Before the Storm by Rachel Grant

Author:Rachel Grant [Grant, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Janus Publishing

Morning came far too soon, but waking with Audrey in his arms, Xavier could find no regrets in the cold light of dawn. The night had been wild. Intense. And carefree in a way he hadn’t felt in years. For several hours he forgot everything but her.

Even the pain in his shoulder had disappeared. Endorphins and lust, but still. The escape had been glorious.

Plus, there’d been no nightmares. His brain didn’t relive his last op with the brutal clarity that he lacked in the light of day.

Flyte had filled in the gaps in his memory of what happened. He’d seen Forsythe and Adams die. He knew what followed. What he’d done. Sometimes he wished he didn’t remember.

He shook his head. Even without the dreams, he was returning to that place, losing the escape he’d found with Audrey. He turned to the sleeping woman and kissed her neck. She made a purring sound and tilted her head, giving him better access to the sensitive skin below her ear.

He loved how she responded to him. She’d been so completely uninhibited. He’d hesitated when he realized he’d have to show her his scar, but he’d owed her nothing less than the same openness she’d given him, so he doffed his shirt and stood before her, caught off guard by the unease he felt in showing his damaged shoulder with atrophied muscles.

He didn’t want to talk about it. Didn’t want to think about it.

And she didn’t ask, didn’t probe. Her lips touched scar tissue that lacked nerve endings, and he could swear he felt the caress. It was like the encounter brought him back to life, when he hadn’t realized he’d been numb to the world—or at least to libido and lust—since he woke in the hospital and found himself alone. According to Flyte, Lynn had visited while he was sleeping, took one look at him, and left.

She’d known he faced more surgeries and didn’t care about him enough to consider helping him through multiple recovery periods.

Later, on the phone, she’d said, “I didn’t sign up to be your nursemaid. We never made any ‘in sickness and in health’ vows. So don’t act like I betrayed you. I saved us both from misery by walking when I did.”

The subtext was loud and clear: she didn’t love him enough to be by his side after the worst day of his life. He knew without a doubt she was running as much from the emotional trauma that loomed after losing two teammates during a failed mission as from having to play caretaker.

“Xavier?” Audrey said, “Is something wrong?”

Without realizing it, he’d tucked his face into Audrey’s neck. He must’ve frozen as the memories assailed him.

His breath left in a rush, and he nuzzled her skin to try to cover for the lapse.

She pulled away. “Look, we don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but don’t pretend something didn’t happen just now. You went somewhere else.”

How could she read him so well? They’d shared their bodies last night, sure, but he’d kept his mind to himself.

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