Chapter Nine
Sharp claws dug into her leg.
Cam kicked hard against her attacker. Bubbles churned the water, and her lungs were starting to burn.
Air. She needed air.
With another savage kick, she managed to dislodge her attacker. She shot to the surface and the cooler night air hit her face. She dragged in a quick breath, but a second later, she felt those sharp claws again, and she was pulled back under.
She struggled, bubbles rushing past her face. She kicked and punched at the creature.
Suddenly, she felt a hand at the back of her neck. She was yanked up, and came face-to-face with an enraged Hemi.
He gave a vicious stab of his combat knife and she heard an animal hiss. Those razor-sharp claws released. Hemi pushed her aside and dived into the water.
Cam blinked, her chest heaving, trying to get her brain to start firing.
Hemi rose out of the water, yanking something out with him.
He wrestled with the creature, splashing in the water. It wasn’t large—about the size of a big house cat—but it was mad. She had no idea what it had originally been—dog, cat, possum, who the hell knew? But now the damn thing was scaly, and had sharp, slashing claws.
Cam dragged in more air, and waded closer to the fight. The demonic creature was making hissing noises, and Hemi was trying to hold it still enough to attack it with his knife.
She grabbed the hilt of the knife. “You hold the damn thing.”
He released the knife with a nod. He clamped both hands on the creature and in the light from the flashlight, she saw his muscles bulging.
Cam lifted the blade, waiting. As the man and animal struggled, she caught a good look at the creature.
It had once been a water dragon. A beautiful, graceful lizard turned into an abomination.
She stabbed at it, again and again. It slashed out, opening deep scratches in Hemi’s forearm. She stabbed it again, single-mindedly. Blood splattered into the water around them. With a harsh noise, the mutated animal curled in on itself and flopped in Hemi’s hands.
With a curse, he spun and tossed it out of the pool.
Jesus. Cam collapsed against the side of the pool.
“You hurt?” Hemi’s deep voice shattered the quiet.
She bit her lip. Her calf was burning. “My leg—”
With three large steps, he charged through the water and scooped her into his arms. Cam thought about complaining about him carting her around like some damsel, but the truth was, she liked it when Hemi carried her. She was a tall, muscular woman, and there’d never been too many men who could do that.
He climbed the steps out of the pool, and then set her down carefully on the grass by the flashlight. For a big, tough guy, he could be gentle when he chose to be.
As he crouched, he probed her leg, his eyebrows drawn together in a frown. She just stared at him. He was wet, his hair slicked back, and his dark beard glistened, too. He hadn’t hesitated to jump in to help her.
So Hemi. She’d accused him of being reckless, but maybe he just couldn’t help himself. If someone needed help, he was going to help. He was a hero—with tattoos and rough edges.
“Scratched you up pretty bad,” he rumbled.
Running footsteps came up behind them.
“You guys okay?”
Cam looked over her shoulder, and saw Claudia and Shaw coming toward them. Shaw was carrying a first aid kit.
“We’re fine. Some mutated alien creature decided to take a swim and a bite out of Cam,” Hemi told them.
Shaw set the kit down. “Ouch.”
Hemi opened the pack, and set to work cleaning her scratches.
“You two think you can avoid trouble for the rest of the night?” Claudia asked dryly.
“I’ll try.” Hemi winked. “But no promises.”
“Berserkers,” Claudia muttered. The Hell Squad soldiers headed back up to the house.
As Hemi tended her wound, Cam’s pulse jumped erratically. She watched his expression—all careful concentration—and the gentle way he touched her skin. Dammit, it was hard to resist him when he was sweet.
So many emotions were churning up together inside her. But it was fear that was making her mouth go dry.
“You going to tell me why you got uncomfortable talking about camping and family back at dinner?”
She blinked, trying to follow the sudden turn in the conversation. He wanted to talk about this now? “No.”
“Cam.” A firm tone.
She huffed out a breath. “I didn’t have brothers, sisters, and a gaggle of cousins.” She winced. Even she heard the defensive tone of her voice. “My camping trips were stiff and soulless, except for when my parents fought.”
“Your parents didn’t get along?”
