Rescue for Hire 5
Commander’s Spitfire
Welcome to the world of Rescue for Hire. Meet the team members that make up a company that form a family of heroes.
For a year, computer expert, Tony Grayson was another man’s dirty little secret. After months of pain from a huge betrayal, he can finally breathe again and sees a glimmer of a future.
A rescue goes wrong bringing the boss’s brother Shane Miller into Tony’s life. As far as big, dominating, and possessive Shane is concerned, the gorgeous Italian is his. Now he just has to lead the team for his brother, fix all the family drama, and put the pieces of Tony’s heart back together.
Things finally get smoothed out, only to have his ex call, wanting Tony back. Tony’s decision could change lives and careers. Can the foundation Shane has laid for their relationship be strong enough to keep Tony? The dynamics between a hard-edged bad boy and a hot-tempered, vulnerable yet gorgeous computer nerd heat up the sheets.
Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Contemporary
Length: 27,480 words
COMMANDER’S SPITFIRE
Rescue for Hire 5
Bellann Summer
EROTIC ROMANCE
MANLOVE
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED: Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device. You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer.
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
If you find a Siren-BookStrand e-book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at
[email protected]
A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Erotic Romance ManLove
COMMANDER’S SPITFIRE
Copyright © 2014 by Bellann Summer
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62741-558-3
First E-book Publication: May 2014
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2014 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers
Dear Readers,
If you have purchased this copy of Commander’s Spitfire by Bellann Summer from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.
Regarding E-book Piracy
This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.
The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.
This is Bellann Summer’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Summer’s right to earn a living from her work.
Amanda Hilton, Publisher
www.SirenPublishing.com
www.BookStrand.com
DEDICATION
I dedicate this to the Gray Squirrel, Mr. Awesome, Sherlock, and the Little Bobber. Every one of you had a piece in this work and a piece of my heart.
And to all of the people, who are forced out of their homes in a disaster.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Epilogue
About the Author
COMMANDER’S SPITFIRE
Rescue for Hire 5
BELLANN SUMMER
Copyright © 2014
Chapter One
Tony Grayson once again found himself sitting in a hospital waiting room. Over the last couple of years, he and his teammates had sat for hours waiting for a nurse to let them know if one of their own had made it through surgery.
First it had been the boss’s partner, Bret James. He had been kidnapped by a madman, tortured, and finally shot in the leg before the team found him, hurt but alive. Tony had never seen Cade lose control like he had when they had broken into an old barn and saw a bloody Bret, hanging from the rafters.
Next it was Jack’s babies, Bella and Tina, who survived a premature birth, when their mother was killed in an auto accident. Jack, being a paramedic, had used every skill he had to try and save both Sherry and his tiny daughters. Sweet little Pip had been Jack’s rock throughout that traumatic time.
Treb had put the whole team through hell when he’d become a wild man after sustaining a head injury. He too had been kidnapped, but unfortunately by a delusional war veteran. If Damian hadn’t stayed by Treb’s side throughout his hospital stay, the situation could have been a lot worse than it had been. Doctors and nurses still talked about the injuries they’d received from him.
Lastly, quiet Alex had rescued a little girl from the dirty water of a pond, only to receive a nasty hip injury. It had become infected and almost had to be replaced. The famous chef, Leo DeLuca, who was also Tony’s cousin, had devoted himself to Alex’s recovery.
Now Cade and Jack had been injured during their last rescue, and both were in surgery. The whole team, including Bret and Pip, were anxiously waiting for news.
The Rescue for Hire Company had been started by Cade Miller, who the team just called Boss. He had put together a group of experts who rescued people from floods, snowstorms, and many other dire situations where people needed their special skills to get out of.
Just days ago the team had been sent to help rescue victims of a huge earthquake in California and Nevada. They had spent a whole day pulling out people trapped in destroyed homes and mangled cars, which had fallen into huge potholes.
The whole team had relentlessly searched the desert and scaled rock formations after a group of hikers had become separated and one member had fallen into a deep crevice. The boss and Jack were descending to the woman when an aftershock hit. Lines had become tangled, and they were both swinging wildly, crashing into the sides of the jagged rock walls. Then another even larger aftershock hit, and they both dropped to the floor of the crevice.
