With the Colonel’s Help: A Pride and Prejudice Variation

I glanced around, all covert-like before I tapped a message on my phone.

I mean, I needed to tell someone, and she was the only one I could really trust, and really, she was the only one I wanted to tell. The one who just got me in every way.

And I really, really needed to squeal about this.

Her response was almost instant.

My fingers flew across the screen.

I could almost hear her splutter from across the miles.

I took in a deep breath.

Her lunch was always during the noon hour, and I’d just close up shop for a little bit so I could meet with her.

I felt the presence wash over me from behind. So powerful. An inundating wave.

I shifted to look over my shoulder from where I stood in the kitchen to find Otto slowly coming down the stairs from his room.

Fresh from a shower. Shorn hair damp and a clean tee stretched across his massive chest. Jeans snug and barely able to contain everything that he was underneath.

The man was a riot to my senses.

Cataclysmic.

He drove his big fingers through his hair, pushing it back, the tweak of a grin scampering over his mouth as he lumbered closer. His boots were heavy on the floor as he edged my way.

I was struck with a fresh dose of his aura.

Encircling.

Invading.

He didn’t hesitate to pull me into his arms and press his nose into my hair. He breathed out what sounded like relief.

My knees went weak.

Is this what it felt like to swoon?

Yes, yes it had to be, because I felt lightheaded and my heart careened and my stomach was nothing but a toil of tumbling butterfly wings.

“Way the sight of you knocks me sideways. Way I can’t think about anything else when you’re standing there like that. Wearing one of these sexy as fuck dresses that you know damned well drive me out of my mind. Can’t fuckin’ get enough.” Otto dragged his lips down the side of my neck, peppering kisses along the sensitive flesh as he went.

It knocked a whimper loose, and my head tipped to the side to grant him better access. Somehow, I managed to force myself to say, “You need to stop right there before you get carried away or else you’re going to make me late.”

“Thought you said I could have this delicious body any time I wanted it?” His words were nothing but bait.

Those butterflies spun. “Well, it’s also said good things come to those who wait.”

He grunted, and I could feel the force of his grin against the side of my neck. “So, you’re saying you want me to spend the day conjuring up all the dirty things I’m going to do to you once I get you home?”

A shiver ripped down my spine. A big, big hand followed it, riding all the way down until he was gripping me by a butt cheek and tugging me against the hard, packed planes of his merciless body.

And that’s what I wanted.

No mercy.

I wanted him to take me until I couldn’t handle it any longer.

It was honestly a wonder that I was even walking today, the mark of him scored so deep inside me that I felt like I’d been cut in two and sewn back together.

Body achy and legs weak.

“Yes, that’s exactly what I am saying to you.” I shifted so it was me who was whispering in his ear. “I want you to dream about me all day while you watch me work. I want you to be thinking the whole time about the way I’m going to be wet for you, needy for you to get back inside me.”

I saw no reason to act shy any longer.

A wave of lust rolled through him. Palpable and distinct. An overwhelming energy that crashed into me.

His chuckle rumbled with a delicious threat. “You are in so much trouble, Little Moonflower.”

“That’s what I like to hear, Burly Bear.”

Otto let go of a low, ardent laugh, and he edged back, thumb tracing the contour of my cheek. “What am I going to do with you?”

“The question should be, ‘What aren’t you going to do to me?’”

He shook his head as he stepped back. The most arrogant smirk had taken to his expression. “Come on, let’s get you downtown before I tie you to my bed so we can start answering that question.”

“Well, now you’re really not helping things.” I shooed him farther away because I needed the man out of my vicinity before I begged him to make good on the idea.

“But I can’t be late…Jimmy is going to be at the store in fifteen minutes. He’s delivering a bunch of irises for a wedding that’s at the lake tomorrow. I have a ton to do to get ready for it. It’s going to be gorgeous.”

I always made sure to get all the arrangements for big events that happened over the weekend done on Friday so it would be all set for when Millie came in on Saturday morning.

