To the Edge

by Anna del Mar

  “Sure thing.” Amy proceeded to key in my purchases with one supremely slow, clumsy finger.

  Shit, shit, shit. I clutched the counter, barely able to stand upright, legs quivering, pussy coiled around a sharp, chiseling vortex, body violently buzzing at the vibrator’s high-pitched frequency. By the time I snatched my shopping back from Amy and stumbled to the door, I was sure my lower body was liquefied and my nipples were going to melt holes in my bra and stab through my blouse.

  “I’m out,” I said as soon as I broke through the door, panting like a thirsty poodle.

  The whirr died in my depths. Thank God! I halted on the staircase and bent over my middle to catch my breath. My pulse pounded in my ears. I had been moments away from climaxing in public, but now that the buzz was over, my pussy felt oddly disappointed and my muscles down there twitched as if they’d run a marathon.

  “Clara?” Noah’s voice startled me. “Talk to me.”

  “I’m here,” I said, my breath still ragged.

  “The weather between your legs?”

  “Hot and humid with a chance for thunderstorms.”

  His rich laughter echoed in my ear. “Turn right at the top of the stairs.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I say so, remember?”

  I did remember. Unfortunately. I made my way up the stairs. The bells at the top of the door tinkled as I entered the store. I don’t know what I expected, but it was a lovely boutique, quite mainstream by all accounts, a store suitable for decent women—women unlike me—with an impressive selection and a very nice attendant.

  “Try something on,” Noah said.

  I picked out a sundress and made my way to the curtained dressing room in the back of the store. The cream eyelet dress was a bit short on me, but it didn’t look bad.

  “Let me see it,” Noah said.

  I took out my cell from the bag and rested it on a ledge. As soon as his face came up, I modeled the dress for him.

  “Gorgeous,” he said. “Turn around.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Bend over, hike up that short skirt, and show me your delectable ass.”

  “There’s hardly any privacy in here,” I pointed out reasonably.

  He was completely unsympathetic. “I’ve had a hard day at work and several difficult sessions with Dr. Dodd and his colleagues. So come on, Clara, plant your feet apart and place your hands against the mirror.”

  When I hesitated, the vibrator came alive, at top body-rattling velocity.

  “Whoa.” I jumped in the air. With all that energy jolting through me, I felt in danger of electrocution.

  “Pose for me,” Noah said. “Or should I turn the vibrator on high?”

  I doubted that I could stand a stronger setting and I couldn’t afford to find out in the cozy shop. Sure, I could turn off my cell and cut out his godly power, but he’d get mad at me and maybe even break our deal if I interfered. Worse, he might even remind me that this whole thing had been my crazy idea. Plus, I believed in incentives and I wanted to reward him for his efforts with Dr. Dodd and company.

  So I bent over and positioned my feet and hands as directed, giving him a good view of my ass and the little golden rope dangling between my legs.

  “Very nice.” Noah immediately lowered the setting, which was a relief, but was also a tremendous tease to my overwrought body. “Let the thunderstorms commence. And now let’s see how many times I can make you come before the store closes.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Noah

  I stared at the app on my cell and couldn’t help the smile that twitched on my lips. As always, good research paid off and technology had come to my assistance. I may not be able to leave my fucking house at the moment, but at least I was able to pleasure my woman from anywhere in the world. Yeah. That counted for something.

  My cock ached against the stern teeth of my strained zipper when I remembered Clara in the small dressing room just moments ago, her plush lips pressed together in an attempt to smother her cries, her hands splayed on the gray commercial-grade carpet as she writhed on her knees. She’d held the pale globes of her stunning ass high in the air as I’d required, so I could watch her slit tightening and opening in quick sequence as she worked through the powerful contractions rocking her gorgeous pussy.

  Magnified on my screen, her sweet little cunt had worked me up into a state of animal lust. In revenge, I’d worked those controls up and down until I’d made her come several times in a row and she was reduced to the same feral state that had me rubbing myself hard against the seams of my jeans and coming in my boxers like a fucking endless fountain.

