Raw Exposure (21 page)
“No. You get to safety. I’ll distract him.”
“I willna leave ya, Reeve.”
Tearing his gaze from the approaching Miles, he stared down at her. “Yes, you will. This isn’t up for debate, Affrica O’Shea. You will run.”
“He may shoot ya.”
“Better me than you.” He kissed her hard and fast, pouring everything he felt—all the things he didn’t have time to say to her—into it. “Ready?” He allowed her to slide out from under him.
“Nae.”
“Good. I love you, Affrica. I just wanted you to know.”
“You dinna get to say such words to me now, Reeve. You say them proper when there be no danger.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He took one more look at her. “Go!”
They jumped up simultaneously, and he ran directly for Miles, who seemed startled by his action. The man hesitated before lifting his pistol and firing. Reeve swore as the shot hit him in the upper thigh, and he stumbled. As he went down, he saw Miles fly backward as if something jerked him. It took Reeve a moment to realize it was courtesy of the bullets which thudded into the other man.
He peered over his shoulder to see the four SEALs running toward him. Hondo stopped at his sister’s side, and they hugged. Then, she whirled around and headed straight back for Reeve.
Scott reached him first. “I thought I told you to stay in the vehicle.”
He winced as his brother poked at the wound. “I never was good at following your orders, Scott.”
“Reeve!” Affrica skidded to the ground beside him. “He shot ya! Are ya all right?” She kissed him repeatedly.
“It’s a flesh wound, Affrica. Stop embarrassing the man.”
Reeve looked up to see Hondo standing there, staring down at the two of them. The man gave him a nod, one Maverick echoed. He returned it to both of the males.
“I’m fine, Affrica,” he assured her. “I’ll be just fine.”
“Out of the way, Affrica. We should get him to a hospital.” Her brother spoke in his usual commanding way.
Maverick and Hondo each took a side and helped Reeve up. Affrica went with Scott and Dimitri, leaving the very dead body of Miles Horne behind them. Reeve glanced back and forth between the two helping him.
“Does this mean I get to call you brother?”
Both men grumbled but didn’t say anything. He chuckled despite the pain in his body. Once in the SUV, Affrica held his hand as Dimitri wrapped his wound. Scott called the cops, and Hondo glared. Maverick seemed to have some humor in his expression.
“Ya were saying something out there ta me, Reeve. Did ya mean it?”
Taking his attention from the four men around them, he focused on the woman. Smoothing some of her hair from her dirty cheek, he nodded.
“Every single word of it. I love you, Affrica. I want to marry you. Make your brother an uncle. Bring another into the family. Know that you’re mine and let the world know that I’m yours. I was a cold man before you exposed me to the truth of what I wanted. You. Everything about you. I know I’m not the best—“
Her kiss silenced him. “I love ya, too, Reeve Leighton. Nothing else need be said right now.” She pressed her mouth to his again.
“Come on now, enough,” Hondo complained.
He opened his eyes to see Affrica waving off her sibling. Scott winked at him and slapped Hondo on the back. “Welcome to the family.”
Reeve allowed his lids to lower again, shutting them out. There would be time enough later to deal with them. Right now, he had all he needed. Affrica.
Affrica tucked some wayward strands back behind her ear and readjusted her pull-on beanie cap. Flexing her fingers, she blinked as the wind picked up and sent more of the piercing cold into her face.
“Are you sure this is what you wanted to do for your honeymoon?”
With a grin she met her husband’s gaze. Husband. She’d actually married Reeve Leighton.
“Aye. Are ya not havin’ fun?”
“Oh, I’m having a blast. I just thought you might want to sit on a beach on some island somewhere, not come hiking up in the snow-covered Himalayas.”
She shrugged. “Ya should know me better than that by now.”
He nodded. “I should.”
Reeve made it to her side and slipped an arm around her waist. “Thank you,” he said in her ear.
“For?”
“Marrying me.”
“It wasna a hardship, Reeve. Stop lettin’ mah brother tease ya about it.”
“Ready to go back?”
She stood there, overlooking one of the most stunning of views, the man she loved more than anything at her side.
My world is perfect.
“Aye. I have to get some food anyway.”
“Didn’t you just eat?”
“It be your seed growing in mah belly, Reeve. It’s telling me how hungry I am. Do ya ken?”
His laughter warmed her. “Aye, lass. I ken. Come on then. Let me get you back to the hotel and feed you.”
“See ya do.”
They made their way back, and as he held the door for her, she paused and placed her hand along his cheek. “
Tá grá agam duit
.”
He kissed her lips lightly. “I love you, too, Affrica. Always.”
Her contented smile never left her face as they made their way to their room and on to dinner. She hoped it never would. What had started out as a rocky beginning for them had turned into something wonderful and perfect.
Additional books by Aliyah Burke:
Megalodon Team
Haikon
Denim & Spurs
With This Ring (coming late Sept 2014)
Serial
Astral Guardians
Highlands at Dawn (available on Amz in Oct)
Interludes
In Aeternum
Rakes & Rogues
Code of Honour
Born to Fly
Zulu Spectre
Hearth, Holly, & Honor (3 in 1)
Standalone
Dutch & Lobo (in In the Trenches collection)
On the High Seas (in What White Boyz Desire collection)
Love Under the Endless African Sky
Co-written with Taige Crenshaw
Co-written with McKenna Jeffries
Aliyah Burke is an avid reader and is never far from pen and paper (or the computer). She loves to hear from her readers and can be reached
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