AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The elevator chimed, a quiet, discreet sound that straightened my back. I limped into the small space, turned around and punched the button with the heel of my hand. It hurt, but the pain felt better than the rage pounding in my breast. Zar had outmaneuvered me at every turn. He’d tricked me into thinking I was joining his team. Hell, had I ever had a chance at being part oftheteam?
It was only after the elevator door closed that I allowed the tearstocome.
Chapter8
Nina
When it came to sulking, I ranked high on the competitive scale. The afternoon passed slowly while I sat in the chaise on my balcony, wrapped in a blanket, belly churning with a combination of anger, helplessness, and frustration. I’d worked hard to get into Dimayev and Calamity’s servers. Nobody had the right to take me offline. I deserved to be free. I’d already served my time. Paid for my mistakes. If nothing else, these three had seen my skills and shouldtrustme.
And then again, why should they trust me? I was a convicted felon. They knew facts about me, my Internet history, my patterns, but they really didn’t know me. I should’ve never come here. I should’ve found a different way to take down Dimayev and Calamity on my own. At least I would’ve been free whiledoingit.
I took a deep breath and filled my lungs with the purest air on earth. Looking at the bright side, if one had to be trapped, isolated and brooding, this place was much better than jail. The late afternoon sun illuminated the canyon’s colors, layers of reds, ochres, and tans that relaxed the eyes. Tiny dots spread across a distant ridge as a herd of something—elk probably—wondered along with the sunlight. Much better views than prison. I sank into my chair. A lot morecomfortabletoo.
A knock came from the door. I craned my neck. Tanner’s head peeked through the crack, his cropped hair as always in perfect order, his green eyes wide and wary as they met my gaze. “Permission to comeaboard?”
I waved him in and, stepping gingerly on my ankle, got up and met him inside. “What’s all this?” I asked when I saw the shopping bags in hishands
“We figured you needed a few things.” He settled the bags on the bed. “So Zar and I drove to Bozeman and did what we could.” He lured me with his smile. “Wannalook?”
It was very tempting, but I was determined to fend off his charm. “You guys weren’t straight with me and this is grosslyunfair.”
He had the decency to look sad. “We are all in places we don’t wanttobe.”
I fought the urge to snarl. “You read my onlinediary.”
“I did read your diary.” His gaze met mine, open and direct. “I’m sorry, but it was part of my job. We couldn’t afford the risk of having you in the house not knowing whoyouwere.”
“Human intelligence.” I hurled the words out in the open. “It’s whatyoudo.”
He gave me aslightnod.
“You profiled me,” I said coldly. “You identified me as a highly sexual person and manipulated meaccordingly.”
“A and B are hits.” He paused to moisten his lips. “C is onlypartiallytrue.”
I crossed my arms. “Masturbation wasn’t part ofyourplan?”
The skin around his eyes tensed, but he kept his gaze leveled on me. “I’m gonna tell you the truth, Nina, because I think you’re crazy smart and I don’t want this shit show to stand between us. Based on what I’d learned about you, I knew you weren’t going to be offended if I offered. But no, what happened in the bathtub wasn’t part of a plan to deceive or manipulate you. On the contrary. I would’ve much preferred to stay disconnected. It would’ve made my job easier and me a more effectiveprofiler.”
“But—”
“I’m not done,” he said. “I’m pretty good at what I do, but I have to admit, my profiles have never involved a hot woman in a bathtub, totally naked, and my soapy hands sliding all over her body. So about that manipulation claim? I have to be honest. I feel like it was the other wayaround.”
I gasped in disbelief. “Are you really going to argue thatImanipulatedyouinto gettingmeoff?”
“It’s worse than that.” His eyes roamed over the landscape before they returned to my face. “I’m going to argue that any efforts to profile you went to hell the moment I took off your shirt, that your body manipulated mine into satisfying your need, and that even knowing you are a sexual person and accepting that just looking at you makes me so hard that my cock hurts, I couldn’t stop myself from the pleasure of gettingyouoff.”
It was a devastatingly honest argument, one that didn’t make any excuses for anything, managed to validate what had happened between us, and decimated my defenses. The need that weakened my knees ratified everythinghesaid.
“So I’m not going to apologize for this morning,” he said. “I’m not gonna apologize for this, either.” He looked down on the obvious erection swelling his jeans. “As to the rest, I realize it’s not ideal. For any of us. But I think we shouldmoveon.”
His honesty scattered my fury. “Sorry if I came across like an angry bitch from hell. But I’ve never mastered the skill of feeling one way and behavinganother.”
“Is honesty such a bad thing?” He held his arms openforme.
I tried to resist the temptation, but I’d never met someone like Tanner Vazquez, someone who functioned at such high intellectual and carnal levels and wasn’t afraid to say so. In my world, it was usually either or. But this guy? He was a rare find. He appealed equally to my brain and my pussy and he was right, the former was already conspiring to get his cock into thelatter.
What the hell. I might be marooned out here but I wasn’t totally out of the game yet. I was still supposed to work for them. Maybe I could show them what I could do, even without online access. Perhaps I could live a few days without the Internet. As to Tanner, I wasn’t going to pass on him.Noway.
