Saturday, 9 September 2017

Protecting Dakota - Susan Stoker - Excerpt Reveal

Susan Stoker
Protecting Dakota
Sleeper SEALs Book 1
Release Date September 05, 2017




 
The Sleeper SEALs, are former U.S. Navy SEALs recruited by a new CIA counter-terror division to handle solo dark ops missions to combat terrorism on U.S. soil.
Dakota James's life has become the stuff of nightmares. The leader of the Ansar al-Shari'a terrorist group has become obsessed with her, determined to take her as his wife. On the run, she'll have to pin her hopes on the retired SEAL charged with finding and stopping Aziz Fourati before he can carry out plans to bomb more US airports.

Recently recruited to join a sleeper SEAL team tasked with fighting terrorism on US soil, Slade "Cutter" Cutsinger, with the help of some Special Forces friends, has located the one woman who can identify the deadly Ansar al-Shari'a leader. That was the easy part. Keeping her safe proves more difficult than anyone ever imagined.

When she and her new friend, Caroline, are kidnapped by the terrorist group, Dakota can only pray Cutter and the SEALs will reach them before they're taken out of the country--and away from Cutter forever.

** Protecting Dakota is a part of the SEAL of Protection Series. It is also in the "Sleeper SEAL" connected series. Each book is a stand-alone, with no cliffhanger endings.
Each book in this multi-author branded series is a standalone novel, and the series does not have to be read in order.





Dakota heard Slade before she saw him. She had stuffed herself as far under the rusted-out old truck as she could and hoped she couldn’t be seen from the other side.
Her heart was beating wildly and she had to constantly force herself to stay where she was and not peek around the truck to look for Slade. He said he’d come and get her, so she had to stay in place until he did.
The morning had been intense, there was no doubt about that. But whatever weird connection she felt for Slade was obviously returned. She’d never felt as strongly about a man as she did him. She’d been scared for so long, it felt good to have someone care whether or not she lived or died.
Besides the physical attraction she and Slade had for each other, there was something more. Something almost divine. It was if her soul recognized him from the second their eyes met.
Dakota was a romantic. She knew it and didn’t try to hide it. She read romances, watched sappy movies, and cried at the end of Cinderella every time. But she hadn’t ever had that ah-ha moment she’d always felt so sure she’d experience when she met the man destined to be hers. At forty-three, she figured she never would. She’d been to sixty-seven weddings in her lifetime. Sixty-freaking-seven. When teachers in her school got married, they’d inevitably invite her and she’d go. To every one. And each time, it felt more and more like a stake in the heart as she watched her friends and colleagues tie themselves to their soul mates. Knowing she’d probably never have that, hurt.
But now here she was. On the run from a terrorist who wanted to make her his love slave, in danger, not knowing what her future would bring, and it had finally happened. Slade Cutsinger had walked through the door last night and she’d known he was hers with one glance.
The amazing thing was that apparently, he felt the same. But he was in danger while she hid like a coward. Suddenly staying put didn’t seem like the best plan after all.
She sat up and began to brush off the sand from her legs, determined to do more than hide like a coward, when she heard a loud engine approaching.
Dakota held her breath and sighed in relief when Slade pulled up next to her on his Harley.
“Climb on, sweetheart. No time for a helmet right now. We’ll stop in a few and get you all set. That’s it, put your left foot there on the peg and swing your right leg around. Good. Watch the engine, it gets hot, don’t let your calf touch it. It’ll burn the shit out of your leg. Hold on. No…hold on. Good. Here we go.”
And with that short intro to riding a motorcycle, he gunned the engine, sand spewed behind the tire, and they fishtailed for a few yards before Slade gained control of the huge machine between his legs and they shot forward.
Dakota squeezed her eyes shut and held on to Slade for dear life. She guessed that her fingers were probably white with the pressure she was exerting on his belly. Her chest was flush against his back and the wind blew her hair crazily around her head. The bun she’d put her hair in after her shower was quickly torn out as they raced down the road at what seemed like an insane speed.
She kept her eyes closed as Slade raced away from Rachel. Dakota had no idea which direction they were even going, but at the moment it didn’t matter. Slade would take care of her…she had no doubt.




New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author, Susan Stoker has a heart as big as the state of Texas where she lives, but this all-American girl has also spent the last fourteen years living in Missouri, California, Colorado, and Indiana. She's married to a retired Army man who now gets to follow her around the country.
She debuted her first series in 2014 and quickly followed that up with the SEAL of Protection Series, which solidified her love of writing and creating stories readers can get lost in.