Fascination (13 page)

“Not always. I thought you liked
me.
” Sage hoped she was injecting the right amount of hurt into her voice.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You hung me out to dry, Locke. Taking the fall and being left to deal with it by myself. Do you have any idea what the last five years have been like? What the rest of my life is going to be like? How can I ever live a normal life again? You, you can do anything you want, but I have a record now. I was lucky not to end up in prison.” Sage’s voice hissed out, and Locke pursed his lips, looking unimpressed.

“We all have to make sacrifices, baby girl. You made yours. But don’t worry, I’ll do right by you. The past is over, and you don’t have to worry about the future. You’ve proved yourself.”

“Oh, really? Ever try to get a job with a felony record?”

Locke laughed and shook his head. “Poor, sweet thing. You never did see the larger picture. Jobs are for drones. You’re better than that.”

“Nice words, Locke, but what do they mean?”

“It means I’ll take care of you, baby girl, but you have to take care of me, too. You and your friend.”

“How? Did you get rich when I wasn’t looking?”

“Don’t worry about that. Let’s just say launching this bug will be the final step in showing me that you are on my side.”

Sage blinked. “You say that like you expect me to do it.”

Locke smiled, sliding a zip disk across the table. “That’s exactly right.”

I
AN LISTENED QUIETLY
on one set of headphones while EJ sat stoically listening on the other. Ian’s nimble fingers played over the laptop, typing in any leads he tried to pick up from Sage’s discussion with Locke. At least they were in a good spot in the bar—there wasn’t too much background noise, and their voices were coming through clear.

Ian didn’t allow himself to think of anything else. He just monitored, disciplined in his role as a cool observer. In his job, he often had to sit back and watch, wait, difficult as it often was. But it was usually worth it once the moment came to strike.

He didn’t think about Sage sitting there with Locke,
how he was probably looking at her or touching her. No, he wouldn’t think about that.

“Good girl. Get him to talk about that code,” Ian whispered, hearing Sage turn the conversation to the disk and the virus. Then he and EJ looked at each other as the conversation took a new turn—she was going off on him about setting her up. That wasn’t in the plan.

“What the hell? Aw, c’mon, Sage, don’t improvise now. Dammit. She’s gonna piss him off.”

Ian banged his head back against the headrest, and EJ placed a hand on his shoulder, looking at him soberly.

“She’s doing it for you. She wants you to know she was telling the truth about being set up.”

Ian blinked. Shit. What was worse was realizing he hadn’t really believed her, not completely, and he felt guilty as hell. She was taking chances to prove something to him. If this went sideways, it would be as much his fault as hers. Rubbing a hand across his face, he nodded to EJ. “Yeah, and it could screw the entire thing up if this guy gets pissed and leaves.”

“Oh, crap,” EJ whispered to himself as he continued listening to what was being said in the bar.

They heard Locke’s plan—he wanted Sage to be his fall guy again. Did he really think she’d be that gullible, that stupid? But maybe this was the magic carpet ride they needed to wherever he was hiding his computer.

The voices were muffled through the headphones, a little fuzzier now as the bar became more crowded and
the background noise louder. Ian hit some commands to try to block it out. He heard Sage ask incredulously if Locke wanted her to be the one to let the virus free again and his chilling answer.

“That’s exactly right.”

Sage’s laugh came across so loud and sharp—she must be close to Sarah and the bug—that Ian jumped. Her voice communicated clearly what she thought of that plan.

“Yeah, right. Fool me once…”

“No fooling around this time, Sage. Here.” Ian heard a shuffling and assumed Locke was handing Sage something. “You take this and hit the hot button. When I can see it’s been executed, I’ll tell you where to meet me and we’ll go. No cops, no one will find us or even know until it’s much too late. We’ll be gone, living the good life.”

“I’m supposed to believe that? How is this supposed to happen exactly? That we will all be living the good life?”

“That’s for me to know. You just trust me, baby girl.”

Ian heard the cynicism in Sage’s voice and knew there was no acting going on now.

“Trust you? You cost me five years of my life! And you want me to trust you? No way, I’m out. Forget it. Sarah, we’re outta here.”

