by Tara Wylde
I feel like I’m back at school, in the second leading up to a fight. Half the room is focused on me, spellbound; the other half is staring at him. It’s a battle of wills. I’m not losing. I don’t look away.
The banker holds his hands up. His cheeks puff with air, and I can tell he’s spitting mad, but he sits down. The crowd gives off the slightest of disappointed groans – just a chorus of air escaping their collective lungs, really. They were expecting something more exciting.
“Thank you,” I smile sweetly. “This meeting will run a lot smoother if everyone lets me speak. My name is Nate Foster. Not a lot of people in here will know who I am.”
I pause, rest my hands on the lectern, and look out into the crowd. I want to turn up the heat. Someone, or some ones, in this crowd are responsible for moving money for the Templar cartel. I need to watch out for any sign of nervousness …
… except, my mouth suddenly goes dry. My gaze stops sweeping across the crowd, and comes to a halt on one person.
Kim. She smiles at me, and my stomach does a backflip.
Kim’s dressed in a gray jacket and a white shirt. It hides those delicious curves I love so much, but she is still the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I want to stare at her and her alone. I want to talk to her and let her know that I’m here to protect her; that I will keep her safe.
But I can’t.
I shake my head to clear it. I look away from Kim. As I do, I think I see her waving at me, but I can’t be sure. Someone coughs in the crowd. I hear the hum of the stage lighting. I take a sip from a glass of water.
“I was brought in for one simple reason;” I say, getting back to business, “to hunt down traitors in our midst.”
Okay sure, if you accused me of being a touch overdramatic, you’d be right. Thing is, I wouldn’t care. It’s having the effect I want. Suddenly everyone in the crowd is sitting up a bit straighter.
A few people are glancing around, looking at each other. They are unsure. I can almost sense what’s running through their heads. I can see them trying to figure out who I’m talking about. I can feel them worrying that I’m talking about them. I can taste the nervousness spreading across the crowd.
My pocket buzzes. I reach in and set my phone onto the lectern.
“It’s a big word,” I growl, “but it’s also a pretty big crime. Someone is stealing from this bank. I promise that I will not rest until I find out which one of you it is.”
I pause and look out into the crowd, searching for any sweating faces. I can’t help but zero in on Kim’s face. She’s wearing a thoughtful expression, like I’ve got her thinking. She looks down at something in her lap.
I glance down at my phone.
Kim: You look good in a suit.
I can’t hide my smile. I wipe it from my face immediately. It doesn’t give off the right impression, not when I’m trying to scare a room full of bankers witless.
The phone buzzes again.
Kim: You looked better when it was on my floor.
Kim: Are you coming over tonight?
Kim: I’m wearing a surprise…
I run a hand through my hair. Suddenly the room feels a whole lot hotter than it did a second before. I’m glad I’m standing behind this wooden lectern; otherwise, my sudden flush of desire would be a lot more obvious…
I turn my phone over. It buzzes again, and it takes everything I have to stop myself from looking at it. God, I want to know what she’s saying. My Kiss is turning into such a minx. Nothing I can give is too much for her.
It buzzes again. I clear my throat. I look up, and suddenly realize that everyone’s waiting on me to say something.
“I…”
My eyes sweep over where Kim is sitting. I can’t tell them to stay away from her. I’m addicted to the sight of her: the touch; the taste; all of it. If it was up to me, I’d call her out of that crowd right now and take her somewhere private.
If she wants to tease me with a text like that, I’ll show her what she’s missing.
The crowd rustles. I can feel them getting restless. I’ve got to bring this to an end, quickly. But I’m not leaving without what I came for – a lead on who is working with the cartel.
“If anyone knows anything, anything at all, then I urge them to come straight to me. Maybe your boss is forcing you into something you’re not comfortable doing. Maybe you got caught up in something. Maybe you’re in over your head.”
I soften my voice.
I look directly at Kim.
I’m talking to her, alone, even if she doesn’t know it. I’m saying the things I wish I could say to her face.
“I can help.”
The man next to Kim shifts in his chair. He’s a short, squat man with a balding scalp. His face rings a bell. I’m sure I’ve seen it before, but where?
At the briefing.
I switch my gaze to him. His name bubbles up from some muddy depth inside my mind. Peter Donaldson. He quails underneath the heat of my stare. He tugs at his tie, making room for breathing, as if he’s suffocating. His eyes flicker back and forth – looking everywhere except my face.
It’s him, I know it is.
I turn up the heat. If Peter really is the one I’m looking for, then the next step entails spooking him into doing something stupid.
“You see,” I say, making up every word on the spot, “I already have my suspect in mind. The police are involved. You can’t hide. It’s only a matter of time.”
I walk offstage. I don’t bother holding Peter’s eye. If it’s him, he’ll slip up. I know he will.
