Eileen hid another yawn behind her hand. This was going to be a long day, but she refused to sleep until she understood the ins and outs of the chip that had been implanted into her body without her consent.
Matt had escorted her to the base just after sunrise and summoned a few men to a part of the base she hadn’t seen before. It was where the cleanup team was housed—a separate building built back in the forties, and from the looks of it, abandoned several times since then. The thick walls gave it the feeling of a bunker and provided security that many of the base’s newer buildings couldn’t boast.
The outside of the structure looked awful. The inside, however, was another story. There were lots of open office space and corridors of private bedrooms in a barracks area, along with plenty of storage for the high-tech equipment the cleanup team used.
Only a few specialists had been drafted to man the cleanup team. They were tasked with removing any trace of the destroyed zombies from the field of battle. Each member of the combat team carried a supply of transmitters they would drop on each one of their kills.
If not distinguished from their surroundings somehow, the possibility of overlooking a bunch of old clothes and organic goo in the woods—which was the most common place to find and fight the creatures—was too high. Standard operating procedure for the combat team was to mark each pile of remains with a transmitter. After daylight, when the coast was clear, the cleanup team would come in and locate each kill by its radio signal and recover the remains. They would also sanitize the area to prevent the spread of any stray contagion that might otherwise occur.
The team tagged evidence and collected samples that Mariana and Eileen used in their ongoing studies of the contagion. All the material that had been recovered to date was kept in this building, which had a secure vault beneath it. It was an old-fashioned bunker with steel and concrete doors that had been added to in recent years. There were now state-of-the-art electronics guarding the highly classified material as well.
Matt had introduced Eileen to the lead electronics tech, a rather serious man named Wolf, of all things. He was tall, golden skinned, with icy blue eyes. From his features and name, she would bet he was some kind of German and Native American mix. His full name was Wolfgang Blackfeather, and he’d been introduced to her as a consultant, though he wore his fatigues with easy familiarity. To her, that meant he’d been—or still was—a soldier like all the other guys on the team. The others certainly seemed to treat him with respect, as if they knew his skills and found them equal to, or even above, their own.
Wolf had taken the little transmitter and stuck it under a microscope. He worked silently for the most part, but had allowed Eileen to take a look at every step of his process, explaining the workings of the minuscule device to her along the way. It was very educational.
The device turned out to be very straightforward. The damned thing had been broadcasting a ping that would provide Eileen’s location to anyone who knew the right place to look, every few minutes since it had been implanted.
“As long as we keep this in a pH-neutral saline environment, it will keep transmitting,” Wolf said in his quiet way. “It seems to be drawing energy from the ions in the solution.”
“It was using my body’s natural salinity to power itself?”
“I believe so. It has no independent power source. It’s smaller than anything I’ve seen before, and it makes sense to have it utilize the chemistry of its anticipated environment.”
“That’s diabolical.”
She was appalled by the idea that such a thing was even possible. This technology was way ahead of anything she’d seen before, and she had prided herself on being at the cutting edge of biotech.
“Your friend Rodriguez had access to some amazing stuff,” Wolf commented in his calm way.
“He’s not my friend. Never was.” She wanted to make that perfectly clear.
Wolf bowed his head slightly. “My apologies. I only meant that you’d worked with the man before.” He turned back to his instruments. “Other than the power source, this thing is similar to an RFID tag used in many commercial applications.”
“What does that stand for?” she asked.
“Radio frequency identification. It’s used in a lot of different ways. One way is to label items so when they’re brought past a scanner that’s tuned to the right frequency, the item is automatically identified and charged to a particular account.”
The phone rang and Wolf went to answer it while Eileen stole another glance at the tiny chip under high-powered magnification. It really was the most amazing thing. Scary as hell, too. She’d been easy pickings for their enemies. All Rodriguez had to do was pinpoint her location using this hidden chip and send his goons after her. The bastard.
“We’ve been summoned.” She jumped at the soft words. Wolf had snuck up on her. The man moved as silently as his namesake.
“Where to?”
“Commander Sykes wants to talk to us in the conference room. Come on, I’ll show you where it is.”
He switched off a few lights and motioned for her to precede him out the door.
The conference room was larger than Eileen had expected. It looked like most, if not all, of the combat team was already there, along with the members of the cleanup crew. Mariana waved hello. She was seated next to Simon. The two looked good together. Comfortable. Like they belonged together and didn’t really care who knew it. Eileen envied her colleague just the tiniest bit.
