Surviving Valentine (2 page)

Chapter 2

Darien

Nine weeks. What the hell am I going to do for nine weeks?  I am fine; the damn navy believes I am depressed. I am going to be depressed if I have to stay a civilian’s life for nine weeks! Christ!  Being a navy seal is my life. The life of being a soldier, a leader. We kick ass and well we kick some more ass. I take a swing of my beer from the bar. Parkers , the local sports bar. Sitting next to me at said bar is my best friend since elementary school when we had a fight about your momma jokes, Captain Ross Olsen. He talked me into coming to this place to cheer up as he said and I quote “Get your vagina off the couch, time to nut up or shut up dickweed.”  A charmer that one.  He has been going on and on about a class where he got kicked in the nuts repeatedly today.  He said the owner of Scars was going to be here and buy a round of shots for the guys who willingly got their asses handed to them.  Who names a place Scars anyway, sounds like a douche if you ask me. “Dude get your head out of your ass, you have a nine week vacation. We should head up to the family cabin in West Virginia and go snowboarding.”  He says.  I think for a minute. “Let’s do it!” I raise my bottle and clink it with his.

My thoughts afterwards were put on hold when a female voice yelled “To upward thrusts!”  Well now that’s not something you hear often. I had to turn to see who this ballsy chick was. I turn towards the noise and suddenly gasp for air.

Holy shit!  Long, brown curls that reached her mid back.  Creamy skin like French vanilla, a classic flavor you just want to taste over and over. Looking down and Fuck!  Those damn pants hug every curve of her like it was poured onto her. The type of body that is a sculptor’s wet dream.  Suddenly while staring at this goddess, a pair of shocking green eyes returns my stare. I think I forgot how to breathe.  Something in those eyes holds me. Sadness?  Curiosity?  Desire? Then suddenly the goddess looks next to me and smiles. That smile could bring any man to his knees. The best smile I have ever seen in my life. She starts walking this way.

Wait. She is walking this way. Breathe fucker breathe. She stops dead in front of us and speaks to Ross. “Glad you made it! Thanks again for today.”  She hands him a shot which he happily takes and downs. What the fuck? How does the goddess know Ross?  “It was no problem, as I told you I want to be a part of what you do.” Ok what the hell is going on?  Ross turns to me and says “ Scarlet I’d like you to meet my friend Darien Valentine.”  She turns those gorgeous green eyes on me and I see something there. Amusement? “ Darien Valentine” My name coming off those lips automatically makes me want to go caveman on this goddess and take her back to my place and hear that name on her lips over and over. 

Ross smacks my shoulder taking me out of my fantasy.  “And this is Scarlet Barnette, She owns Scars, and teaches the self defense class I am volunteering at.” Well fuck me sideways. I shake out of my temporary paralysis and raise my hand. “Pleased to meet you Scarlet.”  She grasps my hand and I feel a shock ecstasy run through me and by the looks in her eyes, she felt something too.  She pulls her hand away but before she lets go I let my finger graze her hand a in a long stroke.  The air feels thicker, more tense.  She speaks “So, Darien, do you work with Ross at the station?” Trying to bring innocence back into the air are we? “Nope, just currently on a little R & R from the navy. “

“Navy huh? My friend Candace’s brothers are in the navy. Oh Shit! Speaking of Candace I will be right back!” She runs off, man she has got a really fine ass. A smack on the shoulder breaks me out of my staring.  “So, I think we found what you are going do to for your leave.”

“That obvious?” I answer.   “Man she would eat you up and spit you out. Then kick your ass for fun.”  Hm I wouldn’t mind that mouth on me.  “I got a lot of shit on my plate right now.”I counter, He smirks. “I think you would be willing to make a little time out of your schedule out for her. But dude, I’m going to be the big brother here. I like her, she seems nice. If you do make time for her don’t be a dick.”  Like that would happen.  Funny hearing that from Mr. one nightstand himself.

Scarlet starts heading our way again, towing a short pixie behind her. “Hey guys I would like you to meet Candace Parker. She owns the bar.”  Candace is a short chick with black hair and brown eyes.  She looks like a man eater and by the way she is looking at the dumb ass to my right it looks like she has chosen her next meal. I elbow Ross in the side. “Hey, I’m Ross. This is my friend Darien. This is a nice place here. Everyone has been very accommodating”

“Well we aim to please here at Parkers.” Oh man I think Mr. One nightstand has met his match. This is going to be fun to watch. I sneak a peek at the Goddess. She is looking at them like she could bust out laughing at any moment. She looks at her friend “Ross here volunteered at my class this morning. He is a captain at a station 8 in Chesapeake.”

