Point of Departure Read online

  Just as she thought there could never be more beauty than this with loving someone, Callie felt him stiffen and grow taut against her. His embrace tightened like steel bands around her, nearly crushing the breath from her, flowing into her as the ocean flows inexorably across the golden sand, making it one with the water for that brief moment. Glorying in his release, in the animal growl that shook through her, Callie smiled.

  Easing Callie down on the bed moments later, Ty was struck by the softness of her smile. Her lips were parted, the corners gently lifted upward. He nearly cried because that smile had transferred to her lovely blue eyes, now filled with love. He didn’t want to ever leave her. The feeling was so right, so overwhelming, that all he could do was absorb her look and take it within himself. Ty had never experienced such an intensity, a peeling back of his raw, primal feelings as he had with Callie. Moving slowly, he kept his weight on his elbows as he lay above her. Her breasts lightly touched his chest with each breath she took. Each stroke of her hands on his damp back made him wildly aware of just how much he wanted her all over again.

  With his hands, he pushed back her tangled black hair, damp and stuck to her skin. Both of them were breathing erratically, and he pressed his head against hers, their noses touching. Smiling a little, Ty whispered, “You’re like the ocean—wild, primitive and beautiful.”

  Stirring slightly, Callie raised her lashes and drowned in the brilliant diamond color of his eyes. “I’ve never thought of myself like that.”

  “A luminescent pearl stolen from an oyster,” he continued thickly. “One of a kind—my kind,” and he rolled off her, then pulled her back into his arms.

  Content simply to lie against him, her arm across his broad chest, Callie smiled sleepily. “I never realized you were such a poet.”

  “I didn’t, either,” Ty chuckled. “I guess it’s you. You bring it out in me.” He reached over and brought the quilt across them so that she wouldn’t get chilled. The tousled hair made Callie look more girl than woman, but her lips were well kissed, and the lingering desire in her eyes only made him more aware than ever of wanting to be the only man in her life.

  Joy rippled through Callie like tiny wavelets as she closed her eyes, held within Ty’s embrace. This man was not offended by her strength as a woman. Just the opposite. He had reveled in her assertiveness in initiating their lovemaking. How different Ty was from the others. With a sigh, Callie was thankful that she had drawn him into her life, because Ty enriched it in ways she’d never known could exist. Sleep touched her, and without another word, Callie surrendered and sank into a blissful world where only happiness existed. Tomorrow was a new start to her life, and she could hardly wait to awaken the next morning with Ty at her side to begin living it.

  The ocean breeze wafted strands of Callie’s recently washed hair into her face momentarily. Ty had the camera and snapped the picture just as she reached down into a tidal pool to touch a bright orange starfish with her index finger. Dressed in a tangerine short-sleeved blouse and a pair of loose, well-worn jeans rolled up to her knees, and barefoot, she presented a heart-wrenching picture through the lens. If he was lucky, the camera might be able to catch the moment, but Ty had already burned the image into his heart forever.

  The tangy salt air blended with the dampness of the sand. The morning sun sent slanting rays across the glassy ocean, and gulls wheeled and turned above them, hoping for handouts. Ty had coaxed the camera out of Callie’s hands so that he might take some shots. His photos would be less than artful, but he wanted pictures of her doing what she loved so much to do: in touch with the ocean’s beauty and power. Beneath their clothes they wore their swimsuits, and when it got warm enough, around noon, they would swim in the green-and-blue waters of the Pacific—together.

  Callie lifted her head, smiling as she picked up the starfish and held it up so that Ty would get his photograph. He was kneeling on the black, smooth surface of the rocks, both hands on the camera. The breeze swirled and played around them, pulling at his yellow polo shirt and the loose denim jacket he wore with his jeans. Today he looked dangerously beautiful in a very male way, Callie thought. He dropped the camera, allowing it to hang from his neck, then rose like a lithe jaguar and made his way toward her. There was such animal grace in him, and it made Callie go hot with longing all over again.

  Gently, she placed the starfish back in the tidal pool. Ty crouched by her side, and she relished his closeness. Looking up, she felt herself surrounded by his warmth.

