by Camryn Rhys
His leg started to bounce and he turned his body away from the blond enforcer so he was facing the land and the black, instead of the light and the other boat.
And her.
He had to get away from her.
Hannah licked her lips and tried not to melt into a puddle on the floor. Her heart had nearly leapt from her chest when their lips touched—pure pleasure.
She’d never felt anything like it, and she wanted to feel more. But he’d jumped away like she carried the black plague. This attraction was beyond ignoring. How the hell was he just blowing it off? Hannah was practically salivating, wanting him so badly.
If her father and mother could see her now, she’d be on the first plane back to Seattle and kept under lock and key until Viper had signed a contract stating he’d never come within a hundred feet of her as long as she lived.
Then they’d probably ask her to marry the quiet, boring man who’d been trying to strike a deal with her father for months to join their private medical practice. And she would say yes.
Is that what you want, Hannah? A life lived with a man who you might eventually call a friend, but nothing more. She envied her cousin, May, who’d won the jackpot. Fated mate, new home down the street from parents that adored them, baby on the way. No bumps for May. No challenges. Just the perfect addition to her already perfect life.
Not only had Hannah lied to her father about returning to Seattle, she was ducking his calls, making him worry…and she could die.
They could all die.
She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket again. Swiping the dark screen, she navigated to her message app.
I love you, Daddy. Tell Mom I love her too.
I couldn’t abandon the team. I’m sorry I lied.
She pressed send, and slipped the phone back into her hip pocket. She wanted to say more. Wanted to assure him that she’d be home as soon as this was over. But deep in her gut, she knew that was just another lie.
The boats pulled to a stop and the real waiting began. The minutes dragged by one long second after the other.
Hannah wished Viper had stayed next to her, at least then she would’ve had the comfort of his close presence. Now, all she could think about was not being beside him. Not smelling the spicy scent of his aftershave. Not being about to reach out and touch him.
But he didn’t want her to touch him. He’d made that abundantly clear by removing himself from the bench and sitting at the very end of the boat.
Viper thought she was a weak, soft-hearted, useless civilian, and maybe he was right. Not the weak part, but the soft heart, she’d admit to.
She’d stood through ten-hour surgeries and days where she barely got to eat or sleep. She was far from weak, but she wanted people to be well cared for, safe, and happy. She gave second chances to people who were sick or injured. That wasn’t weakness.
Hannah was able to be strong without brandishing a weapon.
Eventually he’d see that. She had to give this a chance or she’d live her life regretting what might’ve been.
“Rain!” Maggie’s voice cut through the silence of the night.
Hannah turned toward the island. A large mushroom of fire billowed up over the center of the island, then faded away, the night sky swallowing the smoke. All the bright lights that’d been screaming into the night were suddenly dark.
But there’d been no signal. Nothing from Vadik or Andrea. Maggie wouldn’t have kept that to herself. They were all waiting for the same thing.
Hannah saw Rain dart across the length of the speedboat sitting in the water next to theirs.
“I saw it too,” Rain shouted. “We’ve waited long enough, Mags. This is my show now. So either the six of you follow my orders or I’ll drop you all back on the mainland. Understood?”
She couldn’t hear Maggie’s response, but she did see the nod.
This was it. They were headed in.
“We’re a go!” Rain bellowed across the water.
The boat motors came to life, rumbling quietly, but with enough power to send them hurtling across the water.
Hannah grabbed the rope line along the side rail and braced herself as the boat tore through the waves. Didn’t do much good, the ride jostled her like a pinball between the two rangers on either side.
Neither of them seemed to notice or mind, but she couldn’t help but look down the length of the boat, trying to catch a glimpse of Viper’s face. But he was doing an excellent job of evading her gaze.
They glided into the dark inlet and everyone started jumping out of the boats. Hannah glanced over the side, the water was waist high on most of the men. She glanced over at the other boat. Luther and Maggie swam toward the long dock that stuck out into the middle of the inlet with Donovan behind them. They moved off toward the boathouse.
She went over the side and hissed as the cool water swallowed her nearly up to her bra. Hannah hopped along, trying not to draw attention to the fact that the waves were knocking her over each time one rolled in. She was perfectly capable of swimming, but it was pitch black and all her clothes were weighing her down. Her boots were full of water.
An arm went around her waist and tugged her forward. “You shouldn’t be here. You can’t even wade through water correctly.” His gruff tone was meant to be ugly, but she couldn’t help but melt against him. Whatever he said, whatever he claimed, they were meant to be together.
Of that she was certain now.
“I may not be a soldier, but I’m here to help, the same as you,” she whispered. “I need to be with you.”
“You need to stay on this beach out of the way. You should’ve stayed in the boat with Colt.”
She shook her head. “You feel it, though. The magick between us.” She’d seen it in his face. Felt it in that brief kiss on the boat.
He dropped her in the water and Hannah flapped her arms trying to find her balance. She reached for him, but Viper took a quick step backward like her hand was covered in the flames from hell. Hurt lanced through her heart at the repeated rejection.
