Читать книгу Close To The Edge - Zara Cox - Страница 11
ОглавлениеLily
IT WASN’T THE first time I’d ridden in a Bugatti—Silicon Valley was crawling with billionaire tech geeks who collected supercars like they were baseball cards.
But it was the first time I’d ridden in a supercar driven by a man like Caleb Steele. And this, too, was turning out to be a sex-steeped experience.
The man drove his car like he was making love to it. Scratch that. He drove like he was fucking it. Smooth. Sexy. Relentless. Each flick of the gear and flex of his thigh as he switched from gas to brake was a hypnotic symphony. One so absorbing I couldn’t look away.
I realized my lip was caught between my teeth, and my fingers were digging into the soft leather, and forced myself to release both. To take a breath unfortunately filled with sandalwood and prime male, in order to get my brain on track.
Caleb Steele was the type of guy who would see my discomfort as a weakness and use it to his advantage.
“Where are we flying from?” He’d been mostly silent since we left the mansion. Admittedly, I found it a little disconcerting, especially since I’d anticipated being peppered with questions.
He changed lanes again before he answered, sending me a sidelong glance that left me with that faint impression of what being electrocuted by a low current would feel like. Even after he looked away, I experienced aftershocks.
“Van Nuys Airport. Don’t worry, petal. I’ll have you home in no time.”
“I don’t like pet names, Mr. Steele.”
“You don’t like pet names and you don’t want me to use your first name. The only way I’m calling you Miss Gracen is if we’re role-playing naughty teacher/stern principal.”
I was gripping the seat again. Dammit. I forced myself to uncurl my fingers before I damaged them because I needed them to write code. “Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea, after all.”
Watchful blue eyes gleamed wickedly in the lights from the dashboard. “Sorry, baby, it’s too late to change your mind. You’re stuck with me.”
Baby. Sweetheart. Petal. He probably had an endless list of pet names he tossed at women.
Short of lowering myself to his level and calling him Big Guy or Sexy Ass or Hot Rod, I had to concede this round. “Fine, you can call me Lily. Because, heaven forbid, you run out of pet names and start calling me honey cheeks.”
“Thank you, Lily,” he said in a low, deep voice that rumbled over me like delicious hot fudge over a sundae. “And by the way, I would never peg you as honey cheeks. Not with that flawless pale skin.” That slow-building, insanely sexy smile returned. “Is it deliberate?”
“Is what deliberate?”
“Your paleness. It works well with the Goth vibe but it must be hell to avoid the sun when you live in California.”
“What does the paleness of my skin have to do with the case?” Or anything else that doesn’t make me think of sex?
“Zilch. This is insatiable curiosity on my part. So?”
“So, you’ll just have to accept that it won’t be satisfied this time.”
“Shame,” he murmured. “I’ll just have to use my imagination.”
I averted my gaze, but I was still thinking about that smile, the effortless sensuality he wove into the most innocuous words, when he swung the powerful sports car onto the exit ramp leading to the airport.
After passing through security, Caleb drove into a brightly lit hangar and parked next to a gleaming white jet. Its steps were lowered, the engine humming. The pilot and copilot were talking to two airport officials as we alighted but my attention was drawn to the woman standing at the bottom of the steps.
Her short, sequined silver tube dress, long silver necklaces and rows of hooped earrings ruled her out as an attendant. She was shrugging into a bomber jacket when Caleb stepped out and came around to open my door.
“Do we need to discuss appropriate work attire again?” His tone was bone-dry as he addressed her.
She reached up to free her bun, then gave a resigned grimace. “Not that you’ll care but I interrupted my date to return to the office for this assignment.”
“A date? With an actual guy?” Heavy skepticism laced his voice as he retrieved my overnight bag.
The woman rolled her eyes and turned to me. After a quick once-over, she held out her hand and smiled. “I’m Maggie, Mr. Steele’s long-suffering assistant. You must be Lily Gracen?”
At my nod, her face turned serious. “We’ll catch the A-hole who’s doing this to you. Don’t tell my boss I said so, but he’s ace at what he does. Our success record is pretty impressive. You’re in good hands.”
Caleb slammed the door. “Cut the corporate spiel, Maggie. Lily already knows she can trust me.”
I ignored him, and smiled at Maggie. “Thanks.”
“Did you bring what I needed?” he asked his assistant.
Maggie nodded. “Everything is already on board.”
“Are we cleared to fly?” he pressed impatiently.
“Almost.” She pointed to where the copilot was talking to the ground crew. “They’re not happy that you’re flying outside curfew—”
“You told them it was an emergency, right?”
