Heroes Ever After Boxset: Books 1-3

by Alana Albertson

  But I knew from personal experience in combat dive training that learning to hold one’s breath under the water for that length of time was no easy task.

  Hell, plenty of men in my own BUD/S class flunked out during dive training.

  I bet Aria would pass Second Phase with flying colors.

  Ha. That would be the day. There had been rumors for years now that the first female would trickle down the pipeline. A few women even passed Ranger course.

  But I’d passed Ranger course, too. It was challenging, no doubt, but nowhere near as intense as BUD/S.

  And the Teams weren’t ready for the first female SEAL. I was so sick of arguing about it with my feminist mother. Yes, women were completely capable of achieving whatever they wanted to achieve.

  But that didn’t give them the right to serve in combat.

  There was no place for a woman on a Team. I thought about my last deployment and couldn’t imagine hiding out in the middle of the desert with a woman upsetting the balance of my men. Our Team bonded together about how much we missed pussy, liquor, and the comforts of home. We didn’t need a distraction on our top-secret missions.

  But I didn’t need to stress about that now. I had only one thing on my mind.

  Getting a date with Aria.

  Aria

  I woke up at six a.m. after a restful night in my beach cottage. I loved this place and hoped to buy one just like it if I was stationed here. I hopped out of bed to let Flounder out and made myself a quick cup of coffee. Sitting on the porch, I appreciated the cool, ocean breeze blowing on my face. Flounder sniffed around the fragrant yellow rose bushes, and I imagined how amazing it would be to live here. Maybe after I became settled as a SEAL, I could make some time for hobbies. Take up gardening, enjoy reading a book on the beach, finally get over my irrational fear and learn how to ride a bicycle.

  Maybe even find a boyfriend.

  My mind immediately returned to Erik. What had he meant by saying that he would stop by tomorrow? I was nervous enough about my first-day teaching. Performing had always been easy, but interacting with the public always filled me with anxiety.

  I slathered my body with sunscreen and then put the purple bikini on and then pulled up my sweats. My hair was a mess, so I secured it into a braid and made my way to the Del.

  As I strolled along Ocean Boulevard a group of BUD/S candidates ran by in a pack, like hungry wolves. Their instructors drove in a truck behind them, blasting Mariachi music and yelling at them on a megaphone. I gasped, maybe this whole idea was insane. These men, all of them, were massive. Tough, strong, muscular, in perfect shape. Could I possibly compete with them? Or would I just be making a fool out of myself?

  As much as I yearned to be the first female SEAL, trying and failing with the whole world watching would be humiliating. And believe me, I knew what it was like to fail, and fail big, when everyone was relying on you.

  But back then, I wasn’t famous.

  Now, everyone had expectations of me.

  I had redeemed myself with gold; most people didn’t bring up the time I’d let my team down. Most people except my mother.

  I went straight to the pool and found Isa waiting for me with a big smile on her face and a wide-brimmed hat shielding her from the sun. The lush landscaping of the Del contrasted with the cloth bungalows adorning the side of the pool. With the view of the sparkling blue ocean in the background, I knew I was in paradise.

  Isa removed her hat. “Hey! The guests are going to arrive any minute.” She handed me a clipboard and then pointed at a bunch of papers on a kiosk. “Could you check them in while I set up the tails and pool noodles?”

  “Sure.”

  She walked over to the side of the pool.

  I scanned the list of students. But my heart stopped when I saw the final name on the list.

  Erik Anderson.

  Oh my god! Was Erik on the list the same person as Erik the SEAL I’d met yesterday? Is that what he meant by I’ll stop by tomorrow?

  I hurried to Isa’s side. “We have a problem. Are men allowed in this class?”

  Her face twisted. “Hmm. Well, they aren’t banned. We haven’t had any guys show up before. Is there a guy on the list?”

  “Yeah. You didn’t see? Erik. Isn’t that the name of the SEAL we met yesterday?”

  “Sure is. And I think his last name is Anderson—that’s the name tape on his cammies. Damn, he must really be into you.”

  Dying. I was dying. I took a deep breath. “We’re not actually going to let him take this class, are we?”

