Sweet Firecracker (A Lovely Dearest Series Book 2)

by Nikki Bolvair

  “She has a valid idea,” Tristan agreed.

  Kellan shifted, glaring at the closed metal door across room that lead back up. “I don’t know, but whoever it is needs to fuckin’ stop because it hurts my head.”

  “Alright, I got it. Now, let’s get down to business.” Tristan’s sighed. “Zane, Weston, and Kellan, you guys are on patrol to find out who has the H-15 serum. Garrett and Dallon, you two keep Melissa close and find out what she knows because that woman knows something. We’re working on Trisha and looking into her dad. We all have our duties. Aaron and his crew are going to look into Myter’s daughter.”

  “We’re headed to the base. We’ll see you there,” Dallon answered

  “Yep,” our captain agreed before we hung up.

  Back at the house, Dallon and I found Melissa up in her old bedroom getting dressed. She peered up at us with a guarded expression.

  “You ready?” I asked, standing just inside the doorway.

  As if braced for battle, she gave a tight nod and I wondered what was going on in that pretty head of hers.

  ***

  Melissa

  Once we reached the base, a nurse led us to the infirmary and left the three of us in a small exam room. It was a typical room with an exam table in the middle and a chair to the side.

  After standing for a moment, Dallon grabbed me by the waist and hoisted me up on the medical bench. “You can sit, there’s no need for you to stand.”

  Much to my dismay, I didn’t mind being manhandled.

  I rubbed my arms to ward off the chill all doctors offices seem to have and glanced around the room, searching for damning evidence I could take back to the FBI. A red hazard box for needles on the wall, the hand sanitizer, cotton swabs on the counter, ear gadgets, and such. Everything seemed like regular medical office equipment. Absolutely nothing to be excited about.

  But Doc created the super soldiers and made my lunatic boss into a raving maniac. And me… Bane changed me, too. I needed a plan. Myter seemed desperate over the phone earlier, but I got the message. I needed to get Trisha to the FBI safe house on Walnut and have her hack into the Army’s database to provide Myter access. Once he was in, he’d let her father go. I hoped she was somewhere in this facility with me. I planned to go as backup, but how could I get in touch with Trisha while also getting out from under alpha super soldiers one and two? I needed a distraction.

  I needed Mack.

  A hand touched my arm. I turned to Garrett who stood on my left. His lips twisted. “You doin’ okay?”

  I shrugged, not wanting to betray my thoughts. Rule number ten, poker face. “Better than others, I suppose.”

  His fingers soothed up and down my arm before enclosing around my hand. “You’ll be fine. Trisha’s fine, too.”

  That made me perk up and turn his way. “She’s here?”

  Dallon put a comforting hand on my thigh and let his thumb brush against my leg. Instead of soothing me, arousal filled my body. “She’s here, and she’s fine. In fact, the two of you will see each other soon. We’ll all leave together and go back to the farm to come up with a plan, alright?”

  But I already had a plan. It just didn’t include them. “Yep.”

  Garrett gave my hand a squeeze. “Good. Now, let’s get this exam done and get on with things.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” I murmured as guilt chased away the desire. They were being sweet and caring. It kind of weirded me out.

  The good doctor chose that point to walk into the room. He beamed as he greeted Garrett and Dallon. When he got to me, his eyes combed over my form before settling on my left shoulder. His gaze flickered to me, as did his pleasant disposition. He better not glance at my breasts.

  “You must be Melissa Adams. I’m Doc.” Without missing a beat, he asked, “Can you roll up your sleeve so I can take a glance at your left shoulder?”

  I knew exactly what he wanted to search for on my shoulder. The shot site where I received the faux immunization. Doing as he asked, I showed him the slight redness that still lingered.

  “Hmm, just as I suspected.” He dropped the sleeve and went over to the ear and eye equipment to pick up a scope for looking into my ears. “Tell me what you’ve been experiencing.”

  I ran through my symptoms, and Dallon added about my slight breakdown/illness. Or what they called the fever.

  “It wasn’t that bad,” I reasoned after Doc did his check and put back his equipment. “I was over it quickly.”

