Release Date: November 2, 2017
Genre: BDSM Romance
Chapter 1
Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Greco sat in his
vehicle, staring down at the envelope in his hand. Captain Kurt Martin had
given it to him eight months ago. It was a letter to Kurt’s wife, Grace. Life
in a combat zone was unpredictable, which Kurt knew all too well. They’d both
watched too many soldiers shipped home in a body bag. Because of this, it wasn’t
uncommon for a soldier to make a video or write a final letter to their loved
ones back home. Just in case.
Most of the time, the letter was in the
soldier’s personal effects. Their next of kin would discover it upon going
through their loved one’s things. Kurt didn’t want that. He’d made Alexander
promise that if anything should happen to him, Alexander would deliver the
letter to Grace in person.
A chill raced down Alexander’s spine as he
recalled the morning that had taken Kurt’s life and left Alexander with an
injury that would end his military career. There had been an incident in a
nearby village. They’d needed a doctor, so Alexander had loaded up his gear and
joined the convoy heading out.
Everything was going as planned until they
were packing up to leave. Someone yelled and then all hell broke loose. An IED
exploded, sending him and several others flying. He hadn’t been hurt bad from
that first explosion, but it had knocked the wind out of him. Before he could
get up and move, however, another explosion hit. Debris began falling from all
directions. He couldn’t move fast enough to get out of the way.
When the dust settled and the area secured,
Alexander was pulled out of the rubble, his left leg crushed. A doctor who
couldn’t stand for more than an hour at a time was of no use to the Army.
Kurt hadn’t been so lucky. One of the IEDs
exploded right in front of him. He hadn’t stood a chance.
For ten years Alexander had been an army
doctor. Over that time he’d lost soldiers—men and women he considered friends.
It was par for the course in a war zone. But nothing had prepared him for
losing Kurt, a man he considered his brother.
Alexander closed his eyes and pinched the
bridge of his nose to keep the tears at bay. Kurt was gone, along with six
others in their squad.
An SUV drove past, the driver sending him a
curious look. He’d been sitting in the same spot for twenty minutes with the
windows rolled down letting in the breeze. Even so, the sun was beating down on
his car.
Releasing a loud breath, he folded the
envelope and tucked it into his shirt pocket before rolling up the windows and climbing
out of the vehicle. His leg throbbed a little as he stood. He waited for it to
subside as his body adjusted to the new position.
A car door slammed down the street followed
by the sound of a kid laughing. Alexander shook his head, trying to clear his
thoughts. After locking up the car, he crossed the street to the address he’d
been given. He needed to keep his wits about him and not get distracted. He had
a promise to keep.
Alexander ascended the steps of the beige
two-story house. It had taken him over a month to locate Grace. By the time
Alexander was released from the hospital and gotten his discharge papers, she
was no longer living at the address Kurt had given him. She’d happened to
mention to one of her neighbors that she was going home to be close to family. From
his conversations with Kurt, he knew Grace was from St. Louis. That narrowed it
down, but St. Louis was a big city. It had taken time and the help of a private
investigator to finally locate her.
A wide porch ran the width of the house, but
aside from an empty clay pot, it was bare. And although the yard was neat and
well kept, it didn’t look as if she spent much time outside. There were no
flowers planted, no chairs or lawn ornaments.
He took in every detail, memorizing it. Alexander
knew he was stalling. He also knew it wasn’t going to get any easier the longer
he put it off, and he owed it to Kurt. He’d given his word.
The sound of his knuckles against the old
wood door bounced off the semi-enclosed space. He shifted his weight even
though he knew it would do nothing to ebb the discomfort he was feeling. Or
prepare him for facing his brother’s widow.
Several minutes went by and no one came to
the door. He was about to give up when he heard the sound of the deadbolt being
unlocked. The door creaked open a few inches, and the small chain made a
clinking sound as it moved and stretched. It was dark inside the house compared
to the brightness outside, so the only thing he could see was a stray lock of
blond hair.
“Can I help you?” a timid voice asked.
“Hello. I’m looking for Grace Martin. I was
told she lived here.” He used his most soothing doctor voice—the one he
employed when he had to deliver bad news to a patient.
The woman on the other side of the door didn’t
respond. Maybe the private investigator had been wrong. Maybe Kurt’s widow didn’t
live there.
“My name is Alexander Greco. I served with
her husband and I was hoping to speak with her. I can come back if she’s not
home.” His words trailed off as he heard the chain being released and the door
opened wider.
“What did you say your name was again?” The woman’s
voice was a little stronger this time.
