Dream Bound (6 page)

Dink’s fingers tightened around Mac’s cock. His breath stuttered in and out of his lungs and he drove deep, hard and then harder still, taking Mac with him, both of them crying out, cursing and laughing as they climaxed. The two of them, in sync as they’d been in everything they did so long ago.

Max felt the hard pulse of Dink’s cock deep inside, answered it with the thick rush of his own, spilling his seed over Dink’s fist, feeling the hot splash against his own belly.

Coming and laughing, rolling to their sides still connected, bodies covered in sweat and semen, and in Mac’s case, at least, face awash with tears.

They lay there, lungs heaving, hearts thudding in their chests, and Mac realized the fear was gone. The tension that had been his companion for so many long months as he struggled to find the perfect team, to finish the project, to do any one of a million things, was gone. Entirely gone.

Sated, at first he wondered if it was just the sex, but he knew better. It was the connection with his oldest friend, the only one who remembered. Dink had known Zianne almost as intimately as Mac. His memories were proof that she wasn’t merely a dream, a sexual fantasy come to life. She was real—as real as the man who had made love to Mac while he’d made love to Zianne. The three of them, in bed together.

Born of fantasy, yet so very real. A time almost too good to believe, but it was a time shared. It had been amazing, but this was damned good, too. And lying there with Dink’s arms wrapped around him, with Dink’s cock still deep inside his ass, Mac told his friend all of Zianne’s secrets. Told him about the Gar, the creatures who’d not only captured Zianne’s people but had also destroyed her world.

A brutal race of aliens now hiding behind Earth’s moon, considering ways to plunder the earth, to steal what this world had to offer unless Mac and his team of unsuspecting kids could stop them.

Stop them, and rescue the final remnants of an entire race of people held captive on an alien starship. It was the biggest story of his career—of his life—and Dink couldn’t say a word.

He couldn’t tell a soul what Mac was planning to do.

3

T
he sun was a brilliant orange ball shimmering through morning smog when Rodie stepped out of her cab in front of Beyond Global Ventures headquarters. She glanced at the sign in front of the main building and realized that
Beyond Global
meant something entirely different to her now.

Dugan really was talking about going beyond global with the DEO-MAP project. About as far beyond the globe as they could. She still couldn’t believe she’d signed on for this, but how could she not have agreed to be part of Mac’s team?

She paid the cabbie and handed him a hefty tip after he dragged her unwieldy duffel bag out of the trunk and dumped it on the curb beside her backpack.

Dugan had told them to pack for all climates. She didn’t know jack shit about the site where they’d be working, other than the fact it was isolated, a hell of a long way from San Jose, and temps dropped well below freezing in winter.

It was already August—winter in the mountains wasn’t all that far off.

“Hey, you’re Rodie, right?”

She turned away from the cab driver and flashed a quick smile at the good-looking blond. “Yeah. And you’re Finn, our resident sexual predator, if I remember correctly.”

Laughing, he nodded. “At your service. Guess I’m never going to live that down, am I? Need help with that?” He gestured toward her heavy duffel.

“I do. Thank you. I tried to pack light, but ...”

Finn gave an exaggerated groan as he lifted the bag. “Yeah, right. I can tell.” He started toward the double doors. “We’re waiting in the same break room as before, but this time the donuts look fresh. Dugan had security let us in. He’ll be back in a few with our transportation, but he said to leave the heavy stuff just inside the doors.”

“Is he driving?”

Finn shrugged as he carefully set the heavy bag with a pile of others. “I’m not sure, but it sounds like it. He said something about gassing up the monster—I’m guessing he must be.”

“You must have gotten here early.” She shot him a quick grin. “I thought you said you were never on time for anything.”

Finn rolled his eyes.

Sparkling green. Damn. For being such a jerk, the guy was definitely a hunk.

“Generally speaking, but for this? I couldn’t even sleep last night. All I could think about was getting started.”

“Tell me about it.” Rodie hitched her backpack over one shoulder and followed Finn down the same hallway they’d taken just three nights ago. Hard to believe they were leaving so soon—she’d barely had a chance to find someone to water her plants while she was away. Dugan had said he didn’t want to waste time, but she still felt as if her head was spinning.

The door to the break room was open. She followed Finn inside.

