Marcus (6 page)

He pressed his lips to the silky skin of her
jaw, then moved up and claimed her mouth.

Her full lips parted on a gasp. And he took
full advantage.

He wasn’t gentle, had never been gentle, he
plundered. He slid his tongue in her mouth and her taste hit him
like a rush. Sweet, so fucking sweet.

Her hands slid up into his hair. She moved
against him, making little noises in the back of her throat.

And she kissed him back.

She kissed the hell out of him.

Lost in her, in that special taste that was
Elle, he held on, taking everything he could and loving that she
gave as good as she got.

But slowly, reality filtered in. He had her
pinned against the wall. Mauling her. Worse, he was dirty and grimy
and covered in blood—some of it his own.

Dredging up some strength from God-only-knew
where, Marcus pulled himself away from her. Both of their chests
were heaving.

Jesus, those big blue eyes hit him hard. If
she ever found out that all she had to do was look at him and he
wouldn’t be able to deny her a single thing, he’d be in a whole lot
of trouble.
Focus, Steele
.
On the mission. Not
her.

“Okay, you’re in.” Dammit, he wanted to ram
a fist into the wall. “But you’ll do exactly as I say, wear armor
at all times, and you won’t leave my side. No matter what. Got
it?”

She blinked, taking a second to process.
Then her eyes lit up. “I’ll do everything you tell me.”

God, her earnest words stabbed at him. Made
him imagine her doing things that had nothing to do with the
mission.

“I’m going to clean up, grab some food. Two
hours and we’re heading back out there to kick some raptor butt. Go
and find some body armor that won’t swamp you and I’ll meet you
back at the Hawk.”

She nodded, her eyes alive. With excitement,
fear…he wasn’t sure.

“Marcus, about—”

He heard the questioning tone in her voice
but he didn’t want to talk about that kiss. At least, not now. He
cut her off. “Find yourself a weapon. You’ll need something if you
have to take a raptor down at close quarters.”

She swallowed hard. “You think that’ll
happen?”

“Anything can happen out there.” The thought
of her tangling with one of those damned alien beasts made his gut
churn. He’d protect her, no matter what he had to do. “Two hours.
Landing pads.”

She nodded. “Okay. But Marcus?”

“Yeah.”

“After the mission, we will talk about that
kiss.” She turned and hurried down the tunnel.

Marcus forced himself to head to his
quarters. All he really wanted to do was drag her away and lock her
up to keep her safe.

And dammit, he also wanted to do a hell of a
lot more.

When he reached his quarters, he tore off
the rest of his armor, then his clothes, and stepped into a cold
shower. He welcomed the sting of the freezing water. It hit the
gash on his shoulder and washed the blood away. He glanced at the
wound. He’d been right—it wasn’t as bad as he’d first thought. A
bit of med-gel and it should be good. He’d have another scar to add
to the collection.

He dropped his forehead to the faded tile.
Damn, he wasn’t looking forward to this mission. Big blue eyes swam
into his vision. That dark hair he wanted to wrap around his hand.
He could picture her spread out on his bunk, all slim limbs and
smooth skin.

Jesus
. He slid a soapy hand down his
stomach, circled his cock. He had to find some damned control
because he was going to need all his focus to take Elle into the
heart of hell and then get her out alive.

***

Marcus slammed his armor into place and
yanked the fastening tight. Around him in the squad locker room,
some of his team were doing the same.

Thirty minutes to go time.

“Where are Frost and Shaw?” Marcus
barked.

Cruz checked his carbine. “They’ll be here.
I think Claudia was helping Elle find some armor.”

Marcus paused. The idea of tough-as-nails
Claudia helping Elle…that just didn’t seem right. “And Shaw?”

Zeke leaned forward and waggled his
eyebrows. “Think he got nabbed by that cute little redhead who
works down in supplies.”

Cruz closed his locker. “You sure you want
to take her on this mission?”

Marcus knew his second wasn’t talking about
Claudia or the redhead. “Don’t have a choice.”

“There’s always a choice, my friend.”