  The recent memories had me hard all over again. I needed to be in Clara. Had I not been homebound, I would’ve met her at Dark Fantasies, bought us a whole hour in the place and fucked her, right there on the floor, beneath the giant dildo display where she could gaze up and get a concrete idea of the monster cock buried in her pussy.

  Christ help me, I couldn’t wait for the weekend. If it didn’t come soon, I might die from lust, desperation and craving. Gushing as I’d done a few times while I watched Clara’s orgasms, I would run out of underwear too. I got up from my desk, took the stairs in twos and changed into dry boxers. All that coming put a spring in my steps as I headed back to my desk. It was proven that orgasms generated “happy” endorphins. Maybe that’s why I was feeling like such an optimist today.

  As to the fancy vibrator, it was a winner. I dropped an email to Phoenix Prime’s product development desk and asked them to buy me more stock in the startup that had designed the product and the app. It was a winner for sure.

  My screen beeped and pulled up my notes for my weekly conference call. I clicked on my secured Phoenix Prime video chat and Josh Lane came on my screen, live from his sleek ultramodern digs in his Boston high-rise, surrounded by all those beiges and creams.

  “Hey, brother,” I said. “How’s the weather in Boston and have you gotten that pretty girl of yours to say yes yet?”

  “The weather sucks, as usual. They’re calling for an early winter.” The stark lines of Josh’s face broke into the most unlikely grin. “As to Lily, I’m still working on her. But have no doubt. It’s gonna happen and when it does, I want you standing with me.”

  “I’m working on that,” I said, not making any promises but perhaps a little hopeful.

  “How’s the new treatment working out?” Josh asked.

  “It’s a bitch, but I’m going for it.” That was about all I wanted to say on that. “What’s the status on the new cyber security contract?”

  “We’re a go.” Josh flashed his fierce business shark smirk. “Signed, sealed and delivered. We’re getting double the rates of other private contractors and I also negotiated that top secret classification you wanted for all of the guys.”

  “How the fuck did you pull that off?”

  “Defense agreed that nobody in the world is better suited than us to fight this war,” Josh said. “They were impressed by the quality, training and experience of a cyber team staffed exclusively by ex—special forces operatives. After all, they know we’ve fought terrorism on the ground. Cyber counterterrorism is simply an extension of that war and nobody knows the enemy better than us.”

  “I like your pitch, man. I would’ve signed on the dotted line too.”

  “It wasn’t a pitch, Noah. It’s the fucking truth. I’m not leaving our country’s national security to inexperienced fools. This was a go with or without the government on board, so they made the right decision and decided to collaborate for a change. It didn’t hurt that I added your résumé in the proposal. Once the review committee understood that skilled cyber intelligence operators like you will be calling the shots, they were chomping at the bit. The FBI, Justice, Homeland Security and State are all on board and we�
�ll be hooking up with the Europeans through the taskforce. I’m sending you all of the details, including the funding schedule...now.” He clicked on his holographic keyboard. “We’re good to go, man.”

  “Roger that.”

  I was excited by the new venture. The innovative, expanded private-public setup increased the scope of the work I’d been doing so far and offered me, us, a new way to serve our country. I was ready for the challenge. I knew that the warriors of Phoenix Prime could make a difference and help make our world a safer, better place.

  “The new teams need to be in place ASAP,” Josh said. “I’ll take point with the politics, but only ’cause I know how much you love that shit.”

  “Right.” I concentrated on the challenge before me. “We run through Phoenix Prime’s secured servers?”

  “Negative,” Josh said. “Riker’s taking point of overall operational security. He’s setting up something special. I think you’re gonna like it. Who are you bringing on?”

  “I’m trying to snatch up Hollister,” I said. “He’s still recovering, but he’s aiming to get back into the action.”

