Dusk (Dusk 1) (14 page)

“Colonel Silva, will you do me the honor of wearing your dress blues this evening, so I can personally award you in public, as befits your sacrifice and your service?”

He looked into her eyes, giving her a crooked little boyish smile. “It will be my great pleasure, Ambassador.”

“Excellent. I would consider it a personal favor if you would join me and my bodyguard for a private meal in my quarters before the ceremony,” Olivia added, shading her tone and phrasing in a way calculated to blister Al-Aziz’s ego further with the clear implication that he was very definitely not invited. Pete fought the urge to cheer at her audacity. “It would be a great pleasure to entertain you, Colonel.”

Al-Aziz’s face darkened to an almost-apoplectic shade. Before he could say anything, Olivia laced her arm through Pete’s and stalked away, Merrick shadowing closely enough that Pete could feel his breath on the back of his neck.

“Do you want dinner first… or dessert?” Olivia murmured, giving Pete a wicked little smile and a wink.

Despite his aching shoulder, he returned her smile with compound interest.

“Life’s uncertain. Let’s have dessert first.”

Olivia’s low, sensual laugh set his cock stirring. “Good choice,” she replied.

“I second that,” Merrick volunteered from behind Pete.

Pete decided that for all his misgivings about this benighted mission, at least it offered some perks…

Born in Amarillo, Texas, J.S. Wayne has lived, worked, and traveled in approximately three quarters of the North American continent, and has amassed a résumé that could kindly be described as “eclectic.” He currently resides in Southern Utah, where he attends Southern Utah University as an undergraduate English major with a creative writing emphasis. He is actively involved with the
Kolob Canyon Review
, SUU’s literary journal, is an Honors student and member of Sigma Tau Delta, the international English honors society, and is the founder and CEO of Writing Out Child Abuse, a charitable initiative to raise funds and awareness for survivors of child abuse worldwide. He is active in the Southern Utah arts community and is a member in good standing of the Cedar City Arts Council.

J.S. Wayne describes himself as “a male romance writer, without apologies!” J.S. can be found on Twitter @Author_JSWayne, on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/js.wayne.5
and can be contacted via email at
[email protected]
. He enjoys talking with and hearing from his readers, and he invites you to drop him a line!

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