Catherine jerked in her arms, and Rebecca felt her control unravel. She concentrated, bearing down with her thumb.

“Oh, darling,” Catherine murmured, burying her face in Rebecca’s neck. “So good. You’re so good. Stay on it, darling, stay—oh God, just like that.”

“Catherine,” Rebecca moaned, her clitoris threatening to release.

The pressure was agonizing, her mind incapable of thought. Her hips pumped, and the burning spread outward from the apex of her thighs.

“It’s coming. I can’t…oh, fuck, here I come.”

“Don’t stop, I’m close,” Catherine gasped, her teeth setting into the muscle stretched taut along Rebecca’s neck. “I’m so so clo…oh!”

Catherine’s cry ignited Rebecca, and she shuddered as heat raced through her. She fired fast, peaked hard, and came down quickly, but Catherine kept pulsing in her hand, undulating waves of pleasure filling her palm.

“Oh God, oh God, oh God,” Catherine whimpered breathlessly.

Rebecca massaged her until the last spasms quieted, then wrapped her tightly in her arms. “I love you.”

“Oh, I love you.” Catherine rested her face against Rebecca’s chest. “Don’t leave me.”

“I won’t,” Rebecca promised, her heart twisting. She knew Catherine would never have asked if all her defenses hadn’t just been shattered, and she might not even remember it later. But Rebecca would not forget the helpless plea in her voice. She kissed her, slowly, as she stroked her hair and her back, calming her. “I won’t.”

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Catherine smoothed trembling fingers lightly over Rebecca’s mouth, as if to stop her from making promises impossible to keep.

“Hold me. Just hold me.”

Rebecca could give her that, and she did.

v

“Hey,” Michael whispered, resting both hands on Sloan’s shoulders. “Any chance I could talk you into coming to bed? It’s late, and you didn’t get much sleep last night.”

Sloan tilted her head back against Michael’s midsection and closed her eyes. When Michael’s fingers threaded through her hair and massaged her scalp, she groaned.

Laughing softly, Michael leaned down and kissed the angle of her jaw. Circling her fingertips over Sloan’s temples, she said, “You’re tired, darling. And this case is just getting started.”

“Someone’s trying to crack my system,” Sloan murmured, her eyes still closed. “But they’re playing games.”

“What does that mean?” Michael asked with a frown.

“They’re not really trying to hide what they’re doing. They’re letting me see them, like a game of hide and seek.” Sloan grasped Michael’s hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. “Or chess.”

“Really? Why would a hacker do that?”

Sloan shook her head. “Arrogance. Boredom. Maybe he hasn’t had anyone at his level to compete with. Because he’s good. Very good. I can’t find his trail.” She took a deep breath and let it out with a frustrated sigh. “He knows how to bait the hook.”

“Playing with you.” Michael caressed Sloan’s neck, then slid a hand under the top of her T-shirt and rubbed her chest. “Not very smart.”

Sloan arched in the chair, her hand drifting away from the keyboard for the first time in hours. “Michael. You’re cheating.”

“I never cheat,” Michael whispered softly in her ear. “I just play to win. Are you coming to bed?” She caught her breath as Sloan’s eyes opened and sought hers, unguarded arousal shimmering through the blue depths. “God, darling. Say yes.”

Sloan stood, shoved the desk chair away with her foot, and caught Michael against her chest. She kissed her, filling her hands with

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Michael’s hair and her senses with Michael’s scent. “Yes. Definitely, yes.”

v

Sandy sat up, instantly alert, at the quiet snick of the door lock catching. Dell looked even paler than usual in the gray early-morning light, her eyes shadowed and wary. The bedside clock said 6:30 a.m.

She’d been out all night. With Irina. Dell stood statue still as if awaiting judgment until Sandy flicked back the sheet, indicating the bed beside her.

Wordlessly, Dell stripped, then climbed into bed and lay on her back.

“Are you all right?” Sandy asked.

“Yeah.”

“Did something happen?”

“Not really.”

“How come you’re so late?”

Dell sighed. She’d wanted to come earlier, but she didn’t want to leave Irina until she was certain no one had followed them. She couldn’t leave her unprotected.

“Sorry.”

“I didn’t ask you to be sorry.” Sandy rolled onto her side and put her hand on Dell’s stomach. The muscles were hard as wood. Dell’s stomach felt that way when she was getting ready to come, or when she was really upset. Sandy rubbed up and down, slow steady sweeps, and Dell shivered. “You’re really wired, baby.”

“Things got a little tense for a few minutes. They sent muscle to collect Irina.”

“Did they take her?”

“No,” Dell said hoarsely.

“Did things get physical?”

“Almost.”

Sandy sucked in a breath. What Dell was doing was dangerous.

