Chapter 2
Blake woke just before dinner, his naked body wrapped around Sophia’s. He loved the rare afternoon like this when Megan was busy with another member of the household or playing with Killian, Hudson and Beverly’s son. He got his woman all to himself, uninterrupted.
Glancing at the clock, he sighed and rolled to his back while rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Apparently, he had to clear his head of Sophia’s heady scent and quit thinking about her softness and the orgasm that had railed through his body a couple of hours ago. His cock thickened at the thought, but he needed to get his feet settled into reality. Hunger roared through him, so he had to eat again, then get ready for patrol.
“Wake up, gorgeous,” he whispered as he gently shook Sophia’s shoulder.
She stretched out next to him and looked over her shoulder. “Hi.”
“Hey.”
“What a lovely afternoon.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
“Do we really need to get up?”
“Yes, we do. It’s almost dinnertime.”
She sat up, then stood. Thin, strong legs carried her small frame to the bathroom. When she emerged, she grinned, her honey-blonde hair framing her sun-kissed face. The smile melted his bones, and he grew gooey inside from the love she’d shown him. She’d been his rock, always there for him, and he couldn’t wait to mate her, to make her his for life.
“I thought you said we need to get up?” she asked as she pulled a sweatshirt over her pink bra.
“I know, but I was just thinking about how damn sexy you are.” He pulled the sheet down and palmed his erection. “Why don’t you come back to bed for a quickie, and I’ll make sure you have another one of those orgasms you like so much.”
Her cheeks flushed, and she laughed. “Get up, Blake. I know if I get back in that bed, you’ll miss your patrol tonight. I also have to take the kids off of Beverly’s hands.”
Disappointed, he sighed and got up, making his way to the shower and stopping in front of Sophia. “That just breaks my fucking heart, but I still love you,” he murmured.
“And I love you. Now, go.”
She gave him a quick kiss and swatted his butt. He did as he’d been told and headed for the bathroom.
After his shower, Sophia had gone, and he got dressed—jeans and a t-shirt for the night. He’d be wearing a bulky leather coat, so he didn’t want to wear long-sleeves, although in the late winter it could get cool in Arizona.
As he rode the elevator up to the top floors of the missile silo, he softly whistled to himself. When the panels parted on the top floor, the silence would be replaced by controlled chaos.
When they opened, he grinned. Hudson and Abby, Noah’s mate, scurried around the large kitchen preparing everything for dinner. Sophia sat at the small table with the kids, listening with intensity as they told her about their day at the zoo with Beverly and Liberty. When Megan saw him, she screeched and launched herself up to his chest. He caught her and pulled her close, inhaling deeply, loving the innocent scent of her shampoo.
“Hi, Blake!” she screamed in his ear.
“Hi, Princess.”
They hugged for a moment more, then he set her down and she ran back to the table.
“What can I do to help?” he asked Hudson.
“Take this second turkey out to the table, and tell Rayner to get off the damn X-Box. Then go get Noah—I think he’s still in the War Room looking over those reports on the murder rates, and then tell Jovan he’s on dishes.”
He picked up the turkey. “Why are you making me deliver all the bad news?”
Hudson grinned. “Better they be mad at you than me, my man.”
Blake set the turkey on the table and found Rayner in front of the TV.
“You need to get off.”
“I already did that today.”
He sighed. “Off the X-Box, Rayner.”
“Shut up, half-breed. I need to finish this level. I’m so close. I need to figure out what’s in that treasure chest.”
Blake glanced at the screen. Sophia had become quite the gamer, and she’d surpassed this level last week. “You get another life, and you aren’t even close to finishing.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Sophia did this last week.” He grabbed the remote and turned off the TV before walking out of the room.
“You’re lucky there’s kids in the house, Blake, or I’d—”
Blake flipped him off and went to find Noah and Jovan.
Jovan played pool, still believing that one day, he’d actually be able to beat Abby.
“Dinner’s on, man.”
“Good, I’m starved.”
“You’re on dishes.”
Jovan glared at him. “Says who?”
“Says Hudson.”
Jovan cursed as Blake left the room.
That went well.
For sure, he’d have to beat Jovan with a pool cue to get him away from the table, and well, everyone had to pitch in on dishes at some point.
He found Noah in the War Room with the door closed, sitting in the dark. The light glow from the bank of computers casted shadows around the space.
“What’s up, Noah?”
“Just thinking.”
“Dinner’s ready.”
“I’m not hungry.”
Blake sighed and sat down. “You need to eat, man.”
“I know.”
Noah had a tendency to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders, although what had happened with his species hadn’t been his fault.
“We’ll get it figured out, Noah.”
He sighed heavily. “Yeah, we got no other choice. Let’s go get some grub.”
Dinner always tended to be a loud affair as everyone talked, laughed, and ate. Two turkeys quickly disappeared, as did multiple bowls of vegetables and salad.
After the plates had been cleared, Noah announced the patrol would be leaving in a half-hour, and Blake went down to his quarters to get his jacket. After pulling it on, he went to the closet and opened the gun vault, strategically placing weapons in his coat and on his body. He didn’t hear Sophia come up behind him, and startled when her palm landed on his shoulder.
“What’s up?” he said, turning to her.
“I just wanted to tell you to be careful tonight.” She wrapped her arms around his neck.
He kissed the tip of her nose. “I will. I’ve got too much to come home to.”
“I just have a bad feeling about tonight. I was watching the news with Alaina and they were saying that the city might start imposing a curfew. Is it really that bad?”
He pulled her close, and her head rested against his chest. “The Colonist, Daniel, has organized his followers. There are a lot of them, and they're sneaky. We’re outnumbered at this point, so yes, it’s bad. We thought by killing Micah it would be like cutting the head off a snake, but the body apparently has another brain, which is Daniel. I don’t think a curfew is going to make much of a difference.”
“I just worry about you going on these patrols. I don’t really see the point in them.”
Frankly, he really didn’t, either, but he’d never stop. “Sophia, if your house is on fire, do you stand back and watch it burn, or do you do everything you can to put the fire out, knowing that you may very well be fighting a losing battle?”
“I’d at least try.”
“Exactly, baby. Exactly. We can’t let this city burn.”
They stood silent for a few moments, holding each other.
“You better get going,” she said. “Just please promise me you’ll be careful.”
“I promise. I doubt anything will happen tonight that we’ll know about. There won’t be any blood running in the streets or anything. It’ll just be a quiet evening.”