Nito’s eyes slid to the tables being set up for the food. “No food poisoning this year, right?”
That had been the year before the last, and David didn’t need the reminder. He still couldn’t figure out if that had been a pure accident, one of those things that simply happened, or a mistake on the catering company’s part. He hadn’t hired that same company since just to be sure, but the memory of a quarter of the attendees ending up violently ill was burned in his mind.
David frowned at him. “Everything is under control this year, we will not have any incidents.”
Nito chuckled. “You sure?”
“Yes.”
And he was, completely. Along with the task of running an entire base, the added stress of trying to juggle the arrangement of the gala usually left him fumbling. The same added stress had been thrown into the hands of previous assistants he’d had, all with mixed, and typically disastrous results.
“This year, I have help, and a great deal of it,” David said.
“That so? And you didn’t before?”
“Not quite like this. My current assistant is very capable and has done a great deal to alleviate the burden placed upon me.”
“You’ve always had an assistant.”
“This one is different.”
Nito hummed thoughtfully. “The others weren’t quite up to snuff then?”
David chuckled. “They were capable, well, most of them were anyway. This one, however, is above and beyond and very dedicated to making sure everything is done precisely.”
He had yet to catch sight of Christian, though he had received a message from the younger man when he’d arrived. It had been followed by more messages, updating David on everything Christian was up to, and what he was focusing on. It brought him no small amount of amusement to think of Christian out of sight, checking up on every little detail.
“So, no problems then,” Nito said.
David shook his head. “None to report.”
Then again, he suspected that Christian wouldn’t pass them along either. In David’s experience, the younger man tended to tackle problems head-on rather than bring them to David’s attention. It was only when Christian was unable to think of a solution on his own, or because of his lack of authority or access, that he brought the problem to David. Sometimes David worried that Christian was taking too much on himself at once, but he couldn’t argue with the results.
“Well, everything certainly seems to be moving smoothly so far, I will give you and your wunderkind that,” Nito said with a glance around the spacious room.
“I agree, I can’t say I have any fault to find.”
“And it certainly looks grander than usual in here. Were the rugs meant to give the idea of the sea, or was that accidental?”
David smirked. “Intentional.”
And the green cloth covering the tables, hemmed with a tawny brown, were intentionally meant to give the idea of little islands. It was a far more subtle idea than the god awful tropical theme that had been done the year before.
“Whose?”
“My assistant’s, of course. Christian has an eye for that sort of thing.”
“Oh, on a first-name basis, are you?”
David forced a smile, cursing himself inwardly. “The man has been at my side for almost a year now. There’s a certain level of familiarity and camaraderie that is to be expected.”
“True, though I don’t think I’ve heard you refer to any of your former assistants so informally.”
“None of them have been quite as remarkable either.”
“Well, if what you say is true, this one is certainly worth keeping around.”
David looked sidelong at his friend. “Please tell me you aren’t about to start fishing for his transfer to your office.”
Nito laughed. “No, no, I won’t poach your precious assistant. And if he’s as dedicated to his job as it sounds, it would be poaching too. I can’t imagine I would manage to convince him to willingly transfer.”
“No, you wouldn’t,” David said with a knowing smile.
Nito looked around. “Speaking of casual, where is Philip?”
David kept a straight face. “I do believe he is entertaining the other esteemed guests in a private room at the moment. I’m sure they will show up within the hour.”
“Half-drunk just in time for your speech.”
“Undoubtedly.”
“Good that Philip is doing his part.”
David nodded but said nothing else. In truth, he should have been able to rely on Philip more than Christian for the entire arrangement. While Philip’s job description centered around the base’s operations, it should have included setting up the Gala as well. Oh, sure, Philip had sent him a long list of different ideas and suggestions for what to do, but most of them had been absurdly expensive and ostentatious. There was no need to bring in the best of the best, from decorators to food companies, just for the Gala. The Gala was a show of course, and it was meant to display what Fort Dale had to offer, while also providing a night of socializing, fun, and free refreshments.
The problem, as it so often did with Philip, lay in what was considered to be important. David had tried to understand that for Philip, the importance of his duties and job lay in good presentation. After all, Command really only cared if things went wrong, with only the occasional notice of an exemplary job well done. But it had begun to gradually wear at David’s nerves, whose duty, in his mind, was to take care of the men and women in his charge. Those viewpoints so rarely found common ground, and David couldn’t wait until he’d found a way to get Philip not only out of his hair but into a position where he would be far more comfortable and flourish.
“As well as he can,” David finally said.
Nito eyed him, snorting softly. “Don’t think I haven’t forgotten our previous conversation.”
“I wasn’t attempting to remind you, either. If I wanted to do that, I would say so...admittedly, not here and now.”
“No, I suppose not. I’m still giving it thought.”
