Never Mine: A Base Branch Novella (Titan World) Read online

  Never Mine

  A Base Branch & Titan World Novella

  Megan Mitcham

  Contents

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Copyright Warning

  The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is a crime punishable by law. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded to or downloaded from file sharing sites, or distributed in any other way via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000 (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/).

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are fictitious or have been used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real in any way. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Published by MM Publishing LLC

  Edited by Jenny Sims

  Proofread by Tina Rucci & Lynn Mullan

  Cover Design by Deranged Doctor Designs

  Never Mine

  All Rights Are Reserved. Copyright 2017 by Megan Mitcham

  First electronic publication: January 2017

  First print publication: January 2017

  Digital ISBN: 978-1-941899-28-1

  Print ISBN: 978-1-941899-29-8

  ISBN: 978-1-941899-28-1

  Created with Vellum

  Dear Readers,

  Welcome to the Titan World books with stories ranging from military romance to paranormal to contemporary romance. There’s something for everyone—action-packed romance, swoon-worthy moments, and happily ever after!

  When I started the Titan series, I wanted to combine my love of steamy romance and action-packed suspense. I wrote strong men and women who I hoped readers would fall in love with. I can’t think of anything more exciting than opening my world up to very talented authors to extend that experience so that you, the reader, can have a deeper connection to more than one book series at a time.

  You will meet new characters and see them interact with familiar ones; you will also see the interpretation of the Titan universe through another author’s eyes. I hope that you take the time to experience each book in the Titan World series!

  You are in for a treat with Megan Mitcham’s Never Mine, where her Base Branch Special Forces hero meets the Titan Group in a romantic suspense tale that is as hot as the desert it’s set in. When Megan and I first sat down over dinner to talk about the possibility of our worlds colliding, the opportunity seemed incredible. Now that I’ve read this story, I can promise you, Never Mine is a true gift from an exceptional storyteller.

  Thank you to Megan and all the authors who took time out of their busy writing schedules to participate in this project. I think the result is something truly special for our readers.

  Titan Hugs and Happy Reading,

  Cristin Harber

  To Cristin Harber,

  Thank you beyond words for creating characters and a world I love almost as much as my own and inviting me to play in it with them. This book was the easiest I’ve ever written because it was the ultimate version of playing with your friend’s toys.

  Your forever fan,

  Megan

  1

  Solid weight pinned Jillian to the bed. His arms lay heavily over her arms. His long legs tangled with hers. Coarse hairs tickled her skin, taunting her with the need to move, to writhe. His torso fluctuated with frantic breaths. Her lungs reveled in the opportunity to breathe him in. The scent of sweat and the musk of sex ratcheted her desire for this man. Unyielding slabs of muscle pressed her ample breasts flat, except for her nipples. They pierced his rough, tattooed skin with lustful defiance.

  “You come when I order you to come, and not a moment sooner, you devil.” He growled her nickname against her earlobe, tempting her rebellion.

  What would he do if she disobeyed? What would he withhold? The latter thought kept her need for control at bay.

  “Yes, Callum.”

  Her lips grazed the perpetual stubble on his neck. If only she had the reach to drag them over his jaw to his lips. The full things looked like the perfect pillows for her own wide mouth.

  “That’s better.”

  The point of his jaw scraped her neck to her clavicle. Her heart clapped wildly against her sternum in celebration. If his lips or teeth grazed a nipple, she might disintegrate in the effort it would take not to succumb to an orgasm. His weight lifted, and she arched in a desperate search for his touch.

  His palm and fingers spread wide against her sternum and pushed her back to the silky cotton. He hovered over her. St. Michael stared at her from his bicep. The Archangel’s spear pierced the fallen devil on his forearm and ushered three souls into the clouds and shafts of light on his large shoulder.

  “Eyes on me, not Michael.”

  Callum’s fingertips bit into her thigh and shoved it wide. His knee spread her other leg, leaving her exposed. Sultry night air kissed her folds with flaming lips.

  “He won’t make you come.”

  Jillian banked a whimper. The need to grind against him charged again without permission. Her hips ground the open air, begging him to fill her. Muscles inside her wet pussy contracted with unchecked greed.

  “You are the devil, Jillian. You tempt me to move faster than you need, but one day, you’ll learn. I know exactly what you need.”

  A carved shin planted on both of her thighs. Her long grinding turned to pitiful twitches. Tears cooled her cheeks.

  “Please, Callum. I need you.”

  “I know what you need, Devil.” His eyes darkened from coffee brown to midnight black. “You need my Trident.”

  She needed anything he would give. She needed it to take her next breath. She needed it to face another day. She needed him.

  His right shoulder rolled forward. Poseidon, god of the sea, rose from the water and glowered at her. Every etched muscle leaned into the handle, into the strike of the three points of his Trident. Callum’s hand slid between her folds and buried two fingers deep inside her flesh. The sharpest spear of the skewer pointed at the tip of her clit.

  “Yes. Oh, Callum. Don’t stop.”

