Gabe: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Hell Squad Book 3) (6 page)

Then he pulled back and thrust back into her with one smooth stroke. She cried out, her hands gripping his shoulders.

He pumped into her, hard, fast and forceful. A rhythm he knew would get them there quickly. He gripped her hips to hold her in place. Flesh slapping against flesh. Jesus, he felt his own release growing, coiling inside him. He let one hand slide down to find her clit, rubbing the tight nub as he thrust inside her.

With a hard arch of her back, she came, crying out his name.

It startled him. It was the first time she’d ever said his name as she came. And it drove him over the edge.

With a loud groan, he emptied himself inside her.

He stayed there, leaning against her, his face pressed to her neck. He felt so good. Damn, his legs felt like glue. He pulled in some deep breaths.

As always, the perfect peace he found in her arms started to dissipate. He looked over her shoulder, and spotted some medical files on her comp screen. Pictures of what the raptors had done to their prisoners.

Shit
. He’d come to her, covered in raptor blood, death on his hands. The darkness in him writhed. He needed to leave her the hell alone, before the ugliness in him spilled over onto her. Before she saw just how dangerous he was. He didn’t ever want to hurt her.

He needed to stay focused on what he did best.

He pulled out of her and tucked himself back inside his trousers.

When he looked back, she was watching him silently. It was then he noticed the bruises. On her breasts. Her thighs. All in the shape of his fingertips. Fuck, he lost himself in her and forgotten his own damn strength. He knew better.

He had to find the will to stay away from her. He was out there, fighting the raptors, for Zeke, but also for Emerson. Even more so since she’d been hurt by them.

And he’d kill himself before he saw her hurt by his hands.

He pulled his zipper up and stepped backwards.

She held out a slim hand. “Stay.”

Something inside him weakened. Resolutely, he took another step back.

“I need more, Gabe. Talk to me. I know you’re hurting. Give me something, anything.”

He felt a muscle tick in his jaw. For her sake, he had to find that strength.

But turning and walking away from her was the hardest thing he’d ever done.

***

Emerson lifted the m-scanner off the middle-aged woman. “Everything looks great, Priya.”

The woman nodded. “I’m feeling good, too.” She glanced around the infirmary. “And I’m so grateful to be here at the base and not…” Her voice drifted off.

Emerson patted the woman’s shoulder. After the horror of the raptor lab, she figured Blue Mountain Base was like a paradise.

She eyed the slowly-fading scars scoring Priya’s arms. “You keep putting the med gel on those scars and they’ll be gone in a few weeks.”

“You got it, Doc Emerson.” Priya stood. “Thanks.” She nodded her head at the open lab door. “How are all those fancy tests going?”

“Slowly.” But Emerson’s throat felt dry as dust. She stared into the lab, her gaze falling on the empty workbench. She swallowed. In that instant, all she could think about was Gabe’s big body moving thickly inside hers. The all-consuming way he made love to her.

Made love? She scoffed at herself. Gabe Jackson fucked her. For relief, to pound out his pain and frustration. Actually, she had no idea why he came to her. It wasn’t like he took the time to talk to her, tell her how he was feeling.

“Nothing much to report, yet.”

With a nod, Priya left. Emerson turned and eyed the last few patients sitting on the chairs in her makeshift waiting area near the door. One was standing, pacing a little as she waited.

Dr. Natalya Vasin had been painfully thin when Hell Squad had pulled her out of the raptor lab. But Emerson had been pumping her with high-calorie supplements, and the woman’s face and figure were starting to fill out. Her dark hair had been shorn off, but she’d had it cut and shaped by someone in the base and now her hair accented her long, slim neck and made her look like a pixie. But what Emerson guessed was slowly leaching the anxious, worried look from Natalya’s face was working with Noah and the tech team. She clearly loved her work as an energy scientist and was helping boost the base’s current power systems.

“Natalya.” Emerson waved her into the exam room.

The woman shook her head. “No. Someone else can go.” Her voice held the faintest Russian accent. “Look, Doc, I really am fine. I don’t need a checkup.”

