Rekindled, a Christmas Novella Read online

  Rekindled

  A Christmas Novella

  Southern SEALs Collection, Book 1

  TRISH DAWSON

  MARLISS MELTON

  A NOTICE TO THE READER/LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY:

  This book is a work of fiction and is a product of the authors’ imaginations or is used fictitiously. Names, characters, and incidents in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the authors and have no relation whatsoever to anyone, living or dead, bearing the same name or names. All incidents are pure invention from the authors’ imagination. Any resemblance to actual events or businesses or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2016 by Marliss Melton and Trish Dawson

  Smashwords Edition

  All rights reserved.

  James-York Press

  Williamsburg, Virginia

  Edited by Sydney Jane Baily

  Cover Design by Dar Dixon

  Print Layout by BB Ebooks

  ISBN-10: 1-938732-19-7

  ISBN-13: 978-1-938732-19-5

  Dedication

  For my brother, W.C. Humbert, retired Technical Sergeant of the U.S. Air Force. Thanks for your nineteen years of dedicated service and your lifetime service as the best brother a girl could have. I love you!

  —Trish

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgements

  Author Bios and Links

  Other Books by Marliss Melton

  Prologue

  In the company of his teammates, Special Operator Alex Morrigan crossed the windy tarmac at the NATO airbase in Incirlik, Turkey, with a spring in his step and a grin on his lean face. The breeze tussling his strawberry blond hair carried the scent of gyros wafting from the town on the other side of the base’s barbed-wire fence. With a deep breath, Alex sealed the exotic fragrance into his memory and then focused on the C-17 Globemaster that would take him and his task unit home.

  Being a SEAL had distinct advantages, he mused. In the span of seven years, he’d experienced life in several different countries—Afghanistan, South America, Paraguay, Somalia, and Turkey. True, they weren’t exactly hotbeds for tourism, but he’d loved how different everything was—the food, the people, the customs.

  Trotting the globe was the biggest plus to being a SEAL. He’d loved every minute of it, even the violence. Liberating hostages and stealing secrets were thrilling events when you were confident your buddy had your back and your plan was flawless.

  Turned out, most of his confidence stemmed from being young and dumb. Watching a teammate lose a limb last August had sobered Alex to the realities of his job. Suddenly, he was all too aware of the dangers lying in wait. His priorities had shifted. After two years of nonstop action, he itched for something far tamer—for home and hearth and everything wholesome and familiar.

  Eagerness to see his family again, his mother and brother, lengthened Alex’s stride as he crossed the tarmac. Hell, the last time he’d even seen his hometown of Edenton, North Carolina, was two long years ago, at this same time of year—Christmas. And the memory of moments he’d spent with Tori Wilde kept him grinning like a fool as he lobbed his fifty-pound duffle bag atop the other bags just like it.

  Honestly, it was the prospect of reconnecting with Tori that had him bounding up the metal stairs and into the plane. During that last Christmas two years ago, they’d mutually agreed to take a break. Trying to maintain a relationship with so many miles between them had been arduous, if not downright painful. Tori had wanted to focus on finishing culinary school and starting up her own business. She’d claimed it took too much out of her every time he left for her to keep her grades up.

  Alex hadn’t wanted to break things off, but he’d had to admit it was only fair that Tori get to experience something of the big bad world, same as he got to do. He could only pray that what she experienced wasn’t too big or too bad and that it didn’t take her away from him forever. Deep down inside, he was certain they belonged together and eventually they’d reunite.

  As the last few months had crept by, he’d grown increasingly eager to put their separation behind them. They’d had all the time they needed to become adults, to test the waters of the real world. He ached for her letters, filled with quirky insights and her plans for the future. Lately, in his dreams, he’d been haunted by her smile and her laughter.

  The fact that he was about to be stationed in Virginia Beach, just ninety minutes from Edenton, made it all the more reasonable for them to reconnect. He’d had his fun. He hoped she’d had hers. From here on out, they were better off together.

