Last week was the anthology launch for
High Octane Heroes. I
was proud to be asked to participtate in this group of authors who write about
heroes in and out of uniform. Just about all branches of service are
represented, to Army Ranger, Navy SEALs, Marines, police and fire, as well as
special EMT and rescue squads.
What’s different about this anthology is the erotic nature
of the stories. Meant to be something you could take to bed with you, resulting
in hours of luscious dreams, or as an afternoon delight. Our authors cover it
all.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who loves seeing a man in
uniform. The fantasy of loving a hard bodied man, with the training, the sense
of duty and honor against unspeakable odds, is more than a pleasant one for me.
They are the true definition of heroes. They come home to unleash this passion
in the bedroom in our stories. I think it is a classic for women
everywhere. We delivered the goods here.
But see for yourself.
Maya Banks is quoted on the cover:
Our readers here are already fans of military romance. I
know they’ll enjoy getting their shot of adrenaline in High Octane Heroes.
Excerpt, SEAL Destiny:
Special Operator Chief Luke Paulsen
had that dream again.
Her red lips pressed like tiny
pillows against his cool mouth. Though he was buried in his Afghan dugout bunk,
he could feel the delicate vibration of her moan as her lust for him whispered
things. Unmentionable things. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t recall
her words. He could only remember the heat washing over him as she breathed
life into him. Again. Like she did every night.
A sharp crack of gunfire forced him
to open his eyes. He caught a glimpse of Carson’s scared face in profile just
before the young Marine got the round in the chest that exited out between his
shoulder blades. In a graceful dance performed all too often, Carson fell into
his arms and Luke watched the youngster’s life bleed out onto the sandy pit and
all over his boots. He held Carson’s clear blue gaze, and, without saying a
word, told him he’d see him again one day.
The boy’s eyes remained open and fixed after his soul had departed. Luke
became witness to the young Marine’s passage from his arms into the arms of
death.
A split second later, Luke
remembered who he was and why he was here. A day’s ride by donkey from
anywhere. He lifted the tiny mirror on a wire, the sun to his back.
Still clutching the body of the
lifeless Marine, he followed the trajectory of the round that killed his young
apprentice, and caught the glint of dark blue steel disappearing into a
blackened doorway. Laying the Marine down gently, he picked up his H&K MP5,
counted to five while he clicked the safety once. Before he saw the barrel of
the ragman’s rifle again, he fired off several rounds that landed exactly ten
inches above the protuberance and saw the red spray of a kill.
Was it wrong that the color of the
spray reminded him of her crimson lips? That he died a thousand little deaths
with each of her kisses?
His dreams were stealing his
present.
A week later, SOC Luke watched the
sun pour itself into the horizon on one of San Diego’s white sand beaches. The
afterglow felt good. So did the blush on his face from the three beers he’d
finished. He usually drank with the rest of his SEAL Team III. But this last
DT, Dissociative Tour, in Afghanistan had given him a cadre of young Marines
eager to prove themselves, along with Carson, the medic-in-training.
But Carson had drawn a different
card and would be taking the short flight home. Luke raised his long-necked IPA
to the sunset and toasted the man.
“To all the young hearts you won’t
break,” he whispered to the soothing waves and the sunset.
It was a damned shame. He thought
Carson would have made an excellent doctor.
Luke heard laughter as two lovelies
in shorts ran past him to splash in the surf. Slender tanned legs kicked
droplets of white foam into the air. He loved watching the girls’ carefree
spirit, just being goofy and lacking an ounce of self-consciousness. He
couldn’t help but smile.
The dark haired one with the cutoff
inside-out sweatshirt that showed her muscled midriff stopped and turned to
face Luke. Her brown eyes were wide set. Her thin nose lead to full lips that
were stained bright red. She licked those lips and pushed her chocolate brown
hair from her forehead, exposing a delicious ridge of little lines on an
otherwise smooth and flawless forehead. With a tiny angle she tilted her head
to the side and waved in that embarrassed way her mother must have told her
never to do. Especially to a strange sailor sitting alone on the beach with
empty beer bottles at his feet.
