by Anna Hackett
“I know you, Sienna. You wouldn’t have wanted to hurt him or cause a scene.”
She pushed against Theron, but he didn’t budge.
He leaned down, his breath warm on her cheek. “You think that once he smelled you, he’d stop? Once he felt how you’d fit against him, with that sweet little body, that he’d let you go?”
Desire flowed into her, need making her belly tight. His voice was a sexy rasp, his body so hard against hers. “Theron.”
“Stop me,” he growled.
She lifted her head, their gazes locking. Something dark and edgy ignited in his eyes, something that was a twin to what was inside her.
She shoved against him, and he shoved back. He was physically much stronger, but Sienna knew she was much sneakier when she needed to be.
“What if I don’t want to stop you?” she said breathlessly.
He made a growling sound. “I’m not right for you.”
“I think we’re very right.” She sucked in a breath. God, he smelled so good. “I think we should sleep together.”
He jerked against her. “Dammit, Sienna.” Then his mouth slammed down on hers.
Ohhh. Oh, wow. She melted into him, pushing up on her toes to get closer. His tongue pushed into her mouth, and she met it with her own, drawing in the raw, male taste of him.
He made a guttural sound, and his arm wrapped around her. She leaped up, wrapping her legs around his waist. He turned, pushing her against the wall. He grabbed her wrists with his free hand and shoved them above her head.
So much passion. As his tongue pushed deeper into her mouth, like he was trying to claim her, need exploded in Sienna. She needed more. She needed closer.
He ground his hips against her, and she felt the hard bulge of his erection. He was feasting on her and shocked pleasure coursed through her. She cried out his name.
And it was like she’d tossed a bucket of icy water over him.
Suddenly, Theron backed off, unwrapping her legs from his waist and stepping away.
Sienna blinked in confusion, glad that the wall was holding her upright.
“I’m sorry,” Theron said stiffly.
The wonderful, hot need inside her went cold. “Sorry?”
“I lost my temper.”
She stayed against the wall, hurt coursing through her. “You were mad? That’s all this was?”
“Yes. I could’ve hurt you—”
Sienna cut a hand through the air. “Don’t. You wouldn’t have hurt me.”
“I…have big hands.”
“Dammit, Theron. I like my sex hot, sweaty, and hard. Or, at least, I think I do. Everyone’s always treating me like a fucking fairy princess.” She stomped her foot. “I am not a princess.”
Theron took a step forward, then stopped. “I care about you. You’re one of my closest friends and I only want what’s best for you.”
“I know what’s best for me.” She thought she did, at any rate. She knew that the world wasn’t the place it had been before the invasion. She knew that every moment was precious, especially for those of them on the squads. Any day could be their last.
She wanted to try everything, discover what felt good and made her happy. And she wanted to know what being held by Theron felt like. She wanted to kiss him, feel the passion that flared between them, brighter than anything she’d felt before.
Theron shook his head. “I’m just as bad as that asshole who touched you.”
“I didn’t want him to touch me.”
Theron just stared at her and said nothing.
“I know you want me,” she said baldly.
Now, he shook his head.
“I deserve some honesty,” she said. “You’re my friend. I saw you.”
He went still. “Saw me?”
“During the Christmas party. In your room—” her breath hitched at the memory “—stroking yourself.”
He went rigid, his face turning to stone. But he remained silent.
Sienna swallowed. “Theron, say something.”
More stubborn silence.
Theron was nothing, if not stubborn. She’d always joked and called him as hard and unyielding as a rock. He could outwait anybody and if he’d decided he wasn’t going to discuss this, he wouldn’t.
“I want you, Theron.”
More silence.
Pain sliced through her. Suddenly, Sienna was exhausted. If he really wanted her, if he really cared, he’d do or say something.
His silence was answer enough. “We’re meeting the others for a late lunch in the dining room shortly. I’ll see you there.”
He gave her a stiff nod, spun on his heel, and walked away.
Sienna sagged against the wall. She felt wrung out.
