She laughed and tugged him close for a quick kiss. “The NSA used the technology pretty extensively. Once Snowden leaked it, people rushed to create their own versions. Itiskind of scary.”
“So this transceiver has enough battery life to last a month?” He licked his lips and scooted closer to the head of the bed, gently nudging her hips over to make room.
“Yeah. The device uses very little power when it’s in wait mode, and it only fires up the WiFi when it needs to transmit.”
“But why not just put…what’s it called? Malware.” He snapped his fingers. “Why not put that on the USB and have it set to notify you once it has network access?”
“That would be easier,” she said, “but this gives me more control, including the ability not to infect the user if I don’t think they’re worth it, or if I think it’s too dangerous. I have some pretty elegant scripts that could go through much of that logic automatically, but they’d be difficult to hide on the user’s system. It can be done, but that requires NSA-level coding skills that I don’t have. Besides, I’ve been wanting to try this new tech out.”
“Damn, you’re sneaky and brilliant.” He grinned. “I admire that in a woman.” Who ever thought he’d be obsessing over a geeky chick?
She turned a pleasant shade of pink and shrugged. “Only problem is, we have to wait for someone to need a flash drive or a cable, and hope they choose one of mine.”
“What about the email trick you used on Hollowell’s admin?”
“You know how small Aggressor is. If I send something like that to too many people it’ll get back to the person whose email I spoof. There are a few other phishing schemes I can try, but I need to figure out the bait and the landing pages first. I started researching everyone at Aggressor and their families before, um…before Jay.” She cleared her throat and Scott took her hand. “I’ve even managed to become friends with a few of them on social media using fake profiles. I’ll be able to target them based on their interests or background, but all that takes time.”
“With any luck, the cops—and Hollowell—think we’re in Mexico.”
“So far, luck hasn’t been on our side,” she said.
He stroked her cheek with his thumb. “I don’t know about that. We got lucky a few minutes ago, didn’t we?”
An indignant sound escaped her lips, and she gave him a playful but solid punch on the arm.
With a chuckle, he slid his hand behind her neck and kissed her thoroughly, not letting up until she moaned into his mouth and moved her laptop aside to tug him closer. They were both breathing hard when he broke the kiss to turn his attention to her neck, burying his face in her sweet-smelling hair.
“I think—” She gasped at his gentle bite on the taut muscle of her trapezius and gripped his biceps hard. “I think we…could both use…a little more luck…right now. Don’t you?”
“Hell, yeah.” Tugging down the covers, he filled his hands with her breasts, gently squeezing, caressing, craving. He clasped his mouth around her nipple and she arched against him, sliding her fingers into his hair.
“Mmm.”
Just like that, he was locked and loaded and ready to fire.Jesus.She pushed down his pants and skivvies far enough to release his dick as he groped for a condom, scattering several packets across the top of the nightstand.
The sheets and comforter were flung back and within seconds he was sheathed and positioned between her knees, ogling her spectacular body. In one slow thrust, he entered her fully, a little shell-shocked at the fucking amazing feel of her wrapped around him.
He held still for a long minute, trying to catch his bearings.
“Scott?” She lifted her head and her brows drew together. “You okay? Is it your leg?”
“No, I’m fine. More than.” He hardly noticed the throbbing in his thigh as he slid almost all the way out and then buried himself deep. “I’ve never felt better in my life.”
Valerie woke to a daylight-bright room and the silence of a storm now passed. According to the bedside clock, it was just after two in the afternoon. She blinked. Had she really slept seven hours straight? That hadn’t happened in months.
Then again, she’d been worn out in more ways than one.
A warm glow spread through her body at the memories of making love to Scott, and she rolled toward him. He lay on his back, hands tucked under his pillow, covers kicked back to reveal every inch of naked skin.
Asleep, he looked more like the man she’d known for a brief time before she’d gone on the run. Less intense, more easygoing. Like someone who took life as it came and knew how to laugh at its absurdities. Relaxed.
Freckles she hadn’t noticed before sprinkled his shoulders and the bridge of his nose. His tan lines were faint, his arms and legs only a few shades darker than the rest of him. When Valerie got too much sun, she turned dark as a walnut. Did he turn lobster red and then peel? She wanted to know that and so much more.
Based on his T-shirts, he liked alternative music. He had a big camera, and he’d been in jail. But an acute desire to knoweverythingabout him washed over her.
Did he prefer beer or wine, dogs or cats, ocean or forest? Did he have a favorite color? A string of ex-girlfriends? Did he like to read fiction or nonfiction or—God, forbid—nothing at all?
She sighed and took in everything from his dark blond surfer locks down to his neatly clipped toenails and all the mesmerizing muscles and evidence of manhood in between. His scars still shocked her, but they didn’t bother her. The damage was merely another facet of him that made him unique, like the shape of his lips, the rich timbre of his voice, and the mesmerizing blue of his eyes.
