SEAL's Lost Dream: Lost and Found

By J.M. Madden

Former Navy SEAL K9 Handler Joe Flynn doesn't understand why every stray in Denver seems to head his way. After losing his Military War Dog in Afghanistan, he doesn't want anything to do with animals. But he doesn't mind seeing Willow take care of his charges. Lusciously rounded, she's the best thing he's experienced all year.

Veterinarian Willow James loves seeing Flynn walk her way, though he brings her some truly sad cases of animal neglect. He tries to keep his emotions locked away, but she's learned to read him over the past year. When one of the animals he brings in decides to adopt him, she starts to see the thaw she's been waiting for.

She's ready to take on the sexy former SEAL with all his ghosts, but is he ready to let them go for her?

 

Lost and Found Series Reading Order

 

The Embattled Road- Prequel- 0.5

Embattled Hearts- Book 1

Embattled Minds- Book 2

Embattled Home- Book 3

Embattled SEAL- Book 4

Embattled Ever After- Book 5

Embattled Return- Book 6

 

Connected Novellas-

SEAL's Lost Dream- Book 2.5

Her Forever Hero- Book 3.5

Unbreakable SEAL- Book 3.6

Embattled Christmas- Book 3.7

Loving Lilly- Book 4.2

Her Secret Wish- Book 4.3

SEAL's Christmas Dream- Book 4.7

Mistletoe Mischief- 5.1

Lost and Found Pieces 1- Book 5.2

Lost and Found Pieces 2

 

Connected Spinoffs-

The Lowells of Honeywell, Texas

Forget Me Not- Prequel

Untying His Not- Book 1

Naughty by Nature- Book 2

Trying the Knot- Book 3

 

The Dogs of War-

Genesis- Prequel

Chaos- Book 1

Destruction- Book 2

Retribution- Book 3

Catalyst- Book 4

• Language: English
• Publisher: J.M. Madden
• Release date: Dec 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9780989667586

Book preview

Chapter 1

Your bearded mystery man just pulled in.

Dr. Willow James looked up at her assistant Nicky leaning in the doorway. Uh oh. What’d he bring me this time?

Nicky shook her dark head. Not sure. Sue is helping him now.

Willow tied off the last stitch of the spaying she was doing on Donna Sharp’s new little cat Skittles. Put him in room one and I’ll be there in just a minute. Whatever he brought, I’m sure it’s critical.

Her vet tech nodded and disappeared.

Wiping the little tabby’s belly, she picked her up and carried her to the holding cages in back. Laying Skittles in the basket, she tucked a piece of fleece over her to keep her warm as she came out of the anesthesia. In a few minutes she’d send Nicky back to check on the cat.

Willow walked toward room one with dread in her stomach. ‘Flynn’, as he called himself, had been coming to her vet practice for about the past year, hauling in animal after animal for her to treat and try to find homes for. Or dispose of respectfully. Dogs for the most part. Usually strays. A couple had been micro-chipped and eventually returned to their grateful owners. She’d asked him once where he found them all. Hard, shadowed gray eyes had flashed to her for a moment. They find me, he told her quietly.

And she believed him.

The man was imposing. Six-three anyway, thick dark brown hair and beard, tight t-shirts that showed off more muscles than should be allowed on any man. He wore jeans that cupped his ass but hung low on his hips. A knife was tucked into the corner of the pocket. Pretty damn delicious. His personality, though, left a lot to be desired. For the most part, he snapped or grumbled at everyone. After seven years in practice on her own, he made her feel ridiculously inadequate at her own job. She wasn’t sure why he kept coming in. There were a hundred other vets in the Denver area he could patronize. If she hadn’t seen the way the animals themselves reacted to him, she’d have probably asked him to go to another vet.

But the animals loved him. Dogs with no more will to live gave him a final grateful lick before they faded away. Feral cats calmed under his broad hands as if they’d been waiting for him forever. She didn’t know what he did in real life, but he should have been a veterinarian. Or a K9 officer. Maybe Search and Rescue. Something where he could use the skill he had.

With the stealthy way he walked into a room, she thought perhaps he had military experience. She’d learned early on that making him wait in the waiting room put other customers on edge because he glared at them. The staff tried to get him into a room as quickly as possible.

It was a shame he was so abrasive. The man was positively gorgeous. Dark haired and light eyed. Scrumptious.

Stupid vanity made her tighten her gut and lift her boobs as she walked into the room, ready for anything.

Flynn didn’t allow the relief he felt at the sight of the sexy vet show on his face, but the knot of tension in his gut began to ease. With barely a glance at the table, she crossed to the sink to wash her hands, tossing her long black braid over her shoulder.

Tell me what you have, Flynn.

It’s a dog.

She frowned at him as she dried her hands. Are you sure?

He understood what she meant. The scrap of bones on the table barely classified as anything. It weighed less than thirty pounds, according to the scale out front. The frame of the animal was built for much more.

