Defended & Desired (9 page)

“The song compares being in an airplane looking down on houses to constellations. Like when I flew to visit my dad for the first time. When the plane descended into Tampa, Florida, I marveled at the effect. Rather novel to a ten-year-old.”

He glanced at her sideways. “You took a plane ride by yourself at ten?”

She waved off his observation. “No big deal. I was pretty independent. They say only children are adults by the age of eight, and I agree. I was already getting myself ready for school, doing my own laundry and cooking dinners. Riding on a plane was just a fun adventure.”

Then she lost herself to the memory of visiting her father. “I’ll never forget that image, so many tiny yellow lights spreading out below the plane like a map of the stars on the ground. My dad was late picking me up from the airport. A stewardess waited with me and taught me how to use a yo-yo. Dad eventually came and got me. The stewardess handed me off, and my dad took me home. If you could call it that.”

Trey leaned back on his elbows against the hood of his car. “Not the castle you were expecting?”

“Hardly. He lived in a trailer park, in a single-wide, stuffed to the gills with electronics equipment. He fixed TVs and VCRs as a side job. At the time, you could make reasonable money doing that.”

“What was his regular job?”

“He didn’t have one.” Sad acceptance welled up inside her. “His hobby was his passion, and he never bothered to develop people-skills to make him hirable to anyplace that would pay him.”

Trey looked slightly stunned. “What did you do there?”

“It was awesome, actually.” She brightened, recalling how a whole new world had opened up to her that week. “He taught me how to fix tube televisions, rewire a stereo, and create a computer from component parts alone.”

Awareness sparked in Trey’s eyes. “He gave you the foundation that led you to the path you’ve walked ever since.”

“Exactly.” She nodded. “I’m definitely my father’s daughter. I kept in touch with him afterward through letters we sent each other every week. I invited him to my fourth grade science fair, where I was a finalist.”

“Not surprising.” Trey glanced at her with admiration. “Did he show?”

She shook her head. “Six months after that I received a batch of letters from the post office, letters marked Return to Sender. My mom helped me call around until we learned the trailer park where he lived had been sold to a condominium developer.” A prick of sadness nicked her. “I never heard from him again.”

He pulled her close to him, resting her back against his hard chest. Wrapping his arms around her, he said, “That’s insane. You’re his daughter, his family. How could he hang you out to dry like that?”

“Family comes in all shapes and sizes, Trey.” She tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow and rested her head against his shoulder. “Some are better than others. We don’t get to choose.”

His fingers covered hers. “I guess. That still sucks. To me, family is everything.”

“I know.” A sigh lifted her chest, and a distant yearning squeezed her heart. “That’s one of my favorite things about you.”

Silence descended. They remained pressed together, side by side, staring up at the night sky.

Then his biceps stiffened against her arms. “Did you see that?”

She lifted her head. “What?”

“A shooting star. Look, there’s another.”

“Where?” She looked toward his pointed finger but saw nothing. Then a flash caught the corner of her eye. She glanced in the opposite direction. “I see one, too, over there!”

Within two minutes, they counted eleven shooting stars between them.

“You know what this means,” he said.

“I give up.”

“You have to make a wish, on a shooting star.”

She decided not to mention it was likely a small, random meteor shower, not a wondrous event worthy of hanging hopes upon.

Because, in this moment, she absolutely adored him. There was something boyishly appealing about this big, sexy, former bounty hunter telling her she needed to wish on a star. “Um, okay…”

Closing tighter around her, his arms stacked like two-by-fours across her stomach. “What would you wish for, if you could have anything in the world?”

“Right this very second?” She turned in his arms to face him. “He’s already here.”

Capturing her in his low-lidded gaze, he whispered, “Wish granted.”

His lips sealed against hers. His tongue swept inside her mouth, slick and inviting. She answered his searching probes, swirling her tongue around his. He demanded surrender, and she gave in to him willingly. She wanted him, needed him. Despite her plan to leave Denver, despite that she had a crazy hacker after her,
this moment with Trey blurred her boundaries, driving her to distraction. She willingly went along for the ride.