“I don’t give a shit what I feel. I’ve got a job to do, and you’re not getting in the middle of that.” His eyes flashed gold in the darkness.
Her heart stopped for a split-second, but she didn’t waver. And she sure as hell wasn’t backing down now. He was worth the trouble.
Worth giving up her life in Seattle. Worth breaking her parent’s hearts.
“You’re my mate. I refuse to leave your side,” she replied, meeting his angry glare head on. Salt water stung her chapped lips. Her clothes rubbed and her boots were cinder blocks.
“Viper, are you two gonna argue all night?” an unfamiliar male voice called from the boat behind them.
“Fuck off, Colt!”
“Fuck off, yourself. The rest of the group is ten paces ahead of you,” Colt hollered back.
A vice-grip locked around her wrist and fire snaked through her body like a lightning strike. She looked up at Viper’s still-glowing golden eyes and took a shallow breath. She wasn’t afraid of him hurting her; just afraid he’d try to put her back on the boat.
“If I tell you I do feel the magick, will you stop getting in my fucking way?”
“Probably not.”
Curse words spewed from his mouth. “Look, you can’t keep doing this. I have to focus. People are going to die and I’d prefer if it wasn’t me.”
“Mate magick strengthens wolves. It hones our senses. This is a gift.”
“It clouds your senses. It makes you weak. It’s not a fucking gift,” he hissed, leaning closer, putting his face closer to hers.
He was practically snarling and all she could focus on was how close his lips were and how much she wanted to kiss him again…touch him.
Viper had brushed her off enough; she wasn’t letting him get away with it again. Hannah was staying with him, whether he liked it the fuck or not.
She put her hands on either side of his face and pulled him closer. Magick sparked when her l
ips closed over his.
He jerked, pulling away at first, but when she slipped her tongue between her lips and into his mouth, he must’ve forgot his objections, though not his anger. Viper cupped her head with one of his massive hands, threading his fingers through her wet hair and wrenching down just enough to make her wince.
He was kissing her like the world was ending, but reminding her that he was pissed it was happening, all the same. So violent, this mate of hers. Why did that thrill her so much?
Their tongues tangled, and she relished the taste of him. She’d been kissed before, but never consumed. Her body burned for more of him while he nipped and sucked and licked his way from her mouth down the side of her neck. Each time his teeth bit into her skin, Hannah shivered from head to foot. He wanted her—just as much as she wanted him.
She whispered the words that would bond them for a hundred years. The magickal cord between them tightened, and suddenly Hannah could feel so much more.
Not his emotions yet, that would come after sex, but the physical link was fully developed. Her wrists were warm and tingled with magick—the first bond marks had formed.
“What the fuck?” Viper released her, and shoved her away.
“You curse a lot. Did you realize that?” she said slowly.
“I’ll fucking curse as much as I damn well please,” he growled. “You bonded us.”
“You said you recognized that I was your mate. I said you were mine. This is what happens after we say those words. We are mates.”
Chapter Four
Viper held his hand up to the moonlight and pulled his half-wet sleeve down. Sure enough, the warmth that’d sliced across his wrists was exactly what she’d said.
She had bonded them.
He could barely see the dark outlines of the new tattoos in the light of the half-moon. Shit. He could feel everything she felt—the stinging cold of her feet, the residual stinging of the tattoos on her wrists, the water lapping at her thighs, the burn on her neck where he’d bitten her skin the haze of the kiss.
Everything.
His breath caught hard, and his lungs burned for oxygen. Shit. She’d really done it. How could she have done this to him?
Memories flooded his mind and the waves crashing on the beach drowned out the pulse beating in his ears. The last time a member of his family had worn these tattoos… his father. His mother.
His wrists had the exact same big knot on each side that his parents had worn. The thorns, his mom had called them. One big thorn on the inside of her wrist, one big thorn on the outside. The cuffs, his father had called them, with a lock on each side.
Viper shook off the images of his parents’ faces. They were long gone, and their memories should stay in the grave with them.
He snarled and grabbed her hand, dragging her through the last of the waves and onto the sandy beach. He needed to be on dry land, and think. Viper looked around. He’d lost his team. Up the beach, near the dark, squat structure that must’ve been the security house, a man ran from the tree-line to the house.
“Get behind me,” he hissed at her, pulling his M4 from his back and pointing it.
But the man was wearing heavy gear and carrying an automatic weapon. He moved like Rain.
Viper followed his progress until he had climbed up some stairs and lowered his weapon. It had to be Rain. He shook himself and switched on his communicator.
If anything was happening, he needed the radio operations in his ear. Just like always.
Only this mission wasn’t just like always anymore. He had a bond with a woman that was lighting his mind up with her physical sensations and his memories, and he couldn’t focus.
Yeah, what a fucking gift this was.
“What’s wrong?” she whispered.
“We got separated from the team when you…” He rolled his eyes and grabbed her arm. “Just follow me.” He moved them up to the edge of the cliff, so they weren’t in the open on the beach.
It was dark enough, they probably couldn’t be seen anyway. But just in case.
“I had to bond with you,” Hannah said in a soft, almost motherly tone.
