by Jade Powers
Chapter 2
DRAKE WAS TOO MUCH of a professional to mutter to himself when he crawled his way out of the closet. She kissed him. Even stranger was his response. How the hell could he pull off this mission with some crazy college kid making the moves on him? So she was beautiful. They’d only met two minutes before. He wasn’t into loose women. He wanted a partner, a friend, well yes, and a hot chick on his arm, but one that was only his. NOT a woman who kissed strangers.
So why was he still thinking about that kiss?
He focused on the mission.
Clearing the bedroom, he moved back into the hall. Slumped against the wall, one of the enemy had taken a bullet. Drake’s partner, Sven, lifted a finger to his helmet in a joke salute. Drake said, “Thanks.”
“You’re all clear to the pad. No luck on the statue,” Sven said. “As a matter of fact, it’s on the move now, traveling north.”
Drake could feel heat near his shoulder. Hannah was hovering close. He imagined he could feel her words on his neck as breath when she said, “A little dragon statue? It was in the backpack when they grabbed me. Drake, they’re after you specifically. Some guy with brown hair, brown eyes, dressed in a tailored suit. They found the statue of the dragon on me before they moved me in the big box. Is that what you want or do you want what’s inside?”
Sven lifted his arm and checked a display built into the armor. He slid his fingers across the screen. It didn’t light up the way a laptop would, but a dim light flickered on. “Do you think they found the second tracker and are using it as a decoy? I’d be inclined to move it if I were in their position.”
“We’ll know soon enough,” Drake waved Hannah forward, “Let’s get you to the helicopter.”
Drake’s hand rested on her shoulder, and it caused all kinds of strange little flip flops in her stomach. How could a stranger make her feel that way? At the top of the stairs, Hannah turned. She hated looking at that helmet and trying to see the man underneath. They hadn’t really listened to what she was trying to tell them. She said, “I have the sphere.”
“You...what?” Even though she couldn’t see his expression, she heard his surprise.
“The sphere. It’s in my pocket,” Hannah said. She would have reached for it, but Drake grabbed her arm.
“No. Don’t show me here,” As they ran for the helicopter, he pulled out his walkie-talkie. “Abort mission. Repeat. Abort mission.”
Hannah couldn’t say a word to Drake about the sphere. The second time she tried to mention it, he hushed her up. He helped her into the copter. Climbing in gave her a thrill of fear, as if she was ratcheting up an incredibly tall roller coast ride.
She gazed across Miami as the helicopter lifted into the air. They landed at a small airport and transferred to a private jet. Two more helicopters landed, but only Sven and a gorgeous blonde introduced as Kendra with a perfect figure, and dressed in a business suit with high heels joined them on the jet. When she put a hand lightly on Drake’s arm, Hannah fought resentment and jealousy, as if she, Hannah, had any claim whatsoever to some stranger.
“Oh, Darling, you really must get over this habit of picking up strays,” Kendra glanced at Hannah dismissively as she fawned over Drake.
Hannah narrowed her eyes and copying Kendra’s accent, said, “Yes, Darling, one day you might end up with a parasite, one that you try to shake, but just can’t.” Hannah hated the word ‘darling’ used in such an affected way and copied it to perfection. This lady used the word possessively.
Drake laughed in that short harsh way of his. Removing Kendra’s hand gently from his arm, he nodded to Hannah, “Ladies, I need to change. Kendra, please get Hannah settled.”
His eyes danced with amusement, and Hannah couldn’t help but break into a wide grin. Drake found himself liking this woman in spite of himself. She certainly held her own against Kendra.
Kendra’s eyes flickered over Hannah’s slightly large waist and went for the easy insult, “I suppose you’re hungry.”
What a bitch move. Drake stepped to the back cabin, ignoring the barb and hoping Hannah didn’t catch it.
She said, “I’m fine. Thanks.”
“Well, then. Take a seat and buckle up. We’ll be taking off soon.” Kendra said.
“Do I have a choice?” Drake could overhear Hannah in the next room. She sounded like she thought this was a second kidnapping. Drake would have to talk to Kendra about her people skills.
