by Angel Payne
“Praise to the saints!” She crumbles to the couch. I sit with her, mentally overriding my body’s instinct to pace, to respond, to act. Right now, the top of my action list—the only thing on my action list—is being here for her. Holding her. Supporting her.
Cassian…you are my rock…
Damn straight. And this time, I intend to prove it.
“Are—are you all right?” she demands at her brother. “Are you injured? What the hell happened?”
“I am fine.” Now that the initial rush of relief is behind us, more sounds are discernible over the line. Sirens. Shouts. Barking dogs, likely on the hunt for more explosives. “The night watch on the bridge found the bomb. Samsyn ordered it be closed, but a group of teenagers wanted to get closer and watch the ‘action.’ A team had to chase them…”
When he interrupts himself with a choke, Ella’s face twists, also in pain. The woman’s middle name should be Empathy, but the connection with her brother is especially tight. Even from thousands of miles away, she hears—and feels—the anguish in his voice.
“And then what?” she insists. “Saynt—tell me.”
“Alak Navarre was on the team that chased the kids.”
Her body quivers. Caves in, shoulders hunching, as she stabs a hand through her hair, whispering, “Wh-what? Vylet’s Alak?”
“Mishella. He—he did n-not make it.”
“Ella.” I reach for her hand. She latches on like I’m driftwood in a storm, twisting her arms around me from wrist to elbow. I wrap my bandaged hand around her shoulders, hugging her trembling form more tightly.
“Where—where is Vylet?” she asks into the phone.
“At his parents’ home. As Alak’s betranli, she will assist them in the mourning process.”
“I have been away for two months, brother, not two years. I will call—”
“She is not accepting any calls.”
“She will accept mine.”
“Respectfully, sister, I do not think so.”
“It does not matter. I will be there in person anyway.”
“Ella—”
“I am on my way, Saynt.”
“No.” The protest belongs to Damon. I warn him off with a glare but he persists, “If Kavill has sniffed that we’re onto him, this move could’ve been made in retaliation—”
“Kavill?” Saynt echoes. “How the hell is he mixed up in all this—and who the fuck was that?”
“Saynt.” I lean forward, speaking to him as I always have: as equals. “It’s Cassian. We’ll explain more once we’re there. My plane can be ready to go in a couple of hours, and then—”
“No.” Saynt’s rebuttal is swift and certain. “Even twelve hours ago, I would have been sending you forty million for that promise, Court, but the situation is different now.” A tired sigh churns out of him. “Arcadia is different now.”
“Which is why I need to be there.” Aftershocks still rule Ella’s every movement but she stands, rising to a regal stance that crashes me with brand-new admiration and adoration for her. Dear God, what a woman you have brought to me.
“Ella,” Saynt intones. “It is not safe—”
“I do not give a shit about safe!” Her arms twist at her sides, ending in stubborn fists. Her nose is a bellows of incensed breaths. Her face is a collection of fury and fire and take-no-shit resolve.
And goddammit if she isn’t more beautiful now than the day I met her.
Which is why, without hesitation, I reach for her once more. Link my spirit with hers as I mold my body against hers, silently pledging all my tomorrows to her, no matter what the risks or dangers. I pour that vow into a tender kiss, pressed into her crumpled forehead, as she turns once more into me. Grips me so hard she trembles. Clings to me like her rock in the sea. And with the action, though she is lost to so much grief and pain, she is my rock too.
“Cassian?” Her scent, floral and tropical and all her, wraps around me. Her warmth surrounds me.
“Armeau.” I breathe it into her hair, sensing she needs to know it…to feel it. You are my gift, Mishella. Always.
“I—I am scared.”
I grip her closer. “It’s all right to be scared.”
“You make it better, though.”
“You make everything better, Ella.”
“Promise me…no matter what happens when we get back…you will not let me go.”
I slide both hands beneath her face. Tilt it up until I’m lost once more in her crystalline eyes, her brave face, the joyous connection of her heart and soul to mine. “As long as you promise the same thing.”
Her lips edge up. “I promise.”
I capture her lips in a soft kiss. “You know I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“We’re going to get through this mess, okay?”
Her smile turns into a little tease. “Probably the first of many in our lifetime.”
I kiss her again—with all the feeling flooding my heart, pouring through my soul, solidifying my existence.
It doesn’t get more perfect than this.
*
Thank you for reading!
Cassian and Mishella’s story will continue in
BOLD BEAUTIFUL LOVE
Coming September 27, 2016
Pre-order here Amazon US
Pre-order here Amazon UK
Pre-order here Amazon CA
Pre-order here Amazon DE
Pre-order here Amazon AU
Discover the Cimarrons of Arcadia:
The Cimarrons:
They’re the mysterious, magnetic ruling family of the most secretive kingdom on earth: The Island of Arcadia.
No westerners have ever been allowed inside Arcadia’s borders…until now.
Book 1: INTO HIS DARK
(Evrest and Camellia)
Purchase Here Amazon
Book 2: INTO HIS COMMAND
(Samsyn and Brooke)
Purchase Here Amazon
Book 3: INTO HER FANTASIES – Coming November 2016
(Shiraz and Nicasia)
Pre-Orders available soon
Book 4: INTO HIS SIN
(Jagger and Jayd)
Available February 2017
MORE BOOKS BY ANGEL PAYNE
THE WILD BOYS OF SPECIAL FORCES
Book 1: SAVED BY HIS SUBMISSIVE
Purchase Here Amazon
Book 2: HANDCUFFED BY HER HERO
Purchase Here Amazon
Book 3: SURRENDERING TO HER SERGEANT
Purchase Here Amazon
Book 4: A WILDER WONDERLAND—SEXY STORIES OF THE SEASON
Purchase Here Amazon
Book 5: WET FOR HER WARRIORS
Purchase Here Amazon
Book 6: HOT FOR HIS HOSTAGE
Purchase Here Amazon
Book 7: A WILDER KIND OF LOVE
Purchase Here Amazon
Book 8: MASTERED BY THE MAVERICKS
Purchase Here Amazon
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
USA Today bestselling romance author Angel Payne has been reading and writing her entire life, though her love for romances began in junior high, when writing with friends on “swap stories” they’d trade between classes. Needless to say, those stories involved lots of angst, groping, drama, and French kissing.
She began getting a paycheck for her writing in her twenties, writing record reviews for a Beverly Hills-based dance music magazine. Some years, various entertainment industry gigs, and a number of years in the hospitality industry later, Angel returned to the thing she loves the most: creating character-based romantic fiction. Along the way, she also graduated with two degrees from Chapman University in Southern California, taking departmental honors for English, before writing five historical romances for Kensington and Bantam/Doubleday/Dell.
Angel found a true home in writing contemporary-based romances that feature high heat and high concepts, focusing on memorable alpha men and the women who tame them. She has numerous book series to her credit,
including the Secrets of Stone series (with Victoria Blue), the Kinky Truth, the WILD Boys of Special Forces, and the popular Cimarron Saga, as well as its spin-off, the Temptation Court series.
Angel still lives in Southern California, where she is married to her soulmate and lives on a street that looks like Brigadoon, with their awesome daughter and Lady Claire, the dog with impeccable manners. When not writing, she enjoys reading, pop culture, alt rock, cute shoes, enjoying the outdoors, and being a gym rat.
**Receive monthly updates and exclusive content by receiving The Wing, Angel’s monthly newsletter. Sign up here: eepurl.com/LoNkz
You can also contact her at:
www.angelpayne.com
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Pinterest
Goodreads