Table of Contents About this Novel Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven About the Author Table of Contents SEAL’D In Deep SEAL’D In Deep Hell’s Seven MC Biker Romance Jolie Day All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the author. The characters, places, and events portrayed in this book are completely fiction and are in no way meant to represent real people or places. Warning: This story contains mature themes and language. It is intended to be enjoyed by an 18+ audience only. Copyright © Jolie Day ISBN-13: 978-1976346910 ISBN-10: 1976346916 Table of Contents About this Novel Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven About the Author About this Novel He has been through hell and back. Now she could be the one to save him. Carter They call me a hero. One of the world's toughest elite soldiers. But they didn’t warn me about the nightmares. It can be exhausting to fight a war inside your head. The Navy SEALs are giving me a second chance to go back, but only if I follow their rules. It never occurred to me that I’d find the woman of my dreams and not want to go back. But as soon as Liz literally bumps into me, I look into her soft, beautiful eyes and I know that I can’t leave. My plan has always been to remain detached, to fight for my country. But now I find myself wanting to fight for her love. Liz I’ve lived my life jumping from one place to the next, too focused on my career to settle down. But when I run into him in the coffee shop, I can’t think of anyone else. Carter is sexy, smart, and just what I’ve always dreamed of. Still, I can’t seem to shake the feeling that he is hiding something. It’s obvious he has something deep and dark in his past, something he isn’t sharing. Should I risk it all to get involved with a man who may just be my soul mate? Or should I listen to my instinct and run? If you like bad boy romance novels, then you’ll devour Jolie Day’s witty, steamy „Hell's Seven MC“ series. Start the sexy, addictive adventure today! Disclaimer: SEAL’D In Deep is a steamy standalone contemporary romance. No cliffhanger. No cheating. With a HEA. Contains mature themes and language. SEAL’D In Deep Chapter One Elizabeth Morgan had a schedule that was sometimes hard to keep up with. She awoke each morning (even Sundays) at half past five. In the summer, she watched the sun rise above the Los Angeles skyline while she stretched on her balcony, breathing in the fresh air and allowing her body to be warmed by its rays. She never spent more than five minutes doing this, however, and was out the door by 5:45, her running shoes tied tightly on her feet and music blasting in her ears as entered the elevator. Most days, she was joined by Tim, who lived in 504 and was three times her age. He was always chipper and enthusiastic for such an elderly man. He reminded her of her grandfather with his bushy eyebrows and pastel sweaters. He walked with a cane, but reminisced about the days when he might’ve joined her for her jogs. At the lobby, Liz waved goodbye to Tim, promising to pick up his usual coffee order on her way back. Every day, he told her not to waste her money on such things, but she ignored him every time. It was their dance. As soon as her feet hit the pavement, Liz felt a jolt of electricity that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up, her red ponytail bobbing as she made her way down the street, smiling at passersby on their way to work. They smiled back and some even addressed her by name, moving to the side like second nature. It felt as if the whole world had gotten used to her schedule, as Liz always had a clear path down the sidewalk; she hadn’t had this the first time she went running in L.A. When she ran, she could feel the beat of her heart in her ears, thrumming along with the music the beat of her sneakers on the sidewalk. The music kept her going, but her racing pulse was a much better motivator than any song ever could be. Music had always been the thing that kept her going, even as a kid. She used to listen to her Walkman while she studied or did her homework. When she walked home, the music that floated from her headphones filled her with electricity and had her practically dancing down the sidewalk. Sometimes, when she stopped to take a picture of the sunset or an interesting landmark, she imagined herself in a music video, as the central romantic character, and she would laugh to herself afterwards, shaking her head. She’d always been an imaginative person like that. Even somewhat goofy. Typically, Liz ran five miles before she called it quits. Sometimes, she tried to push herself an extra mile, but never more. She didn’t want to risk a sprained ankle or something worse happening to her body. She knew that she didn’t look like the stereotypical runner, what with her curves and her cleavage and the small rolls on her belly, clearly visible through her running tank. Her thighs, however, were muscular; runner’s thighs. She loved them. Loved the tightness of her calve muscles and the strength in her legs as they vibrated with energy after a long run, begging for a longer workout. She often found it hard to sit down after a long jog, which was why she preferred to run so early in the morning. It was the perfect wake up call. But, then again, so was coffee. After her run, Liz made her way to a coffee shop at the corner of her block for a latte and a scone— which she always earned, several times over—and flirted a little with the barista for a free drink upgrade and an extra shot of espresso. Typically, this meant she walked out of the shop with his number written down on the lid. She never kept it, but he never gave up. For Tim, she bought a small, plain coffee with a splash of