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  HER SAVIOR (A Rescue Series Novella; Book 2)

  © Copyright 2018 Barbara Shuler

  Published by Barbara Shuler

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  This is a work of fiction which is only recommended for those 18 and older due to violence, strong language and adult content. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), places or actual events is purely coincidental.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it to the seller and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  Cover Art: Nathan Hainline Photography

  Cover Model: Nathan Hainline

  Cover Art Design by: Opium House Creatives

  Edited by: Mindy Seal & Emily Maynard

  Formatted by: Tattered Quill Designs

  Also by Barb Shuler

  Shattered Lives Series

  My Own Nightmare

  Somewhere I Belong

  Shatter Me Whole

  Sparks Of Deception

  Living In Your Hell

  The Cowboy Way Series

  Wrangled By Love

  A Rescue Series Novella

  A Marshal’s Courage

  Primal Darkness

  Harmony Duets

  Finding Harmony

  Through The Eyes Of Madness

  (Co-written with KA Graham)

  Shifting Shadows

  Anthologies

  Dirty Fairy Tales - What Big Teeth

  The Parlour: All Access - Ultimate Control

  Coloring Books

  Shaded With Love: A coloring Book for a Cause Volume 5

  This story is dedicated to the men and women who

  fight everyday for our freedom.

  God Bless You!

  Acknowledgments

  To my girls (and beta team) - Emily Maynard, Jennifer Amerson, Kelly Graham, Annie Anderson, Mindy Seal and Jade Lindaas - Thank you for your undying support. You are all rockstars and as always, none of this could be done without you.

  Thank you Shari and Josh Ryan for helping make sure a few of my fine details were just right! Y’all rock!

  A special thanks to my family for all of your support. It means the world to me.

  To all those that serve this great country; family, friends, neighbors, and even strangers, thank you. Without out your fearlessness and willingness to put your life on the line for us all, we wouldn’t be the land of the Free! Much love!

  To my fabulous cover designer, Sarah Paige and to my formatter, Annie Anderson, thank you both for making this perfect for me in the small window we had. Y’all rock my socks off!

  All Gave Some, Some Gave All

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Epilogue

  Flashpoint Sneak Peek

  HER SAVIOR ~ PLAYLIST

  About the Author

  Prologue

  There are moments in your life that make you take a step back, level a look at the things you’re doing, and decide that something needs to change. My life isn’t always simple or easy. Far from it. It’s more like an eight second bull ride that never ends. You have to get your toes turned into that bull, and no matter how many times he bucks and kicks, you have to hang on for dear life, or you’ll be crushed by his weight.

  My life is not my own. It belongs to the great country we live in. I’ve pledged to protect it no matter what, even if that means making the ultimate sacrifice. Each day with each new mission, I could be putting not only my life on the line, but those of my team. We’re brothers, family, and we take care of each other, but accidents happen. As with anything in life, it only takes one second to take you from standing on your own two feet, to laying on your ass.

  Today was a good example of the chaos and destruction my life could bring to us all. This incident - I’m still not quite sure what happened - had me wondering if I was going to be able to make it back home, back to the girl who owned my heart. We had been through so much over the last few months, and I wasn’t ready to give up on that. I wasn’t going to let that happen. I wanted her, a house of our own and the two point five kids that everyone dreams of. The American Dream.

  As I lay here, my body wracked with bone crushing pain, people moving around me while my ears ring, all I can think of is her. I want to be able to see my girl, my sweet Avery, again. She needs to know that I love her and that I want to make her mine, forever. The ring I bought for her while we were away on a training gig in Albany, Georgia, which happened to be only a few weeks after we’d gotten home from a tour overseas, is burning a proverbial hole in my pocket.

  The feelings I’d had for her as a horny, irrationally acting teenager multiplied the moment I saw her again for the first time in years. It was her touch that I craved right now, the touch that made me want to drop to my knees and beg her to be mine forever. I hoped I’d get to feel that touch against my skin again.

  I’ve never been big on asking for anything, for myself, in prayers until now. It was all I could do to push back the anguish and pain to get the thoughts and whispered words out.

  I just needed the chance to prove to her, in the best possible way, that I was serious about us and that she would be my forever. First, I just had to make it home in relatively one piece.

  1

  Avery

  My fingers tapped against the keyboard in the Nelson’s garage office. The music filtering in through the bays was almost enough to calm my nerves. Almost. I’d been here for about two hours hanging out with my bestie, Randilyn, and secretly doing some of the paperwork that was stacked sky high on the desk. She was a great mechanic, but girlfriend sucked when it came to paperwork. She’d always say, “my fingers can work a wrench, but that box of bolts is a pain in my ass”. It would make us all laugh. She is a super smart girl, but technology took too much for her to worry with it sometimes. Unless it was one of those computer things for the cars and stuff. That she had no trouble with. I think she just didn’t want to learn.

