Guarding Morgan, page 12
"You said you loved me; I said it back. Then through no fault of yours, I was hurt while you were doing your job. Why do you feel guilty? Because you didn't die? Because you only slowed the bullet? For some reason, you believe this negates any love we may have had. Am I right so far?"
"Morgan—"
Another jab of a finger, and Nik caught the hand in a tight grip. "Don't Morgan me, I will always want you, will always love you. I am so freaking happy the bullet went into my face. Do you know why?" His voice was full of passion.
"Shit. Don't say things like that."
"I'm happy because it meant it hadn't stayed in you. Do you understand that? What is wrong with you, Nik?"
Nik released the hold on Morgan's hand and stared openly at the new scar that puckered the flesh to the left and below Morgan's eye. "Your face," he started, completely unsure of how to tell this man what the scarring meant, how much of a reminder it was of what had gone wrong. Morgan inhaled sharply, and his face changed from anger and confusion to utter hurt.
"Okay, I… I get it. The scar is bad. I can't imagine wanting to look at it either." Then it was his turn to walk away, towards the cabin, the set of his shoulders square and tight.
"Morgan? What the hell? You idiot." Morgan didn't reply, and Nik followed him into the cool shady interior, squinting to see in the sudden change in lighting. He didn't see him in the front room and finally tracked him down to the small kitchen where he found him leaning over the sink, his hands braced on either side of the stainless steel basin. "Morgan?"
"I've kind of gotten used to it. I don't even notice it now, but I get that every time you see it, it would remind you."
Compassion ran through Nik. He was killing himself over this when all he wanted, all he needed, was standing next to him within touching distance. He placed a hand on Morgan's arm, the heat through his shirt a gentle reminder of his lover's warmth.
"How can you not blame me when all I can do is blame myself?"
"Because I am not some freaking idiot," Morgan snapped.
Could it be this easy? Was merely knowing Morgan didn't think he could have done anything else enough to let him forgive himself? Morgan tilted his head to face him, a wry smile on his face.
"I don't blame anyone, Nik, least of all you. You saved my life. And I say again, you are one huge fucking idiot. I don't fall in love on a whim. In fact, I have never been in love. For me this could well be my forever. I want it to be your forever, too." Nik's heart snapped wide open at those words. All the love, affection, and lust rose to the fore with a vengeance. Maybe Morgan was right. Maybe he could push past this idiotic bullshit that swirled in his head. Carefully Nik repositioned Morgan until his lover was against the wall, and he waited until Morgan's expression changed from shock to a smile. Nik gently traced the scar on his face with his lips, the texture strange to touch. He knew the puckered skin on his shoulder would feel similar. Morgan slid his hands up to circle Nik's neck. It was familiar and perfect.
"I love you, Morgan. I don't want anyone else. I'll work through the bullshit in my head. You'll just have to give me time."
"I'm still having dreams," Morgan said gently. "They only stopped in the cabin when I slept with you. I need more of that. I can help you; you can help me."
"So you want to team up and find out more about Elisabeth?" Nik asked carefully, still waiting for the axe to fall.
"I do."
"I'm guessing Dale told you he is part of the team working on the Bullen case?" Nik had to get this out in the open; Morgan was too involved in all of this not to be briefed.
"He told me."
"They want him working the case officially."
"Did he decide what he was going to do?"
"I'm not sure. I stopped listening to him in the car." Nik didn’t explain why and thankfully Morgan took it at face value. He tightened his grip on the back of Nik's head and drew him closer for a kiss. They stood that way for a long time, and then finally, Morgan pulled back.
"Did you know this place has a waterfall and a lake?" he asked with a devious smile.
"I remember from the plans," Nik replied, and then immediately knew where this was going and steeled himself for the begging.
"Hey, tough guy." Morgan grinned widely.
"What?"
"Wanna go swimming?"
Read the next book in the Sanctuary series - The Only Easy Day
What’s Next in Sanctuary?
The Only Easy Day (#2)
The Only Easy Day
Dale MacIntyre, former Navy SEAL, works for Sanctuary. He’s the acting handler for a member of the Bullen family’s inner circle. He’s close to obtaining the evidence he needs to prove Elisabeth Costain's death was ordered by them… until someone gets in his way.
Joseph Kinnon, active Navy SEAL, is back on US soil for the first time in months, and he’s told the tragic news that his stepsister is dead, gunned down in an alley by an unknown assailant. He’s determined to find out who murdered her…until someone gets in his way.
They both want the same thing but have different methods of accomplishing their goals. They both want the Bullen family brought to account, but one wants justice and the other wants revenge. What happens between them, however, has nothing to do with either.
The Only Easy Day
Face Value (#3)
Face Value
Beckett Jamieson, AKA Robert Bullen, has been rescued by Sanctuary from a situation in which he nearly died and is left temporarily blind.
Doctor Kayden Summers is the Sanctuary operative assigned to look out for him.
It soon becomes clear Beckett is the key to evidence left by his mom. Evidence that may well destroy the Bullen family. The two men become involved in a critical retrieval situation and when bullets start to fly there is only one thing between Beckett and death. Kayden.
