CANDACE IRVIN

      is the daughter of a librarian and a sailor, so it’s no wonder Candace’s two greatest loves are reading and the sea. After spending several exciting years as a U.S. naval officer sailing around the world, she decided it was time to put down roots and give her other love a chance. To her delight, she soon learned that writing romance was as much fun as reading it. A finalist for both the coveted RITA^® Award and the Holt Medallion, as well as a two-time Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award nominee, Candace believes her luckiest moment was the day she married her own dashing hero, a former U.S. Army combat engineer with dimples to die for. The two now reside in the South, happily raising two future heroes and one adorable heroine—who won’t be allowed to date until she’s forty, at least.

      Candace loves to hear from readers. You can e-mail her at [email protected] or snail mail her c/o Silhouette Books, 300 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017.

      For my favorite soldier and forever hero, David.

       Thanks, honey, for fielding a thousand and one questions on everything from fast-roping to small arms tactics…even at three in the morning.

      Acknowledgments

      As a former Squid who barely survived Army basic training before transferring to the Navy’s ROTC program, I was forced to pester several ground-pounding buddies to pull this plot off. I’m grateful to you all. I’d like to send a special thanks to Captain Norton A. Newcomb, U.S. Army, Ret., Special Operations Intelligence.

       Tony, I always appreciate your continuous, unstinting generosity regarding Special Forces and the way it “really” is.

      Also, to AZ2 Julie A. Thornton, USN; ABH2 Steve Mark, USN; and Mr. Ken Knowles—I appreciate the crash courses on the intricacies of helicopter flight…and especially how to crash them <g>. I bow to your devious brilliance and can only hope I did it justice.

      Finally, to Damaris Rowland, Allison Lyons and CJ Chase—thank you so much for being there, professionally and personally, when I really needed you.

      Contents

      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 1

      You have never lived until you have almost died. For those who have fought for it, life has a special meaning that the protected will never know.

      —U.S. Special Operations motto

      She was on top of the world—literally.

      Eve grinned as the newborn sun finally seared up through the dense canopy of trees that formed the Central American jungle below, igniting the world with swaths of emerald green, fiery red and burnt orange. She tightened her grip on the chopper’s joystick and leaned forward in the cockpit, drawn in by the Black Hawk’s panoramic windows and the spectacular view below. There was no doubt about it. She’d finally made it into heaven and she wasn’t even dead.

      “Takes your breath away, doesn’t it?”

      Another shot of adrenaline pulsed through Eve’s veins, matching the rhythmic thunder of the chopper’s blades. She grinned across the cockpit to her copilot. “You got it. The question is, how can you give it up?”

      Carrie’s answering laughter bubbled though Eve’s earphones. “I’m not giving it up, exactly. I’m just trading it in for a hot bath back in the old U.S. of A. with enough bubbles to soak the sweat and grime off my face and restore my complexion to manageable.” Carrie swept her hands toward the dense trees two hundred feet below. “It’s all yours, honey. For the next six months, anyway.”

      “I’ll take it.” Eve nodded crisply, then cocked her mouthpiece toward the aerial map spread out on Carrie’s lap. “But first, find my blasted landing zone, woman!”

      Once again laughter bubbled above the thundering blades as Carrie turned her sparkling blue gaze to the map she’d been using to supplement the Black Hawk’s malfunctioning global positioning system for the last thirty minutes. Carrie was all business as she glanced up and pointed dead ahead. “Keep it steady. The LZ is just over that ridge.”

      Two minutes later they were there.

      Eve nudged her stick and swooped the Black Hawk down into the tiny clearing. Even before she felt the gentle thump as the bird touched down into the six-foot elephant grass, the squad of San Sebastián soldiers and their two U.S. Special Forces advisors were storming out of the chopper and melting into the perimeter beyond. Eve didn’t bother taking off but peered into the dense foliage.

      Nothing but early-morning shadows and trees.

      Where was the American soldier she was supposed to pick up and fly back to the San Sebastián presidential compound? Eve glanced at the clock on her instrument panel. The man had better show soon. His briefing started in less than an hour.

      “Relax. He’ll be here.”

      “Me? I’m not the one blushing like a sophomore waiting for the school jock to cruise past my locker.”

      “I am not blushing.”

      But she was and they both knew it. Just as they both knew why. Or better yet, who Carrie was hoping to see.

      Eve waited until their crew chief bailed out of the bird to scan the perimeter for their next set of passengers before she powered the chopper’s engine down to idle. As the roar eased, she switched off her mouthpiece and pulled off her helmet, running her fingers through the tangles on her head as she scrounged up the courage to voice what had to be said. She might have only been in San Sebastián a couple of days, but she knew Carrie well enough to know that this time the woman was in over her head.

      Eve finally sighed. “He’s enlisted.”

      Evidently, Carrie had been waiting for her pronouncement, because she just shrugged. “He’s a hunk.”

      “You could lose your wings—and your commission.”

      “I