Julia indicated the damage below the surging waterline. “This could easily have been a scavenger.”
Garrick shook his head. “How the hell would they get in?”
“It’s difficult but not impossible.” Violet pointed at the water. “The base can be accessed through the river. There are plenty of scavengers living on the surface who’d like to help themselves to what we have here. Hell, I’m not pointing fingers, but there are new faces here too.”
Garrick’s grey eyes were serious. “Why would they sabotage where they live?” He shook his head in disbelief. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
Sawyer wiped the back of his hand across his mouth. “Only two families have joined us in recent months. They’re not likely to jeopardize their children’s lives.”
“There’s no way into the basement other than the door we all came through.” Violet pointed with the snub-nose of her weapon.
Julia hugged her elbows. Unless you count the freezing black water under the platform we’re standing on right now.
Sawyer rubbed his chin. “Julia, could someone access the base through the water system?”
“Theoretically, yes.” She dragged the words out slowly. “But why would they come in, damage a few connections to the coolant system, and leave?”
A metallic clatter of noise above their heads drew their attention. Lincoln Foster and Ryan Hardy loomed above, light from their pulse rifles bouncing off the glistening cavern walls.
Violet shouted up. “Nice of you ladies to join us. Power’s already back on.”
Hardy swore something indecipherable in Irish Gaelic. A former cage fighter, his broad shoulders cast a shadowy hulk in the plant room above. The target light of his weapon bounced toward the ceiling.
Foster ignored Violet and climbed down the ladder. His feet hit the metal with a clang. Foster had received an honorable discharge from the army, but he still wore his fair hair shaved close to his skull. Intense blue-black ink decorated every part of his wiry, lean frame apart from his face and neck. Julia still didn’t know what to make of him. He was the complete antithesis of what she imagined a bomb disposal expert to be: a walking advertisement for ADHD, with restless hands and feet, and a mouth that often didn’t know when to shut up. But like the others in the team, he’d put his life repeatedly on the line for the inhabitants of the CB, and for that, he had her respect.
Foster raised an eyebrow as he pointed at Sawyer’s soaking clothes. “Aren’t you meant to take your clothes off before you go swimming?”
Sawyer pushed past him, heading for the ladder. “Get lost, Foster.”
“Sawyer fixed the coolant valves under the water,” Julia explained. “The alarm tripped because the plant was overheating.”
“He thinks he saw a Chittrix in the river.” Violet added.
“Shit. Really?” Foster eased over to where Violet was standing. He leaned over the edge.
Violet joined him. “We haven’t seen anything though.”
Sawyer hesitated at the foot of the ladder. “Something knocked me over. Something was in the water with me.”
Foster wrinkled his brow “Fuckers started swimming now?”
Julia muttered under her breath. “No one has ever seen them in the water. They’re land-based.”
About to climb, Sawyer hesitated. He shot her a glance. Julia studied the floor, ashamed at her lack of support but unable to provide what he wanted. This conversation had to be over. She stared at his boots, avoiding his glare.
Sawyer cursed under his breath. “I need to get dried off.”
Only as he climbed the ladder did Julia raise her eyes. She tracked his retreating back, wet clothes sticking to every chiseled inch of his body, his shirt glimmering under the emergency lighting with the soft luminescence of algae.
Violet caught her eye, curiosity dancing across her delicate features.
Julia tore her gaze away, looking anywhere but at Sawyer. He was her secret and he was going to stay that way.
5
Sawyer let the warm water of the shower sluice the steely tang of river water from his skin as his mind replayed the shadow that had knocked him in the water. Julia’s doubt made him question what he had seen. Maybe he was wrong? He was already tired and emotionally drained from all the death and devastation he’d witnessed in the last nine months. Mistakes were easy to make.
Either way, he was pissed at Julia. She hadn’t said as much, but she’d challenged what he’d reported. When she’d hesitated to go into the water, he’d covered her back, but when it had come to supporting him, she’d looked the other way. He had no idea if this was because she didn’t believe him or because she wanted to deflect any connection between them that the others might sense. He still didn’t understand that one. She was freer with him in bed than any other woman he’d ever been with, but the mere suggestion that anyone might realize they were sleeping together sent her into paroxysms of paranoia.
His mind rattled through the options. Julia had said that to get to the base, the Chittrix would have had to swim for miles underground with no access to oxygen. Of the little he did know about them, he knew they relied on oxygen just like most of the indigenous life on earth. But just because no one had actually seen a Chittrix in the water, it didn’t mean the bastards hadn’t worked out how to swim.
He turned off the shower and dried himself before pulling on some sweats. It was five in the morning, but he was too wired to sleep. He might as well go down to the gym and burn off some energy.
The base was quiet again. Several passes outside had confirmed there were no Chittrix in the vicinity, and everyone had been shuttled back to their quarters.
Sawyer walked down the silent corridors. He enjoyed the noise of his own steps. The rhythmic sound of normality was a rarity. Even before the invasion, his life had been disturbed. He’d almost forgotten what normal was and he wasn’t sure if he’d ever find it again. Thoughts of the Chittrix and Julia swirled in his brain. Working it out in the gym was what he needed to clear his mind.
