Crystal Clear

by Serena Zane

  After making their way through security, they got pass codes and security clearance, and the team ushered Cindy to the medical wing.

  Cindy was uneasy, but Jack still kept a hand at her waist. His touch steadied her. Montgomery sat next to her in the waiting area as Cindy tapped her foot waiting for her name to be called.

  “Do you want me to go in with you?” Montgomery asked. She was familiar with Cindy’s hatred of the doctor’s office.

  “Would you? It’ll give us a chance to talk. I’m not sure when we’ll find another moment.”

  Montgomery smiled at Cindy. “Of course, I’m here for you.” She patted Cindy’s leg.

  “Agent Cindy Hawke,” a male nurse in a white smock stepped out calling her name.

  Cindy stood. Jack took her hand and pulled her down for a quick kiss lightly brushing his lips over hers. “I’ll see you soon.”

  Smiling at him, she turned to follow the nurse, Montgomery close behind. Her friend kept quite until they were in the examination room. Ignoring the nurse who was busy taking her temp and pulse rate Montgomery jumped right in.

  “What the hell was that? And hello, where did he pop up from? I’ve never seen you act like that with anyone!” Her astonished eyes stared at Cindy.

  Cindy did her best not to be defensive. Her friend was only worried.

  “Luce, relax. You know that he’s the one who rescued me when I went over the falls.” She hedged for a moment.

  “Yes, well… That doesn’t explain the touching, not to mention the kisses. I thought you two were going to go at it right there by the SUV.”

  Cindy blushed a bright red.

  “We have a connection, I don’t know how else to explain it Luce. It’s been there since we first laid eyes on each other. Sometimes I feel like I’m going to burn up from the inside if I can’t have him the ache is so deep. You’re right. I’ve never felt this way about anyone, and frankly, it scares the crap out of me.”

  “I’m just worried Cindy, I don’t want to see you hurt. What happened with Chase? I know you two were together.”

  Cindy didn’t want to meet Montgomery’s eyes. She looked everywhere else and focused on a picture of a waterfall on the far wall. “Yes, well. That may be a problem. I didn’t get a chance to tell Chase about Jack. I think he knows, but we didn’t get the opportunity to talk about it.”

  Montgomery let out a small gasp of surprise. “When are you going to tell him? Cause this thing between you and Jack looks pretty serious.”

  Cindy couldn’t agree more. “Soon, I just have to find the right time.”

  “Take it from me Honey. There is no right time when it comes to telling your true feelings. Break it to him gently. I’m sure he’ll get over it in time, but you need to be up front with him.”

  “I know.”

  The nurse finished with her vitals, and interrupted them to get a run down on her symptoms.

  Cindy filled him in, trying to be as impersonal as she could. The electrocution and beating had taken their toll mentally as well as physically, and she didn’t want to let on that she was more shaken up than was apparent. When she was done the nurse left the room letting them know the doctor would be in soon.

  “So, what are you going to do about Jack?” Montgomery’s head tilted to one side as she gave Cindy a contemplative look.

  “I think I’ll keep him.” Cindy smiled at Montgomery, “He’s already agreed to join forces with F.I.U.W., so that won’t be an issue. We just have to get it cleared through the military. You know, that was one of my worries, getting to like some guy and not being able to be honest about my job.”

  “I didn’t realize you thought about that.”

  “Damn straight I did. Can you imagine being in a relationship based on lies. It would never work.”

  Montgomery just shrugged. To her lying was second nature. Montgomery worked as an undercover agent most of the time, so one more lie was nothing to her.

  “I know you don’t really understand, you’re so good at manipulation, but I just couldn’t pull that off. I guess that’s why they have me on the tech ops, no lying involved.”

  “I suppose you’re right. I can see your point. Besides, if Jack lives up to his rep on file, then he’ll be a great asset to the team.” Montgomery acknowledged grudgingly.

