by Anna Hackett
He straightened. “What did they say?”
“Clean bill of health.” She held her arms out and did a twirl. “They aren’t exactly sure what Catalyst’s light weapon did to mw, but it zapped some of the nerves in my right eye, and it is now fully functional…” Her smile dimmed a little. “My left eye is unlikely to recover. But I’m okay with that, I can see pretty well with one, and I can use the vision device, if I need to. I’m luckier than most.”
He moved fast, sweeping her into his arms. Her feet dangled off the ground, and she gave a surprised laugh.
“I love you as you are,” he said gruffly.
Winter went still against him. “I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of you telling me that.” She let her gaze roam his rugged face.
His hold on her tightened. “I told you endless times as we left Catalyst’s lair, and when you were resting in my bed.”
“It doesn’t count if I’m unconscious, Nero.”
“Then I’ll have to tell you again and again. Every day, for the rest of my life.”
She pressed her forehead against his. “I’d like that. I love you too, Nero. So much.”
“This entire place is filled with besotted gladiators and kissing couples,” a grumpy voice said.
They both turned. Zhim was scowling at them. Winter thought the information merchant looked tired, and his dark hair was mussed, like he’d been running his hands repeatedly through it.
“What has you in such a good mood?” Nero set Winter back on her feet.
Zhim shoved his hands in his pockets. “Galen asked me to find this human woman who helped you in Catalyst’s lair.”
“Ryan?” Winter’s heart skipped a beat. “Have you found her? Or the location of Zaabha? Or any leads on Dayna?”
Zhim’s mouth twisted. “No. There has been no information on Dayna, and trying to find Zaabha is like chasing a myth. There is so much fiction mixed with crumbs of fact. It makes it hard to separate the two.” He ran his hand through his hair. “And I’ve tried to make contact with this Ryan.”
“And?”
“No success yet.” A gleam entered the man’s fascinating, multicolored eyes. “But I’m not giving up. I am the best.”
Winter smiled, and caught Nero rolling his eyes. “Thank you, Zhim.”
“We will leave you to it, information merchant.” Nero wrapped his arm around Winter. “We have other things to do.”
As he yanked her down the hall, she managed to wave goodbye to Zhim. She found herself practically jogging to keep up with Nero’s long strides.
“What’s the rush, barbarian?” She was breathless.
He tugged her into his bedroom. Their room, she amended. He’d given the order earlier that she was moving into his room.
He slammed the door closed behind them, and then backed her up against the wood. When his hands bunched in her skirts, pushing the fabric up, she gasped. Desire was damp heat between her legs.
“The rush is that I need you.” His voice was deep and gruff. “You finally have clearance from Medical, and now I need to be inside you.”
She felt the air swirl around her bare legs. “Oh. Well, then.”
He pushed her skirts to her waist, and soon his fingers were tearing her underwear away. He kissed her hard and she sank her hands into his hair, undulating against him. She felt the hard press of his cock against her belly.
He made a growling sound, his arms wrapping tightly around her. Suddenly, she found herself hauled across the room. He spun her around and pushed her against the back of the large leather couch in the center of the room.
The next second, she found herself bent over the back of the couch, her skirts pushed up over her back, and her bare bottom exposed. Big, callused palms caressed one cheek, then the other.
Then thick fingers delved between her legs, making her cry out.
“So pretty and wet.”
She heard the rustle of leather behind her, and knew he was opening his trousers. Anticipation was sharp, like a blade. A second later, he thrust into her.
His hands clamped onto her hips, and then he was thrusting inside her with hard, measured thrusts.
She pushed back against him. “I’m not fragile or weak, remember, Nero.”
“No. You’re mine.”
“Then give it to me harder, Nero. Faster.”
With a groan, he did as she asked. Soon, the room was filled with the sound of flesh slapping against flesh. God, he was so big and thick. She heard the husky little cries escaping her throat.
