“I can’t get a peek on the inside,” Keegan said. “You’re going to have to improvise.”
Devin snickered. “Oh, I love improvising.”
“Wait for the rest of the team, Lyons,” James emphasized, watching Devin and Vince from the command center. “That is an order.”
“Fine,” Devin sighed. “Killjoy.”
“Um, guys? You’ve got a friendly coming your way.” Keegan looked over at Jacob and covered his mic. “James is going to shit.”
Vince watched the hall as Devin impatiently waited for the rest of the team. He scanned the room and his jaw dropped as Derek Jacobs sauntered in like he was shopping for groceries.
“General? Why aren’t you—”
Derek grinned, putting a finger over his lips. Werewolves Hayden and Ross strolled in right behind him in wolf form, followed by Mateo Esposito. Devin had to smile; Hayden Cox and Ross Collins were part of the Oregon pack - and also part of the Maccon line, which meant they were much bigger than normal werewolves. He chuckled inwardly. Normal werewolves. Yeah, whatever that was.
The rest of the team showed up and Locke trailed in behind them, securing the entrance. They all took their positions and Mateo looked over at Derek with a wide smile.
Derek winked. “Fuck it!”
“Derek Bradley Jacobs!”
Devin put his hand to his ear and winced as James’ voiced boomed through the mic.
“Can’t talk right now, babe.” Derek motioned to the other men and held up his fingers. When he got to one, Mateo kicked the door in and they stormed into the room in a barrage of gunfire.
Devin held his Colt in one hand, knife in the other, making quick work of the guards as the women cowered against the walls. The werewolves were patrolling the entrance to the room, making sure no one was coming in behind them. Because of his strength, Seth Ralston – also a werewolf – was throwing guards around like they were rag dolls. Devin noted that even without the werewolf strength, the huge man was still an imposing figure. His attention was caught by two men running through the back door of the room. He whistled loudly and motioned to Vince.
They took after both men, with Locke right behind them. The two men turned at the end of the hall and Devin slid to a stop as a bullet missed him by inches. A bright light lit behind his eyes and Devin grabbed the wall as pain pierced his temple. A gun went off, then a scream. Devin’s blood pumped in his ears and he collapsed on the ground as pain seared behind his eyes.
“Devin!” Locke shouted. His eyes went wide as one of the men aimed his gun at Devin on the ground. He ran and shifted mid-leap, landing on the man and pinning him to the floor. Locke waited for Vince to reach him and take care of his prisoner before moving to stand over Devin on the ground.
“What the fuck!” Vince shouted. “Lyons is down! Lyons is down!”
Keegan’s hand froze on the mic. He looked over at Jacob and Jacob nodded. They both made a run for the building.
“Keegan! Do not move from your position!” James shouted from the command center.
“I have to!” Keegan shouted back.
“Vince! Goddammit your husband is running into that building!” James slammed his fist on the desk. The whole mission was going to hell.
“What?” Vince shouted. Vince looked over to see Locke in a protective stance over Devin Lyons. He motioned to Derek and the rest of the guys.
“Wipe it!”
Troy nodded and ran for the pack with the explosives. Sam and Josh were grabbing the women from the back rooms.
“Locke, get Lyons out!” Derek shouted.
Clearing the premises took less than twenty minutes. Derek watched as the complex blew sky high. He and the rest of the team stood a good two miles away, watching the flames lick up at the sky. A bus had shown up to take all the women to a nearby facility where they would be looked over and treated by Reece Costa and Brett Trevino, doctors on Damon Santorno’s team. The Santorno team and James’ government team had joined forces when it became clear that the two organizations shared the same goal: To wipe the Earth clean of the lowest, most vile human beings - those who couldn't be eradicated by more traditional methods.
Derek had heard the story of how Brett and Roman Trevino had met and fallen in love. Brett had been kidnapped and forced to play doctor by a human trafficker known only by his first name: Simon. Damon and Stefan Santorno had been contacted by Brett’s father after his son was kidnapped. Stefan sent his best men to help and Roman Trevino was one of them. After finding Brett alive, Roman tried to get the man out of the room where he had been held captive. But Brett - being scared to death and having found a gun - accidently shot Roman in the chest. Thankfully, Roman had been wearing a bulletproof vest. From then on, Roman had called Brett ‘Trigger.’ They had eventually fallen in love and now had a son.