  Garrett snickered as Dallon threw me a ‘wanna bet’ glance and retorted, “You went after Garrett like a defensive lineman during a football game.”

  I glowered at him and repeated, “It wasn’t that bad.”

  “Uh…” When I threw Garrett an evil glance, his mouth snapped closed, and a grin appeared.

  “Then you molested him in a room full of our friends,” Dallon went on, not deterred at all by my glare.

  “Fun times,” Garrett mused.

  I shoved Dallon’s shoulder, causing him to stumble. “Shut up!”

  He chuckled and righted himself. “No.” Glancing to Doc, he added, “Then, we pried her off him as she hollered about claiming him as if it was rhino mating season!”

  I threw daggers his way. “You are so dead.”

  Dallon winked. “Can’t fuck me then.” And to the doctor, “Next, she tossed her cookies all over Zane’s boots before passing out.”

  “Beautiful sight,” Garrett added.

  I yanked my hand from his and slapped him on the back of his head. He didn’t even flinch. That made me even angrier.

  The doctor tilted his head in acknowledgment. “It appears you went through the fever, but I’m worried about both you and Trisha not producing any talents like the men have.” He studied me. “Or have you?”

  I shook my head. “Nope. Still awesome as ever, me.” I gave him a pointed look. “Are we done here?”

  He went back to his chart. “With me, yes. I just need you to have some blood work done and take a look at what’s going on in your body.” He turned back to me, glancing between all of us. “But I’m pretty sure you’re in the same situation as Ms. Macintosh, so I’ll explain my same findings with you that I shared with her. That injection site on your shoulder is where you got the serum, diluted a bit, but still enough to change your blood work.” He turned to the guys. “Like we told Triton and Tristan, the drugs we gave to you increases your speed, strength, and vision. It also enhanced other areas of your body. But in your friends blood work we found increases of adrenaline, dopamine, and serotonin, which are all hormones that indicate being in lust or on the verge of being in love. There were also high levels of oxytocin, which is known as the cuddle hormone. All of these hormones connected with the H-15 serum, which causes a signal to amplify to a woman who is…well, for you. It’s a connection that binds people together from the first time your bodies connect. I call it the bonding code. You’ll most likely feel like a druggie getting off a high when you’ve been away from one another for long periods of time. I would stay close until you figure out how long you can be separated—”

  The door opened, and a man stepped into the room, pointing to Dallon and Garrett. “General Steel needs you two right now.”

  Dallon raised a brow. “Now?”

  “Right now,” the man affirmed.

  Garrett turned to Doc, and he waved them on. “I have her. She needs to get the blood work done anyway. Go.”

  They both turned to me. “We’ll be back,” Dallon assured me.

  I shrugged, indifferent. “I’ll live without you two for a few moments.”

  “Be good,” Garrett demanded.

  I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Not a chance. “Sure.”

  They each leaned in for a scorching kiss before abruptly turning and heading out the door.

  I glanced to Doc. “By any chance is there a restroom I can use?”

  His gaze narrowed at me. I smiled.

  “Sure, follow me.” He turned, I
followed.

  ***

  Dallon

  We watched the screens upon the wall from the security room as Melissa walked into the restrooms and proceeded to use a stall. We weren’t allowed cameras in the stalls, but when she came out, she seemed to know where to go, codes to get into places, and an escape route. She turned down a corner headed towards Trisha, punching in codes to access hallways until she got to where she wanted to go.

  “Damn!” Weston exclaimed. “She’s been holding back. Myter has to have gotten in contact with her.”

  “Shit,” Garrent muttered.

  “You guys need to get some ass whoopin’ on that woman,” Zane muttered. “Fuckin’ FBI.”

  “Hey!” Triton growled as his fingers flew over the computer keyboard. “Trisha is FBI, too. Leave them alone. Almost have a lock on the hacker. Whoever he is, he’s good. Real good. But I’m better.”

  General Steel tapped his finger on the desk beside Triton. “I believe she’s been in contact with her father. There’s no way she’d be able do this on her own.” He turned to leave. “When you catch her, I want you to have her contact him. I want a meeting.”

