A Real Man: The Dream: The Delta North Team Novella Series: Soldiers Coming Home, #1

By Susan Saxx

A hot, incredibly hands-on dream. But still…a dream.

 

Or…is it?

 

Cole Dawson, soldier and former leader of the feared Delta North Special Ops Military Team, has returned to save the family ranch. Also? To be this woman's bodyguard. This compelling, sexy, can't get her out of his head woman.

 

Tabby Logan's first book signing tour has been going well. But what has been crazy, confusing and all together disorienting has been the presence of this man. Her prop cowboy, manager of sorts, and now… she's starting to think…her bodyguard.

 

She doesn't know quite which way to turn. What action to take.  Yet, it seems her heart does…

 

Come along on Tabby's wild and erotic dream.

* * *

This book is a novella expanding on Tabby's erotic dream, occurring in brief in A Real Man: The First Miracle.

Cole and Tabby's full story is told in:

A Real Man: The First Miracle, Book 1
A Real Man: The Last Miracle, Book 2

• Language: English
• Publisher: Susan Saxx
• Release date: Jun 13, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386232780

Book preview

Prologue: Tabby

Sleep weighed heavy on her.

The day had been massively busy, and her mind had been on her readers. The sign behind her had proclaimed the news: Heartbreak Heroes—the bestselling cowboy erotica book, by Tabby Grey. Get your copy now, and meet the author!

That was indeed her book, and she was indeed the author, sitting behind the desk, doing the signing.

What a crazy buzz.

When she’d penned those sizzling stories in rehab, she never dreamed they’d actually be published, and that people would buy the book. In droves. It was a miracle she never grew tired of.

Customers in a lineup, eager to meet her. Placing their copies of her book in front of her, reading the dedications she penned to them with a hitch in their breath. Sometimes, they did so with a sweet reverence she knew she didn’t deserve. Yet, it filled the big, empty space in her heart. The large hole that was vacant and raw after her idiot ex-fiancé dumped her.

After the accident, of course. And after her looks had changed. Of course.

You’re not the woman for me, Tabitha. You never were. I just didn’t get around to telling you before it all happened. I’m a physical type of guy, ya know? I have needs. And you’re just not that expressive. I need more. Good thing we found out before we were married…

He was right in one thing. He definitely had needs. A working brain was first on the list.

It seemed all the anger she felt for him, along with the incredible irritation at herself for ever seeing anything in the wimp poured out of her and into the pages of her manuscript. She’d semi-bitterly called it ‘her therapy’ to her girlfriends.

Hot stories of sexy cowboys who actually knew how to turn a woman on. Who cared about her pleasure. Who also, interestingly, had principles.

The book had caught fire.

Seemed huge numbers of women felt exactly the way she did.

Now, this was her life. A book tour, and she was already working on the second novel in the series. All of it a wonderful, miraculous gift.

Yet, what hadn’t been great had been the man the publisher insisted she take along with her. A prop cowboy. A man who was actually a real cowboy, from a working ranch.

Kinda like the men in her series.

A solider, as well. Former leader of the elite Delta North Team, she’d heard. Apparently, that was a big deal.

She’d finally agreed, grudgingly, as she’d realized she really didn’t have a choice. Cole Dawson had been her sole companion all through the book tour in the Canadian west, parts of America, too.

Her face flushed now, as she sat in her bedroom, and thought of the man. Her breathing accelerated. Just an hour ago, in the darkness of the night, had been the total, absolute, coup de gras of their time together.

Blisteringly, hot sex? Inventive positions, like in her stories?

No. They’d spent the hour rescuing a ragged kitten caught in a motel parking lot. It had been desperately trying to hide itself, in and around garbage cans. It had taken all their strength and focus when things got hairy, then crazy dangerous, but they’d done it, together.

Now, the unexpected drama was done. The sweet, rumpled little animal was on her bed, freshly bathed—Cole and her had done that together, the big, tough, special ops soldier holding the fragile beast to his naked chest in the bathroom, carefully cradling it, giving it his warmth. The curtains shut against the darkness of the indigo night.

And now, this very moment? Well, there her heart raced. Cole was still here, in her motel bedroom. Sitting on her bed, shirtless, crooning soft words to the little kitty he’d named Sheba.

Because she was a survivor, and she rocked, he’d said.

Warmth filled her heart. And…more. A whole lot more.

Tabby wanted to sit and watch the two of them forever. Her eyes slid to the jeans he hadn’t fastened, the telltale sprinkling of dark hair teasing her.

She wanted to reach out, walk her fingers along the messed-up bedspread, over to his solid thigh. To his hand. Curl her fingers around his…

Like that was ever happening. He’d probably leap off the bed, and tear away from her like a tornado was wreaking hell on everything.

Or worse…he’d turn those deep blue eyes on her, move closer and…

A very real fear skittered through her. Her and Cole? There’d been signs he was interested. Flat-out wanted her. Oh, there’d been signs.

Most worrisome of all though, was…would he be disappointed? Would the words of jerk come back to shame her, prove themselves true?

Put it out of your mind. Way out. Outer space should be good.

All of the excitement of the day caught up to her. She was so damn tired. She needed to sleep, badly. Tomorrow was another signing. Could she? Sleep?

Apparently, it was not her decision to make. As if a mischievous fairy had sprinkled glittery dust over her, an intoxicating potion with the power to make her go under, her breathing deepened and she sank into the pillow on her side of the bed. Images, new images, more seductive, danced in her brain, rolling out a story. She relaxed into the narrative, her muscles limp, as it all played out in her troubled, yet hopeful mind.

The dream…

1

Chapter 1: Tabby’s Dream

Holy Hell. Walking into the wrong motel room had never looked like this before.

Tabby Logan stood in the darkened bedroom and stared straight ahead as the pulse from her hammering heart threatened to jump through the skin at the base of her throat.

In the bathroom, in front of the vanity. Sliding those faded blue jeans off solid thighs. The dusting of