Niko: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Hell Squad Book 9) (13 page)

“The damn drone killer is closing in,” Lia cried. “We can’t afford to lose another drone!”

Niko stared at the wild footage shaking across the screen. It wasn’t helping them. “Pull the drone back.”

“No.” Anne cried. “What about the survivors?”

“Hell Squad will bring them home. Lia, move the drone back to a safe distance but try to stay in range to keep the audio. Elle, tell Marcus we might lose contact.”

The drone retreated, whizzing away from the combat area. The audio was still loud and clear.

“Cruz, get the kids on the Hawk.” Marcus’ voice was a loud roar. “Everyone else. Run! Get to that quadcopter.” There was the sound of laser fire and raptor weapons. It sounded like it was right on top of them.

God, it was horrible to listen to. Niko dragged in a breath.

And then he heard Cruz cursing in Spanish. “They lobbed some sort of grenade. Watch out!”

Now there was screaming.

“Fuck. People are hit. I repeat people are hit,” Cruz said.

Niko turned to look at Elle. “Backup?”

“I’ve already activated Squad Three. They’ll be there in a few minutes.” Elle’s voice was shaky but calm.

“Shit!” Cruz again. “Marcus is hit. I repeat Marcus is down.”

At the comp, Elle went pale. She gripped her keyboard. “Cruz—”

“I’ve got him, Ellie. He’s paralyzed by the raptor poison, but he’s alive.”

But Niko knew that raptor poison burned and ate through flesh. Beside him, Anne was sobbing, and gulping in shallow breaths.

Niko looked at Mackenna. Her face was grim, but she leaned into him. Giving him her support.

“Arriving at the scene.” Tane Rahia’s cool voice came across the line.

“Tane, this is Lia. Any sign of the drone killer?”

A pause.

“Nothing.”

“Screw this.” Lia spun. “I’m taking the drone back in.”

“Do it,” Niko said.

A minute later, the screens flickered back to life. One displayed the drone feed, and the other the video from Tane’s helmet camera.

The scene was filled with carnage.

Hell Squad was fighting, giving cover to the survivors, who were running for the Hawk. Some were huddled in a frightened group near their truck. Niko’s stomach dropped away. There were lots of bodies on the ground. Too many.

And one was a man, sprawled facedown and wearing a red shirt.

Niko heard a keening cry beside him. He spun and caught Anne as her legs gave out.

Then she straightened and shoved against him. “You were supposed to save him!” She hammered at Niko’s chest. “He’d survived all this time…” Tears were falling down her face. “This is like losing him all over again.” She broke down, sobbing.

Niko pulled her close, helpless to soothe her suffering. He heard another noise and looked up.

Anne’s young daughter was standing in the doorway, staring at the screen with a pale face. “Daddy?”

For a second, Niko was in another time and place. Watching another young girl staring at her father’s dead body.

Another technician stood and pried Anne away from Niko. With an arm wrapped around the sobbing woman, the other female technician led Anne and her daughter away.

Back on the screen, Gabe Jackson was carrying Marcus onto the Hawk. Soon, Hell Squad and the remaining survivors were aboard, and the Hawk lifted off.

Squad Three remained on the ground, busy mowing through the few remaining aliens.

Niko flexed his hands and closed his eyes.

Mackenna’s firm touch was on his arm. “It’s not your fault, Niko.”

So why did it feel like it was?

He turned around and stormed out.

Chapter Twelve

Mac found Niko in his apartment. The lights were on low and there was a half empty bottle of vodka beside him.

She’d expected him to be splattering paint across canvas, but he was sitting at a small table. His hands were moving in slow, methodical movements, and were covered in something gray. Clay, she realized. He was sculpting.

He was shirtless, his jeans riding low on his hips. His face was set like stone and a brooding presence filled the air.

“Niko.”

“I’m not good company right now, Mackenna.”

“They made it back. Marcus and the others are in the infirmary.”

A muscle ticked in Niko’s jaw. “Not all of them. Not Anne’s husband.”

Mac approached, aching for him. “I think—”

“They’re dead. I should’ve left the drone there. I should have sent more squads in the first place. I should’ve found the drone killer by now.” He slammed his hand down on the table, making his art supplies rattle. “I should’ve done
something
.”

