WAITING TO BREATHE
Special Operations 5
Cecil Montgomery took one
look at Manuel Lopez and knew he wanted the handsome Marine in his life.
Convincing Manny of that might be harder than anything Cecil has ever faced
before, especially when fate seems determined to keep them
apart.
After one night of passion
in the arms of Cecil Montgomery, Manuel Lopez runs in the other direction.
Besides the fact that Cecil is so gorgeous he makes Manny ache, the man is rich,
and Manny has a deep hatred of anyone with money, a hatred that goes back nearly
twenty years.
When confronted by the man
that started it all, Manny realizes he might have made a mistake, but by then,
it’s too late. Cecil wants nothing to do with him. Worse yet, Cecil’s life is in
danger and Manny and his fellow Marines might not even be able to save him.
STORY EXCERPT
Cecil absently rubbed the
bridge of his nose with his hand, the heavy thudding between his eyes growing
worse. The worry and anxiety building inside of him was causing his head to
throb.
“Headache?”
Cecil dropped his hand to
his lap as he nodded. Mind numbing migraine was more like it but he wasn’t about
to admit that to Creed. The man took his health and safety very
seriously.
“You’ve been getting a lot
of those lately.”
“I probably need a few days
off.” He worked hard, long hours. He might have inherited money from his parents
when they passed away but the bulk of his money came from working that money to
the best of its advantage. That took time and planning and burning the midnight
oil.
“Maybe you should see if
Manny wants to go to the lake house with you after he gets out of the hospital,”
Creed said. “I’m sure the two of you could find something to occupy your
time.”
Cecil grinned at the
amusement he could hear in Creed’s voice. He really couldn’t think of anything
he would like more than to spend a quiet weekend with Manny at his lake house,
just the two of them. They could spend the entire weekend naked. Cecil would
insist on it.
When the limousine pulled
up in the entrance of County General fifteen minutes later, Cecil was a little
white knuckled from the wild ride but he was there in one piece and that was all
that mattered at the moment.
He scooted toward the door
thankful when it opened before he got there. He quickly exited the vehicle, in
no way surprised when Creed climbed out after him and started scanning the area
for danger. Creed might not follow him into the office every single second of
the day but the man took Cecil’s security in strange places very seriously.
Cecil knew Creed would follow him as he hurried in through the emergency room
doors. In public, the man was never more than a few feet away from him.
Now, he just needed to find
Manny.
“Are you out of your mind?”
an all too familiar voice shouted, giving Cecil a direction to head in.
His throat felt too thick
to call out or to even ask a nurse where to find the owner of that deep,
slightly accented voice, the same voice that Cecil dreamed of almost every night
since he had laid eyes on Manuel Lopez.
Cecil didn’t know if it was
the desperation in his eyes, the fancy suit he wore, or the large man following
behind him, guarding him, but no one stopped him as he made his way through the
emergency room corridor, heading toward the man that held Cecil’s soul. He
wouldn’t be able to breathe again until he laid eyes on Manny himself and knew
that the man was alive.
He knew Manny was hesitant
about their relationship, even standoffish on occasion. Cecil didn’t hold it
against the man. Once Manny got used to the idea of them being together, he
would fall into line easily enough. Manny was just too used to being all
alone.
Cecil planned to change
that.
There was something about
the tall Hispanic man that had caught Cecil’s interest from the very first
glance. Cecil had been unable to think of anyone else since. He had even gone as
far as getting rid of his little black book.
One night spent in Manny’s
arms had proven to Cecil that he didn’t need anyone but the sexy marine.
Convincing Manny of that was proving to be just a tad bit harder. The morning
after they had practically fucked each other unconscious, Manny started running.
Three weeks had gone by since that night and Manny was still running. Cecil
hadn’t gotten to where he was in the business world without being stubborn. He
refused to give up when he wanted something, and he wanted Manuel Lopez, and he
wasn’t going to stop until he had him.
Cecil’s heart beat a little
faster when he saw Sheriff John Henry Harrison standing in the doorway of one of
the emergency room cubicles. If John Henry was standing in the doorway that
meant his partner Charles Pennington III was inside the
room.
And that meant Manny was
inside as well.
John Henry turned just as
Cecil reached him. He stepped forward, holding out his hands as if to stop
Cecil, but no one was going to stop him from getting to Manny. Cecil continued
to walk forward then quickly zipped around John Henry.
He paused in the doorway,
finally able to breathe again for the first time since he received the phone
call from Charlie that Manny had been injured. Manny was alive. Manny was
breathing.
Manny was
pissed.
Cecil frowned as he glanced
from Manny’s scowling face to Charlie and then back again. He wasn’t real sure
what was going on but it seemed to him that this was the last place Manny and
Charlie should be arguing. Besides the fact that it was a hospital, Manny was
obviously injured. There was a white bandage around one of his
arms.
Cecil opened his mouth to
say something, and hopefully defuse the situation, when the words Manny was
speaking filtered through the worry that had been clouding Cecil’s brain since
he had received a phone call from Charlie over an hour
ago.
“I can’t believe you called
him,” Manny snapped, his dark cocoa brown eyes blazing with fury. “I went on
that stupid mission to get away from Cecil.”
Cecil stood utterly frozen
in the doorway, his heart thudding painfully in his chest. Only by sheer force
of will did he continue to stay standing when everything inside of him was
crumbling around him.
“You left on a mission to
get away from me?” Cecil’s words were whispered but loud enough to be heard by
the two men in the room. Manny’s face drained of color as he turned to look at
Cecil.
“Shit.” Charlie rushed over
and grabbed Cecil’s arm as if Cecil was about to collapse and Charlie was trying
to keep him standing.
Cecil shook Charlie off and
stepped into the room. “Answer me, Manny. Did you go on that mission to get away
from me?” Cecil swallowed. “And I want the truth.”
Manny sighed as his
shoulders slumped. The cold, congested expression that settled on Manny’s face
as he glanced away gave Cecil his answer even before the man opened his mouth.
Cecil’s heart stuttered for one last bit of life before shattering into a
million painful pieces.
“I see.” Cecil cleared his
throat and tried to gather the remains of his tattered pride around himself like
a shield. He stiffened his back and squared his shoulders then raised his eyes
to meet Manny’s. He had never shied away from anything in his life. He wasn’t
going to start now. “My apologies, Mr. Lopez. I will not bother you
again.”
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