Reed: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Hell Squad Book 4) (5 page)

The hybrid’s demonic red eyes leveled on Natalya. He spat something in the guttural raptor language.

Reed shot at the creature.

The hybrid leapt, jumping high and crashing down onto a neighboring desk. A comp screen crashed to the floor. Reed shot again, green laser fire cutting through the lab.

The hybrid ducked this time. Damn, he was fast.

“Stay back,” Reed warned and moved forward.

Where the hell had it gone? The lab was silent now. Reed moved quietly past a row of desks.

The hybrid burst out from beneath a workbench, rocketing into Reed’s legs.

Reed fell, but as he did, he aimed his laser pistol. He caught the hybrid in the shoulder and the raptor-human let out a scream and scrambled under a desk.

Reed rolled, got to his feet, and rounded the desk. The hybrid burst out from cover, running toward Natalya.

Spinning, aiming on the move, Reed fired.

At the hybrid’s head.

Two shots and the fight was over.

“Okay?” Reed asked.

Natalya stood a few feet away, an office chair hefted over her shoulder, her gaze glued to the dead hybrid.

Reed suppressed a smile. “Don’t think you’ll need that.”

With a nod, she set it down.

Reed strode to the hybrid and checked that he was really dead. With his body lying facedown and lifeless, he looked like a simple human. Reed snatched up the two energy cubes from the floor.

Natalya appeared beside him. Her gaze was a mix of horror and sympathy as she stared at the hybrid. “God. Poor guy.”

“Here.” Reed handed the cubes to her.

She took them, holding onto them tight. “He was after these.”

Reed studied the small cubes. “Looks like it.”

She cleared her throat. “I’m glad you were here. I’m grateful for your help. I…I apologize for some of what I said earlier.”

“Some?”

“I know you’re a soldier, fighting and protecting people weaker than you is in your blood.”

“But?”

“But you were holding back earlier.” She brushed a short strand of hair off her forehead. If she had pointed ears, she’d really look like a fairy. “I won’t accept that.” She drew herself up. “Not from you, not even from myself.”

That, he’d have to chew on later. For now… “How’d you know the hybrid was in here?”

Natalya blinked. “I…I don’t know. I guess I must have heard something.”

He frowned at her. He knew he hadn’t heard a sound.

“You need to call Marcus, right?” she said walking backward toward the door. “And I need to work out what’s so important about these cubes that the aliens sent him in here after them.” She eyed the body again. “I think I’ll do it in my quarters.”

Reed watched her go, his gut churning. He didn’t know what the hell he was going to do about Natalya Vasin.

***

Reed lifted the weights and did another punishing set of reps. His biceps were burning, his lungs heaving. Finally he set them down.

He paused to see if he’d purged the chaotic emotions inside him. His brain instantly went to the memories of holding Natalya up to that vent, her body pressed against his. Then that kiss. God, she’d tasted so fucking good. He’d wanted to lift her up, slam her against the wall and shove the last few inches of that damn skirt up so he could get to her.

Nope, he needed to lift a lot more weights. He started another set.

Dammit
, he was trying to do what was best for her. She needed time, to heal, to regain her footing. The last thing she needed was him barreling in and taking her over. Because he would. He had been holding back because if he unleashed everything he had inside for her, she’d run screaming.

He never wanted Natalya to be afraid of him.

He remembered Jo. She’d been his goddamn hero. The best SEAL he’d ever worked with. She’d been a few years older than him and happy to mentor the new recruit. When she’d been taken captive in Central Africa, he’d been the first to volunteer to rescue her. She’d survived, endured terrible things, but they’d brought her home.

And she’d never been the same. Then she’d rushed into a relationship that had ended her.

“MacKinnon?”

He glanced across the gym. Shaw was waving at him.

“Come spar with us,” the sniper said. “Looks like you need it.”

Reed set the weights back in the rack. He eyed Shaw and Claudia, who were squaring off with Gabe. Gabe was a machine in a fight. Reed didn’t know the full story, but apparently he’d been in some secret Army program and was stronger and faster than normal. It was always two or three of them against Gabe when they sparred.

“Sure.” Maybe fighting off this obsession he had with a woman who needed his care but refused it was just what he needed.

He moved out onto the mat. Shaw was ripping off his sweat-soaked T-shirt. The sniper was a little leaner than Reed and a lot leaner than Gabe, but he was all muscle and Reed knew from previous sparring sessions that he was fast.

