by Anna Hackett
As Finn stepped in front of her, Lia hooked her fingers into the loops at the waist of his flight suit. Her pulse was a too-fast drum in her head. The aliens suspected they were down here, and the one thing she knew about the raptors was that they were single-minded, and rarely gave up.
They were approaching the hotel building, when she heard noises from down toward the harbor. Finn stopped, and Lia almost rammed into the back of him. They both turned their heads to look toward the sound.
“Shit. A ptero’s landing.” Finn’s voice was sharp.
Lia could see the ship now. The ptero was setting down on a patch of grass at the end of the street.
She cocked her head and then she heard it. The guttural grunts of the raptor language. Her heart kicked into high gear. “Raptors! They’re coming.” She looked around. “We need to hide.”
“Somewhere where they won’t find us.” Finn was looking down the darkened street, and then arched his head to look upward. “Up there.” He pointed toward the hotel roof. “We’ll climb up the balconies.”
Together they hurried over to the lowest balcony. Finn grabbed her around the waist and boosted her up. Lia wasted no time pulling herself up and over the railing.
Below her, Finn climbed up with easy, lithe moves that she wished she had the time to appreciate. But she could hear another noise now—boots stomping on concrete.
“They’re coming,” she whispered. “Quick!”
Lia climbed on top of the railing, Finn steadying her. She reached up and grabbed the railings above and started pulling herself up. They repeated the process, pulling themselves up onto the third and final balcony.
“They’re here!” Finn pulled her down, his arms wrapping around her.
They didn’t have time to climb onto the roof. He pulled her back until they were buried in the dark shadows.
Her breathing coming in harsh pants, Lia watched the street. She saw the raptors turn a corner and appear below.
Their huge forms were just big, hulking silhouettes. They were talking to each other in harsh, guttural sounds. A couple of them had portable lights that they were shining down the street, inspecting the shadows.
Lia held her breath. She felt Finn’s fingers stroke her arm. Comforting. But the wet from the clothes and the cold night was getting to her. She shivered.
It felt like forever, but the raptors finally moved on and turned a corner.
The air shuddered out of her. “What if they find the Hawk?”
“Then it’ll be a long walk home.”
A laugh threatened, bubbling in her throat. “How can you be making jokes right now?”
His teeth flashed in the darkness. “How can you be laughing at them?” He touched her hair. “There’s nothing we can do about the Hawk. Hopefully, they won’t find it.”
They waited a little longer, and by now, Lia was really feeling the cold. Her teeth were chattering and shivers wracked her.
Finally, they heard the raptors head back toward the ptero. When she saw the ship take off, she let out a shaky breath.
“Let’s get you inside.” Finn stood, eying the French door behind them.
He used his flashlight to break the glass, before reaching inside and opening it. They cautiously stepped over the threshold.
In the moonlight coming through the windows, Lia could see that it had been a restaurant. It looked untouched. The glossy wooden tables were still set with cutlery, glasses, and plates.
They passed through the room, and Finn led the way into a hall. It was lined with numbered doors. The hotel rooms.
Since there were no windows, Finn flicked on his flashlight. “We’ll find a room and bunker down for a while. You can dry off and we’ll rest until it’s safe to leave.”
He led them to the end of the hall and stopped in front of a set of double doors.
“Here we go.” He winked at her. “Presidential suite.”
“Only the best, huh?”
It took him a second to bust through the lock, and then they were inside. Finn flicked off his flashlight and hurried over to the windows. Outside, Lia saw a wide balcony, and in the distance, the lights of several pteros whizzing through the night sky. Finn pulled the thick curtains closed. They’d block any light, so anyone looking from outside wouldn’t spot them.
Then he turned and flicked his light back on. There was a huge bed, still made and topped with a lovely black-and-gold bedspread.
“We should barricade the door,” she said.
He nodded, and together, they dragged a desk and two heavy armchairs in front of the door.
Lia dropped onto the bed. Now that she felt safe, the tiredness and cold crashed in on her.
Finn ducked into the bathroom and came back with a thick, white towel. “Let’s get you out of that wet flight suit.” He set the towel down beside her. It smelled slightly musty, but it looked clean.
Lia robotically stripped off her flight suit, leaving only her panties and bra on. She lay the suit over the back of a chair to dry. She swiped herself with the towel, her skin covered in goose bumps. Finn appeared, holding out a thick, fluffy robe for her.
She slipped it on.
Finn moved over to rummage around in a cabinet. He spun and held something in the air. “Aha. Peanuts, chocolates, and potato chips.”
She managed a smile. “All the important food groups.” He came over and sat on the bed beside her. Then he reached over, and touched something on the bedside table. A warm light filled the room. She saw that it was a small lamp shaped like a candle.
“A gourmet picnic in bed,” he said. “Don’t say I can’t be romantic.”
Lia decided to start with the chocolates. The smooth flavor hit her tongue, and she groaned. “Oh, God, these are salted caramel. My sister was addicted to the stuff.”
Finn popped a chip in his mouth. “You said she was your twin. You were close.”
