by Anna Hackett
Nope. She didn’t feel any calmer. She’d thought, just for a second, Niko was different. That he respected her abilities.
Without letting herself think, she stalked down the corridor to her new apartment. She moved inside, barely taking note of the pretty, pale-green walls and the big double bed—both of which were far nicer than the bare concrete walls and narrow bunk she’d had at Blue Mountain Base. She continued right into her adjoining bathroom, savagely controlling her thoughts. She flicked the shower on and pulled the rest of her gear off. When she stepped under the hot spray of water, she tried to stop the thoughts from coming.
But as the water poured down over her, she finally let her shoulders sag.
Damn the man. She’d liked him. And by not trusting her judgment and doing his bit of chest beating, he’d hurt her.
She’d known this would happen. That’s why she’d tried to stay well clear of him in the first place. She couldn’t afford to be the soft, pretty plaything men seemed to like. She wasn’t that woman and she never would be. If he didn’t like that, that was too bad.
When she felt a slight stinging in her eyes, she turned her face up to the water. No way. Suck it up, Mac. She was going to put Niko Ivanov and their brief flirtation behind her.
She was going to do what she did best. Her job.
***
“You really put your foot in it yesterday.”
Niko looked up from his sketchbook and leaned back in his chair. Cam McNabb was standing in front of him, a short skirt showing off her long, long legs, her hands on her hips.
If he sketched her, he’d make her an Amazonian warrior, spear in hand.
He looked back down at his sketchbook. He was sitting in the main dining room, doing some simple charcoal work. Everyone had finished breakfast, and he liked the feeling of space in the large room. It was something he often missed, living underground.
He didn’t need Cam to tell him that he’d screwed up. He knew, and he was mad at his own idiocy.
“I know.” It was a gruff rumble.
He’d let the unfamiliar and new feelings of fear and concern for a woman cloud his judgment. He knew Mac was good at her job, and that she didn’t need him telling her what to do.
She didn’t really need him at all, and maybe that was the problem.
Cam sighed and dropped into the chair beside him. “You want a chance with Mac?”
He looked up at the other woman. He nodded.
“Well, you fucked up. Big time.”
The sense of finality in her words made his heart stutter.
“But…she does look at you differently,” Cam continued.
He lifted his gaze and kept it steady.
Cam smiled, but it wasn’t nice. “Well, at least she did. She’s never paid any attention to men, but when you aren’t watching, she watches you.”
Really? So far, Niko felt like he’d been doing all the chasing, and not getting very far.
Cam’s gaze narrowed. “Don’t look so pleased with yourself. She’ll have all her defenses up now. And that woman has a hell of a defensive network. You’ll really have to sweet-talk her.”
Sweet-talk tough, no-nonsense Mackenna?
Cam crossed her legs. “She’s one of the best damn soldiers I’ve ever worked with. Whatever the challenge, she wades right in and gives it everything she’s got. She’s tough. She’s loyal. And she’s determined. But she never lets herself just enjoy. That woman is always switched on.”
“I think her off switch is rusty.” That was exactly what Niko noticed. He could see how much she’d been enjoying the different foods at the party, but she’d been hiding her reaction from everybody. She had the same look on her face whether she was in carbon fiber, climbing into a Hawk, or attending a party. Like she never truly relaxed.
Cam laughed for a second before her face turned serious again. “Her father sounded like a tough bastard. Never spoiled her, just treated her like another son. Her mom died young, so she didn’t really have a feminine influence in her life. She told me she never got to have any nice things.”
“She likes good food. I think she has a sweet tooth.”
Cam gave him a considering look. “Good eyes, artist man. Now be smart.”
As Cam sauntered away, Niko turned the page in his sketchbook. He stopped on a page showing a sketch he’d done of Mackenna in her armor. He traced a finger down the paper, then he tore it out and folded it in two. He was a good strategist. He was sure he could come up with a plan for wooing the woman.
He glanced at his watch. He had a Command Center meeting in ten minutes to hear an update on the drone they’d recovered.
He tucked his sketchbook under his arm, made a short detour past the kitchen, and then went on to Mackenna’s room. He slipped the sketch under her door and tied his other gift to the door handle. Then he walked quickly to the Command Center.
When he pushed open the door, he saw the others were already there. Mackenna was standing beside Roth. She glanced his way, but looked right through him.
Chyort, that hurt. And he had no one to blame but himself.
When Noah saw he’d arrived, the tech man tapped a keyboard. “Now we’re all here.” Images of the damaged drone filled the screens. “I’ll share what we’ve got so far. The drone was virtually destroyed. Something attacked it and tore it open, and parts of it were also melted.”
“Raptor poison?” someone asked.
Noah shook his head. “The lab is still running tests. It isn’t the same as the raptor poison we usually encounter, but they also can’t rule out that it is some other sort of raptor poison.”
Niko blew out a breath. That wasn’t very helpful.
Noah went on. “We really don’t know what happened to the drone. Whether it was deliberately targeted or hit by accident. We managed to get some footage off the drone’s internal memory. There’s not much.”
One screen filled with shaky footage. The drone was moving at a good pace, showing an image of the ground below and a little bit of the sky ahead.