  Halfway through the crowded Globemaster, Alex spied an empty seat next to his platoon leader, Sid Woloszynowski. “Hey, Wooly. Mind if I sit here?”

  Aptly nicknamed for his head of white-blond curls—and disliking being called Lieutenant—Wooly kept his eyes on his iPhone. “Go ahead.”

  Dropping into the seat, Alex made himself comfortable and snapped on his seatbelt. The chill in the plane had him fastening the highest button on his BDU jacket then rubbing warmth into his chilled fingers. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Wooly sift through pictures of his girlfriend on a Facebook page.

  “Sir, you’re on Facebook?” He whispered the question since active duty SEALs were discouraged to use social media.

  The second lieutenant cut him an admonishing look. “’Course not. This is Brittany’s page. She gave me her login info so I can see her pictures.”

  “Oh.” Alex wondered what he would see on Tori’s page, assuming she still did Facebook. “Pretty girl,” he added, studying Brittany’s pictures and thinking she didn’t hold a candle to Tori, whose russet hair and big brown eyes made Brittany look all washed out by comparison.

  “Thanks,” Wooly said.

  Curiosity tickled Alex’s imagination as he wondered whether Tori had changed since he’d last seen her. Maybe she’d gained weight running her own bakery—she could afford a few extra pounds. His inquisitive nature got the better of him. “Hey, can I ask you to look someone up?”

  Wooly sighed and handed him his cell phone. “Got a woman back home waiting for you?” He raised his fuzzy blond eyebrows inquiringly.

  “I think so,” Alex answered, typing in Tori’s full name into the Facebook search bar. “We decided to take a break so she could concentrate on finishing school and opening her own bakery.”

  “Riiight.” Wooly drew the word out.

  Alex’s heart began to thump as he skimmed the photos of the numerous Victoria Wilde’s looking for his Tori. Where the hell was she? Maybe if he added in her middle name . . .

  His gaze fell on her photo and shock reverberated through him to see her posing cheek-to-cheek with another man.

  Tapping the picture, Alex opened her page and stared in disbelief. Wooly’s shoulder gouged his upper arm as he leaned in closer to have a look. He slanted Alex a pitying look then sat back in his seat, saying nothing.

  Tori’s profile picture was a punch in the gut. Alex sucked a painful breath into his lungs. What the hell was she doing posing with two-faced Peyton Fischer? Sure, the man looked like a squared-away, civically minded, upstanding citizen, but back in high school Peyton had bullied Alex’s br
other, Joel. Unless he’d changed a hell of a lot in the past five years, he didn’t deserve a woman like Tori.

  Wooly ventured an opinion. “Looks like you’re too late, dude.”

  Alex almost told him where to shove it, but Wooly was an officer, so he bit his tongue and studied Tori’s gorgeous face. She hadn’t gained any weight. Far from it—she looked as slim yet curvy as ever. From the shiny ginger mane of her long hair to the curve of her luscious lips, everything about her reached out and grabbed him. So why the hell was she cuddling up to Peyton and smiling? She was supposed to be missing him, thinking of him, the same way he’d been thinking of her, every day for two long years.

  With a tremor in his hand, he tapped the ABOUT tab. Dread pooled in him as he queried her family and relationship status. Please don’t be married. Please don’t be married.

  IN A RELATIONSHIP.

  He exhaled a shaky breath. A cold sweat filmed his upper lip. Maybe it wasn’t too late to remind her how great life was when they’d had each other. It couldn’t be too late. She was the reason he worked his ass off on the Teams—not just so he could see the world but to prove to her parents that he wasn’t trailer trash, even if he had grown up on the wrong side of town. If she chose Peyton Fischer over him—

  He thrust the thought from his mind and passed Wooly’s phone back to him.

  The lieutenant took it wordlessly.

