by Roni Loren
She took the offered card and pulled out one of her own to hand to him. Grace would’ve been proud. She’d finally handed out a business card. “Thanks. Here’s mine.”
He tucked the card in the inside pocket of his sport coat. “And my offer for the hotel stands. I don’t want you feeling unsafe.”
She tried not to notice how close he was now and that he smelled like some combination of minty shampoo and expensive coffee. “That’s okay. I live in a duplex and the two guys next door are already on alert. Plus, I’m not going to be caught with my Taser at the bottom of my purse again.”
Ren’s expression turned grim. “I hate that our game is part of this. I know you don’t know me, but this isn’t the kind of thing I take lightly. One of the main reasons I developed Hayven was to provide a safe place for people to explore that private side of themselves without having to deal with the risks involved in trying to find real-life kink partners. That’s why I require my gamemasters to be relentless when policing harassers or trolls. I never wanted anyone to feel anything but protected. It truly is supposed to be a haven. That’s always been my goal.”
Cora blew out a breath. She knew that much to be true. She’d seen issues crop up in the game and promptly knocked down. One guy who constantly made disgusting comments to women in the game was struck by lightning and burnt to a crisp, never to be seen again. Another who always interrupted other people’s play was swept away by a velociraptor. That one had made her laugh. “I’ve seen your gamemasters get pretty creative with deactivating accounts.”
The corner of Ren’s mouth kicked up. “They’re two very sadistic, very creative women with sick senses of humor. The job fits them perfectly.”
She slid his card in the front pocket of her purse. “I appreciate that you recognize how serious this is. I promise I’ll do everything I can to get it fixed and get your system better protected. There’s nothing more dangerous than information in the wrong hands.”
“Agreed.” He put his hand on her lower back. “Come on. I’ll walk you out and get you set up with Shari.”
The touch was just as electric as the first, but this time it seemed even more intimate—those long fingers gently pressed against the dip in her spine. She imagined that hand sliding farther down, gripping her flesh like he’d gripped that woman’s hair. No.
A shuddery breath went through her, but she fought hard not to show any reaction otherwise. She reminded herself that she would be working with this man, that he had shown no interest in her anyway, and that she was only reacting like this because he was unfairly good-looking and she had too much pent-up sexual energy. He was cheesecake and she was the girl on a diet. This would pass.
Ren led her out of his office and toward the hallway. His hand remained parked on her back as they turned the corner and he chatted with her about the company. But before they could make it to the lobby, a door opened on the left ahead of them and a massive roadblock filled the space.
A man with Greek-god arms stepped into the hallway. His face was hidden by the stack of boxes he was carrying, but there was no missing the size of the guy when he turned his back to them and started down the hallway.
Oh my. Cora couldn’t help but take in the view. As tall as Ren, if not taller, with Atlas shoulders and an ass that did things to the worn pair of jeans that were bordering on obscene. He bent over to set down the boxes at the end of the hallway, and she had to bite her lip to keep from groaning aloud.
Ren made a sound under his breath.
She quickly turned her head. “What?”
He gave a smug smile as they continued walking. “Nothing.”
Shit. Had she made some sort of noise? She hoped to hell she hadn’t.
“Hey, Fox,” Ren called out when they got within a few steps of the man.
“Yeah?” The guy straightened the boxes so that they wouldn’t tip over and turned their way, his gaze landing first on Ren and then sliding to Cora.
The front view was even better than the back. Green eyes, gold-brown hair that would probably be curly if grown out, and a stubbled jaw that should’ve made him look harsh but only fired up her long-standing Indiana Jones fantasies. He looked like he should be chasing bad guys through the jungle instead of in some tech office.
Cora smoothed a hair away from her face and tried for a polite smile, but she wasn’t sure the expression made it all the way there. And he didn’t return any warmth if it did. If anything he looked wary.
Ren nodded toward her. “I wanted to introduce you to Cora Benning. I’ve just hired her to fix some security issues in one of the games. She’ll start Monday.”
Fox frowned. “Security issues?”
“Yeah. I’ll go over it with you in a few minutes. I’m just walking Cora out to take care of details with HR.”
Fox put his hand out. “Hayes Fox.”
His voice was a rumble, that growing thunder right before a storm reached you. She took the offered hand, and the minute his fingers wrapped around hers in a firm hold, all intelligent thought emptied from her brain.
Ren clapped Hayes on the shoulder. “Hayes is the co-owner and our CFO. He’s been working remotely as of late, but he’s moving back into his office today. So you’ll be seeing him around.”
Hayes was unapologetically holding her gaze, evaluating her, reading her. She didn’t know if she was passing whatever test he was giving her, but she couldn’t seem to look away. Or act like a normal human being. Use your words, Cora. She swallowed past the knot in her throat and pushed down the ridiculous reaction. “Nice to meet you.”
His eyes narrowed for a second, like he’d noticed some chink in her armor, and she shifted uncomfortably in her Converse, but then he released her hand. “Well, I’ve got to get the rest of this stuff out of the office. I’ll leave you to it.”
He stepped past them without waiting for a response. She couldn’t help but turn to watch him go. When he was out of sight, she let out a nervous laugh. “Well, that went great.”
Ren gave a dismissive shrug. “Nah, don’t worry. That was Fox’s version of a warm welcome. You’re good. Come on.”
Cora followed him down the hallway, but when she peered back one last time, she saw Hayes leaning against his doorjamb—watching them with a deep frown.
That same odd, crackling awareness moved over her. Danger. She turned forward and rubbed the goose bumps from her arms.
Maybe she should’ve stuck with helping out at Marv’s Auto Parts.
SIX
Hayes stood in the doorway of Ren’s office, two cups of fresh coffee in his hands. The windows were dark at this hour, and Ren had his back to him as he sat in front of his triumvirate of monitors. His hand gripped the back of his head and his legs were splayed out in front of him like he’d just run a marathon and collapsed in the chair.
“That bad?” Hayes walked over and set the coffee on the corner of Ren’s messy desk. Ren had briefed him this morning on the security breach, but then had told him not to worry about it, that he’d handle things. Hayes hated that Ren still felt like he had to kid-glove him with work stuff. So he’d insisted on taking on the logistical tasks while Ren dug into the game to see what he could find.
Ren had relented and Hayes had introduced himself to the team, even though that’d been the last thing he’d wanted to do today. Everyone had seemed professional and welcoming enough. Ren had obviously prepped them that they should be expecting him to return soon, but he’d caught a few watchful glances. He was sure there were whispers after he’d left the room, but there was nothing he could do about that. It was a new part of his existence that he was going to have to get used to. Released or not, he was a former convict. People would always wonder if he’d really done that horrible crime and had simply had enough money to get away with it.
But Ren was right. He couldn’t hide forever. There was a company to run. So he’d gotten the
awkward introductions out of the way, and then had delegated what needed to be done for the day. He’d gotten them to take Hayven offline. Then he’d set up a refund for this month’s members to compensate for the downtime. He’d drafted a notice to go out to everyone to be on the lookout for fake emails. Despite the fact that they were in crisis mode, being busy had actually felt good. He liked having a mission, an objective.
But now it was bordering on eleven at night. Everyone else had gone home for the weekend and Ren had barely left his office. The guy could go into obsessive hyperfocus mode with stuff like this. He’d forget to eat and sleep if no one reminded him to take a break.
Ren ran a hand over his face and rocked forward in his chair to grab the coffee. “I don’t know. I can’t find anything obviously wrong, but I can feel the bastard’s dirty fingerprints all over my game. And I know systems get attacked every day, but this feels like more than that. Be a troll, a troublemaker, a thief—fine, whatever. But this shit could get someone seriously hurt. Cora could’ve been raped.”