Claudia was watching Shaw, an unreadable look on her face. Her gaze flicked to Reed and she smiled and clapped her hands together. “Ready? I think the three of us can take the big guy down.” She faced Gabe who stood there, relaxed, arms by his sides. “Besides, his brains are all addled by love.” She said the word like it was a fatal infectious disease. “So he’ll be easier to flatten.”

“You got something against love, Frost?” Shaw asked.

Claudia rolled her head to the side, stretching her neck, and jumped on the spot, her toned muscles flexing. “Don’t need love to have some fun.” She arched a brow. “I thought you already knew this, Mr. King of the Quickies.”

He scowled. “I don’t always have quickies, Frost. Sometimes I like to take my time, and go nice and slow.” Then his scowl deepened. “Who the hell have you been having fun with? I thought you froze most guys out if they got within striking distance.”

She shrugged. “None of your business. Now, can we whip Gabe’s butt?”

The three of them fanned out in front of Gabe. The big man, with his impassive face, seemed supremely unconcerned at facing three of them.

Shaw went in first.

He got some good hits in, moving fast and dodging Gabe’s blows. But it wasn’t long before Shaw faceplanted into the mats.

Claudia rushed in with a powerful front kick. She and Gabe traded blows, and she was surprisingly graceful for such a strong, tough woman.

Shaw bounced back up. “Come on, let’s take him down.”

Reed nodded and together they waded in.

It felt good. The camaraderie of his squadmates, the physicality of the fight, the release of sweating out his frustration. As Gabe’s fist hit his jaw, Reed winced and spun. He saw Shaw and Claudia working together. Shaw gave her a boost and her roundhouse kick hit Gabe squarely in the face.

The man barely reacted. He grabbed Claudia’s leg, yanked, caught her in his arms then tossed her toward Shaw.

The two of them went down in a tangle of arms and legs, their joint curses filling the air.

Reed circled Gabe slowly. Damn, the man was beyond good. Reed struck out with his fists, feinted and ducked. Gabe moved, and as he swung out, Reed gripped the man’s arm and pulled back.

Reed dropped his weight, and as his back hit the mat, Gabe sailed over his head. Now it was a race to see who could get up first.

But before Reed could get his feet under him, Gabe was up, putting one foot in the center of Reed’s chest. He exerted enough pressure to make Reed hiss.

“Got me.” Reed held his hands up.

“Not a bad move,” Gabe conceded.

“Get off me, you oaf.” Claudia’s snarky voice.

“Your ponytail is caught on my belt buckle. Quit twisting and hold on a sec.”

Reed and Gabe glanced over. The other two were still flat on the mat. Claudia’s dark hair was tangled in Shaw’s belt, her face dangerously close to the sniper’s crotch. He was trying to untangle her, but she was jerking around like a wildcat caught on a leash.

Reed grinned. Even Gabe’s lips twitched.

“Want a beer?” Reed asked.

“Yeah,” Gabe said.

They headed to the small mini-fridge in the corner. After popping the tops off a couple of homebrews, they leaned against the wall and continued to watch the show of Claudia and Shaw still snarling at each other.

“Any news? Did Marcus say any more on the hybrid?” Reed asked.

Gabe shrugged. “I spoke with Emerson. Her team checked them all over, but she doesn’t think our scans pick up the hybrid DNA if the transformation to raptor is in the early stages.”

“Damn. That mean we have to start quarantining all new arrivals?”

“Maybe.”

Reed frowned. That was the last thing traumatized people needed. To be locked up like animals. And his thoughts turned to the problem of how Natalya had tracked the hybrid. How had she known the creature was in the comp lab?

“I reckon the raptors will start trying to hit the base more,” Gabe said in a quiet voice.

“What?” Reed looked over at the other man.

“Before we were just a menace, hitting at patrols here and there. Blowing up small facilities. But when we took out the Genesis Facility…”

Yeah. It was a big, important target. Reed thought of that huge amber dome filled with hundreds of special genesis tanks being used to turn humans into aliens. It had taken time for the aliens to set that up, and Reed himself had pressed the detonator to blow it sky-high. “Now we’re on their radar. They’ll start trying to hit us more.”

