SEAL’s Embrace
AN ALPHA SEALS CORONADO NOVEL
Makenna Jameison
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2020 by Makenna Jameison.
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
Table of Contents
About this Book
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 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Epilogue
Books by Makenna Jameison
About the Author
About this Book
He’s rescued people all over the world…but she’s the only one he can’t forget.
Department of Defense admin Hailey Fletcher never expects a suicide bomber at Bagram Airfield to cut her year-long assignment short. Nor does she expect a muscular Navy SEAL to come to her rescue. Her skin heats at his gentle touch, but it’s the smoldering way he looks at her that sends shivers racing down her spine.
Navy SEAL Grayson “Ghost” Douglass has rescued his fair share of civilians over the years, but the auburn-haired woman with piercing green eyes is the only one he can’t get out of his head. Weeks pass, and he reconnects with her in San Diego, knowing he must see if the sparks and chemistry between them can turn into something real.
Neither of them expects danger to have followed them home from Afghanistan—but the traitor from base behind the bombing knows Hailey can identify him, and he’ll stop at nothing to silence her forever.
Grayson won’t rest until he finds the man after her and until he convinces Hailey to be his once and for all.
SEAL’s Embrace, a standalone novel, is book two in the sizzling Alpha SEALs Coronado series.
Chapter 1
Grayson “Ghost” Douglass jumped out of the Humvee and crossed Bagram Airfield, the dust from the Afghani desert kicking up around his combat boots. He swiped the sweat off his forehead, feeling every bit of the 103-degree heat.
“What do you think?” Ethan “Everglades” Flannigan asked, taking a swig of water from his canteen and swinging his rucksack onto his back. The men were decked out in their desert camo fatigues, Kevlar vests and helmets on, rucksacks full as they returned from their reconnaissance mission. They’d landed at the airfield earlier that day and had almost immediately headed out to survey the area after checking in.
“It doesn’t look good,” Grayson said. “We’ll have to go door-to-door looking for him if he’s holed up in that village. Let’s see if Raptor and the others noticed anything on the ride back.”
“Fucking hell,” Ethan muttered. “This asshole is in the wind.”
“Yep. The timing is shit. We flew halfway around the world only to have him disappear within hours of our arrival.”
“Someone could’ve tipped him off.”
“It’s possible. These guys move around a lot though. It looks like we just missed him based on the abandoned camp near that cave. They’re constantly trying to stay one step ahead of the U.S. forces.”
“And they’ve succeeded so far. That’s why we were brought in. You think the villagers will keep quiet if he’s really hiding out there?”
Grayson lifted a shoulder. “Maybe. Maybe not. But everyone’s got a price.”
He frowned, the image of Abdul Sayed flashing through his mind. Wanted for a recent plot that had killed seven servicemen, he was also head of a newly formed ISIS cell in the area. Bringing him down would cripple the new faction. If they could fucking find him.
The other four men on their Navy SEAL team were coming up behind them, sucking down energy gel packs and chugging water from their canteens. The heat out here was brutal, and after several hours of recon to learn the lay of the land, and discovering the abandoned camp, they weren’t a hell of a lot better off than when they’d arrived.
“Let’s debrief and then hit the chow hall,” Blake “Raptor” Reynolds, their SEAL team leader said. “General Murphy is waiting on our update. Our bags should’ve been sent to the barracks after we landed. It sounds like we’ll be here longer than we thought.”
“Too bad we don’t have a damn lot to tell the general,” Troy “T-Rex” Harrison said. “Rather than confirming the location of Sayed and updating him on our pending op, he’s gone.”
“Hell. I’m hoping the general will have an update for us,” Blake ground out.
Grayson caught his eye. “Did you guys notice anything on the ride back?”
“Negative,” Blake said. “I wish like hell we had. Not even the villagers we passed looked suspicious. He could’ve ducked out before we even got here. Then the rest of the camp quickly packed up today.”
“Fucking hell. So much for moving in tonight and grabbing him.”
“It’s clear that the camp was recently abandoned.” Blake continued. “The ashes from the fire were still warm. That makes me wonder if they knew we were coming.”
“A mole?” Grayson asked, doubtfully. “We just landed hours ago. And most people would’ve assumed we were regular Navy arriving at Bagram, not Special Forces. If Sayed moved out earlier today, either by coincidence or after being tipped off by an informant, we should be able to find him.”
“Agreed,” Blake said. “He’s close by. We’ll go through that whole fucking village if we have to. His goal has been to harm U.S. servicemembers. I don’t think he’d go far.”
They walked into the building where the general’s office was housed on base, nodding at a secretary sitting there. The office was staffed with military personnel, civilian DOD employees, and government contractors. The woman at the front desk flushed slightly, looking at the SEALs, and Grayson did a double-take, meeting her gaze.
