Alpha Bravo Team Ch. 06

"Well, let's hope that's the last time I need rescued." She slowly let Mia go, her hand falling to the table. She sank down in the chair that Mia held out for her and then took the washcloth full of ice that Micah handed her. Feral barked, rubbing his head against Mia and then looking at the front door.

"Thanks buddy. You stay with Emilee. Aidan? They're here!"

Aidan rose from the chair he'd been reclining in, his eyes moving over Ricky's body. He wasn't upset that he'd been forced to kill the bastard, though he didn't relish the thought of another death on his karma. He'd have done it again in a second to protect Mia. He was beginning to realize that he'd do almost anything for the petite brunette with the chip on her shoulder.

He opened the front door, waving the cops and then the team into the front room, leaving it cracked as he saw the coroner's van pull in. It was crowded with all the big men from the Alphas there. "Okay, so what did this guy do to piss Mia off?"

Aidan grabbed Casanova's shoulder and pointed him toward the kitchen where Tanya sat on one of the chairs at the table. "He did that to her sister."

"And she only put one bullet in him?" Digger asked, watching as the county coroner came in to deal with Ricky's body. Digger shuddered as he watched the much shorter medical examiner ready a probe to poke into the man's liver to get a reading for time of death for his paperwork. The whole poking and prodding dead bodies gave him the creeps.

"No, I only had to put one bullet into him. Mia was kicking his ass and he decided to bring a gun into the fight."

"What were you doing here, Romeo?"

Aidan didn't even pause to think of his answer. "Mia wanted me to show her the route I run in the morning."

Demon's eyes flicked over the jeans and tee shirt that Aidan was wearing then at the uniform that Mia had on. He looked back into Aidan's eyes. "That's your story?" he finally asked.

Aidan nodded. "And I'm damn well sticking to it, Demon."

Demon nodded, his eyes inscrutable. "All right. Be sure that you do if there's an inquiry. Let's get this mess cleaned up. We've got an assignment."

* * * *

Mia barely glanced up as Aidan walked into the kitchen. "We've got a call out."

"Great," she answered but her tone didn't reflect that simple word. "Demon pissed?"

"No, but he was wondering what I was doing here."

Mia looked up, her concern apparent in her wide mostly green eyes. "What did you tell him?"

"We were running together."

Aidan didn't even flinch when Mia started laughing. "I don't know about you, Romeo, but I don't usually wear this to run in." She waved at the boots that were on her feet.

"I wasn't ready for the question."

"I guess next time we should come up with a cover story before we need it, huh?"

Aidan's smile grew on his handsome face. "Next time?"

"Didn't you want a next time?" she asked, unable to stop the smile curving her full lips.

"Hell yes. When, tonight?"

Mia had to laugh. He was just like a little boy with a promise treat. "We have a call out. Remember?"

Aidan frowned. "Maybe we should just tell Demon and get this over with. One of us would have to switch teams but we could be together."

Mia frowned. "Be together when, the very few times when more than one crew is in town? We'd never see each other, Aidan. You and I both know that."

Aidan sighed. "We are going to talk about this, Mia."

She didn't argue but she wouldn't meet his eyes either. "I don't think there is much to discuss." She walked away from him, stopping to talk to her sister and give Emilee a kiss. "You'll keep an eye on them?" she asked Micah.

Micah grinned. "How about both eyes?"

Mia touched his arm, smiling as she knew he expected. "Thanks, Micah." She slipped out of the kitchen and down into her bedroom, closing the door almost in Aidan's face. She heard the front door open and close, heard the noise of the Alphas diminish and knew that they'd left for the base.

A strange sense of loss filled her and she quickly stripped down, hopping into the shower. During all this time that she and Aidan had worked together, she'd never thought of anything past the impossibility of a physical relationship with him. The impossibility of an emotional relationship, of being any more in love with Aidan than she was right now almost had her in tears. They were both too stubborn, both too used to having what they wanted for an easy compromise to come to her aching mind. They were Alphas, it was in their DNA.

Aidan was too good of an Alpha. He was too necessary to the team. But the idea of no longer belonging to the Alphas made her stomach ache. She'd worked too hard to procure her place in the team. She'd worked too long to earn the respect of these men, to prove her ability to do the job. She sighed heavily, her mood definitely more somber than it had been thirty minutes before.

A shocked screech left her mouth when the curtain on the shower jerked back. Aidan stood there, his arms crossed against his chest, his eyes roaming over her nudity, a half smile crossing his handsome face.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Does Demon know you're in here?"

"Do I look like an idiot?" He held his hand up when she opened her mouth. "Don't answer that. Of course he doesn't know. But you are important to me, Mia. I can't even think about going anywhere without knowing what's in your head. Talk to me Mia. Tell me what you want."

She rinsed the rest of the shampoo out of her hair, turning the water off and reaching past him to grab a towel. She wrapped it around herself and then grabbed another to dry her hair. When he wouldn't move out of her way, she laid her hands on his chest and physically pushed him back so that she could get out. "I thought we could..." she stopped and sighed again.

"You thought we could fuck and get it out of our systems and then go back to just being part of the team?"

She glanced away from him, unable to meet his eyes. "Yes."

"Did you hear me last night, Mia? Did you hear what I said?" His hands came out, grabbing her arms and lifting her onto her toes.

She pulled away. "We don't have time for this now, Aidan. Demon is waiting for us."

"And he'll still be waiting for us if we leave five minutes from now." He sighed, closing his eyes. "I love you, Mia. I have for a while now."

Mia cringed. She'd heard him last night, but she'd been in the afterglow of her first true orgasm and hadn't even thought of breathing correctly much less answering him. But she hadn't forgotten. She couldn't. The sound of his voice speaking those three little words would be in her mind and in her heart forever. "I heard you."

"And...?" He pushed for an answer, unable to wait, to give her time to think.

"And," she began. "I...I don't. I can't. It won't work Aidan." She glanced up at him, seeing his eyes, those beautiful golden eyes that she'd enjoyed staring into the night before, turn to ice. "Aidan..."

"No, Mia. I get it." His hands fell from her arms and he stepped back, turning to reach for the door. "I'll wait for you in the truck." He opened the bathroom door, closing it softly behind him.

Mia stared after him, wishing he'd slammed the door. She let her head drop forward, touching the door, wishing she'd been brave enough to tell him the truth, to give into the emotions that were still careening through her system. "Damn it, Aidan. Why now?"