“I’ve got information about those Estonian bikers. Hex has found out some stuff about that guy Dimitri so we’re to meet in fifteen minutes or so in the computer room. Is that okay with you?”
The timing stunk. “Yeah,” Angel replied. “Is someone on guard, though?”
“Yes. We’re keeping an eye on Dimitri. He’s outside, just within range of the cameras. Right now, everything appears normal. This is just a precautionary update. You know some of these bikers Washington invited all have previous records.”
There were a few gang members. A little older now, but they still lived on the wild side once in a while. Angel’s father was one of them and seeing that he was good friends with the host, their boss, Angel could imagine some of the history behind a few of the attendees. After all, he’d been named Angel by his mother because his father wasn’t one.
“Okay, see you in fifteen.”
“Copy that. We’ll run through a quick SITREP. Over.”
Angel smiled. SITREP—situation report. They were on a cell phone and it almost sounded as if he was still in the service. You couldn’t take the spec ops out of the veteran when the latter was in work mode.
“Anything wrong?” Mimi asked, sleepily. “Got to go back to work already?”
“Yeah,” Angel said, regretfully. “I’ve got to leave as soon as I get some clothes on. See you at the party?”
“Is it going to be crowded?”
“I’ll find you,” he promised.
She looked up at him for a moment; hair tousled, eyes half-open, teeth biting down on a tempting lower lip. Angel almost changed his mind to leave her. He resisted the temptation to kiss her. That would just make him late. Very late.
She smiled. “Can’t wait,” she said.
*
Mari shivered as she brushed her hair with the comb she found in the bathroom.
I’ll find you.
Angel had said those words with such confidence, she’d had a sudden vision of him chasing after her as she ran off with the artifact. She hoped her father was right, that The Seal was in the study. The mirror reflected the bath behind her and another shiver ran down her spine. She relived their lovemaking as if it were a sexy movie. Thinking about him on top of her again made her clench her thighs together. It was scary how he could turn her on just like that.
She fluffed her bangs impatiently. What the hell was wrong with her?
She’d been right. The man was dangerous with a capital D. From the very first moment she’d set eyes on him, he’d been a constant distraction. Worse, it appeared she had no resistance at all. Whenever he was within ten feet of her, her brain turned to Jell-O and her whole body just hummed with anticipation. Now that they’d gone to bed together, she knew the pleasure that would bring, so the anticipation was now doubled.
Arggghhh. This was the worst timing to get attracted to a man. She was in the middle of a quest, as her father would tell her when she wanted to do something else during one of their adventures.
Sweetheart, you can’t get distracted. You have to see it through.
Mari sighed. Maybe later, they could—what was she thinking? There was no later. From what she could gather, Angel was working for Washington. She wasn’t sure, but she bet he was part of security. There would be no later because the seal would be missing and so would she. She had no doubt she would be one of the suspects.
Another shiver.
I’ll find you.
Maybe she should just concentrate on getting the seal and finishing this quest. She glanced around the room, looking at the wrecked bed. Her heart did a painful somersault. She really, really didn’t want to end this with Angel.
End of Part 1
The SEAL will be out in August
I hope you’ve enjoyed The SEAL, part 1. The SEAL, part two, will be out soon (July and August).
Currently, PROTECTOR, my first book in the Crossfire SEAL series (novel length, approx 250-300 pages each) is free for download.
The SEAL is part of an ongoing novella series called Sex, Lies & Spies, about couples on an amazing race in The Game, a quest for treasure. Each romance in the novellas is contained and can be read alone. The SEAL, the complete story, will be available end of August, 2014.
To get my newsletter, please email [email protected]
About the Author
Gennita Low writes sexy military and techno spy-fi romance. She also co-owns a roof construction business and knows 600 ways to kill with roofing tools as well as yell at her workers in five languages. A three-time Golden Heart finalist, her first book, Into Danger, about a SEAL out-of-water, won the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award for Best Romantic Intrigue. Besides her love for SEALs, she works with an Airborne Ranger who taught her all about mental toughness and physical endurance. Gennita lives in Florida with her mutant poms and one chubby squirrel.
