Page 65 of The ARC Unit: Breach

“Excuse me?”

“I need the transmitter against skin and under the fabric. Take it off.”

Wolf picked up the transmitter, a thin black unit barely larger than two stacked coins with a narrow wire leading to the microphone.

“You could buy me dinner before ordering me to strip in your operations room.”

Raven stayed frozen as Wolf looked directly at me.

“It’s a cover-up, Mercer.”

“Still technically removing clothing.”

“Take it off.”

My stomach tightened at the tone, and I hated that three words from him could get a physical reaction out of me.

I undid the two buttons and slid the linen from my shoulders, folding it over the back of a chair instead of giving either man the satisfaction of seeing me hesitate. Raven glanced up once, immediately verified that the equipment in Wolf’s hand still existed and looked back down at his screen.

Wolf did not look away.

For several seconds he took in the bikini like he was assessing another piece of mission equipment, except no piece of mission equipment had ever made the air feel this fucking warm.

“Turn.”

I did.

The edge of the table pressed lightly against the front of my thighs while Wolf stepped behind me. I heard the soft movement of fabric, then the faint metallic sound I had started recognizing before I understood why I kept recognizing it.

Click.

Something on his tactical belt shifted as he leaned closer. My attention dropped toward the sound on instinct even though I couldn’t see the belt behind me.

“Hold your hair up,” he said.

I gathered the waves in one hand and lifted them from my back. Wolf’s fingers touched the strap tied behind my ribs. The contact was brief and completely professional.

My body treated it like neither of those things.

He pinched the wire between two fingers and routed it beneath the bikini strap, working slowly enough that it would lie flat instead of showing through the thin fabric. His knuckles brushed the side of my rib cage once, then again when the wire slipped. I felt the rough edge of his sleeve against my bare back as he moved closer to see what he was doing. I stared at Raven’s monitor because staring at anything else seemed dangerous.

Raven watched the audio levels.

“Say something.”

“This is humiliating.”

A green line jumped across his screen.

“Excellent signal,” Raven confirmed.

“Glad my suffering is technically impressive.”

Behind me, Wolf’s hand moved lower.

“Transmitter goes here.”

His fingers touched the back of my waist just above the bikini bottom.