I had slung the strap of my purse over my shoulder and had started for the door when a hot hand landed on my wrist and spun me around.

Otto stood there, all the teasing gone, an intensity so profound in his features it rocked the ground beneath my feet.

A clash of conflict and hope and despair.

“That what you want, Raven? You want one of those weddings?”

I looked up at him. Unafraid. “I won’t lie and say that hasn’t been one of my fantasies.”

Then I unwound myself from his hold and sauntered across the room toward the door that led downstairs, and I glanced at him from over my shoulder as I pulled it open.

“Besides, can you imagine what I’d look like in that dress?”

I strode through without looking back.

Deciding it was his turn to fantasize.

“Charleigh!” I shouted as I jogged across the street.

My best friend turned from where she’d been getting ready to pull open the café door with a massive smile on her face.

She was wearing pink scrubs, and her hair was in a ponytail. It was her normal work attire for where she worked at the medical office a few blocks down this same street.

She was shaking her head as she watched me beeline across the road, balancing like an expert on my five-inch heels.

These were killer skills I possessed, and I looked good while doing it, too.

There was no questioning it since I could feel the heat of Otto’s gaze from where he watched me through the plate glass windows of my flower shop. He’d convinced me that he could keep it open while I went to lunch. It wasn’t like he had anything better to do considering he was on guard duty.

No chance of letting me out of his sight.

But it was the way of Sanctum. If they protected strangers the way they did? You could bet that would extend to the ones they loved by a hundredfold.

“You could go for a ten-mile hike in those things, and I bet you wouldn’t even twist an ankle,” Charleigh called as I hopped onto the sidewalk in front of her.

I scoffed with a grin. “Hiking? Do you think I’m some kind of masochist?”

My bestie lifted a wry brow as she swung open the door. “As evidenced by the fact you make Otto carry you on his back every time we take the trail out to the lake.”

“Two birds with one stone and all of that. No hiking and I get my legs wrapped around the man’s waist.”

Unfortunately, it had been from the wrong direction, but I didn’t have that nasty little problem anymore.noveldrama

“And it sounds like that’s where they’ve been.” She lowered her voice conspiratorially as we stepped into the cool air of the restaurant.

My heart pattered, and I angled my head in her direction. “Things might have changed a little bit since we talked yesterday.”

She started to ask more, but she clipped off when Sienna rounded from behind the coffee counter and came striding our way, welcome on her face. “Hey, Raven. What are you up to?”

I hooked my arm through Charleigh’s. “Having lunch with my bestie. I’ve been wanting to introduce you two. Charleigh, this is Sienna, my new friend I was telling you about. Sienna, meet Charleigh, my brother’s fiancée, even though she was mine first.”

I tacked the biggest pout I could onto the last.

Charleigh laughed, giving my arm a tug. “The two of them love to fight over who met me first.”

“Obviously me.” I widened my eyes in a way that claimed it. “My surly, grumpy brother would have chased her off if it hadn’t been for me.”

Sienna’s laughter was soft as she glanced between us. “Well, Raven definitely has a way of making us feel welcome, doesn’t she?”

Charleigh’s gaze was soft. “She definitely does. And she’s told me a lot about you. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too.”

“Sienna is going to join us for Otto’s big birthday bash this weekend. She gets to finally see all the hotness that is my brother’s friends.”

“Well, I already got a peek at one, so I’m ahead of the game,” Sienna teased.

Speculation filled Charleigh’s expression.

“Theo came in for lunch one day,” I explained out of the corner of my mouth as if it were a sordid secret.

Understanding dawned on Charleigh’s face. “Oh…so you like them dark and terrifying.”

Sienna’s brow arched. “From what I’ve seen, I’d say you do, too. I’ve seen your man hanging around here.”

Charleigh laughed a self-conscious sound. “He can be a little intimidating, but I promise, there is nothing but goo underneath.”