She stared down the corridor after Theron, then lifted a hand and rubbed her aching chest.
But she wasn’t giving up. Stubborn Theron hadn’t seen anything yet.
***
Theron sat beside Roth at their usual table in the dining room. A general hubbub of conversation filled the air, punctuated by the tinkle of knives and forks hitting plates. Food at the Enclave was pretty darn good, and President Howell had made sure the place was outfitted with the best. Theron glanced at the fancy plates. Meals here were sure a lot prettier than at Blue Mountain Base.
And yet, even knowing that, he couldn’t do much more than stare at the food on his plate without a hell of a lot of interest.
Exhaling softly, he admitted the truth to himself. He was waiting for Sienna to arrive.
I think we should sleep together.
He knew he was in a grumpy mood. It was partly because that builder asshole had put his hands on her. But it was the rest of the conversation, as well.
Knowing that Sienna had watched him jerk off while he fantasized about her… Shit. He’d promised himself he’d protect her, and never go there with her…and now it was all he could think about.
He heard a familiar laugh, and his head snapped up. Sienna entered the room, with Taylor and Cam. The three women—each deadly and gorgeous in their own way—made quite a sight. He saw plenty of guys in the dining room look up and watch them.
When they reached the table, he expected Sienna to sit beside him like she always did. But when she ignored him and sat on the other side of the table beside Mac, he felt the stab of hurt. He guessed he deserved it.
Theron had learned pretty quickly in life to be honest with himself. He’d had a rough start, but then he’d gotten lucky when his parents had adopted him. They’d given him a warm, steady home, and a place where he could be himself. Where he could learn about himself. Theron knew what lived in his blood, and he never planned to get married or have kids. He also knew what he liked in bed, although he hadn’t had sex since the invasion. He’d known that fast, hurried tumbles with scared and lonely women wouldn’t even start to scratch his itch, and finding someone who shared his tastes wasn’t easy.
Oh, but he’d fantasized. The problem was, his hand was a poor substitute for what he really wanted.
And he knew what he wanted wasn’t what Sienna would want. He refused to jeopardize their friendship in any way.
“What’s got you looking so down?” Roth asked.
“Nothing.” Theron picked up his homebrewed beer and sipped it. Since they were on standby, he could only have one beer, and not the whiskey that he’d prefer.
Roth lifted a brow. “Woman trouble, huh?”
Theron hunched his shoulders. The last thing he wanted to do was tell his leader that he was lusting after one of their squad members. “I’m steering clear of her.”
Now his friend smiled. “I tried that. Want some advice?”
Theron turned his head. If Roth knew Theron was lusting after Sienna, the man would have a fit. Sure, the rules had all been thrown out the window after the invasion. He knew there were couples on other squads, like Shaw and Claudia on Hell Squad.
But Theron wasn’t the long-term-relationship kind. If he touched Sienna…no, it would r
uin everything.
“Not sure I want your advice,” Theron said. “I seem to recall you screwing up pretty badly with Avery for a really long time.”
“Because I was an idiot. I should have listened to her more, and not been so pigheaded.”
Across the table, Sienna laughed at something Cam said. He stared at her expressive face and watched as she dumped colored sprinkles on top of her ice cream. She loved the damn things, and her stash jar looked like it was almost empty. She always gave him a hard time about liking his ice cream plain.
He tried to imagine telling her what he wanted. That he liked rough sex. That he got turned on when a woman pretended to struggle and when she let him tie her up and talk dirty.
Yeah, right. She might like to say she liked it hot and sweaty, but there was something so fresh and innocent about Sienna Rossi.
“Ladies.” The deep, rough voice made Theron glance over. Tane and Hemi Rahia were standing by their table.
The two men were from Squad Three, known to everyone as the berserkers. Made up of bikers and former mercenaries, the berserkers were rough, wild, and deadly on the battlefield. Theron had never seen anyone go into battle laughing, the way these guys did.
