by Wade, Maddie
Blake
An Eidolon Black Ops Novel: Book 2
Maddie Wade
Blake An Eidolon Ghost Ops Novel:
Book 2
Published by Maddie Wade
Copyright © July 2019 Maddie Wade
Cover: Envy Creative Designs
Editing: Black Opal Editing
Formatting: Black Opal Editing
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names characters places and incidents are a product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as fact. Any resemblance to actual events organisations or persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive non-transferable right to access and read the text of this eBook onscreen. Except for use in reviews, promotional posts or similar uses no part of this text may be reproduced transmitted downloaded decompiled reverse-engineered or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system in any form or by any means whether electronic or mechanical now known or hereafter invented without the express written permission of the author.
First edition July © 2019 Maddie Wade
Acknowledgments
As always there are so many amazing people who helped bring this book to life. My wonderful beta team, Greta and Deanna and you read my books in such a rough draft and are always so encouraging and supportive. You kick my ass when I need it and don’t sugar coat shit. I love you for that. Your feedback is so critical to a good book and I hope I do you proud.
My editing and proofing team—Linda and Pam. Thank you for making my rough opal shine.
Thank you to my fabulous reader group Maddie’s Minxes, your continued support means the world to me, you are all so much more than people who read my books, to me, you are friends. You keep me going and help me out of a funk when I have no idea which way is up. Tracey, Carolyn, Kellie, Maria, Greta, Deanna, Becky, Rihaneh and Linda L for making the group such a friendly and welcoming place to be.
My ARC Team for not keeping me on edge too long while I wait for feedback.
A big thank you to all the bloggers, authors, and friends who promote my books and help others to find my books. Without you I would not be able to do this.
Lastly and most importantly thank you to my readers who have embraced me wholeheartedly and shown a love for the stories in my head. To hear you say that you see my characters as ‘family’ makes me so humble and proud. I hope you enjoy this new series as much as I do.
A huge thank you to Sensei Dave Flaherty MBE for your help with the fight scene. You are a gentleman, a fabulous role model, and advocate for Jujitsu and all the youth coming through.
This book is dedicated to Military Veterans who fought and still fight every day for us. You are all heroes without you we would not have the freedom we do or know the safety we take for granted every day.
Thank you.
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Epilogue
Sneak Peek: Reid
Books by Maddie Wade
Contact Me
Prologue
THREE YEARS AGO
Blake slammed his hand down on the desk, anger making his fist shake as he tried to control it. He glared at the woman across from him who had given the order that had nearly got his principal killed. “This was a fucking shit show, and you know it. I should never have been moved at such late notice and swapped out for some fucking green kid.” Blake paced then, his hands threading through his short blonde hair in frustration at the situation.
The woman opposite looked at him calmly, barely a hair out of place, her suit wrinkle free as if she was ready for church. Nothing like a woman who had nearly gotten the Queen murdered with her incompetence. “I understand you’re upset.”
Blake spun on his heel to face her. “Upset? Are you fucking with me right now? I’m fucking livid. Whose idea was it to swap me out for that FNG?”
“I am not aware what FNG means,” replied Commander Helen Pope with a dangerous edge to her tone that made Blake stop.
Blake leaned into the desk making the woman stand and face him, not backing down an inch. “It means fucking new guy!”
“Yes, well, to answer your question it was not my idea. The order came directly from the Deputy Commissioner.” She sighed and sat back in her chair. “Listen, Blake, you’re a good officer, the best we have. So no, I don’t know what’s going on, but I intend to find out.” She looked at him sternly then. “But if you raise your voice to me again, I’ll have you demoted back down to Police Constable before you can even blink.”
Her tone made Blake sit down opposite her, his anger at her leaving him and his next words were sincere. “Fine. I apologise.”
He had a lot of respect for Helen Pope. She had worked her way up the ladder in a very male dominated job. Not only had she done well for herself, but she had done a lot of good within the police force and especially with Protection Command.
“Is she okay?” he asked knowing that she may not tell him.
Blake took his job as PPO very seriously. These people relied on him to keep them safe while they went about their jobs and lives. The only way to do that was to build a rapport with them, gain some trust, and he had done that. Now the new Deputy Commissioner had come in and decided that the PPOs would work on a rota system. Each officer would take turns protecting different people.
“Yes. She is resting comfortably in her suite at Balmoral. It wasn’t your fault, Blake. This rests with me.”
“No, it doesn’t and you and I both know it. This new system is dangerous and it’s going to get someone killed.” He took in a breath. “I’m not sure I can watch that happen.” He leaned back in his chair; his hands crossed in front of him as he delivered the words.