Okay, that was a bald-faced lie, but we couldn’t admit the real truth in front of Sienna. This world classified and contained. It made it hard to get close to anyone outside of it, but I still intended on trying.

“Well, hopefully Theo isn’t too soft because I don’t mind my men a little rough around the edges.” Sienna let the innuendo wind into her voice.

“I already warned you that man will eat you alive.”

“I’m counting on it.”

She turned to the nook where the menus were stored. “So, two for lunch, or are you grabbing something to go?”

“We definitely want a table. We have some conspiring to do.”

Sienna grinned. “Well, then we’d better not delay. I’m actually serving today, so I’ll put you in my section.”

“That would be great.”

She led us to a cute table on the far side of the restaurant, the place a cross of posh and cozy. Charleigh took a seat on the long couch that ran along the back wall, and I pulled out a wooden chair across from her.

Pride filled me when I saw the dainty bouquet of flowers that sat in a vase in the middle. I loved that my floral shop made a splash here.

“Today’s special is a Mediterranean salad with grilled chicken, or if you want something with a little more substance, we have a grilled ham and cheese with gouda and cheddar. It is delish. I just scarfed one down half an hour ago.”

“Sign me up,” I said, slapping the menu down onto the table. “I am definitely in need of some sustenance. I am starving.”

From over the table, I sent Charleigh a scandalous look.

She pursed her lips, clearly dying to get the scoop.

“I’ll take one, too, and an iced tea,” she agreed.

“Same here,” I added.

“On it,” Sienna said before she walked away and disappeared through a swinging door to the back.

The second she did, Charleigh leaned forward, the eager words hushed. “Tell me everything.”

A thrill left me on a shimmy of my shoulders and an ecstatic stamp of my feet under the table.

“Okay, wiggle worm,” she teased. “You’re more wound up than Nolan was that one time he snuck that energy drink out of Kane’s cooler.”

“I can’t even sit still.”

“I can see that. You are flying.”

“Oh, believe me when I tell you I’ve been soaring.”

“So how did all of this go down?”

“I did what you suggested yesterday. I just laid it out and told him exactly how I felt.”

I took in a breath as the scene from last night played through my mind. “I told him that I was in love with him, and I’d been for a long, long time, and I demanded that he not be a coward and tell me exactly how he felt.”

“I bet you put it to him,” she mused. “My bestie is all fire when she sets her mind to something.”

I hummed. “I basically told him that was it. There was no more pretending. We were either together or I was walking away.”

Her brows shot for the sky. “You were pulling no punches.”

“Nope. I was over it. No more tiptoeing. No more pretending.”

“And I take it he manned up and confessed what’s been so blatantly clear to me since the first time I saw you two together?”

Emotion crested, waves that battered against my swelling heart. “He told me he’s been in love with me for just as long, but that he’d never believed himself good enough for me, so he tried to ignore it, but he couldn’t do it any longer, either.”

We paused when Sienna showed at our table and set two iced teas in front of us. “Here we go. It shouldn’t be long for the sandwiches.”

“Thank you,” we both said, stalling out the conversation as she walked away before Charleigh returned her attention to me.

“I’m so incredibly happy for you. I knew he would see through his fears to what really mattered, and that’s you.”

Tears burned my eyes, and I swallowed it back and shot her a grin. “I am proud to announce that your girl here no longer has her V-card.”

I lifted my tea for a toast.

She giggled as she clinked her glass against mine. Her expression turned cunning. “Now that much was obvious. That man’s hands are written all over you.”

“Oh, you should really see what’s written on me.”

She choked a laugh, though she let her grin wind into something shameless. “He clearly did my bestie right. You looked so loved up crossing that street that you basically floated across it.”

“Pssh. Those are just my mad skills in these shoes.”

She chuckled a soft sound before she sobered, reached out, and squeezed my hand where it rested on the table. “This is truly amazing. I know what you’ve gone through to get here. I know the pain you suffered and the fear you’ve carried, and I’m so thankful that you found the one you can trust with it.”