  I loved my best friend, I really did. She was the friend other people wished they had. She wasn’t one to bite her tongue. Unlike me, she told you what was on her mind whether you wanted to hear it or not - even when she shouldn’t.

  Though, in her defense, she got that from her daddy, Reggie, and her Uncle Kenny. They’d both been in the NASCAR circuit as mechanics so their openness came from that. No sense in bullshitting when things could be said flat out and the job done. Randilyn’s lack of motivation to get the job in the office done was her daddy’s fault too. He usually came in to handle the paperwork, but that’s not saying much either. This place was a disaster even with his help.

  He and Kenny were out of town right now, having gone to some sort of reunion with their old NASCAR buddies. That meant, while the old roosters were out to play,
the paperwork would get even more behind. I freely admitted, more than once, that I was no accountant and had no idea what any of this stuff was, but I still knew the program from the time a few summers back that I worked here.

  It had been the summer Randilyn took the shop over. Reggie had been overworked, stressed and he’d had a heart attack, which meant he’d had to take a step back and let someone else stress over this stuff. It was a hard time for us all.

  He was the dad we all wanted. Having lost my mom when I was about six, meant I lost my dad too. Not being able to remember much about her sucked.

  That was when my dad, Benjamin, started drinking so much. Randilyn and her family, Reggie especially, had always been there for me when things were not so good at home. Thankfully, not many people knew what was really going on behind closed doors.

  I grabbed another invoice from the never ending pile, put in the part number, the price and the price they were actually charging. This was a lot of work, but right now Randilyn was working seven days a week, so it’s the least I could do. Right? I mean, I had nothing else to do today.

  Okay, so that’s a lie. Not completely, but yeah, a lie still the same. I was also here hiding from my ex. Seems that no one had ever told him to go fuck off before. The sleazy, rich bastard thought he could buy himself in and out of everything. I laid my head on the desk as tears formed in my eyes. The night I walked into my condo to find him in the throes of passion with some drunken slut, my world tipped on its axis. My heart broke, then my anger skyrocketed. It had only been a few months, but the wounds were still so fresh.

  I knew something was off the moment I walked in the door. His suit jacket and pants were laying across the chair, his loafers had been kicked haphazardly across the floor, and there were a pair of woman’s stilettos - that were not mine, mind you - beside them. I followed the sounds down the hall and into my bedroom. Some blonde bimbo was bouncing up and down on him like she was the last bull rider in Texas.

  At first, I was so hurt I felt sick. My stomach churned and I fought to keep myself upright. Then, his eyes met mine and the asshole had the nerve to smirk at me. That’s the moment my anger took over. I walked out of the room, down the hall and out to the front room of the condo. I kept a crowbar - a gift from Randilyn - behind my front door in case I needed to protect myself. Well, the devil made an appearance on my shoulder, and I listened. I grabbed the crowbar, flung the door open and hauled my ass out to the parking lot.

  There it sat, Melvin’s little sports car. I lost it then. The neighbors called the cops when they heard the yelling and the bellowing car alarm.

  Needless to say, I’d gotten into a little trouble that night. Lucky for me, the Sheriff just happens to be one of my Dad’s fishin’ buddies, and didn’t care for Melvin anymore than I did at the moment. I had to pay to fix Melvin’s busted windshield, and the two mirrors that I broke, but it was worth it. The satisfaction I got from using that crowbar against his prissy little sports car was amazing. Amazing, I tell you.

  The freedom, or I guess I could say the thrill, I felt as I swung that fucker as hard as I could was liberating. The crack of the glass and the fiberglass crumbling under my swings as the mirrors broke, was the perfect therapy. Who needs a therapist? I used all of the times he’d hit me, or told me how stupid I was, to fuel the burning anger inside of me. I could have done that to his sorry ass, but he’s not worth going to jail.

  “Son of a three legged whore!” I heard a loud crash accompanied by Randilyn’s, ever so colorful choice of words coming from out in the garage. I pushed back from the desk and moved out into the garage. “Cock suckers!”

  I laughed at the sight before me. There Randilyn was, bent over, her head buried in the engine of some guy’s truck.

  “What’s with the swearing, Cracker Jack?” I said as I slipped to the side of the truck. It was one of those trucks with a massive lift kit that makes a girl wonder what the man behind the wheel is compensating for. In this case, it must be some serious compensating. Randilyn’s feet were up on the guys front bumper, legs parted slightly for balance as she worked.

