by Meg Ripley
Erica’s mouth worked as she tried to formulate some way of explaining it, no doubt ready to use an excuse similar to the ones she used for herself when she got through a mission with more than just training and smarts.
He snagged the transmitter from her before she had to do it again. “You know how I am,” he said drily into the radio. “I’ve got a nose for these things.”
Winston didn’t ask any further questions, even though Jack knew there would probably be a list of them waiting for him when they made it out of there.
“Right. Is anyone onto you yet? You’re rural enough that I can’t arrange an extraction for a while yet.”
“I don’t think so,” Jack replied. “We’ve got a couple of minor casualties, but only control over one of them.” Given that Ben had already hidden this massive computer system from them, Jack wouldn’t doubt it if someone was monitoring the airwaves. Granted, the frequency should be encrypted, but he didn’t like to take any chances and kept things as vague as possible. The blonde woman Erica had choked would either come to or be found soon, and that could mean the end of the mission for them if they were discovered. The mechanic was silent and still on the floor, a trickle of blood leaking from his nose and down his lips. The one saving grace Jack could latch onto was that there didn’t seem to be many weapons on the compound.
“I’ll see what I can do. I need the rest of those coordinates.”
Erica had stilled in front of her computer console. “It looks like that’s not going to be possible,” she whispered.
Jack let go of the radio button, speaking to her directly. “What’s wrong?”
“The file has been corrupted.” She tapped angrily at the keyboard. “If I had my guess, I’d say Ben or one of his cohorts put a self-destructive virus in the system. As soon as it detected the hack, it started destroying the files. I got most of them, but it’s begun erasing all the information.” Erica worked away, but she shook her head in frustration.
He took over on the computer, using every skill he’d ever had hammered into him in the intelligence field. The graphic user interface was set up like most computers, only allowing the user into the part of the system that was easy to understand. Jack moved into the back side of the operating system, pummeling the keyboard as he typed in commands. “Here. Read these off to Winston. I’ve got some of them.”
Erica stood at his shoulder and fired off the coordinates over the radio as quickly as they appeared on the screen. Winston reported that a few of them were repeats, but they were making progress.
“There’s still one here,” Jack growled. His focus was entirely on the screen. Vaguely, he thought he heard shouts outside the building. As long as no one realized where the two of them had gone, they’d be safe for the moment. “I can’t get it. The virus has it.”
A gasp sounded over his shoulder as Erica pointed to the column of numbers next to the coordinates. “Look. They’re put in order according to when they were supposed to leave. The one right above it is the car Lucy and I were supposed to take. That should mean this last one has already left.”
“Fuck.” Jack slammed his fist into the keyboard. “We’ve got to get out there and find them.”
“But all the cars are loaded with explosives,” Erica argued. “We don’t even know what will trigger them.”
“Then what do you propose we do?” Jack rumbled. The only positive aspect he could concentrate on was the fact that they weren’t in a metropolitan area. Even if everything went wrong, the casualties would stay low. He’d prefer none.
She put her hand on his shoulder, and when Jack turned to look up at her, Erica’s eyes were blazing. “I’ll find it.”
He pointed helplessly at the computer screen. “How? There are traces of a file here that indicate Ben was going to track all the vehicles via GPS, but that’s corrupted now, too.” Everything he tried just turned to dust in his hands, and it unsettled him on a very deep level.
Erica set the transmitter on the desk, where neither of them was touching the button. “Astral projection.”
She looked so calm and tranquil as she spoke, but Jack felt ripples of unease on the underside of his skin. His fox was anxious now, ready for action. “I think I’ve heard of that before, but I don’t know anything about it.”
“If I leave my physical body and go out into the world, I can find the car faster than even the DHS.” Erica looked like a goddess as she stood before him, her tousled hair flowing around her shoulders and her voice quiet and steady.
“Have you done this before?” Jack could feel control quickly escaping his grasp.
“Of course.”
“But on a mission?” he pressed. “When someone could burst in here at any minute?”
The corner of her mouth jerked. “Not so much, but it’s the best solution I can come up with. It’s either that or try to get all the information out of Ben, if we can even find him.”
He swiped a hand over his face. Jack definitely wanted to get his hands on Ben, whether he gave them any further details or not. But Erica was right. They didn’t have any time left to lose. “Tell me what I can do to help.”
Erica launched into an explanation of how it worked as she cleared off one of the desks. “Astral projecting is basically what people refer to as an out-of-body experience. These happen when people undergo medical trauma or accidentally find themselves in an altered state that allows them to separate their minds from their bodies. The big difference is that I’ll be doing it on purpose.” She hoisted herself onto the surface of the desk and took off her shoes.
“That sounds dangerous.” The room was getting hotter, smaller. Jack tugged at the collar of his shirt.
“To a degree, but I’ve done it before. It’ll be fine.” She shook out her hair and laid down, closing her eyes.
Jack swallowed. He wasn’t the one who had brought Erica into this mess, yet he still felt incredibly responsible for her. That bond they’d forged the other night in his room hadn’t been an accident. He knew she was his mate, and he wasn’t about to lose her now; they shared a destiny. Seeing her laid out on the desk, she looked so vulnerable. What if she somehow got lost out there without a physical body to be attached to? He’d never forgive himself. “What can I do to help?” he whispered.
