Cruz: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Hell Squad Book 2) (13 page)

He stared at her shadowed face. “It won’t bring your sister back.”

“I know that, Cruz. But it’ll help.” Her gaze caught his. “It has to help.”

He saw she needed to believe that. Like he had to believe that fighting, protecting what was left of humanity, helped atone for his past.

“We’ll get them out
and
we’ll kill the commander.” He reached for her hand and when her fingers twined with his, he felt like he’d won a prize.

They sat quietly for a moment, cloaked by the shadows and the darkness of their thoughts.

“Sometimes I don’t know who I am anymore.”

The emptiness in her voice made him ache. “You’re Santha Kade.” He slid his arm across her shoulders and tucked her in close to his side. “And you’re mine.” He tipped her head back and kissed her.

This kiss wasn’t a battle. Wasn’t fueled by lust or pain or anger.

It was slow, gentle, tender.

He pulled back and heard her sigh. Then he felt something deep in his belly, something he hadn’t felt for a long time. Following his instinct, he rose and grabbed his battered guitar from where it leaned against the wall.

He sat back down, strummed a little, then closed his eyes and played. The song made him think of Santha. Of sex, of strength and courage…of love for a woman. A specific, particular woman. He felt something inside him, something tight and hurting, ease.

When he finished, he raised his head.

She was staring at him. “That was amazing. You play so well.”

He shrugged a shoulder and set the guitar aside. “I haven’t felt the music for months. You must have inspired my muse.” He rose and tugged her with him. “And you’ve inspired something else.” He nipped at her lips. “Come back to bed.”

She went with him wordlessly. She followed him down on the bed, dropping the sheet to leave her naked. He’d never get enough of that body or the expressions on her face when he touched her, or of the little sounds she made when she came.

He rolled her under him and started to caress her, slow and steady. Making love, not tearing at each other, not rushing. He ran his lips over her eyelids, her cheekbones, her jaw. He’d worship her and show her how much more there was to life.

As he slid inside her and started to move, he felt her heart beating in time with his. He’d set out to show her what love could be like…and ended up taking the plunge himself.

***

“The Hawks will drop the squad off here.” Marcus stood in the middle of the Ops Area with a giant map projection hanging in the air in front of him. He waved a gloved hand and it marked the location. “Roth, your team will land here—” another hand movement and a glowing red mark appeared “—and come in this way from behind the base.”

Roth nodded. “Got it.”

Santha studied the man. For all his relaxed stance, leaning against the wall, she recognized a warrior. His hawkish face held that intensity, and he had the body of a fighter.

“Hell Squad will go in here.” Marcus moved his hands through the air, tracing a path leading in the front of the raptor base. “We’ll head straight to the lab.” His gaze moved over them, Santha included.

Her hands curled into fists.
We’re coming, hold on.

A woman pushed her way into the room. Santha instantly recognized Doc Emerson.

She thrust her hands on her hips, emphasizing her tightly packed curves. “I’m coming with you.”

Gabe shot to his feet. “No. It’s too dangerous.”

The doctor straightened. “I’m aware of that, but those people need me—”

“You’re too valuable.”

Santha didn’t think she’d heard the usually silent Gabe say that many words all at once before.

Emerson’s mouth firmed into a hard line. “Those people have been injured. Moving them without a medical assessment could kill them.
That’s
dangerous.”

Marcus’ gaze shifted between the two. “Last time I checked, I was in charge of this squad.” He speared Gabe with a look. “That means I give the orders.” He swung around to face the doctor. “And Doc, that means I decide who goes on a mission.”

“Marcus—”

He held up a hand to cut her off. “I agree with you.” He looked back at Gabe. “The doc is coming.”

Gabe’s face turned hard as granite, but he dropped back into his chair and folded his arms.

Emerson stepped forward until the projection caught her, casting shadows over her face. “I’ll have a medical team on standby. If there are too many injured for me to deal with, we can call them in. When it’s safe, of course.”

Marcus nodded.

Roth cleared his throat. “You haven’t filled your empty squad spot.”