“Do you want to live?” Kendra asked.
Drake rushed to grab his black turtleneck and jeans. At the rate they were going, Kendra and Hannah would be in a cat fight before he finished dressing. He only hoped his second-in-command, Sven, would stop Kendra from going too far.
“Are you threatening me?” Hannah’s voice rose.
Before Kendra could bait Hannah, Sven stepped in. He said, “No. We’re the good guys or at least not the bad guys.”
Fortunately another operative showed up with Hannah’s backpack, “We found this. You might be missing something. This is all we found.”
Hannah found her library books, notes, and student ID. At least she left her driver’s license and credit cards in her dorm. She said, “I can’t believe they left this.”
Drake decided to leave his shoes off. He pushed open the door to the back cabin and poked his head out. “Hannah, would you come to the back? There are some things we need to discuss.”
Hannah stepped past Kendra who was staring at Drake like she was going to slobber all over him. He hated it when she looked at him like that, like he was an éclair ready for tasting. He shut the door, locking it behind them. It was a comfortable area. The carpet was blue as was the soft fabric on the couches. There was a bed on the other side, cot size, but long enough for him. It was an elegant room. It had to be. He spent a lot of time in the air.
Drake sat on one end of the couch. Hannah chose to sit next to Drake rather than across. In a murmur, Drake said, “I trust Sven with my life, but Kendra has only been with us a couple of years. Can I see the sphere?”
Hannah dug into her pocket, grimacing when the sphere jolted her hand with that same buzz of electricity. She gladly dropped it into Drake’s waiting palm. Feeling the same electricity, he quickly transferred it into a metal box, “That’s it. How did you come to have the sphere and not the dragon?”
“I had both,” Hannah started from the beginning, telling the story starting with the other student running from two men. After she finished, she said, “What does it do?”
“That’s need to know,” Drake’s blue eyes rested for a moment on Hannah’s lips before flitting quickly back to her eyes. He focused on those eyes. Innocent. Sweet. Stubborn.
Hannah didn’t back down. She said, “Well, I need to know. I was just kidnapped and now I’m on a plane to God knows where with three complete strangers. I gave it to you willingly. The least you could do is tell me what it does. The people who grabbed me knew, so it can’t be that big of a secret.”
Drake wanted to taste Hannah again, wanted to wrap his arms around her and melt his body into hers until she was screaming his name. Damn her and that kiss. She was barely twenty.
“Drake? Could you tell me?” Hannah prodded. Drake had been silently staring at her for several minutes.
Coming to a quick conclusion, his lips pressed together, Drake said, “Mind-control. It’s still in the testing phase, but if surgically implanted, it gives motor controls of the victim’s limbs to the operator.”
“Who the hell are you people?” Hannah jumped up from the couch and looked around the room as if she could find a means of escape. Drake felt just the slightest bump in pulse rate when he saw her eyes flicker to the gun holster next to his laptop.
“I swear we won’t hurt you,” Drake stepped between Hannah and the gun. Not that she was that close to it or would do anything even if she could, but somehow blocking her vision seemed the thing to do. “We’re independent contractors.”
“Mercenaries?” Hannah asked.<
br />
“Yes, but we have a moral code,” Drake said.
“This is crazy.”
Drake felt the electricity between them as if it were a palpable thing. God, he wanted her. How was that even possible? She wasn’t at all like Becca. Becca had a thin face, straight nose, luminous red hair and a spray of freckles. Nor was she like Lauren, his last girlfriend with parents from Cambodia and a sharp lesson in workplace liaisons. Swallowing hard, Drake said, “Please, sit down.”
Hannah took a step toward him, and she caught in his eyes the same feeling of connection that she felt. He wanted her, too. She asked hesitantly, “Do you feel that?”
Closing his eyes, Drake prayed that she stopped before he completely lost it. He lied, “I don’t feel anything.”
