Sometimes he missed a beer with friends. Conversation. Sometimes he missed women—their soft bodies, sweet smells, and sliding his hard cock into warmth instead of his callused hand.
Shaking his head, he stomped up the steps and into his cabin.
Blue Mountain Base had been destroyed by the aliens months ago. The survivors had left in a convoy, and he assumed they’d found another shelter. He still saw Hawks in the sky on occasion, so he knew they hadn’t died.
The battle-hardened Marine in him rose up again. You could be helping, using your skills to fight.
No. He stomped over to the old-fashioned kitchen, pulled out one of Aunt Janine’s heavy, etched glasses, and filled it with water. He drank it in two large gulps.
He’d done all the fighting he could. He was thirty-seven years old and still had nightmares. Even if he’d wanted to, he couldn’t face fighting the aliens on top of that.
Wrenching open a cupboard, he grabbed Blue’s bowl. He had to feed his damn dog. The blue heeler was sitting beside him, waiting patiently. He watched Nate with soulful, gold eyes.
“Just you and me, Blue.”
Blue’s tail thumped the faded, lino floor.
With a grunt, Nate dumped some meat from a rabbit he’d caught that morning onto the bowl and set it on the floor. Blue dove in.
Being alone kept Nate sane. He straightened, looking out of the window at the trees beyond. And alone was how he was going to stay.
Chapter Sixteen
Dom rubbed the towel over his damp hair, then tossed it on the floor. He reached for his clothes, and put on his trousers and a black, button-down shirt.
As he did up the buttons, he looked at the bathroom door. Arden was still soaking in the tub.
She’d earned it.
She’d held her own out there. Dom smiled. His woman had been magnificent.
After they’d returned to base, Emerson had checked them over. Apart from a few bruises, they’d been given the all clear.
He headed back to the bathroom, and when he stepped into the doorway, his chest tightened.
Arden had just gotten out of the tub, and stood on the mat, naked and beautiful. He let his gaze roam over her. All that smooth, white skin, the wet, tangled hair at her shoulders. She had a slender, elegant body that hid so much strength.
Desire stormed through him, followed by need, and a deeper, intense emotion he now knew was love.
This woman loved him. She was the first person to ever say the words to him.
And the only woman who would ever hear the words from his lips.
She must have sensed him, because she turned and smiled.
“I can’t believe that you love me,” he blurted out.
Her face softened. “I’ll spend every day showing you I do until you never doubt it.”
Dom couldn’t breathe. His need rose up, wrapping around his throat and clutching at his heart. He strode to her, sweeping an arm around her.
He lowered his head. “I love you so much.”
Her fingers slid into his hair. “You deserve to be loved, Dom.”
He took her mouth with his, thrusting his tongue inside. The need inside him was greedy, starving for her.
It turned off all rational thought. Mine, mine, mine. He pulled her down onto the mat, covering her with his body. He knew he was being rough, was out-of-control, but he couldn’t seem to stop. His body was trembling. He needed to be surrounded by her, soaked in her scent.
He tore his trousers open, freeing his cock. He shoved her legs apart.
Then he thrust hard.
Arden arched into him, screaming.
“Arden.” Cazzo, he’d hurt her.
But then she cupped his face, her legs locking around his hips. “Shh. Take what you need. I want you.”
He slid a hand between their bodies, rubbing her clit. He felt the wetness of her around his hard cock. His Arden wanted him with the same ferocity he wanted her.
Dom pulled back and plunged inside her.
“Yes,” she hissed.
He kept up the pounding rhythm, his thrusts mindless. And she took it, all of it, and asked for more.
As they coupled on the floor like animals in heat, all Dom could feel, see, smell was Arden. His woman.
“I love you.” She sang the words. “I love you. Light and dark, good and bad, my feelings for you will never change.”
“Bella.” She tore him open. She put him back together.
And then she was coming, throwing her head back. Her gorgeous, elegant face was flushed, and small, husky noises came from her throat.
The pleasure was almost painful. His muscles strained as he kept thrusting inside her.
Everything inside him contracted, then exploded outwards. He lodged deep inside her and roared as he came.
Arden stood beside Indy, both of them standing at attention behind General Holmes.
He was talking with the leader of the Groom Lake Base in the USA.
The middle-aged, African-American woman styled her hair in a neat and tidy bob and wore a black, military uniform. She had a serious look on her face as she listened to Holmes.
At her back, stood a silent man in fatigues. He’d been introduced as her head of security.
Arden had snuck a glance at him more than a few times. It was hard not to. He was tall and well-built, with bulging biceps. His strong jaw was covered in not-quite-a-beard, but definitely more than scruff.
And he had flat, impenetrable gray eyes.
He was the kind of man who you’d want on your side of the battle.
“I’m disappointed to hear that the bomb wasn’t destroyed, Adam,” Major General Michaela Marshall said. “I’m sure it must be disappointing for you, and your squads as well.”
Holmes nodded. “We aren’t giving up. We’re working hard to find it.”
The major general nodded. “And my head of security—” she looked at the man beside her “—Captain Dak Vaughn is heading up our search here at Groom Lake.”
“We have nothing to report yet,” Dak Vaughn said.
Oh. The man had a smooth, sexy baritone that was completely
