Proud to serve

By Ashlyn Fables

When Layla reaches out to an ex-boyfriend, she knows he'll never reply back. He's been ghosting her for five years.
Except he does…

When Blake joined the military, he was forced to give up the one woman he's ever loved: Layla. Unable to face the pain of letting her go, he cut all communication with her to move forward with his life. He never thought he'd get a do-over with the 'one that got away,' but when a simple text leads to confessed feelings, he'll do anything to bring her back into his life.
Even if that means sharing her with his three closest friends.

The offer is jaw-dropping: come to an island paradise to help four men heal. There's no way Layla would ever say yes to an arrangement like that, but a picture of the men she'll be staying with has her rethinking her initial hesitation, and she soon becomes proud to serve.

Unfortunately, paradise isn't all that it seems, and when secrets from the past resurface, Layla finds herself in more danger than she could have imagined.

Proud to Serve is a military reverse harem love story that will get your blood pumping! No cliffhanger and a HEA that will leave you smiling!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fabled Passages
• Release date: Feb 9, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224593187

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

LAYLA

How many times have I thought about this moment? Countless hours spent restless in bed. Wanting what I once had.

It’s been five years since I last saw Blake. Last felt his touch. Yet he’s never left me. Not for one second.

I gather the courage to enter the text box on my phone. What do I say to him? To the man who left. Will he think me a fool for keeping him in my heart after all this time?

Probably. He did ghost you.

Does he have any room left in his heart for me?

Probably not…

Might as well take the plunge.

Layla: hey, hero

Two simple words. A bridge between our worlds.

SEND.

I wait with bated breath, wondering if he’ll even reply. I heard he discharged from the military several months ago, but he never returned home.

A bubble pops onto the screen, causing a knot to form in my stomach.

I am not prepared for this.

Blake: hey, beautiful

Don’t sound desperate. Be nonchalant. You can do this.

Layla: I heard you got out of the military. How was your enlistment?

Blake: too long

Layla: hope you’re getting some good rest

Blake: A lot of rest, actually. Needed to recharge my batteries.

When Blake first told me he was enlisting in the Army, he said it would be for life, so I wonder why he got out. Perhaps his tours overseas weren’t easy.

Layla: Where are you resting?

Blake: on a nice little island in the Atlantic

My heart sinks. No wonder he never came back home. Why would he?

Blake: How’s the family?

Layla: My mom finally took off. Dad drinks too much. Nothing ever changes.

Blake: Has your father been good to you?

Layla: As I said, nothing’s changed…

Blake: Dammit—if I had half a mind, I’d fly on out there and tell him to treat you right.

Layla: you were always so good to me

Blake: I’m sorry I had to leave.

Layla: You don’t have to be sorry. I’d have left too, if I could.

Blake: If it makes you feel any better, freedom came at a price.

Layla: I hope it wasn’t too great.

Blake: The things I’ve seen…sometimes I can’t sleep at night.

Layla: Oh, gosh! If you ever need someone to talk to, I’m here.

Blake: I sure appreciate you saying that. The truth is, you’ve already helped me so much. Just thinking about you calms me. You bring me peace.

Inwardly, I smile, giddy at his words. Little does Blake know he’s done the same for me. Bringing calm to chaos.

Layla: glad I’m able to help

Blake: I miss that smile of yours. It was always the sunshine in the storm.

Layla: I miss everything about you. How safe you made me feel. Those strong arms you held me with.

Blake: You always did like it when I held you. My arms are bigger now, from all the working out I did. What I wouldn’t give to climb through your window one last time to show you…

Layla: What would you do if you did?

Blake: Fuck, don’t get me started. I could hardly say those things to a lady.

Layla: What if I don’t want to be treated like a lady?

Blake: Jesus, Layla. It’s been too long since I’ve felt that sweet heat of yours.

Layla: I think about it all the time. Those cold nights. How much you wanted me. How much I wanted you. I have a lot of regrets, but you being my first is not on my list.

Blake: I was young back then, and plenty stupid. I’m not too proud to admit I went about it all wrong. If I had to do it all again, the things I’d do to that body of yours would be obscene.

Layla: Then come home.

Blake: I can’t.

Tears well in my eyes. I knew he wasn’t coming back. I just couldn’t stop hope from creeping in. He’s probably partying with beautiful women that spend all day working on their tans while I work twelve-hour shifts, only to come home exhausted each night.

But I can hardly be mad. He deserves every good thing coming to him with everything he’s gone through.

What about the promises he made to you?

We were young back then. Kids.

Still, I can’t keep jealousy from taking hold.

Layla: Excited about all those hot island women?

Blake: That’s not it at all.

Layla: Please don’t take me for a fool. You got out of this hell, and I’ll admit that I’m jealous. Not just because you escaped, but because I love you so much. I guess a part of me thought we’d somehow end up together. Wherever you end up, I wish you well. Truly. You’re one of the best parts of my life.

Texting Blake Lowry was a mistake. All it brought was pain and heartache. He’s my past and will never be my future. I suppose it’s possible that when we’ve aged, we could come together again, have a coffee, talk about life…but we’ll never be what we were, or what I wanted us to be.

Blake: I know this might be hard for you to understand, but I think about you every day. Have been for the last five years. You’re the only woman I’ve ever loved, the only one who never leaves my mind. I’d give anything to see you again. If only for a minute.

Confusion washes over me. Why can’t this be easy?

Layla: If you want me so badly, why are you going island hopping?

