by Katya Moore
"There's no other way? We can't catch them on the way to the concert?" Roc chewed at his thumbnail, deep in thought.
Feral furrowed his brow. "Best we could do is intercept whatever vehicle they're transporting him in, and we don't have the manpower or the right vehicles to take on a whole caravan." He cast a baleful look at the blank security monitors. "For all we know, he's already at the venue."
"The venue." All heads turned to look at me curiously. I stood up. "The venue! What do you guys need to sneak backstage in the venue?"
Roc looked at me as though I'd sprouted a second head. "Security is obscene at her concerts. We'd need the updated backstage passes because she changes the design for every show, every job at the show. We'd need the layout. We'd need some sort of in, some way to play off our existence. We'd need to get past the facial recognition scanners she's got posted at the doors, looking for you..."
"I've got that covered. You worry about the rest," Cory piped up.
"I've got the rest covered." I beamed at Roc.
He arched a brow at me and studied my beatific expression with concern. "Knowing how to run cons isn't sexually transmitted, Alex. What are you thinking?"
My eyes narrowed in disdain. "I'm thinking that I've translated Mother Glory's backstage rider into twenty different languages, so I know who and what goes where at any given time, in any given room, especially her green room. I'm thinking that my best friend designs those security badges. She's going to be back there taking pictures for FaceSpace posts, so she'll have a map."
"And you think she's just going to hand this information over to you?" Kit asked dubiously.
I gritted my teeth. "She owes me."
Roc turned to Kit. "Get her a secure line to get hold of her friend. Cory, do you think you can lift some tickets?"
Cory rolled his eyes. "Did you mean to insult me, or are you just an ass?"
Roc's jaw tensed. "We need the map before we can plan our attack. Alex, we're counting on you."
I swallowed hard and sat down next to Kit. He opened up the secure chat window and pushed the laptop in front of me. My fingers were numb on the keyboard.
So much was riding on this conversation.
Can I trust her?
Can she trust me?
"Could you give me a little privacy?" I asked Kit.
Kit shrugged and rolled his chair away from me.
Roc pulled a chair close, not close enough to see the screen. Just close enough to stare me in the eyes.
“We need this.”
“I know.” I blew a strand of hair out of my eyes.
“I can help you.” He leaned in. “Let me talk you through it.”
I jerked my head, beckoning him closer. “Okay.”
AlexUndercover: Hey girl, it's Alex.
Su3bus: OMG I was afraid you were dead. Are you okay? Where are you?
Su3bus: Don't tell me where you are. I don't want to know. She's gone crazy looking for you.
Su3bus: I know you didn't steal the gown. She knows you didn't steal the gown. What do you have of hers that she wants so badly?
I chewed on my lip and struggled to think of a plausible lie.
“We need to give her the stakes, but we can’t give her the real ones. What would she accept as a reason to give you these files?”
I closed my eyes. “Life or death.”
Fuck it.
AlexUndercover: I found out she plans to do something big and terrible at her concert. You'd think I was absolutely insane if I told you, but she's going to hurt a lot of innocent people.
Su3bus: You're trying to tell me she's a terrorist? What, she's going to bomb the place?
Brilliant. Perfect.
AlexUndercover: Gas. She's rigging the gas lines to blow. The fire will trap people inside. She wants to do it during Phoenix Rises, to go out in a blaze of glory. She’s suicidal and crazy. I need your help to stop her.
Su3bus: We need the police! We need professionals.
I looked at Roc, then at the rest of the crew. Well, I have professionals. Sort of.
“The cops didn’t believe you. You need to make her think it’s the two of you against the world. Can you do that?” Roc urged.
AlexUndercover: You think I didn't try that? They just laughed at me and told me that I couldn't get backstage passes to show them the big bad gas bomb, so stop trying.
A long pause. This was where she either decided I was insane or helped me out. Roc and I stared at the screen, willing her to respond.
“If she didn’t take a minute to think, I’d worry about your friend. Trust the process,” Roc said, his voice calm.
