Polar Opposites (In Aeternum Book 4) (24 page)

“What are you going to do with Lynn? You can’t keep her with you at all times.”

“Why not? I did you.”

“I was much younger than that. She’s in her twenties. She may not want a man around all the time.” Bailey held up a hand. “And don’t even think it. I’m not babysitting.”

“I trust you to keep her safe, Bailey.”

“I appreciate the confidence but that’s not my concern. I don’t stay in one place, McNeal. I travel. I have weapons and poisons in my possession. I can’t watch her all the time. She’s not staying here with me.”

“She needs a good, strong female role model.”

“There are plenty within Theta other than me.”

“I want to do what’s best for her, Bailey.”

“I know you do and that’s admirable. But what’s best isn’t pushing her off on me. I have enough crap in my own life to handle.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “Ivan?”

“This isn’t about me. Why don’t you get her a place near you? You can check on her and know she’s safe.”

“I travel.”

“That wasn’t a concern when you thought I would take her in. I travel as well.”

“I can’t put her just anywhere. If they have done something to her, I have to know what, and what will set it off.”

“Have you tried asking her?”

“Asking her?”

“Who better to know than the woman herself?”

McNeal shook his head. “Have you
looked
at her, Bailey. She’s small and scared. How would it be if I went to her and asked what they did to her?”

“I think it would be a sight better than trying to make assumptions. Ask her what she wants, allow her to be part of this decision-making process. A woman who’s survived what she has can’t be weak. She may not know or recognize her strength right now, but it’s there. It’s always been there.”

McNeal got up and paced. Bailey readjusted in her seat to follow his progress. This was a side of him she’d not seen before and it more than confused her—it worried her. He ran his hands through his hair repeatedly and muttered under his breath as he continued to wear a path in her floor.

It dawned on her why it worried her so. His eyes. Dark circles were under them and they were red with exhaustion.

“Why don’t you go get some sleep, McNeal. I’ll stay up in case she wakes and needs anything. My bed is clean so make yourself at home.”

“No, I should be up—”

“You should be sleeping so you’re lucid and helpful to her. Go on, I got this. There’s some things I have to do anyway.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.” She waved him on.

Ten minutes later, her place was silent and she went to her dining room table to make some more bullets. That activity kept her up until she heard the stirrings of Lynn in the spare room. Bailey had just finished putting everything away when the young woman walked out.

“Morning,” she said.

Lynn wrung her hands in her shirt. “Good morning. Where’s Kevin?”

“He’s sleeping.”

Her blue eyes snapped to the sofa then back to Bailey.

“Not there, I let him crash in my bed last night. I stayed out here.”

“Oh.” She stared at her feet. “Will you help me leave?”

Chapter Nineteen

Alarms blared and the fans sucked the smoke from the room. Ivan stood between Trick and Chrissy as they watched as the retardant shot from specific sites in the wall, near the dummy, dousing the flames.

“Looks like that one didn’t go so well.” He blew out an exasperated breath.

“Least we were just trying it on the dummy instead of one of us.”

He couldn’t argue that point at all. “I don’t think we have to go back to square one. Looked as though it worked fine until it got to the powering down stage.”

Chrissy laughed. “That would suck—manage to fly all that way then burn up as you’re finished before you can strip if off. Kind of like re-entry for the space shuttle.”

He chuckled as well. “Let’s get back to it.” He looked at Trick who had a slight smile on her face. More days than not he wished she would speak for he wanted to hear what she was thinking. She made eye contact and shrugged with a twinkle in her eyes.

“Some days all it takes is a good explosion to make us feel better.”

The women walked off and he agreed with her assessment. It did make him feel better and yet at the same time he prayed it would work. There was something in the electrogravitics that didn’t sit well when the wearer landed.

He made it to his office and sat at his desk. Pulling up a 3-D image of a B-2 Spirit, he watched it rotate on the screen.

Ivan picked up a pencil and tapped it against the edge of his desk as he thought. So obvious, it was right before him, he just had to see it. His phone rang and using the eraser, he pressed the speaker button.

