Sunday Snippet: Healing the Wound

September has ushered in yo-yo weather. We had record low overnight temperatures this past week and we're supposed to end up with record high temperatures this week. My sinuses are not happy right now.

I'm still finishing up the copy edit for the extended project and should have it ready this week. I'm looking forward to starting a new project in the next week or so. September is shaping up to be a busy month and that makes me happy.

Didn't have a bad week of viewing. I got a lot of episodes in and finished up a series, which means I get to start a new one this week. I have no idea what that will be yet, but probably a mystery.

I caught two episodes of Death in Paradise. One I remember seeing before and the other new to me. This is why I love going back and watching in chronological order.

Also watched two episodes of Fantasy Island. Enjoyed both for the fantasy aspect. Did not enjoy the angst factor. As usual, you take a perfectly good couple and break them up for a stupid reason. Depending on how the next few episodes go, I'm probably done with this show.

Enjoyed two episodes of The Batman. Bane and Catwoman were introduced and the Catwoman episode was a lot of fun. The Bane episode wasn't bad either.

Caught two episodes of Classic Rugrats. The four vignettes were all ones I'd remembered and pretty fun to watch again.

Finished up the Agatha Christie Hour and enjoyed the final episode. I love mistaken identity hijinks and this episode had a splashy party to boot. So much fun.

Caught the second half of Suspects and thoroughly enjoyed watching the team unravel the tangled web of who did it. Also kind of great to get some insight into the characters' personal lives.

Finally watched the season nine finale of Peak Practice. It was as hard as I thought it would be. I'm not looking forward to Andrew's personal life being a main focus of season ten, but I'll still be watching.

Finished the second half of Silent Witness. This one ended up being very twisty and I like that. Looking forward to the next two-parter. Might get more insight into Jack's character.

That's pretty much it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Healing the Wound, a novella that brings a couple together after the loss of another character.

Here's the miniblurb:

Jenna Creed loses the love of her life and blames Thorp Waggoner. She needs to stop living in the past and Thorp wants to be the man she moves forward with, which means Jenna has a very big problem.

And a sneaky peek…

Jenna rolled over in her sleep, vivid images filling her mind. Thorp's mouth made a slow trip from the lobe of her ear, ghosting along her jawline before dipping in to nuzzle along her throat. His lips feathered over her shoulder and skimmed her collarbone before inching down to capture a taut nipple. When his teeth worried and teased the nub, Jenna let out a low moan, heat infusing her blood and nerve endings.

"Jenna? Hey … you okay?"

She woke with a gasp, blinking to clear the slumber from her eyes. Her veins thrummed with hot passion, the dream still playing out in her fuzzy mind. Shaking her head, she focused on the face next to hers. One that didn't belong to Thorp Waggoner.

A small smile curved her lips, squashing the kick of guilt roiling in her gut. "Yeah. I'm good, Mick. What time is it?" If still early, she might be able to grab a shower and make some breakfast before Mick had to head out.

He cupped her face. "Gotta leave in five." He rolled off the bed, fully dressed in his fatigues.

Jenna sat up, rubbing a hand over her face. "Shit. Sorry. Why didn't you wake me when you got up?" Before she had the dream…

Mick snorted and grabbed his duffel. "It's the ass crack of ugly o'clock now. No reason you should have to be awake at zero dark thirty unless you're deploying … like me." He zipped his case and dropped it by the bedroom door.

Deployment. For an unspecified amount of time to a classified location with multiple hot spots. Not exactly her idea of a fun way to spend her second anniversary with Mick.

Then again, they'd been lucky. After almost two years together, they'd only had a handful of time apart. And Thorp ended up being assigned to the same base six months ago with a bump in rank. No surprise there.

Mick returned to the bed and sat on the edge. "Waggoner's picking me up here, which I gotta admit surprised the hell out of me." His lips twisted. "Not like we get along well." He rolled a shoulder and met her gaze. "But it means I got more time with you before shipping out."

Jenna gave a nod but didn't say anything. The steamy dream about Thorp rewound and played out again in her mind. A new flicker of guilt unfurled in her stomach. She'd had the stupid nocturnal side trip because Thorp and Mick were going on a mission together. There couldn't be any other reason. She loved Mick and shouldn't feel anything for Thorp. What might have been had no place in her life right now.

A horn blared outside, and Mick leaned in, catching her lips for a farewell kiss.