And then she awakened him again, her hand touching his arm with the same tentative question. Pulling Hannah to him, Drake devoured her mouth greedily, but she gave back, teasing and tempting, her own mouth dueling with his until he was tearing at her shirt.
She didn’t stop him. Hannah pushed his own shirt up, running her hand up his stomach and to his chest. Drake groaned, “I want you so much. We have to stop now. God, I want you. I don’t want to take advantage.”
“Please. I want this, too. Just today. No strings.” Hannah fumbled with his trousers, and the way her fingers shook, he thought he would die before she got his pants off.
She trailed her fingers along the puckered scar near his ribs, and he helped her with her own clothes, teasing her with his tongue when they were completely naked. Their kisses rose like a symphony, each note played with fervor until he moved on top of her.
“Are you sure?” He whispered in her ear.
Hannah was scared and excited all at once. “Yes.”
They played and teased and tugged and soared. Every touch was an affirmation of life, of feeling, of hope. As he cupped her cheek and backed into gentle kisses, she felt love. It was everything she had ever wanted, every longing she had ever had ending in sweet satisfaction.
Then he was full and pressing against her body. She opened herself to him, wanting to please him, wanting to feel what everyone had been talking about.
He pushed in again and again, the pain and pleasure escalating to a screaming pitch before he exploded inside her. Tears filled her eyes and ran down her cheeks. She wiped them, hoping Drake wouldn’t notice.
Of course, he did.
“Oh, my God. You’re a virgin?” He pushed away from her as if she had leprosy.
“I...I...” Hannah took a deep breath, “It’s not a big deal.”
“You barely know me. You...SHIT!” Drake scrubbed his hair. He hadn’t even used a condom. “Are you on the pill?”
“I...” Hannah blushed and felt like an idiot, “No. Would you rather I was some tramp who would sleep with everyone?” Hannah grabbed her bra, feeling like an utter fool. The worst was that somehow she’d lost track of everything including the fact that they were on a freaking airplane with two people on the other side of the wall listening to everything she said.
She fumbled with the clasp, her whole body shaking. Drake put his hands on her shoulders and the touch soothed her. In a gentle voice, he said, “I’m sorry. Let me help.”
They dressed, Hannah slipping into her shorts while Drake pulled his shirt over those fabulous abs. He watched Hannah, her face down as she swiped at tears. Egads. Sex with a virgin after an hour’s interaction? What was the world coming to? What the hell did that make him? He certainly wasn’t looking for a relationship. And what was she thinking coming onto a complete stranger like that?
But when she looked up and smiled through her tears, it melted his heart. She said, “It’s my fault. I wanted to make love to someone like you. I know we probably won’t see each other again when it’s over. I just...wanted one perfect moment in my life.”
Drake took his seat on the couch, his shirt still unbuttoned and showing off his marvelous chest. One perfect moment. Of course she cried. He said, “I’m sorry I disappointed you.”
Hannah licked the top of her lip, a mischievous grin forming when she said, “Never. It was the best moment of my life.”
“Well, I guess that’s something.” Drake had no idea how to respond to Hannah.
With a blush, she said, “I just...I imagined I’d fall asleep in your arms, but then I started crying and ruined everything.”
It had been two years since Lauren, but Drake couldn’t shake the guilt squeezing his heart. In spite of it, or perhaps because of it, he said, “Come lay down with me. We might not fall asleep, but we still have a few hours before we land.”
They undressed again, recreating the moment of intimacy. Drake could smell Hannah’s shampoo. His hand rested on her thigh. As they fell asleep together, he thought it felt like coming home.
Chapter 3
HANNAH OPENED HER EYES to the warmth of a stranger’s embrace. Had it been anyone else, she would have pulled away. In high school she had fallen asleep with her boyfriend and freaked out when she woke up to his kisses—which is probably why that particular guy broke up with her. In her defense, she had been half asleep.
When they were landing in a small private air strip somewhere in Colorado, Drake woke Hannah up, even though they probably both knew she was faking sleep that last stretch. She felt so awkward and eager; it was pathetic. She got up before Drake, and realized that her first time making love was probably also her last. It brought such a pathos, a strange longing for more and a satisfaction that at least she had done something before kicking off to life’s deep end.