Lia nodded. “Twins have a special bond. From the time we were little we drove our mother crazy. We’d climb into bed together, get into trouble together, impersonate each other. But we’d gone our separate ways as we got older. She lived with my mother.”
Finn was staring at her. “I hear a story there.”
“I’m sure you don’t want to hear it—”
He grabbed her hand. “Sure I do.”
She sucked in a breath. “My sister was agoraphobic.”
His brow creased. “Fear of the outdoors.”
Lia nodded. “It developed in her teens. It started with panic attacks and worsened. She hadn’t been outside of the house for years.”
“That must have been tough.”
Tough didn’t begin to touch it. “And my mother suffered from depression. She wasn’t always sick, but every few years it would get bad. She wouldn’t be able to get out of bed, do the shopping…”
“And it fell to you to help them.”
“I did what I could, but it never seemed enough. I wanted to help them get better and most of the time that left me feeling helpless. Too much time with them was…suffocating.” As always, the feeling of guilt and failure washed over her.
“And you felt guilty about that.”
“I loved them, Finn, but I loved getting on a plane and soaring into the clouds. Being with them day in and day out was hard.”
“That sounds pretty normal, Lia. You found a balance.”
“I always felt like I should have done more.” She fiddled with the hem of her robe.
“And they both…didn’t survive the invasion?”
She nodded. “The bombing was pretty intense in Dallas, where they lived. I knew the moment Melinda died.”
“I’m sorry.”
“In a way, at least I know and had closure. I can only guess how hard it is for you, not knowing about your family.”
He shot her a sad smile. “At least I have a glimmer of hope.” He wadded up the empty chip packet and shot it over to the wastepaper basket. “You warming up?”
She nodded, looking at him
. He was still in his flight suit, his hair ruffled. Looking at him made a surge of heat run through her. She very clearly remembered what he could do with those hands.
Her attraction to Finn was increasing. And it wasn’t just his lean body and handsome face that drew her. It was also seeing his cool under fire, the way he commanded his aircraft, the way he got the job done—no matter the risk.
She felt like she was spending more time fighting to keep herself away from him. Maybe it would just be easier to give in? Maybe, for once, she could reach out and risk connecting, feeling.
Lia stood and shrugged her shoulders. The robe slipped off and hit the floor.
With a peanut halfway to his mouth, Finn froze.
“I’m not quite warm enough,” she said.
“Oh?”
She walked over and slid onto his lap, her knees straddling him. “I think you should share some body heat with me.”
***
Finn ran his hands up Lia’s sides. Over smooth skin, and the dips and curves of her. Blood was pumping thickly through his system.
“What happened to ‘we can’t do this again?’” He slid his hand up her flat belly and then cupped her breast. Touching her eroded every shred of his control. “What happened to not getting attached?”
“I changed my mind.” As he tweaked her nipple, she gasped, thrusting into his hand. “I think we’re already kind of attached.”
He pulled her closer, his lips a breath away from hers. “No games this time. It isn’t the captain and the new recruit, or the naughty girl in need of punishment. This time, it’s Finn and Lia.”
He scraped his fingers down her belly, watching as her breath hitched.
“Okay,” she murmured.
Something like elation moved through him. “It means when you come, when I’m inside you, you call out my name.”
She shifted, shimmying against him. “Yes.”
“Say it.”
“What?”
“Say, ‘Yes, Finn, I’ll scream your name when I come.’”
Her eyes locked with his and she licked her lips. “Yes, Finn, I’ll scream your name when I come.”
He moved, setting her down on the bed. A pounding, driving need to have her sprung to life inside him. This connection between them was growing, feeding something inside him, filling something that had been empty a long time. He needed more. He needed all of her.
He stood beside the bed and quickly stripped off his flight suit. She was kneeling on the covers now, watching every one of his moves. As soon as he was naked, she edged forward, her small hand gripping his cock.
Finn felt the tendons in his neck stretch. She pumped him, her fingers smoothing over the head.
If he let her touch him like this, he’d never last.
He pushed her back and climbed on the bed beside her. He lay down, resting his head on the pillows. He stared up at her. “Come here.”
She crawled over to him, her red hair spilling around her shoulders.
Beauty in the darkness. For so long, Finn had looked at the darkness and seen the bad. The shadows hid aliens, their creatures, and death.
But looking at Lia now, he realized the darkness could hold something else, as well.
“I want to taste you.” He grabbed her hips and pulled her over his face, her knees straddling his head.
She gasped, gripping onto the headboard behind him.
Finn put his mouth on her. She gasped again, and soon it turned to husky cries. She was writhing above him as he licked and sucked her. Hell, his cock was harder than it had ever been. He kept drinking in the taste of her, wanting to see, hear, and feel her shatter apart.
Suddenly, she jerked, shifting away from him. He growled, rearing up and reaching for her.
She spun, straddling his body, but now she was facing his feet. She leaned down, and sucked his cock into her mouth.
God. Sensation slammed into him. As she worked him into her mouth and throat, he moved up and started licking her again. Soon, he was stabbing his tongue inside her.
Then he felt her body go tense. She lifted her head. “Finn!”
She started coming. God, the sounds she made.