Jenna only half-heartedly responded, still hung up on the erotic content of her dream. But Mick didn't seem to notice. He already had his bag over his shoulder and headed out of the room.

Jenna scrambled off the bed and dragged a robe on. "Good hunting. Get in touch when you can." Which might not be until they returned from their mission.

Mick gave her a quick salute and exited their house. The loud rumble of the truck accelerating down the road then making the turn for the airfield lasted briefly before everything went quiet again. Jenna leaned against the wall not quite ready to confront the weird vibe she couldn't seem to shake.

She’d make up anything lacking in her goodbye to Mick when he came home. And Thorp would have no place in her mind or heart when she did.

Jenna thought she put the spark with Thorp in a neat little box, but her dream proves otherwise, and she's not thrilled about having the reminder she found him attractive.

 

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

ML Skye

Sunday Snippet: Healing the Wound

Well, it's been a wild and bumpy week. My husband ended up with the flu in the middle of a pandemic. Not a lot of fun for him. The rest of us are trying to take any and all precautions so we don't end up with it also. Bleh.

Finished up a work project and had a little downtime before my next one begins. I'm actually kind of thrilled to have a bit of a break. I normally work every day of the week and having a couple of days off is lovely.

A so-so week of television. I finished up season four of Silent Witness and started on season five.

I also caught another arc of Classic Who. I'm on the second season of Four's tenure. Finishing out the "Terror of the Zygons."

Other than that, I mainly caught some Mystery Alley marathons on Ovation. I needed some background noise while I did a ton of shredding.

Other than that, I'm hoping to finish up Picard this week and maybe get back to Riverdale and Roswell, New Mexico.

That's pretty much it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Healing the Wound, a novella that got a start with a writing community prompt.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Jenna Creed loses the love of her life and blames Thorp Waggoner. She needs to stop living in the past and Thorp wants to be the man she moves forward with, which means Jenna has a very big problem.

And a sneaky peek…

Thorp's back hit the wall. "Oomph." He'd called the need for backup.

Handler had a keen desire to punch Thorp's ticket. Twice, so far, Jenna stopped the brutality of Mick's advanced maneuvers. Thorp didn't know how much longer she'd be able to use the strategic stalling.

"Handler, what the hell? Did we not just talk about using diversionary tactics?" She planted her hands on her hips.

Mick huffed out a breath. "Putting him out of commission is faster."

Jenna rolled her eyes. "Are you trying to miss the point? Your score is lower when you don't use your brain." She marched forward and showed Handler the panel with their tallies. "If you don't cut the aggression out, you'll be off the shit list and actually in the steaming pile." Her voice left no doubt it would totally be his fault, too.

He growled. "Fine. What can I do to bump that mess up?"

Jenna handed him a mock-up of several improvised explosive devices. "Study this for ten minutes then defuse the five bombs. You get extra points if you don't rush." She jabbed her finger toward the work table.

Thorp pushed away from the wall. "Thanks. Not sure why you're acting as the buffer, but it's appreciated." If only he could appreciate her more … like off campus and maybe in a bed somewhere.

Too bad it won't happen anytime soon. No matter how hot Jenna Creed might be, Thorp wouldn't make a move. He'd promised his old man he wouldn't get down with any of his classmates, hence the reason he hooked up with any other available female.

Jenna shrugged. "Mick's gonna make a damned good soldier if he gets out of his own way." She shot Thorp a sideways glance. "He has to work harder than most."

Most meaning Thorp. He pretty much sailed through classes. Didn't hurt he'd been raised on bases all over the galaxy and could probably recite every class's texts in his sleep. Handler came from some rural backwater that had more farm equipment than military machinery. The guy had a gift with anything mechanical though. He struggled with discipline but followed orders without issue. The only thing Handler truly lacked? A military pedigree.

And that became Handler's biggest problem. The guy had a chip on his shoulder. He'd taken one look at Thorp's last name and decided to hate him. No skin off Thorp's hide. Frankly, Thorp didn't care about his last name, other than the doors it opened for him.

Under any other circumstances, Thorp could have been great friends with Mick. Probably still could be if the guy ever realized Thorp didn't have it out for anyone, and didn't use his privilege to rub anyone's face in the dirt. He tried to help people with it instead.

Mick threw his hands up and gave a shout. "Done! Peer review time." He swept his arm over the explosive devices.

Jenna fell into step beside Thorp. They moved to the work table and examined the defused devices. Every single one had been rendered safe and Mick hadn't triggered any of the alerts.

