Her Irresistible Guardian: Tactical Protectors: Marines

By M.D. Dalrymple

Four years. Four long years . . .
It's been four years since Olivia ghosted Dax as he departed for Marine Boot Camp.
Now a Lance Corporal, easy-going Dax "D" Cameron is shocked when the woman who left him with a shattered heart is standing before him.

The mix of fury and desire that bubble inside him rocks him to his core. Yet he's stationed stateside for the meantime, and if Olivia can explain herself well enough, it might help him finally get over her.

Which would be good, because his new training can't allow for any distractions. Let alone the buxom, golden, chestnut haired woman from his past. Any mess up or mistake can bring disaster for his entire squad.

When Olivia Hastings turns around to find Dax standing in front of her, she can't believe her eyes. It's the same Dax, only more muscular and his laid-back smile is wiped from his face. He seems larger somehow, and his presence after so long tears her words from her lips.

While she does owe him an explanation, he owes her one as well, because he bailed on her to join the Marines without even asking her what she thought about the idea or how it might affect their relationship. And now that she has a possessive ex dogging her heels, the last thing she needs is to have her emotions riled up by Dax's reappearance.

Because he's more irresistible now than he had been before he left.

Four years, however, wasn't enough time to extinguish the heat between them. And when they make their apologies, sparks fly even hotter than they had in the past.

But it turns out Olivia's ex is more than just an irritation -- he's dangerous. And when his jealously gets out of control, both Olivia and Dax are in his sights.

Can Dax and Olivia overcome their haunting past and her dangerous ex? Or will the challenges be too much for them to bear?
__________

If you crave heroic military men, passionate romance, and a lot of realistic Marine action, you'll love M.D. Dalrymple's Marine Corps romance, Her Irresistable Guardian!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michelle Deerwester-Dalrymple
• Release date: Jul 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223658207

Book preview

Her Irresistible Guardian

Tactical Protectors: Marines

M.D. Dalrymple

Book Two

Copyright 2023 Michelle Deerwester-Dalrymple All rights reserved

Sword and Thistle LLC Publishing

Cover and interior Art: licensed by Canva.com

Interior Formatting: Atticus

Cover Model: Dax Guinan

All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, distribution, or electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the author constitutes unlawful piracy of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use the material from this book, other than for review purposes, prior authorization from the author must be obtained. Copies of this text can be made for personal use only. No mass distribution of copies of this text is permitted.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, dates, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination or used factiously. Any similarity or resemblance to any person living or dead, place, or event is purely coincidental.

image-placeholder

Hello Reader!

Thank you for starting the story of Dax and Olivia!

Military romances are exciting on many levels, and I have the added benefit of working with Marines, as well as being married to one, which gives me added insight into these warriors and how their job affects all facets of their lives, including their romancing ones.

I am so proud of this series! It is an offshoot of my police romance series, a new Men in Uniform series that is both exciting and realistic! This book focuses on a character we met in book one, Her Desirable Defender, Dax Cameron. Eventually you will also get David Sorell and Sgt Beau Drake's stories as well!

In Her Irresistible Guardian, Dax and Olivia were involved when they were younger, but the pressure of life had other plans.

Now Dax is a Lance-Corporal with the United States Marines, and Olivia is working at a beachside realtor's office in Southern California. They don't expect their paths to ever cross again, until they do.

A couple of elements to note before you dive into this book. Since the stories are pulled from the real world, there are realistic elements of Marine action and duties, which include the use of weaponry. There are also references to stalking and scenes of abduction, which readers will want to consider as they read those sections of the book. Also, Marines have a specific terminology and way of speaking, so some of the dialogue or internal thoughts will reflect that way of speaking and are not necessarily spelling or grammar issues.

Finally, I hope you love Her Irresistible Guardian and read the entire series!

If you decide you want more from me and my books, feel free to check out my linktree for all my socials: https://linktr.ee/mddalrympleauthor or sign up for my newsletter on the next page!

Thank you for being a Marvelous Reader!

Michelle

image-placeholder

Bonus Police Ebook

Don't forget to grab your bonus ebook police romance ebook starter! Go to the webpage below to receive On Patrol, a pulled from real life short story in your inbox, plus more freebies and goodies!

https://view.flodesk.com/pages/5f74c62a924e5bf828c9e0f3

image-placeholderimage-placeholder

A hero would sacrifice you to save the world; a villain would sacrifice the world to save you.

A Marine would sacrifice himself to do both.