Natalya’s anxiety poured off her in waves. Emerson knew the woman still had violent nightmares of the lab. Her scar was still visible, peeking out of her neckline, ugly and red. She’d refused treatment on it. Refused to let Emerson help much at all. Emerson had scanned her when she’d first arrived to check for anything dangerous, but apart from that, the scientist refused any further examinations.

“Natalya—”

A violent shake of her head. “I’ve been poked and prodded enough.” Her voice hitched. “They cut me open, scanned me, all against my will. This is my choice. No more tests, or scans or procedures.”

Emerson’s shoulders sagged. “Okay,” she said quietly.

With a nod, Natalya turned and ran out of the infirmary.

Emerson sighed. Natalya had also refused to talk with the base therapist, but Emerson might just have to force the matter. She turned to the remaining patients. “Okay, Helen, you’re up.”

The distant peal of alarms rang. She dragged in a breath and wondered if Hell Squad were headed out.

Norah popped her head out of the office. “Doc? Call for you. I routed it to your comp.”

“Thanks. Excuse me, Helen. I’ll just be a minute.” Emerson entered her office and tapped her comp screen. Marcus Steele’s tough, scarred face filled the screen.

“Doc. One of Santha’s team found the Genesis Facility.”

Emerson gripped the comp screen. “You’re sure?”

“Saw tanks with human bodies floating in them. Sounds like the right place.”

“You’re heading out?”

“Yeah. And I need you to suit up. We might have survivors who need medical attention, and you wanted to see the tanks.”

Her chest tightened. “I’m on my way.”

Chapter Six

Emerson strode toward the Hawk landing pads. She was in her black body armor, with her small black backpack full of medical supplies slung over her shoulder.

The landing pads were always busy. Mechanics bustled around the Hawk quadcopters, while other Hawks were landing or taking off. They’d lost one on the mission to rescue the final lab survivors and that had been a serious blow. They were obviously impossible to replace.

She saw Hell Squad milling near a Hawk, checking their weapons.

As she walked over, her gaze went to Gabe. His head lifted, his face impassive. She looked away. God, it hurt to look at him.

“Doc.” Marcus stepped forward.

“I’m ready.”

“Good. Hell Squad, let’s move.”

Marcus helped her into the Hawk. She settled into a seat and strapped in. Cruz sat nearby, looking alert and ready.

“You are such a moron.” Claudia Frost swung her carbine over her shoulder, her hot gaze on the team’s sniper.

Shaw rolled his eyes. “Will you get off my case, Frost? I don’t need your bitching today.”

“Bitching?” Claudia’s tone turned Arctic.

Reed was watching them, grinning. He looked ready to grab a tub of popcorn.

Marcus took a menacing step forward. “Not now. You can both bitch at each other when we get back. Right now, I need you focused.”

Gabe was standing near the back. He finished checking his carbine, then grabbed a handhold dangling from the ceiling.

“Hold on, Hell Squad.” The pilot looked back from the cockpit. From what she’d heard, Finn Eriksson was the best Hawk pilot they had. He’d broken his arm in the Hawk crash and he hadn’t been happy that she’d had him on restricted duties while he healed. But he was back in fighting—or rather flying—form, now.

The quadcopter lifted off. They ascended through a vertical tunnel of rock. Out the window, she just caught a glimpse of the overhead doors retracting. Once they were airborne and clear of the tunnel, the Hawk spun, the four rotors tilting, and they flew east toward the city.

The sun was shining and it was such a beautiful day. Emerson really needed to try and get outside a little more. They had set times people could head topside, with an armed patrol. But she did have a few who were too afraid to leave the safety of the base and needed vitamin D boosters.

Marcus had left the Hawk’s side door open and air rushed past. As they reached the outer limits of the city, her chest tightened, like it always did when she saw what had been done to her home.

Rubble and ruin.

That was pretty much all that was left of the once-bustling capital of the United Coalition—the union of several countries including Australia, the United States of America, India, Canada and several European nations. Sydney had thrived, been a place to share knowledge, do business, holiday and see amazing culture. She’d always loved that it was such a melting pot of people of different backgrounds and histories.

She sighed.
Gone
. And it wouldn’t be coming back. Just like the shining career she’d had before the aliens came. She’d had such grand plans, had wanted to help so many people.

