by Sandra Hill
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” No beating around the bush for him. “A doctor or nurse could come in at any moment.”
“They would have to get past Izzie first.”
It wouldn’t be the first time his friend had covered his back . . . or front.
“The question is whether you are capable, so soon after surgery.”
He put her hand on his very capable body part and said, “It was eye surgery. Not cock surgery.”
“So crude!” He felt her lick the skin on his neck, then nip him with her teeth.
He turned and cupped her face, placing his lips on hers, shaping, coaxing her to open for him. When she did, he slid his tongue inside and tasted cinnamon. He smiled against her lips and murmured, “Ummm!”
“I’ve been chewing that damn gum for three hours, ever since you went into surgery. Consumed four whole packs. Izzie is suspicious.”
He laughed and kissed her again. “Well, no sense putting all that hard work to waste.”
She raised her head and grinned at him. “Are you sure you’re up for this?”
“What do you think?” he asked, glancing downward at the tent he made in the sheet.
Without further prompting, she removed her blouse and slacks, her bra and panties, and was sliding under the sheet to kneel between his legs. He didn’t need to direct her on how to create a cinnamon stick. She’d become adept at certain skills in recent weeks. Actually, long ago. They knew each other’s bodies so well.
Soon, way too soon, his blood thickened and lodged down below. He arched his back and moaned.
“Shh!” she cautioned, raising her head to stare up at him. Her lips were moist and parted with her own arousal. “The nurses might hear you on the monitor and think you’re in pain.”
“I am in pain,” he said as she resumed working him. Then, before he exploded, he urged, “C’mere, baby. Up, up, up.” He raised her so that she straddled him and then took his erection into her body, one inch at a time. With pure male fantasy, he imagined there were a dozen inches.
“So good,” she sighed.
“Tell me about it!”
He helped her raise and lower her hips on him as she leaned forward and he took one breast, then another into his mouth. Licking, teasing with his tongue, sucking.
Soon, she was unable to control the thrusts of her needy body. He held her firmly downward, impaling her with his heat, and she convulsed around him. Only when her spasms ceased did he release himself. He barely held back a roar of satisfaction as he did so.
For what seemed a long time, she just lay atop him, his flaccid member still inside her. He caressed her back and rump. Kissed her face. “I love you, Sally. You know that, don’t you?”
She nodded and looked up at him, tears glazing her caramel eyes. “I love you, too. Never stopped. Never will.”
Later, when she was dressed and sitting by the bed once again, holding his hand, she asked, “Did you get the note that I told Izzie to give you?”
“I did.” He paused, and said, “You told me to come home when I’m ready.”
“And . . . ?”
He didn’t pause at all now when he said, “I’m ready to come home.”
Epilogue
There was nothing spooky about this wedding . . .
Captain Jacob Dawson and Sally Fontaine Dawson renewed their wedding vows on October 19, their ninth anniversary, in Our Lady by the Sea Church in Bell Cove. A reception followed at Chimes, the Conti mansion.
The couple had wanted a private ceremony followed perhaps by a casual lunch at the Rock Around the Clock Diner, hosted by the bride’s best friend, Delilah Good, who’d offered to shut her business down for the day. Or else, they suggested, a barbecue in the backyard of their home under a tent if the weather proved warm enough, which it was. But the people of Bell Cove wouldn’t hear of that. They’d taken over, as they always did when one of their own took a big step.
It was less than two weeks until Halloween, and since all special events had to have a theme, even weddings, the Bell Cove-ites had decided on “Halloween Heroes.” It was either that or “Halloween Hootenanny,” which was thankfully nixed by Ethan Rutledge, a member of the town council, who’d said he’d be damned if he sentenced his friend Jake to “Kumbaya” as a wedding march. That was as bad as that stupid Grinch contest, which was coming up again soon, Ethan, known to be a bit of a grinch, had contended. He’d won out, but they were still stuck with a “Halloween Heroes” wedding.