  “Shit,” Triton muttered as the system went down. All cameras went dark.

  “Hey!” I yelled, twisting around to Triton.

  “What the hell?” Seth growled in confusion.

  Others echoed.

  Triton slumped back in his chair, fingers falling away from the keyboard in shock. “He beat me.”

  “Then, get him the hell back, and get these cameras back on!” Tristan yelled. He turned to us. “Let’s go find our girls.”

  Zane, Tristan, Weston, Garrett, and I scoured the area where we last had visuals on our crazy women. We didn’t see them, but we could sense them, a fine buzz within our bodies to let us know they were still in the base. For a brief moment, I thought I caught a gleam of red hair from the corner of my eye, but when I snapped back to check, it vanished. Nevertheless, I headed that way.

  “Dallon!” I turned as Zane jogged toward me with a grin, Weston not far behind. “Your girl is crazy, but I know where they are and where they’re going.”

  “How?” I barked as they passed me. I turned to follow them.

  “Clocked them going through the kitchen and into a closet.” Amusement filled Zane’s voice. “They’re in the vents, man.”

  Despite the situation, pride filled me at Melissa’s ingenuity once again at avoiding capture. “It’s not the first time. But if she does it again, she’ll become predictable.”

  We grabbed Triton from the security room and rushed outside by the air return vent. Built larger than normal, it funneled fresh air down below. The fan didn’t currently work, making it easy to bypass if this was their planned escape route.

  “You four stay back,” Zane whispered to Tristan, Triton, Garrett, and me. “As far as you can. That way they think you’re not here. Or at least that you’re farther away.”

  As hard as it was, the four of us slowed and let Weston and Zane sprint ahead.

  As we neared the area, we heard Trisha arguing, “Come on. Let us go! We need—”

  Rounding the corner, I saw Weston holding on to our runaway.

  Garrett stomped over to her first. “When are you going to stop running away, Melissa?”

  The twins came up behind us, and Tristan growled. “I told you to trust us, Beauty. You’re going to have to learn to trust us.”

  My eyes met Melissa’s, and I shook my head as I reached her.

  “Why run?” Garrett asked them. “We’re on your side.”

  “Because, Myter killed Craig!” Melissa yelled.

  That took me back. He better not be a past lover. “Craig? Who in the hell is Craig, Firecracker?”

  “Explain, now!” Zane spit out, having enough of this runaround. “Both of you.”

  Melissa glared at him. “The agent that was killed.”

  “Why did Myter shoot Craig in the first place?” Weston asked.

  Zane let Trisha go, and the twins caged her between their bodies as Melissa explained what she had witnessed while hiding in the vent in Nero’s office. With every word, I grew more enraged.

  Melissa features grew taunt as she reached the end of her story. “He ordered Myter to kill us. He’s going to kill Frank Macintosh if we don’t save him. And Bane is in on this, too!”

  My body stilled. General Bane?

  “What the hell!” Zane voiced venomously. “I knew something was off with that guy! Fuck!”

  Triton gazed down at Trisha. “Your father’s alive?”

  “Yes, my father’s still alive,” Trisha spoke. “And we need to move.”

  Tristan turned to his twin. “Put out an alert on Bane, and let’s do some hunting.”

  His gaze caught mine, and the two of us nodded. Our girls weren’t going anywhere near the fucker.

  Safe Room

  Melissa

  Forces beyond my reach brought Trisha and I back into the hands of the men who wanted to put us in an indestructible bubble.

  The thing was, that wasn’t where we wanted or needed to be. Myter and I had a deal. But the guys formed another plan and left the two of us in the safe room at the farm with Samuel.

  Trisha glanced at me as I picked out a donut from the box they left us. She sidled up beside me and joined in.

  I was on my third donut when Trisha glanced around the room. “What are you going to do when this is all over?”

  I shrugged, my insides fluttering as I stared at another donut. “I’m not sure.”

  “Why not stay? You can’t tell me you wouldn’t love to have those hunky males around you all the time.”

  My cheeks heated as I rolled my eyes. “It’s not that.”

