Gabe: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Hell Squad Book 3) (17 page)

The sobs of one of the survivors rang in his ears, making his jaw tight. So much damage, so much pain, so much heartache. He thought of another alien torture survivor. One who’d wept in his arms, big brown eyes drowning in pain. Yeah, he liked blowing things up, but this job he was doing now was mostly for her.

“Reed?” Gabe’s deep voice on the comm. “Mine are all set.”

“Cheers, bud. I have a couple more and then I’m finished.”

“Tell me if you need any more help.”

Reed smiled. Gabe already sounded more mellow. All thanks to the love of a good woman. Reed thought a hard man like Gabe more than deserved all the softness and happiness the doc would give him.

Ahead, Reed saw the rest of his team wrestling one of the tanks out the door. There was a whole lot of cursing going with it. Damn, he was glad he’d found Hell Squad.

He’d spent months after the invasion traveling south from the Great Barrier Reef. Thanks to the aliens, his dream diving vacation had turned to hell. He’d heard rumors from other survivors about Blue Mountain Base, where any remaining military had gathered and were fighting back.

He missed his SEAL team. He hoped some of the boys and girls had made it. But other than his fellow SEALs, he’d not had many attachments. His elderly parents had passed a few years back, and while he’d never lacked for the company of women, there had never been a special one.

The water had been his mistress. And the outdoors. Anywhere he could breathe in fresh air. Freedom was a fundamental right he believed in to the bone. His hand tightened on the charge. He knew what it was like when someone stole it from you.

He pulled in a breath. He had a place at Blue Mountain Base and on Hell Squad, fighting these aliens out to steal humanity’s freedom…and that felt pretty darn good.

And, if he was patient enough, he might also convince the woman who fascinated him to be his.

Reed shook his head and cursed mentally. She was a long way from ready for the force of what he had to offer. His fingers curled into fists. He had to have some control, and give her time.

He set the final charge.

Reed headed back to the group.

Marcus raised a brow. “All done?’

Reed nodded. “Say the word and this place will be smoldering ashes.”

“Good.”

“Shaw and Claudia need help with that tank?”

Marcus snorted. “You want to steer well clear of those two. I left them fucking arguing about how to get the damn thing into the Hawk.” He jerked his head. “Help the doc get the last of the survivors loaded.”

Reed helped carry an unconscious pre-teen boy out to the Hawks. Soon everyone was loaded and the Hawks lifted off. Reed lifted the controller in his hand and thumbed the button.

He made eye contact with Marcus. His boss nodded.

Ka-boom time. Reed pressed the button.

A second later, the Genesis Facility exploded. A huge blue ball rose into the air above the shattered dome. The heart of the cloud turned a brilliant red.

The secondary explosion ignited and the dome simply ceased to be. As the edge of the shockwave hit the copter, the Hawk rocked a little. Reed gripped the handle above his head.

For you, my brown-eyed girl.

***

“Last one settled.” Emerson puffed out a breath and dropped into her office chair. Her very bones were aching with exhaustion.

She’d personally checked out the twenty-seven people they’d managed to extract from the tanks. They were all now tucked up in infirmary beds. Most were not sleeping soundly, except the ones she’d had to sedate. She suspected most of them wouldn’t sleep soundly for a long, long time.

Emerson logged out of her comp. “I’m out of here.”

Norah raised her brows. “Excuse me? Dr. Workaholic Green isn’t going to spend the night hovering over her newest arrivals? Or poring over medical files? Working herself to the bone?”

Emerson shot her friend a mock-scowl. “Funny. And no. They have a good team watching over them, headed by an opinionated, sometimes-pain-in-the-ass nurse. And I have a man to get home to.”

“And a fine hunk of man he is.” Norah’s eyes got a faraway look. “The man’s intensity is a little on the scary side, but the way he looks at you…
damn
.”

Yes. Emerson smiled to herself. Damn.

