Hero: Healing a Warrior, Book 5: The Guardian Series, #5

By Maggie C. Brynnon

Soldier. Businessman. Confused. Married.

Thomas Vega and India Gibson have come quite a long way. It would seem that after all they’d been through, they were finally in a place where everything between them was settled.

But not quite.

Nurse. Businesswoman. Confused. Married.

When the pressure becomes too much, India gives in, despite her mind telling her to run in the opposite direction. Thomas then sucks her in and takes her on the ride of her life, giving her wave after wave of intense pleasure.

India knows full well that she’s in over her head, but she’s powerless to stop it now.

But neither of them could have been prepared for the bit of news that takes both of them by surprise.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Susan G. Charles
• Release date: Jul 25, 2016
• ISBN: 9781533730985

Book preview

Chapter 1

SIT, THOMAS BELLOWED in a commanding voice.

Each and every dog in the kennel sat in unison and he smiled. Of all the parts of his newly opened veterans center, Thomas liked this section the most. He had been using Bandit to demonstrate proper commands and the new arrivals had caught on quickly.

Bandit really liked his new job. Thomas didn’t think he could be any more proud of his long time companion, but he was wrong.

Soon, the dogs would go outside to have play time with some of the patient’s. He and India agreed that supervised visiting hours would help the patients relieve stress and help socialize the dogs too.

Since opening the center, the dog shelter had become one of the most visited parts. It seems everyone wanted their own Bandit. So once a month they decided to start holding companion pet adoptions. The first round was so popular, in fact, that their current roster of companion dogs had been reduced by two-thirds.

The 'Hero' center once again had to reach out to the local kennels in the area to get more potential companion dog trainees as soon as possible. Some of the dogs in the center were still puppies and needed extra care, but that was OK. Everyone loved them, so no one minded. Even the nurses helped look after all the animals in their spare time and seemed to enjoy their special time in the kennels.

Just then Thomas looked down at his watch. He remembered that Sam’s PT class would be starting soon, and he wanted to catch it. It had been too long since he’d gotten in some good activity and worked up a real sweat. He’d been spending so many hours these days sitting behind a desk, definitely the con of running such a place, that he desperately needed a physical outlet.

He tried to delegate the paperwork to India, and there was a ton of it, but she wanted to be on the front lines of the nursing care side. She wasn’t very interested in the desk work either, even though she was much better at it than he was. He thought he might have to hire it out, but India insisted that one of them needed to take care of his new baby, the 'Heroes' center, at least in the beginning.

This is your baby, she often said to him. You can’t trust it to someone else right now. There are too many things that they could miss, and you may not catch it either until it’s too late.

She was right as usual. She had a good head for these things, and he was glad he had her by his side. He was thinking more and more about making the arrangement permanent, having her beside him in all ways. But he would have to figure out how to have that conversation on another day.

For now, well, he had other plans, so he changed into his sweats and met the men outside in the yard. They were already beginning to line up. Sam grinned widely when he saw Tom joining the other men in the row. Tom noticed that the deep shadows around Sam's eyes were slowly disappearing.

Thomas was happy for his friends progress. It was great when he could help a stranger, but even more rewarding when he could do it for someone close to him. And he could tell from experience that Sam's old life was now  replaced with a burning sense of purpose – to help others, and even himself, to get better... to get healthy... and to get happy.

You come to take over my class, Sergeant Hale? Sam teased.

No,sir, Thomas said with a grin. I'm here to take it, too.

Sam threw his head back and laughed. OK... but don’t expect me to go easy on you.

Wouldn’t dream of it, Thomas replied.

Jumping jacks, jogging, chanting ...  Thomas felt like he was back in basic training... and he loved it. Life was so much simpler back then. He had no idea what he was in for back then, just that he was in it for the long haul.

Tom couldn’t have imagined way-back-then the atrocities and trauma he would witness later on. But he’d come so far. They all had. And, with the help of this center, he was determined to make the most of it for the men he shared an overwhelming experience with too.

To get better... to get healthy... and to get happy, Tom realized that he needed to get that stenciled on the walls of the center here. Maybe this could be a new mantra for the patients here, he thought to himself. As soon as he cleared it with Indy, that is. That thought made him instantly smile... having someone to share such decisions with was an experience he would have never imagined even a few years ago.

Chapter 2

TOM WAS DRENCHED WITH sweat after the class. He’d known immediately that Sam was the right choice for this kind