Then something shot past in front of the drone. Too fast to make it out, it was no more than a dark shadow. Niko squinted. What the hell was that?
Then, a second later, something slammed into the drone from above, making it shudder and start a spiral drop toward the ground. The sizzling of something burning through metal could be heard.
From next to Noah, Lia kicked the leg of the desk. She looked pissed.
“Something took it down,” Marcus said in his gravelly voice.
“There’s no way they can detect the drones,” Lia said. “They have illusion systems on them. There’s no way the aliens can see them.”
“Maybe they have new tech?” Noah suggested. “I know we’d prefer that wasn’t the case, but we have to consider it.”
“Maybe they just got lucky,” Lia countered.
Niko scratched the back of his neck. From the unhappy silence and the tension in the room, he knew none of them believed that.
“General?” Niko looked at Adam. “Your suggestions?”
Holmes shook his head. “I don’t see that there is any more we can do right now. We keep a close eye on the drones, and if we have any more incidences…”
The man didn’t need to finish that sentence. Everybody knew the answer.
If the aliens had found a way to take down their drones, they were screwed.
***
Mac found the chocolates tied to the handle of her door.
She untied them and opened the packet. She breathed deep and, not letting herself think too hard about it, popped one in her mouth. The flavor of fresh raspberries and dark chocolate exploded against her tongue.
She pushed open her door and ate another chocolate. They were exquisite, and she was going to eat them, but she wasn’t softening. She knew exactly who’d left the little peace offering on her door.
She wasn’t interested.
She spotted the folded paper on the floor. She picked it up, tempted to look at
it. Instead, she dropped it on her table.
It took a couple of minutes to change into her training gear and grab her gym bag. Before she walked out, she stopped. She stalked back to the table and opened the paper.
She’d expected a note. Instead, an image of herself looked up at her. She stared at it for a long moment, then dropped it back on the table. Damn you, Niko.
She headed toward the gym. She had a date with two hot guys, and she planned to take out her frustration on them.
On the way, she spotted a group of kids huddled together in the corridor. She recognized a few of the children from Blue Mountain Base, and was pleased to see them making friends and laughing. Just being kids.
“Hey. What’s happening?” She stopped beside them.
“We’re trading cards,” a boy told her with a grin. He held up a card.
It was a perfect picture of Roth looking tough and badass.
“You have others?” she asked.
All the kids pushed forward to show her. She saw Cam, Taylor, Sienna…all looking like the strong, brave soldiers they were. Her throat tightened. “Where do you get them?”
“Niko makes them.” A pretty girl smiled. “Aren’t they cool? I want to be on Squad Nine when I’m bigger.”
“They are very cool.” Mac ran her hand over the girl’s hair. Leaving the kids to it, she kept heading to the gym. And every step of the way, Niko dominated her thoughts.
Gabe and Shaw were waiting for her when she arrived. As she stepped into the gym, she took a second to once again admire the place. Blue Mountain Base’s gym had been pretty basic—a big space with some scavenged weights, treadmills, and mats for sparring.
The gym at the Enclave had been specially designed, and equipped with the best. High-tech equipment lined the back wall that was covered in mirrors. The top-of-the-line free weights were off to the other side. And in the center was the sparring area, with a few private sparring rooms off the side. There was also a squash court, basketball court, and the indoor pool.
She started across the mats toward the two men waiting for her. Big, intimidating Gabe and long, lanky Shaw. Doc Emerson and Claudia Frost were two lucky ladies.
Best of all, as far as Mac could tell, both these men didn’t just respect the abilities of their women, they supported them as they did their jobs.
Mac dumped her bag and started stretching her neck and arms. “I’m looking forward to our session today, gents.”
Shaw groaned. “That means you’re in a bad mood and you’re going to take it out on us.”
Mac shot him a little smile. “You’re pretty smart for a sniper.” She sank into her fight position.
Across from her, the men did the same. Game on.
They’d sparred together plenty of times. Both of them tested Mac in different ways. Gabe was big and strong. Incredibly strong. She’d heard whispers that he’d been in some top-secret Army super-soldier project before the invasion. She didn’t doubt it for a second.
Shaw was smart and sneaky. As a sniper, hand-to-hand combat wasn’t his specialty, but he was good and he was fast. The biggest thing he had going for him was the fact that he could read his opponent very well. A few times, he’d anticipated her moves and tossed her onto the mat.
Mac rushed at Gabe and launched into a series of attacks. He blocked them and got in a few bone-jarring hits of his own. Mac managed to flip Shaw twice before he got mad and found his rhythm. But for the most part, she got in more than her fair share of hits. She tried not to feel guilty about taking her frustration with a very different man out on these two soldiers.
She tossed Shaw over her shoulder and he landed flat on his back on the mats with a groan.
“I’m waving the white flag, Carides,” he panted. “Damn, you are mean.”
Mac circled around Gabe, and the man matched her movements, watching her steadily with his gray eyes.
He lunged in a few times, but Mac didn’t fall for the bluffs. She watched him, cataloging every little shift of his feet, and waited to see any sort of tell on his face.