Plus, there was a large group of humans here they could put in those tanks. It was the reason the aliens had come to Earth. The resources and human tech were just bonuses…it was human bodies the aliens wanted most.

“Cruz said Santha’s team has noted a lot of movement around the aliens’ ship,” Gabe continued.

Santha headed up a team of intel officers who crept into raptor territory and crept out again. The remote-operated drones could feed back a lot of information, but Santha’s team was bringing back on-the-ground info worth its weight in rations.

Reed had seen the aliens’ huge spaceship resting near the remnants of Sydney’s airport. The gigantic thing looked like a beast that should be swimming through some prehistoric ocean. “You think they might be getting ready to leave?”

Gabe’s gray eyes leveled on Reed.

Reed took another swig of beer. “I know. Wishful thinking.”

“Damn it, give me some of that.” Claudia strode up and snatched Reed’s beer. She downed what was left. “What are you guys talking about?”

“Raptors, what else?” Reed answered.

Her face hardened. “I wish there was something more we could do to them. I’m sick of just nipping at their heels.”

Reed agreed. They’d been hoping to slowly wear the aliens down. But deep inside, he knew they needed something bigger. They had to be more than just a pest for the raptors to kick about with their boots.

Or they’d never be free.

“So, Reed,” Shaw said about as casually as an autocannon to the face, “heard you got locked up with the pretty Dr. Vasin.”

Reed tensed a little. “Yeah.”

“All alone in a storage room. By yourselves.”

Claudia rolled her eyes and opened the mini-fridge. She pulled out a beer and tossed it to Reed. Then she tossed another one to Shaw, which almost hit the man’s head.

“Hey.” He snatched it out of the air before it made contact and popped the top. “I was just saying. She’s filled out nicely, and those glasses, and the sexy little skirts she wears…” He made a humming noise.

Reed’s hand tightened on his bottle, his knuckles turning white. “Baird.”

Shaw’s eyes widened theatrically, and he grinned. “Oh, sorry. Nice lady. Smart, nice, very nice.”

Claudia opened her own beer. “Well, any truth to Shaw’s subtle-as-a-sledgehammer questioning?”

Reed shrugged. “She’s been through a lot.”

“She’s a tough woman,” Gabe said. “We all saw what she survived.”

“I know. So she needs more time to recover from that.”

Claudia ran her tongue over her teeth. “You decide that for her? Or is the alpha-male soldier pounding his chest?”

Reed looked at her and stayed silent.

Claudia nodded and sipped her beer. “Men are idiots.”

He bristled. “I only want what’s best for her. I’m putting my needs second to hers.”

“No you’re not. You feel all protective and shit, and those are your needs. You’re taking her choices away, and you know what? The raptors, they already did that.”

God, the bottom dropped out of Reed’s stomach. Was that how Natalya saw it? He raked a hand through his hair.
Dammit all to hell.

Chapter Five

After several hours of tossing and turning in her bed, Natalya decided to just get up and do some work. The energy cubes were calling to her, anyway.

She clicked on a light. Her quarters weren’t big. Just a single room with a narrow bunk, a tiny kitchenette, and living area with an adjoining bathroom. At first, she’d hated the quarters. They were too small, and the lack of windows made her feel like she was in a box. But the huge painting on the wall helped.

It was all bright colors—strokes, splatters and dollops of paint. Orange, yellow, red, blue and green. One of her fellow lab survivors, a young girl named Bryony, had painted it for her.

Looking at it now made Natalya smile. Bryony was still healing, but the resilient young thing had shaken off the horrors of what had been done to her. In the painting, Natalya saw simple joy, happiness and hope.

Bryony had been adopted by Cruz Ramos and his partner, Santha. The ten-year-old was excited and busy getting ready to be a big sister to the baby Santha was expecting. The fact that it wouldn’t be born for another eight months didn’t bother Bryony.

The girl was Natalya’s secret hero. She really, really wished she could shake off what had happened to them as easily as the little girl had. But it just wasn’t that easy. Regardless, Natalya would keep trying to follow Bryony’s example. Latch onto life and find happiness where she could.

Which, of course, made her think of Reed.

She wanted him. She took a deep breath. She wanted sex, and laughter, and someone to hold her tight. Someone to help make her forget, and make her hope for more. She rubbed her hand against her forehead. But she couldn’t be with him if she knew he wasn’t giving her his entire self.