Dangerous Code

by Stella Marie Alden

  “No, no, I’m sorry.” I wave my hand, wishing I had gloves and a fan, like in those regency romances. “It’s been years since I hooked up with anyone.”

  “Is that what we’re doing? Hooking up?” He places his hands on top of mine when I go for the wine bottle.

  My face burns with embarrassment and one lone tear escapes. “I don’t know. Are we? I read online that ‘hooking up’ means spending time with each other, making out, and then that might lead to sex.”

  Oh my God. How had I let that slip out? This evening has turned into a complete and utter disaster.

  C’mon Jones. Seventeen years is a long time and you barely knew him back then. The rest is pure fantasy.

  Sure, my mind understands but my heart refuses to listen. When it comes to the opposite sex, I’m a complete idiot. Just this once, though, I thought I could get it right. Perhaps I’ll run to the bathroom and ask Jason to end the evening.

  With lips slightly parted, Colin studies me from hair to heels. He lifts my chin, capturing me with his eyes. “Can I ask about your search engine without you thinking that’s the only reason I’m here tonight?”

  “But it is, isn’t it?” I brace, not really wanting to hear his response but needing to know the truth.

  Suddenly his hands are on my waist and he pulls me up out of my chair. “How about I kiss you, Megan McCarthy? Would that convince you?”

  Wow. He knows who I am. I have to force myself to breathe as the room spins a little. Obviously, I downed the wine too fast. Did he really just ask to kiss me?

  “How long? When did you know?” Suddenly, I’m miffed. Had he just been playing with me this morning?

  “After you left. Why didn’t you say anything?”

  My throat gets dry and I lick my lips, my voice an unrecognizable whisper. “Maybe I don’t want to be remembered as that pathetic fat kid from summer camp.”

  “My God, Megan, have you looked in the mirror lately?” Large hands slip to my lower back, tug me forward, and trap me against his rock hard cock.

  My mouth drops open, stunned. I can’t believe he wants me as badly as I want him. Again, I’ve missed all the signs but this time it’s different. This time the surprise takes my breath away instead of making me feel deficient.

  One of his calloused palms cups my cheek, his lips lower, and his breath warms my face. Shaking, I rise up on my toes to meet that last inch. His soft lips brush over mine but it’s not nearly enough. If only for tonight, I need this man desperately.

  My fingertips delve into his soft hair which tickles the sensitive areas between my fingers. He must like that because a growl sounds from his chest and he angles his head to take the kiss deeper.

  Yes, oh yes, yes. Every part of my body wakes, alive and wonderful. When his tongue demands entrance, I open my mouth. He thrusts and I suck. I’d crawl inside him if I could. The only thing that matters is getting closer.

  As he seduces my mouth, my hands slide under his t-shirt and caress the muscles of his back. He quivers, then his lower half locks me against my conference table.

  I moan, my brain mush.

  He whispers, “I might want to know more about your software, Megan, but this has nothing to do with that.”

  Lowering to my chest, he wets my silk blouse as he nibbles and sucks.

  “Mmm.” My head falls back, weak, enjoying every bit of what he offers.

  Suddenly he pushes off me and stands about two feet away, like I got some disease. “We need to stop.”

  Chapter 5

  Colin

  Panting like a dog in heat, I move her off from me which is near impossible when her eyes get all teary like that. The kiss was supposed to make her talk, not rock my whole world. Who would’ve guessed chubby Meggie McCarthy would grow up to be so passionate?

  But I don’t do one night stands. Ever.

  “Do you really want to stop? Why?” She blinks hard, lips swollen from my rough kisses, killing me with that look.

  There’s a million reasons why I shouldn’t make love with her but right now I can only think of one. She’s Fifth-Avenue beautiful, with none of the haughtiness. That sweet look will get under my skin and once will never be enough. I’ve been burned before and don’t need that again.

  I fully expect her to send me home. Instead she boldly steps between my legs, wraps her arms around me, and locks her lips to mine. Her kisses are a bit shy, a bit inexperienced. That should set off sirens but it’s like lighter fluid. That and the fact her fingers are squeezing my ass, she’s squirming against my abs, and my cock is just begging to come out and play.

