Virtually Hers (11 page)

“Fifty-One makes it sound like I’m just a number down a long line of experimental remote viewers. I’m not. I’ve been handpicked for very special assignments, including for part of the supersoldier-spy program.”

“Which you failed almost immediately,” the other agent sneered.

Jonah refused to acknowledge that he was considered a failure. He was more than an experiment; in fact, he was a success for a long time. Why the fuck would climbing a rope or running for miles be so damn important anyway?

He shrugged. “I’ve never been in the army. I didn’t know they were expecting me to train like some athlete.”

“The serum, Five-One, was supposed to help you through that phase. Anyway, let’s get back to ordering food. We aren’t here to discuss the success of the program or the serum.”

Jonah reopened his menu, restlessly looking at the items again. Of course, they didn’t know how successful he really was with that serum that they’d fed him. Not only was he more clear-minded, not only was he able to function physically without the usual downtime after a remote-viewing session, but he’d discovered that he could pull and absorb certain energy from those he was covertly watching.

He’d gone after the pretty ones, the ones with their sexy late night romps still lingering around their aura. He wasn’t stupid. He put his life on the line for their covert games every time they shot him up with the juice, so he should have a few perks too. He’d kept his new power a secret. No harm done.

Payback was a bitch, though. The longer downtime and the headaches took him out for days. But his cache of recordings was worth it. In those hours of pain and darkness, he could retreat into himself and let all that sexy energy wash over him. He would replay them over and over and no one knew because he was left alone to rest.

But his treasure was all gone now. He felt that rage inside him growing again. He wasn’t enjoying his downtime at all. He needed the serum in his system soon. He had to get out there in the ether and get his fix, or break down like a lunatic. A fix, that was all. Just to tide him over till he found that bitch who stole his cache.

“I want the house steak, rare, with spicy potato wedges,” he said, “and afterwards, a banana split, with everything on top. Can I have coffee too?”

Caffeine and nicotine were no-nos during prep time for remote viewers. He had snuck a couple of cigarettes in past sessions. Unlike their tests, he found that the nicotine calmed him down. No one was regularly checking his blood pressure anyway. Besides, it wasn’t as if they were right about their serum. He couldn’t do what that bitch did.

“No caffeine, sorry, Five-One, but everything else is fine.”

“Am I remote viewing again so soon?” He hid a surge of hope.

“I haven’t gotten the green light yet but I’ve put in the suggestion to use your ability to find the missing explosive device in Macedonia,” his monitor said.

“So, we should be prepared in case the higher-ups give the thumbs-up.”

“Is it like the last assignment, when we were looking for the data converter device?” That was what the SEED had appeared to him when he was looking at it through remote viewing. It was used by some operative to retrieve some kind of codes from the computer. “And are we working against that other team we bumped into in Frankfurt?”

“Yes to the first question, not sure to the second, although the location’s a bit trickier this time. We have the basic location but it’s a lot bigger than a building. But let’s not get into the details right now.”

“Okay.”

“Think you can locate it this time?”

He looked at the fat one. He wished they would give him their names but they were so damn secretive. So, Fat One and Thin One.

“I located the SEED for you all,” he calmly pointed out. “I wasn’t the one who failed to get that woman.”

“You were supposed to get information on which exit she was using,” Fat One growled back.

“I did!”

“Not till too late. You went into some stupid panic mode and got all crazy. Look, if you’d done your job, I would have no problem tranquing and hauling her into our vehicle before her people even knew there was anyone after them. You fucked up and my partner here had to waste time calming you down. Precious seconds that we could have used to get us to that entrance. But no, he had to talk to you to get the garbled information out of you. So don’t sit there looking all snotty just because you could do this remote-viewing shit. As far as I’m concerned, you’re a loser, just like the rest of the ward…”

“Okay, okay, we’re going to calm down right now and have dinner.” His monitor gave his partner a warning look. “Enough. We aren’t going to make a scene. We’ll concentrate on Macedonia when the right time comes. Five-One, let’s eat and enjoy your night off.”

Jonah nodded. He was pissed. The rest of the ward…what did they think he was, some kind of lunatic? And were they idiots? His night off wouldn’t ever include two CIA clowns. But he would play their game right now. He needed them just as much as they needed him.

