Total pages in book: 148
Estimated words: 142939 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142939 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
She’s cocky. Not waiting till dark to make her move. The sun is low on the horizon as she skirts around the back edge of my property. Dressed in a dark gray that seems to change color to match whatever she’s standing next to–nice tech–I lose her here and there in the feed. But I can sense her.
Some sort of board is tucked under her arm as she prowls closer and closer.
“You ready for this?” Cass asks, leaning against the door frame and watching as I pace.
I was worried this moment would never come. But now it’s here. I grin.
“I guess that’s all the answer I need.”
“You can go.” I wave a hand at her, my eyes still on the screen. “Give Daphne my love.”
“You sure? She’s not exactly harmless, boss. Quite the opposite. If she gets the drop on you, she could do some dam–”
“Go. Seriously. I’ve got this.” I finally stop pacing when she pauses at a spot along my wall, her gaze focusing upward.
Then my cameras go fuzzy and click off.
Cass groans as the screens go dark one after another. “Have I mentioned how much I don’t like this plan?”
“Only a million times. Don’t worry.” I stride past her, my steps growing quicker as I approach one of my rear doors.
“I’ll be close if you need me,” Cass calls at my back.
“Don’t worry.”
“All I do is worry,” she grumbles, but she doesn’t follow me as I walk out the back door and stride toward my research building. It’s along the side wall of my estate, quite close to where Ocean just made her entrance. Her friends may have disabled my cameras, but I have a backup set–ones that aren’t connected to my usual network. I snagged some old-school closed-circuit units from eBay a while back just for this purpose.
Pulling up my phone, I access the hidden network, then enter the feed. The visuals aren’t particularly clear, but I see movement, and I know it’s her. She’s floating off the ground, easing along the cinderblock wall of my lab, her hand held out as she skates past.
“That looks like fun.” I smile and pocket my phone, then pick up my pace and dash into the front of my building, the door automatically locking behind me.
The hangar is ahead to my right, the drone sitting in its berth, fully visible at present. She’s not here for the drone proper. She’s here for the data unit inside it.
I keep to the shadows, moving around my front office area and into the hangar, making sure I’m out of sight of my cameras. They may be dark for me, but I’m certain Ocean’s friends are keeping an eye on them.
It’s hard to stay still, but I have to. Even though every single cell in my body is vibrating at some unknown, insane frequency, I remain silent and stationary. I can’t spring my trap until she’s within my grasp.
Just the thought of holding her makes my blood heat, and I wonder if waiting like this might push me off the cliff into madness. To have her so close, to be so near my ultimate goal. It’s like fire in my veins.
When I see a shadow move around to the left of the drone, my heart kicks up its pace. It’s a wonder she can’t hear it beating.
“Well, hello, beautiful,” she purrs to the machinery.
Her voice is sultry, so fucking sexy. My mouth goes dry, and my need for her seems to rise inside me like some dark beast. Then again, who am I kidding? I am a beast. I lured her here with the sole goal of keeping her, of making her mine.
“Let me help you into something more comfortable.” She’s beneath the body of the craft, her fingers skating along the metal until she reaches the removable panel. It comes off easily, and she places it on the floor.
I get a better glimpse of her, of her curves–no amount of camouflage could hide them from me. I could swear I catch her scent, something warm and almost sweet. Like a hint of warm honey.
I move closer, unable to stop myself from being drawn to her. She’s focused on the drone, and she clicks on a flashlight and holds it between her lips as she unscrews the control unit from the drone’s guts.
She doesn’t see me as I creep closer.
I’m right behind her when she straightens, the control unit in her hand.
Then she turns around.
“Ocean, I’ve been–”
A cry catches in her throat, and she moves so quickly all I see is a blur before blinding pain lights up my nose.
She fucking punched me! I don’t know why I didn’t plan for this. I suppose I thought it would go a little less violently.
“Ocean!” I reach for her, but she darts to the left and yanks something from the air. It’s the board she’s been working on. It’s camouflaged even better than she is.