Darling Wildfire (Red Rabbit #2)

9

NYX

Atlas was waiting for me when I emerged from the basement.

“Is he good?”

Atlas asked. I scoffed and shook my head as I walked past him towards the kitchen.

“What do you think?”

I needed coffee—preferably something stronger but coffee was already brewing. I stood in front of the coffee machine, listening to it grumble to life. Atlas’ hand snaked around my waist as he reached for mugs above my head. He set them down and then jumped up to sit on the counter. His hand curled around the back of my neck, drawing my attention to him.

“It brought it all back for me too,” he said.

My lips curled in disgust and anger. Even knowing I’d feel this way wasn’t enough to stop the emotions from storming viciously to the surface.

“Hearing his voice again was—”

I shook my head. “It’s like no time has passed.”

“I’m worried about him,”

Atlas said quietly, and I knew he was talking about North. “He has someone important to him again right when everything is about to go off.”

“Shit timing is what that is,”

I grumbled.

Atlas pulled me in to stand between his legs and I leaned into his touch, letting it calm the rage and ease the tightness under my skin. The shadows inside me were eager for release and when my eyes clashed with Atlas’ I saw the same darkness reflected there.

The storm was here, and we were ready.

His eyes darkened and the air between us turned electric as his fingers brushed against the back of my neck, teasing me closer. My hands drifted up his thighs to his hips and under his t-shirt, heat spreading through my body as I touched his bare skin. His hand pulled me closer, but before I could claim his lips in mine the way I wanted to, I saw Lachlan out of the corner of my eye as he came into the kitchen.

“Oh, sorry,”

he said, but he had a smirk on his face.

“No, you’re not,”

Atlas said easily.

“No, I am—sorry I didn’t wait another two seconds so I could watch,”

he teased. “Last time was hot.”

Lachlan hopped up on the counter across from us and I turned, pushing my back against Atlas’ chest as his arms snaked around me and I rested an elbow against his thigh, unable to hide my grin. We’d met Lachlan in Austria shortly after our escape and he’d quickly become one of our best friends which to us, meant we may or may not have hooked up in various capacities over the years.

“Saw North downstairs shredding paper,”

he continued. “Did Vetticus make contact?”

“Yup—he wants a team briefing in the morning,” I said.

The noise of the coffee machine cut through the air, struggling to dispense the last bit of coffee into the pot. I left Atlas’ embrace and grabbed it, pouring it into the two mugs.

“Coffee, Lach?”

“Sure, I won’t be able to sleep with North prowling the property.”

West walked in. “I smell coffee,”

he said. “Anyone know how I can get an IV of this stuff?”

“You could Google it,”

Lachlan said dryly.

“Ha ha,”

West said sarcastically. “I should probably just put a coffee machine in my office.”

“If you did that we’d never see you—you’d never leave your cave,”

Atlas stated.

“That’s kind of the point,”

West grinned, accepting the mug I gave him. At this point I’d need to brew more since apparently none of us were planning on sleeping. “How are you guys doing?”

“Ready—impatient,” I said.

West nodded. “It feels like just yesterday we were all coming together for the Austria job although I’m sure it has felt much longer for you guys.”

Lachlan groaned. “Don’t remind me of Austria.”

“Homesick?”

Atlas teased.

“Low blow,”

I laughed as Lachlan flipped him off.

“You’re still not over that?”

West asked.

“More accurately—not over her,” I joked.

“What ever happened with Mads?”

West asked. “She just disappeared after the job.”

“Maybe because Casanova over here wouldn’t leave her alone,”

Atlas grinned.

“Say what you will, but that was one of the best nights of my life,”

Lachlan sniffed, pretending to look down his nose at us.

“That tends to happen when North gets involved,”

I laughed.

“You guys and your threesomes,”

West said, shaking his head.

“It was more than a threesome actually,”

Atlas supplied with a smirk, winking at West and making him blush. He was completely straight and a little shy when it came to his sexuality. I thought it was endearing even if we liked to tease him about it.

“At that point, I think it’s safe to call it an orgy,”

Lachlan laughed.

“Where was I?”

West asked incredulously.

“You were off counting the gold I imagine,”

I said. “Or maybe you were asleep?”

“I highly doubt I would have been able to sleep through all of that,”

West laughed. “It’s much more likely I was off being the responsible one.”

West’s phone dinged, and he saluted us with his coffee before disappearing off to his cave again. Lachlan jumped down from the counter.

“I’ll go notify the troops,”

he gave us one last lingering look. “You two finish what you were about to start earlier.”

And just like that, it was just Atlas and I once more in the now quiet kitchen. Even though they’d interrupted, I cherished every moment I had with our friends. Atlas and I shared a look between us and I knew he was thinking the same—we didn’t know who would come out of this alive, all we knew was that none of us were going to leave unscathed and that wasn’t a pleasant thought to have.

Later that morning, I walked into the war room to see all nine members of the team present.

It was an eclectic group we’d pulled from various parts of the world during the last decade. Each one brought a mastery of their skills to the team and all were hardened warriors. All of them were ex-military but their backgrounds didn’t matter to us, their loyalty and skill set did. I went around greeting a few of them before I settled in one of the high back armchairs near the couch. All we were waiting for was North.

A few moments later he walked through the double doors, looking much calmer than when I’d seen him last night although I knew him so well I could still see the tension lining his jaw and the way his fingers kept flexing as though they wanted to be wrapped around a gun—or someone’s neck.

He looked around at each of his men before coming to stand next to my chair, then nodded to West. I steeled myself to hear Vetticus’ voice again, making eye contact with Atlas who was across from me, leaning up against the wall near the door.