Then Matt caught Eileen’s eye and motioned her over. He’d saved her a seat next to him. That was as close to a public statement as anything among this group. He’d just tipped them all off that something was special about their relationship without having to say a word. A warm feeling spread through her body. Maybe she didn’t need to be so envious of Mariana and Simon’s relationship after all. Eileen took the seat next to Matt, and he called the meeting to order without further ado.
“First off, I want you all to know that I’ve sent two technicians from the cleanup team to Tennessee. They’re going to assist John and Donna, so we’re going to be a little short staffed until they can get things under control down there. We have enough of our own problems or I’d send more help to them. As it is, we’re stretched too thin. As of today, we’re going to get more centralized. We’re all moving in to this building. It’s the most secure building we have fully at our disposal, and I believe there’s truth to the old adage that there’s safety in numbers. So I want everyone who’s not already bunking here to pack up your gear today and move to one of the empty rooms in the barracks area on the second floor. And we’re going to buddy up. Nobody leaves this building alone—day or night. Our adversaries have proven they can get on and off this base with impunity. From here on out, nobody goes anywhere alone.”
A few people looked around curiously, but most took the news in stride. These soldiers were used to orders changing on the fly.
“As you all know, we’ve had a major increase in zombie activity the past couple of nights. Unfortunately, I expect that trend to continue. A change of tactics is in order. I’d like to start taking the fight to the enemy instead of the other way around. We’ve had a few direct attacks on Dr. McCormick. I don’t think they’ve given up trying to get to her.” All eyes were suddenly focused on Eileen, and she did her best not to squirm under their scrutiny.
Matt gave a signal to one of the men near the door and the lights were lowered. A second later, a projector went on and Dr. Rodriguez’s face shone against the side wall of the room, which doubled as a screen.
“This is the member of the original science team we now believe is responsible for our problems here at Bragg. Dr. Juan Rodriguez. He’s a biotech expert who apparently has some dangerous friends. The man we captured and lost yesterday is a known associate of his. Allowing the prisoner to escape was a tough break and I blame myself.” Matt paused a moment, a pained look on his face. “Lew Kauffman is going to be okay—I got an update right before we began this meeting—but he’ll be laid up in the hospital for a while, I’m sorry to say.” Hard expressions greeted him at this news. Kauffman was a member of the combat support team and clearly had a lot of good friends in here.
Eileen saw Matt nod at Wolf. He got up and went to the projector. Wolf tapped a few keys, fiddled with something, and a few seconds later a microscopic image of the circuit board they’d dug out of her hip appeared on the screen.
“This is a locator chip that we found implanted under Dr. McCormick’s skin.” Matt nodded to Eileen, then looked at the tech expert. “Wolf, tell the team what you’ve discovered, please.”
Wolf went into more technical detail than Eileen expected, showing several views of the chip to give the rest of the team an idea of its minuscule size. Scowls shone on many of the faces around the room as he drew his short presentation to a close. He sat down, returning the floor to Matt.
“I believe the prisoner must’ve had one of these under his skin, too. That had to be how they knew exactly where to find him. Eileen was tagged without her knowledge, and I believe Rodriguez may have tagged other members of the original science team in the same way. Mission objective has expanded to include the takedown of Dr. Rodriguez and if at all possible, the seizing of his technology, files, and equipment. If we can learn the secrets of his tracking system, and if he’s really able to pinpoint the location of the other scientists, we could do the same. First we need to find Rodriguez’s base of operations. Wolf’s heading up that task. Once we know the location of his headquarters, the combat team will be working on a plan to secure the area.”
Eileen read grim determination on many of the faces around her. These guys were goal oriented in a major way, and Matt had just handed them a challenge.
The meeting broke up shortly thereafter, and Matt motioned for her to stay behind while the others filed out of the big room. Mari stayed, too, though Simon took off with the other soldiers.
“Mariana’s got an idea I’d like you to examine,” Matt said once the three of them were alone.
“I’ve been working with the formula of your serum and Sarah Petit’s blood test results. I believe I’ve isolated the particular protein sequences in her blood that allowed for her spontaneous immunity.” Eileen was intrigued by Mari’s words. “I then compared the sequences to those in her brother’s blood. Having siblings on the team opened a unique avenue for study considering one had already been proven immune and the other is still in his natural state.”