“You crazy sonofabitch!” James shouted at Derek.
Derek turned to see his husband stalking up the path like a man on a mission, a murderous look in his eyes. God, he loved that man.
“Hiya, sweet cheeks,” Derek grinned.
James came to a stop in front of his husband and, dammit, he had to look up at him.
“Don’t you ‘sweet cheeks’ me! What were you thinking?”
“Lyons is going to be fine by the way,” Derek drawled.
“I know he is! He’s…well, he’s Devin!” James puffed his chest out and straightened up in an attempt to look bigger.
Derek crossed his arms over his chest and leaned over, looking into James’ eyes. “What are you always telling me? Oh, that’s right. That you can take of yourself and I shouldn’t worry. And yet here you stand chastising me because I can take care of myself, too?”
James’ chest deflated and he sighed.
“I know. I just…”
Derek pulled James into his arms and kissed him. “Aw, babe. It’s so cute the way you think I’m helpless.”
“Shut up.” James reluctantly smiled at Derek’s grin.
James’ mic crackled and he pressed it closer to his ear.
“What’s up, Reece?”
“We lost one. Two were DOA. I’m sorry.”
James rubbed his face with his hands. “You did what you could.” James turned to face the men. “Did you make sure all the women were out?”
Troy and Sam nodded.
“Inch by inch, Boss.”
“Good, let’s head home.”
~*~
Devin’s eyes opened slowly to the sound of a heart monitor beeping somewhere. He scanned the room and tried to focus on his surroundings. Keegan was in Vince’s lap, asleep on his husband’s shoulder and Derek was leaned up against the wall, sleeping standing up. He had to chuckle; he’d done that himself on more than one occasion. At hearing Devin’s soft laugh, Keegan’s eyes opened and he was off Vince’s lap and at Devin’s side in seconds.
“You’re okay!” Keegan hugged Devin. Hard.
“Ow, damn. You start taking steroids?”
“This is not funny! What happened in there?”
“Did I get shot?” Devin checked himself for bandages but didn’t see any.
“No, you didn’t. That’s why I’m asking! What happened?”
Devin’s brows pinched in thought. “I have no clue.”
“Well, they’re keeping you overnight for observation,” Derek yawned, stretching his arms out. “Don’t argue; the order came from James.”
Devin sat up and noticed Locke sitting in one of the corner chairs. “Thanks, Locke. I don’t know what happened back there.”
Locke stood up and grinned. “No problem. I‘m starting to think we should bring Chance in on these missions.”
Vince laughed. “Oh, yeah. Having a warlock there would be great! He could shrink all the bad guys and then we could just pick them up.”
“They’d make great pets,” Keegan snickered.
Derek busted out laughing and they all turned to look.
“I just had this visual of tiny men in a cage running on the little wheel like a mouse.
”
The whole room roared with laughter.
“Everyone out! The patient needs rest.”
Devin shrank back on the bed as a nurse came into the room.
“Better go guys; Nurse Ratched is here,” Devin said.
“That’s Miss Ratched to you,” she winked.
“Oh, great. Another one falls to the Lyons charm,” Keegan chuckled, rolling his eyes.
“Lyons is charming?” Vince raised a brow.
“Out!” the nurse boomed.
The room cleared and Devin eyed the nurse as she took his blood pressure. She was pretty, had some decent-sized tits. Yep, he could do her.
“You’re blood pressure is much better, Mr. Lyons.”
“That’s Special Agent Devin Lyons to you.” Devin waggled his brows. The nurse blushed and Devin smiled wide. Oh yeah. He was gettin’ some.
~*~
Andrei woke up to the sound of wood cracking. He stretched out on the bed and looked at the time. It was nine in the morning. Another loud crack reverberated through the house. Andrei threw his legs over the side of the bed and stretched his back and legs out. Slipping on his jeans, he made his way to the kitchen to find Ivan and Viktor sipping coffee and reading the morning paper.
