Never Say Spy (32 page)

Time slowed.  Turned lazily in on itself.

Stopped.

I lost myself, drowning in waves of ecstasy that went on and on while my body bucked under his hands and mouth.

When I gasped my way back to a semblance of awareness, he was kneeling between my legs, watching me with hot eyes.

“Oh God… Arnie… please…
now
!” I begged, barely able to form the words.  The hard promise of his erection pressed against my thigh when he leaned across me to reach the condoms on the bedside table, and I couldn’t suppress a whimper of ravenous anticipation.

My breath stopped when he slid into me.  My arms clenched around him, my body arching up to meet him.  He let out a startled grunt, and I loosened my grip and panted, “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he rasped, rocking into a perfect rhythm.  I matched it with unthinking delight.  My world contracted to a hot, hard centre, and I absorbed every ounce of pleasure while he played my body like the gifted musician he was.

Rhythm, tempo, crescendo, he carried me effortlessly to the edge.  A breathless second held me immobile before I toppled into free-fall, my body spasming gloriously out of control.

When I came back to myself, he was barely moving, still stroking slow, delicious heat into me.  “Oh God don’t stop!” I implored, and his smile blurred above my half-closed eyes as he rocked into motion again.

Everything melted away but sound and sensation, tension and release.  I wrapped my legs around him when the mindless ecstasy claimed me again, and his breathing grew harsh above me.  His last few hard, deliberate thrusts drove me higher still.  His groan underscored my cries as his body strained against mine before collapsing on top of me.

We lay locked together, panting and sweating.  At last, I sucked in a few deep breaths and gasped, “Ohmigod.”

My brain steadfastly refused to supply anything more original.

“Ohmi
god
!” I repeated.

After a few more moments, I ran a trembling hand down his back and managed semi-intelligent speech.  “Are you still with me?”

His hoarse chuckle vibrated my collarbone, and he dragged his head up from the hollow of my neck.  “Jesus Christ, darlin’.  That was some ride.  Ya got some serious muscles.”

I peered at him anxiously.  “Did I hurt your back?  I didn’t mean to squeeze you so hard.”

He laughed, still breathless.  “My back’s fine.  An’ I wasn’t talkin’ about your arms.”

“Oh.”  I gave him a wicked leer.  “Well, in that case, I did mean to squeeze you that hard.”

He laughed again, untangling his hands from my hair.  Then he gently disengaged himself and rolled over onto his back, pulling me close beside him.

I laid my head on his chest, tracing the lines and colours with my fingertips.  “Tell me about your tattoos.”

We touched and whispered and laughed for a long time, until finally he turned out the light.  I let his quiet snores lull me into a doze, waking every time he moved.  He got up once, and when he returned, I reached for him in the darkness.  “Are you up?”

His knowing hands teased my body.  “I can be.”

I pulled him close and let him carry me away again.

I woke to sunshine streaming through the cracks in the blinds.  Arnie lay on his back, snoring softly.  He’d left the door open when he returned in the night, and Hooker was curled in a furry ball at the foot of the bed between us.  I stretched luxuriously, feeling the lingering ache in my bruised muscles, along with the satisfying heat lower down.

I rolled off the bed and padded naked to the bathroom to work the knots out of my hair and borrow a dab of toothpaste on my fingertip.  When I crept back into the bedroom, Arnie opened sleepy eyes.

“You’re the hottest thing that’s ever come through that door, darlin’,” he croaked.  He flipped the blankets open.  “Comin’ back to bed?”

I smiled and knelt onto the bed beside him, bending to trail my hair down the length of his body.  He groaned and tensed as I worked my way back up from his toes, kissing and teasing him.  I straddled his body and moved slowly against him as I slid up to brush my lips against his ear.  “Oh, Hellhound, oh baby,” I whispered.  “You know what I’d
really like
right now?”

I sprawled bonelessly on the bed, my face still buried in the pillow that had muffled the sounds of my last stupendous orgasm.  I felt Arnie lean up on one elbow, his ragged breathing slowing.  His hand stroked over my back and down one outflung leg.  “Aydan?  Are ya okay?”

I flopped over limply so he could see my beatific expression.  “I am so much better than okay,” I panted.  “I may not walk for a while, though.”

He gave me a twisted leer, managing to look smugly satisfied and rueful at the same time.  “Darlin’, I may never walk again.”  He shook his head, still winded.  “First I’m gonna sleep for a week, an’ then I’m startin’ a fitness program so I can be ready for next time.”

I laughed.  “Skip the fitness program.  I won’t be able to keep up.  You wore me out.”

He sobered.  “Are ya really okay?”

I beamed satisfaction at him.  “I am fabulous.  But I’ll probably be sore as hell when I come down off this high.”

“Darlin’, I didn’t wanna hurt ya.  Ya shoulda told me to stop.”

“No way.  I’ll take as much as you’ll give me.”  I shivered and ran my hands down my body, my breath coming a little faster.  “I’m going to feel you for days.  Mmmm.”