“What are you saying, Blake?” Commander Pope asked directly.
“That I’m tendering my resignation with immediate effect.”
He watched as a flicker of emotion flew across the Commander’s face. She was an attractive woman, and at fifty was still in prime fitness. She had even been known to take one of her men down to the mat in practice. She wore her greyish blonde hair pinned back in a tight bun at the back of her neck and never gave in to female fripperies like make-up. She was a hardass, but he respected her and enjoyed working for her, but he couldn’t work under the new commissioner and the new guidelines which all but guaranteed he would be attending a state funeral at some point.
“That seems rather hasty,” she said slowly her hands resting on the desk, her fingers peaked.
“It might be, but I’ve given it careful consideration. I can’t in good conscience do this job if I feel I’m compromising the safety of those around me, most especially the principal. I either do this properly or not at all.”
Pope nodded. “I see. We’ll be very sorry to lose you, Blake. It goes without
saying that your commitment and drive on the force will be sorely missed. That said, I do understand and if you ever change your mind, you know where I am.”
“Thank you, Commander, it has been an honour to serve under you,” he said with genuine feeling.
“I’ll have your papers drawn up, but I need your shield and firearm.”
Blake produced both and with only the slightest feeling of reverence placed them down on her desk. He raised his hand as she stood and saluted her which she returned. “Ma’am,” He dropped his hand and turned to leave.
“Blake.”
He turned back to her. “Yes, Ma’am?”
“Do you know what you will do now?”
He shook his head. “Not a clue,” he said with a grin that had turned many a woman to mush.
She nodded but seemed unaffected by his charm. She went to her desk and jotted down a number on a piece of paper and handed it to him. “Give this guy a call. He’s putting together a team, and I have a feeling you would be a good fit. He’s a bit of a stubborn hardass but a good man with good morals. Tell him I sent you.”
“Thank you, Ma’am,” Blake replied and looked down at the card in his hand.
In her elegant, feminine handwriting she had written Jack Granger 07892 778 923.
Blake left the Scotland Yard building for the final time and shoved the card in the back pocket of his black trousers. He would give him a call, maybe. But first, he wanted to check for himself that the Monarch, Queen Lydia II, was in fact okay.
Taking his phone from his pocket, he dialled the number he knew by heart and waited.
“Hello?”
“It’s me. Is she okay?” he asked not beating around the bush.
“Yes, she will be. She’s a bit shaken, but the Duke is on his way home and should be here in due course.”
“Good. Listen, tell her to take care and if you need anything just ask.”
“I’ll tell her,” the man on the other end of the phone said.
Blake hung up and sighed. He felt like he was abandoning a good woman and her family, leaving them to fend for themselves, but he couldn’t be part of cost-cutting that put people in danger. Pulling at the tie around his neck he headed to the tube. He needed a week off, a willing woman, and a large bottle of Vodka. Then he would see what his future held.
Chapter One
TODAY
The pounding of his feet was the only sound he could hear apart from the ones he associated with nature and he loved it. Blake had taken to having his morning run at five am since he had settled in this beautiful part of the country.
The river Wye flowed beside him as he ran, the sound of birds singing in the trees. Just him and the ground in front of him as he ate up the miles. His muscles beginning the warm burn at the eighth mile, his breathing unaffected by the strenuous pace he kept up. His knee was another matter though, but he dismissed the pain.
This time allowed him to think, his mind was clear, no white noise from Liam or Gunner prattling on like old women. No barking orders from Jack, no woman screaming he hadn’t called her. Blake had a lot on his mind, not least the fact that the last two missions they had gone on—not including the one with Alex and Evelyn—had been huge clusterfucks and resulted in at least one of the team injured every time.
The last one Mitch had just missed having his head taken off by a stray bullet that still couldn’t be accounted for. The time before that, he himself had almost stepped on an IED. A fucking IED that had been set on a private piece of land in the Cotswolds for fuck sake. It was only by the sheer grace of God that Liam had spotted it and pulled him out of harm’s way or he would have more than a torn ligament to worry about. He would have had bits of his body missing at best and would be dead at worst. Not something he wanted to think about.
Something was up. Jack and Alex were staying tight-lipped about it and he didn’t fucking like that. They had always operated as an open team and he had liked that about them, but now closed-door discussions were going on and it made him feel vulnerable and Blake didn’t like to feel vulnerable.