  With herculean self-control, I remove her hands from my back pockets. “Meggie. If you don’t mean this, you should send me home. Right now.”

  Sweet Jesus. Her silence is so long that I prepare for a rough night, starting with a cold shower.

  When I’m about to pack it in, her right hand slides down my chest and circles my painfully swollen need. Clearly, she’s the one doing the seducing, I reason, not me.

  She says with a low husky voice, “We’re both adults, right?”

  That’s true. And I haven’t wanted a woman like this in years. So I kiss her, letting her hold me. I got my eyes glued to every nuance of her expressions. Neither one of us is going regret this night, not any part of it.

  “Wait.” She lets go and slips out my embrace.

  Dammit.

  Then she drops her blouse and bra onto the floor in a kind of shimmy.

  The stripper move mixed with the nibbling on her lower lip is such a turn on that I have to remind myself to breathe.

  I should go. I really should go. But when she arches, offering up her chest, what am I supposed to do? What harm could come of tasting those beautiful buds? Especially when she makes little whimpers that urge me on. I got a beautiful warm and wanting woman in my arms and we both need release. It’s not like I do this all the time.

  Giving a little laugh, her arms wrap around my neck as she stands on her toes. “Oh my God. I can’t stand up.”

  I lift her butt onto the table, spread her legs wide and she drops onto her elbows watching. With her black spandex skirt bunched around her waist exposing just a tiny thong, she’s my every wet dream come true. C’mon now. I’m only human.

  I can’t help but pull up on that lacy thing, making it caress her need. Then she moans, squirms, and her legs open wider.

  I could resist the temptress, but that ship sailed when she opened her legs. I slowly drag her soaked panties over her thighs, her calves, and her toes. I want her to feel how ready she is for me. When I caress her with my tongue, she moans out my name and I linger, enjoying how much she swells.

  When her plum is slick and pointing. I blow upon it, watching it quiver, thrilled she’s about to break.

  “Now, Colin, now. Please.” She lies back with her eyes closed, hair all over the place.

  It takes just the slightest nibble to make her come apart. Then my brain lights on fire as I scramble to set my weapon aside and search for a small metallic square. Damn it. I used to keep a condom stuck behind my Amex card.

  Hallelujah! There it is.

  Never have I wanted a woman so bad. I rip open the package with my teeth, unzip my jeans, and sheath. Instantly her legs squeeze tightly around my waist, heels locked behind my back. Her smell, her begging, and the way she looks at me make me just about lose it.

  She’s slick when I enter but suddenly she clamps so hard I can’t go further.

  I freeze. “You okay?”

  “Go Colin. Don’t stop.”

  More gently, I push deep into her tight core. My balls tighten as she takes me fully, still pulsing. And oh man, I try to start slow but she goes all rough and crazy-like, surprisingly strong as she bucks me toward oblivion.

  Fearful the glass under her ass will break, I swing her to the wall with her ankles still tight behind my back. Then I go all Neanderthal, grunting and sweating and needing release. The sweet agony is beyond anything I’ve ever expe
rienced.

  She shouts, shivers, and it’s so mind-blowing that I explode, pyrotechnics going off behind my eyelids. She comes again for me, shouting, shivering, tears running down her cheeks.

  Then I just hold her against the wall until our heartbeats calm. She feels so incredible that it’s torture to pull out but I need to get rid of the condom.

  “Be right back.” I kiss the tip of her little nose and follow the flowery scents to the bathroom.

  Right there is when it hits me. What did I just do? What about rule numero uno? No one-night-stands.

  When I return, her eyes are as wide open as mine were in the mirror. She sucks in her lower lip and the tops of her cheeks turn bright red. Then she rolls down her skirt, pushes a button on the wall, and slides behind a hidden panel.

  Not sure if I should follow, I slip into my jeans, grab my gun, and duck under the low framed doorway.

