by C Cato
Sonya stopped. Risa dropped her arm and they faced each other. “I’m sorry. Trust isn’t easy for me. All I can do is promise to try.”
“Good enough,” Risa said, strolling away backwards. “And don’t be surprised if you catch me watching your ass again. Seriously. Luscious.” She waggled her eyebrows.
“I believe that’s called harassment, young lady,” said Sonya, allowing herself to join in the playful teasing she’d seen Cole and his team exchanging.
They both laughed and Risa stared at her like she’d grown a second head. “You need to do a lot more of that.”
“Laugh?”
“Yes. It’s a lovely sound. Oh, and I’m actually older than you.”
Sonya tripped. “What?”
“Smooth. Yeah. I saw your records. You were 47 when we all went under with you. I was 49.”
“Wow! You wear it well.”
Risa twirled. “I do, don’t I?”
Sonya snorted and lightly slapped Risa’s shoulder.
“Why do you call him ‘Sarge’?”
“Because it pisses him off. But he was one. A Master Gunnery Sergeant in the Marines. It was the last rank he held before he decided to retire. While we were Marines, we called him Master Guns. When we went civilian, he hired this green kid who had never been in the military. Didn’t know the difference from Army and Marines. Kept calling him Sarge. When he refused to stop calling me Pixie when we were out, I decided he needed something fitting, too. I made sure it stuck.”
Sonya covered her mouth with her hand to muffle her mirth. They traded more stories from work while trudging through the curtain of water.
Soon after, dense trees swallowed the disintegrated road. The wind picked up.
Sonya caught the hint of something on the air. “Do you smell that?” she asked, trying to catch the scent again.
“Yeah. Smoke.” Pulling her gun, Risa crouched down and moved from tree to tree.
Sonya tried to mimic her as much as possible. Not wanting to give them away if it turned out to be people. Being shot once was more than enough.
“Could be a tree that was struck by lightning last night, but it’s a little too close to us for comfort.”
“Should we call the others?”
“Not yet. I’m not hearing anything unusual. Still not sure it’s something to worry about, and it’s not worth bringing down the wrath of Sarge.”
“He’ll be that angry?”
“Livid.”
The acrid sting of smoke grew stronger the closer they drew to a clearing in the trees. There was a small wreck of a building. Only one wall stood intact. Part of a second jutted out perpendicular to the first creating a small L. What must have been the roof, lay in a jumble of steel. Not very large, the stone structure couldn’t have been a house. Laying on its side, red and brown from the centuries of rust, was an old bus. Ivy had nearly swallowed them both. That wasn’t what stopped them cold, however.
The clearing was a camp. The rain beat heavily on cloth tents close to the stone structure. Some basic lean-tos dotted the rest of the clearing. Thankfully, no one was there to see them.
“Do you think this is their camp. The ones following us?”
“Could be. The question is how the fuck are they getting so close to us?” Risa put away her gun. “Look around, but be careful not to disturb anything. We don’t need them to know we were here.”
Sonya nodded, eager to find out who these people were, but her search didn’t turn up anything useful.
“Sonya! Hide!” Risa was closest to the bus and she dove inside, while Sonya wiggled her way under the debris of the fallen structure. Anyone that scrutinized the area too closely would probably see her. Not ideal. There was no space to raise her head, so she leaned forward and rested her forearms on the ground to relieve some of the pressure on her knees.
It didn’t take long for Sonya to hear what Risa had. Voices. Too many of them.
A large group of people in white streamed into the camp. They were all dragging their feet, exhaustion in every step. Some dropped on the closest rock or log that was available, others disappeared under the strung cloth shelters.
“They’re women! This doesn’t make any sense at all. I know a lot can happen in two hundred years, but why are a bunch of women trying to kill us?” asked, Risa.
“Not so sure they’re trying to kill us,” said Sonya, but her attention was elsewhere. A woman pulled hard on a chain and a man stumbled into camp.