“That’s an understatement. They’d loved each other once. Passionately, by all accounts.” It was why she didn’t trust intense, out-of-control emotions. “My mother told me all about the handsome doctor working in Kenya who’d swept the beautiful aid worker off her feet. They had a whirlwind, passionate romance, and were married a few months later.”
“Your mother left Kenya.”
Cam nodded. “Yes, she moved to Scotland with her handsome doctor.” She’d left her friends, her family, her work, everything she’d known…
“And?”
“I’m sure you can guess the rest.” The romance had turned sour. Passion had turned to poison. Love had turned to something ugly. “Love is a double-edged sword.”
Hemi pressed a bandage over the wounds. “There. You get the doc to check it out properly when we get back to base.”
Their eyes met, and she nodded.
Suddenly, he leaned forward. His lips met hers, and this time the kiss was slow and deep.
His fingers feathered through her hair. For once, desire wasn’t a wild explosion, but a slower, inexorable build up.
His lips moved to her jaw, his beard scraping her skin.
When he pulled back, the flashlight cast shadows over part of his face. “I don’t know what went wrong for your parents, Cam, but family isn’t like that for everyone.”
Cam fought the urge to hunch her shoulders. He saw too much. He made her want too much. Dangerous things that she knew better than to want.
“Look Hemi, you want to fuck, we’ll fuck. That’s it. No talking about family or what’s upsetting us.”
His hand moved, stroking along her jaw. “We’re more than that, and you know it.”
His hand slid down, along her neck, and cupped her breast. He flicked a thumb across her nipple. Goose bumps broke out on her skin, and she swallowed a moan.
This. This she could deal with. As desire flared, warming her up, she focused solely on that. “I’m burning up.”
“When you admit that this is more, I’ll make the burning stop.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re giving me an ultimatum?”
“I’m trying to get through those damn barriers you build,” he muttered.
“You’re using sex as part of your ultimatum?”
He muttered a curse and she saw the frustrated edge of anger in his eyes. Then he pressed his mouth down on hers. Just as the kiss deepened, he pulled back.
“I want more than a fuck, Cam.” He pushed to his feet. “I want all of you. So when you aren’t too afraid to accept that, I’ll be waiting.”
***
He was an idiot.
Hemi stood in the early-morning light, watching as Hell Squad hooked up the creeper to the hovering Hawk, with heavy-duty cargo chains.
It had been a restless, but uneventful night. There’d been no more alien attacks, and the creeper had thankfully stayed sedated.
And Cam had ignored him.
Hemi had stayed semi-hard all night just thinking about those long legs of hers wrapped around his hips. He wanted her more than he damn well wanted to breathe, but he knew if he gave her what she thought she wanted, they’d stay locked in this damn loop of never getting closer. God, she was a pain in the ass.
She’d come around. He could wait her out.
His gaze found her, back in her armor, talking with Reed MacKinnon as they connected the line to the harness they’d wrapped around the creeper.
Hemi knew he just needed to stay strong. He wanted more than Cam’s body. He wanted her to open up to him, so he could see more of both the passionate, laughing woman inside, and the hurt, jaded woman who was protecting herself.
“Okay, let’s get out of here,” Marcus called out in his gravelly voice.
They climbed aboard the quadcopter, and Hemi watched as Cam moved as far away from him as she could. He sank down beside Shaw and gripped his carbine.
As the Hawk took off, everyone was tense. They’d be flying with a creeper suspended below the quadcopter. They may as well hang a glowing, neon sign from the craft for every Gizzida to see.
Soon, they were airborne and heading north. Hemi scanned the soldiers around him. Every one of them was excruciatingly aware that the alien encampment was only kilometers away, and they were heading toward the ruins of Sydney—a major hub for the aliens.
A shimmer outside the side window caught his attention. He leaned forward, and spotted another one whiz past.
Cam’s squad was escorting them in the Darkswifts.
Stony-faced Marcus and Cruz were seated closest to the cockpit. Gabe, with his usual silent “don’t fuck with me” face stood with Reed by the side door. The big man was stroking his carbine.
Hemi leaned back, closed his eyes, and crossed his palms over his stomach.
“Are you really relaxed, or are you just faking it?”
He opened one eye and saw Claudia watching him. “You guys are on edge enough for all of us put together. No point in me adding to it.” He lifted a shoulder. “Doesn’t help anyone.”
