Chapter Eight
After an hour of hiking through the Snowy Mountains, they were back in drone range.
Cam leaned against a tree, watching as Claudia touched her earpiece, talking to her comms officer, Elle. Behind Claudia, Shaw and Hemi were keeping an eye on the sedated creeper. The men still didn’t trust that the thing was knocked out.
She glanced west, at the burn of orange lining the sky. Night was falling.
Finally, Claudia lowered her arm and turned to look at them. “The Enclave confirmed that it’s too late for them to come and pick us up. We’ll need to hole up for the night.”
Cam glanced at the creeper. “Do we have enough sedatives to keep that thing asleep all night?”
“Let’s hope so,” Claudia answered. “Emerson said we should be fine, and to give the creeper a top-up every few hours.”
“So, what now?” Hemi asked.
“Elle says there is a camping area with a lodge in the National Park, not too far from here.”
“Well, it is a lovely day for a stroll,” Shaw said cheerily.
Hemi and Shaw pushed the iono-stretcher, maneuvering the creeper around the trees. They trekked deeper into the forest, the shadows deepening as the day gave way to night.
Cam glanced at Hemi. The alien fluid had long ago dried, and formed an orange crust on his armor. There was still some streaking his dark hair, but other than that, he looked recovered from nearly being an alien meal.
She worked up a light sweat as they hiked through the hills, but Cam couldn’t complain about the extended exercise, since it was nice to be outside in the fresh air. Even if they had to drag a freaky alien along with them.
“We should almost be there,” Claudia said.
Moments later, the trees cleared, and they stood at the start of a narrow valley.
“Nice,” Shaw drawled.
“Welcome to the Yarrangobilly Caves House,” Claudia said.
A low building sat up on the side of the hill. It was an old, heritage-style house, made of cream wood, with a burgundy roof. A set of steps had been carved into the hill, leading up to it.
Down in the bottom of the valley was…a swimming pool?
“Elle says there are some amazing caves near here,” Claudia said. “They used to be a big tourist attraction. And the pool is a thermal pool, fed by a natural spring.”
“Looks like it has one of those fancy, high-tech, self-cleaning systems, too,” Shaw said gleefully. “Not a leaf in sight.”
Cam squinted, and then she noticed steam rising off the water. “Damn, I forgot my bikini.”
Hemi turned, spearing her with a hot look. Shaw winked.
The four of them trekked up the steps to the house. It had a wide verandah covered in dust and leaves.
“What will we do with the creeper?” Hemi asked.
Claudia’s brow creased. “Keep it out here on the verandah. Whoever is on watch can keep an eye on it, and give it the required shots of sedative.”
The men secured the alien on the verandah. The door wasn’t locked, and inside was almost as dusty as outside. The simple, old-world furniture was in keeping with the style of the house.
After striding through the house, and examining all the guestrooms, Cam claimed one, setting her carbine on the bed. Hemi took the room next to hers, and Claudia and Shaw took the room at the end of the hall.
Cam left her lower armor on, just in case, but stripped off her upper armor. When she met the others in the hall, she saw they’d done the same thing.
Darkness had now fallen, and Shaw clicked on a flashlight. “Let’s eat. We’ll have ourselves a nice little dinner party of rations.”
Outside, they found a paved patio area, with overturned wooden furniture. They righted some of the chairs, and Shaw left the light on the table. Soon, they had all settled in, munching on their makeshift meals.
Cam tipped her head back, staring up at the stars peppering the night sky.
“My mum took me camping once,” Claudia murmured. “It was terrible. Two city girls out in the bush. I didn’t sleep a wink, I got attacked by mosquitoes, and it was hot as hell.”
Shaw stared out into the darkness. “No camping in our house.” His tone was dark. “My father was never sober enough.”
Cam sensed a story there, but her thoughts turned to her own family. They’d camped in the Scottish Highlands a few times in the summer. She remembered that her parents had fought the entire time, and she’d been miserable. “We did a bit of camping.” She left it at that.
Hemi stretched back on a lounger, lying with one arm tucked under his head. “We camped all the time.” He smiled. “My parents owned land out of town, and with my brothers and my cousins always at our place, we were always setting up tents or camping under the stars. Mostly, we just wanted to start fires. My Ma would make us way too much food and we’d all stay up way too late. Pretty sure my stepdad snuck up to check on us in the night.”
There was so much affection in his voice. Cam hunched forward, her emotions a tight ball in her belly. His life was nothing like her family experience, at all.
The conversation shifted, and she listened to Hemi’s deep voice as he talked with Shaw and Claudia. But in her head, images were flicking through like they were on fast-forward.
