Deadly Descent
Deadly Descent
By Kaylea Cross
Devon Crawford is an officer; Air Force Pararescueman Cam Munro is enlisted.
Dev flies medical evacuations; Cam jumps into danger zones to save lives.
Dev wants to return home from Afghanistan with her heart untouched; Cam will do anything to win the woman he loves.
Reaching for happiness in a war zone is the last thing Captain Devon Crawford plans, but she can’t ignore the feelings she’s hidden for so long.
Cam’s sexy charm and wicked kisses weaken her resistance, but she’s too afraid of losing him to give in.
When Dev’s helicopter and crew are shot down and set up as bait by a notorious warlord, Cam risks all to save the team.
What he doesn’t know is that the trap is set for
him…
83,000 words
Dear Reader,
What do you get when you cross summer with lots of beach time, and long hours of traveling?
An executive editor who’s too busy to write the Dear Reader letter, but has time for reading.
I find both the beach and the plane are excellent places to read, and thanks to plenty of time spent on both this summer (I went to Australia!
And New Zealand!) I’m able to tell you with confidence: our fall lineup of books is outstanding.
We kick off the fall season with seven romantic suspense titles, during our Romantic Suspense celebration the first week of September.
We’re pleased to offer novella
Fatal Destiny
by Marie Force as a free download to get you started with the romantic suspense offerings.
Also in September, fans of Eleri Stone’s sexy, hot paranormal romance debut novel,
Mercy,
can look forward to her follow-up story,
Redemption,
set in the same world of the Lost City Shifters.
Looking to dive into a new erotic romance?
We have a sizzling trilogy for you.
In October, look for Christine D’Abo’s Long Shot trilogy featuring three siblings who share ownership of a coffee shop, and each of whom discover steamy passion within the walls of a local sex club.
Christine’s trilogy kicks off with
Double Shot.
In addition to a variety of frontlist titles in historical, paranormal, contemporary, steampunk and erotic romance, we’re also pleased to present two authors releasing backlist titles with us.
In October, we’ll re-release four science fiction romance titles from the backlist of CJ Barry, and in November four Western romance titles from the backlist of Susan Edwards.
Also in November, we’re thrilled to offer our first two chick lit titles from three debut authors,
Liar’s Guide to True Love
by Wendy Chen and
Unscripted
by Natalie Aaron and Marla Schwartz.
I hope you’ll check out these fun, sometimes laugh-out-loud novels.
Whether you’re on the beach, on a plane, or sitting in your favorite recliner at home, Carina Press can offer you a diverting read to take you away on your next great adventure this fall!
We love to hear from readers, and you can email us your thoughts, comments and questions to [email protected].
You can also interact with Carina Press staff and authors on our blog, Twitter stream and Facebook fan page.
Happy reading!
~Angela James
Executive Editor, Carina Press
www.carinapress.com
www.twitter.com/carinapress
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This book is dedicated to my hubby and two little men, my real life heroes.
I also dedicate it to the brave men and women of our armed forces, both past and present, who willingly step into harm’s way when their country calls upon them.
And last but not least, to the talented Katie Reus, for always cheering me on and providing thoughtful feedback.
Love you bunches.
With special thanks to the following men who patiently answered all my questions, and took me seriously even
after
they found out I was doing research for a romance novel.
Thank you for your help, and for your years of military service.
You guys rock.
David A.
Weaver, U.S.
Air Force (Ret.) (former Pararescueman)
Cpt.
Thomas J.
Dunn, U.S.
Army Reserves (Medevac pilot)
Michael Orpen Sr., Canadian Navy (Ret.) (helicopter pilot)
Any military inaccuracies that exist in the book are my fault.
I hope this story inspires even more pride and respect for our men and women in uniform.
They certainly deserve it.
—Kaylea Cross
It is my duty as a Pararescueman to save life and to aid the injured.
I will be prepared at all times to perform my assigned duties quickly and efficiently, placing these duties before personal desires and comforts.
These things I do, that others may live.
—Pararescue Jumper Code
Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan
Mid-October
Captain Devon “Spike” Crawford’s hands sweated inside her flight gloves as she awaited the tower’s response to her request for clearance.
Through her night vision goggles she watched the relentless wall of fog outside the cockpit thicken.
It crept over the ground like a shroud, swallowing everything in its path.
Her pulse drummed in her ears.
Visibility was bad here, but even worse where they were going.
