Kate woke to something bumping into her. The room was dark, and a warm body was pressed against her.

Manu. Manu Rahia was in her bed.

“Fuck, make the pain stop.”

His agonized voice cut through the quiet. Her heart clenched. He was having a nightmare.

He thrashed again and she reached for him. “Manu?”

A big arm swung at her and she ducked it. She threw herself on top of him, straddling his chest. She squeezed her knees into his sides. His chest was heaving.

“Manu? It’s Kate. Wake up.”

He stilled beneath her. She reached over and flicked on the bedside lamp.

They both blinked at the sudden brightness, and Manu watched her with dark, fathomless eyes.

Kate studiously ignored the fact that she was naked. She’d never slept naked in her life. “You with me?”

He nodded. Kate slid off him and tugged the sheet up. He scraped a hand through his hair.

“Is this common?” she asked.

He shrugged a big shoulder. “It happens.”

“Have you talked to anyone about it?”

His face turned mutinous. “It’s a few nightmares. To be expected.”

“Manu, what you went through was tough. There are counselors here at the Enclave—”

“Don’t want to talk about it.”

“Then talk to me.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “No.”

Hurt arrowed into her heart. “Right. So, it’s okay for you to prod at me, but you get to keep all your secrets locked away.” She rolled to the side of the bed. “Got it.”

He grabbed her, yanking her back onto the bed. “I…I haven’t talked about it. Ever.”

His voice was raw and full of pain, and her heart clenched. “Your brothers?”

He shook his head. “I’ve told them bits and pieces.”

She cupped his jaw. “I understand not wanting to be weak or show any vulnerabilities. I’ve made a life of doing that.” She released a breath. “I had a mission go wrong. Right before I came to work at the Enclave, just before the alien invasion. I lost three good, bright, young soldiers.”

“Ah, that’s why what happened to Kendra has hit you so hard,” he murmured.

“Losing people is never easy. Just like losing a piece of yourself is never easy.” She stroked his jaw. “I talked to the Army therapists. If I hadn’t, I think that ball of hurt, rage, and guilt inside me would have grown.”

“I don’t let it.”

“You might keep it locked up, Manu, but it’s doing damage.”

He pulled in a deep, shuddering breath and was quiet for a long moment. Kate was almost certain she’d lost him.

“We were still at Blue Mountain Base. We were on a recon mission. Just supposed to scout out an area in the city where there’d been increased alien activity.”

She stroked his shoulder and stayed quiet. She hated the haunted look on his face.

“Fuck.” He took another deep, shuddering breath. “It was a trap. They’d lured us there, and they’d literally set up traps in the ground.”

“Traps?”

“Like bear traps. Huge, spiked traps made of bone and metal. We were engaged by a group of raptors, fighting our way out.” He shook his head. “Hell, Hemi was laughing. Then I stepped on one of those goddamned traps.”

Kate moved, stroking his back.

“The pain was indescribable. I was screaming, the agony was so extreme. More raptors were coming, and I yelled at my squad to leave.” Dark eyes met hers, boiling with old horror. “I could see my leg was stuck. The teeth of the trap had cut right through, just above the knee. Blood was pouring everywhere. I kept firing on the raptors. I wanted to hold them off until Tane and the others escaped.”

He’d kept fighting. Was thinking of others even when he was so badly hurt. That was Manu. Loyal, protective, and caring.

“They refused to leave me.” His voice broke. “They pumped me full of drugs, got me out, and we all kept firing until we made it back to the quadcopter.”

He’d survived, but the aliens had still scored a hit and left him with scars.

“You amaze me, Manu Rahia.”

He jolted. “Why?”

“You survived a nightmare that would have dragged so many under, and here you are, still doing what you can at the Enclave to keep people safe.”

“I still have nightmares, Kate. I still get so damn angry I want to punch things. Sometimes I’m touchy and mouth off.”

“No one said you had to be perfect.”

He scowled.

“You’re the oldest brother, so I guess wanting to be perfect and strong for everyone is a character flaw.”

His scowl deepened.