Contents

1.Dax

2.Dax

3.Olivia

4.Dax

5.Olivia

6.Dax

7.Dax

8.Dax

9.Olivia

10.Dax

11.Olivia

12.Dax

13.Olivia

14.Dax

15.Olivia

16.Olivia

17.Dax

18.Epilogue

Bonus Police Ebook

Mission Report

Excerpt from Charming:

About the Author

Also By Michelle Deerwester-Dalrymple

image-placeholder

Chapter one

Dax

Four years earlier

Dax tried her number again, but it just went to voicemail.

Why wasn’t Olivia returning his calls? Or texts? He even reached out on her social media, sending her DMs, but nothing.

Dax pressed the heels of his hands against his burning eyes before trying again.

Why isn’t she calling me back?

Since they had started dating in high school in sunny southern California, he and Olivia had spent every moment together that they could. Senior prom, their senior trip, that summer after . . . But when it came time to start making future decisions, things started to change.

She started to change.

Dax took it all in stride, as he did with everything. As much fun as he’d had in high school, he wasn’t worried about the future at all. He wasn’t the worrying type – moreover, he had finally made the decision to become a Marine. That meant his immediate future was taken care of.

Easy peasy.

And he planned to ask Olivia to marry him once he was out of Basic and a Marine private.

Shortly after he told Olivia about joining the Marines and getting his receiving date, he started to notice a change in her. His jokes and funny comments that used to bring a bright smile to her tanned face started to fall flat. She had become a bit pale, and she had mocked his normally jocular attitude more than once. The same attitude that she had told him over and over was the thing that made her fall for him. That and his natural, wide smile that came readily to his face.

She’s pulling away, he had thought to himself a few days prior. Or something was bothering her that she couldn’t bring herself to talk about. Her quiet attitude was also odd since they talked about everything. No secrets.

Or so he’d thought.

Now here she was, secretive. Hiding something from him. She had canceled their last two dates and begged him off when he wanted to meet up. And the last time he had tried to sit her down and talk to her? All he got was her weak answers, saying it was nothing, that she had to work out a couple of things. Then she stopped returning his texts and his phone calls. It was so bad that he had driven out to her house where she lived with her mom, but she wouldn’t answer the door.

She had barely spoken to him for the entire week, and he was getting ready to board the bus for his Marine recruit receiving, and she was AWOL. He had been lucky to get assigned to Camp Pendleton as his Boot Camp location, so it would be easy to see her after he graduated.

Now here he was, one of the last times he’d be able to use his fucking phone, and she was ghosting him.

What the hell?

His parents had explained that maybe she was taking his upcoming absence hard, that she was worried, and that was why she was pulling away. But if that was the case, why didn’t she say something to him? Talk to him about it? They could get through this, Dax was sure of it, if only she would answer her fucking phone.

It would be seven weeks before he could speak to her again, and she wasn’t answering the damn phone.

A sharp smack caught the back of his head, and Dax jumped.

Put the phone away, Recruit, or they’ll take it from you before you even get to the receiving center.

Dax twisted his upper torso to find a short, dark-haired stranger behind him. The guy had wide eyes and slicked-back hair that he was probably going to hate to get shaved off.

I mean, you’re going to lose it anyway because they don’t let you make calls until you’re ready to graduate, but you don’t want to mess with these guys and start off on the wrong foot.

Dax glanced over the stranger’s head at the other guys milling around the bus stop. They were waiting with two Marines in long-sleeved camo BDUs who didn’t look like they came to play.

The stranger was right. Dax didn’t want to get on the wrong side with these guys. He sighed and slipped the phone in his back pocket.

Alex, the slick stranger said and stuck out his hand. Dax stared at it for a moment, then took the proffered hand and shook. Alex Cordan.

Dax Cameron.

Alex nodded and faced the entry where the Marine bus was supposed to pull up at any moment.

Trying to get your girlfriend?

Dax nodded and twisted back to face the same way as Alex.

Well, good luck with that. It’s not uncommon for the girl at home to become the ex. I hope it works out for you.

A long, brown bus appeared at the street entrance, and Alex picked up his backpack.

Dax started to reach for his phone again but paused his hand and instead grabbed the handle of his small duffel. An uncommon snarl took control of his wide lips.

You and me both, Alex, he thought sourly.

image-placeholder

Dax

Seven weeks later when Boot Camp was over, Dax had survived the torturous final challenge of The Crucible and earned his dress blues. Dax hoped that when he got his phone back, he had at least one message from Olivia.

She had been on his mind for the past seven excruciating weeks.

