Reviving Graham

by Becca Jameson

  “You like that?” he asked as he continued pounding into her.

  Her gasps of pleasure were his answer. And then she started moaning softly in that way he’d come to realize meant she was about to come. “So good,” she murmured. “I didn’t know…”

  He loved the way she responded every time they did something new. Shock filled her. He’d obviously done a bit more research on sex in his life than she had. She wasn’t wrong. This was one of his favorite positions so far. Sliding one hand around from her hip to her clit, he stroked the little nub again as he continued to thrust in and out of her. Desperately. With an urgency that defied logic.

  It was like he was in a hurry to claim her, to show her how much he loved her, to demonstrate his feelings with his body.

  Suddenly, she cried out again, her head tipping back as she pressed herself more fully against his erection. Her body shuddered, and he couldn’t stop himself from coming on the heels of her orgasm.

  When he was finally spent, he wrapped one arm around her waist and lowered her shaking body to the mattress, landing half on top of her and half at her side.

  She was breathing heavily, but she managed to say, “We’re still going to Montana.”

  He chuckled as he brushed her hair from her face and then kissed her neck. “Neither of us is going to win any awards with these negotiating skills.”

  She twisted her face to meet his. “If you’ll listen to me,” she began, still gasping for oxygen. How she managed to form solid thoughts so quickly after coming hard around his length was amazing. “I’ll finish telling you how we both benefit.”

  He narrowed his gaze. “I’m all ears.”

  “Good. Now that I’ve had some time to think more clearly about our future, I realize Montana is the safest place we could be right now. As much as I’d love to go to Atlanta and hide at my parents’ home, there’s a possibility we would be putting them in danger if we went there.”

  He watched her face closely as reason leaked out in the form of her words. He let her continue.

  “I don’t want to feel as out of control as I did two days ago ever again in my life. I don’t like the man I love getting shot at while I can do nothing about it. I don’t want to get shot either. But the best way to ensure that never happens again is to join with the rest of the team and fight for our future freedom.”

  He kissed her shoulder blade and then nuzzled her neck. “Your logic is sound, as long as you’re not making this sacrifice under duress because you think I won’t love you if we skip town.”

  “I didn’t decide we should go to Montana suddenly this morning. I’ve been thinking about it for two days. Putting an end to the insanity that follows us everywhere we go has to be our top priority. As soon as we’re safe, however, I think I can guarantee you I won’t want to return to the bunker. The idea of stepping into that facility ever again makes me cringe. I wouldn’t be able to even breathe the air without hearing the echo of those shots in my ears.”

  “Deal,” he agreed. “I promise we won’t go back to the bunker. As soon as it’s safe to move about the country, we will head for your parents’ home for as long as you’d like. After that, we’ll head for mine. When we’re fully recuperated, then we can pick a spot to call home and get civilian jobs. Yeah?”

  She wiggled out of his grip and rolled onto her back. She was smiling up at him as she spoke. “Sounds perfect.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Yes. The only thing I’m more sure about is how much I love you.”

  He kissed her gently. “I love you too.”

  Chapter 21

  Two days later…

  * * *

  Graham took a deep breath as he entered the main control room at six o’clock in the morning on his second day in southeast Montana. He’d left Kate sleeping in their room, kissing her temple as he encouraged her to stay in bed.

  For Graham, sleep never lasted more than a few hours at a time, and from the moment they’d arrived at this makeshift office space, his stress level had escalated.

  More than a dozen members of his team and the second team had already congregated at what was essentially a converted barn behind a large country estate. The main house had ten bedrooms, so there was plenty of space for everyone, and the structure behind the house, which looked like a barn to anyone approaching, had actually been turned into a high-tech office.

  Already, at six in the morning, several of his team members were bustling around the room. It buzzed with activity and the hum of computers.

  Dade caught his attention and waved him closer. He was standing next to a young guy Graham hadn’t met yet. He looked far too young to be a member of the second team. Graham pegged him to be in his late teens or early twenties.

  Dade leaned his butt against the desk next to the kid in the computer chair as Graham approached. “Graham, this is Spencer Casey.”

  Graham’s eyes shot wide. “The Spencer?”

  Spencer tipped his head back and chuckled. “The one and only.”

  Dade continued. “Yep. He’s the guy who’s been feeding us information and helped you get the data from the bunker preserved.”

  “What’s he doing here?” Graham was confused. If the guy was working deep in the bowels of whoever the Blue Cell group was, how was he sitting in this secret office space in Montana?

  “It got a little too hot inside Blue Cell’s organization,” Spencer provided.

  Dade crossed his ankles and met Graham’s gaze. “Suspicions rose among his superiors the day you were caught by another hacker in Blue Cell downloading data in Colorado. He realized he was going to have to bail fast before he got caught, so when he left for lunch that day, he never went back. He didn’t even go home. He came straight here.”

  Graham nodded slowly. “And you trust him?” he asked, not giving a single fuck the kid was listening. “Our entire team is at risk. Are you sure it’s okay to bring a guy who has a direct line to the enemy into our inner circle?”

  Spencer smirked.

