Tane (Hell Squad #20) Read online

Okay, and there was one dark, dangerous man she wanted to protect most of all.

  Suddenly, the external door beeped and clunked open.

  Both Cam and Selena spun. Hemi Rahia’s stocky body came through the doorway, the black ink on his muscular arms streaked with soot and grime. The man spotted Cam and his bearded face lit up.

  “Babe, we kicked ass out there!”

  Despite the gore splattered over the man’s armor, Cam ran and leaped. Hemi caught her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. With a laugh, Hemi kissed his woman.

  Selena couldn’t look away. They kissed each other like they needed each other to breathe.

  So much life.

  So much love.

  Selena swallowed. On Florum, they didn’t have a concept of romantic love. Everything was interconnected, no one thing belonged solely to another. When people decided to procreate, it was a rational decision, and they often mated with different people over their lifetime. Her people had emotions, they felt arousal, but it was a muted, tempered sensation.

  Except on Earth, Selena’s emotions had grown and been enhanced. She felt more—fear, happiness, sadness, excitement—than she’d ever felt before.

  Her world was orderly, sedate, quiet. In the pursuit of scientific and academic excellence, she now wondered if they’d forgotten to live somewhere along the way.

  What she loved about Earth and its people was all the life, color, variety. And love. The way two people could fit together and need each other so much. She licked her lips. It fascinated her.

  The rest of the berserkers and Hell Squad moved inside in a jumble of voices and low laughter. They brought the scent of blood and sweat with them.

  Then Selena saw him.

  Her chest hitched. Like Hemi, Tane was covered in raptor blood. He was all coiled muscle and dark intensity. Tane rarely smiled, his dark eyes always unreadable. His dark brown hair was long and in dreadlocks that he kept tied back when he was on a mission.

  His dark gaze met hers for a brief second. Selena felt like she’d been seared by something hot.

  He nodded and turned away.

  Need vibrated through her body. She’d made a life here, and she saw attraction, love, and connection all around her. She looked at the still-kissing Hemi and Cam. Levi smacked Hemi on the back and Ash wolf-whistled as the men passed.

  Selena didn’t just want to protect her new life, she wanted to experience everything it had to offer.

  She glanced back at Tane. He was talking with Marcus.

  She was so hungry for him. He was the only man who seemed to make her blood run hot. The only man who tempted her.

  But she had no idea how to begin to attract a man like Tane Rahia.

  Chapter Two

  Leaving the group, Tane swung his carbine onto his shoulder and headed down the quiet corridor.

  He needed a beer.

  He needed a shower, and possibly a trip to the infirmary, since one of the aliens had managed to get a claw under his armor and gouge his abdomen.

  In the heat of the fight, he hadn’t even felt it. He was feeling the burning now, though. Screw it. He was still having a beer first.

  “Tane.”

  Ah, fuck.

  Selena’s melodious voice made his steps slow. He knew he should keep walking. Instead, he stopped and turned.

  She was wearing fitted cargo pants and a black T-shirt. The thought hit him that she should be wearing color, and not hand-me-down clothes from the base’s stores.

  Her large green eyes—a shade bigger than a human’s—were narrowed with concern.

  “Are you on your way to the infirmary?” she asked.

  He ran his tongue over his teeth. “No. I need a beer.”

  Those extraordinary eyes narrowed further. “I can smell fresh blood.”

  Shit. “It’s fine. A scratch. I’ll see Doc Emerson later.”

  Selena made a sound of disbelief. “Let me see.”

  Her hands reached for him and he stepped back. He didn’t usually like being touched, but with Selena, he suspected he’d like it too much.

  She hesitated. “Please, let me help you.”

  Dammit. He couldn’t make himself say no to her. “Fine, just hurry up.”

  Her hands expertly removed the carbon fiber armor plate off his abdomen. She lifted the hem of his sweat-soaked T-shirt and gasped. “Tane.”

  Okay, a little more than a scratch. He had two ugly, red gashes across his abs.