“After everything that happened, you still get up every day and go to work at the range. You are a damn hero, Manu.” She cupped his cheeks and made him look at her. “And you never have to hide what you’re feeling from me. In here, you can show me when you’re hurting or angry.”

Manu sucked in a deep breath. “You gonna show me your underbelly, too?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Not much to show. You’re going to wake up one day and realize I’m boring and sensible.”

He pushed her back on the bed, covering her with his body and nudging her legs apart. “Never.”

God, she loved the feel of him. “You’ll see. I’m boring and not sexy, and—” Her words turned to a choked cry as he slid his cock inside her.

He pumped into her, his thrusts relentless. “There is nothing boring about you, Kate. And I’ll never get tired of burying my cock inside your hot, sexy body.”

Sensations swamped her, every nerve alive. “Manu.”

“There it is. I will never, ever get tired of hearing you call out my name just like that.” His voice lowered. “Only thing better is when you say it while you’re coming.”

His words sent her over the edge, and Kate gave him what he wanted.

* * *

Kate woke with her nose pressed against a wall of hard muscle covered in bronze skin.

She froze. Oh, God. Everything they’d done to each other during the night crowded in her head. She shivered. After that mind-blowing first time, they’d looked at each other…and done it again—twice. Then once more, right after his nightmare.

Kate had never had sex like this before.

“Kate.” A sexy husky rumble.

“Hey,” she murmured.

The arm wrapped around her waist tightened. “Whatever you’re thinking, stop it.”

She flicked her gaze up to his face. Apart from slumberous, dark eyes, he looked alert. “I’m not—”

“You’re freaking out.”

“Get out of my head,” she muttered.

He reached out, sliding a hand through her hair and pushing it back. Then he pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. “We had sex. Really great sex. Best I’ve ever had.”

She felt the burn of heat injected into her cheeks. “Oh.”

He smiled that sexy, white smile of his. “And we’re going to do it again. Lots.”

“A bit presumptuous.”

“Babe, you came alive for me. I’ve never had a woman so hungry for my cock.”

She frowned. “Don’t be crude.”

“Babe. It was hot.”

Kate felt embarrassed. She’d never been like this with a man before. Then again, she’d never been with a man like Manu before.

She quickly moved to get off the bed, but an arm wrapped around her, and tightened under her breasts. His skin was shades darker than hers, and she studied the sexy veins running up his strong forearm.

“Manu, I have to get to work.”

“We have over an hour until our shifts start.”

She felt him move in behind her. He got on his knees, pulled her back to his chest. She felt the broad head of his cock press against her ass. His hand moved down her body, his fingers spreading over her belly.

Then she felt Manu go still. “My Kate’s got a naughty side.”

She frowned. “What?” She looked up and saw him looking at her nightstand.

Where the vibrator that Liberty had given her was sitting.

Oh, God. “Um…”

He reached around her and grabbed it. Her belly clenched.

“Show me how you like to use it.”

She cleared her throat. “I just got it. I haven’t really…” She was an adult. She shouldn’t feel like a blushing teen caught by her parents.

“You been feeling the need for some relief lately?” His breath was warm on her neck.

She leaned into him and watched as he stroked the vibrator down the middle of her belly. He flicked it on and then ran it between her thighs. She jerked against him.

He pressed it hard against her clit and she cried out. Then he ran the toy along her slick lips.

“Fuck, I need to see your face.” He spun her around and pushed her back on the bed. Then he was pulling her legs apart.

With a focused look on his face, he went back to work, sliding the vibrator against her. Soon she was writhing. It felt so good.

“You are so damn gorgeous,” he said.

Kate thought the same about him. Big, beautiful, and all that smooth, brown skin. All of it naked and focused on her.

He moved the vibrator and pressed the thick head of it against her. Her lips parted, her hips lifted.

Manu slowly slid the toy inside her.

She moaned. She felt so full, and she still felt the burn of having had him numerous times during the night. It had been a long time since she’d had sex and she was a bit tender.

“Sore?” he asked.

“A little.”

“Want me to stop?”

“Hell, no.”

A warm laugh. Manu moved the vibrator slowly, but firmly, inside her. Then his finger slid down her belly and started strumming her clit.

