by Susan Hayes
Nikolai had already alerted command, and they were quietly looking into both Simms and Bolger’s financial records. In the meantime, Nik, Alayna and Colin determined that there had been one last order made using the fake codes, and it was still sitting in storage bay one. They had the bait for their trap. Now, they were waiting for their thief to come and collect it.
That was the part Nikolai didn’t like very much. In order to maintain the illusion that nothing was unusual, he was still in his office, just the way he would be on a normal day. Once Bolger entered the warehouse, Nikolai and a small security detail would move in and wait for their target to leave with the stolen goods, catching him red-handed. That meant that Colin needed to be inside the warehouse, keeping an eye on things in case anything went off track.
They’d tried to tell Alayna she wasn’t going to be part of the arrest and she’d laughed at them. There was no way she was sitting this one out. In the end, they hadn’t had a choice. She had casually pointed out that Bolger’s office overlooked the entrance to the warehouse, so they were going to need another way in. Both men had cursed until they were blue in the face, but in the end they had been forced to include her.
So, now she and Colin were walking across the base with Nik grumbling in their ears. Not that Colin was doing much better. He was growling under his breath every time any man so much as looked Alayna’s way. She had covered her facial tattoos and repainted the simple star that would allow her to pass for an infertile woman, and her bonded had acquired an Alliance uniform for her to wear so she wouldn’t stand out while on base.
“I don’t like this either,” Colin muttered as they passed another group of officers heading off shift. They’d saluted and then turned their attention to Alayna, who was doing her best not to laugh at Colin’s irritation.
“You can’t blame them for looking. They don’t have any idea I’m claimed,” she pointed out softly.
“That’s the part I don’t like. You’re ours, damn it.”
“I told you this was a bad idea, Ghost,” Nikolai growled through their earpieces.
“You two really need to get over it already. I know I’m yours, and that’s all that matters.” Both men growled and she had to cover her mouth and cough to hide a snicker. Alliance officers didn’t snicker. Hell, as far as she could tell, smiling was prohibited while on duty. Everyone looked so fucking serious all the time. When her new advisory position was made official, she was going to make a point of smiling and laughing as often as possible.
They had talked about her new position, and her former career, a lot over the last few days. Neither of her bonded were thrilled about her past, but since she had no intention of going back to that life, they were working it out.
She led Colin away from the busy areas, finally arriving at their destination, an alley that ran between the two main warehouses. Alayna knew from past experience that it would be stacked high with empty crates and pallets. The piles of discarded supplies didn’t look like much, but to her they were a built-in staircase that provided access to the roof of either building. “Give me the rope and let me go up first.”
“Go up? Up where? You said there was an easy access point.” Colin glanced around them, gesturing vaguely. “If there’s an easy access, I’m not seeing it.”
“It’s here. You’re just not trained to see it. Stay here and watch what I do.”
“I outrank you, you know. Try to remember that.”
“At this moment, you don’t.” Alayna grinned at him before jabbing a thumb at her chest and then pointing to him. “Right now, I’m the master thief, and you’re the apprentice.”
“She’s enjoying this way too fucking much,” Nikolai grumbled, his unhappiness transmitting clearly.
“Uh huh, she really is. We’ll make her pay for it later,” Colin said and dropped the bag he’d been carrying over one shoulder. Crouching beside it, he removed a length of climbing rope and handed it to Alayna.
Taking the rope, Alayna danced a few feet away from Colin and stuck her tongue out at him. “You two are trying to ruin all my fun.”
“This isn’t fun, minx! This is dangerous!”
“You and I have very different ideas of what fun is,” she announced as she slipped the coil rope cross-wise across her body. The guys didn’t understand. This was fun. Her senses were heightened, her heart was pounding, there was a bounce in her step and she couldn’t keep the grin off her face any longer. All her training and experience came to the fore. To Alayna’s eyes, the path to the rooftop was as clear as day, and her mind was already rehearsing the steps she’d need to go through to deactivate the sensors that guarded the air vents they’d be using to get inside. She looked around the area one last time, confirming they were alone, then blew Colin a kiss and started climbing.
Nikolai checked every recorder they had, but not one of them showed him even a glimpse of Alayna or Colin. How the hell had no one noticed that blind spot before and how many others were there? He had a gut feeling that Alayna could tell him exactly how many blind spots there were. He’d bet a month’s pay that the moment they got her new position authorized, she’d start working on eliminating every vulnerability she’d previously exploited.
He was equally sure that in exchange for preventing more thefts, the little vorovka would want to see that the people she used to steal for would be getting what they needed through official channels. All in all, it was a fair exchange, and if anyone could convince the bureaucrats to do things her way, it would be Alayna. She was his sexy, fearless, chosen, and she was currently doing something dangerous and reckless while he sat in his office, doing nothing.
“Fuck this!” Nik slammed his hand, palm down, on his desktop. Making everything rattle and jump a few inches into the air.
Alayna’s snarl was barely more than a whisper, but it carried clearly through her throat mic. “Fucking hell, Nik! Are you trying to kill me? I’m twenty feet in the air right now, hanging off the side of a building. Bad time for an outburst.”