He was still on sick leave until he could prove to Jack and Waggs—the team medic—that his leg was up to scratch. That meeting was later today, and he was going to do everything he could to get back on the rota. He wanted answers and he wasn’t going to get them doing physio in the gym. He was lost in thought, but he knew that for the last mile he’d had a tail and wondered what that was about.
She had been running behind him for a few minutes now and while Blake was a lot of things, an idiot wasn’t one of them. Blake grinned at the image that popped into his head—tight lycra shorts and sports bra, luscious rich red hair pulled back into a ponytail, sexy curves bouncing as she ran. It made his dick twitch thinking about the controlled, smartass redhead being all sweaty after a run. Pulling to a sudden and deliberate halt he spun, allowing her to collide into him. Grabbing her upper arms to stop her from going over on her sexy derriere, the oomph that slid from her mouth as her tits collided with his chest was the hottest thing he had heard in months. And considering he’d left the bed of a sexy blonde this morning too exhausted to move let alone nag him for his number, that was saying a lot.
“Pax, what can I do for you?” he said running his eye suggestively over her fucking knockout body.
Her eyebrow raised at his blatant perusal, but her nipples hardened delightfully almost making him forget where they were and who she was. He let go abruptly and stepped back causing her to stumble forward an inch.
“What makes you think I want anything?” she asked tilting her head making the hair from her ponytail skim the porcelain perfection of her skin. He watched her raise her hands to her hips and followed the movement before mirroring it.
“So, you want me to believe you just happened to be out running at five-thirty in the morning on the same route as I was using?” he asked with a note of disbelief in his voice.
“Well aren’t we Mr Conceited today. What’s the matter, Blake, not fucked anyone yet today and it’s making you grumpy?” Her voice held a touch of disdain and something else. Pique if he wasn’t mistaken. Heat mottled the skin of her chest as her anger rose.
“Not conceited. Just know what I know.” He moved an inch into her personal space, his head tilting down at her, a ghost of a grin on his face.
“Oh my God, you already fucked someone today! You are disgusting!”
“What’s the matter, Pax?” He raised his hand and followed a droplet of sweat as it ran down her cheek and neck and then disappeared into the top of her sports bra. His finger just grazing the curve of her breast. He felt her shiver and knew it wasn’t from the cold. “You still pissed I wouldn’t fuck you in Monaco?”
He saw the second his crass comment broke the desire in her heavy-lidded hazel eyes.
“You jerk,” she hissed stepping forward and shoving him back on his heel making him grin further. “As if I would let you anywhere near me.”
They both knew she was lying. They had come very close to fucking on that mission, leftover adrenalin and an attraction that would burn hotter than the sun but also burn out. He had put the brakes on that one in an uncharacteristic move that still made him wonder if he had lost his mind.
Pax was fucking stunning in every way—tall, slender, perfect English rose complexion, even though she was from California. Thick red hair he wanted to wrap his hand around as he fucked her from behind. Curves to die for, sexy curvy ass, beautiful tits he could get lost in, and a cool composure that made a man want to break through it. Made him want to find the soft middle and make it his.
Make it mine? No, that was wrong. He just wanted a taste, but he hadn’t. She was Evelyn’s friend and he didn’t fuck over his friend’s friends. No matter how often he dreamt of them together or jerked off to their image. Goading her was fun though.
He blatantly looked at her nipples. “You sure, sweetheart? Because your body is saying one thing and your sexy mouth another.”
“You know what,
just forget it,” she said and turned to storm off, but he grabbed her arm and stopped her.
Blake knew he was acting like a dick. He had pushed it too far and that wasn’t like him. He was a flirt, but he wasn’t a dickhead like some men, and he didn’t disrespect women and let go of her arm. “Listen, sweetheart, I’m sorry. I was a dick. Can we start over?”
She crossed her arms over her chest, and he fought the groan as the movement pushed more skin into view.
“Why are you such a dick to me?” She seemed to genuinely want to know.
“All that hair, those curves, and that attitude. It’s like kryptonite to a man like me. I see it, I want it, but I don’t hurt or screw around with people that might have to have my back one day. And that makes it hard for me to be around you. You have a mirror in your house?”
She frowned at him seeming perplexed. “Of course.”
“Then you know what you look like. You have to know the effect you have on red-blooded men.”
“Are you saying you’re a dick to me because you want to fuck me and can’t?”
“I’m saying I’m a dick for that, and definitely a dick for starting this conversation.” He heard the sweet sound of her laugh. “That sounds good, Pax. You should do it more often instead of the cool, ice queen thing.”