Chapter 10
Drake almost licked his lips when he caught sight of Jamie bent over, her shapely hips and perfect ass nearly begging him to claim her. Even in the middle of a covert operation, this woman knew exactly how to turn him into a ravening sex fiend.
He hadn’t been able to sleep a wink last night, his cock aching inside the skinsuit. Although the suit had to be taken off every fourteen hours, he had decided not to take it off last night because he’d known he’d be unable to deal with the throbbing erection he’d had. Without the suit to keep him in line, he could have wasted an evening of unfulfilling climaxes, thinking of the human female’s delicious body.
Drake had known he was taking a risk, not recharging his suit, but he figured their office snooping should take less than the few hours he needed before his suit had to reset. But if he let her distract him now, if he did all the things his dark desires were screaming at him to do, then they’d never get out of the secured area.
And this morning, rather than going to the door, he’d gone around to her window with the lame excuse of them being watched. It was unlikely the Hareema were keeping an eye on Dr. Cohen’s sister, and even if they were, they’d have no idea who he was within this full-body disguise.
The truth was, he didn’t trust himself to go inside her apartment again and not immediately begin to worship her body. It seemed his legendary self-control completely deserted him when she was in the room.
And now she was in front of him, driving his brain haywire. There was a strong appeal to laying claim to Jamie in her fiancé’s office. A perverse craving to place Jamie on Cargrave’s desk and make her come with his mouth invaded his thoughts.
Then she turned, piercing him with those bright green eyes, and he knew instantly that she had caught onto his thoughts. He should have turned away and focused on the task at hand. Instead he inched closer as she turned to face him.
He could read the conflict on her face. After the way she had given herself so freely to him last night, Drake knew she was ripe for his brand of seduction. Still, she was engaged, and despite the flightiness she displayed, he knew she wasn’t the type to cheat without remorse. It was best if he kept his hands off of her.
But great Noruma’s Ghost, I want my hands all over her sexy shape.
“Drake,” she started, then immediately cleared her throat. There was a very becoming blush on her pale cheeks. She began again, “Drake, about last night-“
“Shh…” he said, holding a finger up to those perfect lips to stop the next words from coming out. “It happened, and I don’t regret it, but I know you’re in a relationship and things are difficult at the moment. It’s best if we keep things professional from now on.”
Her expression remained neutral, even as he searched for signs of a reaction. Was she relieved? Disappointed? Or was she indifferent? The last might hurt the worst.
“Agreed,” she replied after a moment’s pause. “Did you have any luck with the computer? I haven’t really found anything in the rest of this stuff.”
“I’ve got his entire drive copied, and all the files on all the networks he is connected to.”
Her eyes widened, and Drake wondered for a moment if he’d said too much. Although humans had stumbled upon faster than light space travel, that didn’t mean they had all the same advances as Zanthar. In fact, they were still considered quite backwards technologically.
Then Jamie shrugged and he let out a breath, relieved she hadn’t noticed his gaffe. “Let’s check out Danner Thompson’s office next,” he said, heading towards the door.
Drake was careful to relock the door on his way out, then stood looking around the common area. He’d gone over the plans before the mission but it was one thing to stare at a layout on paper and another to find an office in a large area crowded with cubicles and cabinets.
Not wanting to let on that he wasn’t as familiar with NASA’s offices as Jamie was, he stopped at a nearby desk and began flipping through papers. She stood beside him, her gaze bouncing around nervously as time passed. When he could stall no longer, he spoke.
“You head towards Thompson’s office and I’ll follow. I might want to check out a thing or two on the way.”
Jamie sighed and then headed between the rows of cubicles towards the back. There a hallway branched off from the main room, and Drake tailed Jamie, enjoying the view of her backside as she made her way down the hall. There were conference rooms on either side, empty tables barely visible in their dim interiors. At the end of the hall were three doors, one on either side of the hall, both lacking windows and with badge readers.
The third door was at the end of the hall, with a name placard pasted to the inside of the window next to the door. “Danner Thompson, Chief Administrator,” it read. Jamie reached for the knob and turned it, finding it locked again.
“Come on, Super Spy,” she said, turning back to face him. “I need your top secret skills again to get inside.”
Drake made quick work of the lock and the door swung open, the lights popping on with a faintclick. This office was larger than Cargraves’ and more finely appointed. There was a sitting area with a small leather sofa and two matching chairs, settled around a low table.
Thompson’s desk dominated the room, however. It was massive, made out of dark wood. There were no stacks of papers on his desk, however, unlike Cargrave’s workspace.
Drake settled into the chair and turned on the computer, wanting to make sure that there were no files he’d missed in his last sweep. He plugged in his Zantharian data-mining device and set to work, quickly copying anything the computer and its attached networks held.
Meanwhile Jamie wandered around, attempting to pull open drawers. It seemed Thompson was a little more security-conscious than his functionaries, as each cabinet and desk drawer were locked.
“It’s going to take all afternoon to pick these locks,” she said when he’d finished at the computer console. “Where should we start?”
They progressed methodically, Drake picking each lock and then pulling out the contents of each drawer. His mouth pressed together in a tight line after the third drawer. There was nothing in consequence in any of the cabinets they opened.
Although he’d had high hopes for this operation, Drake was beginning to wonder if they’d find anything at all helpful. Most of the files were filled with mundane details that barely warranted the label ‘classified.’
