She Who Dares, Wins

Yes. She most definitely could spend a night with this stranger.

Everything about him, from his tall, lanky surfer-boy looks to his deep melodic voice, screamed hot juicy sex. Didn’t she deserve one night with this man she knew instinctively could do dangerous and wonderful things to her?

They arrived at the door much too quickly. She slipped the key card in and the handle turned.

“Well, here we are.” He handed her the bag. “Thank you for a great night. I’m more relaxed than I’ve been in months. I don’t run into many Americans in my social circles, and it’s been nice talking about home with you.” He dazzled her with that smile again.

Wait. This was good-night? Katie was so confused. Had she read the signals wrong?

Then she saw it in his eyes—that moment where he was giving her an out. He didn’t want to pressure her into anything, and it made her want him even more.

“We never had dessert,” she said, her voice husky with need. She opened the door and pushed the case inside, holding the door for him to step through.

He watched her, as if he were trying to get a read.

She gave him a quick grin, and that was all it took.

Stepping in, he shut the door.

“Are you really hungry?” Mac asked as he brushed a hair away from her cheek. That brief touch sent shudders through her body.

Katie leaned back against the wall just inside the suite. The desire in his eyes made her belly tighten, and she didn’t trust her voice, so she shook her head.

He leaned in and kissed her, teasing at first with light touches to her lips. Katie restrained herself from shoving him to the floor and taking him right then and there, as his kisses caused a tingling straight through her from where their lips met.

Mac was so much taller and she found herself rising to the tips of her toes so she could taste more of him. All the tiredness and worry slipped from her mind as his hands slid around her waist, pulling her toward him.

They tasted each other for a good five minutes. With their tongues dancing and exploring, she couldn’t get enough of his steak-and-dark-beer-mixed-with-peppermint flavor.

She wound her arms around his neck. His erection pressed into her belly, giving her such a sense of power she nearly growled. Mac didn’t know it, but he’d become her prey. She wanted him now, inside her.

“Too many clothes,” she whispered against his lips. Pulling her arms away, she unbuttoned his shirt. When her nervous fingers fumbled, it took great restraint to keep from ripping the material so she could feel his skin.

He lifted his lips from hers and smiled. Gently shoving her hands away from his shirt, he reached for hers, sliding it off her shoulders and exposing her pink bra. He made quick work of her pants, which were wide legged and slipped to the floor.

Katie refused to let him have all the fun. She unzipped his jeans, the feel of him hard and tight against her palm as she groped him.

He moaned and moved her so he was against the wall to brace them. She stopped stroking him long enough to pull her boots off, but he stopped her.

“Leave them on,” he said heavily as he tugged the panties past them.

He knelt, leaving a trail of kisses on her neck, breasts and stomach. When his tongue reached its destination, Katie threw her head back, balancing her hands on his shoulders as he laved her hot pink flesh with such precision that in mere seconds her body quaked with a mind-blowing orgasm.

Before Katie could pass out from the sheer pleasure of it, he scooped her up in his arms and tossed her gently onto the bed. Once again he knelt, teasing her until she writhed before him. Her boots wrapped around his shoulders as he continued to drive her to the brink, this time the orgasm so intense she saw tiny specks of light behind her eyes.

“I could watch you do that all night.” Mac’s voice was deeper than before. “And these boots—you’re so damn gorgeous.”

Katie couldn’t hide her smile. His words made her feel empowered.

She reached for him. “I need you inside me, please, Mac. Please,” she begged. She could no longer wait for his cock to give her the relief she needed.

“Not yet, love,” he said as he slid up her body, bringing both her breasts to hard peaks with his mouth as his fingers pumped in and out of her pink flesh. She wasn’t sure how much more she could take.

Her fingers grabbed his hair. “Now. I need you now.”

That seemed to do it.

He yanked his shirt over his head and released his cock from his pants. He fumbled with something in his pocket and she realized he was grabbing a condom. At least he’d thought of it—she hadn’t.