Tane was the leader, and his brother Hemi, his second in command. The taller, leaner Tane had an unsmiling face and long dreadlocked hair. Hemi was built like a tank and covered in tattoos.
“We’re on our way to the games room,” Hemi said. “Thought I’d challenge Squad Nine to some epic battles of pool.” He wagged his eyebrows.
Cam snorted. “We whipped your ass last time, Rahia.”
Hemi’s gaze hit the other woman, and it instantly turned hot. Theron had been watching Hemi circling Cam, and Cam doing her best to shut him down, even though anyone with half a brain could tell the two of them were on fire for each other. Cam had issues she didn’t freely share with anyone else. Theron hoped Hemi could find a way through the woman’s tough shell.
“Maybe,” Hemi conceded. “But since I enjoyed it, it doesn’t count.”
Cam snorted again and grabbed her drink. She stood. “All right, then. But we’re betting this time. Clothing credits. I have my eye on a new bikini.”
As Hemi’s gaze clouded over, Theron suppressed the need to shake his head. Cam knew just how to play the man.
“Did someone say pool?”
Theron felt someone lean into him and looked up. Michelle was a survivor from Blue Mountain Base. The woman was a little older than Theron, liked lifting weights, worked on the maintenance staff…and made him some tempting offers a time or two.
He felt someone looking at him and glanced across the table. Sienna was watching him with a steady gaze and a blank face.
Decision made, he stood. “Sure thing. Grab a drink, and let’s go have some fun.”
Michelle grinned and linked her arm through his. “I like fun.”
Chapter Five
Sienna sat at the small bar in the games room. There was no bartender at work here, you just helped yourself to something from the cooler, and cleaned up your own mess. Since they were on standby she was having a soda, but she really wanted something alcoholic. Something to dull the pain.
She looked over toward the pool tables. Cam and Hemi were locked in an epic battle, and trading insults. Tane and Roth were having a civilized game at the next pool table. And Michelle was flirting with Theron at the third table. She was leaning into him with her big, strong body, laughing her loud, full-throated laugh. He wasn’t really flirting, and his face was its usual granite mask, but he didn’t seem to mind her standing so close.
Theron was a real gentleman when it came to sex. If he’d been with anyone, he’d never mentioned it. She watched Michelle smile at him and he leaned in to take a shot.
He was thinking of sleeping with her. Sienna was sure of it. She ran a finger down her glass. She was getting his message loud and clear.
“You look like someone stole your favorite sprinkles.” Mac slid onto the chair beside her.
“It’s nothing. Over and done with now.”
“Man trouble.”
Sienna lifted her glass. “Isn’t it always? You snagged a good one. Handsome and sexy as hell, who liked you from the start and wasn’t afraid to show it.”
Mac poured herself her own soda. “It wasn’t exactly smooth sailing, Sienna. Relationships take work, effort, compromise. Especially when that person is a friend, and someone you work with every day.”
Sienna realized she’d been staring at Theron, and jerked her gaze back. “It’s nothing.”
Mac rattled the ice in her drink. “It doesn’t look like nothing. And the way he watches you when you aren’t looking isn’t nothing.”
He watched her? Sienna’s chest hitched, and then she stomped down on the reaction. “He thinks I’m not right for him.”
“Most people think Theron is the strong, silent type,” Mac said. “And he is, but he’s also pretty in touch with himself and what he likes. I’ve always liked that about him.”
Sienna nodded. “He had a good family and was tight with his mom and dad. And they had a big foster family…sounds like a pretty good place to learn what you like.” Pain rose in her throat. “Apparently, that’s not me.”
Mac watched her for a long moment. “You sure you want him? Or is he just forbidden fruit?”
An old saying of her nonna’s drifted through Sienna’s head. I frutti proibiti sono i più dolci. Forbidden fruit is the sweetest.
Mac tilted her head, her gaze direct. “A man like Theron takes what’s his. Once he’s claimed it, he’ll never let it go. Doing so would shatter something inside him.”