To learn more about Gennita, visit www.Gennita-Low.com, www.rooferauthor.blogspot.com and www.facebook.com/gennita
Other Books by Gennita Low
BIG BAD WOLF
~ ~ Crossfire Series ~ ~
PROTECTOR
HUNTER
SLEEPER
HER SECRET PIRATE (short story in SEAL of my Dreams)
WARRIOR
~ ~ Secret Assassins (S.A.S.S.) ~ ~
INTO DANGER
FACING FEAR
TEMPTING TROUBLE
~ ~ Super Soldier Spy ~ ~
VIRTUALLY HIS
VIRTUALLY HERS
~ ~ Sex Lies & Spies ~ ~
*novella series
THE GAME
THE PAWN
THE SEAL (full novella coming in Aug)
~ ~ Children’s books as “Gennita” ~ ~
A SQUIRREL CAME TO STAY
NEWSLETTER:
[email protected]
Unbreakable SEAL
J.M. Madden
Maxwell Tate fights against a psychotic dream world, his sense of reality warped until he no longer knows what’s real and what’s not. Lacey Adams knows she can’t save all of her cases, but Max appeals to her more than any other. Can she salvage the Unbreakable SEAL?
Dedication
As always, I have to thank my husband. If he hadn’t allowed me to give the characters in my head the chance to run amok, I wouldn’t be here now. I truly love you. You are my very own happy ever after.
To my semi-tolerant kids. Thank you. For staying outside when I needed you to, watching cartoons on a super low volume and bringing me icy diet-Cokes. I love you guys.
Acknowledgements
Bruce, you rock! I appreciate your time and effort in ensuring this book is as concise as possible.
Donna and Robyn, awesome crit partners, I’m so lucky to have you. Thank you for taking time out of your crazy schedules to make sure Max and Lacey were as yummy as possible. Love you guys.
Robinetta and Rebecca, this book would not have happened without your nursing input!!! Thank you so much!!!
And to my other beta-readers, Mayas, Sandie, Karla, Susie, you guys rock! Thank you so much for the support.
Mary, you kick my Comma-Queen ass, woman! But I appreciate it. Thank you!
To our men and women in the military, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I wish I could take you all out to dinner and give you a great big hug, because you all deserve it. Thank you for serving this beautiful country!
Readers, I hope you love Lacey and Max as much as the other characters in the Lost and Found series. Yes, DUNCAN’s book is coming!
In a while…
Chapter One
‡
Max swept his hand down his arm, but the spiders kept coming. They’d grabbed onto him when he’d opened the door of the Starbucks. At first there had been only one, easily dismissed. Then they had begun to multiply, tracking little points of blood across his skin. Clenching his jaw, he scraped his hand down his arm again, praying nobody had seen, but the blood remained. The spiders began to come faster.
When they started to bite h
im it was aggravating more than anything, but as they started to dig deeper into his skin they became harder to ignore. His breaths began to speed up and he closed his eyes, counting in his head.
The training he’d worked for all his life began to unravel. Glancing around from beneath his brows, he wondered if anyone could see what he did. There were only a few people in the shop, one of which stood behind him.
As he stepped up to the counter it took everything he had to open his mouth to place his order, then count out money. The pain was excruciating. Even now he could feel the poison moving through his blood, sapping his energy. His traitorous body began to quake in an effort to combat the venom and his knees quivered, but he gulped in oxygen and straightened his spine.
He gave the grinning teenager his name and moved aside for the person behind him to order. Allowing himself to rest a hand on the counter, he counted off the seconds as he waited for his coffee. As his name was called, he swiped his hand down his arm one more time but the spiders just shifted out of the way, then back. He grabbed the cup and all but raced out of the shop.