Blake: I’m not island hopping. It’s not at all what you think it is.

Layla: Then what is it?

Blake: It’s about healing. One day, I’ll come back. I promise. But not until I can fix what’s wrong with me.

Layla: Blake, you could never be broken.

Blake: It’s best you just forget about me.

Layla: I could never, though I will have to move on. Unfortunately, it will be sooner rather than later.

My stomach twists at my confession.

Blake: What do you mean?

Layla: I can’t afford college, military won’t have me because of my depth perception. My boss made me an offer, one I don’t want to take, but I can only go on like this for so long.

Blake: Slim made you an offer? What kind of offer?

Layla: it doesn’t matter

Blake: oh, it does

Layla: If I agree to be his girl, move in with him, he’ll half my shifts at the diner. I won’t have to work 60 hours a week just to have all my money taken by my deadbeat dad.

Blake: You can’t agree to that. I won’t let you.

Layla: Like you have any say in the matter. You ghosted me for five years. Do you have any idea how worried I was about you? How much I cried? I can’t keep working this hard. I’m exhausted, and this is the best deal I could hope for.

Blake: I don’t expect you to forgive me, but thinking about you hurt too much. I missed you. Wanted you too badly. That hasn’t changed, and thinking about you with that dirty old man is going to kill me.

Layla: It is what it is, and there’s no way around it. But for now, take me away. Into a fantasy. We might not be together, but make me feel how you used to with your words.

Blake: Oh, sweetheart, the things I want to do to that sweet body of yours. I’d worship you in ways I never knew to before.

Layla: Whenever I think of you, I get so hot. My body comes alive.

Blake: Tell me how.

Layla: I get so wet. It’s embarrassing.

Blake: That’s no reason to be embarrassed. That’s hot.

Layla: I make a mess of my panties.

Blake: Shit, girl. You got me so hard.

Layla: Sometimes I get so hot, I throb down there. It aches so badly, I touch myself while I think of you.

Blake: Are you wet now?

Layla: yes

Blake: touch yourself

Layla: it’s sticky

Blake: Fuck, I wanna be inside you. I’d come all over those sweet tits of yours.

I blink, rereading his text to make sure I read correctly.

Layla: You wouldn’t want to come in me? I’m on the pill.

Blake: Of course I wanna come in you. I wanna come in that tight pussy of yours, in your mouth, on your tits. A man has urges a sweet girl like you wouldn’t understand.

Layla: lol! You were always fascinated by my boobs.

Blake: They were so damn sexy, and the first pair I ever saw.

Layla: I was so depressed after you left, I binge ate my way into a D cup. If you liked them before, you’d love them now.

Blake: Holy shit, I sure would like to see those.

I’ve never sent a naked picture before. I was too scared of it winding up online.

But Blake would never betray me.

I switch the camera on, snap a picture in my bra, and hit SEND.

Blake: Goddamn, you really weren’t kidding. Plump titties like that need a good sucking. Show me more.

How could I say no after he’s served his country?

I slip off my bra, smile for the camera, and snap another pic.

SEND.

Layla: Do you like?

Blake: Hell, yeah. I’d fuck those jugs, then I’d shoot my load on them.

Blake had never been so crass with me before. He’d always been sweet. But that was five years ago.

What’s worse is that it turns me on. I can hardly stop a moan from slipping past my lips as I think of him and what he wants to do to me. His big cock coming on my breasts.

I guess we’ve both changed.

Layla: I wish you could touch them. My nipples are so sensitive.

Blake: They’ve always been sensitive. You were just shy before.

Layla: I’m not as shy now. I wish you could feel them, see how heavy they are.

Blake: God, do you want me to suck those juicy melons? Would that make you wet?

Layla: yes

Blake: I need more…

My heart’s racing, but I turn on my camera, addicted to the thrill of letting Blake see me intimately. This time, I arc my arm so the picture includes a generous view of my ass.

SEND.

Blake: Sweet Jesus, that ass needs taming. The things I want to do to you. Fuck.

I want him to do all those things. Every dirty thing he can possibly think up, I want enacted on me.

But I’m not meant for him, and this is a poor substitute for the man I love. I can’t risk my heart any more than I have.

Layla: I can’t do this. I have to move on with my life. When I thought there was a chance you’d come home, I was willing to wait. But I’m not going to live in the past.

Blake: Don’t do this, Layla.

Layla: You’re being unfair.

Blake: Give me 24 hours.

Layla: What’s going to happen in 24 hours?

Blake: I’m gonna bring you to me.

CHAPTER 2

BLAKE

What the hell are you thinking, boy? You know as well as I do these men don’t need drama. Victor points an emphatic finger at me. "That you don’t need drama."

She doesn’t need drama either, which is why I think she’d be great here. With us.

And you think the others are going to be okay with you having a girlfriend? Knowing you’re getting your prick wet each night while they struggle to hold their shit together?

No, which is why I think we need to be creative.

We can’t bring four women here. They’re bound to fight, which will only make matters worse.

We don’t need four women. We need one. The right one.

Victor gapes back at me. You can’t be serious.

Layla’s sweet. The epitome of girl next door. I pass him a picture of her from years ago, because I wouldn’t betray her by giving up the ones from last night.

His eyes light with appreciation. She’s pretty.

And smart, and funny.

What makes you think she’s going to be able to handle four grown men? That she’d even want to?

"Because it’s better than the alternative. Besides, these men would treat her like a