PROTECTING THE FUTURE is
the last book in the SEAL of Protection
Series. I’ve had many people ask me why I’m ending the series when it’s
been so popular. For one thing I never intended the series to be thirty books
long. I think I, and the readers too, would get bored. I also don’t want to be
pigeon-holed into being a writer who only writes “SEAL” books.
“But Susan, the series is popular, you’re crazy to end it when everyone loves
it!”
Maybe, but I’m hoping my readers will read my other books as well. Heck, I’m
addicted to the “damsel in distress” trope and even though Cookie and Benny and
the others won’t have books about them anymore, my Heroes will always have
someone to rescue (and need to be rescued in their own way right back).
“Maybe you can write about their KIDS!”
Nope. I don’t particularly like writing (or reading) about the kids of my Heroes
and heroines, because that means that those Heroes and heroines will get
OLD….gasp! Can’t have that! I want them to live on in my mind exactly the same
age they are on the pages of the books.
“But I’m gonna MISS those SEALs!”
Honestly? Me too. BUT, they will continue to make cameos in my other books.
Heck, Tex? He’s in everything! You’ll see Mozart and Summer in an upcoming
book…and the others will make appearances too.
It’s about keeping the story lines fresh and exciting, and I never want a reader
to think to themselves, after the 30th SEAL book, “I’ve read this
before” or “This sounds exactly like Protecting Alabama” or whatever.
Caroline lay in bed with one arm slung over her husband’s chest and idly ran her
fingers over his nipple. They were both content and sated after making love for
the second time that night.
“Do you think they’ll ever find her?”
“Who, darlin’?”
“Penelope. That woman who was kidnapped in the Middle East.”
Matthew “Wolf” Steel shifted under his wife and kissed her forehead lightly.
“Probably not.” He felt Caroline sigh as she turned her head into his chest and
nuzzled farther into him.
“I can’t help but imagine myself in her place,” Caroline said sadly.
“Ice, I can’t—”
“No, I know. It’s not the same thing really at all, but every time they’ve shown
that video of her and how she’s probably being forced to say all those horrible
things, all I can think of is that her tone doesn’t match the look in her eyes.”
“What do you mean?” Wolf asked, genuinely curious.
“She sounds meek and serious, but I swear, Matthew, her eyes look pissed. As if
she’s just waiting for her chance to turn around and kill all those men who are
keeping her captive. And I see it because I know just how she feels. When I was
kidnapped and that jerk was filming me, I was saying one thing, but deep inside
felt something way different. And I was doing everything I could to send a
message to you, and whoever else might watch that video, through my eyes. I
know, it was stupid to think you could actually read what I wanted to say in my
eyes, but inside I was thinking about how much I loved you. I was trying to tell
you where I was, and I was pleading for you to come and find me. I could be
wrong, but it’s obvious, at least to me, that Penelope Turner is trying to say
many of the same things.”
Wolf turned until Caroline was on her back and he loomed over her. He braced
himself up on an elbow and brushed a strand of her dark hair behind her ear with
his other hand. She grabbed his biceps and looked up at him with such love, he
still had to pinch himself sometimes to make sure it was real.
Three years had passed since he’d made her his wife, and every day since then he
thanked his lucky stars they’d found each other. She made him happier than he’d
ever been in his life.
“Yeah, I saw it back then as I watched you on tape, and I see it in Sergeant
Turner now.”
Caroline bit her lip, then asked, “Do you think they’re…hurting her?”
Wolf kept his voice low and tried to sound reassuring. “It’s hard to say.
They’re certainly keeping her for a reason, probably because she’s small,
blonde, and a woman. They want to force the world to pay more attention to them
and take them seriously.”
“You mean the bombing of that wedding last month didn’t do it?” Caroline’s tone
showed her irritation.
Wolf shook his head, amazed that he could fall in love with his wife more every
time she opened her mouth. He loved that she didn’t take things at face value,
that she felt deeply and wasn’t afraid to speak her mind. “Unfortunately, no.
They need something bigger than that. And kidnapping a group of Americans isn’t
big, not like on the scale that 9/11 was, but if they keep the U.S.
distracted—and putting a beautiful, petite woman on television and making her
say anti-American and anti-British things is distracting—perhaps they can work
their way up to another grand gesture.”
“I love you, Matthew.”
Wolf smiled down at Caroline, not surprised at her change in subject. “I love
you too, Ice.”
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.
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