How do you protect the woman you love…when the greatest danger is sleeping in her bed? Sydney Sparks can’t remember a time when Chas wasn’t part of her life—from childhood playmates, to high-school sweethearts, to long-distance friends. Now, after twelve long years, Chas is leaving the Marines and coming home. Sydney’s thrilled to have him back on American soil, safe and sound, even if his return is doing funny things to her heart. The second he stepped off the plane and locked gazes with Sydney, Chas refused to waste a minute more on their “just friends” status quo. Together again, it feels as if they were never apart, the love they’d shared as innocent teens now vastly more intense as adults—with a sexual hunger to match. However, despite his newfound happiness, Chas can’t seem to shake the memories of his tours in the Middle East, of the firefights, the killing…the deaths of his friends. When the flashbacks grow stronger, Chas struggles to hide his increasing lack of control, terrified of losing everything he’d just regained—including Sydney.