Sunday Snippet: Napalm at Night

Happy St. Patrick'sDay! It's been a chaotic week with work projects and life stuff going on. Andmy distraction levels are making me frustrated. But … I'm still getting stuffdone so I can't really complain.

I definitely didn'tmake a full round of shows this week. Just didn't have the bandwidth with myfocus being all over the place.

I did catch anepisode of The Batman and had vague memories of watching this the firsttime around. Joker episodes are hit and miss in the version of the dark knight.

Watched an episodeof My Life Is Murder and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm almost finished withthis show, and I'll miss it when I'm done. Such a fun cast of characters.

Caught anotherepisode of Midsomer Murders and again enjoyed the mystery. I'd seensomething of a similar nature of the plot based on a true story, so thisepisode ended up being a lot of fun.

Finished up the finalepisode of Silent Witness season twenty-five. I'll be starting seasontwenty-six this week. Ended up really enjoying the limited episode run.

That's pretty muchit for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Napalm at Night,a novella that mixes a Viet Nam War vibe into the plot.

Here's the miniblurb:

Napalm at night is dangerous stuff. Jensen Wallis, anextraordinary helicopter pilot, makes her fair share of early dawn rescuesafter enemy forces unleash the potent explosives on her fellow soldiers. Shecomes to the aid of Rip Rafferty's squadron and gets them to safety, but notbefore the enigmatic man sets her curious nature on fire.

And a sneaky peek…

Rip spun his empty shot glass onthe table, trying to decide if he'd order another. A shadow fell across thesurface, but he didn't glance up. He hadn't made up his mind yet and theprivate would wait a few moments before heading back behind the bar.

The smoky voice that haunted hisdreams broke the quiet. "Can I buy you a drink, Gunny?"

Rip's gaze shot upward, and heblinked … not quite certain the vision standing before him wouldn't disappear. Shestill invaded his dreams every night but, of course, never stuck around whenthe light of dawn broke every day. When her smile spread slowly across herface, his heart kicked hard against his ribs. She's really here.

And a decision to have anothersuddenly appealed greatly.

He couldn't contain a grin."Damn. You're an incredible sight to brighten the surroundings." Heremembered his manners. "And a welcome distraction." He pushed thechair opposite him away from the table then held up his glass. "Another drinksounds great."

She turned toward the bar, but theprivate already had two shots on a tray and headed their way.

Jensen smirked and settled acrossfrom him. "Terrific service. You don't even have to get the bartender'sattention to place an order." She tilted her head, her gaze roaming overRip.

He didn't mind, because he lookedhis fill, too. She surpassed his fantasy dreams. Of course, she'd opted againstthe standard-issue ponytail. Still damp hair grazed her shoulders, and thefresh scent of something light and airy tickled his nostrils. His body reactedmore to her than the entertainment troop full of gorgeous women that pulled outyesterday.

Something extremely sexy aboutimagining what her fatigues covered instead of a full-on display of her assets.

His lips curved. "It's reallygood to see you. In person, I mean."

She shot him a confused look.

He dropped his chin. "Uh,apparently when my fever kept spiking, you were in my dreams." The partabout her not leaving them could wait.

Her eyes widened. "I heard youinsisted on waiting until your men were treated and your wound got infected."She shook her head. "You're lucky sepsis didn't set in."

Rip grunted. "They were inworse shape. But it got a little sketchy for a while." More than a little,but he'd survive.

She placed her hand on his."You're pretty damned amazing."

Rip didn't agree, but he wouldn'truin her compliment by arguing. Not when he craved her company so badly.Something about Jensen Wallis intrigued the hell out of him.

So far, this storyis chugging along at a wonderful pace and the characters are following theirexpected trajectory. We'll see if that holds.

 

That's it for thisweek. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye