Reed: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Hell Squad Book 4) (3 page)

Brown eyes met Reed’s. “Thanks for bringing it in, Reed.”

“No problem.” God, he wanted to touch her, but he clasped his hands behind his back.

“I might catch you at dinner later?” she said.

“Sure.” Reed backed out of there. Before he did something crazy, like grabbing her and carrying her back to his quarters.

She needed time and he would give it to her…even if it killed him.

***

Natalya hovered in the tunnel outside the infirmary.

The new survivors were in there. Being cared for. Being assessed. And probably poked and prodded. Emerson seemed to enjoy doing that.

Natalya wasn’t sure why she was here. These people had never been in a lab or experimented on like her. She pressed a palm to the smooth concrete wall. For some strange reason, she’d felt pulled here. So here she was, watching like a spy, her heart beating just a little too fast.

She should be back in the comp lab studying the energy cube some more. But she was running some tests and waiting for the results, so there wasn’t much else she could do until they were ready.

She tugged at her skirt, and frowned. Since she’d gained weight back so quickly, the skirt was getting a bit snug. She’d have to visit the clothing store and see if she had enough clothing credits to get something in the next size. Luckily the business-style skirts and shirts she liked weren’t popular in the base, so she didn’t need too many credits. Most people wanted trousers, cargo pants, T-shirts—proper clothes for an apocalypse. She just wanted to feel a sense of normalcy in the craziness, and wearing clothes similar to what she wore before helped.

She heard footsteps and tried to look like she was waiting for somebody. Gabe Jackson, one of the members of Hell Squad, strode toward the infirmary. The big man seemed to fill the entire tunnel. He was about six and a half feet, with dark skin, a shaved head and a glowering expression. He scared most people.

But not Dr. Emerson Green.

The infirmary door opened and Emerson waved to someone back inside before her gaze zeroed in on Gabe. Her smile was brilliant as she launched herself at him. “Hey, big guy.”

His reply was to snatch her up in his arms and kiss her.

Natalya watched them, feeling like a voyeur. Wow, the way Gabe held the doctor…and the way Emerson gripped his arms. Natalya was surprised she didn’t see steam rising off them.

“Come on, you can buy me dinner.” Emerson linked her arm through his. “And I have a few ideas about dessert.”

Gabe smiled. An honest-to-God smile that made Natalya blink. She’d never, ever seen him do that before.

Emerson suddenly noticed her. “Hey, Natalya. Were you wanting to see me?”

“No…I…no. I was just wondering how the new people were doing.”

“Fine. Shaken up, but they’re all right. My team’s still checking them over, but apart from some malnutrition, they all appear to be healthy.”

The infirmary door opened again, and a small group of tired-looking people were ushered out by a short, round nurse with skin the color of black coffee.

Emerson waved at them and watched them disappear around a corner. “Norah’s taking them to have their quarters assigned. They’ll just need a bit of time to settle in.”

Natalya nodded. “Right.” She stared after the retreating group. Her pulse tripped. Looking at them made her feel…nervous. “I’d better get back to the comp lab.”

“Have a good evening.” Emerson turned back to Gabe.

Natalya stood there a bit longer. Again, she felt that strange pull, an odd compulsion to follow the group of people. She fought it, telling herself to get back to her work. Then with a quiet curse, she started down the hall. After the group.

She followed slowly and at a crossways in the tunnel, she saw the group turn left. Norah’s voice echoed in the tunnel as she acted as tour guide.

Except one man didn’t follow. He watched the group for a few seconds, then turned right.

Natalya frowned. He was slinking along like he didn’t want to get noticed. Without thinking, she trailed along behind the man. He was slim, with dark hair, his clothes not much more than tattered rags. Where the hell was he going?

He rounded a corner. She followed.

The tunnel was empty.

Natalya spun in a slow circle. He’d been
right
ahead of her. How could she have lost him? All the doors off the tunnel were closed. She frowned, and absently rubbed a hand between her breasts. Her scar was aching.

“Natalya?”

Reed’s voice made her jump. He strode down the tunnel toward her, all easy, male grace. He moved like an athlete, in complete control of his body. His hands were stuck in the pockets of his jeans and he wore a long-sleeved, navy-blue shirt that was just tight enough to show the ridges of his rock-hard abdomen through the fabric.

She licked her lips. A part of her really, really wanted to see him without the shirt. To have the right to skim her fingers over that stomach.

“Natalya? You okay?” He stopped in front of her.

“What?” She shook her head. “Yes, I’m fine. I was…”
following some new arrival for some unknown reason.
“I saw the group of new survivors heading to be assigned quarters. I think one of them wandered off this way.”

Reed frowned and eyed the empty tunnel. “I didn’t see anyone.”

Natalya rubbed her scar again. “Strange. I—” Her words choked off as an ominous feeling rose up inside her. She felt a shiver snake through her, her muscles stretching tight.

“Natalya?” Concern threaded his deep voice.

“Something’s…wrong.” A lump formed in her throat. She could sense something, a threat, danger, hovering like a storm cloud.

Reed shifted closer…just as something fell from the ceiling and landed on them.

They smacked into the floor, the air rushing from Natalya’s lungs with an
oof
. Reed’s big body bumped into hers and he was cursing.

She raised her head. And looked directly into the glowing red eyes of the man she’d been following.

He hissed and swiped out with his hand. His nails were long and sharp, like claws, and they slashed her arm.

She cried out, scooting backward.

“Jesus.” Reed bounded to his feet and shifted into a stance that made him look like a boxer about to head into a fight.

The man, raptor—no hybrid, that’s what he was—snarled at Reed. Reed struck out with a fist, but the hybrid was fast. Really fast.

He dodged. Spun. And came straight at Natalya.

She didn’t have time to scream. All she could do was raise her hands. He slammed into her, one wiry arm wrapping around her throat.

He dragged her backward, his arm tight enough to cut off her air. She coughed and kicked, her feet dragging on the concrete floor.

Reed followed, his big body tense and his face a mask of savage concentration. His golden eyes were glued to hers, urging her to stay calm.

Panic was rising, like hot bubbles in her blood. She’d been at the raptors’ mercy for months. Now here was another one making her a hostage. She kept her gaze on Reed, trying to focus, trying to keep the wave of terror at bay.

Reed was here. He’d help her.

She tightened her grip on the hybrid’s arm, trying to yank it away. A flash of anger stormed through her. No, she wasn’t going to be a victim again. This time, she was going to fight back.

The hybrid dragged her through a doorway and into a darkened room. It smelled like dust and old things. In the shadows, she could make out rows of shelves, filled with neatly stacked items. A storage room.

“Let her go.” Reed kept his voice calm but Natalya heard the dangerous edge in it.

Reed was always so easygoing, but at the same time, he was also a soldier on the deadliest command squad in the base. She knew he had to be lethal when he needed to be.

The hybrid hissed again but kept moving deeper into the darkness, dragging her with him.

She watched as Reed followed them, but then all of a sudden, the hybrid moved in a sharp jerking motion. He shoved her forward, hard. She smacked into Reed and as he caught her, they slammed into a shelf. Various items rained down on top of them and Reed covered her body with his.

All Natalya could do was hold on tight. He was so hard and big. Safe.

Finally, things stopped falling. They both looked up…just as the hybrid slammed the door closed.

“Dammit!” Reed released her and bounded forward. He slammed a fist against the metal door. Through a tiny window of glass, they saw the hybrid on the other side, smiling wickedly at them. His teeth were a little longer than a regular human’s and jagged. Natalya shivered.

Then the hybrid smashed the door’s electronic lock on the outside.

On the corresponding internal lock panel, the lights blinked off.

“No!” Reed pressed his palm against the pad. Nothing happened. “Fuck!” He kicked the door, making it rattle.

The hybrid grinned again, and then, while they watched, he climbed up the wall like a spider and scuttled off down the hall.

Natalya shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. “We have to warn people. He could…” The hybrid could hurt people, or do damage to the base.

Reed ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t have my communicator on me. I’m off-duty. You?”

She shook her head. It was sitting on her desk in the comp lab. “Is there an emergency alarm button? We have one in the comp lab.”