Of Hemi getting sucked inside that damn creeper. Of how she’d felt, realizing he was inside the alien and could die.
She needed some breathing room. “Who’s got first watch?” she asked.
“Me,” Shaw answered. “Then Claudia, Hemi, and then you.”
“Good.” Cam shot to her feet. Her emotions were boiling, and she needed to get them under control. “I’m going for a swim.”
***
Hemi held a flashlight, and followed the steps down to the pool.
He heard the sound of a body moving through the water. He wasn’t sure what had upset Cam, but he’d watched her enough to know all her moods, and she’d been sad when she’d left.
He approached the pool, and saw Cam’s armor stacked by the pool edge. She was moving with long, even strokes. He knew she loved to swim. Whenever she got the chance, she was in the indoor pool at the Enclave. And he loved to watch her, and not only because of the way she rocked a bikini.
Standing at the edge, he watched her tumble, push off, and head back the length of the large thermal pool. He realized there was something soothing about watching her.
Finally, she noticed him and stopped, treading water in the center of the pool. They stared at each other.
“Don’t you have an alien to wrestle?” she said. “A risk to take?”
So, whatever was bothering her was now aimed his way. He felt a flicker of heat and started pulling off his armor. “I’m sorry I scared you.”
“I wasn’t scared,” she said quickly. “I always thought you wild berserkers were courageous and fearless, but I think you’re just reckless.”
She kicked over to the side and pushed out of the water. He’d wondered if she was naked, but she was wearing her underwear—a black sports bra and boy-style panties. Water streamed off her.
“You were scared,” he repeated. “But I’m okay.” He held his arms out.
She made a scoffing sound. “Don’t flatter yourself, Rahia—”
He grabbed her shoulders, pulling her close.
She tried to pull away from him. “The pool’s all yours.”
He reeled her in closer. “Cam.”
She made a short sound and then went up on her toes. Before he knew it, her mouth was on his—hard and angry.
He groaned, yanking her up, and letting his tongue plunder her mouth.
The kiss deepened, and Hemi shuddered. He fisted a hand in her hair, tilting her head back to give him better access to that mouth of hers.
She moaned. “Do not get eaten again.”
He heard the emotion in her voice and it made his gut tight. “I won’t.” He boosted her up, lifting her so she wrapped her legs around his waist.
She ground against him. “I hurt,” she murmured. “I hurt all over for you, Hemi.”
Fuck. The raw honesty in her voice slammed into him. “I need to be inside you, Cam. I need it hard. Brutal.”
She reached up, biting the side of his neck. “Yes.”
Hemi stepped off the edge and dropped into the water. The warmth surrounded them, and he kissed her beneath the water. It was like a private cocoon that enveloped them.
Then they popped up above the surface, the cooler night air a contrast to the warm water. Not to mention the heat of the woman in his arms. He nipped her lips, skating his tongue over them, before he pushed her lips apart. He worked his tongue inside her mouth, loving her needy moans. He wanted to claim her, make sure she knew exactly who she belonged to.
She rubbed against him, a lithe move of her hips. She knew she was rubbing that sexy warmth of hers against his hard cock. His palms flexed on her ass.
“Damn.” He nipped her bottom lip. “You’re begging to be fucked, aren’t you, baby?”
She undulated against him again. “Hemi, less talk, more action.”
He slid a hand down her toned belly and inside her panties. “I’ll make it stop hurting.”
He was about to caress her, when he heard a splash in the water behind her.
Hemi felt her stiffen in his arms. He looked over her shoulder and she swiveled her head to do the same. From the faint glow of his flashlight on the edge, he saw a ripple across the otherwise smooth surface.
“What the hell was that?” Cam unwrapped her legs from around him.
He set her down and they moved apart, both of them searching the water. Hemi reached out on the edge and grabbed his knife from his gear.
“Get out,” he ordered.
She ignored him. “Maybe it was some native animal.”
“Maybe.”
A shadow moved at the end of the pool.
Cam relaxed. “Look.”
He saw the lizard climb out of the pool and dart away. Damn thing could have been Gizzida, if it was bigger. The good-size lizard had a ridge of spikes on its back. “A water dragon.”
But before he could say anything else, they heard another splash. Closer this time.
He and Cam traded a glance. Hemi’s nerves pulled tight. Something else was in the water with them, and it wasn’t a friendly lizard. Hell, the water dragon had probably been fleeing.
Suddenly, Cam cursed.
“Cam?”
She kicked her leg, splashing the water. Her gaze met his, her eyes wide. His gut went hard as a rock and he took one step toward her.
Then she was yanked under the water.
No!