Dangerous Desires

by Tia Siren

  Brady was about two inches shorter than Julian, but with more muscles and wider shoulders. Brady was just a year older, but he looked as though he could be Julian’s much older brother. Maybe defending criminals all day aged him, Julian thought. Brady had recently joined one of the most prestigious firms in Cupertino as a defense attorney. Nicole worked as a software analyst for a well-known internet company.

  “Hey man, if you don’t mind, we would rather you not wear out the floor,” Brady joked.

  “I’m sorry.” Julian stepped toward him with his hand outstretched. “Am I late?”

  “Not at all,” the brother replied shaking his hand. “I thought it was time I relieved you of sentry duty,” he further teased. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a guy like you nervous about anything; are you planning something special?”

  “Maybe… what did you mean by a guy like me?”

  “You’re like a jock with brains and money. I would have thought you’d be super confident… even cocky.”

  “Your sister’s special.”

  “Thanks, man. That’s all I needed to hear. Come inside while I tell her you’re here. I’m sure she’s wearing out the carpet in her bedroom as well.”

  Brady led him into a spacious living room with white walls and cream furniture and chocolate colored rugs. One entire wall was covered in what appeared to be a handmade tapestry. Over an electric fireplace was a mantle bearing photos of Nicole, Brady, and their parents.

  Shortly after, Nicole appeared in a turquoise dress hemmed an inch below the knee. The color matched her eyes perfectly and accented her auburn hair. As she walked into the room, his breath caught, and he found he could not think clearly.

  “Julian… Julian let’s go,” her silky voice broke the spell.

  The night started well. They dined at a very popular Italian restaurant about five miles away. The food was splendid, but she hardly touched her food. That’s when alarm bells went off in Julian’s head. Was she breaking up with him?

  Shocked at his thoughts, he stared at her and noticed her skin seemed paler than he remembered. Something about her tone was off, and she refused to meet his eyes when they talked. She was hiding something, and it made him anxious. He could see that she was also sweating by the sheen of moisture constantly on her forehead. To add to his anxiety, she would excuse herself from the dinner table every fifteen minutes or so to go to the washroom. She would return looking freshened and more vibrant, but as the night wore on, and she excused herself, Julian was sure something was wrong.

  “Are you all right?” he asked for the umpteenth time when she returned from the ladies’ room.

  She smiled. “I’m fine; don’t worry. I think I caught a bug.”

  “I have something I wanted to ask you,” he said, not sure if now was the right time.

  “Julian, can it wait? I need you to take me home… now.”

  “I’ll take you home,” he conceded, pushing his hand in his pocket where the ring sat.

  The night had ended without him doing what he set out to do. He didn’t think it would have been appropriate to push. After dropping her off, he went back to his office to work on his current project, but something kept bugging him about his date.

  When he called to check on her later that night, Brady told him she was resting, and he should call the following day. The first thing the following morning, Saturday, Julian went to check on Nicole, but Brady would not allow him to see her.

  “My sister is indisposed at the moment,” Brady told him, his tall frame blocking the entryway.

  “Is something the matter?” he’d asked.

  Brady’s face hardened, and his eyes seemed to pierce Julian. “Maybe it’s best to stay away from Nicole.”

  “What?” He could not believe he was hearing right. “I need to speak with her.”

  Brady blocked him from entering the house. “That’s not a good idea. You need to leave.”

  “I’m not leaving until I speak with Nicole.”

  “Look…”

  A smooth, silky voice spoke from behind Brady. “It’s okay, Brady. Come in Julian.”

  Brady didn’t look pleased, but he stepped aside to allow him entry. Nicole was standing in the living room with her back turned.

  “Julian, I’m sorry, but I can’t see you anymore.”

  His heart drummed erratically as heaviness settled in his stomach. This was not what he expected… though last night seemed strange. He could not understand what was happening. Did something happen between last Tuesday and last night?

  Swallowing hard, he tried to steady his voice and heart. “Nicole, what happened?”

  He could see her inhale as her shoulders rose. Then she turned with a bright smile, though her eyes were shiny. She looked like she wanted to cry.

  “Nothing is wrong. I just don’t think it’s going to work for us.” As she said it, he heard the crack in her voice. “You…” she inhaled a shaky breath. “You should find someone else who deserves your love.”

  “Nicole,” he said, his voice thick.

  “I think you’d better leave now.”

  “Nicole...” he repeated her name.

  She began walking toward the stairs. He stood rooted to the spot, whispering her name. This was new territory for Julian. He’d never liked a girl as much as he liked her. The feeling in his chest, as though someone wedged a knife in it, was also new to him. He’d broken up with many girls… or they’d broken up with him… either way, he had never felt this miserable about it.

  As he walked out of Nicole’s house that day, he swore never to allow another woman to affect him that way. But as he drove away, he knew someone wasn’t right. The pain in her eyes and the cracking of her voice told him that she was hurting as well. What they’d shared in the last year was special. It was real, he knew that.