Shouts were emanating from somewhere just outside the building now, and her brow furrowed over her closed eyes. “I’ve got to relax every part of my body before I use something called the rope technique. It’s basically like climbing right out of myself. But I’ve got to get into the right state of mind to do it.” She chewed her lip. “Lay your hand on my shoulder.”
He did as he was told and felt her body relax under his touch.
She sighed, a sensual sound that made his own flesh react, even though this definitely wasn’t the time for it. “That’s better. There’s something about you that calms me down, Jack.” Erica said nothing else as the rest of her body went slack.
Jack watched impatiently, looking for a sign that something was happening. Minutes dragged by in silence. Someone went thundering down the hall, but Jack kept his hand on her shoulder and waited. He pressed his forehead into his free hand and thought about the way the two of them had linked just a short time ago in the parking area. Jack’s mind had automatically sought her out when he had something to tell her, and Erica was so receptive that she’d picked it up immediately. Could it possibly work the other way around?
Still keeping his fingers against her skin, Jack let his human body go. Shivers of concern rippled over his skin as the human side of him wondered if this was a good idea. There were other shifters there, but they could be bears or lions. Ben had suppressed those urges to keep everyone placid, but all hell was about to break loose. Jack didn’t know which of his forms he would need to fight them off. He did, though, know which form would work the best to help Erica.
What had only a moment ago been the faint sounds of the recruits outside sharpened into intense vibrations as his ears molded and moved
. He only had to close his eyes to track each of them as they moved past the outside corner of the building, some of them running toward the cars. The concrete floor was cool to the touch under his paw pads, but still, he kept one black paw on Erica’s shoulder. The room grew bigger as he grew smaller.
The power of his mind, however, had shifted completely. He was not just a former intelligence officer with the Army who had the training and skills to take down terrorists. He carried with him the knowledge of all the generations that had come before him, all the shifters who had honed their animalistic sides and understood their instincts. His mind reached out, a nebulous energy that sizzled through the air.
The link took his breath away as Jack was no longer in the computer room, but flying over the treetops. The creature alongside him was Erica, but not in the state he recognized. Her entire form sparked with blue light, a being of energy and not of body, and she was all the more beautiful. Jack could feel the air through his fur as they scoured the road beneath them. His paw still rested on the area of her shoulder, even in this form. Erica’s hand touched his and sent flickers of energy through him.
There! He heard the word as though she’d said it, but the current configuration of Erica hadn’t moved her lips.
Jack looked down. He’d hardly even noticed that they’d reached the edge of town. A car, the same convertible Erica had been standing near not so long ago, was racing across city limits. It shot through an intersection, narrowly missing a grain truck before whipping around a corner.
Erica tilted, flying after it, and Jack automatically went with her. He studied the form in the driver’s seat, wishing he hadn’t just recognized Ted Costello. The shifter was flooring the vehicle, driving hell-bent for leather with that same brilliant grin on his face. Jack gritted his pointed teeth, impatient to see where this man was going. Erica had been destined for a church, the kind of place that was very prevalent in a small town like Hortonburg. Was Ted heading for another one?
But when Jack looked ahead, he could see that wasn’t the case. The red convertible was zooming straight toward the town square, right where city hall and a big clock tower stood.
That’s it! He could feel Erica’s words inside his mind more than he could hear them. Tell them, Jack! Tell them! I can’t get back there fast enough!
Jack had fought between his human and animal side on many occasions, but he’d never had to fight between his spirit and his physical form. Pain bristled through his body as he tore himself away from the scene before his eyes. He staggered against the side of the desk as he fell back into himself. The transformation back into his human form felt like a cross-country trip, a wondrous journey that left him exhausted. He grabbed the transmitter with hands that didn’t even feel like his own. “City hall,” he gasped into the device. “The square!”
The two seconds of silence that followed was an eternity. “We’ve got it. And I’ve got a unit coming straight up the road to your location.”
* * *
Chopper blades thumped overhead, but this time, they weren’t being operated by Max. Jack didn’t know the pilot who brought them back down to Kentucky, and he wasn’t sure that he cared. He leaned his head against the back of the seat and closed his eyes, feeling only Erica’s serene presence next to him.
“That was an interesting run, you two,” Mr. Worth said by way of greeting when they stood in front of his desk in the main cabin a few minutes later. “I’m still trying to figure out exactly what happened. I brought you here in the hopes of getting a more detailed explanation, but you look like you barely even have the energy to walk.”
Erica slowly blinked up at Jack before turning to the director. “It’s been a bit of a rough go, even if it was short.”
“Well, the important thing is that you got in there just in time. I wasn’t completely convinced you’d find any evidence against Ben Jones. He kept everything under wraps, and most of the recruits weren’t even aware of the plan until this morning, from what I’ve been told.” He slapped the desk and reached into a drawer. “The man is in our custody, though. Can I interest either of you in a celebratory cigar?”
