Page 60 of Of Steel and Scale

I raised an eyebrow. “Is there now? I hope you’re prepared to follow that statement with a physical example.”

His eyebrows rose. “You’ve never ventured beyond a bed or a bath?”

“I’m a soldier,” I said dryly. “For most of my time in the military, quarters were shared, tables nonexistent within them, and privacy never assured. Sex was a fun but necessarily unadventurous event.”

“Then it will be my great pleasure to educate you on this particular matter.”

“And mine, I would hope.”

“That I can promise.”

He pushed to his feet, then offered me a hand and helped me up. He caught the edges of my jacket and did it up, causing havoc with every—probably not so accidental—brush of his fingers against my currently oversensitive skin. I glanced down at his still very evident erection. “That’s going to cause a whole lot of conjecture and comments, especially given Kele is one of those who approach.”

He shrugged. “Let them talk. Desire for my wife is something I will never feel ashamed of.”

Another statement that warmed my heart. Once the jacket was done, he turned and picked his way through the rubble littering the floor, heading for the tubes he’d abandoned. By some quirk of fate, he’d rolled us just past a slab of rock that jutted out several feet into the tube, and given the tide of rubble sitting on the other side of the protrusion, it had obviously helped protect us from the worst of the explosion.

I looked around for the packs and spotted them a few yards away. Damon’s was half buried under a few rocks, but my two were just dusty. I walked over, dug them out and shook them off, then did a check inside mine to ensure everything remained in a usable condition. After tugging the light tube free, I switched it on, then slung one pack on my back, the other over my shoulder, and carried the third over to Damon.

“Did the weapons survive?”

“The tubes were crushed, but your weapon master should still be able to dissect and study them. The tub is fine—a good thing, considering if it had gone up like the others, we might not be here talking about it.”

He exchanged his pack for the tubes, putting it on before picking up the tub of liquid. “Lead the way, my dear captain.”

I couldn’t help smiling again. “You just want me in the lead to hide the impressive length of your erection.”

“No, I want you in the lead so I can watch the delicious sway of your ass.”

I laughed. “That is not going to help said erection.”

“Do I look as if I care?”

He certainly did not. I impulsively rose onto my toes and kissed him, then pulled away before it could get too heated and led the way through the rubble-strewn tunnel and into the connecting tube.

Five minutes later, Kele and three soldiers from her squadron appeared. I raised my hand against the brightness of their lights and stopped.

Once they were close enough, I said to Kele, “I take it the rescue team arrived?”

She nodded. “About half an hour ago. It took a while to stabilize Randel enough to move him, but all three are being escorted back to Esan as we speak.”

“Good.” I glanced past her to the oldest of the three men. “Grant, we’ll need you and your men to take the weapons we found back to the commander.”

He saluted. “Yes, Captain.”

I retrieved the tub from Damon, then handed both it and the tubes over. “Be wary of the liquid. It’s explosive.”

“Is that what caused the blast we heard?” Kele asked.

I nodded. “It destroyed the tunnel leading up to the Beak.”

“Not a bad thing, if our attackers were using it.”

“They were.” I flicked my gaze to Grant again. “Move out, Lieutenant, but be wary of the olm. They’ll still be hunting through the blue vein tubes.”

He and his men spun and quick timed it down the tunnel.

“We heading to the drakkons now?” Kele asked, anticipation in her voice.

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