Saving Sara (Alaska Blizzard Book 5) Read online

  Saving Sara

  Kat Mizera

  Copyright © 2019 by Kathy Mizera

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover Design: Dar Albert, Wicked Smart Designs

  Cover Model: Chris Williamson

  Editors: Tera Cuskaden, Ashley Martin

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Also by Kat Mizera

  Prologue

  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

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from “Nowhere Left to Fall”

  Also by Kat Mizera

  Las Vegas Sidewinders Series:

  Dominic

  Cody’s Christmas Surprise

  Drake

  Karl

  Anatoli

  Zakk

  Toli & Tessa

  Brock

  Vladimir

  Royce

  Nate

  Sidewinders: Ever After

  Jared

  Dmitri’s Christmas Angel

  Ian (2020)

  Inferno Series:

  Salvation’s Inferno

  Temptation’s Inferno

  Redemption’s Inferno

  Tropical Inferno (formerly “Tropical Ice”)

  Romancing Europe Series:

  Adonis in Athens

  Smitten in Santorini

  Lucky in Lugano

  Alaska Blizzard Series:

  Defending Dani

  Holding Hailey

  Winning Whitney

  Losing Laurel

  Saving Sarah

  Chasing Charli (2020)

  The Nowhere Trilogy:

  Nowhere Left to Fall

  Nowhere Left to Run

  Nowhere Left to Hide

  Other Books:

  Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Protecting Bobbi (Susan Stoker’s Special Forces World)

  Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Protecting Delilah (Susan Stoker’s Special Forces World)

  Brotherhood Protectors: Catching Lana (Elle James’s Brotherhood Protectors World)

  Royal Protectors:

  Sandor (2020)

  For Dr. Joanne Shaw, my very favorite veterinarian and lunch buddy!

  Prologue

  Sara Chandler was drunk. Maybe not falling-down, stupid drunk, but she’d crossed over from tipsy into full-blown drunk a while ago. After a fun evening, she settled back against the soft leather seats of her friend Aaron’s Jeep Grand Cherokee and closed her eyes. She’d had way too much champagne, and the man beside her was so freakin’ hot she was having a hard time thinking about anything but his long legs, broad shoulders, and muscular thighs. As the goalie for the local professional hockey team, the Alaska Blizzard, Aaron Ferrar had a body she fantasized about on a regular basis. Too bad he was her best friend and had made it clear he wasn’t interested in anything romantic or sexual.

  To be fair, he left a long line of bad relationships in his wake, so she understood his reluctance to mess up their friendship. It was just hard sometimes. Like now. When it had been almost a year since she’d had sex and he was so hot. And so close. And had she already mentioned hot?

  “You okay?” he asked, his quiet baritone warming parts of her that were normally immune to him. His voice. His body. Shit. She needed to get out of the car.

  “Yup.”

  “You’re drunk,” he teased.

  And so very horny. Hopefully, she hadn’t said that out loud.

  “Are you going to pass out?”

  “Nope.” And miss the opportunity to fantasize about him? Fat chance.

  “Wow, what’s with the one-word answers?” He glanced at her as he pulled into the driveway of the house where she lived.

  “Nothing.” Her grip tightened on the strap of her purse. “Well, thanks for tonight. Good night.”

  “Hang on, let me walk you to the door.” He got out of the driver’s side and, even though this wasn’t a date, went around as she got out of the passenger side.

  She was a little clumsy from all the alcohol, and her foot twisted beneath her just as she stood, sending her right smack into Aaron, her face landing against his solid, sculpted chest. Oh, sweet Jesus, how was she supposed to endure this much sugarcoated torture?

  “Easy.” He chuckled. “You’re drunker than I thought.”

  “I’m fine.” She managed to disentangle herself from him, regretfully pulling away.

  “If you say so.” He slid his arm around her waist, and every ounce of self-control she possessed disappeared. Damn him for being not just hotter than the Mojave Desert, but a gentleman to boot.

  “What if I don’t want to go in yet?” she asked softly.

  He paused. “What do you want to do?”

  She looked up into his deep-set blue eyes and didn’t say a word, merely raised herself on her tiptoes and gently pressed her lips to his. She didn’t do anything else, waiting, hoping beyond hope, that he would respond. She could make the first move by pretending she was drunker than she was, but he had to be into it too.

  “Honey, what are you doing?” he asked, his voice a raspy whisper.

  “It’s not complicated.”

  “I disagree. It could get really complicated.”

  “We’re consenting adults. I’m drunk but fully aware of what’s going on. I know exactly what I want. And that’s you.” She leaned against him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Don’t pretend you don’t feel something.”