She sat up, took the package from his hand and ripped it open, sheathing him with the protection as fast as possible. He was long, hard and thick. She lifted her legs, still clad in the boots, up over his shoulders as she guided him into her.

When there was a long pause she worried for a second that maybe he was too big, but he pumped her gently a few times, covering his cock in her juices, and her body opened to him. The pace quickened and soon he was pounding her with such ferocity her body came unglued. When his finger touched her nub, she screamed her release.

The look of desire in his eyes as he watched her come sent waves of pleasure through her. Every muscle in her body tightened as he was bringing her to yet another orgasm.

“Come with me,” she begged. “I want to watch you come with me.”

The pounding increased and his thumb rubbed her nub again as Katie writhed on the bed, uncertain how much more her body could take, but she wanted him more than anything.

His blue eyes centered on her as he moaned, “Katie,” and she felt such power in those words.

“Yes, Mac. Come with me. Ohhhhhh.” She was lost then in the sensation of him, their bodies echoing the pleasure they both experienced. When he moaned her name again, his body stiffened with release just as her entire body quaked with an orgasm. This time she saw more tiny stars in her lids, and every muscle turned to rubber.

When he slid out, she moaned her complaint.

“Have to sit.” His words came out on a pant. “You’re amazing.”

“No.” She was still winded. “That was all you. I was along for the ride. One wonderful, wild ride.”

He took care of the condom, then lay beside her sideways, their legs hanging off the edge. Normally Katie would have felt the need to cover herself, but the way he looked at her as if she were a big piece of chocolate he couldn’t wait to devour made her comfortable in her own skin.

He put his arm behind her and pulled her closer to him. “Trust me when I tell you we were on that ride together.”

She snuggled into him, but couldn’t stifle a yawn.

“You’re tired.” He turned so he could see her face.

“Nah, that was a sign of contentment, nothing more.”

“Hmm.” He pulled away. “I think maybe we should get you ready for bed.”

She sighed. “We are in bed.”

He chuckled at that.

“True,” he said as he sat up, and then he reached down and slid her boots off.

Another yawn escaped. Damn. She didn’t want to fall asleep.

Mac picked her up with one arm so she was nestled against him. Using his other arm he pulled the covers back. “Let’s at least get you warm.”

Carefully he put her back down and moved her legs under the covers, intimate and sweet at the same time.

Something clicked for Katie. “Oh, wow. I’m probably keeping you from one of those quick exits guys like to make. Sorry, I don’t do this—uh, well, I’ve never slept with a guy I don’t really know.” She grinned. Katie wondered why she couldn’t shut up. Normally she wasn’t the talkative type, but her nerves had returned.

Mac touched her cheek. “No, I can promise you I don’t want to go right now.” He held her tighter and nuzzled his nose at her neck.

Katie sighed with contentment. Mac spoke the truth for now. She was good at reading people. Maybe he wouldn’t leave right away, but he would eventually. The idea made her a little sad.

“I have to say I’m kind of glad the professor wasn’t there tonight.”

A weird look passed over his face. “What do you mean?”

“I wouldn’t have met you, and we’d have missed this crazy-good night together. Thank you.”

He leaned down and kissed her. “It was definitely crazy good.”

She yawned again. “I’m about to fall asleep.” Her eyes were so heavy she could barely keep them open. “Damn you for being so good with the sex. You wore me out.”

This time he laughed out loud. He sat next to her, brushing the hair away from her face. “You have to take some of that blame, you know. You’re pretty damn good with the sex, too.”

Katie smiled with satisfaction. No one had ever said she was good in bed. Not that she’d had many lovers.

“I like you,” she said.

He kissed her again tenderly. “I like you, too.”

YOU’RE AN ASS. Mac couldn’t believe he’d failed to tell Katie the truth before she fell asleep. He’d made mad, passionate love with her, and then he’d lied to her.

Not so much a lie as an omission. He had a feeling she wouldn’t see it that way. What he’d done was wrong, and he knew it. The opportunity to tell her had come about more than once during their evening together, but their evening had been so perfect, he didn’t want it to end. This had been one of the best nights of his life, and not just the sex. Though that had been incredible. He’d enjoyed their chat during dinner. She was honest and forthright, and he was absolutely charmed by her.

