EDGE OF TEMPTATION

by Gennita Low

  Jared shook his head. “You were supposed to look at the video for car tags and important things.”

  “Hey, shoes are important. Also, the twin sister was on her game. When one of the thugs grabbed and shoved her, she had tagged him just under the collar. The other one, she did the same as they were getting into the vehicle. Smooth. You have to be really good to be able to do that without being caught. Bet you she has some kind of device on her to track them. I need to learn more about this agency.”

  “GEM mostly does international work, like interpreting or middlemen for negotiations,” Jared told her. “They have UN contracts, for example, to work with women and children in refugee camps. That’s their main front, anyway.”

  “And what else?” Sugar asked, eyebrows lifted. “Do they spy on foreign governments?”

  Jared shrugged. “I don’t think they’re spies in that sense. But I do know they’ve been working very closely with the commando group I told you about.”

  “The one you’re trying to contact.”

  Jared nodded. “Yeah. Really elite. Totally dark ops.”

  “Like our Delta.”

  “Yeah, except they have very nice and expensive toys, courtesy of the DOD.”

  Sugar leaned one hip against the table. “And DARPA is under the DOD and our scientist girl is a DARPA scientist.”

  Jared nodded. “That’s right. Those are the dots. Connect them.”

  “Do you think the Russians are after something DARPA has made for this commando outfit,” Parker suggested. “A special weapon?”

  “Don’t know, but we’ll find out soon.” He didn’t think Jed would actually enlighten him about that, but all his sources of information pointed to that theory. “On the way in 10 minutes.”

  “Good luck, Bossman. Lexi and I will keep tabs. A team is coming behind you.”

  Jared leaned into Sugar for a kiss.

  “I wonder if Rookie has hashed out an escape plan yet,” Sugar said.

  He shook his head. “I have a feeling Miss Nadia is up to something more spectacular than checking out the Russian men.”

  Sugar sighed. “Dammit. I’m going to join GEM to get some action. I already have the right outfits.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Walker helped Nadine up the stairs. She was having difficulty gauging where to put her feet, holding on to the railing with one hand, her briefcase with another. The old farmhouse had been renovated inside like a bed and breakfast. Walker was sure it was a front. For what, he wasn’t sure, but certainly, it looked like an ideal vacation spot.

  “Why don’t you carry your woman up like a good husband-to-be?” the Russian. The one who had been driving, asked. “She looks like she’s going to topple off the stairs.”

  He wanted to but she had given an adamant shake of her head when he’d been about to do so. Her feverish eyes had a very determined look in them, so he’d stopped.

  Nadine laid a hand on Ivan’s shoulder, leaning against him heavily. He automatically put an arm over her shoulders “You’re such a big guy,” she crooned, and even though she was ill, her voice held a mixture of mesmerizing softness and drawl. “You can carry me, if you like.”

  The man laughed and swung her off her feet. Her hand held the collar of his jacket.

  “Oh!” She said. “You’re strong too. Honey Bun Bun doesn’t carry me well. He has a bad knee.”

  Walker stared after them as they climbed the steps ahead of him. What was the woman up to now? She was talking on and on, her smoky voice that incredible timbre that seemed to project, unbidden, images of sweaty bodies in torrid poses. His and hers, actually. It hit him in the gut, how much he wanted her. And it surprised him, even though his head was telling him she was doing this to distract their captor, how much he hated the other man’s hands on her.

  “I can carry you all the way too,” he said out loud, sounding sulky.

  “Oh, don’t be jealous,” she called to him over the Russian’s shoulder. “I’m just thinking about you.”

  The Russians laughed at that, and then immediately became subdued, which told Walker a lot. Someone was watching.

  “Like I said before,” Ivan spoke in Russian to his pals. “Too bad about her being locked up in a ship. I’d prefer her doing other things than working with the other scientists.”

  “Well, we’ll have to see what it is she’s offering Vadim that’s so important. That other scientist was giving up information so fast, I’m not even sure if he could be believed,” Sergei said.

