Title: ON POINT
Series: Out of Uniform,
Book 3, but each book is a stand-alone HEA w/ a new couple in each book
Author: Annabeth Albert
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: June 5, 2017
Heat Level: 4 - Lots of Sex
Pairing: Male/Male
Length: 78,000 words
Genre: Romance,
contemporary romance, military romance, SEALS
Synopsis
Pushing thirty, with his reenlistment looming, decorated navy sniper Maddox Horvat is taking a long look at what he really wants in life. And what he wants is Ben Tovey. It isn't smart, falling for his best friend and fellow SEAL, but ten years with Ben has forged a bond so intimate Maddox can't ignore it. He needs Ben by his side forever—heart and soul.
Ben admits he likes what he's seen—his friend's full lower lip and the perfect muscles of his ass have proved distracting more than once. But Ben's still reeling from a relationship gone to hell, and he's not about to screw up his friendship with Maddox, too.
Until their next mission throws Ben and Maddox closer together than ever before, with only each other to depend on.
Now, in the lonely, desperate hours awaiting rescue, the real challenge—confronting themselves, their future and their desires—begins. Man to man, friend to friend, lover to lover.
Excerpt
The rain pelted down as he made his
way up the ridge, thick sheets that obscured his vision and made the terrain
slippery and treacherous. Overhead, a large black bird with a colorful beak
swooped in, almost sending Ben skidding into a ravine.
He whistled low, a deliberate pattern,
one of the team’s signals. He repeated the sound as he approached where Maddox
was supposed to be. An answering signal came from a dense thicket of green
vegetation.
“It’s me. Hold your fire,” Ben called
as he slipped into the mass of trees and roots. The plants here were nothing
like the ones back home—giant heart-shaped leaves and bright rubbery flowers
that almost looked bird- or insect-like. The trees had massive, visible roots
covered with moss, and were connected by thick vines that could easily be
mistaken for a deadly snake.
Below him, he could see the
encampment, SEALs scurrying around. The injured hostage and Issacson, their wounded
radio man, were carried out, which had to mean the chopper was close. Time to
haul ass. “Maddox?”
“Here.” Maddox slid out of the
shadows, rifle at the ready, just as Ben had expected. “Com’s down for you guys
too?”
“Yup. Chopper’s coming in. LT sent me
to bring you in. No time to waste. Issacson took a bullet, but he’s stable, and
one of the hostages is in bad shape. Possible hostiles escaped, but Rogers and
company are hunting them down.”
“Got it. Lead the way.” Maddox let Ben
take point as they made their way down the ridge. They had to skirt the edge of
a steep drop, every muddy step cautious even as they needed to make haste.
Crack.
Whoosh.
Two things happened at the same
instant—gunfire broke out above them and a chopper approached, engine noise
making it hard to track the source of the shots. But Maddox was already on it,
crouching low, rifle ready. Another shot whistled over their heads and Maddox
returned fire. They both left the trail and headed into the brush, intent on
finding the hostiles.
The chopper circled low, then went
back up. Fuck. The chopper was struggling to land in the encampment clearing,
which meant the next pass was critical. Still staying low and gun ready, he
inched forward. No more gunfire had followed Maddox’s, but that didn’t mean he
could let his guard down for a second.
The chopper circled again, but the
terrain had shifted and Ben could no longer see the encampment beneath them.
“Fuck.” Maddox never cursed, so Ben
whipped his head around just in time to see Maddox slipping off the poor excuse
for a trail.
Ben scrambled on his stomach,
stretching out an arm, trying to catch Maddox. “Grab on.”
“No. Don’t—” Maddox didn’t get the
sentence out before they were both tumbling down the muddy incline, heading
straight for the ravine that lay between them and the encampment. Ben tried to
slow their descent but his attempt to grab at some vines only resulted in the
foliage following them down.
Maddox screamed, a legitimate yell
that chilled Ben to his boots because Maddox never lost composure. Ever. Ben
had once watched Wizard put sutures in Maddox’s scalp while Maddox hummed,
never dropping his tune.
Ben grabbed for him again and— Pop.
Ben’s arm pulled at an unnatural angle, caught up in a tree root and not
Maddox’s strong grip as he’d intended. He wrenched loose but the damage was
already done, and still he slid, mud carrying him faster, rocks and vegetation
raining down after them.
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” Ben’s arm and
shoulder were on fire and he was still moving, sliding, nothing working—
Boom. The bottom of the ravine arrived
without warning, a muddy bog that sucked him down, but it was hardly a soft
landing, rocks and plants poking at him. His arm had him cursing, eyes
watering. He’d seen Rogers dislocate a shoulder last year in the grinder
obstacle course, and at the time he’d rolled his eyes at how Rogers had carried
on. He had a sick feeling that he’d done the same or worse to his shoulder, and
he got the urge to cry and howl.
“Oh fuck.” His stomach heaved and he
barely made it to his side before he threw up from the pain. He turned his head
and almost lost his guts again. Maddox lay a few feet from him, leg at an
unnatural angle, blood dripping from his head, helmet nowhere to be seen. Not
talking or cursing.
Clawing at the rocks with his good
arm, Ben pulled himself closer, looking for the telltale rise and fall of
Maddox’s chest—and not seeing it.
“You are not fucking with me,” Ben
growled. “Mad? Come on, man.”
Still nothing, not even a ghost of
movement across Maddox’s pale lips. Terror, nothing Ben had ever known before,
froze his veins, made him lightheaded from more than just the fall. He refused,
utterly refused to live in a world where Maddox wasn’t okay.
“Maddox. Horvat.” He shook his
shoulder, cursing under his breath. No, no, no.
Whoosh. A chopper—the chopper—flew
overhead, much too far to spot them down this ravine, and heading away from
them.
Sputter. Maddox let out a mighty
cough. It might have been the most beautiful sound Ben had ever heard, because
it meant Maddox was here, that he was fighting, and Ben started to laugh with
relief until Maddox spoke. “Heck. They’re leaving us.”
Purchase Links
Barnes
& Noble:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/on-point-annabeth-albert/1125776157?ean=9781335999801
Meet
the Author
Emotionally complex, sexy, and funny stories are her favorites both to read and to write. Annabeth loves finding happy endings for a variety of pairings and is a passionate gay rights supporter. In between searching out dark heroes to redeem, she works a rewarding day job and wrangles two children.
Author Links
Website:
http://www.annabethalbert.com/
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/annabethalbert
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/AnnabethAlbert
Facebook
Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/annabethsangels/
Giveaway
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