  Folding his arms across his chest, Alex sank into dark thoughts, scarcely aware that the rotors on the plane had begun to twirl, the twin engines to whine. The Christmas holiday he’d been anticipating for months now shattered like a glass ornament striking a tile floor. His girl had fallen for another.

  His stomach burned. He thought he might throw up.

  Peyton Fischer of all people. How could she do that? How could she fall for that silver-tongued, self-centered prick?

  He had to open her eyes to what she’d be losing if she gave up on them—their perfect chemistry. He would have to blaze back into her life and sweep her off her feet, making her forget all about Peyton Fucking Fischer.

  And who better to drop in out of nowhere and wreak havoc on the status quo than a Navy SEAL?

  “I got this.” He startled himself by speaking the words out loud.

  Wooly turned his head to consider his glowering expression. “Easy day,” he responded, offering Alex just the reassurance he was looking for.

  Alex nodded. “Easy day.” The same flame that had burned in him throughout SEAL training in Coronado crackled inside him anew. That flame had impelled him through Hell Week and made him one of 21 graduates out of an original 206 to make it. There were only twenty-five hundred active duty SEALs in the world, and Alex was one of them. If anyone could win Tori Wilde back, he could.

  Problem was, he had no earthly idea how to proceed.

  Chapter One

  Christmas music jingled out from the iPod sound dock on her kitchen counter. Tori Wilde hummed along with Brenda Lee, sashaying her hips as she worked. The pleasant aromas of baking—brown sugar, vanilla, and freshly peeled apples—filled the ample space at the back of her bakery, and Christmas music never failed to calm her frazzled nerves. Maybe tonight she’d fall asleep and stay asleep for a change.

  She could use all the rest she could get considering how crazy her life had become lately. With the holiday rush in full swing, her workload had tripled, forcing her to stay up late to keep up on her orders. Maintaining her usual menu at Just Desserts was work enough. Add to that, contract obligations for half a dozen Christmas parties and a last-minute plea for two dozen reindeer cupcakes for her niece’s school party, and Tori was a dead woman walking. But she didn’t want to let her niece down, so here she was painstakingly decorating each tiny reindeer with two-toned frosting and a cinnamon candied nose.

  Christmas Eve was less than a week away, which meant the annual family get-together was fast approaching. Fun, fun. Tori wiped her damp palms on her apron and took a deep, calming breath. She could do this. Holidays were supposed to be spent with friends and family and filled with joy.

  Keep telling yourself that, Wilde.

  If she weren’t so different from her family members, get-togethers wouldn’t be so painful. Unfortunately, though Tori was earthy and practical, her family—as much as she loved them—were undeniably pretentious. The only thing she had done lately that hadn’t embarrassed them was to date Peyton Fischer, an upstanding member of the community. He was, in fact, so upstanding that this year he’d been invited to attend her family’s dreaded Christmas Eve dinner. And—oh, God—the odds that he would take the opportunity of her family being present to propose to her in front of everyone were looking pretty good.

  Tori searched herself for a tingle of excitement. Being asked to marry such an eligible bachelor as Peyton ought to make her giddy with anticipation, right? So where was her jubilation, her exhilaration, her ecstatic anticipation?

  Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

  Clearly, she was working too many long hours. She had to be numb with exhaustion—that was it. Any woman in her shoes would be delirious at the thought of having such a suitable, accomplished husband. She was happy. She just couldn’t tell at that moment.

  I mean—come on—Peyton Fischer had assumed the role of president of Edenton Banking at the age of twenty-seven. Sure, that was pretty much because his father had passed away from an unexpected heart attack and the board had nominated Peyton to replace him. That still made him the youngest man in such a prestigious position in all of Chowan County, maybe in the whole state.

  He owned a beautiful home off Water Street, near the Chowan Arts Council, that Tori could totally envision herself living in. He was tall and handsome and his investment savvy seemed to indicate that his success was only likely to grow. He’d already bought up a number of properties in the downtown district, leasing them out to a few start-ups looking for the desirable location along Broad Street.