A thick, black metal collar banded his neck. The only clothes he wore were torn skintight pants. He had on calf high leather boots that matched. His hands ended in deadly, thick black talons. Skin as pale and smooth as fine marble glistened with the rainwater. His arms were a darker color than the rest of his body, and it faded just past his elbows. There was another patch of dark skin across his chest. It was getting too dark to discern actual colors.
Sonya tried to see his face, but his head was down, covered by a curtain of hair as pale as his skin, but with dark hair at the tips that lightened toward the top. An ombré effect that women would have paid handsomely for in her own time.
The woman that held him, led him to Sonya’s hiding place and fastened his chain to a metal grate in the ground, part of an old sewer system. “He’s useless as a tracker,” said the woman. “I bet one of the other ones would be better.”
“Calm down, Eve. We’ve caught them once. I’m sure he’ll prove useful again. Between the three, they can’t stay hidden for long.”
“He led us right back to camp!” Eve stomped over to the stooped figure and lifted his head by his hair, shouting to be heard over the rain. “Are you too stupid to understand what is asked of you?” she shouted into his face. “The General is not going to be happy that we haven’t caught them yet.” She pulled something from a pocket in her white leather pants and pressed her thumb into it.
He howled, violent spasms jerking him against the ground. She put the device back in her pocket. “It’s all you deserve, dumb mutant.”
“How were we supposed to know they were mobile? We were supposed to find a thing! Not live people,” complained the second woman.
Eve threw her hands in the air. “This is so frustrating. I’m not going to the fucking block for this! They killed so many!”
The other woman rose from her seat on a rock and rubbed Eve’s shoulders. They stood inches away from where Sonya hid. “C’mon, baby. Let’s go catch some dinner and then I’ll make you feel better.”
“Fine, but it’s going to take at least three orgasms to get the job done,” she said, her tone was less gruff than before.
“Hot,” said Risa.
Sonya could imagine her impish smirk.
“Now is not the time.”
“There’s always time to add to my diddle pool.”
Sonya closed her eyes and put her hand over her mouth to stifle the laugh—damn that woman and her humor—only to come face to face with the strange man when she opened them. He’d laid down on his side, curled into a fetal position facing her hiding spot. She was close enough to feel the heat of his breath on her face. Eyes as black as the void of space followed her every move—not that she was moving much—and made her blood run hot, then cold. A trembling hand reached out for him, wanting to touch. He reached for her at the same time. Talons scraped gently across the palm of her hand, and she shuddered as little fingers of pleasure raced up her arm, stoking a growing heat in her belly.
“Sonya! Report!”
“He can see me. I mean, he’s looking at me.”
His hand had traveled from her palm up her arm, leaving pinpricks of tingling pleasure in its wake, but he quickly withdrew when one of the women passed by. He was protecting her.
“Can he be trusted?”
“I don’t…think—” she said, finding it hard to voice her need. “I just want so badly to touch him. Hold him.”
Fuck him. Of course, she wasn’t going to disclose that information to her fellow Sentinel, but t
here was no denying the steady throbbing between her legs. It was the same thing she experienced around Cole. That couldn’t be coincidence at all. He shifted, sniffing the air, and then rolled to his knees and spread his legs to reveal his rapidly growing cock. Hands relaxed palm up on his thighs, like he was offering it to her. She gasped at the size of him as it lengthened in his pants.
Worried that someone would notice the direction of his attention, she tried communicating directly. In the barest whisper, she asked, “Do you understand me?”
Tiny head nod.
“Lie back down. You’ll attract too much attention.”
He did as she asked and reached for her again. She put her hand in his open palm. Opening her mouth to ask a question, he lightly placed a single deadly talon against her lips.
She raised her eyebrows.
“Quiet,” a masculine voice said in her head. It was deep, but echoed like everyone else she heard through the comm.