  “I mean we can’t discriminate against men. It’ll be fine. He’s a SEAL. I bet he will look fabulous in a tail.”

  I bet. I bit my lip. It was my first day, and I didn’t want to argue. Especially because my whole philosophy on life was that a woman could do anything a man could do. Why shouldn’t it be true in reverse?

  I stood by the pool gate as the guests arrived. A few teen girls, a mother and daughter, and a couple of college-age women. And then, my heart skipped a beat.

  Walking toward the pool was Erik, alongside a teenage girl who resembled him, and an older woman.

  His dark hair shone in the morning sun, and his strong jaw framed his handsome face. He wore board shorts which showed off his muscular thighs and his incredible ass. How was I going to teach a class with this man in my pool?

  Erik’s mouth spread into a devilish grin. “Nice to see you again, Aria.” He leaned into me and gave me a hug. “I told you I’m not giving up that easily, sweetheart,” he whispered in my ear.

  My heart palpitated. Did this man really want to go out with me this desperately? He was fine as hell—surely he could get any woman he wanted. Feminine brunette beauties like Isa. Or blonde bombshells like some of the ladies in the pool, who were clearly checking him out, not that I could blame them. Why would he want someone as awkward as me?

  But I had told him no. Something he probably wasn’t used to hearing.

  I inhaled him like a drug, getting high on his testosterone. He smelled minty, like a cool mojito on the rocks. I wanted to drink him up and suck him down.

  I finally forced myself to peel my body off his chest. “Good to see you, too.”

  God, did I just say that? I am such a dork. I can’t even flirt.

  He winked at me. “I’d like you to meet my kid sister, Holly, and my mom, Emily.”

  The girl with long dark hair the shade of Erik’s reached out her arms to me. “Oh my god! Aria Clements! I’m your biggest fan. I mean it. I do synchro too! My dream is to attend Stanford. You are my idol!”

  I reciprocated her hug. “You are so sweet.”

  Their mom also hugged me. Erik had her eyes and smile. “Nice to meet you, Aria. We’re honored to take your class.”

  “Thank you for coming today.”

  Holly and Emily walked over to Isa, and she handed them their tails. Erik turned around and dropped their bags near a reclining chair, lowered his large, muscular frame down into it, and relaxed back, with his hands behind his head, like he was about to watch a movie.

  Oh hell no. I refused to put on a show for him.

  I went over to the stash of tails and grabbed the largest bright pink one I could find and strode over to Erik.

  “Class starts in five minutes.” I threw it at him, and he caught it with one hand.

  He pulled his sunglasses down and smirked at me. “Babe, mermaid fitness is for ladies. In case you can’t tell, I’m a man.”

  Maybe I should tell him to prove it to me?

  I could tell he was a man by that huge bulge in his board shorts. “This isn’t a women’s Olympic event—the class is open to both genders.”

  He pushed his sunglasses back on his head. “I’ll just watch. I only signed up so you wouldn’t be able to kick me out of the pool area.”

  I laughed. “You signed up for the class, not to check out a bunch of women in bikinis. Put on your tail and dive into that pool, or I’ll call security. You aren’t s
taying at the Del. The pool is for hotel guests and participants in the class. It’s your choice.”

  He raised his brows toward me and stood up. Before I could blink, he had ripped off his white T-shirt. Despite an effort to control myself, my jaw literally dropped, and heat spiraled through my body. Holy hell, he was fine. Abs, abs, there were abs everywhere—I counted at least eight. His perfectly crafted broad shoulders melted into incredible biceps, and he had a beautiful V-shape indentation down to his crotch revealing his sexy happy trail.

  He tossed me a towel. “I’m naked under these shorts. Hold this around me so I can put on the tail.”

  I let out a self-deprecating laugh. Naked? The thought of him in his birthday suit accelerated my pulse. Despite my fake confidence ordering him around, his powerful presence turned my insides to mush. I wrapped my arms around his waist, holding up the towel, willing my eyes not to look at his crotch. He dropped his board shorts, and I couldn’t help myself. I stole a glance, his huge cock staring back at me as he pulled up the tail.

