Until There Was You (Coming Home, #2) by Jessica Scott Read Free Book Online

conscious thought. He shoved Reza off her, not caring where the big man landed on the frozen earth so long as he no longer held Claire down.
    Her eyes were wide, her lips parted just a fraction of an inch. Her throat worked convulsively as she swallowed, staring at memories only she could see. Her breath came in short, quick huffs. His heart ached for her. He knew the reaction to trauma all too well. There was too much adrenaline spiking through her system for her to process it all at once.
    A dark and powerful emotion rose from a deeply buried place inside him. She was not his to worry about. Not his to protect. She complicated everything. Evan didn’t like complicated things.
    He stood for the longest moment, unable to move. Unable to offer comfort. Unable to break free from the torment of his own demons. Still, his hands hung clenched and useless. Just like always. Just like before, with his sister. Until her panic overwhelmed him, and he pushed aside the bleeding memories to kneel by her side. He forced his voice to work. “Claire?”
    All at once, she came back to herself with a single, sharp inhaled breath. A pink flush crept up her neck and she sat for a moment, visibly adjusting her clothing and pulling herself back together. She pushed abruptly to her feet, ignoring his outstretched hand. “I’m so done with this. Let’s get him to bed so I can go back to my room.”
    Her voice was sharp, but for once, he recognized it for what it was. Defensiveness. And sheer stubbornness. And behind all of that, he saw Claire’s sheer determination to put Reza to bed and nothing Evan was going to do would stop that. He might as well help out.
    Shifting, he stepped under Reza’s other side, ignoring Claire’s surprised expression. Hell,
she
surprised
him
when she didn’t argue.
    Sighing, she started fishing around in Reza’s pockets for his wallet. “A little to the left,” he mumbled.
    She slapped Reza’s back. “Knock it off, pervert. Where’s your room key?”
    “Wallet. Front pocket,” Reza mumbled. He frowned and leaned up, squinting at her. “Aw shit, Claire. You went and cock blocked me, didn’t you?”
    After much swearing, banged extremities and dropping Reza at least once, they managed to get him into bed.
    Claire stepped back and folded her arms over her chest, looking down at her prone friend. Evan watched her carefully, looking for any trace of the panic he’d seen earlier. Instead, there was fierce determination.
Stubborn
, he thought and almost smiled. Yes, Claire was certainly stubborn.
    She rubbed her hands down her arms as she scanned the room, then pulled the plastic liner from the trash can. “I feel like we’re in some weird alternate reality where we’re a couple of privates instead of a pair of captains.”
    “What are you doing?”
    “Saving him some money on hotel damage fees. Help me get this under his ass.”
    “Maybe he
needs
to pay for some damages. Does Iaconelli drink like this all the time?”
    Claire froze. “So what if he does?”
    “Do you do this all the time? Put drunk NCOs to bed?”
    Claire visibly flinched at his words. She might have been cracking morbid jokesbut it was all an act, a valiant attempt to hide the wounded creature he’d just caught a glimpse of. She shifted then and caught him watching her. The war—specifically the Surge—had etched its way into Evan’s soul. Maybe permanently. What had it done to Claire? Who had she been before she’d gone to war and come home again?
    “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.”
    She smirked, and he saw a trace of the familiar smart-ass starting to surface. “Did you choke on that apology?” he asked, keeping his voice light.
    She breathed deeply, and Evan braced for whatever she was about to say. Instead she turned and left Reza’s room silently, placing his room key on the dresser near the television where he could easily find it in the morning. Evan followed her.
    They stood in the hallway outside Reza’s