  Jillian arched into him as much as his imprisoning hold would allow. He loomed over her, the scared gargoyle to his tattooed arms. She’d never witnessed anything more beautiful than the danger in his eyes, the lust on his fingertips, and the acreage of minutely defined muscles that punctuated his every inch.

  He found the sensitive spot inside her pussy and milked it with hard, steady strokes. The tingling started in her toes. She shook her head in a near delirious back and forth. More than almost anything, she wanted the orgasm that terrorized her with the promise of ecstasy. Only one thing came before.

  Pleasing Callum came before she did, literally.

  Sweat beaded on her forehead and rolled between her breasts.

  “That’s right, Devil. Not yet. I know what you need. When you’re ready, I’ll give it to you.”

  “I’m ready. Oh. I’m so ready.”

  “Let me see.” He slid his fingers from her body, slicked them over her clit, and lifted them to his mouth
. The red of his sinful tongue lolled out and then curled up the pads of his fingers. A deep rumble emanated from his chest and filled her ears. “Almost, but not quite.”

  Callum fisted his cock, pumped the hard flesh twice, and then danced the broad head in circles around her wet folds. The circles grew smaller at a maddening pace. Her breaths condensed on her chest, adding to the obscene heat. Finally, his wide head reached the bull’s-eye. He paid close attention to her clit, lashing the swollen nub again and again. She pressed against his hand on her chest and got nowhere. A sinister smile lifted his mouth.

  “Now, you taste and tell me if you’re ready.” He grabbed the back of her neck and one leg and dragged her ninety degrees. The pink head of his cock slicked with her desire bobbed inches from her face.

  Her cheeks flamed, and her mouth watered. Finally free to do as she pleased, Jillian levered off the bed onto an elbow. She opened her lips wide.

  “Ah.” Callum shifted his hips away from her mouth.

  Her heart sank. She swallowed, found his gaze, and begged without words.

  “Just a taste. Don’t be greedy.”

  “Yes, Callum.” Her gaze fell to his cock.

  He pushed forward again. A drop of pre-cum wept from his slit. The salt of his arousal and the tang of her own rich excitement coated her tongue as he slid inside. Her inner muscles clenched. She moaned long and hard.

  “Good, Little Devil.”

  He nodded his approval and twisted her around until her ass bloomed in front of his dick. The heavy weight of his flesh pressed against her opening.

  “Please, Callum.”

  Tears streamed down her cheek. Why was she crying? The moisture chilled her to the bone, yet she boiled from the inside out.

  Callum leaned back.

  “No. Don’t leave.”

  He climbed from the bed.

  “No.” Jillian’s voice echoed in the small confines of her dark, empty bedroom.

  The irritating trill of electronic birds chirped from her phone on the nightstand. Her limbs weighed a thousand pounds, eyelids too. Sleep clouded her vision. They closed out the morning and tempted her back to the scene of the crime. She reached blindly to hit the snooze on the alarm.

  Cotton sheets stroked her erect nipples. That simple contact awakened her naked form to full, aching awareness. Moisture slicked her thighs. Her swollen folds pulsed.

  Jillian slapped away the tears chilling her cheek. If it had been anyone else in her dream, she’d finish herself off and call it a win. But even now, temptation loomed. She pulled the covers over her shoulders to keep out the cold as her fingers glided over her abdomen. A thrill rushed ahead of her touch and coursed straight between her legs.

  She danced her other hand over her breasts but avoided the hotspots of her nipples. It wouldn't take much. In fact, she was pretty damn sure she’d already come. He was gone, but his presence, his touch, still loomed large over her sweat soaked body.

  Never before had she finished herself off with him. Never should she, but the pull dragged at her. A year of running from it had left her starved.

  Again, her alarm chirped.

  “It’s the weekend,” Jillian snarled at her phone and leaned over to silence the damn thing. She’d just wrapped up training at the US Naval Academy and wasn’t due to give her workshop at Quantico until next Monday. The reminder had flashed on her screen a second before she slapped the alarm.

  Every warm and sexy thought froze solid, fell to the floor, and shattered into a million pieces. She’d almost willingly gone back to the crime scene.

  A bloody outline of a body should be on her floor because the damned dreams killed something inside her every time. As long as she didn’t speak of them, there was no proof they existed. Unless her flailing heart inside her chest counted.

  Today was Amery’s six-month anniversary.

  Jillian’s stomach cramped. She stumbled out of bed and ran to the bathroom. The toilet seat hit the back of the commode with a whack. Her palms clung to the cold bowl, while her long brown hair curtained her misery. Breaths sucked in through her nose flew out her mouth, waiting for the inevitable dry heaves. She reveled in the sickness. It showed she still thought her mind a treacherous bastard.

  When the vomit refused to show, her tears took its place. One by one, they created ripples in the water. This wasn't the time for tears. If she didn’t get ready now, she’d be late. She stood, turned on the shower, and stared at her reflection in the mirror.

