Free Protecting Cheyenne (SEAL of Protection Book 5) by Susan Stoker Page A

thumb over it.
    The same thing had happened when Dude had found her bras. They’d all been sensible and comfortable, except for the black lace number with the strategic padding. Dude wasn’t an expert, but he knew what the extra material in the corner of the cups was for.
    Sneaking another look up at Cheyenne, Dude knew she’d at least put on the bra he’d picked out. He could see more than a hint of her cleavage as she pulled herself up on the stool at the bar that ran along the edge of the kitchen. He smirked as a slight blush came over her face. She’d caught him looking.
    Dude turned and grabbed one of the plates he’d placed next to the stove and expertly scooped up the omelet and transferred it to the plate. He took a fork, placed it on the plate and brought it over to Cheyenne.
    “You didn’t have to cook,” Cheyenne tried to protest.
    “I know. Eat.”
    “I didn’t have anything in my fridge but salad dressing…You said someone named Fiona brought all of this?”
    “Eat, Shy.”
    Dude smiled as Cheyenne dutifully picked up the fork and cut into the omelet. He didn’t move from her side until she’d taken a bite and closed her eyes in enjoyment. He went back to the stove and broke more eggs into the still hot pan. Dude divided his attention between Cheyenne eating and his own omelet.
    By the time he finished making his own breakfast, Cheyenne was eating her last bites. She suddenly looked at him in embarrassment. “I’m sorry, I should’ve waited for you. Jesus, I’m horrible.”
    “It’s fine, Shy. If you’d waited, yours would’ve been cold.”
    “But…”
    “I said it’s fine.” Dude knew he was being a bit harsher than the situation called for, but he couldn’t help it. It was a part of who he was. He was used to being obeyed. It came from being a SEAL and being in situations where obeying was second nature and necessary for survival. He wasn’t into total control and the bullshit that went along with the BDSM lifestyle, but he certainly needed to be in control when he went to bed with a woman.
    Dude hadn’t really thought about what that might mean in a real relationship, because he’d had never had a real relationship. As most of his buddies had done before they’d settled down, he enjoyed picking up women. He’d take them home and have an excellent time for the night. But after that one night, they were gone. Every woman had known the score and none had any complaints, at least none they’d verbalized to him. They’d all willingly turned over control to him and left the next morning, but Dude had never really thought about how it would work for more than a night.
    He shook his head. Dude wanted Cheyenne, and not like he’d had other women. He liked her. As he’d told her the night before, she was interesting and fun. Those weren’t adjectives he’d used to describe women in the past that he’d liked. Hell, he hadn’t even bothered to get to know any of the women he’d taken to bed before. That probably made him a dick, but he couldn’t change his past now.
    Liking a woman and wanting to get to know her before sleeping with her, was new for Dude. He’d also never invited his friends into any relationship, whatever kind of relationship he had with Cheyenne, before. He’d never gone out of his way to have a one-night-stand interact with his friends. But here he was, one day after meeting Cheyenne, and he’d voluntarily reached out to his friends for her help. Fiona had been overjoyed to help him out and go shopping for food. Dude hadn’t wanted to leave Cheyenne while she was hurt and loopy from whatever drugs the staff at the hospital had given her, so he’d called Cookie, but gotten Fiona instead. She’d bought enough food for at least a month.
    Dude had spent the night on Cheyenne’s couch, waking up at least once an hour so he could pop his head into her room and check on her. She’d been dead to the world. She hadn’t even stirred when he’d stood by her