Lace & Lassos

by Cheyenne McCray

  “Agent Adams,” Reynolds said, “Savage is one of the bad guys.”

  She felt like she’d been stabbed in the gut. She’d fallen for an enemy of the United States, because that’s what he was if her agency was involved. The enemy. But what had he done? Or what was it that he was doing now to place him in that category?

  Janice raised her hands and blue light flared between her palms.

  Great. Demonstration time.

  The ball expanded, turning into a big clear bubble that had an iridescent glimmer to it. The bubble floated in the air between Janice and those gathered in the office.

  Logan’s image appeared in the bubble. “Logan Savage,” Janice said, repeating Tori’s thought, “is a threat to the United States.”

  Tori’s jaw tightened as she looked at the image of the man with whom she had spent the entire weekend with. The same man she’d fallen hard for in just a matter of a few days. It felt like the knife in her gut was being twisted.

  Why did she have to go and fall for him?

  No, she told herself. It was nothing more than lust.

  A foot-tall image of a woman appeared in the center of the bubble.

  “You will take the place of this woman, Carla Winston.” Janice’s attention was fully on the image, as if to hold it there.

  Whoever Carla Winston was, she was certainly a gorgeous woman. It was a full-length image and Tori sized up the woman. Tori’s own talent allowed her to analyze images of people and know what their perfect proportions were.

  The blonde, statuesque woman that they wanted her to replace was a good six inches taller than Tori, making her about five-eight. Opposed to Tori’s short dark curls, the woman had long, straight golden blonde hair. Tori mentally shook her head. Taking the place of this woman would require some effort on her part.

  “Who is this Carla person?” Tori looked away from the image.

  “Savage’s former girlfriend, who also works for his company.” This came from Reynolds. “He owns Savage Industries.”

  She had heard of Savage Industries. Even read a feature article on them. So Logan owned one of the most respected private tech firms around? Tori shifted her stance. Her morning had gone from great to crap in a matter of moments.

  “Carla Winston knows things that you need to know.” Reynolds said, “We want you to seduce him as that woman.”

  Confusion still muddled Tori’s mind. She still had no idea why he was one of the “bad guys” and why they wanted her to go undercover in his company. “What details do you have regarding the assignment?”

  “You will keep eyes and ears open about a special project called ‘Cerebral Voices’, or CVP as it’s known within the company,” Janice said. “We know the device reads minds, but there is much we don’t know about it. You will learn everything you can about the project and become as familiar as you can with both the hardware and the software. And then we will go from there.”

  Janice’s attention focused on the bubble and the image inside of it changed. Now the image was of an electronic device that looked like some kind of silver camera, the length and height of a playing card and about an inch wide, floating in the air between them.

  “Savage is reportedly planning to sell the technology to another country.” Carter’s tone was grave. “If he’s successful, it would go to the bad guys. There are trade restrictions on what countries he can sell it to, but the fact is, there are middlemen who broker these deals for Iran or rogue factions in the Middle East. We cannot have his technology fall into the wrong hands, including the Chinese.”

  Shit. Tori’s words were tight as she spoke. “What about the real Carla?”

  “She’s in a coma.” Reynolds’s tone was flat and for some reason it made Tori wonder exactly how the woman had ended up in the coma.

  “How will this work, since they are no longer dating?” Tori frowned. “Are they on speaking terms?”

  “There is a good relationship between them,” Reynolds said. “He trusts her without question. She broke up with him, rather than the other way around, so we believe the seduction will not be difficult.”

  Tori had done this for her job before and she’d never had a problem doing what she needed to in order to complete missions. Having been with Logan as Tori made this a little different. She was a pro though, and she would do what she needed to do.

  “No one has noticed her disappearance as of yet,” Carter added. “Shortly you will go to the agency’s infirmary to obtain from the subject’s mind what you will need to perform your job.”

  The image in the center of the bubble changed back to Carla’s.

  Most of the information that Tori could gather was intuitive. If the woman was in a coma, there was only so much that Tori could get.

  But what she could gain was more than she let on to her employers. That was something she kept to herself. She had her reasons.

  More than likely she would have access to the woman’s most recent memories and feelings, any abilities she had developed and that she used on a daily basis, but that was it.

  As a Changeling, a rare ability, Tori could shift into almost any human form, but if she didn’t touch that person, she had no knowledge of them beyond what they looked like. She had to touch him or her in order to take what she needed or as much as she could.

  Some people she got much more out of than others. She never really knew until she came in contact with the person. There were a few she hadn’t been able to get anything from and a couple whose form she hadn’t been able to take at all. There wasn’t an explanation for this as far as she knew. She wondered if she could take Logan’s form.

  As if reading her mind, Janice said, “If possible, take Logan Savage’s form once you’re in as Carla.”

  “Maybe that would be best.” Tori nodded. “What would you do with the real Logan?”

  “That could be a problem, so let’s start with Carla.” Janice looked at Tori and gestured to the bubble and Carla’s image. “Now.”

  So much for freelance. This was one job she didn’t feel she had a choice but to take. If the man who’d rocked her world this weekend had a black soul, then she’d be glad to bring him down.

  Then why did the thought of working against Logan make her feel sick inside?

  Tori hesitated only a moment before she extended her arm. She touched the image and it made a sizzling sound.

  She lowered her arm and began to tremble, and she gritted her teeth as her body started to change. Pain shot through her limbs as her arms and legs lengthened. Her breasts became larger, her feet a little bigger. Her scalp tingled as her hair lengthened and the bones in her face moved.

  Her clothing changed along with her body, shimmering and then forming so that she was wearing clothes similar to what Carla had on in the photograph.

