Uniform Desires (Make Mine Military Romance) (15 page)

From an early age,
USA TODAY
Bestselling author Melissa Schroeder loved to read. First, it was the books her mother read to her including her two favorites, Winnie the Pooh and the Beatrix Potter books. She cut her preteen teeth on Trixie Belden and read and reviewed To Kill a Mockingbird in middle school. It wasn’t until she was in college that she tried to write her first stories, which were full of angst and pain, and really not that fun to read or write. After trying several different genres, she found romance in a Linda Howard book. Since the publication of her first book in 2004, Melissa has had close to fifty romances published. She writes in genres from historical suspense to modern day erotic romance to futuristics and paranormals. Included in those releases is the bestselling
Harmless series
. In 2011, Melissa branched out into self-publishing with
A Little Harmless Submission
and the popular military spinoff,
Infatuation: A Little Harmless Military Romance
. Along the way she has garnered an epic nomination, a multitude of reviewer’s recommended reads, over five Capa nods from TRS, three nominations for AAD Bookies and regularly tops the bestseller lists on
Amazon
and
Barnes & Noble
. She was recently named Author of the year and most Accessible Author of the Year by the Authors After Dark Bookies. She made the USA Today Bestseller list in September of 2013 with her book, The Santinis Collection.

Since she spent her childhood as a military brat, Melissa swore never to marry military. But, as we all know, Fate has her way with mortals. She is married to an AF major and is raising her own brats, both human and canine. She spends her days giving in to her addiction to
Twitter
, Facebook, Doctor Who, and the Big Bang Theory. She is very thankful her airman is retired and they can live where the bugs die in the winter.

You can connect with Mel all over the web: 

WEBSITE

TWITTER

FACEBOOK FAN PAGE

 
HARMLESS ADDICTS

THE HARMLESS SERIES

THE SANTINIS

SEMPER FI MARINES

THE CURSED CLAN

Or email her at: [email protected]

Other Books by Melissa Schroeder

Harmless

A Little Harmless Sex

A Little Harmless Pleasure

A Little Harmless Obsession

A Little Harmless Lie

A Little Harmless Addiction

A Little Harmless Submission

A Little Harmless Fascination

A Little Harmless Fantasy

A Little Harmless Ride

A Little Harmless Military Romance

Infatuation

Possession

Surrender

The Harmless Shorts

Prelude to a Fantasy

The Santinis

Leonardo

Marco

Gianni

Vicente

The Santinis Collection

Semper Fi Marines

Tease Me

By Blood

Desire by Blood

Once Upon An Accident

The Accidental Countess

Lessons in Seduction

The Spy Who Loved Me

Leather and Lace

The Seduction of Widow McEwan

Leather and Lace—Print anthology

Texas Temptations

Conquering India

Delilah’s Downfall

Hawaiian Holidays

Mele Kalikimaka, Baby

Sex on the Beach

Getting Lei’d

Bounty Hunters, Inc

For Love or Honor

Sinner’s Delight

The Sweet Shoppe

Turning Paige

Cowboy Up

Tempting Prudence

Connected Books

Seducing the Saint

Hunting Mila

Saints and Sinners—print of both books 

The Hired Hand

Hands on Training

Cancer Anthology

Water—print

Stand Alone Books

Grace Under Pressure

The Last Detail

Her Mother’s Killer

A Calculated Seduction

Telepathic Cravings

LIMITED EDITION

Paranormal Hunks: Past, Present and Future

Coming Soon

A Santini Christmas

Semper Fi: Tempt Me

Semper Fi: Touch Me

Angus

Seduction in Blood

Book 2 - SEAL’s Honor

Elle James

also writing as

Myla Jackson

Award-winning Author

Two Navy SEALs jeopardize their lives and hearts in a battle-torn land when they vie for the love of one sexy Night Stalker helicopter pilot

Reed Tucker doesn’t believe in commitment, not when you’re a SEAL deployed in dangerous situations that could lead to death or dismemberment. Until he tangles the sheets with one hot pilot, Delaney O’Connell. His phobia against commitment is challenged when his best friend asks Delaney O’Connell to marry him and she doesn’t say no.

As a helicopter pilot for the 160
^th
Night Stalkers, Delaney O’Connell knows the risks of loving a SEAL. She’s ferried her share of soldiers and frogmen into and out of danger. All she asks is that Tuck own up to his love for her. When he allows his friend to ask her to marry him without staking his own claim, she’s hurt and disappointed. When his friend loses an arm in battle, she can’t refuse his hand in marriage, not when he’s sacrificed so much for his country. In love with one man, about to marry another, she’s torn. Caught in a triangle of his own making, Tuck can’t dishonor his friend by stealing his fiancé.

Tuck and Delaney must come to grips with the happiness they owe themselves and the happiness of their friend who has given so much of himself.

From the Author

As a retired member of the armed forces, whose father was a career military man and whose
 
sister and brother also served, I’d like to thank all the brave soldiers, sailors, airmen, SEALs, Coast Guard and special forces who are serving or have served and sacrificed to defend this great nation.
 