I heard amusement in his voice.  “Did ya just come again?”

I opened my eyes and gave him a slow smile.  “Maybe.”

“Stop it, you’re gonna gimme another hard-on,” he chuckled.

I reached for him.  “Let me help you with that.”

He caught my hand and kissed the palm.  “Sorry, darlin’, I’m done.  I gotta be at a client’s in an hour, so I gotta take ya home.  D’ya wanna shower first?”

I shook my head.  “You go ahead.  I’ll shower when I get home.  I need a change of clothes, and besides, I’m not ready to stand up yet.”

He grinned and headed for the bathroom.

When we pulled into my driveway, Hellhound parked the SUV and reached for my hand.  “I’m gonna be tied up for a while, but I’d like to see ya again sometime.”  He looked into my eyes.  “I know ya needed somebody last night an’ I was there.  Was this a one-time thing?”

“I don’t know,” I told him honestly.  “You were exactly what I needed.  Thank you.  Now I need to get my shit together and then I can figure out what comes next.”

He nodded.  “Take care, darlin’.  If I see ya again, I’ll ask ya then.  No hard feelin’s if the answer’s no.”

I smiled.  “I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.”

We shared one last lingering kiss before I got out and oozed into the house, heading for the shower on still-rubbery legs.

Almost melting in the hot spray, I reflected that my first try at casual sex had turned out far better than I could have hoped.  Making peace with my old ghosts felt good, but accomplishing it with multiple orgasms felt even better.  I failed utterly to suppress the idiot grin that kept creeping onto my face.

Hours of construction and a crummy night’s sleep later, I made the bed, gave the bathroom a quick cleaning, and called Cheryl to give her the go-ahead to show the house again.  I locked up and left with a profound sense of relief.

Back in Silverside, I made the rounds of clients, hardware store, grocery store, and credit union, revelling in the normalcy.  Finally heading home, I turned off onto my gravel road, mentally laying out the tile pattern for my bathroom.

When I crested the gentle hill a mile from my farm, I spotted a half-ton truck pulled over at the side of the road with its hood up.  I slowed, and a man stepped out to flag me down as I approached.

I rolled the window down a couple of inches.  The two black eyes in his bruised face didn’t exactly inspire confidence.

He greeted me cheerfully.  “Hi, can you give me a boost?  I’ve got a dead battery.”

“No problem.  I’ll just turn around on the crossing up there and come back.”  I drove down the road slowly, thinking.  Even in the city, I normally wouldn’t think twice about helping somebody out.  In the country, refusing to help would be the height of rudeness.

I calmed my jittery nerves with the decision that I wouldn’t get out of the car.  He could hook up the cables himself.  I’d play the girly-girl and pretend I didn’t know anything about it.

I scowled, mentally cursing Fuzzy Bunny.  Two weeks ago, I would have pulled over to help without a second thought.

I nosed into a crossing to turn the car around, then pulled up to the front of his truck and popped the hood.  He fumbled with the release for a few long moments before he looked up.  “I can’t get it to open.  Can you help me out?”

Shit.  Now what?

I weighed my options.  You have to trust people sometime.

I was on the verge of getting out when the hood released.  He gave me a jaunty grin.

“Got it!”  He opened the hood and propped it on its stand, obscuring my view.  Through the crack at the bottom, I watched him turn and go back to his truck, probably getting the booster cables.

I sat indecisively.  What if he hooked the cables up wrong?  I’d be really pissed off if he blew my battery.

He returned and bent over the engine.  Seconds later, there was a bang and brilliant flash.  My car’s engine died.

“Shit!”  I sprang out of the car and strode around to the front.

He shot me a shamefaced look.  “Sorry.  I accidentally dropped a wrench across the battery poles.  I’ll pay for a new battery for you.”

As he reached into his pocket, I took a couple of fast steps backward.  You don’t need a wrench to boost a battery.  And I didn’t see any booster cables.

The hand that came out of his pocket wasn’t holding a wallet.  I’d never seen a stun gun before, but it wasn’t hard to identify the electrodes on the device he swung at me.

Adrenaline burned my veins as I ducked back, slipping in the snow at the side of the ditch.  He lunged and jabbed the weapon at me.  Dammit, I wouldn’t be able to outrun him in my heavy hiking boots.  I jumped away and kicked wildly at the stun gun instead.

He dodged, and the momentum of the missed kick flung me off balance to tumble into the ditch.

Heart hammering, I flailed onto my back and spun as he pounced.  My boots glanced off his chest and he fell with a grunt.

I scrambled up to charge for my car, my feet slithering on the snowy slope, my breath coming in sobbing gasps.  If I could get to the car, I could lock myself in.  Maybe the engine would still start…

I snatched at the door handle, but there was no time to open it.  I spun to kick at him again as he leaped, his arm swinging around.  The prongs of the stun gun hit my leg.  I crumpled helplessly, every nerve sizzling.

