by Anna Hackett
Lia walked her fingers down his chest and looked up at him from under her eyelashes. “I’ll suck your cock, sir.”
He swore, his body jerking.
Lia wanted to giggle, but managed to stay in character. “I’ll get on my knees and suck you, lick you. I’ll let you come in my mouth.” She sank to her knees in front of him.
Finn moved fast, flicking open the front of his flight suit. His cock sprang free.
Lia made a humming sound. She’d never given much thought to what a man’s cock looked like before, but she thought Finn’s was gorgeous.
“Go on then, sweetheart.” His voice was guttural. “Wrap your lips around it.”
She reached out and licked the dark, swollen head of his cock. She pressed her hands to his strong thighs, her fingers digging in. She pulled back and wrapped one hand around his nice, thick length. She pumped him once. Twice. Then she lowered her mouth down over him.
As soon as she sucked him in, he muttered a few curses, his hand sliding into her hair to cup the back of her head.
“Take me deeper, sweetheart. Take me to the back of your throat.”
His dirty words urged her on. The strain in his voice made the desire in her belly leap. She worked her way down, sucking his cock a few more times, and taking him deeper each time.
“Eyes on my face,” he growled. “Keep watching me, and let me see your pretty eyes.”
Lia looked up. It was so hot watching her reflection in his sunglasses. Seeing the effect she had on him.
Even though she couldn’t see his eyes, she knew he was watching his hard inches disappear past her lips.
“Yes. God, yes.” His hips pushed forward.
She kept taking him with deep pulls. Then he cursed again and yanked her up.
Before she knew what he was doing, he tossed her on the bed. She landed on all fours and looked back over her shoulder. She watched him tear off his glasses and the flight suit, his hands shaking. Then he strode to the bed, his hot gaze on her. In the next moment, his body closed over hers.
Oh, his skin was so hot. She felt his hard cock brush against her bottom, between her legs.
He gave her no warning, just thrust inside her, hard. She cried out.
“This is what happens to naughty girls,” he whispered hotly against her ear.
Yes. God, he filled her up. Lia gripped the sheets, her fingers twisting in the fabric. As he started thrusting inside her, she needed something to anchor herself against the storm of pleasure.
***
Finn hammered inside Lia’s tight, hot body.
Her sexy little noises were driving him out of his mind. His entire focus narrowed down to her and the fiery pleasure arcing between them.
He was going to make her come again. He needed to be the one to draw it from her, and this time, he wanted to hear her cry his name. Jesus, he knew he’d hear those sexy sounds she was making in his darkest dreams for the rest of his life.
His own release was threatening, but he gritted his teeth and held it back by sheer will.
“Take it,” he grunted. “Take me.”
“I am. Please…”
He reached a hand beneath her, sliding over slick skin. He found her clit and caught it between his fingers.
“Yes!” she cried.
He thrummed that little nub. “Come for me, Lia.” She was moving frantically now, and he could feel her muscles gripping his cock. “When you come, you say my fucking name.”
A second later, her back arched, and her body clamped down on his cock. “Finn!”
The sound of his name on her lips made his gut clench, and caused him to fracture. As a blinding rush of electric pleasure hit him, he thrust into her one last time. He felt her shuddering beneath him, and he shouted out her name, the body blow of pleasure dragging him under.
This time, when he collapsed on the bed, he pulled her in close to his chest. He possessively cupped her breast, and tucked his other hand between her legs. He pressed his face against her skin.
Damn. This felt pretty good, too.
Don’t get too close, the voice in his head warned. In this new world, the people you cared for could be gone in an instant, breaking your goddamn heart.
He forced himself to relax. This was just a one-night thing. He wasn’t getting in too deep.
They had tonight…and he was going to enjoy every hour of it, and every inch of Lia.
“Want some ice cream?” he asked.
She rolled just enough to look back at him. “Ice cream?”