Face Value
Heroes
A Reason To Stay
Last Marine Standing
Deacon’s Law
A Reason to Stay (Heroes, 1)
It takes a Navy SEAL's training to keep them alive, but when the mystery on the mountain is solved, will Viktor and Aiden's love story survive the fallout?
Viktor left small-town Vermont to become a Navy SEAL and had no intention of tying himself down or falling in love. A succession of men and women share his bed, passion and danger are his addictions, and he's the first of his team to run headlong into trouble. When his nephew witnesses a murder, Viktor returns home to protect his family and lands in the middle of an active case led by none other than the man he left behind. He can handle getting punched out by Aiden, but teaming up with the sheriff to find a killer is not on the cards. For Viktor, love is dangerous, makes a man vulnerable, and one mistake could get Aiden killed.
Aiden never expected to find lasting love with a decorated active SEAL, but he didn't expect Viktor would leave his bed never to return. Even two years later, disappointment simmers below the surface, and he never wants to see Viktor again. But, when seemingly unrelated deaths draw Viktor back home, Aiden has to find a way for them to work together despite their past. With Viktor's training and Aiden's local knowledge, they partner to work the case, but Aiden isn't just fighting the bad guys and mother nature; he's falling in love with a man who will surely leave him again.
What links the string of deaths in the Green Mountains? Can hate and distrust turn back to love? And if they make it down from the mountain alive, can Aiden persuade Viktor he has a reason to stop running from love?
Shadow Team
How Much for the Whole Night
How Much for a Broken Heart
How Much for a Life of Lies
How Much For The Whole Night?
A seductive stranger gives Josh everything he wants, but one night of lust could get them both killed.
Driven by a combination of alcohol-induced recklessness and an overwhelming desire for something real, Josh ventures into a dark and seedy bar and lusts after a sexy, enigmatic hooker. When Josh negotiates a price for one night of pleasure he can’t know that when his time with Ethan is over, he'll be left shattered and forever changed by the encounter. Fleeing with his son is the only means of ensuring their survival amidst the chaos of what comes next, and there’s only one man he can trust to keep them safe.
A hooker who isn’t a hooker at all.
Ethan is on the brink of completing a covert operation that will enable him to infiltrate a human trafficking ring. Yet, when his conscience clashes with his mission, Ethan disobeys orders, jeopardizing everything he's worked for. Forced to escape, he takes Josh and his son, but he has nowhere to go, and now, their only hope lies in seeking refuge in an isolated safe house far from prying eyes.
Protecting Josh, Ben, and a tuxedo cat called Oreo, is Ethan's priority. Only he has no choice but to resume his undercover role, and he must leave Josh and Ben behind.
When a gun is pointed at his head, his final thought is that he’s lost everything that matters; can he make it home to his new family? Or will he have to die to protect the people he loves?
Single Dads
The Single Dads Series
Single | Today | Promise | Always
Listen | Pride | Miracle | Rainbow
Single (Single Dads 1)
Reeling from the painful rejection of a man he thought he loved, Asher is left holding the baby.
Ash wants a family and is determined to continue with a surrogacy he’d begun with his ex. Bringing baby Mia home, he vows that he will be the best father he can be. Nothing in this world matters more to him than caring for his daughter, not even accidentally falling in lust with the doctor next door. Challenged by his growing attraction to Sean, and confronted by painful memories of his family, Ash has to learn that love is all that matters.
When ER doctor Sean moves in with his friends next door to sexy single father Ash, he falls so quickly it takes his breath away. The sex they have is hot, but Ash is adamant his heart is too full with love for his daughter to let anyone else in. Why is Sean the only one who sees how scared Ash is, and how can he prove to his new lover that he desperately wants the three of them to become a family?
http://rjscott.co.uk/read-single
Single Dads Series
The Single Dads Series can be read as standalone, but some characters will appear in other stories :)
Single | Today | Promise | Always
Listen | Pride | Miracle
Texas & Legacy
Texas (Cowboy, Rancher, Millionaire, Family)
The Heart of Texas | Texas Winter | Texas Heat | Texas Family | Texas Christmas | Texas Fall | Texas Wedding | Texas Gift | Home For Christmas
Legacy (spin-off from Texas series)
Kyle | Gabriel | Daniel
The Heart Of Texas (Texas 1)
Bachelor Riley is looking forward to two things: running his father’s successful company and staying single forever. But when suddenly he’s required to marry in order to receive his inheritance, Riley convinces rival Jack into marrying him for one year…
Riley Hayes, the playboy of the Hayes family, is a young man who seems to have it all: money, a career he loves, and his pick of beautiful women. His father, CEO of HayesOil, passes control of the corporation to his two sons; but a stipulation is attached to Riley's portion. Concerned about Riley's lack of maturity, his father requires that Riley 'marry and stay married for one year to someone he loves'.