  At that point, Cindy knew that her friend had accepted her relationship with Jack. She worried, due to the fact that Chase was her brother their relationship might get in the way. She should’ve known better, once Montgomery accepted someone into the fold of F.I.U.W., they were as good as family to her.

  “Thanks Luce.”

  “No problem. When’s the damn doctor going to get here?”

  Cindy shrugged.

  They waited for several more minutes and caught up on other things. Finally, the doctor entered the room. Cindy tried not to tense, but she couldn’t really help it.

  “Well Agent, it looks like they did a number on you.”

  Cindy could only nod and wince as he poked and prodded at several different nasty bruises. His fingers found the place where Halverson’s foot landed on her ribs.

  “Ouch! Take it easy will ya! I’ve already been through a torture session.” Cindy glared at the doctor.

  He stepped back and leaned against the counter. “Here’s what it looks like. Your body is in a bit of shock. Not all the bruises and lacerations are registering with you yet, but they will. I want you to have an x-ray of those ribs. I don’t think anything is actually broken, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. You’ll need to take it easy for a few days.” He held up a hand.

  “I know that’s not a popular saying with any of you agents, but as you just said, you’ve been through enough torture. Give yourself time to heal.”

  Cindy fidgeted with the edge of her medical gown.

  “I’m prescribing you some pain killers, take them when needed. You ladies have a nice day.” He quickly wrote out a prescription, handed it to Cindy and left the room.

  The nurse came back in, “I’ll take you down to x-ray.”

  “I can come if you want.” Montgomery gave Cindy one of those I’ve-got-your-back looks.

  “No, I’ll be fine.” Cindy followed the nurse out of the room down to x-ray. It didn’t take long, and the doc came back into the room to tell her that she was a lucky woman her ribs weren’t broken, just bruised deeply. She almost laughed. If her ribs didn’t hurt so damn bad she would have. After she got her clothes back on, Cindy went to meet her teammates in the waiting room. She did smile when she noticed the grim looks on everyone’s face.

  “Well, don’t you all look gloomy?”

  They looked up as she entered. Jack immediately got to his feet and crossed to her taking her hands. She could feel the electric current running between them and she let him lean in to kiss her. He showed a lot more affection than she was used to in most company, so she was a little uncomfortable, but she liked the way his lips felt against hers. He drew back.

  “Are you cleared?” Jack’s serious tone indicated that if she wasn’t he was going to resurrect Halverson and kill him again.

  Cindy grinned. “Yup. We can get started anytime. Although I think that maybe this time I’ll let someone else take the lead and I’ll stick with the background stuff. The doc told me to lay low for a few days to heal up, and I don’t think we can take that long. Lead the way to the computers.” Cindy glanced at Montgomery, and her friend smiled back as they made eye contact.

  “Sounds good, the Director’s got us set up in one of the conference rooms. There’s a computer with access to the terminals ready for you. Let’s go see what our boy was up to.”

  Chapter 20Damn Bitch! Brett’s hand gripped the ledge just above him. If he hadn’t been in that cell when the explosion went off he would have been a goner. What right did she have to shoot him! He was the one in charge. She
needed to be shown who was boss. How to treat a man right! Luckily, her shot had gone wide and just clipped him on the side.

  Climbing out of the rubble, Brett looked around. Not much was left of the main compound, but there were still the outbuildings, and several guards left standing. There a few vehicles remained parked around that he could use. Limping over to a jeep, he climbed inside. He knew just what to do…

  ****

  “That rat bastard! Luce, look at this.” Cindy pointed to the computer screen. “All these personnel files were recently accessed by Halverson with his pass code. It’s our undercover agent files. He’s downloaded them.”

  “Shit, that’s not good.” Montgomery leaned over her shoulder.

  Cindy barely heard her as she read some of the names on the files. She knew that several of these agents were already missing in action. She flipped through several more screens of recently viewed files. Chase’s file came up, and her blood chilled in her body. Goosebumps rose on her arms. No wonder they discovered who he was. Halverson had given him up.