“We both need the energy. I’ve got more plans for you. A really long list of them.” He ran a hand over the rounded globes of her ass. “I have this captured-spy fantasy. I’m caught behind enemy lines, and this beautiful enemy agent is sent to interrogate me.” He grinned at her and nipped her ear. “Maybe you can wear your coat and heels again.”
She laughed. He really liked the sound of it, and he realized she didn’t really do it much. But right here, naked in his arms, with his come drying on her inner thighs, the sound coming from her was free, open, and honest.
“All right,” she said. “But I want the ice cream first.”
***
When Finn woke next, he stretched his arms above his head in bed. Damn, he felt good.
Lia had been a fantasy he never knew he’d had come to life. Speaking of Lia… He reached a hand out and patted the sheets beside him. There was no warm, sexy body snuggled up to him in the bed. He’d spent the last few hours either inside her or with her glued to his side. He rolled over, and saw her standing beside the bed.
She was just pulling her coat closed.
“Hey?” He sat up. “Where are you going?”
Her head snapped up. She pushed her tangled hair back, tying it at the base of her neck in a swift, practiced move. “I have a meeting in twenty minutes. I have to go.”
Finn frowned at the disappointment crashing through him. He glanced at the clock. “Damn, I have a meeting, too.”
Lia straightened and tightened her belt. “Well.”
He felt a tiny hint of panic in his gut. “Lia, do you—”
“We had a good night of sex. I think we both needed it. Let’s leave it at that.”
A good night of sex. The way she said it made it sound like the night would have been the same with any warm body. Finn didn’t say anything, instead, working through the surprising anger he felt eating at him. “Right.”
This was what they both wanted. One night. Easy. No strings.
Lia stared at him for a moment, as though waiting for something. “Right.” She headed for the door. With her hand on the handle, she paused.
Finn held his breath. This was what he wanted. He didn’t want to take the crazy risk of getting attached in the middle of this damn alien apocalypse.
But he still waited to see what Lia was going to say.
She gave him a single nod. “See you later.” The door clicked closed behind her.
Finn flopped back on his bed, his jaw working. He could smell her on the sheets.
Fuck this. In a whirl, he leaped up, stripped the sheets off the bed, and tossed them in the washer. Then he jumped in the shower. He had his own meeting to get to.
When Finn strolled into the Command Center, he felt almost back to his normal self.
“Good morning,” General Holmes said.
The other Hawk pilots were already there. Finn nodded at them. They were a pretty tight group, especially the three he was closest friends with—tall, lanky Calvin, with his fast hands and slow drawl. Shorter, more intense Thom, who was nearly as good as Finn in the pilot’s seat. And finally, fun, flirty Maddy, who flew fast and had no filter on her.
Then he saw Lia.
He felt like he’d been hit by an electric shock. Be cool. They were colleagues, not lovers who’d spent the night touching and tasting each other, and whispering dirty things in each other’s ears.
Her face was the same as usual—cool and composed.
Finn clea
red his throat. “What have we got?”
Holmes answered. “I’ve increased the priority on sending a Hawk into the jammed area on the Central Coast. It’s vital we find out what’s going on up there.”
Finn nodded. “Okay.” He looked at his pilots. “I’ll go. Give me half an hour to get my Hawk prepped.”
“Excellent,” Lia said. “I’ll provide drone feed for you as long as I can. Then you’ll be on your own.”
“Got it.”
Finn was happy to have a mission to keep him busy. Soon, he was in his flight suit, busy walking around his Hawk, going through his preflight checks. He was trying not to think about what he’d been doing in this same suit a few hours before. An image of Lia on her knees with her mouth on him flashed into his head.
Hell. He lifted his checklist, going over everything twice. He double-checked the cameras that had been attached to the Hawk to capture the intel on this mysterious area.
“Finn?”
The soft voice had him turning. A slim, pale-skinned woman stood nearby. Her long white hair was pulled back off her face.
“Hi, Selena.” She was their resident alien, although she could almost pass for human except for her pearlescent skin and large green eyes. From the planet of Florum, she’d been kidnapped by the Gizzida, held prisoner, and rescued by Hell Squad.