Sitting there for a moment on her bed, he watched her sleep. She was nothing short of gorgeous. From her head down to those purple-painted toenails he’d seen when he slipped her boots and socks off her feet.

Those boots. He took a deep breath. Katie’s lithe body, naked with only those boots, was a memory burned into his brain for a lifetime.

That’s good, since she’s probably never going to speak to you again when she finds out the truth.

He’d figure something out. He had to, because after finding the woman of his dreams, he wasn’t about to let her go. Katie was everything he hadn’t known he wanted, and she was perfect. A combination of strength, femininity and sensuality, which stirred his baser instincts in a way no other woman had.

I need a strategy—a plan to keep Katie McClure in my life.

At least until he could see where this thing between them was going. She thought it a one-night stand, but he’d heard the disappointment in her voice. She still wanted him, and that was something perhaps he could use to his advantage.

His lab. He needed those familiar white and gray walls in order to think.

Macon left the Dorchester determined to find a way to make Katie forgive him.

3

FOR SOMEONE WHO THRIVED on punctuality, Katie had made a mess of her appointments the past twenty-four hours. After waking up at five in the morning, naked in her bed, it had taken her a few minutes to discern where she was. Mortified, she realized she’d fallen asleep while Mac was still there. By the time she’d opened her eyes he was long gone.

At first she was disappointed he hadn’t left a note, but she quickly admonished herself. It was about the moment and having some fun—hadn’t her friend Mar told her to do exactly that? Once this case was over, she’d been ordered to take some time off and relax. It had been years since Katie had had a vacation—she wasn’t sure she remembered how.

In fact, she might stay at the Dorchester and enjoy the amenities. The two-bedroom suite Mar had insisted Katie stay in was bigger than her entire apartment in Texas, and it was the most luxurious place she’d ever slept in. There were two bedrooms in case she had to move the professor to a safer location. The bathtub alone was as big as a boat, and in the daylight she’d explored the cavernous suite to discover everything from state-of-the art electronics to a showerhead with so many different spouts it felt as if she was getting a massage.

She’d called the university at eight to set an appointment with the dean and the professor. The dean’s assistant told her he wasn’t in, but she did set a meeting with the professor. The appointment was for nine, and Katie was stuck in traffic that was worse than midtown Manhattan during rush hour.

Great. She couldn’t call the school from the car because in her foggy state earlier in the morning, she’d accidentally plugged her phone and computer into the socket before she realized she’d used the wrong adapter. A zip and a pop later, both were fried.

Katie had congratulated herself for not tossing both of the electronics out the French doors of her suite. Using the hotel phone she’d called Mar and told her what had happened. Her friend had laughed.

“Even if you use the right adapter, half the time it’ll fry your electronics. I should have warned you,” Mar apologized.

“It’s not your fault. I picked the package of adapters up at the airport, but I must have read the instructions wrong.”

“No worries, Katie. We’ll have new, fully loaded electronics to you by tomorrow.”

Mar didn’t know Katie’s entire life was on her phone and computer. She felt naked without them. The upside was her busy family couldn’t contact her. She’d find a way to phone or email her mom later and let her know she was safe. Otherwise, that would be all she heard for the next two months. No less than ten voice mails a day about what an ungrateful daughter she was.

Katie chuckled. More than once Mar had told her to appreciate how lucky she was to have a family who cared so much.

The McClures cared too much, as far as Katie was concerned.

While she waited in the cab she ran over the mental notes she’d made the day before. The professor’s research had something to do with food sources for third world countries. For some reason, the government was involved and the project was under extreme security.

It was her job to determine if the threats were real and to protect him until they could figure out what was going on. She’d look after the dotty old man and see what she could find out. The physical evidence would be her first priority. There was so much more they could do now with the state-of-the-art labs at Stonegate.