  “That fucking asshole gave up my brother! He is so dead!” Montgomery pushed off the desk and started to pace the room.

  Cindy turned around to look at her friend. “Um, Luce, I shot him and you blew up the building around him. I don’t think he survived that.” At least, she hoped he hadn’t.

  “Did you make sure? Did you make sure that his rotting corpse would be lying under that pile of rubble for all eternity?” Montgomery looked like she wanted to shoot something.

  Garrett moved over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. Cindy looked at her like she had grown two heads. The man was dead, what more did she want?

  “No, I was a little busy trying to save my own ass, but it’s doubtful that he could have survived.” Cindy began to get an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach, and took a deep breath. He couldn’t have survived an attack like that, could he? The traitor was dead. They just needed to do a little clean up to make sure the rest of these agents were safe, starting with Chase. “We need to think of your brother right now. Is he still at the hospital?”

  “Last I knew they hadn’t released him yet. Director Killroy says that he’s taking too many chances before he’s healed, and he needs to be on rest. Chase refused to lay still and wait while you were being held captive, so they pumped him full of sedatives to make sure he gets the rest he needs.”

  Cindy nearly groaned. That meant that Chase cared more for her than she thought. Crap, Jack was going to be an exceptionally hard blow.

  “Maybe we can go visit him. Make sure that he’s doing alright, and that he has a guard on his door. These guys mean business, and they’ve almost gotten him twice.” Garrett moved to the door and motioned for Lucy to follow.

  Montgomery nodded.

  “We’ll go in the morning. Right now,” Montgomery tapped the computer screen in the lower right hand corner, “its one thirty in the morning. We need to get some sleep. I’ll see you when we wake up and we can brainstorm how to handle this new development.”

  She turned to leave. “Oh, and Cindy, the vending machines are on the tenth floor. I know you must be dying for Snickers.”

  Cindy grinned, her friend knew her too well.

  Garrett and Montgomery were headed to blow off some steam at the gun range. Shooting things was good for the soul.

  Cindy stretched after a minute of moving around her sore muscles, and closed down the computer. Evidently, Halverson was in on this for a while. She felt sick that one of their own could betray them like this. Cindy knew now that it was possible her own father was sold out.

  Damn it, she didn’t want to think about her father. It brought back too many bad memories. She headed to the room they assigned her on the twelfth floor making a pit stop by the vending machine.

  Cindy unwrapped her favorite candy bar. She got in the elevator and bit down on the gooey goodness. The elevator came to a stop and she exited, her taste buds in ecstasy she practically hummed, her eyelids half closed in delight.

  “I’m almost jealous.” The deep voice played on her senses much like the rich taste of chocolate in her mouth. Her eyes opened to take in Jack’s handsome and very dangerous body. The man was built like a Greek statue, all hard planes and angles. He leaned on her bedroom door. “I take it you’re happy to see me.”

  Her mouth full of Snickers she could only nod. He took the keycard out of the back pocket of her jeans where she had slid it earlier. The movement bringing him so close she could feel the heat of his body through their clothes. Sliding the card through the lock without looking he kept his hand on Cindy’s waist and pulled her into the room with him.

  Jack placed his hand on her cheek and using his body, shut the door behind them. He stared into her eyes like he could drown in them, and Cindy found herself short of breath that had nothing to do with her aching ribs.

  “God, I thought I had lost you back there.” Jack’s voice was rough and she could feel the heat of his breath on her neck as he leaned in and started to nibble his way up her neck with little kisses. “I don’t think I could take that, you’ve gotten to me Cindy.”

  He’d gotten to her too, but she wasn’t ready to tell him, yet. Instead she showed him, her hand gripped his head and pulled him closer to the throbbing pulse in her neck. The small spot where her collarbone met her jugular was so sensitive that when his mouth closed over the skin she felt herself go instantly wet.