Su3bus: You're the sanest person I know except for the trust issues, and frankly I don't think you're the paranoid delusion type.
Su3bus: Also, Glory's acting really, really fucking weird. She's been going to the safe room a lot. Like, a lot. So I'm leaning toward believing you that something's up.
Su3bus: Do you have a plan?
"She's in." Roc clapped his hands loudly, then gave me a pat on the back.
Kit let out a whoop and reached over to punch me on the shoulder. "Girl's a natural!"
“Okay, let’s get the goods.” Roc pondered for a moment. “Who could we take out to get in?”
I thought hard. “Flowers. She demands fresh flowers in her rider. Can you intercept Carmella’s Floral Enchantments?”
Feral cracked his knuckles. “I can do that.”
I gave a slight shudder.
AlexUndercover: I've got some friends helping me. We need your help. I need backstage passes for the flower delivery team, two VIP All Access tags, a map of the arena, a map of the backstage area for the show, and a list of the security guards on duty.
Su3bus: Who do you think you are, Danny Ocean? This sounds like the beginning of some crazy heist film.
I closed my eyes for a moment.
She's right. This is crazy. The opposite of sane. This is a bad idea. The worst.
AlexUndercover: We're saving lives, Trix. Seriously. Can you hook me up?
Another long pause. The room was deadly silent. I swear I could hear the cursor blink on the screen. Maybe it was just my heart pounding.
Su3bus: Check your email.
With trembling hands, I opened Kit's browser window and went to my SparxMail account.
"She did it. We did it. We've got it. We've got it all." My mouth was bone dry.
The whoop that went up around the room was deafening. Roc pounded me on the back hard enough to knock me forward. Feral caught my face in his hands and kissed the remaining breath away from me.
"Baby's first con!" Cory shouted. "Nice one, citizen."
I just conned my best friend.
I'm about to save several thousand lives.
But I just conned my best friend.
AlexUndercover: You're the best. See you at the concert.
AlexUndercover: And if you do see me, run.
Su3bus: Alex, that doesn't sound good.
AlexUndercover: I just want you to be safe. Be safe, okay?
Another long pause.
Su3bus: You too, hon. You too.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
As I lay on my bed, I could hear a rhythmic dull thudding from down the hall. I closed my eyes and tried to let it slip into the background. No dice. Curiosity got the better of me. I rolled off the bed, ruffled my fingers through my hair to straighten it out, and went to investigate.
Feral’s door was slightly ajar. I peered through the crack and watched him savage a heavy bag. His shirtless back was muscle upon muscle, sweat trickling down toward the V of his waist and the rolled waistband of a pair of gray sweatpants. The fabric hugged his tight, well-formed ass.
I eased the door open, mesmerized by the sight before me. He moved with grace and power, like a dancer who really hated his partner. The heavy bag shook as blow after powerful blow landed on its surface, decisive and precise and brutal. The punches gave way to a blend of punches and kicks, his body flowing a
nd twisting, hypnotic.
“Like what you see?” he grunted without pausing.
I froze. I felt guilty, caught in my shameless spying. “Umm, sorry. I should…” I took a step back.
He was standing in front of me before I could take a second step. My breath caught in my throat. He leaned on the doorframe, his golden eyes gazing deep into mine.
“You should stay,” he finished for me.
His breathing was hard, his pupils dilated. Sweat beaded his brow, trickled down his neck, rolled over his firm pecs and down his rippling stomach toward his… My eyes snapped back up to his. He reached out a hand and tipped my chin up to face him better. There was tape wrapped around his knuckles.
“I didn’t mean to intrude. I know you…” My voice was quivering. I felt like a mouse in front of a very hungry cat. “You’ve got to be ready. For tonight. And you’re probably working things out about…”
“I know what I need,” he said, his fingers sliding up my jaw and tangling in my hair. “I can’t punch my way out of this feeling. I can’t fight it away. But maybe, just maybe, you can help.”
