by Anna Hackett
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.
Elle rolled her eyes. “Claudia.”
Cruz, Marcus’ second-in-command and best friend from their days as Coalition Marines, stepped up beside Marcus and crossed his arms over his chest. He’d already pulled some of his lightweight body armor off, and the ink on his arms was on display.
The general nodded at Cruz before looking back at Marcus. “We need Shaw back up and running ASAP. If the raptor prisoner we interrogated is correct, that map shows one of the main raptor communications hubs.” There was a blaze of excitement in the usually-stoic general’s voice. “It links all their operations together.”
Yeah, Marcus knew it was big. Destroy the hub, send the raptor operations into disarray.
The general continued. “As soon as the tech team can break the encryption on the chip and give us a location for the raptor comms hub—” his piercing gaze leveled on Marcus “—I want your team back out there to plant the bomb.”
Marcus nodded. He knew if they destroyed the raptors’ communications it gave humanity a fighting chance. A chance they desperately needed.
He traded a look with Cruz. Looked like they were going out to wade through raptor gore again sooner than anticipated.
Man, he really wanted that beer.
Then Marcus’ gaze landed on Elle again. He didn’t keep going out there for himself, or Holmes. He went so people like Elle and the other civilian survivors had a chance. A chance to do more than simply survive.
“Shaw’s wound is minor. Doc Emerson should have him good as new in an hour or so.” Since the advent of the nano-meds, simple wounds could be healed in hours, rather than days and weeks. They carried a dose of the microscopic medical machines on every mission, but only for dire emergencies. The nano-meds had to be administered and monitored by professionals or they were just as likely to kill you from the inside than heal you.
General Holmes nodded. “Good.”
Elle cleared her throat. “There’s no telling how long it will take to break the encryption. I’ve been working with the tech team and even if they break it, we may not be able to translate it all. We’re getting better at learning the raptor language but there are still huge amounts of it we don’t yet understand.”
Marcus’ jaw tightened. There was always something. He knew Noah Kim—their resident genius computer specialist—and his geeks were good, but if they couldn’t read the damn raptor language…
Holmes turned. “Steele, let your team have some downtime and be ready the minute Noah has anything.”
“Yes, sir.” As the general left, Marcus turned to Cruz. “Go get yourself a beer, Ramos.”
“Don’t need to tell me more than once, amigo. I would kill for some of my dad’s tamales to go with it.” Something sad flashed across a face all the women in the base mooned over, then he grimaced and a bone-deep weariness colored his words. “Need to wash the raptor off me, first.” He tossed Marcus a casual salute, Elle a smile, and strode out.
Marcus frowned after his friend and absently started loosening his body armor.
Elle moved up beside him. “I can take the comp chip to Noah.”
“Sure.” He handed it to her. When her fingers brushed his he felt the warmth all the way through him. Hell, he had it bad. Thankfully, he still had his armor on or she’d see his cock tenting his pants.
“I’ll come find you as soon as we have something.” She glanced up at him. Smiled. “Are you going to rec night tonight? I hear Cruz might even play guitar for us.”
The Friday-night gathering was a chance for everyone to blow off a bit of steam and drink too much homebrewed beer. And Cruz had an unreal talent with a guitar, although lately Marcus hadn’t seen the man play too much.
Marcus usually made an appearance at these parties, then left early to head back to his room to study raptor movements or plan the squad’s next missions. “Yeah, I’ll be there.”
“Great.” She smiled. “I’ll see you there, then.” She hurried out clutching the chip.
He stared at the tunnel where she’d exited for a long while after she disappeared, and finally ripped his chest armor off. Ah, on second thought, maybe going to the rec night wasn’t a great idea. Watching her pretty face and captivating smile would drive him crazy. He cursed under his breath. He really needed that cold shower.
As he left the landing pads, he reminded himself he should be thinking of the mission. Destroy the hub and kill more aliens. Rinse and repeat. Death and killing, that was about all he knew.
He breathed in and caught a faint trace of Elle’s floral scent. She was clean and fresh and good. She always worried about them, always had a smile, and she was damned good at providing their comms and intel.
She was why he fought through the muck every day. So she could live and the goodness in her would survive. She deserved more than blood and death and killing.
And she sure as hell deserved more than a battled-scarred, bloodstained s
oldier.
Hell Squad
Marcus
Cruz
Gabe
Reed
Also by Anna Hackett
Hell Squad
Marcus
Cruz
Gabe
Reed
The Anomaly Series
Time Thief
Mind Raider
Soul Stealer
Salvation
The Phoenix Adventures
Among Galactic Ruins
At Star’s End
In the Devil’s Nebula
On a Rogue Planet
Beneath a Trojan Moon
Beyond Galaxy’s Edge
On a Cyborg Planet
Return to Dark Earth
Perma Series
Winter Fusion
The WindKeepers Series
Wind Kissed, Fire Bound
Taken by the South Wind
Tempting the West Wind
Defying the North Wind
Claiming the East Wind
Standalone Titles
Savage Dragon
Hunter’s Surrender
One Night with the Wolf
Anthologies
A Galactic Holiday
Moonlight (UK only)
Vampire Hunter (UK only)
Awakening the Dragon (UK Only)
For more information visit AnnaHackettBooks.com
About the Author
I’m a USA Today bestselling author and I’m passionate about action romance. I love stories that combine the thrill of falling in love with the excitement of action, danger and adventure. I’m a sucker for that moment when the team is walking in slow motion, shoulder-to-shoulder heading off into battle. I write about people overcoming unbeatable odds and achieving seemingly impossible goals. I like to believe it’s possible for all of us to do the same.
My books are mixture of action, adventure and sexy romance and they’re recommended for anyone who enjoys fast-paced stories where the boy wins the girl at the end (or sometimes the girl wins the boy!)
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Website: AnnaHackettBooks.com
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