  Then her Snickers got in her way. She tossed it across the room to land with a thud on the vanity. She could always finish it later. She had a much more delicious meal to attend to.

  Cindy’s hands moved to his front and started to undo his shirt one button at a time, pushing him back toward the bed. With each button, she laid a kiss on the skin she exposed, followed by a small lick of her tongue.

  Mmmm, salty.

  Cindy loved the look of his bronze toned chest bared in front of her ravenous eyes. Anyone could tell he spent a lot of time outdoors. She backed him up until she felt his knees brush up against the bed. She placed her hands on his shoulders. They were broad, and strong, she ran her palms down the smooth skin and took in the feel of his strength. Kneeling in front of him, she undid his cargo pants, and slid them down the firm columns of his thighs. His briefs cupped him, and she could see the evidence of his arousal. Her nipples hardened to tight arrows, the nerve endings coming to life.

  Even bruised, sore, and tired as she was, she wanted to jump him. But this time, she was going to take it slow.

  Standing, she moved in close. He watched her with eyes that had deepened to a rich dark chocolate. Cindy closed her eyes just as her mouth took his and her hand found his erection. She closed her fingers gently around the firm shaft and squeezed, rubbing up and down in a firm slow motion.

  “God Cindy, are you trying to kill me?” His breath was hot against her cheek as he tore his mouth from hers. He stilled her hand. “If you keep that up, this isn’t going to last very long, and I want to take my time exploring you tonight.”

  His fingers went to her shirt.

  “You have a lot of places that I need to kiss better.” His mouth found the first of her bruises on the corner of hers and she let out a small moan of pleasure.

  “Yes please.”

  His lips went to her neck again and this time she felt the swirl of his tongue as it found another colorful spot just below her collarbone.

  Her hand left his erection in favor of holding his head to her. His mouth doing wonderful things to her skin, setting each nerve ending alive, her nipples tingled and ached longing to be free of her bra, wanting instead his hands to cup her. He slid her shirt off her shoulders, his hand going to the clasp in the back of her bra. Her breath hitched as her breasts released from the restraint.

  His hands and his mouth covered every inch of her, every bruise, in sweet torment. He rid her of the rest of her
clothing, and groaned when he cupped her sweet spot. Her damp heat coating his fingers he lifted them to his mouth and tasted her.

  “You taste like sweet spice I don’t think I can ever get enough of you.” He grasped her by the waist and switched positions with her, using the bed to bend her backwards until she lay down, her naked body displayed before him. Beautiful.

  The ugly bruises marring her flesh only reminding him of what a special gift she was, he knelt before her and spread her thighs apart. Pulling her to the edge of the bed he inserted a finger into her damp heat watching her face. He leaned forward and placed his mouth on her, swirling his tongue over her clit in gentle strokes savoring the taste of her. He dipped his tongue deep into her heat only to go back to lave on her clit more, sucking until it was pink and swollen.

  Cindy didn’t think she could take much more. She squirmed against his mouth and tried to push his head deeper. She wanted more, needed more. Her body quaked with pleasure. Her breasts ached to be pinched and tweaked, her clit getting all the attention. His eyes widened then darkened as she reached up and started to pinch and pull on her own nipples as he gently bit down on her clit. She almost came off the bed and felt a rush as she came into his mouth.

  Jack ate her up like she was the best kind of dessert. He slowly made his way up her body with his mouth, and replaced her hand with his own. He pinched gently at first.

  “More, Jack, harder.” He increased the pressure and she moaned, arching off the bed.

  “I want to see you touch yourself.” He moved back so he could watch. His hand still played with her nipple, pinching and squeezing, but not touching her anywhere else.

  Cindy was on fire. Her fingers found their way to the breast that he was not touching. She took a moment and licked her fingers, circling her nipple with the moisture and then pinching hard. She moaned again, and she could hear a low groan as if he was in torture come from him. Her hand moved lower and she slid her fingers into the soft folds of her wetness. Stroking and pinching her clit.