“No, thanks.” Jack figured he’d regret that later, but Mr. Worth hadn’t underestimated his exhaustion. “I just want to get some rest.”
Mr. Worth waved them off. “Your cabins are still waiting for you. Might as well get a little shuteye before Winston gets back. The man has been talking my head off the entire time.”
The two of them shuffled back out the door, and Erica’s footsteps fell in next to his. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“I’m not sure how good of a conversationalist I am right now, but sure.” He managed a small smile.
The sun was sinking behind the giant trees, the pink light illuminating her face as she studied his. “As I told you, all my life, I’ve felt like I’ve been alone. We moved all the time, and I was never in one spot long enough to make any real friends. I’ve never even felt like I’m from any one place. As I’ve gotten older, those feelings stayed with me.”
Jack listened quietly. He had plenty to say, and he’d thought about sharing it with her a thousand times since leaving Ben’s compound, but he hadn’t been sure when the right time was or if there would ever be one. “I know.”
“Working with you has been completely different. I resented you. I didn’t trust you. I didn’t even know how to be in the same room as you. But now I feel like I’ve lived an entire lifetime just in the last few days. I’m not the same person I was a week ago.”
Jack opened the door to his cabin. His body was completely drained from the lengths they’d had to go to in order to successfully complete this mission, yet he felt energy slowly flowing back into him just from being near her. He turned to Erica and ran his palms down her arms. “I understand that, too. I’ve almost always worked alone, and even when I didn’t, I still kept to myself. You and I couldn’t exactly do that, could we?”
Hope shimmered in her eyes. “I’ve never had anyone get inside my head like that before, Jack. And not even just in my head, but in my heart. In my soul. I don’t know if it’s fate like you mentioned or something else, but I love you. I know I shouldn’t say it, but I’ve spent an entire lifetime covering up what I saw or felt because I didn’t think anyone would understand. But you’ve been inside my mind. I like to think you’ve already seen it.”
“I have.” Jack ran the back of his fingers down her cheek. She could be so strong and stubborn, yet inside her lived a surreally beautiful creature who just wanted to love and be loved. “I have seen it, and it’s the most incredible thing I’ve ever witnessed. I love you, too.”
He couldn’t say then if his head bent down to meet hers or if Erica rose to press her lips against his, but the two of them crashed together like two stars that’d been circling the same orbit for eons until their gravity finally pulled them together. His tongue danced with hers as they explored each other, the physical aspect of their relationship merely a reflection of everything they already knew about each other spiritually and mentally. Jack pulled her onto the bed with him, refusing to ever let go of this astonishing woman he’d finally found amongst all the other beings in the world.
His hunger for her couldn’t be satisfied by touch alone and he sank into her with relief, knowing he was finally home. He didn’t need to open his eyes to know every curve of her body, every strand of her hair. As he plunged his thickness deeper and deeper into her, Jack could feel his mate in his mind, a fire that sent cascading heat all throughout his body, making him so hard, he was on the verge of exploding at any moment.
Erica, he knew, was flying with him to some spiritual plane other than the one on this Earth. She gripped him with her thighs as she pressed her forehead to his. A heady mix of trust, desire, and passion swirled between them as her fingers rippled up his back and through his hair. Trailing his hand down her body as his thrusts intensified, Jack teased her slickness with the pad of his thumb, circling faster and faster, her breath
hitching in her throat as the tension spiraled within her. She cried out in sheer ecstasy as his thick length continued to dive deeper inside her, her muscles shuddering around him as they both reached their pinnacles of pleasure. Their breath, their heartbeats, their very spirits were absolutely one.
10
Erica slowly opened her eyes. She hadn’t been asleep, but she felt as though she’d gotten far more rest than she had in ages. The candles she’d lit had nearly guttered out, the incense a meager trace of smoke in the air. Meditation had become a part of her daily practice there in Dallas, one that was much easier to fit into her schedule now. It filled her body and her mind with such a pleasant energy, and she could feel her talents growing by the day.
She smiled as she felt him draw near. The thick door and the soundproof walls were great for keeping noise out of the room, but she couldn’t keep Jack out, even if she tried. Not that she wanted to. Erica stood and stretched, waking her body from the long afternoon of being inert, and opened the door.
Jack yanked his fist out of the air and put his hand at his side. “I was just about to knock, but I wasn’t sure if I should or not.”
She slid easily into his arms, inhaling that distinctly male scent of his that she’d come to find just as comforting as his touch. “I’ve told you, Jack. Nothing can hurt me in there. No matter how far I’ve gone, I’m in a peaceful place. If you need me, then you need me.”
He pressed her body against his, the hard reminder of his need for her evident beneath his clothes. “You shouldn’t say that. I’m supposed to be professional right now.”
She bit her lip as she recalled just how unprofessional they’d been in Jack’s apartment there at the Dallas Force headquarters the night before. He’d wrapped his arms around her as he’d taken her from behind, savoring her body with his hands and dropping climax-inducing kisses on the back of her neck. She was supposed to be the psychic, but he seemed to read her mind as his fingers roved to just the right places to bring her to her peak. “Don’t worry, we can circle back to this later.”