“Oh that’s so sweet of you to join Scarlet’s cause to help women be able to kick some guys asses, and also a firefighter.”  She licks her lips. “How courageous of you.” Oh shit! This is hilarious. I look at Scarlet. It seems she has a sense of humor in trying to set them up. She looks at me and winks. I think I died and went to heaven. This girl is amazing.  Wait… What is happening to me? Candace’s voice takes me out of my self-observations. “Oh! We should go out tonight!”

“I’d love to Candace. Darien you in?” Ross asks me. I’m not sure I want to go with them just so I can watch them play tonsil hockey later. “I think I am good tonight, I got a lot of shit to do with the house tomorrow. You kids have fun though” Scarlet looks a little disappointed. Did she want me to go? Candace asked if she was going. She declined saying she’s got to get back to Roxy. Who is Roxy? Does she have a kid?  I love kids but that will make it difficult for a little fun in the sun. “Well I think I am going to head out, I got my boys their drinks, and it has been a long day.”  She says then looks at me. “It was nice meeting you.”  It was definitely nice meeting her “Pleasure meeting you as well.” Something sparked in those emeralds.

Candace interrupted our little staring contest going on. “Ok, Why don’t we all go out tomorrow?  We should go dancing! We love to dance!” I look at Candace and the look she has is mischievous.  What is that pixie up to?  “Oh hell yea! That sounds like fun. You Debby Downer’s up for it tomorrow?” Ross belted out.  I look at Scarlet. “Yea I’m down.” I say.  Scarlet nods.  Tomorrow is going to be an interesting night. Candace makes plans with Ross for tonight. Then they say their goodbyes and head over to the table that they were at. 

Ross sighs “Man I think I am in love” I laugh. “Yeah, good luck with that one man.” I slap him on the back “Alright man. I’m going to get out of here; got a lot I got to sort through at the house.”  He just nods. “Yeah I hear you. If you need anything let me know.”  I start to head out, but I take a glance at Scarlet one last time before I leave. She’s laughing with the guys at the table. I wish I knew what made her smile like that.  Suddenly she turns those emeralds on me and I’m lost. She laughs and turns back to her table. I walk out into the night, and head home. My thoughts easily return to Scarlet, Man I am in trouble.

Chapter 3

Scarlet

“MM Oh yeah, just like that!” “Oh Darien!”  He kisses that spot behind my ear, and then nuzzles my neck with his scruffy chin. Oh my! I love scruffiness. He moves across my collar bone and back up to my jaw.  He makes a noise that sounds like a growl. Oh god I am so turned on right now.  His hand travel down my stomach. Down. Down. OH MY!  He goes to whisper in my ear then he licks my neck. Interesting. He continues to lick my neck, and then my jaw, and my face. WHAT THE HELL? Realizing I am dreaming, I wake up. But why am I still being licked? ROXY! “Down Roxy!” 

Such a good dream, now I have a slimy dog face. I turn over and think about last night. Darien Valentine, what a man! Black hair, that perfect hair grabbing length. He had to of be 6’2, broad shoulders, very muscular body.  He had a body like an MMA fighter; he gave off dangerous vibes like them too. He looked like the type of guy that left a line of broken hearts behind him, but boy did you love every minute of it. He had a sharp, scruffy jaw, and an imperial roman nose. And those eyes! OH those eyes, the only way I can describe them is as beach eyes. Beautiful gold surrounding the pupils, just like sand at the beach, and then suddenly BAM! A deep blue like the ocean.  I could stare into those eyes and never surface. Like an under tow, you would never see me again.  Being close to him made me feel like my world was spinning.

I heard a whine from the side of the bed. “I’m sorry girl; let’s go get you something to eat.” Rolling out of bed, I walk down the stairs and get Roxy some food. I make a cup of stress tamer tea and head towards my porch. I love waking up to see the sun rise over the ocean. It’s so peaceful here.  The waves are calm over the sand; it’s very quiet this morning. The sky is lit up with different shades of reds, oranges, purples, and a bit of blues. Roxy came bursting out the door and down the porch stairs towards the beach. She loves playing in the water. I bet she misses Aunt Tara. She was such a carefree woman. Her whole saying of a life was Hakuna Matata. Yeah I know, but when you think about it. It is a nice way of living, always saying no worries to everything. I have tried to adopted the philosophy as well. Trying to live for today and enjoy life. I miss her already. I think I’ll go over, and check on things.

