Covert Seduction

by Callie Croix

  Okay, that totally made her heart turn over.

  He gave her a sexy smile that curled her toes. “And I can’t wait to see their faces when they notice my Trident hanging around your neck.”

  My God, he wanted to publicly declare his commitment to her in front of his teammates. She did want to meet these mysterious men he entrusted his life to. And it would be a great distraction. What else was she going to do today besides go home and face the chaos of the past two days all over again? She’d have to go home soon enough. Stealing as much time away with Reid as she could was a welcome escape right now. “You know what? I’m totally up for it.”

  “Good.” He grinned and kissed her lightly, stroking a hand over the length of her hair. “One thing, though…”

  She raised an eyebrow at his hesitant tone, the slightly guilty expression.

  He winced. “Murphy may have read part of that email you sent me.”

  Her mouth fell open for the second time that morning. “What?” she squawked in outrage, horrified.

  Reid looked like he was trying not to laugh. “It was an accident. He sort of started reading before I could grab the laptop away from him.”

  A fiery heat engulfed her face. “Oh my God, and you think I can ever look the man in the face?”

  “Hey, Murph’s already half in love with you. Meeting you in person will win his devotion for life, along with his wife and kids. And you don’t have to worry about any of the other guys knowing. Murph’s a good chief, so he would never say anything about it to anyone.”

  Rather than get mad all over again, for some reason this last incident tickled her funny bone. She snorted a laugh and quickly covered her mouth to block the unladylike sound, but when Reid started in she lost the battle to stem the tide of giggles. She collapsed against his solid chest and laughed with him. Still grinning after she’d calmed down, she shook her head at Reid in wonder. “Who’d have thought I’d be able to laugh after all this?”

  His gaze was tender and soft. “I love seeing you laugh. If I have my way you’ll be doing a lot more of it from now on.” He leaned his head back against the headrest, his eyes shining with admiration and warmth. “So, whaddya say? You in?”

  Smiling up into his eyes, she nodded. “I’m in.”

  Epilogue

  Six months later

  Becca stepped out of her car into the cool, salt-kissed air and breathed in deeply. She could hear the muted roar of the waves crashing on the beach in the distance. The Virginia Beach bar’s parking lot was packed. But then, it was a Friday night and a bunch of the local SEALs were back in town. Excitement sent sharp little prickles down her spine as she crossed to the front door in her sex-kitten heels and let herself in. Reid had told her he’d drive home to Alexandria once he got in, but she didn’t mind coming up here to meet him. She knew how much he liked to unwind with his teammates for a few hours when they got back stateside and didn’t want to deprive him of that.

  The diamond on her left hand caught the overhead lights at the entrance as she gripped the door handle. The dainty ring proclaimed her as Reid’s wife, but the Trident around her neck meant more to her than any jewel on earth ever could. She was proud of him, of what he stood for, and to be a part of his world. From the day they’d eloped at the county courthouse two months ago, she’d officially become part of the SEAL community. Well, actually from the day she’d gone to Murphy’s to watch that football game.

  They’d taken her in immediately, and once they heard about everything that had happened to her and Reid that weekend, they’d closed ranks around her, no questions asked. SEALs took good care of their own. Throughout the trials she’d testified at there’d always been either one of the guys or their wives in the courtroom to support her, whether Reid was there or not. The two young thugs were both awaiting sentencing for their crimes, and Kimberly Vane was up for a life sentence for everything she’d done. All to cover her and her husband’s secret, unimaginable debts from gambling and their extravagant lifestyle they couldn’t afford. She’d been willing to kill to keep that under wraps. The scandal was still rocking the investment world.

  The remaining partners had abandoned ship with their clients to form a new firm, and after giving her a sizeable raise with benefits, she’d gone with them. Mostly because of Mr. Morales, who had begged her to stay on. Except for the ongoing trials, her life was almost back to normal. The only thing she struggled with these days was Reid’s frequent absences.

  Being left behind was hard, but at least now she had backup when she needed it. Her family couldn’t help because they didn’t really understand what it was like for her. She’d become close friends with some of the other wives, and that support network was a godsend whenever Reid was away.

  The homecomings were her favorite part of being a SEAL’s wife.

  Pushing open the wooden door, the scent of warm beer hit her, along with a cacophony of sound. Male voices and high-pitched feminine laughter, the crack of billiard balls and the drone from the TV on the far wall.

  Scanning the room, she spotted Reid at the bar with some of his teammates. Her belly did a joyous little flip. The SEALs were easy to pick out even in a crowd, and not necessarily because of the incredible shape they were in. They all radiated an absolute confidence that people noticed immediately. But she had eyes for only one of them.

  Her heart fluttered and a giant, sappy grin broke over her face as she stared at her husband. No matter how many times she saw him back safely after a mission or training exercise, it would never get old.

