Free Beneath the Fire (A Guardians Novella) by Victoria Paige Page A

thing she wanted to picture was her brother doing the nasty. Nathan held out his right hand to her and she cautiously laced her fingers with his. He raised his hand and kissed their linked fingers.
    “I can still feel you.” Lucy touched her womb. Nathan had powered into her so hard, she had felt him touch the end of her sex. It was an odd sensation, like he had branded himself on her.  
    “Good.”  
    “We were supposed to start over, um—slowly.”
    Nathan’s smile softened, his eyes sought hers in the dim light.
    “That was incredible, babe. Thank you,” was all he said.  

    ***
    The two vans and Maia’s SUV were already at the designated stopover by the time Lucy and Nathan pulled in. It was a 24 hour rest stop with a gas station and convenience store. It was quite busy, so it was easy to blend in. The eight women were walking around, they looked a bit dazed and subdued. None of them looked older than twenty.  
    Nathan lifted his chin at the guys before he walked up to Pierce, who was still sitting in the van. Her eyes were closed. She did crack an eye open when she heard his approach.  
    “Hey,” was all she said.
    “You OK?”
    “You asked me that earlier.”
    “Touché.”
    Her phone buzzed. The caller id said:   Jack
    “Are you going to get that?”
    “I’m almost afraid to.” Maia gave a short laugh. “Viktor left a couple of messages too.”
    Nathan nodded. “Yes, he left me two. I haven’t listened to them yet. I also missed calls from a New Park City number, I think it’s your Jack.”
    The phone stopped buzzing.  
    “How is it going between you and Lucy? Have you cleared things up?”
    We just fucked like crazy on the side of the road.
    “We’re getting there. She said at least we’re on the right side of the law.”
    Nathan’s phone started ringing: Viktor
    They stared at each other.
    “Put him on speaker, might as well get it over with,” Maia sighed in resignation.
    Nathan answered the call.
    “You both are in deep shit,” Viktor’s gravelly voice came through the phone. “Where are you?”
    “We’re in Ciudad Victoria,” Maia said.
    “The girls?”
    “We have them.”
    “FBI should be at the Laredo border by now. Do you need them to move in?”
    “No, I think we got this,” Maia replied, giving a short nod to Nathan and he shrugged.
    “You better call Jack. He’s already at Laredo, and if I’m not mistaken, he’s also foaming at the mouth.”
    “Fuck,” Maia whispered.
    “I’ll deal with you two when you get back,” Viktor promised and then hung up.
    “That’s it?” Nathan asked, confused.  
    Maia grinned. “Viktor is unpredictable. He doesn’t care if you break the rules as long as he doesn’t know when you’re doing it, and it’s best if you get results.”
    Nathan nodded without a word.
    “Don’t tell him I told you that,” Maia said with a twinkle in her eye.
    Her phone buzzed again. It was Jack and this time she answered it.
    “Hey baby!” Maia rolled her eyes as McCord lit into her from the other end of the line. She patiently listened to Jack’s freak out, Nathan chuckled and backed away.  

    Nathan leaned back against the hood of the car as he kept a watchful eye on Lucy and the girls through the convenience store’s picture windows. He also observed the cars that were coming and going through the rest area; so far none looked suspicious.
    “We need to leave soon,” Maia said, coming up beside him.
    “How did it go with Jack?”
    The redhead’s face looked pained. “He’s majorly pissed. He was about to cross the border into Mexico to find us. I had a hard time convincing him to stay put.”
    “You think he’ll listen to you?”
    “If he doesn’t, then I’m the one whose going to be pissed at him,” Maia declared.
    They stood in companionable silence for a beat.
    “How do you make it work, Maia? Doing the job we do and being in a relationship?” Nathan asked finally.
    “It’s not easy,” Maia admitted. “It’s