Eileen recognized the scientific importance of testing two people who had such similar genetic makeup. The only way the experiment could be better is if they’d been given identical twins to work with, but that was asking too much. Siblings was what they’d gotten. Siblings would have to do.
“That was a really good idea.” Eileen congratulated the other doctor.
It was a smart move from a scientific standpoint. One that Eileen would have thought of if she hadn’t been so distracted by all that had gone on in the past few days. Good thing Mariana was on the ball. Eileen’s usual focus had been blurred lately, her mind in a state of chaos.
“Thanks. What I’ve discovered—I believe—is a way to make John Petit immune.”
“Are you kidding?” Eileen was shocked by the idea.
“He has almost all the same protein sequences as his sister, except for two that could potentially pose a problem if he’s exposed to the contagion. Based on my lab studies, he has a less than fifty percent chance of being spontaneously immune.”
“Those are not good odds for him.” Eileen frowned. “But you’ve isolated the problematic proteins?”
“Yes.” Mari looked triumphant. “Which is why I think we could coax his body into a much higher probability of achieving immunity.”
“Before exposure? The serum I developed is designed to negate exposure after the fact. Changing someone’s genetic makeup before they’re exposed seems too risky, not to mention the ethical problems. I mean, we don’t know the long-term effects.”
“I wouldn’t even consider this under normal circumstances, but we’re in a bind and I don’t want John dying if we have a way to prevent it.” Matt’s expression was troubled as he spoke for the first time during this exchange. “John and Donna are in a volatile situation, and Donna isn’t really up to the task, even though she’s immune. John needs to be able to fight without risking his own life every time he faces one of those creatures. If he were to become infected, I hate to think what he could do. From the beginning we’ve noticed that some of the person’s skill and ability survives their death. John is an elite warrior. We’ve had a hell of a time tracking soldiers who’ve been turned. John would be a nightmare to neutralize, and Donna just doesn’t have the skills. Nor can I spare anyone from here right now.” Matt ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “I think we need to give him the option.” He blew out a sigh. “I want you to look at Mariana’s work, Eileen. Put your heads together and be as sure as you can that this will work before we go any further.”
Eileen was uncomfortable with the idea of testing a theory on a live subject, even if John turned out to be willing. Still, it would advance their research considerably, no matter the outcome. Sooner or later, they’d have to put their theories to the test. If John was willing, Eileen would put all her energy toward being certain the test was as safe as it was possible to make it, under the circumstances.
“Okay,” she agreed cautiously. “I’ll take a look. Where are we working today?”
“I have some guys moving your lab over here as we speak,” Matt replied. “There’s a lot of space in this old building. It’s not quite as comfortable as where you were, but it’s a lot more secure. Now that we know the base isn’t safe, I’m kicking myself for not having us all here in the first place. Come on, I’ll show you where we’re setting you up.” Matt headed for the door, and Sarah and Mariana followed him out and down the corridor.
A few flights of stairs and several more hallways later, they arrived at a big space that was fast being converted into a makeshift laboratory. The guys had already made good progress setting up tables, and even as they watched two more groups arrived with equipment from Eileen’s lab.
It took an hour or two to get everything set up, but Mariana and Eileen were able to start working almost right away. The guys worked around them, putting everything else in place while the two women put their heads together in one corner of the large room.
It didn’t take long for Eileen to verify Mariana’s work. She may have come to the team as a general practitioner, but Mariana definitely had a good head for research. They worked well together, and before Eileen knew it more than two hours had passed. The fourth time Eileen yawned, Mariana closed the reference book she’d been holding with a bang that startled Eileen into nearly jumping off her stool.
Mariana laughed. The twinkle in her eye was hard to resist and Eileen chuckled, too.
“Time to get some much needed sleep.” Mariana began putting things away. “Doctor’s orders.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t argue with the prescription. I’m beat.” Eileen got to her feet slowly, suddenly remembering something vital. “Only…I don’t know where I’m supposed to sleep now.”
Mariana’s attention shifted over Eileen’s shoulder. “I don’t think that’ll be a problem much longer.”
Eileen turned to find Matt coming into the room behind her. He looked as tired as she felt, but his fatigue didn’t slow his determined stride. She had to hand it to him. The man had outstanding stamina—as she was coming to know firsthand. She felt her cheeks heat with a blush as the slightly racy thought crossed her mind.
“Looks like the lab is coming along. Anything else you need brought in here?” Matt asked both ladies.