  She caught the attention of one of Reid’s teammates, who nudged him and nodded in her direction.

  Reid looked up, a smile of pure elation spreading across his face when he saw her. “There’s my girl,” he announced, leaving his beer on the bar to rush at her.

  She met him halfway and jumped into his open arms with a lump in her throat. She gripped him hard, holding him close as she buried her face in his neck. Breathing in his spicy scent calmed her, reassured her that this was real, that he was okay.

  “Hey, beautiful,” he murmured in her ear, hugging her tight. After a few moments he set her away from him and took her face in his hands, smiling down at her. “Miss me?”

  Only every second of the day. “Almost as much as you missed me,” she teased. He’d only been gone twelve days this time, though it seemed much longer. So far she hadn’t learned how to turn off the worry valve. The other wives had warned her to stop watching the news, but she couldn’t help it. She felt like she owed it to him to know what was happening, even though he usually couldn’t talk about it when he got back.

  Reid tsked. “Damn, that’s a lot. Might take us a week straight in bed to make up for it.”

  Hell, yes. “I’m up for the challenge. Oh, and I’ve got your dress whites pressed and hanging in the closet.” The last email she’d sent should give him plenty of instruction on what she wanted him to do to her while he wore them.

  Reid drew back enough to look into her eyes, his heated gaze full of longing. “Don’t know why you bother to keep pressing them. They never stay on me very long when you’re around.”

  “That’s because you in them is the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.” The sight of him in his dress whites simultaneously filled her to bursting with pride and lust. That spectacular uniform featured in a lot of her naughty fantasies these days.

  Grinning, Reid bent to kiss her. His lips lingered against hers, the glide of his tongue making her wet and willing right there in the middle of the crowded bar. She didn’t care who saw them.

  “Get a room,” someone yelled from near the bar.

  Reid looked over his shoulder at the younger SEAL, one of the team’s bachelors. “You’re just jealous, Corrigan.”

  Becca slid her arm around Reid’s waist. “He’s surrounded by Frog Hog wannabes,” she commented,
observing the flock of willing females no doubt hoping to take a bona fide SEAL home for the night. “Should we rescue him?” Though he didn’t look unhappy about his situation.

  “Nah. He’s been in tighter spots than that before. He’s okay.” Reid bent to speak close to her ear. “Wanna stay for a bit and say hi to everyone, or do you have other plans in mind?” His seductive tone left no doubt he meant the two of them alone and naked.

  “We can stay for a bit. The dress whites and my newest fantasy will keep.”

  His gaze sharpened.

  “If you recall, it involves you in them, commando in your dress pants, tied spread eagle to the bed—and at my mercy, by the way. Just in case you needed a reminder.”

  “Oh, Christ,” he moaned, lowering one hand to discreetly adjust the growing bulge in his jeans. “Fuck. All right, just a few minutes to say hi while I finish my beer, then we’re outta here.”

  She schooled her triumphant smirk into a mock scowl. “But I won’t sit back and watch any SEAL groupies come onto you, so be forewarned.” The place was crawling with them.

  He flashed her an innocent smile. “They can’t help it, beautiful. SEALs are irresistible to the ladies, as you know firsthand.”

  Becca poked him sharply in the ribs, fighting a laugh. “If you’re insinuating that I’m a Frog Hog, don’t even go there.”

  Reid rubbed his side, grinning. “Yeah, but you’re my Frog Hog.”

  The possessive way he said it made her melt a little. No matter how hard things got while he was away or during the times he couldn’t confide in her about his job, she’d never regret her decision to marry him. She was his Frog Hog, for better or worse. And damn proud of it.

  * * * * *

  Discover more page-burning romance from Callie Croix!

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  Let Me In

  Arriving home on leave from his tour of duty, Army Captain Alex Mendoza knows there’s a beautiful woman waiting for him—his best friend’s sister. She’s always been off limits…until now. He fully intends to move them out of being “just friends” and encourage her to release the sexual needs he senses she’s buried deep…even if he has to tie her down.

  Touch Me

  During a playful talk about fantasies, Caitlin’s fiancé offers to give her a threesome—with his best friend, Liam, who’s coming to spend the weekend. At first Cait is shocked that Nathan could entertain the thought of sharing her with another man, but once he’s planted the idea her imagination runs wild. There’s only one way to help her overcome her inhibitions—by planning a night of ecstasy she’ll never forget…

  No Holds Barred

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  About the Author

  Callie Croix writes erotic romance tales about dominant alpha males that she hopes will curl your toes in the best way possible. She also writes edge-of-your-seat military romantic suspense as Kaylea Cross. Callie lives with her family in a beautiful seaside town just outside Vancouver.

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  ISBN: 978-14268-9492-3

  Copyright © 2013 by Callie Croix

  All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

  This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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