9781618854704HolidayGemBeckNC

by Paloma Beck

  Gemma refused to stop drinking. She rode the edge of pleasure as he began to rock his hips faster again. This time it felt different.

  Seamus demanded, “This is it, Gemma. This time you will come.” He took hold of her hips in a tight grip that had her core aching.

  Her legs trembled. She couldn’t catch her breath as she licked at his wrist, taking only small droplets of blood now. She was full and her thirst sated but damn if she’d let this be over until she had her orgasm. Angling her pelvis down caused his cock to rub directly on her clit. It took just once with this motion. Gemma let go of Seamus’ wrist.

  She screamed out his name, “Seamus, Goddess, yes,” pausing only a moment to suck in air, “Yes, please don’t stop.”

  The orgasm caused her powers to rise up and mix with the emotions rolling off Seamus as he emptied himself inside her. He’d also found release as she had. A sense of wonder washed through her body and heated her blood further. The burning sensation licked over her nipples and her clit as if he were actually touching them instead of continuing his thrusts into her. Goddess, she was on the verge of another orgasm. Or perhaps it was still the same one? Gemma pushed back into Seamus’ thrusts, let go and gave herself completely to her mate.

  As he lowered them both to the bed and cuddled her into his side, she was amazed Seamus would be everything she would ever need. It was amazing to experience such a bond she’d only read about until now. Nothing in all her research could’ve prepared her for how powerful this feeling of connection was.

  “I love you, Seamus. It’s crazy to know it so soon, but I do.” Gemma used her bond to speak. She couldn’t yet give voice to the words. When she felt his smile against her shoulder, she warmed.

  “And I, you,” Seamus kissed her bare shoulder and pulled her closer. “Now sleep. I have it on good account that you did not sleep much while I was away.”

  Chapter Seven

  Leaving Gemma behind this time had been more difficult. That had mostly to do with the fact that this mission was dangerous; but he held onto the knowledge that even as he prepared to go into a potential battle, both of their parents were arriving at the Sinster home to be with Gemma. They planned to spend the holiday there and Gemma was preparing the house. Since she’d planned to be away for the next few weeks, decorating and shopping would keep her busy. And both sets of parents would keep her safe. Seamus was aware Gemma had her own powers but he also understood that the Acclimation period was when her powers would be at their weakest. Thankfully, Gemma knew this as well and she didn’t argue the parents’ visit.

  They took the boat to the shore in total darkness. All TEU agents were rendezvousing in the old harbor of Salivoli where they had pre-established surveillance from the rescue mission a few months back. It was crazy to Seamus that theses idiots would maintain a base operation from so close by where they’d been discovered not long ago. Madden believed it was the perfect cover. Who would think they’d still be here?

  A black mangy dog stretched from the shadows and meandered over to the boat. It took a few minutes to sniff the men and then turned its attention to Seamus. In low growls, the mutt told Seamus clearly he didn’t like him.

  “Shut the damn dog up,” Lucas scowled over his shoulder at Seamus.

  “Come on, boy.” Seamus leaned down to pet the dog but his movement only served to set him off more. He began barking earnestly now. Anyone coming by would be alerted to the group by a stray mutt Seamus couldn’t keep quiet. Fuck, what was wrong with this thing?

  Gage came over, squatted down near Seamus and with a few snaps of his fingers, the mutt went right to him. Gage rubbed his belly and patted his head. He leaned down to whisper something to the dog before it trotted off on its way.

  “That’s how you do it, Seam,” Gage grinned as he stood up again, proud that he’d been able to do what Seamus was incapable of.

  Leaving the dog behind, they made a slow approach on foot after securing the boat and preparing it for a quick getaway should it be needed. Then Seamus led the way into the small sleepy town from their northwest location. This put them at the back of the area they suspected to find Donovan, and with luck also Nassir.

