Free Alpha Male by Mike Cooley Page B

Mel’s.  
    “You better put those away.” Silas looked down at Mel’s exposed breasts. Drake had torn her bodysuit open down the middle when she had escaped from his grasp.
    “What, don’t you like them?” Mel pouted, sticking her lower lip out and arching her back.
    “I like them…in my mouth!”
    Silas grabbed Mel by the waist and pulled her up against him until only her toes were touching the ground. Then his hands slid up until they were squeezing her breasts. Her lips met his and parted. The kiss made Mel’s knees weak, and Si’s hands felt like heaven on her body.

Drive

    Silas climbed into the driver’s seat of the black jeep Vena had stolen. Mel got into the passenger side. They had been lucky to find it in the dark. “She left the keys.”  
    “Let me look at that.” Mel pulled Silas’ shirt up, revealing a bullet wound in his left shoulder. Blood covered his shirt, and his face was pale. Silas turned the key and gunned the engine to life. The fuel gauge said they had half a tank of gas left.  
    “We need to get out of here, Mel. What if Daelius is sending more agents?”
    “This will only take a minute, Si.” Mel placed her hands on his chest and closed her eyes. She willed her energy down her arms and into Silas. Her vision filled with a green glow, and she could hear music in the distance. The air smelled of lavender. The nine-millimeter slug oozed out of the wound and fell to the floor of the jeep. And then the flow of blood stopped, and the wound sealed over.      
    “God you’re good, Mel. You’re a beautiful gift.” Silas reached out with his arms and held her. Mel’s eyes fluttered and closed. Her hands fell, and she collapsed against him.
    Silas leaned down and let his lips touch the top of Mel’s breasts. He placed one hand behind her neck and held on. “I know you can’t hear me right now, Mel. But I love you.” He carried her to the back of the jeep and laid her down gently on the seat, pulling her bodysuit closed where it had ripped.  
    Silas pulled the shard of granite from his pocket and turned it over and over in his fingers. His lips moved in silence. Then he put the piece of Suzi’s headstone back in his pocket, got in the driver’s seat, and put the jeep in gear.

    Tala’s eyes opened. Pain erupted throughout her body. It felt like her ribs were broken, and she could feel dried blood on her face. The bodies of her sisters were strewn all around the chamber, lying in pools of blood. The Daelius agents that were still alive were rocking back and forth on the floor and gibbering. Drake’s head was on the floor. There was no sign of his body. The room smelled of death and gunpowder. Tala’s eyes went to the countdown clock. It read 1:59. She pushed herself forward and began crawling toward the console. Her ribs ached where Drake had kicked her, and her vision was blurry from the concussion. The mission. The mission. To end all war. Must not fail.
    Vena was on her back, her eyes were white, and there was a bullet in her chest that her armor hadn’t been able to deflect. She wasn’t breathing. Tala crawled over her and pulled herself up on the console. The clock read twenty-nine seconds.
    Her vision darkened, the room spun, and she fell to her knees. The clock was down to ten and seemed to be counting faster.  
    Tala screamed with fury and pulled herself back up the console, holding onto a coolant tube that ran from the floor to the ceiling. Hold it together, girl.  
    Three, two, one read the clock. Tala pulled the blue lever and hit the numeric buttons in the launch sequence: nine, four, six. A hum filled the room as the launch rails energized. The lights in the room dimmed. There was a loud thooom when the rail gun fired the pressurized launch vehicle. Only then did Tala let go of the console and allow herself to slump to the floor. Darkness took her.

    The sun was directly overhead when Mel woke. She was in the back seat of the jeep. Silas wasn’t with her.