Three years ago, Layna Blair listened in horror over a telephone line as her parents were murdered. When the killer said she was next, Layna panicked and made a deadly deal—his secret in exchange for her life. She’s paid the price every day since, becoming a prisoner in plain sight.
Marine Sergeant Blaze Johnson offers Layna a way out—her freedom, his rules, no questions asked—and she takes it, despite knowing what her keepers do to people who get too close. She doesn’t know Blaze is fighting his own demons or that beneath his warrior façade is a man on the verge of breaking.
Embarking on a wild revenge mission with Blaze and his smooth-talking best friend, Talon, is not what Layna signed on for. But attempting to run when Blaze has made no secret he intends to make her his is a reckless mistake. With the killer closing in, it’s up to Blaze to save them all—and to Layna to realize that she’s risked the one thing she can’t afford to lose.
Book one of two
The seat beside me dipped and a strong, warm arm tucked behind my shoulders. I opened my eyes to Buck’s serious expression as he looked down at me.
The wind whipped my hair and Buck brushed strands away from my face. “You doing okay?”
Not really. “Yeah.” I brought my knees up and curled into him.
“You’re lying.”
I bristled but quickly realized Buck and I had so little time together, every second counted. And if I couldn’t be honest with him, we had no future. I traced the lines of his jaw with my fingers and sighed. “I took it as a relative question. I’m okay because I feel totally detached, like it’s happening to someone else. I don’t know if that’s because I’ve handed the live grenade to you and washed my hands of it or if I’ve hit some arbitrary wall and I just can’t process any more emotion. All I know? I’m more upset about you leaving than what’s going down tonight. Which—on one level—is really messed up. I’ve involved three strangers in my personal vendetta for justice, without any regard for the law or their safety.”
“First, you didn’t hand me the grenade, I volunteered. And I made you a promise—your freedom, my rules. You let me worry about the details. Second, we aren’t strangers, we’re your friends.”
“You know I have no concept of that, right? I’ve existed in isolation for years. It’s like you’re lecturing to me about astrophysics. I neither understand nor relate to it.”
Buck smiled. “You’ll get used to it.”
“Like you get used to a stray dog that follows you home, or like you get used to a bad haircut?” Because there was a difference.
Buck threw his head back and laughed. “The shit you say sometimes, Christ. Don’t ever filter.” He stroked my cheek and his eyes softened. “But I get it. It’s the stray dog. You didn’t feed it, you don’t understand why it chose you, but it did. So you leave out some crumbs, you eventually pet it and next thing you know, you’ve opened your door and that dog is following you everywhere…” A dark heat passed across his expression. “And you love him for it.”
I didn’t know how it’d happened, but he was right. “I love you.”
“I’m your stray,” he whispered.
I grew up in Northern California with my head in a book and my feet in the sand. I dreamt of becoming a painter but the heady scent of libraries with their shelves full of books drew me into the world of storytelling. I love the New Adult genre, but really, any story about a love so desperately wrong and impossibly beautiful makes me swoon.
I now live in Southern Florida and while I don’t get to read as much as I like, I still bury my toes in the sand. If I’m not writing or fighting to contain the banana plantation in my backyard, you can find me spending time with my handsomely tattooed husband, my brilliantly practical son and a mischievous miniature boxer…
But Seriously?
Here are ten things you really want to know about me.
I grew up a faculty brat. I can swear like a sailor. I love men in uniform. I hate being told what to do. I can do your taxes (but don’t ask). The Bird Market in Hong Kong freaks me out. My favorite word is desperate…or dirty, or both—I can’t decide. I have a thing for muscle cars. But never reply on me for driving directions, ever. And I have a new book boyfriend every week—don’t tell my husband.
3 comments:
I think this sounds like a very interesting book and can't wait to read it.
I enjoyed the excerpt. I loved the pics on the post too. Thank you!
Happy Reading!
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