  6

  It was a cold and cloudy night in mid-October. The threat of rain was evident by the dark clouds blanketing the sky and the sound of thunder ricocheting off the hills. Julian pushed through the hospital entrance just as the first drops of rain pelted the pavement. He stopped at the reception area to call Brady’s number when a hand clamped on his shoulder. He turned to look into the face of Nicole’s brother.

  “I’m sorry I startled you,” Brady apologized.

  The last time they spoke was the night Nicole broke up with him. He hadn’t quite forgiven either of them, but he would forget about all that tonight. “What’s going on?” he asked, anxiety making him sound curt.

  “Nicole isn’t well, but before I tell you what’s wrong, I need to tell you something else.”

  “Stop delaying and just tell me.” Julian was growing impatient. “Where is she?”

  “She loves you,” Brady said. “She hasn’t stopped loving you.”

  Hearing those words was no comfort to Julian, though his heart skipped a beat. He shook his head and tried to focus on Brady’s words. What he was saying didn’t make sense. They had a great relationship, and he was planning to marry her until she dumped him without a word. “She has a very unique way of showing it,” he grunted. “Forget all that. What’s wrong with her?”

  “She’s dying,” Brady added, his voice breaking.

  Julian’s eyes shot to his. Everything seemed to fade away leaving Brady’s words hanging. He shook his head in denial. Those words did not come out of Nicole’s brother’s mouth. This was some sick prank he was playing, and Julian was having none of it.

  “No,” he shook his head in disbelief.

  “She has cancer, and it’s spreading fast.”

  “How long ago did she find out?” Julian asked. The look on Brady’s face gave him the answer. “Is that why she broke up with me?”

  “She didn’t want to put you through that. She knew you were planning to propose, and she thought it would burden you and distract you from your goals.”

  This wasn’t happening. He would not allow her to die like that. The first thing that popped into his head was using the chip to
save her. The only problem was that the technology had not been tested on humans, and he wasn’t about to test it on her.

  “How long does she have?”

  Brady ran his hand through sandy blond hair. “The doctors are giving her weeks, three months maximum. But even they aren’t optimistic about that.”

  Julian’s head started spinning around like a gig, lost. He ran a hand over his face. If he’d completed his project already, there could be hope for her. Now, what was he to do?

  “She wants to see you,” Brady was saying.

  “She’s not going to die; I won’t let her.”

  Brady placed a hand on his shoulder. “There’s nothing we can do now. Even the doctors can’t slow the rate at which it’s spreading.”

  With his pulse racing and his blood running hot, Julian wasn’t sure what overcame him. He found himself pulling up Brady by the collar. “No, she can’t die. Do you hear me? She can’t!”

  “Julian, calm down.”

  “I have to go.” He let Brady go and stepped back, his mind racing.

  “Aren’t you going to see her?”

  “Tell her not to worry. I’ll come see her tomorrow,” he replied, rushing out of the hospital lounge, his mind racing.

  Julian ran through the rain to his car, gunned the engine, and raced towards his office. By this time, the rain was coming in torrents. The few seconds it took him to run from his car to his office building were enough to soak his clothes.

  When he entered the building, the security guard was surprised to see him. Ignoring his wet clothing, Julian went straight to his private office off the tech room where he entered with a microchip embedded in his wrist. As he pushed the door, he thought of upgrading the security system to implant microchips in all members of staff; this way, if anything went wrong, the culprit would be easily detected.

  He closed the door and turned on his computer. A password-protected screen appeared and he pressed his thumb to it. Without delay, the portal opened, and he brought up the cancer program. As he stared at the screen, he pondered how he could accelerate the results.

  The serums he used to inject the rats were there; all he needed was a human subject to test the chip on. If he injected himself with one of the serums, he could test the chip. However, he had no idea how long that would take. With the rats, the effects were within hours, but he was human; it could take days before the first tumor was detected. Nicole might not have that much time.

  Julian could kick himself. He left the hospital without seeing Nicole. According to Brady, she was there for chemotherapy, and they were keeping her overnight for some more tests. He said the doctors recommended she be admitted to the cancer unit, but she refused. She wanted to spend her last days free of confinement.

  “I couldn’t save my mother, but I’ll be damned if I don’t save you,” Julian said aloud. He spent the rest of the night in his lab. The computer-generated results looked fine, but he wasn’t sure if they would work on humans.

  7

  The phone buzzed, startling Julian. He’d fallen asleep at his desk. He yawned and stretched, blinking once to clear the fog from his brain. He was in his private lab where he’d spent the night. He reached for the phone.

  “Hello,” he grumbled, annoyed to be awakened. Silence greeted him. “Hello?”

  “Julian?” a smooth, silken voice said.

  His heart paused, then somersaulted and took off like a speeding train. “Nicole?”

  “I know you’re mad at me, but I have a favor to ask.”

  “What is it?” He could never deny her anything.

  A moment’s hesitation before she replied. “I can’t tell you over the phone. Can I come to your office?”

  Now he was wide-awake. “Of course.”