“Be mine,” he growled against her ear, his big body covering hers. “Be my mate, my partner, my woman, my heart.”
Warmth swelled in her chest. “Yes.”
“I have no clan, no kingdom—”
“I only want you, Nero.” She turned her head, their lips meeting. “I have nothing to offer you but myself and my love.”
He thrust into her a few more times and, a moment later, Winter came, her orgasm shooting through her like an explosion. She felt Nero’s fingers clamp on her hips, and then he was spilling himself inside her with a rough groan.
His mouth found hers, and he kissed her, wildly. Just the way a conquering barbarian should kiss.
When Winter could think again, she was still bent over the couch, trying to pull air into her laboring lungs. Her barbarian moved, scooping her up into his arms. He carried her to the bed and set her down. He started stripping her clothes off.
“I want to see you,” he said. “And I want to have you again.”
Her gaze dropped to the long cock that was already hardening once more. She lay back on the covers and smiled. “No complaints from me.”
He pressed a knee to the bed, his big, naked body looming over her. “I’m glad you used me for sex, Winter.”
“I’m pretty happy with how it worked out, too.” She helped him push his harness off his broad chest. “I think I’ll keep using you for sex. For the rest of our lives. Now, less talking and more action.”
He leaned down, a smile on his face. “Anything for you.”
---
I hope you enjoyed Winter and Nero’s story!
Galactic Gladiators continues with BEAST, starring wild blue alien warrior Vek, coming late-2017. For more action-packed romance, read on for a preview of the first chapter of Marcus, the first book in my bestselling Hell Squad series.
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Preview – Hell Squad: Marcus
Her team was under attack.
Elle Milton pressed her fingers to her small earpiece. “Squad Six, you have seven more raptors inbound from the east.” Her other hand gripped the edge of her comp screen, showing the enhanced drone feed.
She watched, her belly tight, as seven glowing red dots converged on the blue ones huddled together in the burned-out ruin of an office building in downtown Sydney. Each blue dot was a squad member and one of them was their leader.
“Marcus? Do you copy?” Elle fought to keep her voice calm. No way she’d let them hear her alarm.
“Roger that, Elle.” Marcus’ gravelly voice filled her ear. Along with the roar of laser fire. “We see them.”
She sagged back in her chair. This was the worst part. Just sitting there knowing that Marcus and the others were fighting for their lives. In the six months she’d been comms officer for the squad, she’d worked hard to learn the ropes. But there were days she wished she was out there, aiming a gun and taking out as many alien raptors as she could.
You’re not a soldier, Ellianna. No, she was a useless party-girl-turned-survivor. She watched as a red dot disappeared off the screen, then another, and another. She finally drew a breath. Marcus and his team were the experienced soldiers. She’d just be a big fat liability in the field.
But she
was a damn good comms officer.
Just then, a new cluster of red dots appeared near the team. She tapped the screen, took a measurement. “Marcus! More raptors are en route. They’re about one kilometer away. North.” God, would these invading aliens ever leave them alone?
“Shit,” Marcus bit out. Then he went silent.
She didn’t know if he was thinking or fighting. She pictured his rugged, scarred face creased in thought as he formulated a plan.
Then his deep, rasping voice was back. “Elle, we need an escape route and an evac now. Shaw’s been hit in the leg, Cruz is carrying him. We can’t engage more raptors.”
She tapped the screen rapidly, pulling up drone images and archived maps. Escape route, escape route. Her mind clicked through the options. She knew Shaw was taller and heavier than Cruz, but the armor they wore had slim-line exoskeletons built into them allowing the soldiers to lift heavier loads and run faster and longer than normal. She tapped the screen again. Come on. She needed somewhere safe for a Hawk quadcopter to set down and pick them up.
“Elle? We need it now!”
Just then her comp beeped. She looked at the image and saw a hazy patch of red appear in the broken shell of a nearby building. The heat sensor had detected something else down there. Something big.
