By
USA Today Bestselling Author
Jen Talty

Navy SEAL Dante Fallon spent the last year of his enlistment haunted by his best friend’s murder. He swore that once his time in the service was up, he’d get his revenge. However, he didn’t anticipate finding the only woman he’s ever had real feelings for working for the enemy.

When Kaia George buried her brother, she swore she’d seek revenge for his death. For the last twelve months, she’s developed a relationship with the crime family that killed him. The last thing she needs is Dante walking back into her life, trying to fix things. No way will she take his help—until bullets fly, and she’s left with two choices:

Work with Dante to take down the crime family.
Or meet her brother on the other side.

NOTE:
A SEAL’s Honor is part of Kristen Proby’s With Me in Seattle Universe.

Dante and his team are headed to Jupiter, Florida for a fishing trip. At least that’s what their telling everyone. In reality they have a plan to get their former teammate, Beck, out of a very sticky and dangerous problem. Just to add some additional problems, Dante and Beck’s sister Kaia have had a thing for a couple of years, but haven’t shared that information with anyone.

As Dante and Caleb drive to Beck’s trailer near the marina, Caleb infers he knows exactly what’s going on between Dante and Kaia. They also need to be sure she doesn’t know of their plans with her brother. They don’t want her involved.

This is a favorite scene.

Dante wasn’t exactly sure how he felt about Kaia, other than he couldn’t stop thinking about her when he wasn’t with her, and he worried about her brother pulling her down into his shit. On the one hand, Dante wished Beck would be more upfront with Kaia about the problems her father had faced before he died, and how much their dad had owed the Russells. However, Dante’s instincts were to protect Kaia, which meant keeping her in the dark about her father’s financial troubles and her brother’s involvement.

But when her father died, Dante had made a promise to Beck to never breathe a word to Kaia about how bad it had gotten. And Dante was nothing without his SEALs’ honor.

“She’s not the kind of person anyone messes with. I mean, she looks like a lady, all sweet and gorgeous, but watch out, she’ll eat you for dinner.”

“I’m married. You don’t have to warn me off. Now, Walli, he’s the one you need to worry about. Or maybe Morty. We know he’s got no shame.”

“When do they get in?” Dante decided to redirect the conversation.

“Around midnight,” Caleb said. “They will meet us at the docks before this shit goes down.”

Dante stared out the window. Having grown up in Seattle, he wasn’t accustomed to the bright sunshine pelting his eyes, but he loved how the warm rays heated his skin. There was nothing but tall palm trees stretching toward the blue sky. A few white, puffy clouds floated over the ocean as they got off Interstate 95 and headed toward the sleepy little seaside town. In the distance, Dante could see the Jupiter Lighthouse.

It almost felt as though he’d returned home.

“Does Kaia have any idea?” Caleb asked.

“I promised Beck we wouldn’t tell her anything, and he thinks she’s oblivious, but she knows more than she lets on.”

“She’s never talked to you about it?”

“Only that she’s worried about Beck, and I’ve shared the same concerns.” It’s hard not to when he shared a bed with Kaia. And he hated lying to her about what he thought was at the root of Beck’s troubled soul, though he did tie it to their father’s father’s financial problems and then his sudden death last year.

“I can’t believe how bad things got for Beck,” Caleb said. “He made it look like he had it all taken care of.”

“He got stuck between a rock and a hard place,” Beck said. “I’m just glad he finally called for backup.”

Caleb punched the gas, heading north on A1A past the Juno Pier. Beck lived in a trailer right on the Intracoastal a few miles up the road, walking distance from the marina where he kept his charter boats.

He’d also managed to purchase a surf shop, and Dante wondered where Beck had gotten the money for the third charter boat and the new shop. Things just seemed too good to be true, and Beck didn’t appear to be the happy-go-lucky man he’d been before he left the military.

Now, Dante knew why. H

is pulse got caught in his throat the second they pulled into the driveway.

The beautiful Kaia, her long hair pulled into a ponytail at the nape of her neck, sat on the front porch of the modular home. She’d twisted the tail over her shoulder and ran her fingers through the strands, her nose in a book. She glanced up and smiled, then set her reading material to the side and stood. Her toned legs went on forever. Her white T-shirt with a picture of a turtle on the front didn’t cover her stomach, showing off a taut midriff and a silver belly button ring.

“Seriously. Don’t say a single word to her about our plan. She’ll either want in on it, or she’ll be up my ass all night about it, and I’ll never be able to sneak out,” Dante whispered. “And I promised Beck she would be kept in the dark.”

“Understood.”

Dante did his best not to let his gaze linger on her voluptuous breasts, but he couldn’t help himself. He opened his mouth to say something, anything.

But all he did was grunt.

He’d been all over the world and had had his share of beautiful women, but no one could hold a candle to Kaia— and she was way out of his league.

She lifted her sunglasses to the top of her head. “Look at what the cat dragged in,” she said.

