At His Command Read Online Free Page B

the past, Sia.”
    “It doesn’t matter whether you talk about it or not. Just seeing you brings it all back.”
    His mouth tightened and he looked away from her. “I’m sorry for that.”
    “You said you were sorry six years ago when they handed my mother his flag. It still doesn’t help.”
    He closed his eyes, but not before she saw the flash of pain and, suddenly, she felt sick for the way everything had ended.
    “You’re not the only one who suffered, Sia. I lost you and your brother. I have to live with what I did to him, to you.”
    She felt a distinct tug on her heart, but refused to examine it too closely. Yet she did finally give into the urge to reach out and touch his arm, needing that physical contact in a soul-deep way. The leather was warm from his body heat, the muscles beneath taut and corded. “I can’t help the way I feel about it, Chris.”
    “I know you can’t, but that doesn’t make it any easier to forget what we had. What we shared.” He covered her hand with his, the warmth comforting.
    “What we have to deal with now is the present. We can’t change the past.”
    “No, we can’t,” he whispered. “There’s no place for us to go at all.”
    “Don’t,” she protested.
    The warning was diluted to nothing by the sadness in his face. His mouth twisted into a half smile that was cynical and weary. His dark eyes looked a hundred years old.
    Even surrounded by family and friends, she’d been so alone when her brother had died. All she’d wanted, longed for, was to have Chris hold her. But the grief of her brother’s death tripled when she’d found out Chris had caused the accident. He would never hold her again.
    Dangerous, her longing and his proximity.
    A quick knock on the door made her sit up straight and release him. She rose, walked to the door and opened it. Her aide was on the other side.
    “Excuse me, Commander Soto, Captain Snyder’s aide pointed me in this direction. I was able to get you and Agent Vargas on a flight to Hawaii via L.A. The McCloud is currently docked at Pearl for repairs to the flight deck. Your flight leaves in three hours. He handed her a folder, giving Chris the once-over. “Your e-tickets are in there.”
    “Thank you, McBride.”
    He seemed reluctant to leave her alone. Her legalman eyed Chris and his gaze returned to Sia. “Can I escort you to your car?”
    “No, that won’t be necessary. Good night, McBride.”
    Chris smiled wryly as the petty officer deliberately left the door open. “He’s looking at me like I’m a psycho, serial killer.”
    “You look formidable, that’s all. McBride doesn’t know you.”
    “No, he doesn’t.”
    She sighed. “You’re not going to change your mind.”
    “Hell, no.” He made his way to the open door and passed her. “Why don’t you let this investigation go, Sia?”
    “I might have missed something. Something important!” Her voice was loud in the small room. Softer, she said, “I have to fix it or make sure my conclusions were sound. If I neglected to fully handle this investigation and I caused a man’s death…”
    He stepped up to her until he was close. “I hear you’re expected to get over that, too,” he said softly.
    Her throat ached with the pain in his voice.
    “We have to work together. I’ll accept that. But don’t expect anything else from me,” she said, delivering the ultimatum with a tone that accepted her defeat.
    Even as the words left her mouth, she knew she was even more than ten times a fool if she believed either of them could forget the fire between them whenever they touched, or looked at each other, or were in the same damn room.
    Chris said absolutely nothing. Out of everything that had happened to her in the past twenty-four hours, his silence was more nerve-racking than waiting for a verdict. His silence was downright ominous.
    She was in trouble. Oh, man, was she in trouble, but she wasn’t going to give in to panic. Later she could panic, but not now