Reed: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Hell Squad Book 4) (17 page)

“Don’t remove it for me.” He moved her fingers aside and touched her scar. “I don’t care about it at all.”

“I know.” Her hand covered his. “But I think I’ll remove it for me. It’s time to move forward.”

His fingers flexed. “Good. And with or without that scar, I love you.”

Her mouth opened. “What?”

“I love you, Natalya Vasin. And I have something to ask you.” He got down on one knee, and when he saw her huge brown eyes go wide, he almost smiled. But now, a touch of nerves was making his gut tight. He cleared his throat. “My parents were older when they had me, so some of the values they instilled in me are a little old-fashioned. Like getting down on one knee when you ask the woman you love to marry you.”

Natalya opened her mouth, closed it, then bit her lip.

He pulled the box from his pocket and opened it. The diamond twinkled under the lab lights. He’d used all his trading credits and borrowed a few from his squadmates to get the ring from the small selection of jewelry the clothing store carried.

“Natalya, will you marry me?”

“Oh my God, Reed.” Her voice was jerky.

“Is that a yes?”

She reached for the ring, then hesitated. “Are you sure? I don’t have my heart anymore, but if I did, I’d give it to you.”

Jesus,
she could burrow deep inside and touch every part of him. “I’m sure.”

A single tear rolled down her cheek, but she was smiling. “I love you, too. And I’d be honored to be the wife of the toughest, sexiest, bravest man I know.”

Elation slammed through him, stronger than all the times he’d come home from a successful mission. He slipped the ring on her finger, then leaned forward and kissed her.

Her hands slid into his hair and jerked him closer. The kiss went from sweet to hot in a blink. She moaned into his mouth, her tongue dancing with his.

Then he was surging upright. He plucked her out of her chair, turned, and set her on her desk. Her tablet crashed to the floor.

His hands were on her skirt, yanking it up to her hips. He reached down and in one swipe, tore her panties off her.

She gasped. “Reed!”

“I can’t wait, sweetheart.”

“Someone might come in.”

“Door’s locked. And I told Noah I needed some time with you. To propose. I didn’t mention this exactly, but we won’t be interrupted.” Reed delved between her legs, loving the husky cry she made. She was so damn beautiful.

“Now, Dr. Vasin, I want to tell you about this librarian fantasy you’ve sparked in me.”

She peered down her nose, her glasses slipping a little. “Oh? Did you forget to return a library book?”

He growled and captured her mouth again.

He’d always fought for freedom. Always wanted his own and thought that meant wide-open spaces. He’d just never realized he’d find it in Natalya’s arms. No matter where he was, with her, he’d always have his freedom and his fresh air.

---

I hope you enjoyed Reed and Natalya’s story!

Hell Squad continues with ROTH, the story of Squad Nine’s tough leader. Coming Sept/Oct 2015.

Don’t miss out!
For updates about new releases, action romance info, free books, and other fun stuff, sign up for my VIP mailing list and get your free copy of the Phoenix Adventures novella,
On a Cyborg Planet.

Click here to get started:
www.annahackettbooks.com

Read the first chapter of At Star’s End

Book 1 of the Phoenix Adventures

Dr. Eos Rai has spent a lifetime dedicated to her mother's dream of finding the long-lost
Mona Lisa
. When Eos uncovers tantalizing evidence of Star's End—the last known location of the masterpiece—she's shocked when her employer, the Galactic Institute of Historic Preservation, refuses to back her expedition. Left with no choice, Eos must trust the most notorious treasure hunter in the galaxy, a man she finds infuriating, annoying and far too tempting.

Dathan Phoenix can sniff out relics at a stellar mile. With his brothers by his side, he takes the adventures that suit him and refuses to become a lazy, bitter failure like their father. When the gorgeous Eos Rai comes looking to hire him, he knows she's trouble, but he's lured into a hunt that turns into a wild and dangerous adventure. As Eos and Dathan are pushed to their limits, they discover treasure isn't the only thing they're drawn to…but how will their desire survive when Dathan demands the
Mona Lisa
as his payment?

---

Dr. Eos Rai gripped the edge of her seat and gritted her teeth. The pilot of her hired minishuttle executed a dizzying spiral descent toward the moon below.

The free fall was exactly what her life was like at the moment. Her hand clenched on the seat. How much longer until she hit the bottom?

Eos focused on the irregular, pockmarked surface below. Her first look at Khan.

The moon was a captured asteroid that now orbited the market planet of Souk. If she craned her neck, she could just make out the large planet with its urban areas interspaced with farms and forests.

Here at the edge of the known galaxy, Souk was the stopping-off point for explorers, colonists and daredevils heading off into unknown space to make their fortunes. And its small moon of Khan was home to the most notorious treasure hunters in the galaxy—the Phoenix Brothers.

Another sharp turn and she almost head-butted the synth-glass windshield. She shot a narrow look at the pilot, but the weathered old man peered straight ahead through his thick glasses—who still wore glasses when you could visit a medbooth and get your vision fixed for a few e-creds?—didn’t even glance at her. In fact, he looked bored.

As long as she landed in one piece…

She had to make the Phoenix brothers help her.

She pulled in a deep breath and rubbed the fingers of her left hand together. She felt the slight bump at the end of her index finger and thought of the precious cargo it carried.

It challenged all her beliefs to put this into the hands of treasure hunters, but she was out of options.

