Harlequin Romantic Suspense July 2021 Box Set

by Carla Cassidy

  Brad listened with interest as she told him about Micha Harrison, a special forces army lieutenant who had nearly lost his life in service to his country. He’d been Carly’s fiancé before he’d been hurt and he’d believed it was in Carly’s best interest to believe him dead.

  “But he couldn’t stay away from her. He started following her and watching her and finally she caught him,” Simone continued. “And now they’re getting their chance at the happiness they both deserve. I think it’s all quite romantic.”

  “And then you have two male cousins. I’ve had some conversations with Heath and I know he’s temporarily running Colton Connections. He seems like a real stand-up kind of guy,” Brad said.

  “He is, and the best thing he ever did was realize his love for Kylie. She’d worked as his right-hand woman for years and she was there for him as he grieved.”

  “Jones has definitely been a high-profile guy around the police department,” Brad said.

  “I know he was warned to stay out of the investigation. I think Jones has a ton of regret. Right after high school, he left Chicago and kind of drifted around for the next ten years. Then he came back and started his microbrewery, which is fairly successful. But when his dad was murdered, I think Jones had a lot of regret about losing those years and not building a better relationship with his dad.”

  “All I know is him hiring Allie Chandler to go undercover was the best thing that happened to the investigation. Otherwise we would still be spinning our wheels trying to figure out who the bad guys are.”

  “I’m happy he hired Allie because they are now in love and hopefully she’s helping Jones deal with his grief.” She shifted positions on the sofa.

  “So, all your sisters and cousins have now found their significant others.”

  “Yeah, everyone but me. But I’m sure it will happen for me when the time is right.” She stood from the sofa.

  “Your family is so interesting to me. The fact that your mother and aunt are twins and they married twin brothers is so unusual.”

  “And then they went on to buy land and build homes right next to each other and had their children at almost the same time,” she added. “We all grew up with really strong family ties.” She frowned at him. “Do you have any cousins or anyone else in your family that you’re close to?”

  “No. Both my parents were only children and so there were no aunts or uncles in my life.”

  She studied him with an expression of sympathy. “I’m sorry you don’t have anyone.”

  “I’ve never known anything different. Besides, I now have some good friends and coworkers.”

  “Russ is a good friend?”

  He smiled as he thought of his redheaded coworker. Russ had gone with him to several of the meetings he’d had with Simone’s family. “Yeah, I consider Russ my very best friend. He and his wife, Janie, invite me to their home a lot and I enjoy spending time with them. They have two kids who call me Uncle Brad.”

  “Good. Now, I’ll bet you’re getting hungry. How about some lunch?”

  “Sounds good.” He got up and moved to the kitchen table while she rummaged in the refrigerator for sandwich fixings.

  “You ready to head outside?” he asked her after they had eaten the sandwiches and chips for lunch.

  “Thank goodness I decided to throw some tennis shoes into my suitcase. Let me go change into them and then I’m absolutely ready to get out of this cabin for a little while,” she said.

  She disappeared into the bedroom. He pulled his athletic shoes out of his suitcase and put them on, eager to get outside for a change. He also pulled on his shoulder holster with his gun in the holster.

  Minutes later Simone returned clad in a pair of expensive, white shoes. “Oh, those shoes are so going to be ruined,” he said.

  She laughed. “I know, but when I was packing, I didn’t think about having to traipse through mud. I’m willing to sacrifice them to the gods of the muddy earth just to go outside and get some fresh air.”

  “Then let’s go.” He opened the door and together they stepped outside. The air was warm and humid, and the wet ground squished beneath his feet.

  Brad looked around the area, making sure that nobody was lurking nearby. Even though he was relatively certain nobody knew where they were, he also knew he couldn’t ever let his guard down. Simone’s very life depended on it.

  He saw nobody anywhere around them. He still doubted that the nearest cabin to them was even occupied right now. They first walked through the trees, talking about the wildlife that might live there.

  “Maybe this is where Big Foot lives,” she said as they continued walking.

  “Do you really believe there is a Big Foot?” he asked.

  “I’m not sure what I believe, but I do believe that there are things on this earth that we don’t know or understand,” she replied.

  “What about UFOs?”

  “I do believe there are things not of this earth that we don’t know enough about,” she replied. “In other words I’m very open-minded about these kinds of things.”

  “What about woodland elves? Do you think there are tiny people hiding someplace around here and right now they are watching us?”

  She laughed. “Absolutely,” she replied. “You have to say that so if they really exist you don’t make them mad,” she added in a whisper.

  He grinned at her. “You definitely don’t want to get woodland elves riled up.”

  “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m really kind of a dorky college professor,” she said.

  “I must be dorky, too, because I don’t think you’re dorky at all.”

  They walked and talked for about a half an hour and then returned to the front of the cabin.

  “I want to take a look at the river,” she said. Once again, he looked around to make sure they were all alone, then he watched as she walked over toward the edge.

  “Don’t get too close,” he warned. He barely got the words out when he heard an ominous rumble and a tremor in the ground, and suddenly Simone was gone.