  Her business had been one of those start-ups, which made Peyton both her landlord and her boyfriend, a circumstance that was irksome at times, especially when she would love to challenge the lack of renovations. For one thing, she’d much rather be using natural gas to fuel her stoves and heat her ovens, let alone to keep her shop warm in the winter. Propane was ridiculously expensive and burned higher and hotter than natural gas, causing her to ruin more than one recipe. Yet she bit her tongue. Mixing business with romance wasn’t the best idea, and she knew it. At least after she married Peyton she figured, she wouldn’t have to pay him rent, and then she could sock away serious money for the much needed updates.

  Then there was the other matter that gave her pause. She could count the number of times she and Peyton had been intimate over the last few months . . . on two fingers.

  And the number of orgasms during those blah moments? A big, fat zero. She chalked that up to the both of them being tired and stressed. After all, Peyton had done everything right—the fault was with her. She was obviously just too worn out from her job. Peyton had to manage huge sums of money for demanding investors. So the sex was bound to get better, wasn’t it?

  Crickets.

  It didn’t help that she remembered a time—not so long ago—when achieving a bone-melting orgasm hadn’t been a problem. In fact, it had been a rather regular occurrence. She had even become acquainted with something she’d considered a myth until Alex Morrigan showed her that “Yes, Victoria, there is a G-spot.”

  As a sense of wistfulness washed over her, she cut her gaze to the ceramic cupcake salt and pepper shakers on display by the stove. She ought to have packed up the novelty items Alex had given her their last Christmas together, along with all the other treasured memories she’d held onto, but she still had every one of them. Looking at the cupcake shakers brought her past right into her present, taunting her with memories of how good it had once been.

  She stuck out her tongue at the symbol of happier days.

  It didn’t matter that Peyton failed to match up to Alex in bed. Or th
at he didn’t have Alex’s wry grin. Or that he didn’t always get her sense of humor in the same way Alex had. Peyton was her choice, not only her parents’, though it certainly didn’t hurt that for once, they approved of her boyfriend. It sure made life easier, not to have to listen to lectures about the man in her life.

  Peyton was a prominent figure in the small town that she loved with all her heart. He doted on her in a way that Alex hadn’t. Alex had always had an eye on the horizon like he couldn’t wait to get away. Peyton was home every night. His job, while busy and time consuming, didn’t keep him from lavishing her with attention. She wasn’t alone for long stretches of time, worrying about him fighting armed terrorists or jumping out of planes. He might not be Alex, but he was good to her, and he was here.

  Thirty minutes later, with the cupcakes for her niece carefully stored in a Tupperware for her sister to pick up in the morning, Tori dragged herself to her studio apartment on the second story. No sooner did she crawl into bed than her traitorous mind started to turn flips instead of falling quiet and letting her sleep.

  A seed of doubt dropped into the fertile soil of her mind. What if the fireworks lacking in her relationship with Peyton never went off? Wouldn’t she always wonder if she’d have been better off with Alex?

  She would have been miserable with him! For one thing, she would have always wondered if there wasn’t someone better for her out there. Having dated since their junior year in high school, she and Alex had been each other’s firsts.

  Then, too, they’d had their own dreams to pursue which they couldn’t have done if they’d been shackled to each other. Tori had realized two years into college that she wanted to run a bakery, not become the veterinarian her parents had envisioned. She’d transferred to a culinary school and loved every minute of it. Meanwhile, Alex’s father had died in that awful accident, and he’d quit college himself, joining the Navy so as not to be a burden to his mom.

  At first, they’d tried to stay committed to each other, getting together whenever their schedules allowed. They’d written copious emails and Skyped often during the long months apart. Every reunion had been a blissful event filled with contentment and stellar sex. But, even then, Tori’s thoughts had been on how to start up a business, and Alex had seemed so eager to get back into the field.