Why did it itch at him when she spoke like that? It was half-comfort and half-irritation.
“That’s what happens when you both recognize your other half.”
“I’m not half of anything,” he spat, glancing around and pinning his gaze on the boathouse. If Rain was up there, then they needed to move forward and find the rest of the team.
What he should do was radio in and tell them that they’d been separated. But then they were going to ask questions. Or worse yet, make assumptions.
He pressed his back against the rocks and tried to breathe in even gusts. Their plan had been to reconnoiter on the beach, somewhere out of sight.
The island was four-fifths cliffs and one-fifth beach, just in the inlet. Viper stood at the very edge of the sand with his back against the beginnings of the cliffs, the water lapping at his feet.
Around the rocks, the forest began at the edge of the beach in the inlet. They had to be somewhere just inside the forest. They’d have to come along the rocks until they ran into Rangers.
Fucking horrible plan.
He reached out with his senses. The only heartbeat he could hear was Hannah’s steady thrum. He couldn’t hear any of his buddies. They’d have to get a little closer.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m trying to figure out where the team is.”
“Don’t you have a radio?” Sarcasm edged her tone and Viper found himself lifting one corner of his mouth.
He appreciated sarcasm.
“I can’t radio in and tell them that some chick just mated me.” He shook his head. “They’ll think I lost it.”
“Well, I’m not sorry I did it. That’s what you do when you recognize your mate.”
“Look, chick, I don’t care what kind of hoodoo shit your pack is into, but that’s not something you just do to a guy. Without his permission.”
“Hannah.”
“What?” he said, turning toward her.
“My name is Hannah.”
“I know what your name is.”
“Good.” She touched his arm and heat sifted around inside him. “Then use it.”
“Look, Hannah, I don’t care what kind of voodoo shit your pack is into—”
“You said that already.” She sighed. “And my pack isn’t into voodoo. But as soon as you say that you recognize me, and I say that I recognize you, then we’ve acknowledged the bond anyway. So we bond. It’s how the process works.”
“Holy Mother of God, woman.” Viper pressed his head into the rock. “You couldn’t have waited until we were… Shit. I mean, talk about the wrong time—”
Crack. A gunshot.
Viper jumped to attention and looked around the rock, down the beach. In his ear, Rain’s voice said, “Shots fired, return fire.”
Punches of automatic ammunition filled the air and the yellow sparks gave away the squad’s position.
He grabbed Hannah’s hand and pulled her along the rocks beside him. “Stay with me.”
They moved toward the gunfire, staying close to the bushes that began the forest. Up in front of the boathouse, someone dragged a kitted-out body across the sand, followed by two more civilians.
Viper’s heart lurched. Rain. Had Rain been hit?
“Fuck!” He gripped Hannah’s hand harder and moved faster. There was another hail of bullets ahead of them, and the four friendlies disappeared into the forest.
They weren’t far ahead, only about a hundred yards. He pulled her hard behind him, but to her credit, she didn’t protest. The gunfire stopped as abruptly as it had started.
Rain’s voice was yelling out commands from inside the bushes. “Alpha team, continue to the big house, as planned. Report your position when you arrive. I’ll take Bravo team in pursuit of the combatants.”
Viper held his breath as he came up behind Gonzales.
The new Ranger turned with a start, his weapon raised, and Viper had his hands up.
He put a finger over his mouth and shook his head.
The kid’s eyes rounded, but he stayed quiet.
Viper slid in behind them, keeping Hannah’s hand gripped in his.
“Luther, Donovan, you’re with me. Let’s go.” Rain signaled the group and they took off.
The short woman, Maggie, followed Bravo team as they exited, which left Viper’s team with two women in tow.
Duke turned around. “You heard the commander. We find the road and continue up to the house as planned.” He led the team off through the bushes and Viper released Hannah’s hand.
The Rangers had their guns at the ready, moving through the brush with stealth and keeping their eyes on the civilians. Rain had promised that the enforcers would be able to hold their own, but so far, they’d mouthed off, started a fire fight, and fucking bonded with him without his permission.
He had a bad fucking feeling about this.
His pounding heart centered her as she followed directly behind him. Hannah had no problem keeping up pace, back home she jogged seven or eight miles a day, but her feet were killing her in the hiking boots Maggie had insisted she wear.
Her socks squelched with each step and her heels were already raw. His feet hurt too, she could feel the pain in the back of his heels as though it were her own. No complaints. And he’d get none from her either.
The group crept through the vines and low growing shrubs until they reached a gravel road leading deeper into the island at a gradual incline. A light breeze whipped through the trees and she shivered, her wet clothes a drastic temperature difference than her overheated blood.
She wiped a few drips of saltwater from her forehead and stepped just a little closer to Viper. They were bringing up the rear of the group.
Niko and Dani were closer to the front with a younger-looking ranger.
Their feet crunched in the gravel as they stepped out of the forest. But there were no other sounds. No heartbeats beyond the ones belonging to their group.
The half-moon overhead cast a slight glow on the white gravel of the road. At least she could see better out here than beneath the canopy of trees they’d been under at first.