Ice Monkeys

  They got him into their research station, three buildings on stilts. They showed him the lab, visible through a window, but not letting him in yet.

  “No offense,” Papa said, “but you need a bunnysuit to go in there. I don’t want to take any risks with personnel.”

  “This is real, right?”

  “It’s real,” Papa said. “We’re still being chased by the bad guys, but at least we can protect you all while you do your job to stop this.”

  They set him up with a secured tablet to send his message to Julie.

  He included a picture.

  * * * *

  Julie nearly let out a scream when she opened the message.

  The course of true love never did run smooth. Fortunately, with the help of friends, the road has become less bumpy. See you soon.

  And the picture.

  All four of them, together, smiling. Real smiles that reached their eyes. Not a hint of fear to be seen.

  She shut off the tablet and started quickly gathering everything, her heart pounding. Once she was dressed and ready, she awoke Liang and let him use the bathroom before hustling them out the door and down the street. In the dark, she nearly missed finding the street for the docks, but once she got her bearings she aimed for the slip he’d told her about.

  Her heart sank as she realized it lay empty.

  A man in the boat next to it looked up and spoke to her in Spanish. “He will be right back. Fuel dock.” He pointed.

  She nearly giggled, her hand squeezing Liang’s in hers as she saw the man doing just that.

  “Gracias,” she managed.

  Liang looked up at her but didn’t speak, as she’d ordered.

  He had to stay quiet.

  Silent.

  Not leave her side.

  Within thirty minutes, they were underway again through the dark. The captain gave her and Liang lifejackets to wear during the rough crossing, which left her sick, but still feeling hopeful. It was about an hour before dawn when they arrived in Key West. As they pulled up to the dock, Rajesh stood waiting there with a woman. He practically pulled Julie from the boat and into his arms as the woman helped Liang out.

  “It’s real,” he whispered to her. “And better than we could have hoped.”

  Julie closed her eyes and sobbed against his shoulder.

  * * * *

  Julie and Liang had already been set up in Riley Perkins’ room when the pilot, whose name was Panda, delivered them to the safe house just before daybreak Wednesday morning. Julie still squeezed her son’s hand, unable to believe they had finally made it to safety.

  Rajesh stood in the doorway. “They said breakfast will be served soon.”

  Julie stood there, Liang quietly waiting for her to let go of his hand. Looking down, she realized she wasn’t sure if she could let go yet.

  “He’s safe,” Rajesh said. “All of them are. Papa said while he’s here, they’ll have someone stay with him at all times to guard him. He can play outside, too.”

  “While he’s here?”

  “Q’s family—Quong’s family—is safe. He needs to go join them.”

  She turned to lash out at him when she saw the pain in his eyes and recognized the truth.

  “How long since he’s seen his family?”

  “He gets updates every couple of days from them through secure channels. But he cannot, for obvious reasons, know where they are.” He held up a tablet and swiped through, showing her.

  Somewhere wooded, a picture of Quong’s daughters and brothers being shown how to bait a hook by a lake while his wife and mother looked on. There were at least three men with them, who resembled the soldiers here at this safe house.

  Unlike last time she’d seen them, Quong’s wife and mother looked relaxed.

  Happy.

  As did the girls and his brothers.

  “They’re safe,” Rajesh continued. “We don’t know where, and they move them a lot. But they’re safe. From Kite and from violence. The general assigned an entire unit, just like this one, to keep them safe. Even he doesn’t know exactly where they are. They’re schooling the girls as best they can. They’re even learning English. They can have a reasonably normal life for now. Liang can be safe with them.”

  She looked at Liang, who smiled when he saw his friends in the picture.

  She switched to Hindi, a language Liang didn’t know. “What if I never see him again?”

  “You will,” Rajesh insisted, also speaking Hindi now. “Quong said he hates it, but knows it’s necessary. At least they’re safe and as happy as they can be. They protect them.”

  The girls had grown so much since she’d last seen them. Like they were thriving.

  “I…I can’t let him go yet.”

  “I understand. They won’t force you to, either, but you know he needs to go.”

  She stroked her son’s hair and switched back to English. “Do you want to go stay with your friends?”

  He looked up at her. “Can I? I miss them.”

  Her heart broke. “Can we wait until after his birthday? I’d like to spend at least one birthday with him where we can celebrate something.”

  “Of course.”

  She finally let go of Liang’s hand. He rushed over to Rajesh and hugged him. “Thank you, Uncle Rajesh.”

  She watched as he knelt and hugged the boy. “You’re very welcome.” His eyes met hers over Liang’s shoulder.

  She finally nodded.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Uni stared at Donna snuggled between the two of them in bed. It was only six o’clock Tuesday morning, and both he and Victor were wide awake, grinning like a couple of idiots, and sporting nearly painful morning wood.

  And then there was Donna.

  After round two—make that three—with Uni having a chance at her sweet ass while Victor fucked her pussy, they’d cleaned off, grabbed a quick shower to rinse the pool water off, and collapsed into a heap in the bed.

  Best thing about it?

  He could remember every damn second of it.

  Hence one of the reasons for his morning wood.

  The other being Donna’s warm body taking up the space between him and Victor.

  Yes, when they got through this Kite bullshit—and he refused to engage in any train of thought other than when, not if—he definitely would find Donna and spend some well-deserved time locked in a well-supplied house with her and Victor.

  At least, that was his plan. If Victor had other plans, the guy was on his own.

  Victor reached across her with his fist out.

  Uni fist-bumped with him.

  Neither of them had the heart to wake her up. She looked so adorable.

  Lima had already told them they could all sleep late this morning since Donna normally wasn’t at the coffee shop before noon anyway. They’d have to leave around nine, which would give them plenty of time to get into position and get ready before Donna went inside.

  It also meant plenty of time for morning playtime with her.

  He and Victor both jumped at the knock on the bedroom door. “Victor, Uni, now.” Lima.

  The two of them leapt out of bed, Donna stirring as they didn’t even bother with clothes. Uni got there first and threw it open.

  The man wore a smile.

  “What the fuck, dude?” Uni asked.

  Lima held up his tablet. “One more coming in.”

  He took it, reading. It was a message from Papa.

  RP2 now Waldo. Contact confirmed. Target coming in, ETA sundown. Will update as needed. JC might be next. Continue with current orders.

  Victor had read over his shoulder. “No fucking shit? Dr. Patel’s coming in?”

  “Waldo,” Lima corrected, reaching for the tablet. “That makes it even more important we find this hacker and get him secured. If Julie Chu isn’t far behind him, that’s a massive game-changer right there in our favor.”

  Donna’s voice made them turn. She had the sheets pulled up around her. “Is everythin
g okay?” she asked, her voice still thick with sleep.

  “Everything’s fine, sweetheart,” Victor said. “We’ll be right there.” He turned to Lima. “If you’re about to be a dick,” he muttered, “and tell us we have to get out of our rack right now—”

  “At ease,” Lima said. “No, same timeframe. Sorry, but Omega said to update you guys now. Blame him. I woke him and Chief up first.”

  Relief filled Uni. He didn’t know how long they’d have with Donna and yes, the mission came first.

  But he’d be lying if he said he didn’t want to spend every available second with her.

  To make the most of their limited time together.

  Victor closed the door. The men turned and high-fived each other before returning to bed.

  “What happened?” Donna asked as they climbed back under the covers with her.

  “Good news,” Uni said. “One more of the scientists is coming in, and possibly another one as well. A really important one.”

  “Oh.” She looked a little more awake. “That’s really good, right?”

  “Yep,” Victor said, catching her hand and bringing it to his lips. He kissed it. “Maybe means we’re a few steps closer to putting a stop to Kite for good.”