  Slim fingers stroked his skin and he felt a pain of a different kind. Her scent swamped him—fresh, with some pretty touch of flowers that he knew was no perfume, just Selena. He was hyperaware of her, the rise and fall of her chest, the stroke of her soft fingers. Her skin touching his.

  He looked at her platinum hair. Strands in it looked like pure silver. She only came up to his chin. So freaking tiny.

  She lifted her head and their gazes locked.

  Then she pressed her palm to his stomach, and he felt a flare of heat.

  He groaned. It didn’t hurt, but he felt the contact not only where he was hurt, but in his hardening cock. Hell, he felt any interaction with this alien woman in his cock.

  “There,” she murmured.

  He glanced down. There was still blood smeared on his brown skin, but the ugly gashes were completely gone. Healed.

  Just one of many of Selena’s abilities.

  She didn’t move her hand, and alarm bells started ringing in his head.

  When Selena first arrived here, she’d been shy, quiet, and withdrawn. But she’d come into her own lately. Now, she was confident, smiling, courageous. She’d even been out in the field on some missions, which had not sat well with him. But there was no arguing with the fact that the woman had a lot of power packed into her body. She could do some amazing things.

  But she wasn’t for him.

  She was still vulnerable, ripped from her own planet and people, and he never let himself forget that she was warmth and light.

  And he was darkness.

  Not. For. Him.

  “Tane,” she murmured.

  Fuck, the soft way she said his name reverberated through him. He felt frozen, couldn’t step away.

  She touched her other hand to his chest.

  “Don’t.” His voice sounded like gravel.

  “Why?” she whispered.

  He dredged up some strength from somewhere. He’d spent a lifetime digging deep for the strength to do what needed to be done, to do what was right, even when what was right hurt like hell.

  He stepped back.

  Disappointment crossed her face.

  Suddenly, voices and footsteps sounded in the corridor. His squad and Hell Squad had caught up to them.

  “Come on.” Hemi strode over and slung an arm across Tane’s shoulders. “Beers are on me.”

  Tane snatched up his discarded armor plate. “Beer is exactly what I want.”

  He saw Selena give the tiniest flinch and felt like an asshole. He forced himself to look away.

  He didn’t feel like a beer now. It wasn’t even close to what he wanted, but it was all he’d allow himself.

  The next day, Selena slipped into the back of the busy Command Center. It was packed with staff, comms officers, squad soldiers, and members of the tech team.

  Someone bumped into her.

  “Sorry, sorry.”

  Doctor Emerson Green wore her usual white lab coat, her blonde hair—looking a little longer than she usually wore it —brushing her shoulders.

  “I’m all kinds of clumsy these days.” The doctor rested a hand on her round belly.

  “How’s your pregnancy?” Selena asked.

  “Great, except for one brooding, overprotective baby daddy.” She smiled, searching the room for Gabe.

  Selena found Gabe big and a little scary, but Emerson appeared to love the man.

  “Here.” The woman grabbed Selena’s hand and pressed it to her stomach.

  Energy flowed through Selena. She detected Emerson
’s strong heartbeat. And two smaller pulses of life.

  She smiled. “Your twins are strong and healthy.”

  A smile bloomed on the doctor’s face. “You can tell?”

  Selena nodded.

  “Everyone, if I can have your attention,” a deep, authoritative voice said.

  Emerson squeezed Selena’s hand, then moved into the crowd.

  Selena turned and saw General Adam Holmes at the front of the room.

  The general was standing in front of a bank of computer screens. It didn’t matter what Adam Holmes wore, he always looked neatly pressed and in charge. He had a strong face and a dash of silver hair at his temples. Beside him stood darkly handsome Niko Ivanov, the civilian leader of the Enclave.

  “We are just waiting to link up with Groom Lake Base and Setermoen,” the general said.

  Two large screens on the wall were currently blank. Selena spotted Elle Steele—Marcus’ wife and Hell Squad’s comms officer—tapping at a comp station. She was no doubt linking the calls with the two other survivor bases.

  “We’ll have the feeds momentarily,” Elle said.