As the cool ocean breeze brushed across his skin, the spiders began to multiply, then they began to crawl up his neck near his left ear. Goosebumps pebbled his skin and raised the hair on his nape. Lurching around the corner of the coffee shop, Max quivered with the restraint he was using to keep from freaking out. The cup dropped from his fingers and he turned to face the brick wall, planting his hands against the rough surface. The feel of the brick beneath his palms helped to center him, but the spiders continued their march, spreading poison as they did.
Max knew he had to wait the hallucination out, but when a particularly vicious one sank its fangs into the tender skin behind his ear, he could hold out no longer. Smacking his hands all over his head and arms, he pounded the spiders away. They only moved. They didn’t leave. Panic gripped his throat in a vise and he could hardly breathe as he frantically tried to rid his skin of the infestation.
One of the biggest spiders crawled down his back, sharp feet stabbing as it went along his backbone. Max thought it was leaving but instead it settled mid-back. The pain that came from the pinchers digging into his spine was excruciating and he fell to his knees in agony.
Lacey knew that her crazy instincts were going to be the death of her one of these days, but she followed her gut and the tall military man. The guy had drawn her attention as soon as she’d seen him. Actually, his ass had. Tight, luscious buns encased in khaki shorts always drew her eye. His muscular bearing screamed military, but the unkempt dark hair and stubbled jaw kind of threw her off. Former military, maybe? SEAL?
The guy seemed familiar to her. Maybe she’d seen him at the clinic.
Then her senses sharpened and she’d begun to watch all of him. When he swept his square hand down his muscular forearm the first time, she’d thought nothing of it. The second time had drawn her eyes. The third had made her frown. She realized that there was a subtle shaking moving through the man’s body. As he’d placed his order and moved to lean on the counter, she waited to see what he would do.
As soon as the barista handed over the cup, he shoved through the door of the coffee shop. Her nurse senses jangling, she followed him out of the building, catching sight of his perfect ass turning the corner of the building. Without hesitation she followed him.
The poor guy had dropped the cup of coffee and was braced facing the wall. His fingers flexed against the brick and his arms strained. When he arched and cried out, then began swiping his palms down his arms, she moved forward. Lacey didn’t see anything, but he was acting as if he’d walked into a swarm of bees. Her eyes scanned for anything that would make him act like that, but she couldn’t see anything.
Knowing from experience that if she reached out to touch him she risked her life, she stopped a few feet away. “Sir, I need you to look at me. Whatever it is you think is attacking you isn’t there. I promise you. Can you look at me?”
It only took a moment for him to look at her, but it seemed ever so much longer as she watched him strike himself over and over again. Obviously he felt it was the only way to rid himself of whatever he thought was after him. She continued to speak to him in the calm voice she’d used on many frantic patients until his movements began to slow.
“Hey, buddy, I know you can fight it off. Can you look at me?”
His dark head lifted and fierce, brilliant, yellow-gold eyes latched onto hers. Lacey felt like she’d just landed on a lunch order. She smiled at him as reassuringly as she could, then dared to step forward. She reached out a hand but he jerked away.
“No,” he snapped, deep voice taut with strain. “They’ll get you.”
Lacey pressed forward, hand outstretched. “There’s nothing there, I promise you.”
She rested her hand on his quivering arm and ran it down his skin to clasp his broad wrist. His frantic gaze followed her movement, then he turned to her and looked her arm up and down. Blinking, he shook his head, then held his own arms out in front of himself. When he lifted his eyes to her, she knew the hallucination was gone.
She tried to put all the reassurance she could into the smile she directed at his dazed expression.
“What did you see?” she asked.
“Spiders,” he gritted out. “Stabbing at my skin as they crawled up my body.”
Holding his arms out again, he skimmed his palms down their length, as if brushing away the experience.
Lacey realized as she stood there that his eyes still seemed a little dazed. Was that normal?
