Wild Untouched: Tidewater, #4

By Tami Veldura

A Tidewater Novella. Contemporary, Stand alone, HEA.

After two brutal tours in Afghanistan, the military sent Madden home. He’s made ends meet with private security, but the work is unfulfilling, and he’s lonely without his squad around. Determined to take charge of his life again, Madden prepares for a hiking trip in the local mountains to clear his heart and soul.

Unwilling to accept the hand life dealt him, Gage forged his own path as a freelance photographer. His latest assignment has him chasing wildlife in the woods. He loves the challenge of framing the best photo, while hiking and enjoying the fresh air. Until he slides down a gully and breaks his ankle. The welcoming, mysterious forest quickly becomes a nightmare. Gage is alone, and he needs help—immediately.

Madden’s protective instincts kick in the second he spots Gage in trouble. What he finds is even more than he expected: a tough, creative man who never had a chance to open his heart to love. Madden can’t help falling for the photographer. He just needs to convince Gage that the limited time they have before rescue arrives is worth the risk.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LoveLight Press
• Release date: Jan 26, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386328131

Tami Veldura

Tami Veldura is an enby/aro/ace author of queer fiction. They have published short stories in anthologies Fresh Starts, Hauntings, Love Among The Thorns, Love Is Like A Box Of Chocolates, the magazine Galaxy’s Edge, and they are a contributing member of the scifi magazine Boundary Shock Quarterly. They publish new work every month, crossing every genre, but always featuring queer characters and found families.As S.T. Lynn, they write uplifting, sweet, and tropey fantasy fiction, featuring women front and center. Including fairy tales, elves, magic, and happy endings for young adults and young-at-heart.

Book preview

WILD UNTOUCHED

Tami Veldura

LoveLight Press

Contemporary M/M

Wild Untouched © Tami Veldura 2018.

Cover by Aria Tan.

All rights reserved. No part of this story may be used, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the copyright holder, except in the case of brief quotations embodied within critical reviews and articles. This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental. The author has asserted his/her rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book. This book contains sexually explicit content which is suitable only for mature readers.

First LoveLight Press electronic publication: January 2018.

http://www.lovelightpress.com

Wild Untouched features American characters, and as such uses American English throughout.

Foreword

A Tidewater Novella. Contemporary, Stand alone, HEA.

After two brutal tours in Afghanistan, the military sent Madden home. He’s made ends meet with private security, but the work is unfulfilling, and he’s lonely without his squad around. Determined to take charge of his life again, Madden prepares for a hiking trip in the local mountains to clear his heart and soul.

Unwilling to accept the hand life dealt him, Gage forged his own path as a freelance photographer. His latest assignment has him chasing wildlife in the woods. He loves the challenge of framing the best photo, while hiking and enjoying the fresh air. Until he slides down a gully and breaks his ankle. The welcoming, mysterious forest quickly becomes a nightmare. Gage is alone, and he needs help—immediately.

Madden’s protective instincts kick in the second he spots Gage in trouble. What he finds is even more than he expected: a tough, creative man who never had a chance to open his heart to love. Madden can’t help falling for the photographer. He just needs to convince Gage that the limited time they have before rescue arrives is worth the risk.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Foreword

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

About The Author

Books By Tami

Chapter One

Madden took a deep breath, inhaling to crisp, cool air. The sun kissed the sky, casting a soft glow over the area. Stark rays pierced through the thick foliage. Most people still slept in their warm beds at this hour, but Madden would not waste a single moment of daylight. Not when the day had dawned so beautifully.

Sure, it was a little chilly out this morning, but it wasn't yet in the freezing temperatures it would be in a month or so. And besides, this cool air beat the dry, arid desert he'd spent his last three years in. Then again, there wasn't much that wouldn't beat that.

It beat being holed up in an office building, forced to wear a penguin suit and throw out the occasional homeless that wandered through. Glorious, his life was not. Despite what the movies and news reports said, the life of a soldier wasn't that glamorous or adventurous. Especially not the life of a retired soldier.

He'd been out for a year now, living in Tidewater and working private security. He had it easy, a job where people weren't shooting at him anymore. But boredom sprang up often. After everything he'd seen in the desert, the job almost put him to sleep. At least when he'd been in the service, he'd had purpose. He had been working toward a great good.

Now though? Now he wasn't sure he had a destination at all.

Which was why he'd cashed in his vacation days and leave the city life behind. Now it was him, his bag, and mother nature out here. He'd left everything that connected him to the outside world behind in his apartment. He didn't care about work or sports or the shit-show they called a war. Not now.

He'd been out in the woods for two days now and already a weight had melted off his shoulders. What would it be like when his three weeks out here were up? He'd feel like a whole new man, he hoped, one with a purpose in life again.

He was probably asking too much of mother nature, but he had to try. Either that or go insane as he stared at a bank of black and white monitors.

The birds this morning were alive and well, filling the entire area with their echoing songs. He wished he could be like them, free to fly around without a care in the world. They didn't have jobs or pasts that haunted them at night. All they had was the freedom of nature.

Maybe I should sell off my shit and live out here. Madden entertained the thought of becoming a mountain man, living alone in the wilderness. It was a pleasant thought, but he'd never be able to do it. His mother would worry herself into an early grave if he dropped off the grid like that. It was a wonder she’d survived his tour in the desert without a heart attack.

Plus, he'd miss his nieces and nephews after a while, too. They'd already grown up so much while he'd been away. So, no matter how peaceful and nice it was out here, there was no way he could stay here forever. Madden would have to settle for a couple weeks here and there.

Madden took a swig from his water bottle, the cool liquid invigorating as