The last time she’d heard thoughts was in Carlyle’s office several months earlier. The first time she’d seen Drake in years. “Genoa… David Adams’ new wife.” Her mind added up all the facts and realized she’d be sunk if she turned him down. Shit. Adams’ was Carlyle’s brother-in-law. And she really didn’t want to buck Marcus Carlyle. It was thanks to him she had this job, even with her “reconditioned” status. “I thought I sensed you knew Genoa that day in Carlyle’s office.”
“Yes. We’re old friends.”
She licked her lips. His gaze followed the movement.
Taste…so good.
Her breath caught in her throat. Damn, it wasn’t happening. She prayed in vain it wasn’t. She didn’t need this. Not now, not when her career was set, and she was happy with her life. Well, sort of happy.
She cleared her throat and walked away, needing some distance from him.
I’d love to run my hands over that ass.
She tripped over her feet and grabbed hold of the desk to steady herself. The fabric of her uniform rasped against her nipples; her body heated at the memory of what his hands could do to her, sliding over her skin, dipping into her core.
“Are you all right?”
She looked over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes. It was hard, but she had to bite back the anger. He had no idea her abilities had returned. Letting him know how he affected her wasn’t going to help in this situation.
“I’m fine.” She turned from his questioning eyes, wandered to the window, and gathered her wits. “What do you know about Dream Weaver?”
“David said it was something like the PCP popular in the twentieth century.”
“Yes.” This she could handle. She knew this subject well. Thinking about what wonderful things he could do with his tongue wasn’t going to get them anywhere. “From what Intel can discern, the drug appeared about a year and a half ago.”
“Here in the US.”
She shook her head. “If it had shown up here to begin with, Vice would have caught it. The way to get a drug into the mainstream is to start off the beaten path.” She picked up the microfile and handed it to him. “As you can see, they first distributed it in out-of-the-way places.”
“Hmmm. I can see where they could get away with it in some of these countries. The Chechen Republic, Columbia, and some of these smaller countries have little or no resistance to the drug lords.”
“They’re poor. The money to be made selling or testing the drug is too good to pass up. There have been some incidents of people showing superhuman strength, or thinking they are invincible. There is also a thin line between being high and being dead. We still don’t understand what it does to people. They die all different ways. Heart attacks, strokes, even asphyxiation.”
“Strange. The tests don’t reveal anything?”
“No. All the victims show different scenarios of what killed them. We have some blood work, so you can have a look at it. The interesting thing is that this drug seems to have no effect on regular humans.”
His head shot up. “None at all?”
“No, and that’s the thing which scares the hell out of me. The person who developed it had to have access to paras, or maybe is one himself.”
He studied her for a moment, his gaze searching hers. She felt her heart beating in her chest so hard, she was sure he could hear it. Every hormone in her body bounced in rhythm, screaming for her to pay attention. She ignored them and shifted from one foot to the other. But that just made her aware of the dampness between her legs. Her suit rubbed against her clit and she suppressed a groan.
“Testing?” His deep voice cut through her thoughts.
“What?”
He cleared his throat and shuffled his feet. “What…kind of tests did they do, or have they done?”
Does her skin still taste like sugared sin?
Oh, Lord. That had been one of his favorite things to say about her. She could feel herself melting, just as she used to. She had to get out of there. His thoughts were rolling around in her head making it hard for her to think. And she couldn’t deal with this. Dammit, she had come to terms with losing her abilities. She didn’t want them back. They made her different, someone to ridicule, hurt, and abandon.
“It’s in the microfile. I’m sure you will find what you need in there. If not, we do have a few scientists who have been looking it over, but most of it has been kept hush-hush.”
“Are you worried about it because of your situation?”
Her situation. He would refer to it that way. She swallowed the bitterness that had welled up in her throat. Drawing in a deep breath, she forced a smile.
“I have no situation, Drake.”
“I meant—”
“I know what you meant.” She hoped her voice was nonchalant. Nervous energy had her moving behind her desk. “You don’t have to worry about that. I lost my abilities a few years ago.”
He crossed his arms and studied her. His intense gaze caused unease to settle in her stomach. Drake had a really good bullshit detector. “Just like that. You no longer have them. You can’t hear what I am thinking now?”
No, not at the moment. “No.”
“What happened?”
She shrugged and told him part of the truth. “I woke up one day, and they were gone.”
* * * *
Drake took a drink of the guava beer he’d ordered and winced. The fruity fizz slid down his throat. These new drafts sucked. Somewhere, someone decided they needed to make beer healthier. Taking out carbs and adding fruit flavors and vitamins had been the trend for the last hundred years. They served good old beer on Langilia, where he usually worked. But for the past six months he had been here, languishing away, trying to prove to himself that he didn’t feel anything for Letty anymore.
Well, you proved that wrong, Conners. Damn, how could that woman twist him up in knots so easily within seconds of being in her company? Working with her wasn’t going to be easy. Just being in her presence for less than thirty minutes had him rock-hard and ready to jump her bones.
“Looks like you could use a friend,” a sultry voice whispered in his ear.
