by Susan Stoker
“Where’d he go?”
“I’m not sure, but from the direction of the shots, it sounds like he went around the building to the east.”
“Toward my building?” Holly asked anxiously. “Stella said she was going to have a picnic with Magic! We have to do something.”
“What we have to do is stay safe, and make sure everyone inside is safe too,” Dash said firmly. “Magic’s not going to let anything happen to Stella.”
“Promise?” Holly couldn’t help but ask.
“Promise. And for the record, I’m pissed at you,” Dash added as he led her toward the entrance to the PX.
“At me? Why?” Holly asked in surprise.
“Because you put yourself in danger,” Dash said between clenched teeth.
“But…he was going to see you!” Holly protested. “He would’ve shot you for sure.”
She watched as Dash’s nostrils flared and he took a few deep breaths. Then, right there in the middle of the women’s clothing section of the PX, he turned and hauled her into his arms.
The store was eerily quiet, the only sound muffled voices coming from somewhere toward the back of the store.
“I can’t lose you,” Dash said into her hair and he clutched her to him.
What she’d done, and what had almost happened to Dash, began to finally sink in. She shook as she clung to Dash.
“Shhhh, you’re okay. I’ve got you,” he said. “I’m pissed, but also damn proud. You were amazing,” he told her.
“I love you,” Holly blurted. “I know this is crazy but when I realized he was going to see you and probably shoot you, I just acted.”
“Fuck,” Dash muttered.
They stood like that for at least a full minute, simply soaking each other in, reassuring themselves that they were both alive and well.
Then Dash pulled back and stared down at her. “You mean it?”
Holly knew what he was talking about. “Yes. I love you.”
“And I love you. I don’t care how fast it’s been. I think I knew from the first time I saw you.”
“Hey! You guys all right?” a voice called out.
Dash took a deep breath. “Come on, I need to get moving. See what I can do to help. You’ll stay here?”
Holly nodded. “I speak Arabic,” she reminded him unnecessarily. “If I’m needed to translate, just text me and I’ll come running.”
“No way in hell,” Dash murmured under his breath.
“Dash,” Holly warned, but he shook his head.
“I’m not putting you in danger. No fucking way. If—and this is a big if—they subdue this asshole and need someone to translate, I’ll consider it. But while he’s walking around with a loaded weapon and shooting people, and after he threatened to kill you, you’re not getting anywhere near him. You were already way closer than I’d ever want you to be to a terrorist.”
Holly couldn’t help but melt at that. “Okay.”
“Did you guys hear me? Are you all right?” the PX employee called out again.
“Go. I need to check on Magic.”
“Okay.” Holly went up on her toes and kissed him hard and fast. “Go do your thing. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
Then he turned, headed toward the front of the store.
Holly let out a long breath, still shaky on her feet, and walked toward the back of the store and the others who were still hunkered down there.
5
Dash still felt off-kilter. The day before had been long and extremely stressful.
The man who’d decided to make a murderous statement had been an American Army officer, with distant family members who were Muslim. He claimed his actions were retaliation for the US wars in the Muslim world. He’d ended up killing three people and injuring fourteen. It could’ve been a lot worse if it hadn’t been for some very brave soldiers who’d literally tackled the man and stopped his massacre.
Magic and Stella had been in his direct path as he’d fled from the military police hot on his tail, but luckily neither had been injured.
Holly had taken years off his life when she’d burst out of the PX and confronted the shooter. She could so easily have been hurt, but he couldn’t deny that she’d probably saved both him and the mother and child he’d been with from being injured or killed.
They’d spent the rest of the day talking with the authorities and the evening in each other’s arms. Neither could seem to let go of the other. They didn’t make love; Dash couldn’t even think about passion. All he could think about was how bereft he’d be without her…and that certainly wasn’t conducive to making love.
That morning, Valentine’s Day, he’d woken up to the feel of Holly between his legs, giving him the best blow job he’d ever received. He’d tried to hold back, but it was no use. She’d insisted on finishing him off with her mouth, but afterward, he’d been sure to reciprocate.
He’d planned a full day of romantic gestures for her, but after yesterday, all he wanted to do was stay holed-up inside his house, keeping her all to himself.
After showering, they had breakfast, and Dash was attempting to muster up the enthusiasm to give Holly the best Valentine’s Day she’d ever had, when he spied a worried look on her face.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing’s wrong, really,” she said. “I was just thinking about today. I know you’ve planned something elaborate…and I don’t want you to think I’m not appreciative of whatever it is.”
“But?” Dash asked, walking toward her, not able to keep his hands off her. He pulled her into him, lacing his fingers together at the small of her back. She fiddled with a button on the front of his shirt and wouldn’t look at him as she spoke.
“I was just thinking that I’d like to hang out here with you today. Just the two of us. I’m not sure I’m ready to head out into the big bad world so soon after what happened.”
