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Blaze looked up at her, tension radiating off him in hot waves. “I thought that thing would kill you.”
She reached over and patted the sleeping snake. “There’s no chance of that happening with you around.”
“You should take more care.”
“I’ve got you to do that for me.”
Blaze shook his head and applied healing salve to the injuries.
He held her arm so carefully it was like he thought she might break. “Sorry about smashing into you when the snake was choking me. Is your nose broken?”
“If it is, it’ll heal.” He jabbed her with pain relief and wrapped the injury in a thick gauze of healing plaster. The stuff was miraculous. Angel infused it with a bacterium that produced an antibiotic to prevent infection and speed up healing.
“Ground team, this is Georgia. We’re five minutes out. Are you ready to go?”
“Hey, Georgia. We’re ready,” Eden said. “Where’s Cleo?”
“She got yanked into a meeting with High Command. Some bull about new protocols. I wasn’t paying attention. Is everything good down there?”
Eden pressed a finger to her lips and shook her head at Blaze. “We’re all good. Ready for collection. One enormous snake included.”
“Awesome work, girl. I knew you had it in you. See you in ten.”
“You should have told her you’re injured,” Blaze said.
“With your triage and energy transfer, I’ll be as good as new in a couple of days. Now, go deal with the snake, or I’ll do it myself.”
Blaze opened his mouth as if he wanted to fight her then shook his head. He stalked away, activated the transport mode on the trap, and brought it back to the snake.
Eden sat back, mildly high on pain relief and Apexian joo-joo juice, and took a second to get her lust on. She wouldn’t touch Blaze, but she could enjoy the view as he heaved the enormous creature inside the trap. The uniforms they wore on missions weren’t sexy. You didn’t need to sex things up when you were trudging through the sand, or the cold, or whatever star forsaken place the mission took place, but Blaze filled his out and then some.
Her gaze tracked over his face, and she licked her lips. He was most women’s wet dream, with that firm jaw, kissable mouth, and those intense purple eyes that gave her heart a little kick when she looked into them. He was alien sex on a stick.
Most of the Apexians assigned to the Apocalypse came with a few rough edges, but Blaze didn’t have any. He was Mr. Charm and always got the women swooning when he pulled out the smooth gentleman card.
But it did nothing for Eden. Not that she was offended by manners, but there was always something behind them. Something that a person wanted. And once they got it, the facade would drop and the true asshole would reveal himself.
Blaze shut the door on the cage and turned to her. “All done.”
She grinned up at him. “And we’re right on time. I see the ship. Let’s go home.”
***
Knuckles rapped onthe table top where Blaze sat, making him raise his gaze. Ash stood in front of him.
“Which star system are you in?” he asked.
Blaze tilted his head. “What are you talking about?”
“You need to get with the program. You’re up on mission debrief. And Cleo and Hunter are setting out the new assignments. You need to move, unless you want Cleo to whip your butt.” Ash was the tallest of the group. Broad, covered in tattoos, and with the highest kill record of any of them from his time serving in the Apexian elite squad.
“I’m moving.” Blaze stood and rolled his shoulders. He checked the time, and his eyebrows shot up. They’d been back from the mission for three hours, and he’d been in a daze. He needed to get his shit together.
“I thought you’d be in a better mood. That was a great capture. It earns you bragging rights.” Ash slapped him on the back as they walked out of the dining hall and along the corridor toward the mission briefing room.
“Sure. It’s great. I’m happy. But Eden got injured.”
“Yeah, I heard about that. Is she doing okay?”
