Adored (The Hunter Mercenary #16)

Hunters

I am Gamble Holloway, and I’m on a mission to save a man.

One could say that my road has been a bumpy one, and you’d be right. Only, just when I believed it was about to calm down, I was thrown for another loop, and I’ve had to fight back to get into control all over again.

What was that loop?

Well, after figuring out that my heart was so broken that I’d never be able to love another woman again, after Storm, I fell in love with a man.

Oh, and not just any man.

No.

I managed to fall in love with the best man in the whole world.

My shrink.

Oh, I know what you’re thinking and that is that it’s so damn wrong for a psychiatrist to have a relationship with his patient, but in all honesty, I fired him first before that line was crossed.

And he didn’t take advantage of me.

If anything, I was the aggressor.

It started out as a patient-doctor relationship, but now it’s evolved.

Now, it’s ‘a runaway doctor and no longer patient’ relationship.

The man upped and ran from me the second I was distracted.

See?

My life is seldom easy, and my relationship with Poe isn’t easy either.

Apparently.

Now, as I’m finally healed from the blow Storm had delivered to me, I now have to play chase, finding the man who left me behind.

The same man who was angry at me when I’d been upfront and honest and said I was going to leave to keep him safe.

The same man who talked me into staying, only to bail on me right afterward.

Yeah, that man.

Doctor Poe Seville ran for the hills, and I know that he’s not thinking straight.

Why?

Because Von Donore, the baddest bad guy we’ve encountered yet as Hunters, has slipped through our fingers and disappeared.

He’s not contained, and Poe is in danger.

Oh, we’re tracking him, but the mere idea that Poe is out in the world, alone, and vulnerable after his parent’s murder…

Yeah, that isn’t happening.

Why?

He’s my man.

He imprinted on me, and now, I’m stupid in love with him. When I found out he returned home without me, I was sad, angry, and worried.

Now, I’m just glad to have tracked him down. He’s the runaway doctor, and he’s not leaving me behind again.

Oh, and for the record, he sucks at playing hide-and-seek.

Going forward, I’m not taking no for an answer, and while he’s here in the UK, handling what needs to be done, being nobility, I’m going to hover and guard his very valuable body.

To me, he is priceless.

To me, he’s my other half.

My heart needs his, and whether he knows it or not, his needs mine.

So, I guess you can say that I’m about to prove it.

A ‘Dear Gamble’ letter isn’t going to get him an escape route without me being right on his ass until the very end.

The note didn’t say ‘don’t follow me’, so unfortunately for Poe, I’m a stubborn Marine to my core, and I’m going to do just that.

I’ll track him to the ends of the earth if need be, and we’re going to have to do this together.

That is how we should have been doing this from the start.

Honestly, he could have just asked me to leave with him, and I would have. I would have followed him anywhere because once I’m in love, I’m loyal to a fault.

Now, I have to prove it.

I guess we’re calling the United Kingdom home, and I’m going to have to leave my family behind.

I’ll miss them, but ultimately, I know where my heart lies, and that’s with Poe Seville.

As for him slipping away quietly, like I won’t notice he’s gone…

That’s not happening. We’re soulmates, and now, all I have to do is give up my life back home, settle into a new country with a new culture, and deal with a new identity.

Oh, and keep him alive.

That should be easy, right?

We’ll see if I can assimilate into Poe’s life—and we’ll see if he even wants me with him.

All I know is that I’m not taking no for an answer, and by the time his parents are buried, and the ink is dry on the decree making him nobility, we’re getting married.

Once and for all.

Little does Poe know that I have already sent the paperwork into the registrar ahead of landing in his home country.

Oh, and I paid a shit ton to get it expedited so that we can get married sooner, rather than later.

Sue me.

I am getting my man.

Yeah, I can’t believe that everything happened so damn quickly. From our first kiss, to making love to him, and now to the need to tie the knot…

When the heart knows, the heart knows.

I now believe that.

Where my path led me far from this at one point, Storm’s death led me back here again. My only regret is that my daughter was a victim of this.

I wish I could undo that.

Sadly, life moves on for those left behind, and all I know is that I can’t go on without this man, and I’m smart enough to find him and hold on.

So I packed up our horses, and our dog, and I’ve gotten them to the UK.

Don’t ask.

Let’s just say that Elizabeth made miracles happen to get them here.

That was for damn sure.

I am lucky to call her family and more importantly, to call her my friend.

Without her, none of this would be possible. She hired Poe to save me, and she is now helping me get back to Poe to shake some common sense into him.

I’m his path now.

We’re on it together.

Now, I’m going to surprise him in more than one way, and hope that Von Donore doesn’t think about sending anyone back to the UK to stir the pot.

Because I’m not letting my man be hurt.

Not on my watch.

I hear wedding bells, and this Duke is about to be mine.

And if he runs…

Well, I’m going to chase down that runaway groom.

To the chapel.

To the end.

To the grave.

Because I know a good man when I see one, and this one, is mine, all mine.

Ready to begin my life,

Again…

The once Captain Gamble Holloway, and the now Captain Arthur Doyle.