Please take the time to thank those who have served for their commitment and dedication to keeping us free and safe.
 

I’d like to dedicate this book to those who made the ultimate sacrifice of their lives and to the wounded warriors who so bravely face new challenges.
 

If you’ve enjoyed this story, please consider taking the time to leave a review on your favorite retail or reader review site. Authors appreciate your thoughts about the books you read and love it when you share them with others.

Enjoy!

Elle James

aka Myla Jackson

Chapter 1

Reed Tucker, Tuck to his buddies, tugged at the tie on his U.S. Navy service dress blue uniform, and his gut knotted as he entered the rehabilitation center of the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

He’d never run from anything, not a machine gun pinning his unit to a position, a fight where he was outnumbered, or an argument he truly believed in. But the sights, smells, and sounds inside the walls of the rehabilitation center made him want to get the hell out of the facility faster than a cat with its tail on fire.

But he couldn’t leave. Not yet. This was graduation day for Reaper, aka Cory Nipton, his best friend and former teammate on SEAL Team 10. Reaper was being released from the rehabilitation center after enduring something even tougher than BUD/s training, the twenty-four week Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training designed to weed out the true SEALs from the wannabes.

But Reaper’s release from rehab wasn’t the only event that brought Tuck there that day. He was going to a wedding. His heart twisted, his palms grew clammy, and he clutched the ring box in his left hand as regret warred with guilt, creating a vile taste in his mouth.

Reaper was marrying Delaney, the only woman Tuck had ever trusted with his heart. The only woman who’d forced him to get over his past and dare to dream of a future. She was the woman he could see himself spending the rest of his life with. And today she was promising to love, honor, and cherish his best friend—a better man than Tuck by far. A hero who’d lost his right arm because Tuck hadn’t given him sufficient cover. Cory deserved all the happiness he could get after being medically discharged out of the only family he’d ever known. The Navy SEALs.

His hand on the door to the room where the wedding was to take place, Tuck squared his shoulders and stepped into his future.

Two months earlier...

Tuck glanced to his left and right. The members of Strike Force Dragon sat or stood, tense, holding onto whatever they could as the MH-60M Black Hawk dipped into the valley between two hilltops, less than a click away from the dark, quiet village. The only thing different about this mission was that, since the one before, he’d slept with the Pilot in Command of the helicopter.

Most men knew her as Razor, the call sign they used for the only female pilot flying infiltration and extraction missions for the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR), Army Captain Delaney O’Connell.

Through his NVGs he picked up the bright green signature of a lookout on top of one of the buildings.

Within seconds, shots were fired at them, tracer rounds flaring in the dark. The helicopter remained just out of range of the man’s rifle shots, but it wouldn’t be long before a Taliban machine gunner with long-range capability was alerted with the potential of lobbing rocket-propelled grenades their way.

Wasting no time, the helicopter sank to a level just above the drop zone (DZ). While it hovered the men fast-roped down.

As soon as his boots hit the ground, Tuck brought up his M4A1 in the ready position and ran toward the sniper on the rooftop, zigzagging to avoid being locked in the enemy crosshairs.

Reaper, Big Bird, Gator, Fish, and Dustman spread out to the sides and followed.

When they were in range, Reaper took a knee and employed his uncanny ability as a sharpshooter to knock off the sentry on the rooftop.

The team continued forward into the walled town, going from building to building, until they reached the one they were after. In the center of the compound, high walls surrounded one particular brick and mud structure.

Big Bird bent and cupped his hands.

Tuck planted his boot in the man’s massive paws and, with Big Bird’s help, launched himself to the top of the wall, dropping down on the other side in a crouch. Weapon pointing at the building, finger on the trigger, Tuck scanned the courtyard for potential threat. People moved past windows inside. So far, no one had stepped outside to check out the disturbance. Only a matter of time. "Clear," he said into his headset.
 

As Dustman topped the wall, a man emerged from the side of the structure and fired on them.

Without hesitation, Tuck fired off a silent round, downing the man with one bullet.

Dustman dropped to the ground beside him and gave him a thumbs up, taking the position by the wall so Tuck could move to the corner where the dead man lay.

As they’d discussed in the operations briefing, they only had three minutes to get into the compound, retrieve their target, and get out. Kill anyone in the way, but bring out the target alive.

Once four of the six-man team were inside the wall, they breached the doorway and entered, moving from room to room. If someone or something moved, they had only a millisecond to decide whether or not to shoot.

Tuck opened the first room. Inside, small green heat signatures glowed in his NVGs. Children sleeping on mats on the floor. He eased shut the door, jamming a wedge in the gap to keep them from getting out too soon.

He moved on to the next room. When he opened the door, a woman rose from a pallet, wearing a long black burka. When she lifted her hand like she held a gun, Tuck fired, taking her down before she could pull the trigger.

As he continued in the lead position down the narrow hallway, Tuck’s adrenaline hammered blood through his veins and honed his senses. His wits in hyper-alert status, his finger rested a hair’s breadth away from again pulling the trigger. This was the life he was made for. Defending his country, seeking out his enemies and destroying them with a swift, deadly strike. His job was risky, dangerous, and deadly.