Angered by the requirement, Riley seeks a means of bypassing his father's stipulation. Blackmailing Jack Campbell into marrying him "for love" suits Riley's purpose. There is no mention in his father's documents that the marriage had to be with a woman and Jack Campbell is the son of Riley Senior's arch-rival. Win-win.
Riley marries Jack and abruptly his entire world is turned inside out. Riley hadn't counted on the fact that Jack Campbell, quiet and unassuming rancher, is a force of nature in his own right.
This is a story of murder, deceit, the struggle for power, lust and love, the sprawling life of a rancher and the whirlwind existence of a playboy. But under and through it all, as Riley learns over the months, this is a tale about family and everything that that word means.
The Heart of Texas
Lancaster Falls (Romantic Suspense)
What Lies Beneath
Without a Trace
All That Remains
What Lies Beneath (Lancaster Falls 1)
In the hottest summer on record, Iron Lake reservoir is emptying, revealing secrets that were intended to stay hidden beneath the water. The tragic story of a missing man is a media sensation, and abruptly the writer and the cop falling in love is just a postscript to horrors neither could have imagined.
Best Selling Horror writer Chris Lassiter struggles for inspiration and he’s close to never writing again. His life has become an endless loop of nothing but empty pages, personal appearances, and a marketing machine that is systematically destroying his muse. In a desperate attempt to force Chris to complete unfinished manuscripts his agent buys a remote cabin. All Chris has to do is hide away and write, but he’s lost his muse, and not even he can make stories appear from thin air.
Sawyer Wiseman left town for Chicago, chasing the excitement and potential of being a big city cop, rising the ranks, and making his mark. A case gone horribly wrong draws him back to Lancaster Falls. Working for the tiny police department in the town he’d been running from, digging into cold cases and police corruption, he spends his day's healing, and his nights hoping the nightmares of his last case leave him alone.
What Lies Beneath
Whisper Ridge, Wyoming (Cowboys)
Winter Cowboy
Summer Drifter
Spring Rains
Into the Fall
Winter Cowboy (Wyoming 1)
Micah and Daniel loved each other; until a devastating tragedy tore them apart. But when they both return to Whisper Ridge, they gain a chance to heal old wounds if hate turns to love... an intense and emotional romance.
Micah Lennox left Whisper Ridge after promising the man he loved that he would never return. But the only way he knows to keep his pregnant sister and nephew safe is to go home. Spending winter in Wyoming opens too many old wounds, but he's on the run from justice which can't be far behind, and this is his last chance at redemption.
After a hostage situation leaves Doctor Daniel Sheridan struggling with PTSD, he returns to Whisper Ridge. Joining his dad in family practice is a balm to soothe his exhausted soul, and somehow, he finds a peace he can live with. That is until he meets Micah in a frozen graveyard, and the years of anger and feelings of betrayal boiling inside him, erupt.
Micah and Daniel have a past that was destroyed by lies and tragedy, and even if hate could turn to love, will Micah stay at Whisper Ridge?
Montana
Crooked Tree Ranch
The Rancher’s Son
A Cowboy’s Home
Snow In Montana
Second Chance Ranch
Montana Sky
Crooked Tree Ranch (Montana 1)
The cowboy, the man from the city, and the ranch where hate turns to love, and family is everything.
Amidst the chaos of his crumbling life, Jay seizes the opportunity to apply for a marketing role at a dude ranch in Montana. Leaving New York behind, he embarks on a fresh start at Crooked Tree Ranch. However, the infuriating cowboy who constantly challenges him begins to stir up more than just frustration. Falling for the gruff cowboy shocks Jay, but when kisses turn to more, could love be possible?
Nate, a former rodeo star and the ranch's foreman, has been shouldering the responsibility for five years after his mentor fell ill. Encouraged by his brothers and determined to keep the ranch thriving, Nate realizes the necessity of bringing in an expert to propel the business forward. Yet, when the new arrival arrives with a troubled family, Nate is caught off guard by the magnitude of the challenges they bring. As he and Jay work together to transform the ranch, Nate finds himself unexpectedly drawn to the charming city guy.
Against the backdrop of the Montana mountains and in saving Crooked Tree Ranch, Nate and Jay fall in love, one kiss at a time.
Crooked Tree Ranch | The Rancher’s Son | A Cowboy’s Home | Snow In Montana | Second Chance Ranch | Montana Sky
Hockey from RJ Scott & VL Locey
When hockey wunderkind Tennant Rowe meets his new coach, he knows he’s in trouble. Jared Madsen is nine years older than Tennant, impossibly attractive, and — worst of all — his brother’s off-limits best friend. Is their chemistry worth the risk?
Changing Lines (Railers 1)
Can Tennant show Jared that age is just a number, and that love is all that matters?
The Rowe Brothers are famous hockey hotshots, but as the youngest of the trio, Tennant has always had to play against his brothers’ reputations. To get out of their shadows, and against their advice, he accepts a trade to the Harrisburg Railers, where he runs into Jared Madsen. Mads is an old family friend and his brother’s one-time teammate. Mads is Tennant’s new coach. And Mads is the sexiest thing he’s ever laid eyes on.
