Shared Burdens – Book 3 of the Sergeant Mike’s Miracle Tour is pending at Amazon now. So I thought I would share some of that with you today.
Highway to Heaven meets the U S Marine Corps – Is love or heartache in the cards when Sergeant Mike finally meets his dream woman?
Esther Samuels is a woman in pain. Her only son was killed while serving in Afghanistan. Now this old-maid school teacher is stuck in her job, while battling small town prejudice and her grief. She is more dead than alive until…
Master Sergeant Michael O’Malley is a man on a mission. After over twenty years in the US Marine Corp and more tours of duty than he wants to remember, his retirement plans are simple: hop on the back of his brand new Harley and tour the country, checking in on the men and women that he served with…and the families of the ones that never made it back.
The third stop on his new tour of duty is the small Texas town that was home to one of his best friends. The young Lieutenant, Thomas Samuels had been one of the finest men it had been his pleasure to serve with. Until an IED ended that promise.
Now Sergeant Mike is here to check in on Tommy’s mom…and offer an extra pair of hands and a strong back for her annual Halloween party that is a mainstay of Sebida, Texas. Problem is the only thing smaller than this town are the minds in it.
Can Mike just ride off to leave the woman he has secretly loved for years, to face their wrath? Can Esther let the only man who has ever brought her to life just ride away?
“Fuck! Shit for brains,” Mike cursed as he leaned his forehead against the cool tiles and felt the warm water cascade down his neck and shoulders. What had he been thinking? That was just it…he had not been thinking. He had only been feeling. The way she fit so fucking perfectly beneath his arm had gone to his head. But still…
Wash his back indeed! How stupid was that? It sounded like something a horny teenager might say.
He chuckled and shook his head as he looked down at the little traitor which was hard as a rock from just innocently holding the woman. What would she think if she knew? She’d probably kick his sorry ass out…and rightly so.
Damn it, what was he going to do? Besides the obvious, but even that held little appeal. He had spent two fucking years masturbating to fantasies of this woman. Being this close to her, actually holding her in his arms as he had dreamt of too fucking often was driving him insane.
No, taking matters or in this case his hard cock into his own hands would do no real good. Like that randy teenager, the moment he saw her again, heard that soft lilting Southern twang or heavens forbid touched her even softer skin, he would be lost. And this fucking traitor would be instantly hard again.
Besides she was making dinner. He did not have time. He shook his head, as hyped up as he was by how fucking right it had felt with his arm wrapped around her shoulder and her head resting on his shoulder, time was not the issue. Two fucking strokes and he would be a goner. Okay, maybe more than two, but not much.
“Damn it, Devil Dog! What the fuck you gonna do about this?”
But once more the answer was the same. Always the same. Not a damned thing. There was not a damned thing he could do. He sure as hell was not going to make a pass at the woman, come on to her, or whatever the fuck they were calling making a move in these modern times. No, the ending to this story was always the same…women like her were not for men like him. He turned off the shower and reached for the towel.
He sighed at the simple feel of the terry cloth on his skin, imagining it was her hands. They would be softer. Warmer. “Fuck, man. Stop it,” he cursed again as he reached for a clean pair of sweat pants and the t-shirt. He dressed as quickly as he could and straightened up the bathroom in a way he could never seem to tidy up his emotions when it came to her.
He tossed the towel and his clothes in the hamper as he stood in front of the mirror and examined his reflection. He reached for his tooth brush and tooth paste as he studied the network of tiny lines and wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. He knew he was not a bad looking man. Hell, the way that Kay had propositioned him confirmed that.
But women like this one deserved more than a passable face, decent body and a quick roll in the sheets. That was where he fell short. Way short. He had no future to give anyone, lest of all a woman like Esther. And goodness only knew, his past did not bear thinking about. He finished brushing his teeth.
He could not come up with another excuse to delay the inevitable. Honestly, he did not want to. As much as it hurt sometimes, to be this close to her and know that he could never have her, it was worth it. His mind stored up each moment, every rare smile, even the tears. The smell of her. The softness of her skin. He would remember them all. They would be what carried him through whatever was to come, he thought as he walked down the hall and through the living room.
His breath caught once more as he stood in the doorway between the living room and kitchen. The sight of her putting finishing touches on the meal did things to him that he did not want to think about. Made him wish for things that he knew were not for him.
Tara Cox - Literary Erotica 