Page 62 of Bound By Valor

“It’s better than Crazon, my friend. Because it has protocols in place to never go rogue. It’s built with an algorithm called ADAM. It’s basically us showing Sentrix what the bounds of positive humanity are and how to never go beyond it.”

I was glad for Zane to dumb it down for the non-tech people in the room. But, even though they tried hard to defend themselves, their explanation only got suspicious looks from my squad.

Sebastian raised his hand, “This is not about Sentrix.”

Some of my squad scoffed.

“This is about how we are still in the dark about Crazon’s capabilities, we don’t know their target countries or locations for the eventual attack, and we don’t know the motive or who is pulling the strings,” I finished the thought and a faint smile took over Sebastian’s face as he nodded.

“Mission objective,” Zane boomed, “Is to locate and extract Jerome Tyson, code name Icarus, and question him to get the link to Garret. Along with that, we will be destroying their holding location. We cannot let the wrong people get their hands on these products. Even if Icarus extraction fails, we will be destroying their facility. Now the only question is, where is it?”

TWENTY-EIGHT

Zarek

I walked into our room and saw Leora crouched on the bed, rocking her body looking at the tablet Kabir gave her. She scratched her head and tapped on the screen.

“Yes!” She pumped her fist in the air.

“What are you up to?”

She jolted and her head whipped up.

“God! Make some sounds at least.”

“I did,” I laughed and sat beside her, “Now, what are you up to?”

I kissed her exposed shoulder. She was wearing a black tank top with gray shorts.

“Studying for the written test. Who knew I’d be a student again at almost thirty?”

I swiped the tablet from her grasp and couldn’t help but admire the screen flashing her near-perfect score. Leora, with her razor-sharp mind, had been tangled up in knots over the online exam scheduledfor tomorrow. Earlier, I’d taken it upon myself to ease some of that tension, worshiping her with my lips, drawing deep, shuddering breaths as I savored her pussy. Later, I’d left her wrapped in the sheets, her textbooks spread around her like a fortress as she buried herself in study.

“Look at you! Your score is near perfect,Mi Corazón,”I kissed her cheek. She took the tablet back and studied the screen.

“I need it to be perfect, not near perfect. Plus there’s a whole list of military slang I still need to learn,” she frowned animatedly and chanted in a low voice, “Copy. Got your six. Tango Mike…”

I laughed as she continued with a bunch of weird gibberish that even I hadn’t heard.

“You googled it, didn’t you?” I grabbed her waist and rose above her. Then I pinned her down and caged her with my hands. The tablet fell out of her hands and she cupped my face with them.

“Why are you so fucking beautiful?” She pouted, “Look at those damn dark brown eyes. Ugh. And these lips, even I don’t have such luscious lips. And those lashes. You’re putting all women who do eyelash extensions to shame. It’s like you—”

I stopped her rant, putting my lips on hers.

She thought I was beautiful?

I briefly thought about taking her to the bathroom to show her how beautiful she looked in the mirror. I broke our lips apart and gave her a breathless smile.

“You’re beautiful, through and through, Leora. Your smile, your eyes, your mind, your strength, your confidence. Everything is beyond what I deserve.”

She flashed me a triumphant grin, her happiness infectious. I leaned in, capturing her lips again, mytongue eagerly seeking hers. A groan slipped from me as she shifted, sinking deeper into the pillows and giving me easier access. I teased her lips gently, drawing a playful tug from her in response.

Suddenly, a torrent of unwelcome images flooded my mind, slicing through the haze of desire. The intensity was too sharp, too familiar to brush aside. My brow furrowed as I battled the intrusion, mentally shoving the memories away, but they clung stubbornly.

Leora’s hands stilled, her breath catching as our lips parted. The confusion in her eyes as they met mine told me she’d seen the shadow cross my face.

“What’s wrong?” She asked.

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