Shooting Stars

By Shelby Morgen

“Why do we do this?”

“Because we’re so good together.”

“For a few days. A few weeks, even. But then it ends. Again. Badly. Always does. We’re like shooting stars. Speeding through the night sky until they collide. A shower of sparks and we’re gone again.”

“But it’s glorious while it lasts.” He kissed my neck, just below my ear, and I shivered in his arms. “And one of these days we’re going to find a way to make it work.”

“Liar,” I shot back. But it was Christmas. And I wanted to believe…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Changeling Press
• Release date: Dec 22, 2018

Book preview

believe…

Chapter One

Arrogant asshole.

He shrugged. True. But you’re stuck with me. Unless you want to call corporate and have them send someone else.

I did. I wanted that more than anything. I wanted anyone other than Mikael Tomlin standing in front of me. Unfortunately I knew he was right. I was stuck with him. Because even if I unpacked the SAT phone and called our director of operations -- my ex-husband -- and told Trent I absolutely refused to work with this asshole, and if by some miracle my darling ex-husband agreed he’d made a mistake and sent a replacement, it would take at least a week to get another extraction crew to this remote corner of South America. And I didn’t have that kind of time to waste. Not if what Mika said was accurate, and the current local political situation was becoming less stable by the hour.

I needed to get my team out, and I needed to get them out now.

Not to mention the odds were against Trent agreeing to anything that would make my life easier. And it occurred to me that as much as I didn’t want Mika standing in front of me, he wanted even less to be here. I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.

Mistake. Mika was close enough his scent hit me full on. Rugged. Male. And a damn good fuck, no matter how much I wanted to forget that fact. My eyes snapped open again, and I stared at him, willing him to vanish off my horizon.

Nope. Still there.

I shoved by him and shouted down to my men. Guys! Break camp. Grab what you can. Emergency evac.

Right, Mika said, still smiling. So let’s just fire off a flare gun while we’re at it. Make us easier to spot.

I stomped back into my tent. If anyone was that close you’d have been here hours ago. You know it’s going to take time to pack up our gear.

Fuck the gear. My mission’s simple. Get you out. Preferably alive.

I was already throwing everything I could reach into my duffle bag. I’m not leaving without my research.

Silvi, you’re not a complete moron. I know you. You’ve got automatic backups of everything uploading every day. Hell, maybe twice a day. You’re not going to lose data. Get your guys up here and we’ll break camp. We’ve got to lay down some cover.

I reached for my laptop and he grabbed my arm, pulling me around so we were face to face, and only inches apart. Silvi. Now! It’s three miles to the airstrip. We’ll be lucky to get you out, let alone as much crap as you can load in that duffle. Leave it!

I slapped him, hard, but he caught my wrist and yanked me against his chest, his free hand fisting into my hair and his lips meeting mine in a brutal assault. Oh, God. I’d almost forgotten how good he was at that, too. It was all I could do not to moan at the fierceness of that kiss.

I’m not losing you again, Silvi. I’ll come back for it when I can, but I’ve got to get you out of here. Now!

I need my passport, I argued. He couldn’t deny the logic of that. And if I managed to pocket my flash drive, well, that was no one’s business but my own.

* * *

I wanted to be angry with Mika. I really did. But by the time we’d made it to the tiny landing strip -- little more than a farm lane in a