She raced back to her quarters and took a quick shower to wash the last of the mission away. She’d just finished tying her favorite silver robe around her when she heard someone moving about in her living area. She headed out and stopped in the doorway.

Gabe had showered, too. His black T-shirt clung to his fabulous body and his jeans shaped his magnificent ass.

Mine. All mine.

He looked over his shoulder, his gaze drifting over her, the faintest smile on his lips. “Hi.”

“Hi.” She walked toward him. “How was the debrief?”

“Long. The patients?”

Her happiness dimmed. “We lost one. Some I had to sedate. They have a long way to go.”

“But first they have to choose to fight for life.”

“Yes.” She smoothed her hands up his chest. For all the horrors of their new world, she was so incredibly happy life had given her Gabe Jackson. “I like you being here, big guy.”

He gave her a slow smile that made her insides melt.

“I was thinking I’d make some space in my closet for your things.” When he didn’t say anything, nerves crept in. “That’s if you
want
to move in, I just thought—”

He cupped her cheeks and nodded toward the door.

She saw the duffel bag she hadn’t noticed before with a box beside it filled with a few things. Her tight chest eased. “Oh. Well, then.”

“Already handed in my quarters, so you’re stuck with me now,” he said.

Emerson thought being stuck with Gabe Jackson was a pretty good situation to be in. When she saw a bandage peeking out above the neckline of his shirt, she frowned. “Are you hurt? Why didn’t you tell me?” She yanked the neckline down.

“Not hurt.” He covered her hands with his, and gently moved them aside. Then he ripped the bandage off and pulled the neckline down for her to see.

Her heart leaped into her throat. “Oh, Gabe.”

Under the names of his grandmother and brother was a new word, etched into his skin in the same coiling script as the others.
Emerson.

She traced the edge of it. “Who did this?”

“Shaw. Guy’s pretty good.”

“It’s beautiful. Thank you.” Gabe was
so
in love with her.

He caught his hands in her hair and dragged her head back. “Every time I look at you, there is so much I want to say.”

“Just say it, Gabe. I don’t expect you to turn into a talker. I just want you to be yourself.”

He took a deep breath. “I love you, Emerson.”

Warmth flooded her chest. “I know.”

A line appeared on his brow. “How do you know?”

“Let’s just say I’m getting pretty good at reading macho alpha male.” She nipped his lips. “But it’s still nice to hear you say it.”

“I’ve never said that to any woman before.”

Her breath hitched. “I love you too, big guy.”

She kissed him. It started soft and turned hot in an instant. He dragged her closer, groaning into her mouth. Her fingers dug into his skin. She wondered if it would always be like this, one touch and she went up in flames.

Her front door slammed open.

“Dinner’s served.” Claudia strode in, carrying a tower of pizza boxes. “Don’t ask me what I had to bribe the chef with to get these babies.”

“I’ve got drinks.” Shaw was holding a crate of homebrew beers. He scowled at Claudia’s back. “I want to know what you bribed him with.”

Marcus came next, his arm around a smiling Elle. “We brought dessert,” the brunette said. “Cheesecake.”

Cruz and Santha followed. “Didn’t bring any food, but I brought this.” Cruz held up his guitar.

Reed ambled in last. “My contribution.” He held up a comp chip. “It’s an old classic about a commando team who get taken out by an invisible alien in the jungle.”

Emerson looked up and watched a scowling Gabe stare at his team. They were busy making themselves at home, slouching on chairs, popping the tops on the beers.

She nudged Gabe. “They love you, too.”

He blinked, a riot of emotions in his eyes. “Yeah.”

Emerson laughed and realized she felt the lightest she’d felt in a long time.

This was life right here. And family.

She snuggled into Gabe’s warm strength. And love.

---

I hope you enjoyed Emerson and Gabe’s story!

Hell Squad continues with REED, the story of Hell Squad’s sexy Navy SEAL and alien lab survivor, Natalya. Read on for a preview of the first chapter.

