The long-awaited encounter
Less than an hour later, she began to hear a thunk in the distance that repeated in short bursts. It was a sound from her girlhood. Someone was chopping wood.
Her stomach fluttered, and all the deep breathing exercises she drew upon couldn’t calm her as she drew steadily closer to the source of the noise.
She caught sight of him in a clearing before she broke through the trees, and she halted. Her mouth went dry as her heart slammed into overdrive.
Doljen had been well-muscled seven years before. Since then, he’d grown more defined, shedding any hint of fat. Despite the lingering morning chill that hadn’t been chased off by the climbing temperature, he wore nothing but shorts and slip-on shoes, putting that magnificent physique on display. He wielded the biggest ax she’d ever seen, chopping wood as she’d expected, his muscles rippling with liquid agility.
His hair was loose, swaying across his shoulders as he worked. It framed features grimmer than she remembered, but he was still handsome in a robust fashion.
After so long, there he was, the man she’d searched high and low for. A maelstrom of emotions flew through her: yearning, love, elation, terror, disbelief. She grabbed a tree for support. She wasn’t merely trembling. She quaked from head to toe.
She’d found Doljen.
Bernadette gathered herself with effort. She released the tree and stood up straight. Drawing a deep breath, she readied herself for whatever reaction she’d be met with and walked out of the woods.
He caught the movement and stopped chopping to acknowledge her as she stopped at the edge of the tree line. Their gazes locked, and Bernadette’s wildly galloping heart stopped in its tracks.
For an endless second, Doljen simply stared at her. Then shock spread over his face, his eyes widening slowly. His jaw dropped open.
“Bernadette?”
She couldn’t answer. She wasn’t sure she was even breathing.
Releasing October 7. Pre-order at Amazon, Amazon UK, Apple, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords. Purchase now in print.
She searched for the man she couldn’t forget and found a shattered clan she couldn’t resist.
Captain Bernadette Miller was a nun on the moon Europa, hiding from a painful past. Now she hunts the galaxy for the Kalquorian who made her stop running from herself. When she gets a lead on his clanmates, she thinks her search is finally over. What she finds, however, is a clan devastated by broken promises.
Nobek Halmiko was once a star kurble player. Now he wanders space aimlessly, picking up jobs where he can find them, trying to forget the clanmates he let down. When Bernadette shows up asking questions about his missing Imdiko, he has nothing to say. But some women get in a man’s head. Some women don’t take no for an answer.
Dramok Tumsa had it all: a career he loved, the perfect clan, a troubled but talented brother he’d do anything for. Tragedy on the kurble field destroyed it all. Now his estranged Nobek is back, with a beautiful, hardnosed Earther captain who offers him an opportunity to make amends. Can he piece his clan together again? Does he deserve the chance?
Imdiko Doljen is wracked by guilt. He’s hidden from those he let down…including a woman he couldn’t keep. When she shows up in the company of his clanmates, old hurts ignite anew. It doesn’t matter what he wants; he can’t fix the mistakes he made.
The only path to regaining the love Bernadette lost means healing this shattered clan. Is she ready to commit to three men instead of the one she came for? When disaster strikes, she has to call on all the strength she possesses to stop them from falling apart for good.
Releasing October 7. Pre-order at Amazon, Amazon UK, Apple, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords. Purchase now in print.
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