As he expected, the gym was empty. It was an old-style gymnasium with wooden ladders running from floor to ceiling. Thick ropes descended from high above his head and were tucked neatly behind the smooth-buffed wood. Faded colors on the polished floor marked out basketball and netball courts from a more peaceful era.
Sawyer unhooked the punching bag from the wall and strapped his fingers. When he’d worked undercover for the Metropolitan Drug Squad, the gym had been his salvation, his sanctuary, where he came to pound out his frustration and anger without arousing suspicion. It still served him well.
He started slow, tapping the bag with his knuckles, getting a feel for the rough canvas against his hands. Exercise and Julia, these were the two things he still had that made him feel alive. The bag shifted as he danced on the balls of his feet, in quiet solitude and slowly a pleasant burn heated his arms as he worked his fists. Puffs of chalk dust exploded in the still air around him, motes swirling under the glare of the overhead lighting.
He didn’t even notice her come in.
When he finally stopped, his muscles were aching, and his lungs were bursting with the effort. He shook his hands out, relaxing his fingers and knuckles. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d bruised them trying to unwind.
She stood in the back corner of the gym near the door, leaning against the wall. One curvaceous leg was crossed over the other and her arms were folded across her full breasts, watching him. Her eyes were unreadable.
His mouth went dry as she pushed off the wall and sauntered toward him. She’d changed from the cargo pants she’d been wearing earlier in the basement. Now she wore soft blue jeans and a black tank top that molded to the smooth sweep of her curves.
Julia hesitated on the other side of the punching bag and smiled. She took hold of the bag and spun it in her hands.
“I’ve been looking for you. Thought I might find you here.”
He took a step toward her, and she retreated at a ma
tching pace, her eyes crinkling at the corners.
“Helps me think,” he said.
She nodded, her fingers trailing across the surface of the gym bag. He took another step, and she mirrored his move, keeping just out of reach on the other side of the dusty white canvas. Her full lips parted, and a whisper of pink tongue darted against her white teeth.
Heat hardened his cock in an instant.
He swallowed, fighting his body for control. “Want to tell me what the hell was going on with you down in the basement?”
She averted her face and her fingers tightened on the canvas.
“You might as well have called me a liar.” Anger gave a rough edge to his voice, but he wasn’t sorry. She turned him on more than any woman he had ever been with, but her contrary nature was adept at igniting his temper. Not for the first time, he wondered what the hell he had got himself into. Julia was just complicated.
She glanced up at him, her eyes bright with indignation. “You don’t know what you saw.”
He crossed his arms. “Neither do you.”
“No. I don’t.” She nodded in agreement. “Unsupported speculation doesn’t help anyone though. We’re all scared. If you don’t know what you saw, then you just don’t know.”
“Is that the scientist speaking?”
“I’m sorry.” Her voice was genuine.
The tension in his shoulders eased a little. He didn’t want to fight. His cock burned with hot blood. No, he definitely didn’t want to fight.
She rubbed her upper arms as if she was chilled. “The water…it makes me uncomfortable, but you’re right. It wasn’t helpful.”
He waited to see if there was more. She was unfocused, lost momentarily in some memory.
She shivered and smiled, returning to him. “I didn’t come to talk, Sawyer.”
Ah. He grinned. “You know me well.” His voice was a throaty growl as his brain completely derailed with lust, his erection straining at the restraint of his sweats.
Sawyer advanced again, and she tried to sidestep him, but he was too quick for her. One strapped hand caught her wrist, his fingers closing around the fine bones. With one jerk, he snagged her close. She fell against him, her lush figure pressing deliciously against the muscles of his chest, her brown eyes gazing up at him, pupils dilated.
He had appreciated Julia from the first day he’d seen her, escaping the horde of Chittrix tearing her lab apart. That had been the beginning. They’d fought their way across London together, and since then she had become his full-time infatuation.
He wasn’t sure when the energy between them had shifted into something more, but shortly after bringing her to the safety of the CB, Julia had come to his room. When he’d opened his door, she’d been standing there, desire bright in her eyes. Her chestnut hair had cascaded over her shoulders in a silken sheath tracing the ample swell of her breasts. Julia wasn’t slender; the sweet curves of her body filled his hands with smooth softness and snared him with their siren call. She’d captured his mouth with hers, and her hands had slipped low for his cock before he spoke a word. He hadn’t fought it. Naked with her, he’d finally found respite from the regret and self-hatred that had consumed him for such a long time.
And that had been the start of it. Julia’s rules. Sex for companionship and closeness without any commitment, or anyone else’s knowledge.
Their secret.
He smoothed the loose hair from her face, tracing the delicate shell of her ear with his fingertips. Her eyes fluttered closed under his caress, her face tilting into his touch. The warm vanilla scent of the soap she used soothed him, pushing back the constricted knot of anger in his belly. Pulling in a trembling breath, Sawyer let it out in a slow huff of pleasure as her hands found the damp skin at the small of his back and tucked themselves beneath his waistband.
She relaxed her body against his, soft sighs escaping her lips. She smiled, her eyes closed in appreciation of his touch. When she opened them, she licked her lips, snatching his breath away.
