She backed away, one step, then two, watching the tormented silhouette. Yes, she would be here for him when he was ready to talk. Right now she would give him the space he so clearly needed.
Turning, she walked slowly to the lunchroom to get a cup of coffee. Hopefully once she was re-caffeinated he’d have escaped her office. If he was still there when she got back, she’d forget about giving him space. She shook her head. What could be troubling him?
Chapter 8
The sun set and darkness crowded outside the windows. Ryu watched as the lights went out in Edward’s office, then Victor’s. Edward hurried out, head down and muttering to himself, but Victor gave a friendly wave as he left. Kait’s light still glowed and no doubt she was nose deep in work. From everything he’d heard today, she worked too hard.
“See you later, Mac,” Deron’s relaxed voice called out.
“Later.” Ryu nodded at the other man.
Deron paused. “You almost done? We could grab a beer.”
“Thanks, but I’ve got a couple of kinks in this routine I want to iron out before I head home.”
“No prob, ’nother time.” Deron disappeared into the reception area.
The practice floor was finally empty. Ryu glanced at Kait’s office again, her light glared balefully at him. Slowly, he packed away his gear. He hadn’t seen much of her today, aside from the odd glimpse or polite word.
At one point he’d been sure she was coming to talk to him, but she’d done an abrupt about face and hurried back to her office. He felt strangely deflated at missing the chance to talk to her, seeing if he could make her smile. A genuine eyes-lit-up smile, most of the time she was far too serious.
He pushed a torch into his bag with more force than necessary. He was here to do a job, not follow his dick around. He should be asking why she turned tail, not pining because she hadn’t talked to him. So, why had she changed her mind?
He’d watched her as she walked away; she hadn’t gone back into her office, she’d stood outside. He tugged the zip on his bag closed, his brows creased. Why hadn’t she gone in? Johnny was in there, but it was clear they were friends. Was she hiding something from the other man—like the expression on her face?
Ryu’s curiosity tugged like an impatient child wanting candy. Why was Johnny in her office? Why hadn’t she gone in? Why? Why? Curiosity, always his liability, and his asset, plagued him.
He tucked his gear, except a small satchel, into his locker and looked at his watch. His shoulders tensed, it was time. He couldn’t stay any later or it would look suspicious, and he didn’t want to leave then break in later.
At least breaking out when he finished wouldn’t be any trouble, fire regulations made sure of that. He’d have to risk exploring with Kait still here, at least her door was closed. With one more glance around the room he headed confidently toward Victor’s office.
He jiggled the handle but the door was locked. Fortunately, his picks were never far from hand. He disarmed the simple office lock in seconds. The move was eerily reminiscent of the last time he entered a room uninvited. Hopefully tonight didn’t end with a bomb and a boom.
Stygian darkness enveloped him as he stepped into the room and closed the door with a quiet click. The room was pitch black, filled with indiscernible patterns of ink on ebony. Ryu blinked, and opened his eyes to dragon sight. Dragons weren’t nocturnal, but they weren’t completely diurnal either. Standing in Victor’s office, he was glad the room appeared brighter through dragon eyes.
The sheer depth of the darkness was odd. Where was the light from the window? Flicking on a penlight, he focused the beam across the room. The wall facing the street was solid brickwork. Had Victor covered over the window at some point? Ryu walked to the wall and ran his hand over the surface until he bumped into the bookshelf. He eyed it speculatively. Secret door?
Shaking his head, he flicked a fingernail against the spine of one of the books. He couldn’t believe he might have hit the jackpot already. Curiosity niggled but, reluctantly, he pushed it down. There was a way to do these things and it didn’t involve diving head first into the best bits.
Ignoring the bookcase, he began a methodical search of Victor Strange’s office. Not that he expected to find anything. Only a fool would leave evidence lying around at work, and Victor was anything but a fool, but you never knew, he might get lucky. His gaze darted involuntarily to the bookshelf and the secrets it might hide.
