Chapter Five
Elle felt her heart slam against her ribs. Marcus didn’t want her.
Struggling not to let her feelings show on her face, she set her shoulders back. Marcus didn’t think she could do it. It reminded her that he hadn’t wanted her for their comms officer either. Dammit, hadn’t she proven herself by now?
General Holmes’ voice turned hard. “Steele, we have to do what’s best for the mission—”
“Sending an untrained and unprepared civilian into a warzone is not what’s best for the mission.” With a vicious glance at her, Marcus stormed out of the room.
A part of Elle wanted to shrink into a little ball. She looked up and saw Claudia, wearing her scuffed body armor, her dark hair pulled back in one long braid, looking at Elle, a faint smile on her face.
The other part of Elle was pissed.
That taunting smirk made Elle’s quivering belly harden. No way. This mission was too important. She wanted to help. She wouldn’t sit idly by and just be another bystander waiting to be rescued. That’s why she’d volunteered in the comms department in the first place. She wanted to help. She needed to help.
Pivoting, she strode after Marcus.
His long legs had eaten up the ground between them and she had to jog to catch him. He was ripping pieces of his body armor off.
For a second, her gaze snagged on his big, muscular biceps.
Elle steeled herself. “Marcus!”
He kept going.
He was going to listen to her, dammit. She snagged the sleeve of his shirt. “I can do this.”
He came to a halt so fast she almost ran into him.
“You have no fucking idea what it’s like out there.” He spun. His tough face was set in rigid lines. It would have sent a lesser person running.
“Do you know what it’s like to have raptors raining down on you? To be covered in gore?” He tugged at his shirt, it was soaked dark red.
Under his hard green gaze her confidence wavered, but she stiffened her spine. “I have an idea. I survived the attack. I watch it on my screen, I hear the laser fire, the roars of the aliens. I’ve heard people die. I feel the worry, the anxiety knowing you…the team…are out there. I know what it’s like.”
He shook his head. “Hearing it is nothing like experiencing it.”
Sometimes she thought it was worse. Hearing him firing his weapon, yelling orders at his squad as raptors charged them, while she was stuck, unable to help, in the base. Now she had a chance to do something.
She took a step forward until her boots hit his. “I am not some stupid, little civvy with nothing to offer. I know the realities. I know if we don’t pull this mission off, we’ll be stuck in this place like rats forever. Waiting in our hole until the raptors sniff us out and finish us humans off for good. Until they help themselves to our planet and its resources and leave it a desolate ruin.” She sucked in a breath, her chest heaving. “I can do this.”
His jaw hardened. “I know you can. That’s not the damn problem.” He turned and stomped down the hall.
Elle blinked, her brow scrunching in confusion. What was the issue then? “What, Marcus? You need to take me on this mission. What the hell is your problem?”
He moved so fast it was shocking. He pushed her up against the smooth tunnel wall, his big body crowding her in.
He smelled hot, sweaty and bloody, and heat poured off his muscular frame. God, he made her feel so…small. She felt a lick of something molten inside.
Marcus leaned in until his face was an inch from hers. “My problem is you.”
Pain lanced through her. Okay, he couldn’t make it any clearer that he thought she wasn’t right for the job. She quivered against him. “I know you never wanted me as comms officer for Six. I know you thought I couldn’t do it, but haven’t I proven that I can?”
His head lowered, his intense gaze roaming her face until it stopped. Was he looking at her lips? A flicker of heat in her belly. No, Marcus would never feel that way about her, despite her most secret fantasies.
“You’ve done a great job, but I don’t want you in the field.”
His deep voice shivered through her. Everything about this tough, battle-hardened man drew her in. His voice, his strength, his resolve. She wanted to lean into his strength, let him take all the worry and burden off her for a few precious seconds.
But he already shouldered too much. He was already the one all of mankind depended on to go out there every day and risk his life to protect them.
“I need to do this, Marcus.” She stared straight into his eyes. That bright, vivid green she sometimes saw in her dreams. “I need to help.”
He groaned, his head dropping forward until his hot lips brushed her ear. “Ellianna.”