Thus, everyone attending the wedding was supposed to come as their favorite superhero (or heroine), except for the bridal couple, who’d refused. For some reason, the groom insisted that his bride be dressed in a special peach-colored dress made for the occasion. And she’d insisted on his wearing his dress uniform, something he wouldn’t be doing for much longer, having submitted his resignation from the military as of next month. Jake wore no eye patch or sunglasses on this day since he’d managed to regain some vision and movement in his injured eye. He had to wear glasses for close work, like reading, even with a lens implant. And since he didn’t use a cane or crutch when walking forward on the altar to meet his wife, he did limp.
No one cared about any of that. He had survived a terrible ordeal and come home. That was all that mattered to any of them.
Lieutenant Isaac Bernstein, aka Captain America, was best man, and Delilah Good was a Wonder Woman matron of honor in an outfit that made her husband blush. There were no other attendants, except for The Three (Mini) Musketeers, who gave their mother away to their father. Many a tear was shed in the congregation at that poignant moment in the ceremony.
Although they claimed it was a bunch of foolishness, Joe and Old Mike came as Batman and Robin. Supposedly, Vana Gustafson was heard to say that she’d always had a thing for Batman. Gus came as Thor, of course. Mayor Ferguson was an unusual Elektra, especially her hair, which looked as if it had been electrified. Merrill Good, with his Navy background, was Aquaman. K-4 was Wolverine. Laura Atler stunned the crowd in a figure-hugging Catwoman costume. Everyone wondered if Catwoman and Captain America might make a love connection with all the kryptonite sizzling in the air around them, or maybe that was just feline hissing. And so it went with everyone participating with laughter and good cheer. A typical Bell Cove event.
At the reception, folks were surprised to see that the table favors weren’t the usual coated almonds, which nobody ever ate anyhow, but individually wrapped cinnamon hard candies. “What is that about?” the bride and groom were asked repeatedly, to which they just smiled. The best man kept remarking to the couple about some kind of commando thing, which also garnered secretive smiles.
The bride made her own wedding cake, a six-tiered chocolate cake with a fudge icing, based on a recipe of the groom’s mother. There were also monster cookies from the bride’s bakery, wedding bell cutouts with the bride and groom’s names on them. Some people said they were too pretty to eat, but who could resist?
When the band Nostalgia played the first dance of the evening, Jake managed to hold his own by swaying side to side with Sally in his arms. When the band segued into that Outer Banks favorite “Carolina Crazy,” Jake showed that even with his wounded leg he could manage to do an impressive Shag. You couldn’t live on the coasts of the Carolinas without learning the basic steps of that regional dance. Sally, a converted Outer Banks gal, moved around him like she’d been born to shag. Even their sons, who joined them on the dance floor, showed that they had moves, like their daddy. Another in the many poignant moments of the day.
Rumor was that Jake had been offered a highfalutin job in the Pentagon, and a promotion, but he’d declined, even when his wife offered to move to the capital with him and the children. Instead, Jake was going to take over his father’s commercial fishing business. He would keep his dad and Old Mike on as assistants until he got the swing of things. It had been agreed that if he was physically unable to carry out his duties, or found his heart wasn’t in the business, it would be
sold. Maybe treasure hunting would be in Jake’s future, as a backup plan.
Sally would continue to run her bakery, Sweet Thangs, and had no immediate plans to expand. She had enough on her hands, literally, with three sons and a husband who was very much a handful, and, yes, she knew there was a double entendre when she repeated the sentiment around town.
Later, in their honeymoon suite at the Heartbreak Motel—okay, the Blue Hawaii room, with all its hokey decor—Jake made love to his wife like there was no tomorrow. He had a tendency to do that a lot lately, having almost lost everything himself. But he was getting better at toning down his desperation, thanks to the PTSD survivors’ therapy group he led in this very town. Who knew there were so many wounded warriors around? And they weren’t just military related, either. Or men only.
Sally gave as good as she got in the lovemaking and constantly told her husband, “I love you,” because she knew how much he needed to hear it. Well, she did, too. They made a mutual promise to say the words at least a dozen times a day, starting when they awakened in the morning, and before they fell asleep at night.