There. The slightest shift of his eyes. As he moved in, she dodged around, got in a good chop to his thigh. When he stumbled, she grabbed his arm, swiveled, and they went down.
Gabe hit the mat with a heavy thud, and Mac landed beside him with her knee pressed to his chest.
He gave one short nod. Coming from Gabe, that was pretty high praise.
Shaw gave another groan. “I’m out of here. I’m gonna let my woman put my pride back together.”
Gabe snorted. “You know she’s going to tease you.”
Shaw grinned. “Probably, but then she’ll get me naked, so it’ll be worth it.”
Mac stood and started stretching. “Go. I don’t want to hear the details of your sex life.”
Shaw waggled his eyebrows. “If you have anything to share, I’d like to hear it. But as far as I know, you don’t have a sex life.”
“And if I did, it would be none of your business, Baird.”
He held his hands up in mock surrender. “I’m not sure any man’s brave enough to get close to you. You’d just toss him on his head.”
Shaw’s words stung. She shrugged a shoulder. The one man who she’d thought she wanted close…well, she wouldn’t mind the chance to toss him on his head.
Gabe and Shaw left with casual waves. Mac still felt an edgy tension running through her body. Maybe she should run it off on the treadmill.
That’s when she glimpsed a movement out of the corner of her eye. She saw Niko emerge from a shadowed corner of the gym.
Chapter Six
Had he been there the whole time? Mac was angry with herself for not noticing him. That kind of lapse could get her killed in the field. “You’re good at hiding.”
“Old skills.” He walked closer with that easy, loose-hipped stride, paint streaks on his shirt.
She hated that her pulse leaped at the sight of him. But more curiously, she heard the dark undertone to his words. Old skills apparently also came with old scars.
“I got the chocolates,” she said.
He came closer. “Did you like them?”
“Sure.”
He moved his hand, holding out a pretty flower with creamy-white petals. “I’m sorry, Mackenna.”
Stay strong. She didn’t say anything. She hadn’t expected the outright and honest-sounding apology.
“Seeing you out there…I know how good you are, but I had this visceral reaction to watching you in action, in danger.”
Mac turned away and gave him her back. He came up behind her, his body brushing hers.
“I don’t want to see you hurt.” He stroked his hand and the flower down her arm. “I don’t want to see this body hurt. I haven’t even had the chance to touch it yet.”
She felt herself melting, wavering. She wasn’t going to do this.
She turned and aimed a fist at his stomach.
He moved faster than she thought possible and blocked her, catching her fist in his palm.
Her gaze narrowed. She tried another strike. He blocked that one, too.
This time Mac launched a full-on assault. Kicks, hits, blows. She drove him back across the mat. Every move she made, he blocked with a skill and expertise that stole her breath.
Just what the hell had he done before the invasion?
Testing him, she pulled out some of her best moves backed by all her strength. Hit to the stomach. Chop to the arm. Kick to his side.
He blocked every move. And never once made an offensive move back.
“I’m not going to fight you, Mackenna.”
She aimed a kick at his chest. He gripped her ankle, stopping her foot an inch from hitting him. He held her there, her leg extended up.
“What if I want you to fight me?” Her blood was surging.
He released her. “No.”
“You think I can’t protect myself?” She punched out and he knocked her hand away. “You think I’m not a good soldier?” This time she got a go
od kick to his gut before he dodged her foot. “You think I can’t handle whatever it is you’ve got?”
Angry now, she launched herself at him. She landed against his chest, wrapping her legs around him. They spun in an ungainly circle. She leaped off, and while he was unbalanced, she gripped his arm and flipped him over her shoulder.
He went down, but before she could pin him to the mats, he jumped up without using his hands. A brilliant display of strength and speed.
“I know you’re good,” he said, his face serious. “I didn’t mean to make you doubt that.”
“I don’t doubt it,” she bit off. “But I don’t play with men who don’t respect me.”
She attacked him again. But before her foot connected, she saw something change in his face.
His patience snapped.
He launched back at her. He grabbed her around the waist, lifted her, and slammed her down onto the mat.
The air rushed out of her lungs, and she lay there, shocked, for a second. She rolled and jumped to her feet. He backed her across the mats and she struck back a few times—hit, kick, block.
Mac’s breath hitched and she had to put everything she had into warding him off. Next thing she knew, he grabbed her, and flipped her onto the mat.
She landed flat on her back. She was trying to roll away when the next thing she knew, he was lowering his body over hers.
Mac blinked. No one, not Roth, not Gabe, not Shaw, none of the soldiers she trained with, had ever pinned her to the mats.
“I respect your fucking abilities. Didn’t you see the drawing I left you?”
He’d made her look strong but feminine. She wasn’t sure how she felt about it. “Yes. And I saw some of your trading cards.”
He smiled. “You liked them.”
“I didn’t see one for me.”
His smile widened. “That one belongs to me.”
Mac shook her head. “Niko, you could have your pick of women around here. I’ve seen the way they watch you.”
“I’ve never wanted any of them the way I want you.”
“You and I make no sense. I’m a soldier, you’re a leader.”