“Sabin, listen to me! You’re not getting it. I don’t want you to die out there! Yes, I love you and I’m glad this melts you, but …”
Warm, strong arms wrap around me and tuck me into the strength of his chest. His scent suffuses the air around me, relaxing me.
“It’s going to be all right. I’m going to be all right. I promise I will come back to you.”
“You fucking better. You gave me that damn puppy. You owe it to me, damn it.”
His chest rumbles as he chuckles, but I’m not in the least bit joking.
Two days later, my guards arrive with Drey. The men are holed up in their sec center, tightly wound, and I’m tied up with Wild Walter. He’s crazed, that adorable fuzzy thing. He tears around the house like someone put a firecracker up his butt, and then crashes. House training is ridiculous. I take him outside every hour on the hour, he pees, and then runs back inside and pees again. What the hell! I want to kill him. But then he stares at me with those damn puppy eyes and I’m a goner. I’m not sure if I melt more when Walter looks at me with his big puppy eyes, or when Sabin does. But I don’t dare tell Sabin that.
My guards, whom I call Tom, Dick, and Harry, are not the joking type. They don’t like my nicknames for them either. Their names are weird and unpronounceable. So I call them by their letters. And ironically they are T, D, and H. Sabin doesn’t like it. He thinks it’s disrespectful.
“I’m sorry. But your language makes it difficult for me.”
His stony expression lets me know all I need to. “How would you like it if they called you S?”
“Honestly, I wouldn’t care.”
“Call them by their fucking names.” He’s more pissed than I thought.
“Okay. Teach me.”
He is extremely annoyed. He tugs on his hair and that’s a definite signal for me. “How many times? A hundred?”
“This is only three.”
“Touhurandrun. Toorundrun. The accent is on the Too.”
“But I can never get that little sexy gagging thing you do in the back of your throat.”
“Yes, I know,” he says dryly. “You don’t have a gag reflex.”
“Very funny. Tooundrun.”
“Close enough. Druh’ahan. Draan. Pull it out long.”
“That’s what she said.”
He tilts his head. “You think you’re funny.” He’s doing his best to hold back a smirk.
“Draaaan.”
“Very good.”
“That’s what I say.” My hand rubs his now growing erection. His lids drop to half-mast and his teeth scrape his lower lip. When he does that, I want to rip his darn clothes off.
“And Hrennuan. Renwan. It should slide off your tongue.”
“Renwan. Easy and it slides right off the tongue, exactly like you.”
“That’s what you say.” Hands slide into my hair and pull my head back until our gazes lock. His heavy lidded eyes are dark, pupils dilated, and his breath is warm on my lips. “Is this what you want, tease?”
“Oh, yes.”
“Can you pronounce your guards’ names properly then?”
“Yes.”
“Or do you need a … firmer lesson?”
“Hmm. Perhaps a firmer lesson is in order.” My ribs tighten with his words because all I can think or want is his body over mine, pushing inside. He pulls my shirt off and then my shorts. I follow with his.
“How firm of a lesson do you want?”
“As firm as you can give.”
He takes my hand and puts it on his cock. “Is this firm enough?”
“Oh. I think that will do very nicely.” I walk backwards to the bed and he watches as I sit on the edge and scoot my hips forward. Then I hook my finger, beckoning him to me. When he’s close, I spread my legs and he drops down with the intention of licking me. But I have something else in mind.
“No, Sabin. I want you inside. I want to feel you.”
His hands are on the tops of my thighs and I reach for him. “Please. I need you.”
He lifts my hips to move me so he can get on the bed. Then I find myself straddling his hips. I’m dazed by the speediness of his actions.
“I want you on top.” His voice is heavy with desire.
I stop for a second, wondering whether I can be carefree in this position. Being on top is so exposed. Everything is right there for your lover to see, and I don’t know how adept I am. Will I look clumsy and goofy on top? Or will I look sexy like I want to look?
“Stay with me, Serena. Don’t wander away. I want you here, in the moment.”