He turned and found a statuesque woman standing behind him. Her waist-length hair was a brilliant blue. It matched her eyes. Sculpted cheekbones, a delicate nose, and mahogany skin made her eyes brighter and made her appear more exotic. She also seemed to have lost most of her clothing along the way. His gaze traveled down her body, and it was a long trip. A scrap of green material stretched across her full breasts, and a skirt, if one could call it that, clung to her rounded hips. Male interest lit through him, but nothing more than just normal admiration. Not a good sign.
“I saw you sitting here, looking all sad and lonely. I can’t stand to see a man lonely.” Her voice was throaty, just a murmur above the music blasting from the digital DJ.
He nodded to the stool next to him. “Have a seat.”
When she was settled next to him, he ordered her a drink.
“So, how does a fine man like you find yourself alone, drinking your sorrows away?”
“Who says I’m sad?”
She sipped her drink. “I do, sweetie. You look like the saddest man I’ve ever seen.”
When he raised his glass to take a drink, he noticed she watched his hands. Her heated gaze caught his and her smile widened.
She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could another not so sultry female voice stopped her.
“Drake.”
Immediately his body jumped to attention. His pulse accelerated, his blood heated, his dick twitched.
He looked over his shoulder. Letty stood behind him. Her eyes were narrowed as she looked at his new companion and him. And, for just a second, well longer than a second, he felt a certain male triumph that she just might be jealous.
“I need to talk to you.”
He swiveled his stool around to face her. At once, the low sensual hum of arousal coursed through him. “What do you need
?”
She glanced at his companion and then back to him. “I can’t talk about it in mixed company.”
“Now, listen here, sweetie. I was here first. But I’m willing to share him with you.”
Letty settled her hands on her hips and let loose an aggravated sigh. “Listen, for all I care you two could have hot monkey sex on the bar, but I need him for work. And right now, work is more important than a quick fuck.”
She turned on her heel and marched toward the exit. He realized she was wearing the same uniform she had that afternoon and admired her ass as she walked away. Desire rolled through him as he thought about sliding into her hot wet pussy from behind, having his hands on her rounded ass. Then he noticed several of the bar patrons turned to watch her too. Dammit. He didn’t like men leering at her anymore than he liked the possessiveness he was feeling.
“Well, that answered my earlier question.”
Oh, shit, he forgot about his drinking companion. His face heated and he began to explain, but she stopped him.
“Don’t worry, sweetie. Averil can always find herself a man. I don’t mind sharing, but from the look of your woman, she ain’t into that.”
“She ain’t into me.” She raised one pierced eyebrow. “Okay, not anymore.”
“Darlin’, there was enough heat between the two of you to set off the sensors. She may be telling you no at the moment, but the feeling is reciprocated. And I can tell you’re a one-woman kind of man. ”
He nodded and slid his debit card through the payputer to pay for her drink. “Thank you. You know where to find me if you need to, sweetie.”
Without another word, he double-timed it out the door trying to catch up with Letty.
By the time he reached her, she was halfway down the street. Irritation fairly rolled off her in waves.
“Letty!” She kept walking. “Nolete.”
She stopped and waited for him to catch up. The moment he did, she shot him a dirty look, then looked away.
“Listen, Drake, this investigation is extremely important. Now, if you can’t take it seriously, I can get another scientist who will.”
Irritation lit through him. “I can handle the job. I just stopped for a drink.” A drink and to forget the way her skin would feel against his, about how he’d loved to have her go down on him and suck him dry.
Her face flushed. “Fine. But we had some breakthroughs tonight and I didn’t know where to find you.” She looked down the street and sighed. “I don’t care if you fuck every blue-haired Amazon you meet, but this job has to be a priority. It has to come before your wants, even your needs. I know it may not be important to you, but—”
“Hold on one second there.” His agitation quickly turned to anger. He stepped closer and she took a step back, coming in contact with the wall of an apartment building. “I take my job very seriously. And I don’t know who the hell you think you are, but just because I grab a drink doesn’t mean I’m not professional. How professional is it to show up while I am off-duty and make insinuations? Tell me, Nolete, do you do this to all your partners?”
He couldn’t help his harsh tone. Letty walked into a room and every nerve in his body went on alert. Along with his cock, which stood at attention just from talking to her. And the fact she was looking up at him, her face flushed in anger, her eyes narrowed and sparking with fire, sent a wave of heat rushing through him. Dammit, why did she always have to do this? Just the thought of her, the scent of her skin, anything sent all available blood rushing to his groin.
The urge to kiss her until she softened almost had him reaching for her. She must have seen the intent in his eyes because she slipped past him and out of his reach.
“I understand I stepped over the line, Drake. Won’t happen again.”
Without another word, she turned and walked down the sidewalk trying to shut him out again. In two strides he caught up with her. “So, what happened tonight?”
She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. The streetlight cast an eerie glow about her face, leaving half of it in the shadows. “They have a bit of what one of the lab workers called ‘pure samples.’ Hell if I know what that means.”
He shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from grabbing her hand to pull her closer. What the hell was wrong with him? He had to have been out of his fucking mind to say he would do this.
“Pure samples, or PS, is the drug in its normal state. After the 2010s, many drug pushers began mixing drugs, putting in additives to throw off police dogs.”
“Hmm, so this stuff could tell you more?”
“Not only that, tell you faster. Without all the junk to throw us off, it will be easier to figure out how it is manufactured.”
She stopped at the intersection and waited for the light to turn. Agitation—no something akin to excitement—vibrated from her. “That’s why they were all bunged up about it. No wonder. It’s the first time Vice was able to make a bust before it hit the streets.”
The light changed and they continued to headquarters. After going through security, which was ten times faster when he went with Letty than on his own, they headed to the lab.
“Have you been in yet?”
“I stopped by after talking to you, but there weren’t a lot of people around.”
Her lips quirked, and just for a moment the old Letty was there. “They probably thought Marcus sent you.”
Before he could question her, they reached the outer changing room of the lab. They both dressed in the mandatory white lab jackets and pants that fit over their clothes. She handed him a cap to cover his hair and glasses.
As he stuffed his hair into the cap, her comment came back to him. “What do you mean, ‘they thought Marcus sent me’? He did.”
“Of course he did, but not to inspect. Marcus likes order, and he is always sending in inspectors. Nolete Ashford, authorize.”
The door slid open and he waited until she passed by to follow. “Inspectors?”
She looked around, as if to make sure no one was listening. “Yeah, you know. Can’t trust scientists and lab workers.”
“What do you mean?” He’d lowered his voice and leaned closer. The musky sent of her drifted toward him and he did everything in his power not to lean closer and sniff.
“I mean that a lot of our workers get the habit, so be careful, Doctor Drake. I wouldn’t want to arrest you for shooting up.”
With that she turned on her heel and strode away. As he hurried to follow, he cursed. He must have spent all of tonight following her around like a puppy. Why?
She bent over to pick up a piece of paper on the floor and the fabric of the lab pants stretched tight across her ass. A hot curl of lust filled his stomach.
Okay, but still he didn’t like it.
* * * *
As Nolete led the way through the myriad of lab tables, she silently berated herself. Walking into that bar and acting like a jealous lover wasn’t going to help the situation. She smiled at a lab worker as she passed and ignored his suspicious look. Venturing into the lab wasn’t something she normally did, but she wanted to make sure Drake got the help he needed. Scientists were a strange lot, especially those who worked for the government. They worried about losing their jobs to budget cuts. Those who made brilliant discoveries ended up with higher grade jobs and had more of a chance of holding onto that job. It resulted in many of them being overly secretive about their work. They guarded their discoveries in hopes of more money or lucrative private sector jobs. Drake didn’t have to worry about that with his family’s money. It was probably one of the reasons he had been chosen. The Federation didn’t pay that well, until one worked into a higher grade. Many lower grade scientists were tempted by the money offered by drug cartel agents. They wouldn’t have that worry with Drake.
Even thinking his name sent her pulse racing. This wasn’t the way she operated. She needed stability. Everything worked better with a well thought-out plan. Unfortunately, right now, she wanted all the delicious things D
rake had thought about doing to her. Each one had slid through her, heating her blood, driving her almost insane. Because she had to be insane to even think about touching him. But she had thought about it and so much more.
She shoved those thoughts aside as Frank Zarak stepped into her path. Late forties and balding, he was the epitome of old-school science. He didn’t think she or any other para should work for the Federation. There had been many who protested the Federation’s more stringent policies, but most scientists had turned a blind eye.
“Slumming today, Ashford?” That sarcastic tone of his always grated on her nerves so she smiled and resisted the usual urge to kick him in the balls.
“Yeah, I decided to see how the lower half lived.”
His lips curled in disgust and he stepped closer. Before she could do anything, the heat of Drake warmed her back and thoughts of hurting Zarak filled her mind.
Irritation with Drake fought with her disgust for Zarak. She’d handled discrimination of this kind for years on her own, and she could take care of herself. Nolete decided to put an end to it before Drake could act on any of his alpha male idiocy and compromise the investigation.
“Zarak, this is the hotshot scientist Carlyle brought in. Drake, this is Doctor Frank Zarak. He’s in charge of the testing area for Vice.”
Zarak’s dark gaze shifted from her to Drake. “Nice to meet you, Doctor Conners.”
For just a moment, the only sounds were the murmurs of other workers in the background.
A lash of anger swept through her so strong she almost lost her breath. As she tried her best to ignore the feeling, her mind raced. Never before had she ever had empathic tendencies.
“Zarak.” Although Drake’s voice held a civil tone, an underlying hint of malice laced his words. “I understand you have a pure sample of Dream Weaver?”
Zarak’s eyes narrowed. Nolete knew he was debating whether or not to question why Drake had been brought in. Apparently, he decided to err on the better side of his career. Pissing off her, which would lead to Carlyle coming down hard on him, wasn’t the smartest thing to do for an officer trying to make it to the top.
Telepathic Cravings Page 19
