Forbidden Love With the Marine by Burke, Dez (best books to read in your 20s txt) 📕

with fury as he stood in front of the sink, scrubbing at his

battered fists. He almost couldn’t see straight, rage swimming in his vision and making everything go black for a second.

I should have killed him! Ivan thought, mindless to the pain in his hands as he rinsed off all

traces of blood. He glanced up in the mirror and saw Olivia approach hesitantly.

“Let me see that. Can I help?” she asked in a timid voice that would have softened him if he

wasn’t already past that point. Snatching a hand towel and wiping off, he brushed past her hovering frame.

“You, Olivia Kirkland, will be more harm than help in any given situation,” Ivan snapped,

shoving open the medicine cabinet and thumping down everything he would need unto the shelf

below. “You shouldn’t even be trusted to be out on your own for one freaking night.”

Dragging in air, Ivan kept his back to her as he folded his fists and tried to regain his cool. How he’d managed to drive them back to his place without tanking the Jeep was beyond him. He felt her

come up beside him and take his large hands firmly in hers. He watched her face as she stared down at his bruised, raw knuckles. He saw tears glisten at the base of her lids, and he bit down a curse.

“I don’t know what would have happened if you didn’t show up tonight,” she breathed out with

difficulty.

At last, the tight cinch around his chest loosened and he sighed deeply, pulling her into his arms and resting his lips in her deliciously scented dark hair. “I told you I’ll always protect you, little dove.”

“Yes…but how did you know where to find me? And when did you get back?” she asked

curiously, drawing back to stare up at his face with wide eyes.

“I got back into the United States a few hours ago.” He paused, and knew he looked unwilling

to answer the other question. At last, he continued, “And about knowing where to find you…well,

let’s just say – I’ve actually followed you a couple of times.”

“What?” she gasped with a disbelieving smile.

“Yeah,” he said defensively. “After that night we first spent together…I guess I was still

worried for your safety – that or just being a love-sick fool and couldn’t stay away from you. You wouldn’t have noticed but I tailed you and your friends once or twice to make sure you were okay

especially since you weren’t answering any of my calls. So when I got back today and couldn’t seem to find you, I knew you might be at that particular club so I went there looking for you. I was just in time to see you leave and then followed you outside. It was your scream that led me to where that

bastard had you trapped.”

“Oh Ivan,” Olivia sighed, placing her head on his bare chest and sighing with deep happiness.

Ivan didn’t hesitate and embraced her right back.

“Come on,” he finally said, reluctantly turning her loose. “Let’s see to these scrapes and then

we can talk, okay?”

Chapter Nineteen

Olivia didn’t want to talk. She wanted to make love. Hot, passionate, make-up reunion sex. But

first she helped Ivan dress and place light bandages around his knuckles. He changed into a fresh shirt and they sat on the living room couch while he made her tell him all she’d been up to since he was gone.

“What do you think?” she groaned in remembered agony. “I’ve hardly slept a wink for weeks,

wondering what happened to you. Everyone thought I was going insane.”

He let out a sigh. “It got a bit hairy, but the mission went okay. I almost got blown up when a

grenade was thrown at me but I managed to spring out to safety. I still got hit by the impact and lost consciousness. Thankfully, the hostage had already been rescued and my other squad guys were on

hand to help me out to the waiting helicopter. I’d been recuperating at a base hospital for the past weeks. I would have called, but I only regained consciousness a few days ago. And when I realized I was coming back soon, I decided to keep it a surprise. Well…a surprise is what I ended up getting.

That’s for damn sure. I’m sorry for not calling. I didn’t realize you were so worried.”

He shoved a hand over his head and blew out a breath. “Hearing you scream back there in the

shadows and thinking I was too late to get to you…”

Olivia felt him shudder for a moment, and she laid her head on his shoulder. “But you weren’t

too late. I don’t think you ever could be.”

He let out a harsh laugh. “And that was the one fear I had in all those moments when shit got

real during the mission. I’d lost the hope of ever being seeing you again; or that I couldn’t make it back in time to prove how much I cared. The only thing that mattered was getting back home to you.

And all I kept thinking, over and over, was “I should have told her I loved her. Now I might never get that chance.”

Olivia’s heart sang and she was now staring right into his face. “What are you trying to tell me,

Ivan Lance? Because from the start I’ve been getting so many mixed signals from you that it gets my head spinning. I mean, we shared the most special night two people can have and the next morning,

you couldn’t wait to see the back of me.”

She felt his hand tip beneath her chin as her eyes fell to hide her unbidden tears. “Hell, Liv…I

was scared,” he said gently though his eyes looked angry at himself as he shook his head suddenly.

“Do you even…can’t you see what you do to me? I keep wanting you like crazy yet thinking I don’t

deserve you; that I couldn’t handle anything long-term. And there was of course the matter of having been like a big brother to you all these years. It made me feel weak knowing I couldn’t fight