“Right.”
“Lift up a bit.” When I do, he inserts his tip, and I start to move, but then I stop. “Do what feels right, my love. It’s supposed to be good. Make it work for you.” He lifts his hips a bit, moving in some, and then out some, and I catch his beat, rocking my hips, and then I seat myself all the way. Once the pleasure spikes, I abandon my worry about how I look and get lost in the sensations of what’s happening to my body. And it’s everything that Sabin always is. All my sensitive spots light up, and suddenly I think about not having him in my life. My mind gets trapped in the turmoil of this nightmare. Sensing my distress, he sits up and kisses me.
“Where are you, lost girl? Talk to me.”
“I’m frightened … terrified for you.” My hands clench his hair and I tremble.
“Don’t be. I have the best of the best with me.”
“You’re not immortal. And I don’t want to live without you.”
Lips skim over mine and he moves inside of me. Eyes dark as coal with lashes to match bore into my own and my heart pounds so hard I’m sure he feels it every bit as much as I do. His hips move up and mine react, receiving him. We stay together like this, breathing each other’s air. Everything inside of me is stretched, filled with Sabin, my heart, my soul.
“Don’t leave me. If you do, I’ll splinter.”
“I’ll never leave you. I promise,” he says. His hand takes mine and laces our fingers together. His other hand finds my clit, presses and circles and he says, “Give it to me, Serena. And call my name out when you do. I need to hear my name when you come.”
He brings me to the most delicious orgasm, and I cry out his name as he asked me to, but then I get to watch and hear him catch his own. Gawd, he’s amazing when he comes. The noises he makes, the way his muscles flex, and the little thing he does with his tongue. Afterwards, we sit, still tangled up, resting our foreheads against each other’s.
“I want you this way again and again.”
“Sabin, I meant what I said.” I trace a place on his hip with the tip of my finger.
“I know. And I did, too. I won’t let you splinter. You’re my heart, Serena.”
He won’t … intentionally. At least I believe him. But he can’t control everything like he thinks he can. And I can’t stop this feeling of doom I have.
A cold nose rubs my knee and I see it’s Walter. I chuckle. “See what you did?”
Sabin checks out what I’m looking at and shakes his head. “I see.”
“I wonder how many peepee spots there are. Better get up.”
“Don’t you fucking move one inch. I’m not done with you yet. We’ll get an MSI to clean it up if he made a mess.”
“Did you …?”
“Yes, I had Rafe send for some. I can’t have you burdened by this puppy. This is for your enjoyment, not to be chained down by it. Now where were we?”
Oh, my, this man is insatiable, and I’m not complaining one bit.
Twenty
Sabin
Edge and Verus assure me we won’t go in blind, but for some reason it doesn’t feel that way. I’m of the same mindset that Serena is. Something doesn’t feel right here. We suit up and prepare to depart. Serena’s expression isn’t what I’d like to see right now. I can almost hear her heart battering her ribs and her blood pumping in her veins.
“Come here,” I say, beckoning to her. I pull her aside and explain, �
�All the information they have is good. We’ll be fine. I’ll be back before you know it. Now get one of the men to take you diving to get your mind off us.” She licks her lips and wordlessly nods. Then she practically throws herself at me, coiling her arms around my neck.
“Please listen to your instincts out there. I swear if you don’t make it back here, I’ll …” Bending my head, I lick the tear that drips out of her eye. Then I kiss her.
“I’ll be back, Serena. Be ready for me.”
The Seven stand in a tight formation, with me at the helm, and we depart.
“Verus, what’s our ETA?”
“Thirty-five.”
“Transparency activated everyone. There is no room for error here. We get in. We get out. Do not engage unless it’s necessary and then do so quickly and silently. Try not to wake up their compound. The less action on their part, the easier task on ours. Am I clear?”
A resounding yes echoes back to me. “Edge, Verus, beam an image again to us via MSI so we have the blueprint in our own personal databank. If anyone needs to abort or extract, do so. The plan is to get Judgment Day and get out. Whoever grabs it first, communicate it so we can depart immediately.”