  “What do you say we hit that picnic basket we packed and break into the thermos of hot coffee?”

  She smiled. “I could use a cup, too.” And she held out her hand to him as he rose beside her.

  Ty wasn’t satisfied with just Callie’s hand. He pulled her hard against him and encircled her with his arms. “Mmm,” he growled as he pressed his head against hers and held her tightly, “this warms me even more than that cup of coffee.”

  Giggling, Callie drew away just enough to place a molten kiss on his smiling mouth. Nothing could have prepared her for his returning kiss, which made her feel fire explode unexpectedly to life throughout her tingling, aching body. His mouth was confident, sharing and searching with an intense heat that made her melt and fuse against him. The roar of the ocean grew dim against the beat of his heart pounding raggedly against her own. The salty air mingled with his male scent, drawn deeply into her lungs as if it were an aphrodisiac. The cries of the gulls, sharp and serrating, echoed the cry within her heart for the love she felt so keenly for Ty alone.

  As he broke their fiery kiss, his eyes burning with a desire that made her tremble, Callie knew it was too soon to talk of love. But they had the time now to explore each other at a slower, more delicious pace, and that was all right with her. She didn’t feel the need to tell him of her love; she could show it to him, share it with him in a hundred small but important ways. Yet, as she held his smoldering gray gaze, she knew without a doubt that Ty loved her, too. The discovery was wonderful and exhilarating.

  “Come on,” he rasped thickly as he released her, one arm remaining around her waist, “let’s get that coffee. If I don’t, I’m going to get you.”

  With a grin, Callie chortled and nodded. She made a point of looking around the shining black lava rocks that contained the tidal pools. “I think we’d shock the tourists, don’t you?”

  Ty grudgingly looked around in turn. More and more tourists were coming to explore the same area. “I guess you’re right,” he muttered unhappily.

  Callie was content to walk with Ty, his arm thrown carelessly about her shoulder as they slogged barefoot through the damp sand. They had laid out their red plaid blanket a quarter of a mile farther up the beach and placed the wicker picnic basket upon it.

  As they sat together, cups of hot coffee in hand, watching the morning ease away the dampness and chill, Callie smiled. They faced the ocean, and the black-and-white seagulls landed in force around them, begging for scraps of food.

  “They’re such beggars,” Ty said as he reached into the basket for a box of chips.

  “And you’re such a softy,” Callie laughed. She watched as he scattered the chips to the gulls, which raced toward them. Some of the younger gulls were gray, the older ones snow white with black edging on their wings and tails.

  Tossing some of the chips in a wide arc so many of the gulls would get some, Ty glanced down at Callie. Her face was flushed, and he’d never seen such happiness burning in her blue eyes. “Didn’t you think I had a soft side?” he teased.

  “Not at first I didn’t. I thought you were very tough and very hard, Commander Ballard.” And then, more softly, she added, “You scared me because you reminded me of the past, of what had happened to me at the academy.”

  With a nod, Ty closed the box and put it away. The fight between the gulls was fierce, and they took to the air with their scraps. Circling his arm around Callie’s shoulders, he rested his cheek against her hair. “Are you scared now?”


  “Of you? No.” Callie raised her head a bit and met his gaze.

  “What of the future?”

  “Yes, I’m scared—but hopeful. I feel I can make a difference, Ty.” She chewed on her lip. “I still worry that it will somehow hurt your career.”

  “Naw, not a chance.” He gave her a boyish smile of reassurance. “Let’s talk about something more important.”

  “Okay. What?”

  “Us.”

  Callie studied him from beneath her black lashes, her heart beating a bit harder in her breast. “What about us?” she asked softly.

  “I like what we have. Do you?”

  “Very much.”

  “We’ve come a long way in a hurry, Callie. Maybe too fast.”

  “Maybe,” she agreed slowly. “But I’m not sorry about it. About loving you last night.”

  “No?”

  “No. Never.”

