Page 66 of The Union
She became putty in my hands, and I pounced, sinking my fangs into her neck. The first drop of blood exploded on my tongue, sending heat straight to my balls.
She whimpered.
Man, I would give anything to have her teeth scraping my cock right now like she’d done before I’d blacked out.
I sucked with great pulls, my nerve endings on fire, my body coming more alive than ever. She tasted like candy apples with caramel drizzled on top.
After one last sip, I retracted my fangs and lashed my tongue over the puncture wounds, lapping up every last drop I could. Then I crashed my mouth to hers, savage in my delivery, yet tender in my execution as I took what was mine. Layla Aberdeen would become Mrs. Layla Mason before our baby or babies came, and I would slaughter anyone who got in my way.
24
SAM
Later that night, I strutted into the command center. I would like to say I’d fucked for the last several hours, but no cigar. Layla had hardly slept in the last month. She’d complained that keeping her eyes closed for longer than two or three hours had been difficult.
After I’d showered, I’d found her curled up in my bed, softly snoring. I didn’t want to wake her, and I wanted to catch up with my team on what I’d missed in their efforts to find any of our enemies. It didn’t surprise me they hadn’t located Carly, Emery, or Harriet. Or maybe they had. Our missions weren’t for everyone’s ears, so they probably wouldn’t tell Layla.
The atmosphere in the command center was quiet at midnight. Other than Tripp and Ben standing in front of one of the seven monitors that spanned one wall, Petty Officer Ryan Hawk manned the radio and phones.
The new recruit nodded at me. “Sir,” Hawk said.
The blond, green-eyed vampire had passed our SEAL training with flying colors. His first assignment was to learn the ins and outs of the control room, much like I had when I’d been a newbie, which was one requirement my old man had instituted many years ago when he’d been in charge of the SEAL team.
I returned the gesture as I scanned the map of Chicago featured on the largest of the displays.
When we’d been at war with Edmund Rain and my uncle Patrick, we had every state from New England to Alaska on the screens. We’d scoured the terrain from east coast to west. But Edmund had gone dark while they lured humans in and experimented on them. If Carly had what she needed for testing, then she, too, had found a place off the grid.
I strutted past occupied and empty cubicles.
“Ben. Holy fuck,” I said, approaching my best bud.
Ben turned around with a cheeky grin, looking like he’d been reborn. Bright reddish-brown eyes. Military-style haircut. Black uniform crisp and loaded with weapons. The shifter bite had kept him confined to a hospital bed until Dr. Vieira whipped up a magic potion of shifter blood mixed with Abbey’s.
A jealous streak coursed through me. I was in jeans and a button-down shirt, and aside from daggers in my flak boots, I wasn’t dressed for battle, but I was chomping at the bit to join my teammates and help out where I could since I couldn’t dart off without risking the lives of my Layla and the baby or babies.
We exchanged a hug, patting each other on the back.
My half-human and half-vampire friend sized me up. “As always, you’re a hard vampire to keep down.” He chuckled.
“A month was too fucking long, though. I’ve missed a ton.”
Tripp clutched my shoulder. “We’ll debrief you. But I’m glad as fuck that you’re back.”
I pointed to the map of the Catskills. “What’s going on?”
Tripp smoothed a hand over his sandy-blond hair. Like Ben, he was garbed in black—SEAL T-shirt, cargo pants, boots, and weapons. “We’ve scoured the country, tracked every hot and cold lead, but nothing until a week ago.”
Excitement stirred in my gut. Crossing my arms over my chest, I tucked my hands underneath them, resting my ass against the edge of an empty desk in front of Ben and Tripp.
Ben twirled the laser pointer around in his hand. “We’ve been monitoring several mountain areas of the country for an increase in activity—from truckers to power sources. If you remember, Edmund had moved his operation to Alaska.”
“Oh, I remember it well. Mammoth piles of human bodies stacked to the ceiling in the caverns of that Alaska facility.” I could almost smell the stench as if I were there at that very moment. “It would make sense for Intech to find a less populated area.” That would be something I would do. I stabbed a finger at the screen. “The Catskills?”
Ben circled an area on the monitor with the laser pointer. “The power grid here has lit up like a heavily populated city.”
“Have we got eyes and boots on the ground there?” I asked.
Tripp switched maps using an iPad, then zoomed in on the city of Cleveland. “Not in the Catskills, but outside Cleveland. Viking II is on the ground here. Roman’s men have overtaken Cobra Technologies’ manufacturing plant. That’s the company making the microchip.”
