Tyler: No.
Tucker: She’s a fighter.
Tyler: Hell yeah, she is.
Tucker: They landed.
Tyler: Luck says to hold them off.
Tucker: What if this girl is going through what you did?
Tyler: Tell them to watch their asses, even though they won’t listen.
Tucker: You were the sensible one in that outfit.
Tyler: Keep me updated.
Cara’s gaze caressed Tyler for several minutes. She enjoyed the rise and fall of his chest and the bump of his pulse against his neck…even if it was marred with bruises. What if Marina was going through what he did? What if she wasn’t?
No matter how much she denied it, the girl had burned her before.
She needed more information. Tucker did too.
Cara typed.
Cara: It’s Cara. Hold your boys off, it’s a trap.
Tucker: Glad you’re back. I need details.
Cara: You may reconsider hiring me once you hear them, but I’m ready to tell.
Tucker: Be up there within the hour.
She looked at Tyler and typed once more.
Cara: If you still want to hire me after you hear the story, then I have a non-negotiable condition.
Tucker: Name it.
Cara: I plan to be with Tyler. There can’t be a clause that keeps us from being together.
Tucker: If you haven’t noticed, you’re not the only couple we employ. We can accommodate you.
She set the phone on the bed and reached for the man she loved. Her fingertips grazed the unruly tips of his hair. The delicate contact trumpeted a rush of warmth and tingles up her arm. A drunken sense of peace settled over her chest. She delved deeper. Lush, knotted strands caressed her hand. Heat from his scalp radiated into her palm. Tears stung, threatening release.
Tyler yawned and then groaned. His finger stretched forward in a blind search, and when he didn’t find what he sought, he straightened with the grace of a ninety-year-old man. Her hand slid from his hair to the prickles of a sprouting beard. His closed lips buffered his grunts and grumbles. His sleepy, swollen gaze swung her way. Through the puffy, butterfly-band-aided skin, he gave her a smile that curled her toes and hugged her heart at the same time.
“You should be in a bed of your own.” Cara’s voice shook with unadulterated love for this man.
His large hand skated up the back of hers and held it firmly to his cheek.
For the first time since she’d received the horrid video, her lungs expanded with a full breath.
“We haven’t been able to keep him in it.” Rin grinned from her perch on the couch. “Maybe you can help?”
Cara knew he should go, prop his leg up on a bed on pillows, and take care of himself. She couldn’t make the orders form on her lips, nor could she let go of his handsome face.
“I think she’ll be the opposite of help. Can’t blame either one of them.” Luck stood and reached for Rin. When she grabbed his hand, he pulled her up and kissed the back of it. “I’m starved. Let’s go get some food.”
Luck tossed a wink at Cara, pulling a blush to her cheeks.
“Thank you.” Rin bounded over to the open side of her bed and kissed her forehead.
“For?” Cara caught her daughter’s hand, pulled her back, and placed a kiss on her cheek.
“Being okay.” Rin smiled.
“My pleasure.” Cara watched her kids exit the room and pull the door closed behind them. Her gaze found Tyler’s. “You really should elevate your leg higher than your heart.”
“I left you once. I’m not doing it again.” Tyler pulled her hand from his face. His fingers danced over her skin. “Push, if you want. I can handle it. We’ll take it slow. I can wait, but I won’t give up on you.”
She gritted against the agony to come and pulled her hand from Tyler’s. Both palms braced on the bed, Cara lifted her bottom off the fitted sheet and shifted toward the far side of the bed.
Tyler’s smile faltered.
Her full breaths carried her through the pain. When she could move again, she patted the bed next to her.
“I can’t wait. I’ve been stubborn and scared long enough. I’m ready for you.” A smile stretched her mouth. “Ready to snuggle, at least.”
He eyed her head to toe with a teasing grin. “I’m supposed to get up there, right next to your sweet, hot skin, and only snuggle?”
“You’re a highly capable man.”
“I hope this feat doesn’t prove you wrong.” Tyler half winked—because his eye already hung at half-mast—and hoisted himself onto the bed from the chair. He paused several times in transition, breathing in slowly through his nose and out his mouth.
Finally, his body snuggled alongside hers. He draped a bandaged arm over her shoulder and slowly eased her against him. A hiss spit from between his teeth.
“We don’t have to do this now.”
“I haven’t felt this good in two days.”
“Sounds it,” she scoffed.
“You’re not moving, Cara. I’ve lived through a ton of crazy shit, and I’ve never been as terrified as I was when you…” His words caught, and he shook his head. He cleared his throat. “A little pain in the ribs, I can handle.”
“Are they broken?”
“Nah.” He waved her off. “Only four. Markus slapped like a bitch.”
“Right.” Cara shook her head.
The door opened, and a nurse stepped into the room.
Tyler's hand shot up, stalling the man. “Her BP is seventy over a hundred and eight, temp is ninety-eight point two, heart rate is seventy-three. A little high for her, but I’m beside her, so can you blame the woman?” He gestured to their aligned bodies and waggled his puffy brow. “What can I say? I get to her.”
“Your friends tried to call me off too, but you know I’m going to have to check her.” The nurse smirked, crossed his arms, but didn’t continue into the room. “I’ll give you ten minutes.”
“Twenty,” Tyler argued.
“Twelve,” the nurse countered.
“We’ll take it.” Cara nodded her thanks. The man pulled the door closed, and she turned to Tyler. “How’d you know all that?”
“I’ve been keeping track.” His gaze hit the floor and rolled around the room.
“What is it?”
“I want to save people, not kill them,” Tyler grudgingly admitted.
“That’s something to be proud of.” She cradled his chin in her hand and pulled his gaze easily to hers.