He flipped it on.

Nothing.

Fuck.

Not even one freaking message?

Had something happened to her? Had she met someone else and dumped him hard by ghosting him?

He was giving his phone an angry grimace when someone appeared at his elbow.

Still no messages? his mother asked in her calm, curious tone.

Dax hadn’t missed the expression of sadness that had crossed her face when he told her about Olivia. She had brushed her light brown hair out of her eyes and gave him a look that he called mom feels bad for you look.

He shook his head. Nope. I don’t know what happened.

Oh, sweetie, she said as she brushed imaginary dust off his shoulders, which had broadened after seven weeks of soul-crushing bodily activity. Your dad is getting the car. We’ll head home and have you back next week when you get your orders. Maybe she’ll call while you’re home. Maybe that’s what she’s waiting for.

His mom’s words made sense, but neither she nor Dax truly believed them.

image-placeholder

Dax

When he returned to base to prepare for his deployment a week later, several other recruits were in the barracks, cracking jokes and getting ready to drink at a bar in Mexico with good food and no minimum drinking age. Alex was there, and he dragged Dax south of the border with them.

He lost count of the tequila shots after he slammed his eleventh one, and after that, most of the night was a blur or a black memory.

When he woke the following day to the searing light of the barracks and an iron anvil pounding in his head, Alex and two other guys loitered in the hall.

Ohhrah. Sleeping beauty wakes.

It felt like a dog had pissed in his mouth, and Dax tried to swallow. A surge of bile rose in the back of his throat that tasted of old, burnt tequila. He threw his arm over his eyes and tried to swallow it back.

Here, the voice said. Dax pried one eye partially open and accepted the bottle of water Alex held out. Man, you must be hurting. I’m shocked you’re still alive.

I feel like death. What the hell did I do last night?

Other than shots? We also found some party girls and you had a good time with one of them.

Dax shot upright, then immediately regretted it and fell back onto his cot.

A girl? How much of a good time?

Good enough to get you out of this rut.

Rut? Oh yeah. Olivia’s ghosting him. Dax smiled weakly at Alex. His lips were dry and chapped.

Yeah, my rut.

Hey, brother, you probably aren’t in the right mind to hear this, but she ghosted you. She’s done. Time for you to move on. You’re a Marine, and if you pardon the awesome pun, there’s plenty of fish in the sea.

Dax swallowed and threw his arm over his sore eyes again. Alex –

Hey, you said you couldn't get a hold of her at all when you were home. You’re going to be deployed, and you’re a Marine, man. USDA prime meat and there’s a lot of pussy in the world for the picking. Get yourself together, drink some water, and get ready to dip your wick internationally.

Alex was crass beyond belief, but his words held a ring of truth. A loud ring that made his head throb. Dax groaned.

Alex was right. Obviously, Olivia didn’t want anything to do with him. They weren’t a couple anymore, meaning Dax was a free agent.

Free agent. Single. A Marine on the prowl.

That was a concept that Dax had to wrap his aggrieved brain around, which was difficult to do this hung over.

He and Olivia were done, whether he liked it or not.

Time to take Alex’s advice and put the past in the past and move forward with new opportunities.

Tomorrow. After he recovered from this horrendous hangover.

Bile surged in his throat again, and despite his slamming headache, Dax spilled out of bed, grabbed the nearby metal trash can, and puked.

image-placeholder

Chapter two

Dax

Today

After another winter deployment in Bahrain, and Dax and his squad were more than ready to be back on American soil. Most of the FAST Company Cheetah squad, Dax’s Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team, was couldn’t wait to be out of the scorching desert and parched winds.

Corporal Cole Iron Max Maxton was chomping at the bit, and most of the squad was ribbing him hard over his anticipation. Not that Dax blamed him in the least. Maxton was a corporal looking at promoting to sergeant, and with a new wife and baby in Southern California, all he wanted to do was get home to them. He wouldn’t be going out and drinking with them over the next few days, and not for the first time, Dax wondered if Cole might request a change in duty if it meant remaining stateside or fewer deployments.

Dax didn’t have those worries. Like most of the other Marines in his squad, he had no commitments. That meant a lot of drinking, beach trips, and bar-hopping when he was off duty. And if Cole was looking to promote, that meant a Corporal spot would open for the Cheetah squad. Maybe that was a sign Dax should promote.

He flicked his tired eyes to David, who was also a lance-corporal. Dax shook his head under his camo-cap. David was too much a fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants sort of guy who stumbled into his