Page 22 of Viral Justice

“All four were in the receiving department.”

“Have the cleaning staff disinfect every surface in the department. The last thing we need is the flu making the rounds on base.”

“Yes, sir.” He gave Max’s shadow another glance, then went to work, typing impossibly fast.

“Come along, Stone,” Max said without looking behind him as he strode into his office.

“Eugene gave it away?” she asked as he sat down behind his desk and she took the chair in front of it.

“Partially. I don’t know any other soundless soldiers besides you.” He gave her a bland look and turned on his computer.

She angled her head back at Eugene. “He looks for anything that might be an infectious disease?”

“We try to track everything we can. Africa has been particularly difficult to get timely information from since Ebola wiped out so many of their top infectious disease people. It could easily take off again.” He continued with his boring lecture voice, “Would you mind closing the door? I have a couple of delicate issues to discuss.”

“Yes, sir.” She closed the door, then stood at parade rest, her gaze riveted to a spot on the wall behind him.

Like that was it.

He got up and came around the desk so he could talk to her without anything between them. “Was there something wrong with my bed?” he asked her in what he hoped was an even tone.

“No.”

Her face told him nothing. “Did I hurt you?”

“No.”

“Did I do or say something to make you angry?”

“No.”

“Then why,” he demanded, “did you leave in the middle of the night?”

She kept her eyes on the wall. “My apologies, sir. I woke at zero four hundred and thought I’d let you sleep. It was a good time to return to my room unseen.”

He stared at her for a moment, irritation chafing at him like sandpaper. It sounded reasonable, considerate even, but her saying it while addressing him as a superior officer and not meeting his gaze was intolerable.

“Alicia, look at me.”

She glanced at him, but didn’t hold his gaze.

“What,” he asked, enunciating each word carefully, “did I do wrong?”

Her head jerked up and she looked at him with wide eyes. “Nothing.”

“Bullshit.” He took another step closer to her and had to clench his fists to stop himself from taking her by the shoulders. She’d have him on his back in two seconds flat. “You snuck out of my room without a word and now you’re standing here treating me like a stranger.”

Halfway through his sentence her jaw had fallen open. She snapped it closed, took in a deep breath, and smiled. A real smile, one that caused the tight tangle of emotion deep in his gut to loosen.

“I didn’t wake you,” she said, her voice the husky tone she’d used while she straddled him in the dark, “because you looked so damn sexy and cuddly I wanted to stay, but I knew if I didn’t go back to my room then, it would be hard to go there without being seen by some big-mouth grunt.” She smiled again and tilted her head. “I knew if I woke you, you’d have no trouble convincing me to stay, and I like this assignment.”

“Oh.”Jesus, it’s hot in here. He swallowed and watched that smile of hers turn naughty. “Your precipitous departure robbed me of something.”

“What?”

“A good-morning kiss.” He took the final step to reach her, slipped a hand behind her head and claimed her mouth. He took his time tasting her, showing her what she could have had before she’d tiptoed back to her room.

Her arms wound around his neck and she moaned low in her throat.

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