“Sorry. Forgot the mic was on.” Nikolai shoved himself back from his desk and started prowling around his office, making sure his mic was off as he gave vent to all his frustration. He’d gone into security so that he didn’t have to be on the sidelines, watching. He had fought his way to the upper ranks so that he could be part of things, making a difference. He should be out there right now, but one of them had to maintain appearances, and for the first time in his life, his size had cost him a chance to take part.
Alayna had pointed out that there was no way he’d fit inside the vent they’d need to crawl through. When he’d argued, she’d made him call up the blueprints and showed him the dimensions. It would be a tight fit for Colin, and impossible for him. Not that knowing that made it any easier to sit in his office and twiddle his thumbs while the two people he cared most about in the world were out taking chances and getting things done.
He had the mic off, but Alayna and Colin’s were still transmitting, so he could hear every breath and muffled curse. Finally, Alayna’s breathing slowed and he heard Colin heave a heavy sigh of relief. “She made it. I have no fucking clue how she did it, but she’s fine, Griz. You can stop wearing a hole in your floor now.”
Nikolai stopped prowling around his office and switched his mic back on. “I’m not pacing.”
“Bullshit. You’ve probably been beating on your furniture too. Relax, she’s safe. Possibly insane, and able to climb like a starving monkey going after a banana, but fine.”
“I’m not insane, thank you. I’ve got a unique skill set. Now, let’s see how you manage, oh illustrious elite of the Alliance.”
“Sass will get you spanked, princess.”
“How are you going to do that from all the way down there?”
“Pardon me for a minute, will you? I need to climb a wall and remind our chosen who’s in charge in this relationship.”
“Good luck with that,” Nikolai said, feeling some of his tension ease after listening to their b
anter.
There was a soft chime and Colin’s voice came in over their private channel. “Don’t ever tell her I said this, but she’s good, Griz. So good I’m not sure how the fuck we managed to catch her that night. We shouldn’t have been able to.”
“Fate. That’s the only way I can explain it. I’m just grateful we found her.”
“Me, too. Now, shut up for a second. If I fuck this up she’s never going to let me forget it.”
Alayna knew she should be working on getting them inside, but she couldn’t take her eyes off of Colin. He held onto the rope she’d tossed him, but he wasn’t relying on it to get him up the wall. Instead, he was doing a decent job of replicating her ascent, and it occurred to her that if he hadn’t wound up adopted into an Alliance family, he’d of likely made a hell of a thief.
She didn’t relax until he was safe on the roof beside her. Once he was, both of them hunkered down behind a weather-ravaged metal housing that protected the ventilation system. The housing hid them from any rooftop surveillance, and the flat roof made it impossible for anyone on the ground to see them as long as they stayed low. It was a design flaw that appeared in a number of pre-fabricated military buildings, and one she took advantage of often.
At least, she used to.
It hadn’t really occurred to her how much she would miss the adrenaline rush that came with pulling off a job like this. She missed the rush, but as she remembered how carefully she had watched Colin make the climb, she knew that it wouldn’t be fair to put her bonded through that kind of fear. As if he could read her mind, Colin leaned in close and grazed a kiss to her mouth. “Did you know that Griz blows off steam by driving like he was behind the wheel of a racer? I teach classes in advance hand-to-hand combat and spar whenever I can. If this is what gets your heart going, princess, we’ll find a way you can enjoy it, without breaking any laws.”
“I did warn you I wasn’t like other girls,” she whispered and kissed him back.
Nikolai rejoined their conversation. “Yeah, you did. But you might have noticed by now that we don’t listen that well.”
“I noticed. Nik, I’m going to get us inside, it should take me about three and a half minutes. I need you to tell me if you see anyone heading in our direction.”
“You got it. When this is over, you and I are going to have a long talk about security upgrades. I had no idea this place was so fucking vulnerable.” She grinned as she heard the annoyed tone in Nikolai’s voice.
“Blind spots?” she teased.
“Don’t even pretend to be surprised about that, minx. And we’re going to get rid of every fucking one of them.”
She managed to get the cover off and the program hacked in less than three minutes, a new personal best. Alayna had never had an audience before, and she wanted to impress them. Once they were inside, she led Colin down into the warehouse, following the small signs and reminders she had left scratched on the sides of the shaft on previous entries.
They arrived at a vent positioned right over a veritable mountain of shipping crates, and Alayna got out of the way to let Colin wrestle with the cover. Once he had it out of the way, she hopped into the gap and dropped onto the top of the pile. Colin joined her a moment later, and they both grinned at each other as they took in the view from their new vantage point.
Like the rooftop, they’d be hidden from view so long as they stayed low, but they’d be able to see directly down to where the drugs Bolger would be coming for were stored. This time, he was stealing a powerful pain blocker, potent enough that a single ampoule could make a grown man comfortable for several hours no matter how bad their injuries were. It was stable, didn’t require refrigeration and could be administered orally, making it invaluable to front line medics and outposts without medical facilities. It was also highly valued by other groups, who would pay exorbitant amounts to buy it on the black market.
