6
Ruby frantically entered different commands, but the hackers kept slashing through her code and getting closer to finding her. Not only in their digital arena, but at Shields. That creepy mask they’d popped on screen when they’d first attacked her showed up in the distance and no matter how furiously she attempted to outmaneuver them, they slipped over, around, and through the barriers she put up in her system.
The mask came closer, cackling in that unnerving, unnatural voice it’d been programmed to use. And just when she thought she’d blocked it for good, a matching hand reached through her screen—smashing it—and dragged her inside her computer. They had her. She could never escape, and they were going to do a lot worse than steal some of her money.
Ruby screamed. And when the hand clamped around her wrists, pinning them above her head to keep her from mauling the masked man with her wildcat scratches, she thrashed and kicked instead.
Her knee connected with something solid and warm. “Oof. Ruby. Calm down. It’s me, Ace.”
“Ace?” She quit fighting as hard. He would never harm her. He wasn’t the enemy.
“It’s only a dream. You’re safe.” He blanketed her, stifling her attempts to lash out at the danger hunting her, real or imagined.
The weight of his body over hers—infusing her with his heat—woke all sorts of her parts, not only her mind. She blinked up at him in the light spilling into his bedroom from the nightlight in the bathroom. Half of her still shook off the enemies chasing her and the other half wondered what would happen if he lowered his head a fraction of an inch and their lips touched.
His bedroom door slammed against the wall. Both of them jumped. Ace whipped his head around in time to watch Liam come charging to their aid in a pair of black boxer briefs that hugged his hips and his package.Damn.
That helped take Ruby’s mind off the monsters that had been pursuing her.
He scanned the room, gun held ready as he ensured no one had snuck into their living quarters in an attempt to maul her.
“It’s clear, Liam,” Ace reassured him. “She had a nightmare. That’s all.”
“Shit.” Liam flicked the gun’s safety on and set it carefully on the dresser. He ran his hands through his hair, which stuck up adorably as though he’d been tossing and turning since they’d gone to bed hours ago. He put his hands on his knees and drew in a few deep breaths as if he’d been as afraid as she had while in the grips of her dream.
“Sorry,” she croaked. Shame and embarrassment eclipsed her terror, making her cheeks burn.
“No need to be.” Ace drew her attention back to him and the way he’d caged in her body, protecting her from herself. He leaned on his good arm so he could brush errant hair from her face with his other hand. “Are you okay?”
“Isn’t it obvious by now that I’m not?” She sank deeper into the mattress. In the dim light it seemed easier to say some of the things she’d been holding inside for a while.
Liam sat on the mattress beside them, causing it to dip some. He joined Ace in petting her, running his hands through her hair and down her arm. If they thought they were soothing her, they were dead wrong. She arched instinctively beneath Ace, her head tilting back and exposing her neck to him. When her torso lifted and pressed against his, the thin cotton of her panties and his shorts made it obvious that he wasn’t unaffected either.
“Ace…careful,” Liam warned.
And just like that, Ruby was robbed of Ace’s heat. He rolled off her, cursing.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to get carried away.” Ace used her poop emoji pillow to hide his hard-on, which would have made her laugh under other circumstances.
“Because you’re already in a relationship with Liam?” she asked quietly as she retreated too, propping her shoulders against the headboard as she drew the covers up to cover her chest and her pebbled nipples.
She would have sworn she heard the pounding of the big guy’s heart, though maybe it was only her own she picked up on.
“No. We’re not…” Liam shook his head.
Ace winced as if he’d been kicked in the nuts and she had a feeling he didn’t need her pillow anymore. What the fuck? What were they hiding for? Even if they weren’t interested in her, she’d thought they were friends. “Do you think I’m some kind of judgmental asshole?”
“Of course not.” Liam tugged on his hair then scrubbed his hands over his face.
“Then be honest with me. It’s not like Jordan cares if people on the team have relationships. Everyone’s screwing everyone around here.” She tried not to pout. “Except me.”
Ace groaned and Liam stood as if the idea propelled him from bed with them.
“Go ahead, Liam.” Ace seemed annoyed now too. Great, she’d pissed them both off. “Tell her what we are then.”
“Nothing,” Liam continued to lie, if only to himself.
“Um.” Ruby bit her cheek, then decided to go for it. “My bedroom is directly on the other side of this wall.”