“Dr Vinokourov,” he said.

“Hello, Doctor.”

He sat up straighter in his seat as that voice thrummed through him. Like a missing part of his heart and soul, it instantly revived him. Bailey.

“Hello, gorgeous. What are you doing?”

“Sitting in my apartment overlooking the market where you found me.”

He didn’t even attempt to stop the cheesy grin lifting his lips. She had returned. Had come back to him.

“How long have you been home?”

“About ten hours. I just woke up. I hear alarms, can you talk?”

His cock twitched as he pictured her fresh from sleep. Rumpled. Sexy as all get out. Sleepy eyes and full pouty lips that could and had delivered him to unmistakable heights of pleasure.

He lifted the receiver and spoke into that. “Just a slight mishap, don’t worry, it’s under control. I find it telling you called me when you first woke.”

She gave a small bark of laughter. “I did. I promised I would call so we could talk. I know you’re working right now but wanted to know if you could do dinner tonight?”

“I’ll find a way to do just that. What time?”

“You tell me. My day is clear.”

The alarms finally ceased. Through his window, he saw Chrissy talking animatedly with another lab assistant. Trick sat in her wheeled chair behind her row of computers, staring at the screens as she rolled between them.

“How about if I’m there by eight?”

“I’ll have dinner ready.”

Spinning his chair so the back was to the door, he rubbed his aching dick. “Are you okay?”

“Me? Sure.”

That didn’t sound too positive and he wanted to ask more but he could wait until tonight.

“I’ll see you then.”

“I’ll be here. Have a good day.”

“You too, Bailey.”

“I plan on it.”

She hung up and he sat there with a stupid grin on his face for about a minute. Dangling the handset between two fingers, he slowly pivoted back to the desk and put it back in its spot.

His computer screen snared his attention again and it hit him. “God, I’m such an idiot. I was right, it’s so damn simple.” He shoved back from the desk, heading out of the office. “Chrissy, meet me at Trick’s station,” he called out.

Soon the three of them sat facing one another.

“What’d you figure out?”

“It’s so simple, I should have realized this before we even attempted the first one.” He readjusted his arms on the back of the chair he straddled. “Now, think about the B-2. There are times when it lands that no one can touch it until the magnetic field’s static build-up around it dissipates, or what can happen?”

Chrissy’s eyes lit up. “It can kill you. So although the pack is still in powering down stage when they reach back to touch it, that’s more than enough to set it off and explode the fuel cell.”

He pointed at her. “Precisely.”

“God, I can’t believe we didn’t realize that.”

“We were thinking too grand, that it must be a huge problem, not something small and simple.” Another glance to each of the women. “Now, suggestions on how we take care of this issue? How we contain the field until it’s not going to harm the wearer?”

Trick rose and went to her bag. When she returned she had a tablet in her hand and she was using it. Ivan waited patiently and took it from her when she handed it over.

He stared at the diagram on the page before him. A low whistle escaped his teeth as he looked up. “Do you think this will work?”

Trick nodded.

“Do you have a prototype already or will we need to make one?”

Chrissy took the tablet from him. “There’s a prototype. I’ve seen it at her house. I never knew that’s what this was for.”

“Amazing. Trick, can you send me all the specs?”

Another nod.

“How long have you been working on this?”

She wrote her answer on a piece of paper.
A while.

Ivan took the tablet back from Chrissy and stared once more at the diagram. Two slim and long cylindrical tubes ran down, connected at the bottom by another. The static build-up was pulled in there and, from the looks of it, broken down.

He clicked on the notes and read. Impressive.

“What do you think?”

“I think Trick is one hell of a brilliant woman. She’s using a combination of a natural static reducer with aluminum foil as well as having inside there a small humidifier to assist in neutralizing the static.” He turned a page. “I want to see this compact humidifier, Trick.” Ivan made sure he looked at her when he said that, then he lowered his head and continued to read.

“There’s something else in here she refers to as Compound X, which assists as well. I think this is the smoking gun so to speak.” He glanced at the woman who’d created this. “Do you have the prototype with you?”

