Epic: Book 02 - Outlaw Trigger (11 page)

“
I can’t believe it,” she whispered. Her voice shook. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

“
I’m here.” His eyes closed as he clung to her tightly. “I’m right here with you.”

Their lips met again. He didn’t care if the other passengers saw. He didn’t care if the Nightmen did, either. For that one tender moment—for that one heaven-sent moment—
Novosibirsk
became Paradise. Nothing could take it away.

“
Excuse me,” one of the technicians said in broken English, tapping Scott on the shoulder. “We
do
need area clear.”

Scott and Nicole separated, and they shared a quiet laugh. He wasn’t embarrassed, and he was sure she wasn’t, either. But it was time to move off of the airstrip. They’d have plenty of time to catch up in the physical sense later. “Was your flight okay?” he asked as he picked up her bag. He lifted it over his shoulder with one hand, while his other hand slid into hers.

She shot him a frustrated look. “I barely cleared Customs.”

“
Really? Where?”

“
Moscow. It’s a lot of fun explaining why you’re an American citizen flying into a Russian military base, let alone
this
one.”

“
You had those papers I sent you, right?” Dostoevsky had filled them out himself, even borrowing a photo to attach it to them. It was a surprising but appreciated gesture.

She smiled. “Yes, and they worked. They just had to be inspected about a dozen times. I might not be able to go back.”

Scott squeezed her hand a little bit harder. “I can live with that.”

As soon as they entered the hangar, David approached them. Scott’s smile broadened, and he released Nicole. “Baby, this is someone you’ve been waiting to meet.”

Nicole swung her gaze ahead. Her sparkling smile appeared again. “You must be David!”

David smiled and extended his hand. “And you’d better be Nicole.”

She laughed and took his hand. “I want to hug you.”

“
Then come on, don’t just stand there.” David opened his arms and wrapped her up. “I feel like I know you, girl.”

“
Same here,” she answered as she hugged him. When they released, she slid her hand back into Scott’s. “He talks about you all the time.”

“
Lies.”

“
No,” she said solemnly, “it’s all good.”

David smiled. “You have a
lot
of people looking forward to meeting you, young lady. You’ve been the talk of the town all this week.”

“
Have I really?”

“
Lion Boy’s been in a good mood since Monday, and it was his week to work us out. We’re not complaining.”

She turned and gave Scott a look. “Did you really make them run passing drills?”

“
Yes he did,” David answered.

She rolled her eyes and laughed. “Oh my
God
.”

“
They enjoy it!” Scott said in happy defense.

“
We really do,” David said. “Everyone loves it when we do that.”

Nicole nudged Scott’s side. “All he
ever
talks about is football. Start talking about anything else, and he’ll eventually get back to it. He can turn
anything
into a football reference.”

“
Yeah,” David said, “we’ve noticed.”

“
All right guys,” Scott said as he looked at his watch. “There’s thirty seconds left and we’re out of time-outs. Let’s get moving.”

She eyed him again.

“
Lead the way, gunslinger,” David said. “Don’t get tackled in-bounds.”

For Scott, the walk to Room 14 was better than ever. As he and Nicole walked hand in hand, he pointed out the various appendages of
Novosibirsk
, from the cafeteria to the running track to the main building. Nicole seemed particularly interested in the buildings that bore damage from the assault, on which Scott was delighted to elaborate. By the time they arrived at the room, she’d been given a thorough crash course on the layout and history of the base.

It struck him during their walk together that there was utterly no distance between them. Their separation felt like a glitch—a brief skip in time. Even in the short while she’d been there, he’d already forgotten what it was like not to hold her hand.

As they finally approached Room 14, his free hand hovered over the doorknob. He knew it was going to shock her. In her medical world of clean and tidy, the bunk room would be like hell. She was used to his football crowd from college, so she’d be able to take it. But still, he knew what she’d be thinking. She’d be thinking that he was an officer, and he was supposed to maintain a superior standard. And then she’d tell it to him: ‘enforce the rules of cleanliness.’ Easier said than done.

“
Remember what I warned you about, baby?”

Nicole eyed him. “Scott, open the door.”

He hesitated, then pushed the knob forward. It was shocking. It was startling.

It was spotless.

Each bed sheet was folded to perfection. Each pillow was fluffed and in place. The floor was swept. The showers were off. As Scott stood almost in horror, a particular scent touched his nose.

Potpourri?

He stood dumbfounded in the doorway as Galina approached from within. “You must be Nicole,” she said, extending her hand. “We have heard so much about you. Hello, my name is Galina.”

Nicole smiled and took her hand. “Hi, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Galina.”

“
Welcome to our room.” She stepped aside to allow Nicole to enter. “It is not much, but we do the best we can.”

David leaned into Scott and whispered, “There’s something very wrong with this picture.”

Nicole smiled and stepped inside. “It’s bigger than I thought it would be.”

Scott restrained himself. It wasn’t bigger. It just had actual floor space. That had never happened before. As Galina stepped beside him, Scott edged closer to her. “What in the world?”

“
Thank me later.”

As David closed the door, Nicole swung around to face them. Her face beamed. “It’s cozy! It’s not like you said it’d be at all.”

Scott’s mouth hung open as he stared. “Yeah…baby…” he wasn’t sure how to explain, so he moved on. “Let me go ahead and introduce you to everybody.”

“
Everyone is in the lounge,” Galina said. “Most of them.”

Scott returned his attention to the room. Boris and Oleg were concluding their settlement at the chess table. Max watched them silently from the corner. Travis flipped through the pages of a comic book.

“
All right, baby,” Scott said as he ushered her in. “Right this way.” As they neared the chess table, Boris and Oleg stood and offered courteous nods. “Nikki, this is Boris Evteev and Oleg Strakhov. Boris and Oleg, this is my fiancee, Nicole.”

