“Want to know a secret?” Holden asked, pausing for a second. “I envy what you have with Jaci.”
“Yeah? You, the lone wolf?”
“Hey, as I recall, you were a card-carrying member of the lone-wolf club, too,” Holden said with a smirk.
Nathan laughed. “So what’s the deal with you and Fallon?”
“Deal? No deal. We’re partners.”
“Nothing else?”
“Naw. She’s all business, and hooking up with her is the last thing I need right now. I mean, she’s hot but comes with too much baggage.”
“Baggage? I sense a story. You’ve already hooked up, haven’t you?”
He grinned, unable to deny it, but his smile faded quickly enough. “Listen, don’t say anything. We didn’t part on good terms and it’s hard enough working together without our past mucking things up.”
“Hey, I understand. You got feelings for her?”
“Whoa! Where’d that come from?” Holden asked with nervous laughter. “Feelings? Sure, she’s my partner and I’d take a bullet for her. That’s what you’re supposed to do for your partner. Do I want to pick out China patterns together? No.” He rolled his eyes at the thought. “We’d end up shooting each other in the housewares aisle.” He finished the conversation with “She’s difficult,” and left it at that.
“The best ones always are. Did I ever tell you how Jaci and I got back together?”
“No. Is it a long story? Because I bore easily,” he quipped.
“Shut up and listen. It’s a good story. You’ll love it. And if you don’t love it, too bad—you’re listening anyway. Okay, so there was a hit out on her—”
“Ah, the way all good love stories start,” Holden interrupted with a grin.
Nathan snickered, saying, “I know, right? Anyway, there’s a hit on her life and I basically kidnap her moments before the hitter buries a bullet in her skull, just like he’d done her best friend seconds earlier.”
“Jeez, Nathan, this is one helluva story. You might want to edit out the gore when you tell your future kids about how Mommy and Daddy met.”
“Yeah, yeah, good advice. My point? She freaking hated me because I did some messed-up shit in a backward attempt at protecting her and, well, ultimately she was unable to resist my manly charms and the rest is history. The thing is, chemistry won’t be denied, no matter what you try to do to squelch it and you, my friend, and your partner...you’ve got chemistry. I can see it coming off you in waves. Like pheromones and shit. That stuff’s real, you know.”
“Thank you, Love Doctor. I had no idea you were so versed in human biology. Chemistry or not, she’s got issues that I don’t think I can handle.”
“Such as?”
“For starters? Her dad.”
“Who’s her dad?”
“Brace yourself—retired Major General Gregory Fallon.”
Nathan whistled in recognition, then shook his head in commiseration. “Damn, that sucks. I heard that man keeps a box of other men’s testicles as war prizes. Highly decorated and scary as hell...that’s a tough break. I take it a meet with the pops didn’t go so well?”
“You could say that. Anyway, there’s no future between me and Fallon. I don’t have time for that kind of drama.”
“Yeah, I hear you. However,” Nathan added with a shrug, “if I’d given up on Jaci the first time she punched me in the face, I would never have the love of my life right now.”
Holden rolled his eyes, a moment of disquiet filling him. Should he have fought harder for Jane when they’d broken up? Maybe he’d run too quickly. Hell, maybe if he’d stood his ground, they might’ve found a way around that mountain of opposition known as The Major. Then again, maybe not. Maybe it would’ve ended the same way, only later and with more damage.
“Thanks for the pep talk—I think. I need to ask you something related to the case. You up to answering a few serious questions?”
“Sure, buddy. It’s the least I can do after tossing you out on your ear.”
“Did you happen to remember anything from that day, anything you didn’t tell Jane when she interviewed you?”
Nathan’s smile dimmed as he shook his head. “I’ve been racking my brain, trying to remember every detail. But everything I can remember I’ve already told Jane for her report.”
“I appreciate you trying.” Holden finished his beer. “We visited Tessara today. We have some reading material to go over.”
“Should I even ask?” Nathan asked. “I can’t believe they let you walk out with personnel files.”
“Yeah, well, I can’t tell if they’re trying to cooperate or if they’re trying to throw us off the scent. Either way, I’m interested in seeing what Penny Winslow had her fingers on.”