  * * * *

  The hope in her eyes tugged at Victor’s heart. He couldn’t promise her forever yet. For starters, who knew if they’d even survive their mission? And secondly, while last night was a damned good start in the right direction in terms of a relationship, it would take far more than just really hot sex for the three of them to have a forever, even in the best of circumstances.

  She stared into his eyes, her greenish hazel gaze mesmerizing him. “I’ll take what I can get while I can get it,” she said. “And I’ll be patient and wait when you have to leave, but I’m going to hope for the best. It’s all I can do.”

  He leaned in and kissed her. “We’re hoping for the best, too.” He stroked her cheek. “We’ll make you another promise,” he said.

  “What?”

  He glanced at Uni, knowing his partner would feel the same way. “Until we get back, there won’t be anyone else but you. I promise.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, really.”

  “Really,” Uni echoed. “No matter how long it is.”

  She looked back at Uni for a moment before her gaze returned to his. “Okay.” She finally smiled. “Me, too. I’ll wait for you. And I’ll hold you to that promise.”

  He kissed her again, unable to get enough of her. “Easy promise to keep, babe. You’re well worth the wait.”

  Uni draped his arm around her from behind. “We’ll also hook you up with Bubba before we leave,” he said. “He’ll keep in touch with you. If things get bad and we can’t get you out, he’ll make arrangements to get you three out of Atlanta.”

  Her attention returned to Uni. “Really? I mean…you know that’s not why I’m…I mean—”

  Victor gently squeezed her hand. “We know, honey. We get it. Believe me, we’ve seen crazier things than love at first sight…”

  When Uni and Donna both stared at him, he realized what he’d said.

  “Love?” she whispered.

  He sighed. “Well, it sure feels like it. Maybe that’s stupid for me to say, but if we’re agreeing to be exclusive until we can sort it out later, maybe we should just call it that and quit dancing around the topic. I want to say it’s love. If we find out later it’s only lust or like, okay, whatever, that’s later. For now, I want to take a page from your playbook and live in a little bubble of happiness and at least pretend it’s love until we prove me wrong.”

  She nodded. “I’m good with that,” she whispered. “I’m good with calling it love for now.” She smiled. “Bubble of happiness. Something I can hold onto when you guys…” She swallowed. “Bubble of happiness.” She nodded.

  Uni gently tipped her head back so he could kiss her. “I’m good with calling it love, too. Bubble of happiness. Something good to remember for a change.”

  * * * *

  Donna felt like she’d run a marathon. Between the rude awakening, and her sore body, and now her racing pulse from the men’s admissions…

  But love. She wasn’t an idiot. This wasn’t some romance novel where perfection fell into the heroine’s lap and she could live happily ever after.

  She understood there was a very real chance the men might not live at all once they left her. Nothing she could do about that, either, except hope they stayed safe and could fulfill their promise to come back to her.

  What she excelled at, however, was denial. It’d been a great coping skill over the last year, keeping her stress low.

  If they wanted to call this love—hell, yeah, she’d call it love, too.

  Wasn’t much of a stretch, either. She was attracted to both men, they’d more than fulfilled their promise to blow her mind in the sack, and they seemed to really like her.

  Okay, sure. Love. Why not?

  Victor kissed her then edged his way down her body, rolling her onto her back and sucking her left nipple into his mouth, making her moan.

  Uni joined him, his hot lips closing over her right nipple, the combined pull of their mouths sending shockwaves straight to her clit and jolting what little sleep remained in her system right out of her body.

  Victor eventually made his way farther down her body, his mouth replaced by Uni’s hand as he cupped it around her breast and rubbed the pad of his thumb over her nipple.

  Victor nudged her thighs apart and buried his head between them, his lips finding and teasing her sensitive clit, tongue flicking it, dipping into her pussy to fuck her before circling back up around her clit again.

  Her hands tangled in Uni’s hair, a soft moan escaping her as she spread her legs even wider.