“
Very good to meet you,” Boris said. His beard was scruffy no more. Its hairs were combed through and through.

Oleg smiled. “I would say same thing, but I do not speak English.”

Nicole laughed heartily. “I can tell you’re one of Scott’s friends.” The group chuckled and handshakes were exchanged.

“
Boris is one of our technicians,” Scott said. “Oleg’s new with the unit. He got here after the assault.”

“
And you got stuck with
Scott
?” Nicole asked, playfully nudging Scott’s side.

“
I would make comment,” Oleg answered, “but I do not speak English.”

They laughed again as Max approached. His hands were slid in his pockets, but he removed one to offer to Nicole. “Hi Nicole,” he said. “Matthew Axen, good to finally meet you.”

Scott’s eyes widened.

Nicole smiled and took his hand. “Hi, Matthew. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

He chuckled. “I’m sure you have.” He shook her hand. “You have a real good husband.
Future
husband,” he corrected himself. “One of a kind.”

Nicole cast a glance to Scott. “I think so too, thank you.”

“
If there’s anything you need, let us know.”

As soon as Max walked away, Scott gave him a suspicious stare. This was like an alternate dimension.

“
Honey,” Nicole whispered, “was that the one who…?”

Scott replied quickly. “Yeah.” The one who knocked him around. Scott’s antithesis.

“
He was nice.”

“
Yeah,” he answered troublingly. “I know.”

The lounge air was adrift with the mixed scent of coffee and tea, as operatives livened the tables with cordial conversation. At one table, Clarke sat with Dostoevsky. At another sat Becan, Jayden, Varvara, and Esther. Only Maksim sat by himself. There wasn’t a brash voice in the room. Not even an obnoxious laugh.

Galina’s words echoed in his mind.
Thank
me
later
. Thank her for what? Had she threatened them with death?

“
Remmy!” Becan said. He pushed from his chair. Jayden, Varvara, and Esther did the same. He hurried over to meet them. “Howyeh! Nikki, I assume?”

Nicole smiled and took his hand. “You
must
be Becan.”

“
Am are! He talks abou’ me tha’ much, does he?”

“
You have no idea.” She slid a sly eye to Scott. “Don’t worry, it’s all been good. And usually entertaining.”

“
O’ tha’ I’m sure,” laughed Becan.

Jayden removed his cowboy hat and extended his hand. “Jayden Timmons. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

As Nicole conversed, Scott pulled Becan aside. “Becan…what in God’s name is going on?”

“
Wha’?”

“
It’s like I walked into a parallel universe. There are scented candles, for crying out loud.”

“
Oh, righ’.” Becan eyed Nicole discreetly, then edged close to Scott’s ear. “It’s Galina. She threatened to revoke alcohol privileges for a month if we misbehaved.”

“
Oh?” Scott had been wrong. She
hadn’t
threatened them with death. This was much more effective. “She can do that?”

“
She can. Made us clean the room an’ everythin’.”

“
Wow.”

“
Righ’,” he laughed sadly. “Medics are bleedin’ savage.”

“
I’ve heard a lot about you, Jayden.” Nicole said, turning to the young Russian medic beside him. “And this must be Varvara?”

Jayden nodded. “Yes ma’am, it is.”

Nicole blinked and cracked a laugh.
“Ma’am?”

Varvara blushed and waved him off. “Please do not worry. He does this to me, too.”

“
Wha’ do you two have planned tonigh’?” Becan asked Scott.

“
We might get something to eat,” Scott answered. “She’s probably starving. Then we’ll go to the room.”

“
Your private room?”

“
Yeah. Do a little catching up on the past half a year.” It had been longer than that, actually.

“
Yeh goin’ to kiss her?”

“
Of course I’m going to kiss her.”

“
Wha’ are yeh goin’ to do after tha’?”

“
I don’t know…probably lay down and talk for a while…”

“
An’ then wha’?”

“
Becan, I’m not giving you the play-by-play!”

“
I am glad we finally get to meet you,” Varvara said. “The lieutenant talks about you all the time.”

Nicole laughed. “I’m sorry, I’m just not used to him being referred to as ‘the lieutenant.’”

“
He’s done many things to deserve it.”

“
I’ll second that,” Esther chimed in beside them.

“
Thank you,” said Nicole, smiling at both women. “He’d love to know that you said that. He cares a lot about everyone here.”

“
We know this,” said Varvara. “That’s why we care about him. He is very deserving of the Golden Lion.”

“
I’ll let him know you said that.”

“
Please do.”

“
I’ll talk to you later,” Scott said to Becan. “She still hasn’t met the captain or the commander.”

“
Righ’, we’ll talk after, then.” A nod was exchanged, and Becan hurried away.

Scott stepped to Nicole’s side. As soon as she was finished with Varvara, he snaked his arm around her waist. “Few more people I want you to meet, sweetie.”

She squeezed his hand. “Okay.” Her gaze returned to the others. “It was great meeting you all.”

“
The pleasure was ours,” Varvara answered.

As Scott led her away from the table, Nicole pressed against his side. “You’ve got quite a reputation, baby.”

“
I do, huh?”

“
Mm-hmm,” she answered. “Everyone says such nice things. Especially the
women
, it seems.” She eyed him. “Is there a reason for that?”

He chuckled lowly. “I knew that was coming.”

“
So is there, Lion Boy? Is there a reason you’re in the same unit as all the
beautiful
women? Did you get to pick them yourself?”

“
Yep. I sure did. All men get to hand-pick their female teammates. It’s somewhere in the back of the rule book.”

“
So which female teammate did
you
pick?”