Raines, Elizabeth - Covert [Wicked Missions 7] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (12 page)

The door slid open. Before she could shout, she saw Will’s uneasy gait and Tanner at his side, assisting him. Her anger evaporated as she hurried to them. “You shouldn’t be up yet,” she scolded as she took Will’s free arm and draped it over her shoulder so he could lean on her.

“I wouldn’t be if my inconsiderate wife hadn’t run away.”

She winced at the words she knew she deserved.
What a coward I am!
“I wasn’t…running away. I was going to complete the mission.”

Will snorted at her while Tanner just continued to burn her with his angry eyes. “The mission wasn’t to kill someone.”

A technicality she hadn’t considered…

Betinsa followed them into the suite. “The mission was to stop the flow of patrile, and it involved all three of you—and me. It was not to commit a political assassination. I have a stake in this too, Alayna. It wasn’t your place to decide where and how to end it, and the end shouldn’t come by endangering yourself for no reason other than to simply shield your heart and your pride.”

“My heart? My pride? You think that’s why I was…?” Alayna shook her head, letting go of Will as he sank into a chair. Clenching her fists at her side, she took some deep breaths, trying to stay calm in the face of the truths being flung at her.

“You didn’t give a shit about
our
hearts,” Will scolded, his hands tightening on the arms of the chair enough that his fingers blanched to sky blue. “Did you? You just left and didn’t even think about how much that would hurt us!”

“I didn’t—”

“That was cold, baby. Damn cold,” Tanner added, his arms crossed over his broad chest.

“But…but…Why does it matter anyway? The mission ended when they came after Will. We can’t work the Cosenki Chemicals angle anymore!”

“Sure, you could have,” Betinsa said. “From what Will’s told me, all he is guilty of is checking up on a person who’s paying his wife money under the table. You might have weathered that storm.”

“We had to bugger out!”

“No, you didn’t. You’re the
wife
,” Betinsa countered. “It was
your
place to make the decision.”

Alayna wanted to tear out her hair. The truth hurt, but Betinsa was right. It
was
her decision. She should have gotten some help for Will and still kept their cover. Once she’d seen his wound and feared she might lose him, all she could do was think with her
hearts
—her human heart and her Fraiquan heart. Because she both loved them and wanted to keep her mates safe, she’d blown months of covert work. “I didn’t want to fail again,” she said, bowing her head. “Especially not both of you. I let Earl die, and I couldn’t let that happen to either of you.”

“You weren’t at fault, Alayna,” Betinsa said with a shake of her head. “Earl was at fault.”

“But—”

“I’ve listened to the tapes. He went in no matter how much you told him not to. I.D.E.A. should never have used your guilt to get you to agree to this assignment. It’s time to let Earl go.”

Easier said than done.
“Look, I can complete this mission. I don’t need Will and Tanner. I can go it alone. That’s probably why I buggered out. We’d reached the end of the road.”

“Why, Alayna?” Tanner asked. “Why didn’t you want to stay with us?”

“Tell us!” Will demanded. “Tell us why you ran away!”

“I don’t know!” She pictured herself lying on the floor, kicking and screaming like a child having a tantrum rather than answering their drilling questions.

“Yes, you do!” Tanner shouted.

“Alayna,” Betinsa said, catching her gaze, “these men are your husbands.” Like she needed a reminder. “You owe them the truth, and you can’t blame what happened to Earl anymore.”

With a strangled cry, she moved to face them and threw her hands up, giving up all control. The floodgates opened to their relentless pressure. “Fine!
Fine!
I ended the mission because I didn’t want to get my heart broken! I love you both, but you won’t love me when you’re human again!” She whirled to look at Betinsa. “And I don’t want to be a failure again, so I was running away to go assassinate Sisson! Then this mission would be seen as a success. I might not bring any drug dealers to justice or stop the patrile, but I’d kill a Dracorian who’s trying to hurt Fraiqua. Are you all fucking happy now?”

As she turned around, ready to flee again, Alayna was suddenly dragged back against a hard body. Tanner’s breath brushed her ear. “Why do you think we’d break your heart?”

With a bow, Betinsa left, probably knowing the “official” part of the debriefing was over for now. The door swished shut behind her.

Chapter 9

Will knew someone had to break the tension, so he dove right in. “We need to talk.”

Alayna eyed him warily, the anger still plain in her hard expression. “There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Bullshit,” Tanner said. He took her hand and hauled her over to where Will sat in the chair. She frowned the whole way.

Will had never seen anyone look so defeated. While he wanted to get up and take her into his arms, he was far too tender, and moving only made the pain in his side worse. A hypo-spray to banish the pain sounded better and better with each passing moment, but he wanted a clear head while he and Tanner tried to figure out exactly what was going on in Alayna’s mind. They needed to convince her that they meant for what they shared during the assignment to be permanent, regardless of being Fraiquan or human. Patting the arm of the chair, he said, “Sit. Please, sweetheart.”

She sat down with an angry snort and crossed her arms over her breasts. As if he didn’t know what
that
body language meant… He’d just have to work around the walls she was erecting to keep them away. Trying not to wince from the pain, he pried one of her hands loose and dragged it down to rest on her thigh, interlacing their fingers. “From the moment we all met, haven’t we always worked on everything together? Haven’t we shared
everything
—from changing ourselves into Fraiquans to eating refugee rations?”

All she gave him was a curt nod.

“Then what makes you think we’d let you just run back to take on this guy without us? Hell, what makes you think I.D.E.A. would even endorse that plan?”

