by Cheryl Biggs
The personnel-file notation that Brenner Trent had failed intelligence training had been a cover. He’d been planted in the Cobra Corps by Military Intelligence as a security watchdog when plans were first developed to use the experimental weapons-detection system in one of the corps’s missions. They were afraid of a leak, and it had been Brenner’s job to make certain that if there was one, it was silenced immediately.
Just before Jaguar Loop, however, Trent’s wife had threatened to divorce him.
Brenner knew his wife was tired of just getting by on his military pay, of never having any of life’s luxuries, and he’d suspected Kristen was having an affair with Rick. But he hadn’t confronted her for fear of losing her. He’d panicked when she’d asked for the divorce, then decided she was leaving him for Rick, because even though most people didn’t know it, Rick’s family had money, which meant Rick had money. Brenner thought if he could find a way to give Kristen the kind of life she wanted, if he could buy her the expensive things she craved, she’d stay with him.
And it had almost worked.
He’d drafted Chief Carger into his plans—a man on the verge of retirement. The only thing Carger had in life was his meager military retirement and an older sister living in a retirement home, her mind gone to Alzheimer’s disease. She had inherited a lot of money from her husband, but was nowhere near death’s door.
After Rick’s chopper crashed, the brass had decided he was their most likely suspect, especially when his body and what was left of the chopper couldn’t be retrieved until months after the mission was over.
And that had fit perfectly into Brenner’s plan.
The government’s suspicions had seemed confirmed when positive identification of Rick’s body had been inconclusive.
When there was no public mention of the stolen secrets, Trent thought he’d gotten away with his scheme. But he’d known it would be too risky to sell the plans right away, so he’d waited, then executed his own death, had plastic surgery and, finally, found a buyer.
But panic seized him when an FBI agent visited his “widow,” who’d planned to join him in Europe once they’d disposed of the last of the plans. Brenner feared the feds had finally turned their suspicions on him. But it was Chief Carger who’d gotten the brilliant idea to resurrect a dead man to take the blame, along with his very much alive wife.
Brenner’s widow had impersonated Suzanne and opened the bank account. The European spy had merely been a stroke of luck for them, and a real customer for Suzanne, recommended by, as it turned out, Robert Marsei.
And she’d had no idea who Robert Marsei really was.
Brenner Trent had thought of everything. Except that Suzanne would run to Hart for help.
Hart was halfway back to his office when he detoured toward the airstrip. Silence hung over everything, and he welcomed it.
Climbing into his Cobra, he felt the tension drain from his body for the first time in hours. He laid his head back on the seat and watched as the first rays of the morning sun began to peek over the horizon.
He wanted Suzanne more than he ever thought it possible to want a woman.
A long sigh, almost like a surrender, shuddered from deep inside him.
He’d never believed in love, had damned it and tried to deny it, but he could no longer deny that for whatever little it was worth, Suzanne Cassidy had stolen his heart and he’d unconsciously given her his trust when he’d charged into that room to save her.
He almost laughed aloud in derision of his thoughts.
His heart and his trust.
Those were the two things he’d always vowed never to give wholly to anyone, because they were the two things he knew he couldn’t get back, no matter how desperately he wanted to or how hard he tried.
And he had unwittingly given them to her.
He thought about all the reasons he’d tried to deny his feelings for her, all the reasons he’d told himself he would never love anyone, and suddenly those reasons seemed frail and hollow.
He’d been afraid to love her because he’d been afraid she would betray him. Instead, she came to him for help, trusted him to save her and had almost gotten herself killed trying to save him.
She had never betrayed him, and unless he was the world’s biggest fool, he knew now she never would.
Sliding back the Cobra’s canopy, Hart climbed out.
It was time to stop being afraid.
Suzanne had known she’d find him at the airfield once she realized he wasn’t at his office or apartment. But it had taken all her courage to come.
He had never said he loved her, never made any promises of a future for them together, but she’d finally admitted to herself it was what she wanted.
If he didn’t want the same thing, she needed to see that in his eyes, needed to hear him say it to her. Then she would go back to Los Angeles and never contact him again.
She paused as she saw him climb from the Cobra, then turn toward her. Nervousness and fear seized her. Was she merely being a fool again? What if he had never said he loved her because he didn’t love her? Did she really want to hear that? Could she stand to hear that?
No, a little voice inside of her wailed. But her feet kept moving forward, taking her to him.
Hart turned and saw Suzanne walking across the tarmac toward him, and for a brief second he thought he was imagining her there because he so desperately wanted her to be there. He stood still, afraid to move for fear she would disappear, and watched her close the distance between them.
Myriad emotions assaulted him anew, but the one he felt the deepest, the one only a short time ago he swore he would never feel for another human being but now felt for her, was love. Deep, stirring, desperate, and all-consuming.
Suddenly fear swept through him. She had come to say goodbye. The conviction sent a chill racing through him like nothing he’d ever felt before.
He turned away. If he didn’t look, she wouldn’t be there. If she wasn’t there, she couldn’t say goodbye again. He’d lost her once, and now he knew he couldn’t stand to lose her again.