Luke waved back, using the same
three middle fingers she used, sending his communication off with a shy smile.
He imitated the angle of her head and felt the dangerous curiosity and wonder
of their chance meeting.
He wanted her in the worst way.
The blonde was pulling her friend,
pleading, but she wasn’t having any of it. Luke’s unspoken message had touched
her, and those golden tethers of his thoughts drew her to him, just as if he
had special powers. It was lovely when that happened. He could almost believe
in the supernatural, like those paranormal guys his sister read about in her
romance novels.
The exquisite young thing with the
well-defined legs came to within striking distance. If he wanted to, and hell
yes he wanted to in the worst way, he could reach out and bring her to his arms
and he could tell she wouldn’t resist. But it would be so much better if he
showed a little restraint.
Those
who wait? What was that saying?
No matter. Luke felt the confusing
enchantment like vamps did in those books. It was a pleasant fantasy. Let her
have her way with him. Yes. He could
tell she felt she had a date with destiny.
I
can be your destiny for one night, darlin’.
She disposed of her friend with a
sharp command and, alone now, stepped closer to Luke. “You look like you could
use some company,” she said as she swung her upper torso from side to side. Her
feet had implanted themselves in the sand and he watched her pink nail polish
peek out between the grains.
Lady,
you have lovely toes.
But, she’d asked a question that
needed an answer. “That depends,” he was stunned at the joy it gave him let his
eyes walk slowly up her body, every lovely inch, heightened by the knowledge that
she let him. He watched the tops of her breasts quiver under the sweatshirt.
He’d learn to assess subtle changes in body language and heart rate. He noticed
the blush in her cheeks and the red blotches on her chest just below the
delicate V of the top of her breastbone. His eyes roamed over her heaving chest
again and he smiled. He couldn’t wait to hear her response.
“Depends on what?” She asked. Her
brown eyes mirrored truths he wasn’t sure he’d divulged to himself.
“If it’s complicated,” he said. “I like
uncomplicated.” He was telling her
something he was trying to convince himself he believed.
She took in a sudden brief inhale,
her gaze quickly diverted to the ocean, giving him a full pour look at her
upper torso, every curve and valley, until he thought perhaps he could even
taste her skin. What Luke saw in profile was a strong handsome woman with a
body made for hard loving, who was unafraid.
Then she turned back and faced him
fully. Her body dropped to her knees in front of him so quickly he though
perhaps she’d gotten suddenly ill. “I don’t do uncomplicated,” she
whispered. “I like it complicated, and rich. I like entangled.
I like feeling everything and being sorely missed when I’m gone."
Sharon Hamilton
Sharon’s award-winning spicy Navy
SEAL stories in the SEAL Brotherhood series, have consistently made best
sellers lists and review sites. Her characters follow a sometimes rocky road to
redemption through passion and true love.
Her Golden Vampires of Tuscany are
not like any vamps you’ve read before, since they don’t go to ground and can
walk around in the full light of the sun.
Her Guardian Angels struggle with
the human charges they are sent to save, often escaping their vanilla world of
Heaven for the brief human one. You won’t find any of these beings in any
Sunday school class.
She lives in Sonoma County,
California with her husband, and two Dobermans. A lifelong organic gardener,
when she’s not writing, she’s getting vera vera dirty in the mud, or wandering
Farmer’s Markets looking for new Heirloom varieties of vegetables and flowers.
If you get a chance, pay homage to the history of the US Navy SEALs by visiting the museum at Fort Pierce. This museum was founded by former SEALs who felt there should be a place where the beginnings of the UDT/SEAL program was birthed during the Vietnam war. You'll be amazed at the stories of valor and bravery, men whose names we don't remember but should never forget. It will make you proud.