“Kraven, Kraven, Kraven…”

The recording filtered through the room, once more Vetticus’ silky voice surrounded me and the nausea crept up. My hands dug into the arms of the chair and I fought to keep my mind in the present. Atlas’ eyes drilled into mine. If I didn’t know him as intimately as I did, I wouldn’t notice the flicker of his eyes as Vetticus said our call signs or the way he folded his arms across his chest to hide the tremor in his hands. I knew he wished they were wrapped around Vetticus’ throat.

I let out a breath as the voice died away, forever a ghost we had to endure. North looked around the room at the grim faces of his team—they all knew what the recording meant but it was like seeing the objective at the end of a mission, the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. Everything we’d all been working towards was finally culminating to this moment of totality.

It’d been a long road.

“Phase one is complete. I want security tightened everywhere,”

North said. “Things are going to move rapidly now. We’ve eliminated Atrox’s board members. This week we are taking out the four architects of the maps. He will most likely try to isolate me by going after all of you so stay vigilant. Remember the goal is to draw him out and this—”

He gestured to the recording. “Is a good sign.”

He looked around the room.

“You know our story—”

he gestured to Atlas and I. “—and why we want vengeance. But—Nyx reminded me last night that there is such a thing as free will—”

the men laughed softly at that. “So even though I warned you all at the beginning what you were getting into, apparently, I should give you the choice again,”

I said dryly.

“Fuck, Nyx, really?”

Tex groaned.

His real name was Cruz Beckett, but everyone called him Tex. He was one of our team leaders. A huge black man from Texas who wore cowboy boots and a wide brimmed hat whenever possible.

“Why are you making’ him go all sentimental on us?”

He asked around a grin.

“Are you doubting our life choices?”

Lachlan chimed in. “I’m offended personally.”

“Whoa,”

I held up my hands in defense and glared good naturedly at North. “I was talking about Kaelin, not all of them.”

“It’s about time something happened around here,”

Sakari said. “Half of you got to have all the fun in the Warren, while the rest of us had to stay home.”

North had found Sakari Tanaka in Japan and I was convinced he was a samurai reincarnated. He was usually quiet and subdued but I knew he was itching for action as he casually flicked a throwing star between his fingers.

Knox chuckled. “I think you have your answer, North. We’re all in, nothing’s changed.”

Knox Ashford was sprawled in an armchair, looking every inch the Marine he was, even though he was long retired. His wife, Macy, had been the first person we encountered when we escaped. Macy told us Knox was missing in action and after the Austria job, North made it his mission to find him. It took a few years, but we found him in some shithole prison in Syria and busted him out. A year later, he showed up at NorTac with Macy in tow, and he’s been around ever since.

North nodded. “Tex, work with Atlas and get your team ready to take out the architects—”

We spent the next hour going over logistical planning on our contingency plans and what teams would lead what. North predicted Vetticus would try to take down as much of NorTac as possible, except this was what we’d been planning for and this was why North had wanted to create a global empire. He wanted to become a force that would take great effort to destroy.

And he’d done that. Now, he was dangling himself in front of Vetticus, waiting for him to bite. As the meeting wrapped up, North looked once more around the room.

“Remember what I said—do not underestimate him,”

he waved his hand. “Dismissed.”

Everyone filed out and went their separate ways except for me and Atlas.

“How does it feel?”

Atlas asked.

North shook his head and sat down heavily in a chair.

“I’ve been patient for so long and now all I want to do is go out there and end it.”

He looked up at both of us, studying me then Atlas where his attention sharpened.

“I’m fine,”

Atlas said. “It was just strange to hear him again after all this time.”

North nodded, and I felt Atlas steel himself next to me for what he was about to broach next.

“You need to tell Kaelin and Graham,” he said.

Speaking to North like that would usually earn someone a quick temper and a fist to the face, but North just met Atlas’ gaze with a dangerous look, his jaw clenched in irritation.

“So I’m hearing,”

he murmured.

“If not Kaelin, then definitely Graham,”

Atlas continued. “You’re going to have him join the team anyway, so he needs to know what he’s actually signing up for.”

North made a noncommittal sound in the back of his throat. “Anything else?”

“Yeah, either go get some sleep or go get laid—you look like shit.”

North barked out a laugh, and the tension left his face. He stood up and as he walked passed; he put a hand on Atlas’ shoulder, his eyes brimming with darkness.

“You order me like that again, I’ll have Nyx edge you so badly you’ll be begging me to let you come.”

Atlas stiffened, and I heard his breath catch.

“Jesus,”

I muttered, adjusting myself as a thrill went straight to my cock. Don’t tempt a masochist with a good time.

“Understood?”

North growled.

Atlas’ eyes darkened with a challenge as they met North’s and it looked like he was seriously debating whether or not to provoke him. Like myself, his cock was trying to decide for him, obviously remembering all the other times North directed in the bedroom.

“Yes, sir,”

Atlas said, his voice throaty.

North’s attention jumped to me briefly before he left the room and I ran a hand through my hair as Atlas remembered how to breathe properly.

“Fuck me—”

Atlas muttered. “Whenever he does that—”

He couldn’t even finish a sentence.

I smirked and stood up, pulling him with me. “Come on—I think it’s time you followed your own advice.”

“What? Get some sleep?”

Atlas teased even as his eyes hungrily drifted over me, making me bite my lip to stop myself from attacking him right that second.

“Yeah—sleep,”

I winked and pulled him behind me to our bedroom, planning on doing everything besides that.