Right next to the team.
She touched her ear. “Rex! Marcus, a rex has just woken up in the building beside you.”
“Fuck! Get us out of here. Now.”
Oh, God. Elle swallowed back bile. Images of rexes, with their huge, dinosaur-like bodies and mouths full of teeth, flashed in her head.
More laser fire ripped through her earpiece and she heard the wild roar of the awakening beast.
Block it out. She focused on the screen. Marcus needed her. The team needed her.
“Run past the rex.” One hand curled into a tight fist, her nails cutting into her skin. “Go through its hiding place.”
“Through its nest?” Marcus’ voice was incredulous. “You know how territorial they are.”
“It’s the best way out. On the other side you’ll find a railway tunnel. Head south along it about eight hundred meters, and you’ll find an emergency exit ladder that you can take to the surface. I’ll have a Hawk pick you up there.”
A harsh expulsion of breath. “Okay, Elle. You’ve gotten us out of too many tight spots for me to doubt you now.”
His words had heat creeping into her cheeks. His praise…it left her giddy. In her life BAI—before alien invasion—no one had valued her opinions. Her father, her mother, even her almost-fiancé, they’d all thought her nothing more than a pretty ornament. Hell, she had been a silly, pretty party girl.
And because she’d been inept, her parents were dead. Elle swallowed. A year had passed since that horrible night during the first wave of the alien attack, when their giant ships had appeared in the skies. Her parents had died that night, along with most of the world.
“Hell Squad, ready to go to hell?” Marcus called out.
“Hell, yeah!” the team responded. “The devil needs an ass-kicking!”
“Woo-hoo!” Another voice blasted through her headset, pulling her from the past. “Ellie, baby, this dirty alien’s nest stinks like Cruz’s socks. You should be here.”
A smile tugged at Elle’s lips. Shaw Baird always knew how to ease the tension of a life-or-death situation.
“Oh, yeah, Hell Squad gets the best missions,” Shaw added.
Elle watched the screen, her smile slipping. Everyone called Squad Six the Hell Squad. She was never quite sure if it was because they were hellions, or because they got sent into hell to do the toughest, dirtiest missions.
There was no doubt they were a bunch of rebels. Marcus had a rep for not following orders. Just the previous week, he’d led the squad in to destroy a raptor outpost but had detoured to rescue survivors huddled in an abandoned hospital that was under attack. At the debrief, the general’s yelling had echoed through the entire base. Marcus, as always, had been silent.
“Shut up, Shaw, you moron.” The deep female voice carried an edge.
Elle had decided there were two words that best described the only female soldier on Hell Squad—loner and tough. Claudia Frost was everything Elle wasn’t. Elle cleared her throat. “Just get yourselves back to base.”
As she listened to the team fight their way through the rex nest, she tapped in the command for one of the Hawk quadcopters to pick them up.
The line crackled. “Okay, Elle, we’re through. Heading to the evac point.”
Marcus’ deep voice flowed over her and the tense muscles in her shoulders relaxed a fraction. They’d be back soon. They were okay. He was okay.
She pressed a finger to the blue dot leading the team. “The bird’s en route, Marcus.”
“Thanks. See you soon.”
She watched on the screen as the large, black shadow of the Hawk hovered above the ground and the team boarded. The rex was headed in their direction, but they were already in the air.
Elle stood and ran her hands down her trousers. She shot a wry smile at the camouflage fabric. It felt like a dream to think that she’d ever owned a very expensive, designer wardrobe. And heels—God, how long had it been since she’d worn heels? These days, fatigues were all that hung in her closet. Well-worn ones, at that.
As she headed through the tunnels of the underground base toward the landing pads, she forced herself not to run. She’d see him—them—soon enough. She rounded a corner and almost collided with someone.
“General. Sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
“No problem, Elle.” General Adam Holmes had a military-straight bearing he’d developed in the United Coalition Army and a head of dark hair with a brush of distinguished gray at his temples. He was classically handsome, and his eyes were a piercing blue. He was the top man in this last little outpost of humanity. “Squad Six on their way back?”