He angled his mouth over hers and clutched the back of her head, pressing deeper, consuming her in fiery lust. He unleashed his passion, and she took what he gave. Looping her arms around his neck, she released her own desires. Met each thrust of his tongue. Arched her body against his.

Without warning, he lifted her easily and, with a quick flip, her back met the hood of his car. He ground against her, his tongue thrusting deeply, promising what the hard ridge in his pants would deliver.

He broke their kiss to set his mouth on a hot trail along her neck. She threw her head back, her hips meeting his urgent thrusts despite the clothing that separated them.

“Yes,” she whispered.

“I want you.” His hot breath puffed against her cleavage. “I need to taste you.”

“Yes,” she murmured again, wishing he’d relieve the ache building between her thighs.

He unbuttoned her jeans, slid down the zipper, and with a swift yank sent them to the ground. The wind whispered over her bare legs. He slid off her shoes, kissed her toes, then kissed his way up one leg. He licked the back of her knee, tingles spreading all over her body. Then he switched to her other leg, kissing up her thigh, his mouth achingly close to where she yearned for his touch.

And he gave it to her. Circling her opening with his middle finger, he tested her dampness, then slid inside. She felt the breach of one knuckle then two, and she drenched his fingers.

So intense.
So good.

She arched against the hood of his car, throwing her arms above her head.

“That’s it, let go. Let me give this to you,” he murmured, his voice husky and sexy as hell.

A cry escaped her as he slid his tongue through her folds and licked her aching peak. As ecstasy and sheer pleasure coursed through her, she opened her thighs to him, loving the way his tongue caressed her. Slow. Steamy.
Succulent. He took his time, like he had all night to taste her.

At the first flicker of an orgasm, she sent her hands into his hair, urging him on. Then her fingers curled into fists as the sensations intensified, filling her with pounding, aching need. Her blood rushed hotly through her veins. His tongue set a powerful rhythm. Her hips bucked. A burst of sensation lit fireworks behind her eyes. She clenched and then released her passion against his mouth.

“Oh, my God.” She quaked in his hands.

He pressed a lingering kiss to each thigh. Then he edged his mouth upward, swirled his tongue around her belly button, and reignited her internal fire.

A sudden buzz in his pocket made him still. He lifted onto his forearms and sent her a look of intense regret. “I should probably get that.”

She responded with a shaky nod. “Probably.”

“Damn.” He pushed up from the car hood with one hand and answered his phone. “Yeah? Okay. On our way.”

Hastily, she slid off the hood of his car and dragged her panties and jeans on. “News?”

“Yep.” He sighed, running a hand over his mouth. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want this to stop.”

The absence of his warmth in the abrupt separation created a depth of need. She didn’t want to be without his warmth, leaving her with a horrible vacant sensation, even though she’d spent years guarding against this. “Duty calls.”

“Right.” He nodded. “You okay?”

“Sure.”

Did that sound sarcastic?

After the roller coaster of an emotional ride she’d been on tonight, she couldn’t summon the effort to retract her sarcasm.

“Devon—”

“I’m good.” She held up her palms. “Just…let’s just go.”

During the drive back, he took her hand again, like he had on the way there. She squeezed his fingers, grateful for the unspoken support.

The darkness and starlight was soon overcome by the glare of street lights. She cared about Trey. A lot. Eventually, she’d have to shed some light on the reality of her situation. Her plans to leave. A part of her withered inside.

When they returned to her house, the news was worse than she imagined. They’d found four frigging cameras in her house.

The heinous, spying bastard.

Sick to her stomach, she sank into the office chair in front of her computer, staring at the screen as if it were an alien that might attack without warning. The one thing that had always provided a safe haven now had the potential to damage her. To the point she might not recover.

And she wasn’t thinking about her files or data.

From the kitchen, Logan and Trey’s voices carried to her. They spoke in low tones about problem solving methods. None would do any good. They weren’t part of her world. They didn’t understand how to deal with this threat or how to keep her safe.

Safe.

What a joke.

Sliding her arms over her stomach, she wanted to laugh or vomit. Whichever came first. At this point in the night, either one was probable.

Then, like a death knell, her warning alert dinged. Right in front of her. Her lips parted.
My God.
Again?

She barely heard Trey, Logan, and the team rush to her side.