“Almost there, miss, the building on the right,” the cab driver said. In the heart of London she’d expected a bunch of historic buildings, since the college had been around a few hundred years. There were some of those across the street, but this science building was a modern expanse of glass and steel.

After paying the cab, she walked in. The redheaded security officer, with a name badge claiming he was George, checked her credentials carefully. Then he asked to see her bag, and he seemed to linger over the small pocket where she’d stored her makeup. Picking up her perfume, he sniffed and closed his eyes.

When he glanced up and saw her eyebrow up, he quickly put the perfume back and closed the bag.

“Good to go, then.” He handed her an access card with his face flushed. “Use this in the lift to go to the third floor.”

On the third floor she followed the numbers until she reached the steel door that read Lab 314. Using the card she entered.

“Please strip and step into the shower. Then walk through the back door, where you’ll find a suit,” a voice said through a speaker as soon as she entered a narrow hallway. It was all white with a shower and hooks on the wall. Katie rolled her eyes. “Is that really necessary? I’m here to see Professor Macon Douglas.”

“Have you been traveling?” the voice said through the box.

“Yes.”

“Then you’ll have to wear a suit to talk to the professor. We can’t risk spore contamination.”

Great. Whatever.

She pulled off her black blazer and hopped on one foot and then the other so she could slip off her boots. The white T-shirt and dark jeans, her everyday uniform now, were next. If the pervy lab assistant watched her, he was about to get an eyeful as she lost the black thong and matching bra. Nudity wasn’t something she was that modest about. She’d grown up in a house with brothers, where privacy was a luxury.

She stepped into the shower, surprised when a soft powdery mist coated her skin instead of water. The powder, which had a strange pine-and-earth scent, dissipated as soon as it touched her, but it left her feeling fresher than when she’d stepped in. After thirty seconds it shut off.

“I feel like I’m in some weird sci-fi movie,” she whispered.

The metal door on the other side of the dry shower slid open and she made her way through into another room not much bigger than a walk-in closet. The suit the voice had mentioned was nothing more than sweats, none of which fit her five-foot-three, petite frame. She found the one labeled Small and tied the string as tight as she could around her waist. The sweatshirt swallowed her, and dark green was so not her color, but she pushed up the sleeves and made it work.

I should have demanded we meet in the dean’s office. This is crazy.

Once she was dressed, another door clicked open and she pushed her way through into the lab, which was filled with computer equipment, strange machines and a giant dry erase board with all kinds of equations on it.

A man dressed in jeans had his back to her. He was tall and lanky and looked just like—

“What are you doing here?” Katie couldn’t believe her eyes when he turned around.

“Hi,” Mac said. “You…work here?”

He nodded.

“Are you Dr. Douglas’s assistant? Why didn’t you tell me last night?”

“I’m not his assistant exactly.” Mac cleared his throat. He reached out a hand, “Hi, I’m Dr. Macon Douglas. I know I should have done that last night, but…”

Katie couldn’t believe it. This had to be some crazy joke. She stared at his hand and back to his face, her brain failing to register what had happened.

Oh, hell, I slept with a client. Well, technically there was no sleeping involved.

It had been one of the most passionate nights of her life and it was all a farce.

Katie’s jaw tightened. “So you misrepresented yourself to me so you could get into my pants.”

Mac moved closer to her, but she took a step back.

He held up a hand. “It wasn’t like that at all. At first it was a joke with Timothy the bartender. But then, well, I enjoyed your company and I had a feeling if I told you the truth that would be that.”

Katie’s nostrils flared, and her fist tightened ready to punch his nose so hard it would go out the back of his head. She forced herself to take a deep breath as she stared at him for a full twenty seconds, working hard to keep her temper under control. When all was said and done, he was a client and she had to be respectful. It was the only thing that kept her from kicking him in the nards and shoving a fist in his nose. She didn’t like being made a fool of, and he’d done exactly that.

When Katie didn’t speak, Mac reached a hand out to her again, but she shook her head.

“Katie, please. I felt such a connection with you last night. I know what I did was wrong, but to be honest you didn’t disclose that much about yourself, either. We talked about our families, but never what we did for a living.”

