by Anna Hackett
“Through here.” Shaw tugged her out through a set of glass doors and down a set of steps.
They paused, and when she got a look at the view, her breath caught. “God, it’s beautiful.”
Below the main building was a small, man-made lake. Around it, the rest of the resort spread out—cabins, conference buildings, a golf-course—now all overgrown.
But that wasn’t what was beautiful. It was the magnificent view.
The sun was setting and the resort was situated perfectly to look over a deep valley. On either side, mountains rose up, covered in trees. The valley had a deep-blue tinge in the distance, which she knew had given the Blue Mountains their name.
“Come on.” Shaw led her along a winding path, parts of it overgrown by bushes. He stopped at one of the separate cabins. The cabin was wood, with the same A-frame design as the lobby. The entire resort had a low-key mountain design, but it was obvious to see it had never been rustic. She guessed it had been a place for the wealthy to spend their weekends.
They entered the cabin, and when she eyed the king-sized bed, she smiled. A real bed. God, it had been so long since she could spread out in a bed. Her bunk at the base had been tiny, and now none of them had real beds.
“Hello,” a feminine voice called out from behind them. “Did someone order a home visit from their friendly neighborhood doctor?”
Shaw and Claudia turned and watched Doc Emerson jog up the steps. Selena followed behind her.
“You’re chirpy,” Claudia said.
“Have you seen the size of the beds in this place?” Emerson waggled her eyebrows. “Once I’ve finished my doctoring, I’m planning to tear Gabe’s clothes off and play in our bed all night long.”
Shaw made a gagging sound. “Okay, my cue to leave.” He caught Claudia’s gaze. “I’ll be back soon.”
She nodded, watched him leave, then looked at her new friend. “How are you doing?”
Selena nodded, her silver-white hair brushing her shoulders. “Fine.” She smiled. “Actually, great. It’s nice to be off the med bus. The sun on your planet…” She closed her eyes, and a look of pleasure crossed her face.
If Claudia had to guess, it was the look she had on her own face when she had Shaw naked in front of her.
Selena’s large eyes opened. “Our sun is much farther from our planet.”
Claudia looked more closely at the other woman and saw she really was…glowing. And her skin was taking on a more tanned tint.
“Selena’s been allowing me to run a few tests on her,” Emerson said. “It’s fascinating. Her species can actually absorb energy from sunlight.”
Claudia’s eyebrows rose. “So the sun here is like…”
“Like she’s plugging into a battery,” Emerson finished with a grin.
Selena smiled. “I’m feeling very good.” Then her smile dimmed. “But I am very, very far from my home.”
Claudia’s gut clenched. And they had no capability to get her back there. Claudia didn’t think hitching a ride on a raptor ship was an option. She touched Selena’s slender arm. “You have friends here.”
A small nod. “Thank you, Claudia. Without you, the Gizzida would have killed me by now.”
“Any idea why they kidnapped you?”
“Your general has asked me the same question.” She pulled a face. “Many times. I have no idea. I am no one special or important on my world.”
“Come on.” The doc nudged Claudia toward a dust-covered armchair. “I need to check you out. I’ve already run some extra scans on Selena, but haven’t found any evidence of a tracker.” Emerson pulled out a scanner. “So, I hear you had one embedded under the skin?”
Claudia nodded. “Shaw cut it out. How come you didn’t find it?”
“Raptor tech is tricky. Most of it is organic in nature, so it doesn’t always show up on our scans.” The scanner beeped and Emerson studied the results before resetting it again and running it down Claudia’s legs. “So…you did the dirty with our sexy, charming sniper.”
Claudia ran her tongue over her teeth. “Yep.”
The doc grabbed some things from her bag and started wiping the dried blood off Claudia’s hip. “And you’ve fallen in love with him.”
Claudia went still. She eyed Selena, who was watching her with interest.
“From the way you spoke about him, I’d guessed you felt something for him,” Selena said quietly.
