SEALs of Summer 2: A Military Romance Superbundle (84 page)

Grann laced her fingers together to keep from smacking the woman upside the head. “Ysabeau’s leaving Haiti?”

“Oh, she’ll be back. Your grandbaby’s going to be a very happy woman with a fine clinic in de middle of town. Luke will see to it. It’s going to be an amazing place saving hundreds of lives.”

Grann blinked and tears of joy fell to her cheeks.

“And.” Delina wiggled her eyebrows. “You’re gonna be a great-Gran. Not once, but two times over!” She leaned forward until they were eye-to-eye. “Do you understand the power, rollin’ all over me, Gran? You can talk, but I can see!”

Grann pressed her hand to her chest.
Could it be true?

“Oh, wait! Another girl is comin’ into de vision. Lordy, she’s a beautiful cherub. She’s maybe twenty years old, or so. Healthy, strong. She’s got thick dark hair, blue eyes like Luke’s, and a smile dat can suck breath right out of your lungs. Her arm is wrapped around Ysabeau and she’s hangin’ on tight too like a daughter would.” Deolina grinned. “Can’t see none of dat pretty picture, can you?”

Grann wanted to believe so badly.

But then Grann remembered how faulty Deo’s visions were, how they changed, how Deo didn’t always interpret what she saw correctly. Sometimes it was best to leave the future “out there” as Mr. Carter had said, and simply wait to see how it all played out.

Grann blew through her lips. “You didn’t see all that in your visions.”

“I saw you forgivin’ me.” Deo wiggled her shoulders smugly. “Years ago.”

Grann shook her head. “No, you didn’t.”

“Did so.”

“I haven’t forgiven you,” Grann huffed. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

She offered her hand to help Deolina out of bed.

Deolina planted her flat feet on the floor and rose slowly. She swayed slightly.

Grann grabbed her about the waist to stabilize her. “Are you okay?”

“I will be.” Deo put her arm over Gran’s shoulders. “You’re stuck with me, sista. For better or worse.”

“We’ve done the worst. Is there a better part?”

“Ain’t nothin’ better than the two of us getting’ our mojo rockin’. Hey!” Her eyes widened. “You think we had anything to do with the quake?”

“Of course not.” Grann swiped at the dust that still clung to Deo’s sleeve. “But one thing bothers me.”

Deolina raised her eyebrows. “Just one?”

“We didn’t keep them apart. Luke and Ysabeau. For all the spells, graveyard dust, and ground up scorpions, they ended—”

“Up together.” Deolina flashed a mouthful of teeth. “We should go into de love bizness. We could save de world.”

“You and me?” Grann snorted. “Might be the end of the world.”

“Nah. Me and my sista got us some kick-ass love juju goin’ on. Dis is de start of somethin’ good.”

Grann shook her head and linked her arm with Deo’s. “This is going to require a couple glasses of sherry. Hellfire, if I’ve got to listen to another one of your crazy plans, we’d better find ourselves a bottle.”

The Priestess of Light and the mostly-retired black magic Vodun of Petro walked together into the sunlight.

The End

SEAL EXtreme Team

COMING IN HOT (Book 1)

LOCK AND LOAD (Book 2)

UNDER THE RADAR (Book 3)

DOWN AND DIRTY (short story)

SEALs Beyond the Battlefields

THE GUARDIAN (Book 1) Summer 2015

GOD WHISPERER

CATCH ME IN CASTILE

SOUL STEALER

Middle Grade Fiction by K. Troutte:

SAVING MINER’S GULCH

Kimberley Troutte is a NY Times, USA Today and Amazon Top 100 bestselling author for Romantic Suspense. She is also nominated for the 2015 RITA®, the highest award for excellence in the romance genre. She lives in Southern California with her husband, two sons, a wild cat, an old snake and all the other creatures that hubby and her boys rescue.