  Every building looked the same, built in an era long ago past. If not for the evilness surrounding it, the town would be a quaint place to live. Unfortunately, TEU would be taking out a few of these buildings. The CIA sent orders that had authorized TEU to extinguish all involved parties in order to maintain the secrecy of the Valendite Breed existence. Seamus wasn’t surprised by the authorization. The US government had nothing to gain from their exposure either. As it stood, they had a personal arsenal in the Valendite Breeds that would end if discovered.

  Madden explained the CIA was willing to order a strike had it not been that they needed to recue Donovan. What were a few innocent casualties when you could take out the terrorist they’d been tracking for years and still hadn’t taken out? Never before had they come up against someone so difficult.

  It was quiet as they made their way down the cobblestone streets. There was not a single person in sight. Silently, the team moved down the alley along the building they believed most likely to house Nassir and his group. Entering, one by one, the men moved into what looked like a storage room of a pharmacy. They waited to hear Caedon over their comm devices. No one spoke a single word as the men waited instruction.

  After a few minutes of setting a perimeter barrier, Caedon’s voice came across the links. “Okay. Here’s what we’ve got. Just as we mapped earlier, we’ll move in two teams. Heat sensors indicate at least a dozen people on the ground level. The basement holds another dozen. As far as we can tell, there is no secondary exit. Cocky bastards hadn’t worried about an attack. Three objectives here. Get Van out, eliminate anything that breathes and gather any intel on site.”

  Madden interjected, “Right, now on my count, we take everyone out. Team A follows me left. Lucas will lead team B around to the front. Watch for Van and when you get eyes on him, let everyone know the location. We don’t need to harm one of our own.” Madden counted off on his hand, “One. Two. Three.” Each man did exactly as instructed and moved as if completely synchronized.

  Within seconds, gun blasts were going off toward where the other team disappeared. Seamus knocked in each door as they came to it. It was a series of medical rooms. He found syringes, test tubes and shit he couldn’t even identify. No people were in any of the rooms though so they continued down the hall. Every room garnered the same result. He’d give the all clear and move on to the next.

  At the final door, Gage held up a hand in signal that he’d heard something. Pointing to himself and his gun, Gage took position along the left hand sidewall and nodded. Seamus opted for a straightforward approach and kicked open the door. It wasn’t like a bullet could take them out. It would take more like a full out explosion to bring a Valendite Breed down. The door splintered off its hinges and dropped while Seamus sprung against the wall to his right. Gage fired four shots.

  “And that wasn’t even with my favorite gun,” Gage grinned and nodded to Lucas.

  And fuck if he hadn’t just taken out all four men in the room with those four shots. That boy was a genius with his guns. Gage’s preferred kills happened long-range. He was usually their high-top sniper; but today he sported his new toy, the MK23.

  Lucas and Seamus stomped into the room where the men lay dead to confirm they weren’t breathing. The room was a bunkroom with four beds. They’d obviously caught the men completely unaware and sleeping.

  “What the hell did you hear?” Seamus asked Gage.

  “One of them was snoring,” Gage shrugged. That boy didn’t get enough recognition for his skills. Always the younger brother, Lucas and Madden seemed to shine brighter than Gage.

  “Four down,” Lucas talked into his comm device.

  “Eight here. That’s all of them for this level,” Madden’s voice came through his earpiece.

  “There’s some rooms over here Caedon mig
ht be interested in.”

  “I’ll send him your way.”

  As they relayed information to Madden’s team, they moved to meet at the only entrance into the basement. This would be more difficult. By now, the downstairs residents had to know they were here. A few taps on the door told Seamus is was solid steel. It reminded him of the one in the warehouse where Caedon’s parents had been held.

  “It’s solid,” Seamus told Madden.

  “Blow it.” Madden’s response was short and curt. It was an order.

  Without wasting any time, Seamus set about applying the explosive putty as Madden and Lucas briefed the others. “We’ll assume they have Donovan held somewhere out of the way so we should be able to make our way down with limited risk. We’ll take out whoever we come up against until we secure a better location at the bottom of the stairs. Then we’ll move into our two teams and clear the floor.”