  “Eh. Scientists. They break easy.”

  “Or, they’re easily tempted. All they want is money for research. Miss Scientist here will be working in no time.”

  “Yes, but will she be wearing that leather outfit?”

  The Russians laughed, and again, immediately composed themselves. They reached the landing of the third floor and Sergei gestured to the right.

  “I have their cell phones. Make her open the briefcase but don’t touch the laptop. She told Kantor she was bringing the BioTrans laptop.”

  “What’s that?”

  Sergei shrugged. “Vadim said it only recognizes her touching and using it. Someone else’s keystrokes will set it to self-destruct. Something like that. So, you see, she’s quite an important asset for us. Look in the briefcase to see what else she has. Get them some food.” He glanced at Walker. “If she could hold it down, that is. Give her fiancé whatever he needs. It could be his last meal, depending on Vadim’s mood.”

  The others looked at Walker.

  “What use is he anyway?” Ivan asked.

  “You’re all making me extremely nervous, looking at me like that,” Walker interrupted. He understood everything, of course. Hopefully, his Titan team would be here in time. “I’m staying with my woman, I don’t care what you guys are planning. Someone has to take care of her tonight.”

  “Oh, Honey Bun Bun, I love you so, so much,” Nadine said.

  “I love you too, but I wish you didn’t get us in such hot water,” Walker told her.

  He meant it too. This was so reminiscent of his old days of living off the cuff, trying to survive while moving among the enemy as one of them. It was a savage kind of existence, always letting go of that inner beast most humans curb inside. He had come home to get away from living like that. He thought he could do surveillance and the more—to him—mundane ‘chase-the-bad-guys’ operations. But here he was, deep in undercover shit, one casual line away from being discovered.

  He came home after a particularly bloody aftermath, hoping to find some civilized side of him still alive. Nadine Kincaid had given him some hope because she’d actually made him pay attention to her and laughed too.

  However, he didn’t kid himself how much of him was still untamed. That beast inside him peeking out, was waiting to be unleashed.

  * * *

  When they were finally left alone, Nadine set her briefcase down. She stumbled as she straightened and Walker held on to her.

  “Dammit,” he murmured, but didn’t say anything else.

  Good boy. He was careful about bugs too. She was prepared for bugging devices, though. Her little briefcase was more than what it seemed.

  She put it on the bed and reopened it. The men had been careful not to touch the laptop, although they went through the other stuff in the pockets—notebooks, a few pens, some TicTacs, that sort of thing. Walker stood beside her, looking down at the laptop.

  “Is it true what that Sergei said about your laptop?” he asked.

  She nodded, unzipping her leather jacket. “Yes.”

  “This is the only laptop I can log in and work from,” she told him as she shrugged out of her top. She was amused by how their conversation didn’t match the intensity in his eyes as they followed her movements with interest. They were now heatedly staring at the light shirt she had underneath. It was slightly damp from perspiration and stuck to her like a second skin. She had teased him all day. Her sexy beast was peering out at her right now. A tingly heat
prickled down in her gut. Funny how, even in her self-induced state of discomfort, she still felt the attraction to this man. Despite the message in his gaze, she knew he was listening to her.

  She didn’t mind reiterating aloud all the instructions she’d been given for their listeners. “Dr. Kantor knows about this state-of-the-art DARPA-invented security. It gauges fingerprints, scans retinas, requires coded passwords, and even checks my temperature. No one but I can access the information. Neat, huh?”

  “But can’t they just cut off your hand or do something gruesome to your eyes?”

  Walker asked that so casually, Nadia had to take a moment not to laugh out loud. There was something about him that was very contained, very measured, as if there were two of him. She wanted to dig deep inside and find the other Walker. Haha. Listen to her. She was the one with two of herselves walking around.

  A wave of nausea hit her again. Damn, this drug was truly nasty stuff. Putting a hand to her mouth, she pointed to the open door leading to the bathroom and rushed in.