Reed’s jaw tightened and he shook his head. “They were fitted to the main areas and private quarters, but not in the storage rooms.” He banged a palm against the door and yelled.

Natalya joined him. “Help! Somebody.”

After a few minutes, Reed cursed. “We’re too far from the main areas. No one will hear us down here.” He ran a hand through his hair. “We don’t have a lot of options.”

She scanned the dark room. “There might be something we can use to break out of here. We should check.”

He nodded. As they moved away from the door, the darkness got deeper. Natalya studied the shelves and she stilled.

Treasure
. The shelves were filled with paintings, statues, old jewelry. It looked like the contents of a museum. She turned and saw more paintings stacked against the wall. “History.”

Reed looked over. “What?”

She ran a hand over the statue of a sinuous woman. “Human history. This is all we have left of it. We’ve lost so much.”

He moved closer. She felt the heat emanating off him.

“They’re just things.” His voice was low and deep. “People are what matter. Once we send these aliens packing, we’ll make new history.”

His optimistic view cheered her. She looked up at the bold lines of his handsome face and wondered, just for a second, what it would be like to be normal again. To have her once-solid confidence back. If she had it, she’d do what she wanted to do—seduce Reed MacKinnon.

Natalya’s hand fell away from the statue. But she wasn’t that woman, not anymore. Some days she despaired that who she’d been before would never return. And Reed deserved more than a cracked shell of a woman trying to put the pieces back together.

She tilted her head back and something on the ceiling caught her eye. “Reed, look.” She pointed.

He peered upward. “Ventilation grate. Leads into the vent tunnels.”

A way out.

“Can you lift me up?” she asked.

Chapter Three

Reed wasn’t quite sure how he ended up with Natalya’s soft curves pressed against him. He liked it. But at the same time, it was torture.

She was gripping his biceps, one of her small feet resting on his thigh. He gripped her waist and helped her up. She set her other foot on his other thigh…dangerously close to his groin.

And a twitching cock that liked the way she felt and smelled.

“Not going to work,” she muttered. “My skirt’s too constricting.” She waved at him to set her down.

He did. She stood in front of him, hesitated for a second, then straightened her shoulders and hitched her skirt halfway up her thighs. Slim, shapely, creamy thighs.

Reed’s heart stopped for a second. Then it started beating again, now a hard bang against his ribs.

She glanced at him, heat in her cheeks. “I’ll be able to move a bit more now.” She gripped his arms again.

His heart still thudding, he hefted her up once more.

“I need a bit more height,” she said.

He boosted her up higher and ended up with his face mashed against her belly.
Damn
. He was all-too-aware that the bare skin of her thighs was only inches away. He tried counting to ten. Then twenty. He heard her reaching up, muttering under her breath in what he guessed was Russian.

Yes. A distraction. “So, your family’s Russian?”

“My father was. My mother was French.”

“How’d they meet?”

“On the New Moscow Space Station. Dad was an astronaut and my mother a scientist up there conducting experiments. They fell crazy in love, married and had me.” She reached for something, and grunted. A soft, very feminine grunt. “We left Russia when I was a child and moved to Australia. My father took up a professor position at the United Coalition Academy of Sciences.”

“So you grew up in Australia but still speak Russian.”

“Only a little.” She shifted again. “Mostly swear words.”

“Do you know what happened to them? Your parents?”

She was quiet for a moment. “They were at the Coalition Academy.”

Which Reed knew had been one of the early targets hit during the invasion. “I’m sorry.”

“Thanks. And your family?”

“None left. Just some distant cousins. My parents had me late in life and passed away several years ago. I’m glad that they weren’t here to suffer through the invasion.”

A few moments passed. “I need a little more height. My fingers are brushing the panel but I’m not quite high enough.”

He boosted her higher. “Put one leg on my shoulder.”

Awkwardly, she moved until a slim thigh rested on his shoulder. “Ah, I’m not sure this is a great idea.”

He could see her panties. And under that neat black skirt, she was wearing pink lace. Reed went stiff as a board. In more places than one. He practically had his head buried between her thighs. “Just get it done.”