My whole body was trembling now. “W…what do you need?”
In answer, he pulled my lips to his and smothered me in a brutally passionate kiss. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. I could only react, and I clutched at his damp shoulders, fingernails raking his skin. His other hand wrapped around my waist, hauling me against him. He swept me in through the door, then pinned me against the wall, devouring my mouth hungrily.
This is wrong. Luxe is in danger. We shouldn’t be doing this.
He’s scared somewhere.
I’m scared.
We can’t lose him. Not like this.
Feral slid his hands down my body, gripping my hips and pulling them tight into his body. I could feel his erection pressing into me, long and thick and deliciously hard.
“Help me forget,” he whispered roughly into my ear. “All I can hear, all I can see, is my brother in pain. Please. For a few minutes. Help me forget, before I go mad from it.” I could hear the raw, aching need in his voice. The pain. The fear. I pressed my lips to his, closed my eyes, and gave him everything I had.
Because damn it, I needed it too.
He slid his hands over the globes of my ass, then scooped me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist and let him pin me to the wall, his cock pressing into me through my jeans. I moaned as he ground himself into me, teasing my clit through the layers of cloth, sending my head lolling back against the wall. He sank his teeth into my shoulder, savaging the cloth of my open-necked shirt until he bared my flesh. Teeth and tongue and lips became my world as we lost ourselves in carnality.
He pinned me against the wall with his hips and shoved my shirt up over my head. I raised my arms, trusting in him to keep me from falling. His hand gripped the cloth of my shirt and twisted it, pinning my wrists to the wall. My eyes opened in surprise and met his ravenous gaze, his eyes nearly black with animal lust. He used his chin to shove my head to the side, then sank his teeth into my neck. I cried out in shock and desire. Lightning flashes of almost painful arousal fired through my body, jolting through my clit, sending me writhing against the wall. I gasped and panted, my body burning against his, flesh against flesh, needing more, wanting more.
He released my neck and ran his tongue down my collarbone, then used his teeth to tear at the cup of my bra. Eagerly, he suckled at the exposed nipple, teasing at it with his teeth, nipping at the surrounding flesh of my breast until I cried out again in anguish and ecstasy.
“I need to fuck you,” he growled in my ear. “Goddamn it, I need you.”
“Fuck me,” I moaned in reply. “Please.”
He released my hands and wrapped his arm around my waist. His other hand ripped at my fly, releasing me from my denim bonds.
"I don't want to put you down," he rumbled. "I don't want to let you go."
"M'not going anywhere," I said, nipping at his lips. "May want to hold me up, though. I can’t feel my knees right now."
He licked his way into my lips, then let me drop, still holding me around the waist. As I expected, my knees went swimmy the second he did. His free hand tore at my pants, ripping my damp jeans and soaked panties down past my hips. I wriggled, shoving at them with both hands, then kicked them away from me. As I kicked, I snatched the waistband of his sweatpants and wrenched them downward, springing his long, glorious cock free of its bonds. It stood proudly, pressing against my stomach.
"We need a..." I started to say.
He reached over to his desk drawer and pulled out a condom. With a feral gleam in his eyes, he ripped the packet open with his teeth. I snatched the condom from the packet and began to roll it over the head of his cock. He closed his eyes, letting out a moan that sounded remarkably like a purr as I slowly eased the latex over the length of his shaft. I ran my fist back up his shaft, stroking it with a firm grip. The purr became a rumble, and he snatched me back up in his arms to pin me against the wall once more.
"Goddamn it, Alex," he moaned. "I need you."
I wriggled my hips to meet his cock. "Then goddamn it, take me. Take me hard."
And he did. Oh my god, he did. He plunged that thick, magnificent cock deep into me, so hard it stole my breath away. I cried out like a wounded animal, over and over again as he plowed into me, bouncing me up the wall even as he clutched me around the waist. I could feel his balls slapping against me from the force of his strokes, and I reveled in every single slap. He buried his face in my neck and growled, a fearsome rumbling sound that was half-animal, half-man, and completely soul-meltingly erotic. My body was on fire, my mind filled with nothing but his cock and my pussy and his skin against mine and oh god oh god oh GOD.