  “Get my purse,” she ordered. “I need to freshen up. God, I hope they have mouthwash in there.”

  She heard Walker following her. He shut the door after them. He came behind her and set the purse on the bathroom counter as she turned the water on. Meeting his eyes in the mirror, she turned the ring on her finger and he watched with interest as she pressed one small ridge on its side.

  After ten seconds, the stone glowed green, indicating the room was safe from any bugging devices. Now they could talk.

  She smiled at him. “And how do you do?” she asked.

  “Other than having a bunch of questions in my head, I’m fine,” he replied. “Interesting ring. Frequency interference in such a small thing. What other stuff are you hiding in your pretty little baubles?”

  He waited while she brushed her teeth and gargled. God, it’d been a long ride, being sick like that. Still, she’d gotten the delay she wanted, so she supposed it was worth it.

  She reached into her bag and pulled out a tampon. He raised his eyebrow, still not saying anything, just quietly observing as she injected the antidote into her system. She wondered what he was thinking. As far as she knew, he still thought her to be Nadine and that he had no idea she’d taken her sister’s place.

  “Is that how you got...?” He waved to indicate her condition.

  She nodded, liking how he was still being careful. “But this will stop it. It’ll take a while before I look better, though. The object is to get them to think my temperature and biorhythms don’t correspond with the laptop’s requirements. Clever little thing, that computer.”

  “Tell me more,” he said, wetting a towel for her as she flushed the tampon casing down the toilet.

  During the phone call with Kantor, she had thrown in the required knowledge of the project to get Vadim’s interest. She had to be brief in her summary to avoid suspicion of being too long in the bathroom.

  She leaned in close and whispered in Walker’s ear, “Here’s a tongue twister for you. Super Soldier Spy special exoskeleton skin. I work in coding the suit for virtual reality. VR isn’t just virtual reality either. At DARPA, they’re working on something called Immersive Virtual Reality and I told them someone really special is being trained in it right now. You know, just enough information to hook the Russians in.”

  From gathered intel, this group was after all the scientists connected with any exoskeleton suit using the new skin—be they DARPA or other agencies—but her deliberate babbling away with Dr. Kantor was revealing enough to show she was working on something worth even more than the new tech for soldiers. Technically, the intent of exoskeleton research was to enable seriously wounded men and women to walk again. But there are other departments at DARPA working on building and enhancing a fighting machine.

  Actually, she herself didn’t know much more. Science was her sister’s forte, not hers. However, she did know one thing mostly kept secret by the agencies at the moment. Her GEM sister was the Super Soldier Spy being trained. The chances of Vadim and his gang knowing this was quite high, seeing that they had moles embedded within the CIA for years. It was only recently discovered how much damage they’d done through the years, causing enough deaths to bring COS Command and GEM to come together to clean up.

  His arms lightly circled around her. “Interesting stuff, but you forget to tell me one thing. Who the hell are you?”

  “Well, according to you, your fiancé.”

  The stone on her ring glowed red. They had ten seconds, max. Nadia immediately pressed the ridge again. She reached down and unzipped Walker’s pants.

  * * *

  “Look, I can explain that. First, we need to get out of here.” Walker looked down at her hands on his crotch. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “If we’re getting married,” she said, still whispering, “the least you could do is let me check out the goods.” Aloud, she continued, “Ooooh, Honey Bun Bun, I can’t wait for our wedding night. Kiss me and make me feel better.”

  Walker stared down at the darn woman. She’d shown him her ring’s sudden glow and then...put her hands in his pants. Their captors were obviously tuning into their conversation and she was putting on her act again, but she really had the naughtiest hands.

  He looked on as she pulled out his garrote wire a couple of inches.

  “Oooh, baubles,” she cooed.

  Then she worked on his belt, her clever fingers pressing on buttons to release the blades and keys. She had been checking his weapons all along.