He shrugged off temptation and focused on the rest of the room. The thin beam of his torchlight bounced across the dark wooden desk and filing cabinets, the two guest chairs, and a potted palm. Victor’s office wasn’t huge, but it was a fair sight bigger than Kait’s. It also reeked of masculinity in a way that was hard to define.
It looked like a regular office; computer, paper stacked neatly near the blotter, and a painting of a mountain on the wall behind the desk. But even if no one told him it was a man’s room, Ryu would have known. In many ways, it reminded him of Adrian’s office. The power of the men permeating their surroundings.
Ryu held the torch between his teeth as he rifled carefully through the drawers, then moved onto the filing cabinets. He paused at a copy of Kait’s file, but there was nothing they didn’t already know. Hers was the only employment file and he guessed the rest of the staff records were in Kait’s office. Both her’s and Edward’s offices were on his list for the night, as were the staff lockers.
His camera grabbed copies of everything and he closed the last drawer, wincing as the runner scraped. Moving over to the computer he inserted a flash drive, waited for a small click, then turned on the computer.
Screeff. The scrape of a shoe in the corridor outside grabbed his attention by the throat. He froze, ears pricked, waiting. The blue glow of the screen activating infused the room.
His eyes darted away from the sliver of light beneath the door to the traitorous glow. His breath locked. He waited to see if whoever was outside caught a glimpse of light where no light should be. He angled his body, hoping to block most of the telltale illumination.
He’d have a hell of a lot of explaining to do if he was caught. He hated explaining. After what seemed like forever, the footsteps receded and his breath trickled out in a fine plume of anxious smoke.
Relieved, he focused on the computer. While he’d been alert to the threat outside, inside the room Spock’s program had made short work of the password and downloaded the files. He must remember to let the guy know how well it worked. For a good-looking, hyper-genius Spock was riddled with insecurities.
The obvious taken care of, Ryu checked for false panels, loose floorboards, secrets behind paintings, and drawers that were too short allowing for hidden spaces at the back. All too clichéd, but they were clichéd for a reason, people actually used them, believing them secret.
Finally, he turned to the bookshelf and rubbed his hands together. Returning to his satchel, he replaced the camera and pulled out an imager. A dull whine almost outside his hearing range started and he aimed the device at the wall. Watching the screen, he flicked between the thermographic and ultra wideband pulse settings. The image of the wall density immediately began to show anomalies.
Ryu’s nostrils flared and a skitter of copper scales came and went across the backs of his hands. He was right, there was something strange about Victor Strange’s wall.
Using the imager’s view, Ryu began a closer investigation to discover how the bookshelf hinged to the wall. A great deal of prying and probing later, as searching started becoming tedious, he found it. A hidden switch.
Behind a heavy book on management accounting, a knot in the woodwork turned beneath his fingers and a low, scraping click vibrated though the shelf. He tugged on the bookshelf, it swung easily away from the wall revealing a small, dark room on the other side. His smile was all teeth as his torch broke the gloom.
Adrian owed him a beer for this. Slipping into the room, he peered around. A bed made up with regimental military precision sat
in one corner. Only a book lying open on the bed’s rough woollen blanket disturbed the orderliness. A half-filled water glass stood next to the bedside lamp, as if the owner was due to turn up at any moment. Ryu glanced over his shoulder uneasily. This wasn’t what he expected.
The window absent from the main office was here. Bruised, black-purple light seeped through the slatted blind. Another bookshelf and set of cabinets were positioned against the wall opposite the bed. Several brightly coloured, woven wall hangings covered the blank walls, offering insulation from the chill brickwork and turning the atmosphere curiously cheerful.
Ryu crouched in front of the trunk sitting at the foot of the bed. The lock was more complicated than the one guarding the office door but it yielded to his skilful fingers. The trunk opened with a sigh, a rush of sandalwood and clove scented air wafting across his face.
On one side of the chest were Victor’s neatly pressed military uniforms. On the other side were several spare sets of clothes, both work and casual attire. Skimming his hands through the folds of fabric, Ryu found nothing but a box of medals under the uniforms.
