I am so excited about this cover! I highly recommend you read this series, if you haven't already!
ONE TO LEAVE
By Tia Louise
Blurb
Some demons can't be shaken off.
Some wounds won't heal.
Until a pair of hazel eyes knocks you on your ass, and you realize it's time to stop running.Meet Stuart Knight Dec. 29, 2014.
#SexyCowboy
Excerpt
One to Leave
By Tia Louise*unedited draft, subject to change
Release Date: Dec. 29, 2014
Years earlier, behind enemy lines.
Long nights, sitting against the
wall staring into darkness. We’d shared just about everything to pass the time,
to keep from going insane from the monotony combined with the stress of knowing
at any time we could be blown up or shot. We were walking targets, and we’d
been lucky.
“You’re right,” Derek exhaled,
looking away again, out at the expanse of beige. “I’m proud of my service, but
when the time comes, I’ll walk away.”
“You’ve got another road ahead of
you.” I didn’t think any less of him. Some guys in this outfit didn’t have the
right stuff, the right attitude or the honor, but that could never be said of
this guy. “I’m glad we served together.”
“Now who’s getting soft?” His deep
laugh was the last sound I heard before the staccato CLANK! of a grenade dropped into the space with us.
We had seconds, if that long. No
time to speak, only time to act. Reaching down, I grabbed it, and threw it as
fast and hard as I could. It was just out the window when the BLAST! threw us both against the wall.
My back had been curved from the
throw, and I hit a bare space. I was winded, but not hurt. Derek was out
cold. White smoke filled the room. Our
luck had run out, and we were under attack.
Shots fired outside as I made my
way through the blindness to where his dark body was slumped on the stone
floor.
“Fuck!” I shouted. He was as big as me and twice as heavy, but I’d
be damned if I left him. With a deep grunt, I hauled him onto my shoulders.
His voice was a groan in my ear.
“Stuart. Go on. Go.”
“You’re not dying today, soldier,”I
shouted back.
Months of working out and not much
else between the explosions and the darkness had me strong as a damn mule. I
went up the short flight of steps to the exit. I had no idea what I’d be
stepping into when I went through that door, but they knew we were in here. We
couldn’t stay.
I held Derek steady on my back as I
peered into the smoke and dust filling the air. Two bodies in robes right ahead
of us. Not Americans. There wasn’t anything we could do for them, but I would
do something for us.
A convoy had been preparing to transport
the last of us two houses down. If I could make it that far, it was possible
we’d be safe. I couldn’t see a damned thing as I made a break for it. My thighs
burned with the exertion and the extra weight, and my lungs seized from the
smoke. Derek was a fucking dead weight on my back, but I barely noticed with
the adrenaline pumping in my veins. I was born for this.
Blinking hard, I could just make
out the hulking shapes of the armored trucks waiting to take us away.
“We’re almost there,” I shouted,
even though I was pretty sure he was out again.
Taking the first step, I dug in
with my heel, trying to gain speed with traction. Combat boots, thirty-seven
pounds of weaponry, ordnance, spying shit, and my commanding officer. I ran as
fast as I could to the symbol of safety. I was just there when my feet went out
from under me. My ears rang with the noise of the explosion, and pain shot like
fire through the lower half of my body. I flew forward and landed on my chest
in the dirt.
I couldn’t stop shaking. It wasn’t
fear—it was adrenaline combined with the effort I’d been pushing to get us to
safety faster. My brain tilted on its side. The trucks were near, but they
couldn’t see us in all the smoke and confusion. Bodies were running all around
us. I needed to get up, but I was dazed.
God
dammit! I was made for this. I tried to force myself to get up, but my body
didn’t respond. I was above myself looking down. Derek lay on my back exposed,
unprotected. What the fuck was happening
to me? I fought against this pansy-assed flake-out. I had to get back down
there. I had to carry my brother to safety.
I was stronger than this.
Somebody had to see us, but the
whole place was in confusion. Another whistling rocket, another explosion. I
struggled to open my mouth and yell for backup. Nothing came out. I saw a truck
jolt and fly back. It was hit.
Then, like an old-fashioned television switching off,
everything blinked to black. I didn’t see anything anymore.
Books by Tia Louise
One to Hold (Derek & Melissa), 2013
One to Keep (Patrick & Elaine), 2014
One to Protect (Derek & Melissa), 2014
One to Love (Kenny & Slayde), 2014
One to Leave (Stuart & Mariska), Dec. 29, 2014
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