Chapter 1

She kept her eyes closed, listening to the voices of the men in the cockpit of the military helicopter. She didn’t want them to know that she was awake. Or that she was no longer bound by the restraints they’d placed on her and therefore free to move around.

For the last two days every time she’d roused, she’d been given another injection. This was the first time she’d managed to gain full consciousness. Her mind was still not clear. There was a heavy shroud of drug-induced fog clouding her thoughts. She needed to be able to think clear. Her survival depended on it.

From the conversation going on in the cockpit they were apparently flying over a place called Arizona. Keeping below radar level. That didn’t surprise her either. No one wanted to take credit or blame for what was happening. The men in the cockpit were like all the others before them. They just wanted to pass her off to those higher in the chain of command and be done with her.

Knowing that time was running short, she focused her mind on a plan. The minutes ticked by. The pilot’s voice alerted her to a change in their status. They were suddenly losing fuel. He wasn’t sure they had enough to make it to their destination. He had to radio for instructions.

“This is Bravo Tango Charlie 227.”

There was an answering blast of static. He tried again. Still nothing. Focused on the problem at hand, he and his copilot turned all their attention to checking the instrumentation, their comments made in hopeful tones. Maybe the instruments were wrong. Maybe it was a glitch.

This was her chance. She slowly sat, peeling off the blanket they’d placed over her. Keeping her eyes on the cockpit, she inched toward the door. Neither of the men sensed movement until she placed one hand on each of their shoulders.

“This aircraft is going to crash,” she said softly. “You must escape before it goes down. You are lucky men. The only survivors.”

“What the—” The pilot never finished the sentence. The chopper suddenly lost altitude and all his attention was on battling the controls.

Standing between the two men, for a moment she was weightless. Had she not reached up to absorb the impact with hands and arms, her head would have banged into the ceiling of the cabin.

The copilot issued a mayday call, giving their location. Hope swelled inside her. They were passing over a lake. As the chopper dropped lower, she reached for the door. The copilot grabbed her, trying to stop her. She fought him with everything she had. This time he wasn’t going to overpower her. She’d played nice. She’d played fair. And it’d gotten her nowhere. Except getting her kidnapped, drugged, bound and gagged, and flying who-knew-where with this surly barbarian and an equally dour pilot.

It was time to get the heck out of Dodge as she’d heard on the black and white western show she’d watched at the last holding facility she’d been kept in. And this was her best chance.

The pilot was trying to find a place to land. She’d spotted the lake and knew this was the time to act. All she had to do was get free of the co-pilot who had a death grip on her wrist.

He yanked on her, and she put everything she had into a punch right into his groin. His mouth opened wide but only a strangled gurgle came out. She vaulted over to the door as he collapsed.

The aircraft did a sudden nose down, throwing her forward onto her knees. As the pilot fought to level out the plane, she scrambled to her feet and headed for the hatch.

With all the wobbling and the steep angle of the dive, it was next to impossible to push the door open. If only she had more time and didn’t have to rely on brute strength. A look towards the front told her she was out of time. With a grunt, she shoved at the door. It slid open and wind buffeted her, whipping her hair around her head.

She closed her eyes, stretched out her arms and leaned forward. This was insane. She’d probably die. But she was going to die anyway. Better to go this way than the way the people waiting for her had planned. Just then the helicopter lurched. Then the world turned upside down and topsy turvy as she fell forward into nothingness.

* * * * *

Caleb rowed along, watching the indigo sky flare with those few final moments of reds and oranges as the sun disappeared into the horizon. What a great weekend it’d been so far. Just what he’d needed. No drinking, no women, no noise. Just him, a kayak, and a sleeping bag.

It’d been a while since he’d come to the lake. Back when he was young, he’d come up here with his brothers often. They’d race their jet skis, drink like fish and swap tales of their exploits with women.

Those had been good times. Now they were all grown with families of their own, except him. He was the last of the single Russell men. Not that he minded it. Blessed with good genes, he made out just fine with the ladies and he didn’t have any complaints about his social or sex life. They were both quite active.

But now and then he needed to get away and have some time to himself. This weekend he’d found himself thinking about his brothers and how happy they were settled down with wives and kids. He wondered if he’d ever meet a woman who’d inspire him to want to try. So far it hadn’t happened.

One moment he was stoking along the glassy surface of the water and the next thing he knew something was falling out of the sky in front of him, a dark silhouette that looked remarkably like a person.

It couldn’t be. Could it? He dug in on one side with the oar, turning the kayak and watching the strange sight. A moment later the shape hit the water. He had time to think that it couldn’t have been a person because the surface of the water moved as if a beach ball the size of a truck had suddenly plunged into it.

A second later the resulting wave from the impact capsized him. He was slammed upside down hard enough to have him passing from a startled state of confusion into a consuming darkness.

Her landing was far rougher than she’d hoped. All the way down she’d focused her mind on the image of a bubble encasing her, visualized it hitting the surface of the water and bouncing until it came to a soft landing.

