Page 45 of Silver Elite

He closes the distance between us, and a shiver runs through me when he dips his head close to whisper in my ear.

“I like it rough.”

I clench my teeth harder and try to ignore the ripples of heat that travel through my body.

No. I’m not allowed to feel even aflickerof warmth toward this man. He leads the block that’s responsible for hunting down people like me. I ought to be a wall of ice. I ought to kill him the first chance I get.

He watches me again, silent and pensive. Then he asks, “Are you going to be a problem for me?”

“Probably.”

“Don’t test my patience, Dove. I’m not someone you want as an enemy.”

His lethal tone doesn’t faze me.

He already is the enemy.

“May I go now?”

He nods. “You’re dismissed.”

“Thank you, sir,” I mock.

To my dismay, he grabs his tablet and follows me to the door, where his voice stops me before I can exit.

“Darlington.”

He’s so much taller than me, my chin instinctively tilts up for me to meet his eyes. They’re so stupidly blue. “What?”

“You’d be better off keeping a lower profile. The instructors enjoy making life more difficult for the troublemakers.”

“Well, I plan on making life difficult forthem,so it’s only fair they fight back.”

He shakes his head. “Let’s go.”

“Aw, are you accompanying me to morning meal?” As we fall into step with each other, I’m forced to quicken my pace to match his longer strides.

“No. Morning meal is delayed. I’m addressing the recruit class first. I wasn’t able to do it yesterday because I was called off base at the last minute.”

“Doing more dirty things at village inns?”

That gets me another smoldering look. Damn it, I need to stop provoking him.

“Something like that.”

We navigate several corridors until we reach a large training gym with gray walls and black mats spanning the floor. I don’t want to be seen entering with the captain, but I don’t have much of a choice. Heads swivel at our entrance.

I spot Lyddie in the sea of navy blue and make my way to her. Kaine is there, too. He glances past my shoulder at Captain Cross, who’s approaching his instructors.

“Never had a woman risk the wrath of a Command captain to share a bed with me,” Kaine says with a wink.

I ignore him and turn to Lyddie. “Did I miss anything important?”

“No. Did you get in trouble?”

“Just a warning,” I lie.

I’m starting to realize it might be impossible for me to get in trouble. I’m not going anywhere unless Cross wants me to. And yet, what message does it send to his instructors if he allows an incompetent recruit to continue training for his precious Silver Block? He’d look weak. Incompetent himself. Which means I need to stay the course. The worse I perform, the quicker I’ll wake up from this nightmare.

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