David looked around, realizing he should make a show of himself walking around and greeting people before the Gala officially started. It was one of the few things about the evening he enjoyed. Stuck in his office as often as he was, or stuck on calls and in meetings, he very rarely had the chance to meet the soldiers he was in charge of. For them, the Gala was a social event to be enjoyed and soaked up, and it meant he saw them at their most relaxed. It was the one way he knew he was doing something right.
“By all means, give it thought, and then even more. Meanwhile, I am going to attend to my social duties,” David said, setting his glass aside to step down from the dais.
“Have fun, I’m going to continue drinking quietly in a corner.”
“I’ll consider doing the same after the speech,” David said.
David leaned over, practically sagging on the bar’s counter as he eyed the trio of bartenders flying around behind it. He had to admit, there was something hypnotic about watching the three men as they dodged, weaved, and swerved around one another with little more than the occasional word of warning.
When he finally caught one’s attention, he ordered himself a whiskey, double if they would, on the rocks. His entire speech had gone off without a hitch, and with the same predictable pattern as before. Open with a greeting to all who were in attendance, bring special attention to the higher-ups who’d come to visit, and begin the magnanimous speech that applauded the efforts and successes of Fort Dale. It was nothing special, and the only difference between each year’s speech was the detail of the achievements. He made sure to keep it short, knowing damn well that no one came to the Gala in the hopes of listening to him drone on for too long. Speeches weren’t his forte, however, and despite having most of the speech memorized, he always walked away tense and with a dry throat.
“Thank you,” he said as he was handed his glass within seconds.
It wasn’t the whiskey he kept in his privat
e supply but damned if that first sip of the liquor wasn’t the most welcome sensation he’d had all night. He turned his gaze to the rest of the hall, watching as the meals were being brought out to the tables, along with any drink orders that were made. It had been Christian’s ideas to spend a little extra and bring in servers for the drinks as well, to prevent the inevitable traffic jam that came about with large groups and an open bar.
David frowned at the thought, realizing he hadn’t seen Christian all night. It had made sense when Christian was busy running around behind the scenes, keeping the details neat and orderly, while David had kept to the front of the house. But he would have expected the younger man to have made an appearance by the time the food was being served, but he had not seen a glimpse of that familiar blond head.
Taking his glass with him, he made his way around the large room. His eyes darted left and right, looking to tables where people stood talking. Though he checked everyone, David’s worry deepened as he never once spotted Christian. He made another circuit around the room, waving and greeting people as they called out to him, but still couldn’t find him. Messages from Christian had stopped coming shortly before the start of the speech as well, so David had no idea where the man had disappeared off to.
Slipping through the door behind the catering tables, David stepped into the noisy kitchen. Mindful that he could get in the way, he stayed to the edges as he looked around the busy workers and again found nothing.
One of the passing chefs looked up. “Everything alright?”
“Looking for someone,” David said.
The man frowned. “If you’re looking for the slave driver, he said something about getting some air.”
David chuckled. “I see things have been interesting.”
The man grunted, turning away and going back to what he was doing with what David thought sounded like muttered curses. Smiling still, David exited through the side door and into the hallway. He knew the building quite well, having had to host not only an annual Gala in it and other smaller functions, but its main purpose was to feed the soldiers on the base. He didn’t get to visit it as often as he would like in a casual way, but he had done it enough for over a decade to know the layout.
Which meant he also had a good idea where Christian had disappeared to.
Moving further away from the sound of the party, David mounted a set of stairs at the end of the hallway. The second floor was generally used only for smaller parties or important meetings that couldn’t be done in his office. One of the rooms, at the far end of the second floor’s main hallway, had a balcony that looked out over the sea. It was his favorite place to take special guests, though usually only for events that required a certain degree of sobriety.
Walking swiftly down the carpeted hallway, he found the door at the end of the hall open a crack. Pushing it wide open, he stepped into the dimly lit room. The plush couches and armchairs sat in the moonlight streaming through the set of double doors left open at the back of the room. A shadow moved in the moonlight, a man shifting his position and bending over to lean on the rail surrounding the balcony.
Smiling, David walked forward, lips parting to greet Christian softly. He stopped just short of the doorway as he caught sight of the man, words dying before they reached his lips.
Christian stood, bent over, his elbows resting on the stone rail. The young man was looking out at the ocean, though the distant look in his eyes said he wasn’t actually seeing the scenery. Half of his face was hidden from David, but the half he could see looked irritated and worn out. Christian’s hair had grown out enough that David could see it was in disarray, little tufts sticking out in different directions as though Christian had been running his hands through it. There was a line of cooling sweat at his temple, and a black smudge along his cheek. His uniform, too, was heavily askew, the collar open to reveal a once pristine, now stained, white shirt beneath it. The moonlight caught in the blond scruff of his five o’clock shadow, completing the look. No doubt, Christian would say he looked an absolute mess.
To David, Christian was breathtaking.
Christian frowned, turning to face him with a sharp jerk. His blue eyes were shadowed as he turned from the moonlight. His bunched shoulders eased when he caught sight of David standing in the room, a soft sound escaping him.
