The Mating Game (3 page)

The small numbers of files saved onto the communal access were nothing. They hadn’t been breeched for the most part, certainly nothing had been copied from what he could tell, but even so, Dominic felt no concern for anything in an insecure area. All the important files were so heavily secured he would certainly know if they were being opened or accessed.

Yet this was mild comfort to him. His precious security setup had been breeched. By a kid, of all people!

Keeping a determined eye on the readouts flashing across his screen, Dominic was startled when an animated, voluptuous woman appeared on his screen. She was naked, with her back turned to him. Long red hair fell down to her shoulder blades, creamy white skin glowed in contrast to the silky-looking locks. Her naked ass swayed slightly as she turned to look at him.

Dominic felt his mouth dry out.
Oh man, the things I could do to that ass…

Dominic’s attention adhered to her rounded ass as it swayed. The animated woman was his every heated wet dream. Femininity incarnate. Dominic wondered if the whole setup was some sort of insane joke from his brothers.

Stunned and completely turned on at the luscious animated figure pouting on his screen, Dominic simply stared at her. Wicked green eyes glinted as the female winked at him. Pouting her lips even more, the red beauty kissed her palm, and blew him the kiss. Then she teasingly slapped her wonderfully rounded ass—a perfect size to hold on to as a man plunged himself up to the balls—winked again, and then she was gone.

Cursing a blue streak, Dominic typed a few commands, and then sat back, grumpy and defeated. Whoever the hacker was, she was long gone. Dominic rubbed his eyes, trying to contain the howl of rage and frustration he felt building up inside himself. He couldn’t even explain to himself the fierce desire to catch this hacker. Something about the person who came to rescue the initial hacker had piqued his curiosity.

Now, not only was Dominic truly pissed at the knowledge that his sacred code had been broken into, but he also resented the huge hard-on he wore. The thrill of the chase, of the hunt, had sparked new life into his weary world. Other than his rampant cock, he couldn’t explain why this one hacker drew him, taunted him more than any other hacker wannabe ever had.

He shut down his main computer, pounding the desk in his frustration and picked up the phone. Dialing a number without even glancing at the number pad, he turned back to his totally secure laptop, and continued to save, and make backups of all the data he had collected.

“Yo,” came the answer from the other end.

“Sam? What the hell are you doing there?”

“Well, Dom, darling, tomorrow is the big birthday bash. We’re
all
supposed to be down here. I presume you’re still off fucking your way through the town, hmm?”

“No such luck, brother dear, I’ve been defending the innocence of Rutledge Security. Can you log on to Art’s computer and save all the info I’ve sent over? We had a hacking attempt.”

“No shit? Hang on.”

Dominic smiled at the instant attention Samuel gave him. The surprise in his brother’s tone made Dominic smile. His grin stayed on his face as he double-saved his information by burning them onto CDs, determined not to lose even a micron of his information.

“I stand corrected, brother mine. Looks like a kid, probably trying to prove his balls to his buddies. What do you think?”

“Probably, it’s the second hacker that came in to rescue him I wouldn’t mind speaking to. Patience of a saint, and obviously a pro. The character was hanging around somewhere, and the kid probably called him when he realized he was stuck. Maybe it was even his computer the kid was using, testing himself. Whatever, I’ll want to do the coordinates and double-checks tomorrow at the party. Can you just double-save everything, in case the power goes down overnight?”

“No problem. You better not spend too much time in here, checking the details. Wills and Josie might castrate you if you’re not paying proper attention.”

Not only was this Sunday the full moon, but the weekend was his niece and nephew’s birthday party. Alexander and Samantha, his brother William and sister-in-law Josephine’s children were turning four. Plus Sophie, Art’s wife, was due any day now with their third child, and he wanted to be present at the birth again.

Sophie had been swearing up and down that she was having a break after this baby was born. Christiana, their oldest, was just over four and Theodore, their second child, had recently turned two. Sophie had been constantly grumbling throughout this third pregnancy that she had spent more than half of her marriage pregnant and sick, and she had had enough of it.

Art’s head was so swollen he could barely walk through the doors of the old house, and between raising and taking care of Christiana and Theodore, not to mention Alexander, Samantha Monique, and baby Julian, William’s kids, the house was never quiet, never clean, but always a lot of fun.

Dominic, as always, looked forward to returning home, not only to his small cabin on the edge of the Rutledge land, but also to his forest and family. Storing one copy of the disks safely in his desk, he carried the other set of disks into his bedroom, ready to pack for his weekend back home.

The house might always be a mess and loud, but it was still home. Art and Wills, their gorgeous wives and kids might often exasperate his loneliness, but this time would be different. This time he had a purpose, a quest, to find the hacker and hopefully the pro who not only set his teeth on edge, but also piqued his curiosity and interest as almost no one had in the last few years.

He loved his siblings and nieces and nephews, he loved his home, but the ache and frustration he often felt back there had driven him into the town on more than one occasion. This time, however, would be different. This time he had a puzzle to mull over and keep him happy and occupied.

He could hardly wait to get going.

Chapter Two

Friday Morning

Dominic struggled, but managed to ignore the shrieking children playing in the next room. Christiana was playing “Chase” with Alexander and Samantha Monique. As with any game the children played in the rambling old house, it required much shrieking, laughter, and name-calling. The pounding of little feet on the floor meant one could track all three sets of feet, if one had that insane desire.

Christiana’s little brother, Theodore, played cars and trains with his baby cousin, Julian. Julian, however, had merely wanted to eat the toy cars, boats, and trains, and thus had been banished to sit in Dominic’s lap in front of the computer. After a few minutes of coddling the infant, Julian had promptly fallen asleep.