  Dade smiled. “Trust me, I wouldn’t have him here if I wasn’t a hundred percent certain he was on the level with me.”

  Graham narrowed his gaze, his blood pressure rising. “I was caught four days ago by his people. I could have been killed. What was he doing then?” Graham jerked his gaze back to the kid with the messy hair wearing some sort of worn gray concert T-shirt. Ordinarily, Graham wouldn’t be so distrustful, but as far as he was concerned, Spencer’s organization had gotten him captured, and it could have been much worse.

  Spencer spun his chair around and stood. He had on old canvas sneakers and jeans that were covered with intentional holes. He ran a hand through the hair on the top of his head that was too long, though that part of his appearance was also intentional because the sides had been cropped short. It was undoubtedly the latest style among young people.

  Spencer also looked nervous, and he shuffled his feet as he spoke, tucking his fingers into the pockets of his jeans. “Listen, I know it’s hard for you to believe, but I swear I’m on your side. The people who work for Blue Cell have lost their minds. The stories I can tell you will make you cringe.”

  Graham interrupted, well aware he was still growling skeptically. “Let’s stick to the one about how you’re here and why two men tried to kill me.” Graham noticed several other people in the room had gathered closer to listen.

  Spencer glanced around at everyone, swallowed, and took a deep shaky breath. “Look, Blue Cell is huge. They operate out of an underground facility in rural Kansas. I don’t have the location.” He rubbed his brow with two fingers, obviously stressed. “I’ve never been to the main building. They maintain pockets of employees all over the country, and it was another hacker in another state who discovered what you were doing. I was working out of an apartment building near Kansas City in a cramped space with four other people. My job has always been to hack into the DEEP system and keep tabs on your team.”

  “If you’re able to hack so deeply i
nto the DEEP bunker, then tell us how information is leaking out of that facility,” Graham demanded. “What about Temple Levenson? Is she inadvertently feeding info up the chain of command?”

  Spencer shook his head. “Temple is clean. I can’t say what she might be doing unknowingly, but I’ve never once found her to be aiding Blue Cell.”

  Graham narrowed his gaze, still unsure about this kid no matter what he said or did.

  “Look, like I said, I’m honestly not the only hacker working for Blue Cell. God knows how many they have. Some other guy in some other location was assigned to monitor the computers inside the Colorado bunker that day. He caught the sudden activity on the one you were using to download data.

  “I didn’t realize a sting was going on until it was already happening. I overheard two of the guys working in another room where I was located discussing you by name.” Spencer nodded toward Graham.

  A hand landed on Graham’s arm and he turned to find a very pale Kate pressing into his side. Her gaze was on Spencer.

  “That’s when I got worried.” Spencer licked his lips, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. “I can’t explain it, but there was a distinct shift in the air in the room at the same time those two men stopped speaking, and it got eerily quiet.

  “When they wandered back in, they busied themselves nervously, and that’s when I knew I needed to get the fuck out of that building as fast as possible. I left for lunch and never returned.

  “I have no doubt someone was on their way to the apartment to get me. Hell, I probably would have passed them in the lobby if I hadn’t taken the stairs at a run and darted out the back door.”

  Spencer ran a hand through his hair again, even though it fell haphazardly across his forehead seconds later. “I’ve been aware of other employees of Blue Cell disappearing before. I don’t know what happened to them, but I didn’t want to become a statistic. So, here I am.”

  The kid spun around and pointed at the computer behind him. “The good news is that I’ve restored all of the data you downloaded in the last week.” He smiled at Graham over his shoulder. “You did a fantastic job retrieving it. Hopefully whoever wanted it to disappear believes the only copy was on those hard drives that went up in flames.”

  “Have you been able to ascertain why the hell this Blue Cell organization is working so hard to derail the work of Project DEEP or who their boss is?” Dade asked.

  Spencer shook his head. “Not a clue. There are so many arms to that organization that it’s impossible to follow any trail. Even the people who work for them don’t know who they work for. I have no doubt that within minutes of my escape, the entire apartment we were using as an office was wiped clean and relocated. It wouldn’t be the first time. We relocated every few weeks anyway.”

  Kate gripped Graham’s arm tightly. She was leaning into him hard. He could feel her shaking against his side, and he wrapped an arm around her waist to support her.

  Spencer glanced at Kate and then back at Graham. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to warn you to get out faster. I would have if I could.”

  Dade shoved off the desk to his full height. “Yeah, your track record in that area sucks.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Graham asked.

  Spencer turned his gaze toward Dade. “He’s talking about Zeke and Michelle. I did manage to send them a text message to get out of the bunker several weeks ago before two men followed them, kidnapped them, and tried to get information out of them, but apparently I wasn’t fast enough. They were trailed anyway. I had no way to follow up afterward either.”

  Graham stiffened. What a convoluted shit show.

  Spencer continued when no one spoke. “I overheard someone talking about sending a pair of guys to follow them to wherever they were going. I hoped those two guys weren’t in position yet. I was wrong.” He glanced at Kate and then back at Graham. “In your case, I was completely in the dark. I was so focused on making sure your data was secure that I had no idea anyone had found you out.” He winced.