Don’t miss out!
For updates about new releases, action romance info, free books, and other fun stuff, sign up for my VIP mailing list and get your free copy of the Phoenix Adventures novella,
On a Cyborg Planet.

Click here to get started:
www.annahackettbooks.com

Read the first chapter of Reed

“Moving in on the target now.”

Reed MacKinnon kept his voice low as he murmured into his earpiece. He crept forward silently on his belly, peering over the edge of the roof of the ruined house.

Below he heard a woman sobbing, a man shouting, and aliens snarling.

He saw the group of seven raptors towering over the human couple. The man and woman looked like they’d been on the move for a while. Their clothes were tattered and dirty, and they had that hungry, desperate look. And now they had aliens waving ugly scaled weapons in their faces.

Reed lined up his mayhem carbine. The weapon had a mini-missile launcher attached, but he wouldn’t need that right now. Through his scope, he stared at one of the dinosaur-like humanoid’s gray-scaled faces. Nope, a good ol’ shot of laser to the head would be enough.

He waited patiently for his squad’s leader to make the call. Reed couldn’t see his teammates, but he knew they were nearby somewhere. Shaw would be looking down the laser scope of his long-range sniper rifle. Claudia would be silently bounding on her heels, ready to rush in. Gabe would be a ghost, hiding in the shadows with his big-ass combat knife in hand. Cruz would be steady and calm, waiting for Marcus’s command. And Marcus, he’d be gritting his teeth and pissed off, waiting for the right moment to hit these aliens and rescue the couple.

“Just leave us alone,” the man below yelled.

One seven-foot-tall raptor kicked out with a huge booted foot. He caught the man in the chest, sending him sprawling in the dirt.

“Don’t!” The woman scrambled toward her partner, tangled blonde hair falling around her face. “You’ve taken everything. Our homes, our children, our planet. What more can you want from us?”

It was true. The raptors had come in their huge alien ships and annihilated life on Earth. They’d ruined the cities, decimated most of the population, stolen resources. But there was more they could take. The real, hideous reason they were here. Reed’s gut roiled. Freedom was every man’s right, and these bastards had flown half way round the galaxy to take humanity’s freedom away from them.

Reed stared down his scope. Well, the aliens were going to get a hell of a fight.

One raptor soldier snagged the woman by the collar of her shirt and dragged her toward the black, squat-looking vehicle nearby. The raptor vehicle was covered in spiked armor plating.

“Shaw, on my command, take out the patrol leader, then the alien next to him.” Marcus Steele’s gravelly voice rasped over the comm. “Reed, you take out the big bastard on the right. Gabe and Claudia, move in and take out the other three. Cruz, you can have the guy holding the woman. I’ll disable their vehicle and driver.”

Battle calm flowed over Reed. Another few tense seconds passed. The woman was screaming at the top of her lungs now and her struggling husband got a kick to the head for his attempts to help his wife.

“Go,” Marcus said.

Hell Squad burst into action.

A single laser shot and the head raptor fell to the ground. Damn, Shaw was a hell of shot. Reed squeezed the trigger on his carbine and watched his target fall. Then there was an explosion of movement below as the rest of the team swung into action.

They were so good. Reed felt a flash of pride. He’d been a United Coalition Navy SEAL before the alien attack, and the men and women on his SEAL team had been amazing soldiers. He’d thought they were the best.

Then he’d joined Hell Squad.

They were a mix of backgrounds. Any surviving military members had been banded together into the squads that now attacked the aliens occupying the ruins of Sydney, Australia—once the beautiful harbor capital of the United Coalition. The Coalition had been the amalgamation of countries like Australia, the United States, Canada, India and some European nations.

Now Sydney was just burned-out ruins, shattered beyond repair.

Reed watched Gabe move, faster than any human should be able to. The dark, intense man was a machine. He’d already taken down two raptors and beside him, Claudia—Hell Squad’s female soldier—jammed her carbine against a raptor’s chest and opened fire.