Read Delta: Rescue: A MacKenzie Family Novella (The MacKenzie Family) Online
Authors: Cristin Harber
Delta: Rescue: A MacKenzie Family Novella (The MacKenzie Family) (13 page)
“Freeze!”
Maddy jumped and screamed, even though she had known it would happen.
“Federal agents! Everyone, hands in the air! Hands in the air.”
Where they’d hid and how they swarmed, Maddy had no idea. But the task force, dressed in full tactical gear, surrounded them. Voices yelled. They were pushed, and everyone went facedown. Her father, the bastard, never once reached for her, never checked her safety. No, he wanted to protect his product, his business, his way of life.
They were cuffed, Mirandized, and separated, all while she still waited for Papa to look at her with any emotion. Years of pent-up hurt teared in her stinging eyes and streamed down her face.
Harsh hands that she didn’t know moved her out of the room. Her tears still fell, but the guilt she’d expected never showed.
As her father and the buyers were separated, an agent pulled her to a poorly lit hallway. “Wait here.” He parked her on a bench, her hands cuffed behind her.
She was all alone until she heard the steady rhythm of boots coming for her. “Luke?”
He rounded the corner, and his eyes landed on hers. “Beautiful.”
His hands cupped her cheeks, hauling her up to meet his kiss. Her eyes sank shut when he stopped kissing her, and he swiped the last remnants of her tears away. “You did great.”
She sniffled.
“Are you okay?” he asked, spinning her around to remove the handcuffs.
Maddy nodded and rolled her wrists as she turned back. “Better than I expected. Thank you.”
“Always with the gratitude.” He kissed her again. “Not sure what you’re thankful for this second, but I’ll take it.”
Two years later…
“Never, in a million years, did I think I would marry you.”
Luke laughed, tossing his head back as they dangled their feet over the edge of the infinity pool in the penthouse suite of the Mira House. “You’re telling me you thought you’d get married, just not to me?”
Maddy joined him in the laughter, leaning against him. The moon was high overhead. She took his other hand, pulling his forearm out so she could see the word
beautiful
newly tattooed on his skin. “What I thought was that I’d never have sex with you in this place after you walked out on me.”
“The night’s still young. We can always leave—”
She slapped his chest. “You better not play.”
Kissing her quiet, her husband lifted her off the ground and carried her into the bedroom. “Ready for your wedding present?”
Still laughing, Maddy wrapped her arms around his neck. “I thought the sex was a given, not a present.”
Luke’s eyes danced as they both dropped onto the bed. He reached under a pillow and pulled out a nondescript black box with a simple silver ribbon. “Take it.”
Maddy picked up the deceptively heavy box, watching him watch her, and then tugged it open. She pulled away a layer of tissue paper.
Handcuffs.
Excitement rushed through her as she remembered all their handcuff teases, and she tossed the box after pulling them out. They were
engraved
handcuffs with the word
Beautiful
etched on one side.
“So it’s going to happen.” She kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “You’re finally going to have a chance to cuff me.”
“Definitely going to happen.” His chest rumbled as he kissed her back.
It was perfect. In the suite where it had all started, reminding her of where they’d come when she promised him he’d never restrain her.
“Hands above your head, baby.”
One cuff clinked around her wrist. Then the other. She smiled as she complied. “
Je t'aime.
”
He hauled her back to the headboard. “Love you, too.”
The End
* * * *
Click
here
to discover more of Liliana Hart’s MacKenzie Family.
Sign up
for the 1001 Dark Nights Newsletter
and be entered to win a Tiffany Lock necklace.
There's a contest every quarter!
Click
here
to subscribe.
Trouble Maker
A MacKenzie Family Novel
by Liliana Hart
Click
here
to purchase.
Marnie Whitlock has never known what it’s like to be normal. She and her family moved from place to place, hiding from reporters and psychologists, all because of her gift. A curse was more like it. Seeing a victim, feeling his pain as the last of his life ebbed away, and being helpless to save him. It was torture. And then one day it disappeared and she was free. Until those who hunted her for her gift tried to kill her. And then the gift came back with a vengeance.
Beckett Hamilton leads a simple life. His ranch is profitable and a legacy he’ll be proud to pass onto his children one day, work fills his time from sunup to sundown, and his romances are short and sweet. He wouldn’t have it any other way. And then he runs into quiet and reserved Marnie Whitlock just after she moves to town. She intrigues him like no woman ever has. And she’s hiding something. His hope is that she begins to trust him before it’s too late.
* * * *
Rush
A MacKenzie Family Novella
by Robin Covington
Click
here
to purchase.
From Liliana Hart’s New York Times bestselling MacKenzie family comes a new story by USA Today bestselling author Robin Covington...