No one called her that anymore. She’d left Ellianna, the society girl, behind the day the aliens had destroyed her world. But she guessed that was all Marcus saw when he looked at her.
Her voice dropped to a whisper and she forced the next words out, even though it felt like they were ripped from her soul. “I need to matter.”
She’d never really mattered to anyone—not her mother, not to the man she thought she’d marry, and least of all, the father who’d barely noticed she was there.
Marcus was silent, his entire body vibrating with tension. His breath was hot on the side of her neck and she felt all the muscles in her body turn to jelly. “Do you want me to beg? Please, Marcus—”
“No, I don’t want you to beg.”
His lips brushed her earlobe and she closed her eyes. God, did he know he was killing her with that accidental contact? She wanted to give into the gnawing inside her and grab him. Hold him tight, explore those hard muscles, taste him…
“I know you can do this, Elle. I just want to keep you safe.”
She pulled in a breath. He was always protecting everybody else, never giving any consideration to his own life.
Again, his lips brushed her skin, this time the side of her neck. She shivered and barely managed to swallow a groan.
“And you do matter,” he said. “To me.”
***
Back off, Steele. His brain was telling him one thing, but with Elle’s slim, enticing frame pressed against him, his body wanted something else. Shit, it was lucky he hadn’t taken off his lower-body armor, or she’d feel his hard cock digging into her belly.
He fought for some control. In the field, control was so damned easy. He commanded his squad, covered all the bases, planned every step but was always ready to flex when the shit hit, as it always did.
But with this woman, he always felt like he never had a handle on anything. He shouldn’t even have his dirty, death-covered hands anywhere near her creamy skin.
But with everything churning inside him and being this close to her… Marcus lost the battle he’d been fighting for months.
He pressed his lips to the silky skin of her jaw, then moved up and claimed her mouth.
Her full lips parted on a gasp. And he took full advantage.
He wasn’t gentle, had never been gentle, he plundered. He slid his tongue in her mouth and her taste hit him like a rush. Sweet, so fucking sweet.
Her hands slid up into his hair. She moved against him, making little noises in the back of her throat.
And she kissed him back.
She kissed the hell out of him.
Lost in her, in that special taste that was Elle, he held on, taking everything he could and loving that she gave as good as she got.
But slowly, reality filtered in. He had her pinned against the wall. Mauling her. Worse, he was dirty and grimy and covered in blood—some of it his own.
Dredging up some strength from God-only-knew where, Marcus pulled himself away from her. Both of their chests were heaving.
Jesus, those big blue eyes hit him hard. If she ever found out that all she had to do was look at him and he wouldn’t be able to deny her a single thing, he’d be in a whole lot of trouble. Focus, Steele. On the mission. Not her.
“Okay, you’re in.” Dammit, he wanted to ram a fist into the wall. “But you’ll do exactly as I say, wear armor at all times, and you won’t leave my side. No matter what. Got it?”
She blinked, taking a second to process. Then her eyes lit up. “I’ll do everything you tell me.”
God, her earnest words stabbed at him. Made him imagine her doing things that had nothing to do with the mission.
“I’m going to clean up, grab some food. Two hours and we’re heading back out there to kick some raptor butt. Go and find some body armor that won’t swamp you and I’ll meet you back at the Hawk.”
She nodded, her eyes alive. With excitement, fear…he wasn’t sure.
“Marcus, about—”
He heard the questioning tone in her voice but he didn’t want to talk about that kiss. At least, not now. He cut her off. “Find yourself a weapon. You’ll need something if you have to take a raptor down at close quarters.”
She swallowed hard. “You think that’ll happen?”
“Anything can happen out there.” The thought of her tangling with one of those damned alien beasts made his gut churn. He’d protect her, no matter what he had to do. “Two hours. Landing pads.”
She nodded. “Okay. But Marcus?”
“Yeah.”
“After the mission, we will talk about that kiss.” She turned and hurried down the tunnel.
Marcus forced himself to head to his quarters. All he really wanted to do was drag her away and lock her up to keep her safe.
And dammit, he also wanted to do a hell of a lot more.
