Skin Deep (Wounded Hero Series)
Read Skin Deep (Wounded Hero Series) Online
Authors: J B Younger
Skin Deep
J B Younger
SKIN DEEP
Book 1 in the Wounded Hero Series
By J B Younger
Copyright 2013
By J B Younger
This Author asserts the moral
Right to be
Identified as author of this
Work
All rights reserved. No part of this book, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews, may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, scanning or any information storage retrieval system, without explicit permission in writing for the Author or Publisher.
All of the characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.
To my husband Bryan, I love you and thanks for encouraging me to follow my dreams.
You always knew I could accomplish anything I sent my mind to.
I Love You
Chapter One
CHAPTER ONE
You bitch, why do you make me hurt you like this? I...don’t want to hurt you. Why can’t you love me the way I love you? Opening her eyes to make sure she was still on a plane headed home. Camille sat up and looked out the airplane’s small window. They were making their final decent. Her heart was racing and her skin felt tight as if it was being stretched over her skeleton and there wasn’t enough to fit. She took deep breaths to calm down. She was home where she felt safe. The nightmare of the past few months was over, if only the nightmares would stop. Whenever she closed her eyes she heard his voice and felt the pain. She kept telling herself that she did the right thing. The bruises were gone, it was the unseen scars that would be much harder to get rid of. Along with the doubts she had about herself. Yes she was running, but what else could she do? It was obvious that she needed to leave. When she thought about home; she saw the faces of the people she loved and who loved her. Then there was the face of the one man that no matter how hard she tried to forget, she couldn’t. His face haunted her dreams and fantasies.
Daniel Elliott waited at the main terminal of Harris County Airport in Pine Mountain, Georgia for his sister’s plane to arrive; he had only seen her twice in the last six years. He watched her cope with the death of their mother when she was just out of high school and the next time at her college graduation, right before she was off to Paris for her internship. He was still having a hard time coming to grips with the fact she was no longer the little girl he remembered, who used to follow him and his friends around, now she was all grown up.
Their lives had taken very different directions; he still carried the secrets of his decisions with him. After his tour of duty in the military and Black ops training, he came home and married his high school sweetheart, they were about to start a family. He and his best friend Dillon owned the E & M security company specializing in security for high profile people and some hostage recovery. They also did freelance work for the government on occasion.
Daniel was glad when Camille decided to work in their hometown, they would be close to each other and he could look out for her. He promised their mother he would look after his sister. He was coming to terms with the fact he hadn’t done a great job. Camille was head strong and fiercely independent, like their mother who raised both of them alone after their father’s death. What bothered him more than anything was the fact Camille didn’t confide in him like she use to when she was a little girl. Now she kept to herself, the only things he knew about was her work he knew nothing of her personal life, whether she had a man in her life, if she was serious about him. What her hopes and dreams for the future where, did she want to get married? Did she want to have children? He wanted to be close to her and be the big brother she deserved.
He watched at the gate as all the passengers left the plane, when there was no sign of her. He began to worry. Did he get the date wrong? Had she taken a later flight? Just then, he saw the last passenger leave the plane. As the woman walked gracefully down the stairs, he realized it was Camille. The young girl he remembered was gone. The woman walking toward him was beautiful, sultry and confident. Gone was the unruly curly hair, the braces and glasses. Now her hair was long and straight, her skin was the color of bronze as the sun shined down on her. The light tan dress she wore accentuated the curve of her hips. In a word, his baby sister was stunning and as he looked around, he noticed that every male in the place noticed her as well.
As she got closer, she noticed him and her smile was like a beacon of light shinning only for him, she ran to him throwing her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her and held on tight. “Oh, Danny I’ve missed you so much.” She whispered in his ear. Daniel tried to swallow the lump in his throat; he missed her too, now his family was complete.
As he drove through town showing off how much their hometown had changed, Camille filled him in on her work as an artist and the projects she would be working on. She would stay with him and Tina just until her condominium was ready. They laughed and teased each other as they had when they were young. The eight-year difference in their ages didn’t stop them from enjoying many of the same things. Between him and Dillon they taught her how to hunt, shoot and defend herself, she loved football and beer. However, her tastes had matured to fine wine and the occasional opera. The rough edges of youth where gone. In the last two years his sister had grown, yes she was still young but she seemed to be comfortable in her own skin. The pride he felt for the young woman she had become was overwhelming.
As he pulled the car into the driveway of their childhood home, the changes where obvious, Tina and Danny had made it theirs. There were flowers lining the sidewalk up to the house. The color was off white with blue shutters. It was a home to raise their children in.
