SEAL's Code by Sharon Hamilton Page B

baby down for a nap, placing her palms against his chest, allowing her breasts to brush against him. She did this without shame or trying to hide her feelings. Her eyes searched his without a question residing there. Danny found himself covering her hands with his, then lifting each palm one by one, kissing the undersides right in the middle. Her natural body oils infused into him. Her loveliness was indescribable. She matched his kissing of her palms with motions of the same kind, and then they just looked at each other, at the miracle of the culmination of generations of Dine who had stood honestly face to face, and became a partnership with more than their bodies.
    She turned and announced to the little group on the couch her intention to take a walk with him. Wilson, Jeffrey, and Sarah were watching an old Bachelorette episode Jeffrey had starred in. His cousin nodded his head stoically, but Jeffrey gave him a wink and a full on Hollywood smile. Sarah was so engrossed in the program she didn’t look up.
    Outside the front door, Danny noticed an old folded blanket and a glass bottle of homemade lemonade sitting on a wicker chair. Birds were chirping in the bright pink bougainvillea vine that had tried to take over her mother’s porch.
    “Where are we going, Luci?”
    “There’s a little trail to a frog pond I used to walk as a child. I haven’t seen it in years. Maybe the frogs are gone, the water too for that matter, but I want to see it again.
    He laced his fingers through hers, and she squeezed tightly, and then let go. He found his arm fit well around her waist, his palm resting on her hip as she took long flowing strides.
    A chorus of frog sounds abruptly ended when they walked through some grey-green brush. Luci pulled the reeds aside, and he saw a small pond being fed by a tiny stream.
    She laid the blanket out and slipped off her shoes. Danny handed her the lemonade jar and did the same.
    “I started coming here when my uncle wouldn’t stop trying to come after me.” She turned her delicate neck, and, with dancing eyes, gave him a warm smile. “This was like my own little secret garden, like the children’s book I loved so much. Do you know it?”
    “I’m sorry, no.”
    “Well, it’s a story about an unwanted little girl and her two friends, one the son of a servant, who finds solace and health in a secret garden locked away after the death of the mistress of the house. Inside this garden, they are protected by a high wall that also masks the sounds of their play and their laughter.”
    Danny was sorry he’d never been told that story.
    “I learned about it in school. I took to reading quite early, thank God. I never had parents who told me the legends and ways of our people, Danny. Not like you did.”
    He knew he was lucky to have had the influence of his grandfather, something he had to admit he hadn’t realized until the old man was gone.
    “I used this place to get away from the harshness and dangers of my world. To a place where miracles happened and people’s souls were healed.”
    Danny looked out over the cool water. “Reminds me of some of the fishing holes Grandfather took me to as a child. Wilson would come, too. We’d camp out under the stars. The sky seemed so much bigger then.”
    Luci, nodded. “I don’t have memories like that. But Griffin will. He’ll have all that.”
    “Yes, he will,” Danny admitted.
    A gentle breeze floated by them. A hummingbird hovered over a cactus flower. Several brave frogs resumed their singing.
    “He never raped me, Danny, but I felt unsafe and violated just the same. I’m glad I didn’t have to kill him, but you know, I dreamt about it every night.” She pointed to the pond with her outstretched hand. “This place gave me the courage I needed. I knew that some day I would have to deal with Uncle Corwin, and I vowed I’d be strong when that day came.”
    Danny wasn’t shocked. The deliberate way she’d handled herself under pressure had