Emerson patted Claudia on the shoulder. “Funny, you know, that you’ve always been the one giving the men, and us, little snippets of relationship advice…but you look like I just whacked you over the head with a bat.” The doctor squeezed some sort of med glue into the cut on Claudia’s hip.
“I…God, Emerson…he’s never committed to a woman. He likes women, all women.”
“He did. He’s always been honest about that. But the way he looks at you…you must know it’s different.”
“I want it to be.” She closed her eyes. “Hell.”
Emerson pressed a clean adhesive over the cut. “Not so easy being the one receiving the advice, is it?”
“Are you finished yet?”
“Yes.” Emerson’s scanner let out another small beep. “I’ve run the deepest scans I can. I cannot pick up any other foreign devices or anomalies, but…”
“That doesn’t mean there aren’t any.”
The doc packed her things away. “I’m pretty sure there aren’t.”
“I could be putting everyone in the convoy in danger.”
“We’re already in danger, Claudia. The raptors know our general location. All we can do is focus on getting to the Enclave.”
Claudia nodded, but she wasn’t convinced.
Claudia walked Emerson and Selena out. She stood in the doorway and watched the alien woman walking with the human doctor. At first glance, Selena passed for human. But Claudia worried about her…how would it feel to be so far from home in the middle of a warzone?
As she watched, two flashes of color flew through the air. Two rainbow lorikeets fluttered in the air, one coming to land on Selena’s arm.
The woman laughed, clearly delighted by the pretty birds. Claudia frowned. She’d never seen wild birds do that before. Maybe these had been pets here at the resort?
As Selena stroked the bird’s feathers, Claudia closed the door and hit the shower. She had to wash the tiles off first as the shower was coated in dust and dirt, but soon the water—blessed hot water—was pounding over her head. She washed the muck of the day away and enjoyed the quiet spray of the shower.
She found a towel in the cupboard in the bathroom, a little dusty but mostly clean, and dried off. Her thoughts turned to the Huntsman.
He wasn’t going to stop.
He was relentless. Driven.
He wanted the convoy, yes, but most of all, she knew he wanted her.
She stared at her reflection in the steam-misted mirror. Her dark hair was loose, falling around her shoulders. Why the hell did the alien want her so badly?
But she knew there was no way she’d let him get the people in this convoy. The men in her squad. Shaw.
Claudia headed out into the bedroom. The front door opened at the same moment, and Shaw stepped inside.
They both froze, staring at each other.
He’d showered somewhere, his hair damp so the gold glints looked darker. A well-worn T-shirt clung to his muscled chest, and she could just see the ink of his tattoo on his left shoulder peeking out under the sleeve. Jeans hung low on his hips.
“I brought you some clothes.” He held up the cargo trousers and shirt he held in his hand. Then he tossed them onto a chair. “I’m really hoping you won’t put them on.”
“Oh.” She felt heat fire in her blood. She gripped the edges of the towel, pulling them open a little. “But all I have to wear is this.”
Shaw’s gaze was instantly glued to the small patch of skin she’d bared. “I guess you can’t wear that, either.”
“I guess not.” This wa
s kind of fun. Claudia couldn’t remember the last time she’d had fun with a man. She dropped the towel.
Shaw groaned deep in his throat, then he was striding across the room.
She watched him come, wanted him to come. She wanted the heat and life of him surrounding her, inside her. Shaw Baird made her feel alive in a way she’d never felt before.
He lifted her and then slammed her back against the wall. She made her own needy sound, sliding her hands into his hair and clamping her legs around his waist.
When their mouths clashed, it was all heat, tongue against tongue, and the sharp nip of teeth.
God, she’d never get enough of him. She drank in his taste, her tongue sliding along his.
“You should be naked all the time.” His mouth traveled along her jaw, down the side of her neck. When he bit her, she arched into him, his hard, denim-covered cock pressed firmly against the juncture of her thighs.