Mariana surveyed the room, her hands on her hips. “No, it looks like they’ve got just about everything we need for now, thanks.”
“So what’s the verdict on your research?” He looked at Eileen expectantly.
“My conclusions are the same as Mariana’s. Her reasoning is sound and the treatment should work to make John immune to the contagion.”
A look of grim satisfaction crossed Matt’s features as he nodded. “How soon can you be ready to try it?” This time his question was directed squarely at Mariana.
“The reagents are already prepared. We can do it any time.”
“Good.” Matt looked at Mariana directly. “I’d like you to leave at first light to rendezvous with John and Donna. I’ve already talked to John about this in some detail, and he wants to proceed. There will be a small plane waiting to take you to Knoxville and back.”
Matt didn’t bother looking at Eileen. He knew she’d be concerned by his decision to proceed with testing their scientific theories on John. In a way, it was reassuring that she was so concerned about the idea. It told him she had a heart—unlike the other members of the original science team. Most of those heartless bastards didn’t care who they injured or killed in pursuit of their goal.
The way Matt understood it, Mariana would give John a series of injections over a few hours. They’d know within a short amount of time whether the plan worked as intended or not. Worst case, John could die, though Mari had said she thought the odds of that were slim. John might also respond badly to the injections, in which case, he could become unfit for duty. Again, the odds of that happening were low, Mariana had assured him. Matt thought it was worth taking the chance to proceed because if it worked as they thought it would, John would survive the session immune and able to fight the zombies without fear of infection.
Right now, Matt needed all the skilled immune fighters he could get. John had the skills; all that was missing was the immunity. It was Matt’s hope that Mariana would take care of that on her little excursion to Knoxville, and they could all get on with their assigned missions.
Matt spotted Simon lurking near the door and motioned him inside.
“Almost done here?” Simon asked with a smile for his fiancée.
“We were just going to call it a day,” Mari assured him. “The commander just told me he’s sending me to Knoxville to see John and Donna.”
Simon’s eyebrows shot up and he sent a questioning look in Matt’s direction.
“It’s only for a few hours. Mari can fill you in on the particulars.”
With those few simple words, Matt had given clearance for Mariana to discuss her latest work with her fiancé. He figured she probably already shared a good deal of her work on the project with him, since he was participating in the study rather closely.
For a while they’d been the only two working on the project at all. They’d dated many years ago but broke up over Simon’s career. The zombie problem had reunited them after Simon was exposed and became immune. He’d been the first immune soldier. He’d been the one sent in to eradicate the original problem. The only one. He’d done a hell of a job against awful odds, and then he’d tried to fade into the shadows after completing the mission and settle down with the woman he never should have lost in the first place.
He and Mariana had gotten a second chance, and Matt knew if the contagion hadn’t resurfaced they’d be living on a farm somewhere by now, happily married and starting their family in peace. As it was, Mari was pregnant and Simon had been drafted to continue the dangerous work of fighting zombies. Only now he was part of a bigger team and he wasn’t the only immune man who could combat the creatures.
While their peace had lasted, Mariana had tried to figure out more about how Simon’s systems had been affected by the contagion. She’d been researching it on her own, with Simon’s cooperation. He’d been her willing guinea pig from the start.
There were few secrets on Mari’s side of that relationship. On Simon’s side, Matt wasn’t so sure. He’d worked with Simon for many years in special operations. They both had very high security clearances and knowledge of things that were meant to be kept top secret. There was a lot about his work that Matt had never been able to discuss with anyone other than his immediate teammates. The same had to be true for Simon, yet he’d managed to form a committed, healthy relationship with Mariana. That was something to think about.
For years, Matt had thought he’d never be able to commit to a woman because of the nature of his job. Then Eileen had walked into his life—and right into the middle of his mission. For the first time, he could share a mission with a woman he had feelings for. It was a novel experience that still made him feel a little strange.
Somehow, Simon and Mari were making it work. Maybe there was hope for Matt and Eileen, too. Only time would tell.
“If that’s all, sir…” Simon looked at him questioningly, and Matt realized he’d been silent too long, keeping them all waiting.
“That’s all I’ve got. You should probably both get some rest.”
“Aye, aye, Commander. That’s just what I was thinking.” Simon held out his arm for Mari to take and with not much further ado, he escorted his fiancée from the lab, leaving Eileen alone with Matt.
