Harrier's Healer

Harrier's Healer

Aliyah Burke

Harrier's Healer

Copyright © 2009 by Aliyah Burke

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means without written permission of the author.

This book is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the

author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resem-

blance to persons, living or dead, events or places is coincidental. All

trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, and registered service

marks are the property of their respective owners and are used herein for

identification purposes only.

Editor and Formatter: Savannah Frierson

Cover Artist: MMJ Designs

ISBN: 978-0-557-04199-2

To Valan,

For all the lives you touched while on earth.

Your love is eternal.

I miss you.

Acknowledgments

Any and all mistakes in this story are mine and not to be blamed on

the ones who do this for a living. To my editor, for all the under-

standing and support you've shown me. Thank you! To my cover

artist. Thank you!

C h a p t e r O n e

Somewhere in the western Pacific…

“HMC Rogets, report to the bridge! HMC Rogets, report to the

bridge!”

Shit, I just got off a ten-hour shift! What now?
Alexis Rogets turned

toward the loud squawk coming over the speaker as the baseball cap

hid the narrowing of her eyes. Her shoulders rose and fell with the

realization she had no choice; it wasn’t her imagination or a voice in her

head she was hearing.

“See you later,” Alexis promised the group of people she stood

amongst. They nodded and waved as she left to navigate the narrow

stairwells and passageways. She paused at the entrance of the bridge,

shaking her head over the noisy bustle that occurred.

“HMC Rogets reporting as ordered, sir.” Commander Tou-

chette, the captain of the USS
Everett
DDG, the destroyer she was

assigned to, waved her forward as he read over the missive in front of

him. He looked up when she stopped before him. Alexis waited patient-

ly for him to speak.

“Chief Rogets,” he greeted.

“Sir,” she replied, waiting.

“I hate to do this to you considering you just got done in medi-

cal for the day, but the
Endeavor
has sent out a request for another doc.

Since you know some of the men they are bringing in a little already,

they want you.” His blue eyes never left hers.

The USS
Endeavor
was an aircraft carrier. She’d served on one

when she had been stationed out of Norfolk, Virginia, but had opted for

a “small boy” this time—less people, a few hundred instead of a few

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Aliyah Burke

thousand. Alexis believed she fit in well; however, being a doctor in the

Navy didn’t always give one the option of choosing where one served.

They were sent where needed.

“When do I go, sir?”

“Now.”

Now
. Alexis maintained her emotionless facade. Her stuff was

stowed away, so it would take very little for someone to send it to her.

She was upset and a bit disappointed for she preferred being on the

smaller vessel. “Very well, sir.”

He regarded her closely. Alexis suspected he was watching for a

flicker of surprise or anything suggesting shock,. He would once again

be disappointed. She worked hard to make it seem nothing riled her,

which was part of why the crew loved her. Alexis was level-headed and

polite and even had a hint of a prankster when she felt she knew you

well enough.

“Does anything surprise you, Rogets?” her CO asked with a

grin.

“It’s not good for me to get surprised,” came her twinkling re-

sponse. “Especially in my line of work.”

Touchette shook his head in amusement. “I have yet to see any-

thing faze you. Stay over there until things have calmed down a bit, and

then give us a yell. We’ll send a helo over for you.” He smiled. “Don’t

want them thinking they’re going to be allowed to keep the best doc in

the Navy!” Alexis blushed and Touchette nodded. “Now, go on.

Dismissed.”

She did as commanded, shaking her head at his rare, explicit

compliment. Chief Petty Officer Alexis “Lex” Milele Rogets was unique

and she knew it. Generally, any full-fledged doctor would be an officer,

but not her. She was finishing her schooling while enlisted and ma-

naged to graduate from Harvard as a doctor and a non-commissioned

officer. Many believed that was one reason she was easy to get along

with on both sides—officers and enlisted personnel. She was almost like

a liaison between the two if needed, an exception to the rule and one

she was happy with being.

USS
Endeavor
CVN

Snapping out a salute to the petty officer who met her on the

flight deck, Chief Petty Officer Alexis Rogets made her way swiftly

down to sickbay.
Here not even five minutes and I miss the destroyer
, she

Harrier's Healer

3

mused. Pushing open the door to the ship’s medical room she was not

sure what to expect.

Corpsmen were running all around and the place seemed chao-

tic to the untrained eye, but to her it was business like usual. Searching

for the nearest khaki uniform, Alexis approached him and reported in.

“Glad to have you aboard, Chief. I hear nothing but good things about

you. Heard about you when I was stationed out in Norfolk,” the tall

ensign said.