  Bloodshot brown eyes stared back at long hair matted to her head and blotchy tearstained cheeks. She went to war with less emotion than this. And today would be a battle.

  It was time to prepare for war—a purely internal one, but a ferocious fight all the same.

  2

  “Daddy!” The shrill whistle of Aria’s angry voice put an RPG to shame. “No. You can’t have it. It’s mine. Daddy!”

  Callum straightened the already precisely positioned SEAL Trident above his bars and heart. He took one last look in his mirror at the dress blues weighing heavily on his shoulders and then headed toward the cacophony.

  My Little Pony’s intro blasted from the flat screen hanging on Ashlyn’s pink wall in her pink room with her pink bed and her sparkly pink curtains. Every time he set eyes on the Pepto-Bismol décor, a smile twisted one side of his mouth. He stepped over a tablet screaming about Play-Doh eggs and prize packs. Past Aria’s more sedate yet also pink room, he found the girls.

  They rolled across the living room carpet in their Sunday best. Ashlyn held her little fist outstretched, placed her thumb at the cleft of Aria’s nose, and shoved. Aria blocked the tiny but determined hand and lunged for the trinket clutched in Ashlyn’s tiny hand.

  He couldn’t help the pride welling inside his chest. Girls or not, these two would be lethal by age twelve. Boys, beware.

  “No!” Ashlyn flailed her entire body, making big waves for a three-year-old.

  “It’s mine.” Aria pried each tiny finger, one at a time, and ripped a bracelet from her sister’s grip. “You could have broken it.”

  Ash pulled one full breath, her already pink cheeks reddened, and the wailing began. Fat tears cascaded over a scrunched face. Her stuttered inhale bruised his already tender heart.

  “What’s going on?” He held himself at attention before passing judgment or giving comfort. It was the toughest part of being a parent—a single parent—of two feisty girls.

  Ashlyn smoothed her dress and hair and then mirrored his stance. “Aria stole the bracelet that Momma gave me from my room, and she refused to give it back.”

  “Thank you for your concise answer.” He nodded.

  “What does concise mean?” One thin blond brow arched.

  “Succinct.” When that didn’t relax the brow, he added, “To the point.”

  “Oh.” Ashlyn’s straight hair swayed around her shoulders.

  Aria continued to sob on the floor.

  Callum walked to her side and waited. And waited. Finally, she shivered with one last hurrah, wiped her eyes, and looked up at him.

  “Is it true?” She sucked in a breath and opened her mouth wide. He held up one hand. “Remember, before you answer, your integrity is everything.” Her nose wrinkled. “Your word,” he explained.

  “Oh.” She sighed and wiped at her full rosy cheeks. “I stoled it.”

  “Stole it,” he corrected.

  “Yeah.” The word turned into a cry.

  He scooped his baby girl up into his arms and rocked her from foot to foot until the quaking slowed. “Thank you for telling me the truth.”

  Aria nodded against his coat, rubbing tears and snot onto the shoulder. He’d had worse on the thing. Well, on his other ones, not the dress blues, but it didn’t matter.

  “Why’d you take the bracelet, Aria?” he whispered into her ear.

  “I wanted to habit.”

  “Have it?” he clarified.

  “Yeah.” Aria sniffled, dragged her fist across her nose, an
d wiped it on his collar.

  “Because?”

  “It was pretty on Momma.”

  Losing Amery had been hard but doable. He was a SEAL, after all. Adapting and moving forward had been embedded into his brain and sewn into his every repetition for so long, he did it without thinking. Days like these—when he realized how much his daughters hurt for their mom—were the hardest.

  “I have an idea.” Callum chucked the chubby point of her chin and winked.

  “What is it?” She eyed him skeptically.

  “How about we go find you a bracelet from Momma’s jewelry drawer.”

  “Oooh.” Aria covered her mouth. “We’re not supposed to go into Momma’s drawers. You’ll get in trouble.”

  “If I say it’s okay, then it’s okay. This once.” He planted a kiss on his baby’s head and marched them toward the bedroom.

  The life she gave the room had dwindled over the months. Most days, Callum felt little when he entered the room.

  Today, he was aware of everything. Amery’s soft taste covered the walls in paintings of poppy covered fields, in the thick white curtains and comforter, and in the collage of family photos that covered every inch of her dresser.

  “Look!” Aria’s pudgy little finger pointed. “Momma, Jilly Billy, Ashlyn, and me at the beach. I want to go to the beach again, Daddy. The waves flewed me a long way. Can you come this time? You and Jilly Billy. I know Momma can’t come, but we can go. Can we?”

  Callum stared at the last photo taken of his beautiful wife before…

  She and Jillian stood in front of the surf with their toes buried in the sand, looking hot as hell in teeny-weeny bikinis. The women contrasted in almost every way. Amery towered a foot over Jilly, while Jilly’s curves made Amery look like a rail—a sexy rail, but a rail all the same. Their coloring and even their personalities clashed, but they had a tighter relationship than the best sniper spotter teams he’d met.