“Hey.” I catch Blair as she stands to go inside to fetch a throw blanket. “You and I need to talk for a bit.”
I rise slowly, then come to stand beside her. Lightly, I place my hand on her lower back and lead her toward the cabin.
“Where are we going?” Blair looks up at me curiously as we walk away.
“I promised you something, and I intend to make good on it now.”
I lead Blair up the back steps and into the house. We move through the kitchen, down the hallway and to the door that leads to the basement. I pause only to punch in the code at the keypad to unlock the basement door. I open the thick metal barrier when the little light on the pad turns green, then nod my head to indicate for Blair to head down first. Blair glances at the keypad, then at me, then down to the clearly unfinished basement that lights up when I flip the light switch. Rather than ask about any of it, she descends the steps.
Quietly, I follow behind her, shutting the door behind us. I don’t really care if the others come down here any other time, the security isn’t to keep them out, but this conversation needs to be between just me and Blair.
My skin feels overheated despite the cooler night. My jaw is tense. I fight the urge to grind my teeth as I follow her down the stairs.
I’m anxious. I’m excited. I’mhungryfor the woman ahead of me. All I want to do is reach out and wrap my fingers around her neck so that I can pull her up against my body and feel the warmth of her skin bleed into mine. My movement feels stiff as I reach the landing.
Blair pauses to look around the spacious basement.
I barely spare the rest of the room a glance. Metal shelving sits in rows in the middle of the large cement room. Prepper gear fills them: camping supplies, boxes of MREs, cases of water, and everything else in between. Along the perimeter of the room are three sets of bunk beds.
“A bunker?Really, Ledger?” She scoffs, then laughs lightly. “Are you expecting the end of the world?”
A tight smile pulls at my lips. It goes unnoticed as I pass Blair who's looking around, and head for my desk.
“You, better than most, should know how important it is to be prepared for anything.”
“Yeah, well, I figured you were more of a ‘go out in a blaze of glory’ kind of person if zombies ever rose up or something,” she replies, then giggles.
Amusement loosens the tightness in my chest. I toggle the mouse to wake the computer up and sit down behind my desk.
“Come here,” I tell her. “I want to show you something.”
Blair does as she’s told without hesitation. My cock stirs to life as I watch her approach. She’s always been obedient. She’s had to be. Given Anchor’s career choice, following orders was the difference between life and death. I wonder if she’s this obedient in other aspects of her life?
She sits on the edge of the desk and looks at the little security feeds. All the little squares from the cameras placed around the property are up for us to see.
All except for the one in her bedroom.
“I wanted to show you this,” I tell her, voice gruff as I watch her stare at the screens. “I have over a hundred cameras all over my property that I can connect to with just a push of a button. I monitor them here and on my phone. The guys upstairs can access it too. We’ll all know if someone comes searching for you here, okay? We can handle trouble if it comes our way.”
The corners of Blair’s mouth tip downwards as she continues to stare.
“It’s not just one person, Ledger,” she says, softly. “There were multiple people after me, and they justkeptcoming.”
“If they do keep coming, we’re equipped to handle it,” I promise.
Blair’s face softens as she tears her gaze away from the screen to look at me. The concern on her face is raw and tender as she searches my face. The expression is so at odds with thedangerous woman I know she is and the happy woman she’d been only minutes ago.
Before I get too lost in her softer side, I turn back to the computer. My fingers fly over the keyboard, and the security cameras disappear. The screen goes blank before coding flies across it. It takes several minutes to bypass security, to access the separate VPN, and dive deep into the dark web.
“What is this?” Blair asks, leaning closer. Her hand lands near the keyboard and though my fingers don’t stop moving, my pulse stutters at her proximity.
Rather than reply, I keep coding. The encrypted message begins to descend down the page. None of it would make sense to Blair, who—as far as I’m aware—has no skill in coding. After another few minutes, I sit back and stare at my work.
“I just sent out a message to a few contacts asking about any unusual or high-profile open contracts,” I explain. “If someone has a lead for me to follow, I’ll be able to flush out more information. We’ll get to the bottom of who is after you and Anchor soon.”
Blair’s eyes drop from the screen as her fingers curl around the edge of the desk, and she nods. “Thank you, I really appreciate this, Ledger.”
Unable to stop, I reach up and slide my fingers beneath her chin. This doesn’t count as touching, does it? It’s harmless. I don’t think of this as breaking my vow to Wesley.