She moaned. “Might not be a good idea on a mission.”
Shaw nipped her again. “No one else gets to see you naked, Frost. They do, I’ll take them down.”
“Bossy.” She shoved at him and he staggered back a few steps, his hands sliding under her ass. “We aren’t doing it against the wall when we have that glorious bed to make use of.”
“Your wish—” he fell back on the mattress “—is my command.”
She snorted. “You never follow orders that easily.” She settled on top of him, straddling his hips. She reached down and yanked his T-shirt up. He rose up a little, his abs flexing, to help her pull it over his head.
“I do when the payoff for me is worth it.” He grinned.
For a second, she was caught by the playful smile. It lit up his handsome face, made him look almost boyish.
But he wasn’t a boy. He was a man hardened by war and by the alien invasion, and a hell of a sniper. She knew it took courage and conviction to stare down the scope at the face of the person you were about to kill. To absolutely understand the reasons you were doing it and know that a death meant protecting the lives of so many others.
He was also a man who’d maintained his ability to smile, to have fun, to make others laugh. Even in the face of an alien apocalypse. Hell, she’d lost that ability long before the aliens had come. Hardening herself against letting people get too close. She’d worked damn hard to piece her heart and her life back together after her failed marriage and the miscarriage. But dammit, she knew she still focused on those scars too much.
But the man lying beneath her, all smooth skin over hard muscle, that playful but hungry glint in his eyes…he was teaching her to just let go and enjoy.
In this moment, she wasn’t going to worry about aliens and the Huntsman, or even all the people outside who depended on them.
Right now, it was only the two of them, locked together in their own private space, and she sure as hell was going to enjoy him.
Claudia scooted back, tugging open his jeans. “You have a mighty fine body, Baird.”
He reached up and cupped one of her breasts. “Funny, I was thinking the same thing about you.”
Together, they shoved his jeans down and he kicked them off. Then he was laid out beneath her, naked, aroused and all hers.
She leaned down, running her hands along his sides, her mouth pressing to his pec. “Mmm.” She nipped at his tanned skin, then licked his nipple.
He made a sound, shifting beneath her.
She moved up to his shoulder, tracing his sexy tattoo with her tongue. It consisted of bold, black lines weaving in a pattern. “I’ve always liked this.”
He groaned. “I got it after my first mission as team sniper.”
She paused. The first time he’d killed with his sniper rifle. Other women probably saw it and thought how sexy it was. But she understood what it stood for. She pressed a slow kiss to the center of it.
His hand reached up and tangled in her hair.
She traveled down his long, lean body, taking her time. She scraped her teeth over the hard ridges of his flat stomach. He jerked under her touch.
She dragged her tongue around his navel, along the hard ridge of muscle near his hip bone.
“You’re a mean tease,” he said on a groan.
Then she moved back a little more, resting on his hard thighs. “You aren’t going to think that in a minute.”
She took his hard, long cock in her hand. As she pumped her hand along it, his groan was deep and loud. She loved the strong and soft feel of him.
Now she wanted to taste him.
She dropped down and sucked him into her mouth.
He made a strangled sound and thrust his hips up. His large cock bumped against the back of her throat, but she gripped his hips, and sucked harder. She spent all her days with men—rough, hard men. She knew however hard you were with them, they could always take more.
Claudia sucked and swallowed, loving the feel and taste of him. Even more, she loved the small curses he made and the way his hand kept touching her hair. She knew he wanted to grab her, direct her, but he just rested his palm on the back of her head.
Suddenly, he growled and reared up. He grabbed her hips and pulled her lower body around toward him. He swung her around until she was above him on all fours.
“Keep going.” His voice was so deep and harsh, she could barely make out his words.
His fingers ran between her legs, brushing her clit and her slick lips. She cried out.
“Yeah, I’m going to have a little fun, too.” His hands circled her thighs, pulling them wider, then his mouth was on her.