  He smiled a little. “That’s one of the many things I like about you, Callie Donovan—you’re not a wishy-washy person. You have opinions, and you stick by them, no matter what. You’re very clear about where you are with yourself, and you don’t mince words.”

  She stared deeply into his eyes. “What about you, Ty? Are you sorry about last night? Was it too soon?”

  Caressing her red cheek, Ty gave her a very masculine smile. “Sweetheart, last night was like a dream to me. How can I be sorry it happened or when it happened? No, if anything, I want more of you, Callie, not less. I’m hungry for you in every way possible. I find myself wishing I could apply for leave and spend thirty unbroken, private days just exploring you, your heart, your mind.” He leaned down and worshipped her parted lips, savoring the taste of sweet, creamy coffee on them. “I want to explore that hot, fiery body of yours, too.”

  With a little laugh, Callie set her cup aside and placed her arms across his broad shoulders. “You’re so sensual, Ty Ballard. Almost like hot, flowing lava.”

  “We’re not bad together, are we?”

  She smiled at his preening. “Not bad at all.”

  Moving his hands across her sleek black cap of hair, he pressed his brow against hers. “I like what we have,” he told her in a low, gritty tone. “I want to keep it. I want to explore it with you. This isn’t a casual relationship for me, Callie.”

  She closed her eyes and simply absorbed his caressing strokes across her hair. “I was never any good at casual loving, either. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my past relationships, Ty.”

  “Look at me. You think I’m going to judge you?” He snorted softly and said, “Neither of us is perfect, but I think together we’re a pretty good team. Don’t you?”

  Callie eased away enough to frame his face with her hands. “Pretty good?” she quavered. “I know knights on white horses aren’t supposed to exist anymore, but you do for me. You have integrity, Ty.”

  With a sigh, he nodded. “I know our world is moving so fast right now that it’s tough to keep up with all the changes. I don’t think they should have thrown knights on white horses out with everything else. We can learn from our past, but we don’t have to abandon it.”

  “I agree.”

  “In a way,” he murmured as he grazed her cheek, “you’re a champion, a knight on a charger, too.”

  “Oh?”

  “Sure. You’re going to be a champion to other women who have suffered what you’ve gone through. You’re turning defeat into victory, and sweetheart, I can’t begin to tell you how much I admire your courage.” Ty looked deeply into her eyes, wanting badly to impress on her just how much he admired her bravery.

  Shaken by his insight, his commitment to her and to the new goals she’d just established, Callie sniffed. “When you get trampled there’s only one way to go—up.”

  “That’s true,” Ty said, “but how many women would have fought back? You can be a good role model for them, Callie. And I really believe you’ll help them to help themselves.”

  “I want to get the laws changed, Ty.”

  “There’s no reason you can’t learn how to lobby and get it done. I’ll help you all I can.”

  Startled, Callie saw his mouth curve upward. “You mean that?” she asked wonderingly.

  “Sure. If you think I enjoyed seeing those men intimidate and hurt you, you’re wrong! No man who’s secure in his own masculinity would like it, Callie. We’ve got some bad apples in our barrel, but there are plenty of men out there who will be on our side. Wait and see.”

  Touched and unable to say anything, because her love for him was as boundless as the ocean that embraced them, Callie nodded. The fact that Ty had used the word us said more than she dared hope. Sliding her fingertips across his recently shaven cheek, she said in an aching whisper, “We’ve got the time now.”

  “Yes,” Ty murmured, capturing her lips beneath his, “from now until forever, sweetheart.”

  *

  New York Times bestselling author

  LINDSAY McKENNA

  brings you into the line of fire with Operation Shadow Warriors…

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  Trained to kill, but built for love…

  From New York Times bestselling author

  LINDSAY McKENNA

  Captain Morgan Boland is at the top of her game, as is navy SEAL Jake Ramsay, her former lover. Then a military computer selects them to partner in a special op. The mission can’t be compromised by their personal history—and they have truckloads of it.

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  ISBN-13: 9781460334331

  POINT OF DEPARTURE

  Copyright © 1992 by Lindsay McKenna

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