To learn more about her novels, please visit her at
Kimberley’s website
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a SEAL Team Alpha novella

Jennifer Lowery

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Navy SEAL Grey Stone is a lone wolf with good reasons for not wanting the responsibility of a family—until he meets Reganne McCain. The down-to-earth pediatrician makes Grey want more than he’s ever allowed himself to imagine. But early life lessons make some choices more terrifying than a war zone.

‡

P
opping the top
off his beer, Grey Stone leaned back in his lawn chair, letting the warm breeze cool his heated skin. Why he’d let his buddies talk him into a brutal game of beach volleyball, he didn’t know. Although he and Michael ‘Mikey’ Kreegan had won against Donovan ‘Deuce’ Demarco and Jack ‘Tag’ Taggart, now he was sweaty and longing for a dip in the ocean. Put four SEALs together and the sport turned into a friendly competition where one or all of them bled.

Mikey had elbowed him in the nose going for a spike. It had bled all over his t-shirt so Grey had taken it off to finish the game. By the end of the game all four of them had removed their shirts and used them to stop a wound from bleeding.

Tag strode past him, tossing a t-shirt at him. Grey caught it with his free hand. “Thanks, man.”

Taggart gave him a two-finger salute and continued on to hand out shirts to the other three SEALs. Grey set his beer on the ground before tugging the shirt over his head. It fit a bit snug, but covered the blood that had dried on his chest.

He stretched his legs out and picked up the bottle. SEAL Team 5 was one day back from deployment. Downtime felt damn good. Beer tasted even better. The steaks Tag had thrown on the grill made his stomach rumble.

The sliding door to the small Victorian cottage opened and three women walked out. The team still hassled Tag about his house and how girly it was. Even more so now that he was married.

The three women stopped at the table set up on the deck and deposited the bowls of food they carried. A slender brunette, petite blonde and an auburn-haired beauty he hadn’t seen before. The brunette was Jack’s wife, Darci. The blonde belonged to Demarco. The redhead didn’t appear to be with anyone as Darci and Cloe’s gazes searched out their husbands immediately. The redhead simply sipped her beer.

No fruity pink drinks with little umbrellas for her. He liked a woman who drank from the bottle. Beer, no less.

The blonde headed in the Demarco’s direction and to Grey’s discomfort, Darci and the redhead started toward him. Ah, hell. He scanned the small crowd for Tag, hoping for rescue. At the grill, Jack met his gaze, grinned when Grey sent him an SOS look and went back to cooking. Grey scowled at him as the two women approached. Darci liked to play match-maker for the guys on the team. Looks like today was his turn. Where the hell were Steele and Malloy? They were both single. Or Mikey? He was the player.

Damn.

He wasn’t looking for a relationship. Not now, not ever. He’d seen what military life did to a marriage. Having spent years picking his mom up off the floor every time his dad left for deployment; it wasn’t something he’d ever do to a woman. Watching his mother slowly kill herself with prescription pills to dull the pain of being alone so often had made him vow at a young age to never ask a woman to wait in the wings while he went off to save the world. And he sure as hell wouldn’t bring a child into the world to watch his mother go through the strain of his career’s demands. It had almost destroyed him.

Tag and Deuce were making their marriages work so far, but Grey saw the stress it caused their wives, and them. He wanted nothing to do with that mess.

The women approached. Darci leaned down to kiss his cheek. “I have someone I’d like you to meet.”

Stifling a groan, he rose to his feet. No sense trying to dissuade Darci; she could be a bulldog when she wanted something. The redhead stood a head shorter than him, so he looked down into her light green eyes. Pretty eyes. Sexy mouth.

“Grey Stone, this is my friend, Dr. Reganne McCain. She’s a pediatrician. Reganne, this is Senior Chief Petty Officer Grey Stone.”

He stretched out a hand. “Grey.”

Reganne’s hand slipped into his. Small and delicate with long fingers and soft skin. Pampered skin. Not like his, rough with callouses.

“Reganne.”

“Well, I’ll just leave you two alone to talk.” With a Cheshire grin, Darci bounced off to join her husband at the grill.

“She’s not very subtle, is she?” A smile crossed Reganne’s face.