  “Ready,” Seamus spoke as he backed away from the door. The explosive had been developed to disintegrate the metal. It was muted by specially designed putty to minimize the sound, but the blast would still throw off fucking fierce heat. Not even a Valendite Breed wanted to mess with that. They all ducked into the other hallway and waited for the blast and smoke to clear.

  They heard the shouting before they could see clearly. One asshole actually came barreling up the stairs. Gage took him out in a single shot, twirling his gun and blowing on like a wise ass.

  Seamus saluted him and began to lead the way down the stairs.

  Lucas held him back. “Get behind me. I’ll be the front man.” Seamus thought it odd since he’d always led. He was a scout on top of being the pilot but there was no time to argue. All he wanted was to get to his friend and get the hell out of this creepy place. Those mini-labs upstairs spooked him.

  “Granger, watch the door for any back-up they might be able to call in. No one lives.”

  “Got it.” Granger took his position at the top of the stairs while the rest followed Lucas down. A man in a white lab coat rounded the corner. Quicker than any mortal eye could’ve seen, Caedon drew his gun and took the man out. Lucas came to the bottom of the stairs and turned into an empty room with Seamus and Gage on his heels.

  “All clear. There’s a hall to the far side. We’ll take the right. Madden has the doors on the left,” Lucas broke out the plan and looked back at Seamus. “When we get to Donovan, assess any injuries. We’ve got Nico on alert about a block over if we need him for medical.”

  “He’ll need blood if he’s sustained injuries.”

  “Nico can do that as well,” Lucas said and when Seamus began to argue, he put his hand on his arm and spoke softly, “Now that you’re mated, you can no longer feed a brother. You know this. It’s how it is supposed to be.”

  Seamus nodded and went in search of his best friend. As opposed to the upstairs, there seemed to be a man in each of these rooms. The rooms were set up with a single cot and a near comatose man. Windows on the doors allowed them to easily look inside and dispatch each one in order. Still there was no sign of Abdul-Nassir.

  Gage marched back up the hall to where the rest of them stood. “It’s clear. No sign of humans left.”

  “Then where the fuck is Donovan?”

  Bangings of metal came from the large room they had walked through. Backtracking, they all searched and found another metal door behind a curtained off area. Again, there was medical equipment and an exam table.

  Seamus pounded on the door three times and received three knocks back. It was Donovan. He was sure of it even without being able to see him. Banging on the door once more to establish that he was going to blow the door out, Seamus set to work putting the explosives in place. Donovan would know to back away. Moving to the other side of the room, Madden, Gage, Seamus and Lucas all watched as the door disintegrated.

  Donovan looked like shit. He was dirty and his clothes were torn, but his eyes were clear. “It’s about time you idiots got here,” he said with a grin. “What took you so long?”

  “If someone hadn’t ditched his GPS, we could’ve gotten to you sooner.”

  “Yea, well, then I wouldn’t have all this information to share,” Donovan tapped his head, “now, would I?”

  “You can tell us about it later,” Seamus said as he noticed Lucas moving around them.

  “Don’t touch her,” Donovan growled.

  “What the fuck?” Seamus couldn’t believe his eyes. Curled up in a tight little ball was a woman. She looked small and frail. “Who is that?”

  “They held her here for me to feed from. They knew and they’re trying to re-create the original vaccine we were given that transformed us.”

  “Shit,” Madden mumbled.

  Lucas drew closer to the woman and kneeled. “She’s barely breathing.”

  “They drugged her but I’ve been monitoring her vitals. She’ll be all right if I can get her some fluids. But the things is, she knows. She saw everything.” Donovan explained.

  “You didn’t,” Lucas’s words caught in his throat, “You didn’t feed from her, did you?”

  “I had no choice. I knew you’d get here and I knew you’d wipe out the complex. If I hadn’t done it, they were going to kill her.”

  “It’s one person. You risked our entire existence for a single human?” Madden’s voice had risen and the woman opened her eyes suddenly with a sharp intake of breath and looked at Lucas.