With extra force, Marcus slammed his locker
closed. “You don’t think if there was another way, I’d take it?”
The men fell silent and he felt them watching him. The anger
pounding through him was like a raging river. He shoved his combat
knife into the sheath on his thigh. “You think I want her anywhere
near the raptors?”

“No, but—”

“I don’t want her hurt. I’d gut myself
first.”

Gabe and Zeke stopped their final
preparations to listen.

Marcus released a harsh breath. “We need
those crystals to find the alien comms hub, and…for some insane
reason, she wants this. I don’t know, she has some need to prove
herself. All I can do is try and keep her safe.”

“We’ll all keep her safe,” Gabe said, his
gray eyes intense.

Marcus knew the quiet man was giving him a
promise. As he looked at the others, they both nodded as well. The
tightness inside his chest eased…a little.

He turned to Cruz. “If the mission goes to
hell, if I go down, your priority is to get Elle out.”

His friend nodded. “You got it, Marcus.”

The locker room door opened, and Claudia
strode in. Her dark hair was braided, and she wore a tank top that
showed off muscled arms. “Hey, Marcus, we might turn your princess
into a warrior, yet.”

As Claudia opened her locker and started
pulling out her armor, Marcus forced his breathing to slow, in an
attempt to stay calm. “She’s ready?”

“Yeah.” Claudia pressed her chest armor into
place. “She’s nervous as hell, but she’s hiding it. She might look
like she belongs at a dinner party, but nobody can fault her for
courage.”

The door opened again, and this time Shaw
sauntered in. His tawny hair was mussed and he had a satisfied look
on his face. “Ladies.”

Zeke snorted. “Only you would squeeze in a
quickie before heading into hell.”

The sniper shrugged and grinned. “Any time
is a good time for a quickie, Jackson.”

Claudia shot him a scathing look and turned
back to her locker. “Some women prefer a man who can last more than
a few minutes.”

Shaw stiffened. “I can—”

“Don’t start, you two,” Marcus warned.
“We’re meeting Elle at the Hawk in fifteen minutes, so hustle.”

Shaw frowned. “Elle? What do you mean? Don’t
tell me she’s coming with us?”

“Didn’t you read the mission brief?” Claudia
asked snidely.

He ignored her, his gaze on Marcus. “Are you
crazy? We can’t take her into the heart of raptor territory. It’s
no place for a woman—” he glanced at Claudia, who was already
rounding on him “—without combat training.”

Zeke snorted again. “Good save.”

Marcus slashed a hand through the air. “I
don’t want to take Elle, either. But we need her skills. We’ll all
have to keep her safe, get the mission done and then get the hell
out of there. Got it?”

Everyone nodded. Marcus knew if there was
anyone he could trust, it was his team.

Hell Squad would help him keep Elle safe, no
matter what.

He swung his carbine over his shoulder. “All
right, let’s move out.”

The quadcopter’s engines were silent but the
wind rushing past the open sides was a constant roar in Elle’s
ears.

She gripped the bar attached to the roof and
tried to keep her balance. She half-expected a raptor ship to
appear beside them. Shaped liked giant flying dinosaurs, they’d
been nicknamed pteros after pterosaurs or pterodactyls.

But the Hawk’s pilot would have the copter’s
illusion system running. It didn’t completely cloak the Hawk from
view but it messed with its signature on raptor scans, blurred them
a bit on visual, and used directed sound waves to distort any noise
and make the enemy think the copter was somewhere other than its
present location.

It didn’t make her feel much better. Fear
was like a slow-eating acid in her veins. She could only hope no
one noticed how badly her hands were shaking.

The rest of Hell Squad lounged around her.
She wouldn’t say they were relaxed, just focused. Shaw gripped the
edge of the door, staring out toward the horizon, his long-range
laser rifle clutched securely in his other hand. Claudia sat at the
back, checking her carbine. For the third time.

Cruz sat quietly, staring at the floor, his
lean, handsome face composed, while Gabe and Zeke murmured to each
other in the back. And Marcus was leaning into the cockpit, talking
with the pilot about their landing zone.

