“Nope, last night was quiet,” Lincoln informed Casey. They were standing near the small table outside Casey’s command building, wrapping up Lincoln’s debriefing.
Casey was relieved. At least his little dodger hadn’t tried to run on her second night. “So no issues?”
“Other than the fact she needs to piss about once an hour? No, no issues.” Lincoln smirked. “Although I did instruct the guys to not challenge her after the first time she left the tent.”
“No need to detain her. Bean’s not that fast, but I bet she’d give us one helluva time if she wasn’t pregnant.”
“Paul said she nearly went into labor after they stopped her,” Lincoln said and smirked.
“Oh?” Casey didn’t want to assist in a non-surgical fetal extraction, but he didn’t want the evader to go into labor with him absent from camp, either. Anything could go wrong and he’d rather be the one with the responsibility than one of his men.
“Apparently she held her stomach tight and groaned when he grabbed her arm. Paul forced her to sit for a bit before letting her walk down the hill.”
That didn’t sound like labor to him.
“No one here envies you,” Lincoln chuckled. “Half a dozen of them have been practicing your signature whistle. I betcha the second she goes into labor all of them will be whistling for you.”
Casey stifled a snort and ran a hand through his hair. It was barely nine in the morning and already the air felt thick and heavy. The temperature had to be close to ninety. He would never fall asleep in his tent in this heat.
Movement caught Casey’s eye and he looked over Lincoln’s shoulder to focus on the activity. The young woman was waddling down the hill with Jules and Ty in tow. As Casey would expect Ty was following at a respectable distance, and Jules was chatting with her—no, at her. She was silent as ever. Casey was impressed. If anyone could learn her secrets it would be Jules, but she seemed immune to his charms.
Lincoln turned to see what he was staring at. “She’s headed this way.”
“Looks like it,” Casey replied. “Anyone learn her name yet?”
“Nope, but she’s taken to Tristan.” Lincoln turned back to him. “He’s probably going to crack her shell before Jules does. He chewed out Teo and Ethan at the start of his shift yesterday, and she seemed more comfortable around him afterward.”
“Elaborate.” If she already trusted him, maybe he would ask Tristan to assist when the girl finally went into labor.
“I didn’t ask for a report. What I gathered from Ethan’s grumbling at mess is that Tristan yelled at them for letting her hole up in your tent all day without food or water. I’m not surprised. They’re both pissed about the double shifts.”
“Anger and a weaker person to take it out on,” Casey agreed. It was a common problem with the recently enlisted. He was surprised Teo would react that way being a few years out of basic. “Think I need to say something?”
“Na, I’d let it slide.”
Casey grudgingly agreed. It was a balance between letting the men have their opinions and forcing his way on them when needed. “Understood.”
“Case,” Jules acknowledged as the came closer. “Anything exciting on patrol?”
Noah.
“Nope.”
Jules rocked on his heels. “Good.”
The woman just wrapped her arms around her belly and looked to the ground.
“Chica said she had a question for you.”
He turned his focus to the evader. Her hair clung to her head and she had a twig sticking out of a messy bun holding her it up off her neck. There was a slight smudge of dirt under her right eye.
“Would you… Um, could you…”
Casey had to concentrate to hear her weak voice. “Speak up,” he snapped and cursed mentally when she flinched. He tried again, infusing calm into his tone. “What do you need?”
She glanced at Lincoln before meeting his eyes. After a moment she dropped her gaze to the ground. “I would like to get clean in the river.” She looked at him from under her lashes, not quite willing to meet his gaze. “Without witnesses,” she added.
“Alone? I can’t do that.”
“Not alone,” she said with a touch of defiance. “Just without them.” She twitched her head backward, indicating Jules and Ty standing behind her.
“You’re asking me to act as your guard while you bathe?” He shoved the thought of seeing her naked again out of his mind.
She nodded, still not meeting his eyes. Her cheeks turning bright red.
Lincoln nudged him. When Casey turned to see what he needed, Lincoln smirked and twitched his eyebrows up and down. Casey ignored him and turned back to the evader. When he answered, his words were clipped. “Fine, but we go now. I have work to do this afternoon.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
He couldn’t help but feel a touch of excitement at the prospect of seeing her without clothes. He cursed Javier for putting that thought in his head. Casey didn’t want to admit he liked the first bath he’d witnessed. Taking physical enjoyment out of watching her get clean seemed inappropriate. He couldn’t remember feeling the same desire with the other evaders over the past six years. But then again, it wasn’t until he became Staff Sergeant that he’d been required to supervise that part of an evader’s capture.
“You remember how to get there?”
She nodded.
“Lead the way,” he ordered.
He followed behind as she made her way down and over the low water bridge and eventually down the gravel path to the river. Did she waddle that much two days ago? He couldn’t remember. And when she slipped, he caught her arm to steady her.
He felt her tense at his touch. Casey refused to believe it was because of his hand on her arm and instead decided it was due to the slip. “You all right?”
“Yes,” she answered.
He didn’t let go of her arm for the rest of the way down the path, but he did loosen his grip. Wondering at why the tension never drained from her, and he found himself rubbing a small circle with his thumb on her bicep. He abruptly let go.
“We’re here. Get clean,” he grumbled. Mad at himself for forgetting his duty.
She didn’t say anything, just pulled the shirt over her head and dropped it to the ground. She then shimmied out of the tight tank top and let it fall onto its fellow garment. Her cheeks were bright red, but she didn’t hesitate as she untied the shorts and dropped both them and her panties to the ground.
Before Casey could register the fact she was completely naked, she’d already stepped into the river and lowered herself until the water lapped at her neck. He heard her hiss as the cold water covered her bare skin.
But then his mind caught up with what his eyes and seen and his body reacted. He had to readjust part of his anatomy.
Half the guys had to fist it after you sent her to your bed for lights out...
Casey groaned. He did not want to remember that conversation with Javier. Not with the object of the conversation less than ten feet from him and completely nude. He tried to not stare at the curve of her neck where it met her shoulder, or how the dusting of freckles drew his eyes to her upper back.
Could serve under her country—if you know what I mean...
She reached up and pulled the stick holding her hair in place. It fell free from the bun and she swept it to the side. Casey had to look away. Didn’t she have any idea how alluring pulling her hair from her neck made her look? The desire to run his fingers through her hair forced him to shift his weight from foot to foot.
Hit a nerve huh?
“Shut up Javier,” he growled to himself.
He had to put some distance between them. Casey moved further away so that he wouldn’t see the curve of her breast as she tilted her head back to wet her hair, or how she turned just enough to tease him with a glimpse of her ribs as she plucked at the river gravel under her hands.
You could get away with using her too…
“No. She deserves respect and care,” he told himself, dismissing the uncomfortable thought. He was above such behavior.
He took a shaky step backward, and then another. After several paces, he took a deep breath.
Already he felt better. Less aware of her skin taunting him. He relaxed the tension in his shoulders, and with effort, he pushed his thoughts toward his new enigma.
Noah.
The man needed to be found and questioned.
Casey shifted his weight and pulled the note from his pocket.
You missed me! Noah
What was his goal?
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