“Don’t. You’ll just get yourself in trouble,” I whisper while motioning for him to walk away.
“He can’t talk to you like that,” he growls, his eyes swearing he’s about to do something stupid.
I grip the collar of his shirt and jerk his lips down to mine to defuse his bomb the only way I know how to. His frustrations pour into my mouth, and then his hands wrap around my waist to pull me tighter.
I feel him smiling behind the kiss once I’ve rid him of his anger, and then he shakes his head while withdrawing.
“You’re too clever, Ms. Banner.”
“You’re just too easy, Lieutenant Ericson.”
He laughs lightly, and then he pulls out his phone. I lean against him while kissing his chest through his shirt, and he wraps an arm around my waist while texting one-handed.
“What are you doing?” I ask while feeling a little ignored.
“Asking for a favor,” he says with a devious, secretive grin.
“I want your arms around me right now. This damn cold spell is messing with my hybrid heat,” I grumble, and he lets a chuckle free while shaking his head and putting his phone back in his pocket.
“I’m afraid heat is something I lack.”
He gives me that incredible smile and I nestle into his body as the others congregate around the disaster site.
“I like your chill though. As odd as it sounds, it warms me up.”
He smiles against my hair, and his hands grip me tighter through my thin jacket. This damn weather is too fucking cold for a hybrid. My body temperature has dropped to at least a hundred degrees. Stupid detail. Why did I sign up?
“It’s a good thing you guys were close by. Our blood was gone due to a scuffle we endured earlier. We needed some to deal with the uranium shards that broke away from the blast,” a man says while walking up.
They depleted our small blood supply. We've really got to start packing more, but it's hard to bring too much along due to the scent it gives off. Too much blood on hand is a flashing neon sign for all to see - or smell rather.
“We were in the process of tracking some men on their way to Santoas. We made the call, and the men were apprehended at the border,” Jase says casually, downplaying how high profile that crew was.
A black sedan pulls up, and a fully uniformed general steps out. He marches up to the blast site and I shiver a little.
“A general? Here?” I whisper in disbelief.
A general shouldn't be in such a location. It's too dangerous, and we don't have enough gifted hybrids with us to ensure the protection such a rank is supposed to have. If an Unaligned crew gets a hold of a general, they'll use them for bargaining.
“He was probably close by,” Jase says casually, but there’s a secretive undertone.
“Captain Hartz,” the general says to the snarky captain we dealt with earlier.
“Yes, Sir,” the captain says, his rude demeanor shifting to one of respect.
“You’ve been relieved of your duties here, Captain. The commander has requested you be moved to Idone for detail,” the general says with a slicing tone.
Idone is the most embarrassing placement a captain can have. If you get sent there, someone is teaching you a lesson. Essentially, you become the person in charge of filing everyone’s paperwork. It’s what they call the bitch position.
“I’m not sure I understand, Sir. I’m not Idone material. This is a war.”
“I’m not sure you understand either. I’m a general, you’re a captain. Get your ass to Idone now,” the general growls, and then he nods in the direction of Jase before climbing back into his car.
I almost rip Jase’s arm out his socket when I jerk him away from the rest of the group. A smile plays on his lips when I release him, but I'm too dumbfounded, angry, and flabbergasted to be amused.
“Ow,” he exaggerates while rubbing his shoulder.
“Did you just text someone to have that done? Who the hell are you?” I yell in a whisper.