Mac realized she’d seen more death and suffering at Blue Mountain Base. They’d been going out to fight the aliens every day, they’d been under attack, they’d suffered casualties. Maybe she’d become a little numb to the losses.

But despite his assassin background, Niko and the people of the Enclave had been more insulated since the invasion. She loved the fact that he felt so deeply, but she didn’t want him to suffer, to take on a guilt that wasn’t his.

“Niko, we’re in the middle of a war. There will be casualties.” She felt a pain in her heart. “There’ll be more before this is over.”

He looked up at her, his eyes stormy. “My work for Russian Intelligence…it was all about death.” He looked down at his hands. “At first, I was proud. I was working for my country, doing a difficult job…but I never once questioned my orders.”

His accent had thickened, and Mackenna forced herself to stay still and listen.

“They sent me to kill a man, a traitor, just outside Moscow.” Now Niko looked at the wall, lost in his painful memories. “I killed him. And then realized his small daughter was watching. She looked at me like I was a monster and it made me realize that I was. After that, I found out that the man wasn’t a traitor.” Niko blew out a breath. “He was just a citizen who disagreed with the government. They made me into a murderer.” Then he shook his head angrily. “No, that isn’t right. No one else is to blame for what I did except myself.”

“What did you do after that?”

“I left. Disappeared. I did what I did best, and used my considerable skills to vanish.”

She knew he would have been very good at it. And she knew his former bosses would’ve tried to hunt him down.

“I was hiding among the artist community in New York when I picked up my first paintbrush. And then I started carving this beautiful piece of mahogany…” He looked up at her. “For once, I was creating and making something beautiful, instead of killing and destroying.”

Mac felt a desperate need to touch him. She reached out and gently touched his shoulder. “Niko, you’ve made something here at the Enclave. A home, a haven, a sanctuary. Without your leadership, most of these people wouldn’t have made it.”

Emotion spasmed over his face. “I should have done more to save those people today. If I hadn’t been caught up, so distracted by…”

When his words drifted away, Mac raised a brow. She absorbed the pain that pierced her chest. “Go on. Distracted by fucking me? By me sucking your cock in the shower? By—”

“Stop it,” he bit off.

“You started it, damn you. You know what, Niko? Those deaths today—Anne’s husband—it isn’t about you. You should be focused on fighting back, not blaming yourself and wallowing in it.”

He reached out and yanked her into his lap. She stayed stiff in his arms.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured. He pressed his face against her neck. “I’m sorry.”

She tried to stay hard, but she couldn’t. She sagged against him, holding on tight. God, he was melting something inside her, and for once, she didn’t care. For him, she could have a soft spot.

He reached up, his hand circling her throat and smearing clay on her skin. “I don’t regret a single second with you, Mackenna. You make it bearable. You make it all worthwhile.” He leaned forward and kissed her.

This kiss was slow, gentle, and it felt different from everything they’d shared before. Mac felt butterflies in her stomach.

“It’s okay, Niko. I’m here when you need me. But don’t think I won’t kick your ass when you need it.”

His smile was faint, but it was there. “We should go and check on the injured. On Marcus.”

She nodded and slipped off his lap. She watched as he grabbed his shirt, pulled it on, and took a second to wash his hands.

He held her hand in a death grip as they walked down to the infirmary.

And once again, Mac found herself in that plush waiting room that she was beginning to hate. All of Squad Nine, and Hell Squad, and their partners were there—worried and waiting. Cruz was holding a shaken Elle in his arms.

“Any news?” Niko asked.

Cruz shook his head.

Elle turned teary eyes their way. “Marcus never gets hurt. He’s so big, so strong, so…”

Seemingly indestructible. But Mac knew the risks they took every time they went out there. Any of them could get hurt.

Niko’s hand tightened on hers and she knew he was thinking the same thing.

When Niko wandered over to talk with Roth and Cruz, Cam came over to Mac. “You have clay on you.” She waved at the neck of Mac’s shirt.

Damn
. Mac had forgotten about it. She glanced down at herself. Well, there wasn’t much she could do about it.

Cam smiled. “It’s the perfect imprint of big, strong fingers. I’m happy for you, babe.”

“Thanks, Cam.”

“Wish I could find a hunk of sexy who looks at me like he looks at you.”

