by Em Petrova
Their mouths collided in time to their bodies. He meshed his fingers with hers and locked one hand to the bed. She jammed the fingers of her other hand into his hair, tugging him down again and again as he plundered her mouth.
His hard cock slipping through her clenching walls carried her to the brink. She felt wholly exposed—he knew her and she knew him.
It raised her up. Set her free. Any walls she ever hid behind crumbled.
Her orgasm struck with a blinding force. She felt the moment he threw it all away too as he stiffened, jerked once and then pumped his cum into her.
A dizzy realization that he could have just created a child with her, how irresponsible they were being, and how she didn’t care at this moment because she loved this man with a power that transcended life, all shattered with her release.
Waves of ecstasy pounded her. Ross’s mouth snatched her cries.
She drew him close, and his strong arms held her through her final shudders.
With her body wrapped tight in his hold, he rolled them so she lay on top of him. Spent and breathing fast.
His rough hand stroking long swaths down her spine reinforced all the emotions whirling through her and made her know, without a doubt, they were real.
He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I need to have a look at your laptop.”
The last thing she expected to hear after mind-blowing sex—that came with a newfound feeling of love and topped off with a pregnancy risk—was about her laptop. It proved how far apart her mind was from Ross’s.
Nodding, she disentangled herself from him and rolled off. His juices wet her inner thighs as the warmth of his body left her.
With a stiff spine, he walked completely naked to her bag. He set it on the table and unzipped it as if the faux leather contained a bomb.
She climbed off the bed, grabbed the closest garment—his shirt—and pulled it on. “You’ll need my thumbprint.”
“Let me get Silas on the phone. He’s in charge of our cybersecurity division.” He retrieved his phone and pulled his jeans on without underwear.
“It’s me. I need you to hack Pippa’s laptop.”
She heard a low hoot coming from the phone. Ross’s lips twitched but came short of forming a full smile at the obvious excitement projecting from his coworker at the prospect of hacking something.
Ross turned his attention to her. His gaze dropped over her front and his shirt she wore. “Okay, he says to open it and let him get a bead on the signals it’s putting out.”
“How can he do that?”
“I don’t ask Silas about his magic. He wouldn’t tell me if I did.”
A bark of laughter projected from Ross’s phone.
He held out his device toward the laptop.
“Sign in, he says,” Ross instructed Pippa.
She threw a look at him and then entered the system using her thumbprint.
“There’s more. Enter your password,” Ross said.
When she angled her body to protect her code, he grabbed her shoulder and whipped her aside. “I’m not going to steal your secrets, Pippa. I almost got my ass shot off because of this fucking laptop.”
“I thought you said they tracked me through my phone? And I don’t like swiss cheese or relish having the same holes it does. Besides, I already have one gunshot wound, remember?” Ignoring the clawing urge to protect her passcode at all costs, she typed it in.
As the computer came to life, Ross listened to Silas speaking on the other end of the line. His lips grew grimmer as seconds ticked on.
“Well?” she burst out, unable to hold it in any longer.
He held up a finger for her to wait. She tapped her foot on the old motel carpet and studied his face. He drew the laptop closer to him and pressed a combination of keys. Immediately, the screen went black. Then numbers began to flash rapid-fire, blinking on and on while she stared in fear and amazement.
“I fucking knew it,” Ross ground out.
She snapped her head around to stare at him.
“Disable it and trace it.” A beat of silence. Then Ross said, “You got it? Good. Send me the report and get Landon and Mathias on it.”
The Wyntons’ cousins, who she’d met at a summer picnic or two over the years. They were cousins on his mother’s side and were just as heartbreakingly handsome as the Wynton men, minus the dimples. She hadn’t thought about them in years, but knowing they were working on something concerning her safety left her feeling protected from all sides.
“Thanks, Shanie. I’ll be in touch.” Ross hung up with Silas.
For a moment, he bowed his head over the laptop screen, which had gone back to its sign-in page. Her nerves pinged as she waited for him to speak.
When she couldn’t take it another second, she said, “Well?”
“It’s full of spyware. And worse.” He raised his head and looked straight at her. “You didn’t know your secure files are at risk?”
Ice-cold panic swept her. She sputtered, “Of course I didn’t!”
“You’re so smart, Pippa. How did you not know?”
“I’m smart in my field. And okay, some others like math. But I don’t know computers. I just run what people set up for me.”
“That’s the issue. Someone is watching you.”
“Have they breached my files?” She had passwords and fingerprint protection on each and every one, all different and more complex than the last.
“Not yet, but I’m sure they’re trying to unlock them. We’re going to remove the spies starting now.” A dark red mottled his throat and climbed into his face.
She took in the banked fury in his eyes too. “You’re going to have a stroke if you don’t calm down. Your blood pressure is sky high.”
He slanted a glance at her.
“I’m serious. We’re going to…” Going down on him right now would only make his system more haywire. Inspiration struck. “We’re going to meditate.”
He widened his stance. “What?”
“Meditate.”
“I don’t buy into that mumbo-jumbo.”
