He's a Coast Guard hero risking his life to save others
She's his wife who understands the danger of his job, but her premonitions worry her
Will he make it home to meet her under the mistletoe?
Featuring the erotic romance novel, Meet Me Under the Mistletoe by Tammy Dennings Maggy.
This is so much more than what you expect...
A tantalizing excerpt...
December 22nd, Present Day US Coast
Guard Air Station
Cold Bay, Alaska
"Pon pon, pon pon, pon pon,
this is COMSTA Kodiak. An unknown distress call was received on channel 16 FM.
All mariners transiting the area are requested to keep a sharp lookout and
report all sightings to this or any Coast Guard station. This is COMSTA Kodiak,
out."
Petty Officer Steve Sanders grabbed
his gear from the ready station to check through it once again. His gut told
him this wasn’t going to be an average day for the crab fleet. Starting in the
middle of the night, the US Coast Guard Communication Station in Kodiak picked
up multiple calls from vessels throughout the King Crab fishing grounds. Up
until now, none had sent out a distress call, but with another storm building
up strength over the Bering Sea, it was only a matter of time before his unit
would be sent into action.
Glancing over his shoulder at the
teddy bear dressed in a Coast Guard swimmer wet suit, he smiled. In less than a
month, he’d be a father and his team never let a day go by without reminding
him. Once he found a pack of diapers along with his own “survival kit” complete
with nose plugs, tongs and thick rubber gloves stuffed in his locker. Another
instance it was a box of chocolate cigars, half with pink wrappers and the
other with blue. The day before he left for his current three-month stint in
Cold Bay, his unit on Kodiak threw a couples' baby shower for him and his wife
Jolene. The teddy bear was a gift from the Commander, and Jolene made sure to
pack it in his duffel when he wasn’t looking. It was simply her way of
reminding him to come home safe for her and their child.
A handwritten gift tag dangled from
a red velvet ribbon tied around the bear’s neck. It read, “Meet me under the mistletoe and I’ll make all your Christmas wishes
come true.” Every single year since he was a fifteen year-old freshman in
high school and he dared a then thirteen year-old Jolene to meet him under the
mistletoe, they’d never missed a chance to get that first holiday kiss. Of
course, if the fiery brunette would’ve punched him instead of kissed him that
first time, who knows where his life would be now?
That first kiss began an annual
tradition neither of them ever dreamed of breaking. To them it meant as much as
their wedding vows during their handfasting ceremony on Christmas Eve. At the
stroke of midnight, they had been pronounced spouses for life under a large
bouquet of mistletoe of course. Now here he was only three short days before
another anniversary with his soul mate and expecting their first child. Life
couldn’t get much better than that.
The SAR alarm sounded off, piercing
his quiet moments of reflection. His heartbeat quickened as the adrenaline
surged through his body. It’s go time! The rest of his search and rescue
team hustled as details of the emergency sounded over the address system.
“Fishing vessel Northern Star has
sent out a mayday. Vessel is taking on water. Eight crew members in survival
suits boarding two life rafts. Last known position twenty-five nautical miles
east of St. Matthew Island. Repeat. Fishing vessel Northern Star listing
and taking on water. Crew evacuating into life boats.”
He slung his equipment bags over
both shoulders and jogged toward the waiting helo. If luck was on their side,
the impending storm would hold back a bit longer and the rescue should go off
without a hitch. However, the Bering Sea had a life of its own, and at any
moment their luck could change on a dime. As part of his routine on each
mission, he bowed his head in prayer. Goddess, I ask you help us find these
sailors and bring them home safe. Please hold back the waves until all are safe
aboard with us and headed home.
* * * *
December 22nd, Present Day Kodiak
Island, Alaska
Jolene turned up the emergency radio
to hear the distress call. As the wife of a Coast Guard rescue swimmer, she had
picked up the habit of keeping her radio always tuned to channel 16 whenever
her husband was on duty during crab fishing season. It was her way of keeping track of him and
the fisherman she’d come to consider part of her family.
“Mayday, mayday, mayday. This is the
Northern Star. Rogue wave hit disabling the vessel. Engine room taking
on water. Sinking fast. All eight are abandoning ship into life rafts. We’ve
lost all power. Last known position nearly thirty nautical miles east of St.
Matthew. Repeat. Mayday, mayday, mayday. Northern Star is taking on
water. Entire crew is heading for life rafts. All in survival suits.”
Her stomach clenched. She knew the
wives of five of the fisherman on that boat. Two of them worked with her at the
hospital. As one of the few registered nurses on the island, Jolene knew all
the local families. Any kind of emergency brought them all together and it
looked like today was going to be a doozy. Better get rolling. No point in
trying to go back to sleep. Might as well head in and start my shift early.