“This was
my
mission,” she insisted, trying to pull her hand away. Will wouldn’t let her. “This was
my
failure. I shouldn’t have cut and run like that. I was just so worried about…and you were hurt…and…Shit. Fuck I.D.E.A. Just let me handle this.” She shook her head as her teeth tugged at her bottom lip. From her ragged sigh, he could tell she was close to tears.

Seeing a woman as strong as Alayna that close to losing her composure made Will’s heart hurt. “
I
was the one who panicked. I told you to grab the bugger bag. Remember? Shit, I’ve never been shot before. It hurts like a son of a bitch. I overreacted.”

Tanner took her other hand. “I wasn’t much help, either. When I saw the blood on Will’s shirt and hands, I was every bit as ready to bugger out as you were. This wasn’t your fault, and it sure as hell wasn’t a failure. If you’re right about Sisson being a—”

Her head snapped around so she was glaring at Tanner, and a low growl rose from her chest. “What do you mean
if
I’m right? I know he’s Dracorian! I
know
it!”

“C’mon, baby. I didn’t mean—”

She growled again, but Will gave her hand a squeeze. “We think you’re right, Alayna. That’s what we need to talk about. Well…that’s
one
of the things we need to talk about.”

Alayna’s eyes caught his. “What do you mean that you
think
I’m right?”

“Quit being so literal.”

She heaved a weary sigh that told him her patience was at an end.

Will got to the heart of the matter. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you and Tanner. When I was plowing through the files in the restricted area, I found several encrypted communications on Sisson’s personal computer. Actually, I found several
ghosts
of encrypted messages. Took some work to bring them back from the dead, let me tell you. Every one of ’em got bounced off of several satellites, but they all ended up in the same destination.”

“Dracoria.” She raised his hand to her lips to brush a kiss over his skin, sending heat racing through his body despite his wound. “You’re a genius, honey.”

“Won’t deny it,” he replied with a smirk followed by a hiss of pain when he tried to shift in the chair.

With a frown, Tanner said, “I’m gonna get you a hypo-spray, pal.”

He started to walk to the door, but Will stopped him. “Wait. Please. Painkillers put me to sleep, and I want to finish this conversation first. Besides, it’s not really
that
bad. Just kind of achy.”

Alayna pulled her hand away to stroke his hair back from his face. He was sick of the long stuff and was ready to get his short hair back. And his tan skin. And his identity. When she kissed his forehead, he smiled at her to try to show her he was okay. Damn, but he loved her scent—so feminine. He breathed her in, branding everything about her on his heart. This woman was his mate, exactly like Tanner was. Now, he and Tanner had to convince her of the sincerity of their feelings.

“Fine, but you’re getting some relief soon,” she said.

Oh, he wanted relief, all right, but not the type he could get from a hypo-spray. “
After
we talk. Look, we’ve all been pussyfooting around this, but it’s time to put all our cards on the table.”

Alayna tilted her head. At least he had her total interest. “All our cards on the… What in the hell are you talking about?”

“We love you, Alayna. Tanner and I love you.”

If her eyes got any wider, they’d probably pop right out. “You…
love
me?” She kept shifting her suspicious gaze between him and Tanner.

Tanner nodded. “I love you, Alayna.” He smiled at Will. “And I love you, too, Will.”

“Back at’cha, Tanner,” Will said with a grin and a wink. “The three of us are inseparable, Alayna. How can you not know that?”

“But…but…” She shook her head. “You don’t mean it.”

“Why would you say that?” Tanner asked. He raked his fingers through his hair before settling his hands on his hips to glare at her.

Her breath came in shallow pants, her fear radiating around her like an aura. “Well…because! Just because!”

“That’s not an answer.”

“Because you only feel that way because we’re Fraiquan. Once we’re human again, well…who knows? You two might just decide I’m really nothing special. You’ll probably want a divorce. Or…or we can get an annulment.”

Trying to hold his temper because he knew her comments came from her worry and not her heart, Will gave her hand a squeeze. “It doesn’t matter if you’re blue or purple or green or pink. We
love
you.”

“It’s just the
comchi
,” she insisted with a decisive nod. “That’s it. It’s just the fucking
comchi
and this stupid being-Fraiquan stuff. Once we’re changed back, you won’t feel that way anymore. Neither of you will feel that way anymore.”

With a snarl, Tanner stood up and started pacing. “Don’t you
dare
tell me what I feel and what I don’t feel! I don’t care if you’re our wife or not, you don’t get to tell us what to do now. I just told you
I love you
, and you damn well better learn to accept it. ’Cause we’re not letting you go.” On that promise, he stomped back, grabbed her upper arms, and hauled her to her feet. His mouth covered hers.

Before the three of them had become lovers, Will had never realized how erotic it was to watch other people touching, kissing, making love. The moment Tanner started to kiss Alayna and stroke her body, Will’s cock sprang to life. His pain was quickly forgotten until he tried to stand up and join them. Sucking in a breath, he eased back into the chair.

Alayna broke away from Tanner to crouch next to Will. Her hands settled on his knees. “You should be in bed.”

“Actually,” he said, trying to give her a smile, “I was thinking the same thing about you two.”

“What are you talking about?” Her eyes searched his.

“I want to make love to the two of you, but I’m a little…indisposed.”

“Now’s not the time.”

“Now’s the
perfect
time,” Tanner said. He leaned down to put his hands on Alayna’s shoulders. “If we make love to you, you’ll be able to see exactly how we feel.”