There were only a handful of people who trafficked in that kind of high end pharmaceuticals, and Sam Dixon knew them all, which was why her foster father was currently on his way to do some investigating of his own. If they could find out where Bolger was selling his stolen goods, they would have even more evidence to bury him with.
Sam had surprised her, first by showing up at all, and again by sticking around. While he refused to stay at the house, he had come back again the next day, and the day after that. He had even offered to help with the investigation, pointing out that he would have far more luck digging up Bolger’s contact than anyone from the Alliance. When she’d asked him why he was helping them, he’d merely shrugged and said that he wasn’t helping the Alliance, he was helping his little girl. She hadn’t argued with his logic. It meant too much to her that the stubborn bastard was there at all.
“You have no idea how irritating it is to know you two are in there when I can’t get eyes on you,” Nikolai complained, dragging her thoughts back to the present.
“I wouldn’t be very good at my job if I showed up on security footage, now would I?” she asked sweetly, keeping her voice to a thin whisper.
“Former job,” Colin reminded her. He was speaking so quietly that she could only hear him through the earpiece, which seemed very strange given that he was close enough she could see his lips moving. Without another word Colin settled in to wait, lying back on one of the crates with his hands behind his head and his long legs crossed at the ankle as he contemplated the ceiling.
“Any sign of movement from Bolger yet?” she asked Nikolai.
“None so far. Looks like you two are in for a wait. You might as well get comfortable. I’ll let you know when the target moves. Until then, stay out of trouble.”
“Like there’s any way for me to find trouble up here.”
Colin smirked and crooked his finger at her, then rolled over onto his side and patted the floor right beside him. She didn’t know what he had in mind, but there was no doubt that whatever he was planning, it was as close to trouble as they’d be able to find stretched out on the top of a stack of crates during a stakeout. She couldn’t wait to see what he had planned.
Colin knew he was about to chuck fifteen years of training and discipline out an airlock, and he didn’t care. He needed to touch Alayna, taste her lips and uncover her tattoos so that the world would know who she belonged to. The second she was within reach he hauled her down beside him, sealing her lips with a kiss. She moaned as he rolled over, pinning her beneath him.
“You two are trying to kill me!” Nikolai snarled.
Alayna burst out laughing and Colin captured the sound with his mouth. Once she was silent he shifted his body to one side and put a finger to her lips, grinning all the while. “No idea what you’re talking about, Griz.”
“The hell you don’t. Get your hands off our girl and get your head back in the game.”
“We’re sitting here, waiting for Bolger. I can’t help it if your mind’s in the gutter.” He grabbed one of the cleansing wipes he’d tucked into his back pocket and tore the packet open with his teeth. It was time for that cover-up to come off Alayna’s face.
“Where did you get that?” she whispered.
“I came prepared.”
“Prepared for what? Fuck! What are you two up to now?”
“Hold still, princess. I need to get this off of you.”
“Get what off of her? I swear I’m going to kick your ass the next time I see you, you bastard!”
Alayna laughed very softly and turned her head so Colin could wipe away the make-up that covered her tattoos. When the moisturized pad touched her skin she deliberately moaned again, making Colin’s cock harden in response to her soft sound of pleasure. Fuck, he hadn’t planned on doing more than kissing her, but if she moaned again…
“Yeah, just like that,” she whispered, winking up at him.
“Alayna Grekov-Nielson, if you don’t behave yourself I’m going to take it out of your hide, do you hear me?” Nikolai said.
“I am behaving!”
“Oh yeah
, she’s being very, very good.” Colin finished revealing the first mark and leaned in to kiss her before nudging her head over to the other side. He started cleaning away the star, revealing the delicate scrollwork tattoo hidden beneath it. Alayna moaned again, setting off a tirade of cursing from Nikolai and shattering the last of Colin’s good intentions.
He swiped the pad over her face one more time and then tossed it aside. She moved into his arms with a soft sigh, lifting her head to kiss him as her arms tangled around his neck, drawing him down on top of her again. Her taste was on his tongue and she writhed against his, tempting him to forget everything but the pleasure of losing himself in her body. She was everything he’d ever dreamed of, and so much more.
Alayna was a tangle of contradictions and he loved every one of them. She was sensual but fierce, fearless yet vulnerable. Colin knew that he and Nikolai had been given an incredible gift the night they’d found her running through their home, and he intended to show her how grateful he was for her every day they had together.
“I hate to break up your sexcapades, but Bolger just walked out of his office and is heading your way. You may want to have pants on for this next bit.”
“We’re dressed, Griz. Calm the hell down. We were messing with you…mostly.”
“Colin was cleaning me up so those stupid tattoos were showing again. Apparently having guys look at me without knowing I was claimed was making him crazy.”
“Fuck. Who looked at her? I’ll kill them,” Nikolai snarled.
“Quit bitching. You two still aren’t wearing my mark. You can get all territorial after every woman in this town knows you’re taken.”