Chapter Twenty-One
Kim
I pull my jacket tighter across my chest. You’d think that the server room would be boiling hot, with all these machines, but it’s the exact opposite. They need constant cooling, or else… I guess they would melt.
I know the feeling. It’s the same way I feel around Nate.
It’s probably a good thing it’s so cold in here. Just seeing Nate up on that stage was enough to get me hot and bothered. I swear those gray eyes of his were only focused on me. I know Nate saw my texts; I watched him read them. I just don’t know why he hasn’t replied.
That same lingering doubt whispers its poison into my ear. Maybe I’m not good enough for Nate. Maybe he’s already moved on to the next name on his list.
I pull my cell phone out from the inside of my jacket and look at the last text I sent him.
Kim: I’ll let you do anything to me. Anything you want.
I don’t understand how he could read it and not reply. It wasn’t easy for me to send a text like that. I don’t think I could have done it for anyone else, but Nate… He gives me that confidence. Still, I put myself out there in a pretty big way – I was hoping for a little more than…
…radio silence.
I plug my tablet computer into a server. My eyes glaze over as a stream of green letters, numbers, and code fill the black screen. Normally this kind of thing makes me feel alive, but today? Not so much.
Maybe this is all just a ploy, I think. I start to suspect that the only reason Nate’s spending time with me is because he thinks that I know something. Maybe he thinks I’m the traitor?
“Don’t be so silly,” I whisper. My voice is barely audible over the whirring and clicking sounds made by a hundred unhappy servers. “That’s ridiculous…”
I try and picture the way Nate looks at me; the way he lights up with pride when he’s around me. I’m sure he can’t fake that smile he gets on his lips; or the way his cock grows in my hands.
I know he’s attracted to me. But then, Nate’s a guy. Maybe that’s how any red-blooded man would react at the sight of a naked woman. After all, how the heck would I know any different?
I hear a click, but I think nothing of it. It sounds like the wind pushed the door closed. That doesn’t make any sense; there can’t be any wind in here. The server room is nestled in the depths of Landwolfe’s huge glass and metal office building. I shake off the thought. I must have imagin
ed it.
I rest my head on the server cage in front of me. The wire is cool on my forehead. My thoughts are spinning at one thousand miles per hour. I’m starting to convince myself that my suspicions about Nate are real. I wonder if I should tell him what Boris made me do.
“And say what,” I groan, “that he –.”
“Who?” Nate chuckles. “What are you talking about?”
I freeze. Oh God, I was right. All this time, Nate was just playing me. He was just getting close so that he could pump me for information. I spin and look at him, pressing my back against the server cage. It makes me feel safe and secure. Suddenly, Nate doesn’t. I don’t like it.
Nate licks his lips. “I’ve come for my present.”
Present? What the hell is he talking about? I rack my brain. Is that supposed to mean something?
“Wha–?” I croak. “What are you talking about?”
Nate lazily fishes his cell phone from inside his jacket pocket. “I’ll let you do anything to me,” he growls, a hungry look tickling his face as he reads from the screen half correctly, “anything you want. Ring a bell?”
I close my eyes, and a sigh of tension escapes my lungs. I feel like such an idiot. I can’t believe I let myself get so worked up about…
… nothing.
Nate’s six feet away, at the other side of the room. Suddenly I don’t feel cold anymore. It’s like the air in between us is charged with excitement – like it’s suddenly become an electric field.
“Are you okay?” Nate asks, with a touch of concern in his voice.
I open my eyes. I’m back to feeling awkward. Again, it’s like I don’t know how to act when Nate’s around.
“Couldn’t be better,” I say. Except I definitely could be: I’m still worked up. My voice barely comes out in more than a whisper.
“Good,” he growls, “because I’ve got plans.”
Nate glances around the server room. I don’t know what he’s looking at. There’s nothing interesting in here.
“Take a step forward,” he orders me.
“What? Why?” I asked, my face scrunching up with confusion. I feel like someone hooked me up to a bungee rope and pushed me off a cliff. I’m right at the bottom, and the rope’s straining. I don’t know what will happen when it flings me back up.
“Do as I say,” Nate commands, his voice low, every word enunciated with almost indecent precision, “and you’ll find out.”
“Fine,” I mutter. I’ve got that feeling, like when Frankie’s boyfriend cheats on her in a dream, and she takes it out on him in real life. I’m grumpy, all of a sudden, and all because I convinced myself Nate was some kind of secret agent.
If that were true, I think, hiding a wry smile, I’m about the last person he’d want to hang around.
I do as I’m told. Nate grins with satisfaction.
“Now three small paces to your right,” he says.
I cock my head to one side, but again, I do what I’m told.
Nate licks his lips again, like he’s playing with a thought. A wicked light flashes in those icy gray eyes. He’s made his decision. I can’t figure out what that means for me. A shiver runs up my spine. It’s not one of fear. It’s one of anticipation.
