by Anna Hackett
Kate slammed her locker with more force than necessary. “I don’t have time for this.”
“Ready, Captain?” Rob stepped into view, geared up and holding his weapon. He’d had his gear in the security office.
With a nod, she pushed out of the locker room. The three of them were silent as they walked toward the entrance closest to the explosion point.
At the door, she nodded, and Rob spun the lock. Kate went first, stepping out into the night air.
She scanned the shadows. The moon was out, casting everything in a silver glow. “Genie, any alien activity?”
“Negative, Captain.”
Gripping her carbine, Kate went to find her people. For a second, memories returned of that horrible mission when her team had come under fire in the Middle East. They’d been taking aid into a war-torn area. She’d protested taking the young, green soldiers on the mission and had been overruled. She sucked in a breath. She’d lost three good people that day. Not one of them older than twenty-three.
Kate shoved away the thoughts and focused on her surroundings. She’d almost forgotten that Manu was with her; the man moved like a ghost. He was completely at ease with his big body, and there was no hint of the fact that he had a prosthetic leg.
“Approaching location.” Every muscle in her body was tense, and she strained to hear any sound.
There were no screams now. No movement.
Then she heard a whimper.
Kate rounded some rocks, and the moonlight illuminated a large, blackened crater in the ground. Her steps faltered. Hell.
“Fuck,” Rob muttered.
The hardened marine clearly liked this even less than Kate. She felt Manu press close to her back. She hated to admit it, but the heat of him steadied her.
“Felipe?” she called out quietly. “Kendra?”
“Captain.” A choked voice riddled with pain.
She moved toward the sound of Felipe’s voice and spotted him. He was sitting up, his face covered in burns and blood.
Shit. Shit. Shit. Her stomach turned over, but she moved to him quickly. “We’re here, Felipe.”
“Check Kendra,” Felipe whispered. “She hasn’t moved.”
Kate swiveled and saw the young woman a few meters away. She was lying on her side, her blonde hair tangled over her face. She wasn’t moving.
Manu moved quickly, kneeling beside Kendra and pressing his fingers to her throat. “Alive. Unconscious.”
Nearby, Rob stayed alert and on guard.
“It was some sort of fucking landmine.” Felipe’s body was shaking uncontrollably. “We just stepped through the grass and I heard a beep—”
“Take it easy.” Kate eased him back, checking him over. God, he had to be in terrible pain. She took out one of the iono-stretchers and activated it. “I need some help.”
Manu was there in an instant, carrying Kendra in his arms. He set the woman down on the stretcher, and then turned to help her with Felipe.
Kate opened the second stretcher and Manu lifted him. Felipe groaned in pain.
Moving to Kendra, Kate touched the woman’s pale face. She was so still, all that energy of hers muted. Anger churned through Kate’s belly. “Rob?”
“Area looks clear, Captain.”
“The area is clear,” a dark voice said from the shadows.
Kate lifted her head and saw Tane melt out of the darkness. A second later, the rest of the berserkers appeared like wraiths.
Tattooed, badass wraiths.
They were all armored up, holding their carbines at the ready, faces grim.
“Rob, I need you to take Felipe and Kendra in,” Kate ordered. “Doc Emerson and her team are waiting.”
The man nodded. Tane lifted a hand, and Levi and Ash peeled off from the squad to help Rob.
Kate looked at her boots, trying to control her churning gut. She was angry. More than angry. Furious. She turned to face the crater.
“Kate.”
She tried to drown out Manu’s voice. She didn’t need sympathy right now, not when she was so close to breaking.
“Need to work out what the hell happened,” she said between gritted teeth.
A big hand clamped down on her shoulder. “Your people are going to be okay.”
She stayed stiff and still. Then she felt his fingers brush against her neck in the tiniest caress. She closed her eyes for a second.
Don’t give in. Don’t lean.
She stepped away, clicked on the flashlight on her carbine, and crouched by the crater.
