Military Romance Collection Read online

  Military Romance Collection

  E. Cleveland

  Military Romance Collection

  Copyright © 2020 by E. Cleveland

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Gone Wild

  Authors Note:

  1. Sawyer

  2. Sawyer

  3. Sawyer

  4. Elsie

  5. Elsie

  6. Elsie

  7. Sawyer

  8. Sawyer

  9. Elsie

  10. Elsie

  11. Sawyer

  12. Elsie

  13. Elsie

  14. Elsie

  15. Sawyer

  16. Sawyer

  17. Elsie

  18. Sawyer

  19. Elsie

  20. Sawyer

  21. Elsie

  22. Sawyer

  23. Elsie

  24. Elsie

  25. Sawyer

  26. Elsie

  27. Sawyer

  28. Sawyer

  29. Elsie

  30. Elsie

  31. Elsie

  32. Sawyer

  33. Elsie

  34. Elsie

  35. Sawyer

  36. Sawyer

  37. Elsie

  Epilogue

  One Year Later

  Love on the Run

  Authors Note:

  1. Cole

  2. Cole

  3. Abbie

  4. Abbie

  5. Cole

  6. Abbie

  7. Cole

  8. Abbie

  9. Cole

  10. Abbie

  11. Abbie

  12. Cole

  13. Abbie

  14. Cole

  15. Cole

  16. Abbie

  17. Abbie

  18. Cole

  19. Abbie

  20. Cole

  21. Abbie

  22. Cole

  23. Abbie

  24. Cole

  25. Abbie

  26. Cole

  27. Abbie

  28. Abbie

  29. Cole

  30. Cole

  31. Cole

  32. Cole

  33. Abbie

  34. Abbie

  35. Cole

  36. Abbie

  37. Cole

  38. Abbie

  39. Cole

  Fall To Pieces

  Authors Note:

  1. Lauren

  2. Lauren

  3. Lauren

  4. Lauren

  5. Mack

  6. Mack

  7. Mack

  8. Lauren

  9. Mack

  10. Lauren

  11. Lauren

  12. Lauren

  13. Mack

  14. Lauren

  15. Lauren

  16. Mack

  17. Lauren

  18. Mack

  19. Lauren

  20. Mack

  21. Lauren

  22. Lauren

  23. Mack

  24. Lauren

  25. Mack

  26. Mack

  27. Lauren

  28. Mack

  29. Lauren

  30. Lauren

  31. Mack

  32. Lauren

  33. Lauren

  34. Mack

  35. Lauren

  36. Mack

  37. Lauren

  38. Mack

  39. Mack

  40. Lauren

  41. Lauren

  42. Epilogue

  43. Present Day

  Only in Dreams

  Authors Note:

  1. Chelsea

  2. Cameron

  3. Chelsea

  4. Cameron

  5. Chelsea

  6. Cameron

  7. Chelsea

  8. Cameron

  9. Chelsea

  10. Chelsea

  11. Cameron

  12. Cameron

  13. Chelsea

  14. Chelsea

  15. Cameron

  16. Cameron

  17. Chelsea

  18. Chelsea

  19. Cameron

  20. Chelsea

  21. Cameron

  22. Cameron

  23. Chelsea

  24. Cameron

  25. Chelsea

  26. Cameron

  27. Cameron

  28. Chelsea

  29. Cameron

  30. Chelsea

  31. Cameron

  32. Chelsea

  33. Chelsea

  34. Chelsea

  35. Chelsea

  36. Cameron

  37. Chelsea

  38. Cameron

  39. Chelsea

  40. Cameron

  41. Cameron

  42. Cameron

  43. Chelsea

  44. Cameron

  45. Cameron

  46. Epilogue 1 - Cameron

  47. Epilogue 2 - Chelsea

  The Devil’s Temptation

  Authors Note:

  1. Holly

  2. Holly

  3. Jake

  4. Holly

  5. Holly

  6. Jake

  7. Holly

  8. Jake

  9. Holly

  10. Holly

  11. Jake

  12. Holly

  13. Jake

  14. Jake

  15. Jake

  16. Holly

  17. Jake

  18. Holly

  19. Jake

  20. Jake

  21. Holly

  22. Jake

  23. Jake

  24. Holly

  25. Holly

  26. Jake

  27. Jake

  28. Holly

  29. Jake

  30. Holly

  31. Holly

  32. Jake

  33. Jake

  34. Holly

  35. Holly

  36. Jake

  37. Jake

  38. Jake

  39. Jake

  40. Jake

  41. Holly

  42. Jake

  43. Holly

  44. Jake

  45. Epilogue

  Also by E. Cleveland

  Connect with Eddie Cleveland

  About Eddie Cleveland

  Gone Wild

  Authors Note:

  This book was previously released as “Saved by the Woodsman.”

  1

  Sawyer

  “This is it, man. In seventy-two hours we’ll be back on US soil.” Cole glances at me from behind the wheel. “We just gotta go talk to our guy and then we’re done.” He smiles.

  The headlights on our unmarked Jeep cut through the black desert night, casting streaks of light over the miles of bleached-out sand. I’m gonna miss a lot of things about the infantry, the adrenaline, the guys, hell, I’ll even miss my gun, but I’ll never miss the unforgiving dusty landscape of Afghanistan.

  “Why are you jinxing us? Haven’t you seen this movie?” I groan.

  “What are you talking about.” Cole grins at me, knowing full well that he’s fucking with my head.

  “This is the last mission on my last deployment.” I scan the endless sea of beige stretching out on the road ahead. “This is when shit goes down and you know it. If this was a movie, this is when we’d get blown to pieces.”

  “Or maybe taken as hostages,” Cole adds helpfully.

  “Man, what the hell is wrong with you? Don’t even say that shit out loud. Just keep those thoughts locked up in your brain-box, that’s the last
thing I need to be worrying about.”

  “Oh, like it never crossed your mind. You’re the one who’s going on about last mission superstitions. Your life’s not a movie, man. I hate to break it to ya, but you’re just not good-looking enough to be on the big screen. Besides, I think you’re actually hoping shit will go sideways out here.” He gives me a knowing look.

  “You’re crazier than you look then. Why on earth would I want that?”

  “Oh, I dunno.” Cole shrugs.

  He keeps his eyes on the road, but I can see his face clear enough in the moonlight. He’s never had a good word to say about me getting out of the Army. Since the day I told him I was letting my contract expire, he’s been going on about how I won’t be able to function without them.

  “Maybe ’cause your life is about to get brutally boring. I mean, seriously, what are you gonna do on civvy street? I know you, man. Probably better than anyone. Even your girl.”

  “Maybe.” I know he’s right. I met Cole when we went through recruit training together. I love Farrah with everything I’ve got. I don’t know if I’d say it’s with my entire heart and soul or with every fiber of my being or what. I’ve never been one for flowery words. Men in movies always make their love sound like some kind of poem written by Shakespeare. I’m not that guy. All I know is she’s it. She’s my everything.

  “Definitely.” He scoffs. “You might have everyone else fooled, but not me. I know you. There’s no way you can give this up for a boring job and a picket fence and then what? In a few years you might have some ankle-biters running around? You’ll be bored to tears and you know it. You’ll feel like you’re slowly dying out there.”

  “Wow, you should write Valentine’s Day cards for Hallmark. You get it, man.” I shake my head at him and press my lips together flat.

  “You’re right, I don’t get it. I don’t get why you have to give up a career you worked your ass off for just to be with a woman. Like, I understand you love her, okay? Why can’t you have both?”

  I sigh, this is a conversation we’ve had before. Many times. “It’s too hard on Farrah. She gets all anxious about me being gone, it eats at her. And, she’s right, if we want to take the next step, if we’re gonna settle down together and maybe have a family and all that stuff then I want to be there for them.”

  “Sounds like you’re giving up your dreams for hers, if I’m honest. I hope she understands how much of a sacrifice you’re making, that’s all.”

  “She will in a few days.” I smile.

  “Is that when you’re doing the television surprise thing?”

