by Julie Miller
A tear spilled over her eyelashes. He feathered his fingers across her cheek and into the hair at her temple. He caught the tear with his thumb and brushed it away. "Don't cry on me, lady."
A brave smile trembled across her mouth. She rubbed her cheek into his hand and whispered, "I believe. Welcome home."
Dampness burned in his eyes as he leaned forward and kissed her. Their lips touched, and a feeling of absolute rightness swept through him. Her soft mouth opened, and the gesture of comfort became a greedy exchange of need. He felt her hands at his waist and he drew her into the crook of his arm, still kissing her, loving her with his heart wide open.
Several eons too soon, she ended the kiss. Doubt squeezed his heart in its fist. Could she not see him, love him, for the man he was inside?
He remembered countless battles, perilous missions, dangerous cases he'd endured. But nothing he had ever experienced in Jonathan Ramsey's body or Drew Gallagher's matched the fear gnawing at him now. Had he fought his way back from death to her a second time only to be pushed to arm's length?
"Emma?"
She wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled close, easing his fear a bit. "I have a question to ask," she said.
"What's that?" An eternity passed by in a beat of silence.
"Do I call you Drew or Jonathan?"
"Just say you love me and the rest will work itself out." He didn't dare breathe.
"I love you."
He released his apprehension on a whoop of joy.
With his daughter in one arm, he lifted his wife in the other and spun them around. With Kerry's giggles of joy serving as a backdrop, he lost himself in the youthful beauty of Emma's wide smile.
When he set her on her feet, she stretched the length of his side, waking every male nerve in his body. She brushed her fingers along his jaw, studying his mouth, making him crazy with want. Then she cupped his cheek and turned his face to hers. She looked into his eyes, into his heart, into his soul, and pressed a kiss to his lips.
"I love you," she repeated, and the last of his doubts crumbled away.
"I love you," he echoed, claiming her mouth and making her his.
Some moments later, keeping Emma tucked to his side, Drew greeted his old friends with laughs and hugs and prolonged handshakes. He looked into Hawk's familiar, fathomless eyes and grinned. "I've got one hell of a story to tell you, shadow man.
"I thought you might."
It was thanks enough for believing in him.
Brodie's firm grip nearly crushed his hand. "I'm sorry I doubted you."
"I'm not." The big man's eyes widened in surprise. "I counted on you to take care of my family in my absence. You protected them like they were your own. There aren't many men I'd trust with that responsibility."
"So, Colonel. Are you gonna tell us what happened?" Rafe Del Rio asked the question they all wanted to hear.
Emma took over before he could answer. "It has something to do with switching bodies and love everlasting." The confidence in her voice reflected a real belief, not that corporate boardroom show Drew had learned to distinguish in her husky voice. "And a guardian angel who never gave up on us."
"Daddy, look!" The wonderment in Kerry's voice drew the attention of both her parents and the other adults. He followed the direction of her pointing finger and saw her love-worn, hand-sewn doll sitting on the rail at the front of the church. A mysterious hand had crafted a new addition to the doll's body.
"Angelica's got wings," said Emma, her awestruck whisper a caress to Drew's ear.
Drew looked down at his daughter and exchanged a knowing wink.
"It's called faith, my love." Drew beamed at the doll's miraculous appearance and knew the doll's namesake had finally received her wings as well.
"Faith. What a perfect name for an angel," Emma said.
Startled by the accuracy of her comment, he looked down and saw a knowing, Mona Lisa smile.
Maybe she did know what she was talking about.
Drew laughed and hugged Emma and Kerry to either side, basking in their circle of love. "Absolutely perfect."
About the Author
USA TODAY bestselling author Julie Miller writes breathtaking romantic suspense. She has earned a National Readers Choice Award and two Daphne du Maurier Awards among many other prizes for both her series and single title books. She was also honored to receive the RT BookReviews Career Achievement Award for Series Romantic Suspense. For a complete list of her books, monthly newsletter and more, go to www.JulieMiller.org
Table of Contents
Copyright
Immortal Heart
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Shadow of the Hawk
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Always Faithful
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
About the Author
