by Kate Kinsley
Damnit came trotting into the room, sniffed Agni while both tails wagged, then licked Saje and Kane before bouncing over to the other two men.
Alex kneeled and the puppy smothered him with dog kisses. “That’s enough, Damnit, I love you, too.”
The End
Also By KaLyn Cooper
Black Swan Series
Military active duty women secretly trained in Special Operations and the men who dare to capture the heart of a Woman Warrior.
Unconventional Beginnings Prequel (Black Swan novella #0.5)
He’s dead. But they can’t allow it to affect her. She’s too important.
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Unrelenting Love: Lady Hawk (Katlin) & Alex (Black Swan novel #1)
Women in special operations? Never… Until he sleeps with the most lethal woman in the world.
Noel’s Puppy Power: Bailey & Tanner (A Sweet Christmas Black Swan novella #1.5)
He’s better at communicating with animals than women, but as an amputee she knows firsthand it’s the internal scars that can be most difficult to heal.
Uncaged Love: Harper & Rafe (Black Swan novel #2)
The jungle isn’t the only thing that’s hot while escaping from a Colombian cartel.
Unexpected Love: Lady Eagle (Grace) & Griffin (Black Swan novel #3)
He never believed in love, but he never expected to find her.
Challenging Love: Katlin & Alex (A Black Swan novella #3.5)
A new relationship can be fragile when outsiders are determined to challenge that love.
Unguarded Love: Lady Harrier (Nita) & Daniel (Black Swan novel #4)
She couldn’t lose another sick baby…then he brought her his dying daughter.
Choosing Love: Grace & Griffin (A Black Swan novella #4.5)
Hard choices have to be made when parents interfere in a growing relationship.
Unbeatable Love: Lady Falcon (Tori) & Marcus (Black Swan novel #5)
Scarred outside and in, why would his beautiful friend ever want more with him?
Unnmatched Love: Lady Kite (Lei Lu) & Henry (Black Swan novel #6)
Scarred outside and in, why would his beautiful friend ever want more with him?
Unending Love: Lady Falcon (Tori) & Marcus (Black Swan novel #7)
Their life together is not over. He has to believe it…or it will be.
Guardian Elite Series
Former special operators, these men work for Guardian Security (from the Black Swan Series) protecting families in their homes and executives on the road, but they can’t always protect their hearts.
Double Jeopardy (Novella #1 Guardian Elite series crossover with Hildie McQueen’s Indulgences series)
Guarding a billionaire and his wife isn’t easy when you can’t keep your eyes off your bikini wearing, gun carrying partner who is lethal in stilettos.
Justice for Gwen (Novella #2 Guardian Elite series crossover with Susan Stoker’s Special Forces World)
She’s not what she seems. Neither is he. But the terrorist threat is real. So is the desire that smolders between them.
Rescuing Melina (Novella #3 Guardian Elite series crossover with Susan Stoker’s Special Forces World)
When Jacin awoke stateside, he remembered nothing about his escape from the Colombian cartel or his torture. He was sure of only one thing, his love of Melina, his handler. When she disappears, neither bruises nor the CIA will keep him from rescuing her.
Snow SEAL (Novella #4 Guardian Elite series crossover with Elle James Brotherhood Protectors World)
Terrorists want her…but so does he. The chase isn’t the only thing that heats up when the flint of the former SEAL strikes against the steel of the woman warrior.
Securing Willow (Novella #5 Guardian Elite series crossover with Susan Stoker’s Special Forces World)
Guarding her wasn’t his job, but he couldn’t let her die…even before she stole his heart. When he discovers the temptingly beautiful foreign service officer is being threatened, his protective instincts take over.
SEAL in a Storm (Novel #5 is part of the Suspense Sisters new wave of connected books, Silver SEALs featuring a seasoned hero and heroine, second chances, and edge of your seat suspense.)
With a hurricane bearing down on the tiny island, they only have days to find and rescue ten kidnapped young girls and their chaperones…and keep their hands off each other.
Cancun Series
Follow the Girard family—along with their friends, former SEALs and active duty female Navy pilots—as they hunt Mayan antiquities, terrorists and Mexican cartels in what most would call paradise. Tropical nights aren’t the only thing HOT in Cancun.
Christmas in Cancun (Cancun Series Book #1)
Can the former SEAL keep his libido in check and his family safe when the quest for ancient Mayan idols turns murderous?
Conquered in Cancun (Cancun Series Novella #1.5)
A helicopter pilot’s second chance at love walks into a Cancun nightclub, but she’s a jet fighter pilot with reinforced walls around her heart.
Captivated in Cancun (Cancun Series Book #2)
His job is tracking down terrorists so he’s not interested in a family. She wants him short-term, then needs him when their worlds collide.
Claimed by a SEAL (Cancun Series crossover Novella #2.5 with Cat Johnson’s Hot SEALs)
How far will the Homeland Security agent go to assure mission success when forced undercover for a second time with an irresistible SEAL?
Never Series
The mission brought the five of them together, disaster nearly tore them apart, a mystery and killer reunited them forever.