Camille noticed a huge black SUV with tinted windows parked on the street. “Whose car is that? Don’t they know that car is not politically correct anymore? It’s a gas-guzzling monster, not to mention what it’s doing to the environment. Did Tina let you buy that thing?” Daniel just smiled and shook his head. “No it’s not mine but let me go on record as saying that is a thing of beauty. It’s Dillon’s.”
Camille froze; Dillon was here she hadn’t seen him since her college graduation. Did she still feel the same way about him? She had been secretly in love with him since she was eight and he was sixteen. She was a woman of the world; the time for crushes was over, at least that’s what her mind said. Her body had a completely different story to tell; just the mention of his name had the ability to make her nipples hard and her panties damp. In spite of everything, she sat in the car afraid to get out. Daniel’s knocking on the window got her attention.
“Hey are you going to sit there all day?” She smiled and opened the car door and got out. When they were in the house, Tina greeted her with a big hug and a kiss. Tina was the motherly type, everyone loved her and she loved everyone. At five feet tall she was a powerhouse of energy and strength. “Welcome home, dinner will be ready in about ten minutes.”
As she went further into the house, she was greeted by Butch then Zane; they gave her big bear hugs. She’d almost forgotten how absolutely gorgeous and sexy they were. They both were tall and very handsome, and if she had to choose between the two it would probably be Zane, he was as tall as Dillon with jet black hair that he kept cut in a short spiky crew cut, he was part native American so his skin had a dark tan. He kept himself in excellent shape, his light grey eyes and
straight nose gave him an almost aristocratic look, and his lips were thin but very sexy, he didn’t smile much but when he did, it was magnificent. She didn’t think he knew just how attractive he really was, he was quiet he never spoke unless he had something to say.
Then there was Butch who was about two inches shorter than Zane and Dillon, at six feet two inches he still made a pretty nice looking sight. He was very muscular and had a broader build. His eyes were pale blue and his reddish- brown hair was short. His nose had been broken before so he had a bump at the bridge, his lips where full. Neither he nor Zane ever lacked for female company. Butch was funny and the life of any party. Where Zane was the strong silent type; who sat back and watched everyone and everything around him. Together a girl didn’t stand a chance.
She felt as though she had never gone away. Coming home to the people who had watched her grow up, they were her family and she missed them all very much. In spite of everything she found herself looking around searching for Dillon. Old habits die hard, or in her case never died at all.
Camille needed a minute to just get her thoughts together she decided to wash up for dinner, as she started down the hallway to the bathroom; she ran into Dillon coming toward her, he was hotter than she remembered, he was more muscular if that was even possible. He had always been bigger than life, at least to her.
He smiled that bad boy smile showing straight white teeth that turned her inside out. “Hey Cam welcome home.” No one called her Cam but Dillon and the deep sound of his voice, still had the ability to make her whole body come alive. Hey, yourself she said trying not to sound nervous. He walked right up to her and pulled her into an embrace. She inhaled his scent as she brought her arms around his slim waist. He rested his chin on top of her head. I’ve missed you a lot Cam he whispered.
When he released her, she looked up into his handsome face, he was older but he was still Dillon. He still had the hardest, sexiest body she had ever seen and the most beautiful green eyes rimmed by the blackest, longest eyelashes. His thick dark hair was longer now than it was the last time she’d seen him. He was six feet four inches of heaven, his body was tone and fit like that of an athlete. His darkly tanned skin made his dark almost black hair stand out. His nose was straight and slightly turned up at the end, his lips where sinfully full and kissable. He was wearing black jeans and a form fitting black turtleneck sweater. He looked as if he just stepped from the pages of GQ magazine. She needed to get some distance Dillon always seemed to overwhelm her; his big body crowded her much smaller body.
“I...I was just going to wash up.” He nodded and headed for the kitchen. Camille sighed as she watched him walk away down the hall. He moved so gracefully for a big man, she watched as his board shoulders flex and moved as he walked away. She also noticed what a damn fine ass he had. She went into the bathroom and closed the door. Leaning against the door, closing her eyes she thought back to another time in this very house.
It was her college graduation party and Dillon had had too much to drink, he cornered her in the same hallway. He told her how proud he was of her and how he was going to miss her, then out of nowhere he kissed her, it was a kiss filled with longing and intense passion. When he pulled back and looked at her with his heavy lidded green eyes, she was too shocked from the kiss at
that moment; she had dreamed of kissing him for so long there was no time to savor it. He leaned in and whispered in her ear. You are going to make some lucky man very happy he said his speech a little slurred and his deep voice resonated through her whole body. There was a strange look in his eyes one she had never seen before, as quickly as it appeared it was gone. She savored the taste of Irish whiskey and just a hint of something else and whatever it was, it was more intoxicating than any liquor could ever be.