  “Shit, baby, there’s only so much temptation I can take…”

  “Then give in.” She raised her lips to his once again, hesitating a fraction of an inch away from him. To her surprise and relief, he took over from there, kissing her gently at first, his lips probing and curious. It was the sweetest thing she’d ever tasted.

  Aaron didn’t know what the hell he was doing, but stopping wasn’t an option. He’d been dying to taste these sweet lips for months now, and there wasn’t a chance in hell he was pushing her away once she’d made the first move. He hadn’t thought she was that into him, but this kiss showed him he’d been in denial.

  He slid one arm around her waist to pull her tighter against him and used the hand of the other arm to cup her firm, round ass. She had a glorious body, with lots of curves over incredible muscle. She was soft and sexy but simultaneously strong and athletic. He loved watching her skate when the women got together for their impromptu hockey games, and having that beautiful body up against him now was amazing.

  He took his time kissing her, savoring every taste, every deliciou
s swipe of her tongue against his. She tasted faintly of champagne and the little whimpers she made as their kiss deepened brought his cock to full staff. He rubbed it against her, almost desperate to relieve the throbbing between his legs. It had been years since he’d been worked up like this, and the need to be skin-on-skin with her was overwhelming even though this was the last thing he’d thought he would be doing tonight.

  She dug her fingers into his hair, tugging lightly as she pulled him closer, and he backed her against his Jeep, his mouth never leaving hers. Damn, she was delectable, like champagne-laced buttercream frosting with a shot of sensuality. He would’ve been hard-pressed to remember ever enjoying a kiss this much, and the need to be deep inside of her started to take root before he could slow it down. He didn’t want to do this right here on the front lawn of the house she lived in, but driving all the way to his apartment at this point would be torture.

  “Your truck,” she whispered against his mouth, reading his mind. “Sergei and Dani won’t be home for a while and no one can see us here.”

  “I’m six-four,” he chuckled. “You sure about that?”

  “I’ll ride you like a rodeo queen.” She grinned, sliding her hand down the front of his jeans. “And it doesn’t feel like you want to wait.”

  Shit. He opened the door to the back seat, and she crawled in ahead of him. He shut the door behind them but leaned over to put the key in the ignition and start the car, keeping the lights off but the air-conditioning running on low. It was chilly out but it was bound to be sweltering in the car in a few minutes.

  He’d barely sat back on the seat before she was unbuttoning his jeans and sliding them down over his ass, his knees, and finally free of his ankles. She dropped between his legs and gripped his cock with both hands.

  “Commando, huh?” she asked with a grin.

  “You got a problem with that?” he rasped, his voice shaky as he watched himself disappear into her mouth.

  “Mmm,” was all she said, licking him as if his cock was her favorite flavor of ice cream. She didn’t gag when he hit the back of her throat, merely humming a little and using her tongue to lick him some more.

  “Okay, not like this,” he panted, fumbling for her arms. “Come up here and let me come inside of you, baby.”

  “Mm-kay.” She shimmied up his body, letting her flannel shirt fall off her shoulders and revealing a lacy white camisole with no bra on underneath.

  “Jesus, talk about commando…” he breathed, cupping her breasts with his hands. “They’re fucking…beautiful.”

  “Thank you.” She looked down as he nuzzled her cleavage, and then he sucked her nipple between his lips, right through the lacy fabric.

  “Harder or softer?” he asked.

  “Softer,” she whispered. “They’re sensitive.”

  “Do you like to be touched there?”

  “Yes, but keep it light.”

  He pulled her tank over her head and tossed it aside, anxious to have those pretty breasts in his mouth again. And they were even better now that they were bare. This was nirvana to him—a beautiful woman with soft and sexy breasts. He loved everything about boobs and could play with them for hours, but they didn’t have hours tonight, and honestly, he needed to be inside of her.

  “You’re wearing too many clothes,” he said, lifting his head to stare into her big brown eyes.

  “Okay.” She was a little flushed as she wiggled out of her jeans and panties. She straddled him and for one hot moment, their eyes locked. Hers were filled with lust and desire and maybe a touch of trepidation. He didn’t know what were in his, but she must’ve liked what she saw there because they were kissing again, their mouths coming together with ease. She made the most adorable little hiccupping sound when they kissed, a cross between a whimper and a groan.

  “I need…a…condom,” he rasped.

  “IUD,” she responded. “I’m disease-free. You?”

  “I am…but are you sure?”

  “Dude, do I look like I want a baby?” Her eyes momentarily sharpened and he chuckled.

