Hours later, Adrian lay in bed, still unable to quite believe that Charity loved him and had agreed to stay with him. He smiled as he recalled how he’d wrung that promise from her. His cock jerked as he remembered the wild ride Charity had given him while they were in the bathtub. He’d had no idea bathing could be quite so pleasurable. He wanted to find a large shower to try out at some point.
“You’re still awake.” Charity’s sleepy voice made his balls pull up tight to his body. This woman only had to speak and he was instantly hard and ready. He rolled, taking her flat to the mattress with him looming over her. “You’re also insatiable.”
“You have a problem with that?” He nibbled on the curve of her neck, working his way up to her ear. He’d discovered just how sensitive the delicate lobes were earlier. He swirled his tongue around the whorl and was rewarded with a moan.
“No.” Her voice was breathy and he could feel her aroused nipples poking him in the chest.
“Good.” He started to kiss her, then paused. “It’s not going to be easy.”
She tensed beneath him. “What’s not going to be easy?”
“Building a new world on the remains of the old. There will be dangers and problems in the days ahead.”
Charity wrapped her arms around him. “As long as we’re together, nothing else matters.”
Adrian closed his eyes as everything inside him settled. They could get through anything together. He leaned down to kiss her and paused. He cocked his head to one side and listened.
Lowering his head down to her ear, he whispered softly. “Someone is coming through the tunnels.” He eased off her, drawing her with him. He reached for his knife, even as he shoved Charity behind him. She dragged the sheet with her, wrapping it around her body.
Uncaring of his nakedness, he pushed her behind a heavy dresser. “Stay here.” He could sense her unwillingness to hide while he fought. “Please,” he added.
She grabbed his hair on either side of his head and pulled him down to her. “Be careful.” She kissed him hard on the lips and then pushed him away.
He didn’t tell her he’d do whatever it took to protect her, even if that meant his life. Taking a minute, he pulled the blankets up, shoving some of the pillows beneath them. It wasn’t much, but it would hopefully fool whoever was sneaking up the secret staircase. Only an Alpha, with superior vision, would know immediately that it was a ruse.
Keeping to the shadows, he flowed to the other side of the room, flattening himself against the wall just as a portion of it began to move. He’d known the secret passage was there. The only other people who knew about it were Tienan and Logan. And, of course, the original owner of the house.
Smithson Piedmont had eluded capture. Either he’d made it to the outer city or he’d hidden somewhere. Piedmont was smart, he was also a survivor. Adrian had discussed it with Tienan and Logan, and they believed Piedmont had a secret hideaway somewhere in the tunnels. They’d been searching nonstop but hadn’t discovered it yet.
A dark shape appeared in the entranceway. Adrian could smell his fear, along with the odor of sweat and his distinctive cologne. Obviously, the man hadn’t showered in days as the scent of his cologne still clung to his skin.
He waited, wanting to see what Smithson Piedmont would do. Like the General, this was another man who’d haunted his dreams all his life. Piedmont had created Adrian and the rest of the Alphas in his lab. He’d tested them, supervised their training. And it was Piedmont who’d culled him and others from the group and scheduled them for termination.
Piedmont raised his hand and Adrian could see the outline of a gun. He crept deeper into the room, his weapon trained on the bed. He fired two rapid shots, neither of them loud as the weapon had a silencing device. Unlike the weapons carried by most members of the Resistance, the General, Piedmont and the members of the Ruling Council had the best technology available. The pillows and mattress muffled the sound and the sheets rippled before settling back down on the bed.
Adrian sensed Piedmont relax as he strode to the closet. The man passed right in front of Adrian and didn’t even sense him. Piedmont opened the door of the closet and began rummaging around. A panel slid away, revealing a secret room behind it.
It was time for Adrian to make his move. His senses had already picked up two other intruders, but these ones were on his side. He could almost feel Charity’s fear and it ate at him. He knew it wasn’t for herself but for him.