Such was not the case. How could water be so hard? Spots danced in front of her eyes, threatening unconsciousness. She fought against it, kicking to the surface. Slinging her hair back from her face, she looked around.

And that’s when she saw it. A kayak bobbing in the churning water, upside-down, and a man floating face down in the water. Fear that she’d killed someone infused her with a rapid spike of adrenaline, providing the strength she needed to roll the man over, wrap one arm around his neck, and swim for shore.

It was harder than she’d anticipated to drag him to shore. She must have suffered more from the fall than she imagined. And he was one big man. Tall and muscular in all the right places. She scolded herself for even noticing how well built and handsome he was. This was not the time for her hormones to take over.

Concentrating on his physical well-being, she maneuvered him over to a truck that was parked beneath a thin stand of trees. He was breathing. Just unconscious. She had no idea who the vehicle belonged to but hoped they wouldn’t mind when she spotted a rolled-up bundle of fabric and grabbed it.

Turned out, it was some kind of bedding. She draped it over the man and knelt down beside him, putting her hand on his forehead. By the stars, he was divine. She could not resist admiring the strong lines of his face and wondering what color his eyes would be when he opened them. And he had to open them. He had to. She could not be responsible for injuring an innocent person.

When Caleb suddenly came to, he bolted upright, finding himself on the ground beside his truck.

“Are you damaged?” A feminine voice with a musical accent asked.

He jerked his head to the right and saw a woman kneeling beside him. And what a woman. She was stunning. Exotic. Her skin carried a slight tint that spoke of the East, Persia or perhaps India. But her eyes were the color of amethyst, a violet that was pale but possessed of almost a glow. Clearly, she was of mixed heritage. Her features were classic—elegant arched brows, a thin delicate nose, and lips that could be used as a model for women who want to achieve that full, kissable pout.

“What the hell happened?”

“Your vessel capsized, and I brought you to shore.”

“You…” He looked around in confusion. His kayak was nowhere to be seen. Caleb leaned forward, running his hands back through his wet hair before looking at her again. “Was that you? That fell from the sky, I mean?”

She regarded him for a moment. “You think I fell from the sky?”

“Lady, I know what I saw. You fell and hit the water and…and capsized me.”

“Then I suppose you have your answer,” she said and sat back on her heels, watching him.

Caleb couldn’t help but notice the way the white t-shirt clung to her, revealing full high breasts with hard, perfect nipples. He also noticed the slight smile on her face when she caught him staring.

“Look, I’m not crazy. I saw you falling. But from what?”

She looked away, hugging herself. Night air was falling, and the temperature was dropping. Caleb stripped off the bed roll that was draped over him and wrapped it around her shoulders. “Let’s get a fire going so you can get warm. I have an extra shirt in the truck if you want to put it on and we’ll dry your clothes by the fire.”

He got up and reached into his pocket for his keys. “Shit!”

“There is something wrong?” she asked.

“My keys. They must have come out of my pocket when I capsized.”

“Then we shall search for them,” she said, throwing aside the bed roll and springing to her feet.

“Hold on,” he grabbed her arm.

She jerked away so fast and with such fury on her face that he involuntarily took a step back. “Do. Not. Ever. Do. That.” Her words were sharp and punctuated.

He raised both hands up in surrender. “Sorry. I just meant that there’s no point. Night’s falling and we’d never find them anyway.”

“Then you cannot open the door to your vehicle?”

“Well, I do keep a spare set of keys.”

“That is very wise.”

He grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, well the problem is, they’re inside the glove compartment of the truck. We’ll have to break a window to get them.”

“Oh.”

Before he had a chance to move, she stepped over to the window, balled up her fist and slammed it through the passenger window. Caleb gaped at her in shock as she turned and smiled at him. “Now you may retrieve your keys.”

He was unable to respond for a moment. First, she free falls out of the sky and ends up without even a bruise and then she slams her fist through a window like it’s papier mâché? What the hell kind of woman was she anyway?

“Your keys?” she prompted.

“Oh, yeah, right.” He didn’t bother to state the obvious. He didn’t need the keys now. He reached in, unlocked the door, and rummaged through the duffle bag that was on the floor.

“Here,” he handed her a blue plaid flannel shirt. “Get out of those wet clothes and put this on while I get a fire started.”

“Thank you,” she said with a smile, hung the shirt over the window, and started stripping off her wet clothes.

Caleb’s mouth fell open in surprise. He’d been around uninhibited women before, but never one who’d strip off their clothes in the same manner one would kick off a pair of muddy boots. Despite his desire to see what delights lay beneath the wet clothing, he turned away and busied himself building a fire.

Fortunately, he’d stocked up on wood earlier in the day, prepared for a cool evening. Of course, he hadn’t dreamed he’d be sharing his campfire with a totally gorgeous and completely out of the ordinary woman.

He grinned to himself as he watched the kindling ignite and spread. Life sure was full of surprises.