She moaned. “Manu.”

“Right here, babe.” He increased his tempo. “Damn, could watch you all day.”

Kate was getting close, all the sensations in her swirling faster and faster. When he pulled the vibrator out of her, she let out a cry.

“Easy.” He threw the toy on the floor and yanked her up. “When you come, it’s gonna be on my cock.”

Then he shifted to the edge of the bed, his feet flat on the ground and pulled her to straddle his hips. He pushed her down, his cock sliding inside her with a hard thrust.

She cried out, her hands gripping his shoulders.

“Ride me,” he ground out, his fingers digging into her hips.

Her body moved of its own accord. Up, down. She needed him. She needed this.

“Look.” His voice was guttural.

She followed his gaze down to look where they were joined. To where he was rubbing her swollen clit and where his cock was lodged deep inside her.

Oh, God. Everything inside her gathered like a storm, contracting to a hard point in her belly. Then the explosion happened, and she came.

As Kate arched her back and cried out, Manu gripped her hips and slammed her down. He groaned out his own release, spilling inside her.

She collapsed against him, cheek pressed to his shoulder. They stayed there, waiting for their heart beats to slow.

Again, she’d just proved that she was hot for him. She wasn’t sure whether she should be proud or embarrassed. “I didn’t think we were supposed to have sex like this.”

He made a rumbling noise she took to mean was a question.

“Sex like we’re twenty.”

“This is better than sex when you’re twenty, impatient, and clueless.”

Amen to that. She lifted her head. “I want to see Kendra before we head back out to tackle more landmines.” She tried to move off Manu.

He held her still, one big hand stroking her back. “She’ll be okay, Kate. We’ll see to it.”

She peered at those dark, velvet eyes. “You’ll talk to her?”

“Shit.” Manu pulled in a breath. “Yeah.”

Kate could see that talking about losing his leg wasn’t going to be easy for him, but that he’d do it. For her.

“It’ll be a tough road for Kendra, but she’ll make it.”

Kate’s fingers dug into Manu’s skin. “I know now that wasn’t as easy as you made it look.”

He sighed. “No.”

“Will you talk to me about it some more?” she asked quietly.

He didn’t say anything for a moment and she thought he wasn’t going to. Disappointment trickled through her.

His fingers tightened on her. “Yeah.”

She smiled, so many emotions clogging her throat. “Okay.” She wished she’d been with him, been there to hold him.

“After something like that happens to you, you have to alter your view of yourself and who you are,” he said. “Before, I was an ex-mercenary, a big brother, a berserker. It’s hard when all that ends in a blink of an eye.”

“You’re still all those things,” she insisted.

“I know. But I’m different, too. I had to rewrite my view of myself. Not better or worse, just different. Now I’m an ex-mercenary, a big brother, an ex-berserker, and head of the firing range and armory for the Enclave.”

“You’re a pretty amazing man, Manu Rahia.”

He smiled. “How about you show me how amazing?”

“Again? I have twenty minutes until my shift starts—”

He shifted, rolling her beneath him. “Then you’d better be quick.”

* * *

His body relaxed and blood still humming, Manu stepped out into the sunshine. He felt happy. Even when his prosthetic foot caught on a rock and he had to catch himself, he smiled.

Kate was one step ahead of him, and damn, she looked good in her armor.

He loved that only he got to see under all her various types of armor. The physical and the emotional. She must have felt his gaze on her, because she glanced back at him. When her gaze met his, her cheeks went pink, and he grinned, knowing just what she was thinking about. She smiled back, and damn if he didn’t feel like he’d won the damned lottery.

“I want to check out the mine site from last night,” she said.

He nodded, and they walked quietly toward the patch of ground. In the distance, he saw the berserkers. They surrounded the small figure of Selena who was doing her thing to find the landmines. Tane was one step behind the woman, looking pissed off.

“So, Tane and Selena?” Kate said.

Manu grunted. “No idea what is going on there.”

“Then you’re blind.”

He wasn’t blind. He just wasn’t sure he wanted his brother falling for an alien woman with strange, powerful abilities. But that was a concern for another time.