The pirate flag waved again on her screen. Mocking.
Taunting. Invading her soul, and damaging any scrap of resilience she had left.

The cursor flashed on the screen like an illuminated omen. “I can still hear you. I told you, he shouldn’t be there. None of them should. Get them out. Before I take this to the next level.”

Devon pressed a hand against her mouth. Tears splashed her fingers. “Why won’t this end?” she whispered. “Hasn’t he done enough?”

Trey instantly knelt at her side, wrapping his arm around her waist. “We’ll get this guy. I swear it.”

“His days are numbered,” Logan agreed vehemently.

Empty threats.

They didn’t get it. They didn’t get hackers. And they didn’t understand the full damage this man had inflicted on any sense of autonomy or safety she’d ever believed in.

“I can’t stay here,” she said in a shaky voice.

“You can stay with me,” Trey offered.

She shook her head. She needed room to breathe and vent and cry. She couldn’t do that with Trey. Not yet. “I can’t.”

Logan glanced between them and then placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Looks like Allison and I will finally get some use out of our guest room.”

Chapter 5

Devon woke to the sound of a child wailing.

Her head hurt. Her mouth tasted like cotton.

She cracked one eye open and found Peanut’s tail tucked against her face. She spat out his fur, sat up in bed, and tried to orient herself. The surroundings were familiar. She’d crashed here before, the night of Thanksgiving last year, in one of Allison and Logan’s spare bedrooms.

Then she remembered…

After learning that the hacker was not only a video-stalker but an audio-stalker, too, her world had crumbled into a state of appalling misery.

That dread crawled across her skin again.

Last night, Trey had offered his place as an alternative to hers, since Logan’s team needed to revisit her house again Saturday morning to sweep for more hidden equipment. But that offer had seemed too intimate, too soon. She didn’t want to open that door. She wasn’t ready to give a man, let alone a whole team, full reign over her life. She’d deal with any issues herself, damn it.

Besides, look what had happened to Allison? She’d moved in with Logan for protection from her ex-husband, and they ended up married. Of course, Devon believed they would’ve gotten married anyway. And it wasn’t like she thought she and Trey would end up that way. But still, the principle was the thing. She wasn’t going to foist herself on a guy she planned to have a short fling with. It was too easy to fall into a habit of convenience by staying with him. Not her style.

So her only other alternative had been to crash at Logan and Allison’s. She’d be safe under their roof, protected by their Fort Knox security system.

Sammy’s high-pitched scream assaulted her eardrums. Peanut whined and looked at her with pitiful eyes. Devon grabbed a pillow and shoved it over her ears. She glanced at the clock. Six-thirty on a Saturday morning. Ugh.

So much for sleeping in. She winced as a stab of pain pricked behind her eyes.
Why do I feel like crap?

With a heavy sigh, she recalled the glasses of wine Logan kept pouring for her last night, and her headache made sense. Allison had tried to stay awake and be the stalwart friend. But she’d dragged herself to bed at one a.m. looking pale and exhausted. When Logan had revealed that Allison was pregnant with baby number two, and Sammy was teething, Devon felt like more of a leech then she already did for intruding on their family time.

Tossing back the covers, she threw her legs over the side of the bed and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. She couldn’t stay here, but she didn’t want to go home, either. How could she? Her house, her sanctuary, had been invaded by a sick, sadistic hacker.

An alternate plan was in order. She reached into the overnight bag she’d thrown together last night and changed into a pair of leggings, a sports bra, and an oversized t-shirt. If she wasn’t at home, at least she could still be comfortable. She slid into her sandal flats and went to the guest bathroom to brush her teeth, drag a comb through her hair, and wipe off two smudges of mascara under her eyes.

Good enough, she thought with a shrug. Then she swiped Peanut up under her arm, slung the handle of her overnight bag onto her shoulder, and planned to make a silent get away. Halfway down the steps, she saw Allison walking back and forth through the great room carrying Sammy on her hip, her eyes half-closed like a sleepwalker moving on autopilot.

“Hey,” Allison said in a cracked whisper, looking up at Devon. She struggled to produce a smile. “Sleep okay last night?”