  Victor slipped two fingers into her pussy and slowly stroked them inside her, building her up, teasing her, not letting her over, backing up every time she drew too close to the edge.

  Love. Fuck, yeah, I’ll call this love. Nooo problem.

  Uni sat up, changing position so he knelt next to her head, his cock stiff and ready. He fisted it, brushing the head of it against her lips and she opened to take him in.

  Last night, she’d enjoyed sucking both men’s cocks, getting them hard and ready for round three, wishing she could have swallowed a load from both of them and made the evening smut-book perfect.

  “That’s it,” Uni encouraged. “He’s going to tease you a little more before he lets you come. Then I think instead of us both putting a load into your pussy right now, we’re going to spit-roast you.” He stroked her hair with his free hand. “Then we’ve got enough time you can get us hard again and we’ll switch. You can suck his cock while I fuck you.” He grinned down at her. “Then we’ll take a shower and have breakfast.”

  She moaned, at both the thought of a round two that morning, and from the feel of Victor’s mouth and fingers on her clit and in her pussy. As she worked her lips and tongue over Uni’s cock, she flicked at the slit, tasting salty pre-cum, her passion churning as she realized she was the one doing this to them.

  For the first time in her life, she felt desirable. Sure, she’d had a couple of boyfriends, but nothing ever approaching this level of passion before.

  Ever.

  And while she’d thought sex had been good with them, it never approached the thermonuclear heat level this had.

  Easing as much of Uni’s cock into her mouth as she could, she bobbed her head up and down on his shaft, wanting to make him feel good and feeling more free to moan with his meat muffling her sounds.

  “That’s it, baby,” Uni said. “Make all the noise you want. Scream around my cock when he makes you come.” He took her hand and placed it on his balls, gently squeezing and tugging. “Play with them, baby. Working another load up in there to shoot down that gorgeous throat of yours.”

  They felt soft, heavy in her hand. Then she let out a scream as Victor added a third finger to her pussy and hoo
ked them just right, hitting her G-spot as he sucked on her clit, punting her over the edge into pleasure.

  “Oooh, baby,” Uni gasped, his hand squeezing the base of his cock. “Can’t give you a mouthful yet.” His voice sounded strained. “Want to wait until Victor’s inside you to do that.”

  She sobbed, sucking, licking, gasping for air as Victor relentlessly forced another orgasm out of her before he sat up with a pleased smile on his face.

  Uni pulled out of her mouth as Victor leaned in and kissed her, tongue fucking her mouth, the taste of her juices on his lips. “Hands and knees, baby. I nearly just came hearing you come. I need my cock inside you right now.”

  They flipped her over and Uni sat at the head of the bed, cradling her head in his hands as he pulled her mouth onto his cock again. He held her hair out of the way as he made her take him all the way to the root, easing back when she gagged a little but then pressing forward again.

  “Just keep swallowing, baby,” he hoarsely said. “You can take it. You’ll get used to it. Guess you’ve never had two real cocks before. You’re doing fine.”

  She wanted to take it all the way, deep-throat him, please him. Between her legs, Victor got her into position and then sank his cock inside her pussy, hard, deep, bottoming out and making her moan.

  “Yeah,” Victor said. “We’re going to make sure you have every damn reason in the world to wait for us, the first being that we know how to take care of a woman right.” He slowly withdrew until just the head of his cock was inside her before plunging home again. The third time he did this, she came, shocking and surprising the hell out of her.

  “Did you just fuck one out of her without an assist?” Uni teasingly asked.

  “Yeah, guess I did.” Victor repeated the motion, the head of his cock perfectly hitting her G-spot with every thrust and keeping her coming. “I’m a baaad man. Playing dirty and making sure she doesn’t even want to look at another man until we can make her ours for keeps.”

  Hell, she was already theirs for keeps. If she hadn’t been before that moment, she was now. Yes, she was shallow enough to admit she’d wait a damn long time for a man—two men—who could do that to her with just their cocks alone.