  Murmurs moved through the crowd. Selena glanced around and her gaze snagged on Tane.

  She stilled. He was talking with Roth Masters—the leader of Squad Nine.

  He looked recovered from yesterday. She remembered that moment in the corridor in great detail. She’d replayed it over and over again when she’d been trying to sleep last night. Touching his warm, brown skin, and the smell of male sweat, blood, and the masculine scent of Tane in her senses. The way her skin had flushed, which it did again now just from the memory.

  She’d really wanted to kiss him, touch more of him

  She licked her lips. On her world, people procreated, but sex was just considered a biological necessity. It was quick and efficient. On Florum, everyone was more interested in academic and scientific pursuits.

  They weren’t interested in hot, pleasurable sex.

  But here, Selena heard the women talk. A lot. She’d blushed frequently at first, but now she had a fire inside her, and she wanted to get burned.

  Tane’s head turned and their gazes met. Her pulse jumped.

  He didn’t acknowledge her, his face impassive. There was something so solitary about him, even when he was surrounded by his squad.

  The big screens on the wall flickered, and on one, an older woman with dark skin and dark hair in a bob appeared. Beside her was a tanned man in fatigues.

  “Major General Marshall,” Holmes said. “And Captain Vaughn. Good to see you.”

  Major General Michaela Marshall nodded. “Hello, General.” The woman was in charge of the largest survivor base in North America—the Groom Lake Base in the United States—once part of the United Coalition of Countries.

  Beside her, Dak Vaughn—her head of security—nodded as well.

  The second screen came to life, and a handsome, blond man appeared. He looked very similar to the Enclave’s best Hawk pilot and Selena’s friend, Finn Erickson. Selena knew they were brothers. Alexander, a marine engineer, ran a small base of survivors in northern Norway.

  Both bases had located Gizzida bombs in their jurisdiction.

  As had the Enclave.

  Selena’s belly curdled. The three octagon bombs were all the talk of the base. Everyone was horribly aware that the Gizzida were planning the bombs to be the final piece of their invasion.

  She glanced to the side, looking at a pretty, young woman standing with her back pressed against a big, rugged man.

  Ari Matthews and Nate Caldwell had been rescued recently from the Blue Mountains. Ari had been held in captivity by the aliens and had seen the third Gizzida bomb. The aliens were keeping it in the ruins of the humans’ old stronghold, Blue Mountain Base.

  “All right,” Holmes said. “We’re here to discuss the three bombs. We now know that they’re filled with Gizzada genetic material. We suspect the entire time the aliens have been here, they’re been experimenting with and fine-tuning a way to infect us all with their DNA.”

  Horrified tension filled the room. Selena felt it, could almost touch it. The Gizzida didn’t procreate like humans. Instead, they assimilated other species and turned them into Gizzida. They invaded a planet, then experimented on the local inhabitants until they could turn every single living thing into Gizzida. On Earth, they’d had labs, put humans in tanks, created hybrid creatures, all on the path to creating these bombs.

  Holmes continued, “We believe that the combination of the design and location of the bombs means a cloud of this material will spread across the Earth.”

  Niko put his hands behind his back, his face grim. “The cloud will change any remaining survivors on the planet into Gizzida.” His accent was deeper than usual.

  Unhappy grumbles filled the room.

  “We have to find a way to neutralize the bombs,” Holmes said.

  “We can’t attack the facilities holding these devices,” Dak Vaughn said. “Our bomb is stored in the Hoover Dam, so it would be difficult to get to anyway, but even if we could, it would likely set the bomb off.”

  Selena raised a brow at the man’s wonderful, liquid voice. It was completely at odds with his rugged face.

  “And if we dismantle the casing or the detonators,” Alexander said. “They’ll just build more.”

  “We need to find a way to neutralize the genetic fluid.” This came from a tall man with long, black hair brushing his shoulders. Noah Kim was the head of the Enclave’s tech team. Emerson moved up beside him, nodding.