  “No. Definitely not.”

  She guided the thick, ruddy head of his cock right where she wanted it and sank down with painstakingly slow thoroughness. Sweet lord in heaven, this was beyond ecstasy. Her eyes dropped closed and she let out a long, soft sigh that told him she was loving this as much as he was.

  “I don’t have a lot of room, honey,” he said, cupping her ass with his hands. “So do your thing to get to your happy place.”

  “Mmm.”

  Fuck, he loved when she made that noise, especially this time since it coincided with her starting to gyrate on his lap. Her slick walls closed around him and as much as he wanted to kiss her some more, his head fell back against the seats. She was fucking him expertly, as if she already knew everything he liked, the rhythm matching his labored breathing.

  “Just like that, baby,” he whispered, squeezing her ass cheeks as his balls drew up in expectation. “Fuck, are you close?”

  “Y-yes…” Her breasts bounced in front of his face and he wanted her to come when he did, so he brought one hand around, framing her clit between his thumb and forefinger. Her shriek filled the car and he thrust up hard and fast, riding the wave that crashed around him as she came. His own release was on the heels of hers and he pumped into her again and again until she collapsed against him.

  “Holy shit,” she whispered.

  They didn’t move, bodies intertwined, hearts still thumping rhythmically, surrounded by a cocoon of privacy provided by the fogged-up windows. She was nestled against him, warm and loving and intimate. As if she’d been made just for him.

  Shit.

  This wasn’t supposed to happen. How had he let it go this far? They’d already been close friends and now they were…closer. Too close. In fact, he wasn’t sure if he felt satisfied or suffocated. Probably the latter.

  He wasn’t used to feeling like this in the aftermath of sex, so comfortable and completely in tune to another person.

  Nope. He needed to get out of here, and away from her, sooner rather than later. These kinds of feelings could only lead to disaster and that wasn’t what he wanted for her or for himself.

  “It’s late,” he finally said. “I need to get going.”

  She raised lust-filled eyes to him. “Can we just cuddle a little longer?”

  Fuck. His heart was starting to slam again, but this time from discomfort instead of passion.

  “I really need to get going,” he managed to say, gently lifting her off his lap.

  “Aaron, what—”

  He yanked his jeans back on without looking at her. “Come on, honey, we don’t want to take a chance that Sergei and Dani get home and catch us like this.”

  “But—”

  “Jesus, Sara, come on.” He tossed her shirt at her. He was being a jerk, but the thought of Sergei grilling him about what was going on with them was more than he could take.

  He pretended not to notice the hurt in her eyes or the way she didn’t look at him as she got dressed. Yup, he was an asshole and this had been an epic failure on his part. He never should have touched her. As good as it had been, this had been a colossal mistake and one they couldn’t make again.

  1

  Four months later

  The first practice of training camp was always a bitch. Aaron stayed in shape in the off-season but today was full of formalities and rookies and new routines. The team he played for, the Alaska Blizzard, had gone through huge changes toward the end of last season. After the head coach and both assistants had been fired just before the end of the regular season, team owner Gage Caldwell brought in his then ex-wife, Laurel, to be their coach through the last few weeks of the season. Instead of ending, though, Laurel took the team to the playoffs, all the way to the conference final, and had become an integral part of the team.

  She hadn’t planned to come back this season because she and Gage had gotten remarried and she was now five months pregn
ant, but the head coach the team had hired over the summer had a change in plans and turned down the job at the last minute. So Laurel was back as the head coach in the interim. Gage and the team’s general manager were in Toronto right now interviewing someone else, and hopefully they would accept the job soon because Laurel was having a tough pregnancy. Nothing was wrong, but she had terrible morning sickness and had admitted she was in no condition to run a professional hockey team’s training camp.

  She was a trooper, though, out on the ice today leading drills and keeping everyone on their toes, despite her pale face and the crackers she was constantly snacking on.

  Aaron dropped down into a split, stretching his legs and warming up. He always stretched before he got his equipment on, after he put it on, and a third time when they first got out on the ice. He was pretty flexible for a guy who was six-feet-four and over two hundred pounds, but he’d been injury-prone the last couple of years and worked hard to prevent that as much as possible these days.

  “You ready to rock and roll?” His closest friend and team captain, Jake Carruthers, skated up next to him and dropped down to his knees, stretching out one leg.

  “Ready as I’ll ever be.” Aaron grinned at him. “How are things?”

  “Good. Whitney’s in Dallas for the week doing a photo shoot for the spring product line, so I’m focused and ready to play.” Whitney was his wife, who worked and modeled for her family’s line of cosmetics.