  * * *

  She was falling...falling.

  It took only a moment for Simone to realize the earth had given way under her feet and then water and mud completely engulfed her. She was in the river. Her brain screamed the words as she flailed her arms and legs beneath the water’s surface.

  Which way was up? When she tried to open her eyes, all she saw was water so muddy it was impossible to see anything else. Her feet hit what she thought was the bottom and she thrust herself up, finally managing to get her head above the water. She spat and gagged on the mud as she tried to gasp for breath.

  Above the rush of the river, she could vaguely hear Brad yelling her name. But she couldn’t concentrate on him as her body was buffeted by fallen tree limbs and other debris and she was sucked under once again.

  Beneath the surface it was pure darkness and the cold of the water ached in her legs, throughout her entire body. Once again, she fought to find the surface as her lungs burned painfully from a lack of oxygen.

  She finally managed to get her head up and she gasped for air as the river carried her. If she didn’t do something, she was going to die. With this thought screaming in her head, she began to try to grab at exposed tree roots or limbs...anything that would halt her horrifying progress downriver.

  She felt as if she’d been in the water for hours, even though she knew it had just been minutes. She finally managed to grab hold of an exposed tree root, and even though her hands ached with the cold, she grabbed on to it and held tight. Her breaths ached in her chest as she gasped for air.

  Mud clung to her face. It was in her hair and half blinded her. She desperately needed to swipe her face with her hand, but she was afraid to take one hand off the root that held her in place. The rushing water buffeted her, and limbs and debris smacked into her.


  She should have known that a landslide was possible. She’d been a fool to walk so close to the edge knowing the amount of rain that had fallen.

  Now she was going to die because she’d been a stupid fool. Her heart banged so hard she could scarcely breathe. She was freezing, and she knew if she lost her grip on the roots, then she would be swept to her death.

  “Simone!”

  She looked up to see Brad above her. He was lying on his stomach on the bank above her and he had one hand stretched out toward her. “Grab on to my hand, Simone,” he yelled.

  She cried, terrified to take one hand off the tree root that held her in place, yet knowing he was the only way she’d be able to climb up the steep bank to safety.

  But how could he ever pull her up? She was covered in mud and waterlogged. Was he even strong enough to pull her up? If he couldn’t, then she would fall back into the river and somebody would eventually find her body floating somewhere.

  “Come on, baby...you can trust me,” he cried. “Take my hand, Simone.” He reached down even farther so his hand was only half a foot or so away from hers.

  If she didn’t grab hold of it, she would probably tire and lose her grip on the root. She’d be cast down the river, her body pummeled by the weight of the water and the mud and debris. And she would surely die.

  Her arms already trembled with her efforts to hang on and the cold now encased her entire body, making her teeth chatter uncontrollably.

  “Come on, honey...let me pull you out. Simone...grab my hand,” he cried.

  She had to trust that he’d catch her. Drawing a deep breath and releasing it on a sob, she let go of the root and reached for his hand.

  He grabbed on to her, wrapping his hand tightly around her wrist. As he pulled her up, she tried to find purchase on the side of the riverbank with her feet to help him. Slowly she rose from the water. His arm trembled with the effort, but his grip remained strong.

  When she finally reached the top, she rolled on her back, once again gasping for breath as tears choked her. He got to his feet and then scooped her up in his arms and hurried toward the cabin.

  She clung to him, her arms tightly wrapped around his neck and her face buried in his broad chest. Her teeth still chattered with the cold and sobs continued to choke through her. Thank God he’d been able to get her up. Thank God she was now safe.

  He carried her directly to the bathroom, where he put her down on her feet in the shower stall and he turned on the faucets to start the shower. He quickly took off his gun and holster.

  He was covered with almost as much mud as she was, and once the water was hot, he pulled her against him beneath the warm spray. They didn’t speak.

  He held her tight for several long minutes. He then reached up and began to work his fingers through her hair, obviously trying to get out as much of the mud as possible.

  She stood perfectly still, sobbing as she allowed him to minister to her like she was a helpless child. He grabbed the bottle of shampoo she’d left on the floor of the shower and squeezed a liberal amount into her hair. His fingers worked to lather and scrub as she continued to cry from the trauma she’d just endured.

  She’d been so scared. She’d been so terrified of drowning...of dying. It was a combination of that fear and the gratitude that he’d saved her that kept the tears coming.

  Finally, she began to warm up enough that her teeth had stopped chattering and her tears came to an end, although there was still a deep chill inside her. He grabbed a bar of soap and cleaned the mud off himself. He stood beneath the streaming water for another minute or two and then reached out, grabbed a towel and stepped out.

  “I’m going to go build us a fire,” he said and then pulled his wet T-shirt over his head. Still clad in his wet jeans, he wrapped the towel around his shoulders and left the room.

  Once he was gone, she peeled off her clothes and finished washing herself until there wasn’t a single shred of mud left on her. Only then did she shut off the water and grab a towel.