She was so startled, she tried to sit up and bumped her head on the girder laying across the pile. She settled back down and rubbed the sore spot. “Ouch.”
“Careful.”
“How are you doing this? Do you have something embedded in your head?”
His brow furrowed slightly. “No. You do?”
She nodded while internally she changed the subject. “It’s not important now. Are you how they are tracking us?”
His face fell, the sadness so profound Sonya’s own eyes stung with unshed tears. Risking exposure, she reached out and caressed his cheek. He rubbed against her hand—and purred.
“How are you tracking us?”
“You.”
Sonya gasped out loud and then clapped a hand over her mouth. No one seemed to notice over the rain. Everyone had retreated to their shelters, peering out at the weather with miserable expressions.
“I don’t understand. How are you able to track me?”
“You are like a beacon. I don’t understand it, but you are. They brought us to the location they believed was close to you, and the connection became stronger. I didn’t know what I was being made to look for, or that you would be my mate.”
“Can you get away? How are they making you do this? The collar?”
He touched the device on his neck. “It is a strong deterrent, but no. They are holding my mate-brother against my behavior. They hurt him if they don’t believe I am helping.”
“That’s barbaric!”
“Sonya! You dropped out. Can you hear me?” called Risa, frantic.
“Can you hear her?” Sonya asked the gentle man.
He nodded. “It’s not polite to share Thought with a stranger.”
His perfect English threw her. What was he? How had these women captured him? There were too many questions and she knew they had limited time. The rain could stop at any minute. “I’m a stranger.”
“You’re my mate.”
“What is your name?”
“Keet. And you, my beautiful mate?”
“Sonya.”
He leaned closer until he could brush his lips across hers. She gasped as his touch lit the spark of growing heat he’d kindled. She tensed, fighting the moan that wanted to erupt. The effort to control herself left her shaking.
When her libido had calmed somewhat, she spoke to Risa. “I’m alright, but I think we need to focus on getting out of here. These people look like they are going to stay for awhile. We can’t hide forever.”
“We’re going to need a distraction. I guess we’re in the shit, then.”
“What do you mean?”
Sonya heard the click of the channel change.
“Cole, we’re in trouble.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Cole
“Why the fuck did you let them go!” Cole had Ditre backed against the back wall of the train. They stood nose to nose, but defiance flashed in Ditre’s eyes.
When he’d woken up to find the women gone, there’d been a moment of sheer panic. He imagined every scenario possible that could end in Sonya’s death and grit his teeth against the waves of nausea that twisted his gut.
“Cole, they’re grown women, and we aren’t in the military anymore. This drill sergeant bullshit doesn’t fly with us. Why don’t you just tell us what’s eating you?” said Soren. Propped up on his elbow, he lounged on his side on his sleeping bag.
Cole wanted to scream some more. Better yet, he wanted to hit something. Soren had always been able to see right through him. The man didn’t respond to his childishness. He paced for a full minute before sitting next to his friend.
Releasing an exasperated sigh, Cole laid on Sonya’s abandoned bag.
“You can confess to me, or I’ll send the little shrink after you.”
Cole shuddered. Risa’s expertise was getting things out of a person.
“You’ve been a bear since Sonya woke up. What’s the deal?”
“You done yelling at me?” asked Ditre from his position against the wall.
Cole flinched and raised up on his elbows to better see his quiet friend. Guilt ate a hole through his stomach. His team didn’t deserve to be his whipping post. “Deets, I’m sorry. Shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”
With a shrug the medic resumed his position by the door. “Don’t worry about it. I know you’re all bark, anyway.”
“Great. That’s settled. Stop deflecting. We need to figure this out,” said Soren.
Cole would have preferred to just drop it and pretend this conversation never happened. He hadn’t wanted to analyze how he was feeling too closely, but if he was really acting so out of character that Soren had to stage a sort of intervention, he couldn’t just ignore it. “Ren, I’m not sure what’s goin’ on. I’m feelin’ lost.”