  “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

  What time was it? How did she know he was at the office? He lifted his wrist and stared at his watch. It was a quarter to eight. “Shit!” he muttered under his breath.

  “Excuse me?” he heard from the other end.

  “Ah, I’ll see you in a bit.”

  “See you then.”

  Fortunately, he had a change of clothes for emergency purposes. He was showered and changed in less than ten minutes. When he emerged from his private chambers, his team was already hard at work. He’d updated the tampered files with the original that he kept securely inside his lab. He also set up a call back to alert him whenever anyone logged into any of the other computers. He also installed a code that could reveal any IP address from anywhere in the world.

  “You worked through the night?” Robert asked.

  “Yeah, something came up,” he grumbled.

  As he opened the door leading from the think pad, Colleen met him. She wasn’t looking very pleased. “Nicole is here to see you,” she declared in a crisp tone.

  “Thanks,” he replied, but she wheeled and hurried away.

  She must be upset about last night, he thought. He would have to make it up to her. But today, he needed to tend to Nicole. She was waiting in the reception area out front. She hugged him close and kissed his cheek. “You look great,” she observed.

  He looked closely at her and noticed she was paler than usual. Other than that, she appeared fine, except she was wearing a wig instead of her natural hair.

  “Can we talk?” she asked

  “How about coffee? Can you have coffee?”

  “No, I’m fine.” She smiled. “What about your office. Can we talk there?”

  He led her back through the think pad and into his private lab. He didn’t bother introducing her to the men as they were busy doing what they did best, glued to their computers. He passed Colleen on the way back from reception, and she gave them the evil eye. He quickly pushed the memory of it aside and pulled up a chair for Nicole to sit.

  “So, this is where it all happens, huh?” she mused, looking around.

  “Are you sure I can’t get you anything? I’ll order breakfast if you like,” he offered.

  “No, nothing for me, thanks.”

  A moment of silence greeted them as they both tried not to look each other in the eye. Julian wasn’t sure what Nicole was feeling or thinking, but he wanted to pull her into his arms. She was still as beautiful as when they last met, and his heart swelled just looking at her.

  “You must be wondering why I asked to see you.”

  He chuckled. “Something like that.”

  “How is the cancer project coming along?” she asked.

  “It’s going well. Why?”

  “I was wondering if you would like to test it on me. The last time we spoke, you said the next step was human testing.”

  He wasn’t surprised. The moment she asked about the project, he knew what she was thinking. She was the perfect specimen, but he was reluctant to do it. He didn’t want to get her hopes up and have it fail. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said.

  “Why?’

  Julian took her hand and felt the immediate connection between them. “I’ve been thinking of a way to speed up the process to help you, but it needs more testing before it could be ready for humans.”

  “Julian, what better way to know if it works than testing it on someone like me?”

  “I can’t risk it.”

  “I’m already dying. I have nothing to lose.”

  “I don’t want to get your hopes up and…”

  She placed a finger on his lips. “Shhh. Don’t say it. I want to do this. It might be the last good thing I can give you.”

  That alone sent a wrench into his heart. She wanted to do something noble for him before she died. He could not stand the thought of her not being there.

  Without thinking, he leaned close and pressed his lips to hers. She did not pull away as he expected, and he took the opportunity to plunge his tongue into her mouth. A moment later, she broke the kiss.

  “Think about it, please,” she whispered against his lips. “I have to go.”

  He escorted her back
through the tech room and into the reception area. Nicole reached up and kissed his cheek before touching his face. “Think about it,” she urged before leaving.

  Julian walked her to the door and noticed that Brady was waiting outside. He waited until the car pulled out of the lot before turning to go back to his office. As he turned, he collided with Colleen.

  “Are you two back together?” she asked in a sour tone.

  “No,” he replied, walking away.

  He wasn’t in the mood to discuss Nicole with her or anyone else. She followed him through the tech room, and when he entered his office, she was right behind him. He hardly allowed staff in his private space, but Colleen pushed herself in.

  “The two of you looked pretty cozy to me.”

  “Look Colleen…”

  “I know we aren’t exclusive or anything, but I just wanted to let you know this,” she said, cutting him off. She sidled up to him and placed both hands on his chest. “I am not giving up.”

  She was advancing on him, pushing him back. The back of his knee hit the armchair, and he found himself sinking into its softness. Colleen didn’t waste time, she straddled him.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “What does it look like?” She cocked her head to one side. “I know no one will come in, so we have all the privacy in the world.”

  “We can’t do this,” he protested, but she cut him off with her lips.

  The kiss was deep and intense. She ravished his mouth with her sweet lips while her hand wedged between them and unbuckled him. Julian’s mind was whirling. He should be working on the cancer project. He wanted to resist, but Colleen’s smooth hand had found his cock and was stroking it.

  As she ministered to him, he felt it swell in her palm. With a groan, he grabbed one of her breasts and gave it a gentle squeeze. They were so close to his face that if he moved an inch, he’d have a nipple to devour.