Chapter 15

The door to Jeremy’s private cabin burst open, allowing the cold to blow in. The fire in the hearth flickered, the flames briefly dimming to a steady burning ember before roaring to life again. Jeremy stared into the fire, his thoughts racing. The cold at his back sent a chill down his spine, but it wasn’t the wind that caused him to still. It was the feminine voice that accompanied it.

“You wanted to see me, Commander?”

It had only been two days, but her voice sounded throatier, deeper in timbre than he remembered, the kind of voice meant for late-night phone calls and meetings in dark corners of a hotel lobby.

Austin held her by the arms. Her wrists were bound again, though he knew she’d been roaming around without handcuffs inside the guest cabin that served as her house arrest. She watched him with incredulous eyes, as if he’d had nerve to summon her. He’d missed that cheekiness, stubborn woman that she was.

H