A SANTINI IN LOVE by Melissa Schroeder

A SANTINI IN LOVE by Melissa Schroeder

The Santinis Book 6

She was the last woman standing.

Madison Baker was born and bred to be a Marine. When a roadside bomb ends her first deployment—not to mention her career—she is left to pick up the pieces of what is left of her life. She’s returned to Oceanside to regroup and move on. It doesn’t mean she’s ready for a relationship, even if a particular Santini has different plans.

Love happens when you least expect it.

When he first met Madison back at the Academy, Dante Santini is sure the woman was put on the earth to irritate him. She’s prickly and mouthy. She always thinks she’s right. Worse—she almost always is. She hasn’t really changed over the years. One disagreement ends up with them lip locked and very nearly falling into bed, Dante discovers he might need to rethink his first impression.

When Madison is convinced she witnesses a murder, the only person who believes her is Dante. Together, they sift through the meager evidence, trying to unearth the secrets someone is trying to hide. Neither one of them expecting it would draw them closer—or that a killer is hell bent on making sure those secrets stay buried.

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Excerpt:

Madison Baker didn’t know what day it was or where she was, but she knew one thing. She fucking hurt.

Pain radiated through her entire body. It was if someone had beaten every centimeter of her flesh. She tried to open her eyes—nothing. Hell, she wasn’t sure she was even breathing. 

Am I dead?

That thought had her struggling, pushing her hand through something heavy. Dirt? She was buried? Panic surged as she tried to gulp in air and found nothing. Weight settled on her chest. It was getting so dark, so cold…she felt a bit of her drift away.

Gonna give up, Madison? 

Her father’s voice echoed mind. How many times did she hear him say that in her lifetime? Thousands.
If you weren’t being a coward right now, I wouldn’t have to scream at you.

Coward?

No. Fucking. Way. 

She used what was left of her energy to move her hand. It might have been only inches, but it felt like miles. A renewed sense of survival had her pushing harder, up through the debris. Up, up, then she felt it. Cool air washed over her fingers. 

In the next few seconds—even if it felt like hours—she pushed harder and got her hand up through.
“Over here! I found one over here!”

As feet pounded toward her, she kept pushing until she felt a hand grab hers. It tugged and she held on with all her strength. The voice kept talking to her, telling her they would get her out of there. Then, she was free, air rushing over her face and she tried to open her eyes. Bright light burned her corneas and she shut them. 

“That’s okay, Lt Baker, we have you,” her savior said. The whop, whop, whop of the approaching copters almost drowned him out.

“Who…” she broke off not sure if he could even hear her. Her voice sounded and felt like gravel.
She felt him lean closer as people started to dig around her. “What?”

She licked her lips and tasted blood and dirt. “Who are you?”

“I’m Sergeant Gee Santini of the US Air Force, and we’re here to take you home, Ma’am.”

“Thank you,” was all she could say. Then, her world faded to black again.

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LIKE THERE'S NO TOMORROW by Caitlyn Willows

LIKE THERE'S NO TOMORROW by Caitlyn Willows

Hot, hungry and horny, Jim’s looking for a night of scorching no-name sex.

Desperate to feel alive, Julia’s on the prowl for a hot, hard body before the Marine Corps sends her back to war.

Who knew a one-night stand could be more than either of them ever hoped for? Or that they’d have such little time to enjoy it?

Sometimes a person has to take a chance. Do something a little crazy. Live like there’s no tomorrow.

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~Excerpt~

“I need a name.” He had to have one. It drove him crazier by the second that she wouldn’t share it with him.

“For a drive-by, one-night stand? That was your intent, right?”

“Well…yeah. But I…” He couldn’t explain why it mattered. Hell, he didn’t know why it mattered. It just did. And what if she was a Marine? What about her rank? The whole fraternization thing? Fuck, he was going down for one rule-breaker after the other. But then, if she suspected he was a gunnery sergeant, she’d be on the watch for fraternization too. Maybe they were the same rank, or close, or…

“What are you calling me in your head?” Another naughty grin jerked his rambling thoughts to a halt. “Be nice now.”

“Little Red. Red.”

“Cute. Not very original, but it’ll do.” She took another bite.

And calling him Gunny was original? Subject closed. He let her win this round. The night was young and he was still horny. Getting hornier by the second.

Jim played out intelligent conversations in his head while they finished his burger then divvied up hers. Nothing scholarly came to mind. He was left with the basics.

Jim leaned back, one arm on the bench seat behind her, the other clutching the beer, ready to play twenty questions. One sip of his drink stopped him cold. He just couldn’t do it. He pushed the brew away, signaled the waitress, and ordered what he really wanted—wine.

“Make it two, please.”Red pushed her drink away too. “This lemonade isn’t working for me. And these drinks will be on me.” She scooted into the curve of his body. “That’s one pretense out of the way.”

“Speaking of which…”

She pressed her index finger against his lips. “No names, Gunny.”

It bugged the hell out of him. “All right.” For now.“Occupation?”

“Employed.”

“Come on, Red. Gimme something.”

She tickled her fingers down to his navel. “I’d hoped to give you a lot tonight.”

“You know me? Been here before? Have we met?”

Her laughter felt like spring, all bright and warm after a long, hard winter. “No…to all of the above.
This in my first time in here. And no, I’m not new in town.”

“So why tonight, here, me?”

“Goodness, so many questions.” She thanked the waitress for their wine, grabbed both glasses, and handed him one. “I came in here to meet a heartbroken girlfriend. She bailed. I was getting ready to leave and saw you looking all…needful. How could I possibly resist? Plus, I didn’t think a decent-looking guy like you deserved to get tangled up with any of this.” She waved her hand toward the other females in the bar.

“You do this often?” Now that was a nasty question, and Jim regretted it the second the words left his mouth.

Judging from the startled look in her eyes, the question had hurt. Red should have kneed him in the balls and taken off. Instead, those green eyes softened, settled on him…in him. “No. Never.
Sometimes a person has to take a chance. Do something a little crazy. I needed. You needed. Good?”

Jim had thought so at first. “Yeah…good.”

Red rested her hot palm on his thigh and cuddled in close. “I like dogs, gardening and hiking. I’m a nerd and proud of it. Your turn.”

“Friends call me Rod.”

That brought snickers and a Spock-like lift of her eyebrow.

“Short for Roderick, my last name. First name’s Jim.”

“Preferences?” She sipped her wine. His eyes locked on to how her lips glistened afterward.

Jim honestly didn’t give a damn what friends called him. The nickname had also morphed into his work life, making him Gunny Rod. But from a woman he wanted more. He needed intimacy, especially from this woman.

He laughed to himself at the irony of it all. He’d come for a hook-up and here he was assigning more to it, needing more from it.

“Jim. As long as you don’t add any Star Trek reference to it.” Though he wouldn’t mind if she did.
“Jim.” She kissed him, soft and sweet. No tongue, just lips pulling at his. Tempting, not teasing. A nibble, a pull. As if he were somebody more than a desert-dried Marine who hadn’t been laid in six months.


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