“Hey, Rodie.”

It took Rodie a moment to respond. “Kiera?”

Kiera Pearce didn’t look anything like the sharply dressed attorney she’d met Wednesday night. Sturdy hiking boots, faded blue jeans, and a comfortably worn sweatshirt changed her from classy to laid-back, and with her long dark hair tied back in a ponytail and threaded through a Giants baseball cap, she was definitely a lot more approachable.

“Yep.” Kiera spread her arms wide. “This is the real me.” She laughed, and it was a deep, throaty sound that had Rodie laughing with her. “I get so tired of acting like a grown-up,” she said. “I’m really looking forward to nothing but play clothes. Here’s to blue jeans and sweats for the next six months.” She raised her coffee cup in a toast. “We’re just waiting on Cameron and Morgan. Lizzie’s here somewhere.”

“I’m here. What about our exalted leader? Has Mac gotten back yet?” Lizzie walked into the room and went straight for the coffee. “Morning, Rodie. You ready?”

“I am.” Rodie took the cup Kiera offered to her. “Anyone know where we’re headed?”

“To the farthest, northeastern corner of California. The northern reaches of the Warner Mountains.”

Rodie spun around as MacArthur Dugan walked into the room. Like the others, he was dressed in comfortable jeans, a faded T-shirt, and sturdy boots.

“What’s up there?”

He flashed a brilliant smile that Rodie felt right between her legs.

So not a good response to the boss.

“A little over a thousand acres that I bought about twenty years ago,” he said. “Back when I first envisioned this project. We’ll be at about seven thousand feet elevation and far enough from civilization that the air is some of the clearest in the country. I’ve built the satellite array on a high plateau where we won’t have any interference from outside light or power sources. Power lines are underground and everything is shielded so that we’ve got a clear shot at the sky.”

He took a couple of swallows of his coffee. Then he rinsed the cup out in the sink and left it on the sideboard. “Cameron and Morgan are out front. Grab your bags. We’ve got well over eight hours of driving ahead of us. With stops for breaks and food it’ll be at least ten hours travel time before we’re there. Let’s get this show on the road.”

“Wow.” Finn flashed Rodie a big grin as he grabbed up another bag. “A lot of cows gave their lives for this rig.” His comment seemed almost sacrilegious as they waited beside the big silver Cadillac Escalade parked in front of the building.

Large enough to seat all of them comfortably on butter-soft leather, it appeared to have every accessory imaginable. The dash looked like something out of a high-tech control center with GPS and touch-screen maps, USB ports for their computers front and rear, and a backup camera and computer screen that must run directly off the battery—they were already lit up and blinking like the rig was preparing for takeoff.

Of course, a man with Dugan’s reputation in the computer and software industry was bound to be wired no matter where he went, though at first glance, he really didn’t look or act the part of a mega-billionaire computer geek. It was cool how approachable he seemed this morning. How normal.

Rodie’d fully expected him to have hired a driver. Instead, he and Finn were squeezing as much of the gear into the back of the SUV as they could fit. Morgan was the tallest, so he had the job tying more bags to a rack on the roof. There was a lot of typical guy talk, cussing and teasing, but they got everyone’s stuff loaded and tied down in a matter of minutes.

Rodie grabbed a seat in the middle, while Kiera and Lizzie sat in the back. Mac stuck his head through the open window on the driver’s side.

“Okay, ladies. Any last potty stops? I plan to drive straight through until we hit the rest stop north of Sacramento on I-5.”

Kiera snorted. “You notice he only asks the women?”

“I saw that.” Lizzie shrugged. “And so it begins ...”

Laughing, Mac took his seat behind the wheel. “Don’t come whimpering to me when you want to stop and there’s nothing but a dry bush and no TP.”

Rodie rolled her eyes. “He only says that because the guys can pee on the hubcaps. They don’t need a bush.”

“Or the TP,” Kiera added. “We’re fine. Let’s go.”

Cameron snagged shotgun, claiming he’d puke if he sat in back. Finn crawled into the rear seat and took a spot between Kiera and Lizzie. Mac raised one eyebrow and then laughed. “Starting in on the women already, Finn? Have you thought of trying a more subtle approach?”

