Noah: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Hell Squad Book 6) (3 page)

She clamped it down, even as a part of her cried at the loss of sensation. Parts of her were hungry to feel, while other parts of her were terrified by it. Especially because of the man who elicited the feelings.

Laura stomped up to the table. “Hi, everyone.” She nodded at Marcus and his team.

“Laura.” Marcus kicked out an empty chair. “Join us?”

She shook her head. “Thanks for the offer, but I’ve got work.” Her gaze zeroed in on Noah.

The man leaned back in his chair, looking so incredibly relaxed, she wanted to kick him.

“Is your comp broken?” she asked.

“No.”

“So why haven’t you answered any of my urgent requests to fix the comp system in the prison area?”

“Haven’t got to it yet.”

His lazy response made her muscles tense. “I need it fixed, and I want it fixed now.”

“Like I tell everyone, get in line, Captain. Everyone in this damn place needs me to fix something, or improve something. I only have two damned hands…and I’m entitled to eat.”

She drew herself up, conscious of Hell Squad’s gazes watching them intently.

“Well, we need it fixed now.” She lowered her voice. “I have Emerson and the medical team down there, needing to take samples from the alien bug Squad Nine brought in. And we can’t get the work done without the comp. Plus, with the comp down, the ventilation is playing up. That means we’re all a bit hot and bothered. I have prisoners I’d prefer don’t get hot and bothered.”

Noah closed his eyes and muttered under his breath.

Laura had always had good hearing. “Did you just call me a pain in the ass?”

He ran his tongue over his teeth. “Hell yeah, Captain Dragon, I did.”

Her eyes narrowed. She didn’t care that they had an audience. “I warned you last time you called me that name that if you did it again, I would knock your teeth out.”

“Whoa.” Shaw laughed. “Noah, you have the lovely captain well and truly pissed.”

Laura swiveled and skewered the sniper with her gaze.

He held his palms up. “Don’t mind me.”

She lifted her chin. “I expect to see you down in the prison area in twenty minutes, Kim.”

She turned to leave.

“Or what?” he asked in a silky voice.

She looked back at him. “You don’t want to find out.”

***

Laura was sitting at her desk, her top shirt buttons loosened, because it was stifling in her windowless office without the ventilation. An underground base provided excellent protection, but without any air circulating, it got damned uncomfortable.

She heard the office door slam open and Noah Kim stood in her doorway. She glanced at her watch. Twenty-one minutes. She resisted pulling a face. She was certain he’d probably stood outside her door for a full sixty seconds just to vex her.

She waved at the main comp console that all the prison area’s systems ran through. “All yours.”

He made a noise—part growl, part harrumph—and walked over to the desk near the wall. He sank into the chair and started tapping on the screen. “I don’t know how the hell you keep breaking this.”

Her spine went stiff. “If you fixed the damn thing properly, it wouldn’t keep malfunctioning.”

He closed his eyes for a second and she got the impression he was counting. “Believe me, I dislike my visits down here as much as you. If I could get the damn thing working permanently, I would.”

She felt a tiny little kick in her chest, then ignored him, and went back to scrawling notes in her notebook, since her comp wasn’t cooperating.

He muttered as he worked. She eyed him every now and then, when he didn’t know she was looking. The man really was handsome, with his long, straight nose and the sharp blades of his cheekbones. Laura would never, ever admit it, but she really liked his long hair, too. Maybe because she was used to short-haired, military types. Since she’d seen him in the dining room, Noah had tied his hair back with a strip of something, enhancing that pirate look. She stared at the thick, black strands and wondered if they were as silky to touch as they looked. When he paused and snatched a pair of dark-rimmed glasses from his pocket and slipped them on, her stomach tightened. They suited him and were mouth-wateringly sexy.

Clearing her throat, she went back to her notes. She was compiling the latest information they’d gotten from their raptor prisoner. His name was Gaz’da. He’d been here for months, and strangely, she sort of felt like she knew him. She never forgot he was a six-foot-five, dinosaur-like humanoid alien who could crush her with his claws. But after those initial months of belligerent silence, he had given them useful information.