“Alexander Greco, ma’am. I was a doctor at
the forward operating base where Grace’s husband, Kurt, was stationed.” He
paused, his memories pulling him in a direction he didn’t want to go. “We used
to go on our morning runs together.”
The woman opened the door wide, letting him
get his first real glimpse of her. She was dressed in jeans and a faded Army
T-shirt. He’d seen a picture of Kurt’s wife. She was beautiful. The woman in
front of him wore no makeup and had her hair pulled up in a messy ponytail. It
didn’t matter. Grace Martin was still stunning.
She tugged at the bottom of her shirt. “You
served with Kurt.” This time it wasn’t a question.
“Yes, ma’am.” Alexander wondered if Kurt had
mentioned him to her. From the change in her features, he was assuming he had.
Grace glanced over his shoulder and furrowed
her brow as though she were deep in thought. “Would you like to come in?”
“If it wouldn’t be any trouble.”
She stepped back, allowing him to enter.
The inside of the house was much as he
imagined. She was probably renting, which explained the stark white walls and
lack of pictures.
He followed her down the hallway past what
looked to be a modest living room to the kitchen. It was old with laminate
countertops and cabinets that looked to have been painted several times over.
Along one wall was a small table with three chairs. It wasn’t overly stylish,
but it had a homey feel to it.
“Can I get you something to drink?” she asked.
“I’m good. Thank you.”
She glanced around before lowering herself
into one of the wooden chairs.
Alexander pulled out a chair and sat down,
making sure not to crowd her. The last thing he wanted to do was make her feel
uncomfortable. “My apologies for not calling ahead of time, but I didn’t have a
working phone number for you.”
Grace averted her eyes and swallowed. “That’s
because I don’t have one.”
He leaned closer out of pure instinct. “You
don’t have a phone?”
She looked down. “Not a landline. I have a
cell phone for emergencies.”
Alexander relaxed a little. He knew her
family was from here, but a woman living alone should at least have a phone,
some way to call for help should she need it. Maybe that sounded old-fashioned,
but he didn’t much care. He was who he was.
A heavy silence filled the air for several
moments as he searched for how to start. While Kurt had talked about his wife,
Alexander didn’t really know her and she didn’t know him. He and Kurt had
gotten to know each other during their time overseas when Kurt had been injured
a few days after Alexander’s arrival at the base. They’d bonded over their love
of baseball and good pizza. Of course, they’d had differing opinions on both.
She met Alexander’s gaze for a second, and
then looked away again. “I’m okay.”
The corners of his mouth lifted despite the
seriousness of the situation. She obviously knew her husband well. Kurt had
been a protector, just as Alexander was. It was probably another reason why
they’d gotten along so well. “Kurt talked about you a lot.”
Grace nodded. “He mentioned you in a couple
of his emails. He said . . . he said you were a good friend.”
“He was a good friend to me as well.” Alexander
paused. “He asked me to come see you. To find you should anything happen to
him.”
Alexander saw the moisture well up in her
eyes and his heart broke. The urge to reach out to her was strong, but he held
back. He didn’t want her to be in pain, but he also knew it was inevitable. The
letter Kurt asked him to deliver most likely contained his last goodbyes.
Alexander didn’t know how he’d handle seeing her break down in front of him,
but he would do it for his friend. He owed Kurt that much.
“Were you there?” she asked, her voice barely
loud enough for him to hear even sitting so close.
He felt the muscles in his throat constrict. “Yes.”
She gripped the edge of the table, her
fingers turning white under the pressure. “The men who came . . .
they wouldn’t tell me anything. Just that he . . . that he died
in combat.” She glanced up at him then, her eyes pleading.
As much as he didn’t want to talk about that
day, he would. He’d answer whatever questions she had. For Kurt. For her.
***
Grace’s heart felt as if it would beat out of
her chest as she waited for her guest to answer. Once his name had registered,
she recalled Kurt talking about Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Greco several times.
Her husband trusted him, which was what had led her to inviting him inside. If Kurt
had trusted him, then she knew she could, too.
“We were in a village when we came under
fire. There were explosions all around us.” He paused and she held her breath
waiting for him to go on. “It all happened very quickly.”
Quickly. She closed her eyes as her chest constricted. It had happened
quickly. He hadn’t lain there and suffered. “Thank you.”
The pressure of a hand on hers caused her to
open her eyes. “I have something for you.”
She looked at him, confused. The men who’d come
to tell her that her husband had died in combat had given her Kurt’s personal
effects.
“Your husband gave me a letter. He asked that
I deliver it personally.”
