In the Raw (24 page)

He gently rubbed the pad of his thumb under my eye and nodded slowly. “I love you too. It’s only six months. I know you don’t have a Yoda phone set up yet, but try to find some way to let me know you got there safely, okay?”

I chuckled softly. “It’s Vodafone.”

He wrapped his arms tighter around me and sighed. “Whatever. Call me however you can. Even if it’s only for a few minutes.”

Not trusting my voice, I nodded. Six months without his arms around me. Six months without his smirk to make me laugh. Six months without the smell of him lingering on my skin. Six months without him pissing me off and making it up to me later.

“Jamie, you’re going to be late.”

I pushed away from warmth of Ethan’s body and looked at Claire. She wasn’t even trying to hide her tears anymore. Ethan growled, but I smiled at Claire. Without her, I would have missed my flight.

I gave Ethan a smile one last time before turning around and willing my feet to drag me to the security checkpoint. As I presented my passport to the TSA official, I stole a glance over at Ethan and Claire off to the side. My stomach cramped when I heard the official tell me everything was in order and I could go on through.

Claire had her arm looped around her much taller and larger brother as they stood there watching me walk away. Six months and I’d be back home. In six months it would be my arm around his waist instead of Claire’s.

I lifted my hand one last time to wave goodbye and walked away before I completely lost what was left of my composure. It wasn’t goodbye. I refused to believe it was goodbye.

* * * * *

Dear Reader,

There are many children and adults out there like Ethan’s family: People who don’t have enough to eat from one day to the next. For some children, the only meal they can count on is the one they get at school and millions of kids go hungry each year. No one should go hungry. Please consider giving your time, money or food donations to your local food bank. That small contribution could make a huge difference in someone’s life. Thank you.

Check out Feeding America’s website to search for your local food bank so we can all help end hunger in our communities:
http://feedingamerica.org
.

About the Authors

Nikka Michaels is a multi-published author who lives in the
often rainy Pacific Northwest where she spends her time cooking, laughing and
crafting romantic tales to satisfy her craving for HEAs with heat. A voracious
reader, novice knitter and music lover, she’s been known to multitask without
breaking a sweat. She loves to read and write M/M romance but believes everyone
deserves a love story.

She currently has several releases out including best-selling
Chasing Matt
, co-authored with Eileen Griffin,
Christmas with Caden
from
Cobblestone Press, “Waking up Wolf,” in Evernight Publishing’s best-selling
Alpha’s Claim: Manlove Edition
anthology, “His Assistant” from Evernight
Publishing’s
Executive Assistant: Manlove Edition
anthology, and short stories
“Room Service” and “Lip Service” from Cobblestone Press’s Blue line.

* * *

Eileen Griffin lives in Texas, but loves to travel and has
spent many summers crossing Europe with nothing but a backpack on her back. She
enjoys TexMex and lives for good wine. Her past published works include:
Chasing
Matt
, a M/M novella co-authored with Nikka Michaels;
Dinner for Two
, a M/F
romance novella; and “Claiming Ayden,” a M/M shifter romance that is part of
Evernight’s
Alpha’s Claim Anthology: Manlove Edition
.

Where no great story goes untold.
The variety you want to read, the stories authors have always wanted to write.
With new releases every week, your next great read is just a download away!

Keep in touch with Carina Press:
Read our blog:
www.CarinaPress.com/blog
Follow us on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/CarinaPress
Become a fan on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/CarinaPress

ISBN-13: 9781426899119

In the Raw

Copyright © 2014 by Nikka Michaels and Eileen Griffin

Edited by Alissa Davis

All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.

www.CarinaPress.com