Although she didn’t always like thinking about the ways they’d had to extract it. She rubbed her forehead. In a war of survival, sometimes they had to cross boundaries they didn’t like. Laura knew she was doing her bit by leading the interrogation team and doing the dirty work no one really wanted to think about. She could shield the rest of the base’s residents from having to take those harsh steps.

Her gaze went back to Noah. He was sliding under the desk now to muck around with the wiring. All she could see were long, jeans-clad legs.

She swallowed and let herself look. Why? Why did this cranky genius spark something inside her when nothing and no one else had done it in the year and a half since the invasion? She’d had a type before—strong, military men. Physically fit men who used their brains and bodies in a fight. Jake had fit that type to a T.

Not that Noah wasn’t in shape. She knew he spent time in the gym and sparred with Marcus on occasion. But he had the long, lean body of a runner or a swimmer, not a soldier. Would his stomach have a six pack? Would his arms feel strong around a woman?

Jesus.
She jerked her gaze away. Pointless ponderings. She was
never
going there. Never ever. Even if she could admit to a physical craving, in every other respect the man drove her crazy.

Sudden shouts came from outside in the hall. Laura was moving in an instant, a frown on her face.

“What’s going on?” Noah materialized beside her, following her out.

“Not sure.” But her gut had gone hard. Whatever it was, it wouldn’t be good. She strode down the main tunnel, which was lined with cells. Each room had its own one-way mirror that let them look inside.

She heard the commotion—shouts and screams—coming from the cell that held the alien bug.

An inhuman screech echoed through the tunnel.

“Fuck me,” Noah murmured.

She jogged down the hall, snatched a long stunner prod from a rack on the wall, and glanced through the window. She took in the scene in one swift glance.

She slapped her hand to the electronic door lock. It beeped and released.

Inside was chaos.

Medical team members in white lab coats lay flat on the floor, fear on their faces. Two of Laura’s team were on their feet, trying to subdue an enraged alien bug that was darting around the room, free of the chains they’d had it in.

One of her team, Katrina, was lying face down on the floor, not moving. And Ben, her top interrogator, was bleeding from what looked like a bite on his arm.

She charged in. When Doc Emerson saw her and started to rise, Laura shook her head. Thankfully, the doctor obeyed and pressed back to the floor.

The bug—a giant dragonfly creature the size of a man—darted down and nipped at another of Laura’s team, a slim, Indian man. The alien caught Raj’s shirt in its sharp mandibles and pulled him off his feet.

Enough
. Laura strode closer, and fired up the prod. The creature tried to fly away, but there really wasn’t space for it to go far.

She jabbed with her prod, but the alien dodged. It dropped Raj.

Laura jabbed again, but the bug retreated to the roof, its double set of gold-and-black wings flitting fast.

Dammit
. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Noah racing in to drag Raj to the side of the room. Her jaw hardened. She’d have to have words with him about staying out of danger.

She grabbed an overturned chair, and righted it.

“Laura, watch out!” Noah’s voice.

She turned…just in time to see the bug arrowing for her, mandibles snapping. She dropped and rolled. She got right back on her feet, then she ran. She pressed one boot to the chair and used it to leap high.

She jammed the prod forward, like she was a knight with a lance, and rammed it into the creature’s large abdomen.

The high voltage hit it, and it made that horrible screech again. Then it dropped to the floor with a loud slap. Its body was shaking.

Laura landed beside it. “Ben, get the chains.”

“It chewed through them, Captain. Like they were made of candy.”

Dammit
. She scanned her slightly battered team. She saw Emerson and her techs head over to Katrina’s still form and check her over.

“Only thing I can think of is that we use the energy chains.”

They only had one set of the energy restraints, but they used an electrical field to contain a prisoner. She looked at Noah. “I need that comp system fixed to use those chains.”

His dark gaze was on her face, studying her intently. “On it.” He turned and disappeared.

“Get the energy chains and get this thing tied up. Emerson, you still need more samples?”

The doctor shook her head, her blonde hair brushing her chin. “I think we have enough. We’ll focus on checking out Katrina here, and then look at the others.”