Later, when she scooted into the bathroom to relieve herself, she saw a gift that Delilah had left for her in line with the motel room’s Hawaiian theme. With a smile, she donned the grass skirt and lei and nothing else, and hula’d her way back into the bedroom.
“What do you think?” she asked Jake, who was still sprawled out on his back on the bed, replete with satisfaction from their last bout of making love. He raised his head, then raised another body part, as he looked her over. “Baby, I am all shook up.”
Nine months later, Sally gave birth to another baby, although she’d sworn there would be no more children. Jake was with her this time, though, and that made all the difference. After seeing what she went through in a long, agonizing, ten-hour labor, he was the one who proclaimed her the hero in their home, and he was the one swearing, “No more!”
They didn’t name the baby John, though.
It was Joan.
Author’s Note
Dear Readers:
I love a tortured hero with a sense of humor. Don’t you?
It was hard writing Jacob Dawson, with his history as a POW and continuing PTSD, while keeping the book in the romantic humor genre. But when you throw three little boys into the mix and the wacky town of Bell Cove, it just had to be funny at times. I hope you smiled in certain places, maybe even laughed out loud.
A fan told me that she was reading one time and burst out with a hoot of laughter. Her husband, who was sitting nearby watching TV, remarked, “You must be reading a Sandra Hill book.” To me, that was the greatest compliment.
There were prequels to this book in the Bell Sound series, The Forever Christmas Tree and Life, Love and the Pursuit of Happiness. And hopefully there will be future books. Surely, K-4, Izzie, Laura, and Gus have stories to tell, and maybe even other treasure-hunting team members, like Bonita Arias or Charlotte LeDeux. And don’t forget Navy SEAL Jacob Alvarez Mendozo, JAM, who is lurking in the background.
Please know how much I value your readership, especially those of you who have followed me through twenty years of myriad genres, including historical, contemporary, time travel, and paranormal. Everything from Vikings to Navy SEALs and combinations thereof. Hard to believe, but I am almost to my fiftieth published full-length novel.
I love to hear from you, readers, and I respond to all mail at [email protected]. You can sign up for my mailing list on my website at www.sandrahill.net, or get news on my Facebook page at Sandra Hill Author.
As always, I wish you smiles in your reading.
Sandra Hill
About the Author
SANDRA HILL is a graduate of Penn State and worked for more than ten years as a features writer and education editor for publications in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Writing about serious issues taught her the merits of seeking the lighter side of even the darkest stories.
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By Sandra Hill
Bell Sound Series
A Hero Comes Home
Life, Love and the Pursuit of Happiness
The Forever Christmas Tree
Cajun Series
Cajun Persuasion
Cajun Crazy
The Cajun Doctor
The Love Potion
Deadly Angels Series
Good Vampires Go to Heaven
The Angel Wore Fangs
Even Vampires Get the Blues
Vampire in Paradise
Christmas in Transylvania
Kiss of Wrath
Kiss of Temptation
Kiss of Surrender
Kiss of Pride
Viking Series I
The Pirate Bride
The Norse King’s Daughter
The Viking Takes a Knight
Viking in Love
A Tale of Two Vikings
The Viking’s Captive (formerly My Fair Viking)
The Blue Viking
The Bewitched Viking
The Tarnished Lady
The Outlaw Viking
The Reluctant Viking
Viking Series II
Hot & Heavy
Wet & Wild
The Very Virile Viking
Truly, Madly Viking
The Last Viking
Creole-Time Travel Series
Sweeter Savage Love
Frankly, My Dear . . .
Others
Love Me Tender
Desperado
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
a hero comes home. Copyright © 2020 by Sandra Hill. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. 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 HarperCollins Publishers. For information, address HarperCollins Publishers, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007.
Digital Edition FEBRUARY 2020 ISBN: 978-0-06-285411-7
Print Edition ISBN: 978-0-06-285419-3
Cover design by Nadine Badalaty
Cover illustration by Shane Rebenschied
Cover photographs © Shutterstock
Avon, Avon & logo, and Avon Books & logo are registered trademarks of HarperCollins Publishers in the United States of America and other countries.
HarperCollins is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Publishers in the United States of America and other countries.
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