Free At His Command by Karen Anders

disrupted her bun and sent her hair cascading down her back. He buried his face in her shoulder. “Do me a favor, Sia?”
    Her voice, clogged with emotion, was muffled against his shoulder. “What?”
    “Keep an open mind?”
    She took a deep breath. “Keep an open mind?”
    “Yes. Can you do that?” he asked, his voice a shade rougher.
    “I’ll try,” she responded, her voice breaking. “I’ll try.”
    He released her and walked away, his broad back disappearing down the passageway. For one moment, she let herself dream they had a chance, but she knew it was a lie. If he hadn’t been so stubborn and had just assigned someone else to this case, it would have been so much easier for both of them. Anger mixed in with the desire and longing.
    Slipping into her quarters, she burst into tears, her throat tight, her chest heavy. In the darkness, she let herself cry for the loss, for the memories and for the love she once had for a man who could no longer comfort her.

Chapter 5
    H e hadn’t meant to watch her. He’d only come up to the flight deck to run off some of his disappointment and the desire that had caught him off guard last night, and Sia was already there. Of course, that kiss shouldn’t have had him tossing and turning, but it had.
    He’d been craving the taste of her since last night. He’d convinced himself he must have exaggerated the hell out of what it had been like to kiss her, because a kiss was just a kiss, right? No way could one kiss be so special, so addicting, so enthralling…so intense.
    As it turned out, he had forgotten the impact. In a big way .
    Her lips had been so soft, and the way her breath hitched in the back of her throat, accompanied by that small, rough moan, immediately made him go rock-hard. It was all he could do not to plaster her back against the bulkhead and take and give until they were both sated.
    She’d taken off the sling and was easily moving across the flight deck as if she hadn’t been almost murdered two days ago. Her dark, curly hair was caught up in a ponytail, streaming out behind her like ebony ribbons as her legs, encased in black Lycra, fueled her quick strides.
    The bruise still stood starkly out on her soft, deep-golden skin, but it was beginning to fade somewhat.
    “You going to run, sir, or lollygag?” a flight deck sailor said good-naturedly as he walked past. “Although it’s a very nice view.” He smiled and returned back inside the carrier, no doubt on some task that needed completing. The work on a ship as large as this one never ceased.
    Chris stretched and took off. It wasn’t long before he caught up with her. “Are you sure you should be running? You almost got up close and personal with the ocean just a few days ago.”
    “Yeah, swimming with the fishes isn’t my idea of fun.” She turned to look at him, not at all shy about what had happened last night. He remembered that was something he had always liked about Sia. Her straightforward manner and her lack of game playing had attracted him from the moment he’d met her. Her acerbic wit and quick comebacks made him admire her even more. It was as if six years had melted away.
    They were quiet for a few paces and then Sia spoke. “I have a couple of things I need to confess.”
    She glanced over at him, but there was no apology in her eyes. Instead he saw a flash of anger. He suspected she had no intention of sharing with him what she was up to, but somehow had changed her mind. He wondered why.
    “Well, get the torpedoes in the water then.”
    She laughed without mirth. “Nothing as explosive or dangerous as that. But I want you to know.”
    “So it doesn’t come back to bite you on the butt?”
    “Something like that. Even though you hijacked my case, I guess I can be magnanimous in sharing with you some of my suspicions. After all, we’re really on the same mission.”
    “We are. We just have a lot of baggage to jettison.”
    She chose not to respond to the personal