She held out her hand. “Lacey Adams.”
The man straightened and clasped her hand. “Maxwell Tate. Thank you.”
Lacey gasped as he tugged her into his hard arms, then allowed herself to be bear hugged. She expected to be released quickly, but instead he held on, as if he needed the contact. The man smelled incredibly good, as if he’d just rolled in laundry softener. Relaxing, she allowed him to take what comfort he needed from her. She’d actually been hugged many times like this, as if she were the last lifeline in the world. She looped her arms around his waist and rubbed his back. He would let her go when he was able.
When she felt his nose nuzzle into her loose hair, sudden shivers danced down her spine and the tenor of the hold changed. She became aware of how solid his arms felt around her. Muscular pecs rested just above her breasts and he was curled over her to accommodate his size. Heavy thighs pressed directly against hers.
When he eased back, she thought he was releasing her, but instead he shifted his strong hands to cup her jaw. Before she could breathe out a question or protest, his head lowered and his mouth settled against hers.
Lacey’s normally level-headed brain short circuited as his soft, full lips began to move over hers. The stubbly hair around his mouth tickled, but arousal surged through her body and she opened her mouth when his tongue glided over the seal of her lips. Damn. It had been an embarrassingly long time since she’d been kissed like this. Against her better judgment, she leaned into him, tilting her head.
The man groaned at her compliance and one of his arms wrapped around her arched back, clutching her tight. He shifted forward until their hips were more tightly aligned and she could feel exactly how much he was enjoying their kiss.
Then he jerked away.
Lacey blinked, shocked at the sudden loss. Her heart was thudding with anticipation, then suddenly bereft. She looked up and the guy was looking at her as if he didn’t know who she was. Well, he didn’t actually, but he’d instigated the kiss. Why was he looking at her as if she’d been the one to grab him?
He frowned down at her for several long seconds before his eyes cleared. “I’m sorry, do I know you?”
Surprise had her mouth falling open inelegantly. She cleared her throat. “Uh, no, not really.” But as she looked at him, that sense of familiarity nagged at her again. “I’m an RN with Dr. Petrovic’s office. Maybe I’ve seen you there?”
The man squinted. “Can’t r
emember right this second.”
Lacey eased back, straightening her purple t-shirt. “I thought you might need some help.”
His eyes hardened and a shift settled over his body. Though he didn’t move, tension saturated the air. “I’m fine now.” His cold gaze drifted over her lips, then skimmed down her body. “Thank you for the help.”
Lacey Adams seldom was at a loss for words, but as she watched the scrumptious man walk away, it was all she could do not to breathe fire. Of all the rude insinuations she’d ever been slammed with, that had to top the list as the most reprehensible. And she had a huge list. Hell, she’d worked at Walter Reed for years, caring for some of the most wounded warriors to come home. Some of the things she’d seen and heard would peel the paint off a car. She’d had one guy whose answer to everything was ‘fuck you’, but she’d even gotten along with him eventually. Still talked to him occasionally. And she’d done it because she’d genuinely loved doing her job. In spite of the hurtful things the men said, for the most part they needed the help and care.
And that’s what she needed to remember. He didn’t seem to know what he was doing. If he were in his right mind, he never would have said something so hurtful. She hoped so, anyway.
Lacey turned back toward the front of the store. She passed his drooling coffee cup and in a fit of aggravation kicked it across the alley, spattering coffee on her white tennis shoes. The little outburst felt good but guilt overwhelmed her as she stepped onto the sidewalk. Cursing her inner goody-two-shoes, she stomped back, picked up the cup, and dropped it into the trash before she went inside the store for her coffee.
Now she really needed it.
Once she had a few minutes to think about things and get over her outraged hurt, Lacey realized the guy needed help. It was obvious to her he’d been dealing with a serious hallucination when she found him. What would he have done if she hadn’t intervened?
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