Dash sighed in relief. God, she was perfect for him. “Look at me, Hol.”
She lifted her chin and met his gaze.
“I was trying to find a way to say the same thing, but I didn’t want to let you down after the way I talked up how amazing today was going to be for you.”
“You don’t need to go out of your way to do stuff for me, Dash. Just being with you is enough.”
“I love you,” he told her.
Holly smiled. “And I love you.”
“You’re really okay with staying in?”
“Yes.”
New plans began to swirl in Dash’s head. “Okay. We’ll hang out here. But I do still want to do something special for you later. I’m going to need you to hang out in our bedroom while I get stuff ready.”
“Our bedroom?” she asked.
Dash grinned. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s ours.”
“I like that,” Holly said, blushing.
“Me too.” Dash couldn’t resist leaning down to kiss her. He couldn’t seem to keep his hands or lips off her. He could’ve lost her, and he knew down to the tips of his toes that if that had happened, he wouldn’t have recovered.
For the rest of the afternoon, they snuggled together on the couch, watched a rom-com that Holly had said she’d always wanted to see, had lunch. Holly talked to Stella on the phone, he texted Magic, and as the sun was setting, Dash sent Holly in to take a long, relaxing bath while he set the scene in the living room.
Satisfied that he’d done all he could to make the room as romantic as possible, Dash went and got Holly. He made her close her eyes as he led her out into the living room.
“Open them,” he told her.
She opened her eyes and gasped. “Holy crap, Dash, it’s beautiful!”
Dash smiled. He’d transformed his living room into a fort of sorts. He’d used sheets and blankets and Christmas lights to make an intimate space complete with pillows, champagne, and even chocolate. It was leftover candy his mom had sent him for Christmas, but it was the only thing he had on hand.
He le
d Holly inside the fort and smiled at the wonder in her eyes. Dash sat on the floor on the pillows with his back against the couch, and when Holly sat in front of him, he pulled her back against him. She snuggled in and sighed.
“I hope that was a good sigh.”
“It was,” she reassured him. “No one’s ever done anything like this for me before. Thank you.”
“I promise to do better next year,” Dash said.
“I don’t think you can.”
Dash grinned. She was wrong. He knew just what he wanted to do next Valentine’s…but he had a year to plan.
Thoughts of anything other than the here and now flew from his mind when Holly turned in his embrace and she began to caress his inner thigh. “What did you have in mind for the entertainment portion of the night?” she asked saucily.
“I thought maybe we could take a nap,” he teased.
Holly giggled. “Okay, why don’t you lie down then? Right here, on your back.” She scooted away a bit to give him room and Dash gladly stretched out where she indicated. He put his hands behind his head and grinned up at her.
“I’m here, now what?”
“You sleep. I’m gonna play,” Holly said with a glint in her eye. Her hands went to the fastener of his pants, and just like that, Dash was hard.
“I think I might like to play with you.”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” Holly told him.
The next hour was one of the most erotic and sensual of Dash’s life. Making love with a woman you wanted to spend the rest of your life with, and with whom you’d shared a life-and-death experience, was more intense than anything he’d ever experienced before.
They were both sweaty and limp with exhaustion as they lay under the lights and sheets he’d strewn around the room.
“Holly?” he whispered as he held her against him. He was on his back and she was curled up next to him with her head resting on his shoulder.
“Yeah?”
“Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“You too. I’m sorry my card was so lame compared to all this,” she said, gesturing around her.
“I don’t need a card. Or a gift. All I need is you.”
“I feel the same way,” Holly told him.
They fell asleep right there in the living room, cuddled in each other’s arms. It might not have been the Valentine’s Day he’d expected a month ago, but Dash wouldn’t change anything about this moment. He was a better man because Holly was in his life, and he’d forever be grateful he and Magic had walked up on Holly and Stella’s crazy scheme.
Ready for another Susan Stoker book? Check out Finding Elodie by clicking here: http://www.stokeraces.com/finding-elodie.html
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Continue reading for Stella & Magic’s story!
Stella & Magic
Riley Edwards
About the Book
Magic didn’t expect the woman of his dreams to literally fall into his arms, but he’ll take it. Especially when he’s had an eye on said woman—his next-door neighbor, Stella—for quite some time. Their connection is instant, their chemistry hot, their feelings deep. So deep that Magic has big plans for Valentine’s Day. Plans that change in a way no one saw coming…
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2021 by Riley Edwards
No part of this work may be used, stored, reproduced or transmitted without written permission from the publisher except for brief quotations for review purposes as permitted by law.
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please purchase your own copy.
Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Edited by Rebecca Hodgkins & Kelli Collins
Manufactured in the United States
1
Houston, we have a problem.
