SEALs of Honor: Mason (20 page)
Read SEALs of Honor: Mason Online
Authors: Dale Mayer
“Oh, programming software to save lives?” Mason asked in a mocking voice. “Well, you’ll get a lot of time to think about how she beat you out in all those categories too because you’re going away for a long time.”
“I’m going nowhere.” Daniel lunged upward and slid a knife out toward Mason.
The single bullet went through his forehead and blew out the back of his brain.
Silence reigned.
Mason spun around to see Swede, a shocked look on his face stare down at the woman in his arms. And his gun that she’d snatched from his shoulder holster was still pointed at the fallen man.
“Jesus, Tesla.” Mason raced to her side.
She held the gun up for Swede to put away, and whispered, “If we wipe my prints off, no one will know I did that, right?”
Swede cast a long look in her direction then another around at the dozen or so people converging on them and shook his head. “You could try that line. Not sure it’s going to work though.”
“Damn.”
Mason stood in front of her and glared. He couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. And she had the nerve to lift her nose into the air and cling to Swede’s arm.
As if he’d protect her from Mason’s wrath.
“Do you ever do the expected,” he exclaimed.
“What? I was supposed to let him kill you? Besides, Swede’s arms were a little busy,” she snapped. Her face turned crafty. “Basically, we could just say he used me to shoot Daniel.”
“Whoa, leave me out of it,” Swede protested.
Mason groaned. He turned away and ran his fingers through his hair as he stared at the rest of the team now surrounding them. They all wore big grins.
“It’s definitely time,” Hawk said, smirking.
“Time for what?”
“Time to tell us if you’re keeping her,” Swede said from behind him. “Cause if you aren’t then I am.”
“Hell no, I am,” Hawk snarled.
Cooper spoke up behind them. “Uhm, if we’re placing bids…”
“No. This field is closed.” Hawk shook his head at his old friend. “And you were too damn late.”
“It’s too damn late for all of you,” snarled Mason, his voicing thundering as he added, “I’m keeping her.”
Silence.
And he turned around, a frown on his livid face. “Now if only she’d stop going missing!”
Chapter 28
T
ESLA STARED AT
Mason, the several comments she’d barely caught now blasting back into her memory. They were talking about him and how he felt about her. She didn’t know what to say. Everyone stared at her. Everyone waited for her.
For what?
To tell him she was happy to be kept. Hell no, she wasn’t. But she was happy to know he wanted to keep her.
It would be nicer if he wasn’t glaring at her like he’d rather have his teeth pulled out one by one rather than have such a discussion. Then again, she had to admit she wasn’t the most open about such things either.
And she hadn’t expected to have this discussion out in the open and surrounded as they were.
Swede gave her a half shake, reminding her she was still in his arms. “Well?”
She ignored his question, her mind consumed with Mason’s outburst. When he shook her again, she had to wonder why he was still holding her? Right. Drugs. She wasn’t able to stand. Or was she?
With Swede’s help, she slowly lowered herself to her feet and rested there for a moment. Happy to feel her feet hold her stable, but still hanging onto Swede, she took the few steps to Mason’s side and said, “You might
want
to keep me, but you’ve done a piss poor job of doing so up to now.”
The others cracked up.
Mason stared her, guilt written all over his face. “I know. I’m so damn sorry.”
“That’s okay. You have the rest of our lives to make up for it.”
And she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Like, she laid it on him. When she released him and he wavered slightly, still grasping for balance, she turned to the others. “Just so we know who’s going to be keeping who.”
The group rushed forward, and laughing.
Mason reached through the crowd and said in a dark silky voice, “If you’re going to kiss me, you’d better do it right.”
And he tugged her gently back into his arms and kissed her long, hard and sinfully deep – while the others cheered. The waves of noise rolled over her head, but she was blind to everything but Mason. His love and joy and heat, and the response coiling inside of her.
God she loved this man.
She felt him start and realized she’d whispered that against his lips.
“Love you back, Tesla,” he murmured and crushed his lips to hers.
When he lifted his head, a smile of male satisfaction surfing his lips, he looked down at her sagging in his arms and whispered, “We can keep this up for a long time, or…we can go back to your place, after all you need to rest and heal, and we can take this to the next level in private.”
She smiled up at him. “Now that’s the best idea I’ve heard all day.”
This concludes Book 1 of SEALs of Honor: Mason.
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading Mason: SEALs of Honor, Book 1! If you enjoyed the book, please take a moment and leave a short review
here
.
Dear reader,
I love to hear from readers, and you can contact me at my website:
www.dalemayer.com
or at my
Facebook author page
. To be informed of new releases and special offers, sign up for
my newsletter
. And if you are interested in joining my street team, here is the
Facebook sign up page
.
Cheers,
Dale Mayer
Adult RS/thriller
Death had touched anthropologist Jade Hansen in Haiti once before, costing her an unborn child and perhaps her very sanity.
A year later, determined to face her own issues, she returns to Haiti with a mortuary team to recover the bodies of an American family from a mass grave. Visiting his brother after the quake, independent contractor Dane Carter puts his life on hold to help the sleepy town of Jacmel rebuild. But he finds it hard to like his brother’s pregnant wife or her family. He wants to go home, until he meets Jade – and realizes what’s missing in his own life. When the mortuary team begins work, it’s as if malevolence has been released from the earth. Instead of laying her ghosts to rest, Jade finds herself confronting death and terror again.
And the man who unexpectedly awakens her heart – is right in the middle of it all.
By Death Series
Touched by Death – Part 1 –
FREE
This is book 1 of the Family Blood Ties Saga
Blood doesn’t just make her who she is…it also makes her what she is.
Like being a sixteen-year-old vampire isn’t hard enough, Tessa’s throwback human genes make her an outcast among her relatives. But try as she might, she can’t get a handle on the vampire lifestyle and all the…blood.
Turning her back on the vamp world, she embraces the human teenage lifestyle—high school, peer pressure and finding a boyfriend. Jared manages to stir something in her blood. He’s smart and fun and oh, so cute. But Tessa’s dream of a having the perfect boyfriend turns into a nightmare when vampires attack the movie theatre and kidnap her date.
Once again, Tessa finds herself torn between the human world and the vampire one. Will blood own out? Can she make peace with who she is as well as what?
Warning: This book ends with a cliffhanger! Book 2 picks up where this book ends.
Family Blood Ties Series
Sian’s Solution – A Family Blood Ties Short Story
Dani’s been through a year of hell…
Just as it’s getting better, she’s tossed forward through time with her orange Persian cat, Charmin Marvin, clutched in her arms. They’re dropped into a few centuries into the future. There’s nothing she can do to stop it, and it’s impossible to go back.
And then it gets worse…
A year of government regulation is easing, and Levi Blackburn is feeling back in control. If he can keep his reckless brother in check, everything will be perfect. But while he’s been protecting Milo from the government, Milo’s been busy working on a present for him…
The present is Dani, only she comes with a snarky cat who suddenly starts talking…and doesn’t know when to shut up.
In an age where breaking protocols have severe consequences, things go wrong, putting them all in danger…
Charmin Marvin Romantic Comedy Series
About the Author
Dale Mayer is a USA Today bestselling author best known for her Psychic Visions and Family Blood Ties series. Her contemporary romances are raw and full of passion and emotion (Second Chances, SKIN), her thrillers will keep you guessing (By Death series), and her romantic comedies will keep you giggling (It’s a Dog’s Life and Charmin Marvin Romantic Comedy series).
