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That her husband wouldn’t tell her pinched her pride and heart"It’s always helpful to hear things frohts"

"Fine We’ll play this your way then if it’ll get me out of here quicker"

Unease itched up her spine like the healing skin over her cut foot She couldn’t shake the feeling of disloyalty in hearing what JT had chosen not to tell her Damn it, why couldn’t this one have been shuffled to someone else? But even if her boss had relented, the ain, perhaps delaying Bo’s return to flying

"The part where local warlords got ahold of us at first, was … tense That’s when I got these" He held up his hands The right could have passed for normal with only one thin scar across the top But the left shouted pain with fading incisions, the skin pale and peeling after so long in a cast "Wondering what they would do with us was hell--fearing they ht turn us over to one of their terrorist bosses I wouldn’t havethe her nerves turned to a vicious rash--ugly horror spreading through her as Bo confirer her husband stayed silent, theher were just the product of an overactive i the worst had happened and her husband wouldn’t even tell his wife

Bo swung his boot back up on his knee, fidgeted with the long black laces "There were already Aes over there then, part of ere checking up on--"

Pausing, he glanced up froey I can’t say more than that for security reasons and it won’ton here"

"I understand" Understood that her husband was a part of these things he couldn’t talk about Scary things that man-speak translated into the simple word tense

"Anyhow, the Rubistanians intercepted the rebel caravan, and the bad guys turned us over to the good guys"

"Just turned you over?"

"Yep They knew they were outgunned, so they gave us up rather than die"

More manspeak understatement No doubt "What about the days that followed?"

"Consisted of questioning while aited for international channels to clear, and for the Rubistanians to poke around inside our plane I don’t reed up for the pain most of the time"

"Does it help to downplay the events?"

He looked up, his eyes clear of the fog fro, if not the horrors of what he’d endured "Yes"

Pain pulsed from hi The toughest part of her job And this was a near stranger The words would be hell co from JT’s mouth

If he ever told her

"I don’t mean to sound inane, Lieutenant, but you do realize that if you cliain?"

"I accept that as part of my job"

"And you’re okay with it?" she asked, only noticing as the words fell out of her mouth that she’d opted for JT’s abbreviatedto be totally okay with it"

The sanest response he could have given Rena could all but see hiain

"But I’ I owe a debt"

"The tiation can be spent in another job"

"That’s not what I"I was brought up by people who gave everything for other people, for ured out pretty damn fast I wasn’t uish wink that almost lit the dark shadows froht off the corner of her desk, tossing it one-handed in the air "And I’ gig I likeback My Air Force coe benefits of soed it ood as the people who brought enius who can cure cancer" He placed his scarred hands on the edge of her desk "But once I left the hoan airplane These hands are who I am I won’t let anyone take that away from me"

He pinned her with his eyes, direct, no shutters or walls blocking her fro drive to crawl back into that plane

Then he spun away, hands on his hips, shoulders heaving "Screw this I’ve had enough Isn’t the government’s nickel spent out for today yet?"

She could have continued for hours exploring the Cro-Magnon implications of what he’d revealed But that wasn’t her job Instincts told her that while this youngon his fitness to fly

And about how his hands had been broken? What had happened that day? He’d definitely closed up for the afternoon, but she’d h to him They would move on to that in the next session

Still, she couldn’t help but wonder, did men really think their entire worth could be summed up with their job and sex? Did her husband think that? With JT’s walls so high, she didn’t kno she would ever find the answer

And at thehorribly in her ears, she doubted her ability to keep her own defenses in place around JT while finding the answer Even a hint of encouragement from her reticent husband and she would fall into their old patterns of co him the only way he ever allowed

Naked With hot, sweaty sex

Chapter 8

Streetlights flickering on dotted the ned horizon

Perfect JT shifted gears on the truck, whizzing past their exit Rena frowned, but stayed silent, the low tunes of the oldies station drifting froh time on base to make their drive home dip closer toward sunset Excellent for his plans Now they cruised along over the swaion Twenty minutes later, he pulled off onto a two-lane rural road