  “Yeah, I went to see him last week.” Josh’s brown eyes dimmed with concern in a way that made me wish I could be mobile to support Hollister and my other wounded warrior friends. “You need to persuade him there’s gonna be plenty of action with us.”

  “You know Hollister.” If he answered his fucking cell maybe I could talk him into taking a crack at the job. “He’s a pigheaded son of a bitch.”

  “So are you.”

  “Aye, aye.” No need to refute the obvious. “I’m also bringing in our Montana trio.”

  “Those guys are shit-hot stuff,” Josh agreed.

  “Black’s one of the best coders in the world,” I said. “Vazquez’s profiles are legendary. Zar, he’s an asshole but he’s the best tactical mind in the market.”

  “Button it all up and get the hustle going,” Josh said. “Report on Josephus?”

  “Son of a bitch is holed up somewhere and not taking my baits.” I checked my traps in a different screen even as I spoke. “That takedown last week has him shitting his pants in some basement. But I’m gonna find him. I’ve got Interpol looking with me. It’s only a matter of a few clicks before I get him.”

  “Homeland’s squealing about him.”

  “And they should be,” I said. “The guy’s a terrorist factory, an all-in-one dirtbag who can build his own bombs, recruit, plan and operate in one blink.”

  “Find the fucker, will you?” Josh said as his cell rang. “Give us a reason to sleep better at night.”

  “May I remind you? You don’t sleep and neither do I.”

  His lips turned up. “But these days I really dig the time I spend in bed.”

  I threw my head back and laughed. “Fair enough.”

  Josh glanced at his cell. “Got to go make us some money.”

  “Go, bro. I’ll be in touch. Noah out.”

  It was fucking awesome to see Josh in such a good mood. He was a fearsome warrior, an intimidating son of a bitch and a fierce competitor, ruthless, arrogant and devastating in his business deals, a money-making machine for all of us.

  But he was also intensely loyal to his friends, the guy you wanted by your side in the middle of a firefight going south. We’d met at the Naval Academy and we’d run many, many missions together. He’d been unhappy for so long, I’d about given up hope he’d ever smile again. Then he’d met Lily, sweet and quiet Lily, and he’d become putty in her hands. Not that he’d ever lost his edge, but Lily? She was just goddamn good for Josh.

  My cell beeped with a twenty-minute appointment reminder and I looked at the hour. Well, fuck me. It was almost time for my next session with Dr. Dodd. I wanted to skip. Christ knew, I had enough work for a lifetime. I had to contact the guys, persuade some tough sons of bitches to join our team and get Phoenix Prime’s cyber security division up and running. Then there was Josephus, of course. My team and I were going to raid several of his Dark Net sites tonight.

  In addition, I had to execute a new covert hack on Annette Collins at RelevantSex.com. I had developed a brand-new rootkit to subvert her system’s control. The only catch was it worked slowly, to keep the takeover under the radar. I had to drop that beauty in there.

  My fingers flew over the keyboard as I brought up my target servers. Collins’s servers could be used as an example on how to protect from cyber attacks. Hell, every US government agency and both political parties wished they had the kind of high-level security Collins had put in place. Did she expect the Chinese to want to steal the secrets of her next online cover, How To Fuck Him Eleven Ways in Eleven Minutes? Or were the Russians hot for her upcoming tips on How To Make Her Scream With Only Your Pinky?

  Well, good luck with that, fellows. I didn’t think they had a fucking prayer. Me, on the other hand, I was getting in. In fact, I had already gained access to her business email, all very legit, given what I’ve read, although I didn’t like the three-times-a-day emails she was dropping on Clara, asking about her progress with the RelevantSex.com article.

  I clicked on my rootkit, opened the link I’d developed to secure covert access into Collins’s servers and, pretending I was a new subscriber to the online publication, dropped in the rootkit. It had been the product of many hours of work and several innovations. I watched it sink through the firewall, no problem. Now it was watch and wait.

