Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
nyx
I’m shifted awake, my eyes fluttering as Noc shifts underneath me.
My body lusciously aches after last night.
I managed to get Noc to fuck me two more times - it was heaven.
And the second time we almost broke the cot.
I'm surprised it is still holding up with the weight of us both sleeping in it, Noc was about to ludicrously try and drag another one in here so we could share the room. I mentioned how pointless that was when we’re leaving soon, and that he'll wake everyone up with the wooden feet screaming over the concrete floor.
That was the point I'd earned my third, unplanned fuck with being told, “How about I make your screams wake them up?” I can't even dwell on that for too long, because they probably did.
So, this is how we ended up here, him comatose beneath me after the last round, both totally spent and not getting the rest we needed.
I trace small circles on his chest, not wanting to wake him just yet, my fingers tracing over the new lines of inked skin – adding them to my memory.
His fingers snake up my forearm, wrapping around mine.
I shift my head to find his sleepy gaze watching me, pulling my hand to kiss the inside of my palm.
The butterflies that flutter from my cold heart skim their wings throughout my chest in their wild escape.
“Morning.” My voice sounds small and shy, but this moment brings back memories of when we used to sneak into each other's rooms back at home base.
It makes me think of how different life is now.
Whether or not I would change it all, I believe the fates brought us to this moment for a reason, and the journey we took to get here has made our love know to no bounds.
“Good morning, beautiful.” He kisses my hand again before tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear. I could stare into this man's eyes for eternity, he calms every single bit of anarchy that wears me down, my anchor in the storm.
“I could stay here forever.” I whisper, and his knowing smile tells me he feels the same.
“Minus the psycho Commander lurking about in the background, of course.” I pull the covers over us as I laugh at his words.
“I think I'd be fine, I have this six-foot-five monster that likes to steal my single-sized bed, who'd protect me.” I bat my lashes like I'm a damsel in need of rescuing.
My squeal bounces off the walls as he pulls me in by the waist and tickles my ribs, rolling me under him in the process as he settles himself between my thighs.
“And who's this creature you speak of?” I'm smiling like a love-struck teenager up at him, and the panty-dropping smirk on the edges of his lips comes down to bless me with its kiss.
“Just this dark, broody demon that's way too big to be sharing said bed with me.” He presses another kiss to my lips, my eyes slower to open back up, and I feel him harden between my thighs.
“Monsters are supposed to sleep under the bed, you know.” My brows furrow, confused at his words. Then a devious look spread across his face.
I don’t have time to ask, because he lunges, scooping me out of the bed in the process.
He carries me over to the desk, plopping my bare ass down on the cold surface, sending a welcome shiver over my skin.
We don’t speak a word as he positions himself to stand in between my legs, pulling my ass to the edge as he easily slides inside me.
Foreplay is not needed when it comes to him.
My hands stretch behind me, and I let my head roll back between my flexed shoulders.
My insides ache, but not enough to deny this.
I wrap my legs around him tighter as they bounce off his ass, and his hand reaches out to grip around my neck.
His strokes are long and lazy, making my toes curl in pleasure.
I bite my bottom lip to suppress my moans, seeing as it’s light outside and likely that most of the team will be awake.
“I love you, Lev.” I whisper, and the smile he flashes me is devastating for my ovaries.
It’s one of those rare beauties, and a reminder of our love that was once thought to be long lost. “I love you, Brodie.” His words have my core tightening, ready to release a soul-snatching orgasm from his rhythm.
But our spell breaks when there is a thunderous bang on the door.
“Guys, get up! We have movement from Graves.” Hawks voice acts like a bucket of ice cold water over the mood.
“Fuck sake.” Noc’s voice comes out breathless, and I’m fighting with the urge to tell him to just fuck my brains out and make it quick.
The other half wants to spring out of this room and find out what the bastard has been doing these last couple of weeks.
Noc seems to pick up on my indecisiveness, choosing to pull out of me as I groan, throwing my head back in annoyance this time.
“Come on fiend, I'll finish you off later,” he says, passing by me to slap my ass and throw me some clothes.
We're fully clothed and headed into the command room as I throw my hair up into a half-assed bun.
Noc, as usual, pulls off that bedhead 'just been fucking my woman and what' look.
“Hey screamer, sleep well?” Phantom says as I plop down between Adam and him.
Rhaine snorts out a laugh, quickly throwing a hand over her mouth to wipe it away.
I look from her back to him. “I don't know what you're talking about.” Folding my arms and trying to fight the blush that’s creeping up my neck and cheeks.
“Just fucking with you Nyx, or should I say, I'm fu—” Noc cuts in mid his conversation with Hawk, his voice lethally sharp. “If you like breathing Phantom, don’t finish that fucking sentence.”