“It’s not mumbo-jumbo. It actually helps calm people down, and right now, you and I can both use it. Come on.” She grabbed the sheet off the bed and spread it on the floor with one shake. Then she pointed at it. “Sit.”
He reluctantly took a step onto the sheet. She led by example, sitting cross-legged on the floor. Drawing in a deep breath, she tried to find her center. When she realized Ross wasn’t sitting, she looked up at him.
He heaved a sigh and sat next to her, copying her pose. “This is the last thing I should be doing right now,” he muttered.
“Self-care is important. Now fold your hands in your lap.” She showed him, and he imitated her. “Close your eyes and breathe in through your nose to three counts. Good. Now exhale to three.”
Five breaths in she got that prickle on her skin that told her that he was staring at her. She opened her eyes and sure enough, he wasn’t meditating, only staring.
“You can’t relax if you don’t try, Ross.”
“Who says looking at you isn’t relaxing? Where did you learn this anyway?”
“Tibet. I spent some time there as well.”
“Of course you did.” He lowered his gaze to her bare thighs.
Her stomach leaped with awareness. They’d just had insanely hot sex—twice. And she sat inches from the man she wanted, wearing nothing but his shirt.
“Hell, don’t give me that look,” he said.
“What look?”
“The one that says you want me buried in your pussy again.”
She shivered.
The monks would scold her for her meditation breathing.
Chapter Ten
Everything about Pippa called to Ross to drop his jeans and claim her again. But he needed to focus first, and he couldn’t do that with her nearby.
“Why don’t you take a shower? I’m going to make some phone calls.” He was changing the subject from sex because if he
didn’t, they’d never leave this room. And eventually, the people after her would catch up with them.
Her expression fell, but she nodded. He watched her stand and grab her bag before entering the bathroom. Once the door closed, he got up.
Pacing the small room wouldn’t give his brain enough space to work out the issues at hand—he needed acres of ranch for that—but a tiny motel room off the beaten path was all he could manage for now.
The shower started behind the door when he paced by. Window. Door. Picture of bear cubs.
As he passed the table, he glared at the laptop. He didn’t understand every detail concerning the spyware on her computer, but Silas told him it was bad and the evil fingers went deep. Whoever had placed it in her system hadn’t yet breached her files containing the genetic editing research she did. But they were close.
Knowing she couldn’t overhear him with the water running, he walked to the window and looked out on the stark landscape as he added his entire team to a group call.
Boone picked up first, and Josiah and Noah clicked in after that.
Silas said, “What’s up? I’m pretty busy cleaning your girlfriend’s computer.”
Ross swiped a hand over his face, battling the word girlfriend. The statement hit home hard. What was Pippa to him?
She was dear to him. Always had been, from the time they met as kids. She was someone he looked forward to talking to and watching her grow her skills on the ranch or with the flyrod.
Landon and Mathias responded to the call, and Ross took a moment to gather his thoughts.
“Ross? You good, bro?” Boone drawled.
“Yeah. I’m thinkin’ about Seattle. I know I said we need to lay a trap there, but now I’m second-guessing that decision.”
“Did something else happen?” Concern came off as a rougher edge to Boone’s voice.
“No. We’re safe for the moment, and I’ve got Roman on my six. But the convention’s a big security risk I’m not sure we’re ready to handle.”
“We’re ready,” Josiah said with conviction ringing in his tone. “We’ve worked bigger venues. Remember the size of that crowd during the riot outside Denver? We handled that shit—we can do this convention.”
He considered all the options. He had to think of Pippa—she came first.
“Let’s talk through every angle. This is our roundtable right now.” An image of them in their white hats, circling the conference table back on the ranch, filtered into his mind.
Josiah sent them a diagram of the conference center, and they discussed areas of concern. They agreed to keep Pippa from her family’s house and to place two unmarked cars on their street in case.
Talk turned to the shootout on the highway.
“I ran that plate you gave me, Ross. Get this—it isn’t even real,” Josiah told him.
He paced to the table, listening for the water to shut off in the bathroom. “What do you mean?”
“Someone created a fake plate.”
“That sounds like a whole other investigation to me,” Noah added.
“But not our problem right now. Did the police ID the men after they were recovered from the wrecks?”
“No word on that as of yet, boss. I’ll keep you updated. Whoever is after Pippa has enough money and resources to hire outside help.”
“Run financials on every person on the list, Josiah.”
“I’m ahead of you. Nothing’s come up as of yet.”
Boone spoke up, “We’re just glad you had Roman with you.”
“Yeah, we’re going to send The Guard a big fucking thank-you barrel of whiskey for their help. If Roman hadn’t been on that road, Pippa and I would be dead. Or I would be and she’d be kidnapped.” His throat clamped off for a moment. He pinched the bridge of his nose and fought through the emotions that statement raised in him.
He couldn’t lose her to these assholes.
“Let’s dig deeper. What else can we find, maybe through her computer risk? I want names. Then every one of you is going to interrogate someone on that list I gave you.”
“Got it, Ross. I’m sending the names to everyone now.”
