by Marlie May
Tears trickled down my face, but they weren’t from fear. They were from relief.
Eli shifted. His arm edged underneath me and pulled me close.
His chest rumbled when he spoke. “You didn’t leave me.”
“You’re not getting rid of me that easy. I’ll never leave you. I love you.”
“Ah, Mia.” I swore his eyes watered. His voice, though slurred and slow from the medications, deepened. “I love you, too.”
My grin rising on my face, I kissed him.
From now on, I wouldn’t just tell him he was mine and I was his, I’d show him.
We’d pull through this.
Together.
32
Mia
One week later.
I shifted my hips to the music streaming from my phone, belting out how I wanted to be part of his world. Eli’s playlist.
While Eli said I was his favorite Disney princess, I kind of wanted to be a mermaid instead.
I backed up, dropped the oven door, and pulled out a freshly-baked batch of white chocolate, macadamia nut cookies.
Once Eli was stable, they’d transferred him to the hospital here in town so he’d be closer to home. I’d begged for a bit more leave before starting my new job to remain by his side.
He was getting better. Cranky but that assured me he was healing. Man pain was the worst, but he had been horribly hurt. In fact, my colleagues at the hospital had told me they’d let him come home soon.
Home. To me.
I was more than ready. Frankly, I was getting tired of the nurses whispering in the halls that Eli was so hot.
He was hot, but he was my hot.
I slid the last cookie off the pan and onto the rack, then reloaded the tray and popped it into the oven.
Two sharp knocks hit my door.
I stilled, listening but hearing nothing further. Except…
A deep voice singing about how he wasn’t shy, he was gonna kiss the girl.
My heart flipped, and I scurried from the kitchen.
How was this possible?
After yanking off my apron and ditching the pot holders from my hands, I raced down the hall, headed for the front door. I paused to smooth my hair, my—white—sundress, and my heart rate, which was never going to slow as long as I had Eli in my life.
I couldn’t keep the grin off my face. My happiness demanded it had to shine through.
I unlocked and swung open the door.
A gorgeous man stood in front of me, dressed in a soft tee and faded jeans, a Santa hat on his head with the pompom brushing his shoulder.
My laughter snorted out. “I, um. Hmm. I’m afraid Mrs. Clause isn’t here. I believe she’s hanging out at Christmastown with the real St. Nick.”
“What if I have this?” A grin on his face, he held up a sprig of mistletoe.
“I think you’d better come inside, sir.”
He limped through the doorway looking so hot that I needed to fan my face.
“Where did you get that—”
His arm swept around my waist. “Remember that legend I told you at Christmastown?”
“I do.”
He dangled the mistletoe over his head. “Everyone who stands underneath it is entitled to a kiss.”
I wrapped my arms around his waist, being careful not to put pressure on his sore belly. “Then we better get to it, Eli, because I’ve been waiting a lifetime.”
* * *
Look for Jax & Haylee’s story Reckless, next. I can’t wait to share more of the Viper Force world. I’ve included Chapter One; just turn a few pages…
~Marlie
* * *
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Marlie write books with heart, humor, and a guaranteed happily-ever-after. When she's not writing romance, you can find her in Maine, where she works as a nurse. She lives with her own personal hero, her retired Navy Chief husband. They have three children, too many cats, and a cute Yorkie pup.
You can find me via my website,
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Other Books by Marlie May
You can also visit my Amazon Page
Crescent Cove Contemporary Romances
SOME LIKE IT SCOT (link)
SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE (link)
Other, Independent Titles
TWIST OF FATE
(A time travel romance set in ancient Pompeii)
On Amazon & in Kindle Unlimited
Crescent Cove Romantic Suspense
FEARLESS
RUTHLESS
RECKLESS
Did you know?
I also write young adult
as Marty Mayberry
Author Page
DEAD GIRLS DON’T LIE,
A mystery/suspense
On Amazon & in Kindle Unlimited
CRYSTAL WING ACADEMY
A suspense set in a Harry Potter-style world
Outling, Book One
Dragonsworn, Book Two
Unraveler, Book Three
RECKLESS, Book 3, Viper Force
Trapped together on an uninhabited Caribbean island and hunted by a killer, can Haylee & Jax survive long enough to confess their feelings?
While on assignment for Viper Force, Haylee, a former Navy Seabee sharpshooter, barely lived through an "accident" in Mexico. When someone tries to finish her off while she's recovering in rehab, she begs her secret crush and fellow Seabee Chief, Jax, to get her out of the country.
Jax fell for Haylee months ago and while he knows she can't stand him, he'll do whatever it takes to keep her safe. A cat and mouse chase sends them fleeing on a cruise ship then in a small plane.
Their plane is sabotaged, and they crash-land in the sea. Washed ashore on an uninhabited island with the Maestro hot on their tail, they must play a Robinson Caruso game of survival. Each booby trap adds risk but brings them closer to revealing the Maestro's identity.
With Haylee injured, it'll take their combined military experience to survive, all while fighting an attraction for each other they're helpless to resist.
And with the final battle looming, only the victors will escape the island.
Excerpt to follow…
Chapter 1, Viper Force Book 3
Jax
A man I’d never seen before, someone who was not Haylee’s nurse, stood beside her bed, injecting something into her I.V.
A week ago, they turned off her sedation, saying they wanted to see how she responded. Short of a wince when they rubbed her chest—hard—we had nothin’.
