Pierce’s family, Jenny, Ray and his family, and Xavier and Robyn in attendance. After a one-week honeymoon to Lana’i, we’d returned to Camp Pendleton.
Selena had told Dima that she didn’t want to compete in Blackpool with him. She also told him that she thought what had happened in that hotel room ten years ago was rape. Though she didn’t press charges, she did tell Benny, who had Dima kicked off the show.
After our initial fight, I had not brought it up again. Selena had come to this decision on her own. And I was damn proud of her.
The irony of it all was now Dima’s career in the dance world was over. And Selena’s was just beginning.
Selena kept her Hollywood Hills home, and we’d also taken married housing on base. Now Selena taught at a local dance studio, even as she choreographed Xavier’s new tour and this new season of Dancing Under the Stars.
A week before I had been deployed, we’d found out that Selena was pregnant. My deployment would only be five months, so I’d be back in time for the birth.
I rubbed my titanium wedding band. Though I wished I could be with her, I was happy to be serving alongside my men, even if it would be my final tour. Selena would be waiting for me when I returned, and I was going to be a father.
I had everything I’d ever wanted.
And so did Selena—I had agreed once my enlistment was up that I would compete with her. Sure, I wanted to make her happy, but I had also realized how much I loved dancing. So I was doing it for me as well.
I reached out and flipped the channel. “Enough samba for one day. Time for some UFC.”
Thank you for reading The Swan and The Sergeant!
I hope you loved Bret & Selena.
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Catch up with them and meet their friends, Dax & Mirasol in The Angel & The Rockstar—A Navy SEAL Rumpelstiltskin Retelling!
Turn the page for an excerpt from
The Angel and The Rockstar
Or read about Bret’s Marine buddy Grady who also falls in love with a ballroom dancer.
But without her love, I’m not a man—I’ll remain forever a beast.
The Beauty and The Beast
Available now: Book 1 in the Heroes Ever After Series
ONE CLICK The Beauty and The Beast now!
XOXO
Alana
The Angel & The Rockstar
Dax
I jerked back my head, flinging my blond hair off my face, the sweat dripping down my bare chest. My fingers remained glued to the strings, strumming the final riffs of our rock ballad. Ten thousand rabid fans mouthed the lyrics—the stadium glowed from the synchronized cigarette lighters, the night air pungent with drug fumes. A half naked girl surfed the crowd, minions throwing her on stage, as if they were offering a sacrifice, kneeling at the altar of their rock god—me. What an incredible night. I better fucking enjoy it—because tonight would be my last show, the last time I would make love to this guitar, the last time I would sing our songs. Tonight would be the night my chords would go silent.
But fuck it, tonight wasn’t over yet. I was going to live it up. Fuck the finest woman in the audience, get completely wasted, maybe even trash a hotel room. My backstabbing band mates—guys I’d known since we were cub scouts—could go fuck themselves. I’d practiced in my parents’ garage with these two-timing sons of bitches since before we reached puberty. We’d broken every barrier in the industry, brought heavy metal music back from obscurity, bridged the gap between rock star and celebrity.
I scanned the crowd, looking for my victim. Usual suspects milled in the crowd—bleached blonde bimbos, marked metal maidens, slutty sorority sisters. But for my last night as a rock star, I wanted someone innocent. Not a virgin, fuck no, I wanted some girl to ride me like a Harley. But I wanted a good girl, a girl who didn’t sleep around, a girl who would never dare indulge in her rock star fantasy. A girl who would remember me forever.
What people didn’t get about rockstars was that everything was handed to us. Yes men surrounded me, my every whim catered to. I wanted a challenge. For once in my life, I wanted to have to work for something.
My drummer Callan battled the bass drum, and my throat tightened. This was it. My final note. I plucked the last string, the sound soaring in my ears.