by Ciana Stone
"I watched her die and watched my father fall to his knees and grovel for my life. He promised to give them what they wanted if only they'd let me live. They gave him two days.
"We left the next morning and boarded a ship. Papa said for me not to speak. Not to anyone. I wouldn't have anyway. I'd just watched my Mama die, and I was so filled with grief and fear that I didn't want to speak. I just wanted Papa to hold me so I could pretend it was just a bad dream."
She paused to look at him. "Two days after that, Wiley took me from that ship, and I watched the explosions set fire to the sky, the explosions that killed my father. Wiley tried, I credit him for that. He tried. He and Linc both, but it wasn't enough. My life was one of loss and grief. Each time I loved, I lost. I lost Melody and then Tessa.
"Everyone I've ever loved has been taken from me, Matty, and maybe I'm just cursed, and you shouldn't care about me. It could get you killed, and I don't know that I could live with that because you're right. It's not just sex, and I'm more afraid of that than I am of the people who'd kill to take my invention from me."
"I'll protect you."
"Against an explosive or a sniper? You and Wiley aren't being realistic. These people will kill you or him or his child, all to make me give them what they want."
"There has to be a way to stop them."
"There is."
"How?"
"Use one evil to annihilate another."
"I don't follow."
"Uncle Sam wants my work. I agreed to give them everything but the programming that will turn the prototype into an undetectable assassin. If I give that to them, they'll protect the people I care about."
"And what about you?"
"I'll disappear."
"There has to be another way."
"If there is, I don't know what it is."
"There is another way."
"Is there?"
"Yes."
"How can you believe that?"
"Because there are always alternatives, maybe not ones we'd like or even consider, but they exist. We're a sum of the decisions we make about those choices. We're standing here right now because of all the decisions we've made in our lives. It all led to right now. And right now, I believe we're strong enough to win, so for tonight, just tonight, believe that with me."
"And what will that get us?"
"Tonight."
"Tonight?"
"Yeah." Mathias moved in close enough to cup her face in his hands. "Tonight, we're safe. No matter who's responsible for the devastation. They may not even know if you're alive. They may think you were killed in the explosions. Or if they know you're alive, they'll expect you to hunker down and take cover tonight, try to figure out what to do.
"And chances are, if they know you're alive, they'll think Wiley is delivering you to a hotel in Rockridge since that's where he was going when he left here, and there'll be a room rented in your name. So, we have tonight, and I won't try to talk you into anything until the sun rises."
"And until then?"
"Until then, it's just you, me and feelings that scare us both a little."
Reese looked into his eyes, and that cost her what defenses she had left. She might be making a huge mistake, but she wasn't going to run from him out of fear. He was, quite honestly, the first man she'd ever wanted to take a chance on and this might just be her last chance.
"Then invite me in, Matty and let's see how much more this thing is than just sex."
"Consider yourself invited."
He took her hand, and they walked to the house. She waited for him to close the door and then took the lead and backed him up against it. To her surprise, he had their positions reversed and her back pressed against the door before she could protest.
Reese wasn't all that apt at relinquishing control, but when he claimed her in a kiss, she lost the ability to think. Seriously, he robbed her of thought. All that existed at the moment was the taste of him, the feel of his body pressed against hers and the desire that his touch provoked. She was hot, wet and unable to focus on anything but wanting him.
Shy was not a word that had ever been used to describe Reese. When she wanted something, she went for it and right now there was nothing she wanted more than Mathias. Her hands moved to the waistband of his pants, pulled his t-shirt free and slid her hands beneath, over warm skin and hard muscles.
Mathias backed up and kept backing as she worked his shirt up and over his head. The shirt fell, and he took her hands as he continued backing his way down the hall and into his room. Reese collided with him when he suddenly stopped, and he turned them around, pushed her backward into the room and onto the bed.
When he joined her on the bed, she rolled over on top of him, sat and started unfastening his pants. Two seconds later, his hands were busy divesting her of clothing and in under a minute they were both naked.
"Oh my god," she breathed as she ran her hands over his body.
"Religious experience?" he teased.
"Without a doubt."
"I know what you mean." He rolled her over beneath him. "You're so beautiful."
"You don't have to—"
"You're beautiful, Reese."
Something in his tone spoke to a part of her she'd keep purposely hidden away, the lonely woman who longed for, but dared not hope she'd ever find a man who would see her for more than brain and brawn.
She'd expected this to be rough and fast, but he surprised her and took his time, touching and tasting, making her squirm and need and yes, beg. Until finally she felt like a stick of dynamite with a fuse that was nearly burned through.
"Matty, please."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"In that case..."
Her first reaction was a gasp which was followed quickly with an unmuffled groan of pure pleasure. The first of many.
*****
There it was, the first ray of light crawling across the room from the open window. Mathias watched in silence, hanging onto these last moments before he woke Reese and started trying to convince her to do something completely against her nature.
