Kelly thanked her and promised to be careful before sneaking toward the Society. Pepper had been right. Fallen soldiers and military personnel littered the ground outside and inside the Society. Inside, Kelly spotted Mars attempting to push himself to his feet. It appeared the blast had weakened him. Kelly traversed the sea of bodies until he reached Mars. He threw his arms around his waist, and together they made their way out the side of the building.

  “What are you doing here?” Mars asked hoarsely. He shook his head and inhaled deeply before straightening to his full height, his expression once again stern. “You need to go.”

  “You’d never leave me. What makes you think I would leave you?”

  Mars looked as if he were about to protest, but Kelly would have none of it. He kissed Mars, hoping to make him understand, to feel Kelly’s conviction. They didn’t have time, but he had to make Mars understand that he wasn’t about to back out of this fight.

  Mars took his hand and led him around the back of the building and behind the shrubbery, using the abandoned cars scattered across the road to get to the park.

  “If we can make it across the park, maybe we can get lost in the city.”

  With the majority of the grid down in the area and with the chaos and confusion, they might be able to find a place to hide and lie low for a while until they could find a way out of the city. Kelly came to a halt.

  “What’s that sound?”

  Mars jerked Kelly behind him, his body engulfed in a blue light that knocked them both off their feet.

  “Mars!” Kelly crawled over to Mars, drawing him into his arms. Mars’s whole body trembled, whether from fear or whatever he’d been hit by, Kelly had no idea. Maybe it was a bit of both. Up ahead, a nanolight cannon approached, coming to a stop several yards away. This was it. Kelly closed his eyes and hugged Mars close. “It was worth it. You were worth it.”

  The whirring sound of the nanolight cannon starting up sent an icy chill through Kelly, but he wouldn’t leave Mars. A low groan caught his ear, and Kelly opened his eyes as Mars pushed himself to his feet. A blue glow engulfed him, and the sound of screeching tires, shattering glass, and crushing steel resonated for miles around them. The nanolight cannon went off, hitting Mars, who screamed as he fought against its force.

  “We have to do something!” Jordan arrived with Lucius in tow. They helped Kelly to his feet before Jordan turned to Lucius in a panic. “They’re going to kill him! He’s never been tested like this. There’s no telling how much he can withstand.”

  Lucius looked from Jordan to Kelly and back. He gave Jordan a brief but passionate kiss, then took off, ignoring Jordan who was calling him back. Where the hell was he going? Kelly and Jordan stood speechless, watching as Lucius climbed the tank-like cannon. The cannon’s driver was too busy trying to take Mars down. By the time he saw Lucius it was too late, and Lucius landed a punch across the guy’s face. Kelly ran to Mars, catching him when the light stopped and he collapsed. He looked up at Lucius with a smile of thanks.

  Lucius tapped away at the cannon’s controls, and he was soon joined by Jordan who overrode the cannon’s latch, keeping the soldiers from climbing out, while Lucius put his “dabbling” to use. Kelly turned his attention back to Mars, soothing him, asking him to let him help. Kelly might not be a supersoldier, but he could be strong enough for both of them.

  “You just hold on. You hear me? I’ll take care of you. We’ll go somewhere safe, just the two of us. I need you to stay alive so you can enjoy it.” He kissed Mars, smiling when Mars returned his kiss. Mars opened his eyes, the amber glowing blue. A smile crept onto Mars’s handsome face, and he put his fingers to Kelly’s cheek. A shot rang out, and Kelly gasped, fire burning through his side. He wheezed and struggled for air. He tasted the tang of metal on his tongue.

  “Kelly!” Jordan cried out somewhere behind him. His voice was joined by more shouting, including a voice he recognized and despised.

  “Arrest them! Seize the weapon.”

  Kelly crumpled into Mars’s arms. He couldn’t breathe, and it hurt so damned much. “Mars,” Kelly gasped.

  Mars threw his head back, releasing a roar that shook the trees around them. The nanolight cannon burst like a popcorn kernel, along with any vehicle within range. Sparks flew, and anything connected to a network within radius exploded. Kelly gritted his teeth against the pain and held on to Mars. The city was enveloped in darkness, and within minutes, so was Kelly.

  Chapter Ten

  The ocean. He could hear the ocean.

  Kelly opened his eyes and waited for them to adjust to the light. His skin was caressed by soft cotton and a warm breeze. Blue skies? He stared out at the bluest sky he’d ever seen. It was warm and sunny. Definitely not New London. He sat up, sucking in his breath at the pull on his side. Lifting the white cotton shirt, he found a white bandage. Underneath he felt stitches. Stitches? It all came back to him in exceptional clarity. That asshole Preston had shot him!

  Carefully, Kelly slipped off the large bed, moving the billowy white curtains to reveal some kind of cabin. What surprised him most were the sounds, or lack thereof. No honking car horns or noisy advertisements. No chatter or buzzing. Only… water. He could smell the ocean.

  Following the sound of crashing waves, Kelly left the airy cabin and stepped outside onto the porch. In the near distance, waves crashed against the shore, and a pristine, sandy white beach stretched out with no end in sight. There was nothing but tropical palms and flowers for miles. It was beautiful.

  And then a more stunning vision caught his eye.

  Mars sat in the sand, a smile on his face as he watched the ocean. He was dressed in a loose, white linen shirt and khaki shorts. There were sandals on his feet and sunglasses perched on his nose. Was this real? How was it possible?

  Jordan stepped up beside Kelly with a smile. “We’re in the Pacific. One of many uncharted islands. No one will find us here. It’s inhabited by people who don’t wish to be found. We’re off the grid.” Jordan turned and placed his hand on Kelly’s shoulder. “Sometimes it’s the smallest things which make the biggest difference.”