He prowled forward, not making a sound. He wrapped one arm around Piedmont’s neck and grabbed the gun hand with his free hand.
Piedmont shouted and began to struggle. A light flicked on and Tienan was there with Logan beside him. Tienan plucked the gun from Piedmont’s hand and tossed it to Logan, who caught it and leveled it at the man.
The acrid stench of fear surrounded Piedmont as Adrian shoved him toward Tienan. Knowing Logan and Tienan would watch their prisoner, he turned to the secret room. Piles of files were stacked everywhere, along with boxes that contained who knew what.
“Adrian.” Charity’s scream had him whirling around. A tall, muscular man came through the tunnel. His hair was cropped short to his head and he wore a black jumpsuit. There was no expression on his face.
Adrian looked closer, narrowing his gaze as the man moved. He caught a flash of metal as the man raised his hands. Not a man, but a machine, built to resemble a man. This had to be the prototype of the new breed of super soldier that the Piedmont Corporation had been developing. Tienan and Logan had told him about it. Thankfully, he wasn’t holding a weapon. Not that it mattered. He was the weapon.
“Attack them,” Piedmont yelled. “Save me.”
Tienan released Piedmont and whirled him around, punching him hard. Piedmont crumpled to the floor. The three of them ranged out around the machine. “Any thoughts?” Adrian asked.
Logan fired at the machine, hitting him in strategic spots. One in the head, two in the chest and one in the groin. Three of the shots ricocheted off the metal body. “Shit,” Logan yelled as he dodged one of the bouncing bullets.
Adrian worked his way around to the rear of the machine and drove his knife into the back of its neck. Air whooshed next to his face as he barely avoided being hit by a roundhouse kick. The android was fast and flexible.
Rolling to one side, Adrian gained his feet swiftly. Tienan lashed out at the machine, kicking it. The super soldier fell back a step but kept coming.
Adrian’s mind was firing on all circuits. He had to find a way to stop this creature. Right now, he wished he had a sledgehammer. He’d take that metal man down a notch or two. An idea came to him in a flash. “Get him into the bathroom,” Adrian ordered.
As Logan and Tienan worked to herd the metal man toward the bathroom, doing their best to avoid the creature’s powerful arms and legs as it struck out at them, Adrian raced to the dresser. He yanked open the lower drawer and pulled out two explosive devices. He didn’t pause to look at Charity as he hurried back in time to watch Logan go flying. This machine was incredibly strong. It wouldn’t stop until either it was destroyed or all of them were dead.
Charity had to be protected at all costs. Adrian roared and raced at the machine, ramming his shoulder into its body and prayed the explosives wouldn’t go off yet. Pain ripped through him as he hit solid metal. He shoved the pain aside. He’d had years of practice doing just that.
Tienan slipped beneath the robot’s arm and pushed. The creature fell back.
“Harder.” Sweat dripped down Adrian’s face as he set the timers on the explosive. They had ten seconds to do this. Giving it everything he had, he kicked out, striking the machine in the stomach. It fell back, caught its legs on the edge of the tub and it tipped over, landing hard against the porcelain. Adrian dropped the two explosives into the tub with the robot. “Run!”
Tienan tore through the d
oor just ahead of him. Both of them jumped. Tienan hit the floor and rolled behind the bed. Adrian landed by the dresser, pulling Charity to the ground and covering her with his body. He had no idea where Logan was and really didn’t care about Piedmont.
The explosion rocked the foundation of the building. Shards of wood and brick blew through the room. Plaster exploded and dust filled the air. Several pieces of flying debris hit Adrian in the back. He grunted as a particularly heavy section landed on him. He glanced behind him and saw what looked like a metal arm roll beneath the bed.
Tienan coughed. “Everyone okay?”
Adrian lifted his body off Charity. “Are you okay?” He lifted her into his arms, swiping at the dust and dirt with his hand, stopping only when he realized he was making it worse.
