Page 20 of Under His Command

Amusement crept into his gaze, and his lips kicked up in a one-sided grin. “The girl genius stumped. I didn’t think it was possible.”

She bristled at being called a girl even in teasing. It was getting old, really fast.

Just last week, she’d met Jules for drinks after work and had her ID questioned. The waiter had even brought over his manager. Cassie thought by the time her thirtieth birthday rolled around, she’d be beyond the impression her small stature and button nose sent out. She grimaced, which the commander misinterpreted.

“I’m not blaming you, but we have to get this group of trainees up to speed on the new weapons system before they can move on.” He gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “I’ll let you get back to it, after you ice that lump on your noggin, of course.” Another strongly worded suggestion that was an order he expected her to follow. At the door, he paused and turned back. “Are we on for Friday?”

Lunch had become their thing. Every other week, like clockwork, she and Flynn went to one of the many parks on the island, found a grassy spot under a tree, and had lunch. He was excellent company, quick-witted, and had a story for everything, but he never spoke of his missions or the combat he’d seen.

Most often, he told her of the places he’d been or the exotic settings, and the local people he’d met. Cassie couldn’t get enough of his tales. Excluding Boston, and the Tijuana trip she’d taken in high school, she hadn’t been out of California. And those weren’t stories to tell. The former was beyond boring, and the latter disastrous since she’d gotten sick from too much tequila and wounded up grounded for a month. It was something to forget and a story to take to her grave without telling Flynn.

Theirs was an easy friendship, even though, to her regret, it had never progressed much beyond lunch, laughs, and animated conversation. There had been an occasional ball game or special event downtown, but she was firmly in the friend zone with him.

“You bring the cookies this time, imp, and I’ll see to the rest.” He then winked as he always did and was gone.

As the door closed behind him, she exhaled a protracted sigh. After the first time he’d called her imp, she’d Googled the definition. A mischievous child and a brat were among the many meanings. The nickname had confirmed he thought of her as nothing more than a buddy to hang out with, or worse, the dreaded kid sister. Either way, it had forced her to face the cold, hard fact she’d have to give up hope for any romance with Flynn Dalton.

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His long strides carriedhim quickly out of the building and into the warmth of the July afternoon, the temperature well past the average mid-70s. The unusual heat had persisted during the past six weeks of dive training. The men welcomed it, even though the water drills had as been grueling as always. Spending a transition period in the simulator before the next phase would have given them a much-needed break. Instead, he might have to rearrange his entire schedule.

Ordinarily, he’d be pissed off. But after seeing sexy little Cassie on her knees at his feet, her big blue eyes wide and a bit dazed from a conk on the head, he decided another week to figure out how to stem his desire for the innocent computer nerd was precisely what he needed.

Seven more days!A cynical inner voice scoffed.Try seven years. Even that long will do nothing for the hard-on tenting the front of your pants.

It was true; he hadn’t been able to control the ever-present erection he sported around her, not in meetings, while shooting enemy combatants in urban simulations, or while rigged out in the virtual reality equipment and infiltrating an enemy stronghold in the desert. He’d had six months to try, and his cock still jumped to attention like an acne-riddled, horny adolescent whenever she came near.

Their regular picnics didn’t help, but he enjoyed the one-on-one time with her too much to give them up. Since coming to Coronado, she’d blossomed from the soft-spoken girl she’d first been into an animated, charming young woman. And as she’d grown more accustomed to him, she’d eventually shed her cloak of shyness, though she still blushed when he teased her. Being around Cassie, wanting her when he knew he shouldn’t, made him a glutton for punishment.

The memory of today, and the temptation she presented as she wriggled and squirmed under the desk, her snug skirt stretched taut against the curves of her heart-shaped bottom, would haunt his dreams. As an unapologetic, self-proclaimed ass man, Cassie’s ranked as one of the finest he’d ever laid eyes on, and that was saying something for a well-traveled Navy man. In a side-by-side comparison, Cassie’s booty would give Kim K’s a run for its money. It was all he could do to keep his eyes and hands off it.

Her delectable derriere was only part of her allure, however. There was also the way she gazed up at him behind the dark-framed glasses she wore at work, along with her quick wit, keen intelligence, and geek squad persona. And the youthful appeal of her sun-kissed complexion, her blonde hair in its high ponytail, or the cute side braid like how she wore it today. She also had another side, a stunning contrast to everything else with that made-for-sin body. Cassie had killer curves in abundance, not only her fine ass but her more-than-a-handful tits, which she tried and failed to hide behind prim blouses. And her narrow waist made her rounded hips tempting as hell in her knee-length figure-hugging skirts, or the snug-fitting trousers she wore on occasion.

This mixture of innocence and unintended sexuality made him wonder, if given a chance, what he would do to her first. Turn her over his knee for a bare-bottom spanking inpunishment for tormenting him all these months or spread her out naked beneath him and fuck her senseless. Either way, it would remain what it was, a fantasy in his head, for she wasn’t his type.

Outwardly, she was perfect, but he liked kink and rough play that would shock her down to her cotton-candy pink toes. A fact he’d noticed earlier with her feet bare. Cassie was a girlie-girl used to satin and lace. Flynn’s typical woman was an experienced submissive, comfortable in five-inch heels and a black leather minidress, or in nothing except scented lotion, and wrist and ankle cuffs.

If he had Cassie at the club, he’d dress her conservatively, in something classy, maybe in a slinky dress slit high on the thigh, covering her in front but plunging in back. He could keep her beautiful, lush body to himself and still slide his hand inside to caress the curves of her ass or around in front to cup a breast and tease a nipple.

He couldn’t imagine her nude in public. Check that. He could but shouldn’t. She was much too sweet and innocent.

Yes, Cassie Hardwick would have to stay right where she was, a fantasy by night and a friend by day, even if it killed him. As the hard proof of how much he desired her made his pants tight, he thought itvery well might.

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