Page 149 of Specter Bred

"Yes, sir," Hayes said, leaning forward and worshiping the empty hole he had just recently vacated. He sucked and licked eagerly, and whatever resistance Maeve had been clinging to finally unraveled. The tension bled out of her body as she surrendered to my rhythm, her breathing breaking into uneven little gasps while every sharp edge softened into something far more pliant.

I felt the exact moment she stopped fighting me. Her body gave way completely, allowing my knot to enter her ass finally.

A low, satisfied growl left my chest.

“There you go, Teacup. Cum all over my knot.”

For once, she didn’t argue.

Chapter 21: Maeve Archer

We’d been back at the training base for a few days, and Graves had wasted no time turning back into a complete asshole. Whatever had happened between us in the forest apparently meant nothing once assessments and training resumed. He still pushed Hayes and me harder than anyone else, still found reasons to punish us for the smallest infractions, and still seemed personally offended by the concept of giving us a break.

Apparently, sleeping with your instructor didn’t come with preferential treatment.

If anything, I suspected it made him worse, which honestly was probably for the best. Most of the recruits already disliked me, and Redwood had been doing everything he could to turn that resentment into something uglier. If anyone found out I was sleeping with Grizzly, it would hand him exactly the ammunition he needed to claim I was only still here because I was putting out for Graves.

A few recruits remained neutral and refused to buy into his bullshit, but most had drifted into Redwood’s camp, with Teller and Long happily backing every accusation he threw my way.

The tension during training had only grown worse. There were hushed laughs whenever I passed, conversations that stopped the second I got too close, and more than a few pointed glances thrown in my direction. During one relay exercise, someone even hooked a foot behind my ankle and sent me sprawling.

I tried not to let any of it get under my skin, reminding myself that Graves had practically guaranteed me a place in his unit. Hell, he intended to mark me, and that went far beyond simply choosing me as a recruit. A Specter assignment was important, but a mark was something else entirely... permanent and binding.

It carried far more weight than simply earning a place on his unit.

But despite his promise to bind us, Graves and I had somehow become more distant than ever. Weeks had passed with nothing but clipped instructions, passing glances, and the occasional brush of his scent when he got close enough during training. No touching. No private conversations. Nothing.

And I was beyond fucking irritated by how much I missed the grumpy bastard.

So by the time training ended, I’d already come up with at least three perfectly legitimate reasons I needed to talk to him. I waited until the other recruits had filed toward the showers before crossing the training yard toward him.

“Sir,” I called after him.

Graves glanced back, then murmured something to Alvarez and Cutter. Both men nodded and kept walking, leaving the two of us behind. The look Cutter gave me as he passed made one thing painfully obvious. The other instructors weren’t nearly as oblivious to our changing dynamic as the recruits were.

“What is it, Archer?” Graves asked, his tone clipped and professional.

“Uh, I was just wondering if you’d heard anything back from Command. About the…” I lowered my voice. “Helix attack.”

“Intel is still coming in,” he said abruptly, already moving past me.

I frowned. “Is everything all right, sir? Have I upset you?”

He stopped and looked back at me, one brow raised. “Have you?”

“It’s just… you were different with me in the field.”

“And now we’re back on base,” he said matter-of-factly.

I stared at him, and something in his expression eased, though only slightly.

“Professionalism comes first, Archer. Especially here.” His voice remained firm, leaving no room for argument. “You’re mine to train, and when this is over, you’re coming to my unit. I’ve already made that decision. But until then, what happens between us stays between us.”

My brow furrowed. “Why?”

“Because you’ve got enough fucking eyes on you already.” His expression hardened again. “Redwood and his little fan club are waiting for you to give them something they can use. They already think you don’t belong here. You really want to hand them a reason to say you earned your place in my unit on your back?”

Absolutely not.