Catching sight of a beautiful couple entering the restaurant behind their table, he pretended to drop his menu onto the floor. He bent down to pick it up, covertly watching those two longingly. They had had sex that day, he was sure of it. Who wouldn’t want to fuck that beautiful woman? If he were on the serum, he would dip into their energy and record everything. Especially her, all naked and writhing for her man.

He sat back up, taking a deep breath. Fuck, fuck, fuck. What had he done to deserve eating dinner with these two?

Chapter Seven

Jed could feel her bristling as she walked beside him. She was well and truly furious now. Good. Keep that focus on him and let the subconscious do its work.

He tongued the inside of his bruised cheek, which was throbbing like a toothache. Fighting mad. He deserved everything she was going to dole out. The key now was not to push her so far that she’d hate him afterwards. He needed her willing cooperation. To a point. He suppressed the urge to smile. That would probably start her swinging at him again and he’d prefer to do that in private.

He hadn’t wanted to keep her hanging just now, but she’d challenged him with the five minutes comment. It had been a long time since he’d let a woman get under his skin enough that he’d considered all out sex in an elevator. He wanted her badly enough that he questioned himself about it, something unusual in itself.

Usually, he could step back and detach. With Elena, he found himself wanting more.

He blamed it on yesterday’s events. He always needed an outlet after finishing a mission. In his job, facing an opponent and taking care of business usually meant ending a life. He’d learned to be unemotional about it, to put his reaction on hold, and then, when the time was right, to channel all that energy into something more positive.

He’d wanted to come to Elena in a better mood, but instead, she’d come to him when he was at his most detached. Had to be, because he was getting ready to dissect the situation for debriefing and discuss the operation with his teammates. Not the time to get emotional about anything.

Elena showing up and challenging him was an easy excuse to make her the outlet for that tightly controlled coil of tension inside him that was patiently waiting for release. He could have put her off till he was in a less edgy mood, but her prickliness had pushed him When she’d confronted him, he could sense her discomfort and knew without being told that her “problem” was still bothering her. The thing was, thinking about her “problem” made him hard just like that, especially now that he knew just how wild she was in bed.

He clamped down on his straying thoughts of coming inside her and turned back to the next meeting on his schedule. So much at stake and he couldn’t get sex out of his mind. Sex with one woman, that was.

But what was she thinking now?

He’d known what she was up to yesterday, with that request for a session in the CAVE. He’d easily guessed her plans in her quarters. Sabotaging them was too much of a temptation to resist.

Karma was a bitch, though. He wanted to get to his own climax with this woman and he couldn’t. Not possible. It would be selfish to find release when she wasn’t cognizant of what their time together meant.

He wanted to be as honest as he could. He gave himself a mental shake of the head. That was something new—being honest and trying to sexually imprint another operative. When did he ever have the dilemma of his conscience tugging at him?

Jed glanced to his right. She was too quiet, a murderous look in her eyes, as she kept in step. A sudden urge to soothe her arose from nowhere, but he knew Elena well enough that words wouldn’t mean much at this point. He was used to pulling back and reacting later; she wasn’t.

“After the next two meetings,” he told her, “I’m all yours.”

Her hazel eyes flashed back at him. Still a little green in them, he noted.

“You mean you’ll answer all my questions?”

“Perhaps.” Never make a full promise to any dangerous woman.

“Will you at least let me hurt you the way you deserve?”

He ran his tongue against the inside of his cheek again, regarding her for a moment. The woman did have quite a punch. Her raised eyebrow amused him.

“That depends on how long you propose to have me sit there passively while you’re at it.” A deliciously devious image of her taking charge in his bedroom filled his mind.

Her brow rose higher. “Oh, I don’t care if you fight back,” she retorted. “I’m still going to hurt you.”

“Done,” he said, privately amused. A little aggression in bed could be exciting foreplay.

She was looking at him, her eyes narrowing as she studied the bruised side of his face. Her face was flushed and he knew she was thinking of other things besides injuring him. For an instant, he wondered whether she’d somehow caught the erotic image in his head. But they weren’t sleeping or
hooked together by the BE machine. She looked away.