Jenna shook her head. "Geez, Mick. I think you found your calling." She ran the panel over the units, racking up his score.

Thorp slapped him on the back. "Damned good job. I've never seen anyone get a perfect score on every one." He stuck his palm out. "Congratulations."

Mick gave a shrug but clasped Thorp's palm. "Uh, thanks." He shot Jenna a wide grin. "Did I go slow enough for your satisfaction?"

She chuckled. "Yep." Coming around the table, she nudged him with her shoulder. "See … I told you taking your time can have good results." Her eyebrows waggled.

Mick laughed. "That you did." He hugged her. "Let me take you to dinner tonight. As a thank-you."

Thorp gritted his teeth but stayed silent. He had absolutely no claim on Jenna.

She gazed up at Handler. "I'd like that." She flicked her gaze toward Thorp.

He backed away, giving them some privacy to make plans. Jealousy churned in his gut, but he'd needed the reminder. Jenna Creed is off limits until the end of the semester.

Grabbing his gear, he started for the exit. "She'll probably be in love with Handler by then."

I'm excited to get a little more written on this story. I love the dynamic of this trio and I like the turn things are going to take.

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

ML Skye

Sunday Snippet: Healing the Wound

Wow. Next week my second kidlet graduates from high school. I'm excited for him, yet I'm also wistful for the toddler with an overly large head—it's a family thing and he completely grew into the large noggin—that used to lob blocks and legos across the kiddie gate to get my attention. Next week's post might be an emotional one.

Anyway… on to the week's TV fare. Gotham kept things nice and interesting. I love the twisty-twist with Selena and Bruce. I'm also enjoying Ivy with Oswald. She's a nice foil to his manic craziness, maybe even better than Ngyma. I do have to wonder if Jim or someone else will ever find the knife Mario tried to kill Leigh with. Honestly, her anger with him is the only thing that kind of pulls me out of the show, even though it's justified and makes complete sense.

The Flash needs a rewatch. I didn't catch all of the episode and came in late. I'm looking forward to the resolution and hope things pay off in a big way.

Arrow delivered, as usual. Even with the over the top and almost unbelievable things Chase seems to manipulate, I have no doubt the showdown on Lian Yu will be worth it. Have to admit seeing Merlyn kind of surprised me, only a little because his name was mentioned. LOL I'm really not sure how I feel about Arrow's move to Thursdays next season. I'll hold off judgment for now. But it's one more day I have to wait for new episodes and that doesn't make me happy.

Not excited about waiting until fall for new episodes of The Last Ship. It's my summer must watch show and now it's not going to be on in the summer. Bleh.

Still looking forward to the Friday night block on Syfy at the end of June. If this gets changed, be prepared for an epic rant. With Orphan Black airing its final season in June also, the month looks to be terrific.

That's it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Healing the Wound, a novella that started with a fan fiction community prompt of describing a scene ten seconds after the main character walks away (in a certain episode) they come back, which they didn't do in the show. I love what if scenarios and got pinged with an original idea for it.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Jenna Creed loses the love of her life and blames Thorp Waggoner. She needs to stop living in the past and Thorp wants to be the man she moves forward with, which means Jenna has a very big problem.

And a sneaky peek…

"Creed, Waggoner, Handler. You're up for battle simulations. Get your asses to the training room and suit up."

Jenna Creed cringed when the booming voice filled the room. The commanding instructor, Jones McTeish, didn't have low volume. He had earth-shaking loud and bleed from the ears loud.

She got up and promptly bumped into Mick Handler. He'd landed on McTeish's shit list for missing curfew the other night. No doubt, Mick planned to get himself off the top spot by jumping make haste for the training.

Mick flashed a quick smile. "Sorry, Creed, duty calls." He hot-footed it out of the classroom.

Thorp Waggoner took his time getting up, a sly smirk curving his lips. "He'd jump through flaming hoops if he thought it would help." He fell into step beside Jenna.

She chuckled. "Yeah, he would. But McTeish has Mick's number." Sliding her gaze sideways, she studied Thorp a moment. "How did you not get busted for being out after last bell?"

His slight shrug confirmed her suspicion that Mick hadn't been out alone.

Thorp waited until they exited the classroom before answering. "Sometimes it pays to have friends or, in my case, family with high rank."

His remark kicked the flirty vibe down a notch. And served as a reminder. Thorp Waggoner had places to go and a ladder to climb. Once their training finished, she'd no longer be in his orbit.

