She watched him stiffen. She almost laughed. Almost.
Bliss. FFS.
Exactly. You wouldn’t say anything to get in my panties. We just proved that. So say the truth. Why do you want me? Why are you willing to compromise your principles for another night in bed? Thought you fucked who you wanted and all that.
He looked up from the terminal. Met her gaze with smoldering intensity. Her insides liquefied. He turned and typed.
I want you because I need to know if it really was the best with you or if I’m imagining it was better than it was.
Her ego deflated. Flattering. Maybe that’s not the best approach. You ever think of that?
Honesty, Bliss. You know that’s my deal. I can’t lie to you. I want to fuck you because you’re hot and I’m attracted to you. I hope like hell you let me—and then I hope you’ll be out of my system for good.
You aren’t inspiring me, Sky. If anything, you’re throwing water on the fire.
Tell me where you want me to touch you.
Fuck you, she wanted to say. Fuck you and the horse you rode in on, you hypocritical bastard. And yet nobody else made her so jumpy inside. So uncertain and desperate.
This isn’t fun anymore. I’m done, she typed, hurt suffusing her. She shoved to her feet and stalked toward the bathroom, determined to get some space. It was her own fault for flirting. For reading more into that kiss than she should have. She knew Sky and she knew he had no gray areas. Everything was black and white with him. Everything.
Bliss pushed into the ladies’ room and went over to the mirror. Her face was pale, her hair pulled back in a stark ponytail, her eyes huge and sad. What the fuck was she doing here anyway? She could have said no. Could have walked away and waited it out somewhere with a few guards and nothing to do but twiddle her thumbs while Sky and his HOT teammates cleaned up the mess.
Instead, she was here. Torturing herself with Sky Kelley and his moral superiority. Just so she could be near him.
What an idiot she was.
She went to use the facilities, came out to wash her hands and take a few deep breaths. The door opened and closed. She glanced up—and sucked down a gasp.
“What the hell do you want?” she asked, whirling to face Sky.
He was huge and imposing. He twisted the door lock and she squeaked. Then he advanced on her. “This isn’t going to work, Bliss. You want the truth, but you don’t like it. I told you I want you—but yeah, I wish I didn’t. I don’t want to want you. I don’t want to remember how you taste or how you feel, and I damned sure don’t want to lose my mind for a taste of you.”
“Nobody asked you to,” she shot back, heart pounding. “That’s all on you.”
“I won’t lie to make you feel better,” he said. “I won’t tell you all is forgiven and we can start over. I’ll tell you the truth.”
“And what is the truth, Sky? That you hate me and want me and hate yourself because you do?”
He flinched, which told her all she needed to know. She started to shove past him, but he growled and she stopped, heart hammering.
“The truth? You make me hard, Bliss. You make me hard even though I don’t want you to. You make me want to taste you and make you scream my name even though my brain says no, don’t go there. You make me want to forget every single thing that happened before and throw myself headlong into you. Again. Just like the first night we met.”
Anger flooded her. Anger and hard, hot desire. “So what do you propose, Sky? That I drop my panties and let you fuck me on this counter? That we let bygones be bygones so long as you get what you want, at which point you’ll hate me again because you couldn’t resist me?” She drew herself up angrily. “Open that fucking door and get out of my way.”
His jaw flexed. But then he reached behind him and twisted the lock. Before she could stalk past him, he slipped out the door. Bliss turned and gripped the counter, eyes bright in her flushed face.
It was all she could do not to scream.
Chapter Eleven
Sky was having a hell of a time concentrating on anything, but he doggedly kept testing the code in Martin’s programs. He wasn’t looking at Bliss, on purpose, but he could feel everything she did as if he were staring right at her. It was disconcerting and annoying.
Not only that, but her cotton candy scent was strong in his space. Even worse, he could still taste her on his tongue. What the fuck had he been thinking to kiss her in the first place? He’d been asking himself that for hours now and he still didn’t have a good answer.
She’d been sassing him, the way she always did, her comebacks clever and snappy, and he’d lost his cool. He’d needed to taste her mouth and he’d needed to shut her up at the same time.
He’d done both those things, but it had backfired on him. Because now he wanted more. Especially after those flirty texts she’d sent him a couple of hours ago.
That hadn’t turned out the way he’d hoped. She’d managed to make him feel like an asshole for being truthful with her. But how could he lie and tell her he’d forgiven her when he hadn’t?
“Hey, man,” Kid said, sliding his chair over. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Just tired.”
Kid’s gaze slid to Bliss and then back again. “You followed her into the bathroom. I’m taking it that wasn’t as relaxing as it appeared it was gonna be?”
Shit. Of course someone had seen him stalk over to the restroom and follow Bliss inside. He hadn’t exactly been subtle about it. Damn woman fucked with his head. And his sense.
“We needed to talk.”
Kid seemed to consider that. “I get it. Olivia makes me crazy sometimes, but we’re solid. Wasn’t always like that though. We were together, but it didn’t work out. Misunderstandings, failure to manage expectations, inability to communicate, and pure hardheadedness on both our parts resulted in a complete mission failure. We figured it out the second time around. Can’t imagine my life without her.”