  “Yeah, she doesn’t think we’re coming home for another couple weeks, so she’s gonna lose her shit. It’s all set up, the news station is gonna come with me to my place, like super early, for the morning breakfast program, and I’m gonna pop the question on the air and that will be that. End of this chapter and on to the next.”

  “More like end of a whole fucking book,” Cole answers. He squints through the windshield and slows down a bit as we approach our contact’s house. The wheels crunch against the sand as he eases off the main road and down a side street.

  “And onto a new book, then.”

  “I wouldn’t want to read that boring-ass book. I’m telling ya, it’s a mistake.” He doesn’t mince his words.

  He cuts the lights and we roll down the street quietly. The guy we’re dropping in to see has been a loyal contact for every tour that’s come through here. Even though his loyalty could cost him his life, he still helps us keep an ear to the ground on new Taliban recruits in the area and plans for attacks on our guys.

  “What can I say? I love her, man.” My words are simple but true. “I want us to be a family. To have a family. After the car accident killed my parents, well, I never thought I’d feel that way. Ever.”

  “What about us? We’re your family,” Cole pushes back.

  His teeth are set on edge and a deep wrinkle appears between his brows. I don’t know why it took me so long to realize what this is all about. He’s not giving me a hard time just for fun, although I’m sure that’s part of it. He’s not worried about me being too bored, or being a civilian, or any of that shit. He doesn’t know how to tell me he’s gonna miss me.

  “The Army is my family.” I nod and try to stuff the emotions climbing up my throat back down.

  I don’t have time to get misty-eyed about how my world fell apart when I was seventeen. I fight to keep the image of our family restaurant, a place that was more of a home than our actual house, free from my mind. Losing that place when my parents died, it felt like another death. I was lost. Orphaned. Alone. I had no idea how to get by in this world after everything was taken from me.

  Until I joined the Army.

  “You guys are my brothers. I’ve grown up with you. We’ve had our fights and our fun times and now I’m ready to leave the nest and get the girl. Just because I’m focusing on starting a new family doesn’t mean I’m forgetting my old one.”

  “So you’re saying you’ll still love me even though you only get to see me on weekends and half the holidays?” Cole smirks at me. “I’ll miss ya, old man.”

  “Two months. I’m two months older than you.” I laugh.

  “Olllld.” Cole throws the Jeep in park and gives my shoulder a shove.

  “You don’t get to call people old unless you can beat them at something. Like anything. Even one single fucking thing in the entire world.” I push him back.

  Cole’s face finally relaxes. He pulls off his seatbelt and throws open the driver seat door, grinning at me over his shoulder as he heads out into the night. “Yeah, wait until you’ve been out of it for a bit. Let’s give it a year, then we’ll see who can beat who.” His eyes twinkle.

  “Anytime, anyplace.” I smirk. Even as we bust each other’s balls, we’re automatically grabbing our weapons. I slide out of the vehicle and keep my muzzle pointed to the ground, concealed at my side.

  Cole does the same. We’re not in uniform, but we’re still on duty. These guns are practically extensions of our arms at this point. The cool metal is a second skin against my palm.

  All joking is pushed aside now. We have a mission to complete and it’s kind of important we don’t get ourselves or our contact killed doing it. They say there’s a kernel of truth behind every joke, and it’s true that I can’t shake this feeling inside that something bad might happen. Like something unexpected is going to flip the script. Like shit could go down.

  I scan the perimeter with my night vision but nothing stands out. The night is silent, and a chill radiates through the air as the clear desert sky cools off the warm sand under our feet. My breathing is slow and deliberate. My pulse is steady and my mind is sharp. I’m ready for whatever happens. My muscles are ready to pounce. My body is ready to kill.

  Cole gently knocks on Abdul-Azim’s modest door and I hear shuffled footsteps as the old man opens it. His white hair twists softly down into his bushy beard. It’s hard to tell where the hair on his head ends and his head begins. It’s easy to imagine his soft, brown eyes looking down with wonder at a grandchild. He has always been a gentle man, in his manner and tone.

  I’ve never asked him myself, but we were told he turned to our side when the Taliban blew up one of the elementary schools. Apparently, they had a problem with kids like Abdul-Azim’s granddaughter going there to learn.