Born To Protect. Virginia Kantra
FIRSTBORN SONS
PROFILE
| FIRSTBORN SON: | Jack “Flash” Dalton |
| AGE: | 32 |
| STATS: | 6'2"; short, dark hair; slate-blue eyes; lean and hard |
| OCCUPATION: | Former U.S. Navy Seal |
| AREA OF EXPERTISE: | Surveillance photography; hand-to-hand combat |
| PERSONALITY: | A battered knight with rusty manners |
| FAVORITE SPORT: | Exploring underwater wrecks |
| MOST CHARMING CHARACTERISTIC: | The ability to give any mission—or woman—his full attention |
| BRAVEST ACT OF COURAGE: | He and his team did six courageous things every morning before breakfast. But the toughest thing he ever had to do was walk away from his job. |
| PREFERRED ROMANTIC SETTING: | A cold beer in a warm bar always suited him just fine. So why do moonlit nights on a Montana mountain suddenly have so much appeal? |
| GREATEST PASSION: | Making the ice princess lose her cool… |
Dear Reader,
There’s so much great reading in store for you this month that it’s hard to know where to begin, but I’ll start with bestselling author and reader favorite Fiona Brand. She’s back with another of her irresistible Alpha heroes in Marrying McCabe. There’s something about those Aussie men that a reader just can’t resist—and heroine Roma Lombard is in the same boat when she meets Ben McCabe. He’s got trouble—and passion—written all over him.
Our FIRSTBORN SONS continuity continues with Born To Protect, by Virginia Kantra. Follow ex-Navy SEAL Jack Dalton to Montana, where his princess (and I mean that literally) awaits. A new book by Ingrid Weaver is always a treat, so save some reading time for Fugitive Hearts, a perfect mix of suspense and romance. Round out the month with new novels by Linda Castillo, who offers A Hero To Hold (and trust me, you’ll definitely want to hold this guy!); Barbara Ankrum, who proves the truth of her title, This Perfect Stranger; and Vickie Taylor, with The Renegade Steals a Lady (and also, I promise, your heart).
And if that weren’t enough excitement for one month, don’t forget to enter our Silhouette Makes You a Star contest. Details are in every book.
Enjoy!
Leslie J. Wainger
Executive Senior Editor
Born to Protect
Virginia Kantra
Bound by the legacy of their fathers, six Firstborn Sons are about to discover the stuff true heroes—and true love—are made of.…
Jack Dalton: He takes his job of protecting pampered princess Christina Sebastiani very seriously. But nothing in the rule book prepared this battered warrior on the proper code of conduct to follow when the headstrong virgin tempted him at every turn!
Princess Christina Sebastiani: The last thing she needed was a well-muscled bodyguard with a take-charge attitude distracting her from her research. Especially a sexy ex-navy SEAL who awakened her every feminine desire…
Major Jonathan Dalton: The natural leader of the “Noble Men,” he has a secret agenda when it comes to his disillusioned son.
Princess Julia Sebastiani: Although she is tucked away in an ivory tower in Montebello, Julia and her unborn child could be in grave danger.…
Sheik Ahmed Kamal: He swears that he is innocent of the crimes against the royal Sebastiani clan. So if Kamal’s to be believed, who is responsible for these cold-blooded acts of terrorism?
A note from award-winning writer Virginia Kantra, author of six Silhouette books:
Dear Reader,
Once upon a time…
The first story I wrote—I was nine, I think—began that way. The first stories I loved, about brave warriors and proud princesses and unexpected danger, all did, too. So when I got the call from Silhouette to write my very own fairy tale, in Intimate Moments’ FIRSTBORN SONS continuity series, I jumped at the chance.
Being invited to participate in a series that features some of my favorite authors was another big plus. It’s been a joy coordinating stories and bad guys with them.
This story was meaningful to me in other ways, too. Fathers and sons fascinate me. I have two wonderful sons of my own, themes and variations of their father. And my husband, like the hero of this book, is a firstborn son whose father served in Vietnam.
Of course, my warrior is the modern sort—a U.S. Navy SEAL. And my princess is a microbiologist—or, as she would be quick to correct you, a microbial ecologist—at Montana University. But the themes of love and honor and courage and characters who aren’t quite what they appear to be are timeless.
I hope you enjoy this story of a princess who learns her own worth and a battered warrior who discovers the magic power of love.
Love,
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 1
Jack Dalton hitched his seabag up on his shoulder. His uninjured shoulder, the one that wouldn’t let him down. On the elevator door in front of him, some college banana with more sense of humor than respect for university property had slapped a bumper sticker: Montana, the Last, Best Place…to Hide.
Jack’s mouth quirked. Funny. And fitting. Not that Jack was hiding, whatever the old man accused him of. Drifting, maybe, but not hiding.
He prowled toward the stairs. The habits of physical conditioning were hard to break. And even the navy docs admitted there was nothing wrong with his legs. He could still climb to the lab before the elevator descended to the science building lobby. He could still run six miles in thirty-nine minutes or less. He could still stand for three hours in fifty-degree seawater without dropping or complaining.
What he couldn’t do anymore was swim.
What he couldn’t be anymore was a U.S. Navy SEAL.
Life was a bitch sometimes.
The ugly concrete stairwell caught every echo and threw it up and down. There was access onto each floor, through the basement