“I heard you were heading out,” she said. “We wanted to wish you luck.” She nudged the front pocket of her simple green shirt and a small, fluffy head popped out. The black chick looked out and chirped.
Hell. The thing was too darn cute to ignore. “Hey there, Fluffball.” Finn held a hand out and the gyr chick jumped onto his palm. He’d rescued the chick from the aliens. It was originally from Selena’s world and she was caring for it. Its mother had been experimented on by the raptors and turned into a drone killer before being killed.
He stroked the chick’s head with a finger and it nudged him for more.
“He’s been missing you.” Selena gave him a faint smile. “I think he believes you are his mother.”
“Oh no.” With a final pat, Finn handed the chick back to Selena. “You take care of him. And…well, I’m happy to look after him if, you know, you need a break.”
Selena’s smile widened. “Thank you. Safe flying.”
Finn finished his checks and finally, climbed into the cockpit and settled in his seat.
“Starting engines,” he said, touching the controls.
“You’re coming through clearly, Finn.” Lia’s voice echoed through the comm line.
Yes. Harder. More. That same voice had said those things to him, only a couple of hours ago. Finn blew out a breath and gave his head a shake. He needed to focus. His head had to be in the game right now.
All the lights on his screen went green. “Ready for takeoff.”
“Cleared.”
He heard alarms as the overhead hangar doors retracted. He palmed the controls, the moves familiar. He lifted off. His focus narrowed, and his chest lightened. Flying did that to him. He was grateful his parents had supported his passion and nurtured his dream. Now, it was the thing that kept him steady in the chaos.
He plotted his course north into his comp, making sure he skirted well clear of the airport and the alien ship. Hovering above the Enclave, he checked his that illusion system was functioning correctly. Once that was confirmed, he touched the controls, and the Hawk flew forward, picking up speed.
As he flew, he took in the view below. He’d seen the abandoned cars and ruined houses so many times before, that he was a little numb to it now.
But as he headed over the ruins of the Coalition’s capital, he still felt a stab of pain. The burned-out shells of what had once been people’s homes and workplaces, the overgrown parks that kids had once played in, and ahead, the ruined skyscrapers that had housed businesses. All gone.
He moved a little west of the city, flying over the harbor. He glimpsed the ruined Sydney Harbor Bridge, looking just as it had in the sim he’d flown with Lia.
“I’m over North Sydney,” he murmured.
“No alien activity to report,” Lia said.
Finn peered out of the cockpit. He couldn’t see her tiny drone anywhere, but he kind of liked knowing it was there, that she was with him on the mission.
A short while later, he reached the northern edge of the city sprawl. “Okay, Central Coast ahead.”
“Finn, the jamming zone is coming up.”
He flicked a switch. “Cameras on. Nothing out of the ordinary to report.” He saw trees, former towns, hills, and the twists and turns of the Hawkesbury River. “Once I hit the jamming zone, I’ll do a fifteen-minute run, and then come back in range. If I’m not back before then—”
“I’ll send a team to find you.”
“Roger that. Wish me luck.”
There was a pause. “Be careful, Finn.”
He opened his mouth to answer, but the comm line went dead.
He had entered the jamming zone.
Finn stared ahead at the pretty beach view, the picturesque, popular place where people had come for holidays to escape the city, situated next to the ruins of what had been peoples’ homes. He frowned. “Let’s see what the alien scum are up to.”
Chapter Five
Lia watched the Hawk head northward. She decided to test the jamming range again, and set her drone following the quadcopter.
But a second later, the feed on her screen flickered and turned to static. Frustrated, she pulled the drone back. The image cleared, but the Hawk was gone.
Lia barely resisted tapping her fingers on the table. It was so frustrating to be cut off. Worse was knowing Finn was out there alone.
“I hate when we’re jammed.”
The soft voice came from beside Lia. She looked at Sakura and tried to smile. “It’s even worse when we have our people in the area.”