All hands agree and about then, we enter into the planet’s atmosphere.
“This place looks like a bloody firestorm,” Helios remarks.
“It’s a good deterrent. Who would think to come here?” Drey says.
“Truth,” Verus says.
“How far off?” I ask.
“Five,” Edge answers.
“Prepare,” I say.
We clear the atmosphere and it looks like a lava show. “What’s the temperature here?”
“I’m showing two thousand twenty Celsius,” Verus says.
“Hot as hell,” Rafe says.
“So, where are they?” I ask.
“According to our data, should be dead ahead,” Edge says.
We keep moving when a large egg-like structure rises up out of the ground.
“This is interesting,” Rafe comments.
“What are you showing for security?” I ask.
“Nothing.” Verus fiddles with a gadget.
“That can’t be right.” I scowl. “There’s no way they wouldn’t have any security at all. This is a trap.”
Rafe says, “I think so, too.”
“Sabin, your call. What do we do?” Verus asks.
We hover above ground for a few and then I say, “Send in an explorer. We wait for the results.”
Verus does what I say and a little while later we get the results. No one is in there.
“The fuck? Where are they? What do your scanners say?”
“Sec center, do you have a reading on this?” Verus asks.
One of the newbies, Hrennuan, who was left in charge of the sec center, replies, “There are life forms on the planet, but not in the building.”
Rafe growls. “This was planned. They were tipped off.”
“How many?” I ask.
“Get out of there. Now.” He yells.
“Move it and shut it!” I give the order. But we’re almost too late. We high gear it out of there and fifteen minutes into travel time, I ask if everyone’s okay.
I don’t relax until I receive six answers.
“That was way too close for comfort. Verus, make sure we’re not followed.” The words are barely past my lips when out of nowhere, Shaurok ambush us. They go for our suits, because without them in space, we’re all dead.
“Take no chances,” I scream over the melee. The Shaurok come at us, teeth bared, pupils dilating into their irises like red ink spreading on paper as they salivate, ready for a kill. Traveling as fast as we are, it’s hard to land a lethal blow. Weapons slice into them, cutting them to pieces. But it’s not easy as they strike out at us. The fact that there is no gravity here makes it hard to get leverage. We’re unable to use our weapons that fire, because any slight error could result in an accidental casualty of one of The Seven. For a short time, I have my doubts on whether we’ll scrape through this one, but we do. In the end, only a dozen Shaurok aren’t enough to take us down. When the last Shaurok is dead, I look around to see all The Seven intact. Only now do I allow myself to relax a bit.
“Head count,” I say. Everyone calls out their name, except for Andros. He’s present, but doesn’t comment.
“Rafe, check him.”
“No life reading, Sabin.”
“Come again?” I ask as I swallow my panic.
“No life reading. His suit appears to have been compromised.”
“Fucking hell! Verus, how far out?”
“Ten minutes?”
“Can you shorten it?” I ask, knowing full well the answer.
“I can try to program us for a faster speed, but no guarantees.”
“Do it.”
Eight minutes later, we’re back. Andros is unresponsive. We put our MSI on him but have no success, and I have to pronounce him.
Serena is diving with Druh’ahan and doesn’t know yet.
“Everyone, meet in the sec center. We must notify the League immediately.” I’m sick. Literally. The last time we lost anyone was when we invaded the Mastermind’s compound. And now this. Andros was the quiet one, keeping to himself, but always following orders and getting the job done.
Zetere is visibly shaken when I tell him. At the beginning of our conversation, he stands, but plummets into a chair upon hearing about the news.
“This is a truly sad day for The Seven. Sabin, how would you like to handle this? Do you want to tell his family?”
“Yes. I should be the one to tell them and you can tell the Council.”
“Very well. I am sorry for your loss. I know you were with Andros for quite some time. Who will you put in as his replacement?”