  Dade cleared his throat. “The important thing is that the data is secure, Graham and Kate made it here, and none of the good guys were killed.”

  Kate nearly lurched forward. “Tushar was shot. I thought Trish was going to have a heart attack.”

  “Yeah, but he’s going to be fine. Ryan touched base with his mom yesterday. Trish is still shaken up, but Tushar is healing.”

  “Do we have any way to make contact with them?” Kate asked.

  Dade shook his head. “Sorry. It’s not safe. I don’t trust the security level of that bunker. But they know we’re here, and they’re doing their part from the inside to be helpful.”

  “Trish must be frantic,” Kate murmured. “I’ve never seen her that upset.”

  “Her husband was shot,” Dade said. “It’s understandable.”

  Graham had to agree with Kate, however. Dade hadn’t seen Trish that day. The woman had always been as solid as a rock when it came to the team. She had morphed into a frantic state right before Graham’s eyes. Understandable? Yes. Characteristic of Trish? No.

  As Kate sighed heavily, Graham turned her away from Spencer, threaded his fingers with hers, and led her to a work station across the room. Dade had assigned the space to the two of them.

  “Do you think he’s telling the truth?” Kate whispered.

  “I don’t know, but I can tell you he put his life on the line to help get the data from the bunker saved. That’s enough for me.”

  She chewed on her bottom lip. “Yeah, you’re right.” She looked over his shoulder at the computer. “Did Dade assign us a task?”

  “Several of them.”

  She set her hands on his shoulders. “Then I guess we better get to work. This place gives me the creeps. The sooner we save the world, the sooner we can get back to living.”

  He pulled her in close and closed his eyes. “I like that plan.”

  Now, he just needed to make sure it happened before Kate lost the will to stay in Montana in hiding.

  Tushar awoke with a start, his heart racing as he reached across the bed for his wife.

  She immediately set a hand on his chest. “I’m right here.”

  The room was dark, the only light coming from a lamp in the next room. Tushar licked his dry lips and turned toward the woman who made him a whole person. The woman he’d been married to for over two decades—three if he counted preservation. He wrapped his good arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “You okay?”

  “Yes. I’m fine.” She patted his chest. “We’re fine…” she whispered.

  He was breathing heavily from waking so abruptly, and he turned onto his side and flattened her onto her back. He cupped her chin reverently and kissed her lips, letting his mouth trail down her neck and shoulder and then lower between her breasts.

  He continued nibbling a path to her belly, nudging her shirt up so that he could kiss the soft spot that would soon be impossible to hide.

  Her hands went into his hair, and she started giggling when the shadow of his beard tickled her skin. He lifted his face and smiled at her in the dim light. “How much longer do you want to keep this a secret?” he asked.

  She shrugged. “As long as possible. We can’t very well tell anyone until we’ve told Ryan.”

  “We have to get out of this bunker.” Tushar sighed as he climbed up her body. “We should go to your mom’s first.”

  “She’s going to freak.” Trish’s smile faded quickly as he watched her slide back into that dark place of doubts. She wasn’t wrong to be concerned. They hadn’t seen a doctor yet.

  It was ironic considering nearly everyone they knew was a doctor and all the equipment they could possibly need was in the bunker. Even an ultrasound machine.

  But they’d discussed their options at length and decided they didn’t want to know anything. If the universe had blessed them with a child after ten years of hibernation and at the ages of forty-five, they would take whatever they
got.

  Trish hadn’t even taken a pregnancy test for the first several weeks. It hadn’t seemed reasonable that she could be pregnant, and she’d been in denial. It wasn’t until Tushar grew concerned from watching her vomit first thing every morning that he came to her with the test and held her hand while they waited for the results.

  He remembered that moment well as he stared down at his beautiful wife. She’d stopped feeling nauseous several weeks ago. Now she had that amazing glow that never left her. He was actually surprised no one had guessed.

  Until a week ago, they had been tiptoeing around keeping things to themselves, but he’d seen the panic all over her face when he’d gotten shot. It was time to get out of this bunker. It was time to talk to Ryan. It was time to catch up with the team and get his wife someplace safe.

  This bunker did not qualify as a safe place to fall. It should have been the safest place in the world, but it no longer represented that. Even though he felt much calmer now that they’d proven Temple was on their side and hadn’t known about the source of the threats, the bunker still represented danger to Tushar. Either there were bugs he couldn’t detect in the lab, or some advanced technology was spying on them, or someone who worked there was a mole. It didn’t matter. He wanted out.

  “I’ll work on a plan,” he told her as he leaned down to nuzzle her breasts. They were already filling out just like they had when she’d been pregnant with Ryan.

  “You can use my mom easily as a reason we need to leave the bunker.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, convincing Temple we need to take a day trip won’t be difficult. What makes my skin crawl is visualizing how disappointed she’s going to be in us when we don’t return.”

  Trish sighed. “I know. I hate that part. We’ve known her for over twenty years. I consider her family. I know in my heart she has nothing to do with whatever secret band of people is trying to undermine the work of Project DEEP, but I’m equally aware that she stands way too close to the enemy and we can’t tell her anything.”