  She used the towel to dry off her hair and then wrapped it around her and ran from the bathroom to the bedroom. She dressed in a pair of jogging pants and a T-shirt, and then walked back into the living room, where Brad had built up a roaring fire. He’d also changed into clean, dry clothes.

  He spread a blanket out on the floor in front of the flames and she sank down, still trying to warm the chill that lingered deep inside her.

  He then sank down next to her and grabbed one of her hands in his. “Are you okay?” His gaze searched her features, as if to assure himself that she really was all right.

  She nodded, for a moment not trusting herself to speak as the horror of it all washed over her once again. He squeezed her hand. “God, Simone, I’ve never been so terrified for somebody and it’s all my fault that it happened.”

  “How on earth was this your fault?” she asked as she finally found her voice.

  “I should have known the ground was too saturated, that it was possible that a landslide might happen.”

  He looked absolutely miserable. “Oh, so now you aren’t just an FBI agent, you’re a geologist as well?” she replied. “It was my fault, Brad. I was the one who got too close to the edge.” Her words were suddenly swallowed by an unexpected sob.

  Immediately he pulled her into his arms and held her as she began to cry all over again. She buried her face in his chest and his hands stroked up and down her back in an effort to soothe her.

  The terror she’d felt played again and again through her head. Once again, she could feel the water and the mud fighting to drown her. She would never forget the feel of her falling...falling into the deepest darkness.

  She cried until she thought there were no more tears left inside her. “I...I was so afraid,” she finally managed to say. “I was so sure I was going to drown...from the water and from all the mud. Thank God you were there to pull me up.”

  “You were so brave, Simone. You were so smart to keep your head and grab on to something and hold on. That allowed me to get to you.” His breath was soft and warm against her ear. “You’re safe now and I swear I’m not going to let anything else happen to you.”

  “Thank goodness you were strong enough to get me out.”

  “Failure wasn’t an option,” he replied.

  She knew she should move out of his arms, but she didn’t. Finally, the chill inside her was gone and she was wonderfully warm between the heat of the fire and the warmth of his embrace. He smelled like minty soap and clean male.

  She wasn’t sure when things changed, but suddenly his caresses up and down her back came slower and grew more languid, and she thought his breathing had quickened just a little bit.

  Her body responded. Despite the warmth, her nipples grew hard and she breathed faster as a swift, sweet desire rocked through her. She didn’t want to fight it. She had been fighting against that desire since they’d arrived at the cabin. Rather than fight it, she wanted to let it loose to run wild.

  With her heart pounding, she raised her head to look at him. His face was mere inches from hers, his eyes dark and holding a touch of the same wildness that whipped through her. She parted her lips and he took the hint.

  His lips took hers in a kiss that instantly half stole her breath. A new warmth rushed through her and she wound her arms around his neck and pulled him closer toward her.

  His tongue touched her lower lip, as if tentatively seeking entry. She opened her mouth wider to allow him in. Her heart raced as their tongues swirled together in a mad dance.

  The longer they kissed, the more she wanted of him...from him. She tasted his desire for her and it stirred her on every level. His hands slid beneath the back of her T-shirt, stroking her bare skin and only making her want him more.

  A churning, burning need built up inside her. He kissed her harder and she matched his passion with her own
. She couldn’t remember ever wanting a man as badly as she wanted Brad right now.

  When the kiss finally ended, she moved back from him and pulled her T-shirt over her head. She knew she was taking a chance at being rebuffed. But she’d always been the kind of woman who went after what she wanted...and she desperately wanted Brad.

  The minute her T-shirt came off, Brad’s eyes flamed as bright as the flickering blaze that danced in the fireplace. He yanked his T-shirt off and then reached for her again.

  “Simone.” He whispered her name in her hair and that only sent her desire for him higher.

  His arms wrapped around her back and his fingers went to her bra fastening. “Tell me to stop and I will,” he said, his voice husky and half-breathless.

  “Don’t stop. I want you, Brad.”

  He unfastened her bra and she shrugged it off her and tossed it to the side of them. She then stretched out on the blanket and pulled him down beside her. His lips claimed hers once again as his warm hands covered her breasts.

  She was on fire with the scent of him, with the way his back muscles tightened as her palms swept across the wide expanse. She felt as if he’d been quietly seducing her for days with his heated glances when he thought she wasn’t paying attention, with the inadvertent touches they shared during the course of the day.

  His lips left hers and traveled down her jawline, igniting new fiery flames inside her. She gasped as his mouth moved down to one of her breasts, where he began to lick and nibble on first one sensitized nipple and then the other.

  She moaned his name with her pleasure. Hunger clawed at her in a way she’d never felt before. She arched up to encourage him to keep licking and teasing her nipples.

  After several minutes she pushed him away to take off her jogging pants, leaving her clad only in a pair of wispy pink panties. His gaze never left hers as he stood and took off his jeans. With him clad in just his black boxers, she could tell that he was fully aroused.

  He got back down on the floor and pulled her against him, and their mouths once again found each other in a blazing kiss. She was vaguely aware of their frantic breathing. Her heart pounded so loudly in her head she could think of nothing else but him.