The tiny woman raised a brow. “Especially when it’s a handsome Hawk pilot that you’re always arguing with.”
Lia scowled at her friend. “Happily married women with cute kids don’t get to comment on handsome Hawk pilots.”
“I’m married, not blind.” Sakura’s face softened. “I’m grateful every day Kevin and our babies are safe with me here. I can’t imagine how lonely it is without someone to love, to hold on to at night.”
Lia felt her smile turn a little brittle. “I’m lucky to have good friends.” She pressed her hand over Sakura’s. “And I don’t need someone hogging my bed at night.”
Looking back at the screen, Lia saw the little timer in the corner ticking off the minutes. Finn had been in the jamming area for nine of them.
“Ah, Lia…?”
She glanced at Sakura again. “Yes?”
With a wide grin, the other drone operator waved at Lia’s neck.
Frowning, Lia touched her skin. It was tender.
“It looks like someone bit you.” Sakura was doing a poor job of choking back a laugh.
Lia felt heat flood her cheeks, and she looked resolutely back at the screen. “It’s nothing.”
Eleven minutes. Come on, Finn.
Lia tapped her nails on the table now. Every second that ticked past felt like an hour. As the fifteen-minute mark approached, she redirected her drone, waiting to pick up the Hawk’s incoming signal and image.
14:58. 14:59. 15:00.
She stared at the empty blue sky. Her gut clenched. Nothing.
“Finn, do you copy?”
The silence grated along her already-raw nerves.
“Finn. Are you there?” She swallowed and touched her screen. “Elle?”
“I’m here, Lia.”
“Finn has exceeded his time in the mission zone. He should’ve been back by now.”
“Hell Squad is on standby. Do you want me to activate them?”
Where was he? Lia stared at the screen, willing the Hawk to appear. She wasn’t sure if she should send Hell Squad out yet or not.
“Elle, I think—”
The Hawk appeared on the screen. Smoke was pouring from behind it. She gasped.
“Lia.” Finn’s strained voice. “I have five pteros coming in behind me. I repeat, five pteros.”
Oh, God. “I see them.” She saw the distinctive alien ships zooming in, not far behind the Hawk.
“I’ve been hit. They have some new kind of heat-seeking missile technology. Damn thing picked up my Hawk through the illusion. I got the intel on…fuck!”
Lia saw the Hawk pull up hard. Then it dived down just as rapidly.
From behind, she saw poison fire spewing from the pteros, and she easily spotted the missile streaking toward the Hawk.
“My scanners are malfunctioning,” Finn said. “I can’t see the damn missile on my screen.”
Lia tracked it. “I’ve got it. Finn, on my command, hard left.” She watched, heart pounding in her chest. “Now!”
Finn pulled left. The missile flew past him, missing the Hawk by inches. Lia got a good close-up view of it. It was a dark, bulky shape covered in rough scales.
Then she saw that it was coming back around.
“Finn, it’s coming back. Get out of there!”
“Working on it.” His voice was grim.
The Hawk was racing across the sky. Lia spotted a second missile coming from the pteros. “Finn, another one.” She tried to keep her voice calm and controlled. “You have two bearing down on your location.”
There was another flare from the ptero closest to the Hawk.
God. “And a third.” She willed the Hawk to move faster.
“Fuck. Lia…”
Finn was throwing the Hawk into wild evasive maneuvers, but it wasn’t enough. A missile clipped one set of rotors.
The quadcopter jerked violently. It spun in a wild, out-of-control spiral.
“Elle,” Lia said frantically. “Scramble Hell Squad. Finn’s Hawk has been hit. He’s going down.”
“Send me the coordinates.” Elle’s voice was a well of calm. “The guys will bring him home.”
Lia let out a breath and switched comm lines. “Finn?”
There was no answer.
“Finn, do you copy?” Emotion rolled through Lia’s stomach, making her feel sick. “Finn, answer me, goddammit!”
“Lia.”