“Cam, you have it. You’re so busy beating him up because you’re afraid.”

“Afraid?” Cam made a hissing sound. “You’re talking about
Hemi
?” She shook her head. “Screw that. I don’t need that annoying, scruffy Neanderthal—”

“You ever hear that one about protesting too much?”

Cam’s mouth snapped shut and she crossed her arms over her chest. “Shut up.”

The infirmary door opened, and everyone in the waiting room glanced up. Mac expected to see Doc Emerson.

Instead, it was a shirtless, shoeless Marcus Steele in the doorway. His scarred face was a little pale and he had a white bandage on his shoulder, but other than that, he looked his usual tough self.

“Marcus.” Elle rushed forward.

He pulled her in tight against him. And the look that crossed his face… Mac swallowed the lump in her throat. She felt like she was witnessing something private and intimate.

“Marcus!” Doc Emerson’s annoyed voice. “I said you couldn’t get out of bed yet!” The doctor squeezed around the Hell Squad soldier. “You are so stubborn.” Then, Emerson looked at Elle, and a reluctant smile curved her lips. “He’s wanted to see you from the moment he woke up.” She looked back at her patient with a scowl. “He was all grumpy and grouchy. Alpha males make the
worst
patients.”

“He’s okay?” Elle asked, clinging to her fiancé.

“Fine. Although his nanomeds aren’t quite finished yet. Hence the staying. In. Bed. Thing.”

“I’m not staying,” Marcus said firmly.

“You are,” the doctor replied darkly.

Elle moved her hand over Marcus’ chest. “Can I stay with him?”

“Sure.”

Marcus made a few grumbling sounds, but he let Elle lead him back into the infirmary.

Mac sighed. That was what love looked like. Neither Marcus nor Elle were soft. Instead, they’d learned to bend a little—but that made them stronger, not weaker.

When Niko returned to her, Mac let herself lean into his side.

***

Niko sat at the table in his room, carefully mixing the lotion in the pretty glass jar he’d bartered a little painting for. Beside him was a bowl of smooshed raspberries, and another filled with plain lotion he’d gotten from one of the Enclave ladies who made the best lotions, moisturizers, and toiletries in the place.

He wanted something special for Mackenna. Something to feed that little love of nice things. He had a few discarded batches of virulent pink sitting beside him. He’d tried mixing the raspberries in, but he’d put too much, and the early batches were far too strong. The bright pink creams stained everything—skin, clothes, hands.

In this next batch, he put just the tiniest bit of raspberry, then mixed in the other ingredients. He stirred it and leaned down to sniff it.
Perfect
. Just a hint of sweet scent. He imagined rubbing it on her belly, her thighs, her breasts. He imagined sliding his hands between her legs—

“Hey?”

Her voice made him jolt.

She stepped in front of him, eyeing him with a narrowed gaze. “What are you doing?”

He cleared his throat and held out the jar. “I was making a present for you.”

“Really?” Her face lightened and she took the jar and held it up. “But you were thinking about sex. You get this look.”

He grinned at her. “I was thinking about what I’d do with this.”

She smelled the lotion and a sweet, very un-Mac look crossed her face. “Raspberries. It’s lovely.” She tilted her head. “So where would you rub it?”

“All over you.”

She leaned down and kissed him. In a flash, desire ignited in his gut. How the hell could she take him from sweet happiness to raging lust in just seconds? “Damn, Mackenna, one kiss from you, and you have me as hard as steel.”

She reached down and boldly stroked him through his trousers. “I was coming to get you. We have a meeting about the drone killer in ten minutes.”

He pulled her closer. “I can work with ten minutes.” He started unbuttoning her trousers.

“But we need four minutes to walk to the Command Center, so that only leaves you six,” she said, voice breathless.

Niko delved his hand between her legs. She was already wet for him. “I like a challenge.” Quickly, he turned her away from him, palming her sweet ass. He reached down and freed his cock.

Without warning her, he pulled her down, lodging his cock deep inside her with a groan. She made a strangled sound and he bumped his hips up against her. He kept his thrusts short, hard, and fast. He moved his hands between her legs, arrowing in on that slick little nub.

“Yes, Niko!”

He felt his release roaring closer and kept working her clit. He wanted her to come first. A second after she cried out his name, Niko unloaded his release inside her.