“You have a very comfortable guest bed.” Sending her friend a look of compassion, Devon dropped her bag in the foyer and went to the kitchen to make coffee. Allison could probably use some, and Devon needed a jolt of caffeine. She found a pot already made, removed two mugs from the cupboard and poured them to the brim. She returned to the great room and offered one to Allison.

“No, thanks.” Allison shook her head then rubbed a circle over her stomach. “I’m far enough along that I’ve switched to Chai tea. Logan said he let the news slip last night. I wanted to be the one to tell you I’m pregnant again, but I didn’t want to take away from the excitement of your job interviews.”

“It’s okay,” Devon assured. “I’m not fragile. I don’t need special care and handling when it comes to learning other women are pregnant. Especially my best friend.” She smiled warmly. “I’m so happy for you.”

“I waited to say anything until I made it to the eight-week mark.”

Devon held up her hand to stall further explanation. “I understand.”

Several months ago, Allison had miscarried at six weeks. She’d called Devon sobbing, and the depth of her loss had affected Devon like a dagger through the heart. For once, she found herself grateful she couldn’t have kids. She’d had plenty of years to accept it and be pleased for other people when it happened to them. But to learn she was pregnant only to lose the baby? She honestly couldn’t imagine how devastating that must’ve been for Allison. Now, instead of sharing pain, they’d share the excitement of a new addition to their family.

Their family.
It amazed her how she automatically considered herself a member of the Stone family. As if Allison was her best friend and sister-in-law rolled into one. And Sammy was her godson.

The thought of packing up and leaving all this carved a gash across Devon’s conscience. Sure, she’d return for holidays and birthdays, but how much of Sammy’s milestone years would she lose while she created a separate life and career two states away? And how could she miss the birth of Allison’s new baby?

Regret gripped her chest. She forced those thoughts aside for now. She’d cross that emotional bridge once she had the job offer in hand.

Logan ambled into the room, eyeing the second mug of coffee as if Devon held a cup of salvation. He reached for it. “I’ll take that off your hands.”

“Sorry I intruded last night—”

“You are always welcome here,” Logan replied with a firm glance. He sipped the coffee and went to his wife’s side. He kissed Allison’s temple, gave her shoulder a squeeze, and whispered something that made her smile. “Give me a few hours, Devon. I’ll be in my office with my team going over the clues.”

A sickening wave of dizziness almost knocked Devon off her feet. “No, I’ve had enough of my privacy stolen. You are
not
allowed to invade my personal life, Logan. I love you and all, but forget it. Whatever those cameras caught is off-limits.”

“I don’t mean that literally. Whatever was caught, it was done on live feed. There’s no actual footage.”

Relief swamped her. “At least that’s one ray of sunshine through this steaming pile of crap.”

Logan took Sammy with his free arm and said to Allison, “Go get some sleep, baby. I’ll take him for a few hours before I head into work.”

Allison sent him a look filled with so much love and devotion, Devon felt like she was trespassing on their moment. “Thanks,” Allison said with a grateful sigh. She gave Devon a hug. “I hope this works out, and you get rid of this guy before he causes anymore damage.”

Devon hugged her back. “If anyone can help solve this mystery, it’s Logan and Trey.” Allison nodded and drifted down the hallway toward their master bedroom. Devon stared after her. “Poor thing, she’s beyond beat.”

“She’s a champ, for sure,” Logan agreed. His expression filled with loving concern, and his gaze lingered on his wife until she disappeared from sight. Then he shifted Sammy on his hip while gesturing after Allison with his coffee mug. “We need to give your mama a break, buddy. She’s growing your little brother or sister inside her, and that’s a lot of work.”

It warmed Devon to her soul to see Logan enjoying his role as a family man. His caring responsiveness toward Allison, and his dedication to fatherhood, renewed her faith that there really were men who put family before anything else.

An image snapped into her mind like the click of a camera, of Trey holding a child in his arms, looking over at her and smiling.

A swell of emotion seized her throat. Palms clammy, she felt faint.

“You okay?” Logan asked, taking a step toward her.

“Sure,” she said in a rushed exhale, gripping the back of their couch. “I’m fine.” She gathered her composure. That was an image she never wanted to see again. Because it would never be hers. “If there’s no video, then what are you and your team looking at today?”