“It’s about Sonya?”
Bobbing his head once, he tried to put what he was feeling in words. “Ian warned me that I wasn’t really gettin’ the whole picture. I guess he was right.”
“You wanted her before, but you don’t now?”
“Not sure what I want now, and no I still want her. It’s a struggle to keep from reactin’ to her physically. Doesn’t matter. She’s never going to stop hatin’ me now.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I’m seeing a little thawing in the Ice Queen. Give her time to adjust. What happened to her was fucked up by anyone’s standards. Let Risa work on her. No doubt, that’s what she’s doing right now. That woman is a consummate matchmaker.”
His pulse was off to the races. For once, he hoped Risa was meddling.
“Did Ian know? That you have feelings for her?”
“Yes. I think he was jealous, but not sure if it was for me or her. In the end, bringin’ her up only made us argue.”
Water gathered in his eyes as he pictured the man he’d loved for ten years. He hadn’t hesitated when his old friend had contacted him. They had met while he was still a Marine, and although they hadn’t acted on their attraction at the time, they renewed it easily when he went to work protecting Ian and his research. A lump formed in his throat and his voice broke. “You know when we figured out how much time had passed, it hit me hard. Even if we were rocky toward the end, I loved him. I miss him now. Wish he was here to talk to.”
Soren cleared his throat. “I’m sorry for your loss, Cole. I really am,” he whispered. In a louder voice, he said, “If you want Sonya now, you’re going to have to open up a bit. You know you haven’t even smiled in front of her?”
Cole rubbed his palms over his eyes. “I know. I know. It’s like my default setting. She makes me nervous.”
Ditre chuckled. “It kills me that women have this effect on you, but you can be so—I don’t know, alpha?—with men.”
“Right? Weird, isn’t it?” said Soren, laughing.
Heat singed the tips of Cole’s ears. “Guys? Not helping, and no…it’s not some submissive thing,” he said, cutting off the comment he knew Soren was going to make.
“Cole, we’re in trouble.”
He was on his feet in s
econds, Soren right behind him. “Pixie, what’s going on?”
“We’re pinned down. South of your location. Approximately a mile and a half. Sonya’s position isn’t secured, but the rain is keeping everyone under cover and away from her, but I see a break in the clouds headed our way. They don’t know we’re here yet. Discipline is lax.”
Close. Too close. Storing that information for later, he tried to calm the pounding in his chest. “Sonya? How you holdin’ up?”
“I’m…safe for now. Being shielded by someone.”
Cole was not prepared for the bolt of jealousy that struck like a blow and made him stumble into Soren. “Someone?”
“He’s a prisoner. They are using him to track us. He wants to help.”
Pushing down the irrational feelings of betrayal, he focused on the task at hand. They needed an extraction. “Are you sure you trust him?”
“Positive. I know he won’t do anything to hurt me.”
Cole swallowed and balled his fists at his sides. Trust was so easy to give to this stranger. He only had himself to blame.
“Okay. Can you talk to him? We are going to need a distraction.”
“Hold on.”
The ten seconds of silence while he waited for an answer felt like an eternity. Time was wasting and discovery could happen any minute. The thought turned the blood in his veins to ice.
“He’ll help. Cole, we need to take him with us. We can’t leave him with these women. They’re hurting him.”
“Understood. We’ll do what we can to free him, too.”
“Thank you.”
Her gratitude warmed his heart and increased the chill in his veins at the same time. It was in her voice. There was more than just compassion passing between Sonya and the mysterious captive. Had he lost her before he even had a chance?
“Stay put until we are in position. Once I have assessed the situation, we’ll form a plan. Keep your comms open.”
Hard, grim faces stared back at him. Waiting for orders.
“Deets, you stay here. I’m not riskin’ both my medics.”
“She’s not an asset, Sarge,” muttered Ditre. “And I’m kind of obsolete with the whole nanobot thing.”