“It definitely feels personal,” Hayes said, stepping to the side and eyeing the row of Ren’s drawings. Though members could personalize their characters, Ren had designed the components and liked to see how people put them together. A version of Master Dmitry was pinned up there, but Ren had left him shirtless and had inked in elaborate tattoos of snaking, thorny vines over his chest. Dmitry was trying to grab at them but they were part of his skin, leaving him in beautifully rendered anguish as he tore at himself. Hayes looked away, afraid Ren would notice his lingering attention on the art. “This attack took time to orchestrate. Whoever it was had to know enough about the game—who was talking to whom, who lived where—to even set it up.”
“Exactly,” Ren said, tone grim. “It has intent.”
Hayes turned away from the wall of drawings and watched the steam curl off his coffee. “Did Cora say anything about possible enemies? A crazy ex or something?”
Ren’s chair squeaked as he stretched. “I didn’t have time to ask, but we can pick her brain on Monday. I was hoping to figure out if she was the only one affected or if it’s more widespread. That would answer some questions and give us a place to start.”
Hayes looked up. “If it’s more widespread, we’re fucked. No one’s going to play a game like Hayven if they think their information isn’t protected.”
Ren groaned. “I don’t even want to consider that possibility. We finally get solid investors backing us and our most profitable product could go up in flames.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ll wait until Monday before I panic. Hopefully, Cora will be able to find the clues and trails I don’t know how to see and we can stop this before it goes any further. I was hoping I could do something to help tonight, but this is above my pay grade.”
Hayes perched on the edge of the credenza. “You know for a fact that she’s skilled enough for this job?”
Ren lowered his hand from his face and gave him a what-the-fuck look. “Of course. Why else would I hire her?”
Hayes sniffed. “Don’t forget how well I know you. You feel guilty because she was attacked. Plus, I saw how close to her you were standing.”
“Dude, I feel like absolute shit that she was attacked. It could’ve been so . . . I can’t even think about it.” A haunted look flashed through his eyes. “But that’s not why I hired her. I went with my gut. And based on what I found on the résumé she sent me, I was spot on. She went to a good school and has worked for two top-tier companies. The only ding was that she apparently quit her last job with Braecom without notice. But there’s a story there. She’s not the flighty type.”
“Oh, so you already know her type, huh?”
Ren shrugged. “I’m good at reading people. I know flighty. I’m flighty. She’s definitely not. She’s the type that probably has some itemized life plan written down with little checkboxes next to each task. Something went down at the last job to make her leave.”
“And the reason you were standing so close?” Hayes pressed.
The corner of his mouth twitched—Ren’s mischief mode. “I was doing that for the same reason you were giving her the shakedown.”
Hayes grabbed his coffee and sipped. “There was no shakedown. I barely said a word to her.”
“Bullshit. She caught your attention just like she caught mine. There’s something about her that’s just . . . I don’t know. Interesting. Like she’s got good secrets.”
He wasn’t going to honor that with a reaction, but Ren was right. Something about Cora had made him want to keep looking, to extend the conversation. He didn’t quite understand the reaction. She was far from his usual type. When it came to women, he was typically attracted to ones with more in-your-face sex appeal, ones who embraced that ultra-feminine look. But Cora had been rocking some female Clark Kent vibe with her dark-rimmed glasses, skinny jeans, and a vintage Mystery Machine T-shirt that hugged her body just enough to reveal her barely-there curves. That tomboy look worked on her. Plus, a woman with a mind sharp enough to do high-level computer security and who hadn’t retreated when he’d held her gaze? That was all too intriguing. Which meant he needed to steer clear. “I don’t see it.”
Ren snorted. “Oh, come on. You eye-fucked her in that way you used to do before we put a submissive through a scene. I’m surprised you didn’t ask her for a safe word and make her call you sir.”
Hayes winced.