Oh…God. As he licked and sucked on her, pleasure was like a backfire explosion through her body. He was being as hard and rough as she was.
She ducked back down and sucked the wide head of his cock back into her mouth.
It was almost like their sparring in the gym, attacking each other, fighting for supremacy—but this time the attack was sensual and the end result would be pleasure for both of them.
Claudia fought to keep herself from coming. The man had a very talented tongue, but she refused to give up. She wanted to hear him shout her name as he came. She felt his cock throbbing, his thighs tensing. He was close.
“Enough.” He moved again and the world spun as he grabbed her.
Claudia found herself tossed on her back, and before she could move, Shaw’s big body was covering hers.
He gripped one of her thighs, pushing it high, knee to her chest. She was wide open for him, and he grabbed his cock. He rubbed it between her legs, making her squirm.
“Like that, my badass girl?”
“Yes,” she hissed.
“You’ll like this more.” He pushed inside her with one firm thrust.
Claudia let her head fall back against the soft bed. Oh, she was so full.
“No, keep looking at me.” His chest pressed to hers, his face close. He pushed one hand down on the bed beside her head.
His eyes blazed, his face taut with need. Then he started moving, his thrusts gathering pace.
“That all you’ve got, Shaw?” she breathed. “Harder. More.”
He did as she asked. They held onto each other, and soon, she felt her orgasm coming closer. Shaw’s thrusts lost their rhythm as he hammered into her.
Then they both came together, crying out each other’s names.
Chapter Fifteen
Shaw lazily dragged his fingers over Claudia’s naked body. He’d barely gotten his breath back, but he wanted—who was he kidding?—he needed to keep touching her.
She wasn’t soft, but she still had curves; they were just toned, filled with a strength he found irresistible. He liked knowing she gave as good as she got—on the battlefield, in the gym, and in bed. Hell, he was pretty sure his back was covered in scratches, and maybe a few bruises. He smiled. Life was good.
“What are you smiling about?” she murmured. She was lying there like some harem slave girl, without a hint of self-consciousness.
“I finally have you in a
bed,” he answered.
Her smile was lazy. “Do you even know what to do in a bed?”
He pulled a mock scary face. “Didn’t I just prove that? You aren’t going to make a quickie joke, are you? If you do, I’ll make you pay.”
She stretched her arms above her head. “I’d be a little hypocritical to be questioning your stamina now.” She stretched a bit more. “But I do like how you take your payback.”
He walked his fingers along her lean thigh. “And there are lots and lots of things I’d like to do to you.” His fingers delved between her legs. He liked the sound she made. “And in this big, comfy bed, I could really, really take my time.”
She gripped his wrist. “We both know we only have tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll be back on the road.”
He saw the crease of worry appear on her brow. He moved his hands, cupping her shoulders. “We’ll get to the Enclave.”
She nodded. “What if I have another tracker? Shaw, I can’t put everyone at risk—”
“The tracker is gone.” He sat up, scowling at her. “I’ve already told you, you aren’t going anywhere.”
“He won’t stop. He’ll keep coming.”
The fucking Huntsman. Shaw was going to enjoy taking the alien down. “And we don’t stop, either. Hell Squad never gives up.”
“The rest of the squad, they all have women to protect now. Hell, Cruz has kids, too—Bryony and the baby coming. I couldn’t stand to know they got hurt because of me.”
Shaw pulled her into his arms, her back pressed to his chest. He held on tight. “Not going to happen.”
“I couldn’t live with it if he hurt you.”
Shaw pressed his face to her hair. “Frost, you know I’m tougher than that. One crazy alien is not going to best me. And he certainly isn’t going to take my woman.”
She tilted her head up, a brow arched. “Your woman?”
Shaw tightened his hold. “Yes. You got a problem with that?”
She was quiet for so long, he felt his muscles tensing up.
“No. I guess I don’t. But you go caveman on me, Shaw, and I’ll hit you over the head with a rock. Or beat you up myself.”