Stella French was stuck—in a tree. Sure, it was her bright idea to climb it, but now that she was in said tree with her legs wrapped around a branch, knees bloody, shirt torn, she had to admit—at least to herself—it wasn’t one of her best ideas.
“Stella,” her best friend, Holly, snapped from below.
Perhaps they’d gone about this the wrong way. Holly was the smaller of the two. Maybe she should’ve been the one to climb the tree, but Holly wouldn’t hear of it. She’d wanted to find the building maintenance guy and ask him to let them into Stella’s apartment. They should’ve done that. But that would mean Stella would have to admit she’d locked herself out of her apartment…again.
Climbing a tree and shimmying over to her neighbor’s balcony—her hot-as-hell Delta Force operative’s balcony—seemed like the better plan. All she had to do was gain access to his balcony, and Stella could climb over the waist-high wall and she’d be on hers. Voila. Easy.
What could go wrong?
What if he’s home?
Before Stella could get worked up about finally coming face-to-face with the sexy neighbor she’d been crushing on forever, and what the ramifications could be of trespassing on a Delta operative’s balcony, Holly said, “We have a problem.”
They totally had a problem.
It was harder than Stella had thought. Hanging from a branch was not all that it was cracked up to be. Stella should’ve given up when Holly had hoisted her, and the first thing that happened was her shirt snagged on the bark. Stella had barely avoided a complete wardrobe malfunction; but without ripping her shirt wide open, she was able to free herself. The second indication the plan was “cockamamie,” as Holly called it, was when Stella had slipped and skinned her knees. That was also when Stella refused to admit defeat, and her determination to execute her crazy plan clicked into place.
What’s a little indecent exposure to go along with breaking and entering?
“We don’t have a problem,” Stella lied.
More than halfway to her destination, Stella channeled all the skills she’d gleaned from watching hours of American Ninja Warrior and, hand-over-hand, moved along the branch toward her neighbor’s balcony.
“I told you to give me back your spare key,” Holly complained, and Stella gritted her teeth.
Ugh. As usual, Holly was right. The last time Stella had locked herself out of her apartment, she’d had to borrow the key she’d given her friend, and as usual, Stella had forgotten to give it back. Now it was a beautiful, unseasonably warm January Sunday afternoon in Texas, and there she was locked out of her apartment—and in a tree.
“Fine. You’re right,” Stella huffed. “And as soon as I get in, I’ll give it back.”
A deep rumble of laughter came from below, and Stella rolled her eyes and continued across the branch. “Girl, you need a throat lozenge. Seriously, Holly, you sound like a man when you laugh. Do you have a cold? You should try Ricola, the ones with zinc.”
“Abort mission,” Holly hissed.
“Are you crazy? I’m almost there.”
Two decidedly male voices boomed with laughter. Mid-tree-branch-crawl, Stella looked down and caught sight of her wide-eyed friend, then her gaze shifted slightly to the side and…she was going to die. Not a literal death, no, that would be too easy. A very long, agonizing figurative death.
Magic and his equally gorgeous friend were standing next to Holly, staring up at her.
Otherwise known as hot-next-door-neighbor and hot-next-door-neighbor’s-friend.
If that wasn’t bad enough, they were in uniform.
“
Why didn’t you tell me?” Stella hissed.
“I told you we had a problem.”
“A problem is me scraping my knees and blood running down my shins, staining my new pair of white Chucks. A problem is me tearing open my shirt. They…” Stella paused for dramatic flair because if there was ever a time where drama was needed, it was right then, with the man she’d been perving over since forever standing on the sidewalk watching her hang from a tree branch, “…are not a problem, they’re a… I don’t know what they are. What’s bigger than a problem?”
Stella’s friend was no longer paying attention to her. But the most beautiful pair of green eyes stared up at her, and the man who those eyes belonged to was smiling.
“Are you open to suggestions?” Magic asked.
Bad. That was bad. The sound of his voice sent a shiver up Stella’s spine, straight up her arms, and even made her fingers tingle. That was a massive problem since her grip was slipping.
As if on cue, Stella lost her grip, and suddenly she found herself plummeting to the ground. But instead of hitting the grass and breaking a hip—or something merciful like smacking her head, causing a traumatic brain injury that would mean blissful short-term memory loss—Stella found herself in a pair of strong arms.
“Gotcha,” Magic’s deep voice rumbled.
Okay, way better than short-term memory loss.
Another shiver. This one did not roll up her spine; it shot between her legs.
“You’re bleeding,” Magic noted.
Gah. How embarrassing.
“Yeah, that happened when she said she knew how to climb a tree. Obviously, she’s not very good at it,” Holly helpfully explained.
Apparently, climbing a tree was not the same as riding a bike. And it was one of those activities that were better left in your youth, when you didn’t mind bloody knees and torn tank tops.