Title: Beyond the Limit by Cindy Dees
Valkyrie Ops Series Book One
Publisher: Soucebooks Casablanca
Genre: Contemporary, Action, Adventure, Romance
Length: 384 pages
Summary:
Team Reaper has a new mission…
Train the first female SEALs
Navy SEAL Griffin Caldwell is not happy with his team’s top-secret mission, training the first female SEALs. Griffin’s determined to prove that that his trainee Sherri Tate—a former beauty queen no less—doesn’t have what it takes to join the world’s most elite warrior’s club. Until he sees what she’s capable of, and even this hard-nosed SEAL has to admit she’s tough as nails. What he won’t admit to is the attraction sizzling between them.
Navy media officer Sherri Tate is more than just a pretty face. When she’s given the opportunity to achieve her dream of becoming a SEAL, she won’t let anything stand in her way, not even her arrogant trainer, who is too sexy for words.
When a dangerous mission lands Sherri and Griffin in the cross hairs of the world’s most feared terrorist, it’s going to take everything they have to come out with their lives—and hearts—intact.
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Excerpt
I want him to kiss me…
Maybe she should kiss him.
Must. Not.
She arched into him, pressing against him as night settled gently around them.
He started this. Why shouldn’t I finish it?
Her stare locked with his as she lifted her chin the last few millimeters into kissing range. His breath mingled with hers, light and hungry.
This is a terrible, terrible idea.
But she couldn’t think of anything she would rather do in the whole wide world than be right here, right now, surrounded by this man, crushing her breasts against his chest, about to kiss him.
Her mouth opened slightly. She ran the tip of her tongue across her suddenly dry lips. Time stopped for a long moment, as she fought a losing battle against the desire raging between them.
He tilted his head down in sudden decision, his mouth capturing hers in no uncertain terms. His dynamic presence exploded around her…or maybe that was erotic attraction exploding inside her.
Their kiss was hot and wet, a carnal thing complete with tongues and sucking and groans from deep in her throat that startled the hell out of her. This was no tentative hello, no cautious introduction. This was lust and raw, raging hunger. Apparently, Griffin was as direct about his desires as he was about his opinions.
It made him even more irresistible. He saw what he wanted and went after it. No hesitation, no doubts. It was so damned alpha of him.
She crawled all over him, turned on like mad, doing her best to suck his tonsils out of his throat. His left hand slid down her spine until he gripped her behind, pulling her snug against his groin, making no secret of how turned on he was by her.
She rubbed the junction of her thighs against that promise of sweet, sweet release, relishing the zinging pleasure ripping through her. She wanted sweat and the slap of thrusting bodies, to be filled by his hot flesh, to drive him out of his mind. She actually purred a little in the back of her throat at the thought of it—
Whoa. When did she turn into a cat in heat?
Apparently, when Griffin Caldwell kissed her.
Yeah, but what a kiss.
It was sexual and frank, and frankly fantastic.
And then, just like that, he tore his mouth away from hers. Stumbled back. He jammed his hands in his pockets, and she saw through the fabric they were balled in fists. His face abruptly looked carved from stone, his eyes glacially cold.
The cool, night air swirled around her, damp and misty, chilling her to the bone.
“That’s why women can’t be in the SEALs,” he rasped.
She registered shock first.
Then disappointment.
Dismay.
Rejection.
And then came outrage, flowing fast and hot through her veins.
Had that kiss been all about humiliating her? She’d been ready to leap into bed with him, damn him!
She glared furiously at his shadowed face and said low and angry, “You think because you deign to bestow a kiss upon me, I’m going to collapse at your feet, swooning? You think because I have sexual desires I can’t be a soldier? You think because I find you moderately attractive I can’t keep my mind on the job?” Her voice rose with each question. “Just how freaking shallow do you think I am?”
His mouth clamped shut and she caught the ripple of muscles along his jaw.
“You’re the one who kissed me,” she flung at him. “How shallow does that make you?” As her fury gathered steam, she stepped forward and poked him in the chest. “I don’t think women in the SEALs are the problem, Caldwell. I think misogynistic male chauvinist pigs in the SEALs are the problem.”
“Sherri. Calm down.”
“Don’t tell me to calm down! You keep your hands, and your mouth, and…and,” she fluttered her hands at him, “all those muscles…to yourself, mister. I’m a professional soldier, and I’m here to do a job. You either get on board this train or stay out of my way. Got it?”
“No,” he ground out. “I don’t.”
She glared at him, speechless with anger.
“No matter how fancy you slice it, Sherri, no woman has what it takes to be a SEAL. You’ll never have what it takes. You have no place on the teams and never will.”
There it was. The truth had finally been spoken aloud. The SEALs didn’t want women and would do everything in their power to keep women out. And on a more personal note, he didn’t want her.
Her anger drained away as quickly as it had flared, leaving behind only a dagger of hurt buried to the hilt in her heart.
She said soberly, “What are you going to do when I prove you wrong, Griffin?”
Frustration gleamed in his gaze as clear and bright as Venus hanging low on the horizon.
She continued implacably. “The day of the female SEAL is coming—soon. If not me, then some woman a lot like me, is going to make it past all the obstacles you throw up in her path. Where will that leave you? Will you be in…or out?”
He threw up his hands and turned away from her, but she continued battering at his ramrod stiff back. “Where will that leave you, Griffin? Will you be part of the SEALs then, or will you be obsolete? Are you going to let your prejudice and archaic attitude drive you off the teams?”
He whirled around so fast she lurched back from him reflexively. “My team is my family. My life, dammit.”
He brushed past her, striding away into the darkness. She called after him as he practically ran from her, “Then you’d better get used to the idea of women. We’re coming for you. I’m coming for you, Griffin Caldwell.”
Excerpted from Beyond the Limit by Cindy Dees. © 2019 by Cindy Dees. Used with permission of the publisher, Sourcebooks Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. All rights reserved.
Author Bio
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of sixty books, 2-time RITA winner and five-time RITA finalist, Cindy Dees writes military romance and romantic suspense. A former U.S. Air Force pilot and part-time spy, she draws upon real-life experience to fuel her stories of love on the edge. She resides in eastern Texas. Cindy loves to chat with readers, and all her social media links are on her website, www.cindydees.com
Author Links: Website * Facebook * Twitter * Goodreads
Praise for Cindy Dees:
“A pulse-pounding adventure that will keep readers enthralled.”—RT Book Reviews for Hot Intent
“A well-crafted plot with plenty of action, love and danger…make this a must-read romance.”—RT Book Reviews for Undercover with a SEAL
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