“You ready for some downtime?” he asked quietly. Matt had a mysterious expression on his face that Eileen could almost interpret as…a sort of caring concern. Whatever it was, it touched her. When he stretched out his hand, she took it without hesitation and allowed him to lead her from the room.
“Where am I bunking?” she asked on their way out the door.
“With me.”
She shouldn’t have been surprised by his calmly resolute tone.
“Won’t that raise eyebrows?”
“Probably.” He let her precede him through a doorway that led to one of the many staircases in the old building. “But I don’t really care. You’ve been in harm’s way more than I like, Eileen. I’ll be damned if I let you out of my sight any more than I have to.”
That sounded a little more serious than she’d expected. She knew she was having trouble separating her heart from her mind where Matt was concerned. He’d attracted her from the very beginning. Everything she’d learned of him since had only increased her crush on him. She admitted in the darkness of her mind that she was already half in love with the man. It wouldn’t take much for her to tumble head over heels, and that would spell disaster.
She was holding out on him. That last secret—her secret shame—would destroy any chances for them. She knew it. She understood the danger of getting more involved with him. This could only lead to heartache for her if and when he found out the truth.
But she was powerless to fight it. She wanted whatever time she could have with him. More than her next breath.
He led her to a narrow corridor with lots of doors. He opened the last door at the end of the hall, and she wasn’t surprised to discover it was a bedroom. Old fashioned and painted a rather depressing green color, this section of the building must have been used as a barracks at one time. She’d bet the other members of the team were happily snoring behind those other doors she’d passed on the way to this one.
“It’s not a palace, but it’ll do.” Matt stepped into the room behind her and shut the door.
The bed was a double. Surprising in a barracks setting, but since the room was at the end of the hall, more than likely it had been designed for the commanding officer of the rest of those quartered here. She knew RHIP meant rank has its privileges and often those in charge got a little more room to maneuver than those under them. So the head man got a bigger bed, which suited her fine. If Matt was going to insist on bunking with her, she didn’t want either one of them to wind up sleeping on the floor.
Matt was already shrugging out of his shirt, moving around the room, letting his fatigue show. The man had to be beat. As she was. The bed looked too inviting. This was no time to quibble over sleeping arrangements or what the rest of the team might think. Let them think whatever they wanted. Eileen was too tired to worry about it now.
She kicked off her shoes, removed her outer layers, and unhooked her bra under her T-shirt. That would have to be enough. She was too tired to do much more. She pointed her feet toward the bed and collapsed on it, her eyes closing almost immediately.
A soft male chuckle behind her was the only warning she got before a warm body settled onto the mattress beside her. Matt’s strong hands lifted her, moving her around on the bed to his satisfaction.
“You can’t be comfortable like that,” he said.
“Like what?” she mumbled, her face smushed in the pillow.
“In all those clothes.”
“Too tired to change,” she complained.
“No problem.” Big hands raised the hem of her T-shirt over her head, lifting her as if she weighed nothing at all while he stripped her bare in a matter of seconds. Her pants were pushed down, along with her panties, and within a minute she was naked. “That’s better.”
Matt’s voice purred with satisfaction near her ear as he settled on the bed with her in his arms. Skin to skin. He was naked, too.
Oh, my.
He spooned her, one hand cupping her breast as his body cocooned her in warmth. Her nipple beaded against his palm as her breathing sped.
“Sleep,” he ordered, a chuckle clear in his tone.
“You get me all hot and bothered and then you expect me to sleep?” she groused, but it was halfhearted at best.
“We both know we’re too tired to do each other justice right now. I promise I’ll make it up to you later.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
Eileen woke to warmth, Matt’s strong arms around her. His hand still clasped her bare breast and his fingers moved back and forth on her skin, arousing the flesh beneath. The louse was awake and had been touching her body, making her hot. It had felt like a dream, but now she realized the dream lover was all too real.
“That’s not fair,” she complained with a small smile.
“It’s only unfair if I don’t follow through,” he replied smoothly, nipping the flesh of her neck. His mouth was warm, his lips damp against her sensitive skin. “I wouldn’t leave you hanging, Eileen. You know that.”
“Thank heaven for that.” She tried to joke with him, but she was too excited. He’d done a good job of getting her primed even before she woke. The sneak. The delicious, adorable, incredibly skilled sneak.
He rolled, turning her in his arms until she was above him. Not what she’d expected.
“You’re letting me be on top?”
His grin said it all. It was full of deviltry and desire, seduction and satisfaction.