Manu felt the tension pumping off Kate. He knew how it felt when one of your team was down. Hell, he knew what it felt like to be the one who was down.
He watched as she shut down her reaction and he frowned. He suspected she always kept her emotions tightly secured. She never opened up, and she had no one to lean on.
He knew about keeping shit bottled up. He blew out a breath, well aware he wasn’t the best at opening up, either. But he had his brothers and his friends. A few nightmares about losing his leg were nothing. As far as he could see, Kate had no one.
“Fuck, whatever the hell blew up made a mess,” Hemi said.
The remaining berserkers gathered around the crater.
“Well, it was definitely some sort of explosive.” She touched her ear. “Genie, can you get the drone team to scan the crater for active explosives?”
“Already done,” the woman answered. “All clear.”
Kate took a step down onto the sloping side of the crater.
“Kate—” Manu growled.
She ignored him, sliding down to the bottom of the hole.
Shit. Without pausing, Manu followed her. His leg did not love the uneven ground, but he ignored the flare of pain.
It was about two meters deep. At the bottom, she crouched, studying the melted mass in the center. It was a black, twisted heap. He frowned at it, aiming his flashlight directly at it.
“Gizzida?” she mused.
“Probably.”
She used the end of her carbine to poke at it. Part of the melted mass fell away and some of the unburned parts of the device came into view. Bone, scales, and sinew.
Kate’s face hardened. “Gizzida.”
It was definitely the aliens’ type of tech—mixed with organic components. Dark memories stirred in Manu’s head. Memories of another alien device—vicious teeth clamping down on his leg. Searing, stomach-churning pain, and his own hoarse screams.
“How the fuck did they get it so close to the Enclave?” Tane bit out from above.
Manu blinked. Sweat had beaded on his forehead and he saw Kate was watching him curiously.
“There was no way they could have waltzed up here without us seeing them,” Hemi added.
Kate raised her head. “That’s something I intend to find out.”
Suddenly, red lights blinked on in the charred remains. Manu and Kate both froze.
“Captain?” Genie’s panicked voice. “Active explosives in your location!”
“Manu, out,” Tane ordered.
“Fuck, my carbine just died,” Dom called out.
“The bomb’s too close to the base,” Manu said. “We need to defuse it. You guys back up to a safe distance.”
Tane made a growling sound. “No.”
“Tane.”
“Fuck,” Manu’s brother bit out. “Berserkers, back up.”
Manu yanked his small toolkit off his belt. He never went anywhere without it. “Get out, Kate.”
“I’m head of base security, not you.”
“Kate—”
She lifted her carbine, aiming the flashlight at the landmine. “I’m staying.”
Manu studied the stubborn line of her jaw. Damned if it didn’t look attractive, even when he was pissed at her. Fuck. He didn’t want her in the line of fire.
“You’d better get to work,” she said calmly.
He bent over the bomb. “I hate stubborn women.”
“I’m real upset about that.”
Her voice was dry. “You know what you’re doing?”
“A little late to ask that now.” He pulled out his auto-driver tool. “I know enough. I play with Gizzida weapons for fun.”
“You need to get out more,” she said.
“Pot. Kettle.”
She snorted, but he knew she was hyperalert. He opened up a bone-like panel on the unburned part of the device. Orange goo oozed out. There were organic-looking wires inside.
He poked his tool inside and started fishing around.
“Don’t blow us up,” Kate said.
“Not on my agenda for tonight.” He spotted the wire he knew that he needed to cut. It pulsed gently. “This is it.”
Kate crouched beside him, her face tense. She sucked in a deep breath. “Do it.”
Manu looked up, his gaze tracing over her face. He reached out and gripped her hair. “Just in case I’ve got this wrong.” He pulled her in until those sexy lips of hers met his.
He meant for it to be a quick kiss, but she made a hungry, little sound and kissed him back.