“I’m fine.” She waved her hand in front of her face. “What about you?” She ran her hand over his shoulders and down his body.
Behind him, he could hear the other men moving about. “Casualties?”
“Only Piedmont,” Logan replied. “He took a piece of wood through his chest. He’s dead.”
Adrian stood and helped Charity to her feet. “What about the machine?”
Tienan made his way to the bathroom door. “In about a hundred pieces.” He turned away. “You’re going to need a new bathtub.”
Charity began to laugh. She sat down on what was left of the bed, stared at the three of them and laughed until tears rolled down her cheeks. The door burst open and Derrick rushed in, followed by an entire squadron of Resistance fighters.
Adrian turned and started issuing orders. “Piedmont is dead. His robotic soldier is in pieces in the bathroom. Make sure every last piece is gathered for destruction. This place has a wood-burning furnace in the basement. Let’s put it to work.”
Derrick nodded and set the men to the task of cleanup.
Adrian turned back to Charity, who had her face buried in her hands. He crouched in front of her and carefully peeled her hands away so he could see her. Tears were still running down her face but she was chuckling as well.
“Charity?”
She raised her gaze and stared at him. “You realize you’re stark naked, don’t you?”
He’d honestly forgotten. With the fight and the aftermath he hadn’t given any thought to his attire, or lack of it. He felt a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. He rubbed his hand over his jaw to try to hide it.
“Starting a new fashion trend, are you?” Tienan tossed a pair of pants at him. “Fighting in the buff. Would certainly throw off the opposition.”
Logan snickered and Adrian couldn’t hold it back any longer. He burst into laughter. The adrenaline of the fight was still racing through his body and he could think of a very pleasurable way to take care of it. He hauled on the pants, buttoned them and reached for Charity. Gathering her into his arms, he headed for the open doorway.
The door was askew and would need to be fixed before it would close again. Thankfully most of the explosion had been contained to the bedroom, a testament to the construction of the older building and the thickness of the metal in the cast-iron bathtub.
“You’re in charge, Derrick. I’ll be getting cleaned up down the hall.” He strode down the corridor and found an empty room. He went straight into the bathroom, grinning when he saw the large shower stall.
“It’s time to get cleaned up.”
Charity pulled his head toward her. “It certainly is.” She kissed him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, hugging him tight. “I love you,” she whispered when she broke away.
He knew what she was thinking even though she never spoke the words aloud. “I’m okay. You’re okay. And so is everyone else. That’s all that matters.” He dropped a hard kiss on her lips. “I love you, sweet Charity. Now and always.”
Adrian knew they had a long road ahead of them. Rebuilding an entire society would take time and a hell of a lot of hard work. Tienan and Logan and their women would help, each of them using their skills to their best advantage. He also knew that with Charity by his side there wasn’t anything he couldn’t do.
He was looking forward to the challenge.
He walked into the shower stall with her still in her arms. It was a very long time later when he finally carried her to bed.
* * * * *
To purchase and read more books by N.J. Walters, please visit her website at
http://njwalters.com/books.html.
Look for EMBRACING SILENCE,
the first book in the Project Alpha series,
available now from N.J. Walters
and Carina Press.
Available now from Carina Press and N.J. Walters
A violent wasteland becomes the backdrop for two assassins who arouse in each other much more than fear and suspicion
Read on for a sneak preview of EMBRACING SILENCE, the first book in New York Times bestselling author N.J. Walters’s PROJECT ALPHA series
Chapter One
Earth 2133
Fog blanketed the outer city, wrapping it in dampness and filtering out what little light managed to penetrate from the moon and stars that hung in the night sky. The air was thick with the stench of garbage and human waste.
It was a perfect night for hunting.
Anyone with any sense at all was inside, tucked away in whatever dubious shelter they could find. In a lawless land, even the criminals and killers weren’t out on such a night. It was just too dangerous.