  “Oh Goddess, no,” Lucas said before he scooped her up and carried the woman from the room.

  “I couldn’t let her die. She’s got the mark of the Magdalena Circle,” Donovan gave the one answer that would make every man in the room understand what he’d done.

  Then in unison, they each watched Lucas stalk out of the room with the woman in his arms cradled as one would hold a child. Lucas spoke to her in a hushed voice. It was clear he was speaking to her in their native tongue.

  Caedon rounded the doorway, “Who does Lucas have?”

  “I have a bad feeling it’s going to be a long story. Let’s clear out. You can tell us about what you found when we get back to the island.” Madden’s control looked like it could snap at any moment. Each of the men noticed, bowed their heads and got the hell out of dodge.

  * * * *

  Gemma jumped and ran from the front porch when Seamus stepped out of the car. She couldn’t wait another moment to touch her mate. The recounting of the mission had terrified her. Despite the fathers’ attempt at keeping quiet, Gemma had caught enough to know they had been up against at least two dozen men. And that those men were trying to recreate the virus which caused their creation to begin with, that they essentially had created a medical facility and that they were well on their way to the discovery.

  “Oh, beautiful,” Seamus’ breath tickled her neck as he hugged her to him and twirled them around. “It feels good to hold you again.”

  She felt incredible to be in his arms again, to feel her mate hold her. Bright and colorful swirls surrounded her as her feelings swamped her. Too busy to control them, she allowed her powers free. She’d been fighting to hold them back, but now, it was clear she’d come into her full powers in the two days he’d been away. They were nearly stronger than her own will.

  “Your powers are incredible,” Seamus’ voice was full of reverence and embarrassed her. She blushed and averted her eyes to the ground.

  She always knew she would gain these powers of the Magdalena Circle but to experience them was simply amazing. Gemma felt like a completely different person. Her mate had changed her irrevocably.

  “Gemma, beautiful, you are an amazing woman. You transformed in these two days.”

  “I know,” Gemma laughed, “Our mothers encouraged me. Mother saw me suppressing them and decided it was time for them to help me. It’s all a bit overwhelming but now I’m glad you’re here with me.”

  “Me too,” Seamus whispered into her ear as he pulled her tight against him again.

  “I missed you terribly this time,” she
admitted aloud.

  “But you had all this company.” With that, Seamus kissed her nose, placed her back down on her feet and moved to shake her father’s hand.

  “Sir,” Seamus nodded as he reached out his hand.

  “Son,” Gemma’s father took his hand and then embraced him in what could only be called an awkward man hug. She shook her head at the absurdity of what she was witnessing.

  Gemma had sensed the parents all come out of the house too, but hadn’t wanted to let go of Seamus yet to include them in their welcome. She wanted him all to herself again. Now that Seamus was wrapped up in both of his parents, Gemma stood with her own parents to give them time and hoped it wouldn’t be too much longer before they could be alone.

  Chiara, her mother, wrapped Gemma in her powers to soothe her. “I know what you need from him and he knows as well,” Chiara paused when Seamus looked at them over his shoulder. “He won’t keep you waiting to nourish you. He’s incapable of allowing you any discomfort that he can prevent.” Her words were reassuring, but it was that comforting cloud her mother used when they were just babies that soothed her most.

  Seamus’ family joined hers after only a few more minutes. Gemma turned to lead everyone inside but her parents’ hands on her shoulders kept her in place. Then she watched in awe as Anthony dropped onto one knee.

  “Che bella donna,” Anthony spoke while he looked up at Gemma. “I welcome you into our family. Seamus has at last found his treasure.”

  Gemma couldn’t speak. She was caught up in such emotion she had never felt before. Anthony took her smaller hands in his much larger ones and kissed first one and then the other. When he rose to his feet again, he drew her hands into Seamus’ and cupped them with his own. “You will have many years together of happiness.”

  “And now with the traditional mating acceptance completed, we have a Pronouncement to plan,” Seamus’ mother, Abigail, added.