Forbidden Love with the Marine(28)



“You thought I’d say no?” Olivia asked, glancing up into his handsome face. “As if! This is all I’ve wanted forever. To be Mrs. Ivan Lance. Now all I need to make sure of is that Molly is shipped out of the picture for good.”

“She’s gone,” he said promptly. “Trust me. This time, I returned to the news that she’s run off with some rock star type guy who just left his wife for her. Guess she’ll be having all the drama she didn’t seem to get with dating me. Good riddance.” He smirked, and got an elbow in the side. “Ow!”

Despite herself, Olivia was smiling. “I just want it to be you and me,” she said quietly, her eyes sober as they lifted to hold his.

Equally serious, Ivan replied with heart-felt promise, “That’s all we’ll ever need, baby. There’s not a doubt in my mind that with you is where my heart belongs. Forever. Just you and me little dove. Forever.”

THE END





CAPTIVATED BY THE SOLDIER


BY DEZ BURKE





Chapter One


Was that really a naked man sleeping in her bed?

Makayla’s first instinct was to scream. The last thing she’d expected when she’d pulled away the covers to climb into bed was to find a blonde-haired, squared jawed and broad shouldered hunk lying there.

But instead of screaming, she simply stared. Whoever the hell he was, he was damn fine! He was sleeping on his side, face turned in her direction and a hand tucked beneath his cheek. Dark blonde lashes fanned long and thick over the slope of his cheekbones. His nose was long and manly, and he had a cute little dimple in his angular chin. And his lips...only slightly parted as he slept, looked invitingly ripe at the bottom with just enough firmness evident in the curve.

If it was possible to ever wish to find a strange man in one’s bed, then this was the kind of guy any red-blooded girl would wish for.

Tanned, sexy – and sleepy eyed.

Oh hell, he’s awake!

Makayla sprang away from the bed as she saw him stir, his eyes fluttering open to half-slits. He stared straight at her for a few moments, and she could do nothing but stand there, her heart pumping rapidly beneath her palm pressed against it. Was he going to spring for her? There was certainly a certain narrowed, feral glint in that stare...

Makayla held his startling blue gaze, noticing the dark sapphire jewels of his eyes. He looked like he was about to say something, and she heard a definite mumble that sounded suspiciously like “angel” - but then he let out a few more incoherent murmurs before shutting his eyes again and rolling over on his back.

Makayla let out a harsh breath as she realized he’d fallen right back to sleep. Okay! Now what?

Well, now she could run her eyes once again over this shocking male specimen, his new position totally baring his broadly defined chest and leaving the sheet just inches above his waist.


Her dazed eyes ran over his well-built pecs and abs to rest on that impressively long, thickly raised bulge evident beneath the thin sheet. ‘Sleeping Hunk’ as she suddenly tagged him in her head, was obviously naked beneath the covers, the gold-tinted trail leading straight down his wash-board belly before her view was abruptly cut off by the sheet. Damn. If she simply reached out gently and lifted the light sheet she could...

Snapping out of her carnal imaginings, Makayla wondered why she was still there, ogling what was obviously a strange man sleeping in her bed.

Deciding there was only one source from which to glean an explanation for this, Makayla hastily backed out of the room and headed straight for the phone in the kitchen.

It took her moments to get her roommate Gina on the line.

Makayla had met Gina a year ago through mutual friends, and now they shared the roomy two-bedroom apartment. Gina was a goofy, though very pretty blonde nurse who was probably every man’s fantasy of what a nurse should look like with her full-figured body and curly blonde hair. Gina was also fun-loving and wild and if anyone would know why there was a hunk of a male sleeping in Makayla’s bed, then she should.

“Makayla, hi!” Gina cried happily, and in the background Makayla could hear the splash of waves and people laughing. Gina was currently on a three-month long vacation in the Bahamas with her adoring hunk of a fiancé Raymond, a successful fitness instructor. His voice could be heard calling a greeting to Makayla through the phone. Makayla figured it must still be daytime there.

“Hi. I’m happy to hear you and Ray sounding so breezy. Must be all that sun and sea, huh?” Makayla asked casually, fighting down her feeling of panic. Makayla prided herself in living a perfectly symmetrical way of life and really didn’t like anything rocking her boat. But she had to confess that finding a man in her bed was rocking more than her boat at the moment.

“You bet! You should see me now. I’ve worked up a fabulous tan and...”

“Gina,” Makayla broke in suddenly.

“What?” Gina exclaimed, cutting off. “You sound really panicked.”

“Well, because I am!” cried Makayla, before yelping out, “There’s a...there’s a huge naked guy in my bed!”

“Huh?”

Hearing Gina’s baffled tone, Makayla suddenly realized she needed to be far more coherent. Sighing deeply for calm, she explained. “I came home tonight from my New York trip – I took the red eye to make it for my business meeting tomorrow morning. Only to be about to slip into bed when I found a naked man underneath my covers! Would you know anything about it, because I’m seconds from calling the police!”

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