“I’ve fantasized about watching you ride me,” he admitted. “Besides, why should I do all the work?” His playful wink dispelled his smart-alecky tone. She chuckled along with him.
“All right, let’s rope this little doggie and let the cowgirl ride.” She grasped his already hard cock in one hand, aware of his sharp intake of breath, liking what she so obviously did to him when she touched him. She held the power now—while he let her. She liked that.
He flipped a little foil packet up between his fingers. The man had come prepared. She liked that, too.
“You’ve been planning this rodeo for more than a few minutes, haven’t you?” She shot him a suspicious look.
“I had to do something to kill time until you woke up. I thought through a bunch of different ways we could do this and decided on this one. For now.” His expression held a promise that sent a shiver down her spine. Her hand tightened fractionally around him.
“We’ll have to explore some of those other ideas.”
“Oh, I fully intend to. But first…” He ripped the wrapper with his teeth.
She reached for the condom and took great pleasure in teasing him while she slipped it over him.
Everything went very fast from there. Fast, but pleasurable. Eileen wasn’t inclined to wait anymore than Matt was. She sheathed him and positioned herself with little fuss, pausing only to draw out the feeling of connection, the long, wet slide into perfection as she seated herself over him.
Damn, that felt good. She stretched like a cat, enjoying the feeling of him inside her before passion took over.
“This is exactly what I dreamed about. You look good up there, and feel even better.” Matt’s hands roamed up her torso, landing under her breasts, cupping them as the tips of his fingers played with her nipples.
She couldn’t help herself. She had to move. She began a gentle jog, lifting herself a little and relishing the slide of him inside her on the way back down. As her pace increased, his hands moved downward to help. His strong grip on her hips assisted as her thighs began to feel the strain.
But strain didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but the incredible pleasure of him inside her, stimulating her sensitive channel, making her feel things she’d only ever felt with Matt. He was special. As special as a man could be to a woman. There was no other like him.
She was doomed. This man was so deep inside her mind and heart, she doubted she’d ever be able to be with another man like this. He’d ruined her for anyone else.
Then one of Matt’s hands moved downward, teasing the apex of her thighs. His talented fingers rubbed over her clit in a circular motion, shooting electric currents through her body and sending her into orbit.
She cried out his name as she came. He didn’t give her a moment to think before he rolled her under him, still joined. He began a thrusting, grinding rhythm that stole her breath and pushed her beyond what she’d thought was her limit.
“Come with me, Eileen. Do it again for me, babe.” Sweat beaded his brow, and the fierce desire on his face spoke to her own spiraling desire.
Shocked by her own response, a muffled scream tore from her throat as a second orgasm rocked her. She realized only dimly that Matt joined her this time, slamming hard into her and his muscles going taut as he came hard. Her eyes opened and she saw the strain on his face, the utter bliss he found in her was a gift she hadn’t expected. It made her feel like a queen. She’d done this to him. This strong man let down his guard for her and let her in—if only for this.
She’d take whatever she could get from him. She cared for him too much. So much, it nearly broke her heart. And filled it again.
Later, when the afterglow began to fade, Matt left the bed and headed for the attached bathroom. Eileen lounged, boneless after an amazing climax that had gone on and on. Had that really just happened?
And how soon before they could do it again? She smiled as he came out of the bathroom, a towel around his hips and water sticking to the spiky ends of his short hair. He smelled of soap and glistened with water droplets she wanted to lick off his skin.
“Stop looking at me like that or there’s going to be trouble.” His slow, sexy grin said it was the most delicious kind of trouble imaginable.
“Is that a threat or a promise?” She rolled on the bed, stretching.
He flicked his towel at her playfully, pausing as he dried himself off. Man, was he gorgeous. But he was also…dressing?
“We don’t have time now. Consider it a promise for later.” He pulled on his shorts and threw the damp towel at her. “Get up, sweetheart. We have work to do.”
The work that night turned out to be blessedly routine. Matt escorted Eileen to the new lab space where she spent her time deep in study and research. He went to the office he was using inside their new headquarters and did a little paperwork before the combat teams went out after dark. Then he went to the tactical support area and supervised as the reports came in. All was quiet in the woods around the base that night.
By morning there had been no zombie sightings and no suspicious activity of any kind. They’d had a quiet night, thank goodness, but Matt knew it couldn’t last for long. Rodriguez was out there, still plotting and planning…and making more creatures as he tested and perfected his technology.