“And she stared right back—all bold and shit.” Ren’s smile was far too amused. “I almost got a semi just watching the two of you. She’d be a challenge. A quiet one with all those hard-to-crack layers? Hot.”
“Ren.” His tone held warning.
He held up a hand. “Don’t get your feathers fluffed, Fox. I’m just calling it like I see it. And it was nice to see you give that look, to know that you’re still capable. It’s been a long time.”
Hayes rubbed his brow and closed his eyes, a headache brewing. “It was just a look. And even if it was what you’re saying, she’s going to be an employee. And she’s young.”
“She’s twenty-six. And we’re contracting her services. I’m not her boss. And neither are you.”
Hayes’s head lifted at that. “Uh-uh. Don’t go looking for loopholes, Muroya. The woman just got attacked because of our game. She’s going to be working with us. Plus, you don’t know anything about her. She probably already has a boyfriend or a girlfriend. She—”
“Watched me get a blow job from Naomi last night at the party and liked it.”
“What?”
Ren looked all too pleased at Hayes’s shock. He rocked back in his chair. “I did a scene last night. Chris Jenkins has a cuckolding kink and asked for my help. We were going to try it at The Ranch, but when we ran into each other at the party, I figured, why not? So Naomi and I snuck off into a hallway. I thought we were alone, but then I looked up and there was this woman in the dark, watching us.”
“You’ve got to be shitting me. Cora?”
“Yep. Apparently, she’d been in the hallway already when we arrived. And, man, it was intense. She looked so . . . entranced. I could tell she wanted to stay. But I spooked her and she bailed. I found her at the party afterward, thinking maybe she was new to The Ranch since there were a lot of members at the party. But she was freaked out, and obviously shocked by what she’d seen. We didn’t even exchange names.” He shrugged. “I thought it was done. Then, boom, here she was today. She had no idea she was coming to see me. You should’ve seen her face when she realized who I was. I almost felt bad for her. Until she checked me out. Then I just felt other things. So, obviously, it’s fate.”
Hayes ran a hand over the back of his head. “Fate is bullshit.”
Was it fate that had locked him in a cage for three years? Fuck fate.
And he didn’t want to think about blow jobs in dark hallways, of watching or being watched, of the woman
he was going to be working with being interested in that kind of thing. He didn’t need to know these details. He wanted to think of Cora as a sexless entity. A bot who would be working on their computers. Just like he was trying to think of Ren as a sexless best friend.
“You said she was freaked out by what she saw. So she’s not kinky?” Hayes’s words came out like a prayer.
Ren set his coffee aside and tilted back in his chair, making the springs groan again. “She says no. She wouldn’t tell me who she is in the game. She said she just likes video games and is an observer in Hayven.”
“There are lots of those. That’s half our subscriber base.” Hayes should know. He used to be one of those lurkers up until a few months ago when he’d met Lenore. But, of course, Ren didn’t know any of that. Ren didn’t know he played at all.
“Yeah. But I know what I saw last night, and I see how she reacts to me—how she reacted to you. Maybe she does just observe, but she’s lying to herself if she thinks she’s unaffected. She’s wound up tighter than a ball of rubber bands and dying of curiosity. A voyeur at the very least. I saw it all over her face last night. She’s freaked out by the urge, but it’s there. You know what that does to me, Hayes.”
Hayes groaned. “Stop.”
Ren had always had a fetish for the newbies. He liked teaching and opening up people’s world, that process of discovery. He’d prepare them for the lifestyle and then let them go so they could find a long-term relationship. That’s how Ren’s brain operated—new, new, new. He always wanted a new challenge, a new rush. But no one who would expect him to stick around.
He sipped his drink. “What does it matter to you anyway? You’re doing your thing. I’m doing mine. If something happens between me and Cora, that doesn’t have to affect you.”
Hayes’s jaw clenched.
Ren’s eyes narrowed, gaze shrewd. “Unless you want it to.”