  He depressed the mechanism. “Kibble Kisses,” he murmured, then using his hand to tilt her chin up, he kissed her.

  It seemed the only natural way to continue. In the course of hours, she’d managed to frustrate, intrigue, amuse and fascinate him. She was obviously not who she claimed to be because the training she displayed was too apparent.

  He’d lost control of the situation from the get-go, and this seemed one good way to finally get to do the things he wanted. That voice. The way she’d teased and touched him. The flirtatious mouth. God, she had the sexiest mouth. She opened and let him slide his tongue in.

  He didn’t have to act, if they really had eavesdroppers. She was all woman in his arms and the dangerous aspect of their situation only added to his desire. Not to mention those hands boldly cupping his erection through his underwear. Then they slipped inside.

  Damn.

  Fuck.

  The cool air teased his released cock, and before he could say another word, he felt his pants being pushed off his hips.

  A tight grip surrounded his already semi-aroused state. A few quick jerks was all it needed to take have all the blood eagerly rushing there. After all, his cock had waited all day to play. The grip under the head of his dick tightened unbearably before releasing him. As she’d done all day, she did that to drive him crazy.

  Fuck.

  Well, two could play at this game. He ran his hands up the supple leather pants that had caught his fascination since the very beginning. They molded to her, like tights, and felt buttery soft to the touch. There were two buttons at the waist. Easy snap-offs. He loved easy snap-offs. He slipped his hands down the cheeks of her ass, the silk lining inside giving way to his search. He pushed and her pants slid down like oil over glass. In the back of his lust-clouded mind, he noted the lady’s clothes probably cost more than a few months of his current salary. These form-fitting huggers were created with maximum comfort in mind, no expenses spared. He could go no further with his appreciation of such fine leather because, except for a skimpy piece of string, she was totally bare. He stared down, feasting on the exposed skin. Lightly tanned thighs. And above it, shaven and gleaming, the V of hotness.

  Sweet holy V of hotness.

  He lifted her onto the counter and peeled the rest of the pants off. Her legs open wide for him as he unzipped the tapered pant legs. His gaze did not leave the coveted V of hotness. That wispy stringy material didn’t conceal anything at all. Wet. Gl
istening. Beckoning him. He reached out and cupped her, opening the slick folds.

  Did he say he was trying to find some semblance of control?

  “Are you sure?” he asked, maybe growled, his tongue feeling thick and uncooperative.

  “What do you think they’re thinking we’re doing in here?” She wrapped her long, luscious legs around him. “Honey B—oh!”

  Not needing further encouragement, he thrust deep into her pussy, sliding in without preliminaries. His hands smoothed over the crease of her thighs and he teased the sensitive area with his thumbs. She moaned again. He’d be damned to have her call him that during sex. Her tight pussy milked him as he pushed into her, the urgency of their situation second only to his raging need to have an orgasm. She leaned back some more, allowing him deeper access. Her heat gloved him, insistent and demanding. He rubbed his thumbs over her clit. She opened her mouth and he caught her lips with his, swallowing her words and moan. Rule #4 or 5 or 6. No ‘honey bun bunning’ when he was about to come.

  She arched up against him as he touched her again. She was extremely sensitive down there. All he needed was to press down lightly—like this— She arched up even more, breaking free from his lips, and he explored her neck.

  “More!” she demanded. “Harder!”

  Her hands were underneath his mostly undone shirt, her nails lightly scratching down his back. She gave his ass a sharp slap.

  He laughed.

  It didn’t matter if she was acting or not or even if there were people listening to them. He didn’t care. He pulled her head back, his fingers threading through her silky hair, and nibbled down her neck, her collar bone, all the way down until he sucked her nipples through her shirt and bra. He bit harder through the light material. Her throaty moans aroused him even more.

  He pulled the shirt up and her arms went up to help him get it off. The lacy bra opened in the front and he was rewarded with the sight of her breasts, her nipples like sweet strawberries. He suckled on them as his lower body pumped in slow measured strokes.