The Colonel's Man Read Online Free PDF Page A

were weaker than she was used to. Crap, she must have gotten hit good to leave her like this. Bracing herself for what she expected to be a short but still jarring fall, her body instinctively tensed up for the hit and for the pain in her side to flare up.
    It never came.
    A powerful arm wrapped around her waist and caught her just in time. The breath left her lungs in a rush as she was pulled up against a hard male body and piercing blue eyes looked down into hers. He was big, that much she knew, remembered from the extraction, but memory was one thing and the reality entirely different. Heat and interest uncoiled within her, and her fingers automatically curled around his upper arms. Hard muscle and satin skin lay under her fingers, inviting exploration but she resisted. At some point he’d showered and changed. She frowned.
    “How long have you been here?”
    “All night.” He spoke in a baritone still heavy with morning gravel. “The doctors said I could stay if I didn’t bother anyone.”
    He didn’t relax his grip. Her feet barely touched the floor, forcing her to balance on the toes of one while the other wrapped around his strong calf, brushing against the well-washed fatigues he wore.
    He was close, too close, and his eyes toured her face as if trying to memorize every part of it. She couldn’t help wetting her lips with her tongue, then bit her lip when his gaze riveted to her mouth. His scrutiny this close made her want to squirm, and not because she was self conscious. With decades of alliance service under her belt, she’d long since stopped worrying about what people thought of her looks. So she had ridges. Two sets that formed a line down the centre of her forehead and wandered onto her nose. Trust her parents to meet and fall in love, and pass a matched set of the things onto their children. She didn’t care, they were part of her.
    “Do I have something on my nose?”
    A smile tugged at the corner of his decidedly sexy mouth as he replied. “No. Just admiring the change.”
    He seemed to have realized their awkward posture and gradually straightened, allowing her to stand on her feet, but he kept his supportive arm around her as if he was wary she might fall again. The protective little gesture made her feel warm and fuzzy. It was rare that anyone considered her in need of protection. She was as hard as nails, with an attitude that made the most seasoned marines run for the hills.
    “You really shouldn’t be out of bed yet till they get you cleared. We had a really wild date last night.”
    Her eyebrow lifted on automatic but she managed to suppress the smile that wanted to curve her lips. Tall, dark and handsome, he had just the right edge of charm to make him dangerous.
    “Does that line work often for you?”
    He grinned unrepentantly. “Well, only if they don’t remember what happened last night, but you’re assuming I spend a lot of time hanging around the medbay looking for beautiful recovering patients. I’m creative but not that sleazy.”
    She’d seen how creative he could be. The extraction had gone to hell in a hand-basket but both he and his partner had been cool under fire. Just the sort she was always looking to recruit for her own unit: Section Three. She just hadn’t expected the spirits to drop them in her lap like this.
    Then what he’d said hit her and her lips pursed. Beautiful. There were two sorts of men who called a face like hers beautiful; the insane and the blind.
    “Ohhh, you’re good. I might have fallen for that if they hadn’t undone the cosmetic work.” She pushed at his chest but it was like trying to move a lump of granite.
    A confused expression crossed his face for a moment but it quickly disappeared as he smiled again. He shot her a reproachful look at her struggles, obviously not ready to let her go just yet.
    “Now, now… We already talked about this. You really shouldn’t force yourself after waking up from surgery. You trip and fall and the