When he reached his quarters, he tore off the rest of his armor, then his clothes, and stepped into a cold shower. He welcomed the sting of the freezing water. It hit the gash on his shoulder and washed the blood away. He glanced at the wound. He’d been right—it wasn’t as bad as he’d first thought. A bit of med-gel and it should be good. He’d have another scar to add to the collection.
He dropped his forehead to the faded tile. Damn, he wasn’t looking forward to this mission. Big blue eyes swam into his vision. That dark hair he wanted to wrap around his hand. He could picture her spread out on his bunk, all slim limbs and smooth skin.
Jesus. He slid a soapy hand down his stomach, circled his cock. He had to find some damned control because he was going to need all his focus to take Elle into the heart of hell and then get her out alive.
***
Marcus slammed his armor into place and yanked the fastening tight. Around him in the squad locker room, some of his team were doing the same.
Thirty minutes to go time.
“Where are Frost and Shaw?” Marcus barked.
Cruz checked his carbine. “They’ll be here. I think Claudia was helping Elle find some armor.”
Marcus paused. The idea of tough-as-nails Claudia helping Elle…that just didn’t seem right. “And Shaw?”
Zeke leaned forward and waggled his eyebrows. “Think he got nabbed by that cute little redhead who works down in supplies.”
Cruz closed his locker. “You sure you want to take her on this mission?”
Marcus knew his second wasn’t talking about Claudia or the redhead. “Don’t have a choice.”
“There’s always a choice, my friend.”
With extra force, Marcus slammed his locker closed. “You don’t think if there was another way, I’d take it?” The men fell silent and he felt them watching him. The anger pounding through him was like a raging river. He shoved his combat knife into the sheath on his thigh. “You think I want her anywhere near the raptors?”
“No, but—”
“I don’t want her hurt. I’d gut myself first.”
Gabe and Zeke stopped their final preparations to listen.
Marcus released a harsh breath. “We need those crystals to find the alien comms hub, and…for some insane reason, she wants this. I don’t know, she has some need to prove herself. All I can do is try and keep her safe.”
“We’ll all keep her safe,” Gabe said, his gray eyes intense.
Marcus knew the quiet man was giving him a promise. As he looked at the others, they nodded as well. The tightness inside his chest eased…a little.
He turned to Cruz. “If the mission goes to hell, if I go down, your priority is to get Elle out.”
His friend nodded. “You got it, Marcus.”
The locker room door opened, and Claudia strode in. Her dark hair was braided, and she wore a tank top that showed off muscled arms. “Hey, Marcus, we might turn your princess into a warrior, yet.”
As Claudia opened her locker and started pulling out her armor, Marcus forced his breathing to slow, in an attempt to stay calm. “She’s ready?”
“Yeah.” Claudia pressed her chest armor into place. “She’s nervous as hell, but she’s hiding it. She might look like she belongs at a dinner party, but nobody can fault her for courage.”
The door opened again, and this time Shaw sauntered in. His tawny hair was mussed and he had a satisfied look on his face. “Ladies.”
Zeke snorted. “Only you would squeeze in a quickie before heading into hell.”
The sniper shrugged and grinned. “Any time is a good time for a quickie, Jackson.”
Claudia shot him a scathing look and turned back to her locker. “Some women prefer a man who can last more than a few minutes.”
Shaw stiffened. “I can—”
“Don’t start, you two,” Marcus warned. “We’re meeting Elle at the Hawk in fifteen minutes, so hustle.”
Shaw frowned. “Elle? What do you mean? Don’t tell me she’s coming with us?”
“Didn’t you read the mission brief?” Claudia asked snidely.
He ignored her, his gaze on Marcus. “Are you crazy? We can’t take her into the heart of raptor territory. It’s no place for a woman—” he glanced at Claudia, who was already rounding on him “—without combat training.”
Zeke snorted again. “Good save.”
Marcus slashed a hand through the air. “I don’t want to take Elle, either. But we need her skills. We’ll all have to keep her safe, get the mission done and then get the hell out of there. Got it?”
Everyone nodded. Marcus knew if there was anyone he could trust, it was his team.
Hell Squad would help him keep Elle safe, no matter what.
He swung his carbine over his shoulder. “All right, let’s move out.”