  Trisha dipped her voice to a whisper, “PC?”

  My eyebrows scrunched in confusion for a mere second before I got it and twisted to Samuel. “Hey! Buff, burly dude!”

  Samuel turned to look at us with a cautious stare. “It’s Samuel.”

  I smirked, knowing full well what his name was. “Yeah, well, either one goes, but anyways, is there a computer down here?”

  “No internet down here,” he told us with a smirk, as if he knew what we planned.

  “Cellphone?” I asked, trying to grab at any thread of technology there might be down here that would benefit the two of us for hacking into the system’s computer mainframe.

  Samuel shook his head. “Sorry, can’t let you use it.”

  Looking at Trisha, we both nodded. Turning back to Samuel, Trisha threw a punch and I watched his eyes open, surprised as his head whipped back when her fist hit the side of his face. He obviously didn’t expect violence from either of us. I joined in, tackling him down.

  With both of us fighting him, we were able to knock him out and steal his phone to search for the computer mainframe to get the hell out of there.

  We were busted. It took some time to find the computer mainframe, then we had to get the panel off. What we didn’t expect was for Samuel to come up behind Trisha and knock her out the same way she had done him. A finger to the neck. Then a gun pointed at me. Hands raised up, now, all bets were off.

  “Clothes off,” he muttered.

  The idea was ridiculous, but it was hard to refuse with a gun pointed at my body. I wasn’t taking any chances on finding out if he was serious.

  I glared at him, not ready to give in. “Dallon and Garrett will be pissed if you shoot me.”

  He smirked. “It wouldn’t be a kill shot.”

  Reluctantly I stripped the both of us, and he tied us up.

  After sitting there for awhile, I shifted my hands and dislocated my thumb, trying to tug them out of the rope confines. I winced at the pain.

  Trisha groaned as her head moved. “Am I naked?”

  “Yeah. I’m sorry,” I whispered back, wiggling my one hand that I had half way out..

  “Why?”

  “The asshole had me undress you, then myself, and tied us up. He told me it was for
our own good. That our guys would kill him if we got hurt. He said he was sorry and that you threw a mean punch, but if you told any of the guys, he’d deny it. Stripping us was his way of making us more vulnerable.”

  “Are you fuck’n serious?” She sounded pissed. I’d be, too. “Why didn’t you fight back?”

  I groaned on the inside as my hand throbbed. “He told me the guys were already on their way here, and if I didn’t do what he said, he’d knock me out. So, I balked, sorry.”

  “Really?” she questioned, confused.

  “Yeah,” I sighed, she was making me sound wimpy. “I have to pick and choose my battles.”

  “So, my father?”

  “He’s safe at the base,” I reassured her. “He’s being checked over and questioned.”

  My one hand slipped out, and the other came easily after that. I put my thumbs back into their sockets and twisted around to untie Trisha. I pulled her to a stand, seeing the tears gathered in her eyes and despite being naked, I wrapped my arms around her and let her cry on my shoulder.

  After a few moments, she regained her composure. She drew away from me and tried not to feel awkward in our naked situation.

  After what seemed like hours, the guys came back, and I winced when I overheard them talking to Samuel.

  “Where are the girls?” one of the guys demanded.

  I spared Trisha a glance. Her eyes widened at the tone.

  I pointed to her and whispered, “That one’s yours.”

  She sent me an evil glare.

  “Whoa, what the hell happened to you, dude?” I heard Garrett’s surprise.

  Trisha lifted an eyebrow and whispered, “That one’s yours.”

  “Your women,” Samuel growled. “They tried to escape and knocked me out, then tried to dismantle the security system.”

  “Forget going soft,” Dallon growled as boots shuffled to the door that separated us from them. “Melissa’s getting spanked, and not the erotic kind.”

  My lips flattened as my back straightened. Uh, hell no.

  The knob wiggled.

  “You don’t want to go in there.” Samuel sounded amused. The asshole.

  “Are they sleeping?” More boots made their way to us, and a knock sounded against the door as as one of the guys called, “Beauty, it’s Tristan.”