It was me and him. It was exactly what I wanted. The sun rose over the horizon, spilling beautiful morning sunlight across us as he kissed me hard beneath our peach trees.
“Now,” he grunted into my ear, “let’s work on getting a baby in you.”
I laughed and then fell into his kiss, lost in his body and his arms.
I wasn’t going anywhere. I was his, always would be his, no matter what.
I wanted him, all of him, as much of him as I could and more.
SEALed Bride
Prologue
The lights flashed as he put his hand on the small of my back.
Tingles ran up my spine.
“Smile real pretty,” he whispered in my ear. “I need to show you off.”
I glanced at him and felt that familiar thrill run through me, a mixture of fear and lust.
“Go ahead,” he said. “Show them that pretty ass of yours.”
He twirled me around in front of the cameras. My short dress barely concealed my ass, and the reporters all laughed.
He was handsome, charming, and the darling of paparazzi and serious journalists alike.
And he was also deadly as hell.
Later, back in the hotel room we were forced to share, he stripped off his shirt and poured himself a drink. “You did good today,” he said. “Wife.”
I stared at his muscular body, at the scars from a hundred battles dotting his chest and stomach, at the tattoos that snaked up along his skin. His crooked grin drove me crazy, and I knew exactly what he was thinking.
“Your turn,” he said. “Take that dress off.”
I had to resist him.
He was an asshole, crude, rude, violent, and dangerous.
And I was only in it for the money.
“Don’t be shy. We have this big bed. I might as well work that sweet pussy of yours for a few hours while we’re here.”
I had to resist him.
Even if it was getting harder every day we were together.
In front of the cameras. At lavish dinners, expensive parties.
“That fucking body of yours drives me insane,” he said, crossing the room toward me. “I’ll have you begging my name by the end of this night.”
I shook my head. I was only in it for the money. I had to keep telling myself that. It was just business between us, a way for him to fix his image and a way for me to help my family.
“You know you want this cock deep between those pretty legs,” he whispered.
Rude. Crude. And absolutely correct.
I was totally screwed.
1
Selena
I didn’t know anything about the military.
As far as I was concerned, military guys existed only in the movies and on TV. I mean, I understood that our troops were living and dying every day for our freedom, but I didn’t really know any of them. They were just abstract people in my mind.
Until I got the assignment that changed everything.
I stood in line nervously. The campus bookstore was an absolute madhouse. I’d been in there hundreds of times, but I’d never seen it so full before. The place was pretty big with a second floor balcony that wrapped around the main first floor, and there were people on almost every square inch. That was how famous he'd become over the last few month.
I chewed my lip nervously. It seemed like the majority of people waiting to get their copy of Death From Below: The Story of An American Hero were women, and young women. There were a few macho-looking guys in camouflage shorts who were sporting beer bellies, but they were the outliers.
No, it was pretty obvious by now who the main target audience was.
It wasn’t like I didn’t get it. I had eyes, after all. He was tall, muscular, and handsome as hell. Women practically threw themselves at him, and for pretty good reason.
But he was just so arrogant. In every interview I’d seen him do, he had this cocky smile, this swagger about him. Sure, the book was amazing, and if it was even half true, then the man was incredible, but still. He acted like he was the best thing in the entire world, and it drove me insane.
I stood around impatiently, my copy of Death From Below dangling loosely in my hand, my notebook in my other. If I hadn’t been assigned to try to get an interview with him, or at least to get a quote from him, by my paper, well, I’d be anywhere but that line.
“Isn’t he so cute?” the girl standing in front of me whispered. She was wearing Ugg boots, black tights, a short skirt, and a top that was way too revealing for a bookstore.
“Cute?” her friend answered. “He’s a freaking hunk. I’d let him do anything to me.”
“Lisa! You’re so bad.”
“What? Wouldn’t you? I bet he could make me feel things I’ve never dreamed about.”
“Oh my god!”
I frowned, looking away, trying to tune them out. I wanted to pretend like they were an anomaly, but the truth was, most of the women in that line were thinking the same thing.