I walk back into the house and set my tea cup down on the counter. I look around my house. I always liked color. I have terra cotta color see through curtains hanging around my windows. Turquoise blue curtains hanging by my sliding glass door that leads out to the beach. I think I will leave that open, get some fresh air in the house.  I walk over to open the door and stub my toe on my brown sectional. “OUCH!”  Man my day is just going great. First with my sexy dream turning out to be with a dog, and now I stub my baby toe. Great!

I grab my keys and set out to Aunt Tara’s house.  It looks so quiet and daunting.  I walk up the porch and use my key to open the door.  The smell of vanilla and lime assaults my nostrils.  She always loved tropical like smells.  Always buying candles, sprays, anything that smelt like a tropical drink.  It looks the same as when she lived in this house. Her bright yellow couch is still sitting by the window with its flowery pillows and sky diving magazines littering the coffee table. Her china perfectly organized in the kitchen cabinets.  Sigh. I make my way up towards her attic. I pass pictures of her family along the way up the stairs. She really loved her family. She especially loved her nephew, I forgot his name. But she said he was a navy seal. So she didn’t have many pictures of him.  I noticed her bedroom door was closed.  I wasn’t ready to go there yet. A place where it was so her, with her crumpled up bed spread, because she never made her bed. A  Percy Jackson book with dog eared pages on the night stand. We were reading the series together. I pull down her attic stairs and climb up. So many boxes to go through, I’ll start with her books, then move on to her pictures. 

After organizing her books, and going through 3 albums of her adventures I hear a noise. A creak in the floorboards below. Was someone in the house? Oh God! Was there a robber here? I ran over to the wall by the stairs leading up here. I would get this person! Being a self defense teacher, and a kick boxer came in handy in situations like this.  I listen as the noise creeps closer to the stairs. Ok, ok I am ready! The robber was walking up the stairs, and then came to the top of the stairs and now a big body stands in front of me looking around. 

The body walks forward a bit. I try to make my escape back down and the person grabs my shoulder and yells “HEY!”  I slam my elbow into the robber’s gut! Step on their instep of the foot!  The person wraps me in their arms and spins me around away from the escape of the stairs. I break free of their grasp on my arms and I grab their wrist and adjust my knees and throw the robber over my shoulder. I start to run for the stairs when a hand grabs my ankle, thus tripping me. I fell to the ground and the robber started pulling me towards them. I kick my feet towards their face and the robber dodges my kicks. I spin around trying to get a look at the robber, when he attacks me. I know it has to be a he based on the size, and weight of the person. Plus I would have been free by now if it was a female.  He lunges at me knocking me on my back and pins me down. I go for my next move to head butt him, and I stop. I am being stared down by the only pair of eyes who could disable me. Beach eyes!

“Darien?” I ask. He looks stunned, and now confused. “Scarlet? What the hell are you doing in my house?”He demanded.  “I was organizing, Wait? Your house? I will have you know this house belongs to a dear friend of mine Aunt Tara.” He had a face that could say only one thing. DUH! “Yeah my aunt Tara left it to me after she passed. I just moved in yesterday”  Nephew? Navy? “HOLY SHIT! You’re her nephew? The navy seal?”  He looked a little smug. He glanced down my body and that’s when I realized I was still in my tight Harry Potter night shirt that stopped right above my naval, and my plaid men’s lounge pants, with no shoes and no bra! AH how embarrassing!  He made his way back up to my eyes.  His eyes showed a hunger. I tried to move but he was still pinning me to the ground. “Can you let me go now?”

“Depends, are you going to attack me again?” He asked with a smile. My eyes narrowed. “You attacked me! I thought you were a robber and you grabbed my shoulder!”  He quietly shh’d me “It’s ok this is just an easy misunderstanding.” He let go of my wrists and got up to sit down next to me. I sat up slowly and looked him over. His black hair was messy, his shirt and sweatpants were rumpled. I must have woken him up.  “Sorry if I woke you, I didn’t think there was anyone in the house. I didn’t know what was going to happen to it. But at least you aren’t some pervy man that hangs out naked on the beach listening to salsa music right?” He laughed a real hearty laugh. “Not today no.”  Well at least something has gone right today; I was really worried about that one. “Sorry I frightened you, would you like a cup of coffee?”  He asked.