  “What happened?” Kelly’s hand instinctively went to his side. “I remember getting shot, then nothing.”

  “You passed out. Mars patched you up. He got us out.”

  “What about Preston and the others?” Surely Preston hadn’t just let them walk away.

  Jordan shook his head. “There was no stopping Mars. Once Preston was… stopped, the others retreated.”

  Stopped. Kelly swallowed hard. He didn’t need to ask what that meant. He turned his attention back to Mars. “He looks so happy. Won’t they be able to find him?”

  “The cannon short-circuited a good deal of Mars’s programming. He’s off-line and keeping himself that way.”

  Lucius joined them. He wrapped his arms around Jordan from behind. “And now we’re getting out of your hair.” He nodded toward Mars.

  “So you two are okay?”

  Jordan gave Lucius a prod in his belly, making him laugh. “Yes. This muppet intended to drug me.”

  “In the end I couldn’t go through with it,” Lucius confessed. “I did my best to deter him as long as I could. There was a lot of arguing and tea.” Lucius rubbed at his jaw. “After he clobbered me, we decided to come up with a different plan. Of course we had no idea you’d lay siege to the whole bloody building.”

  Kelly shrugged. “What can I say? Love makes you do crazy things, even if you don’t know that’s what’s driving you to it.” He gave them a wink and walked down the wooden steps to the flip-flops at the bottom. He slipped them on his bare feet and made his way across the sand to Mars, who appeared to sense him approaching. Mars pushed himself to his feet and turned into Kelly’s open arms.

  Mindful of his wound, Mars wrapped his arms around Kelly and brought him up hard against him, then kissed him feverishly. Their scorching kiss grew tender, and Kelly smiled against Mars’s lips.

  “I love you. I’m sorry it took a military assault to make me see it.”

  Mars’s smile couldn’t get any bigger, and his amber eyes sparkled with joy. He pulled Kelly with him, and they sat together on a large beach towel. Mars’s smile faded, and Kelly cupped his face.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Will I be enough for you? Will this”—he motioned around him—“be enough to keep you happy? I’m afraid you might regret everything you’ve left behind. Your career, your home?”

  Kelly took in the beautiful, peaceful scenery around him. He spotted Lucius and Jordan kissing and cooing at each other on the balcony of the large beach house. Then he turned his gaze back to Mars and the love burning in his amber eyes. There was so much hope in them too. How could Mars think he wouldn’t be enough for Kelly? Kelly pulled Mars down into the warm sand, lay down beside him, and kissed him sweetly.

  “I had a house, but it wasn’t a home. New London was never my home. I can’t really remember the last time I had one. That’s all changed now.”

  It was a lot to take in, and it wouldn’t be easy. In fact, being without technology was going to be a challenge, but as he looked into Mars’s amber eyes, he smiled. It was a welcome challenge. It had taken a bioengineered human to teach him about love and taking chances. A lesson he wouldn’t soon forget and one he’d have the rest of his life to cherish.

  A Note From the Author

  Thank you so much for reading Love in Retrograde. I hope you enjoyed Kelly and Mars’s story. If you did, please consider leaving a review on Amazon. Reviews can have a significant impact on a book’s visibility, so any support you show these fellas would be amazing.

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  Follow me on Amazon to be notified of a new releases, and connect with me on social media, including my fun Facebook group, Donuts, Dog Tags, and Day Dreams, where we chat books, post pictures, have giveaways, and more!

  Looking for inspirational photos of my books? Visit my book boards on Pinterest.

  Also By Charlie Cochet

  FOUR KINGS SECURITY

  Love in Spades

  Be Still My Heart

  Join the Club

  Diamond in the Rough

  FOUR KINGS SECURITY UNIVERSE

  Beware of Geeks Bearing Gifts

  LOCKE AND KEYES AGENCY

  Kept in the Dark

  PARANORMAL PRINCES

  The Prince and His Bedeviled Bodyguard

  The Prince and His Captivating Carpenter

  The King and His Vigilant Valet

  THIRDS

  Hell & High Water

  Blood & Thunder

  Rack & Ruin

  Rise & Fall

  Against the Grain

  Catch a Tiger by the Tail

  Smoke & Mirrors

  Thick & Thin

  Darkest Hour Before Dawn

  Gummy Bears & Grenades

  Tried & True

  THIRDS BEYOND THE BOOKS

  THIRDS Beyond the Books Volume 1

  THIRDS Beyond the Books Volume 2

  THIRDS UNIVERSE

  Love and Payne

  COMPROMISED

  Center of Gravity

  NORTH POLE CITY TALES

  Mending Noel

  The Heart of Frost

  The Valor of Vixen

  Loving Blitz

  Disarming Donner

  Courage and the King

  North Pole City Tales Complete Series Paperback

  SOLDATI HEARTS

  The Soldati Prince

  The Foxling Soldati

  LITTLE BITE OF LOVE

  An Intrepid Trip to Love

  Healing Hunter’s Heart

  STANDALONE

  Forgive and Forget

  AUDIOBOOKS

  Check out the audio versions on Audible here.

  About the Author

  Charlie Cochet is the international bestselling author of the THIRDS series. Born in Cuba and raised in the US, Charlie enjoys the best of both worlds, from her daily Cuban latte to her passion for classic rock.

  Currently residing in Central Florida, Charlie is at the beck and call of a rascally Doxiepoo bent on world domination. When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found devouring a book, releasing her creativity through art, or binge watching a new TV series. She runs on coffee, thrives on music, and loves to hear from readers.

  Website: www.charliecochet.com

  Email: charlie@charliecochet.com

  Sign up for Charlie’s newsletter:

  https://newsletter.charliecochet.com

 

 

  Charlie Cochet, Love in Retrograde

 

 

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