“Now take off your jacket,” Nate growls, grinding out the words. I feel a spark of excitement between my legs. I think I’m beginning to get a very good idea of what he has planned.
Good, I think, Very, very good; But something holds me back.
“We can’t: not in here,” I say. “What if someone –.”
“Sees?” Nate asks with a sly, self-satisfied grin on his face. “That’s where being head of security comes in, Kim. What’s the code for the door to this room?”
My eyebrows wrinkle. “Huh?”
“The code, Kim,” he presses me.
“2672.” I recite it from memory.
Nate shakes his head. “Not anymore. I thought we might find a use for,” he bites his lip, “a little bit of privacy…”
Oh God, this is actually happening. I try and remember if the company handbook said anything about having sex in the office. I can’t remember exactly, but I’m pretty sure it’s frowned upon. Am I really going to do this?
“What about,” I say, searching wildly for a way out, “the cameras?”
Nate grins. I get the feeling that he wanted me to ask that particular question. “Why do you think I got you to move?”
Nate lifts one of his powerful, sculpted arms, and traces an imaginary line in the air. “From here,” he says, pointing at a blinking server to my right, “to a foot in front of you,” the finger shift again, “to as far as you can hold your left arm out, it’s all a blind zone. Someone’s moved the cameras –.”
My face wrinkles. Why would anyone do that? It’s not like anyone can just pocket a server and walk out without someone noticing. They are much too heavy. It doesn’t make any sense.
“– I came down to fix it,” Nate says, jogging my mind back to the present. “And I saw your cute little ass wiggling on the screen. I couldn’t help myself. Now…”
Nate lets out an expectant sigh.
“… That I have satisfied your curiosity, I’m going to need you to take that jacket off. It looks great on you, but it’s spoiling my view.”
Nate thrusts his hands into his pockets and stares at me. I feel like my mind is all stuck up with Jell-O. I don’t know what to do. But my body starts to react all on its own.
My fingers walk their way down my chest, unbuttoning the gray jacket. Before I know it, it’s lying in a heap on the floor.
“What now?” I ask with my mouth dry.
Nate’s looking at me like a lion stares at a rare steak. It feels all kinds of good – really – but I’m as nervous as piglet. I’ve never done anything like this. All these years before, I pictured sex with the lights off. This is completely different: in a good way. I feel electric though nothing has even happened yet.
“Now your shirt,” Nate growls. “You’ve got unbelievable tits, Kim. Did I ever tell you that?”
I nod.
I can’t take my eyes off Nate’s. It’s like he’s got me under his spell. The old Kim never would have done anything like this. I haven’t even turned round to check if he’s telling the truth about the cameras. For all I know, he could be lying. He could be filming me.
My pussy throbs with excitement. I clench my legs together, but that doesn’t help. It only makes me want more.
I start to unbutton my shirt. Nate makes this kind of low, nearly inaudible growl the second he sees my skin. He sounds ravenous. His throaty growls make sparks shoot up my spine, and fire explode on my skin.
“Jesus, Kim. You’re beautiful, you know that? The most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.”
“I’m not,” I whisper as the shirt joins my jacket on the floor.
Nate nods. He starts before I’ve stopped talking. It’s almost an automatic reaction. I realize that he’s telling the truth: his truth. I can’t believe it, but it’s real.
“You goddamn are,” he says vehemently, “and you better believe it.”
Nate grins. “Enough distraction: Take off that skirt.”
My cheeks start to redden. It feels like that’s their normal setting, now. “Nate –.” I whisper.
“Nate,” he says, copying me. “Anything I want, remember?”
It’s my turn to nod. I reach behind me, and the whine of the zip undoing briefly out-hums the sound of the servers. The air conditioner cooled air kisses my skin, and I shiver. I stand there like that for a second, the cloth huge around my waist. I can’t bring myself to shrug it off completely.
Nate shakes his head. “All the way off, remember,” he says with an evil smile.
“Can’t you help?” I ask. I realize that’s all I want: the heat of his hands on my waist; the touch of his skin on mine.
Nate shrugs. “I didn’t make the rules…”
“Yes you –!” I pause. I realize he’s talking about
the text I sent him. Damn, he’s completely in control, and he knows it.
I shimmy out of the skirt, swaying my hips from side to side as it falls down my legs. The cloth disappearing makes me feel a hundred times more naked than I was a second before. I cross my arms over my chest.
“I like it,” Nate says, his face hungry with desire.
I glance down. “It’s new,” I say, rubbing the silk of my brand-new lingerie. It cost more than I imagined was possible to spend on something like underwear, but I didn’t mind. This new job pays more than I could have imagined a month ago. Besides, it was worth it just to see that look on Nate’s face. “I’m glad.”