Elle fiddled with the edge of her armor. She
looked the part, even if the armor was a little big on her, and her
tiny, high-tech earpiece felt foreign. And the armor took a little
getting used to. Because of the exoskeleton built into it, it
helped her move faster and jump higher. Still, she felt like a
little girl playing dress-up.

They had to get those data crystals.
Everyone was depending on her to get them there.

She lifted her arm. The shiny, portable comp
screen was strapped securely to her wrist. It showed the location
of the library where Roth and his squad had seen the crystals.
She’d be doing some of her usual job on the mission, but the rest
of it was in Noah’s hands. He’d volunteered to be their temporary
comms officer for this trip.

She swallowed, trying to clear the giant
lump in her throat. She’d faced down Marcus to come on this
mission, and now her nerves were eating at her like hundreds of
tiny ants.

Looking for a distraction, she glanced out
the side of the Hawk at the ground below.

Destruction. As far as the eye could
see.

Sydney had been the shining capital of the
United Coalition—the combination of several Commonwealth countries
including Australia, Canada, India, the United Kingdom, and the
United States of America. Since advanced supersonic travel had made
the distance between the member countries negligible, they’d chosen
the beautiful Australian harbor city as their new capital.

It had been a center of commerce, arts and
culture. Once upon a time, the city center had been filled with
huge, towering spires that housed all the global companies
headquartered there.

Now all she saw on the horizon were a few
shattered shards still reaching into the sky, like bony fingers,
pleading for salvation.

Directly below the quadcopter, bathed in the
afternoon sun, was what had once been the suburbs. At one time,
alive with families and life. The whole area was now just rubble.
The raptor hunting parties had cleared out any stranded survivors a
long time ago. Arching her neck, Elle thought she saw the area that
had been her parents’ estate, just north of the city. Her home.

It was so surreal to see the extent of the
devastation. It left her feeling hollow.

She’d hidden for several weeks after the
first waves of alien attacks. But eventually, she’d found the
courage to flee the city—that remained under siege—with a small
group of stragglers. They’d found some cars and a small amount of
fuel, escaped an attack by the raptors, and were finally picked up
by Hell Squad at the foothills of the Blue Mountains.

She still remembered Marcus surveying their
small group. He’d been so…intimidating. She’d wondered at the time
if he ever smiled. Her lips quirked at the memory. He did smile.
Not often, but when he did it was worth the wait. She glanced at
him now and saw he was no longer talking with the pilot. Instead,
he was watching her with an intensity that made her feel like she
was naked.

She glanced away, and looked again at the
view below, but now all she could think about was that kiss.

Hot, possessive and so, so good.

The kiss of a man who wanted a woman.

But he was acting professional, so she
would, too. For now.

Find the crystals, decode the map, destroy
the raptor comms hub. That’s all she could allow herself to think
about right now. She knew that many people back at base thought
that if they managed to destroy the raptors or drive them away,
life would go back to the way it had been before.

With the destroyed city staring back at her,
she knew things would never be the same, ever again. Her shoulders
sagged under the empty feeling of chances lost, of what had
been.

But at the same time, Elle realized that she
didn’t want to go back to the person she’d been before. She didn’t
want to be the shallow, self-absorbed Ellianna Milton who’d never
finished her university degree, who’d partied all night, and still
lived with her parents because it was convenient, and free.

Her gaze zeroed back to Marcus. His dark
head was bent now and so she looked her fill. She’d changed. Over
the past year, she’d seen people with values that mattered. People
who risked their lives for others, no questions asked. And who did
it over and over again. The kind of person she wanted to be.

She fiddled idly with her armor for a minute
before she realized a fastening wasn’t quite done up and it gaped
under her right arm. She jiggled it, trying to get it sorted,
without success. She huffed out a breath. Some soldier she was, she
couldn’t even dress herself.

She lifted her head and saw Claudia smirking
at her. Dammit, the other woman might be a trained soldier, but
that grating grin made Elle want to smack her.

“Let me.”

Marcus stepped in front of Elle. His hands
brushed hers away and he snapped the fastening closed, his fingers
brushing her side for a second. She sucked in quick breath.