Enigma:What Lies Beneath (Enigma Series Book 1) (12 page)

Chapter Nineteen

Abbie paced the small bunker in short, quick passes. She had nearly been ready to accept the fact that Hauke would never return. He’d either changed his mind about being with her, been injured or worse…died.

After a month of her grieving and barely eating, he was coming back to her at last.

Her hands slightly trembled with nerves or excitement—she wasn’t sure—and at this moment in time, it didn’t matter.

“
There are men patrolling the beach here as well, Abbie. I must wait for the cover of darkness before coming ashore.”

“Listen to me, Hauke. Do you see the three-story blue house?”

“Yes. I am directly in front of it.”

“Okay, good. One hundred feet to the left of that house is a sand dune with a copse of trees behind it.”

“I am heading toward it now.”

“If you can get to those trees without being seen, there is an old stump in the center covered in vines. Let me know when you get to that spot.”

Assuring her that he would be fine, Hauke slipped silently through the water, stopping in front of the sand dune that marked the entrance to the trees.

She watched through his eyes as he noted two men patrolling the area, laughing and inhaling smoke from white sticks they held between their fingers.

“
Those are called cigarettes,”
Abbie informed him with no small amount of impatience in her voice. “
I wish they would move on already.
”

“
They need a diversion.”

“What are you going to do
?”

Running his fingers through the sand beneath his feet, Hauke lifted something small and white for her to see.

“
What are you going to do with that rock?”

“Create a distraction
.”

“
Hauke, wait
,” Abbie demanded. “
They’ll realize you are here and follow your footprints to the bunker.”

“
Trust me
.”

Abbie held her breath as he threw the rock toward a big green garbage can perched on a porch four houses down.

It struck its mark with a loud
crack
, knocking the can over with the desired effect.

Both men dropped the cigarettes they held, jerked up their weapons, and scrambled down the beach in the direction of the toppled trashcan.

Hauke waited until they were a fair distance away before emerging from the water and running silently toward the tree line.

Crouching low, he scanned the foliage in search of the bunker. “
I am here.”

“I know.” She lifted the lid to the hatch, nearly grinning at the stunned look on Hauke’s face.

With a finger to her lips for silence, she motioned for him to join her below.

Hauke eased his great frame down the stairs into the narrow passageway, pulling the hatch back into place behind him.

Lights burned along the walls, guiding their way to the giant silver door of the bunker’s entrance. Abbie pulled it open and stepped inside, closing and locking it behind Hauke.

“We’ll be safe in here for a while. There’s enough food to last for months, and Uncle Tony brought you some clothes. There’s a shower in there if you’d like to wash the salt off you.”

He suddenly gripped her arm and jerked her against his tall frame. His lips slanted across hers, effectively silencing her nervous rambling.

Abbie melted into his arms, kissing him back with all the pent-up passion she’d bottled up for the past month.

“
Hauke,”
she whispered through his mind.
“I thought I would never see you again.”

“I am here, my mate. From this day forth, we will never be apart again.”

He backed her toward the unmade bed situated against the side wall, never taking his lips from hers. “
I need to love you now, sweet Abbie. All of you.”

“
Yes,”
she mentally cried. “
Please. Yes.”

Hauke eased her onto the mattress and followed her down. He suddenly broke off the kiss, rising up on his knees in front of her to unlace the strange-looking vest he wore.

The pants were a bit more work, but he had them off in no time, kneeling before her in all his nude glory. Abbie nearly swallowed her tongue.

“May I?” He gestured toward her own obstructive clothing.

Abbie could only nod as Hauke reached for the button on her jeans. He slid them off, taking her underwear with them. He had to stop and remove her shoes when he reached her feet.

She rose up, yanking her shirt over her head before dropping back to the mattress in a mindless heap of hormones.

“You are the most beautiful creature I have ever beheld,” he murmured reverently, staring down at her with lust-filled eyes.

Several feelings ran through her at once— lust for the man now running his fingertips across her breasts, love on a level she figured that most would never comprehend, and fear that if she closed her eyes, he would disappear and it would have all been a figment of her imagination.

“Love me, Hauke. Make me believe you are real and not some dream I will wake up from, tormented by your memory.”

Pain reflected in his beautiful green eyes. “I felt the loss of you, every second of every day, my mate. Grief became a constant companion in the world of agony I had created by leaving your side.”

The flow of emotion coming from him humbled her. She fell even deeper in love.