Grace resisted the urge to touch her
collar—the one Kurt had placed around her neck before his last deployment. It
had been her only comfort the day the soldiers had knocked on her door in full
dress uniform to inform her that her husband was dead. She’d lain in bed for
two days before a neighbor and fellow Army wife had come to check on her. It
would be so easy to sink back into that black hole. She’d been tempted several times
since that day. It was only her family that had stopped her.
She’d been so lost in her thoughts, her
memories, that she almost missed the envelope Alexander held in his hand. He
seemed to hesitate and then held it out to her.
Reluctantly, Grace took it and placed it in
her lap. With a single finger, she outlined her name written in her husband’s
chicken scratch. A smile tugged at her lips but was swiftly followed by a
gut-wrenching ache deep in her chest. She’d always teased him about his
handwriting. She’d never . . .
“Kurt asked me to make sure you weren’t alone
when you read it, but I can go in the other room if you’d like some privacy.”
His words were soft, comforting.
She shook her head, or at least she thought
she did. So many emotions were rolling through her she couldn’t be certain. He
didn’t move, though, so maybe she had.
Grace had no idea how much time had passed
before she garnered the courage to pick the envelope back up and turn it over.
She carefully broke the seal and removed the two sheets of paper inside. Once
they were in her hands, the words staring back at her, she froze. “I can’t do
this.”
Alexander reached out again. He grasped her
free hand in his and held on tight. It was as if he could sense how much she
needed his strength.
She wiped the tears from her cheeks with the
back of one hand and held Alexander’s fingers in a death grip with the other.
He was the only thing keeping her grounded.
Her hand shook as she began to read.
My Grace,
I had dreams for us. Big dreams. We were
going to go on a road trip across the country and stop at all the interesting
towns along the way. We were going to go on that Alaskan cruise and watch the
whales playing in the bay. Hike the Grand Canyon and make love under the stars.
So many things we wanted to do together once my tour was up.
But if you’re reading this, it means we aren’t
going to get to do those things together and I’m sorry about that. Something
has happened to prevent me from returning to you and you know that only death
would keep me away. You are my heart, my soul. You are everything good and
beautiful in this world, my Grace.
When I sat down to write this letter, I knew
in my mind what I wanted to say, but now the words won’t come. I don’t want to
say goodbye to you, Grace. I don’t want you to have to say goodbye to me, but
you have to. I know it will be difficult at first, but you are strong, Grace.
You always have been.
You have to move on. You have to live.
With that in mind, I am giving you my last
orders, my sweet submissive.
I want you to move back home to St. Louis.
Your family is there and you will need their support. Let them love and comfort
you.
I know you will need time to grieve. I want
you to take that time, but I also don’t want you to hide inside yourself. You
have to live, remember? Make new friends, travel. Do all the things that you
and I talked about doing together.
And lastly, I want you to find a new Master. I
know you’ll most likely go home to St. Louis, so before my deployment I did
some digging and found out about a local club there called Serpent’s Kiss. It’s
run by a woman named Katrina Mayer. I think it will be a good place for you and
she can help you and make sure you find a good Dom who will take care of your
needs.
I know what you’re thinking, Grace, but I’m
asking this of you. I’m asking you to move on. To let me go. I will always love
you. Never forget that. Never doubt that. But as much as I wish it weren’t so,
I can’t be there to care for you anymore.
Alexander is a good man. If you need
anything, ask him. I have no idea if he is in the lifestyle or not, but I trust
him.
Please do not mourn for me too long, my
Grace. You have a lot of life left to live.
Kurt
He couldn’t mean it. He couldn’t.
“Grace?”
She heard someone call her name, but it
sounded far away.
“Grace.”
This time the voice sounded louder. Closer.
“Grace!”
A hand shook her arm, causing the letter to
fall to the floor. She reached for it without checking her balance. Only a set
of strong arms wrapping around her torso kept her from face-planting onto the
floor.
Those same arms helped her to right herself,
but all she cared about was the letter. She had to read it again. Surely she
had misunderstood. She couldn’t . . .
Grace scanned over the words again, but they
were the same as they had been the first time. Kurt wanted her to find another
Master. The rest she could do, she was already trying to do as best she could,
but that? How?
Something made her look up. Alexander Greco
knelt beside her on the floor, deep concern etched into his features. He must
have been the one who’d called her name.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
No. She wasn’t all right. But she nodded
anyway. Whatever was she to do?
Pre-order your copy of Longing for His Kiss TODAY!
After losing her husband unexpectedly, Katrina Mayer decided to open Serpent’s Kiss. She wanted it to be a place where she and her fellow kinksters could play and socialize. 
