Chapter One

Somewhere in the western Pacific…

“HMC Rogets, report to the bridge! HMC Rogets, report to the bridge!”

Shit, I just got off a ten-hour shift! What now? Alexis Rogets turned toward the loud squawk coming over the speaker as the baseball cap hid the narrowing of her eyes. Her shoulders rose and fell with the realization she had no choice; it wasn’t her imagination or a voice in her head she was hearing.

“See you later,” Alexis promised the group of people she stood amongst. They nodded and waved as she left to navigate the narrow stairwells and passageways. She paused at the entrance of the bridge, shaking her head over the noisy bustle that occurred.

“HMC Rogets reporting as ordered, sir.” Commander Touchette, the captain of the USS Everett DDG, the destroyer she was assigned to, waved her forward as he read over the missive in front of him. He looked up when she stopped before him. Alexis waited patiently for him to speak.

“Chief Rogets,” he greeted.

“Sir,” she replied, waiting.

“I hate to do this to you considering you just got done in medical for the day, but the Endeavor has sent out a request for another doc. Since you know some of the men they are bringing in a little already, they want you.” His blue eyes never left hers.

The USS Endeavor was an aircraft carrier. She’d served on one when she had been stationed out of Norfolk, Virginia, but had opted for a “small boy” this time—less people, a few hundred instead of a few thousand. Alexis believed she fit in well; however, being a doctor in the Navy didn’t always give one the option of choosing where one served. They were sent where needed.

“When do I go, sir?”

“Now.”

Now. Alexis maintained her emotionless facade. Her stuff was stowed away, so it would take very lit-tle for someone to send it to her. She was upset and a bit disappointed for she preferred being on the smaller vessel. “Very well, sir.”

He regarded her closely. Alexis suspected he was watching for a flicker of surprise or anything sug-gesting shock,. He would once again be disappointed. She worked hard to make it seem nothing riled her, which was part of why the crew loved her. Alexis was level-headed and polite and even had a hint of a prankster when she felt she knew you well enough.

“Does anything surprise you, Rogets?” her CO asked with a grin.

“It’s not good for me to get surprised,” came her twinkling response. “Especially in my line of work.”

Touchette shook his head in amusement. “I have yet to see anything faze you. Stay over there until things have calmed down a bit, and then give us a yell. We’ll send a helo over for you.” He smiled. “Don’t want them thinking they’re going to be allowed to keep the best doc in the Navy!” Alexis blushed and Touchette nodded. “Now, go on. Dismissed.”

She did as commanded, shaking her head at his rare, explicit compliment. Chief Petty Officer Alexis “Lex” Milele Rogets was unique and she knew it. Generally, any full-fledged doctor would be an officer, but not her. She was finishing her schooling while enlisted and managed to graduate from Harvard as a doctor and a non-commissioned officer. Many believed that was one reason she was easy to get along with on both sides—officers and enlisted personnel. She was almost like a liaison between the two if needed, an exception to the rule and one she was happy with being.

USS Endeavor CVN

Snapping out a salute to the petty officer who met her on the flight deck, Chief Petty Officer Alexis Rogets made her way swiftly down to sickbay. Here not even five minutes and I miss the destroyer, she mused. Pushing open the door to the ship’s medical room she was not sure what to expect.

Corpsmen were running all around and the place seemed chaotic to the untrained eye, but to her it was business like usual. Searching for the nearest khaki uniform, Alexis approached him and reported in. “Glad to have you aboard, Chief. I hear nothing but good things about you. Heard about you when I was stationed out in Norfolk,” the tall ensign said.

“What’s going on here, sir?” She waved one dark hand to encompass the room. “Who are the injured?”

Before he could respond, the most sinful voice in God’s creation reached her, easily cutting through the surrounding noise. “Chief Rogets, glad to know you will be taking care of me.” There was a slight hesitation. “And my men.”

Well, Commander Touchette would be pleased to know that there is something to faze me. She took a deep breath and turned to face the man to whom the voice belonged. Commander Scott Leighton. Well, Lieutenant Commander Harrington Prescott Broderick Leighton III, if she were to be specific. A name she only knew from having seen his records.

Yeah, right!

For a mere moment Alexis was speechless. In front of her stood her very own secret erotic dream. All her fantasies about men ended up with her and this man in some amazing sexual act.

All six-foot-five inches of tanned body stood there covered with rippling muscles. Eyes that were cornflower blue and belonged in the bedroom only topped off his god-like body. Everything about his physique and presence screamed virile, sensual, and downright mouthwatering. All he would have to do is crook his finger and I would follow him anywhere.

Not even the black paint streaked on his face or his filthy blond hair could take away from his magnet-ic pull on her. And it had been like that since the day they met. Can’t think about that now, Lex; need to acknowledge him before he gets suspicious, she admonished herself with a mental shake to bring her back to business at hand.

“Commander Leighton,” she said. “I will go see what I can do to help your men.” She cast a question-ing glance at the ensign, who pointed her to the area she’d be using. She hurried off without responding to either officer, knowing she could get away with it because of the rush to attend to the injured men.

Pushing back the curtain, she reached for a pair of medium surgical gloves. Alexis turned back to get her first patient and froze. Commander Leighton stood before her. “What do you need, Commander? I am just about to go grab one of your men.”

A sexy half smile crossed his face. “I’m the only one from my team left who needs attention. The rest of the men here are the ones we rescued. So I’m all yours…” Again that almost indiscernible hesitation. “…Chief.”

If that were only so. “Sit down.” She was all business. “What happened?”

“I got a few scrapes, nothing too serious.” His blue eyes burned a hole into her as he spoke.

“Uh-huh,” she muttered, moving towards him. What was “nothing serious” in the SEAL way of thinking was much different than what it might mean to her as a doctor.