Chapter 1
Navy SEAL Blake “Raptor” Reynolds clenched his jaw as he parachuted down from the sky during his SEAL team’s training exercise. He could see San Diego in the distance, and beyond that, Naval Amphibious Base Coronado. Boats maneuvered in the bay, buildings gleamed in the sun, and the Pacific Ocean glistened. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, the air rushing past him, and with the sun shining and bright blue sky, he felt damn near invincible at the moment.
His five teammates were in the air around him, one of the guys whooping, “Hoorah!”
Blake smirked, looking off in the distance at their mark.
Although they didn’t frequently need to parachute in during ops, the team trained on sea, air, and land. He’d tried to explain that to the pretty yet ditzy blonde he’d met at the local bar last night, but the concept had flown right over her head.
God damn.
She didn’t seem to believe the Navy had fighter jets either. Ships. Water. Sailors. He probably lost a few brain cells talking to her. He needed a woman who could keep up with him both in and out of bed—and who at least could string a few coherent sentences together.
The blonde had been a good fuck, but hell. He couldn’t even hold a simple conversation with her. It had literally been a wham, bam, thank you ma’am situation. He’d gotten out of bed after they’d had sex and shown himself out the door.
Now he’d have to avoid Salty Sunset, one of the team’s favorite bars. All the action around town happened there after sundown—sailors and single women, wannabe SEALs on the prowl. His team practically owned the place when they went there. And hell if he now had to avoid his favorite watering hole for a while.
He adjusted the straps on his chute, preparing to land on their mark.
His teammate Troy “T-Rex” Harrison was already on the ground, running a few feet from the momentum as he landed. Blake grunted as he hit the ground in his gear and combat boots, moving to Troy’s side. He quickly disengaged from his parachute just as they would when running an op.
Only this time they weren’t landing in enemy territory.
“That was fucking awesome as always,” Troy said with a grin. “I wouldn’t mind practicing jumps every week.”
“You need to join the damn Leap Frogs,” Blake said, referring to the Navy’s parachute team.
“Tempting,” Troy agreed with a laugh. “But then you wouldn’t get to see my pretty face every day.”
Muttering to himself, Blake shook his head. Troy was the only California native in their group, and he had the blond hair and blue eyes to go with it. He and Blake looked like total opposites, what with Blake’s dark hair and eyes. Both men were tall and broad though, with the muscular build of men who trained hard daily and pushed their physical abilities to the limits.
Blake shifted his gaze to the sky. Another SEAL on the team was about to hit the ground running. It wasn’t a bad way to end the week—no doubt they could get called on an op at any time, but at the moment, he planned to finish their training for the day and then go out carousing with his buddies for some women.
He needed a warm body to take the edge off. There was nothing sweeter than undressing a woman, exploring her curves, and then sinking into her welcoming body. And a pretty woman crying out his name never hurt his ego either.
“What took you guys so long?” Troy ribbed the next man that landed, grinning from ear to ear.
Logan “Hurricane” Hudson grunted as he hit the ground. “We let the ladies go first,” he quipped, disengaging from his parachute and jogging over to them.
Blake smirked, listening to Troy rib him some more. The men on his team were like brothers, both joking and bickering with each other in training and moving as one in battle. He was closer to them than his own family, and hell if he wouldn’t put his life on the line for any of them.
The last three men came into view, parachutes fully open as they neared the ground.
Hell if this wasn’t a damn good day.
Perfect California weather. A Friday. A weekend off.
“You fellas up for some bar hopping tonight?” Logan asked, glancing over at them before looking back at the sky.
“Hell yeah,” Troy said. “We already know we can’t hit Salty Sunset for a few days thanks to Blake’s latest one-night-stand. We might as well hit