  Whoa. She’s got a posh mini-apartment behind her conference room, complete with stainless steel and granite. To my right is a twin bed against the wall. In the middle of her living space, a clawfoot tub is partially hidden behind an oriental divider. There’s a monitor covering the entirety of one wall along with a yoga mat rolled out on the floor.

  With eyes lowered, she crookedly buttons up her blouse and squeezes by me into her office. “You must be hungry.”

  My body reacts to her contact, all my senses still on fire.

  When she returns with my uneaten Chinese meal, I grab her waist with both hands. “Megan. Stop. Look at me. What’s wrong?”

  We both might be a little confused but I’m sure not sorry. People have sex all the time. It happens. Today she almost died and almost dying makes you want to enjoy life. That’s probably all this is.

  Who am I kidding? She’s sexy, incredible in bed, and I’m never going to want to let her go.

  “I don’t know…” Eyes focused on the food in her hands, she refuses to look up at me and I’m at a loss.

  This never happens to me.

  I’d tried to be gentle. Hadn’t I watched her every sweet expression, made her explode and scream out my name? More than once? But then again, there was that one moment, right as I entered, where her body had stiffened.

  “Do you want me to go?” I hold my breath, awkwardly leaning against the doorframe while she puts our leftovers in the microwave as if we just hadn’t had mind-blowing sex.

  “No.” She says it so quietly I can barely make it out.

  My gut wrenches. Somehow, I’d made her feel bad.

  Escaping my self-made exile, I walk across the room, wrap her into my arms and whisper in her ear, “Did I hurt you?”

  She twists around in a flash. “No, no. I just don’t want you to think… Oh, I don’t know what to say. I’ve never ever done something like this before.”

  She’s telling the truth and Neanderthal-man is thrilled but there’s a twisting in my gut that I haven’t felt for years. Meggie is obviously one of those good girls. The kind that save themselves for marriage. So why did she come on so strong?

  And more importantly, why did I respond?

  The bowl and a fork are the only signs that she wants me to stay. There’s a mystery to be solved so instead of the table, I sit cross legged on her futon and pat the mattress.

  Watching with a little smile, she wanders over, and slides next to me. Her knees draw into her chest and her back rests against the wall. Red-tipped toes touch my thighs and I can’t help but lean forward and tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. “Do you want to talk about what just happened?”

  Her mouth drops open. “Good God, no. Why? Do you?”

  I chuckle. “No. I’m good. Are you? Good?”

  “Yeah. Really, really good.” Her cheeks flame and when she smiles the whole damn apartment lights up.

  One thing that hasn’t changed a bit since she was a kid is this sparkle she gets in her eyes when she’s up to mischief. “But I should tell you about Jason.”

  “Jason? You’re seeing someone?” I play along but whoever he is, he’s out of the picture as of this moment. He can’t mean that much to her if she just cheated on him.

  “Yeah, Jason. My app.” She tilts her head, working hard to see if I got her joke.

  “Jason? You named your software?” I laugh, relieved I’m not going to have to beat up some ex and pleased she couldn’t read the jealousy on my face.

  “It’s a perfectly valid name. Jenna’s assistance software over network.” She juts out her chin so cute when she’s miffed.

  “Sorry. So, what did you want to tell me about Jason?” I had originally thought that tonight we’d discuss her software but now that we’re doing it, I’m uncomfortable.

  That first kiss of hers destroyed me. I never expected to have mind-blowing sex with Meggie McCarthy. I tug her back into my chest and nibble on her neck, it’s too late to keep her at arm’s length.

  “You were right. I let Jason break into the JTTF network this morning. I was testing out a beta version. Twisting around, she stares up at me with these big guileless eyes. “Imagine my shock when it worked. It exceeded my wildest expectations.”

  “But why break in? You already had a password, security clearance.” My inner cop takes over. It can’t be helped.

  “I don’t know. I guess I thought I could keep it hidden. Jason’s not ready. It would’ve been fine if you hadn’t questioned me.” A lower lip gets pouty even as she rests a hand on my knee.

  I grunt because if I said out loud what I was thinking, this budding new relationship would be over. Seriously? I was doing my job. She’s the one who was way out of line. Balancing work with this relationship is going to be tough. The scent of our sex lingers, reminding me what’s at stake. If I want this woman, I’ve got to keep cool.

