His? “Listen, Pax.” She shot both hands up to nail him beneath the jaw.
He didn’t step back. In fact, it didn’t even look like he’d felt the blow. Instead, his head lowered until his eyes were right above hers. His scent of leather and the forest wafted around them. “You’re a brat, Hope. I might adore you, but I won’t accept that.”
What did that mean? She opened her mouth to give it to him just as one of his broad hands tangled in her hair, twisted, and pulled her head back. Her breath caught in her throat, and she latched onto his shoulders for balance, feeling the muscles play beneath his shirt. Hard and fluid.
Then his firm lips were on hers.
Fire seared through her, zinging from her mouth to her breasts right to her core. Her abdomen heated, and butterflies winged in every direction. She moved into him, even though her brain told her to stop.
She moaned, and he pressed her jaw with his thumb, forcing her to open. For him. For Paxton Phoenix, who was much more dangerous than she’d ever imagined.
Then he dove in, all wildfire, all danger, his tongue taking control. The growl rumbling up from his chest and into her mouth, down her throat, to her every nerve was all demon. Primal and savage.
He easily held her aloft, his free hand flexing on her hip with barely restrained power.
She’d had no idea desire could be painful.
Gasping, she pulled back, her lungs needing air. For the first time in too long, she really looked at him. His handsome face and calm demeanor masked a deadly warrior. A true predator. And right now, she was in his sights. Her body did a full roll.
His smile was quick, gone as quickly as it had arrived. It was the smile of a male in control of his environment. One prepared for violence, and one who held her easily off the floor.
Watching her, those green eyes a chromatic warning, he tugged the button on her jeans free.
Her eyes widened…but she didn’t stop him.
Slowly, so slowly that she could hear the seconds ticking by, he flattened his heated palm against her abdomen and caressed down, slipping his fingers into her panties. She panicked and stiffened, but then he found her.
Her mouth opened on a gasp. She was wet and ready…and so far out of her element she couldn’t think. Her hips jerked as if she’d been shocked. Desire ripped through her, pinpointed right where he touched her.
She let her head go back on the door. His fingers parted her, and one slipped inside, while the other rubbed against her clit. He tilted his head, watching her, learning her. Then he sped up, and she gasped, riding his fingers. As if he knew her body better than she did, he flicked her clit. Hard.
The world exploded. She shut her eyes as the orgasm tore through her, taking even her breath. She rode the waves and then slowly came down, sagging against him.
Stunned.
Then somebody knocked forcefully on the door, right against her back. She jerked her head up, nailing his jaw.
“What?” Paxton snapped, removing his hand and quickly zipping up her jeans. Her bottle of Advil fell out of her pocket, and he caught it, handing it over with one raised eyebrow.
“It’s Zane. The intel you secured from Henric was good. The Seven stronghold is being attacked. We need the teams in the air, Hope. Now.”
Paxton slowly lowered her until she stood on her own. “I’m on your team now. Period.”
Hope settled into her chair as the monitors came up, managing her team from two miles away from the battle zone. It was the first time she’d had either Paxton or her father on the team, and the weight of that responsibility felt like boulders on her shoulders. She forced the thought of Pax’s kiss, of that freaking devastating orgasm, out of her head. She had a job to do. The entire area was already alight with missiles and fighters as her team rappelled down from two helicopters.
“Squad one, go to the south, squad two to the east,” she ordered, typing rapidly. “We have two more helicopters in the air, ready for wounded.”
She tried to keep her voice level, but the idea of her uncles or her aunts being injured or worse made her voice hoarse. She also knew that Paxton wasn’t in top form, but she watched him through the screen, holding her breath as he moved swiftly toward the enemy. As swiftly as her father did.
Combined, they were a frighteningly deadly duo.
Two Kurjans emerged from out of nowhere and attacked Paxton. He dropped to the ground, and she barely bit back a scream until she noticed that he’d slid on purpose to slice the Achilles tendons of the nearest Kurjan. In one smooth and impossibly strong motion, he leaped up, stabbed the second Kurjan in the eye, manacled him around the neck, and then kicked in the temple of the other one trying to get up.
Zane turned to engage a Cyst that had come out of the fire as Garrett ran full bore out of an underground bunker with Dessie in his arms.
“Helicopter one,” Hope bellowed. “Set down to the north two clicks. We’ve got incoming.”
As she watched, Collin tossed Garrett an ear communicator that he snatched out of the air and stuck in his ear while he kept running.
“Garrett, head north, we’ll run interference for you.” She typed and gave terse orders to her squad. “Libby and Derrick, I want you to intercept,” she said. “There are forces coming from the east, and Garrett needs to get to the helicopter.”
He was limping, and she couldn’t tell if Dessie was even breathing. The idea that Garrett’s mate wasn’t moving chilled Hope to the bone. She gave orders, trying to clear an evacuation path for all of the Seven. Ivar was next, with his mate on his back, and then Benny and Karma appeared, each holding a small child with twin girls running between them. They were missing a kid.
Hope scrambled, typing rapidly, looking. There was Adare and his mate, Grace. She held the other little boy as they ran, apparently following Garrett’s instructions. There wasn’t time to throw any of them an ear communicator, so Garrett was directing. She moved her team and caught sight of more dark forms following.
“There’s another Kurjan squad just dropped from the south,” she announced.
They were definitely outmanned. Two more Realm helicopters dropped additional soldiers, and it was a melee on the ground. Knives flashed, laser guns fired, and blood spurted. She tracked her team, knowing somebody else would be tracking the other teams closer to the site. She was positioned far from the action because she was most likely human. Not immortal. That thought infuriated her, but she sucked it up and focused on protecting her team.
Liam went down, and Collin threw him over his shoulder. “Wounded. Half of his neck is gone,” Collin said tersely. “I’m taking him to the helicopter.”
Hope typed rapidly. “All right, fill in. Libby, where are you?”
“I’m here,” Libby said tersely. “I need to shift.”
“Green light given. Do it with maximum exposure.”
“Got it.”
Libby ran into the midst of several Kurjan soldiers and shifted. A sonic boom sent them spiraling through the air. In one swift motion, she turned, caught one, and ripped off his head with her sharp teeth.
Still missing some of the Seven members, Hope typed and moved the satellite angle to see better. A thump sounded outside her door. She was in a small temporary building they’d put far enough away that she wouldn’t be hurt, and there were two guards on the door. Another thump. Oh, crap.