  I felt like such a pervert. His eyes gleamed when he caught the destination of my gaze, but thankfully he didn’t call me out.

  When he had dressed, he took the towel from my hands. “Thanks for the help. Let’s do this.”

  And with that, Erik waddled over to the side of the pool and gracefully dived into to the deep end.

  The ladies, who had now gathered in the pool, applauded and catcalled Erik like they had just been privy to a secret showing of Magic Mike Live.

  I joined the class wading in the pool, and Isa swam up to me. “Damn, girl. He makes a beautiful Merman.”

  I shook my head. “Don’t remind me. He’s so hot . . . I don’t think I can resist him.”

  “Then don’t! He seems sweet, I mean he brought his mom and his sister. Who does that? Go out with him. Have fun. I met my hubby at a frat party. You never know how this could turn out.”

  I pursed my lips and nodded. I admired Isa. She seemed so fun loving and happy. No one would ever describe me as fun loving. Driven, yes, but serious. Focused. Some synchro psychopath. Over the years, I’d seen so many therapists, trying to understand my madness. The best explanation they could give me was that the absence of my father coupled with the cold parenting style of my narcissistic mother had turned me into a perfectionist. This was a bad thing that led to my bouts of depression. I always felt like people only loved me for what I achieved, not who I was.

  Whatever the cause, no matter how much I fought it, I had one desire. To be the best and avoid failure at all costs. But sometimes I wished I could take a magic pill and get out of my head. Enjoy life, fall in love, relax and focus on being happy in the present instead of existing solely for the promise of a fulfilling future.

  But my future could involve a hot one-night stand with this SEAL, so I was going to force myself to roll with it.

  Isa grabbed the microphone. “Welcome Mermaids and Merman.”

  Erik waved, and my core ached. God, the things I wanted this man to do to me caused a shiver to course through my body.

  “I’m thrilled to introduce you all today to our special celebrity mermaid, Olympic Gold Medalist Aria Clements!”

  The ladies applauded, and Erik let out a whistle. I wanted to drown from embarrassment.

  Isa continued. “We’re going to have so much fun today. This is a great workout, and you get to live out your fantasy of being a mermaid. So everyone get in the pool and do a couple of laps so you can get used to your tail. Take your pool noodle and place it under your arms to stay afloat.”

  We dove in. Most of the ladies did some version of a leisurely breast stroke without the legs but not Erik. He didn’t bother with the noodle and darted off like a missile. With a single push, he glided across the pool. The competitor in me darted to his side, determined to beat him. I charged ahead, kicking my legs in a butterfly motion and met him at the edge. Before he could touch the side of the pool, I gracefully did a somersault and sped down the other side, leaving him in my wave.

  Clearly unable to back down, Erik caught up, his big, powerful arms slamming into the water, splashing me.

  My heart stuttered in my chest as our eyes met and held. The moment was so hot, so electrifying, so intimate.

  But our moment was interrupted by a bright flash. A staff photographer had taken a picture of us.

  I turned my attention back to Erik. Water glistened on his tan chest. He was hot and wet and wearing nothing but a tight tail. I wanted him to pin me against the side of the pool and nail my fins to the wall. Have mercy.

  Instead, I gave him a high five. “Good job, merman.”

  He smirked. “Babe, I prefer the term Triton.”

  Of course. Triton. A Navy SEAL. The trident was their insignia.

  I met Isa back in the center of the pool, and we instructed the guests on arm exercises and core work. I blasted the music and tried to lose myself in the workout and not focus on Erik’s intense glare.

  “Okay. For the last fifteen minutes, we’re going to just swim. Have fun with it,” I shouted. Some ladies did handstands, some did body waves, but Erik torpedoed around the pool. After a few minutes, he flipped on his back and executed a perfect backstroke. His hands sliced through the water like blades as the sunlight highlighted his sculpted chest.

  Isa swam up beside me. “Damn, you don’t have a chance.”

  And she was right. I didn’t have a chance of resisting this Triton.

  Erik

  At the end of class, I hopped up on the side of the pool next to my mom and sister.