Shit. For a few shining seconds, Manu forgot about everything except the taste of Kate Scott. Her tongue stroked his and a groan vibrated through him.
The alien device made a beeping sound and Manu pulled back.
Kate cleared her throat. “Better defuse that bomb, Rahia.”
Damn. The taste of her was still on his lips and he wanted more. There was heat in Kate Scott—brilliant, scorching heat—and he wanted to be burned by it. She’d been holding out on him.
But right now, he needed to keep them alive.
Their gazes locked, and then he cut down on the wire.
The lights went out on the bomb.
Kate released a shaky breath. Adrenaline surged through him and Manu stood. He ignored the twinge in his leg and leaned over, hands pressed to his thighs. “Fuck.”
Then suddenly, Kate moved. She stepped in front of him, grabbed his shoulders, went up on her toes, and slammed her mouth against his.
Manu grabbed her, pulling her closer. He slid his tongue into her mouth and stopped thinking. Damn, she kissed him like he was going into battle and might never return. It was the hungriest, neediest kiss he’d ever had. And he wanted more.
Kate stumbled back, her eyes wide and breathing fast. “Ah, I’ll arrange for my team to clean up the area.”
So, the captain was just going to ignore the kiss? “I need the parts. Want to study them and see exactly what we’re dealing with.”
She nodded. “You’ll have them.”
“Kate.”
“Adrenaline. Just glad we’re still alive.” She turned and scrambled back up the side of the crater. At the top she paused and glanced back over her shoulder. “Good work, Manu.”
She meant disabling the bomb, but damn, he wanted her to mean the kiss.
Chapter Five
For the next few hours, Kate did what she always did, and focused on her job. She directed her team and supervised the collection of the alien device. A grumpy Noah from the tech team arrived, his dark hair disheveled. Clearly, he was unhappy about getting pulled out of his bed. One of his technicians, Marin, was with him.
The cute, curly-haired blonde smiled, and when tattooed Ash reappeared out of the darkness to give her a hard kiss, she smiled even more. The badass and the cute tech geek. Kate shook her head. Apparently, alien invasions made opposites attract.
Noah and Marin got busy with their scanners, crawling over the crater. Kate tried not to let her mind wander. To either her injured team members, or the fact that she’d kissed Manu Rahia. Twice.
Noah slid his scanner away. “It appears safe to bring inside.”
“But we brought a strong, explosive-proof box,” Marin added. “Just in case.”
“Thanks,” Kate said. “We’ll take it from here.”
Rob and Miles worked to get the device loaded, and soon whisked it away. Tiredly, Kate made her way back inside. Her leg muscles trembled and her shoulders ached. She needed some sleep.
But as she headed to the locker room to shed her gear, she felt a warm tremble in her belly. She was deathly afraid that when she finally got to bed, she’d be thinking of a certain big man with hard muscles and dark hair, instead of sleeping. Desire surged, energy zinging along her veins.
Dammit, what was wrong with her? She had injured team members in the infirmary, a shit-ton of work to do because the aliens had planted a bomb practically on her doorstep, and she needed a plan to make sure there weren’t more landmines out there.
First things first, she needed to check on Felipe and Kendra. When she reached the infirmary, she nodded at Doc Emerson, who was studying some charts. The lights were low, and Kate spotted Felipe sitting up in his bunk, his face still raw but healing. Kendra was asleep in the bed beside him.
“I gave them both a dose of nanomeds,” Emerson said quietly.
Kate knew the tiny medical machines would be hard at work fixing the pair’s injuries. “Thanks, Doc.”
The woman nodded, her perceptive gaze on Kate. “They’re going to be fine.”
Kate nodded and made her way to her people.
“I’ll be back on duty tomorrow, Captain,” Felipe said.
“You have two days off.”
The man’s face fell. “I’m fine.”
“I know. And you’ll stay that way. Two days.”
He sighed. “Okay.”