Laura nodded. “Thanks.” She stalked back to her office and saw Noah focused on the comp screen.

“I’ve rigged a temporary fix. It’ll let you contain that bug right now, but I need to do more work to get the system repaired once and for all.”

“It’s of prime importance,” she said.

He stood and released a long breath. “Everything goddamned is. I only have two hands.”

She stiffened. “Then you need to work faster.”

In the next second, he was in front of her, towering over her. She hated that. The fact that Noah made her feel…small.

“I have every damn person in this base wanting something or needing something, and I’m also working to make sure if we have to evacuate, we have something to escape in. I do not need you riding me into the ground, Captain Dragon.”

Her blood fired. “Don’t call me that.”

His eyes darkened. “Captain…Dragon.”

For the first time in eighteen long months, Laura’s control snapped. She gripped his shirt and swung him around until his back slapped against the concrete wall. “Say it again.”

His hand closed around hers. “Dragon. You seem happy to live and breathe your damn work every hour of the day. Hell, I’ve never seen you at the Friday night parties and rarely at the dining room. Do you ever take a break? Blow off some steam?”

“No.” She hated that her voice sounded the slightest bit unsure.

He pushed her back a step, but kept hold of her hand. “You should. You’re taking your major uptightness out on the rest of the world.”

“I have work to do. Important work.”

“So do I.”

She raised a brow. “Oh, and you never snap at people or give them hell?”

He shrugged a shoulder. “I just tell people exactly how it is. I don’t have time to play the fucking games most people play. Hell, before the invasion, I’d had too many lessons in seeing through people’s bullshit.” He cocked his head. “You showing me the real you…Laura?”

She took a small step back. “Yes.” Why were those dark eyes looking at her like he could see under her skin?

“You seem to give me an extra-special helping of your fire-breathing attitude. Why is that?”

She lifted her chin. “Arrogant men annoy me.”

Noah snorted. “Uptight women annoy me.” Something flickered through his eyes. “Although money-grubbing liars bother me more.”

She wondered at the fury in his voice. “Well, you don’t have to worry about money anymore. No one has it.”

“That’s the truth.” He took a step closer, and when she took an involuntary step backward, his gaze narrowed. “I’m not certain you’re being honest with me.”

“About what?”

“Something else about me bothers you. What is it?”

She shook her head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” God, now she really was a liar. But she wasn’t about to share that her body had decided it liked him—her body liked everything about him just fine.

He took another step, and this time she forced herself to hold her ground. He was lean, but there was muscle in his chest, and she felt the heat of him brush over her skin.

“I have work.” She turned and closed the few meters to her desk. She snatched up a pile of papers, not even looking at what they were, just needing something to make her look busy.

Suddenly, she felt his body brush against her back and she stiffened.

“You might be the expert in interrogation, but I can sure as hell tell you’re lying to me.” He expelled a breath and it brushed over her nape. She suppressed a shiver. “Okay, Laura—”

“Captain Bladon.”

“You didn’t want Dragon, and I actually think Laura has a pretty ring to it.”

A finger flicked at her braid, and, unbelievably, she stiffened even more. If this kept up, she'd have sore muscles tomorrow.

“I’ll leave you to your work…Laura.” There was laughter in his voice.

Laura closed her eyes and waited until she heard the door close.
Dammit
. The man turned her inside out. She took a deep breath and fought for the numbness she’d been living in for so long. She thought of Jake, wished she had a picture of him. All she had were her memories, and she was afraid that they would fade over time.

And even more importantly, she was desperately afraid to risk letting anyone close again.

Chapter Three

The gloved fist came straight at Noah’s face. He tried to dodge, but it clipped his chin, and even the partial blow had the force of a freight train behind it.

He stumbled back but caught himself before he hit the mats. “Jesus. Go easy, Steele.”

Across from him, Marcus stood, black boxing gloves on his hands. He slammed his gloves together, but he wasn’t ducking or weaving or zigzagging. Nope, in the time Noah had been sparring with the soldier, he’d learned Marcus was a straight shooter. He came at you head on, with no subtlety whatsoever.