Page 23 of Steel Rain

LeBlanc looked at me before turning his head to Kieran’s plate. Ignoring my oppo’s question, he raised a brow.

"You should slow down there, O’Malley. You'll give yourself indigestion."

"Nah," Kieran said, slapping his enlarging belly. "I've got the stomach of a Texas hog. I could eat canned meat, can included, and be just fine."

LeBlanc chuckled, low and rumbling. I had to repress the urge to close my eyes and let the sound wash over me.Why was he having this effect on me?

"And you're not eating at all." LeBlanc nodded towards my plate. "Do you have indigestion?"

I looked up to see a sparkle in his black eyes.

"Coach!" Kieran said, sitting up. "I know you've probably already met Flanagan, but she's my oppo." He vibrated with excitement. He was so sweetly earnest, it made my teeth hurt. “Mr. Green put her in my platoon, too!”

"Is that right?" LeBlanc’s eyes flared. "They put you in those barracks, huh?"

"Where else would they have put me?" I wanted to snarl, but my voice came out breathier. I hated the affect this man had on me, in general.

"I thought they might put you in the big house, since your father had such a ..." Something flickered through his gaze, his eyes falling onto the knife I pulled from my pocket as I sliced my apple. "A history with the family."

I watched his throat bob as he swallowed. I took the little knife from my jacket and started slicing at my apple. I pulled out one perfect slice and brought it to my lips along the blade, before licking it up with my tongue.

LeBlanc took a sharp inhale, his lips lightly parted as he watched me eat.

He coughed and turned back to his bowl of pineapples and took a bite.

"Yuck," said Kieran, staring at LeBlanc’s fruit. "Too sweet, coach. I can't believe you like that stuff."

LeBlanc put it between his lips and took a bite, a bit of juice escaping down his lips which he wiped away with a napkin.

"Pineapple contains bromelain," said LeBlanc, taking on the air of an instructor, correcting a pupil. "It triggers your body to fight pain and reduce swelling. You might need that today after the hit you took while sparring."

He indicated the bruise on Kieran's eye. The boy winced.

I guess he had gotten it while training. For a second, I wondered if I should be calling Kieran “sir” or something. He was my platoon leader after all. But he hadn’t corrected me so far, so I let it go.

"No thanks," he said, looking like a toddler turning down broccoli.

"It also has other side benefits," LeBlanc said, his eyes moving to me.

"Yeah, like what?" Kieran asked.

"If you have to ask, you're too young to know," LeBlanc said, his eyes on me, never wavering.

I knew what he meant. I had lived with men for years in the Army, and I knew their stupid conversations. That included all their little tips and tricks on how to get women to blow them - eat pineapple so that your squirt tastes sweeter.

I blushed, wondering how he would taste, then turned my head away.

I chewed in silence, tryingnotto pay attention to Kieran and LeBlanc as they talked about technique, and fighting. I only caught every other word, but was too distracted by this sudden curiosity to know how LeBlanc’s skin tasted. Did his lips taste like I imagined? Pillowy soft, and sugary sweet? I couldn't shake it from my mind. What the hell was happening to me?

I needed to get laid. Obviously.

And not by him. Not until I knew where he stood. What faction did he support? And would he help or hinder what I needed to do here?

Still, thinking about him was more pleasant that noticing the way people whispered as their heads turned to me, then looked away when I caught them staring. It was better than the way the walls felt like they closed in, as I heard my name murmured with a sense of hatred.

"Have a goodnight." LeBlanc’s farewell interrupted my thoughts, as he got up, nodding to Kieran. "Make sure she gets home okay."

I didn’t like that he was talkingaroundme.

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