Gabe went still as a statue. Santha knew he’d must be thinking of his brother and her heart went out to the hard, silent man. He didn’t look like he needed sympathy, but losing Kareena meant she knew what kind of pain it left inside. And from what Cruz had told her, Gabe and his twin brother had been close.

Marcus scowled. “No. None of our recruits have survived their trial runs.”

Claudia snorted from the back where she slouched in a chair. “They’ve all gotten themselves shot, or they’ve run away as soon as we’ve gotten back to base.” She grinned. “Can’t imagine why.”

“Might be your prickly personality scaring them off,” Shaw said from beside Claudia.

The woman scowled at the sniper. “Fuck you, Shaw.”

“You wish, Frost.”

“Enough,” Marcus said, his gaze on Roth. “You have someone in mind?”

“Yeah. Guy called Reed. He came in about two weeks ago with a bunch of survivors who’d travelled down from the north. He was a UC Navy SEAL, apparently on leave doing some diving on the Great Barrier Reef when the raptors attacked. He’s good in the water and magic with explosives. He’s been with Squad Eight, but he’s wasted there.”

Cruz leaned forward. “We need someone who’ll last. We can’t keep taking these green recruits out there. Next one’s going to end up dead.”

From what Santha knew of the SEAL training, you had to be pretty tough to survive it. “We’re going to need a good distraction to get into the raptor base. Explosives could do the trick.”

Cruz grinned at her. “Lure the raptors out.” He winked at her. “I know someone else who’s pretty handy with explosives.”

“I’m not staying back to blow things up.” She
needed
to be the one going into that lab.

“We’ll take this Reed,” Marcus said.

Roth nodded. “I’ll let Eight know. They’ll be sorry to lose him, but since he’s going to Hell Squad, they’ll get over it.”

Marcus eyed Santha. “You going to follow orders?”

She stiffened. Shit, she felt like she was in her captain’s office getting a dressing-down. “I’ll do what I think is right.”

Marcus shook his head. “Not good enough. You have to follow orders or you don’t come.”

She gritted her teeth. “Fine.”

Beside her, Cruz gripped her arm and squeezed.

Marcus made a closed fist with his hand and the map projection closed. “Everyone suit up. We’ll meet at the landing pads in one hour.”

Chapter Twelve

Cruz felt the familiar vibration of the Hawk beneath his feet. He gripped an overhead hand hold and watched the rest of Hell Squad as they went through their familiar pre-mission rituals.

Claudia checked her weapons, three times. Shaw was cleaning his sniper rifle. Gabe sat, still and silent, at the back of the quadcopter. Marcus stood near the cockpit, talking quietly with the pilot. Cruz knew their fearless leader would be running scenarios in his head, mapping out every step of the mission.

Doc Emerson was also aboard. She looked wrong dressed in armor and not in her usual lab coat. She wore a streamlined black backpack that contained her medical supplies. Her face was set and she looked ready for anything.

Santha was at the side of the copter, staring out the window at the ruined city below. She was silent but he sensed the edginess radiating off her.

She was ready for this mission.

There was also one new addition to the squad.

Reed MacKinnon was tall and had the lean build of a swimmer. Cruz guessed from the man’s tanned skin and sun-bleached brown hair that he liked the outdoors. So far, he hadn’t said much, but he seemed relaxed and focused all at once. A good sign. He’d also brought his own modified carbine called a mayhem—with a lightweight missile launcher attached.

Cruz moved closer to Santha and followed her gaze out the window. The ravaged city spread as far as he could see. It was far too easy to only see death and destruction. To mourn what was lost and know that nothing would ever be the same. Too many had died. Too much of what had once been “normal” life would never return.

That was what he’d seen the last few months, all he’d been able to see.

But now there were patches of vibrant green below, where plant life was flourishing. A flock of birds soared and dipped with the wind.

Life was fighting to survive.

His gaze moved to Santha’s set face, with her high cheekbones and lush lips. It was what he wanted for her. She could have her revenge, see if the blood of the raptor commander would fill that gaping hole inside her, but Cruz wanted her to live.

He’d had her now. Tasted her. She was in his blood.

She turned her head and caught his gaze. She smiled at him.

Something in his chest loosened.