“Aren’t you worried someone might find us?” he asked.
“I locked the door.” She gave him a mischievous grin that fired a bolt of longing down his spine.
He leaned forward and nipped at her earlobe, his fingers tracing down the arch of her back. Julia breathed out small murmurs of pleasure as she melted against him, the heat of her body inflaming his. His hands cupped the round globes of her backside, pressing into the soft flesh as greedy desire surged through him.
Her face didn’t have a classical beauty, but those deep brown eyes, and full red lips drew him in with sultry promises that he spent far too much time thinking about.
“You drive me crazy, you know that?” he murmured, nipping at her throat.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” she replied, cradling his face in her hands and teasing her thumb across his lower lip.
He hesitated, knowing in some way her words were true and desperately wanting them to be different. If only she would relax enough to let him into her world, the one she kept hidden from him in her head.
She dropped one hand, stroking his erection, and he groaned, catching the fingers of her other hand between his teeth and sucking. Julia gasped, arching her belly against him. He pulled her tighter into his arms, releasing her fingers and claiming her lips with a bruising kiss.
What she was offering right now was enough. Reason was for another day.
6
Julia relaxed and let Sawyer lead.
His tongue was hot and hungry for her, his teeth nipping at the soft flesh of her lower lip, forcing her to match his ferocity. She grasped his head, dragging his mouth against her to taste him properly. Scorching desire ignited in her belly as he groaned into her mouth.
His hands found the straps of her tank as he covered her shoulders with kisses. Julia tilted her head to one side, allowing his presence to obliterate everything from her mind but the feel of his body and the warm, teasing heaviness of his breath. Hot aching need burned through her. She wanted his bare skin under her hands, the heat of him pressing into and around her.
He backed her up, his hard body crowding hers until her shoulder blades hit the polished wooden ladder. Her breathing ratcheted higher, wild and out of control as she came to a standstill, the wood digging cold and unforgiving into her skin while Sawyer’s body was scalding hot along her stomach and breasts.
God, she loved the way he took charge, dominating her every time.
Before the invasion, she had run her weapons-research lab of twenty staff with meticulous control. Precision was imperative; there was no room for error in her work. Her position as a senior scientist had intimidated most men, including the ones who made it into her bed and even then, she’d never been one for submitting.
With Sawyer, it had always been different. Although she had initiated the relationship and called the shots as to when they got naked, each time she was with him, she found it a bit easier to relinquish control. She’d never been with a man who so matched her will, and it was glorious. He’d awakened a submissive edge to her personality she’d never known existed. It was the only time in her life she was able just to be.
Right now was no exception. He was relentless. Blistering kisses grazed down the soft skin of her neck, each one eroding her resistance further. Her heartbeat filled her ears, as his touch inflamed the heated ache between her thighs.
Without warning, he dropped to his knees, his forehead pressed to the softness of her belly. One arm held her locked in position, and he looked up at her, his eyes dark with predatory desire. He tugged up her tank, his mouth finding the soft, sensitive skin, his stubble scratching her in a delicious haze. Her hands reached for him, raking through the scruffy mohican across the top of his skull.
Cool air hit her skin as one hand swept her top higher, the other restraining her waist. Even if she wanted to move now, she was captive. He pressed kisses to her side, gently sucking on the flesh, then moved to the center, his tongue teasing along the w
aist of her jeans. Her breath caught in her throat as he gripped her hips.
“Like silk,” he muttered.
Air hissed through her teeth in a sharp intake of breath. “Don’t stop.”
He slipped one hand lower, his thumb rubbing in slow circles. Her pelvis arched to meet him, wanting more of his skilled touch. Soft moans filled the air, and she realized the sounds were her own as he tortured her with slow, firm pressure on her most sensitive spot. Liquid heat flooded between her legs, and her hands fumbled for the ladder rungs as her legs trembled under his relentless assault.
Sawyer glanced up, his hazel eyes intense and stormy, shooting molten desire through her whole body. He growled low in his throat and in one sharp tug, yanked her jeans off her hips and down to her ankles.
He paused. “No underwear?”
“I didn’t come here to talk,” she panted. His replying smile caused a small burst of bright happiness in her chest.
She stepped out her jeans, her legs shaking. With delicious slowness he slowly ran his warm hands around her ankles, up her calves across the back of her knees, and up the inside of her thighs to where she was burning with need. His fingers pressed at the apex of her legs, and her breath hitched as his mouth seared her skin with pleasure. Right now, she knew she would do anything for him, as long as he never stopped touching her like this.
One hand on each of her thighs, he spread her legs apart gently. His thumb pressed against the slick seam of her sex, delving inside her, while his mouth found her clit, his tongue hot and velvet.
God.
Her hips arched against him as he pressed his wet tongue into her folds, the edge of his teeth catching her clit as he licked and tasted. Exquisite fire ignited throughout her body, accelerating her heartbeat and the need to fuck him off the scale.
Her hands tightened around the bars of the ladder as her knees softened. Firm hands spread her legs further, one dropping from her thigh as he curved two thick fingers inside her, almost driving her over the edge.
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