“Good morning.” Andrei poured his cup of coffee and sipped it. Another loud crack drifted through the kitchen window. Andrei smiled. “Nikolai?”
“Yes, he arrived this morning.” Ivan turned the page on the paper. “He seems angry.”
Andrei furrowed his brows. “I shall go see him.”
Andrei took the path to the workout complex. He spotted Nikolai twirling a fighting stick in his hands. He had to smile. Nikolai had grown up so fast. He now stood at six foot two and outweighed Vince. Andrei spotted another tattoo on his son’s pectoral muscle.
“Is that new?” Andrei made his way closer.
Nikolai stopped twirling the stick and looked at his father. “Hey, Dad. Yes, it is.”
“What is wrong, Nikolai?” Andrei approached his son with a smile.
“Nothing. Just came off a mission and needed to unwind.”
Andrei took a seat on the bench near the complex and eyed his son. “You are lying to me.”
Nikolai let out a loud sigh. “What? I’m pissed, okay? The guy I like wants nothing to do with me!”
Andrei put the coffee cup down on the bench and folded his hands together. “Colin Greystone?”
“Yes.” Nikolai’s shoulders slumped. “I tried to talk to him at when we were at Camp Pride. He shut me down. Then I fucked it up worse by kissing Brock in front of him —”
“The football player?”
“Yeah, that one. I don’t know why I did that. I was just so…”
“Hurt?”
Nikolai turned to face his father. “What is wrong with me?”
Andrei stood and walked to his son. Nikolai had gone to Camp Pride in Washington to pick up Wayne Maccon, Riley Flynn-Esposito and Caden Fournier and transport them to another gay youth camp in Alaska. An earthquake had nearly reduced the camp to a pile of wood and Nikolai had almost died protecting Colin Greystone.
“There is nothing wrong with you.”
“Yeah? Then how come I can’t stop thinking about him? He doesn’t want me, Dad. How do I make it stop? How do I stop caring what Colin thinks? He called me a whore.”
Andrei raised his brows. “That was very….brave of him.”
“Ya think?” Nikolai snorted.
Andrei grinned and hugged his son. “Look, you do not remember this, but you and Colin grew up together.” Andrei laughed at the look on Nikolai’s face. To say he was surprised was an understatement. “Oh yes, you do not remember because you were too young but Vince and I do. Colin took you under his wing the moment you were born. Vince held a gun to the doctor’s head because you were not breathing and the medical team had given up—”
“I know. Pops said he gave me CPR.”
Andrei nodded. “He did, and you started to cry. Later, Colin came into the room with Paul and the moment you both looked at each other,” Andrei shrugged. “That was it; Colin was with you at all times.”
“How come I don’t remember any of this?”
“We only saw them every six months. We would make the trip to Texas and live there during Russia’s winters. You were very young. Then Colin left for school and we had our own lives to lead.”
Nikolai furrowed his brows. “Does Colin remember any of it?”
“I am sure he does; he was older than you.”
“So, when I was in Washington during that weird thing with Sebastian’s whacked-out fake dad, Colin knew who I was the whole time?”
Andrei nodded slowly. “I would think so.”
Nikolai’s eyes widened. “That’s why he looked at me the way he did in the locker room!”
Andrei frowned. “I do not understand.”
Nikolai sighed, exasperated. “When Colin got beat up by Sebastian’s asshole fake dad, we found him in the showers of the locker room. I picked him up and Wyatt said my name. Colin’s eyes got huge and at the time I thought it was because of my last name, but it wasn’t! He remembered me!”
Andrei smiled at the look of absolute excitement on Nikolai’s face.
“Colin looked after you when you were small, Nikolai. You were born prematurely and Colin always felt he had to protect you; you were so very tiny. He was quite fierce about it. That does not go away. I am sure he is surprised by your size, not to mention your reputation.”
“Yeah, well. Paul said he wouldn’t discourage Colin from dating me. But that doesn’t do me any good if the guy won’t even talk to me.” Nikolai eyed his father. “Enough about me. Have you found a boy toy yet?”
Andrei felt his cheeks flush. “Must you talk like that?”
“Come on, Dad. You should be used to it by now.” Nikolai grinned. “What about the FBI agent?”