Treb had gone down after them. Tony and Alex, being larger, had lowered a basket to him, so he could secure the injured into it. One by one they had pulled the boss, Jack, and the original victim out. Luckily, Tony had managed to arrange for a special flight-for-life helicopter to come in and fly all the injured to a trauma hospital as quickly as possible.
Tony, Treb, Alex, and Damian had flat-out raced their rented SUV from the rescue site to the hospital.
On the way Tony asked, “How bad did the boss look?”
“Oh man, his leg looked like chopped liver. There were at least two breaks that I could see and his knee was a mess. I think he might have busted a couple ribs, too,” Treb answered.
“What about Jack? I know he was closer to the bottom of that crevice than the boss. Could you tell how bad he was hurt?” Alex asked.
“When I got down there, it looked like he must have landed on his arm. It was bent at a weird angle and I would say broken in two, maybe three places. As I got him into the basket something was obviously wrong with his shoulder. I’m guessing it’s dislocated.”
“What about the lady? Tony asked. “When we got her to the top and the EMTs took her to the helicopter, she was alert and talking to them.”
“The only thing wrong with that woman, other than a broken ankle, was that she’s a dumb shit for falling in that crevice in the first place,” Treb answered.
Tony couldn’t help but laugh at Treb’s blunt words. There was never a dull moment when he was around.
The little group had just made it inside the town limits when they were stopped by a train blocking the road. They ended up waiting almost a half hour for the train to move so they could get to the hospital.
Tony was actually surprised a town of that size has such a quality trauma center. Then he reconsidered his opinion when he realized how remote the area was and how many tourists participated in challenging activities.
Now Tony sat wondering why there were certain events in life that made time stop. When he was a kid, he would spend his days playing with his brothers and sisters, going camping and riding horses. Then he would find himself in the dentist chair and time would stop. He knew as soon as the big fat guy in the white coat walked in the room, there would be pain and nasty, evil words.
He learned later that dentists didn’t usually hate their patients and that dental procedures weren’t supposed to hurt that bad. Being only seven years old, he thought that was just the way dental appointments were. The guy eventually had his license revoked and spent some time in jail.
From that time on, his parents, four brothers, and two sisters rallied around him, protecting their youngest as much as they could. It was pretty embarrassing having one of them accompanying him to every doctor or dentist appointment until he was eighteen years old. No amount of arguing would dissuade them. The baby of the family would be protected.
Now Tony was twenty-seven and he sometimes wished that his family would again protect him from bad situations. Had they known about his yearlong affair with Tyler Hayward and the subsequent four months of painful heartache, the whole family would have hauled his ass back home and circled with covered wagons.
The only people who’d known about the affair were his Rescue for Hire teammates, their partners, and Tyler’s siblings. One sibling being Pip, Jack’s partner. So far Tony was glad things hadn’t become awkward between Pip and him. Of course Tony couldn’t forget about Tyler’s parents knowing, especially his mother. Thinking about her still brought bile to his throat.
Tony had thought he had finally found the one for him when he had met the charismatic Tyler at a christening party for Jack and Pip’s twins. The attraction was instantaneous. Their tastes ran similar in everything from movies to foods to sex. Looking back, now that time had given him the ability to see through that huge wall of pain inside, their love could be compared to a match. It had burst into flame, but with no foundation to keep the fire going, all of the secrets smothered them and they were forced to let the flame go out.
He was at a point now where he could breathe again. It had taken a while, but he was starting to accept the idea that there may be someone in his future, if he were lucky.
Unfortunately, like the dentist chair, time had stopped again. Looking over at Bret and Jack’s sweet Pip, Tony could see they were a mess. Those two always rose to the challenge of handling their alphas, but Tony had a feeling this accident and their subsequent recovery were going to be the ultimate challenge for them.
The door to the waiting room burst open, bringing Tony out of his contemplation. Tony couldn’t believe his eyes when a harder version of their boss walked in. The man didn’t even hesitate as he walked up to the group and stated, “My name is Shane Miller. I’m Cade’s brother. The hospital called and said there was an accident. I’m looking for Bret.” Silence followed. This was the first time most of them had heard of Cade having a brother.