I rub my face. This is something far beyond what I can even think about right now. “I don’t know yet. We have the ten new recruits you’ve sent, but I only know three. I will have to see.”
“That’s as well. You need to be comfortable with whoever it is you choose. Your men have to trust them.”
“They will, and until we find one we all agree on, we will remain six. But I must go. I have to inform Andros’ family.”
“Tell the men I am very sorry for everyone’s loss.”
A chair is within my reach, so I pull it toward me and practically fall into it. “Will someone recap for me what happened? I can’t …”
Verus’ voice is scratchy. “No sign of life in the building but some on the planet. By the time Hrennuan tells us to get out, the Shaurok know we’re there. We leave and think we’ve made a clean break, but we don’t. Midway here, they attack. We fend them off, believing we’re good, but during your roll call, Andros doesn’t respond. Rafe finds the integrity of his suit was compromised. Those fuckers got to him and we didn’t even know it.” Verus’ fist crashes onto the countertop where he stands. He’s not the one that normally gets violent. I am.
My body is weary. Weary of the Shaurok. Weary of Judgment Day. And weary of fretting over my men. “Verus, Edge, our path back was clear, correct?”
“Yes,” they both reply.
“Where is Serena?” Verus taps the complink and then says, “She’s not here, nor is Druh’ahan. They must still be diving.”
“Get them back. I’m not entirely comfortable having them out there alone right now.”
“On it.”
A few minutes later, Verus tells me Druh’ahan is not responding to his communication. “Give me their last location. Now!”
Verus sends it to me and I charge out of the house with Rafe on my heels. We’re still suited up and Rafe is hollering something about not going out there alone. I don’t pay any attention to him. I only transcend to the location Verus transmitted to me.
When I arrive underwater, with Rafe by my side, I find Serena and Druh’ahan exploring like two happy kids. Grabbing Druh’ahan, I nearly wrench his body out of the water, yelling at him. It serves no purpose
, because of the underwater distortion, but he gets my message. My thoughts are loud enough for him. Serena’s eyes nearly bug out of her head, and the mask she wears only makes them appear larger. Using my thumb, I indicate she needs to surface.
When we break the water’s surface, she knows something’s wrong. “What happened?”
“We need to get home. Now.”
“Okay. Let me swim to shore.”
“No. Take hold of my neck. You’re coming with me.” As soon as her arms are around me, I transcend.
We get back to the house, and Serena claims she’s dizzy. Of course she would be. “Let me help you.” I get her tank off her back and help her rid herself of her cumbersome equipment. “This stuff is so bulky.”
“Yeah, but I need it to breathe,” she pants.
“You should wear one of our suits. It’s much easier.”
“Maybe you should’ve offered earlier.” She scowls. And she’s right. I should have. “I need to sit.” She finds the closest chair and falls back into it, holding her head.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. What happened?” she asks the floor.
When the words don’t come, my silence expands in the room, filling it with unspoken agony. She looks up and I that’s when she notices my grief.
“God no. Who?” She stands and touches my face.
She’s wet from her dive and she shivers.
My voice cracks as I say his name. “Andros.”
“How?”
When I explain, I also tell her how it didn’t feel right when we got there.
“Sabin, I’m so sorry. I know how important your men and their safety are to you.”
“That’s why I pulled you out of your dive. Just wanted to make sure the Shaurok didn’t follow us back here.”
“No, no. I’m glad you did. I want to be here with you anyway.”
And I’ll admit, having her this close makes me feel more at ease. Not only for her safety, but oddly, it calms me.
“How are the others?” she wants to know.
“About the same. Here’s the thing. I’m trying to work up the courage to notify his family. And I …”
“I’ll be by your side. You won’t be there alone. They understood the risks he was taking.”
The Hart Brothers Series Box Set (Including the bonus book Sabin: A Seven Novel): Freeing Her, Freeing Him, Kestrel, The Fall and Rise of Kade Hart, Sabin: A Seven Novel Page 138