A tear got free. “When he looks at me, Charleigh?” My head barely shook as I fought the crash of emotion. “When he looks at me, I simultaneously feel safe and brave. Vulnerable and powerful. I feel like I can really be me.”

“And who are you being yourself with?” Sienna’s voice was soft as she stood at the side of the table with two plates in hand.

Surprise lurched me back. I hadn’t even noticed she was there. I swept the tear away and smiled up at her. “Can you keep a secret?”

“Hello, what are friends for?”

“Otto loves me.”

It felt so good to say it.

Confusion spiraled around her as she set the plates in front of us. “Wait, this is supposed to be a secret? I thought you two were already a thing? The man looks like he wants to ravage you every time he looks at you.”

Charleigh’s laugh was knowing as she turned her gaze on me. “Told you.”

Charleigh and I laughed and giggled and whispered our way through lunch, a lightness taking us over as we enjoyed a meal together. It felt simple and right, the way we’d always been together.

Gratitude overflowed my chest.

We talked a little about River and the rest of Sanctum. About what they would think. Charleigh agreed that Otto needed to be the one who broke the news to River.

We skated over the topic of what had happened at Otto’s place the other morning, neither of us wanting to bring voice to something so heinous, though we could feel the weight of it hovering around us in the distance.

Charleigh grimaced when she looked at her phone to check the time. “Crap, I need to get back to the office before I’m late.”

“As if Dr. Reynolds could ever be angry with you.”

Charleigh had been working as a medical assistant at Dr. Reynolds’ office before she’d known his connection to Sovereign Sanctum. Before she knew his part in helping women and children make their way to safety. Before he’d saved her life.

Now, she was taking night courses to become an RN with hopes of moving forward with becoming a nurse practitioner, her goal to slide into Dr. Reynolds’ position once he retired. She wanted an active role in changing the lives of those who came to Sanctum for help.

She chuckled. “Well, I don’t want to push my luck.”

“I’m pretty sure he couldn’t function without you,” I said as I pushed out my chair and stood.

Charleigh stood, too, mischief in her voice when she leaned in and said, “I guess I am pretty great.”

I gasped and touched my heart. “Oh, my goodness, I can’t believe it. I’m finally rubbing off on my bestie. Look at you, not hesitating to claim how great you are.”

It was something Haddie had taught me. Something I’d taken with me from the tragedy.

Never be afraid of claiming who you are.

“I guess you are, aren’t you?”

We walked to the front counter and paid, and I hugged Sienna like mad and told her I couldn’t wait to hang out with her on Saturday.

Then Charleigh and I stepped out onto the sidewalk. The sun stood proud at the center of the sky.

Warm rays rained from above, though there was the hint of cool at the edges of the air.

Fall approaching.

I leaned forward and hugged Charleigh with all my might. “Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me, Charleigh. The way you’ve changed so much inside of me and made me look at myself differently.”

Her scoff was soggy. “I’m pretty sure it’s the other way around.”

“That just means we both needed each other.”

She took one step back, her smile soft as she squeezed my hands between us before she turned and started up the sidewalk in the direction of the medical plaza. I watched her go, and she tipped her attention down as she typed something on her phone.

One second later, my phone buzzed in my hand. I grinned when I opened it to see the message.

Glee skated through me. I really was rubbing off on her.

I tapped out a response, my head downturned as my fingers flew across the screen.

I started to straighten when I felt the shift in the air.

The cool breeze that had brushed my skin in comfort turned to a chill.

An ice slick that streaked down my spine and pooled as dread in the pit of my stomach. I started to whirl toward it, toward the foreboding that covered me like a dark shroud.

To pinpoint it.

To stop it.

Only there was no time.

No time to process anything except for the blur at the corner of my eye. A thunder of footsteps and a clamor of evil. The flash of a man raising an arm with a brick in his hand.

A brick that he smashed against the side of my head.