Puzzled, he sat back on his heels and stared into the chest, then around the room. Reluctantly closing and relocking the trunk, he investigated the bookshelf and the cabinets. Finally, completely bemused, he gave up. Nothing seemed connected to his case. Instead, the room seemed to be a home-away-from-home, not a nefarious hidey-hole.
His brow creased, Ryu walked back into the office and re-secured the bookshelf, then gave the room a last onceover to make sure nothing looked out of place. Two more offices to go. He shouldered his satchel and stepped quietly into the corridor.
At the creak of a door, he slammed his back against the wall. Eyes wide, he stared down the corridor. A dim shape moved in his direction. Shit. He’d lost focus, got complacent. Puzzling over the secret room, he’d forgotten he wasn’t alone.
Focusing on slowing his respiration and calming his pulse, he crept back as silently as possible to where the shadows hung heaviest. Pressing himself into the corner, he hoped Kait didn’t look in his direction. He’d put his long-sleeve black shirt on earlier, covering up the glaring white of his t-shirt, and his black cargo pants blended into the darkness, but that didn’t mean he was invisible.
He narrowed his eyes to slits, hiding their night-glow. Kait hurried down the corridor, muttering to herself and flicking through a pile of papers. What was she still doing here? Didn’t she have a life to get home to? Ryu gritted his teeth in frustration. Damn, what was he going to say if she caught him? Truth or lies? He’d love to tell her the truth but…he’d tell her lies.
His cover and his mission depended on lies, and until he was given permission he had no choice. Of course, if the lies failed and she threatened to tell the police, then the rules changed. In a situation like that he could make a call as to whether it was better to trust her or stay undercover.
Kait paused, looking around. Her hands clenching tight around her papers, scrunching them. He dropped his gaze, a muscle jumping in his jaw. She knew someone was watching her. He bet her instincts were telling her to run. He echoed their message; run, Kait, run.
She didn’t run.
She shrugged and carried on down the corridor toward him. He held his breath, wishing he could turn off all the lights in the place, because right now he felt like he was under spotlights. She was going to notice him, he knew it. He hated imagining the look in her eyes when she discovered him creeping around.
Her eyes returned to the papers in her hands and, making distressed sounds, she tried to smooth out the wrinkles. She turned the corner and vanished into the lunchroom. She didn’t even glance in his direction.
Ryu’s lungs expanded shakily as he sucked in a relieved breath. He wiped his sleeve across his forehead as adrenaline darted through his veins. Once his heartbeat calmed, he made his way cautiously to Edward’s office. He wanted to run, instead he forced his feet to maintain a cat-like care.
Once again the door was locked, once again he pulled out his lock picks. Eyes continuously darting over his shoulder to check the corridor, he made quick work of the lock and hurried inside. Hidden from sight he let out a sigh of relief.
That had been too close.
Wiping sweaty palms on his cargo pants, he focused on checking Edward’s office. As he opened a drawer, he remembered he still needed to check Kait’s office. He let out a silent groan. She’d better be gone by the time he was done in here.
If the damned woman wasn’t so attractive, if she didn’t distract him like crazy, this mission wouldn’t be tying him in knots.
Chapter 9
“Okay, people, can I have your attention?” Kait clapped her hands together as she looked around the group gathered in the lunchroom.
The buzz slowly died down and all eyes focused on her; the only ones she felt, solid as a caress, were copper. Ryu had been studying her since she came in and her body hummed under his gaze. His face however, was unnervingly blank. Her eyes darted in his direction as she struggled to find a clue as to what he was thinking as he watched her. Nothing, just those luminous, copper eyes.
She cleared her throat. “As you all know we’ve got the Taste-IT-Power event on Thursday—”
“How come it’s on a Thursday, most of the corporate events we do are on Fridays or over the weekend?” Deron asked.
Kait glanced at her notes. “It’s the company’s 10th anniversary. As well as throwing a party they are giving all staff Friday off. That way it doesn’t matter if everyone’s out late having fun at our event, none of them have to be in at work the next day.”