He could explain the situation as many ways as he wanted. She wasn’t sure she could ever forgive him. Best to focus on the case, and try to forget the night before.

Yeah, like that’s going to happen.

Katie pulled her shoulders back. “Dr. Douglas, do you have the voice recordings and copies of the letters involved with your case?”

“I… What?”

“The threats, do you have copies? Or did you give everything to the dean? I need to begin as quickly as possible so we can wrap this up.” It was hard to sound professional while wearing giant green sweats, in addition to the whole being-humiliated thing, but she was a professional.

Damn him.

She’d have to put a dollar in the swear dog bank she had at home. As a cop in the Bronx her language had been colorful, but she’d been working hard on her abrasive nature so she didn’t scare away the Stonegate clients. She’d bought the cute puppy bank to encourage her to clean up her mouth.

Mac stared at her as if she had two heads. “Do I need to repeat myself?” Katie asked, her tone clipped.

His enthusiasm deflated, and his eyebrows furrowed with concern. Good. It served him right.

“I have the originals of the two tapes and one of the letters. The dean has the rest.”

“The rest? How long has this been going on?” She mentally checked the facts she had in her head. From what they’d been told by the dean, this had been happening for only a few weeks.

Mac cleared his throat again and moved toward a file cabinet. Pulling out a folder, he handed it to her. “The calls began about six months ago. The letters about two weeks ago, and to be honest it’s nothing. Scientists run into this sort of thing all the time. It’s nothing to be alarmed about.”

Katie didn’t believe that. “What do you mean it happens all the time?”

“Those of us who work on government-sponsored projects get threats all the time. The work is secretive and highly classified. People assume it’s weapons of mass destruction, and that pushes them to do all kinds of things.”

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” Katie said. Though she had no doubt there were people in the world who would do exactly that. It was insane to threaten someone without having any clue as to what they were really working on.

“I assure you I’m speaking the truth.” Mac acted as if he were offended.

“I don’t doubt the validity of what you’re saying, Dr. Douglas. I was calling the people who would do such a thing ridiculous, not you.”

“Oh,” he said.

She took out the plastic gloves she kept in her bag and slipped them on her hands. Opening the folder, she read the letter carefully.

“Stop your research or die!”

The words had been typed. She sniffed the paper. It had been printed off on a printer. Excellent. That was her first lead. “I’ll need to take this and have it tested in our lab,” she told the professor.

“I don’t know what good that will do, Katie. My fingerprints are all over it.”

She shook her head. “I’m not worried about prints, though I’ll have them check for those, too. I want to find out about the ink. If I know the source of the ink, that gives me the type of printer, and the watermark on the paper is easy to trace.”

After placing the paper in an evidence bag, she pulled out the flash drive with the calls on it. The dean and professor had digitally recorded the messages, which made it easier for her. Normally she’d pop it into her computer, but she couldn’t do that.

“Do you have a computer I can borrow? My laptop is down.” No reason to explain her idiocy to the man. “Sure.”

He reached under the table and pulled out a laptop. “You can use this as much as you want. We have two extras in the lab.”

“Thanks,” she said, not bothering to look up. She waited for the computer to boot up and attached the flash drive.

The voice was mechanical, and she knew immediately the caller had used a cheap synthesizer. The message was the same as the one on the paper.

“This person isn’t very original,” she said. Her office had the equipment to separate the voices, and there was a good chance they would be able to tell her in a matter of days if it were male or female and what kind of accent.

“I agree with you.” Mac sat on a stool at the end of the long steel table. He’d been watching her carefully while she worked, and it took everything she had not to look up at him. As mad as she was at him about his deception, their night had been unforgettable. At least the bulky sweats hid her perky nipples tight with the need for Mac’s touch. “That’s why I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.”

“I have to disagree. This, along with the accidents, makes me think we’re dealing with individuals or a small group who mean you harm. The threats are escalating, and that’s never good. You need to take these seriously. I have no doubt these people want you dead.”