The answer she’d been waiting for finally came over the radio.
“Angel one-niner cleared for takeoff.”
She let out a slow breath.
“Roger that.”
Her co-pilot, Will, glanced at her but she ignored the questioning look.
Heavy fog made the flight dangerous, but American soldiers were dying in that remote mountain village.
They were counting on her to evacuate them to a hospital.
Willing her pounding heart to slow down, she raised the collective until the wheels were clear, checked her center of gravity and pushed forward on the cyclic.
The Black Hawk lifted off the tarmac and cruised forward, gaining altitude.
The pitch of the engines changed, rising with the power increase.
The bird climbed steadily into the night air, strong and smooth.
Above the occasional traffic on the radio, her three crew members remained deathly silent.
Their unspoken tension weighed on her with each passing kilometer.
As pilot commander, she was responsible for the safety of her aircraft and crew.
Their lives were literally in her hands.
But so were the lives of the wounded out at the distant LZ, waiting and praying for medevac extraction.
She owed them her best shot, no matter how bad the visibility was.
The steady hum of the engines filled the cabin as they left the relative safety of Bagram behind and banked southeast toward the darkened mountains.
Their snow-capped peaks were obscured by the ever encroaching fog.
It made navigation next to impossible and increased the chance of clipping a rotor blade when they cruised through the narrow mountain passes.
By the time she hit the first waypoint, near zero visibility made any further attempt practically suicidal.
Her damp hands tightened around the controls as she put the bird into a hover.
“I can’t see shit out there.” She clenched her jaw, battling the gnawing fear and guilt.
“Will?”
He glanced over at her for a moment, and then shook his head.
“This is crazy.
Call it, Dev.”
Dammit
.
Her gaze strayed to the south.
Out there somewhere beyond the crippling low cloud cover, men were dying.
It tore her up that she wasn’t going to get them out, but she had no choice.
She spoke over the intercom to the crew chief and medic.
“That’s it guys, I’m calling it off.
We’re outta here.” Was it her imagination, or did a collective sigh of relief follow her words?
She dialed in the frequency for the ops center.
“This is Angel one-niner.
Visibility is compromised.
We’re returning to base.”
Sorry
, she added silently to the men she was about to abandon.
But she couldn’t risk her crew and the bird by going any further.
“Copy that, Angel one-niner.”
With a heavy heart, Devon turned the Black Hawk back.
The fog continued to roll in on the return trip, and when she finally touched down at Bagram her hands and armpits were soaked with cold sweat.
She reached overhead to shut off the power and removed her helmet.
Damn, she was glad just to be on the ground without incident after flying through that.
A hand settled on her shoulder, and she looked over to meet Will’s knowing stare.
“Hey.
We gave it our best.”
Yeah, but tell that to the wounded men in the village.
She rubbed her gritty eyes.
“We’ll still be on standby, and we’ll get out as soon as the viz improves.”
“That’s not going to happen, and you know it.” By then another crew would have taken their place.
And it would be far too late for those men back in the mountains.
“Then the Night Stalkers can give it a shot.” He squeezed her shoulder in a firm grip.
“At least you tried, Spike.
Most pilots wouldn’t have even attempted a flight in these conditions.”
The respect in his tone did little to soothe her conscience.
She nodded stiffly and climbed out of the bird, heading straight for the ops center to find out if anything else could be done for the wounded on the ground.
No one told her much but she hung around anyhow, until a Night Stalker crew was finally dispatched.
She stayed in the empty briefing room for hours, waiting for word about the operation.
Had they managed to get to the extraction point?
Had they evacuated those men she’d been forced to leave stranded?
Heavy footsteps coming down the hallway made her jump.
She headed for the door, but it swung open when she was halfway to it.
Her heart did a crazy roll in her chest when she saw Cam standing there, tall and gorgeous in his desert camo utilities.
She hadn’t seen him in months, and to run into him here at this hour was unbelievable.
“Cam!” Ignoring the nervous butterflies fluttering in her belly, she gave him a delighted smile.
“What are you doing—”
His grave expression and the tense set of his shoulders cut off her words like an axe.
Her hand flew to her throat.
This was no accidental meeting.
He’d come looking for her.
“What?” she asked, swamped by a sense of impending dread.
Her heart pounded dully in her ears.
Unmoving in the doorway, Cam stared back at her with haunted blue eyes.
“It’s Ty.”