“We’ll be landing in three minutes,” Marcus called out. “Everybody hang on.”

“Ready?” Cruz asked her.

“Ready.”

They landed on the roof of an office building not far from the school. Marcus slid the Hawk door open. “Hell Squad, let’s move.”

Moments later, Hell Squad was pounding down the stairs and heading in the direction of the raptor base.

They moved into a light jog. Gabe was on point, his gun up, and Claudia brought up the rear. The team made sure Emerson was protected in the center. Cruz kept half of his attention on Reed. The man held his mayhem with practiced ease and moved with a fluid confidence. So far, so good.

They reached a building several hundred meters back from the one Cruz and Santha had used on their recon mission. The squad moved into position on the roof, and Marcus crouched and lifted his binocs.

Then he let out a string of curses.

Cruz had been with Marcus long enough to know that it meant big trouble. “What is it?”

“The raptors are moving out. They’re loading supplies into those damn vehicles of theirs.”

“What?” Santha snatched up her own binocs and focused on the school buildings.

She didn’t say anything but the tightness in her jaw spoke volumes.

She lowered the binocs. “We have to go in. Now.”

“We don’t know if the prisoners are still there.” Marcus cursed. “They could have moved them already.”

Shit, Cruz knew it was a bad situation. They could go in, risk the team, and find nothing. Or they could go in and rescue the humans, and still risk the team by dropping directly in a hornet’s nest of raptor activity.

But he knew Marcus.

“They’re still there,” Santha said. “They have to be. We
have
to go in.”

A muscle ticked in Marcus’ jaw. “We go in.”

***

Santha tried to keep her hands from twitching on her crossbow as she watched the raptors continue to load up supplies.

“Reed, you’re up,” Marcus said. “We need a good diversion.”

“You’ll get one.” The tall man caught Santha’s gaze and gave her a small nod. He had rugged outdoorsman stamped all over him—from his athletic body to his tanned skin. When you added a square jaw covered in sexy stubble, hazel eyes and shaggy hair tipped gold at the ends, and she figured he didn’t lack for feminine company. As he slipped away, it was hard not to admire his easy grace.

She looked away and saw Cruz scowling at her.

Her chest tightened. That was the face that really did it for her. Sex and sin wrapped up in a lean, dark package she wanted to lick all over. She winked at him.

His scowl melted away into a reluctant smile. Then together, they turned back to watch the raptors.

They waited. None of the Hell Squad members moved. They stayed still, watchful.

Santha felt like she was going to explode. She hated waiting. She wanted to aim her crossbow and take down as many of the aliens below as she could. She wanted—no, needed—to storm into that building and see if those people were still there. To find that little girl and get her out.

God, what if they had been moved? Her mouth went dry. They’d have to start all over again in the search, and who knew how many of them would be dead by then.

A boom shattered the late-morning stillness.

They all looked north.

A huge blue ball rose into the air and then the heart of it turned a brilliant red. Her pulse jumped. Jesus, Reed was using Backfire explosives.

The secondary explosion detonated, and the shockwave hit them.

Cruz slammed into her, his big body curling around hers. Holy Hell, she’d never seen Backfires used before. She’d only heard of them. They could do a lot of damage, had good pyrotechnics, but the effects were mostly localized.

Which was why they all hadn’t been blasted into tiny pieces.

Santha had barely caught her breath when another huge explosion rocked them. This one was a standard charge. The ground under them vibrated, and a cloud of black smoke rose in the air.

The raptors in the yard below exploded into a chaotic frenzy. One of the raptors appeared to be yelling out orders, and suddenly two thirds of the aliens headed off in the direction of Reed’s explosions.

“The guy is
good
,” Shaw murmured from nearby.

Santha studied the remaining raptors. Still a large number of them, but it would have to do. She’d had worse odds before.

Cruz touched her shoulder and she felt the burn of his hand even through her borrowed body armor. A silent good luck.

“Emerson, you stay back until I signal you.” Marcus pinned the doctor with a glare.

“Got it.”

“Hell Squad,” Marcus said, “time to do what we do best. Ready to go to hell?”

“Hell, yeah!” all the team responded. “The devil needs an ass-kicking!”