Page 96 of Deadly Strain

He reached out with his hands to remove the bandage.

“Gloves,” she reminded him.

He grabbed a pair from her pack and peeled the bandage away. While still red and puffy, the swelling had gone down and the stitches seemed to have stopped weeping and were scabbed over.

“How many doses have I had of antibiotic?” she asked. She could have slept through one or two depending on how often Max had ordered them.

“Two.”

“This looks good, then. The pills should be all I need.”

“How do you feel?” Sharp asked as he took off the gloves and threw them in a makeshift garbage can.

“Tired, but not light-headed or achy like I did before.”

He stared at her hard, like he was trying to decide if she was telling the truth or not.

“I’m okay,” she told him, putting her hand on his, which still rested on her leg. “I’m not great, but I’m okay.”

“Youwilltell me if you feel any worse than okay.” It was an order.

“Of course, and I’d like you to do the same. Don’t ignore it if the pain in any of your wounds gets worse. Pain is the body’s way of telling you there’s a problem.”

“Deal,” he said, holding out his hand.

She took it, expecting a professional, impersonal handshake.

What he did was yank her up against him and kiss her. Hard. His lips gave no quarter, his tongue no escape.

She didn’t want to escape. Her heart sped up and her breathing got choppy, and all she wanted to do was get closer to him. When he kissed her, no pain could reach her, and no memory could destroy the pleasure and peace his touch inspired.

What was she doing? Anyone could walk past and catch them.

When he pulled away, he rested his forehead against hers, his eyes closed, like he needed time to collect himself before facing anyone else. Had they kissed for two seconds, two minutes, or two hours?

His eyes opened and he stared at her, the expression on his face changing from dangerously hot to plain dangerous. “When I get you naked, you’re going to stay that way for a month.”

“We shouldn’t...,” she whispered. “It’s not...professional.” Though the idea was shockingly tempting. She could picture herself and Sharp, naked and wrapped around each other in a bed, the pillows and sheets spilled onto the floor. She let out a shaky breath and said, “No, we can’t.” She waved a hand between them. “Isn’t a good idea.”

He snorted. “None of this is a good idea.”

She opened her mouth to explain further, but he shook his head. “No, I get you. Common sense says not to go there. The thing is, my heart doesn’t give a shit.”

Oh. Happiness and desire bubbled through her blood. “Mine too,” she said in a very small voice.

He stared at her, his gaze so deep he had to be seeing all the way to the bottom of her soul.

“We’ll be heading out in a couple of minutes,” he said as if the last few minutes of their conversation hadn’t happened. “Remember, you’re human and you’re not indestructible.”

There was so much they needed to talk about, but there wasn’t time. As she finished getting her pants on, she said, “Pot. Kettle. Black.” She grabbed her antibiotics, her pack, and moved to get up, but Sharp hadn’t moved and didn’t seem interested in getting out of her way. “Sergeant, do I have to order you to stand down?”

“No, ma’am.” His face was shuttered, but there was an edge of violence in the set of his jaw and narrowed eyes.

She put a tentative hand on his shoulder, met his formidable gaze and said for him alone, “I promise I won’t do anything to jeopardize myself or anyone else unless I have no other choice. I’ll be careful and I’ll be smart.”

“It’s killing me knowing the danger that’s ahead. The guy behind this biological weapon is nuts. He’s like a loaded handgun with no safety. One squeeze and there’s no calling the bullet back.”

“Are you saying I’m not capable of doing what might be needed?”

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