A Love Never Forgotten (Never Series novel #1)
Dreams or nightmares. Truth or lies. He can't tell them apart. Then he discovers the woman who has haunted his dreams is real. Is she his future? Or his past?
A Promise Never Forgotten (Never Series novel #2)
As a Marine Lieutenant Colonel, he could take on any mission and succeed. Raising his two godchildren…with her…just might kill him.
A Moment Never Forgotten (Never Series novel #3)
The moment he realized she was in serious danger…he couldn’t protect her.
About KaLyn Cooper
KaLyn Cooper is a USA Today Bestselling author whose romances blend fact and fiction with blazing heat and heart-pounding suspense. Twenty-two years as a military wife has shown KaLyn the world, and thirty years in PR taught her that fact can be stranger than fiction. She leaves it up to the reader to separate truth from imagination. She, her husband, and Little Bear (Alaskan Malamute) live in Tennessee on a micro-plantation filled with gardens, cattle, and quail. When she's not writing, she's at the shooting range or on the river.
Liberating Hale
The ravages of war have left Captain Carson Hale with more than nightmares and PTSD. A victim of a traumatic brain injury, he struggles to reintegrate himself into civilian life and managing the seizures that are now part of his everyday life. Saving others came to him naturally in the line of duty, but being his own hero was a foreign concept. However, he’s convinced Hope and Charger are the key to his salvation.
Chapter One
Surgery?
Fuck, that’s what I’ve been afraid of this whole damn time.
“Mr. Hale,” Dr. Pierre Bourque, my neurologist based out of The Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus, says. “I know how frustrated you must be, but at this point, I think it’s your best bet.”
I had a hard time believing him. When I was airlifted by CH-146 Griffon to the military hospital in Kandahar, I’d expected they’d do what needed doing and fix my fucking head once they shipped me to Germany after stabilizing me.
So much for that.
Instead, I’d become a pill-popping fiend in hopes the medicinal candy each doctor prescribed me over the last six years would eventually reinstate some kind of normalcy to my life. I’m at the point I can’t list all the meds I’ve tested ou
t that have all failed me: Lyrica, phenobarbital, Tegretol, Valium, Ativan, Versed—those are the few I can remember. I also can state not a single one has helped me in the least, despite promising beginnings.
“On your last visit,” the man looks inside my open file on his desk and continues, “we discussed the merits of neuro resection versus stimulation therapy. Have you given those options any thought?”
How could I not?
My nod is curt. “Doc, I have to say, I’m not a big fan of having someone messing inside my head again,” I tell him. “Losing a chunk of my brain and the potential for paralysis, or some other shit complication, doesn’t seem that appealing.”
The man’s lips are set in a tight line as he tents his fingers, leaning on his elbows. “Right, but—”
“With all due respect, Doc, it’s a risk I’m not willing to take just yet.”
“And what about the stimulation therapies?”
“As much as my nephews think it would be cool to have a bionic uncle,” I smirk, “I have to admit the VNS therapy seems like it holds merit above the others.”
The doctor’s eyes brighten. “I agree with you on Vagus Nerve Stimulation therapy. It’s less invasive, but I do have to caution you. There’s a cost associated with this. As an Ontario resident, the provincial plan will cover the surgery to install the device and your resulting hospital stay, but cost of the device itself is customarily out of pocket.”
It’s not a surprise. But I also know there is financial assistance for exceptional circumstances. What was the point in shelling out more than twenty-four thousand dollars for the latest unit, if the government or a hospital program could help fund it?
So, I play the ace in my proverbial sleeve. “As I understand it, doesn’t the hospital have special funding for these types of things?”
The man sitting across from me grins. “I see someone’s been doing their homework.”
“That would be my girlfriend’s doing,” I chuckle.
“She’s a nurse in North Bay, if I remember correctly?”
I nod, my lips tugging upward with pride. “Yes. I can barely read without triggering a seizure these days, as you know, so she’s been doing the bulk of the research, reading me the articles.” Thank God for Hope. She’s been my salvation on so many levels over the years, and I’m ashamed to admit I’ve been a tough sonofabitch to deal with since my injury and trying to acclimate to civilian life. Good thing I had my woodworking business to help me feel like a decent contributor to our household.
These regular road trips were always a pain in my ass. I always felt emasculated since I had to be chauffeured around, my woman the one doing it most of the time. Other times, my sister or brother-in-law would come in from North Bay and fetch me. It was ridiculous that at thirty-seven, I was incapable of doing much of anything an adult should.
“So you’re going to do it?” Hope asks, as she signals to get onto the Queensway, northbound for Highway 17, which would set us on our trek back to Temagami and our little piece of heaven.
I yawn a “Yeah,” but keep my eyes on the passing scenery. Canada’s National Capital region had been home to me during my first two years of adulthood. That changed three years later when I joined the military. It had been right after 9/11, and I had felt the calling to enlist, serve my country, do some good, further my education, and make a career with the Canadian Armed Forces. And I’d been successful at it too, rising to the rank of captain until some fucking trap, laid out too well, took it all away.
“You know, we could have stayed the one night, maybe done some walking around the downtown and visited Parliament,” Hope says.
I snort. “I just want to get home, babe.”