Matt and Eileen rendezvoused just after dawn at the room they shared. They didn’t speak, but their shared goal was clear. Eileen stepped into his arms with a soft smile, a look of yearning on her beautiful face that mirrored his own.
Without words, he took her to bed. They undressed each other, and their lovemaking this time was slow and deliberate. It had all the passion of their previous encounters with none of the urgency. Matt lay her beneath him and claimed his space between her soft thighs, stroking slowly within. He sat back, lifting her hips to rest over his thighs so he could watch each joining and parting, each thrust and retreat. He loved it when she moaned his name and he loved watching her come around his cock as he stroked her into orgasm after orgasm.
He tested his stamina, glad to find he could bring her pleasure three times before he took his own. They collapsed together, tangled in a mess of arms and legs. Sleep claimed them both and he roused only to make love to her again, this time from behind. He slid into her, spooning her luscious body with his, loving the feel of her delicate skin next to his rougher body.
Soon that wasn’t enough. He lifted her by the hips, positioning her to his satisfaction on all fours. He slid within her again, thrusting in increasingly hard strokes from behind while she whimpered little sounds of need. Reaching around with one hand, he stroked the tiny nub that brought her such pleasure, knowing he needed her with him this time. He couldn’t hold out. He wanted to come fast and hard, and he wanted her with him.
She cried out his name when she climaxed, taking him with her. The strong sheath of her inner muscles contracted on his cock, coaxing him into a pulsing release that made his head spin and his breath come in ragged gasps. She was amazing.
He collapsed with her after cleaning up the protective sheath he’d worn, and they slept again in a sated stupor. Only the persistent ringing of Matt’s cell phone roused him later in the day. He rolled over in the rumpled bed to find his phone tucked in the pocket of his scattered clothes. He checked the number and got out of bed, moving to the bathroom to take the call so he wouldn’t disturb Eileen, who was still fast asleep.
“Sykes,” he answered.
“Sir, we have a few police reports filtering through our search matrix. Seems like more than a few civilians are being reported as missing today.” Sam Archer was on the other end of the line. Matt recognized both his voice and the number that had come up on his screen.
The news was not good. Not good at all.
“How many?”
“My latest count is fifteen civilians.”
Damn. “Male or female?”
“That’s the odd thing, sir. They’re mostly female. And young. Most in their twenties and single. They’re being reported by friends and family that expected them to be somewhere they aren’t. The common factor is that they went out for drinks with friends last night. Now they’re missing and the friends are missing, too.”
“They’re snatching girls out of bars now?”
“Sounds like it. You have to admit, they’d be easy pickings for the right people.”
The thought made Matt wince. It was bad enough when zombies attacked hardened soldiers—or even young soldiers who at least had some training in how to defend themselves. The thought of the creatures attacking young women out for a night on the town was difficult to comprehend.
“What else?” Matt knew there had to be more for Sam to have woken him.
“There’s activity on the base perimeter in three locations.”
“What kind of activity?”
“Tripped sensors in two remote areas. From the speed, size, and heat signature, we’re assuming animals—probably deer—walked into our coverage area.”
“But we’re not taking any chances,” Matt reminded him. “Have you sent anyone out yet?”
“Just about to, sir.”
“Good. Send ’em,” he confirmed the standing order. “And the third location? What was the activity there?”
“Cut fence in an area we’d already wired.”
The team was slowly stringing wire that carried a low-voltage current around the perimeter of the base but the work was proceeding slowly. The base perimeter was enormous and densely wooded in areas.
“When?” Matt asked.
“About seven minutes ago.”
“Make that location the priority.”
“Already done, sir, but we’re stretched pretty thin.” Sam had done the right thing in waking Matt. This was a delicate situation, and Matt had to be the one to make the tough decisions about troop placement.
“We have time before sunset. Is the cut fence accessible by road?” Matt knew the areas they’d been able to wire quickly were the most accessible. It was the rougher areas deep in the woods the soldiers were having a hard time covering.
“Yes, sir. It’s about ten meters from the east side access road near gate fourteen.”
“All right then,” Matt thought about the layout of that area. The cut wire should be out in the open if he remembered correctly. “Send out two members of the cleanup team in an armored vehicle. Give them a long lens and feed their video signal to tac ops.” He used the abbreviated name for the tactical operations area they’d set up inside their new headquarters. “Instruct the men not to leave the vehicle. I want them to see if they can identify the break in the line and feed us video. We’ll determine how to proceed depending on what they can show us.”
