Sunday Snippet: Chasing the Sun

Whew. We got hit with a ton of snow last night and this morning. About fourteen inches. My county is under a rare level three snow emergency. I had to drive out this morning and, it wasn't horrible but I definitely drove slowly. And we only had about seven inches at that point. So glad I don't have to go out anymore today.

Had a crazy-busy work week. A project came back that needed some extra TLC after numerous author revisions. I'm still working on the memoir, and I started a new project with one of my regular authors. Also working on a long romantasy novel and hitting the series book when I can.

Had a slower week of viewing with everything else going on. Prepping for the snowstorm took up some time and I needed to focus on the work stuff.

I did watch Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears. I thoroughly enjoyed this fan-backed movie project. A very cool way to cap the series.

Also caught an episode of Foyle's War that finished out the fifth season. I'd completely forgotten Foyle actually resigned from the police force. Looking forward to starting the next season.

Finished up the second half of Silent Witness. Again, the twists and turns were amazing. So many red herrings. And a side story that ended up being compelling.

Enjoyed another episode of Poirot. This one had an interesting side plot with Miss Lemon that I loved.

That's pretty much it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Chasing the Sun, a sexy short that explores the downside of following orders.

Here's the miniblurb:

Chance Martin and Rena Chavez are best friends, and maybe something more, if their work will stop getting in the way. But when Chance can't deal with a set of orders to remove an admiral with lethal action, he starts a downward spiral he can't stop. Rena has to pull him back from the edge, no easy task because she always follows orders.

And a sneaky peek…

"Chance!" Rena shook him.

Trapped in a nightmare, unable to fight his way out. She had experienced that agony more times than she wanted to remember. First as a child with alcoholic and combative parents.  Then as a teenager in care after the same parents lost their lives—and almost took hers—in a drunk-driving crash. From that point onward, Rena learned the value of following the rules.

She jostled Chance again. 

The night terror still had Chance in its clutches. His muscles tensed and bunched, and his head twisted back and forth.

And he called her name … over and over.

He scared her, because she couldn't reach him. And it meant Chance had issues bigger than she'd imagined.

She cupped his face in her hands to still the thrashing of his head. "Chance. Wake up." Rena pitched her voice low, her tone calm and soothing. "It's a dream. Chance." Her thumbs stroked his cheeks, and she repeated the same words once, twice more before he jerked awake.

Unfocused eyes darted back and forth and the last remnants of whatever unknown horror he'd been in fought to hang on. When his gaze finally settled on her face, she breathed with relief.

Gone were the stormy, terror filled eyes.

In their place, startled but clear blue stared up at her.

She kept her voice low, almost a whisper. "Hey, welcome back." Rena moved one of her hands down to lace her fingers with his.

They were like ice even though his skin was slick with sweat. He didn't respond but, his breathing calmed from erratic bursts into shallow inhales. His heartbeat raced, and Rena wished she'd paid closer attention to his plight instead of getting freaked out.

She shouldn't have left this situation for so long. How selfish of her … to not push harder to make him talk. She wanted to kick herself for leaving him to stew and brood.

No more. She'd get him through this rough spot. She owed it to him.

And to herself.

Happy with how this one is coming together. The sages are feeding the plot to me out of order but sometimes that ends up working out well.

 

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye