Lindsay McKenna - Never Surrender

From Shadow Warrior…to hostage

Despite her sweet nature, Navy medic Bay Thorn’s will is unbreakable. It has earned her not only the respect of her team, but also the love of Navy SEAL Gabe Griffin. And as soon as she wraps up the final six months of Operation Shadow Warriors in Afghanistan, she’ll have her happily ever after….

Until her deployment goes horribly wrong.

Bay’s medical expertise is needed by the Taliban, and she is taken hostage. Her captor is ruthless and cruel, and Bay isn’t exempt from his evil intents. All that’s left now is her resolve and the too-distant memory of Gabe—her last and only hope for rescue. And to pull Bay from hell, this SEAL will have to break every rule in the book. But will Gabe find the woman he loves…or a woman broken beyond recognition?

Praise for

LINDSAY McKENNA

“A treasure of a book…highly recommended reading that everyone will enjoy and learn from.”

—Chief Michael Jaco, U.S. Navy SEAL, retired, on Breaking Point

“McKenna’s latest is an intriguing tale…a unique twist on the romance novel, and one that’s sure to please.”

—RT Book Reviews on Dangerous Prey

“Riveting.”

—RT Book Reviews on The Quest

“An absorbing debut for the Nocturne line.”

—RT Book Reviews on Unforgiven

“Gunfire, emotions, suspense, tension and sexuality abound in this fast-paced, absorbing novel.”

—Affaire de Coeur on Wild Woman

“Another masterpiece.”

—Affaire de Coeur on Enemy Mine

“Emotionally charged…riveting and deeply touching.”

—RT Book Reviews on Firstborn

“Ms. McKenna brings readers along for a fabulous odyssey in which complex characters experience the danger, passion and beauty of the mystical jungle.”

—RT Book Reviews on Man of Passion

“Talented Lindsay McKenna delivers excitement and romance in equal measure.”

—RT Book Reviews on Protecting His Own

“Lindsay McKenna will have you flying with the daring and deadly women pilots who risk their lives.…Buckle in for the ride of your life.”

—Writers Unlimited on Heart of Stone

Never Surrender

Lindsay McKenna

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Dear Reader Contents Dear Reader CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN CHAPTER TWELVE CHAPTER THIRTEEN CHAPTER FOURTEEN CHAPTER FIFTEEN CHAPTER SIXTEEN CHAPTER SEVENTEEN CHAPTER EIGHTEEN CHAPTER NINETEEN CHAPTER TWENTY CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN ,

Never Surrender is one of the most powerful books I’ve written. The last one in this vein was Morgan’s Wife, a Morgan’s Mercenaries saga novel about Laura Trayhern.

With our women having been in combat for well over ten years, on a shifting “front line” that no longer exists in today’s wars, we have lost 150 of our military women. Most people don’t know that, but as a veteran myself, I stay up on our women who volunteer and sacrifice for their country right alongside the men. All of them are heroes and heroines in my eyes and heart.

This is the sequel to Breaking Point (MILLS & BOON HQN, May 2014), and part of the Shadow Warriors series, where men and women are in combat side by side. You met Gabe Griffin, U.S. Navy SEAL, and Baylee Ann Thorn, U.S. Navy corpsman.

You followed their progress within Gabe’s SEAL platoon, stationed at Camp Bravo in Afghanistan. I wanted to explore some of the possible issues that would automatically occur when a lone woman is ushered into an all-male SEAL team. To say the least, Bay was not welcomed, but she was assigned a mentor, Gabe Griffin, and he helped her seed into the platoon over time.

The love that blossomed between Gabe and Bay was powerful. Breaking Point has that title for good reason. These characters impacted me more than most I’ve written about. I rarely write sequels and do it only when they grab me by the heart and I just simply cannot part with them. I want to know the “rest of their story” and end up penning a second book about their ongoing lives and love with one another.

Never Surrender is gritty, edgy and an intensely powerful story about love transcending trauma. And it is love that gets us through everything in our lives, whether the issue facing us is large or small. I don’t know how many times, while at the computer keyboard, that I cried while writing this book. I’m a sop anyway, and it’s not unusual, because in order to write at the emotional depth that I do, I have to feel the same emotions my characters do.

In the end, this book is about the incredible power of love to meet any adversity, the love between a man and a woman. And love is the greatest healing emotion we have in our world.

Warmly,

Lindsay McKenna

www.LindsayMcKenna.com

To our military women who are in combat around the world. Thank you for your service, courage, honor and your sacrifice for all of us. Being a warrior is in the heart and spirit of the person. Love of our country, wanting to fight for it, being a patriot has no gender. Hooyah.

Contents

Dear Reader

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

CHAPTER ONE

WAS HE TOO LATE? Navy SEAL Chief Gabe Griffin jogged through Lindbergh International Airport in San Diego, California. He was hurrying to meet his fiancée, Baylee-Ann Thorn, who was supposed to have just landed. Dressed in his desert cammies, dirty and sweaty, he’d just barely made it onto a Black Hawk helicopter to catch a lift directly to the airport. His platoon, part of SEAL Team 3, had been up in the scrub brush of southern California mountains undergoing compass and map training. Lucky for him, Chief Doug Hampton had given him the next seven days off.

Focused and weaving through the crowds, he took the escalator two steps at a time, barely breathing hard. He knew people, civilians, were looking at him, startled as he swiftly and silently moved past them. As a SEAL, he prided himself on the fact that no one, especially not his enemy, would ever hear him coming until it was too late.

His green eyes narrowed as he hit the top of the escalator. He knew which security area Bay would be coming out of, and he slowed his pace, circling to the left of the security departure exit. This was the same one he’d met her at six months earlier when she was coming out of Afghanistan. Bay had been in a firefight three days earlier, taken a bullet to her Kevlar vest and had been injured. As he thought back to last Christmas, he remembered how the airport had been flooded with holiday travelers. Gabe had found an empty wall near the outlet where all departing passengers would walk past. He chose the same spot once again.