As they approached the crater, he felt the growing tension pumping off Kate. He gripped the nape of her neck reassuringly. He knew she was reliving every moment of the attack the night before. She’d checked in on Kendra, but the woman had been sleeping. He knew Kate was taking it hard.

Manu waited for his own memories to surface, but they were strangely silent.

The mine remnants had been removed. Kate skidded down the side of the hole, looking around the bottom of the crater.

“How are they digging these in here?” she said. “Even digging a small tunnel takes time.”

“They must have some sort of tech that does it for them.”

She carefully prodded the dirt around her feet with her boot. And a second later, some of the dirt fell inward, tumbling away like a small waterfall.

She’d uncovered a tunnel buried in the ground below.

Manu frowned. “Kate.”

But she was already crouching by the hole and leaning her head into it to look around. He watched as she pulled a flashlight off her belt and flicked it on.

“It looks intact,” she said. “It’s big enough for a man to crawl through.”

“It’s too dangerous,” he said.

“We need to stop them, Manu. I’m damn well going to make sure that no one else gets hurt.”

“Fuck.” He wasted no time skidding down into the crater, ignoring the ache in his leg. Then he touched his ear. “Enclave, we found a small, intact tunnel beneath the explosion site.”

“Okay, Manu,” Indy replied. “What’s your plan?”

He looked at Kate. She nodded.

Manu sighed. “We’ll follow it, as long as it’s safe.”

“Acknowledged. We’ll likely lose signal with you, so be careful.”

“Give us thirty minutes. If we’re not back by then, send out the cavalry.” He glanced across the field to his old squad.

“You got it, Manu. Stay safe.”

“Sure thing, gorgeous.”

When he looked up, Kate closed the comm line and raised a brow. “Gorgeous?”

He smiled, liking the edge to her voice. “Indy is like a sister to me.”

“But she’s not your sister. She’s a beautiful, vibrant woman.”

The edge had deepened, and he yanked Kate close. “And I happen to like tough, serious women with a hidden side of wild.”

He leaned down and nipped her lips. She tried to pull away, but he held her close.

“You still feel me, Kate?”

“What?”

“Between your legs.”

“Manu.”

“Oh, my God, you guys.” Indy’s excited voice came across the comm line. “I don’t know what you guys are talking about, but you know, I have a drone on you. Saw that kiss. You guys are hot together.”

Kate groaned and touched her earpiece. “Heading into the tunnel now, Indy.” She gave Manu a scorching look, then turned and dropped down into the tunnel.

Manu followed her. He would have preferred to be in the lead, but he knew she’d fight him on it. Still, it was no hardship to crawl behind and watch her ass.

An ass he’d touched, kissed, and clenched in his hands. Shit. He didn’t need a hard-on right now.

She aimed the light ahead and they crawled along the narrow tunnel. It was uncomfortable crawling on his knee, but he ignored it.

“Tunnel is still intact,” she called back.

It was a tight fit. Not for Kate, but Manu’s shoulders brushed the edges of the tunnel. It smelled like ripe earth, and the roots of grass and various plants dangled beside them.

Lucky he wasn’t claustrophobic.

As they continued onward, the tunnel widened, and soon opened up enough that they could stand.

He moved up beside Kate, cradling his carbine.

“This part of the tunnel looks older,” he said.

She flashed the light around, studying the walls. “You’re right. This has been dug into rock, and it looks like it’s been here a while. I think we’re inside one of the neighboring coal mines.”

He nodded, and they continued down the wider tunnel. He could imagine mine workers moving through here on their way to dig up more coal.

A dark, bulky shadow loomed ahead. He tensed, then quickly relaxed when he realized they were crates.

For a second, he thought it was abandoned gear from when the mine had been active. But as they got closer, his gut clenched. The crates were made of bone.

“Fuck,” he muttered.

“Gizzida.” Kate moved to the nearest one and nudged the lid aside.

The crate was filled with Gizzida landmines.

“Holy hell,” Manu growled. “Look at all those damn things.”

Kate cursed. “We have to stop them.”