Atticus Rush doesn’t really like people. Years in Special Ops and law enforcement showed him the worst of humanity, making his mountain hideaway the ideal place to live. But when his colleagues at MacKenzie Security need him to save the kidnapped young daughter of a U.S. Senator, he’ll do it, even if it means working with the woman who broke his heart …his ex-wife.
Lady Olivia Rutledge-Cairn likes to steal things. Raised with a silver spoon and the glass slipper she spent years cultivating a cadre of acquaintances in the highest places. She parlayed her natural gift for theft into a career of locating and illegally retrieving hard-to-find items of value for the ridiculously wealthy. Rush was the one man who tempted her to change her ways…until he caught her and threatened to turn her in.
MacKenzie Security has vowed to save the girl. Olivia can find anything or anyone. Rush can get anyone out. As the clock winds down on the girl’s life, can they fight the past, a ruthless madman and their explosive passion to get the job done?
Bullet Proof
A MacKenzie Family Novella
by Avery Flynn
Click
here
to purchase.
“Being one of the good guys is not my thing.”
Bianca Sutherland isn’t at an exclusive Eyes-Wide-Shut style orgy for the orgasms. She’s there because the only clue to her friend’s disappearance is a photo of a painting hanging somewhere in Bisu Manor. Determined to find her missing friend when no one else will, she expects trouble when she cons her way into the party—but not in the form of a so-hot-he-turns-your-panties-to-ash former boxer.
Taz Hazard’s only concern is looking out for himself and he has no intention of changing his ways until he finds sexy-as-sin Bianca at the most notorious mansion in Ft. Worth. Now, he’s tangled up in a missing person case tied into a powerful new drug about to flood the streets, if they can’t find a way to stop it before its too late. Taking on a drug cartel isn’t safe, but when passion ignites between them Taz and Bianca discover their hearts aren’t bulletproof either.
* * * *
Deep Trouble
A MacKenzie Family Novella
by Kimberly Kincaid
Click
here
to purchase.
Bartender Kylie Walker went into the basement of The Corner Tavern for a box of cocktail napkins, but what she got was an eyeful of murder. Now she’s on the run from a killer with connections, and one wrong step could be her last. Desperate to stay safe, Kylie calls the only person she trusts—her ex-Army Ranger brother. The only problem? He’s two thousand miles away, and trouble is right outside her door.
Security specialist Devon Randolph might be rough and gruff, but he’ll never turn down a friend in need, especially when that friend is the fellow Ranger who once saved his life. Devon may have secrets, but he’s nearby, and he’s got the skills to keep his buddy’s sister safe…even if one look at brash, beautiful, Kylie makes him want to break all the rules.
Forced on the run, Kylie and Devon dodge bullets and bad guys, but they cannot fight the attraction burning between them. Yet the closer they grow, the higher the stakes become. Will they be able to outrun a brutal killer? Or will Devon’s secrets tear them apart first?
* * * *
Desire & Ice
A MacKenzie Family Novella
by Christopher Rice
Click
here
to purchase.
Danny Patterson isn’t a teenager anymore. He’s the newest and youngest sheriff’s deputy in Surrender, Montana. A chance encounter with his former schoolteacher on the eve of the biggest snowstorm to hit Surrender in years shows him that some schoolboy crushes never fade. Sometimes they mature into grown-up desire.
It’s been years since Eliza Brightwell set foot in Surrender. So why is she back now? And why does she seem like she’s running from something? To solve this mystery, Danny disobeys a direct order from Sheriff Cooper MacKenzie and sets out into a fierce blizzard, where his courage and his desire might be the only things capable of saving Eliza from a dark force out of her own past.
DISCOVER THE WORLD OF 1001 DARK NIGHTS
By Cristin Harber
Now Available
Click
here
to purchase
A MAN IS NOTHING
Trace Reeves was one bad day from a dishonorable discharge. The best the Navy SEALs had to offer, he became a vengeful, angry mess when his twin brother was killed-in-action. Now he's focused on a deadly obsession and unable to cope with the pain and guilt... except one time, in the arms of a one night stand that he'd never see again. She was smart, the sexiest thing he'd ever touched, but she disappeared into the night.
WITHOUT HIS TEAM
Titan Group was recruiting for their Delta team. They wanted ghosts. No ties. Nothing personal. The best of the best who could live off the grid and surface when commanded. Trace was the perfect recruit. Damaged. Heroic. Nothing to lose.
UNTIL A MISSION--OR A WOMAN--CHANGES EVERYTHING
But when Trace's one-time fling becomes his high-value target during a black ops job, the lines blur between her rescue mission and saving himself.
On behalf of 1001 Dark Nights,
Liz Berry and M.J. Rose would like to thank ~
Liliana Hart
Scott Silverii
Steve Berry
Doug Scofield
Kim Guidroz
Jillian Stein
InkSlinger PR
Asha Hossain
Kasi Alexander
Chris Graham
Pamela Jamison
Jessica Johns
Dylan Stockton
and Simon Lipskar
Table of Contents