She was gorgeous, with long auburn hair, full lips, and fair skin. It was those green eyes that did him in though. They widened in surprise at seeing the six huge men on his team walking in and then shyly looked down after he’d exchanged a glance with her.
“Ma’am,” Blake said, leading the rest of the team past her.
She looked up from her work again, avoiding Grayson’s gaze. His lips quirked. It’s not like she could go unnoticed sitting right there in the front. And he sure the hell had noticed her. He was dirty and sweaty and still wearing his combat gear, but damn. The way she’d flushed was appealing as hell. And there wasn’t much he could do about his appearance at the moment. If the general wanted to meet with them immediately, that’s damn well what they’d do.
She hadn’t seemed put off in the least by six men in full gear coming in. Hell. She worked in the general’s building. She probably saw a steady stream of military men and women come through here. At the last second, she looked up at him again, and he smiled as her cheeks pinkened. He nodded but continued after his teammates. It’s not like he could stop and flirt when they were here on official business. He hadn’t arrived in Bagram to pick up women. He was in the middle of a mission.
Grayson and his teammates stashed their rucksacks in an empty office before their debrief with General Murphy. They saluted him as soon as they entered, and then stood around the ro
om as he sat down behind his desk. “I’ve just been briefed on Sayed’s sudden disappearance today. To put it bluntly, this isn’t good.” the general said.
“Negative, sir,” Blake said. “The camp was very recently abandoned. The ashes in the fire were still hot. Our mission was to move in to the camp tonight, but with them already gone, my team and I would like to go door to door searching the village.”
“What makes you think he’s not long gone by now? Evidence suggests if they abandoned the camp that quickly, they could’ve known you were coming.”
“Their goal has been to harm Americans. We don’t believe he’s moved far from Bagram, sir.”
“Do you have intelligence indicating such?”
“We’ve seen the same reports you have, sir,” Grayson said. “The seven servicemembers who were kidnapped and killed were on patrol not far from base. The recent suicide bombings also were intended for the airfield—they just couldn’t get close enough to do damage and blew themselves up instead.”
“Yes. We’ve increased the perimeter our patrols use and ramped up the checkpoints.”
“I think he knew we were coming,” Blake said.
The general nodded. “The timing is no coincidence. The day a Navy SEAL team arrives in country, ready to move in that night, he disappears? I don’t fucking buy it.”
“So there’s an informant. A mole on base.”
“It’s a possibility,” the general said with a frown. “One that I’ll have to further investigate. The mission was highly classified. Only a handful of people are aware of your arrival. Even the men who drove you today weren’t fully briefed on why you were here.”
“They thought we were simply getting the lay of the land,” Ethan agreed. “They didn’t know we were SEALs.”
Blake eyed the general. “The most logical place for him to move, and to maintain control of the area and insurgents near here, is the village.”
“That hasn’t been his modus operandi so far. They’ve been hiding in caves up in the mountains.”
“Yet they’ve been moving closer,” Blake countered. “He doesn’t want to be far away—he wants to see the destruction. We’re requesting permission to search the village and bring him in.”
The general nodded. “Have your team ready to move in tomorrow at oh five hundred. I’ll send two Army Ranger platoons in with you to secure the area. This operation is bigger than your team’s original mission to infiltrate the camp and eliminate the target. There are women and children down there. Innocents.”
“Understood,” Blake said.
“I know you just got in today. Grab some food and get some rest since your original op has changed. You’ll move in at dawn. Dismissed.”
The six SEALs filed out of the office, grabbing their rucksacks before exiting the building. Grayson glanced at the desk where the secretary had been sitting earlier and frowned to see that she wasn’t there. Not that anything could’ve happened while he was here for a short time in Afghanistan on official business, but he wouldn’t have minded finding out her name. He couldn’t tell her that he was a Navy SEAL, obviously, but he’d hoped to at least exchange a pleasantry or two. She’d seemed slightly out of place compared to the other no-nonsense military types around here. A breath of fresh air. He chuckled quietly to himself. Since when was he a fucking poet? The last woman he’d casually dated had been a sexy waitress he met at a country bar. She’d loved to wear short skirts and flirt with all the sailors that came in.
This woman was as opposite from her as could be. She’d seemed shy. And while women working here obviously didn’t wear the sexy clothes the waitresses had, he couldn’t imagine her in that type of outfit anyway. She’d flushed too much to be the type of woman to flaunt her body in that way.
Grayson didn’t have time to meet a beautiful woman on an op though. He was here with his team and had planned to be gone within a matter of days. It’s not like he was a deployed sailor, here for six months or more. The enemy up and leaving had proved their original mission would take longer than planned, but damn. He’d be flying home to San Diego before he knew it.
Grayson had work to do, and he couldn’t let his interest in a random woman get in the way of his mission.
Thirty minutes later, the guys were crossing base to the cafeteria. The team had MREs stashed with their supplies, but since they were now free at dinner time because they weren’t immediately moving in, they’d damn well enjoy it.