Andrei’s eyes widened. “Excuse me? Agent Lyons is a psychopath!”
Nikolai crossed his arms over his chest. “And you are just an innocent Little Red Riding Hood?” Nikolai snorted then laughed. “Please! He’s perfect for you! He’s not scared of you —”
“That is the truth,” Andrei scoffed.
“He’s just your type, too.”
“I do not have a type.”
“Um, yes, you do. They can’t be pussies, have to be able to fight for themselves and have a great sense of humor. Voila! Special Agent Devin Lyons. Doesn’t hurt either that he’s smokin’ hot!”
Andrei rolled his eyes.
“Come on, Dad. You so need to get it on with someone.”
“Maybe, but not…him. Can we please talk about something else? How long will you be here?”
“Just stopping in. I have a mission in Istanbul.”
“Well, make sure you are careful.” Andrei mussed Nikolai’s hair.
“What about you?” Nikolai took his father’s hand and started walking back towards the mansion.
“Family meeting. All the heads of the families are meeting in Greece to discuss the shipping businesses as well as our other projects.”
“Sounds so fun!” Nikolai laughed.
“Oh, yes,” Andrei drawled. “So fun.”
“Maybe you’ll find a man in Greece and you can grease him up and have sex?”
“Nikolai!” Andrei laughed, smacking his son in the head.
“I’m just sayin’!”
~*~
Devin opened his eyes to see smooth alabaster skin and perfect rosy cheeks. Pink cupid bow lips and long black lashes accentuated a fine porcelain doll-like face. Sabine Derchan. She’d been a stewardess for Alaska Airlines until Caden Fournier and Riley Flynn-Esposito had offered her a job working on their private jets. Now she worked for not only Caden and Riley, but Wayne Maccon as well. She was beautiful, Devin couldn’t argue that. She also had one hell of libido.
She’d made her way through the bisexual men on the team. Josh Montgomery was the first of them to fall. Now Josh
was married to Mark and Sabine had moved on to the rest of the bi men. Seth Ralston had fallen to her charms before he’d found his mate in Will Cooper.
Devin stretched out and thought about the night before. Damn, the woman was an animal in bed. She’d ridden him until he came so hard he thought his cum would shoot out her head. Devin grinned when Sabine’s eyelashes fluttered and her eyes opened. Slate grey eyes looked at him in amusement.
“You are watching me sleep?” Sabine stretched out, making sure one of her breasts was in full view.
“You are a succubus,” Devin chuckled.
“You were awake when I fucked you, no?”
“Such language!” Devin laughed, pulling Sabine closer to him. Her hair fanned out on the pillow; she reminded him of someone. Devin closed his eyes as Sabine leaned in to kiss him. Right as their lips met, Devin had a flash of a dark haired, light-eyed mobster. Devin jerked back from the kiss and looked at her startled face.
“What is it?” she asked.
“It’s nothing, I’m sorry.”
Sabine narrowed her eyes. “You have feelings for someone.”
“What?”
Sabine grinned. “Oh, yes. I see it.”
“I feel nothing for no one. That’s never going to change, Sabine. I’m not wired right.”
Sabine sat up and pulled the sheet across her upper body. “I do not believe that, Devin.”
Devin closed his eyes and sighed. “Oh no, please tell me you’re not falling for me or something. We talked about this—” Sabine’s laughter almost gave him a heart attack. “Why are you laughing?”
“I have told you, Devin. I do not want a relationship. To be responsible for someone else’s happiness? Pfft, I think not! I am carefree and happy and I wish for it to stay that way. What I meant to say is that you are capable of love, I can see it. Maybe not with me, but with the right person. When you kiss me, it is devoid of any emotion.”
“Oh, thanks,” Devin rolled his eyes.
“The kisses are good, do not get me wrong. But there is no emotion behind them. When you do not care for someone, kissing is…well…just a means to an end. I have experienced the same thing with my other... pillow friends. Seth did not kiss me with emotion, either. Look at him now; he is so in love with Will and according to Will,” Sabine waggled her eyebrows, “Seth is an excellent kisser. It is your partner who makes the kiss sizzle.”
Summer of Awakenings Page 14