They talked a bit more, then Kate left him, awkwardly patting his blanket-covered legs. She moved to the sleeping Kendra, and her insides twisted. She looked so damned young. Carefully, so she didn’t wake the woman, Kate tucked a strand of Kendra’s hair behind her ear.
As Kate headed out of the infirmary, her stomach rumbled, and she realized she was starving. She changed directions and headed toward the kitchen.
“Kate.”
The deep voice made her stop and turn around. She saw Roth Masters, head of Squad Nine, striding toward her. His muscular body was clothed in a gray T-shirt and fatigue trousers.
She and Roth had not gotten off to a good start. She’d imprisoned him once, when he’d first arrived at the Enclave. She’d thought he was the enemy, and instead, she’d discovered she’d been protecting the enemy. Funnily enough, she and Roth were now friends.
“You’re up late,” she said.
“I wanted a status update on this landmine.” He stopped beside her. “And to check how you’re doing.”
She blew out a breath. “I’m fine, but I have two team members in the infirmary. It sucks.”
“Sure does.” He pressed a hand to her shoulder. “They okay?”
She nodded. “Head injury and burns, but healing up nicely. Felipe is itching to get back to duty.”
“You have good, well-trained people, Kate.”
“Some of them are just kids, Roth.”
“No, they aren’t. They might be young, but they are making their choices and fighting for things they believe in.”
She knew it was true, but right now, it just made her chest hurt. “Damn Gizzida.”
Roth crossed his arms. “Niko and Holmes have a meeting planned for the morning.”
She nodded. “I need to work out how the hell the aliens got a bomb so close to the Enclave. And we need to make sure there aren’t any more of them out there.”
Roth grunted. “We’ll get it sorted. You look beat. You need some rest.”
“You know how it is, being the boss.”
His gaze speared into her. Roth was the kind of man who always got the answers he wanted. “I do. And I know it’s important to take some downtime and stay fresh.”
Yeah, and he had the beautiful, smart Avery who helped him do that. Kate shoved a hand through her hair. “Yeah. Right.”
“Get some sleep.”
“I will. Night, Roth. Say hi to Avery.”
Kate’s stomach was rumbling again and she hurried to the kitchen. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d raided the kitchen in the middle of the night.
Cheese. Bread. Some French onion spread. Olives. She popped a cube of cheese in her mouth.
“I’ll have some of that.”
She spun, clutching the block of cheddar in her hand.
Manu stood there, showered and changed.
Power emanated off him. He was just so damn masculine and strong. His black T-shirt cut into his big biceps, and her gaze fell to the interesting black ink on his left arm. His legs were encased in tan cargo pants.
Kate felt a flash of heat over her skin and a pulse throbbed between her legs. God, she needed to get a grip on this.
She swallowed and set the cheese down on the bench. She pulled two plates closer, dumped some food on both, then nudged the second plate across at him.
He leaned a hip against the bench and they ate in silence. Strangely enough, it wasn’t awkward.
No, awkward would be if she leaped over the bench and jumped him. She choked, an olive catching in her throat. She coughed.
“Okay?” he asked.
She nodded, thumping her chest.
“How are your people?”
“Recovering. Nanomeds are fixing them up.”
“That’s good.”
“Did my guys bring you the alien parts?”
He nodded. “I have a couple of my people sorting through them. After I grab a few hours’ sleep, I’ll start analyzing them.”
She saw him rub his left thigh. “It hurts?”
He stiffened a little. “Only sometimes. It’s tied right into my nerves, so after a long day, I get some pain at the connection site.”
He didn’t go on and she figured from the tight look on his face that the discussion was closed. Manu had always struck her as adjusting to the loss of his leg and his prosthetic with ease. Looking at him now, tiredness lining his face, she saw shadows in his dark eyes. Now, she wondered if that was the entire truth.
She grabbed a cracker. “If you don’t want to talk about your leg, that’s fine.”
He looked up. “We can talk about the kiss instead.”
She froze. “No.”
