‘There’s a couple of abandoned buildings about half a click away, but they’re boarded up. We’ll have to bust a way in.’
With any luck the MERT would be back before the sandstorm hit. But if they were unlucky, they were going to need a decent place to wait it out, especially with the casualty.
‘Grab any kit we might need and show me,’ Ash commanded one of the soldiers.
‘Okay, when we cut the rod the vibration could cause more internal damage, so you and you hold it absolutely steady,’ she was instructing firmly, calmly, ensuring everyone knew their role whilst still efficiently moving along the task. ‘And you cut right here, understand?’
‘Ma’am.’
Ash was quickly getting the impression that, once this was all over, he was going to owe the Major something of an apology.
CHAPTER THREE
‘MAJOR.’ ASH STEPPED to one side in the corridor as the team filed out of the briefing room several hours later. ‘A word.’
‘Colonel?’
‘I wanted to say that was nice work this morning.’
She eyed him carefully, the corners of her mouth twitching before glancing around to ensure everyone had left.
‘Is that your idea of an apology?’
She was teasing him?
Something wound around Ash’s gut. Hot, raw. It pulled tight.
He fought it. Drew in a sharp breath.
‘No, it’s my idea of an acknowledgement. If you hadn’t leapt off the heli like that, prepared to be left in the middle of nowhere, Corporal Hollings would probably never have made it back here alive. Good work.’
‘He also might not have made it if you hadn’t secured that compound the way you did. We all played a part in that success,’ she breathed.
‘Well...’ His voice was huskier than usual and Ash consoled himself with the fact that she didn’t know him well enough to know that.
He silenced the voice that whispered it was a shame she didn’t know him well enough to know that.
‘So is that really what you stopped me out here to tell me?’
She held his gaze unwaveringly, drawing him inexorably down into those seductive and all too perceptive depths. He couldn’t recall if he’d ever wanted any woman quite as much as he wanted her. He kept trying to tell himself that it was just the shared experience out there which had bonded them in a way which wouldn’t otherwise have happened. It was hardly surprising. A few hours in such a hostile environment allowed you to see facets of a person it might otherwise take years to unearth.
He knew it was more than that. The chemistry had been palpable from the moment they’d met. It was what had caused him to react so strongly back in her CO’s office. Had he really thought that attacking her the way he had instead of getting her side of the story would prove that he hadn’t been standing there imagining what it would be like to have been in that office alone and claimed her as though they were teenagers behind the back of the school gym, instead of professional, responsible army officers?
‘I did want to mention it. But no, it isn’t all I wanted to say, Major.’ The emphasis of her rank was more to remind himself than her. ‘You were right about the men in my new unit. They are finding it difficult to assimilate replacements and, as you identified, because Camp Razorwire isn’t a warzone the previous CO may not have paid enough attention to it.’
The tilt of her head, the light in her expression, even the increased respect in her eyes all played to his basic male pride. Ash knew it yet was powerless against it, the raw sexual appeal too strong.
‘I’m glad you can see it too.’ She nodded sincerely. ‘They’re good lads; they just need someone who can talk to them in their language, someone who understands what it’s like out there on the front line, someone who can take them in hand.’
It was clear to Ash what she was being careful not to say. That Colonel Waterson had been on the front line a little too long before he’d got his commission and hadn’t handled the transition to flying a desk well. It was the same unsettling battle Ash himself was now facing, but seeing how failure to get the balance right had led to some poor decisions on the former Colonel’s part, with tragic consequences, Ash knew it was imperative that he found a way to accept the monumental change his promotion had brought.
‘Actually, I was hoping for your help in that,’ he announced, firmly quashing any doubts that, if he wasn’t yet playing with fire, he was most certainly toying with a full box of matches.
He didn’t blame her for her suspicious frown but he had to clench his fist to stop himself from reaching out to smooth it away. Her skin looked silky-soft.
What would it be like to touch his lips to her, taste her?
‘You want my help?’