cream and two sugars. It was a short walk to their apartment building where she, without fail, found him sitting in the gazebo in the private park attached, where a life-sized Chess board was set up. Tim always took the black pieces and left Liz with the white. After she handed him his coffee, they played for exactly one hour, rain or shine. Though, in Los Angeles, they rarely had to deal with rain. They made idle chitchat—she about her work and he about his late wife, Evelyn, who had passed away five years into their retirement from teaching. His face always lit up when he spoke about his “Evie” and their children. And grandchildren. And two great-grandchildren, that she had not even gotten to meet. It seemed that he had a new picture to show her every time they played. More often than not, Liz would leave partway through a game and Tim would shoo her away when she offered to finish it. “I know how you are about your schedule,” he would say. “Go on. It’s alright. I’ll beat you tomorrow.” “In your dreams, Tim.” As soon as she stepped through the front door, Liz would make a beeline for the bathroom, stopping for a moment to rest her hand on the photograph in the hall of her mother and father. The framing was crooked and slightly blurred, because her father had been holding the camera in his hand and had barely paid any attention to what he was doing as he kissed his wife. Her mother’s ruddy, freckled cheeks were raised as she seemed unable to stop smiling. Liz always took a moment to just stare at them; young and so, so in love. They’d never fallen out of it and she strived for that. But she always had things to do and places to be. Her shower lasted three songs, exactly. Mostly the same ones. She sang along as she scrubbed her body and shampooed her hair. When she stepped out, she quickly dried herself off and dressed for the day. There was no office to go into, but she was always out the door before nine AM, her camera hanging from her neck. Liz didn’t have a car—which was almost unheard of in Los Angeles. Everybody had cars or bikes or used car services to get from place to place. But not Liz. She had two perfectly fine feet and no destination. A big part of her schedule was walking aimlessly through the city that she loved. Despite the many tourist traps and coinciding foot traffic, she found the city mesmerizing in ways that she couldn’t begin to describe without her camera permanently affixed to her fingers. Her father had been the same way, back when they lived on the East Coast. She could remember the days she spent on his shoulders, looking out at the ocean as he took photographs of the lapping waves and lighthouses in the distance. He’d given Liz her first camera when she was barely out of diapers. But as much as Liz loved the beaches they visited all over the Coast, she very much preferred to take photographs of cities and the people that lived in them. After college, she’d traveled around the country, from city to city, taking photographs of all the different tourist traps that she’s seen so many times on the internet and in travel brochures. Those photos were all staged, though. There wasn’t a centimeter that wasn’t perfectly planned down to the amount of light in the frame. Every smile and frozen laugh was manufactured by the directors behind the lens. Small children were given treats to keep them from complaining and giving sour pusses to the camera. Nothing was genuine. Except when it came to Liz’s photographs. She loved the candidness of photography. She liked catching her subjects off-guard, when they were their realest self. She liked watching the glitter in a newcomer’s eyes as they took in an unfamiliar city, their smile wide and genuine and full of childlike wonder. She loved catching couples holding hands as they walked down a famous street, their fingers extended toward famous landmarks, their teeth shining in the bright hot yellow sun. Yet, as much as she loved to catch the expressions of the people that visited these spots, Liz always liked to wait for the rare lull in activity, when the tourist attractions were all but deserted in the middle of the day. These moments were so fleeting that she would have to keep her camera lifted for long stretches of time, watching tourists and locals bustle past each other through the lens of her camera until there was nobody there. With the way the light shifted with the time change from day to day and the way she changed her angle with every single visit, she never took the same photo twice. Even when they were taken in rapid succession. She was always able to point out the subtle differences in each developed photograph. Liz’s morning shift lasted until two in the afternoon, when she would wander to any nearby restaurant for a bite to eat. She allowed herself an hour to relax and go through any of the pictures that she’d taken up until then. Once or twice, she had stopped just to take a photograph of a nearby couple locked in an intimate moment across their table. She made sure their faces weren’t visible before she pressed the capture. After lunch, she walked around a bit more until she returned home at exactly eight PM, on the dot. There, she turned her camera off and placed it on the charger while she made dinner and answered emails from her clients. Her photographs were perpetually in demand, partly due to her father’s fame, but mostly due to her talent. She got requests for certain landmarks to put in travel brochures and offers to showcase her work at high-end galleries all over the country. Invitations to submit her work to magazines were a staple in her inbox, as were offers to come and work for private companies, taking nature photos or doing work for gossip magazines and newspapers.