Bret had flown in with Pip as soon as Tony had called them about the accident. Since they had arrived, Bret had been very quiet and withdrawn, clinging to Pip’s hand. Now he raised bloodshot brown eyes and said, “I’m glad you could get here sooner than you were supposed to. Cade’s hurt. They rushed him into surgery, but they won’t tell me anything else.”
Laser-blue eyes swept over the group. They stopped briefly on him and Tony felt heat rush into his face and the hair on his arms stand straight up. Then they released him and were back on Bret. Shane reached out his hand and said, “Let’s go see if we can shake a few answers out of someone.”
Tony had seen the boss use that same move on Bret many times. And just like with the boss, Bret put his hand in Shane’s and they walked out of the room. Tony was confused for a moment. Why in the world would it bother him that Bret was holding onto Shane’s hand? He quickly pushed that whole train of thought out of his mind. He so wasn’t going to go there. He had promised himself that he could look, but for the next ten years he wasn’t going near another man.
* * * *
Shane Miller walked with the scared, shaking man down the hall to the nurse’s station. His brother had always liked his men small, and he sure caught a tiny one this time. Shane liked his own men taller and solid. He was a big man and didn’t want to break someone in bed if things got a little carried away. That gorgeous Italian back in the waiting room, with the haunted look in his pretty brown eyes, was more to his taste.
Walking up to the nurse’s station, Shane laid his hand on the counter, getting the attention of the woman sitting behind it.
“Hi. Could you update me on Cade Miller’s condition?” Shane could feel Bret’s hand trembling in his.
“Mr. Miller is in surgery right now.”
“I understand that. Could you tell me any more information than that?” Shane leaned forward, towering over the sitting woman.
The woman turned and looked at another woman standing over by a file cabinet. “Rita, this gentleman is asking about Cade Miller’s condition.”
Shane watched as Rita walked over to them. He could tell just by the way she held herself that she was the one with the answers. Now he only had to get them.
“My name is Shane Miller. Someone from the hospital called me and said my brother has been hurt in an accident. His partner Bret,” Shane glanced at Bret, “was told he is in surgery, but nothing more. Is there anything else you could tell us?”
The woman picked up a file and scanned a printout attached to the front. Then she opened the file and Shane could see his and Bret’s names listed under contacts. From the corner of his eye he saw the sour expression on the other nurse’s face as she looked at Bret, and now Shane understood the problem.
Rita looked up from the file and gave him and Bret a sympathetic smile. Shane was happy she didn’t seem to have a problem with Cade and Bret’s partnership.
“The doctors have repaired Mr. Miller’s ribs and re-inflated his punctured lung. According to the update from the operating room, they are now working on his leg. It could be a couple of mo
re hours before they move him to recovery.”
“What about Jack Woods? How is he?” Bret asked.
“I’m sorry. I can’t release any information on him, except that he too is in surgery.”
“Thank you,” Shane said. The woman smiled and went back to the file cabinet.
Turning to Bret, Shane asked, “How about we go find the cafeteria and get something to hold the gang over until Cade and Jack get out of surgery?”
“That would be good,” Bret answered.
Shane knew giving the little guy something to do would help him from dwelling on the “what ifs” of Cade’s situation. So Shane and Bret went down to the cafeteria and loaded some trays with sandwiches and coffee.
Back in the waiting room, everyone was appreciative of the food and dug in. Shane thought Bret was small, but the one everyone called Pip was so tiny a stiff breeze could blow the pretty man over. Bret had his arm around him and was trying to coax Pip to eat a few bites of the sandwich he was holding.
Shane hadn’t actually been scheduled to arrive at Cade’s home for another two weeks. Unfortunately it had taken longer than he thought to wrap up his career with a division of the CIA.
He’d had a hand in many covert operations before he achieved the position of Team Commander. His years in that leadership position had him going to places he couldn’t talk about and doing things he didn’t want to think about. He had learned early on to make snap judgments, never hesitate, and always dominate.
His team was the best of the best and he had made sure it stayed that way. He also knew he’d lost a little of his humanity in those cesspools of society. Now that he was back in the private sector, he hoped he could adjust to the enormous change.
Commander's Spitfire [Rescue for Hire 5] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) Page 1