  It annoyed the hell out of me that Collins was pursuing Clara with such relentless zeal. It got all my radars bleeping and not in a good way. Sure, I hadn’t found any smoking guns. Annette Collins looked well established, well respected and totally clean. But my gut was telling me otherwise, and I trusted my gut. It’d kept me and my men alive on many sketchy occasions. That woman reeked to my guts, like charred flesh and camel piss.

  Maybe I was being a paranoid jerk, but just yesterday, Collins had sent a letter of intent she wanted Clara to sign, a legally binding document that Clara conveniently didn’t get due to a technical glitch that made Collins’s email disappear into cyberspace’s dark void. Of course Annette had no idea that Clara hadn’t received the email.

  Controlling. Unethical. Bad, bad Noah. If Clara found out, I was in for a shit fest. It didn’t matter. I had to make sure the world out there was safe for her.

  Besides, I was good. Too good. She wasn’t going to find out.

  Dr. Dodd’s number flashed on my public access screen. Holy shit. Time flies when you have to push yourself kicking and screaming into doing stuff that shreds your guts into bloody rips every time. Who the fuck wants to deal with that? Only a sadist and a masochist, someone who thrived on the SM part of BDSM.

  Was I really that fucked up?

  The mental anguish and pain I knew was coming my way made me cringe. I rolled my jaw, fingers balled up over the screen, unable to click on Accept. It was the outside knocking, the whole vastness of a fucked-up world punching through my walls and invading my space.

  I told myself I had to take the call. I repeated my mantra in my mind: Dread is not an excuse for cowardice and bravery is the act of punching through one’s fears. Somehow, the words that had carried me into the most dangerous scenarios in the world without a second thought didn’t mean anything to my PTSD when confronting another grueling session.

  I inhaled all the oxygen in the room and crammed it into my lungs. One by one, I forced my fingers to unfurl from my fist. My blank operator’s expression went up and the fake smile fought a battle against my facial muscles.

  “For Clara.” I hit Accept. “Good afternoon, Dr. Dodd.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Clara

  On Thursday I was in such a permanent state of lust that I had to wonder whether I wanted to lose the custom vibrator for good or make it a permanent feature. I was on edge, because although I
’d spoken to Noah several times today, he hadn’t asked me to wear it.

  Perhaps he was giving me a break, since I’d ended up on my knees yesterday in the shop’s dressing room, convulsing soundlessly against the mirror while combusting inside. I’d come so many times I’d lost count. Now I sat in my office, ignoring my workload, contemplating Noah’s gift, turning it between my fingers, wondering how much pleasure it could wring out of my body.

  The phone on my desk buzzed, startling me. I jerked and dropped the egg. It bounced and rolled beneath the credenza. Crap. I picked up the receiver and tucked it between my shoulder and my ear as I went to my knees. “Yes?”

  “It’s your mother,” Lori announced. “She sounds pissed, as usual.”

  “Put her through.” No need to expose Lori to my mother’s radioactive contempt.

  “Clara?” My name sounded like a scolding. “I just spoke to Vera. She’s upset because she hasn’t heard from you. You haven’t chosen a dress for the benefit yet. What are you waiting for?”

  The carpet dug into my knees and I couldn’t find any evidence of Mr. Fancy Russian Egg, although I did fish out an old pen, a collection of dust balls and several rusty clips. When I looked under the desk, I also found my panties. Surprise! I’d totally forgotten about those. No sign of my little friend, though. Where had it gone?

  “Are you listening to me?” Mother said.

  “Yeah, sure, I heard you.” I rummaged through my drawers until I found a little flashlight. “About Vera. I’ve been meaning to tell you. Um...” I hesitated. “I decided to go with a new up-and-coming designer, a DC native. He’s got some gorgeous dresses. I think you’d like him.”

  The silence on the other end of the line was cold. I could feel the ice crusting the telephone lines between my office and my mother’s. On a positive note, the flashlight glinted against something metallic against the wall. I couldn’t reach back there. I grabbed a ruler and tried to finagle the thing out of the corner.