“No.” Grey motioned toward the lawn chairs behind him. “Would you like to sit?”

God, he should have gone for a swim before coming back to the party. He must smell awful. What was Darci thinking trying to set him up when he’d just finished a good workout?

Reganne sat down in one of the chairs; he sat in the other. At least he sat downwind of her. Having her catch a whiff of him would be embarrassing.

“So, how do you know Darci?”

“We met at my office. Darci was looking for a pediatrician for—” At his raised brow she broke off, taking a long sip of her drink. “And, I’ve said too much already. Damn beer. Loosens my tongue every time.”

Mentally, Grey put the pieces together. Pediatrician. Met Darci at her office. Holy Christ, was Darci—

His gaze flew to Tag’s wife, who chatted with Malloy—sure, now he showed up—a tall glass of iced tea in her hand. No fruity drink. No beer. He dropped his gaze to her stomach, where the tiniest little bump protruded beneath her blouse. Barely noticeable unless you were looking for it.

Son of a bitch. Tag hadn’t said a word.

A brief bout of panic washed over him. The thought of Tag raising kids in this environment gave him palpitations. What was his buddy thinking?

“You didn’t hear that from me.” Reganne grinned. “The official story is we met at the beach, since I live a few houses down.”

Grey took a long pull of his beer. “My lips are sealed.”

“Thank you. Darci doesn’t want anyone to know until they make the announcement. Damn it, there I go again.” She thrust the bottle at him. “Please, save me from myself. I don’t get out often.”

Shaking himself out of his stupor, Grey took the nearly empty bottle from her and set it on the ground beside him.

“So, you’re a Navy SEAL, too. Did you always want to be in the Navy?”

He hadn’t planned on following in his father’s footsteps, but the Navy fit him better than he’d expected. Becoming a SEAL began as a one-up on his dad but had quickly become a calling.

“Can’t imagine myself being anything else.” He shrugged. “What about you? Did you always want to be a doctor?”

She crossed her legs. Long, tanned, smooth. So smooth he wanted to touch just to see if her skin was as soft there as her hands.

“I love kids. Always have. Guess I can’t imagine myself being anything else either.”

That was a deal breaker. She loved kids. Probably wanted a horde of her own. He didn’t want any. Darci’s attempt at matchmaker had failed this time. Too bad, too. He liked talking to Reganne. Actually felt comfortable with her. Not to mention she was drop-dead gorgeous.

“You have your own office, then?” So much for making an excuse and taking off.

The wind lifted a piece of hair off her shoulder. Absently, she tucked it behind her ear. “I share it with two other pediatricians. Makes those building rental payments much easier to make.”

“I imagine. Your office is nearby?”

“Downtown. We’re in the cluster of medical buildings on B Avenue. Keeps me busy.”

Her voice eased away any qualms he had. He’d bet she had a great bedside manner. Nothing about her set him on edge. Not like some women, who pushed hard and made it clear they wanted to spend the night with a SEAL. Sometimes that made for damn good sex. No strings, no expectations. Just what he liked.

“More than nine-to-five, huh?” He drained his beer.

“Most days, yes. Between office calls and rotations at the hospital I have very little social life.”

Ditto for him. Being a SEAL didn’t allow for much socializing. Not that he socialized much. He’d much rather head up to his grandparents’ cabin in the mountains for a few days of fishing. Team 5 was his family, but he still preferred his time alone to decompress.

The team tried to get together during their downtime. Usually here at Tag’s, since he was on the beach. And Darci loved throwing parties. He planned on staying for the party then heading to the cabin for the rest of the weekend. It had been awhile since he’d been up there. Cabin probably needed to be aired out, dusted. He tried to get up there in the spring but hadn’t found the time yet this year.

“Chow’s ready.” Tag called out and everyone moved toward the deck where Darci had quite the spread laid out. Thanks also to Deuce, whose Irish/Italian family owned a restaurant downtown and always sent over tons of food. Since Grey didn’t cook, he’d brought a couple six-packs.