Ian heard the chairs shuffle and panicked for a moment—was she really going to walk away? Did she at least grab the disk? Then he heard Locke calling her
name, laughing. He really was a cocky bastard. There was a bit more of a scuffle and Sage’s voice clearly saying “Ow!” Ian’s hand was on the car door handle before he could take another breath, but EJ caught him by the shoulder and shook his head, holding up one finger, signaling him to wait.

“LadyBug, it’s nice to see you aren’t as easy as you were before. I like a challenge. But don’t think you can ever just get up and walk out on me. Now sit back down and we’re going to talk.”

There was a moment of silence and Ian held his breath, then he heard her respond.

“Fine.” Her voice had a slight wince in it, and Ian felt his blood run cold. If that bastard hurt her…

“Now I can see why you might not want to take this disk and walk out of here. I figured if you were working with the cops, you’d jump at the chance to get your hands on the code and take it right to them. But you didn’t. Good. Congratulations on passing the first test.”

Ian heard nothing and assumed Sage was in as much shock as he was. It never occurred to him that Locke had been testing her. If she had taken the disk to leave, what would he have done to her? Ian’s blood ran cold at the thought.

Whether she knew it or not, Sage had made a smart move threatening to walk out. They might have had the disk then, maybe even stopped the virus—if it actually was on the disk—but they wouldn’t have gotten Locke. And Ian wanted Locke.

L
OCKE LOOKED AT
S
ARAH
, turning on the charm.

“Hey, sweet thing, do you think you could excuse our girl for a moment, and let us have a moment, alone?”

Sarah looked at Sage inquiringly and shook her head in the negative.

“I’m in this one hundred percent. You can tell me whatever you tell Sage.”

Locke tightened his grip on Sage’s arm, and Sarah’s eyes flared. Sage saw her flex her wrists and silently begged her not to lose it.

“You don’t call the shots. I can send your lover here back to prison in a heartbeat, so I suggest you do as I’m telling you. Now.”

Sarah looked less than happy about leaving her “lover” with Locke but left with no choice. She walked to the far corner of the bar. She wouldn’t be able to hear them, but Sage knew she would keep them in eyesight.

Sage met Locke’s eyes. “Why did you do that?”

Locke shrugged. “I wanted you to myself for a moment. I don’t mind sharing you temporarily, but you know this thing you’ve got going on—” he nodded in Sarah’s direction “—will have to stop.”

“I love her. I don’t want it to stop.”

His smile was slick. “Love? Please. You’re just experimenting. And besides, will she be able to provide for you, to take care of you? How else do you think you are going to get along without me? I can give you the life you’ve always dreamed of, baby girl. But it’s just
going to be you and me. Get any other ideas out of your head now.”

Sage made herself appear doubtful, looking back at Sarah and then down at the table, fiddling with the colorful stick in her glass. The clinking sounds of the ice hitting the edge of the glass made her spine tingle.

“And how exactly are you supposed to do that? How do I know you won’t just leave me to rot away in prison while you take off somewhere?”

Locke regarded her closely. “That won’t happen.” He rose, stepping before her and pulling her up to her feet in front of him, framing her face with his wiry, cold hands. Sage felt her stomach turn and she wanted nothing more than to rip herself from his grasp and run, but she held his gaze.

“I want you, baby girl. In my life. We can do great things together, have whatever we want, go wherever we want. Between us, with our talents, with the things I can teach you, we can rule the world. But you have to trust me.”

He lowered his mouth to hers, and Sage sucked in a breath. She’d hoped that things wouldn’t get this close, especially with Sarah acting as buffer, but as Locke insinuated his tongue between her lips, she expelled the breath and sank against him, knowing she had to.

Kissing him back was the hardest thing she’d ever had to do in her life, the price of all of her sins coming back to haunt her. But when he pulled back from her, she could tell by his rapid breathing that he’d been satisfied with her response. He spoke quietly by her ear.

“I want you to meet me later tonight. You can bring your girlfriend if you want, but we’re dumping her before we leave the country.”

Sage hesitated, then raised her eyes to his, wide as saucers, and nodded faintly.

“When?”

“Two o’clock at the waterfront. I’ll have a boat ready down at the end of the dock, near the tour boats. We’ll set fire to the Internet, baby, and then we’ll leave before anyone can know.”

“But my release tomorrow…”

“
I’m
releasing you. You don’t need to worry about those things anymore.”

She nodded. “I’ll be there.”