“Oh, it’s you,” Christian said.
“Sorry to disappoint?” David wondered.
Christian snorted. “Not at all. I thought it was someone from the catering company coming to find me again. They’ve been up my ass from the moment I told them I was the one to come to.”
“I met one of the chefs, he wasn’t a fan of yours, it sounded like,” David chuckled.
Christian’s lip curled. “It was the service people who needed constant handholding, but the chefs weren’t even ready for tonight. They forgot the cabbage, how the hell do you forget cabbage when you’re serving a dish that focuses on cabbage? I had to go out and buy a shit ton of cabbage and drag it back here, and then they bitched about the damn quality of it. Well excuse the fuck out of me, maybe you should have been professionals and brought your own damn supply!”
David’s brow raised as he stepped forward. He’d never seen Christian frustrated enough to start swearing or let such heat into his voice. It only added to the impression that Christian had been worn down from the past couple of hours, and to the oddly alluring effect it had on him. David leaned on the railing beside Christian, watching him.
“And then, the damn servers forgot their assigned tables, and couldn’t get the orders right. I had to go digging through the files I’d passed to the company months ago to find what we had decided on. So I had to find a way to print them off and make sure everyone knew where they were supposed to be and when. It’s honestly a goddamn miracle something didn’t go wrong with the bartenders. The worst they had was running low on ice, and thankfully, there’s a whole fuck ton of it in the storage freezers that they could chip at.”
David watched Christian’s eyes light up even as he scowled out at the ocean. David had no doubt there were at least a dozen or more things flying through Christian’s mind, one box ticked off after another on the list of grievances. He had seen Christian at work, as a professional, he had seen him half-drunk, bashful, and craving touch. Now he was seeing Christian when he’d hit his limit on patience and understanding, when anger and frustration boiled out in a hot stream of furious words and complaints.
Christian glanced at him. “What?”
“I’m just listening to you,” David said quietly.
Christian took a deep breath, grimacing. “I know, I’m sorry. I said I’d take care of this so you wouldn’t have to, but I honestly did not expect everything to go wrong like it did. I’m...just frustrated at the moment, though. I swear, I’m okay.”
David nodded. “I know you will be.”
“I just wanted this Gala to go right without any disasters.”
David smiled. “And I’d say you managed that with flying colors.”
“Yeah, except now I’m the disaster.”
David reached out, taking his thumb, damp from the condensation on his glass, and wiping at the black smudge on Christian’s cheek. It came off easily, but his touch lingered on Christian’s handsome face. David curled his fingers to cup the man’s cheek, a soft smile on his lips as Christian leaned willingly into the touch.
“You’re anything but a disaster right now,” David told him.
“I feel like one.”
David set his glass aside, wiping his palm clean so he could take the other side of Christian’s face into his hand. He turned the man’s face, his gaze sweeping over him as Christian’s frustration melted away. It was replaced by cautious hope and gratitude as he continued to accept David’s touch, half-closing his eyes at the comfort.
“Feeling like a disaster isn’t the same as being one. You went above and beyond what I would have expected of you tonight, and succeeded. I’m sure there’s quite a few more thin
gs, big and small, that happened tonight to bring you out here, away from seeing the fruits of your labors. Frustration is to be expected.”
Christian smiled. “Thank you, David.”
Hearing his name instead of his title come from Christian’s mouth sent David’s heart pounding against his ribs. Smiling, he ran a thumb over the younger man’s lips. David knew what he’d told Christian, that he’d needed time to think things over, to consider the risks and rewards. But he was beginning to realize that if David didn’t take the chance, didn’t take what Christian was offering now, someone else might come along and take him up on it instead.
“Stay with me tonight?” David asked softly.
Christian’s eyes widened. “What?”
“After this is over, and we’ve sent everyone on their way. Come back, stay in my bed...with me.”
Christian’s eyes darted all over David’s face, searching. “But you…”
David nodded. “I know.”
Unable to bear waiting any longer, he leaned forward to kiss him. As soon as their lips met, David didn’t regret his sudden decision for a moment. The same heat that he’d felt the first time he’d taken the initiative and kissed the hopeful Christian returned in full force. More importantly than the lust beginning to bubble in his gut, was the happiness he felt as Christian melted against him, relaxing completely.
“We’ll talk,” David whispered against his lips.
“Tonight,” Christian confirmed.
“Tonight.”
Christian
Floating peacefully in a sea of warmth and mindlessness, Christian let out a soft groan of protest. He’d been so content, lying against the comforting press of David’s huge, plush bed. David’s arm was thrown over his waist, curled up to press his hand against Christian’s chest, and hold him in place. He was vaguely aware of all of it and would have been absolutely content to lay there forever, basking in the presence of David’s body flush against his, the warmth of their shared body heat beneath the blankets, and the peace of sleep.
At My General’s Command Page 13
