Encryption of the Heart (Love, Tech, & Magic #1)

Chapter Eighteen

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The monitoring device hidden within Refractory was much more sophisticated than the one in Casimir’s home. It wasn’t surprising but, given the locale, Olline had hoped this would be a quicker job. Unable to plug any of her devices in, Olline chewed on her lower lip, tracing the mirrored panels with her fingers, trying to find some way to form a connection so the tech she brought could get to work. Finally, she felt a small indent, and pressing it revealed a tiny port with which she could covertly stick one of her magitech data sticks in. It wasn’t much, but it would have to do.

The initial scan was not promising. Olline blew out a frustrated breath, glaring at the tiny holo-tablet hidden in her clutch and the tangled lines of code it showed her. She liked a challenge, but this . . . the security here was so advanced she almost considered it to be biotechnology. It avoided her hacking, as if it was alive. The complexity of the device wouldn’t have normally been a problem, but all the people enjoying each other’s bodies around Olline distracted her. And, of course, Casimir.

Maybe she could have ignored everything and everyone else. But she couldn’t, and frankly didn’t want to, ignore how he pressed against her, his tight pants leaving nothing to the imagination, less so with the pressure of his cock against her lower back. It was impossible not to be aroused by all the low moans and sighs of pleasure, but having Casimir so close at the same time . . . she was nearly undone.

“Tav,” he whispered, voice tight. His cheek was nearly flush against hers as he leaned ever closer. “We’ve been noticed, and not in the way I’d like.”

“How can you even tell?” she snapped back, more flustered than she meant. “Besides, what can they do to us, really, other than ask us to leave?”

“We’re clothed, for one,” he said, voice thick. “For another, we aren’t doing anything nearly as fun as the rest of the people here. We stand out.” He took a moment, as if composing himself, then added. “To protect the people who come to enjoy themselves anonymously, it’s policy that the staff don’t simply ask you to leave,” he said like he was reading a script. “They’re trained professionals, usually with some kind of biotechnology that will zap us until we’re unconscious. They’ll confiscate our devices to make sure we haven’t recorded anything, and that’s before they turn us over to the Police and Security Department. Which, in case you’ve forgotten, my precious little caster, is precisely the thing we’re trying to avoid.”

“You couldn’t have told me this sooner?” Olline usually enjoyed Casimir’s dry sarcasm, just not at the moment.

Her fingers couldn’t move fast enough against the holo-tablet in a way that wasn’t obvious. “I need more time,” she said, her heart racing for less pleasurable reasons now. “The surveillance and tracking system he’s installed is giving me issues. I have to use my magic on it.” With a tug at the power in her molten core, her ethereal fingers slithered through the mirrored panel in front of her. Her magic was quick at isolating the chip within its copper encasing until each one of the device’s metals shimmered in her mind’s eye. Closing her eyelids, she extended tendrils like snaking vines into each of the components, allowing her to see exactly what each piece was made of and where it linked to.

“Time isn’t our friend,” he answered, bringing her attention out of her magic. Casimir’s fingers flexed again on either side of her, his arms tensing until she could see the veins on his forearms through his sheer blouse. Her magic hummed around her, stalling as she lost focus. He took a deep breath, his chest brushing her back, the bulge between them more obvious now. “Do you trust me?”

If Olline reflected on how they met, the odd way he spoke when dealing with Bode, even the control chip—regardless that it was currently offline—Olline knew she shouldn’t trust him. But, regardless of how infuriatingly unreliable it was, her gut told her she could. Even if that was insane and would only get her in trouble. Again.

But maybe not? If she wanted something beyond a casual fling, something the way Lochan suggested she deserved, then maybe Casimir was worth risking her heart for.

“Yes,” the answer was a whisper, a prayer of hope, escaping her lips before she could think better of it.

“Good,” he said with a sigh. “I can help us blend in. I won’t do anything like what’s happening around us. But I’ll need to make it look convincing. I’m,” his words cut off as he swallowed heavily behind her, his neck brushing the back of her head. “I haven’t done this voluntarily in a while, let alone with someone I,” he cleared his throat, cutting himself off. “It’s hard to remain in the present,” he added with a forced, nervous chuckle.

Her heart shriveled with anguish for Casimir. This must be so triggering for him . . . there had to be another way. She twisted around, the bulge in his pants pushing her micro-dress up an inch, and stopped him cold with a trembling hand to his chest. She risked the little time they probably didn’t have, but this was too important. “This isn’t about me,” she said, drawing him close so he could hear her soft words. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to perform, that you don’t have a choice. You get to say no this time.”

“I’m not saying no. Not to you,” he replied so quickly that even he seemed surprised. But then his eyes darted away, and he frowned at someone slinking through the writhing crowd, their trajectory leading them to only one place: where they huddled against the wall. Casimir’s throat bobbed as he swallowed and slowly turned his attention back to her. “If you don’t want this, Olline, we can figure something else out. We’ll find another way. Just say the word and we’ll slip away,” he murmured, his hand moving like he would brush a loose strand of hair back, but stopping himself.

She hated that he stopped.

“Is there a way of coming back when the club is closed?” Olline asked, before gnawing on her lower lip, torn by what she really wanted.