Five day ago, they pulled the tube from her lungs, saying she could breathe on her own. Never been more grateful for anything in my life.
They moved her out of ICU and then to rehab. Increased her physical therapy. Even played her favorite music and TV shows ’round the clock. But she hadn’t moved. Hadn’t opened her eyes. Not even when her dad squeezed her hand and pleaded with her to come back.
And now someone was trying to kill her.
Again.
I hadn’t been there for her when someone forced her car into that ravine. Or when they’d shipped her by helo from Cancun to Miami.
But I sure as hell was here for her now.
Rushing across the room, I flung my scalding-hot coffee at the startled face of a guy fifteen or so years older than me. Black hair with graying temples. Brown eyes. Slighter build than me. And a meaty fist that connected with my jaw as I got close. He’d been aiming for my throat, hoping to crush my larynx.
Dude. I’d learned how to deflect worse blows than that before I turned fifteen. Living on the streets will do that for a kid.
I growled, and my punch didn’t miss.
Gagging and clutching his throat, the man bailed across Haylee�
�s bed. He tumbled onto the tile floor on the other side.
As he bounced over her, Haylee winced and groaned. Her eyes opened, and her gaze met mine.
“Jax?” Though scratchy and weak and lacking her hallmark spunk, just hearing her say my name was enough to make me tremble. But the asshole who’d tried to end her life permanently had sprung to his feet and was raging for the door.
Breaking eye contact with Haylee, I gave chase, hitting the solid panel as it swung back in my face. With a grunt, I blasted the door open. It ricocheted off the cinder wall with a bang as I bolted from the room and into the hallway. I only paused long enough to seek someone fleeing. A hunter, I’d catch the perp then show him a few more moves I’d learned on the streets.
Down the hall, the elevator dinged and the doors whooshed open. The guy leaped inside as I charged that way.
As the doors pinched closed, I shoved my fingers in the narrow slot and pried the panels open.
Not getting away. Not until I pummeled him.
With his legs spread in a shooter’s stance, the guy stood inside with two hands supporting a 9 mil with the safety off. The barrel drilled my way.
While my lungs heaved, I lifted my hands, palms exposed, and stepped toward him.
He nudged the gun in the air. “Don’t even try me, man.”
“Who sent you?”
His dry laugh burst out. “Maybe instead of asking questions, you should look in on your girlfriend.”
She wasn’t my girlfriend. She’d never be.
The doors started closing, and a smirk rose on the guy’s face. “Just injected her with a boatload of potassium.”
At the nurse’s station, a heart monitor alarmed shrilly.
Fuck. Haylee.
Wrenching backward, I spun and bolted for her room, my pulse aflame. My breathing raged as I hit the door at a dead run and slammed inside.
Blood.
On the bed. The floor.
My horrified gaze followed the splotchy trail to where Haylee slouched in the very corner I’d held up for too many sleepless nights. She stood on her good leg with the injured one bent, dressed only in her flimsy cotton johnny. Shivers wracked her frame, and tears of pain and fury streamed from her blazing eyes. Blood dripped down her arm from where she’d yanked out her I.V. She’d hefted a hunk of her dismantled I.V. pole overhead, ready to smack whoever came inside the room.
“Jax,” she whispered. The pole dropped. It clanged on the tile floor as she slumped forward.
I caught her. I’d always catch her.
Until she sent me away.
“Got you,” I growled.
“Jax.”
“Here, sweetheart.”
“Sweetheart?” Her eyelids fluttered and an unexpected half-smile rose on her face, but she lifted and shook her finger. “No flirting.”
As I shifted her in my arms, aiming for a comfortable position, she groaned.
“Sorry,” I hissed out.
“Hurts.”
Her leg? Or her ribs? Or, hell, the entire right side of her chest that had taken a direct hit in the crash? For all I knew, she was talking about her concussed head.
I turned, holding her as gently as possible, but she gasped—a shallow puff from her lungs the only movement her tortured ribcage would allow.
“You killed him,” she spit out.
“Nope.” I carried her around to the side of the bed. The side rails were still up. She must’ve dragged herself off the end. “Wish I had.”
“Too bad.”
Damn straight.
“Guess I’ll have to do it for you,” she whispered.
My chuckle burst out as I carefully lowered her onto the bed. Easing her feet to the side, I tugged on the sheet and blanket to cover her goosebump-riddled body.
“Take my clothes off,” she said.
My hand stalled. Trembled so badly I nearly dropped the blanket.
Get control of yourself, Chief. She was joking.
“On a first date?” Not sure where my daring came from. Usually around Haylee, my words stalled on my tongue, unable to break out. But there was something vulnerable and sweet and approachable about a wounded Haylee. I wasn’t freezing or stuttering like I’d always done whenever she was around.
I lifted the blanket up to her shoulders and tucked it down snug.
“I know you hate me,” she said, tears leaking from her tightly closed eyes. Creases of pain lined her beautiful face.
“Not too much.” Not at all. Never.
“Can you do something for me?” she bit through her clenched jaw.
“Anything, sweetheart.” The endearment, I forced out. Joking between us was one thing, but I more than half meant it.
One hundred percent meant it.
She wasn’t my sweetheart. She’d never be.
“Get me the hell out of here.” Terror lifted her voice. “Now.”
* * *
Pick up your copy of RECKLESS, Book 3 in my Viper Force Series on Amazon.