by Sydney Addae
“If we can save a life... prevent them from...it’s... it’s just inhumane.” His chin hit his chest. “How can they justify doing such things to people? To human beings?” His heart squeezed so tight, it hurt to breathe. All day he’d been agonizing over their barbaric behavior and couldn’t understand it.
“Silas, it’s not just our people. For ages, experiments have been going on against humans, animals and everything in between in the name of science,” she said wrapping her arms around the back of his shoulders before placing a kiss on his forehead. “It’s a part of their nature I guess. We have to accept that there will always be someone whose fear and curiosity will always drive them to seek ways to destroy us. Knowing that moves the ball in our court.”
“Huh?” He took her hand and pulled her around so he could see her clearly.
“Here’s the thing, they’re always going to do this.” She met his gaze. “Always. All the time. Forever. Never stop. Won’t quit. Every day.”
He held up his hand. “Got it.”
“Do you? Because you always seem... I don’t know, shocked, disappointed, pissed, some kind of way, when you find out they’re still doing what they’ve been doing since the Liege. Baby, it’s what they do. Accept it and then plan our offense and defense.”
His lips quirked at the stubborn tilt of her chin. Magnificent Bitch. “Offense is your network of spies, they keep us updated on any new activity in the area, so we’re a step ahead, right?”
She nodded slowly. “That’s one arm of offense, along with KnightForce. Do we have anything else?”
“A team of lawyers around the country, three Senators and 40 pack members in the House.”
She nodded.
“Pack in every layer of state and local government. Patrols, our own financial base, we own our land, businesses, schools and retail operations outright. Strong digital footprints, Hawke can access any system in the world, which supports your spy network.”
“Can you imagine what this Administration would do with the information identifying governors, state and local officials?” She shook her head. “How are we preparing for the counter-intelligence operation they’re sending our way?”
“I don’t think that operation is to gather a count for the White House. It’s to find our weaknesses to create a defense against us, that’s the Joint Chiefs mission.”
“Both need to be handled,” she said.
“Agreed. Your group will be our first set of eyes and ears.” Thinking it through he took it step by step. “Once identified, we’ll monitor the person, intercept their communications.” He’d have Hawke set something up. “Instead of disarming them, we’ll feed them erroneous information to send back to their base. Or transmit a bug to enter their system.” The more he thought about, he realized she was right. With the information they had, they should be more pro-active.
“What would the bug do?”
“Gather information, alert us to their next steps so we’re one step ahead, corrupt their Intel, disrupt their testing. Since they won’t ever stop coming for us, we feed them what we want them to know. Stay abreast of their technology and prepare defenses against them.” He looked at her and smiled. “I love you.” She got him thinking pro-actively, instead of being upset over things he couldn’t change.
“Those sound good, you’re going to have Hawke run point?”
“I’ll have him start it for sure, maybe let David and Storm handle it once it’s running. David’s always been good with computers.”
Jasmine agreed. “Offense is good but what do we do now? They’re knocking on our door making demands.”
He shared Angus’ idea and his reservations.
“I understand your concern,” she said thinking it through. “But it’s a good way to get reliable information and that’s what we’re going to need to set these traps, right?”
“Yes. And to get accurate information, it would be best to sift through Bents or Strait’s memories to understand who’s doing what and when. I think they’re the key.”
“That’s our goal then. Get the information from one or both of those men,” she said wrapping her arm around his neck and sitting in his lap. “Who would you send?”
“Angus.”
“I agree, he has experience and knows what the bracelet can do best. Do you think we can get inside before they set up their counter-intelligence? Get the names and locations of the people they’re sending?”
“We’ll try. Hawke has to be ready as well to infiltrate their system so we can track them once Angus has the names.”
She nodded and stood.
He held her hand. “Where are you going?”
“To talk to Hawke with you. The sooner we get this planned the better don't you think?”
Silas stood, brushed a kiss against her forehead. “Yes, of course, dear. Whatever you think is best, dear.”
Laughing, she pushed him. “You know I’m right.”
Holding hands, they walked down the hall toward Hawke’s lab. He was seated at a console and didn’t see them when they entered. “Hawke, a moment of your time,” Silas said realizing he’d given the man a huge task to complete earlier.
Hawke looked up and stood. “Of course, Sir, Mistress.”
Silas and Jasmine sat across from him and explained what they wanted offensively and defensively.
“Is there a way to access specific counter-intelligence information?”
“Like who’s assigned to us?” Jasmine added.
“There’s always a way, the challenge is time to figure it out. Some of their servers are like ours with no internet access. That’s where that type of classified information would be stored.”
“I know I’ve got you doing several things, do you need help?”
“Angus is on the way to go over his research with me. David and Storm are working on their projects. I have a team testing that program I told you about earlier. Once Angus arrives I go back into the database for another search.”
Silas nodded. “Let me know when you have candidates, human and pack.”
“Yes, Sir.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
FAYE ROLLED OVER, STRONG arms pulled her close. She snuggled backward into his warmth, loving the feel of him. Waking, his cock pulsed against her backside in greeting.
“Morning, lover,” she said stretching and slapping his hands. “I’ve gotta go.”
He released her and she headed to the bathroom. The past couple days had been perfect, no better than perfect, she thought as she washed her hands. Jarcee was just... she smiled when she thought of him. So passionate, but loving, gentle and sweet. He cooked for her, carried her to the kitchen, pool, and jacuzzi, naked of course, and focused a 100% on her. No one had ever looked at her as if she were an extremely precious jewel they wanted with them all the time.
Giddy with joy, she pressed her palm against her mouth to keep from giggling aloud. Her man had excellent hearing, something she learned the first night.
Inhaling, she appraised herself in the mirror and smiled. She looked a hot mess. No make-up, bed-hair, and hickey marks all over her neck, chest and places the mirror didn’t show. None of that mattered to Jarcee. The way he looked at her made her feel more beautiful, more confident, and loved. They had spent the entire weekend together, she never left after dinner Friday night. Or put on any clothes. That bought another wide grin to her face.
The man was insatiable, then again, so was she. Either she’d climb on him, or he’d wake her and they had sex all night and most of the days.
Faye could say without hesitation, she was thoroughly screwed. A giggle slipped out and she slapped her palm over her mouth before looking at the door.
Re-entering the bedroom, she tried not to feast her gaze on his naked body but couldn’t help it. She was positive no other man would ever compare to Jarcee and prayed she didn’t mess things up, something she’d been accused of doing in the past.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said in that husky voice that
stripped away her will.
Marshalling her strength she forced her gaze away and picked up his robe. “Beautiful has to go to work today. Office meeting at 10. “Please, please convince me to stay,” she prayed silently.
“Work?” he sounded confused.
She chuckled but didn’t face him. “Yes, we talked about it Friday.” She whistled. “I’ve been here all weekend.”
“I loved having you here with me, wish you could be here all the time.” He sounded so sincere, her eyes watered. She heard him move, felt his hands on her shoulder.
“There will never be another woman for me, no one else is you. I belong to you, Faye, heart, mind, and body.” His voice held a ring of commitment and truth.
A shudder ran through her, she felt dizzy. What was he saying? They hadn’t known each other long enough to say things like that to each other.
“Jarcee... I... we...” Thoughts scrambled, she tried to think of an appropriate answer.
“We are a... couple. A forever couple,” he said turning her to face him. He placed his finger under her chin and tipped her face upward. “You’re mine, I’m yours. It’s that simple for me.” He brushed his lips against her, stealing her will to argue or deny him anything.
Faye wrapped her arms around his waist and breathed in his unique woodsy scent. Nobody smelled as good as this man. Last night he’d been talking all kinds of sexy things. “You said that last night, didn’t you?” She snuggled closer, smiling. He’d had her repeat what he said just before taking her to the moon, she saw stars. Her body shook so hard he held her close whispering things to her.
“Yes, I did and I will always tell you the same things as well as show you,” he promised.
She believed him. Finally, at the ripe age of 35, she met her soul-mate. When she got to work, she’d call her mom. No, she had better wait until they had a week under their belt or her mom would start planning a wedding.
“You’ve got nothing to say?”
She snapped out of it and smiled. “I don’t want anyone else either. You’ve ruined me for anyone else, I want us to be together as long as we can.”
He frowned. “As long as we can?”
She didn’t want to jinx the relationship, it was too new and she’d messed up in the past. “Yeah, things happen. Life happens, but I promise to do everything on my end to make us work.” She rubbed away his frown with her fingertip.
“I cannot lose you, Faye,” he said in between nibbles on her neck.
“You won’t.” The idea of growing old with a strong, handsome, horny man grew more appealing by the minute.
“Would you like to move in here?” he asked. “Or I could stay with you.”
The idea held merit, she hadn’t received an answer from the seller on a home she’d offered a lower amount than the asking price. She could definitely move here from the Extended Stay place.
“That might be something we can do,” she said and explained her situation with the sales contract she had submitted and countered.
“If there are any penalties, I’ll take care of it,” he offered, surprising her.
“Mama’s going to love you,” she said taking a step back to look for her dress.
“What about you? Will you love me?”
She met his earnest gaze and choked back the truth. Instead, she said. “Probably in time.”
“That’s fair.” He paused. “Where are your parents?”
Pleased he didn’t press on the “love question” she picked up her dress and shook it out. She’d need to shower and head back to the hotel. “Actually, she’s my step-mother. My biological mother died when I was an infant, I don’t know anything about her.” Normally she didn’t share the complicated details of her family but she wanted him to know.
“My dad had an affair with my mom. They dated a year or so, off and on. She got pregnant. My dad’s first wife divorced him when she found out, they didn’t have any kids. When I was born, my mom left me on my father’s doorstep. She died shortly after. My step-mom was originally my babysitter, she had two young sons. Mom and dad fell in love and we became a family.”
He smiled. “She raised an amazing woman.”
“Yes, she did. I love her and my brothers. She and daddy are still going strong.”
“Do you ever wonder about your biological mother?”
“No, never have. She’s not a part of my life.” She pulled on her dress. “What about your family? Are they still in Norway?”
He tilted his head in thought. “I have not been there in many years, so I’m not sure. Would you like me to check into it?”
Was he serious? Yes, yes he was. “Do you want to know?” She couldn’t imagine him not being curious.
“Not really. I have close friends who I consider family.”
She definitely understood that. “In that case no reason to look them up.” She zipped up her dress and searched for her shoes.
“I’ll follow you to your hotel and bring your things back here. What would you like to eat when you come home?”
Home. Hearing that word from him resonated throughout her body. Jarcee was home.
No. They’d just met. The sex was great. She hadn’t gotten bored like she normally did. Being with him was peaceful and stimulating. A place of refuge and fortitude.
Yes. Home.
“I like green salads with meat, seafood’s good too. When I get home later we can go to the grocery store together if you want.” She would like that, it made things seem normal, not rushed.
“Okay.” He pulled on a pair of jeans and sweatshirt and looked utterly fantastic. Men, she thought as she searched for a comb and picked up his hairbrush to try and tame her short curls.
FAYE STRODE INTO THE office smiling ten minutes before the start of the meeting and sat in her cubicle. Jarcee. Her heart sang as she thought about him. God, please let this work. He was perfect for her, she prayed he didn’t change. When they reached her lodgings, while she showered and changed, he packed her things and checked her out. By the time she was dressed, his car was loaded with her things. She planned to make this a short day.
“Meeting’s starting in the conference room,” Beth said from the front of the hall. Faye and several others walked in that direction. She chose a seat near the door next to a guy who had been polite to her last week.
He inhaled, stood and leaned against the wall.
In a good mood, she didn’t think much about his behavior and drifted through the hour-long meeting thinking of Jarcee.
“Faye?” Mr. Nelson called her once the meeting was over.
She smiled at a female associate and waited until the room cleared some before making her way to the front.
“Yes?” Her gaze slid from him to Beth and back again.
“That information regarding areas that are protected, I sent it to your email, have you looked at it?”
Heat seared her cheeks, but she remained professional. “Not yet, I’ll get on it now.”
He frowned but didn’t say anything as she walked off and returned to her cubicle. She pulled up the email, read the contents but couldn’t focus. Jarcee crowded her thoughts.
She missed him. Not a simple miss him, but a gut-wrenching need to see, touch, hear and taste him, miss him. For several minutes she sat at her desk trying to understand what was going on with her. Why nausea? Without a thought of the consequences, she grabbed her purse, left the building and went to Jarcee.
When she arrived he’d been pulling his car out of the driveway and stopped. She parked her car next to his, joy at seeing him filled her belly. Arms outstretched she ran and jumped into his arms. Hugging him tight around the neck, her stomach eased, and focus returned.
“I missed you,” she said.
“Same here, I was on my way to get you,” he admitted.
Laughing she leaned back and smiled at him. “Really? Well here I am, let’s put the cars in the garage and I’ll unpack.”
He kissed her again and released her slowly. Giddy w
ith relief and sublime joy at being with him again, she pulled into the garage and holding hands they went inside. She never wanted to be separated from him again.
CHAPTER TWELVE
SILAS ENTERED HAWKE’S lab, nodded at David, and Storm who sat at a nearby table looking at monitors. The past two days they’d been intensely searching for Taurus’ location and believed they were close.
Hawke stood and met Silas half-way. They entered a small conference room. “Angus is on his way. Gem just finished treating Shyla and he needed to get her settled.”
Hawke nodded and leaned back in his chair, crossed his hands over his belly with a satisfied smile. “We’ve had several visitors lately. I retraced a few, didn’t get any traction. Except for one.” His grin broadened. “Initially I thought it was a joke, someone appearing inexperienced to set a trap.” He shrugged. “No harm in checking it out. I sent a nice gift along as a welcome and it went off five minutes ago.” He shook his head. “Can’t believe that happened.”
Silas wasn’t sure what Hawke was talking about.
“They think we’re stupid, amateurs or they want to know how sophisticated we are,” Hawke continued.
“No surprise there,” Silas said becoming more interested.
“They sent something easily traceable to tempt us into a response, no doubt trying to track us back to our database to infect. I intercepted them before they reached the dummies we have set up, skipped a few of their protocols and hacked one of their servers.”
“Okay.” Silas didn’t see why this excited Hawke.
“Sir, this was a trap, something they could turn around and perhaps bring hacking charges against the Nation. Instead of corrupting their data or stealing it, I slapped their wrists.” He laughed.
“For the next hour, whenever anyone tries to access that server, after five seconds, the screen will go blank and a Gif of a person’s hand being spanked will appear.”
Silas laughed. Genius.
“It’s a nuisance more than anything and once they check the servers they’ll be able to verify nothing was stolen or altered.” Hawke’s grin widened as Angus entered the room.