She shot him a quick glance. "I can't imagine where you and Handler would've gone together." The men didn't get along all that well.

Thorp snorted. "We weren't together. I was coming back from a…" He paused, his voice trailing off.

Jenna filled in the blank. "Date?" Thorp's reputation for hooking up started the first week of training.

His curved in a sheepish smile. "Yeah, go with that." He stopped outside the men's changing area. "Things went a little longer than anticipated." He shrugged again.

Jenna did her best not to imagine why things went longer than expected. She also failed miserably. Thorp epitomized her ultimate fantasy, so, yeah, her brain totally went there.

The pointed clearing of his throat dragged her out of the steamy movie playing in her head.

She flicked a quick glance in his direction. "So… you're in the clear but Handler's on a shit platter? Hardly seems fair."

Thorp leaned in and spoke softly. "I know. Which is why Handler hasn't been expelled. The watchman couldn't very well write him up when he let me slide. I was happy to point the facts on the ground out to him." He straightened and wore a smug smile.

Jenna's lips twitched. "I'll bet Handler loved that." The rivalry between the two made for excellent entertainment.

Most of the time.

Thorp turned to enter the changing area. "Not really, but considering we've only got four weeks of training left, he's seething quietly." He nodded toward the room next door. "Better get suited up. I'm gonna need some backup in there." A rumbling chuckle came from his chest.

Jenna shook her head and darted into the women's area. Playing mediator between Mick and Thorp didn't rate all that high on her list of fun things to do. But she'd deal, and maybe even look good if they went after each other.

If nothing else, she'd get in a good workout with two hot guys.

I like the possibilities with this story. It's been fun writing the interactions.

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

ML Skye

Sunday Snippet: Healing the Wound

Hello!

Okay, finally got semi-caught up on Haven. Also still current on Sons of Anarchy. I can only say, wow, it hurts to watch both. LOL

I'm behind on some of my other faves. Agents of SHEILD and Sleepy Hollow being two, and I haven't been able to catch Gotham yet either. Sometimes working seven days a week is a huge pain. J

Tonight's post is from Healing the Wound, a novella where my main characters have some serious baggage. Fun, right?

Here's the tagline:

Jenna Creed loses the love of her life and blames Thorp Waggoner. She needs to stop living in the past and Thorp wants to be the man she moves forward with, which means Jenna has a very big problem.

And a sneaky peek…

The hatch slammed shut and Thorp shook off the kiss. It didn't mean anything. It never did, never would. He turned to pick up his clothes, a little surprised to find them strewn all over the room. He shouldn't be… they'd been hell bent on screwing RFN. He bent down, grabbing his shirt and the hatch clanged open. Great. Wouldn’t take a scholar to figure out what had almost gone down in here.

"Thorp?"

Surprise kicked him in the gut. Last person he expected. Rising slowly, he angled his head around. "Look, Jenna. I get it. No need for round two."

She didn't say anything else, but grabbed the wrench and slid it back in place.

Thorp waited, unclear why she'd lock them in together. She'd been brutally honest about where things stood. He didn't need or want a rehashing.

He lifted a brow. "What could you possibly have to add?"

Again, she said nothing, her breath coming out in short bursts. She snorted and shook her head then her lips twisted in a sad grimace.

He let his shirt fall to the deck but stayed rooted to his spot. The next move belonged to Jenna.

She slumped back against the hatch and lifted her eyes to his. "It hurts, Thorp. Help me. I'm so tired of the pain." She slid to the floor and put her head on her knees.

Thorp closed the distance between them. He dropped down beside her and gathered her close. "Let it out, Jenna. I'm not going anywhere." He tucked her head against his shoulder and stroked her hair with a soothing touch. Her shoulders shook and the sobs, when they escaped, were deep and wrenching.

Thorp whispered quietly and encouraged her to release everything—the guilt, the sorrow, and the hurt. He had no idea how long they sat on the deck, wrapped around each other, but she finally calmed. He prayed the cleansing tears washed away at least some of her pain.

She lifted her head, and pressed her lips against his. Tentative, trusting, true. She didn't have anyone else in her head right now. Thorp gave in to the desire and kissed her back, deepening the embrace. No rapid fire lust gripping either, they went slow, exploring with hands and mouths.

He much preferred being with Jenna like this, with her head clear and full of him instead of ghosts from her past.

Gotta say, one of my favorite couples to write is Jenna and Thorp. J

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

ML Skye