I finally get to do what I’ve wanted since he opened the door. I run my hands over his bare skin. He shivers under my touch. Emboldened, I explore the planes of his chest and tangle my fingers in his damp hair. Groaning, he leans forward. I rake my nails lightly down his spine, dipping toward his waistband.
He breaks the kiss off. His eyes shine and he’s a bit breathless. “I fear you have me at a disadvantage.”
I’m well more than a bit breathless. “I do?”
“Yes, and I need to rectify the situation.” He tugs at the bottom of my shirt until it pulls free. Then he pauses, seeking my permission.
My heart rate jacks up as I nod. In one smooth move, he takes off my shirt and tosses it to the floor. He studies me and I’m super glad I’m wearing a decent bra. It’s not sexy, ’cause I wasn’t expecting this when I dressed. His hands snake around me and grab the clasp of my bra. Again he waits for my nod before unhooking the garment. I’m impressed with his skill and gasp when he cups my breasts. Fire races over my skin and gathers deep down.
Niall reclaims my lips and then it’s all raw sensations and pulsating desire. Being skin to skin heightens each touch. After a good long time, we stop to catch our breaths. Somehow we ended up lying down on the couch side by side.
“You’re beautiful, Mouse,” Niall whispers in my ear.
His words warm my insides. I stroke his cheek, rubbing my thumb over the stubble on his jaw.
He grabs my wrist. “You’re bleeding.”
One of my stitches ripped open. I didn’t even feel it. Of course now that I’m aware of it, pain needles into my arm. I’d ignore it, but Niall insists on bandaging it. And when he gets up to fetch the first aid kit, I see that he’s torn a few of his as well.
By the time we’re done, I’m cold and hug my arms to my chest. Niall grabs a blanket and we return to the couch. He covers us and nestles in next to me. It’s warm and comfortable and I can’t keep my eyes open. We’ve fallen asleep together before, but this time, with skin on skin, it is so much nicer.
What’s not so nice is the pounding on the door that startles us awake. Niall surges to his feet and goes over to see who’s making all the noise. He turns on the screen.
“It’s my dad,” he says.
Eight
2522:204
“Shit,” I say, scrambling to put on my bra and shirt, tucking it in.
The banging grows louder. Radcliff must be pissed.
Niall glances at me. I’m pulling my hair into a ponytail. He waits a beat before opening the door.
“What’s the emergency?” he asks his father.
“Is Ara with you?” Radcliff demands.
My emotions swing from embarrassed to confused. Shouldn’t Radcliff know exactly where I am?
Niall steps back. “Yes.”
Radcliff storms into the living room. Uh oh. He glares at me. Okay, that’s not the reaction I expected. Not that Niall and I were doing anything wrong, but why is his father angry at just me?
“What did you do to the Q-net?” Radcliff asks.
Wait… “What do you mean?”
“Don’t act innocent. What did you do to prevent me from finding you?”
“Nothing.”
“Don’t lie.”
Oh no, he doesn’t get away with that. I stand up and glare right on back at him. “I’m not. All you need to do is ask the Q-net where I am.”
“I did and it wouldn’t tell me.”
It wouldn’t? Those two words just didn’t go together. The cameras in security are on a closed loop so no one can worm into them and see me. But Radcliff should be able to access that loop. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“Not helping,” Radcliff almost growls.
I pull my tangs from my pocket and head toward Niall’s terminal.
Radcliff grabs my arm. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“To figure out the problem.”
He releases me. “Leave the screen on.”
Seriously? “Put your tangs in and trail me then.”
His surprise lasts a millisecond before he follows me to the terminal. I sit down, insert my entanglers, and suck in a breath.
“What’s wrong?” Niall asks.
The Q-net is different. It’s like someone came in and changed all the colors. The layers shine and appear more…translucent.
“Mouse?”
“Nothing’s wrong.” I access the security camera feeds. They appear to be functioning normally and correctly pinpoint the other officers. But when I inquire about my whereabouts, it shows nothing. Odd. I look at the feeds from the training room earlier