“Thanks, Josiah.” His tone was steeped in warmth for his team. He started to ask Boone about the possibility of reaching Seattle sooner to scope out the hotel where he’d keep Pippa safeguarded, when the shower shut off.
Knowing she might overhear, he pitched his voice low. “Keep vigilant, men. I’ll be in touch.”
When Pippa opened the door, he was digging in his bag for clean clothes. He dropped his bag of toiletries to the bed and looked up at her.
She’d removed his shirt, and damn if he didn’t miss seeing how it hung around her long, naked thighs. Her wet hair dipped over her shoulders to dampen her clean top. “Shower pressure’s not that great, but the water’s hot.”
He nodded. “I’ll shower in a minute. I need to talk to you.”
Her eyes widened a fraction as she crossed the room. When he caught a whiff of her body wash, his insides gripped with desire.
“Sit down.”
She arched a brow. “I have a feeling this is a standing moment. I think better on my feet.”
“I can relate. Okay, I’ll say it plain. I’m not sure we’re going to Seattle.”
She blinked. “You said you’re going to draw out the person who’s after me.”
“I’m not sure it’s the right move. We’re analyzing the situation, but fact is, you might miss that conference, Pip.”
He expected her to give a stoic nod, the way she always did and always had as a child when told she couldn’t do something.
But she whirled on him, face alight with anger. “No.” She slashed a hand through the air between them. “I’m not missing that conference. There’s a lot riding on my speech. I’m not only delivering hope to an entire room full of people who this subject matters to. I’m giving hope to the world.”
Stunned by the emotion and strength in her voice, he could only stare at her. This was a side of Pippa he’d never seen before.
“This is huge to me, Ross. And you know how important careers are to people like us.”
They were more alike than he ever thought.
He steeled his thighs to keep from going to her and pulling her into his arms. Why hadn’t he seen it before? Because she was city and he was country. She was book-smart and he had common sense. Despite these variations, when he looked into her eyes he saw she was right.
Their core values and their upbringings were only a small portion of that similarity. She’d grown into a strong and capable woman with enough brains to turn him on just as much as the body she’d morphed into. They were both driven…and they were in this together.
His phone buzzed. Still holding her gaze, he brought it to his ear.
“Ross, we need Pippa to sign in. She just received an email I think might be of interest to you.”
Heart in his throat, he hurled himself the few steps across the worn carpet to the laptop. He caught her by the wrist and dragged her to the table. She gulped off a cry of surprise as they stopped before the computer.
“Josiah says to sign in. You got an email.”
Staring at the device, she lifted her fingers and dug them into her hair. He shot a glance at her face and saw fear spelled across her beautiful features.
It tore at his heart.
Hooking an arm around her waist, he reeled her into his arms. She dropped her forehead to his chest. “It’s all right, honey,” he said gruffly.
“Uh…thanks?” Josiah was still on the line.
“Not you, dickhead.”
Josiah cracked up laughing.
He wanted to hang up on his brother, but he needed the information he provided too.
Smoothing his hand over Pippa’s damp hair, he said, “It’s no big deal. Just sign in and read the email.”
When she raised her eyes to his, the pain he saw reflected in the depths struck him in the gut this time.
“What if I learn someo
ne I trust…someone I enjoy being around…wants me dead?”
He didn’t tell her that was exactly what she’d find out eventually. Someone she knew and trusted betrayed her.
“You can do this, Pippa. Come on.” He gently turned her to face the laptop. She stood still for a long moment and then jerked into action and entered her login.
“That isn’t the same passcode you entered before,” he said.
“I have a different one for emails. Lots of levels of security in this system.”
“Are you hearing this?” he asked Josiah.
“I’m seeing it. It’s state of the art, I’ll give MIZR credit for that. Has she reached her emails yet?”
“There are so many,” she said, scrolling through the inbox. “I’ll have to read them all, since I have no idea what I need to see.”
Starting at the top, she skimmed the post about a special lunch for a lab assistant’s birthday. She went to the next. This from her friend Meredith. A photo of a flower bloomed on the screen along with a GET WELL SOON beneath it. Seven heart emojis followed and then Meredith’s name.
“That was sweet of her,” Pippa said softly before moving to the next email.
A few came from people she’d never mentioned, containing in-depth science terms. Just reading it over her shoulder dulled Ross to pieces. When she hit the next email, a name flashed up that she’d mentioned. A name they were investigating.
“Josiah, is it the email from Ryan Letters?”
“That’s the one.”
She threw Ross a sideways glance. Was that a blush climbing her cheeks?
“Open it,” he commanded in a tight voice.
Together, they silently read the email, which was only partly about work. The rest seemed pretty damn personal to Ross.
She moved to the next. He stopped her with a hand on her arm.
“I don’t see anything untoward in that email. No clues that Ryan wants me dead.” Defiance lit her eyes.
“He likes you.”
“You’re insane.”
“He wants to jump you.”
“Don’t be crass. And you’re wrong.”
“Am I? ‘We can hit the research as soon as you feel better,’” he mimicked from the email.