“Fall into me,” she whispered through sudden tears.

A soft growl escaped him at the use of his own words coming from her lips. “I would crawl inside you if I could. I cannot get my fill.”

Running a finger beneath the edge of her bra, he gently lifted, releasing her breasts from their confinement. “Open for me, Abbie…all of me,” he demanded, slowly descending toward one rosy tip.

Abbie trembled in anticipation of the first brush of his lips on her sensitive flesh. Heat spread throughout her body in an inferno of flames that licked along her spine, burning her from the inside out.

Her eyes drifted shut, and her mind became one with his. She surrendered to his touch, his will, opening for him and basking in the sea of emotions passing between them. “
I feel like I’m on fire.”

He released her breast and dragged his mouth up to her ear, settling his big body between her thighs to push ever so slowly into her waiting heat. “
Home…”

That one word shattered what little amount of control she’d managed to hang on to. Hauke
was
her home. On land or beneath the deepest of seas. None of it mattered as long as she had him by her side.

* * * *

Abbie spent the next two hours in a haze of passion and wonder. She wanted to block out the world outside and stay like this forever. “Hauke?”

“Hmmm?” The hand running through her hair as her head lay on his chest slowed but didn’t stop.

“As much as I’d love for us to be able to remain in bed the rest of the day, we can’t. We need to talk.”

Hauke released a long sigh and pulled her close. “The day is gone, my mate. The sun disappeared in the west shortly after my arrival.”

He kissed her forehead as she tilted her head back to peer up at his face. “We have to leave here. And soon.”

Chapter Twenty

Hauke understood Abbie’s anxiety over the situation at hand. People were being hospitalized with a virus that he felt responsible for. And according to his father, nothing could be done to stop it.

“There is nowhere to go but beneath, Abbie. The virus will spread throughout the land, infecting the humans until there is nothing left.”

“What about Henry and Uncle Tony? My friends, coworkers. I have to warn them. Bruce can— ”

“Bruce?” Hauke growled, rolling out from under her to sit on the side of the bed.

Abbie got to her knees and wrapped her arms around him from behind. “He is only a friend, Hauke. Nothing more.”

“A friend does not put his tongue inside another friend’s mouth.”

“What? How would you know what he did to my mouth?”

“I witnessed a memory I wish to forget.”

He felt the hesitation in her next words. “We used to see each other, but it didn’t work out. We decided it would be better to end things on a friendly note.”

“You decided,” Hauke murmured. “From what I saw, I do not think Bruce felt the same as you.”

“You’re jealous of someone from my past?”

“He is not from your past. You feel something for him, Abbie. I can sense it.”

“What I felt for him doesn’t come close to my feelings for you, Hauke. He is a good friend and coworker. That’s it.” Her arms tightened around him. “You are the love of my life…my forever.”

Abbie’s words penetrated Hauke’s heart, relieving him of his jealous thoughts. He turned to face her. “I apologize for my doubt, soul of my soul. You do not deserve my insecurity.”

A sound from above caught his attention. He put a finger to his lips for silence and slowly stood.

“It’s just Uncle Tony,” Abbie whispered, snatching up her clothes and scurrying from the bed behind him.

Hauke waited for her to disappear into the bathroom before moving silently toward the entrance.

The door opened, and Abbie’s uncle stepped into the room. His hand immediately went to the weapon housed on his side before recognition settled in.

He glanced down Hauke’s big body with a raised eyebrow. “It would seem that you’re happy to see me. Too bad I can’t say the same.”

Hauke suddenly realized he stood in front of the man in a state of undress with a semi-erection from his earlier play with Abbie.

Embarrassed, he spun on his heel and marched back to the bed to find his clothing. He pulled on his pants with jerky movements, grateful that Abbie hadn’t witnessed the uncomfortable exchange.

“Where have you been?” Tony questioned, picking up a coffee pot from the small counter and carrying it to the sink. He began filling it with water.

Hauke briefed the man on everything that had happened since he’d been gone, ending with, “There is nothing in the scrolls that can help. I must take Abbie to safety.”

“I agree,” Tony muttered, turning off the water and moving to stand in front of the coffeemaker. “People are dying by the droves, and dozens more are hospitalized each day.”

Abbie came barreling into the room, angry and hurt. One did not need to be telepathic to read her thoughts. “I realize that you two think you’re doing what’s best for me, but I do have a say in what happens to me.”