“I don’t want you to think I’m judging you. What you, we, do, it’s ugly, but vital work. We maintain the balance.”
“And saving the good guys’ lives is part of that balance.” Cara’s heart swelled. “I’m glad you’re figuring it out. Glad we both are.” She placed a kiss on her thumb and then rubbed it over his lips.
“I really wish we were able bodied right now,” Tyler growled.
“Me too.” Her words came out more breathlessly than she would have liked. In an effort to turn down the pulse growing between her thighs, Cara steered the conversation in a different direction. “So are you planning to wear a white coat?” Because that would be damn hot too.”
“I’m not ready to give up my battle gear, even though I won’t be in it for a while. Khani is a field medic. She’s leaving soon.”
“We’ll need someone to replace her.” Cara hiked a brow. “You’d be a natural.”
“You’re taking the job?” His split lips formed a grin.
“If the job takes me.”
“It will.” He nodded. But he hadn’t yet heard her story. “Mine will take some extensive training,” he continued, “but I’m up for it. What the hell else can I do for the next few months?”
“I have a few ideas.” Cara laced her fingers with his.
“You’re bound to get me in trouble.”
She shrugged and grimaced. “My past will be swarming around the room shortly.”
“Until then, lea
n on me.” Tyler pulled her into the crook of his arm.
The worry over the skeletons to free fell silent. His heartbeat thumped assuredly in her ear. Hers calmed to match it. Being in Tyler’s arms was the closest thing to coming home she’d ever experienced. And she never wanted the feeling to go away.
“How about I lean here forever? And when you need to, you can lean back?”
Tyler released a shuttering breath.
“That’s good for me, darlin’.”
“I love you, Tyler.”
“I was wondering but wasn’t going to rush you.”
“I love you,” she said again.
“Hot damn. I love you too.” He kissed the top of her head and cradled her face in his big hand…
Where she’d stay forever.
VARIATIONS
Marina Sorensen rots in a prison of her own making. The bars are the thick arms and meaty hands of Brödraskapet thugs who make money selling her body. Her guilt is the unbreakable shackle. Loneliness is her ever tightening noose. Trading her life for the survival of another is her only salvation.
For Base Branch operative Oliver Knight an eliminate and rescue mission in hostile territory against a brotherhood of brutal sons-of-bitches is another adventure. Downtime between missions in foreign locales with exotic women is worth dodging a few bullets. There is also the sense of duty and pride in a job well done.
He and his buddy rescue Marina and are blindsided by the striking, broken woman who mistakes them for Stronghold Tech. Before they can figure out how she knows about the elite securities team or find and eliminate their mark, the enemy discovers their hideout. Capture would be a fate worse than death and it looms so close Oliver and Marina can french it.
Betrayals meet harsh light and the fun-loving soldier is forced to face cruel reality. His damsel in distress is the one to blame, especially when Stronghold forces show, adding chaos to the kabooms. The dire situation turns deadly and Marina holds the key.
If only Oliver can stop loving and hating her long enough to get the answers.
READ MORE
ENEMY MINE
When friends become enemies and enemies become lovers.
Born in the blood of Sierra Leone's Civil War, enslaved, then sold to the US as an orphan, Base Branch operative Sloan Harris is emotionally dead and driven by vengeance. With no soul to give, her body becomes the bargaining chip to infiltrate a warlord's inner circle. The man called The Devil killed her family and helped destroy a region.
As son of the warlord, Baine Kendrick will happily use Sloan's body if it expedites his father's demise. Yet, he is wholly unprepared for the possessive and protective emotions she provokes. Maybe it’s the flashes of memory … two forgotten children drawing in the dirt beneath the boabab tree… But he fears there is more at stake than his life.
In the Devil's den with Baine by her side, Sloan braves certain death and discovers a spirit for living.
READ MORE
Books by Megan Mitcham
BASE BRANCH SERIES
ENEMY MINE
JUSTICE MINE
STRANGER MINE
WARRIOR MINE
DANGER MINE
PRISONER MINE
VERSIONS
VIRTUES - September 2016
VARIATIONS - October 2016
SURVIVOR MINE - 2017
BUREAU SERIES
FOR ALL TO SEE
PAINTED WALLS
FORD’S BOOK - 2016
ANTHOLOGIES
ANTICIPATION
COWBOY HEAT
HIGH OCTANE HEROES
CONQUESTS
ROGUES
SEX OBJECTS
WILD AT HEART VOLUME II
benefiting Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge
BOX SET
HEARTS IN DANGER
Limited Edition
benefiting the American Heart Association
For information on new releases and giveaways, sign up for Megan’s newsletter at www.meganmitcham.com.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Megan Mitcham was born and raised among the live oaks and shrimp boats of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where her enormous family still calls home. She attended college at the University of Southern Mississippi where she received a bachelor's degree in curriculum, instruction, and special education. For several years Megan worked as a teacher in Mississippi. She married and moved to South Carolina and began working for an international non-profit organization as an instructor and co-director.
In 2009 Megan fell in love with books. Until then, books had been a source for research or the topic of tests. But one day she read Mercy by Julie Garwood. And oh, Mercy, she was hooked!
The USA Today Bestselling Author lives in Southern Arkansas where she pens heart pounding romantic thriller novels and window-steaming erotic romance. For information on releases and giveaways subscribe at meganmitcham.com!
Facebook: AuthorMeganMitcham
Twitter: @MeganMMMitcham
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Website: www.meganmitcham.com
For information on new releases and giveaways, sign up for Megan’s newsletter at www.meganmitcham.com.
Virtues (Base Branch Series Book 8) Page 13
