Lindsay McKenna - Risk Taker

A Navy SEAL fights the most important battle of his life—love—in New York Times bestselling author Lindsay McKenna’s Shadow Warriors miniseries

In the mountains of Afghanistan, her daring rescues have made Medevac pilot Sarah Benson a legend. She loves taking her helicopter where others fear to fly—the danger, the adrenaline…and the distraction from thinking about her own hurt heart.

U.S. Navy SEAL Ethan Quinn is man enough to prize Sarah’s valor as well as her beauty. But his efforts to reach his beautiful colleague cannot pierce her armor. Can he prove that it’s possible to find love in a war zone?

Her world anchored around Ethan as his rough hand tipped her chin for better access.

She swam in the mounting fire of his mouth caressing hers, teasing her, asking her to participate and join the scorching heat growing rapidly between them. Sarah trembled violently as his tongue moved slowly across her lower lip and then invited her to respond. It was almost as if he were teaching her how a man could pleasure his woman. Her arms tightened around his shoulders, her breath becoming ragged. Ethan pulled her tightly to him, no space left between their straining bodies. She arched fully against him, wanting more, much more. His fingers trailed tiny fires down across her cheek, framing her face so that he could take her deeper. The last vestiges of her fear dissolved.

Dear Reader,

Risk Taker is about Chief Warrant Officer 4 Sarah Benson, U.S. Army. She pilots a Medevac Black Hawk helicopter and rescues wounded military men on the ground in Afghanistan. She is fierce in her commitment to these men, yet stands apart from them. When U.S. Navy SEAL Ethan Quinn steps onto the scene, Sarah’s life changes. Ethan sees beneath her mask.

Creating this two-book series (Degree of Risk to follow in March 2014 in the Mills & Boon Romantic Suspense line) has been a special joy. I couldn’t have done it without three men who were in my life almost constantly on these two books. For all things SEAL, I’m indebted to Chief Michael Jaco, U.S. Navy SEAL, retired, who helped make the heroic warriors you find in these pages as factual and real as possible.

For all things helicopter-flight related, I turned to my U.S. Air Force helicopter pilot consultant, Bill Marcontell, Captain, USAF, retired, who helped make the helo scenes accurate and breathtaking. Bill, your kindness, sense of humor and heart make it a joy to work with you.

The beautiful poetry you find in this book was written by Darius Gottlieb, poet extraordinaire. Without his generous contribution, Risk Taker wouldn’t be what it is right now—a powerfully moving love story.

I hope you enjoy reading Risk Taker as much as I did creating it. Love always finds a way….

Connect with me at www.lindsaymckenna.com.

Lindsay McKenna

Risk Taker

Lindsay McKenna

www.millsandboon.co.uk

LINDSAY McKENNA

is proud to have served her country in the U.S. Navy as an aerographer’s mate third class—also known as a weather forecaster. She was a pioneer in the military romance subgenre and loves to combine heart-pounding action with soulful and poignant romance. True to her military roots, she is the originator of the long-running and reader-favorite Morgan’s Mercenaries series. She does extensive hands-on research, including flying in aircraft such as a P3-B Orion sub-hunter and a B-52 bomber. She was the first romance writer to sign her books in the Pentagon bookstore. Today, she has created a new military romantic suspense series, Shadow Warriors, which features romantic and action-packed tales about U.S. Navy SEALs. Visit her online at

www.lindsaymckenna.com www.twitter.com/lindsaymckenna www.facebook.com/eileen.nauman

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Chief Michael Jaco, U.S. Navy SEAL, retired, thank you for all unclassified SEAL info you’ve imparted to me. The Intuitive Warrior by Michael Jaco, www.michaeljaco.com

Bill Marcontell, Captain, USAF, retired, who flew Search and Rescue helicopters for the 38th ARRS in Southeast Asia in 1966-67.

Thank you for information involving anything and everything that has to do with helicopters, their flight and their issues.

Darius Gottlieb, poet extraordinaire, who was kind enough to allow me permission to use “As Long As I Breathe, I Will Seek the Diamond of Your Heart” and “A Love Poem to Sarah by Ethan” in this novel. “Love Poems and Other Elixirs” by Darius Gottlieb, www.poetphotos.com

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

Excerpt

Chapter 1

They called her Blue Eyes.

Ethan Quinn, a Navy SEAL, turned the ice-cold beer around in his hands as he sat diagonally across the canteen from her. The place was noisy, filled with laughter and with mostly military black ops types. Some were Special Forces, Marine Force Recons, Rangers, CIA spooks, Delta Force or SEALs. There were a couple of tables of Night Stalker pilots in one corner, guzzling beer down like it was their last day on earth. A group of women Apache pilots from the Black Jaguar Squadron at FOB Bravo had a table off in another dark corner. They were drinking beer and chatting among themselves, ignoring the testosterone at the bar looking longingly in their direction.

Ethan had been warned by his SEAL buddies from the platoon stationed at the forward operating base that Blue Eyes shot down every red-blooded American male who tried to sit at her table. Hell, he couldn’t blame any of them for trying. She wasn’t what Ethan would call model beautiful. No, but she had a square face with wide cheekbones, a sinner’s mouth that would beckon to any man and those incredibly beautiful, large blue eyes. He liked the way her shining black hair lay around her shoulders, somewhat mussed, not perfect, but perfect for her.

It didn’t hurt that Blue Eyes was about five feet nine inches tall and curvy as hell. They said she was always in her Army flight uniform, a drab green, when she came in off a medevac mission and ordered a beer. She always sat at the same small wooden table near a wall, where the light wasn’t so bright. Where she could hide? Ethan wondered.

Someone else had told him over at the SEALs HQ that Blue Eyes was single. How they knew that, Ethan couldn’t fathom. No one in the military wore rings on their fingers since it was against the rules. A ring could cause you to lose a finger under the right circumstances. He snorted softly to himself as he lifted the beer to his lips and drank deeply of the cold, bubbling liquid.

Some sex-starved jerk must have spread the word that she was single because he’d wanted her to be single. Not that Ethan knew anything one way or another about her. Base gossip had buzzed among the competitive Delta Force operators. They were betting which one of them would get to her first. Ethan had declined to join the bet. Women weren’t pieces of meat to be sold to the highest bidder.

He felt sorry for her, being the center of so much male attention and curiosity. How would he feel under a constant spotlight like that? Blue Eyes often sat with the Black Jaguar Squadron women pilots, but not today. The women, he’d found, usually stuck together, such a small percentage versus the thousand men who worked at Camp Bravo. Talk had spread that when Blue Eyes had bad missions, she sat by herself, wanting to be left alone.