I
AN WAS DYING A THOUSAND
deaths, each of them painful and violent. How could he have sent them in there? What was that asshole doing to her? Not being able to hear or see after Sarah was sent away was driving him mad. How could she have agreed to leave Sage? They would talk about that.

He wanted to go there and slam through the door, and if EJ hadn’t restrained him, he might have.

“They’re doing okay, Ian. Back off. We can’t get him if we blow it now.”

Ian’s chest was tight with tension. God, he was going to take that asshole down, and hard.

They got back in the car and drove a little farther down the street and saw Sage and Sarah emerge a few minutes later. The women went straight to their car and
drove off. Ian wanted to follow but knew he couldn’t. Locke might track them, and it had to look as though they were going back to EJ’s on their own, convincing him they had sneaked out. Ian forced himself to drive away in the opposite direction, willing the time to pass quickly until he could see Sage again.

“W
HAT DID HE WANT
? Why did he send Sarah away?
Why did you leave her?
” Ian was pacing the driveway when the women drove in an hour and a half later. He was in Sarah’s face the second she got out of the car, and she just stared at him incredulously. He was raving like a madman, he knew, and he didn’t care. Sarah was obviously far from intimidated and ready to do battle as Ian continued his rant.

“Tell me what happened there. Now.”

EJ quickly stepped between them. “Okay, hold on there, bubba, let’s all go inside.” EJ tried to nudge Ian in the direction of the porch, but Ian shook him off, not budging. EJ didn’t move either, showing a hard edge that he rarely revealed.

“You’re being an asshole, Ian. They’ve had a lot tougher night than you have—Sage looks like she’s going to fall over. We’re going inside, and you can stay out here if you want.”

Ian’s held his friend’s cold glare and finally reluctantly agreed. Past EJ’s shoulder he could see that Sage looked pale, and even in the darkness he could make
out large shadows under her eyes. Her arms were wrapped tightly around herself, and she didn’t meet his gaze.
Shit.

“Okay. All right.” He moved to the side. Sarah glared at him as they filed past and up to the house, and he glared back at her. As far as he was concerned, she wasn’t completely off the hook yet.

“I
T SOUNDS LIKE HE HAS
some other plan or something is going on that he hasn’t told me, won’t tell me. But he’s very intent on getting me on board that boat, and taking me away with him. He kept saying he could take care of me, that we could have anything we need—like he might have some significant cash stored somewhere.”

Sage filled in the details of the conversations Ian and EJ had been monitoring, including the conversation after Sarah had been asked to leave. She left out Locke’s kiss. She didn’t even want to think about that, and besides, it wasn’t relevant.

“It would be interesting to know how he plans to get that much money. Maybe he’s expecting some kind of payoff for the corporate raiding he was supposedly involved in,” Sarah interjected and EJ nodded.

“If we could nab him on that, he might be going away for longer than we intended, which would be sweet.”

Ian listened, his mind racing as he fought the distraction of watching Sage, who was clearly exhausted. He wanted to hold her, to take back the decision to send
her into that bar. And he was going to have to do it again. Shoving his fears down, he spoke, his voice cool.

“So he expects you tonight?”

“At the waterfront. He has a boat there.”

“You think he’ll launch the virus from the boat?”

“He wants me to launch it. That’s his insurance. With my freedom in his hands, he has all the power.”

“Well, then, that’s what you’re going to do.”

Sage stared at him in amazement. “What? Are you crazy? The virus will probably bring down major—”

“I should have said that’s what you’ll let him
think
you intend to do—you’ll have to stall him. We’ll get there before anything actually happens. We just need to get him to the point of making you do it, then we have him ten ways to Sunday. We’ll have access to the computer, we’ll have access to Locke and we’ll have him red-handed in the act. We’ll set up surveillance and grab him then. If you can get him to tell you about the money—if there is any—all the better.”

“Okay,” Sage said, sounding weary and resigned.

“I’m going. He’ll think it’s weird if I don’t show.” Sarah spoke resolutely.

Sage shook her head. “I can say we had a fight, I’ll say I snuck out on you. He wants me for himself—he said we were going to get rid of you. He might hurt you.”

“I’d like to see him try, the weasel. He could hurt you, too. There’s safety in numbers.”

Ian broke into the conversation. “No one’s getting hurt. EJ and I will be there, and this time we’ll have po
lice backup and the Coast Guard at the ready. Sarah’s right, it’s safer if it’s two on one.”

