Page 143 of Lethal Game

She kept on staring, until he asked, “Can’t take a compliment?”

“Reducing me down to nothing more than a sexual object is not a compliment.” She glanced around at the rest. “You’re here to learn about biological weapons and how to detect and identify them, correct?”

“Yes, ma’am,” the group answered.

“I have two hours to give you information you might need to stay alive.” She checked her watch. “Mr. Persistent here has wasted fifteen minutes of that time. How many more minutes are you willing to waste?”

There was a moment of silence, then some general grumbling. Finally someone said, “None.”

“Excellent.” She carried on with her lecture.

At the end, before she could dismiss them, someone behind her cleared his voice. She turned to find Connor standing near the doorway.

Connor.

Wow, he looked good. Better than good, he looked healthy, in even better shape than the last time she’d seen him...lickable. The closer he got, the better he looked. Big, his muscles defined, his face shaved, his body fit. She could eat him all up.

Con moved up to stand next to her and she had trouble keeping her hands to herself.

He washere.

He met her gaze, only for a moment, but there was something wild and hot in his eyes.

The expression he gave their audience, however, was cool and controlled. “My name is Communications Sergeant Connor Button. Dr. Perry is my counterpart on the BRRT. If you’re successful in your application to join the Special Forces, my job for the next six weeks will be to take over for Sergeant Stone, who gave you your first taste of our combatives program. In addition to all the other training you’ll be doing, I’ll be picking out a few of you to work with the Biological Rapid Response Team. If you have an interest in working with them, let me know.”

He turned to nod at her. “Carry on, Doctor.”

“Thank you, Sergeant.” She gave him a professional nod and regarded her students. “As you can see, trust will be an integral part of your relationship with your BRRT teammate. It’s important to establish that early, so if things do go wrong, there aren’t any hesitations or questions in your mind about what should happen next or who should make which decisions. You both have a role and sometimes you’re going to lead, other times you’re going to have to let your teammate lead.”

As the men filed out at the end of the lecture, Con turned to give her a thorough visual examination. The heat she’d seen in his gaze a couple of minutes ago was gone. “How are you, Sophia?” His voice contained no emotion, no intonation from which she could interpret how he was feeling.

“Very well, thank you.” She watched him for any sign of happiness at seeing her, but he’d completely closed himself off. Trying to ignore the cold ball of concern at this distance he’d put between the two of them, she asked, “And you?”

“Fine.”

A burst of hysterical laughter escaped her. “Fine. You mean fucked up, insecure, neurotic, and emotional?”

His nostrils flared, his gaze turned molten, and he took a menacing step toward her. “Yes, fine, because Max had me on a covert mission that didn’t allow me an opportunity to call you for three fucking long months. Fine, because during that entire time all I could think about was you and if you were getting better or if you were going to die on me while I was under.”

He took another step toward her, close enough to touch. “Fine, because after three months of being away from you, the only thing I want is to get us both naked and stay that way for as long as you’ll allow.”

“Oh.” When had she started to pant and why was it so hot in this room?

“The only reason I haven’t started is because I know this building has a security camera pointed right at us, and what I want to do with you isn’t meant for anyone else’s eyes but yours and mine.”

“So,” she said, breathless. “That all sounds...really good. When can we do all of that?”

He thrust his fingers through his short hair. “When are you off?”

“In a couple of hours. You?”

“The same. You’ve got a place?”

“Yes.”

“Give me the address.”

She did and he put it into his phone.

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