He'd lain there the last two hours, searching himself for the answer to a question that required resolution before he spoke with her. Why was he doing this? Was it for her? Him? Who and why?
Mathias had never suffered from an inability to be honest with himself and now was no exception. What was different was that since Trina had washed away the mental anguish brought on by a mission gone terribly wrong, he was not the same. The first signs of change came as a result of that joining. Subsequent transformation happened when he joined with her to save Brody.
He saw more. Felt more. Knew more. Like Reese. He'd listened to the tale of her life, seen the echoes of pain in her eyes and heard it in her voice. But last night he'd touched the essence of her and knew that pain as if it were his own.
A lonelier person, he'd never known. She'd lost all she loved before she was six years old and then spent the rest of her formative years losing everyone she came to care about. It broke his heart and amazed him that she still possessed the capacity to love.
Yet, she did. As much as she hid behind her intellect and as much as she wanted to deny it, she was desperate to give love. Wiley and Linc were the only family she knew, and she would die for either of them even though they were instrumental in her loss.
Now, there was him, and he knew without a doubt that while she'd wanted to just enjoy the physical attraction between them, it had gone way beyond that.
For him as well. It concerned him that it should happen so quickly, and he feared that it might become a short-lived love simply because of life and circumstances neither could predict. But today he loved her and knew she felt the same.
And that meant he had to convince her to follow a plan he and Wiley had devised. It held a high probability of saving her life. And destroying her career.
"Penny for your thoughts." Her voice had him looking down at her where she lay beside him, her he
ad on his chest, with one arm and one leg thrown over his body.
"It probably doesn't take a genius to figure out that answer."
Reese groaned, rolled away and sat on the edge of the bed. "Not here."
"Why?"
"Because here's where we learned what we want and what we mean to one another and I don't want it tainted."
Her answer touched him. "Okay, then where?"
"The lake."
"I'm with you."
She didn't bother to dress or cover herself in any way, she just walked outside and to the lake. Mathias followed and waded out into the water, watching as she dove and disappeared beneath the still surface.
When she rose, she waded to him and ran her hands across his chest and down his torso then out where she gripped his waist. "Tell me."
"There's one failsafe way to keep anyone from ever coming after you."
"And that is?"
"Fail."
"Fail?" He saw confusion and then realization in the expressions that claimed her features. "Fail? But, I didn't fail. It works. I have a working prototype."
"But no one knows, and no one has to. Hold a press conference or a bidding event and demonstrate it. Make it fail."
"On purpose?"
"Yes."
"I'll be laughed out of every credible—"
"You'll be safe."
"But my life's work will be for nothing."
"No, it won't."
"Oh? And how do you figure that?"
"It only has to fail for the public, Reese. And yes, you're going to be disgraced in your field. You will be the one who failed, and you'll never be sought again. But you'll be free, and you can create your drones and continue your work."
"It's not that simple. This type of development isn't cheap, Mathias, and Wiley don’t have bottomless pockets. I'd counted on being able to line up investors in agricultural and ecological areas to back mass production."
"I think you still can. If you follow the plan. Remember my friend Riggs, I went to help? The people you met at the football celebration?"
"Yes."
"That family not only has deep pockets but knows others who do as well. Their spread, Heritage, is to the southwest of here and it spans over 800,000 acres. They employ over three hundred people, own land in Florida, New Mexico, Arizona, Kentucky, Maryland and the Carolinas and they do more than just raise cattle. Your invention would be of real interest to them."
He could tell she was considering it. Her face had lost expression, a clear indication she was deep in thought. For a few minutes they merely stood there, then she jerked back to attention. "Everything you say may be true, but you miss one important point."
"What?"
"Let's say I follow your plan, get backing and mass produce the bees. You think whoever wanted the technology to begin with, won't find out? What then?"
Mathias smiled. "That's the beauty of this plan. Once you produce your bees, you go public and say you screwed up the first time around but corrected your mistakes."
"That won't stop them from trying to break the code and weaponize the bees."
"Can it be done?"
"I don't know."
"Don't you? Well, there's your real challenge, isn't it? To be better than all of them and make it impossible for someone to hack your work."
A slow smile rose on her face, and she suddenly threw her arms around him. "My hero," she said just before she kissed him.
Mathias sent up a silent thanks to the universe. He didn't believe for a moment they were already in the clear. There were hurdles to overcome, but the toughest had been surmounted. Reese was on board.
Together, they'd take on the rest of it.
Chapter Nine
"Wow, this is quite a place, isn't it?" Reese asked as Mathias parked his truck. The home of Heritage Ranch spread out around them as far as the eye could see. Mathias had told her a bit about the place, so she understood that this was the family home. Heritage spanned eight counties in Texas. This parcel was the original ranch and covered over two hundred thousand acres.
As they walked toward the entrance of the house, the front door opened, and two men stepped out. The first man was a real looker, about Mathias' age, she'd guess, with black hair, blue eyes and a long, lean build that was sure to catch a woman's eye.
"That's Riggs and his father, Russell."