A year ago, finally driven mad by the growing hordes of their brothers’ families, both Samuel and Dominic had renovated the two gamekeepers’ cabins less than a mile away from the main house. A small driveway that split from the main road led up to the two cabins. Dominic’s cabin was nestled fully in the woods, mostly hidden from view unless one knew where it was. He loved it as it afforded him the privacy he seemed to be growing as a need, not just a luxury he wished for. Samuel’s cabin was quite a bit closer to the house, just within view of the backyard.

Both Sophie and Josephine, their sisters-in-law, valiantly tried to convince them to stay in the main house—but after watching years of marital bliss, both he and Samuel had needed their own space. Neither, however, had wanted to move from the land and forest they both loved. Therefore, they had renovated the cabins and had been living there for the last year. Most meals were an extended family deal, and everyone knew they were only a phone call, or five-minute walk, away.

For now, Julian slept peacefully on his lap. The main thing Dominic had learned about babies and kids in the last four years was the only time they were truly angelic was when they slept. Dominic shook off his musings and began typing at the laptop again. Cradling Julian in his arm, he concentrated on the code and details he was following.

Not long afterwards, Samuel entered the small study.

“Hey Dom, find anything?”

Dominic merely nodded at the sleeping infant, and smiled as Samuel shook his head. He bent his huge frame down and picked up the small boy.

“I’ll put him to bed. William and Josephine are having a much needed drink. I think they’re almost as exhausted as Sophie and Art after that long labor. Josephine was a big help to Sophie though—wish we’d had her around the first time Sophie was threatening to castrate us all. Be back in a minute.”

Dominic merely nodded, busy scanning the details he had been looking for.

“Give little Robyn a kiss from her Uncle Dom.”

Samuel snorted as he left the room.

Artemais, who had started the security firm, had always been interested in keeping his security system as beefed up as possible. As well as that, the many years he had spent in the system meant he had lots of connections with the new and upcoming technology. Samuel loved his gadgets and was often tinkering with a new toy. Between the lot of them, and William’s police connections to keep them up-to-date on what was legal and what was technically illegal, their security was top-of-the-line and practically perfect.

The problem was nothing was truly perfect, and even though they all tried to keep a low profile, some of the more clever hackers knew if they wanted a
real
challenge they should try breaking the Rutledge security. Dominic’s gut told him this was what they were facing—not a criminal who wanted some of their files or information. Even though his gut instincts were rarely proved wrong, only a fool would ignore a breeched system and not react.

Dominic worked the computers for both Artemais’ Security and Samuel’s PI firm, keeping him more than busy during the day. He had always enjoyed sifting through code, working out what was happening, and fixing problems. That’s why it had been he, and not Art, who had been alerted when yesterday’s hacker had penetrated their security.

After spending nearly two hours, tracking down the internet connection and different ISP’s, he finally found the address he had been searching so diligently for.

Samuel reentered the room. “Found him yet?”

“Yep, just now.”

“Well?”

Dominic turned to stare at his brother. Usually calm and in control, Samuel was fairly bristling with outrage and worry. Outrage that someone would dare be better than his toys and technology, worry that it was a criminal and not the curious hacker Dominic kept soothing him with.

“You’re not going to believe this, but the Internet provider for the computer the hacking was coming from belongs in the name of one Ms. Mary Dennison. Address supplied,” he clicked a few strokes on the keyboard. “Hmm…that’s interesting, she lives just outside of Bismarck…”

Samuel frowned.

“That’s just on the state’s border—right? We could drive down there and make it within ten hours. Should we cancel tonight’s gig and go down there?”

Dominic shook his head. He wanted time to think this through. His gut was certain this Mary was his veteran computer woman. Now armed with a name, his brain went into overdrive fantasizing the real woman behind the animated image. He still grew hard when he remembered that luscious figure, her delectable ass, and pouting lips. Despite his annoyance at having her escape his virtual clutches, a small sense of pride also welled deep inside him.

She hadn’t
beaten
him—but she certainly seemed to be a formidable opponent. The curiosity mingled with the outrage and pride at her hacking out of his traps and system made him more than interested in meeting this woman.

He particularly wanted to see if she was as luscious as that damned animated redhead. While he never had a partiality to redheads, Dominic had seduced more than his fair share. The mere thought of this particular redhead had him panting and drooling like a teenage virgin trying for his first lay.

Resisting the impulse to head into one of his brothers’ bedrooms, lock the door and jerk himself off, Dominic controlled his rising lust—barely. He could feel the near-fullness of the moon calling him to the mating game he so loved. It heated his blood, set his cock rampant.

Dominic swallowed.
Man, I must need a run outside more than I realized. Get a grip, Dom. Likely this Mary is sixty and wrinkled. A hag of a woman and a red herring.

Dominic was not naïve enough to have overlooked the possibility a false trail may have been left. The thought niggled at him. If Mary Dennison wasn’t the woman he was looking for, it indicated a level of criminal activity and possible malicious intent.

“I can’t tell if these details are forged or true. It could be a fake address, which worries me, but we might be jumping at shadows. Let’s just let it ride for a bit, check this Mary character out quietly. We can take next weekend off, and move from there. I’ll scrounge up a few old contacts and do a quiet Internet search on her.”

Samuel nodded. The sound of a walking cane entering the kitchen around the back of the house could be heard.

“Where are my birthday twins?” an old, well-known voice shouted from the back entryway.

Three pairs of feet came thumping down the hall. Childish shrieks echoed through the hallway and muffled grunts and strained noises could be heard as Christiana and the twins evidently hurled themselves into their great-grandfather’s still strong arms.