Rhaine and I share a look as I bite back a laugh, Adam’s shoulders shake beside me as his arm pats mine in comfort. Phantom throws his hands up apologetically and chuckles. There's a warmth deep inside me, hearing us finally laugh together again.
Hawk steps away from Noc, who’s still telepathically sending a death threat to Phantom.
“Adam and I managed to pick up activity outside of the base last night. The front camera was cut for a period, but thankfully the ones Adam brought picked up some of the activity.” My heart stammers, Graves was in the base last night.
“Graves must’ve had a jammer, it knocked the ones on the perimeter out.
But our own still held. He wasn’t in the convoy, and there was an additional body with him.
We couldn’t identify them as they remained in the vehicle.
He managed to get into a blind spot where the trucks are stored and then left shortly after. Adam ran the plates, they’re fakes.”
Of course they would be, but how the hell did he manage to get a hold of them? And who the hell has he got with him? Hawk speaks again. “The plates have been sent to surveillance back home. They aren’t aware it’s Graves, just to keep an eye out if the registration pings on any surrounding CCTV.”
I look over at Noc, who's now deep in thought as he slides through the tablet, presumably looking at the footage from last night.
I run through the information in my head, and a gust of dread washes over me.
“He's rigged the trucks.” All eyes fly to me, everyone now having the same realization.
“Why else would he go in there? He's rigged them or the building they’re in, hoping to wipe us all out in one go.” A few curses are exchanged around the room as Hawk stands up, running a hand down his face at the possibility the ex-Commander has launched an assassination plot.
“Then he knows you’re all here, and likely that the rest of us are aware of what he's been doing. The chemical warfare team is already back in the US after it was deemed the shipyard was clear.” He sends a vexed glance in Noc's direction. “We'll need to search the area ourselves.”
Later, we’re all standing in the freezing cold, a far enough distance from the hut that stores the convoy and cruiser.
Hawk stands at the threshold with both sets of keys in his hands.
If the vehicles go off, then we know they’re rigged.
If they don’t, the building could be - otherwise, I’m not quite sure what he’s been up to.
“Yeah, says here. I remember. You generally need to be at least two hundred feet away from a car bomb, but Blitz always lived by five hundred for complete safety. The car key’s sensor should unlock the car from one-fifty…
You'll need to press it, then run like hell.” Adam reads from his phone to double check her previous fact dropping, because this isn't our specialty... It was Blitz’s.
Hawk lets out a dreary sigh as we move back a bit.
If there's two bombs in there, one will likely set off the other in a chain reaction, the blast doubling in force. Hawk shouts from ten feet in front of us. “Here goes fucking nothing.” And I watch as his thumb presses the key, running back towards us. But nothing happens, the only sounds are the sporadic gusts of winds, ruffling the leaves of the trees and Hawk’s boots crunching on the hard dirt.
We're already braced when he looks at the key again.
“Maybe I need to get a litt—” His words are drowned out by the fireball that erupts from the building as the truck explodes, followed by the second a split second later.
Car debris and bricks fly through the air, the shock wave knocking us off our feet.
Noc tackles me to the ground, his body like a shield while the dust and debris from the surrounding forest blow over us.
There's a slight ringing in my ear from the explosive, Christ, he must have used a heavy fitting material in that.
I've seen many cars explode during tours in my military days, but this one was designed to ensure that anyone in a close radius stood no chance.
He equipped both vehicles, just to make sure.
It takes a good few minutes for the haze to settle and allow us to see more clearly, the low wind working in our favor to clear it.
The building for the trucks no longer stands, the charcoaled shells of both vehicles only partly remain, still alight and engulfed in a roaring inferno.
The part of the substation wall that was closest is also missing, and a few windows have blown out, the shattered glass all over the front compound.
My teeth grind as I think of how that could have been the end of any of us, if not for the cameras Adam installed when we arrived yesterday.
Congratulations, Graves. You’ve just earned yourself an extension in hell when we get our hands on you.
I look at Noc, who still holds me close to his chest, his breathing like a drumbeat against mine.
He's staring straight ahead, and there’s a murderous haze in his eyes as he clutches me tighter, I nudge him slightly to bring him back to me.
''Hey.'' He breaks his glare to look at me, less vengeful, but that lethal look in him never leaves.
“We're all here,” I whisper for only his ears.
He nods and runs his hand up and down my back.
He stands, helping me get to my feet whilst calling out to the unit “Everyone good?” A joint chorus of yes sounds around us. Even though I know we all made it safely away, that dread still lingers at the thought of how close we came again to death.
A ding goes off at our feet, the chime an upbeat tone compared to the bedlam we stand amongst. Adam marches over to pick up his phone which he had dropped when the blast knocked us over.
I watch the moment his eyes widen, as he reads over whatever message he's received.
His worried gaze locks with mine as he looks up at me.
“That was surveillance, they tracked the plates. The car was picked up at the airport over two hours ago.”