“Aye, aye, sir.”
Matt ended the call and went back out into the bedroom. Eileen was stretching, starting to come awake.
“What time is it?” she asked in a voice raspy with sleep.
“Time to get up.” He swatted Eileen’s luscious bare ass, wishing he had time for more. She was sweet. The most delicious lover he’d ever had, and he was quickly becoming addicted to her.
He thought maybe she felt the same. Every once in a while he’d catch her looking at him with such a strange expression on her face…
There was no time to puzzle over it now. They had work to do.
“Where’s the fire?” She sat up in bed looking adorably rumpled. He watched her head for the attached bathroom, determined not to let her distract him. At least not too much.
The door closed and he heard the shower turn on. Only a few minutes later, it shut off again and she came out. He’d dressed and checked his messages and e-mail in the time it took her to shower.
“John called from Tennessee. Things should be wrapping up down there soon. That’s the good news. The bad news is, we have activity in the woods and missing persons reports to sort out. I expect there’s going to be some action tonight. Our quiet time is over. We’re due in the conference room for a planning meeting before the night shift starts. As I said before, we need to bring the fight to the enemy, not wait for them to come to us.”
“Sounds dangerous.” She looked worried.
“Dangerous for our enemies, Eileen.”
“I’m glad you’re so confident.” She reached for her clothes.
“It’s the only way to succeed.” That was a truism he’d learned in his years in the Special Forces.
She only shook her head as she began to get dressed and he watched with great pleasure. She was beautifully built beneath her conservative attire.
“Stop staring.” She laughed. “You’re making me nervous.”
“You’re beautiful, Eileen. Surely you know that.” Her pretty blush made him realize she wasn’t aware of her own allure. He’d fix that. He’d make her believe. Too bad they didn’t have time now or he’d show her again how attractive he found her.
“I thought you said we were in a hurry.” He realized he’d been staring and shook himself.
“You’re right.” He gave her a smacking kiss before opening the door and ushering her out. They walked down the hall and made their way through the old building toward the conference room.
There was food laid out there for the team. He’d ordered a cold buffet kept ready at all hours. Sandwiches, snacks and an assortment of healthy drinks including a coffee urn that was kept fresh throughout the day and night.
Eileen sat beside Matt again. He didn’t particularly care what the others thought about their relationship. Simon and Mari were engaged, as were Sarah and Xavier. It didn’t impede their ability to do their jobs and everyone knew it. No sense trying to hide the fact that he had something going on with Eileen. These guys were too observant—it would be almost impossible to keep them in the dark on something like this.
He called the meeting to order and began handing out assignments for the evening. The cleanup crew was on the day shift, so they’d be going off shift shortly. He’d built in some overlap to the schedule deliberately. He went over the reports from the day shift and reviewed new developments. They reviewed the video the two-man team in the armored vehicle had sent. It turned out to be nothing. The wire had been cut by a construction crew that was doing routine maintenance on the gate. The animal readings were just that. A herd of deer had been spotted near one of the tripped sensor locations, and it was likely the same story on the other one, though nothing had been seen by the men sent to check the area.
Mariana was back from her short trip to Knoxville. For the moment, Matt was keeping the news that John had successfully been made immune to himself. Only Mariana, Simon, Eileen, and Donna knew besides himself. Not exactly a secret, but not common knowledge, either.
The most important thing on the agenda for this get-together was the action plan for that night. Matt wanted detailed input from the combat team, since they’d be heavily involved. They spent the majority of the meeting working out ideas with the fighting personnel. The final plan they arrived at was relatively simple. They would use the tracking device they’d taken out of Eileen to lure the bad guys and their zombie friends into an ambush.
“Won’t Rodriguez realize we’ve discovered the tracker?” one of the men asked.
“Not necessarily. Not if we take them all out.”
“Okay, so we neutralize the zombies. That’s a given. But what if they have a spotter? I mean, there’s got to be someone herding them to us. They don’t think for themselves, that I’ve seen,” Simon pointed out.
“Exactly,” Matt agreed. “And before now, we’ve never had the opportunity to pick the battleground. If we do this right, we control the circumstances. We can set up the ambush to handle not only the creatures, but we can put a team in place to spot the spotter. A spotter of our own, if you will.”
The men didn’t waste time after that, planning a strategy that would net them a big win—if they could pull it off.