Page 209 of Summer Heat
Cash’s grin glowed. “Now my sweet girl has it.”
Nicola leveled her face with his, lips hovering against the silky fullness of his. She paused, then laughed as she remembered the magic before their first kiss. “You don’t want to kiss me.”
“Hell, yeah, I do.” Cash’s strong hands ran up her back, far more confidently than they had been years ago in college. He skimmed over the string of her bathing suit top then tugged it free and held her to him. His tongue touched hers, and they didn’t need the wine anymore.
The bite of the chilled water was gone. Nicola melted against her husband, letting him engulf her in his muscled arms. Her fingers threaded up his strong neck, into his beautiful hair, and goodbye went that cowboy hat, floating away. Just like it had so many years before.
The intensity of his kiss, the hardness of his body, the complete focus that he had on her, he was a dream come true. “I love you, Cash.”
With his thumbs hooked into the sides of her bikini bottoms, he stared into her eyes. “Back in the day, I waited my whole life to have you. Then I found you again through the scope of my rifle.” He slid her bathing suit off then did the same with his.
Naked in his arms, she knew there was more he left unsaid, and her heart swelled with each second that passed.
“And now it’s you and me forever. What do you think should come next?”
They had the world. Anything they wanted could come next. “Meaning?”
“The day you’re ready for a family, Nic, so am I.” He squeezed her, and she could feel his heart beat against her chest. “Too many obstacles stood in our way to get here today. Whatever it takes, whatever you want, I’m by your side. Always.”
“Wow…” One day there would be little Garrison babies in their arms. “A long time ago I promised you that we’d get to happily ever after.” Nicola put her hands on his cheeks. “We’re here, and every day gets better and better. I love you.”
***
I hope you enjoyed Garrison’s Creed! Now it’s time for Jared and Sugar to find their happily ever after in Westin’s Chase
. Go to Cristin Harber
for more information!
Cristin Harber is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling romance author. She writes sexy romantic suspense, military romance, new adult, and contemporary romance. Readers voted her onto Amazon's Top Picks for Debut Romance Authors 2013, and her debut Titan series was both a #1 romantic suspense and #1 military romance bestseller.
THERE IS NO LIGHT IN DARKNESS
Claire Contreras
“Don’t believe in everything you see.
Because what you want might not be what you need.
Hold your breath, jump with me, and we’ll survive.”
— Phillip Phillips
Tell Me a Story
Prologue
Screams coming from downstairs wake me up. I rub my eyes and look at the pink My Little Pony alarm clock my daddy put on my nightstand. It reads: 3:30. I know it’s not afternoon because there is no light shining through my windows. I throw off my covers and run to the door, opening it quietly. I look down the hall and see that mommy and daddy’s bedroom door is open. That’s when I hear the loud noises. Bang. Bang. Bang. Three. That’s how many I hear. I try to make myself scream, but I can’t. I’ve heard that noise before, it’s the noise that happens when my daddy’s gun goes off. That’s the noise that happens before the deer stops blinking.
But there are no deer here.
I run downstairs and pass the pink Happy Birthday banner daddy was putting up for me before bedtime. When I get to the kitchen, I see a man walking to the door carrying someone over his shoulder. The person he’s carrying is wearing my daddy’s PJs, but his head is covered. I gasp loudly when I look at the floor and see my mommy.
“Mommy!” I shriek. “Mommy!” but she doesn’t look up from the pool of red water she’s laying in. The smell makes my tummy ache. I kneel down beside her and start shaking her as I crinkle my nose. I look up when I hear footsteps and see a man that I don’t know. He has one blue eye and one shiny eye. I don’t like him. He’s giving me a mean look. Behind him there’s a boy I’ve se
en before. We look at each other for a long time; he looks blurry through my tears, but I can make out his big green eyes. The shiny eyed man yanks him by his arm and leaves. He yells something, but the noise in my ears doesn’t let me hear it. I keep shaking mommy until another man comes in, a nice looking man with yellow hair, like mine, and pretty sky blue eyes. He touches my face lightly as tears stream down his face. “Close your eyes, baby girl,” he whispers. And I do. I open them back up when he pinches my arm. He lifts me in his arms, and I realize he’s taking me away from mommy. “Mommy!” I shout as I try to squirm away, but he hugs me tighter. My eyes are starting to feel heavy. I try to keep them open to search for light, but I know I’ll never find it.
Chapter One