She’d worked with Niklas years ago at the Galactic Institute for Historical Preservation. He was steady and smart. She trusted him. His brothers, though, were the wild cards.

Why the hell had Niklas thrown away a promising career in astro-archeology for this? She stared at the scratched and dinted hulls of the various starships that littered the moon’s surface. A spaceship graveyard.

But she knew it wasn’t the brothers’ main business. No, they went after items far more lucrative than scrap metal.

Dathan Phoenix had a reputation for sniffing out the choicest ancient relics.

Right or wrong, it was a skill she needed.
If
she could convince him to chase a myth.

He was legendary across the Exodus quadrant. Not to mention cursed in the halls of the Institute. Heat seared under her rib cage. Artifacts that should be in vaults or museums, taken by his grubby hands and then sold to the highest bidder. Her mother had died trying to keep artifacts out of the hands of pirates.

Eos smoothed a finger over the floral markings that traced up the back of her hand and twined around her wrist. The familiar habit soothed her. No one had the right to steal someone’s history.

“There she is,” the pilot said.

Eos’s gaze shifted downward. A large huma-dome shimmered pink-purple on the horizon. The energy field of the dome kept the atmosphere inside but also permitted solid objects to pass through. Moments later, the bubble-shaped shuttle shot straight downward—along with Eos’s stomach. The light lunch she’d had earlier at the spacedock on Souk threatened to come back up. The shuttle descended through the dome and touched down on a small landing pad.

“Thank you.” Eos didn’t hide her eagerness to exit the shuttle. She’d already transferred payment into the pilot’s account before the trip, leaving her e-cred account dangerously low. Her stomach clenched. She’d already forked out a small fortune for the commercial fare to get to Souk. What she had left was to convince the Phoenix brothers to help her.

As Eos slipped on her small backpack, the shuttle shot upward, bathing her in steam. Spinning, she faced the building.

No one to greet her.

Hmm, security sucked. Her boots made a quiet tap on the smooth floor as she headed inside the monstrous warehouse.

The inside was packed with…junk. Mostly ships—or parts of them—of all types and sizes. She spied lights in one corner of the building and wended her way through the debris.

As she passed a small pile of rusted metal, she glimpsed paintwork on the…whatever it was. She stopped and crouched, smoothing a hand over the surface.

“It can’t be,” she breathed.

NASA was written in faded white paint, with a small flag made up of stars and stripes. Remnants of a Terran satellite!

She shot to her feet. So little was known about the world that had seeded life on so many planets in the galaxy. Most of the planet’s records had been lost after its nuclear devastation in the Great Terran War. She imagined for a second what it must have been like with the world’s superpowers at war. Even over the name of the planet itself. Earth had been the English term used by the United Countries of the Americas, but the records showed that in the other powerful group of countries, the Northern Federation, they’d used Terra. Both terms were now commonly used throughout the galaxy.

Eos’s mouth firmed. This satellite should be in a museum being studied, not rotting here on a desolate moon. She marched toward the back of the warehouse. The light she’d spotted was spilling from a half-open door. She pushed it open.

Living quarters. Not tidy ones. She noted the clothes strewn across the floor. A large bed with rumpled covers was pushed against one wall. A battered metal desk was closest to her.

What sat on it had the breath rushing out of her lungs.

She circled the desk. “By Suva’s grace.” A Renaissance bronze in mint condition. She’d only ever seen pictures of them in records. She reached out a trembling hand.

Then she was yanked backward.

A strong arm wrapped around her chest like a steel band. A hard male body pressed against her back. She stiffened and shoved her elbow into a firm abdomen. A wet, naked abdomen. The cool metal of a weapon pressed against her temple and she froze.

“I’ve already had one woman sneak up on me today. I don’t plan to make it two.” The male voice was low, raspy.

“I don’t care what kind of day you’re having.” She wasn’t violent by nature but she’d been trained to defend herself on isolated digs. Acting on instinct, she dropped low and swiped out at his ankles with her foot.

She obviously surprised him, because he toppled. Pulling her over with him.

For a second, she glimpsed the lean, tough body of a runner—all firm, sinewy muscle. She had a quick impression of dark ink covering one of his arms. She didn’t let her gaze go lower.

He was strong and she realized she’d never beat him in a fair fight.

He was cursing in a language her lingual implant didn’t recognize. She scrambled off him, reaching for the laser pistol that was now lying on the floor.

Her fingers brushed metal. Then she was tackled from behind.

She hit the floor face-first and all the air was forced out of her lungs in rush. The man’s heavy weight settled over her and her cheek pressed against the smooth concrete.

Warm breath tickled her ear. “Now what, darlin’?”

“Now nothing. Get
off
me.” Eos bucked her body. But all that did was grind her butt into a hard stomach.

“Not until you tell me who you are and what the hell you’re doing in my place.”

She sucked in a breath. “No one met my shuttle.”

Footsteps.

“Her name’s Dr. Eos Rai.”

Eos recognized Niklas’s voice. Relief flooded through her. She turned her head enough to see Niklas and a younger man with tawny hair in the doorway.

The younger man smiled. “Twice in one day you’ve gotten beaten up by a girl, Dath.”

“Screw you, Z,” the man above her said.

She guessed the one with Niklas was the former Galactic Strike Wing fighter pilot, Zayn. Which left the hard, dangerous man on top of her as none other than Dathan Phoenix.