Tony glanced at her over his shoulder before opening a cabinet in search of a coffee cup. “You need to listen to the alien on this one, girl. You can’t stay in this bunker forever. Eventually you’ll need to go out for supplies.”

“And you think I’m incapable of handling myself out there?” She jerked her chin toward the ceiling. “I’m not some sniveling child that needs to be hidden away from everyone and everything that can hurt me.”

She held up a hand when Hauke would have interrupted. “I know what is happening out there, Uncle Tony, and I appreciate you both for keeping me safe, but I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this.” She stepped in close and laid her hand on Tony’s arm. “I am a doctor…a pathologist. I should be helping with this virus, not hiding from it.”

“No,” Hauke growled, effectively stopping her display of heroism. “You do not understand how deadly this virus is for humans. It destroys the brain first and then attacks the rest of the body’s organs. The victims become more ill by the day until it eventually claims their lives.”

“He’s right, Abbie,” Tony interjected. “The body count is great and rising by the day. There is nothing you can do to stop it.”

“But— ”

“No
buts
. Henry is working day and night along with many others, searching for a cure. If you show yourself now, you will be shot on sight.”

Abbie’s gaze bored into her uncle’s. “How do you know so much about what’s going on with Henry?”

Tony appeared uncomfortable with her line of questioning. “I am ex-CIA. I still have a few contacts on the inside. They are watching his every movement. If you reach out to him or go anywhere near him, you are to be taken out.”

Rage boiled up inside Hauke at the knowledge of the land walkers’ intentions to harm his mate.

He stepped up next to Abbie but directed his next words to her uncle. “It is approximately five hundred feet below to the entrance of Aukrabah. Abbie’s body cannot withstand such a great depth. We need a way to safely move her to my home.”

Tony poured a fresh cup of coffee and leaned against the counter to address Hauke. “Getting her safely below would require a small submarine or an atmospheric diving suit capable of withstanding the pressures of the deep. In other words, something that will be near to impossible to acquire.”

“But not impossible?”

“Nothing is impossible if you have the right connections. I will make some calls and see what I can come up with. In the meantime, see that she stays put down here. They are searching high and low for the both of you.”

Abbie’s features darkened. “Hello? I’m right here. I really wish you two would stop talking about me like I’m invisible.” She threw both hands in the air. “And before you start telling me what I should and shouldn’t do, just hear me out.”

Hauke held his tongue as she began to pace back and forth in front of him. “If Uncle Tony can get a message to Bruce Ortega and my father to meet us at a designated safe place, we can go somewhere far from here and work on a cure for this virus. I hate running like a coward when I have the ability to help.”

“
If
, and I stress the word
if
that can be arranged, you run the risk of being recognized. Especially with him in tow.” Tony jerked his chin in Hauke’s direction.

“We can keep him away from the public eye, and I can cut my hair, become a blonde or a redhead. No one is looking for Bruce. It will be easy getting him out unnoticed.”

Hauke shook his head. “I do not like it. There are too many risks. I refuse to take a chance with your life, Abbie.”

She abruptly stopped pacing. “But that’s just it, Hauke. How is my life more important than everyone else’s? How can I sleep at night, knowing that thousands and eventually millions of lives will be lost while I hide safely away and do nothing?”

Her face paled significantly, and her eyes became unfocused. She dropped her head in her hands. “I don’t feel so good.” Her knees suddenly buckled.

Hauke instantly sprang forward, catching her a second before she hit the floor.

“Put her on the bed. I’ll grab a washcloth,” Tony barked, rushing in the direction of the bathroom.

“Abbie?” Hauke had never felt as helpless as he did in this moment. “Talk to me, soul of my soul.” He laid her on the bed and cradled her head in his arms.

Tony quickly returned, holding a cool washcloth, and placed it gently on her forehead. “What’s wrong with her? Has she been exposed in some way?”

“I do not know. I arrived only hours before.” It hurt Hauke’s heart to see her pale form lying listlessly in his arms.

“Damn it. If she has contracted that virus…” Tony continued to bathe her brow in slow, gentle sweeps.

A moan softly slipped from her throat. “Hauke?” she whispered, attempting to open her eyes.

“I am here, Abbie. Tell me what is wrong. Are you all right?”

“I’m going to be sick.”

Tony grabbed a small trashcan from the kitchen and set it next to the bed, barely moving out of the way before she rolled to her side and filled it with the contents of her stomach.