He pushed her back on to the blanket, his hands twisting in her skirt.
“Dom—”
“Quiet.”
His growl had her stilling. He wrenched her skirt up to her waist and she gasped.
“My turn,” he said.
She shook her head. “I won’t come again—”
“You will.”
He lowered his head and kissed her thigh. She jumped.
Then he shoved the soaked gusset of her panties aside. His tongue was on her, and she moaned.
Her hands clamped into his hair hard enough to hurt, but he didn’t care. He stabbed his tongue inside her, savoring the taste of her.
“Dom!”
He worshiped her. He had Arden under his mouth, her taste in his senses. Arden. Sweet Arden. She writhed beneath his lips.
He used his tongue, lips, and teeth to pleasure her. Every cry, he felt deep in his body. He circled her clit and she moaned. She tasted like heaven. He kept licking and sucking.
“Dom. Dom.” Her voice broke.
Then she arched and cried out his name. Her body shook wildly as she came again.
His. Dom had never in his life owned anything. Never had anything that was solely his. Never had anything worth keeping.
But his name on Arden’s lips, her body shaking from the pleasure he could give her—he wanted that. Forever.
He pulled her into his arms, curled his body around hers, and held her tight.
Chapter Eight
The sunshine woke Arden. She blinked and realized her nose was pressed to a hard chest covered in warm skin.
Her eyes popped open.
God, she was wrapped around Dom. They were still lying on the blanket, and his trousers were back on, but he was shirtless. There was so much glorious bronze skin on display.
Memories of what they’d done the night before filtered through her head and she trembled.
Dark eyes opened.
“Good morning.” His voice was a deep rumble.
“Morning.” She instantly felt heat in her cheeks.
He lifted a hand and touched her hair. Then he moved his head, pressing his lips to hers. The kiss was slow, soft.
Just as she was reaching for him, a loudspeaker blared.
“Attention Enclave residents.” General Holmes’ voice came through the speaker.
Dom cursed, his arms tightening on her. Then he sat up, pulling her with him.
“This is General Holmes. All adults are to attend a meeting in the dining room now. I repeat, all adults to the dining room now. Thank you.”
Arden’s hands clenched on Dom’s skin. This couldn’t be good.
“Come on.” He rose, pulling her up to stand beside him.
Arden straightened her skirt and tried to smooth the wrinkles in her shirt. They were both rumpled. Dom turned and for the first time, she got a clear view of his back. Her belly clenched. There were a few old scars, but what drew her gaze was his tattoo. On his upper back, along his spine, was a beautiful dagger done in stark black ink.
She wanted to touch it. Her hands twisted in her skirt. She wanted to sketch it.
Then he pulled on his shirt and buttoned it, the tattoo out of view.
“Here.” He reached up and plucked something from her hair. “You had some grass there.”
“Thanks.”
She scooped up the blanket and her sketchbook. When she straightened, Dom cupped her cheek, his thumb sliding across her cheekbone.
Her insides melted. “Dom—”
“We’ll talk later, bella.”
She nodded. He took her hand, leading her to her shoes, then he tugged her out the door.
“What do you think the general’s going to say?” she asked.
Dom frowned. “I guess that they’ve had a chance to analyze the data from your drone. They must have more information on the bomb.”
A cold shiver skittered down her spine. They made a quick detour so Arden could drop off her things. By the time they made it to the dining room, the large space was packed.
Even Gaz’da was present. Their resident Gizzida—one who’d defected and managed to turn away from his Gizzida programming—was a useful ally. He’d helped them out numerous times, and usually stayed to himself. He spent most of his time with Laura and her team in the interrogation area.
Still, looking at the alien made Arden uneasy. She knew he was a victim as well, but her memories of the invasion and all the times her squad had fought the raptors were too twisted up in her head.
General Holmes was standing at the front of the room. He grabbed a chair and stepped up onto a table.
“Okay, quiet, please.” Holmes scanned the room. “Yesterday, the raptors detonated a test bomb.” He took a deep breath. “We collected samples and data, and questioned the lone survivor.”
Tension filled the room and Arden heard fearful whispers.
“Our witness overheard some of what the Gizzida had to say before she hid. The bomb was filled with Gizzida genetic material. They’ve found a way to spread the genetic material through the air.”
A few sharp cries and murmurs rippled through the survivors.
Arden grabbed Dom’s hand.
Holmes held up a palm. “We all know they have a larger bomb. From our questioning, combined with intel from other bases, we now know that there are three bombs.”
Arden’s chest tightened. Three.
“Also, from what we’ve learned, they need to be detonated together,” Holmes added.
Now rumbles filled the room, coming mostly from the soldiers.
“Where are the other two?” Marcus asked.
“We don’t know yet,” the general answered.
More muttering.
“We’re all going to die,” someone called out.
“We don’t know that.” The general’s voice was firm. “From day one, we’ve been outnumbered and outgunned. But here we are, two years later, alive, and fighting back. Through our sheer grit, persistence, and resilience, we’re still here. We’ve suffered losses, terrible losses, but we cling to hope. Other bases around the world are doing the same. We will not give up.”
Around the room, Arden watched people stand a little straighter, their faces filled with determination. Adam Holmes had the innate ability to inspire.
“All the squads will be tasked to find these bombs,” Holmes said. “All our Enclave support teams will be working to find ways to destroy the bombs. We will not go down without a fight. We will stand together,