Dell knew it, and she knew it. Telling her to be careful wouldn’t do any good. Asking her not to do what she needed to do wasn’t an option. She shifted on top of Dell and wiggled her hips between Dell’s legs, forcing her to open. As soon as Dell parted her thighs, Sandy pushed her way

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down on the bed and pressed her cheek in the delta at the base of Dell’s belly. Dell’s clitoris was erect, a firm bulge against her face. She shifted and brushed her lips over it.

Dell dragged in a shaky breath.

“I’m going to take care of this so you can sleep,” Sandy whispered, her lips moving over the distended shaft. “You want?”

“Oh yeah.”

“Will you come for me, baby?”

“Will you do me really slow?” Dell’s voice broke. “So I can feel everything?”

“As slow as you want, for as long as you need.” Sandy dropped feather-light kisses over Dell’s clitoris, her inner lips, the insides of her thighs. She teased under the hood with just the tip of her tongue, sweeping round and round, until Dell’s hips bucked and twisted. She licked, she sucked, she stroked the flat of her tongue the length of Dell’s sex. When Dell’s legs trembled, Sandy held her down, closing her hands over Dell’s lean, taut thighs. When Dell gasped for breath, Sandy stilled, keeping her just on the edge of exploding, knowing the buildup would make the release all the sweeter. She knew what Dell needed.

She needed to go beyond thought, beyond fear, beyond uncertainty. She needed to drown in pleasure, to be held in safety.

“Sandy,” Dell groaned.

“You need to come now, baby?” Sandy crooned, sliding first one finger, then two, inside. With her other hand she pressed on the base of Dell’s stomach, forcing her clitoris to stand up straight. “Want to come in my mouth?”

“Please.” Dell’s voice was unsteady and low.

Sandy pulled on Dell’s length with long strokes of her pursed lips. She kept it up, stroke after stroke, as Dell arched and mumbled incoherent pleas, then looked up to see Dell propped on her elbows, staring down at her with a dazed, delirious expression. She felt Dell’s clitoris expand, saw her face twist in an agony of pleasure, and curled her fingers forward to massage the spot that made Dell’s clitoris leap between her lips.

“Uh.” Dell jerked. Once. Twice. Then her arms gave way and she fell back with a cry, writhing as her muscles tightened and convulsed.

“Keep sucking. Just suck. Jesus!”

Sandy lost count of how many times she coaxed Dell’s clitoris to

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stiffen and explode, but she kept working it until Dell whimpered for her to stop. She was so high on the power she couldn’t. She wanted to make Dell come again. She wanted Dell to be hers, and only hers, forever. She teased the swollen head with her tongue and Dell twisted away.

“Babe, please,” Dell whispered weakly. “Hold me. San?”

“I’m here, baby,” Sandy said instantly, clambering up to pull Dell into her arms. Dell was nearly twice her size, but it didn’t matter. Right now, she felt like a giant. She tightened her grip on Dell’s shoulders and rocked her. “I love you, baby.”

“I need you, San.”

“Shh.” Sandy kissed Dell’s sweaty brow and stroked her face.

“You go to sleep now, baby.”

“Play with your clit,” Dell murmured, cradled in Sandy’s arms.

“Know you need to.”

“I’m okay, baby.”

Dell nuzzled Sandy’s breast and drew her nipple into her mouth.

When she bit down, Sandy felt as if she’d been electrocuted. Her legs jerked and her clit twitched like crazy. She reached for it, moaning when she discovered how wet and hard she was. She hadn’t been aware of her own excitement until then. All she’d known was Dell. Fingers squeezing, she closed her eyes and rested her cheek against the top of Dell’s head.

“Good?” Dell muttered.

“Uh-huh,” Sandy whispered, twisting and tugging her aching clit. A huge balloon filled her insides until she couldn’t breathe. She squeezed and pulled until the balloon burst open and she was coming.

“God, baby. God!”

Dell sighed with pleasure and relaxed in her arms. Sandy stroked her until she heard her breathing slow and knew she was falling asleep.

She knew that if anyone came through that door wanting to hurt Dell, she would kill them. She only wished she could always be there to protect her.

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ChAPTER SEvENTEEN

Kratos folded the Wall Street Journal and set it aside as his driver pulled the Town Car to a stop in a parking lot in the shadows of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. A blustery wind was coming off the Delaware River, but he did not button his topcoat when his bodyguard opened the door. Bareheaded, he stepped out and approached a black Mercedes SUV with darkened windows, his bodyguard and Vincent on either side of him. The two Russians standing next to the vehicle watched him, their broad, heavy features expressionless. He stopped a few yards away and waited. The rear door opened and a thin, blond man in a cashmere coat similar to his own stepped out.