Page 11 of Protecting Her

"You're always on duty, Captain." Carmen's smile held understanding. "But sometimes we need to blur the lines between protection and partnership. Especially given what we're facing."

She moved to the bar cart with fluid grace, pouring two measures of what looked like expensive scotch. The casualdomesticity of the gesture felt more dangerous than any security threat they'd faced.

"The balcony has been swept," Carmen added, holding out a glass to Jude. "And I imagine you'd feel better assessing sight lines from out there."

Their fingers brushed during the exchange, sending electricity up Jude's arm. She followed Carmen onto the balcony, automatically noting defensive positions and angles of vulnerability. But her focus wavered when Carmen leaned against the railing, “And because I recognize that look you get sometimes. The one that says you're carrying old ghosts. Tell me about Yemen.”

The evening air felt thinner, charged with more than just altitude. Jude took a careful sip of scotch, letting the burn ground her.

"We lost two team members," she finally said. "The official report says we couldn't have predicted the attack. But I saw the signs: local security acting strange, unusual patterns in staff rotations, the works. I just didn't put them together fast enough."

"And you've been watching for those signs ever since."

"Like you've been watching for signs of corporate interference in peace negotiations?" Jude countered softly.

Carmen's smile held surprise and approval. "You've been paying attention."

"It's my job to pay attention, ma'am."

"To security threats, yes." Carmen shifted closer, her perfume mixing with the evening air. "But you see more than that, don't you? The way corporate interests are using humanitarian aid to control indigenous communities. How they're corrupting local officials."

"The same way you see more than just tactical movements when you watch my team work."

The observation slipped out before Jude could stop it. Carmen's eyes darkened with something that held more than just surprise.

"We're more alike than they'd expect," Carmen murmured. "Both dedicated to protection, just with different methods." She paused, watching the city lights flicker on below. "Do you ever wonder what it would be like? To choose something for yourself instead of duty?"

The question hung between them, loaded with implications. Jude turned to face her fully, transfixed by how the fading light softened Carmen's features.

"Duty is easier," Jude admitted. "It has clear lines and defined boundaries."

"And this doesn't?" Carmen stepped closer, erasing their professional distance. "This thing we're not talking about?"

Jude's breath caught. Carmen stood close enough now that she could see the flecks of gold in her dark eyes and feel the heat radiating between them.

“Carmen…” The name slipped out before she could swallow it, the first time Jude had used it instead of the usual honorific “ma'am.”

Carmen's hand came up to trace the scar near Jude's temple, the touch feather-light but electric. "Always so careful, aren't you? Always in control?"

"I have to be." Jude's voice roughened. "People's lives depend on it.Yourlife depends on it."

"And if I told you some things are worth the risk?"

Jude hesitated, not saying what she really wanted to. The kiss, when it came, was gentle but deliberate. Carmen's soft lips pressed against hers with passionate intensity. For one fleeting moment, Jude let herself respond and lean in to the kiss, tasting scotch and possibility and everything she shouldn't want but did.

Then Carmen pulled back, reality crashing over them with the evening air.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her professional mask slipping back into place. "That was inappropriate. I shouldn't have?—"

She retreated into the suite before Jude could respond, leaving her alone on the balcony with the ghost of the kiss and the certainty that nothing would be the same after this.

Jude pressed a finger to her lips, still feeling the phantom pressure of Carmen's mouth against her own. The city sparkled below, oblivious to how her world had just shifted on its axis. Her military training screamed about compromise and distraction, about how attraction could get people killed.

But her heart, treacherous and honest, knew it was already too late for warnings.

She finished her scotch in one burning swallow and walked back into her own room through the connecting door, each step an exercise in control. But as she prepared for the night security shift, Jude knew she'd lost the most important battle of all: the one against falling for the woman she was meant to protect.

Jude's room felt too quiet after the intensity of the balcony. She moved through her security checklist with mechanical precision, trying to focus on protocols instead of the lingering taste of scotch and Carmen's lips.

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