orry, though.
He'll have to stay out while Sis takes what you need--we don't want to
take any chances on damaging it--but once he wakes up, I'll make sure I
get anything interesting. Unless you'd rather I save him for you?"

Cortin returned the grin. "I shouldn't be greedy, and I do have
something else to look forward to from him; you go ahead."

"Thanks." Bain glanced at her, then obviously decided not to go on.

Cortin hid a sigh. Having civilians apprehensive about her was one
thing, but her men should feel free to ask or tell her anything.
"What's the problem, Dave?"

"It's not exactly a problem, ma'am . . . uh, Joan."

"What, then?"

Bain looked uncomfortable. "Uh . . . you're the first lady trooper
I've been around, and . . ."

"Oh." Yes, that explained his hesitation. "I've been the only woman
on a team most of my career. I'm neither a virgin nor a prude, though
I sometimes find it useful to pretend the latter around civilians. So
spill it."

Bain grinned in relief. "Right, Joan. Okay, then--Mike says that
before the Brothers messed you up, you enjoyed using our dispensation
whenever the opportunity offered. Nothing fancy, but not skimping
anyone, either."

"True," Cortin said, smiling. "I'm a firm believer in the basics, and
God was generous enough to let me enjoy them in abundance. If He's
merciful enough to let this work out, I'll do it again."

"Just let us know what you want, and how much; we'll do our best to
oblige." Bain grinned again. "Always a good idea to keep the CO
happy, you know."

Cortin couldn't help laughing, in spite of the pain. She knew that a
commanding officer taking part in a team's sexual activity tended to
have an extreme effect, one way or the other; it could tear the team
apart, or it could weld it into near-unity. From watching hers work
together, she was certain it would react positively, so she said, "And
from my experience with other teams, I doubt you'll find at least that
aspect overly disagreeable."

"Or at all difficult," Bain agreed. "I'm looking forward to it, in
fact." He gestured in a way that told her he was still unsure. "I've
been with a lot of civ women, paid or curious about an Inquisitor, but
they didn't--oh, hell!"

"You're not the first one to tell me that," Cortin said drily. "I was
lucky, always had enough willing troopers around I never had to go to a
civ man--but I always got more out of Special Ops men. The emotional
fee