Even harder when she moaned just loudly enough for him to hear.

“Yeah, okay,” Blake said. “I, uh, I didn’t realize you were seeing someone.”

“It’s new,” Archer provided. “But I don’t plan to let her get away.”

Blake nodded. He turned to walk away, his shoulders slumping. He wasn’t man enough to fight for Lily. Archer was a formidable opponent, but any man who couldn’t see that Lily was the kind of woman you’d kick your best friend’s ass for wasn’t the man she needed.

Not that Archer was enough for her. He was damaged goods. It was risky saying they were together, but he didn’t have a choice at that moment.

At least, that’s what he told himself. It had nothing to do with his raging hard-on or how badly he wanted to stretch out over her and slide in home.

When the front door slapped closed behind Blake, Lily pushed away from Archer. “Why did you do that?”

“Who is he?” Archer demanded, ignoring her question.

“He lives across the hall. He has for over a year. Why are you acting like we’re together?”

“Have you slept with him?”

Lily shot daggers at him. If looks could kill, he’d definitely be dead where he stood.

“I’m not like you, Archer. I don’t sleep with every person I come into contact with.”

“He seemed very interested in what you were doing,” Archer said calmly.

“We talk. He’s a nice guy. I’ve never slept with him. I’m not going to sleep with him. Just like I’m not going to sleep with Jaymes.”

Archer held her gaze for a few more seconds. She didn’t waver, leading him to believe she really was telling the truth.

“Good. Let’s keep it that way.”

Archer led the way up the stairs to Jaymes’s apartment. Lily produced a key and let them back in. Archer did a quick sweep to make sure nothing had moved, then went back to the office.

He went through everything in Jaymes’s office. English was searching his brother’s computer, and Lily’s. If there was anything to find on either computer, English would grab it. But Archer was better at getting his boots on the floor.

When he finished his search of the office, he moved to the bedroom. Nothing turned up suspicious, so Archer moved back into the living room.

“Are you hungry?” Lily asked from the kitchen. “Lunch is almost ready if you want to join me.”

Archer nodded. His stomach rumbled loudly at the smells that spilled from the kitchen. It had been a long time since he had food cooked just for him. For years, he’d been eating in a cafeteria that served hundreds. Or digging out an MRE and pretending it wasn’t as bad as it was.

Lily fixed him a plate of macaroni and cheese, broccoli, and a big piece of breaded chicken. He set his plate on the table and went back to the kitchen to find a drink. He poured two glasses of water and carried them to the table and sat down at the same time Lily did.

“Thank you for lunch,” he said, meeting her eyes.

She nodded. “Comfort food. I hope you’re okay with it.”

Archer smiled. “You like to cook.”

She nodded again, digging in to her food. “I do. I learned when I was pretty young and loved it. Jaymes says I’m a control freak because I like to be in charge of what we eat.”

“It’s a lot more than that, though,” Archer guessed instinctively. He met her gaze and saw the admission there, even as he knew she wouldn’t come out and tell him.