“Yes, boss. They still need to tick their boxes. Give them a minute.”
“I don’t have a minute,” he snapped, turning toward the group.
“Seriously, they’re almost done—” Maggie started, but he was already walking away. She stopped talking, looking a little perplexed.
I frowned. “Is he always—?”
“The definition of a bull in a china shop? Surprisingly, no,” Maggie answered her own question, her voice contemplative. “Sure, he’s impatient and he wants everything done yesterday, but it takes a lot to ruffle his feathers. Although...”
“Although?” I prompted after a throb of silence, telling myself it was just mild curiosity that triggered the desire to know what made the enigmatic fixer tick. What made him give a damn and what bounced off those impressive shoulders?
Maggie’s sharp, gray-eyed gaze snapped to me. I suspected the evasive answer before she opened her mouth. “A testy client earlier tonight before he came to see you. That’s all.”
I suppressed surprisingly sharp disappointment and glanced over to where the man I’d appointed as my fixer was gesturing impatiently to the men. He stood over a head taller, easily the most striking, and the low timbre of his voice rumbled through the large space, sending a decadent shiver to my lady parts.
After a minute the officials handed over papers to the copilot.
Caleb returned and picked up the overnight bag he’d set down next to the car. “We’re clear to fly. Shall we?”
I sidestepped him when he reached for my arm, prompting another raised eyebrow I ignored. The lingering tingle between my thighs insisted touching him was a bad idea.
“Great to meet you, Maggie,” I said.
The assistant smiled. “Likewise.”
I walked up the stairs to the plane, aware that he trailed behind me. Drawn by an undeniable need, I looked over my shoulder. He’d paused with one foot on the bottom step; his eyes were fixed on me. Or rather on my ass. That insane tingle intensified between my legs.
I barely had time to step back before he was towering over me. For a handful of seconds, he stared down at me. Then his gaze flitted past me to the small cabin.
“Go grab a seat, Lily. We need to be wheels up before the stiffs out there find another reason to delay us.”
* * *
The interior of the plane was as pristine and classy as the outside. Fitted in mahogany and cream tones, the club seats were grouped into two sections, one side with a shiny table separating the seats and the other without.
I chose the seat with a table. Anything for a buffer between Caleb and myself.
He watched me slide into the window seat. He didn’t immediately sit down, even though the jet was rolling out of the hangar. Instead, he took his time to shrug off his lightweight jacket. The midnight blue shirt underneath was fitted, lovingly following a streamlined torso.
When he pivoted to hang up his jacket, the muscles in his back rippled with a sleek, edgy synergy that triggered a need to see him minus that shirt. Unlike me, he was perfectly tanned, the Californian sun having found the ideal specimen to blaze upon. Without a doubt, he would be firmly toned all over.
The urge to glide my fingers over those muscles intensified the incessant throb in my pussy.
I inhaled unsteadily, shifted my gaze and focused on securing my belt as he slid onto the seat opposite me. A moment later one arm extended toward me.
Annoyingly agitated with my skittish emotions, my head jerked up. He was unbuttoning his cuffs, casually folding back his sleeves, exposing thick, brawny arms overlaid with silky wisps of hair.
The innate grace flowing through the moment was almost hypnotic.
God. Enough.
The man was mouthwateringly attractive, granted. But I’d never lost my head or hormones like this, not even during the brief months I thought I was in love with Scott Wyatt, the man Chance planted in my life to manipulate me. Even before I found out his true motivations, Scott didn’t set me on fire with a mere look.
After he was done with his hot little arm-porn display, Caleb rested his arms on the table. “Do you want a drink?”
“I’m good, thanks.”
He nodded and glanced at his watch. “It is three in the morning, and we land in about forty-five minutes. We can use the time to discuss the case, or you can get some sleep?”
“You’re giving me a choice?”
He smiled. “I’m not a complete ogre, Lily, regardless of whatever impression Maggie gave you.”
It unsettled me that he’d read me so accurately. But wasn’t that why I chose him? He’d risen to the top of my list almost immediately when I searched on the dark web because he was a maverick to the core. Totally unscrupulous when he went after something he truly wanted.
And the way he was staring back at me strongly suggested I was somewhere on his want list.
Maybe that was the reason I should’ve been bone-tired but felt oddly invigorated despite being awake for twenty hours straight. If I’d been coding, I’d be getting ready to crash hard by now.
My stalker’s latest “gift” arriving in my mail this morning had wiped rest from my mind.
That unwelcome reminder refocused me. “I’m fine to answer your questions.”
His brisk nod signified the switch back to fixer mode. “We’ll get to the background stuff when you’ve had some sleep. For now, tell me when you first realized you’d attracted someone’s attention?”
