In His Command by Rie Warren

In the dystopian future, two men discover attraction isn't just dangerous, it's deadly.
Two generations ago, the world was annihilated by a series of catastrophic environmental events. The remaining survivors were driven closer and closer to big city centers-damaged but not destroyed-divvied into sixteen identical international territories ruled by the Company.
Oppressive to the core, the Company has one rule in order to recoup the world's devastated population: homosexuality and deviant sexual behaviors are hanging offenses. First time offenders are last-time offenders.
It is the year 2070. Commander Caspar Cannon has a stellar military reputation-and a life-threatening secret. When a revolution rips through the territories, Cannon is ordered to escort Company Executive Nathaniel Rice to a secure location. Leaving the besieged city behind, their journey becomes a minefield of sabotage, betrayal, secrets . . . and intense desire for one another.
Cannon's militant self-repression takes a direct hit, his suspicions warring with passion for a man who can never be his, not while the Company remains in power. True to his mission, he delivers Nathaniel to the safe bunker where a fate he never expected awaits him. 

I became aware of this author and her work when I found the novella in the Don’t Tell Series.  I loved how she could write a steamy romance between two men and keep a level or realistic emotion front and center in the story.  I finished the novella wanting to read In His Command to see how the author did in a novel, would she be able to carry the intensity through a full length book like she was able to do in the novella.  She did not disappoint me, this was even more intense.

We travel to a world in the year 2070 where the world is controlled by groups of people, all seeking full domain.  The Company is a powerful group that has one main goal; repopulate their section of the world.  The government dictates how and who you can have sex with, they even organize sex parties and regulate what kind of sex toys should be used.  There is one huge rule, homosexuality is forbidden and you will be put to death if you were caught engaging in it. 

Casper Cannon is a highly ranked commander in the Company army.  He even surprised himself with how fast he achieved such a high ranking, but then what else did he have to do but work.  He was gay and while he witnessed plenty of sex, he never participated because he had dreams of a man he called Blondie.  Keeping this all to himself out of fear of being found out, he would watch Blondie during the group parties and wish that they could have some private time.  One night that dream came true but before they could finish or even get each other’s names a rebellion was reported and Casper had to go back to work.  Blondie wasn’t very accepting of Casper’s offer of help and he went his own way, leaving Casper to feel he would never have another moment with Blondie.

What Casper didn’t know was Blondie was actually Nathaniel, another high ranking military leader.  As we read on we find that Casper has been given a mission that involves Blondie, but he can’t help but wonder if this is a trap to prove he is homosexual.  He is going to have to put his suspicions aside if he really wants to make his dream come true with Blondie. 

The book is told in Casper’s POV which is important in this book because Nathaniel has a ton of secrets and motives that we find out the same time as Casper.  I loved this type of writing style because it helps keep things unpredictable and I felt I was on the same journey as Casper.  The author does such a wonderful job at character development I found myself actually urging Casper to take a chance and praying that this wasn’t a trap that Blondie had set up.  As I was able to get to know Nathaniel I was then attached to him as well but always had an uneasy feeling about him till the end when all was said and done. 

There is a lot of action in this book and I won’t go into it because I fear it would diminish the thrill for you as you read it, but please be aware that the first few chapters merely set the scene.  I found them rather confusing and full of useless information, but as I went on I realized they were important for me to read so I could truly grasp the risk Casper was making.  I would highly recommend this book as it tells an important story about the isolation and fear for people who don’t have the freedom to be who they are and the courage it takes to break the rules so they can be free.