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“So, what happens now?”
“Well, the nest has been cleared and destroyed, so the main force of the team will now leave. Theo, did you have something to say though?”
“Yeah, my teams have dealt with a couple of attacks over the last few days, but the hellions weren’t a problem. I’m planning to leave one team behind just to keep an eye on things, and in case any hellions managed to escape the net when we emptied the nest. I shouldn’t imagine there will be any more attacks, but I don’t want to leave you vulnerable if we did miss any. If we find there’s no more attacks in the next few weeks, I’ll pull the remaining team out, but this way you’ll have that bit of reassurance.”
“That would be wonderful,” said Dr Taylor, his relief and gratitude evident in his voice.
“I’ll leave one of the drones as well, Theo, if there’s any of your guys you think would be ok operating it?” Cole glanced over at Theo. “That way you can monitor the area from the air as well.”
“Yeah, I reckon Kane would be fine to do that, he’s quite techy,” said Theo, stretching his arms in the air.
I grinned at the two of them. Of course we wanted Dr Taylor to feel safe, and naturally we’d want to clear up any stragglers, but that wasn’t the real reason we were leaving a team and extra surveillance. While we’d been down in the caves, Cole had found more tunnels leading from the underground city to the surface, although none of them would have been big enough for my team to use to reach the city. Theo's teams had worked hard tocollapse and seal all of the tunnels, and we had made sure to seal the underwater tunnel on our way out, destroying any evidence it ever existed. Dr Taylor and his associates should be safe, but the higher ups wanted to keep an eye on the dig and make sure no one broke through to the city below, even accidentally.
“Ok then, if that’s sorted, I just want to thank my team for all their hard work. You have the night off so chill out, sleep, go into town, just remember we need to be at the airport by half eight tomorrow ready to take off at nine. The cars will be here early, make sure you’re packed and not too hung over.” I directed the last line at Theo who grinned.
They all got up to leave, Dr Taylor shaking my hand and thanking me again before disappearing off with the handful of pottery shards, and most of the team filing out chatting together. I noticed Ash disappeared fairly quickly.
“Guess he’s not coming for a beer then,” said Theo, grinning at me as he followed my line of sight.
“Guess not.”
“You’re coming though, right?” asked Theo. “Everyone, beer and pizza at the wolf camp at sundown.”
“I’ll be there,” I said. “I just have something to sort out first.” Theo glanced over at Sariel then back at me, his grin fading.
“Be gentle,” he warned me.
“I will,” I said. He nodded and left the tent, pausing to say something to the women. Lily laughed and even Sariel smiled at whatever it was he said.
I took a deep breath and walked over to Sariel, catching her before she slipped away.
“Sariel, can I speak to you in private before you disappear off? I just need to discuss a couple of things for when we get back to Vegas.”
She bit her lip and for a moment I thought she might refuse, but Lily gave her a shove. “Yeah, go on. I need a shower beforewe head over to the wolves’ camp - I’m determined to pin Ash down tonight and I want to look fabulous!”
Sariel smiled at her before turning back to me. “Sure. Here or…”
“Let’s head to my tent in case Dr Taylor comes back. I don’t exactly want him overhearing.”
Sariel nodded and followed me out of the tent, across the camp to where my own makeshift quarters were pitched. She looked nervous and I immediately felt guilty for making her feel that way.
"You okay?" I asked, holding open the flap of my tent for her.
"I'm fine," she replied, her voice giving nothing away. She entered and stood awkwardly near the middle as I zipped closed the canvas door behind us.
“Why don’t you sit down?” I suggested, suddenly feeling nervous myself. Having her here in my tent was giving my hound all kinds of ideas about what we could do now we were alone.
Later, I told him. I’m not pushing her any further till I know she’s comfortable with it. An irritated growl sounded through my mind, and I rolled my eyes. Fucking drama queen.
“Everything ok?" asked Sariel, giving me an odd look as she sank down onto my bed.
“Fine,” I said, a little too brightly. “Want a drink? I’ve got whiskey, beer…”
“Just water, please,” she said. She looked uncomfortable as hell, her back ramrod straight as she perched on the edge of my bed. I wasn’t sure how to put her more at ease. She’d seemed out of sorts since we got back from the expedition below ground, and I couldn’t figure out why. I passed her a bottle of water, but she just held it in her hand without even opening it.
“Did you need me for something in particular?” she asked, her eyes meeting mine for a moment before dropping away.
Yes, I want to confess how much I need you in my life and then lay you down on that bed and fuck you so hard you scream my name for everyone in the camp to hear as I bond you to me forever.
