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“What do you say, Piper? Wanna get married in Vegas?”

A huge smile spread across her face and took over her entire being. “I’m up for it if you are.”

He laughed richly. “I never could turn down a dare from you. Let’s do this.”

The security guy cued the orchestra who took up the wedding march again. She looped her arm around Ian’s elbow, and they walked forward together. Into whatever the future might hold, secure in the knowledge that no matter what life threw at them, they had each other and their love to see them through.

And best of all, they’d be able to tell their grandkids they got married by Elvis in Vegas.

Thanks so much for reading Ian and Piper’s story! If you want more thrilling stories of love on the edge of danger, let me know whose story you’d like next at www.cindydees.com. Do you want to meet Alex’s brothers or more of the McCloud men?

If you want up to the minute book news, bonus content, sales, and giveaways from me, you can join my NEWSLETTER. I send out an update about once a month and will never share your contact info.

In the meantime, the first book in my thrilling, romantic action-adventure Medusa series, THE MEDUSA PROJECT, is free HERE. And to tempt you to give it a try, here’s an excerpt…

August 6, 8:00 a.m.

Free-fire zone Alpha

Air Force Major Vanessa Blake ducked and spun, plastering her back against the muddy wall of her foxhole, narrowly avoiding a barrage of incoming fire. Enemy infantry had their position surrounded on three sides, and the only reason it wasn’t all four sides was the river at their backs. Correction. The water moccasin-, alligator-infested river at their backs.

“Ammo check!” she called.

“Low!”

“Low!”

“Out!”

“Low!”

“Five minutes’ worth!”

“Somebody get over to Echo position and pass that ammo around. We’re not gonna last two more minutes at this rate!” she ordered tersely. Crud. They were in a heap of trouble. She had only sixteen guys left standing out of fifty, and the enemy had close to forty. She had to do something radical, here. Something unexpected. Think, Vanessa! The woods around them had plenty of cover for enemy shooters, and that’s why they were getting slaughtered like trapped rats in this foxhole complex. She had to turn the tables. Make the woods work against the advancing forces. She glanced up at the trees overhead. Big, mature oaks, mostly. Sturdy. Strong enough to climb…

“Guys,” she called out low, “I’ve got an idea. Huddle.” The enemy was close enough to hear her plan if she shouted it to the far end of the bunker.

“We’re going to crawl out of here and climb the trees around this position. Then we’ll let the enemy advance to the foxholes and pick them off from above. Set your weapons for single shots. We don’t have enough ammo left to spray their lines with automatic fire. Use sticks and leaves to camouflage yourselves. Get up high in the branches, and when I give the signal, start firing down through the leaves. Think snipers, here. No wild shots. Wait till your targets are close enough to guarantee a hit. Take your time. Aim carefully. Keep your wits about you. Got it?”

The glum faces around her lit up with hope. They were all likely to die messy deaths before this day was out, but by God, they’d go out fighting if she had anything to say about it.

“We’re gonna have to move fast. We’ll split up and crawl out each end of the bunker. Stay behind cover as much as you can, but keep moving. We’ve only got a couple minutes to get into position. Let’s do it,” she said forcefully. She turned and led half the men in a crouching run to one end of the linked foxholes.

She slithered on her belly out of the red clay muck of the foxhole, her bulky rifle cradled awkwardly across her elbows.Belly crawling with a fast twisting motion of her torso, like the alligators that inhabited the area, she passed up a couple trees with nice, low branches for climbing. Better leave those to the guys with less physical strength than her. One by one, she dropped off her troops in an arc around the enemy’s right flank. And then she was alone. Staying low, she tossed a length of nylon rope around the girth of a giant oak tree. Using the rope as a climbing harness, she shimmied up the tree as slick as any lumberjack.

She worked her way a good thirty feet up the tree and turned to survey the situation. Perfect. Clear line of sight down the brown-shirted line of enemy soldiers. She chambered a round in her rifle and took aim carefully. And fired.

A satisfying red circle blossomed in the middle of the chest of one of the enemy soldiers. One down. Shots began to rain down from all directions, and in a matter of seconds, half the enemy line was out.

“Fall back!” the enemy commander screamed. Chaos ensued as his forces attempted to obey in the midst of the death raining from above.

“Everybody down!” Vanessa shouted. “Charge!”

She shimmied out of the tree and joined up with her troops. They took off in hot pursuit, picking off stragglers as the skirmish turned into a lopsided rout.

August 6, 8:15 a.m.

Free-fire zone Alpha