Hart's Last Stand

Hart's Last Stand
Cheryl Biggs

His elite Cobra Corps unit demanded discipline, honor, truth. Yet one look at Suzanne Cassidy on the windswept tarmac, and Hart Branson felt his military training failing him. For he' d never had control where Suzanne was concerned, falling for her when she' d been the wife of another man– a buddy in whose death she might be implicated… .Suzanne sought his help in proving her innocence– and protecting her life. Though his heart knew she was beyond reproach, his mind could not dismiss the mounting evidence. Nor could he dismiss the blazing desire between them. To stand up for Suzanne would mean jeopardizing everything. Yet something told him this gutsy lady was worth the risk… .

Desire and anger, resentment and need.

He’d lived with them all for a long time, enduring and ignoring them, but now they were stronger than ever.

Part of him wanted nothing more than to ignore everything that had happened in the past and just drag Suzanne into his arms and take what he’d always wanted, to taste, finally, the sweetness of her lips against his, to feel the slender length of her body pressed against him and experience the passion he knew slept deep within her.

How many nights had he lain in bed unable to sleep, his thoughts all on her, almost feeling her body next to his, wondering where she was, what she was doing, who she was with.

Some nights he’d felt as if his memories were slowly killing him. Other nights he’d wished they would.

He’d thought that was all behind him, that his feelings for her were dead. Now he knew he’d been wrong.

Dear Reader,

Once again, we’ve rounded up six exciting romances to keep you reading all month, starting with the latest installment in Marilyn Pappano’s HEARTBREAK CANYON miniseries. The Sheriff’s Surrender is a reunion romance with lots of suspense, lots of passion—lots of emotion—to keep you turning the pages. Don’t miss it.

And for all of you who’ve gotten hooked on A YEAR OF LOVING DANGEROUSLY, we’ve got The Way We Wed. Pat Warren does a great job telling this tale of a secret marriage between two SPEAR agents who couldn’t be more different—or more right for each other. Merline Lovelace is back with Twice in a Lifetime, the latest saga in MEN OF THE BAR H. How she keeps coming up with such fabulous books, I’ll never know—but I do know we’re all glad she does. Return to the WIDE OPEN SPACES of Alberta, Canada, with Judith Duncan in If Wishes Were Horses…. This is the kind of book that will have you tied up in emotional knots, so keep the tissues handy. Cheryl Biggs returns with Hart’s Last Stand, a suspenseful romance that will keep you turning the pages at a furious clip. Finally, don’t miss the debut of a fine new voice, Wendy Rosnau. A Younger Woman is one of those irresistible stories, and it’s bound to establish her as a reader favorite right out of the starting gate.

Enjoy them all, then come back next month for more of the best and most exciting romance reading around—only in Silhouette Intimate Moments.

Yours,

Leslie J. Wainger

Executive Senior Editor

Hart’s Last Stand

Cheryl Biggs

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

CHERYL BIGGS

was never really a reader while growing up, but got hooked on gothics, then romances, when her three children were little. While they napped, she read. Finally she decided to write a romance. That manuscript went into the closet, with the next four or five. Years later, after selling her personnel agency, she pulled out her first manuscript and went to an RWA conference, which garnered her an agent and several good friends. A year later that first book was sold, and a dream came true.

Cheryl lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, in a sunny suburb at the foot of Mount Diablo with her husband, five cats and a blue-eyed dog. Her children are now grown, and in her spare time she loves to travel, shop, read and try to talk her husband, Jack, into adopting just one more animal.

This book is dedicated to my own Cobra Corps hero,

my husband, Jack, who lent me his expertise

on the military and Cobra, and was always there for me

when I needed encouragement.

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

Epilogue

Chapter 1

The plane’s engine coughed again and the nose propeller stopped.

“N299V, wrong runway. Repeat. Wrong runway!”

Suzanne Cassidy glanced at the radio, bit her lower lip and tightened her grip on the control handle. She was out of fuel and out of time. She couldn’t correct.

Suddenly six black Cobra helicopters began to descend in front of her.

She shrieked, and instinctively pulled back on the handle and closed her eyes.

The plane jerked, the nose lifted briefly and the wheels hit the ground, hard.

Suzanne was slammed back against her seat. Her eyes flew open and she fought the control handle as the Cobras abruptly veered off. The new Cirrus SR20 she and her partner had just purchased for the company skidded down the runway.

Suzanne cursed and applied the brake harder.