“Just answer this and I’ll wait till later,” she said. “Are you responsible for what I’m going through right now? Was the strange sensation in the stairway in Frankfurt your doing?”

He realized that it was important to her that he wasn’t the cause of her inability to fight what her body craved. Fortunately, he didn’t have to lie.

“I have nothing to do with that,” he assured her. “I don’t know what happened there. That’s why I brought it up at the meeting. We have to find out whether it’s just you or something more. Dr. Kirkland’s theory makes sense. I do understand that withdrawing from the serum caused this chemical imbalance in your body but it’s accelerated, so you’re feeling two years’ worth of need, if you want to call it that, instead of a normal dose of healthy sexuality.”

“Ouch.” She grimaced. “Do you always sound so matter-of-fact?”

He inclined his head. “It makes the discussion less emotional for you,” he pointed out. His voice went a notch lower. “In the privacy of bedrooms and fantasies, however, we can talk as dirty as you want without you being conscious about how it’s making you feel.”

“It makes me feel nothing,” she declared.

“Liar.” He supposed he could be a gentleman and not bring it back up. He chose ruthlessness to push his point. It would keep her aware of him while he couldn’t fully focus on her. “You know you’re going to think about my hand in your pants every time I look at you there.”

Her face flushed but she still refused to meet his gaze. “I never had a chance, did I?” she asked, her voice low.

Jed paused to look at her. He would have gone after her even if she hadn’t been assigned to him. That was how much he’d wanted her. But covert life meant unexpected twists, even in one’s personal life. He’d just have to do everything backwards. Fuck her crazy first. Woo her later.

“No.”

She should be angry. She wasn’t.

She should be plotting murder. Instead she was a mass of confusion, following this man around just because…just because. He was like a new found flavor, something she couldn’t decide whether she liked or not. And that aura of danger around him reminded her of those lost childhood days when she ran alone in the streets, not knowing whether there’s menace lurking around the corner.

Those pauses he made would drive a woman crazy. Did he deliberate about every single thing he was going to say?

No, he said. Arrogant devil. The look he gave her was frank and sexual, making her stomach churn, and then it was replaced by that cool, assessing gaze again, all business.

It was fascinating how the man could shut off just like that. The lighting in the elevator had accentuated the angles and planes of his face, making those strange eyes of his glitter even more against his tan. There was nothing subtle about him, not in the way he’d touched her, not in the way he’d looked at her. In those few minutes, he’d shown desire so palpitatingly raw, it’d kept her frozen in place, every part of her connected to that need in him. And with a bite, he’d turned her on even more.

She felt her insides clench at the memory. Ordinarily, she would sit down, think everything through, and come up with a game plan. But she’d better toss that strategy out of the window when it came to Jed McNeil. He’d successfully foiled and thwarted every one of her plans. Hard as it was to admit it, he’d kept her off-balance since…had it been only yesterday since her “freelance” remote viewing? God, it felt like days.

It paid to remember that this was Number Nine with whom she was dealing, the one who finished each mission. He ultimately dealt with death. That accounted for the dangerous air that she sensed cloaking him all the time.

Her eyes narrowed. Dealing with him wasn’t going to be like the way she’d beaten the other males against whom she’d trained these past two years. Jed McNeil, she suspected, was an entirely different species altogether. He’d yet to acknowledge her blow to his face. That dried trickle of blood on his chin was still there. It was all deliberate, of course, because
now
it was like a mockery, daring her to do her worst.

Her shoulders straightened. Dammit, she wasn’t going to slink away to lick her wounds. Deep down, she was still that orphan running wild in the slums in Russia, a stray who wouldn’t join any of the gangs, and she
had
survived those times, so this was nothing. Like everything else since, this was nothing compared to those dark days.

No stomping off right now. She had to understand what was happening to her before working out her next steps. And this feeling…she had to get it under control somehow. Because right now, without being connected to him with machines or virtual reality, she was actually seeing the two of them in bed, with her on top and doing naughty things that an angry woman shouldn’t be doing. And the thoughts weren’t helping her overdriven libido at all.