Russell Walker was in a category all his own. Reese wasn't easily impressed or intimidated, and she'd probably never admit it, but she was a little of both. Russell was nearly as tall as Mathias, carried a bit more weight which only served to make him look bigger and had the same black hair as his son, but his was liberally laced with gray, and his blue eyes were as cold as ice.
He exuded power and a kind of quiet confidence. She'd witnessed that before in Wiley and later his brother Deacon and respected it.
"Matty, good to see you, son." Russell was the first to speak.
"And you, sir." Mathias shook Russell's hand and then Riggs'. "Riggs."
"Good to see you again."
"This is Dr. Reese Quinn." Mathias introduced her. "Reese, Mr. Russell Walker, the owner of Heritage and his son—my friend and teammate—Riggs."
"You don't look like a scientist," Russell said as he stepped closer to Reese. "But it's a pleasure, ma'am. Mathias speaks highly of you as does Mr. Johns."
"I'm honored, sir."
Russell looked at Riggs. "Why don't you show Matty the new stallion. If memory serves, he has a way of breaking animals without breaking their spirit."
Mathias looked at Reese and Russell continued. "I'd like to speak with Dr. Quinn."
"Of course," Mathias agreed and returned his attention to Reese. "Unless—"
"I'm fine."
"Well, that's settled," Russell said. "Walk with me, Doctor."
"All right." Reese fell into step with him, and for a few moments, neither of them spoke. Russell led her toward a corral where a cowboy was working with a horse. He stood in the center of the enclosure swinging his lariat around and around. The horse ran around the paddock ahead of the rope.
Russell stopped at the fence, propped a foot on the lowest rung and his forearms on the top rail. "Heritage has been in the Walker family for generations and has multiple divisions. Our operations in Texas are home to more than 30,000 head of cattle and over 400 quarter horses. We have more than 50,000 acres in cotton and milo, and we gin our own cotton.
"We own 30,000 acres in Florida, are the biggest orange producer in the country, and we produce sweet corn, green beans, and sugar cane. Our cane fields yield around a hundred thousand pounds of raw sugar each year and about three million gallons of molasses.
"We also have sod farms in Florida, along with farmland all over the country. I'm telling you this, not to impress you with our wealth, but with the need we have for pollinators. Mathias and Wiley tell me that you're about the smartest person they've ever known, and you've figured out a way to create an artificial bee that can pollinate. Is that so, Dr. Quinn?"
"First, please call me Reese. Second, I'm impressed. What your family has done and maintained is remarkable. Third, I don't know if I live up to the hype, but I am smart, and I do have a working prototype of an artificial bee that has passed all the controlled lab tests."
"What can you tell me about it?"
"It's a metal alloy skeleton with silicon and silk outer body that is, too all appearance, identical to an ordinary honey bee. Based upon thousands of hours of observation, I've programmed it to gather pollen in the exact manner of a bee and deliver it to wherever I want."
"So, you're saying you could program a whole hive of these things to pollinate a field of beans or grove of orange or apple trees?"
"Yes, sir."
"And someone is trying to stop you."
"Yes, sir."
"You can stop calling me sir."
"No, sir, I can't."
"Fine. Why do they want to stop you?"
"Because I refuse to share my research an
d I won't weaponize it."
"Weaponize?"
"In theory, a drone could be programmed to land on someone, sting and then fly away."
"And?"
"And the sting would be lethal."
Russell nodded and looked back at the horse, still trotting around the corral. "And you won't allow that?"
"No, sir."
"Because?"
"Because I work to save life, not end it."
He looked at her. "Are you aware that I have a brother, Richard?"
"Not—is he Senator Richard Walker?"
"That'd be the one."
"He's chairman of the Senate Arms Committee."
"He is, and a host of other things. The point is, if I decide to fund your work, it's within the realm of possibility that the government will come knocking on the door, wanting access."
"I have that covered, sir."
"Oh?"
"I've already promised them the plans for the physical construction of the robotic. I just won't develop the programming to weaponize it. That's all on them. And I'm going to hold a demonstration. I'll reveal the prototype. And it will appear to fail. That leaves me free to produce more."
Russell looked away, and it was so long before he spoke again, that Reese started to think he'd already dismissed her. "What's to keep someone from getting their hands on one of your drones and reverse engineering or breaking the programming?"
"Me."
"You say that with a good deal of confidence."
"Yes, sir."
"So, you're saying that you're the smartest person in the room."
"Yes, sir."
"And you don't have an issue with being made to be a fool. A failure. A woman who might have one day accomplished something great and be remembered in perpetuity, but instead, someone who won't even get a footnote in history."
"No, sir."
"I'm going to need more than that, Reese."
She gave it a split second of thought. "Fine. I want to do something to affect change, something that will help turn things around. Pollinators are being killed into extinction. If we don't start breeding programs on a massive scale, we're going to see a day when we can't grow food. You see, until now, science hasn't found a way to produce food without pollinators.
