Base to McCormick. McCormick, come in! Retreat! Retreat!
Even disguised in his commanding officers voice, the warning signals firing off in Traviss head couldnt get through the static of full-blown desire that was short-circuiting every common-sense impulse in his body.
Tess was wrong. He wasnt laughing. And he sure as hell wasnt thinking of her as his sister!
This girl was a natural. Every move he made, she answered back with her lips and a chorus of hot, sexy moans that hummed in her throat. He wanted her closer and shed obliged. No, shed taken charge with innocent abandon, crawling on top of him, spreading her knees beside his hips, rubbing her breasts against his chest and sinking that white promise of satisfaction against his throbbing groin.
He dragged his lips to her throat to taste the drumming beat of her pulse beneath his tongue. Trav she gasped, arching her back and inviting his lips into the unbuttoned gap of her shirt.
Retreat, soldier! Retreat!
But his mind was lost in the momentlost in his reawakening sense of power, of virility. He was lost in a womanhis old friend, Tess. And he suddenly knew his life would never be the same again.
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For the 110th Engineer Battalion.
Prayers and pride for those soldiers and their families.
And for my favorite Captain, in particular, be smart,
watch your back and take care.
Love you.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
1
TRAVIS MCCORMICK had come home.
Travis, Tess Bartlett whispered. She tucked her suitcase into the closet of her old bedroom and hurried to the window to see with her own eyes the return of the conquering hero.
Hed come so far. Been through so much.
Tess was almost ashamed to admit that shed barely ventured away from the homefront. After college, one thing after another had seemed to draw her back to Ashton, Virginia. Shed come home when a cancer scare had left her widowed mother feeling vulnerable and alone. Then, shed done her physical therapy internship here and stayed on when the hospital had offered her a generous salary to become a member of their staff.
She had her own apartment, her own career. She had old and new friends who were an integral part of her life. And when push came to shove, she could even finagle herself a date on a Saturday night.
But in one way, Tess had never moved on. Tess had never shared a bond with anyone, not even her sister and mother, like the one she shared with Travis. Shed lived so much of her life vicariously through him. He was a military hero with skills and knowledge she could only guess at. As a Marine, hed traveled the world. Fought beside the bravest warriors and strategized with the best military minds.
And yet shed always, always believed he was glad to come back to Ashton to see her, his little buddy Tess.
Over the years of their friendship, hed confessed triumphs and tribulations that were their secrets alone. He never hesitated to offer a hug or a wink or a smile. Hed stood beside her and taken the heat when their youthful practical jokes had gotten them into trouble. And shed stood beside him and listened and held his hand when that strong United States Marine hadnt been quite strong enough.
Would their friendship take up where theyd left off before hed been called up for a covert assignment more than a year ago? She was thrilled that he was finally coming home to Ashton after spending most of that year in a hospital and therapy. But she knew he wouldnt be thrilled that hed been injured while training for that missionbefore ever shipping out overseas.
Despite the circumstances, was he looking forward to reconnecting with an old friend for a few weeks as much as she was?
Hidden by the glare of the afternoon sun off the water from Chesapeake Bay, Tess peeked through the curtains of the second-story bedroom window in the house where shed grown up, next door to the McCormicks bayside colonial. She and her older sister, Amy, had timed their annual summer get-together with their mom to coincide with the U.S. Marine Corps captains homecoming. They were all invited over that evening for a welcome-home party, but Tess couldnt wait that long to see him with her own eyes. She couldnt wait to reassure herself that the boy next doorher classmate, teammate, and longtime friendhad finally come home after a full year.
She was thirty-three years old, had known Travis for more than half her life, and she still couldnt stop that little hitch in her breath each time she saw him. Damn the man. He was that good looking. Each reunion stirred her bloodas if she were discovering that well-sculpted hunk of testosterone for the first time. Discovering those clear blue eyes, that sexy crop of dark blond hair hugging the perfect shape of his head, and those shoulders broad enough to lead men and seduce women with equal success.
Tess closed her eyes and diligently ignored the heated rush of hormones that tripped along her pulse. She and Travis had been friends for far too long. She knew his taste in womeneverything from busty and mysterious to slim and flirty. Blondes, brunettes, redheads all qualifiedjust as long as they werent afraid of their sexuality, and werent hung up about the whole commitment thing.