  “Meggie, the IT guys are already having a field day. They’re going to insist you show them what you have.”

  “But it crashes. A whole lot. It’s too risky to put in production.” She grabs a small piece of my chicken. Chewing. Watching. For a genius, the woman’s naiveté is amazing.

  Suddenly I know what she’s done and can’t believe it. “Don’t tell me you installed this crashing version of Jason in our city’s network?”

  “No. Not really.” She’s lying.

  “What is that supposed to mean?” God damn it. I hate liars. So much for keeping my temper under control.

  She shouts back, “It’s better than anything out there and based on what happened this morning, you need it. But you don’t have to worry. I’ll watch it to make sure it doesn’t screw anything up.”

  “And if it does?” My heart pumps adrenaline through my system. I got a real bad feeling about this.

  “I’ll simply take it out and put the old version back in.” She stares at my face. “What’s wrong? Are you angry?”

  I lie. “No.”

  “Uh-huh.” Her arms cross over her chest, her eyes narrow, and she scoots to the further side of the futon.

  I blew it.

  “Listen. I’m sorry. Maybe you can let me try Jason out? Talk to it? Work with it? I just want to make sure it doesn’t pose a risk to the city. Maybe we can talk to one of my analysts that I trust. You can’t just let rogue software play within our firewalls.”

  She hesitates, chewing that lower lip, thinking.

  I push. “C’mon now. What harm could it do? The cat’s already out of the bag.”

  With a sigh, she holds out her hand. “Give me your cell phone.”

  I do and she quickly thumbs the keys. Then she points out a new icon with a blue circle and white characters; ‘V153.’

  Her sexy red-tipped fingers touch the back of my hand. “Besides me, you’re the only one with this version. It’s flakey. Make sure you constrain your search requests. Okay?”

  “Constrain?” I’m not sure what she means but her tone is ominous. Like in that movie when they say, ‘Never feed them after midnight.’

  She explains, “The program is child-like in its search for knowledge.
It’ll work forever to find the answers to your questions. So if you ask it an open ended one, eventually Jason will bring down your network. Understand?”

  That gives me the shivers. “When you perfect it, I bet it’ll be worth a fortune.”

  “Maybe, but I won’t live long enough to spend it.” Her eyebrows raise and it suddenly dawns on me why she’s so reluctant to let anyone know about her app. This morning, by using the software to save a busload of people, she became a huge target.

  “Why not just sell it? As is? Let a bigger company with more security deal with it?” My chest tightens at the thought of all the forces worldwide, gearing up to steal her app.

  “You know? I’ve asked myself that a zillion times. Compulsion? Patriotism? Maybe I’m an egomaniac. The truth is, there’s no one else who can bring Jason to life.”

  Her head shakes back and forth. Then, like earlier today in the restaurant, she suddenly just blanks out. Remembering how she came right back, I wait and recall the last day I saw little Meggie McCarthy.

  I knew she’d been crushing on me for the last three weeks and I tried to be gentle as we said our goodbyes. She’d shyly handed me a hand drawn card with a heart. Then I’d kissed the top of her head, told her someday she’d grow up to be gorgeous and guys would be all over her. Never in my wildest dreams did I figure it’d be me.

  Then she blinks. “What happened?”

  “You blanked out.” I lean over, grab her close, and wrap her in my arms. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  “It’s not that. It just happens sometimes.” Her wide-eyed expression shows no signs of lying so I relax. Then she unfolds long legs and leans her back into my chest. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Uh-huh.” I think she’s going to tell me more about Jason.

  “Can I see your tat?”

  “Sure.” I rest full length on my stomach, glad to change the subject until her nails circle the talons. Then she draws around the shoulder to shoulder wingspan causing goosebumps to run up and down my spine.

  “It’s odd, depending on the angle, it changes completely. It’s scary, like it could burn you up and tear you limb from limb. And yet friendly, too. Weird.” She kisses the center of my back and licks up and down my spine.