Sarah sat back, smug, but her smugness was erased when Ian turned to her, his voice brooking no argument.

“Just don’t go cowboying it—you ride according to the rules and you don’t leave each other, period. And don’t get sidetracked.”

Sarah’s cheeks burned with embarrassment. “Hey, that thing with the guys at the bar—”

Ian cut her off. “If you want to be part of this team, you’re going to have to learn to take orders. From me. You can’t go off half-cocked, getting in people’s faces and drawing unnecessary attention. You need to stay on message, Sarah.”

Sarah dropped back in her chair, glaring but biting her lip self-consciously and nodding. Ian felt a little sting of conscience at coming down on her so hard in front of the others, but he was concerned about her ability to perform if she was going to run around with a chip on her shoulder. For her safety and Sage’s, he had to make it clear to her what her part in this was.

The awkwardness around the table was thick, until Sage rose, her chair scraping across the floor, startling all of them. Her voice was low, lacking any intonation. She didn’t look at him.

“We only have a few more hours then. I need to rest up.”

Ian’s gaze followed Sage until she disappeared through the doors.

Sarah’s voice was soft. “I’m sorry, Ian. You’re right.
I let my temper get the best of me and I shouldn’t have. I’ll stick by Sage tonight. We’re going to get this guy.”

Ian knew she would. “Why don’t you guys go get some rest, as well,” he said wearily. “This is going to be a late one.”

“What about you?”

“I have some calls to make. See you at oh-one hundred. Set your alarms.” He took out his cell phone, dismissing them effectively, and they rose to leave without a word.

“Wait,” he called out as they reached the door. Sarah stopped and he asked the question that was driving him crazy. “I have to know. Did he…touch her?”

Sarah paused and quietly nodded, then walked out of the kitchen. Within moments he was alone, his voice low and determined as he made arrangements for what would go down later that night.

S
INCE SHE’D GONE UPSTAIRS
Sage had been standing in her room in front of the closed window. She had no intention of sleeping, as if she could. As she stared out into the darkness, she wondered—was Locke out there even now, spying on her? Her skin crawled thinking of it.

The memory of Locke’s cold, possessive touch, played over and over in her mind. Needing to rid herself of the feel of his hands crawling over her body, she went into the bathroom and stepped into the shower, turning on a full blast of hot water. As she scrubbed her skin raw, she sobbed, gulping for breath. She’d made
such a mess of her life, sometimes it felt as if it would only get worse.

She jumped, panicked, as she sensed another presence. Ian was there, his tortured gaze fixed on her.
I need you,
she thought and didn’t even try to disguise it.

As they stared at each other, he didn’t bother taking his clothes off but came into the shower, pulling her close and holding her tightly. She collapsed against him, finally giving in to his gentleness and her need to lean on someone. Regardless of anything that had been said between them, regardless of the past or the future, she knew she could lean on Ian.

And she did, letting the last tears drain from her as he just held her tightly until she could breathe again and the water began to turn cold. He didn’t let go of her as he reached behind himself with one hand and shut the spray off. His voice was rough with regret.

“I’m so sorry I got you into this.”

She attempted a half smile. “Actually I think I was the one who got me into this. Remember it was my idea to help trap Locke.” The massive solidness of him was so comforting. She never wanted to move from this spot. “I’m okay, Ian. It was just rough…seeing him again. But I’m good. I’m ready.”

Admiration washed through him at her bravery and toughness. “You’re free, you know, Sage. No matter what happens tonight, no matter what happens tomorrow, there’s no way I’ll let anything take your freedom
away from you again. I know it never should have been taken in the first place. You deserve to be free.”

Sage couldn’t believe her ears. She knew Ian had heard Locke admit to setting her up, yes, that’s what she’d wanted. But she’d never expected him to say the things he was saying to her now. Never dared to hope. She swallowed, her response seeming silly and small to her ears.

“Thank you.”

He lowered his lips to her cheek, planting a soft kiss but also licking away a drop of moisture, hearing her catch her breath at the contact. He nuzzled her, still not letting her move even a hair’s width away from him. His chest rose and fell in a deep sigh.

“He put his hands on you. I’m sorry for that, too.”

She shook her head vehemently. “I don’t want to think about that.” She raised her face to his. “I want you to touch me, Ian. Make love to me, please. I want
your
hands on me.”