She sighs. “Okay, honey.”
By the time we reach home, it’s nearing seven, and I simply want to crawl into bed. I know I won’t get much sleep. I rarely did, except for the few times I over-imbibed. Those times usually lead to an uptick in seizure occurrences, so even that I’ve had to give up over the last few years. So, for the most part, I’m an insomniac, and if I do succumb to sleep, nightmares from that fateful day in February of 2014 always come to the assault.
“Oh, fuck!” I stir at the sound of a voice, aware of the throbbing pain in my head and the ache in my body. “Cap, you okay?”
All I can remember is one minute we were nearing our target, the next, a rumbling under my feet before I’m airborne.
“Cap?”
I can barely get my eyes to open, but manage enough to catch Morris, my unit’s communications man, bloodied and beat up. I suspect I’m faring much worse than him though.
“Hold on. We’ll get you out of here,” Morris assures.
The moment they start shifting my body, the only thing out of me is a blood-curdling scream, and the lights go out.
“Where are Stevens, Cheff, and Clarke?” I bark at Morris, who has yet to leave my side or so it seems. Every fucking time my eyes open, the man has been there. But no one else.
“Sir?”
“Where are they?” I demand, closing my eyes against the harsh light of the hospital’s fluorescents. “What about Simms, Yates, MacKey, and Benson?”
“You need to rest.”
“I need to make sure my men are okay.”
Morris doesn’t answer.
“For fuck’s sake, Morris, I’m your—”
“Dead,” the man chokes out, his eyes bloodshot as he clearly fights his emotions. “They’re…they didn’t make it out, Sir.”
My body goes numb. I taste copper on my tongue and dizziness sets in.
Next thing I know, I can feel my hands begin to shake; the tremors climbing up my left arm, then my right. Within seconds, my jaw clenches, I can’t form words, and things go blank.
“Carson!” a distant voice calls. “Hale!” I’m still seeing myself as I experienced the first of all of my seizures. “Captain!”
That did the trick.
Jolting upright in bed, my shirt soaked through with sweat, I meet Hope’s worried gaze.
“I’ll get you a cold washcloth.” She rushes for our en suite bathroom, knowing I hate having her see me like this. It’s by far not the first time, and I know it won’t be the last.
Feeling her next to me, I grab the cloth from her, then wipe myself down. It’s not enough, but it works in a quick pinch. Next, I chuck my T-shirt in the closet’s remote vicinity, where the laundry hamper is. I miss it, but I don’t give a rat’s ass.
I have other things to worry about. Mainly, the seizure I can feel coming on just by the tremors starting in my hands.
“Lie back,” Hope directs, easing me on to my back on the mattress, so I don’t take a header.
My eyes fuse to hers, and I hope mine convey how sorry I am that she’s stuck with me, some broken man without much hope to give her the happy life we once both dreamed of having together.
“Easy,” she whispers, rubbing my arm, soothing me. “It’ll pass soon.”
She’s right, but that fact has never been enough to make the humiliation I feel after my episodes lessen.
Chapter Two
“I was thinking,” Hope begins as she brings us our morning coffees.
“Hmm?” I wait until she deposits our drinks on the patio side table. Grabbing her around the waist, I pull her onto my lap before she can claim her seat. Shoving my nose into the crook of her neck, nuzzling that ticklish spot behind her ear, she squirms and giggles. “What’s that, beautiful?”
“Now that we have this awesome house, what do you think about a pet?”
I rear back enough to let her turn to face me. “Babe…”
“A companion to help you get you through some tough times, maybe?” She places her hands on either side of my face, her eyes looking troubled. “Carson, I’m worried.” Her lips brush mine lightly and it goes a long way to keep me calm. “Until this whole VNS therapy thing is figured out and we have a date, we still have to deal with these episodes of yours.”
“Bourque upped
my meds, babe.” I peck her nose, helping her to reposition so she’s straddling my hips. “Give it a few days, and things should level off a bit, like they always do.”
“And what if they don’t?”
“Baby, they always do.” I nuzzle her cheek. “It’s just that the benefits don’t last for more than a few months. You know this.”
“Still…”
“Hope, I don’t want to talk about this right now.” I slide my hands up the back of her loose-fitting sleepshirt as I lean forward to kiss her lips. “I want to enjoy my woman for the next half hour before she needs to leave for work.”
She smirks. “Oh yeah?”
I grin when one of my hands moves to cup one of her tits, pinching its pebbled peak. “Yeah.” I nip at her bottom lip. “Now undo those buttons on that shirt for me, baby. I want you spread wide with your arms on the railing.”
“But the—”
I arch my brow. “There aren’t any, remember?”
With a nibble to my scruffy chin, she hurries off to do just that. I’m pleased to see she never bothered to put on underwear upon waking this morning.
Shoving my boxers down to my thighs, I let my cock spring free. I can’t help but wrap my hand around it and squeeze because the sight of her bent over, her ass showing in the morning light, has got to be one of my favorite views.
Falling to my knees, I cup an ass cheek in each palm, giving one a nip, followed by a lick. Hope’s thighs quiver, so I set to treat the other side with the same ministration.