CHAPTER ELEVEN
“I think I’ve died and entered hacker heaven,” I blurted, turning around in a circle. Gadgets. So many pretty, pretty gadgets. Devices and tools splashed across every wall, even on the ceiling when you wanted to recline your seat. My eyes were enormous, and excitement thrummed through my veins. I wanted to touch everything within view—including a certain wolf-man, but I’d refrain for the time being. “Thisis your train?”
Wolfe stopped on the last wrought iron step of his private Cooper Corporation transport. A small, proud grin lifted his lips at the edges. Humble yet satisfied. “It is. I thought you might like it.”
“Yeah,” I moaned, eyeing one of my favorite features, the latest computer board on the market. It was placed next to a hologram screen the size of one of the walls. I swear to God, my panties were wet and my temperature rose a few degrees. “Can we play while we’re in the air?”
I really wanted to touch. So bad.
Wolfe grunted but didn’t respond. He didn’t move, either.
It was an effort, a true freaking effort, but I tore my eyes away from the pretties to look at him. His nostrils flared and his golden gaze snagged on the crotch of my jeans. A rosy flush of desire painted his cheeks, and his lush lips parted enough for him to lick over his teeth.
“Oh.” My gut heated even further, spreading like autumn leaves catching flame in a campfire. There was a definite attraction between the two of us, twisted or not. Not just the simple fooling around type, but the insistent chemistry that would combust. It continued to simmer, just waiting for the right spark. I pointed at the computer board, my fingers almost touching the beauty. “I meant play on your computer…”
Thewolfhuffed, but the man said, “I understood your meaning the first time.” His striking, golden gaze slowly swept up my body, and a cocky smirk rested upon his lips. “You think my train is sexy.”
I pinched my fingers together for him to see. “I might. A little.”
An all-male laugh rumbled in the air. “If you say so.”
Mina tapped on Wolfe’s arm from behind him where she still stood on the stairs, a gentle polished touch to remind him where she was. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but it’s chilly out here…”
Wolfe peered behind himself. “Apologies, Mina. I forgot you were there.” He quickly made his way inside, typing in our destination on the panel.
“I noticed.” The exquisite woman stated—with an amused smile—as she took a seat. The stairs came up, and the door closed. “I’ll sit here and rest my eyes until we arrived. Don’t worry about me.” She reclined her chair and closed her eyes, a peaceful and contented expression washing over her features.
The clean blue energy powered and the train lifted into the air, as seamless as a bird soaring on a gentle breeze.
I hooked my arm through the wolf-man’s arm and yanked him—perhaps with a smidge too much excitement—with me to the loveseat. I shoved him down and grabbed the computer board. I flopped down next to him without grace and turned to stare into his eyes, pushing the computer board on his lap. I mumbled eagerly, “Will you show me how this one works? And maybe I can try it myself some time?”
Wolfe, frozen solid in place, was finding it hard not to laugh. It was written all over his features. The corners of his eyes were pinched. He held his breath. And he bit into his lower lip just slightly. There was even the slightest trembling in his shoulders.
I patted the air, trying to calm down. “I’m just excited. I’ve only ever heard about these computer boards. No one I know owns one. In fact, I don’t think they’ve ever seen one. The holy grail is in your lap right now.”
The wolf-man let go, his laughter loud and enchanting. “Do you want to know a secret, Noelle?”
“What?” I wiggled on the cushion next to him, holding my hands together in prayer. “Are they going on sale soon? Please say yes.”
I had money. But I didn’t have the kind of money one of those computer boards cost at full price. They were for the elite only.
“Actually, I don’t think the computer board you’re talking about will have a sale to the general public for another year.” He pointed down at the device on his lap. “This computer board isn’t that one. This is the next generation that I’ve been working on.”
I sucked in a sharp breath, breathing in awe, “Seriously?”
“Seriously.” His lips trembled. “You just manhandled three hundred million dollars of experiments and testing.”
My blink was slow. “If it’s broke, I didn’t do it.”
His head tipped back, and his gray hair fell away from his face, exposing all those delectable features in sharp relief, as another laugh burst forth. I smiled on the inside as his eyes caught mine. With a smile on his face, indeed in his element, his love for everything technological showing, he was laid bare.
Wolfe stated, “I’ll show you what it can do so far. If you have any questions, let me know. I’ll explain it to you.”
“I’d love that.” I sat forward on the loveseat as he powered up and put in all of his encrypted passcodes, just as many as I had. My eyes zeroed in on the hologram wall. What he was doing was like magic; it was so far advanced of what I was used to. I asked absently, “What made you want to get into technology?”
“I always had an affinity for it. But after the war destroyed the world I knew and loved, I fell into everything technological. Shifters, mates, and humans had lost almost everything. I wasn’t okay with that, so I found the few engineers left alive on this planet, and we worked non-stop to bring it back into existence—and make it better and safer.”
His life…