He gathered her impossibly closer, burying his face in her neck, and she lifted, wrapping her legs around him. Her voice was urgent, pleading.

“Wipe his touch away, Ian. Take it all away. I only want you. You make me feel free.”

Twisting around in the small space of the shower, he groaned deeply, pressing her back up against the tile, and found her mouth in a savage kiss. Sage met him on equal ground, burning for his touch, desperate to forget anything and everything else but this man who held
her and made her feel things she never expected to feel.
Needed. Cared for.

She didn’t dare let her mind trip over the next thought, though her heart was unafraid and whispered it to her anyway.

He is everything.
To her. Somewhere in the midst of all the game playing, deception and fear, she had fallen in love with Ian Chandler.

The realization should have scared her. She had no indication that he loved her or felt anything more than he ever had. She could be setting herself up for a world of hurt. But instead her heart sang, and she felt more alive than she ever had in her life. She laughed against his lips, rejoicing, devouring him, opening herself and letting him know that she was his completely.

Ian didn’t know what had changed between them, but it was consuming him. He couldn’t get close enough, plundering her soft mouth, taking everything she was giving him. She moved hungrily, holding on to him as if her life depended on the contact.

He realized that while he’d taken her before, this was the first time she was really giving herself to him. The knowledge softened the edge of his desire, burning as it was. Swinging her around, he carried her back into the bedroom.

Sage didn’t say anything as he laid her back on the bed, stepping back to strip off his own soaked clothing. Reaching into the pocket of his slacks, he grabbed a condom he’d picked up in EJ’s bathroom on his way up
stairs. He set it on the table next to the vases of fresh flowers placed in the room earlier in the day.

Naked, Ian stood before the bed, drinking in the sight of Sage.

She met his gaze directly, never breaking the visual contact as she stretched like a cat over the soft cotton sheets. She ran a hand over her smooth stomach, then lower, grazing the shadowy triangle of hair.

Like a man in a trance he followed her hand as it moved over her skin. Reaching out, her hand lifted, her fingers weaving with his as she tugged him down gently, smiling. He’d never seen her look more beautiful and he knew this time it was going to be different between them. He didn’t think about why but just lost himself in the magic of her spell.

He bent over her, almost too excited to know where to start, wanting to touch her everywhere. He touched his mouth to the firm skin of her stomach, kissed her reverently there, tracing a path up to her breasts, where he closed his lips over the sweet, hot bud of her nipple and sucked until she arched up under him. Sliding one arm underneath her, he supported her while he laved and suckled her tender flesh.

When he nipped her lightly, she moaned, quivering in his arms. He smiled, setting out on a journey over every inch of her body, touching everywhere, tasting all the sweetness she had to offer, until she was writhing beneath him.

Reaching over to grab the packet, he sheathed himself quickly, and levering himself up over her, he
nudged her thighs apart with his knee and lay between them, looking deeply into her face, framing her features with his hands as he nudged his heat against hers.

“Open your eyes, Sage. Look at me.”

She did, and he felt some part of himself open, connecting with her on a deeper level than he had ever connected with anyone, any woman, before. She looked at him with such absolute trust in her eyes, such open desire, that he felt the weight of it in his soul. He lowered his lips to hers, falling into her gaze as his mouth caressed hers and he eased his hard length inside her.

Slowly, gently, he deepened the kiss as he sank into her. She moved against him slightly, clenching him and sighing. The pleasure was exquisite, but something even more profound than that made him determined to extend this experience as long as he possibly could.

Sage was in heaven. Encompassed by Ian’s warmth, feeling the solid maleness of him inside and out, he became her world and she never wanted to leave this spot. Love and passion mixed headily as she rotated her hips against his, urging him to move with her. Shimmering sparks of pleasure shot through her with every slight movement, her entire body responding in unison to his.

His eyes were like molten silver, fixed on hers as he thrust deeper. She wrapped her legs around his waist, hitching herself up higher, planting her hands back against the thick headboard to provide maximum resistance against his long, confident thrusts.

She felt the tight tension in her body suddenly burst as she came, the strong waves of orgasm pulsing
through her limbs. Needing to be closer, she clutched his shoulders.

His skin was gleaming with perspiration, every muscle in his body defined as he held himself tense above her, maintaining control over his own pleasure for the sake of hers. She beckoned him to come back down to her.