She dressed shyly, her gaze wandering to his bare shoulders after he had put on his trousers. His muscles were defined, not bulky but strong, the kind of strength she looked for in a man, and rarely found in the college kids she knew.
Drake dressed in a black blazer, white silk shirt and trousers. Handsome was too clumsy a word for a man like Drake. Hannah felt like an idiot. To think a man like that would like a girl like her. She reminded herself of the tumor and her own shortened life span. This was one chance encounter she refused to regret.
It took effort to leave that protected section of the plane and return to Sven and Kendra. Kendra, the she-wolf, gave Hannah a brutal stare before looking away. Sven was blushing when he handed Hannah her backpack. “We have a safe house. This should be over in the next week, give or take.”
Hannah pursed her lips, “And...you’re holding me captive until then?”
Sven cleared his throat, “Not at all. We just want you safe. They know too much about you. It’s not that bad. There’s a swimming room, weight room, recreation room with pool and ping pong tables...” His voice trailed off.
With a forced smile, Hannah said, “That sounds great.” By which she meant, why don’t we take me to the dentist and pull out my wisdom teeth while we’re at it, you bastards?
“There’s a library,” Drake’s deep voice tantalized Hannah. She found her smile again.
“What kind of books?” Hannah thought that disappearing into a good romance might clear the cobwebs out of her mind. What was she even thinking anymore?
“A little of everything. You should find one or two books you haven’t read yet.” Drake watched Hannah. It was completely unnerving. He seemed to be waiting for some kind of signal. Hannah had no idea what it was.
“Sounds great,” Hannah felt so awkward. This whole flight was a dream and a nightmare all rolled into one.
When the door finally opened, Hannah was the second person out, right after Drake. The sky had a dark twilight quality, but Hannah was confused by how much time she had spent with the kidnappers. She didn’t know if it was morning or night. One thing she did know. It was freezing! She was from Miami where at the most a person might need a light jacket to keep off the rain. The wind here was like an ice cube sliding across her arms.
She didn’t expect a long smoochie goodbye, but she wasn’t expecting to get dumped off as someone else’s problem either. Drake led her to an office wher
e a woman worked alone in a cubicle. He basically dropped her off with a “Joan will help you get settled.”
Joan was a vivacious blonde, although from the dark roots and brown eyebrows, it obviously came from a bottle. “Hey, Hon, bet this is a bit scary. We get civs here every now and then. I’ll get you some clothes and show you around.”
It was strange that Hannah was deciding how to quit school and who to tell first not so long ago, but now that she was trapped, she wanted nothing more than to return to her dorm room, “I need to get back. I have classes on Monday. What day is it anyway?”
“Sunday, five in the morning and there’s no way you’ll make it to class,” Joan yawned and waved Hannah back out of the office and down the hall, “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for some sleep. I work night shift. I’m off in an hour.”
Hannah liked Joan of the bottle blonde. She was so friendly that it was impossible to be grumpy. Hannah said, “I could use some sleep, too.”
Joan led Hannah to a supply room and grabbed standard issue t-shirts, sweats, and fatigues. She grabbed a kit and handed it to Hannah. Inside Hannah found soap, a razor, and a tiny shampoo bottle. With a hint of apology Joan said, “Sorry about those clothes. They’re not exactly a great fashion statement.”
Hannah held the clothes to her chest, “It’s okay. I don’t plan on staying long.”
Joan shrugged, “Suit yourself. We’re not exactly set up for visitors anyway. But if Drake told you to stay here, you’d better listen. They’ve got some super secret big-time event going down and from what I hear, the people they’re dealing with are dangerous.”
Hannah didn’t feel like getting into her kidnapping. It was too close, too personal. She said, “I can’t just disappear from school. People will wonder where I am.”
“I’m taking care of that. I’ve notified the registrar and the resident director of your dorm. Officially, you were in a car accident. This may set you back a semester, but trust me, it’s better than being dead.”