Finn put an arm around Kiera’s and Lizzie’s shoulders. “Hell, Mac. You already blew my cover. It’s too late for subtlety.”

Kiera leaned around him and whispered, “I doubt he’d know subtle if it bit him in that tight little ass of his.”

Lizzie laughed. Finn’s eyes lit up. “You like my ass? Mac, Kiera likes my ass. See? It’s working.”

Kiera rolled her eyes. Rodie snorted, but the teasing definitely seemed to take the edge off. She glanced out the window and almost swallowed her tongue. Morgan had moved around to her side of the car to check something on the roof rack. His arms were stretched over his head and his T-shirt had come untucked, baring a perfect set of taut abs with a darkly inviting happy trail disappearing below his belt line.

The first thought that entered her head was rolling down the window and licking her way along that enticing dark path. Thank goodness the windows were electric and Mac hadn’t turned on the ignition—yet. Holy crap. Taking a deep breath, she turned away from the window and stared straight ahead.

Rodie had no idea what it was about Morgan, but as far as she was concerned, he absolutely radiated sensual appeal. He was pure eye candy to look at, but she really liked his attitude. He came across as pure bad boy—all mouth and swagger—but she was sure there was more substance underneath.

By the time he finished checking the ties on top she was practically humming with arousal. When he got in, Rodie scooted to the right and Morgan took the empty seat to her left, close to the window. Her first thought was that she wanted to lean close and just inhale.

Not good. Not good at all.

As soon as the doors were all shut, Mac started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot. It was barely seven. Rodie leaned back and planted her feet on the console between Mac and Cameron.

Any nervousness she’d felt earlier about taking this leap along with Mac Dugan and his merry band of oddballs had totally disappeared. In fact, this was the most relaxed she’d felt in weeks, and the thought flittered through her mind that the laid-back atmosphere might help her shed some of her baggage over the assault and the ex-boyfriend.

Wouldn’t that be nice? Right. Sighing, she settled back for the ride as Mac expertly maneuvered through the heavy rush hour Bay Area traffic. It took them almost three hours to cover the distance between San Jose and Sacramento, where they headed north on Interstate 5 for the long haul to the exit that would take them into the mountains.

They all talked non-stop the entire way. Normally, Rodie wasn’t all that comfortable with new people and new situations, but she was reveling in the connection she already felt with this group. The comfort level among them was so easy it felt totally bizarre. She’d never felt as if she fit anywhere, and suddenly she was surrounded by a bunch of geeks who actually seemed to
get
her. It had to be from their shared psychic abilities.

For the first time in her life, she honestly felt as if she wasn’t the odd one in the group, since all the others appeared to be just as crazy as she was. Which made her wonder—if they were so perfectly in sync, did that make them all totally weird?

No matter. Even listening to Finn as he made his moves on Kiera and Lizzie was totally entertaining. One thing about the guy—he was definitely persistent. So far the girls were taking it all in good humor. It appeared they gave as well as they got.

The chatter died down as their surroundings grew more interesting once they got off the freeway and headed east into the mountains. Rodie hardly noticed. She’d been practicing her newly discovered telepathy, not that she was all that proficient, but talk about a bizarre combination of thought processes! Enough information from the others’ thoughts flitted in and out of her mind that she was assured she wasn’t going to be bored over the next six months.

Mac hadn’t said much, though Rodie’d been almost preternaturally aware of him in the driver’s seat. The guy absolutely radiated sex appeal, along with something else she couldn’t really describe but certainly couldn’t ignore.

It was more than charisma—more a sense of leadership that was undeniable. He hadn’t been kidding when he’d said he was the alpha of this pack. Not even Morgan Black tried to push that boundary, and if anyone was going to, Rodie figured it would be Morgan. Of the three guys on the team, Morgan was definitely the one to watch—there was something dark and edgy about him. Something that made him terribly attractive to her.

And that voice didn’t hurt a bit. Shit. She could sit back and listen to him talk for hours. She’d immediately tagged him as a guy who wouldn’t walk away from a fight, and wouldn’t have any problem with fighting dirty. He’d maybe lived harder than the rest of them, had to stake his claim to whatever he wanted in life, yet even as strong a personality as he had, Morgan still deferred to Mac as naturally as the others.