I didn’t need to think hard. The memory was etched in my mind. “About seven weeks ago I received a piece of what looked like my code in an email. It was a very rough copy but it got my attention. And no, I wasn’t able to find out who sent it.”
“So we could be dealing with corporate sabotage.”
The possibility shocked me. “You think one of SDM’s competitors could be behind this?”
The underhanded tactics that went on in Silicon Valley weren’t a secret, but usually they involved throwing enough money at an acquisition to secure it or throwing even more money at a problem to make it go away.
His mouth twisted. “You’d be surprised at the lengths companies would go to get an edge on the market. If your code is as revolutionary as you say it is—”
“It is,” I confirmed. The possibilities of my algorithm scared me a little but I was extremely proud of what I’d achieved. The thought of someone stealing it filled me with equal parts fury and fear.
Caleb leaned back but it didn’t release me from the raw force field of his personality. I was convinced he’d need to be in another state for that to happen.
“Then I suggest we make a list of the top twenty companies you think might benefit from this code.”
I shook my head. “That’ll be nearly impossible to investigate before the deadline.”
A fierce light blazed in his eyes. “Make the list, Lily. I’ll take care of it.”
I got the unassailable impression that he would. The depth of that belief scared me a little. But it excited me even more. Which was ludicrous and a lot disturbing considering I detested being taken care of.
Not true. You hate that no one’s cared enough without having an ulterior motive. Just like you hate that soft place inside you that wants to be taken care of.
I tightened my gut against the abrading truth. But it was no use. Lately, I hadn’t been able to suppress thoughts of my stepfather as easily as I used to. Truth was, my stalker had amplified the yawning cavern of my life. He, or they, had exposed vulnerabilities that made me feel raw and fearful and alone. It was that last sensation I especially despised. I wanted that aloneness gone, and if I had to endure Caleb Steele for a while to achieve a return to normal, then so be it.
“Okay, I’ll have it ready for you in the morning.”
“Good. Tell me when you first noticed this wasn’t just an online thing?” he whipped back, sharp eyes narrowed.
A swell of fear met quiet fury at the recollection of that first violation. “Two weeks ago I got another piece of code in the mail. It’s a long way from the one I was working on, but someone out there is taunting me with knowledge of what I’m working on.”
A muscle rippled in his jaw. “Did they make demands? Ask for money?”
“No.”
“They’re trying to scare you into changing your routine. Trip you up in some way. When was the next time?”
“He left me another code on top of my bike outside a coffee shop four blocks from my house.”
His mouth thinned. “So he knows where you work and live.”
I fought the shudder that rolled up my body. “Looks like it.”
His hands curled into loose fists but his breathing didn’t change. He carried on staring at me with a level look, then nodded for me to go on.
“The last time was yesterday morning. I received another code, but with a picture of me attached.”
“A picture?” Caleb asked.
I nodded, a sheet of ice unravelling through me at the recollection. “It was taken two days ago. I was shopping.”
“Fuck.” Caleb’s jaw rippled with tension before he leaned forward, bristling with quiet fury. “What happened to the package?”
“I have it at home.”
His expression tight, he reached for his phone and had another conversation with the unflappable Maggie, issuing terse instructions about retrieving the package and having a discreet service dust it for prints. Just as briskly, he hung up and dropped the phone on the table between us.
“Tell me about your online activities, outside of the work you do for SDM.”
“That’s a very broad question.” The plane dipped, taking a little bit of my stomach with it. “You want to know if I messed up somewhere?”
“I’m sure you didn’t but something you did triggered this.”
The logic was too sound to dismiss. I tried to suppress it but my unease grew. “You don’t think I covered my tracks?”
A smile twitched his lips. “You’re a coder. I’m sure you can clear your caches in your sleep. And I’m not talking about porn. Although I’d love to know which sites you prefer.”
A flush heated my chest and spread lower to my abdomen. “Mr. Steele—”
“Lily?” he responded with a heavy dose of snark.
I took a calming breath. “I don’t leave a trail of where I buy my lingerie or post minute-by-minute details of where I’m going to be at any given time of day. I know how to protect myself.”
“And yet he found you,” he stated with bracing finality.
After a moment, I looked at him. “What do you want to know specifically?”
“Coders make decent hackers. If you hacked your way into a job with SDM, you must be great. What’s your hacker handle?”
All of a sudden the name that sent shivers down the spines of faceless dark web hackers felt pretentious. “Cipher Q.”
His brows slowly rose. “You’re Cipher Q?”