Slowly I got closer and closer to him, and I found myself suddenly nervous. I was only a few spots away, and I could see him clearly from where I was standing. Sure, he was surrounded by a bunch of people, probably bodyguards and publicists, but they seemed to fade into the background around him.
Nash Bell, Navy SEAL, American hero, and probably the hottest thing around at the moment. His mega bestselling book about his time in the military was being optioned for a movie, and everyone wanted a piece of him
Including, apparently, every woman within a twenty-block radius.
I watched him talk to his fans, smiling at them, cracking jokes. He seemed somehow both bored and totally engaged with every person that came near him. It was almost magnetic the way he spoke and looked at everyone, even if he was just asking their name and writing in their book.
I inched my way forward, more and more nervous with each step. I didn’t understand why, since I had no real interest in this man. He was just an assignment, just one more topic I needed to write about. But for some reason, he was intimidating. I’d gotten my books signed by other famous people, even spoken to a few for interviews, but I had never felt so strange before meeting someone.
And then it was my turn. Nash Bell looked up at me and smiled. My stomach twisted itself into knots.
“Don’t be shy, girl,” he said, grinning. “Come over here.”
I walked over, frowning at him. “Uh, hi. My name is Selena Wood. I’m a journalist for the Penn Daily, the student newspaper here at the University of Pennsylvania.”
He nodded. “Okay, Selena. Want me to sign your book?”
I put it down on the table. “I was hoping I could get an interview with you, Mr. Bell.”
He flinched. “Call me Nash.” He looked back up at me, cocking his head to the side. “Now, why would I give you an interview?”
I paused. “It’d be good exposure. Every student here reads it.”
His smile curled into a suggestive grin. “You’re going to give me exposure, Selena?”
“My newspaper will,” I said quickly. “We can do it later, or even just a few quick questions right now.”
He paused for a second, staring at me. I suddenly felt completely alone in that huge room, like I was the only person he had any interest in. It was almost exhilarating the way his attention suddenly honed in on me and made me feel so absolutely looked at.
“You want to do it later? I’m not sure you could handle me, Selena.”
“The interview, I meant,” I said quickly, blushing deeply. “Sorry. I meant the interview.”
He laughed, shaking his head. “I know what you meant. I like your dirty mind though.”
“So, uh, any interest?”
He stared at me for another second and then motioned for me to come closer. I leaned in toward him. “Are you sure you want to be alone with me?” he said softly.
“It’d be an honor to interview you.” I regretted the words as soon as they came out.
“An honor,” he grunted. “We’ll see.” He wrote something in my book and passed it to me. There was the name of a restaurant and a time.
“Know the place?” he asked.
“Sure,” I said. “It’s pretty fancy, over in Old City.”
“Meet me there at eleven. Wear something nice.”
I opened my mouth, surprised, but he was already looking away. Slowly I turned and walked away as another set of undergrads came over, obviously making lewd sexual jokes that he easily batted back at them.
I walked away, back through the crowds, but I felt a million miles away.
What the hell had just happened?
I looked in my book and, sure enough, the name of the restaurant and the time were both still written there, plain as day.
Nash Bell wanted to meet me at eleven at the type of place I’d never be able to get inside of, let alone afford. I couldn’t tell if he wanted me to interview him or if I was meeting him for something else.
As I walked back out into the cool night air, I couldn’t help but think about his reputation. Nash Bell wasn’t exactly known as a wholesome guy in the media. There were rumors of drinking, partying, whoring, and drug use, all the sort of things I tried to avoid. He apparently went through women like sticks of gum, chewing them up and spitting them back out. He left wakes of destruction behind him, all because he could.
And I was supposed to meet him alone for a drink?
I made my way back toward my apartment, still in shock over the whole episode. It almost felt like a strange, bad dream.
Why the heck would Nash Bell want to meet with some undergraduate girl in her senior year? It couldn’t be because he was interested in trying to seduce me or something like that. The man could get any woman he wanted; I doubted he would bother with someone like me.