Sienna knew that. It was part of what she liked most about him, his unshakeable values and sense of right and wrong. It was why she knew he felt so guilty about the death of his Ranger team. “I want him, Mac. I can feel the pull between us and I think it’s something special.”
Her friend nodded. “So, what are you going to do about it?”
“Nothing, if the bonehead sleeps with that woman,” Sienna growled. Michelle was leaning over to take a shot, wiggling her ass at Theron. “He’s put me in some neatly labelled little box. Sweet friend and squad mate Sienna. He won’t let himself want me.”
“Okay. So how are you going to convince him that you won’t accept that label?”
“I…don’t know.” Michelle’s booming laugh rang across the room. “I could be more obvious? Dress in something to make him see me? Flirt?”
Mac shook her head. “That’s not you. You need to be you, your charming, sweet self. Talk to him and show him a little more, the stuff you keep hidden.”
“I’m not even sure what I’m hiding.” Sienna’s fingers tightened on her glass.
“What do you want, above all else?” Mac asked. “And I don’t mean the Gizzida gone for good. We all want that. What do you want for you?”
“I want someone to love me. All of me. Every corner of my soul.”
“Then you need to let him see all those corners, and you need to love every corner of his.”
Suddenly, the games room door slammed open, and Arden hurried in. Squad Nine’s comms officer was a slim brunette, with pale-brown hair, flawless, creamy skin, and a calm, soothing manner. Sienna always envied Arden’s air of elegance, but the woman also carried a deep well of sorrow that was reflected in blue eyes that almost looked violet. Sienna and the others were always trying to get her to join them and have fun, but she always politely turned them down.
Today, she looked a little frazzled.
“Roth,” Arden said. “The drone team has picked up something. A sighting of a large oura globe.”
Sienna slid off her stool. Finally.
“In the city?” Roth set his pool cue down. “Have they identified the tower?”
“No.” Arden shook her head. “It’s in the Blue Mountains.”
***
Theron leaped out of the hovering Hawk. As his boots hit the ground, he swung his carbine off his
shoulder, and scanned the trees ahead.
He’d missed the scent of the mountains—green trees and dampness in the air—since they’d left it. Ahead, old, rusted rail lines ran up over the hill, trees crowding in on either side. The sun was setting, washing everything in shades of orange and gold. That also meant night would be on them soon.
As his squad pulled in tight, the Hawk quadcopter rose silently on its thermonuclear engine, its gray metallic body disappearing as its illusion system clicked on.
“Okay, listen up,” Roth murmured. “The oura was spotted in a large railway salvage yard ahead. We go in, see what the fuck the aliens are up to, and we destroy the oura.”
They set off, following the tracks. Sienna was moving beside him, her hands steady on her carbine. She was her usual focused self. For a second, he pictured her face as she’d watched him with Michelle back at the Enclave.
He’d hurt her. He watched her try to hide it, but he knew her too well. He’d purposely led Michelle on, and he’d hurt Sienna. Fuck. Theron dragged in a deep breath. It was for the best.
“There.” Roth murmured through their earpieces.
They’d rounded a curve, the tracks hugging the hillside, and ahead lay a large, dilapidated warehouse, surrounded by scrap. It looked like some sort of train graveyard.
Old, rusted train engines and carriages lay around, a few whole, but most with pieces broken off of them. There were also piles of scavenged metal and wood. Ahead, he saw the workshop was little more than sheets of metal for walls, and a roof with large roller doors that could be opened and closed at one end. There were a few grimy windows dotting the walls.
Roth took the lead, raising his hand to give them signals. They moved in tight formation toward the workshop.
As they skirted around some piles of scrap, Theron saw a flash of yellow through the dirty windows. Roth gave another hand signal, and they all reached for the special goggles that were dangling around their necks.
Theron fitted the goggles over his eyes. Noah and Marin had worked overtime to get the goggles ready and issued to the squads. They limited his visibility a bit, but he’d take that over having his mind under the control of the raptors any day.