“Knowing that sneaky bitch, she probably had her fingers on everything. She was not only greedy, but also consumed with her own ego. To this day, I’ll never know what Tom saw in her.”
“The heart is often blind,” Holden said softly. “I’d say he paid for his error in judgment.”
Nathan nodded. That was all that needed to be said about that. Tom Wyatt had been like a father figure to Nathan, and when he had been implicated in the illegal activities, it had damn near broken Nathan’s heart. To make matters worse, Nathan had been in the room when a sniper took out Tom in his own den with a single bullet whizzing through the glass straight to the man’s skull. A perfect hit. Tom was also on Miko’s list of crimes.
Nathan settled a reassuring hand on Holden’s shoulder. “Hey, try to remember that even if you’re wrong and Miko is truly guilty of everything he’s been accused of, he was still your brother and my friend. And we knew him as a good man. Nothing can take that from us.”
Holden nodded, appreciating his friend’s quiet wisdom. “Me and Jane better get to the hotel so we can start going over the Tessara files,” he said, giving himself the chance to exit gracefully.
Nathan and Holden embraced like men—rough and hard—and then sprang apart with quick goodbyes.
Once in the car, Jane looked to Holden. “You okay? You two were in the garage for a while. I was starting to run out of things to talk about with Jaci. She’s nice, but we don’t really have a lot in common.”
“Yeah I can imagine—the graphic designer and the hard-core marine. It’s not as if you’d run in similar circles.” Holden sighed as he rubbed his brow. “I don’t blame Nathan. He did what he had to do. If I had someone I cared about and that person was threatened, I’d do the same.”
“Growing up in a military family, it’s hard to imagine living as a civilian. Weapons training, PT and hand-to-hand combat training has been part of my life since I was a kid. It must’ve been terrifying to go through what Jaci did with zero training.”
“Yeah, but she held her own in the end from what Nathan told me. Same with Kat, Jake’s wife. She was even more helpless. The woman had practically lived in the lab before Jake plucked her out and brought her to D.C. People grow when they have to, and I guess the strong will find a way to survive.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” There was something quiet and vulnerable about the way Jane said it that when she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and turned her gaze out the window, he was struck by the knowledge that if someone were threatening Jane, he’d tear their spine out.
Nope, he didn’t fault Nathan. He understood. He spotted the hotel Jaci recommended just off the highway. “We’re here. Let’s see if they have any vacancies.”
* * *
They were able to immediately book two adjoining rooms. After ordering some Thai food for delivery, they tackled the personnel file. “Well, Holden, you are right about one thing—this woman was very hands-on. She’s listed as the lead supervisor on a number of different projects.” Jane pulled a highlighter from her purse and began marking the projects. “That seems a bit odd considering she was an executive, right?”
“Yes, but she was also one of the founders of Tessara. She had a biochemical engineering backg
round.”
“It says here she got her degree after serving her time in the military. I guess she was fairly brilliant,” Jane said, a note of grudging respect entering her voice. “I mean, she was a total psychopath, of course. But you know what they say about geniuses—they’re all a little crazy.”
“That’s a stereotype. I’m not crazy in the least,” Holden joked, and Jane graced him with a sardonic smirk. He chuckled and balled up his napkin to toss it basketball-style in the wastebasket near the door. “She was crazy, that’s for sure. So what are some of the projects?”
“Well, they all have names, which are likely code for whatever they were. So who’s to say which is which or if they are connected to Miko?”
“At this point I think we have to grasp at any straw thrown our way.”
Jane nodded. “Okay, so some of the project names are Switchblade, Carousel, Serenade, Game Changer.” She looked up. “Any of those sounds familiar?”
Holden mulled over the information and then, pulling something from memory, said, “Game Changer...that’s what MCX-209 was nicknamed by that freak responsible for what happened to Jake. That’s how they were presenting it on the black market.”
“Are you saying that Jake’s girlfriend was working for Penny Winslow?”
“Not directly, I’m sure. Kat would’ve answered to her immediate supervisor, but that supervisor would’ve answered to someone else higher up the chain.”