“That’s pretty Zen, Rahia.”
He closed his eyes again. “My ma taught us boys how to chill out. She had three big, wild testosterone-filled sons. She figured if she didn’t teach us to control ourselves, we’d end up in jail, or dead.”
“Sounds like a woman I would like.”
Cam’s quiet comment made him open his eyes again. She was watching him, an unreadable expression on her face. “You would.” And she’d be in fits of delight at the woman Hemi wanted to claim as his own.
Marcus pressed a finger to his earpiece. “Elle, any aliens in range?” He tilted his head as he listened to his wife’s answer. “Good. Let’s hope it stays that way.”
It wasn’t until the Hawk began to descend into the hangar at the Enclave that he felt the men and women around him start to relax.
Finn kept the Hawk hovering just above the ground, as the crew below disconnected the creeper. When the skids of the Hawk finally touched down, Marcus pulled the side door open.
As he climbed out, Hemi spotted Laura’s red hair. She was shouting orders at her team as they shifted the creeper onto a larger, modified, iono-stretcher. He hoped to hell the cell they’d been preparing was strong enough. He suspected that once the creeper woke up, it was going to be royally pissed.
General Holmes stepped forward. “Well done.”
“Thanks.” Claudia tossed her ponytail over her shoulder. “We had a good team. And we had a lovely little retreat in the mountains.”
Shaw groaned. “I need a shower and my own bed.” Then he slapped Hemi on the back. “Not quite as much as this man, though. Apparently, creepers don’t think berserkers taste bad.”
“Screw you, Shaw,” Hemi said good-naturedly.
“No accounting for taste,” Cam added.
Tane approached. “You okay?”
“Fine.”
“Heard you got swallowed by an alien.”
Hemi grimaced. “I don’t recommend it.”
Tane peered at Hemi with that eerie stare of his. “You’re sure you’re okay?”
He wasn’t ready to talk about Cam, even with his brother. He nodded. When he turned his head, he saw Cam stalk away, heading for the exit. Disappointment skewered him.
Suddenly, a wild, enraged screech filled the hangar. Hemi tensed and spun…in time to see one of Laura’s team members go flying, his stun prod skidding across the concrete.
Laura was shouting, and the creeper was beginning to tear free of its restraints. One of its legs was slicing dangerously through the air.
Shit. Hemi charged forward. Around him, Hell Squad leaped forward, swinging carbines off their shoulders.
“Try not to kill it!” Hemi called out. He didn’t fancy another hunting trip.
“We need it alive,” the general added.
Another strap broke, and the creeper was now half on, half off the stretcher. Its hot, red gaze on the fallen guard.
“Sedatives are losing their effect,” Laura yelled. She was wielding a stun prod, and looked like she knew how to use it.
“Find some chains, or something strong enough to contain it,” Hemi told her. “I’ll bring it down.”
A man screamed.
Hemi saw the young guard scooting backward on his butt. The creeper was moving toward him, dragging the stretcher with it.
Hemi broke into a run. He needed a prod. He opened his mouth to yell, when he saw Cam running in closer from the other side. She was holding the downed guard’s prod. She tossed it, and it spun through the air.
He snatched it, swung it around, and then threw himself into the air. He raised the prod above his head.
The creeper spun to face him, and let out a screech. Its ugly mouth was open and pulsing.
Hemi jammed the prod down into it.
The creeper dropped, its body doing a jerky dance as the stun hit it. Hemi sailed over the alien and hit the ground with a roll.
He came to his feet to the sound of applause.
Laura’s team all looked shocked but relieved. Shaw was applauding and gave a whistle. “That was a nine-point-five, Rahia. If you could have added a mid-air flip, it would have been a perfect ten.”
“I’ll give you a flip.” He gave the sniper the finger.
Their banter broke the edgy tension in the room. There was a clank of chains.
“Get that damn thing chained up and in its cell,” Laura ordered. “Thanks, Hemi. Cam.”
He glanced at Cam and nodded. Without her help, they would have been cutting that poor guard out of the creeper. Come on, Cam. Just reach out.
She stared at him for a second, then walked out.
A muscle ticked in his jaw. He could wait her out, dammit. But his hands ached to touch her, grab her, and damn well shake some sense into her.