“Yes, sir.” They fell into step.
“And they secured the map?”
God, Elle had almost forgotten about the map. “Ah, yes. They got images of it just before they came under attack by raptors.”
“Well, let’s go welcome them home. That map might just be the key to the fate of mankind.”
They stepped into the landing areas. Staff in various military uniforms and civilian clothes raced around. After the raptors had attacked, bringing all manner of vicious creatures with them to take over the Earth, what was left of mankind had banded together.
Whoever had survived now lived here in an underground base in the Blue Mountains, just west of Sydney, or in the other, similar outposts scattered across the planet. All arms of the United Coalition’s military had been decimated. In the early days, many of the surviving soldiers had fought amongst themselves, trying to work out who outranked whom. But it didn’t take long before General Holmes had unified everyone against the aliens. Most squads were a mix of ranks and experience, but the teams eventually worked themselves out. Most didn’t even bother with titles and rank anymore.
Sirens blared, followed by the clang of metal. Huge doors overhead retracted into the roof.
A Hawk filled the opening, with its sleek gray body and four spinning rotors. It was near-silent, running on a small thermonuclear engine. It turned slowly as it descended to the landing pad.
Her team was home.
She threaded her hands together, her heart beating a little faster.
Marcus was home.
***
Marcus Steele wanted a shower and a beer.
Hot, sweaty and covered in raptor blood, he leaped down from the Hawk and waved at his team to follow. He kept a sharp eye on the medical team who raced out to tend to Shaw. Dr. Emerson Green was leading them, her white lab coat snapping around her curvy body. The blonde doctor caught his gaze and tossed him a salute.
Shaw was cursing and waving them off, but one look from Marcus and the lanky Australian sniper shut his mouth.
Marcus
swung his laser carbine over his shoulder and scraped a hand down his face. Man, he’d kill for a hot shower. Of course, he’d have to settle for a cold one since they only allowed hot water for two hours in the morning in order to conserve energy. But maybe after that beer he’d feel human again.
“Well done, Squad Six.” Holmes stepped forward. “Steele, I hear you got images of the map.”
Holmes might piss Marcus off sometimes, but at least the guy always got straight to the point. He was a general to the bone and always looked spit and polish. Everything about him screamed money and a fancy education, so not surprisingly, he tended to rub the troops the wrong way.
Marcus pulled the small, clear comp chip from his pocket. “We got it.”
Then he spotted her.
Shit. It was always a small kick in his chest. His gaze traveled up Elle Milton’s slim figure, coming to rest on a face he could stare at all day. She wasn’t very tall, but that didn’t matter. Something about her high cheekbones, pale-blue eyes, full lips, and rain of chocolate-brown hair…it all worked for him. Perfectly. She was beautiful, kind, and far too good to be stuck in this crappy underground maze of tunnels, dressed in hand-me-down fatigues.
She raised a slim hand. Marcus shot her a small nod.
“Hey, Ellie-girl. Gonna give me a kiss?”
Shaw passed on an iono-stretcher hovering off the ground and Marcus gritted his teeth. The tall, blond sniper with his lazy charm and Aussie drawl was popular with the ladies. Shaw flashed his killer smile at Elle.
She smiled back, her blue eyes twinkling and Marcus’ gut cramped.
Then she put one hand on her hip and gave the sniper a head-to-toe look. She shook her head. “I think you get enough kisses.”
Marcus released the breath he didn’t realize he was holding.
“See you later, Sarge.” Zeke Jackson slapped Marcus on the back and strolled past. His usually-silent twin, Gabe, was beside him. The twins, both former Coalition Army Special Forces soldiers, were deadly in the field. Marcus was damned happy to have them on his squad.
“Howdy, Princess.” Claudia shot Elle a smirk as she passed.