“What’s going on here, sir?” She waved one dark hand to en-

compass the room. “Who are the injured?”

Before he could respond, the most sinful voice in God’s creation

reached her, easily cutting through the surrounding noise. “Chief

Rogets, glad to know you will be taking care of me.” There was a slight

hesitation. “And my men.”

Well, Commander Touchette would be pleased to know that there is

something to faze me.
She took a deep breath and turned to face the man

to whom the voice belonged. Commander Scott Leighton. Well, Lieute-

nant Commander Harrington Prescott Broderick Leighton III, if she

were to be specific. A name she only knew from having seen his

records.

Yeah, right!

For a mere moment Alexis was speechless. In front of her stood

her very own secret erotic dream. All her fantasies about men ended up

with her and this man in some amazing sexual act.

All six-foot-five inches of tanned body stood there covered with

rippling muscles. Eyes that were cornflower blue and belonged in the

bedroom only topped off his god-like body. Everything about his

physique and presence screamed virile, sensual, and downright

mouthwatering.
All he would have to do is crook his finger and I would

follow him anywhere.

Not even the black paint streaked on his face or his filthy blond

hair could take away from his magnetic pull on her. And it had been

like that since the day they met.
Can’t think about that now, Lex; need to

acknowledge him before he gets suspicious,
she admonished herself with a

mental shake to bring her back to business at hand.

“Commander Leighton,” she said. “I will go see what I can do to

help your men.” She cast a questioning glance at the ensign, who

pointed her to the area she’d be using. She hurried off without respond-

ing to either officer, knowing she could get away with it because of the

rush to attend to the injured men.

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Aliyah Burke

Pushing back the curtain, she reached for a pair of medium sur-

gical gloves. Alexis turned back to get her first patient and froze.

Commander Leighton stood before her. “What do you need, Com-

mander? I am just about to go grab one of your men.”

A sexy half smile crossed his face. “I’m the only one from my

team left who needs attention. The rest of the men here are the ones we

rescued. So I’m all yours…” Again that almost indiscernible hesitation.

“…Chief.”

If that were only so.
“Sit down.” She was all business. “What hap-

pened?”

“I got a few scrapes, nothing too serious.” His blue eyes burned

a hole into her as he spoke.

“Uh-huh,” she muttered, moving towards him. What was “noth-

ing serious” in the SEAL way of thinking was
much
different than what

it might mean to her as a doctor.

Lieutenant Commander Scott “Harrier” Leighton felt the famili-

ar butterflies reemerge in his belly. Strangely enough, the fluttering

only happened when this woman was around. He didn’t understand it,

he towered over her by almost a foot and outweighed her by almost one

hundred pounds, yet here he sat, nervous as a child on their first day of

school.

His blue eyes roved over her as she approached. She wore her

dark hair secured tightly off her face and hidden way under a cap

marked USS
Everett
DDG
.
He preferred her hair down, though; it was

thick and fell gently around her face and shoulders. Or it had the last

time he’d seen it free. She looked so feminine that way—not that she

didn’t now, for she was hot in anything—but she looked gentle with her

hair unbound.

Her face was, to him, perfect. Thick eyelashes framed her exotic

tiger-eyed gaze. Scott reflected on that cute nose and those succulent

full lips he’d wanted to kiss the very first time he’d seen her. This was

the eighth time they’d met, and that desire was just as strong today as it

had been the first day. Scott knew it was only a matter of time before he

gave into that yearning.

She was five-seven and had all the right curves in all the right

places. Her breasts were full and her hips made him imagine nothing

except his hands holding them as he drove into her body as deeply as

he could go. Over and over, all night long. Her ass made his mouth go

dry; it was flawless.

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5

She
was
the total package. Beautiful, smart, energetic, strong,

and very sexy. Topping it off, her body looked as if it had been covered

with rich toffee.
I would sell my soul for one night with this ebony goddess.

Scott knew all about her because he’d pulled up her file and

read up on her. Upon graduation, she’d become a non-commissioned

officer. In Scott’s mind, this was why commissioned and non-

commissioned officers respected her so much. She was the perfect

liaison between the levels. He also knew when and where she was born,

where she considered her permanent address to be, and how many

family members she had. But all of that wasn’t enough. Everything he’d

learned was technical; he wanted to
know
this woman.

He blinked as he realized she was staring at him, waiting for a

response. “I’m sorry, what?”
I sound like a moron!
he thought ruefully
.

“I said you need to take off your shirt. There is a deep tear and I

want to evaluate whether or not you require stitches,” she informed

him in a crisp and professional voice.

His eyes blazed with a heat that could have burned a hole right