Page 19 of Under His Command

Before she could guess what he meant, he slipped the elastic band from the end of her braid and unraveled her hair.

“Is that necessary?” she asked, her tone overly sharp as she struggled to hide how much his closeness and touch were affecting her.

“It is, if I’m to see the damage. Hold still.”

He parted her hair at her nape, brought the two sections forward, and gently sifted through the strands while probing her scalp. When he came across the tender spot, she flinched, hissing in pain.

“You’ve got quite a lump back here.”

He angled her head farther forward for closer inspection, bringing the top of it flush against his chest. This close, his alluring scent filled her lungs. No cologne or fake fragrances for Flynn, only clean-smelling soap and man. If she could bottle it, she’d bathe in it, wash her clothes in it—better yet, her bed linens. The thought of his evocative fragrance surrounding her while she slept, aroused every nerve ending between her thighs and dampened the crotch of her panties.

It had been this way for weeks now, her insides jangling with excitement whenever he was around, even in a crowd. When it was just the two of them, like now, it got so much worse.

It wasn’t only his scent or how he looked—although Lord knows the man was handsome as sin—it was also the air of confidence and authority that surrounded him. Working at a naval base dedicated to training Navy SEALs, these characteristics were present in almost all the men she met at work every day.

She suspected God’s gift, take-no-shit, tough as nails, and badasswere required attributes on a SEALs application.Commander Dalton’s magnetic personality, bolstered by an extra serving of dominant alpha maleness, drew her to him like a moth to a flame. She’d tried to curtail it but was failing miserably.

Nonetheless, Cassie was a realist. That Flynn would look at her in more than a platonic way was a pipe dream. He could have his choice of women. Why waste an amorous thought on a short, clumsy, computer geek like her?

“The skin isn’t broken,” he murmured as he continued his inspection. “Some ice should reduce the swelling.”

“It’s fine. Really.”

She eased away, and he let her go. As she raised her head and faced him, she caught the slightest flicker of a shadow cross his handsome face. Was it something she had done or said?

He took a step back. “Why didn’t you call maintenance or ask someone to help you move the desk?”

“It was a simple power cord exchange. I thought I could reach it, but overestimated my stubby T-Rex arms, I guess.” Her little joke fell flat, not inciting the tiniest spark of amusement in his usual quick to laugh personality.

“Don’t denigrate yourself,” came his low response. “I’ll expect a call next time rather than you taking risks and ending up hurt. You have an island full of able-bodied men at your disposal. If you need something heavy moved, ask for help. Got me?”

“I got you, Flynn. Thanks.”

His stern expression softened with her agreement. “If you rattle your brains, imp, who will I spar with to pass the time while the men are busy running simulations?”

His week-long stint in her state-of-the-art lab with his trainees was something she looked forward to but dreaded all the same. It was both wonderful and torturous being around him. Unrequited love was always that way, she supposed. And it would be for her, because she lacked the nerve to do something about it, knowing she’d get shot down and things between them would turn awkward.

So she continued to endure and enjoyed the week in his company when he came through on rotation. He always joined her in the control room, watching the screens and critiquing his men’s performance. They’d chat like usual, but instead of pleasantries about work and the weather, they’d have animated discussions about whose reflexes were better, or which man had the best instincts, and which recruit couldn’t shoot for shit. And each night, in the quiet of her apartment, as she remembered every word, each inflection, every glance, and grin, the pain in her heart from wanting him would go unchecked.

“Cassie?” His hand on her arm brought her back to the room.

“What was that?” she asked, having no clue what he’d been saying.

“Are you sure you don’t need to get checked by medical?”

“No, Flynn. It’s sore, but I’m fine, and I have a lot to do to get us back online.”

His eyes shifted to the control panel behind her then to the glass windows and beyond to the lab itself. “That’s why I stopped in. Dive training ends next week, and we move on to Phase 3; will you have the glitch in the new program worked out by then?”

She was happy to focus on something, anything, other than her yearning for Flynn. “I hope so, but thistruly has me stumped. I’ve changed all the hardware I can, replaced every cable and connection, the power cords included, although I doubt that’s the cause. Failing that, I have a call into Gary. Between the two of us, we should be able to figure out if an error in the code is causing it to freeze.”

“I have a group scheduled to come through at 0900 a week from Monday.”

“I’ll do my best to keep you on schedule, Commander.”

His eyes caught and held hers. “You’ll need to alert me as soon as possible if you can’t. I’ll need time to plan for field training instead. I don’t want to risk falling behind and not make our graduation date since SQT starts immediately afterward. The captain will need to be advised as well.”

“Since it’s not my program, it’s taking more time to troubleshoot, but I’m determined to have it back online for the start of your class.” She bit her lip, hoping she wasn’t overselling herself.

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