She was overwhelmingly conscious of his eyes settling on her briefly again. “I’m not the one invading dreams, Elena,” he said, in that low tone of voice that forced one to pay attention. “For what it’s worth to you, it’s unsettling to me too.”

Unsettling? She choked back her laugh. What she was thinking of right now was unsettling. “You aren’t walking around with a sexual trigger in your head,” she pointed out bitterly. “You aren’t the one who’s going through this body chemistry overcompensation that makes me want to…want to…”

She wasn’t going to finish that sentence. She shrugged.

“You signed the Human Use Agreement Form. You were aware that in doing so, you put your life in a government experiment,” he said.

She glared at him. “I’m perfectly aware of what I signed. I’m also perfectly aware of what you’re doing.”

“If I’d told you, would you have gone along?”

“Of course not!” She’d seen the effect of mental triggers embedded in assassins. No way.

They turned the corner and stopped in front of a door. “I thought not.” His gaze warmed. “You want to be asked? Okay. May I seduce you, Elena?”

His voice was oh, so damn polite. His question, oh, so double-edged. An invitation and a challenge, the question was worded to throw her off-kilter. This was seduction at its best.

“Not answering?” he chided.

Study your opponent. She had to understand Jed McNeil, and to do so, she had to play his mind games.

She chose the challenge. “No, you can’t seduce me,” she declared.

Jed slid his card into the security slot. His eyes never left hers as he tapped on the keypad. “Give me time,” he said softly.

She wanted to say something sarcastic to counter such display of supreme male ego, she really did. But it was hard when her own body was betraying her. Her gaze lowered and admired the supreme male ass in the snug blue jeans and she gave a mental sigh as she followed him inside.

The first thing she registered when they entered was that the room was oval shaped. There were monitors and electronic maps on the walls that surrounded a large oddly shaped table, which was half-circular on one side, with extended arms at zero degrees and one hundred and eighty degrees that protruded outwards about six feet. There was a chair in the empty space in the middle; whoever was sitting there would be surrounded by more computers, monitors, and electronic gadgets than she’d ever seen in one room, outside a computer store.

“What room is this?”

“Debriefing,” Jed said as he coded in something on a pad in the wall. “You’ll be given access to this room once you run missions regularly.”

“I thought debriefing was, like, sitting in front of a bunch of balding old men answering their questions,” Helen drawled, looking around, intrigued by all the gadgets. Some of the screens on the walls were in different languages. One appeared to be showing weather updates around the world.

“That’s standard debriefing, which is still done, but COS commandos and operatives have many different tasks and operations, with many different assets involved who need to be present during the debriefing. Some of them are in different countries. Some of them are underground and don’t want to be tracked. In this room, all the relevant participants can function as a group.”

It made sense, except for one thing. “I’m assuming that a satellite is hooking all this up,” Helen observed. “So, wouldn’t the signals be easily tracked by outsiders?”

“Scrambled,” Jed explained.

“Ah.”

“Signal diffusion technology. Electronic encryption. Quantum…”

“All right, all right. I get it. Security’s taken care of.” Helen wasn’t giving up, though. She cocked her head, adding slyly, “What about remote viewing? They might send someone like me to spy in here.”

His lips quirked. Taking her by the hand, he led her to one side of the oval room where, inside a glass-protected portion of the wall, similar to a fish tank, out of the way of busy hands, some kind of weird instrument was glowing with electric-like sparks inside a dome.

Very conscious of her hand in his, Helen studied it for a few seconds. “What the heck is that?”

“It’s an improved version of the Tesla coil. It’s used to repel mind spies like remote viewers.”

Helen turned and stared at the man beside her. “You’re kidding me, right? I thought the government didn’t believe in the stuff. Is it like the energy alarm ring T. gave me to wear?”

“No, but they’re probably similar technology.” Jed studied her for a moment. “Covert bases aren’t as inflexible. You’ll discover that there are secrets within secrets inside our government branches that are extremely well guarded.”

Helen waved at the room behind her. “Like what goes on in here?” Obviously, paranoid people ran this place.

“What goes on in here can sometimes be an amalgam of different groups of people working covert missions within missions.”