Suzanne saw him look away and uncertainty seized her. He was in silhouette to her now, the rising sun at his back like a brilliant golden halo, surrounding him, obscuring his face, his eyes and leaving her unable to determine whether he was glad to see her or wished she hadn’t come.
How would she ever endure all the long hours of the future without him if he didn’t want her?
She should leave. Now, before it was too late and she made a fool of herself.
Her steps faltered and she paused.
Hart saw her pause, saw her start to turn away, and anxiety overwhelmed him.
Now or never, a voice in the back of his mind said.
Impulse melded with his desire, want overrode caution, need swept away fear. Before he could reconsider his action, he closed the distance between them and swept her into his arms.
“I’ve been a fool,” he said gruffly, holding her to him, crushing her against his body, needing to feel her flesh against his.
She shook her head. “Hart…”
She had come to say goodbye. His fear deepened and pushed him on. “I always believed love was nothing more than an illusion, Suzanne, a fantasy that would never last, an emotion that could only lead to certain betrayal and pain.”
“Hart,” Suzanne said, touched by his words, by his arms around her, the look of need and longing she saw shining in his eyes. “I—”
“And trust was something I didn’t dare give anyone,” he went on, the words spilling from his lips in a rush. “But I was wrong,” he said quickly, cutting her off when she tried to respond, afraid of what she had been about to say. “I know I was wrong. I know because I know now that I love you. It’s not an illusion, not a fantasy. I love you more than life, Suzanne, more than anything in the world…”
She couldn’t say goodbye. He wouldn’t let her.
“…and if the hardened military side of me hadn’t known you were innoc
ent all along, dammit—” tears filled his eyes as anguish cut at his voice and turned it to a ragged whisper “—my heart did. I swear, Suzanne, my heart always believed in you.”
“Hart,” she whispered again, tears shimmering in her eyes now.
Fear held his heart in its grip. She was going to say goodbye. She was crying because she couldn’t love him, and he didn’t want to hear that. “I need you in my life, Suzanne.” He had never pleaded with anyone for anything, but now he was pleading for his life. “I love you, Suzanne, and I want you in my life. Forever.”
“And I want to be there,” she said, touching his cheek ever so lightly with her fingertips. “I want to be there. Forever.”
He couldn’t believe what he’d heard. “I’ll love you forever,” he said, “prove to you every day that you are the most important thing in my life.”
She remembered all the doubts and suspicions she’d had about him and smiled. “I love you, Captain Branson,” she said simply, then drew his head down and captured his lips with hers.
Feelings surged within Hart that for the first time in his life he had no desire to deny, no urge to squelch. Her words echoed through his mind and danced joyfully within his heart.
His kiss became a ravaging claim that left her no doubt how he felt. It was a savage brand, making her his, and she loved it. His hands moved over her body, burning wherever they touched, igniting fires in her that only he could put out.
The past, with all its questions and ugliness, ceased to exist, and tomorrow became a promise of sunshine.
Hart felt his body harden with the need of her. Pangs of hungry desire consumed him, filled every fiber of him with a craving so intense it threatened to destroy him if not satisfied.
Her hands slid through his hair.
His hands slid over her body, under her blouse, cupped her breasts, burned through her flesh.
He knew heaven was in his arms, and he never wanted to be anywhere else.
She had touched his soul, claimed it for her own and brought him a happiness he had never imagined possible.
He was lost to her forever, and it was the most wonderful feeling in the world.
Suzanne had no memory of how or when they climbed into the back of the Blackhawk sitting on the tarmac only a few yards from Hart’s Cobra.
And it didn’t matter.
Every cell of Suzanne’s body begged for his touch, yearned to feel the fiery caress of his hands.
Their clothes were a barrier that gave way easily. His naked body melded to hers, hot flesh to hot flesh, communicating without words their need for each other, letting their desires run uncontrolled through their bodies, talking without words, loving freely.
Her hands explored him boldly as her need to know every inch of his body, every curve and line, pushed her wantonly on.
Hart nearly groaned as a shock of pleasure scorched through him, piercing stabs of ecstasy that raced through his body on a blinding, mindless course.
His tongue probed her mouth, feeding on the sweetness of her, as his senses fed on the exotic lure that she held over him.
She called his name when his hand slipped between her legs, whispered how much she loved him, needed him, wanted him.
They were words he suddenly realized he’d been waiting a lifetime to hear, feelings he’d been waiting a lifetime to feel.
The exquisite torture of need exploded within her at his intimate caresses, leaving her with no other awareness, no other thought than of him.
His hands framed her waist, lifted her above him, then brought her back down.
She felt herself fill with him, and a love deeper than anything she had ever dreamed.
Epilogue
Three Blackhawks hovered overhead.
Suzanne hurried toward the field, thankful she wasn’t late, on this day of all days.
It had been a month since the night Brenner Trent, Kristen and Chief Carger had been arrested.
And it had been three weeks since her marriage to Hart Branson.