“Did Olivia marry you under false pretenses and then fail to tell you the truth until you discovered she’d been lying all along?”
Kid arched an eyebrow. “Uh, nope, can’t say as she did.”
Sky shook his head. “I appreciate the advice, but trust me, Bliss is bad news for me. The problem right now is that my dick doesn’t care.”
“Mendez gave me the rundown on her CV—she’s got mad skills and she’s worked on some important projects. Whatever happened between you two— Well, maybe you need to look at it again.” He held up a hand before Sky could say anything. “Not telling you how to handle your business, but it’s pretty clear from my perspective that you’re jonesing for her. And since she keeps looking at you when you’re facedown in your screen, I’m thinking she feels the same. Truthfully, it might be easier to work if the two of you disappeared for an hour or so and got some of that shit out of your systems.”
His balls tightened at the thought. “Not happening, Kid. Too much history and too many hard feelings between us.”
Kid grinned. “Which is why you followed her into the bathroom, right? To tell her how all that history and those hard feelings meant you weren’t interested in her?”
“Go away,” Sky said mildly, though his face heated. “Mind your own business.”
Kid laughed as he rolled his chair away. “Sure thing, buddy.”
Bliss looked up, frowning at the two of them. Then she dropped her gaze again and concentrated on whatever she was doing on her computer. He’d tasked her with searching for more posts by Bill Martin, tracking down any conversations he might have had with anyone. Of course the messages would have been private, but there’d have still been some public interaction if you knew where to look.
Which meant they could possibly get an idea who might have contacted Martin privately to discuss the sale of his malware.
Sky rested his chin on his hand and stared bleary-eyed at the screen. It could take hours to complete the analysis. They’d concentrated their efforts on the three programs tha
t clearly had Stuxnet code attached. Every programmer worth his or her salt recognized that code when they saw it. But what were the modifications? And what would the results be?
Every exploit was different, so it was impossible to know simply by looking. It took time—and time was something in short supply right now. They had a room full of programmers looking at the code, which theoretically should yield results sooner.
But what if it didn’t? They were at a disadvantage by not knowing precisely what they were looking for. A worm that could take down power grids, according to Martin’s postings. Theoretically that was Stuxnet without any modifications—though Stuxnet was a precision instrument that only went after specific processes and programs. While it was dangerous, it was also controllable. The vulnerabilities it exploited had been patched long ago. But what else did this thing do?
Sky lost track of time as they worked. Someone had to remind him to eat. His gaze sought Bliss as he bit into the pizza they’d had delivered. She had a slice on a plate beside her computer, but she hadn’t touched it. Her fingers flew over the keyboard, her blue eyes reflecting the brightness of her screen.
She was working the dark net, which took a special toll of its own. It was a deeply disturbing place at times, the kind of place where lowlifes hung out and planned criminal operations. Not all of the dark net was that kind of stuff. Much of it was simply people who wanted anonymity for their activities, such as political writings and propagating conspiracy theories. There were some crazy mofos with their conspiracy theories out there.
Sky slid his chair toward her, taking his pizza with him. Bliss looked up as he came into view, her fingers not missing a beat as she kept typing.
“You need to eat, Bliss,” he said. “You’ve been at it for a few hours now.”
“I feel like I’m close to finding his buyer. So close. I think it’s Russian intelligence—but I don’t have anything yet.”
He pressed a hand on top of hers, stopping her from typing. She jerked her gaze to his, a question in her eyes.
“Eat, Bliss. We’ve got a long way to go with this. It won’t be solved tonight.”
She sucked in a breath. Blew it out. “Okay. You’re right.”
“Yeah, I know.” He lifted his hand off hers and she sat back, tucked a lock of hair that had come out of her ponytail behind her ear again. He arched an eyebrow and then dropped his gaze to her plate. He made it obvious so she couldn’t mistake his meaning.
She reached for the pizza and took a bite, chewing slowly. “I want to do a good job,” she said. “And I want to find out who has Martin’s laptop.”
He believed her. Bliss might like her comforts, but she’d never sold her skills to anyone who wasn’t on the side of the US. He’d had time to review her files while he’d been waiting for an analysis on the code. In her own way, Bliss was as much a patriot as he was. It was a tough thing to admit, but it was the truth.
“I know, baby. But we might not, you know? It might be all we can do to analyze the code and deploy a patch for it.”
She chewed another bite. “How long have you been in HOT, Sky?”
Ordinarily he’d balk at her questions, but if it got her to take a break, he’d talk. “A couple of years now. I thought I was trying out for the Green Berets. I was kind of surprised because nobody wanted to touch me after…” He cleared his throat. Ordinarily he’d go there and not give a shit. But right now he wasn’t trying to start an argument between them.
“After Tucker. You can say it.”
“Well, yeah. We were all suspect after what he’d done. Untouchable. We weren’t a good risk.”
“He was a lone wolf. We proved that.”
“I know, Bliss. But that doesn’t mean an Army commander wouldn’t think twice about us. And they did. They all did. Which was why I was shocked when I got the go-ahead to try out for Special Ops.”
“And you got in.”
