Without Regret (Pyte/Sentinel #2)(52)

“I see,” Chris said, pulling back from her neck and tilting his head slightly so that he could press a kiss to her forehead. “And did it work?”

“Did what work?” she asked, feeling slightly dazed and on fire, needing him to continue kissing her, touching her and doing all the things that she’d always hated and a few that she never allowed any man to do.

He chuckled lightly as he pressed a kiss against her chin. “Did your program work, Izzy?”

She had to snort at that. “Of course my program worked.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she chewed on her bottom lip and let out a long drawn out sigh before she admitted, “It actually did a lot better than I expected.”

“What can it do, Izzy?” he whispered softly, pressing a kiss to the corner of her mouth.

“Everything,” she admitted on a small gasp as he kissed her bottom lip before he flicked it with his tongue.

“What’s everything?” he asked, brushing his lips against hers slowly, teasingly. When she moved to return the kiss he pulled back and she was tempted to tighten her hold on his arms and take what she wanted, but all his attention, her exhaustion and hanging upside down was really taking its toll on her so stayed where she was, hoping he’d return those surprisingly warm soft lips back to hers.

“It can find out anything about anyone. The Tattletale can break into any file, program, and track activity no matter what. Encryption no longer works against it.

Actually, it becomes stronger when it comes up against an encrypted file because it learns and remembers everything adding to its program. The best part is it’s undetectable. It doesn’t work like a virus so all the scans miss it,” she said excitedly. For a year now this had been her secret, and other than the FBI agent and a few colleagues she’d stupidly hinted at her program to, who’d apparently sold her out, she hadn’t spoken about this program in great length with anyone. It was actually kind of nice to be able to speak so freely about her greatest creation.

“And what did the men who contacted you want with it?” he asked as he framed her face between his large warm hands and rewarded her with a brush of his lips against her mouth before pulling back to study her as she answered.

She hesitated, but for only a second. At this point it really didn’t matter what this man and his friends knew. It wasn’t like she was going to give it to them.

She wasn’t. No matter what it was too dangerous to release, something she really should have realized before, especially with the way her program evolved.

“They were interested in its ability to break into a large global network,” she said softly, her eyes never leaving his lips so she didn’t miss it when his lips curved up into a very pleased smile.

“And did they get it, Munchkin?” he asked, his already hypnotic voice dropping another timber and sending a delicious shiver through her body.

“Uh uh, I changed my mind before the meeting,” she said, releasing her grip on his arms to cup his face instead. “Now kiss me.”

With a pained groan he leaned down and took her mouth more firmly this time, but it wasn’t enough. For the first time since her first kiss at eighteen she wanted a real kiss, because she was pretty damn sure that Chris’ kiss wouldn’t leave her bored or grossed out.

Gripping his head a little tighter, she tilted her head to the side, unsure how this was going to work with her upside down, but more than willing to give it a shot as she suckled his bottom lip between her teeth. With a low deep moan he took over the kiss, sliding his tongue in her mouth in a sensual move that left her gasping and panting for more.

His movements were slow, but no less hungry as he devoured her mouth as if he were studying her. When she ran her tongue over his he made a sound somewhere between a groan of satisfaction and hunger that had her toes curling. This kiss felt right, perfect. It was like someone threw a switch and her body came alive. She wanted more.

She wanted him.

“Are you a virgin?” he suddenly asked, breaking the kiss and pulling back just enough so that he could look at her.

Why was he talking at a moment like this when they should be looking for the nearest bedroom? she had to wonder as she struggled to figure out what he’d asked.

Frowning, she shook her head as best as she could, considering it was still locked firmly between his hands.

“No, why?”

Just like that all the hunger in his expression disappeared and the controlled warrior was back in place. He released her and grabbed her wrists gently, forcing her to release him as he stepped back.

The tick beneath his eye was back along with a new one in his jaw as he stepped away and turned, storming off, leaving her to wonder what the hell just happened and when they were going to let her down.

“Um, hello?” she called out a minute later. “I’d really like to get down now!”

Chapter 17

“You’re tearing your stitches to shreds,” Jill pointed out as she pushed aside a crossbow on one of the many weapons tables lining the right side of the long, deep basement and sat down on the edge of the table, careful of the silver dipped daggers to her left.

“I need to train,” Chris said, ignoring the sharp pain as his stitches stretched when his fist connected with the sparing dummy, causing it to rock hard on its steel base. He ignored the sound of rubber splitting and continued pounding his fists against it. Between him and his father they went through a half dozen of these things a month.