Tienan waited in the shadow of a burned-out building, the bricks darkened with soot, dirt and age. Motionless. Nothing, not a twitch or a sound, betrayed his position. He could stay like this for hours. And would, until he found out who was following him.
A man in his position couldn’t be too careful.
Tienan was an Alpha. Alpha One to be exact. He’d been bred to be an unstoppable fighting machine. And he was damn good at his job. Thanks to genetic enhancements, his senses were more acute than a regular person’s, his reflexes faster, his body stronger. The microcomputer that was part of his brain allowed him to learn at an incredible speed, to calculate the odds and make the right decision in any situation.
In short, he was the perfect killer—intelligent, adaptable, ruthless and strong. But there was one tiny problem his creators—the scientists at the Piedmont Corporation—and the members of the Ruling Council hadn’t counted on.
He was an Alpha. That meant he didn’t take orders from anyone.
In a world divided and constantly at war, that made him a dangerous liability. One to be destroyed no matter the cost. That might have been his fate if not for the help of one of the scientists who worked for the Piedmont Corporation.
Kathryn Piedmont. Just the thought of her made his heart skip a beat. She’d shown him kindness, treated him like a human being for the first time in his entire thirty years. She’d risked her life to save both him and his friend Logan, aka Alpha Two, from termination.
But Kathryn was gone from this world. He and Logan were alone in their fight against the injustice that existed. Wars, natural disasters and disease had transformed the planet more than a hundred years ago. When the dust settled, the world was divided into two sections. The rich and privileged lived inside the Gate, the high-tech shield that safeguarded the enclosed city from contamination from the outside. Climate-controlled and almost impenetrable, the Gate protected the ruling class who lived inside its safe confines. Everyone else resided outside in poverty, filth, disease and lawlessness.
That had to change.
It was a daunting task, but one Tienan was determined to accomplish or die trying. There was nothing else for him.
He had no home. He’d been hatched in a lab and raised under the tutelage of scientists whose goal was to make him strong and impervious to pain. He’d breathed recycled air and hadn’t been
outside the confines of the Piedmont Corporation labs until his first mission at sixteen.
The contrast between the sterile, pristine world he knew and the one outside the Gate had been startling. The air had been thick and hard to breathe until his body adjusted. Occasionally, smog coated the outer city, making the air quality even worse, burning his lungs and irritating his eyes until he’d become acclimated to it. The sights and sounds and colors had almost overwhelmed him. But he’d done the job he’d been sent to do and returned back to the lab. He’d been too young, and too well trained to do anything different.
That changed as he grew older and began to work and train with Logan. He’d known other Alphas existed, but he’d never had any contact with them until the moment he’d met his new sparring partner. Their handlers liked to keep them separate, except when they were training. And even then their contact was carefully controlled.
A muscle twitched near the corner of his mouth as he remembered their first meeting. He and Logan were a study in contrasts. Although they were both six foot two, the similarity ended there. Logan had short blond hair, a muscular build and a craggy face. Tienan had seen himself in a mirror enough times to know his body was leaner, his face more aesthetically pleasing, his hair longer and darker.
But the real difference was in their eyes. Tienan’s eyes were green, his expression flat and dead. Logan’s eyes were a vivid blue and filled with emotion. Logan might be schooled at not showing his feelings, but they were there for all to see. If one cared to look.
Tienan might not officially have any family, but Logan was his brother. Over the years they’d sweated and bled together. Then they’d escaped together.
They’d split up for safety’s sake when they returned to the world outside the Gate, meeting at a prearranged site every few days to check in. The security force that policed the inner city and beyond would be searching for them. Their orders simple: destroy at any cost.
The security force was led by General Caruthers, the coldest, most ruthless son of a bitch Tienan had ever known. Known for his brutal ways and iron fist, the General, as he was called by one and all, was a man to be feared. He didn’t take losing lightly. They had struck a blow to the man’s reputation by escaping a secure facility and getting beyond the Gate to the outer city. Nobody crossed the General and lived.
Alpha’s Revenge Page 14