Dim terror crawled through my addled brain while he bound my wrists behind me and my ankles together.  He dragged me to the truck and heaved me into the box, the hard steel bruising my hip and shoulder.  The cover slammed, plunging me into darkness.

I lay in helpless terror while the truck bumped over the gravel road.  Then came the smoothness of pavement, and minutes passed at highway speed.

My mind raced in panicked circles.  Fuzzy Bunny must have discovered I was alive, and now I was in their clutches.  Kane and his team didn’t know there was anything to worry about.  Hellhound wouldn’t call.  I’d just seen my clients.  My friends wouldn’t expect to hear from me until the weekend.

It would be at least a week before anybody even started to look for me, unless some passerby got curious about my abandoned car.

By then, if I was very lucky, I’d be dead.  If I was unlucky…

I stifled the thought and tried to force my flaccid muscles to struggle.  I managed a spastic twitch.

The truck slowed and turned.  Several other turns at low speed told me that we were likely in Silverside.  My body flopped helplessly from side to side as the truck cornered.  We made one final turn, and the truck stopped.  I heard the unmistakeable sound of a garage door rolling up, and then the truck moved forward again.  The door rattled again as it closed.

The cover opened and I blinked and squinted in the sudden light.  I got a confused glimpse of the inside of a garage and my captor’s face as he reached into the truck box.

“Let’s just make sure you’re out,” he said genially.  Another jolt reduced my muscles to jelly.

The truck’s suspension bounced sickeningly when he climbed in beside me.  Barely conscious, I dimly registered a bumpy ride as he dragged me out of the truck and down a flight of stairs.  Another short drag, and he dropped me to the concrete floor.

“Stay there,” he panted.  Then he chuckled and patted my shoulder.  In the sliver of vision afforded by my half-turned head, I saw his feet stride out the door.

A couple of minutes later, he was back.  A wooden chair clattered on the floor beside me.  I felt him cut the ties that bound me, and he rolled me onto my back.  I whimpered and tried uselessly to force my body to struggle while he unzipped my jacket and pulled it off.

He knelt beside me, his eyes dilating as he eyed my splayed limbs.  Utterly helpless, I could only lie watching him.  My heart pounded so hard my vision blurred.  My breath came in shallow gasps.

The corner of his mouth quirked up.  “No, I’m not that stupid.”

He manhandled my rubbery body up into the chair and I heard the high-pitched zip of nylon ties as he secured my wrists and ankles to the chair’s arms and legs.  Then he stood watching me for a few moments before turning to leave the room, closing the door behind him.  His footsteps climbed the stairs, followed by sounds of movement overhead.

Strength returned in the form of uncontrollable tremors.  The chair jerked and shuddered while my body spasmed.

The trembling gradually diminished and I clamped down on terror.  Breathe.  Just breathe.

By the time I heard my captor’s feet on the stairs again, I had regained muscle control.  The door opened and I sat up to face him.

Begging would be a waste of time.

“What do you want from me?” I demanded, pleased that my voice was steady despite my pounding heart and quivering body.

“Personally, I don’t want anything from you.  My associates, however, will be eager to find out who you’re working for and how you knew Ramos.  And where you’ve hidden the second hacked fob.  You’ll find them very… persuasive.”  He studied me, smiling.  “I expect I’ll be rewarded handsomely for capturing such a valuable agent.”

“I’m not an agent.  I don’t know what you’re talking about.  You’ve got the wrong person,” I argued without much hope.

He was beside me in a couple of quick strides, the cold muzzle of his gun pressing hard against my temple.  “If you’re just a civilian, you’re useless.  I’ll kill you right now.”

Fresh panic flashed through me.  I clenched my teeth, weighing my options.  I knew what awaited me.  Prolonged horrible suffering and ultimately, death when they realized I couldn’t access the network.  If I’d thought there was a chance of rescue…

But there was none.  Kane wouldn’t even know I was missing until much too late.  Better to die now, quickly and mercifully.  And the secret of the key would be protected.

I stared straight ahead, trying to hold myself still while my heartbeat rocked my body.

“I’m just a civilian.”  My voice quavered despite myself.

I flinched at his movement, but instead of an explosion and oblivion, the pressure at my temple vanished.

“Thank you.  Now I know I have the right person.  Only an agent would choose instant death.”

I glared up at him, shaking.  “Or a total chickenshit.”

He laughed.  “I don’t think so.”  He removed a small vial and a syringe from his shirt pocket.  “Now, I’m just going to make sure you stay safe and quiet until my associates are ready to pick you up.  How much do you weigh?”

“None of your business.”

He drew up a dosage of clear fluid in the syringe.  “That’s all right.  I’m a good guesser.”

I made a desperate attempt to jerk away when the loaded syringe approached my arm, and he shook his head reproachfully.  “Now, now, this will be much better for everybody if you just hold still.”

The stun gun touched me again.  I could only watch through blurred eyes while he injected me.  My racing heartbeat slowed and the room faded.