“By footage, I meant we’ll go over your security system’s data. There’s a bio-feed that’s part of your system, plus the material and leads we’ve gathered so far. First, we’ll track where the devices were purchased. They’re very specific and high-end. Your hacker has expensive taste in surveillance equipment.”

Acidic disgust filled her mouth. “Lucky me.” She took a swig of hot coffee that burned her tongue. She swallowed hard. “Do you think you can learn whether someone besides me disarmed my system and came into my home?”

“That and any other anomalies we find along the way. Trust me,” he said with a purposeful glance. “We’ll get this guy any way we can.”

“You never should’ve been involved. I wish Trey hadn’t called you.”

“He did exactly what I would’ve done if our roles were reversed,” Logan insisted. “He obviously cares about you. He made the right decision.”

Devon rolled her eyes. “I disagree. But since I can’t do anything about it now, I’m really glad you’re helping me.”

He nodded. “Keeping people safe is what I do.”

She supposed Logan and Trey shared a similar mind in that regard. They did everything in their power to keep safe the people who counted on them. Even though technically she didn’t count on Trey for anything more than a paycheck.

When Logan shifted Sammy against his side, the boy started crying again. “I know it hurts, bud. This teething thing is no fun for any of us.”

At the same time, Peanut scraped his paws against Devon’s knees. “Looks like we’re both in demand. Thanks for everything, Logan.” She hoped the look she sent him encompassed her gratitude, despite her stubborn pride wanting to handle everything by herself. “Will you call me if you find anything new?”

“You bet.”

Devon emptied the last of her coffee into the sink and set the mug in the dishwasher. She picked up Peanut, grabbed her overnight bag, and walked out into the warm summer morning.

Since Logan’s team would return to her house shortly, and she wasn’t up for a rerun of last night, she decided to head to the office. There was no shortage of work since the servers went down, and there would be no one there to interrupt or distract her on a Saturday morning. She stopped on the way to grab Peanut a few packs of Caesar’s wet dog food and replenish her stash of nicotine gum, then pulled into the empty parking lot at Soren Security.

When she entered, the building was mausoleum silent and unnerving at first. As she headed for her office, she reminded herself how much she looked forward to the solitude and privacy. Elusive luxuries of late. Especially after learning the most intimate details of her life had been caught on camera.

Anger clawed through her. That bastard had done enough damage. She refused to give him free rent in her head. Instead, she’d focus on restoring the company’s lost data and retooling her network’s security.

Peanut gobbled his breakfast, then curled up under her desk and went to sleep. She settled in and absorbed herself in the blissfully uncomplicated world of ones and zeroes that provided the digital foundation for the work she loved.

The next time she glanced at the clock, it was eleven thirty. Her stomach growled. She yearned to inhale the puff of smoke from a cigarette. She reached for nicotine gum instead, rather proud of herself for not caving in to her former addiction, even with multiple layers of stress piling onto her life.

A few minutes later, she heard a knock. Startled, she glanced up and found Zander in her doorway, standing there with his usual reluctant awkwardness.

“Zander. What are you doing here on a Saturday?”

“Same thing you are, I guess.” He tugged at the cuffs of his oversized shirtsleeves. “Catching up on work. We’ve had a crazy week.”

“Amen to that.” She waved him inside. “Something on your mind?”

“Yeah. I did some research on the guy who calls himself ‘Captain Jack.’”

Devon sat straighter. “Please divulge.”

“Did you know he was kicked out of DEFCON two years ago?”

“No way.
Seriously?”
This was the most interesting news she’d had in two years. She leaned forward setting her elbows on her desk. “For what?”

He scratched his ear. “It doesn’t say, exactly. He might’ve done something invasive, even by hacker standards.”

“Obviously, to get kicked out of DEFCON—I mean, that’s the one place each year that programmers like us go to find acceptance.” She let out a snort. “He must’ve really pissed someone off to get booted.”

“From what I’ve learned, he was determined to crack a code that was actually up for an award that year.”

Devon went still
.
“Two years ago…I was given the Signet Award for the facial recognition software I created for Stone Security.”