“Go, Hemi,” the general said. “Clean up and get some rest.”
Back in his room, Hemi had a quick shower, and pulled on some jeans. In his small kitchen, he cracked open a beer, and leaned against the cupboards. He knew it wasn’t even lunchtime yet, but he needed a drink.
After a mission he was always keyed up, energized. In the past, he’d sweet-talk a woman into his bed to work it off, or he’d hang with his squad.
All he wanted today, though, was Cam. Wrapped around him, him lodged inside her, her laugh ringing in his ears.
He took a long sip of beer. He was a man used to taking what he wanted, but with Cam, he knew he couldn’t take her. Not when she’d chalk it up to desire, fucking, or a one-night stand. God, he felt like he was a crazy teenager again playing chicken in his car with his mates. Waiting to see which one would swerve first.
Screw this. He slammed his beer down. She didn’t want to talk about her past or her family, fine. They’d get to that later. He’d fuck her hard and good, get her all soft and flushed, and then get his answers. He’d do whatever he had to do in order to get the rest of her.
He grabbed a shirt off the back of a chair and slipped it on, marching toward the door. She’d probably be in her room. Wherever she was, he’d find her. He yanked his door open.
Then he jerked to a stop. Cam was standing in his doorway, her fist raised to knock on his door.
“Oh, you’re going out. Right.” Her face fell and she started to turn away. “Whatever. I’ll see you around—”
Hemi grabbed her arm to stop her. She’d come to him.
His gaze drifted over her. She’d showered as well, her hair still wet, and she was wearing teeny tiny denim shorts that showed every inch of those long, glossy legs of hers.
Lust hit him like a battering ram. He yanked her to him, and her hands went to his shoulders, digging in.
He wasn’t sure if he kissed her or she kissed him, but their tongues tangled. He lifted her up, his palms digging into the globes of her ass, as she wrapped her legs around his waist.
He staggered inside, managing to close the door with a kick of his foot. He stumbled through his quarters, desperate for her. He hit something and heard a crash.
Flat surface. He needed the nearest hard, flat surface. He set her down, dimly realizing it was on his kitchen counter.
“Now. Now.” She was chanting the words, her hands diving lower to drag down the zipper of his jeans. His cock sprang free and she circled it, stroked once.
A shudder wracked him. Damn. He reached up, gripping her short hair, and tipped her head back. Their mouths fused together.
The next thing he realized, her hands were tangled in his T-shirt, yanking it up. He pulled it off with one tug, and then yanked hers over her head.
“Mine,” he growled. He pulled her up, sucking her nipple into his mouth.
“Hot. I’m so hot.” She pressed her hands back onto the smooth counter and thrust her chest up. He’d never seen anything sexier.
He slid his other hand down, following the dip of her waist and the curve of her hips, until he reached her shorts. It took him seconds to strip them off her and get his hands between her legs.
“So wet. No wonder you’re hurting, baby.” He stroked her, feeling her hips move. “This is where I want to be. I belong here.”
He pulled back, clamping his hands on her hips and dragging her to the edge of the counter.
“Hurry.” She let her legs fall apart.
Hemi was moving on animal instinct now. Need was like the pound of his heartbeat in his head. He pulled her closer and thrust inside her. She cried out, her back arching.
God. He pressed his mouth to her neck, grazing her skin with his teeth.
Then he pulled back. “Watch. Look where we’re joined.” His voice was guttural.
He shifted so she could see where their bodies were connected. Where the thick part of him was splitting her wide.
She looked, her face flushed. She reached down, her hand stroking where she was strained around his cock. Then her long fingers moved up to brush her clit. She bucked.
“That’s it, baby. Touch yourself.” He started to pump into her.
As she caressed her clit and he moved inside her, his control eroded away. He was hammering into her now and he heard something fall off the counter and smash.
Her legs wrapped tight around him, her heels digging into his back. Guttural animal sounds emanated from both of them.
Then Cam arched and cried out. “Hemi! I’m coming.”
He was completely lost in her and he fucking loved it. He felt her orgasm rocket through her, and her body clamped down on him, squeezing his cock. It tossed him over the edge. He kept his gaze locked on her face, not wanting to miss a single thing. He came with one long roar.