Finn flipped her, watching the emotions on her face. He needed to see them. “Look at me,” he demanded.
She did, her eyes glittering, her lips parted.
Finn covered her body with his and slowly slid inside her.
She arched into him. “Finn.”
“You feel so good, Lia.” She was heated warmth that made him groan. She was his. He started thrusting. Her legs moved to wrap around his hips.
“Take me,” he growled.
“I am.” Her nails bit into his back.
“All of me.”
“All of you,” she echoed.
When her second orgasm hit, she screamed his name, just as she’d promised. Finn felt his own release hit him with the power of a supersonic engine. He gripped her tightly and shouted her name.
Chapter Ten
When Lia woke, she felt so warm and toasty. She made a little humming sound of pleasure, and snuggled in the bed. She blinked, realizing it was a man’s big body curled around her that was keeping her so warm. Finn.
She kept her eyes closed and just enjoyed the feeling. It’d been so long since she’d had this closeness with somebody. Worry spiked, and she trembled…what if she lost it again? What if she lost him?
Warm lips nipped at her ear. “Stop worrying.”
“What, are you a mind reader?”
He slid one hand down her body, curling it around her hip. He nudged her forward and she felt the brush of his cock behind her. Wordlessly, he slid inside.
She let out a small moan. So good. His fingers dug into her hip as he started powering into her—slow, steady, and firm. She felt his hand slide forward to the juncture of her thighs, and his thumb found her clit.
Oh, God. In this moment, it was just the two of them, and it was perfect.
It didn’t take long for her climax to happen. She felt it curl into a tight ball deep inside her, then she exploded. As she was coming down, she felt Finn shudder against her, groaning his own release.
He pressed a kiss to her shoulder. “It’s been a couple of hours. Last time I checked, there were no pteros in the sky. We should get going.”
She turned to face him. “You didn’t sleep?”
He reached out and touched her face, his finger tracing along her cheekbone. “I had to watch over you.”
God. Her throat went tight. No one had worried about her wellbeing for a really long time. Even before the invasion, she’d been the one looking after her mother and sister—sorting out finances, organizing doctor appointments, listening patiently, and drying tears.
From the beginning, she’d been afraid Finn would slip into the protected spaces she hid inside. But he wasn’t just slipping in, he was powering into them and smashing them to smithereens.
He leaned forward and kissed her. “Time to get dressed.”
Lia’s flight suit was still damp, but it was wearable. As she pulled it on and fastened it, she watched Finn get dressed. He pulled the black fabric over his long, lean legs, over his ripped abs and muscled arms…and she was mesmerized.
He shot her a smile and held out a hand. She didn’t hesitate to put hers in his.
They quickly made their way through the hotel. At the end of the hall, Finn found some stairs and they headed down. They’d gone down two flights, when Lia saw something leaning against the wall. She peered closer, then jerked back in shock.
“God.” It was a dead body.
Finn blocked her view. He pulled her close, pressing her face against his chest. “Don’t look.”
She nodded. She didn’t want to think about that poor person and whatever had happened to them.
Finn pulled her onward. Soon, they stepped into the small hotel lobby. It was still and silent, a giant, dusty chandelier hanging in the center of the space. It felt creepier than an old horror movie. She h
alf expected a masked serial killer with a chainsaw to jump out at them. At the entrance, they paused, looking out through the glass doors.
“Looks clear,” Finn murmured.
They jogged toward the shipyards, to where they’d hidden the Hawk. In the distance, where the vibrant city center had once sat, there was only darkness. All light and life now gone. Her fingers flexed in Finn’s hand and his hold tightened on her. There she felt the warmth and life of him.
They reached the large warehouse and crept inside. Finn turned on his flashlight, and they quickly made their way over to where they’d hidden the Hawk. Together, they pulled the canvas off and climbed inside the quadcopter.
Finn started the preflight checks. Lia touched the controls and opened a comm line to the Enclave.
“Enclave? Elle? Anyone there?”
“Lia, thank God.” Elle’s relieved voice came through clearly. “Are you guys okay?”
“We’re okay. We’re heading your way now.”
“There was a lot of alien activity over the city earlier, but it’s quieted down now.”
Finn nodded. “Hey, Elle. We had to lay low for a while. My plan is to head west again. See you soon.”
In minutes, the Hawk lifted off. Finn’s face was a mask of concentration, as he maneuvered the Hawk carefully out of the shipyard building. As they moved out into the open, Lia felt all her muscles tensing. She glanced around, searching for any waiting pteros or raptors.
“The illusion system is up and functioning,” Finn said.
She nodded. “I don’t think I’ll feel better until we are safely back at the Enclave.”
They gained altitude, and Finn followed the water as it moved westward.
“I don’t know how you do this every day.” She turned to look at him. “Go out and put yourself in danger.”
The dim glow of the lights from the console highlighted his face and his faint smile. “I do it because it’s the right thing to do. Because I couldn’t sit back at the Enclave, knowing I have skills that could be useful. I want the Gizzida gone.” He stared straight ahead, his face serious. “I’d like to know what happened to my family.”
“You think they’re still alive?”