She set her shoulders back. She was still helping people. The world was changed, different, but the core values were still there. Every day, she saw courage, tenacity, hope and love.

Her gaze strayed to Gabe. A lot of things weren’t what she’d planned or thought she’d want, but it didn’t make them any less real.

“Okay.” Marcus stood, his tough, muscular body silhouetted by the sun streaming in the door. “The facility is located in a still-intact skyscraper in North Sydney.”

“Not far from the Luna Park lab,” Cruz said.

“Yeah. We’ll land one klick away, move in and take down any raptors we encounter. So far, Elle says the drones have only picked up one small patrol.”

Emerson touched the tiny earpiece in her ear. Elle would feed them whatever intel they needed.

“Okay, we’re landing in three minutes. Hell Squad, ready to go to hell?”

“Hell, yeah,” the team yelled. “The devil needs an ass-kicking!”

Soon, Emerson felt the Hawk start its descent to an overgrown patch of green lawn below. She watched the team press the buttons on the neck of their armor and retractable helmets slide into place. She did the same. Her stomach flip-flopped and she breathed deeply. She always felt nervous, no matter how many missions she came on or how many badass soldiers surrounded her.

“You got a weapon?”

Gabe’s deep voice rumbled in her ear. She looked up.

Damn, this close, his gray eyes were mesmerizing.

“I have a small laser pistol. But I shouldn’t need it with Hell Squad around me.”

“Out there, anything can happen. Keep the pistol close.” He went silent, staring at her. Then he lifted a hand, it hung there between them for a second, then he touched a finger to her cheekbone.

She sucked in a breath. He’d never touched her in public before.

“Stay safe out there, Doc.”

When he pulled back to stand with Cruz and Reed, Emerson noticed Claudia watching her with a keen gaze. The dark-haired woman shot her a sharp smile.

Emerson swallowed and gripped her backpack. The Hawk touched down.

“Go, go!” Marcus waved them out.

Soon Emerson was jogging toward a tall building ahead, surrounded by Hell Squad. They always kept her in the middle when she was in the field. She didn’t like the idea of them being human shields for her, but she’d seen them fight. They’d take down anything trying to get to her long before it reached them.

“You should be in visual range now of the building’s main entrance.” Elle’s voice was calm and steady. “Directly ahead, five hundred meters.”

Emerson saw it. Large glass doors into a lobby. She glanced around. As far as she could see, everything was still and silent, and there were no signs of raptors. Wrecked cars lined the street, and rubble lay strewn in all directions.

Marcus reached the doors first. He unclipped something off his belt and pressed it to the glass. A light blinked on the small metal circle. A second later, she saw it glow red-hot.

The glass started melting.

Soon, the doorway was just a gaping hole, the glass a melted puddle on the ground. Hell Squad waited.

“Elle, anything?” Marcus murmured.

“Nothing on screen. You’re clear to enter.”

Inside, the lobby looked normal, seeming to be untouched by the invasion. Marcus waved them toward the stairs.

“You need to get to the third floor,” Elle said. “It used to be a gym for the building, and Santha’s people said that’s where the tanks were spotted.”

They moved up through the dark stairwell, clicking on the tactical flashlights attached to their carbines. Six beams of bright-white light cut through the darkness.

“Here we are.” Marcus pushed open the door.

Inside the room was dark as well. It appeared most of the windows had been blacked out. Emerson got the sense of a cavernous space.

The flashlights fanned through the darkness. Illuminating a cavernous
empty
space.

“Fuck,” Marcus cursed.

Emerson stepped around him, her heart beating hard. She saw round marks on the ground, pressed into a rubber floor that had obviously been part of the gym. Objects with circular bases had sat here very recently. The rows of marks stretched off into the darkness.

The tanks were gone.

***

Gabe stared at the empty room. Everything was gone.

He saw something glittering on the floor and stepped forward. Glass. He crouched and touched a finger to it. It wasn’t like any glass he’d seen before, it was a pale amber with faint vein-like striations running through it. Raptor tech had organic components integrated with it. He guessed a tank had broken on the way out.

Then Elle’s voice cut across the comms. “Raptors! Hell Squad you have raptors incoming.”

Marcus cursed. “Hell Squad, ready for—”