“Mendez makes up his own mind about people. And he decided I was a good risk.” He frowned hard. “Which is why I will never disappoint that man or this organization. I’d give up my own mother if she was doing something dirty.”
She ate her pizza and smiled at him. “I get it, Sky. You’d give me up in a heartbeat if you thought I was up to something. You didn’t need to work so hard to make that point.”
Was he that obvious? Probably. He finished his slice of pizza and then got up to get another. He brought her one too even though she was still working on the first. She frowned at him as he dropped it on the plate.
“You need to eat,” he said. “We could be at this for hours.”
“We’ve already been at it for hours.”
“Yep, that’s true. But analyzing code takes a lot of time. You know that.”
Her expression clouded. “Yes, I do.” She sipped from her water bottle. “Why are we tap-dancing around what happened earlier?”
“I’m not tap-dancing around anything.”
“No apologies?”
“Apologies for what? Telling you I want you? It was the truth. Besides, you’re the one who texted me with all that flirty stuff.”
“You kissed me before that.”
His heart thumped. “Yeah, I did. I shouldn’t have.”
She looked furious. “So that’s it? You shouldn’t have?”
“I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“How about I’m sorry I kissed you, Bliss?”
He knew he needed to say it, but he couldn’t. “Can’t do it.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not sorry. I should be… but I’m not. I told you what I wanted. Still do.”
She stared at him. Picked at the cheese on her pizza. “Not what I expected you to say.”
He pulled in a breath. “Nope, not what I expected to say either. But I’m sorry if it upset you—the kiss, I mean.”
“It didn’t upset me… Well, not in any oh my God, how dare you kind of way.”
“Then what kind of way?”
Her brows arrowed down. “Honestly, what upsets me the most, Sky, is that you woke that part of me that still wants you. I’d been pretty successful at keeping her down—but now all I can think about is how you used to make me feel.”
It was all he could do not to kiss her again. Right here, right now. “Yeah, well it’s woke in me too. And I don’t know how to go back.”
He could see the pulse in her throat. It fluttered so fast that he knew she was affected. And thinking about it. Her computer chimed and she dropped her gaze to her screen. Her expression fell. “Shit.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Jones is messaging me.”
Jones: Where the hell are you, Briar? You got hired to do a job, and now you aren’t doing it. We need those files. National security depends on it.
“What’s he want?” Sky asked.
She turned the screen slightly so he could see the message. “The files of course.”
“Does he know your real identity?”
“I’m sure he does. I’ve worked covert jobs for the CIA for the past few years. Jones wasn’t always my contact, but I’ve had him for a couple of years now.”
“How much do you know about him?”
“Next to nothing. We’ve met a few times, but always in public. Nothing unusual about that. Like I said before, he’s legit.” She started to type a reply, but Sky put his hand on hers, pressing down so she couldn’t move her fingers.
“The colonel said no contact. He means that, Bliss.”
She let her fingers go limp. She’d forgotten. “It’s habit to respond. Sorry.”
He removed his hand from hers. Was it wrong to wish he’d put it back?
“Mendez will take care of the CIA.”
She pulled her fingers from the keyboard. “Are you sure about that? Because I have to say I’ve never heard of HOT or Mendez before today. How do you know he has any influence whatsoever over there?”
Sky’s brows lifted in surprise. Then he snorted. “Trust
me, babe, Mendez has influence in places that would shock you. The CIA is the least of it.” He stood and stretched, his back cracking, his T-shirt lifting to reveal firm abs.
She tried not to let her mouth water. She failed.
“Not saying you were going to, but don’t answer him after I walk away. If Mendez found out—and he would—you’d be gone.”
She lifted both hands palms out, though her mind was still on those abs. “Not happening.”
Sky didn’t look convinced. “Up to you, but just remember if you do, you’ll prove everything I said to him about you.”
He was so obvious. And it was unnecessary. “You wish, Sky. I’m sticking around here, if for no other reason than to annoy the shit out of you.”
“Yeah, it’d be just like you to think about how you could best piss me off.”
If it made him kiss her again, maybe she would. She smiled sweetly. “Who, me? Surely not.”
He snorted a laugh as he walked away. She watched his ass for a moment longer than she should, then she turned back to her computer and the research she was doing in the forums. She minimized Jones’s chat window, finished her pizza, and got on with the business of sorting through the slime that hung out in the dark corners of the internet.
She didn’t know how long she’d worked before the man named Ghost walked in. A quick look at the clocks on the wall—there were several, all indicating various world time zones—told her it was nearly one in the morning. She sat back and stretched, her body sore from so much sitting and hunching over a screen.
Ghost went over to talk to Sky and Kid. They looked very serious, but then she hadn’t seen any of these military men look any other way. The women either, because there were women on this IT team they’d assembled. She didn’t suppose there were many women in the organization since it was a Special Ops unit, but she also hadn’t seen much of the facility yet.
A few minutes later, Ghost walked out. Bliss let her blurry eyes wander over the team and realized that many of them had changed since she’d last looked. Not changed clothes, but changed people. A shift change? How long had they been here anyway?
HOT SECRETS: A Hostile Operations Team - Book 13 Page 10