They’d reconvene later to go over the specs of the village and detailed plans for tomorrow. But for now? They’d enjoy a hot meal while they had the luxury. There was no telling what the rest of the week had in store for them, or if they’d end up chasing that asshole Sayed up into the mountains after all.
“Hell,” Jackson “K-Bar” Clinefield said. “It’s been a while since we’ve hit a chow hall while on an op.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Ethan said. “But it’s gotta be better than those damn MREs. I’ll take what I can get.”
Blake chuckled. “Clarissa was sad when I left, and I offered to leave a few MREs behind at the house to remind her of me.”
“I’m sure that went well,” Troy quipped.
“Nope. But no worries, I had time for a proper goodbye. I left her plenty to remember me by—not that she’d exactly forget.”
Grayson smirked. “Hell, the first time I came home to Shawna after an op, we went at it all night. It was hotter than hell. Of course, that relationship pretty much fizzled out within the week though. She liked the idea of bedding a Navy SEAL, just not actually dating one.”
“Her loss,” Blake said.
“Yeah, well, we all know that wasn’t ever going to be something long term. It probably would’ve only been the one weekend if we hadn’t been sent to Colombia.”
Blake frowned. The men had deployed on a mission earlier that summer to bring in a terrorist who’d recently set up shop near Bogota. They’d found Blake’s now-girlfriend, Clarissa, being held hostage in the middle of the damn camp. None of them had known she was there, and if Blake hadn’t searched the tent she’d been in, she might never have escaped.
Their relationship had been fast, and she was now living with him for the summer. It was surprising to see his SEAL team leader so hung up on a woman, but Grayson knew they were good for each other. He couldn’t fault his buddy for finally finding “the one” after years of dating random women. Not when he could see that Raptor was now happier than hell.
The rest of them were still single as ever though, but after his latest fling with Shawna, Grayson wasn’t so sure he was ready to continue with that. Blake and Clarissa were perfect together. He was protective and possessive toward her, but she grounded him in some ways, too. Grayson wouldn’t mind having a woman to come home to. Having Shawna waiting for him last time was hot. If he found a woman he could be that passionate about forever?
Damn.
Consider him signed up.
As he’d grown older, he’d finally begun to see what he was missing out on. The Navy and his career and country had come first all these years, but Grayson wouldn’t be a SEAL forever. He’d probably become an instructor or possibly even command teams from base.
Maybe he hadn’t wanted a serious relationship or family when he was younger, but now?
He shook his head. It was crazy to even be thinking things like that while here on an op.
The men moved into the cafeteria, lining up behind other military members. It was loud inside, with full tables and the scent of cafeteria food filling the air. It wasn’t exactly five-star dining, but the food would still be better than what they’d packed for themselves. There was nothing wrong with grabbing a hot meal while they could.
Jackson took a tray and got in line first, not saying a word as he stood behind a few women. They looked nervously at him, and Grayson knew Jackson’s intimidating size probably scared them off. While the other guys were joking around, he was always content to stand back and listen. Observe. And his intens
ity had been known to intimidate more than a few people over the years.
“Hell, I might just enjoy this longer mission,” Logan “Hurricane” Hudson said, glancing over at a table of laughing women. “I know Raptor met a girl on our last op, but hell. I could go for that, too.”
Troy chuckled. “We all know none of us are getting any action while here in an official capacity.”
Logan shrugged. “They’ll come back to the States eventually. I’m sure someone here’s gotta be based out of San Diego.”
“You’ve got a one-track mind, Hurricane,” Ethan joked.
“For women? Absolutely.”
Someone coughed quietly behind them, and Grayson almost did a double-take, spotting the auburn-haired women from earlier standing behind Blake. She hadn’t appeared to notice him ahead of her yet, no doubt because she was shorter than every man on his team. Making a quick decision, he abandoned his spot in line and moved behind her.
Blake eyed him, smirking, knowing exactly why he’d changed places.
“So what’s good here?” Grayson asked her.
She looked up at him, startled.
“Come on, help a guy out,” he teased. “If I pick the wrong thing and its horrible, I might get stuck eating an MRE later on. I don’t know if you’ve tried them, but those things are God awful.”
The other guys turned to watch their conversation, Troy chuckling quietly. Ethan elbowed him in the ribs. “Let the man work.”
She flushed, seeming to realize all the attention was on her. “Just ignore them,” Grayson said. “We may work together, but they’re more like an annoying group of brothers I always have around.”
“Ouch,” Ethan said. “I just stuck up for you.”
“I’m Grayson,” he said, holding out a hand to the woman.
Flustered, she held out her hand and shook his. “Hailey,” she said.
He took her slender hand in his own, loving the way his much larger hand engulfed hers. It was weird, but he instantly felt protective toward her. His SEAL team was hovering behind her, standing in line, and he realized how much smaller she was than most of the people in here.
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