Another emotion swept in to mingle with the cocktail swirling inside me. This time it was most definitely not unpleasant. “You know about me?”
He shrugged. “Cyber crimes are a problem for a few of my clients. Maggie and a few people on my payroll keep an eye on things like that for me. A few months back she wouldn’t shut up about some big-deal hacker contest going on. You won, if I remember correctly?”
The kick of pride warred with the need to set him straight. “Yes, but it was all aboveboard. No cyber crimes involved.”
“Who came second?”
“Nordic Razor.”
“What do you know about him? How did he take coming second?”
“You think he’s doing this?”
His shoulders rippled beneath his shirt as he shrugged again. “Not everyone likes losing to a woman.”
I shook my head. “It’s not him.”
“I’ll be the judge of that. I need the names of everyone who took part in the contest, too.”
“At this rate I’ll be spending all my time compiling lists for you. I won’t have time to work.”
He shot forward and the force of his dominant personality hit me like a tidal wave. “You won’t be working at all if this situation escalates. Did you forget already that I’m in control here?”
I’m in control.
Words I’d heard far too many times in my life. Words that had imprisoned me for far too long. My teeth met in a grinding clench. “I don’t like being ordered around, Mr. Steele.”
“Too bad. Until this bastard is in custody, you’ll not only do as you’re told, you’ll also learn to love it.”
Maybe it was something in his voice. Or the words he used with me. But my fury faded, along with that carnally needy, traitorous voice that wanted to say, Yes, Caleb. I’ll learn to love it. That tingle between my thighs still throbbed, but it was with a different sort of need.
A burning need to, for once in my life, grab and keep the upper hand. To put this man in his place once and for all.
Because, fuck that noise. My days of pretzeling myself to please others were nearly behind me.
I unclipped my seat belt and was out of my seat before I fully processed my actions.
Being pint-size had its advantages. It made crawling on top of the table a piece of cake.
I relished Caleb’s unguarded intake of breath as I leaned forward and shoved my face in his. With a couple of inches separating us, I caught every fleck of surprise in his eyes as he watched me.
“You really think you’re in control here?” I murmured softly.
A slow, assured smile widened his sexy mouth. “I know it,” he rasped.
“I see.” I scooted another inch closer, glided my tongue over my bottom lip. His demeanor changed. His ravenous gaze dropped to my mouth and his next breath wasn’t quite so steady. “You didn’t ask me how I found you to handle my problem, Mr. Steele.”
His eyes grew wary. Good. “Maggie handles background stuff.”
I nodded. “Hmm. She did ask me the right questions. But I’m afraid I told a little white lie. I don’t personally know the client I named as my reference. I found him, and your whole client list, some other way.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “You hacked me.”
I allowed myself a little smile. “No, I skimmed you. But you know what I could’ve done if I wanted to?”
His eyes narrowed. “What?”
“Uncovered every...single...detail about you.”
Silence throbbed. The muscle jumped faster. “What’s to stop me from bending you over this table right now, giving you the spanking you richly deserve before I dump you in Palo Alto and walk away?” he breathed through gritted teeth.
The erotic image of his palm turning my ass pink threatened to wipe off my smile. I ignored the balloon of heat dampening my panties and traced my fingers over his jaw, suppressing a gasp at how warm and vibrant he felt.
His sharply exhaled breath washed over my face.
“Because I took a little peek at your active cases. I wanted to make sure I’d be your number one priority. Your most exciting case finished two weeks ago. You’re a man of action, and you’re bored, Mr. Steele. Right now mine is the juiciest case to drop into your lap.”
My thumb skated dangerously close to his lips. He bared his teeth, and another image flashed into my mind—how those perfect whites would feel grazing my clit.
“I could always take the vacation I’ve been promising myself for a while now,” he rasped.
“You won’t. Because I also saw the way you looked at me when I walked into the room tonight. The way you’re looking at me right now.”
My fingers drifted down his solid neck to his collarbone, then over his hard chest to rest on his belt. Without breaking eye contact, I closed the gap between us and brushed my lips, whisper-light, over his, reveling in the instant clutch of lust that darkened his eyes.
“I know you’re rock-hard for me, that you’ve imagined a dozen different positions in which to fuck me.”
I drew back and pried my gaze from his to the fists clenched with white-knuckled control on the table on either side of my body. “But you won’t touch me, not until you catch my stalker. Because you don’t mix business with pleasure. I know that about you, too.”
My hand dropped to its final destination, gliding over the stiff, mouthwateringly impressive bulge behind his fly from root to tip. A strangled growl left his throat.
“So, you think you’re in charge, Mr. Steele? Dream the fuck on.”
