Page 11 of Lost (Powertools: The Shields 2)

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Knox rattled the whole damn piece-of-shit headboard as he tried to get loose. At least the news of the impending raid had helped deflate the rest of his hard-on. He couldn’t believe he’d finally been inside the woman of his fantasies. Even if he hadn’t come, he’d sure as hell enjoyed making sure she did.

“Kennedy, come on.” He tried appealing to her rational side. “This is stupid. Let me loose so I can help. You don’t even have a weapon, do you?”

She shook her head and refused to meet his gaze as she peeked out the window. “Didn’t want to blow my cover. Not that it mattered.”

“Come away from there at least.” Knox winced. “I hope your friends are as good as the rumblings I’ve heard about them.”

As if on cue, the skid of tires on gravel was punctuated by the shattering of auto glass. Knox hadn’t heard any gunshots, which could only mean one thing. “You have snipers?”

She hesitated, as if unwilling to confirm even the most basic info. He didn’t blame her for not trusting him, but it still stung considering they were officially in the midst of a life-or-death situation.

“I’m not an idiot, you know. And I’ve spent my whole life around this bullshit.” Knox wasn’t proud of it, but he at least did her the courtesy of being honest. Especially about things she already knew in her gut even if they hadn’t stayed pen pals for him to fill her in on the details of his daily activities.

“Just one.” She crouched beside the bed, where she’d be as obscured as possible if anyone entered. It wasn’t much but it was something. “One really good one, though. He can’t get them all because of the trees. It’s going to get ugly. I hope Sola has my kit close.”

“Is that the brunette?”

Kennedy nodded.

Her calm statement of the facts both freaked him out and sort of turned him on. This shouldn’t be normal. Not even for a street rat like him. Certainly not for a highly educated doctor like her. But the fact that she could handle the pressure, and work to undo the terrible things that came from situations like this, only increased his admiration for her.

It was about then that the shots began to ring out along with shouts that Knox recognized as commands from the Vipers. The Shields were dead silent as they picked off his former associates. He didn’t bother to lie to himself and call them friends since they were a snarled mess of users, power-hungry psychos, and derelicts, who stuck together because there wasn’t a better option.

Kennedy tipped her head, her eyes half-shut as she listened to her team on the comm he hadn’t been able to make out, even though he figured she was wearing one. “Almost clear. Three left. Marcus is engaging one in hand-to-hand.”

Her knuckles turned white as she clutched her abdomen. The tension he’d felt between those two had nothing to do with work shit. There was something there, something that made Knox envious despite having sacrificed any claim he had on Kennedy years ago and having been fused with her so recently. “You like that asshole? I always said you had terrible taste in men.”

Kennedy glared at him.

Knox wasn’t smart enough to keep his big mouth shut. “I mean, he’s fine and all, built too, but don’t you think it’s a bad idea to fuck your coworkers, especially in a job like this?”

“Yes. That’s exactly why we don’t do that.” She looked away, but not before he saw the profound sadness in her beautiful blue eyes. He wondered if it was more than only that keeping them apart, but he didn’t expect for her to revert to best friend status with him, given how he’d fucked over their bond.

Before Knox could make things even worse, she bolted to her feet.

“What?” Knox tried to follow until his hands yanked him back.

There wasn’t time for her to answer before a lone Viper smashed through the door and into their hidey-hole.Son of a bitch!

“Convenient.” Larry paused long enough for a slow grin to spread across his scarred face. “I’ll thank your lady here for making it easy for me to get rid of our little problem. Did you really think you were going to get away with turning on us, you asshole?”

It happened so fast, Knox couldn’t think. He could only react. Larry raised his gun and aimed it at Knox. Kennedy unleashed an inhuman scream and slammed into the guy from the side. Her slender weight didn’t do as much as she might have hoped and she bounced off. She clearly had some training as she swiped at his knees and then his weapon arm, but no one was a match in those close quarters for someone with a gun. Especially when they had no weapon of their own.

Knox arched then yanked, a feral roar accompanying his lurch. The leather stayed knotted around his wrists, but the shitty headboard didn’t stand a chance against his combined terror and rage. He ripped the post loose from the frame and freed himself, carrying his momentum forward.

He barreled into the bastard somewhere around knee level, knocking him to the ground. Knox swung his bound wrists, bashing Larry across the face, before smothering him as best he could. He used his elbows, knees, and even his teeth to inflict as much pain and distraction on the guy as he could. It wasn’t enough though, or maybe when Knox’s knee connected somewhere in the region of Larry’s balls, his hand jerked reflexively.

Because his gun went off.

Knox bellowed, “No!”

He frantically tried to see if Kennedy was okay, but the world was a flurry of chaos and confusion.

At the same time, Marcus appeared in the doorway, took aim, and blew Larry’s fucking head off with no regard to Knox’s safety given his proximity to the bastard.

Covered in blood and gore, his ears ringing so loud he didn’t know if he’d ever hear again, Knox rolled to the side.

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