Free Fire and Ice by Taylor Lee

pulled her back into his arms and pressed her head against his shoulder.
    “Dammit, baby, you scared the shit out of me. And I swear to God if Nate hadn’t dragged him back with him, I’m not sure how many pieces Baker would be in at this moment.”
    Annika eased back surprise clear on her face.
    “I… I don’t understand. I thought you were angry with me. Both you and Nate. That I’d let you down. Broken some kind of a rule.”
    “Jesus, Annika. You faced down twelve drug-crazed men who were openly drooling at the thought of what they were going to do to you, and you didn’t so much as blink. God, I don’t know if you are the bravest woman I know or just a damned good cop or both. All I do know is that you scared the shit out of me and the only way I’m going to start breathing normally is to beat that cowardly piece of crap who was supposed to be your partner within an inch of his life. Damn, Annika. Even the greenest grunt in the Army knows you don’t stand back and let a dozen men advance on your partner.”
    Annika peered up at him. Her violet eyes were dark, intense. Her cheeks were flushed and her voice shook with uncertainty.
    “Commander? You… you called me ‘Annika’. And ‘baby’… and… ‘Princess’.”
    Sam huffed out a harsh laugh and gave an audible sigh.
    “Yes, I did, didn’t I? See what happens when you scare a guy half to death? What do you think, Princess ? Think you could give a guy a break now that he has outed himself and maybe call me Sam?”
    She huddled against him. Her low murmur was barely audible.
    “I did the other night, Sam. You just didn’t hear me.”
    ~~~
    “You’ve been on this force fifteen years longer that I have, Sergeant. For that reason and that reason only, I’m putting you on disciplinary leave for ten days rather than firing your ass. In addition, I know Commander Carter here well enough to know that you’d be drinking your dinner through a straw for the next year if you were no longer a police officer. You’ve seen him in the ring. He’s not a guy you wanna piss off any more than you want to piss me off. We’ll wait until Chief Roberts returns to decide how long you’ll be on probation. And, Sergeant Baker, you better spend the next ten days figuring out why the hell you’ve been acting the way you have for the last six months. There better be some damn good reasons or my recommendation is that you start casing the malls to see if they need a night watchman. Now get the hell out of here.”
    Nate stared at the doorway his face pinched with a thoughtful frown watching Baker’s retreating back. He dragged his hands through his unruly hair then turned to face Sam and Annika.
    “Something’s going on with Baker. He didn’t used to be like this. He used to be a decent cop. Never a star, but steady. I thought he might be into booze or even drugs. Dan’s a friend of his. Told me Baker was having financial problems. Like a lot of the folks around here, he got hit in the housing crisis. Poor sap fell for that ‘no doc loan’ crap. Damn, you’d think a veteran cop would be smarter. Watching the ne’er do wells day after day, thinking they can get something for nothing. Dan also said that Garrett and his wife separated. But hell, half the force is either divorced or should be. Be sure you never marry a cop, Lieutenant.” He paused for a moment then his lips hitched up in a smile. “That is unless you are a cop—or a gorgeous firefighter.”
    He shook his head, clearly still upset.
    “I would apologize to you, Lieutenant, on Baker’s behalf, but you know how both Sam and I feel about what happened. You handled yourself well in a difficult situation. I’m impressed. I’m also glad Sam and I came along when we did.”
    Annika stepped forward but before she could speak, Nate held up his hand and glared at her.
    “I swear to God, Lieutenant, if the next words that come out of your mouth are that you had everything under control, I won’t only