She tossed the covers back and
slowly slid her swollen feet into her fuzzy slippers. There was no way she’d
walk barefooted over the freezing hard wood floors this time of year. Although
at eight and a half months pregnant, the cold often felt good when they were as
swollen as they were at the moment. She stopped her shuffle to the bathroom and
slipped her right foot out of the slipper and onto the floor. The chill
radiated up from the floor, taking her breath away, and that was before her
sole even made contact. She shoved her foot back into the warm slipper and
continued on with her morning routine.
The hot water of the shower worked
out all the kinks in her back as she ran the washcloth over her ever-expanding
belly. “Well, little one. Your daddy is heading out on another day to save
lives. Don’t you worry, though. He’ll be here for our kiss under the mistletoe.
This same time next year, you’ll be joining us there, but this time you’ll just
have to settle for kicking him through my belly."
In response, she watched as a little
foot made its way across her stretched skin and gave her another kick. She
smiled as tears rolled down her cheeks. These were the things Steve missed out
on when he was underway. It’d taken them nearly ten years to finally get
pregnant, and now she had to experience all the little things alone. Keeping a
detailed baby journal helped her husband stay in the loop as did their Skype
calls, but somehow it wasn’t the same.
Six other times she’d managed to
conceive, only to have their excitement dashed a few months later with
miscarriages. This pregnancy was the only one nearly to term and so far
everything had gone without a hitch—for the baby that is. Jolene suffered from
debilitating morning sickness for her entire first trimester leaving her on bed
rest for most of it. Two weeks ago her doctor dropped another bomb. She had
gestational diabetes. It wasn’t unexpected, but just one more thing to add to
the list of issues she had to go through alone.
As the steamy water continued to
work on her muscles, she remembered the weekend they conceived their baby.
Steve surprised her in the middle of her shift at the hospital with a dozen
pale purple roses. He had won the lottery in his unit and gotten an extra two
days of liberty. Lucky for her, the other nurses had been more than willing to
cover the remainder of her shift.
As soon as they’d made it through
the door of their condo, he had tossed her over his shoulder and bolted toward
the bedroom. “I’m going to taste every inch of your body until you beg for
mercy.”
From the back cover...
When Steve Sanders
became a US Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer nearly twenty years ago, he knew he’d
have to put his life on the line with each mission. Unfortunately, only three
days before Christmas, Steve has to come face to face with the real possibility
he’d break his promise to his wife and not return back to her and their unborn
child.
Jolene Sanders is
nearing the end of a difficult pregnancy and looking forward to finally
spending their wedding anniversary with her husband. However, her holiday
spirits are shattered when a distress call from a sinking fishing vessel calls
the Coast Guard into action and puts her husband’s life on the line once again.
Left behind in a
life raft during the rescue, Steve’s fate is now at the mercy of the wicked
Bering Sea. Will this truly be his last mission, or will a miracle bring him
back to meet his wife under the mistletoe?
Keep reading on Amazon
About the author
Tammy
Dennings Maggy is a best-selling, multi-published poet and erotic romance
author with Siren Bookstrand and Sassy Vixen Publishing. Her writing explores
many facets of romance from ultimate betrayal to finding your soul mate. Her
poetry serves as a companion to her novels and has inspired entire series all
on their own. Tammy and her alter egos Lia Michaels, Stephanie Ryan and Tawny Savage
make up the core authors at Sassy Vixen Publishing and together they've created
the shared-world series, Temptations Resort. Look for the first books in that
series to come out in late 2016.
Now happily married to her own Muse and soul mate, she continues to live her dream and act as secretary to all her characters demanding to have their stories told.
Now happily married to her own Muse and soul mate, she continues to live her dream and act as secretary to all her characters demanding to have their stories told.
Connect with
Tammy
Other Tales
by Tammy Dennings Maggy
Now and
Forever Series
For the Love of Quinn (Now
and Forever 1)
The Island (Now and Forever
2)
The Surrender of Julia (Now
and Forever 3)
Bound in Paradise (Now and
Forever 3.5)
My Love, My Friend (Now and
Forever 4) coming in 2016
Kayne Legacy
Series
The Courtship of the
Vampyre (poetry)
Curse of the First Born
Cain (Kayne Legacy 1)
Legacy of the First Born
Michael (Kayne Legacy 2) coming in 2016
Poetry
Follow Me: Poetry from the
Heart and Soul
The Courtship of the
Vampyre
Sassy Vixen
Publishing Anthologies
Sweet, Sultry, and Oh So
Taboo
Season of Sun and Sin
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