“It’s been a while,” Dante finally managed, keeping up the ruse that he and Kaia hadn’t seen each other only a few months ago. “I hear you’ve never met Caleb.”

“I’ve heard a lot about the man— the legend. And I’ve had the pleasure of a phone call or two. But, no. Can’t say we’ve been in the same space.” She stretched out her hand and shook Caleb’s before kissing Dante on the cheek. Her hot lips scorched his skin. She squeezed his biceps.

“So, what’re the sleeping arrangements?” Dante asked, keeping up the ruse for her sake.

“Unfortunately, Beck only has two guest rooms. Caleb, you get the bigger one with the queen bed. Walli and either Andrew or Riker get the one with two beds. The other one gets the couch here, or the couch at my place. Dante, you get my guest room.”

“You are a lifesaver.” He smiled, dropping his rucksack onto the porch. He pulled his cell out of his back pocket and quickly sent Beck a text, letting him know that they had arrived and would head over to the docks shortly.

Beck responded immediately with a thumbs-up emoji.

“He’s done.” Dante waved his cell. “Why don’t you head over? I’ll drop my stuff at Kaia’s and meet you there.”

Caleb arched a brow. “Seriously?”

“I’ll be fifteen minutes behind you.”

“You better be.” Caleb slapped Dante on the back. “We wouldn’t want people to get the wrong idea.”

Dante waited until Caleb was out of sight before pulling Kaia into his arms. “I guess we haven’t been as discreet as I thought because it seems Caleb and the guys are onto us.”

“My brother acts like he doesn’t know.” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and wasted no time slipping her tongue between his lips. “But I suspect he might.”

When it came to sex, Kaia was certainly the best he’d ever had. He couldn’t imagine it getting any better. And if he were honest, he didn’t want it to get any better— at least not with anyone else. If he never experienced anyone else, he would actually be fine with that.

A reality he struggled to accept.

He ran his hands up and down her back, letting his fingers dance over her soft skin. Whether she knew it or not, she’d helped him get through a few tough nights during his last deployment. “Does it bother you that I don’t want—?”

“I don’t want my brother to know. He gets weird when I have flings with his friends, so it’s best if we just keep things under the radar.”

Dante leaned against the railing, resting his hands on her hips. “Have you dated anyone while I was gone?”

Kaia shook her head. “A few friends have tried to fix me up, but I wasn’t feeling it.”

“You are allowed to do whatever you want when I leave. We don’t have exclusive rights or anything.” The second the words left Dante’s lips, he regretted them, but being in a full-time relationship wasn’t something he’d ever done before.

Not just because of his job, but because his heart started pounding at the mere thought of being with a woman for more than a few months.

Except for Kaia. All bets were off where she was concerned. If he could say he had any real feelings for a woman, it would be Kaia.

“That sounds like you’re having second thoughts.”

“No. I’m actually jealous of the idea of you being with another man. But I don’t have the right to tell you that you can’t.” Jesus, he sounded like a fucking lovesick idiot. “But I’m only in town for a few days, and I’ll be deployed again for months. I don’t think it’s fair to ask you to sit around and wait for me when I don’t even know if I’m…” He glanced at the sky. “I’m not very good at this.”

“No. You’re not.” She cupped his cheek. “Are you saying you want more?”

“Do you?”

“I asked first.” He groaned. “Kaia, I want more, but I don’t know what that looks like.”

She smiled. “I like the idea of more.”
Jen Talty. A SEAL’s Honor: A Lady Boss Press Navy SEAL Novella (Kindle Locations 109-175). Lady Boss Press, Inc..

This mission of theirs goes FUBAR before it even really gets started. Beck knew he’d been targeted and in spite of their efforts to thwart the inevitable Beck ends up dead.

When Kaia realizes that it was their plan to put an end to Beck’s involvement with the Russell boys drug running business, she flips out. She blames them for her brother’s death and wants nothing more to do with Dante and his friends.

Plenty of ups and downs in this intriguing tale as Dante works his way back into her life.

I have two more from this multi author collection and I intend to read and review them all. Some new to me authors in this group.

5 Contented Purrs for Jenn!

Jen Talty

Welcome to my World! I’m a USA Today Bestseller of Romantic Suspense, Contemporary Romance, and Paranormal Romance.

I first started writing while carting my kids to one hockey rink after the other, averaging 170 games per year between 3 kids in 2 countries and 5 states. My first book, IN TWO WEEKS was originally published in 2007. In 2010 I helped form a publishing company (Cool Gus Publishing) with NY Times Bestselling Author Bob Mayer where I ran the technical side of the business through 2016.

I’m currently enjoying the next phase of my life…the empty NESTER! My husband and I spend our winters in Jupiter, Florida and our summers in Rochester, NY. We have three amazing children who have all gone off to carve out their places in the world, while I continue to craft stories that I hope will make you readers feel good and put a smile on your face.