  “We’re already running tests on the Gizzida samples we have—” the doctor held her hands out “—and I wish I could tell you we have some promising results, but we don’t have anything useful yet.” Emerson tucked some of her blonde hair behind her ear. “It might help if we had samples of the actual fluid in the bomb.”

  A buzz of conversation broke out. Everyone knew getting a sample would be dangerous. The bombs were heavily protected, and if the Gizzida caught anyone near the bombs…

  Selena chewed her lip. They were running out of time. Once the bombs were ready, the Gizzida would set them off.

  Her stomach rolled, making her feel sick.

  She might be able to help.

  She looked at photos of the bombs on a nearby screen. They were large and octagonal shaped, made of a matte-black metal. In some images, the top was open.

  In order to help though, she needed to see the bomb in real life. She needed to touch it, smell it, feel it.

  She dragged in a deep breath, icy fear pooling in her belly. To have any chance at saving her new home and family, she needed to head into the heart of alien territory.

  Chapter Three

  Tane pushed open the door to the armory and firing range. Instantly, he was assaulted with the noise of carbines and other weapons firing.

  The armory team did a great job of keeping the weapons maintained, as well as coming up with new designs. It was all headed up by Tane’s big brother.

  He strode in, taking in some of the squad members in the lanes, firing different weapons. Then he turned toward the office. Manu was easy to spot—he was tall, black polo shirt biting into his big biceps, black ink down one arm, and his black hair curled at his collar. He’d been a berserker until he’d lost a leg on a shitty mission.

  Tane’s gut tightened. He hated remembering those horrible, bloody moments. They’d come so close to losing Manu, and after they’d already lost their family—their ma, stepfather, and lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins—in New Zealand during the invasion, Tane hadn’t wanted to lose his brother as well.

  But Manu was made of grit and steel. He’d pulled through, and with a new prosthetic leg, he hadn’t slowed down much. Now, he ran the armory and range with a firm hand, and did a brilliant job at it.

  Right now, Manu’s lips were locked with those of a fit-looking brunette—his tough, new wife Kate, head of Enclave Security.

  The pair broke apart, smiling at each other. Ma
nu toyed with his woman’s hair, both of them whispering to each other. So fucking happy. So in love.

  Tane was glad. Manu was built to cherish a woman.

  The boom of a large gun from a firing lane made Tane jolt. It was an old-fashioned, combat shotgun. He hadn’t heard one fired for years.

  They’d been used far too often in the jungle. In an instant, he was back in the humid, stinking South American wilderness—shouts, screams, and gunfire echoing in his ears. The hot smell of blood in his nostrils.

  He closed his eyes and breathed deep. The place never left him—the things he’d seen nor things he’d done were ever forgotten. Even aliens invading hadn’t changed that.

  “Hi, Tane.”

  He opened his eyes and saw Kate walking toward him.

  He nodded. “Kate.”

  “You okay?” his sister-in-law asked.

  He lifted his chin.

  She nodded. “Good. Stay safe. Your brother worries about you.”

  He grunted. “No need.”

  “Hey,” Manu drawled from behind Tane.

  When he turned, Manu had joined them and was smiling.

  “Let my woman get to work or she’ll be late.”

  “You two have fun.” Kate left with a small smile and a wave.

  Manu and Tane hugged each other, slapping each other’s backs.

  “Came to see if you wanted to share a beer,” Tane said.

  “Sure.” Manu turned. “Alex, keep an eye on things. I’m clocking off.”

  “Sure thing, Manu,” a young man called out.

  They headed out into the corridor.

  “Day off?” Manu asked.

  Tane nodded. Not that he’d wanted the day off. He preferred to be in the field, but he wasn’t given a choice. Holmes was pedantic about the squads having time to recuperate and recharge.

  “Where are the guys?”

  Tane stared straight ahead. “Locked up with their women.”

  Manu laughed. “Place will be overflowing with babies by the time we beat the aliens.”

  “You think we will? Beat them?”

  Manu’s dark brows drew together. “Hell, yeah. You don’t?”

  “I only think of my current mission. Who knows if you’ll be alive for the next one?”