“Damn...the possibility that MCX-209 is involved gives me hives. It’s like finding out that time travel is possible and a Terminator is coming to kill me. Freaky stuff.”
“Kat had been working on MCX-209 for a year before all hell broke loose. I wonder if Penny was keeping close tabs on her progress.”
“If she had her fingers in this pie, chances are the answer is yes. I mean, think about it, a drug that can erase memory? She would’ve been unstoppable.” Jane shivered.
“True. It would’ve been a considerable asset in her arsenal. But I don’t know if MCX-209 had shown any progress at that point. It would’ve been in its infancy of testing.”
Jane tapped the marker on the file. “But if Penny had a background in biochemical engineering, she would’ve been able to study Kat’s notes, right?”
“Yeah?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Well, maybe she knew the drug was going to fail in its original inception but found a bigger, more nefarious purpose and thus kept Kat working on it under the guise of supporting her research.”
“Sounds like something that woman would do. When we get back to Washington, we should hit up Kat and see what she remembers about that time at Tessara.”
“Isn’t she working for the Department of Defense now?”
He nodded. “Best way to control a threat is to control its funding.”
“True. I’m surprised she agreed to work for the government after everything she’d been through.”
“Yeah, me, too. But she’s a scientist at her core and she was given an offer she couldn’t pass up. I’m not going to judge her for doing what she felt was right for herself and Jake.”
“No, of course not,” she said, shuffling through the paperwork and stifling a yawn. “It’s been a long day. Want to call it?”
Holden didn’t appear happy with that idea, but his eyes were bloodshot, too. “Yeah, I guess so.” He gathered the papers he’d been studying and tidied them into a pile. “We’re a good team. Who knew, right?”
She caught his gaze and her cheeks heated for no good reason. One compliment from Holden and she goes all girlie on him? Get a grip. Jane smiled and nodded. “Seems that when we’re not fighting one another, things get done.”
“Yeah.” He leaned back in his chair and popped his back. “I’m feeling not being able to work out for the past few days,” he said, wincing as he stretched. “Working out keeps the kinks from permanently kinking.”
She tried to keep her gaze on her paperwork, as her brain was currently objectifying his body like a rabid teen at a boy-band concert. All she had to do was think of how inappropriate it was to obsess on the rugged hills and valleys of every muscular portion of his body and she could smother this raging attraction, which seemed to be getting out of control with each passing second. Yep. Any second now she’d get things under control.
Any. Second.
Her gaze found his and what she saw there mirrored the hunger she felt curling in her belly. She breathed a distressed “Oh, no...” before he suddenly pulled her to him and planted a searing kiss on her upturned, nearly puckering lips.
And that was exactly how fires raged out of control—when you threw gasoline on them.
Chapter 12
Jane melted beneath Holden’s touch, all resistance and good sense following in sequential order, leaving behind nothing but raging attraction and insane, career-killing lust. Every thwarted sexual impulse and smothered tingle of desire raged in her nerve endings, demanding more and then some. If she could think straight, she would remind Holden that morning afters were awkward, and even more so when the person you’d shagged was staring at you from across the debriefing room. But who could counter with reason when there was a tongue in your mouth, twisting your resolve into a tiny, minuscule pretzel?
“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that. I’ve missed you, Jane,” Holden said in a husky murmur against her lips. He grabbed her hand and pulled her from the chair, spinning her around so her backside was pressed firmly against his groin. “Feel that?” His hardened erection ground against her behind, stealing her breath. “That’s what you do to me no matter how much I try to forget.” His hand reached around to cup her through her jeans, and she squirmed as heat flooded her body at his possessive touch.
“This is probably a bad idea,” she felt obligated to say, even as she bit her lip and held back a cry when he moved the heel of his hand against her. “This doesn’t change anything if we do this. Coworkers only, right?”