“Nice boss they’ve got.” Rachael wiggled her eyebrows as she cast a look at Victor who was sitting in on the meeting.
“Thank you, Rachael, I can take a hint.” The corner of Victor’s lip twitched in a smile. Rachael was one of the few people who had the nerve to tease him.
“I’ve printed out a list of the tasks that still need to be accomplished before Thursday.” Kait started handing out lists to everyone.
Ryu’s fingers skimmed over her palm as he took a copy. Her breath skittered and her thigh muscles clenched. Not daring to look at him, she hurried to give out the rest of the handouts. She needed to get a hold of herself, this was ridiculous.
Almost as ridiculous as the night before when she’d stayed late and begun imagining things. On her way to get coffee, she’d been positive she caught Ryu’s spice and fire scent in the corridor. No one was there of course, but his intoxicating scent followed her home and into her dreams. Heat burned up the back of her neck as she recalled what her sleeping mind conjured.
She opened her eyes in a candlelit bedroom full of shadows and secrets…Sitting up slowly, her hands trailed over silky, forest-green satin sheets. Decadence surrounded her.
Stretching languidly, she lifted the heavy weight of her hair off her neck. Longer than in real life, the rich river of red reached her hips. Releasing it to tumble down her back, she adjusted the plunging neckline of her diaphanous, white negligee. The sheer fabric a stark contrast against the dark linen.
Music played in the distance and she tried to identify it, but the harder she concentrated the less she was able to make out. The nameless tune continued, setting alight a taunting rhythm in her blood.
A gentle breeze stirred, fluttering the candle flames and bringing with it the scent of spice and smoke—Ryu’s unique scent. Her heartbeat quickened, her mouth slightly open as she drew in ragged breaths. His scent became a taste against her tongue. Her eyes darted around the room trying to pierce the darkness and find the source. Then, he was there. Her dream lover.
His white t-shirt from earlier in the day a glowing beacon in the darkness. He loomed above her, staring down. His copper eyes shadowed and mysterious. Her nerves jangled and she licked her lips. The power she sensed whenever she was with him was stronger, more focused—focused on her. His potent masculinity almost overwhelming her femininity.
Brave, in a way she couldn
’t imagine being in real life, she curled onto her knees and reached out, stroking her hands up his muscular arms. His eyes dilated with desire. She felt the balance of power shift. Her stomach quivered as she realised with amazement she had control over the man before her.
She dug her fingers gently into the thick muscles of his biceps and let her breasts brush his chest, teasing them both. He groaned and captured her lips with his. Fire bloomed deep within her. Pulling her tightly against him, his hands stroked her spine, trailing bliss in their wake.
She sank her hands into the silkiness of his hair, weaving it through her fingers. Opening her lips, she welcomed him in. His hands slid lower, scrunching the delicate negligee in his fists, lifting it to her waist. No underwear she realised, nothing inconvenient in a dream.
He slipped his hands under the fabric, caressed her hips, then cupped her bottom. No cellulite in dreams either. He pulled her against him. The power of his arousal pressed against her.
She shivered and the dream shattered.
She had no experience with which to fuel it further. Sure, she’d shared kisses and caresses, but true intimacy eluded her. She could guess, she could read about it, she could listen to friends, but actually knowing what two people did together was different. Even the nature of her fantasy screamed virgin.
She imagined when it finally happened, it would be at some guy’s messy bachelor pad, or in her own hastily tidied bedroom, nary a trace of candles or satin sheets. She hoped she didn’t care where they were. She wanted to be so swept up in what was happening she didn’t notice the ambiance or lack of it. Except, she’d probably be so nervous the whole thing would be a dismal failure.
Her fists tightened unconsciously. What would Ryu think if he knew she was still a virgin? Would he offer to be her first, or run screaming for the hills wondering what was wrong with her? She sighed, she’d never know. Ryu was out of bounds, as well as out of her league.
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