“Now, do you understand the rules of our little game?” He nodded fiercely, his eyes darting between her face and his own balls. “Good boy,” she said, giving the right cord a small tug so that the pressure on his cock eased slightly.
“Who do you work for?”
“The government,” he answered immediately, expanding on the information as he saw her right hand twitch. “I answer directly to the Prime Minister.”
“Good,” she said, nodding. “So you should know where our friend is.”
“Oberon?” he asked as sweat ran down his brow and dripped onto his eyelashes. She caught Jordan’s quick nod out of the corner of her eye as he confirmed his contact’s name.
“Yes, Oberon. Tell me where he is and I will consider letting you keep your balls. Are you any good at singing?” she asked. “Lie to me and I’ll make sure you can hit the high notes.”
* * * *
Jordan still reeled from what had happened in the alley. The guy had literally spilled everything, even going as far as offering his access card to the facility where Oberon was being held and promising to find a new career.
Millions of questions flew through Jordan’s head, but one could no longer be contained and he found himself blurting it out before he’d had a good chance to decide if he really wanted to know the answer.
“How many times have you done that?”
“What, the cord thing?”
He nodded mutely, his eyes not daring to leave her face as his hands unconsciously moved in front of his groin and shielded his favorite appendages.
“A few times. Why?” she asked, looking at him curiously.
“I was...uhm...just wondering how many men...er...you...uhm ...castrated?” he asked, his blood running cold at the thought. She stopped to look him directly in the face and smiled at his confused expression.
“Actually, none. It seems that males of all species are more than willing to talk when their equipment is under threat.”
He laughed at her response as he acknowledged the truth of her statement. He didn’t know a man alive that would’ve willingly risked his package just to keep a few measly secrets. He shook his head in approval. She sure was one hell of a woman.
“Sarah, if you worked black-ops for seven years, how come you don’t have better control over your temper?” he asked before he thought better of the question.
“Yeah, well, seven years of rigid control—hell, it was gonna explode sooner or later,” she said, smiling. Jordan noticed the flippant way she answered and was sure that there was more to the story, but he set aside his curiosity for the time being.
He grabbed her hand, giving into his need to touch her, his need to renew their connection. Only hours ago he’d thought he’d never see her again, and now they were headed to a high security facility to try to free Oberon. He tried to concentrate and follow her lead.
As they neared the outer wall, Sarah turned into his embrace, tucked her head against his shoulder, and whispered instructions on what he should be looking for. She asked him detailed questions about the number and placement of guards, doors, and windows. He gazed down at her lovingly, their appearance nothing more noticeable than other honeymooners wandering the streets. Except, of course, that they were deep in discussion on the best way to infiltrate a high security government facility.
“Seven guards that I can see. No visible windows on the ground floor from this side, but the second level looks almost like an office block—at least twenty windows about two feet apart. Only one door guarded by two sloppy guards.”
“Sloppy I can work with,” she said confidently.
“What about the others? Do they look like professional soldiers or hired hands with guns?” He watched as one of the guards swung his rifle from side to side as he spoke to another man.
“I’d hazard a guess and say hired hands,” he said, barely able to contain his amusement. If appearance was anything to go by, even
he’d
be able to slip past these guys. Sarah should be able to do it with her eyes closed.
“Kiss me,” she whispered, and he obliged immediately as he wondered whether they were being watched or whether she’d just needed to kiss him as much as he needed to kiss her. Her lips met his, her tongue thrusting deep into his mouth as she pressed herself closer. She whimpered as he pulled her tighter, grinding her against his thickening cock.
She broke the kiss, gasping for breath. “We have about three hours until full dark. Take me back to the hotel,” she ordered as she stroked him through the material of his pants.
“Yes, ma’am.” He laughed as he threw an arm over her shoulders and turned her around to lead her towards their room.
* * * *
Sarah lay on the floor, sprawled across Jordan’s exhausted body as they tried to catch their breath. They’d barely made it into the room before their passion had overcome them and they’d stripped each other bare. Her need had nearly overwhelmed her as he’d lifted her against the door and plunged into her hot depths, his moan echoing her own as he’d pounded into her again and again.
She’d screamed and bitten his shoulder as her climax rocked her body, taking him with her as she convulsed around him. She had no idea how long they’d been lying collapsed on the floor, but the shadows in the room had lengthened and she was fairly certain that nightfall was approaching.
“Sarah,” he said quietly. “I think we need to move.”
“I know,” she said softly. He seemed a little alarmed at the sadness in her voice and he moved so that he could sit with her across his lap. “Sweetheart, what's wrong?”
“Nothing. Everything. Oh, crap. I don’t know,” she said tiredly. “A lot has happened in the last couple of days…” she said, trailing off, unable to find the words or the courage to say what was on her mind. Was it really fair to burden him with her feelings? He might believe he loved her—after all, he’d said it when he thought he was leaving her behind—but that didn't mean he wanted or needed her love in return. They’d already proven that a pirate ship was no place for a human woman and it was his pirate activities that made sure that sick children had a chance at getting the medicine they needed. The two simply weren’t compatible. She couldn’t stay with him, and he couldn’t give up his calling and stay with her. Jordan was brave and noble, almost the exact opposite of the scoundrel he was supposed to be, and she had no right to wish he could give her more than he already had. She would somehow find the courage to let him go simply because she loved him.
“Come on,” she said as she crawled off him and headed to the bathroom. “We have time for a quick shower and then it’s back to the real world.”
* * * *
The real world.