“Of course,” he said, nibbling her neck and sucking the flesh between his lips for a sharp bite. They walked slowly backward, and Holden gave her a hard push onto the bed. She gasped as he towered over her with that damnably sexy grin. She reached up and jerked him to her, obliterating that grin beneath the onslaught of her mouth. Their tongues tangled, fighting for dominance, leaving them both breathless and desperate to shuck their clothes. They wasted no time. Within seconds, the sound of ripping fabric and popping buttons filled the air. In a heartbeat, their naked bodies were sliding against one another in a gloriously dirty dance that left them both growling as they pushed one another to deeper, more complete absolution. Holden took care of the protection, impatiently sliding a condom onto his shaft before filling and stretching her with delicious intent. Good God, she thought dizzily, clinging to him. She’d missed this! She gasped as the head of his shaft punched that sweet spot with unerring accuracy, sending her into shuddering orbit as he did it again and again, demanding that she take every inch until she was no longer aware where he stopped and she began. An animalistic groan popped from her mouth when he stopped to flip her around to her belly. She arched her back with a hiss as he slid back inside her slick heat. She couldn’t help herself, rocking and writhing against his shaft, taking her pleasure as surely as he was taking his own.
“Holden,” she gasped his name like a prayer, begging for release, but he wasn’t ready to give it to her. He was drawing it out, milking the moment for all it was worth, and she was thankful. They both knew this was a one-time deal, right? Might as well leave a mark to make it count. “Oh...Holden, please...”
“Not yet, sweet Janey,” he said, squeezing her cheeks as he drove into her flesh, making her shake with each thrust. She groaned, then cried out in frustration when he withdrew again to roll her onto her backside. “What are you d—”
And then she sucked in a wild cry as his mouth descended between her folds, teasing that secret pleasure button, demanding her surrender without mercy. She couldn’t run, couldn’t hide from th
e pleasure that was building. And she didn’t want to. She wanted it all. She wanted the pain, the sweetness, the delectable forbidden nature of everything they were doing together. At that moment, she wasn’t the good girl, the perfect daughter who always made the decisions that would reflect well on her family. She was a wanton, sex-starved she-devil who wanted destruction and mayhem as much as she craved acceptance and praise. Dual natures clashed and she thrashed, gripping the bedsheet between her sweaty palms. When he lightly grazed his teeth across her hood and slipped his finger deep inside her, she shattered with a keening cry that surely the entire hotel heard, every muscle clenching in glorious unison, toes curling hard enough to start a cramp. Her breath left her lungs until they threatened to collapse. “H-Holden,” she gasped, her head lolling to the side as her eyes glazed in postorgasmic bliss. “Holden...” It was all she could manage. But the blaze of hunger in his eyes told her this ride was just beginning. Before she could fully recover, Holden was inside her again; this time, he was going to push her harder than ever. It would be a miracle if she could walk by morning.
* * *
Sweat slicked their bodies as Holden worked himself back into Jane’s hot core, gritting his teeth at the insane, delicious pressure ricocheting down his shaft and pooling in his balls. This was crazy, his brain bubbled with maniacal glee, but he was desperate to touch every inch of her honeyed skin. Maybe it was experiencing the tender bond between Nathan and Jaci that had ignited this fierce hunger inside him. Whatever the reason, he couldn’t stop himself. Jane was toned, with feminine curves for a man to hold on to. Her hips flared in the most achingly perfect way, and he wanted to lose himself between her folds to devour her taste. It was a bad idea—all of this—but did that matter? Hell no! When he saw that dark look in her eyes, that split second of raw yearning peeking through the curtain of self-possessed reserve that she always maintained, he had lost it and stolen the moment. Maybe he’d live to regret it. Who cared? He was with her now and it was everything he remembered it to be.
He’d brought her to release once, but that wasn’t enough. He wanted to make sure that when she closed her eyes at night, she thought of him and all the things he’d done to her. Maybe it was egotistical—okay, yeah, it was—but for some reason, he wanted to be the only man she remembered in her private thoughts. He wanted to dominate her fantasies until only he remained. What did that mean? He’d never cared before with his other lovers, but Jane had been a tough habit to quit cold turkey. In the past, he’d been happy to share and share alike. But not with Jane. The very idea of Jane being with someone else caused a growl to rumble from his chest, and he renewed his efforts to leave a brand on her soul.
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