Suzanne smiled to herself as she made her way through the crowd mingling around the grandstand area, and remembered her wedding day. It had been a simple but beautiful ceremony in a small desert cathedral at dusk, and the beginning of a new life filled with more hope and happiness than she had ever imagined possible.
Clyde had come for the wedding, retrieved his “baby” and told Hart he absolutely hated him for taking away the best business partner he’d ever had. Contrary to his words, however, they had come to an arrangement that enabled them to keep their partnership intact, although long distance.
Suzanne would attend auctions and purchase estates, scouting out antiquities around Three Hills, Tucson, Bisbee and other small towns in southern Arizona, and send everything west to Clyde. Southwestern decor and pioneer furnishings were big in California now.
Her mother had come, too, cried all through the ceremony, warned Hart he’d better keep Suzanne happy, whispered to her that she had made the catch of the century and introduced them all to her new fiancé, soon-to-be husband number seven.
Suzanne pulled the brim of her large straw hat down a little farther in front, shading her face from the late-afternoon sun, and walked toward her seat in the parade field’s grandstand.
She was a little later than she’d intended. Half the drills were already over. But her appointment in town had gone on a bit longer than she’d anticipated. The results, however, had been exactly what she’d been praying for.
General Walthorp’s wife waved to her.
Suzanne smiled in return.
She saw the senator and his aide in the front row and nodded in acknowledgement. She knew what it meant to Hart that the senator had come.
The part of the proceedings she’d come to see were still several minutes away, so she stopped and chatted with some of the other wives. A moment later she glanced at her watch and excused herself. She’d told Hart she had a business appointment in town but would go to the ceremony as soon as possible and sit in the center grandstand, as near the first row as possible, and she wanted to be in her seat when he came out.
He’d said he would look for her, and she had to be there. Today of all days she had to be there.
The paratroopers who’d jumped from the Blackhawks gathered in front of the grandstand and saluted the generals sitting on a platform nearby. The boyish face of one of the paratroopers, so in contrast to the war-ready uniform he wore, caught Suzanne’s eye and reminded her of another boyish-faced but very dangerous soldier she’d known.
The sound of the approaching Cobras suddenly filled the air.
Suzanne stood and smiled as she watched them descend.
They were black and deadly war birds, as lethal as anything imaginable, and they were one of the most beautiful sights she’d ever seen. Especially the one in the lead, the one with Ice written in small, white letters just below its canopy latch.
The breeze their spinning rotor blades sent across the grandstand as they descended was a welcome one that momentarily cut through the ninety-eight-degree heat of the day.
Suzanne felt her breast swell with pride as Hart climbed from his Cobra and walked toward the podium, Zack, Rand and several other corps members right behind him.
The investigation into Hart’s background and his army personnel file, it was discovered, had been instigated by an overzealous clerk at the Pentagon. He’d wanted to make certain that every promotion recommendation that passed his desk had been thoroughly looked into and cleared. In total, ten investigations had taken place, causing nine men and one woman to wonder and worry if their careers were in serious jeopardy.
General Walthorp gave a speech about the corps, which he considered an invaluable asset to the army and the people of the United States, and called each man a hero in his own right.
“But today,” he said, “we are here to honor the man who directly leads these heroes, Captain Hart Branson.”
The general stepped away from the podium then and the entire Cob
ra Corps unit, standing at attention in front of the stage, saluted, then returned to standing at attention as Major Lewis stood and walked to the podium.
Suzanne felt her heart swell with pride as Hart was called onstage.
“Captain Branson,” the major said as he pinned the gold oak leaf cluster to the epaulet on Hart’s left shoulder. He stepped back then and handed Hart his promotion orders. “Congratulations, Major.”
Lewis saluted then, as did every man in the corps.
As Hart left the podium, Suzanne left her seat and walked toward him.
Zack and Rand hurried over and slapped him on the back and congratulated him.
She quickly raised her camera and snapped a picture of the three of them, capturing the moment forever.
Zack and Rand had been at the house for dinner the previous evening. After they’d left, she’d told Hart that he couldn’t ask for two better friends, and he’d surprised her by agreeing. That was when she knew he’d finally put the past and all its pain behind him.
“So how does it feel to be a major’s wife?” Hart asked, drawing her into his arms and crushing her against his body.
“The same way it would feel if you were a private or president of the United States.” She brushed his lips with hers, lingering for just a moment to savor the taste of him. “But—” she slipped her hand into his and pulled him away from the others “—I need to talk to you.”
The seriousness of tone sent an instant jolt of alarm into his heart. “What’s the matter?” It wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be. All his old fears suddenly rushed back over him, as if they’d never been gone.
“Hey, we’re taking you to dinner in town to celebrate,” Zack said. “Where are you two going?”
“We’ll be right back,” Suzanne said, tugging Hart away from the crowd.
“What’s the matter, Suzanne?” Fear held his heart in its grip. He pulled her close, needing to feel her against him, wanting to hold her in his embrace so that whatever she had to say, she couldn’t leave him.