That basically sums up the problem,
Jordan thought as he dried her with a big fluffy towel. In the real world, their lives simply weren’t compatible. Only here, in this small bubble of time, could they truly love each other. He’d made slow, exquisite love to her again in the shower and passionately told her with his body how much she meant to him.
She’d moaned over and over as he’d taken her with gentle care, loving her with every emotion, every pound of his heart, every molecule of his being. She’d responded in kind, her lips never muttering the words, but her body language saying it loud and clear. She loved him. He could feel it as it flowed through him and healed his lost soul, filling the loneliness that he’d lived with for so long.
He watched her as she dressed, painfully aware that it was probably the last time he’d see her beautiful body, except of course in his dreams. The thought of going on without her after all this was done made his chest ache. A black void of empty days stretched before him and almost robbed him of his sanity. He pulled her into his arms, trying to imprint the memory of her feel, her scent, and her love in his head and his heart. Then he gathered his equipment, and with a heavy feeling weighing him down, followed her out the door.
* * * *
They’d watched the guards at the front door fall asleep and awaken several times in the past hour, only problem was that the two of them didn’t do it at the same time. Almost like it was coordinated, the other guard seemed to rouse as the first one fell asleep.
“Okay. New plan,” she whispered. “You create a diversion, and I’ll slip past them.”
He nodded as several ideas raced through his head.
“How about I stun one of the guards around the corner? Hopefully that will have the other two running to his aid.”
She nodded. “Just make sure you’re quick and you get the hell away before they get a chance to use their weapons. These are ancient projectile weapons, that shoot a small piece of metal called a bullet, and if they hit you, the wound is most likely fatal. You could bleed out long before I could get you medical assistance. So stay down, stay hidden, and if they find you, shoot them first. Are we clear?”
He nodded again, a big goofy grin on his face until she rolled her eyes.
“Okay, okay. I get it. But be careful,
Pirate
.”
He kissed her quickly and then moved from their hiding space and made his way carefully towards the corner of the building. He glanced back to where she’d been, no longer able to see her, and idly wondered if she still watched him or if she was also moving into position. He rounded the corner but found the guard asleep at his post. Damn, what was that they said about the best-laid plans? He made the decision quickly and used his stun gun to make sure the guard went right on sleeping so that he could go in search of another. He knew Sarah would be waiting for his signal, so he moved quickly, worried what she might do if she thought he wasn’t able to create the distraction she’d requested.
Jordan rounded another corner and found two tired-looking guards leaning casually against the wall. One seemed to be sleeping while the other moved restlessly. He stunned the moving guy and expected the other to raise the alarm, but when he failed to stir, Jordan shot him, as well.
He almost laughed out loud as he went looking for yet another guard, wondering whether he would be able to find anyone competent enough to do their job. As he approached the next corner of the square building, he glanced around the edge only to see the guard slump as a stun blast hit him from the corner near the front of the building.
Jordan stepped back into the shadows and held his breath as he strained to hear any sounds of an approaching assailant. In a strange moment of clarity, he realized that the unknown person heading this way was most likely Sarah and if that was true, he was in a whole lot of trouble. She’d probably stun him first and then ask questions later. He was supposed to be creating a diversion on the other side of the building, not taking out guards as he wondered around.
“Sarah,” he hissed quietly. He figured that if the person approaching him wasn’t her, he’d at least cause the distraction she’d asked for, albeit on the wrong side of the building. He waited, listened carefully, and then slowly released the breath he’d been holding when he heard her surprised sound. He stepped from the shadows a moment later.
“Sit-rep,” she whispered as she pushed him back into the shadows.
“Three guards. All stunned. You?”
“Same here. That means we have one missing.” She spoke so quietly that he had to lower his head to her face and couldn't help but breathe deeply as he smelled her unique scent. He wanted to haul her into his arms, but he held fast as he tried to concentrate on where the seventh guard could be. “Maybe he’s inside.” She shook her head, a movement he felt more than saw in the dark. “I don’t like it, but we need to get in now, find Oberon, get back out, and hope that guard number seven called in sick today.”
She moved towards the back door where the guards were slumped against the ground. She grabbed one and maneuvered him into a sitting position so that he looked asleep, not stunned. Jordan followed her lead and pushed the other guard into the same position. They needed as much time as they could get now that the distraction idea had failed. She glanced up at the window on the second floor.
“Up there.” She pointed to a partially-open window. “Give me a boost,” she said as she grabbed his shoulders.
“Okay. I’ll stay out here and make sure our exit is clear,” he said as he realized that she had no intention of letting him follow her. Every protective male instinct roared against the idea, but she had already proven she was more than capable and there was no way he was going to disrespect that or underestimate her again. Besides, he wasn’t going to fit through that tiny space, even if he had a way to get up there, and going through the door was probably the more dangerous option. Chances were, guard number seven was inside and probably guarding both the front and back doors from somewhere in the middle of the building. She was the more experienced of the two of them when it came to this sort of thing, and he would probably just slow her down anyway.
Unfortunately, no amount of calm reasoning stopped his gut from tightening as he watched her slide through the narrow opening. He held his breath as he waited for some kind of sound or alarm to go off, but nothing happened. He slipped into the shadow of the doorway as he nervously waited for something to happen.
Chapter Eight
Sarah dropped lightly onto the carpeted floor. She’d stepped into what looked to be an administrative office where several computer terminals blinked in their stand-by state. She touched the nearest screen and the computer powered up quickly, so she searched the database for some kind of floor plan or indication of what was waiting downstairs.
Bingo,
she thought triumphantly as she opened a prisoner list that showed a floor plan of the cells below with each prisoner’s name overlaid on their cell.