  Holly shook her head. “I can’t believe you put on a tail. You are so lame.”

  “Not a big deal. SEAL, merman, frogman, Triton. Same thing.”

  My sister punched my arm. “You like Aria, don’t you?”

  “What’s not to like? She’s beautiful and a champion.”

  My mom gave me an approving grin. “Oh, Erik. You should ask her out on a proper date. She’s lovely. I worry about you on your deployments. It would be nice if you settled down and came home to a loving wife.”

  There my mom went. A true romantic. She never recovered after my father passed away. But they had shown me the meaning of true love and made me hopeful that one day I would find that myself. Fuck the SEAL ninety-five percent divorce rate. When I got married, it would be forever. My mom used to tell me the most important decision I would ever make in my life wasn’t what job I would take, but who I would marry. I took her advice to heart.

  Aria swam over to us, her smoking hot body glistening from the water. I wanted to rip off that bikini top with my teeth and suck on her nipples until she begged me to fuck her.

  “Thank you all for coming. Holly, your arm movements are great.”

  “Oh, thank you.” She bit her nails, and I could tell my sister was nervous. “I hate to ask you this but since you are in town, are you giving any lessons?”

  “I didn’t have any planned, but I’d be happy to coach you. Would you like me to look at your routine?”

  My sister’s eyes lit up. “Oh my god. You wouldn’t mind? I’d love that.”

  I took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. Here was my moment. I normally didn’t hesitate when asking out a girl, and I certainly wasn’t afraid of being rejected in front of my family. I was a SEAL, for fuck’s sake, and wasn’t afraid of anything, but for some inexplicable reason this girl tied me up in knots. It was a feeling that was foreign to me.

  “Can I take you out tonight? I’ll show you around Coronado.”

  Aria’s eyes darted between me and my mom’s hopeful face. Her lip twisted probably since I had backed her into a corner.

  “Sure. That sounds like fun.”

  Score.

  I felt a tinge of guilt asking her out in front of my family, knowing that she probably didn’t feel like she could say no, but I got what I’d come for.

  A date with this beautiful, sexy woman.

  “Great. I’ll pick you up here at five.”


  “Okay. See you then. Holly, take off your tail and follow me.”

  They both wiggled off their tails and without a backward glance, Aria swam out toward the middle of the pool with Holly following closely behind.

  My mom also removed her tail and stood up. “Well, that was nice of her to work with Holly. She seems so sweet. And an Olympian—what a catch! Where are you going to take her? I could make reservations at Addison.”

  Whoa, mom. Addison was the fanciest restaurant in town. I planned to spoil Aria, but a stuffy old-school restaurant wasn’t my scene. “I got this, Ma, but thanks.”

  “I remember my first date with your father. I was so nervous. I must’ve tried on twenty dresses. But he brought me flowers, and we had the best night.”

  Her eyes sparkled when she talked about my father. True love. I yearned for that. I’d done my fair share of womanizing since I’d been a SEAL. Hell, at Annapolis my yearbook said, “Erik was known for his love of fast cars and faster women.” But after this last deployment, I wanted to find a partner, someone to miss me when I was gone.

  The few SEAL marriages I’d seen that worked all involved incredibly strong and independent women. Women who had goals and identities beyond being just a Team wife.

  She dried off, put on a cover up, and sat on a lounge chair, watching Holly. I wrapped myself in my towel and changed out of my tail and put my board shorts back on.

  I grabbed my keys and waved goodbye to my mom, my sister, and Aria. Aria waved back, and I jogged down the beach to work. I couldn’t wait for our date tonight.

  Aria

  My breath came in short spurts as I leaned against my front door. Done. I had just completed my daily pre-BUD/S regimen. A two-mile ocean swim, a four-mile fast paced run, and a series of pushups, pullups, squats, lunges, and sit-ups. My legs quivered and my shins burned. But I knew that this workout was a piece of cake compared to what torture would await me in BUD/S. Training for the Olympics had been rigorous, but people had believed in me. And I had been training alongside women. This time, everyone would expect me to fail. And I’d be the lone woman in a sea of men.