Trick shook her head no and gave him an apologetic smile.

“That’s okay, will you bring it tomorrow? So we can try to build another and not risk yours. I’d also like to see what this material is. From the compound it appears to be some type of rubber component but I don’t know what it is.” He handed Trick back her tablet. “You’re going to be a rich woman if this works, Trick. And we’ll take the appropriate precautions to ensure the patent is yours and not anyone else’s.”

They got back to work on setting things up for tomorrow. Ivan was hopeful—this could be just the thing needed to make this a success and able to be used out in the field. The rest of his day passed with incredible speed and before he knew it, seven o’clock had arrived.

He put stuff up and said goodnight to his co-workers as he made his way up and out of the building. Waving at a few of the farmers who were just leaving, he got on his bike and started toward his apartment.

Once there, he took a quick shower then put on some chinos and a black shirt. Shoes on, he locked up as he left. Ivan made one stop on his way to her place. At her building, he jogged up the stairs to her door. He wiped his palm on his thigh then knocked.

She opened the door and smiled at him. “Hey.” She stepped back. “Come on in and make yourself at home. Food’s almost ready.”

He entered and inhaled deeply. The food and the scent that remained around her combined amazingly well. He faced her after she had shut the door and offered her the flowers.

“These are beautiful, Ivan. Thank you.”

“It’s my ‘I’m sorry I was an ass’ bouquet.”

She rested her hand against his torso. “I could have stayed to talk it through. You’re not the only one who could have made a better decision.” She inhaled the scent and groaned. “Perfect.”

He couldn’t disagree. Her moan wound around him, especially his cock, and stroked it to a hard state.

“Am I allowed to kiss the cook?” he asked, capturing her shoulders with his hands.

She tilted her head. “Well, since you asked so nicely.”

Ivan gathered her close and did just that. He took his time, allowing his tongue to rim her mouth, swiping along her lips before the seam where he pressed for entrance. She opened beneath his gentle push and her taste flooded him.

Bailey clenched his shirt in her hands, ignoring the flowers she still held. This was what she’d missed. Him. His touch. His scent. How it felt to be in his arms.

He kissed her deeply. Held her like she meant the world to him. As if he’d missed her more than he could ever verbalize. In that moment, Bailey realized something. She might be an assassin who did her job with cool, calculating efficiency. But this man had the ability to strip all labels surrounding her other than
woman.
She wasn’t working in a hard profession. She was all woman. Desirable. And from the way he had her bent back for his kiss, she would say his.

Ivan made her feel like a beautiful woman. Extremely feminine. No one had ever done that for her before. She clutched him harder, wanting nothing more than to crawl inside him.

As if he felt the change within her, he ended the kiss and lifted his head so they were staring at one another. “Are you okay?”

“I should put these in water.”

“You should answer my question.”

“I will be. It was a long stint in Chicago.” She went to the kitchen and put the flowers in a vase after she’d filled it with water.

He sat at the kitchen table, his long legs out before him and watched her with those incredible glacier blue eyes. “Tell me about it.”

“I… I—”

“Bailey?” He got to his feet and came to her side. Once he’d gathered her close, he pressed his lips to her temple. “Something’s wrong. Talk to me.” He led her to the couch and settled so she pretty much lay on him. “Am I wrong to assume this has something to do with Lynn and optogenetics?”

“McNeal showed up at my place with her in Chicago. He took her from that place. And he should have—that doc there was certifiable. A clean-up crew has gone in since and it’s now under an entire new staff.”

“That’s good, right? Although I’m not sure why he showed up at your place.” Danger lingered along his words.

“He wanted me to take her in and keep an eye on her while she recovered.”

“You?”

“Not sure if I should be offended by your asking that but considering I did the same thing, I’ll let it go. I told him I wasn’t the right person to do this. I was gone too much and if she does want to hurt herself, I have weapons and poisons which she could eventually find and get her hands on.”

“He removed her, why isn’t he taking care of her?” He moved his hands up and down her back in a soothing motion.