Way of the Warrior (Troubleshooters #17.5)(32)
“So that’s a yes?” he asked, a smile spreading full out from his face and through him.
“Of course it’s a yes.” She punctuated her vow with a kiss. “Where should we go?”
“Wherever you choose, as long as we’re together. Forever this time.” He backed her toward the bed until her knees hooked and they tumbled together onto the mattress. “With you in my life, the future looks bright, my Anastasia.”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
USA Today bestselling author Catherine Mann specializes in military romances with over fifty books in print. Catherine’s works have also made the WaldenBooks extended list. A RITA winner, she has also won the Bookseller’s Best Award. She has finaled in the National Readers’ Choice Awards, the Reviewers International Organization Choice Award, the RT Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Maggie Award, and the RITA Award (six times). Catherine’s books have been widely released internationally, including Great Britain, Germany, Spain, France, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Iceland, Australia, and Japan. She lives with her husband, who is a combat veteran and retired Air Force colonel, near Pensacola in the Florida Panhandle. For more information, visit her website at www.CatherineMann.com.
TORN
A Protect and Serve Novella
KATE SERINE
PROLOGUE
Sadie.
Her name flashed through his mind as it had so many times before, his connection to home, to normalcy. She’d been there for him through every high point and low point in his life since she was in pigtails and he was just a little shit who liked to tease her with earthworms until she screamed. Well, until that day she clocked him. That had definitely marked a turning point in their friendship.
Ever since then, when shit got crazy, when his dad was bustin’ his balls, when his older brothers were being total *s as only older brothers can be, or, hell—when the world just didn’t make any f*cking sense—she was there. She was his center. His rock.
And during those long, dark nights in Kandahar when his thoughts caught up with him, when the anxiety and the stress of waiting for a conflict that might never happen came together in a single, crushing weight in the middle of his chest, it was thoughts of Sadie that helped him through it.
But why now?
He was supposed to be on patrol, needed to have his head in the game. Why the hell would he be thinking of her now?
He shoved away images of the woman he’d been in love with for as long as he could remember and tried to get his shit together. But even as he forced himself to focus on something other than the memory of her wise, dark eyes sparkling with laughter, he felt dread creeping in and was tempted to settle back into that happy place instead of this godforsaken shithole.
But before he could give in to that urge, he heard his father’s rough bark in his head, pushing him as he’d always done, “Man up, Joseph!”
Figures. Leave it to the Old Man to intrude on what little happiness there was to be had in the world…
Joe tried to chuckle, but the effort sent a wave of fresh hell through his entire body, wringing a guttural cry from him before he could check it. Confused, he blinked rapidly, trying to clear the haze that clouded his vision and to get his bearings. Clumps of dirt rained down around him, while the sunlight streamed through the particles of dust creating tiny rainbows completely incongruous with the chaos that was coming into focus.
Ragged breathing filled his ears, loud but not loud enough to drown out the shrill ringing that made him wince. It took a split second for him to realize the breathing was his own—and it sounded like shit.
Somewhere in the distance, he heard muffled shouting, felt a deep rumble, the vibration transferring through the ground and into his chest.
He was on the ground?
What the f*ck?
Adrenaline shot through his veins. He tried to roll onto his side and push up to his knees, but nothing seemed to function. His arms collapsed under him, his legs wouldn’t work. The ground rolled, tilting precariously like the world had been knocked off its axis and was spinning out of control toward the sun.
Get up or die.
It was his own voice in his head this time, his survival instincts kicking in when his senses couldn’t be trusted. But his body refused to obey. He tried again. Failed. This time, when he fell onto his back, his head lolled to one side and he caught a glimpse of Sadie’s photo caught in some of the harsh underbrush that grew sparsely in the region. It was the photo he’d carried on him every day. His stomach sank when he saw it.
Only one reason it wouldn’t have been safely tucked away near his heart.
Ah, shit.
Panic squeezed his gut in its sickening grasp when he realized what must’ve happened, but he kept it together. He had to. He’d made a promise.
The breeze caught the edge of the photo, making it flap just enough to taunt him with the threat of dislodging it. Somehow he knew if he didn’t get to it first, the harsh desert wind would sweep Sadie away from him forever.
His hand trembled as he extended his arm, straining to reach the photo. But his bloody fingers fell short. He moaned, emotion choking him. He had to reach her, had to get to her.