We cried out together as the world exploded before my eyes.
My mind shattered from the force of the orgasm, all thoughts blown to the winds, the world a blank slate. He leaned against me, his face buried in my neck, his breathing hard and hot against my bare skin. For a few precious moments, we were each other's world. No pain. No fear. Just us.
"Damn it," he sighed.
I closed my eyes and leaned my forehead against his shoulder. "I know."
We stood under the shower's spray together. His hands were callused and rough, yet tender against my skin as he washed the sweat away. I ran my hands over those powerful muscles, lathering him up. There was a quietness to the act, the calm after the storm, a meditation on each other's bodies after nearly tearing each other apart in passion.
"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I can't stop thinking about him." There was an edge to his voice. A hardness, tempered by pain. "What they might be doing to him. I should have been in there with him. Disguised somehow. I should have..." The edge slipped, quavering. His eyes closed tightly as he turned his face into the spray. "I shouldn't have..."
My arms slipped around his waist. I pressed my cheek into his chest. "They knew you, and they knew you were the one who carried the bag out. You would have given him away if they hadn't already known. You did the best you could."
"It wasn't good enough." I could hear the catch in his voice.
I felt myself choking up as well. "And I should have found a way to tell you sooner. If I'd just remembered his damned number..."
Feral's arms tightened around me. I froze. What if he blames me too?
"He wasn't carrying that phone on the job," he said quietly. "That one was special. That one was for you."
The lump in my throat won out. I let out a sob into Feral's chest.
Feral stroked my hair. "You got under his skin, Alex. You got under both of our skin. There's something about you. Something special. He feels it, I feel it. We have a bond, he and I, and you're the only woman we've ever known who's crossed that bond. Who we both had to have. Who we needed to share."
"We're getting him back," I said, pushing back the tears with everything I had. "We can't lose him."
"Damned right," he said, cradling me close. "That fucke
r's not getting away that easily. He owes me twenty bucks."
I laughed into his chest. We stood under the spray holding each other, silent and steeped in our own worlds of worry.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“I could eat a whole side of beef right now,” Feral said as we walked into the kitchen.
I nipped at his shoulder. “Mmm, beefy.”
He chuckled low in his throat.
Kit and Roc sat at the kitchen table, the remains of sandwiches and chips in front of them. Kit’s laptop and a pile of assorted tech bits sat on the table next to him.
“I’m going to hack into their security as best I can. See if we can’t get some cameras, maybe the fire alarm system if things go south.” Kit cracked his knuckles. “I just have to worry about that Su3bus bitch blocking me. Damn, she’s good.”
“Su3bus?” I slapped a hand over my face. “She’s your nemesis from the last job?”
“The last job?” Kit’s voice was bitter. “That bitch has been haunting me for years. She may not have known I was Toby, but she’s plagued me in hackerspaces, chatrooms, MMORPGs, you name it, she’s punked me on it.”
“Em-em-arr…” Feral said.
Kit’s ears pinked slightly. “Online video games. I don’t know who she is, but she’s a hell of a sniper. She’s taken me out at a single pixel’s height before. I swear she’s using hacks.”
“No, she’s just that good.”
Kit gaped at me.
“I know her.” I bit my tongue, debating my next words carefully. “We know each other from school.”
“Can you get me a back door into her computer? The things I’d like to do to her…” Kit rubbed his hands together and cackled like a cartoon villain.
I crossed my arms and looked down my nose at him. “Don’t be an ass. I’m not going to sell her out to you. I will tell her to lay off you this once, though. What’s your handle? Kit?”
“SlyLykeAF0x,” he answered, then spelled it out for me.
“Get me a secure browser window. One you’re not going to trace or peek at. Promise me, Kit.” I turned my Bitch Face on Kill.