Dr. James leaned over the dog, ran her hand over its head and tilted its face up to look in the eyes. Unhooking the stethoscope from her slender neck, she held the end to the dog’s chest, listening for a moment before moving it to the belly.

Flynn hated this part of the ordeal. The waiting. The scales teetering. When the animals were this bad, he knew chances usually ran at about eighty-twenty on the negative side whether or not they could be saved. The dog was skin and bones, and hadn’t moved from the painful curl he had found her in an hour ago.

The dog’s brown eyes had latched onto his, and he’d known he couldn’t leave her behind that fence. A cable hung from her neck, but he couldn’t find the clasp end. It had embedded into the flesh and grown over.

There seemed to be something else going on with her, though.

The doctor leaned over the table toward him, ruffling the buttery-golden hair on the dog’s neck area. Even over the odor of the dog, her fresh laundry scent tickled along his skin, tugging at him to lean closer. Flynn braced his hands on the edge of the aluminum table and stayed where he was. He didn’t come here to see the shapely doctor with the broad smile.

Right.

She reached for a strange, paddle shaped device hanging on a wall hook, waving it over the dog’s shoulders. He knew the distinctive sound the machine made when it detected a microchip, but it didn’t happen this time.

No microchip. And this cable has rusted apart. Whoever owned this dog didn’t care that it grew into her skin, but she worked to get free, it looks like.

Fury made the hairs of his arms bristle. You think they knew it had grown in?

Dr. James nodded, her soft, whiskey colored eyes meeting his. This isn’t something that happens over night. It takes weeks, if not months for it to get this bad. She fondled the fur for a moment, then peeled back the hair to show him.

Flynn clenched his jaw to keep from turning the air blue. The fuckers needed to rot.

We’ll trim her up and see how bad the neck wound is. Body score; she’s between a one or a two. More toward a one. This pretty girl hasn’t been fed for a while. No gut sounds at all.

The knot in his stomach began to ease at her words. After a year of bringing animals to this soft hearted woman, he knew when she started to personalize the animal she was going to do her best to save it.

The doctor flexed the dog’s legs, then began to palpate her stomach.

Oh, no.

What? he demanded.

The doctor blinked up at him, frowning. She’s pregnant.

Flynn looked down at the emaciated thing on the steel table, unable to believe she had anything to give a litter of puppies. Are you sure? he snapped.

The doctor looked up at him with that look she had. Yes, I’m sure. Not very many, but there are at least a couple in there. She ruffled the dog’s head. Okay, Mama, we’re going to fix you up.

This was normally the point where Flynn bowed out of the scene and left the doctor to work her magic, but the dog turned her head to look at him as if she knew what he was thinking. Unable to help himself, he reached out to rub along her jaw. Her fluffy tail thumped against the table.

Where did you find this one?

Industrial district.

Dr. James frowned. Hm. She looks like she could be a decent dog if they’d just taken care of her. But they left her to strangle. I’m glad she got away. Bastards.

Flynn seconded her exclamation. If a person didn’t plan to take care of a dog, why would they have it in the first place? The animal looked at least part Shepherd, with her dark face and lighter body, but he couldn’t be sure.

Nicky, the vet tech, stuck her blond head in. You’ve got an emergency coming. Hit by car. They’re about ten minutes out.

The doctor nodded her head, examining the cable around the dog’s neck. Okay. Thanks, Nicky. Why don’t you carry Mama here back to the cages? We’ll work on her after the emergency.

Mama? She’s pregnant? She stepped more fully into the room. No way. You poor thing.

Nicky reached to pick the dog up, but Flynn waved her away.

I’ll move her.

The women stood back as he lifted the dog carefully into his heavy arms. Nicky pointed down the hallway. Flynn knew the way; he’d done this before. Kneeling in front of the biggest cage on the bottom, ignoring the twinge in his hip, he leaned in and placed the dog carefully on the padded mat. The doctor held a blanket over his shoulder and he used it to tuck around the dog. Her dark-chocolate eyes watched every move he made but she didn’t seem fearful. He paused before he closed the door to run his hand over her head one more time. Then he forced himself to his feet and walked out of the practice.

Willow watched Flynn’s broad back disappear down the hallway. The man was such a chatterbox. She snorted to herself in derision. His nice ass kind of made up for his lack of conversation skills, though.

She took care of the dog hit by the car. It was a big old yellow lab, with more happiness than sense. He wiggled his whole body for her when she walked into the room and snuck in stealthy licks wherever he could. There was a long scrape on his rear leg and some weakness, but no breaks. She x-rayed the dog but didn’t see any reason to be concerned. Cleaning his wound, she wrapped his leg in bandage, talking to the distraught owner the entire time. But her thoughts were on the mama dog and her future. She would have to be careful with the anesthesia; she didn’t want the puppies to go too far under. Mama was already stressed.

Nicky had everything set up by the time the Lab was released and they worked quickly to shave the mama dog’s neck while they waited for the drugs to knock her out. Once asleep, with her neck shaved,