  “Someone was tinkering in here and has stripped the fucking bolts. Asswipes! I swear, I don’t know why the good Lord gave men brains, they sure as hell never use them.”

  I laughed and tried to stand on my tip toes but there was no way that was working. I barely stood level with where the real tires should be. Man. Men and their egos. I moved over to grab the three foot step ladder she kept in here and climbed up to see what she was doing. I leaned against the truck and made a face. She was covered in grease, which I’ll be honest, was kind of gross. And no, I’m not some overly prissy, afraid to break a nail or get dirty kind of girl, but engine grease was just gross. And it smelled funny.

  “Hand me the socket wrench, would ya? And the three-eighths bit for it. It’s on the bench,” she’d said.

  “Sure,” I said, already climbing down. What the hell was a socket wrench again? Oh, I remembered. I moved to the bench and found the wrench with no issue, but what was a three-eighths bit? I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth as I grabbed what I hoped was the right thing and climbed back up. “Here, babe. I think that’s it.”

  She took it and a minute later was cursing up a storm again. “Ave,” her voice filtered from under the engine. Why she always left the last letters off my name, I will never know. It used to annoy me but now, it was just what everyone called me. I guess adding on the ‘ry’ was too much when you were in a hurry. “This ain’t the one. I need three-eighth’s, not the half inch, cracker.” I grimaced at grabbing the wrong one, laughed at the stupid nickname we gave each other years ago, and climbed back down. Which one was it?

  “I’ll find it,” I grumbled. I stood there frowning as I looked over the massive workbench, and the two opened multi-drawer tool carts, and my mind chose then to replay the last time I wasn’t able to do what was asked of me. Not that it was my fault. The sound of his hand slapping against my cheek made my breath pick up its pace.

  It had been one night when Melvin had been out with his friends. He’d come over late, with alcohol on his breath. He wanted in my pants, or better yet, he wanted to shove that little pecker of his down my throat. That was a no go. He talked down to me, told me I was nothing to him but a hole to warm his dick in. I was affronted and had told him to go fuck himself, because I wasn’t going to do it.

  The heat that flared through my face from the next blow only served to drown out my racing heart. I had struggled to get free of him, to run away until he got the point or until he sobered up.

  “Melvin! Get away from me!” I had screamed, but as usual, it did no good. His hands grabbed at my top, jerking me closer to his body. I kicked, slapped and bit to no avail. His hands caused my body pain with each hit.

  “You will do as I say, bitch. You are mine. No one else will ever treat you any better!” The spittle flew from his mouth as he spoke. It was just another disgusting act of his.

  My arms clutched the sides of my top as I hugged myself. I tried to push the panic away. It swamped me. That night had shown me I wasn’t as tough as I had thought. He’d left me half naked, bruised, sore and regretting ever getting involved with him in the first place. However, he left sore and bruised himself. And he never got into my pants… though it was close at one point. My knee to his jewels had stopped everything.

  I’d stayed locked away in my apartment for a week after that. I’d had to lie and say I had the flu, and I’m pretty sure the fact that Randilyn told me I was full of shit meant I hadn’t fooled her. But there was no visible evidence of any wrongdoing when I did surface. I made sure of that.

  I heard my name being called then a pair of strong arms were wrapped around me, and my nose was flooded with a scent that had my heart thundering for a different reason. I knew that aftershave or cologne. I wasn’t sure which it was, but it smelled manly.

  “Hey, calm down, babe. What’s wrong? Randilyn, what did you do to her?”

  “
I didn’t do anything to her, asshole,” she ground out. I felt fingers skim my cheeks and I realized I had a wet face. Traitorous dang tears!

  “Avery, look at me, sweetheart.” Brenton’s voice seemed to wrap me in warmth. I managed to comply and raised my eyelids to meet his worried gaze. “Hi,” he said, a tight smile pulling at his lips.

  “Hi,” I replied lamely. Something in his eyes, and his embrace, made my body calm instantly. Good grief.

  2

  Brenton

  I was so damn glad to be back in town. I missed this place. Who knew I’d happily trade one kind of sand for another. Being home meant the beach, the sun, and the freedom to do fuck all, at least for a while. I’d been taking advantage of that fact yesterday, well, last night, when I had a little accident. I’d forgotten about the big ditch on the outskirts of the dunes on Poplar Beach. Things didn’t go as bad as they could have, but the day was still young.

  I was heading to my cousin’s garage now to get my damn Jeep looked at and fixed. Randilyn was gonna rip me a new one. I was a little scared of what she was going to say, or do. The Jeep had been with her while I was gone, and it ran perfectly, now that I was back and it was in my hands again, there were issues. The woman was crazy, but I loved her to death. She was the sister I never had. God knows, after her, I couldn’t handle having another sister.