  When her body finished changing, she was an exact duplicate of Carla Winston.

  Excerpt… The Auction: Sold

  Cheyenne McCray writing as Jaymie Holland

  Available Now!

  Zach laid the coats and jacket over the back of the chair as if impatient to rid himself of them, and then he brought her into his arms.

  The move surprised her, yet at the same time it didn’t. Christy had wanted him to kiss her all night. The way he’d looked at her at the nightclub, she had the impression he’d been thinking the same thing.

  Being in his arms was better than she remembered and when he brought his mouth to hers, his kiss was more amazing than the countless kisses she had imagined.

  His kiss was searching, as if he was remembering her taste and the feel of their mouths together. She felt like she’d been transported back to the time when everything between them was amazing and fresh and new.

  As he drew away, he cupped her face in his hands and studied her. Her lips were moist from his kisses and she almost begged him to kiss her again.

  He slowly rubbed his thumb over her cheek. “It almost doesn’t seem real having you here with me.”

  “It feels
like a dream.” She put her palms on his chest, feeling his heat through his shirt as she moved her palms up to his shoulders. “I’ve imagined this, imagined being with you again.”

  He continued caressing her cheek with his thumb as his dark eyes looked into hers. “I can’t remember a time when I didn’t think about you when I was with another woman.”

  She looked at him with surprise. “Do you mean that?”

  “There have been a lot of women in my life, Christy.” He brought his face closer to hers. “None of them were you.”

  The thrills that went through her belly caused a spiral straight to that place between her thighs. Even after all of these years, she knew him well enough that she didn’t have to question what he just said. Zach Nikas didn’t say anything he didn’t mean.

  “I guess we aren’t waiting for the weekend at the resort,” she said softly.

  “This will make that weekend all the more exciting.” He grasped her hair in his hand and pulled her hair back, causing her to gasp. “Are you sure you want to be here with me tonight, Christy? Last chance.”

  “I want to stay.” She winced at the harshness of how hard he had pulled her hair. Yet at the same time it had a good sting to it.

  And the mastery in the movement… He was already taking control of her and it turned her on so that her skin felt on fire.

  He brought her to him for a hard kiss, nothing like the gentle reunion of moments before. This was harsh, forceful. He pinched her nipples hard through her dress and bit her lower lip, causing tears to sting her eyes.

  She loved it.

  The kiss was wild, hungry. He reached behind her and drew down the zipper of her dress. It fell in a silken caress down her body and around her feet, leaving her in her black bra and matching panties along with thigh-high silk stockings and her high heels.

  He grabbed her by her ass and brought their bodies flush together. His cock was hard against her belly and knowing that he was as turned on as she was, sent an ache between her thighs. She held onto his biceps, digging her fingers in as if to hold on for safety from a coming storm. He moved his hand to the clasp of her bra and unfastened it.

  Heat warmed her as he stepped away and took her bra with him and then he tossed it on the couch. He cupped her breasts and she sucked in her breath as he pinched her nipples again, harder this time, and she bit her lower lip to hold back a cry.

  “Take off your heels.” He stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest. “Now, Christy.”

  He looked serious and she knew she had better do what he told her to. She hurried to remove her heels. When she straightened, he said, “Take off your panties.” She slipped them off and stepped out of them, leaving her in only stockings. “Now your stockings. Hand them to me.”

  A heady thrill caused her to shiver as he watched her with his dark eyes. They told her nothing, but the intensity of his expression made her obey.

  Focusing on Zach, she slowly pushed down one stocking in a sensual movement. She could tell her teasing was working as his jaw tightened and his eyes seem to grow darker than they already were. She eased it over her foot then handed the stocking to him.

  “Faster this time.” His words came out dangerously low and she felt the urge to obey.

  She hurried to take off the other stocking and gave it to him. He took her by her upper arms and turned her so that she was facing away from him, then pulled her wrists behind her back. She felt the silk of her stockings as he wrapped one around each of her wrists and tied it securely.

  “Last chance.” He rested his hands on her shoulders and moved his mouth to her ear. “Unless you’ve changed your mind, from this point on, you’re mine.”

  Her heart beat a little faster. “Yes.”

  “Tell me you’re mine.” He brought her up close, her back up against his chest, and he pulled back her head again by her hair. “I want to hear it.”

  “I’m yours.” Something like electricity sizzled through her as she spoke. He had her head pulled back so far that she could see his eyes as he looked down at her. He suddenly looked dark and dangerous.

  “Yes,” he said in a way that made her shiver. “You are mine.”

  About Cheyenne

  New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cheyenne McCray’s books have received multiple awards and nominations, including

  *RT Book Reviews magazine’s Reviewer’s Choice awards for Best Erotic Romance of the year and Best Paranormal Action Adventure of the year

  *Three “RT Book Reviews” nominations, including Best Erotic Romance, Best Romantic Suspense, and Best Paranormal Action Adventure.

  *Golden Quill award for Best Erotic Romance

  *The Road to Romance’s Reviewer’s Choice Award

  *Gold Star Award from Just Erotic Romance Reviews

  *CAPA award from The Romance Studio

  Cheyenne grew up on a ranch in southeastern Arizona. She has been writing ever since she can remember, back to her kindergarten days when she penned her first poem. She always knew one day she would write novels, hoping her readers would get lost in the worlds she created, just as she experienced when she read some of her favorite books.

  Chey has three sons, two dogs, and is an Arizona native who loves the desert, the sunshine, and the beautiful sunsets. Visit Chey's website and get all of the latest info at CheyenneMcCray.com and meet up with her at Cheyenne McCray’s Place on Facebook! Feel free to contact Chey at chey@cheyennemccray.com