He was silent for a moment, then, “Theoretically. But it’ll take time to find a way back in.”

“Time we don’t have. Etzel will be done with his conference in a few days,” Olline said the words he left unspoken and stared at the devices hidden around her.

His smile was as easy as it always was, but there was a gentleness to it that went against the way he held himself, tense and hovering above her, giving her space while still trying to make it appear like they belonged there. Belonged together. “This place has a way of making your body respond in ways you weren’t prepared for. We can pretend what happens next is just a result of the sex in the air seeping into every inch of us. Or we can go. Whatever you want, Olline, is what we will do.”

Pretend?

As quickly as her mind latched onto the word, she forced it away. She didn’t really believe that. Not when it came to Casimir, not with how he was looking at her right now.

Olline shook her head. “No, we’ll stay. We can’t squander this chance to get you free. I just need a little more time, is all.”

“You’re a treasure, my dear,” he said with such relief that Olline’s head spun. “I promise to do my best to make it so you can still work. But this has to be convincing.” He smiled, but his eyes were soft with a kind of longing, as he asked, “Ready?”

Olline nodded, and Casimir inhaled sharply, his nose running along the side of her neck, nipping her rose tattoo lightly with his teeth. “You’re going to have to blindfold me in order to sell this, Tav. And then do your magic.” He dropped a hand, releasing her from the cage of his arms, to drag a silky white blindfold between them.

“Shouldn’t I be the one blindfolded?” Olline asked, her eyes flicking to the people around them.

“I’d love it if you were,” he said, a husky growl in his voice, putting the blindfold in her hand. “But I’m assuming you wouldn’t be able to work with one on. I, on the other hand, am perfectly capable of selling this ruse quite convincingly, without having to see everything I’m doing to you. A pity, really.”

Olline licked her lips, her clit throbbing at his low, sensual words. Which was not conducive to what she needed to focus on. She needed to reclaim the power she left waiting for her in the system, and then chase down each component used to make up the surveillance network. Which meant hunting through all the wires and isolating all the signals in a way that she could divert to her other magitech data sticks. By doing that, she could ensure Etzel would never know she disabled the devices. If she was successful in dismantling and diverting the magitech spy devices, the Under Senator would believe Casimir was back at work per usual, that he was still one of his thralls.

His eyes dropped to her mouth and stayed there, his breathing slowed, and she saw a little hitch in his chest, and heard a quiet gasp. She reached up, her hands brushing his long ears, the silky feel of his hair tickling her fingers. A low sigh of pleasure escaped his lips as she secured the white piece of fabric firmly over his eyes—eyes as bright as embers burning with lust before they were covered completely.

She took a quick, sharp breath and turned around. Funny how easily Casimir made her forget she had a job to do, that his very life depended on her success.

Reclaiming the magic coiled around the copper wires, she closed her eyes. The glow of the surveillance network flashed behind her eyelids, and she used the very metals in the wall to alter the pathways within each wire as she went back to spoofing the network monitoring Casimir. If she didn’t have to occasionally check the holo-tablet in her handbag to ensure the functionality of the electronics in the wall and that no alarm had been set off, she could have easily done this blindfolded. With her eyes closed and so engrossed in her magic, the swaying bodies around her disappeared entirely.

But she felt everything . Casimir’s hands floated down from where they were on either side of her face. A feather-light touch of his fingertips brushed along the sides of her neck.

His movements were agonizingly slow, barely brushing her flushed skin, like he was memorizing the feel of her, every dip and contour of her soft body. Olline found her ethereal fingers mirroring his movements through the circuit pathways. Her power skimmed over the components she was stalking, almost languid. Her magic twisted and curled, perfectly in sync with Casimir’s caresses. Which slowed her pace significantly, but it was hard not to be swept up in his touch.

Casimir’s graceful fingers fluttered down her shoulders, dancing along the bare skin. The soft touches had her skin burning so hot his fingers were like drops of ice water that had her gasping for breath. Her stomach tightened with want. His lips followed his delicate caress. Just the merest brush of that plush lower lip and she nearly dropped the clutch concealing her holo-tablet so she could grab him and press her lips to his.

Through a herculean force of will, Olline kept spoofing the network. The tendrils of her power played a game of chicken with the security software that was trying to catch her at the same time. For each pathway that blinked out in her mind’s eye, a new one was diverted toward her. She thought she was making good progress, mostly by ignoring the way her nipples ached as they pressed against her dress and the wetness that coated her inner thighs as a pulse throbbed in her pussy in time with her thundering heartbeat.

Until Casimir’s hands drifted along the outer curve of her breasts.

Olline shivered, and it was like all her clothes had disappeared. The glow behind her eyelids that showed the zig-zagged pathways bent and became curvy until the outline of her naked body shimmered before her and her ghostly skin sparkled from the circuit pathways. Her magic latched on to her desire, and now she was the network, and her magic transformed into Casimir’s fingers as they hunted across the pathways to make sure nothing was missed.

Casimir’s touches were so, so soft, almost reverent and worshipful like she was a treasure to behold. Her power pulsed, showing her the exact path he took across her skin. His touch tingled through the fabric of her dress each time she successfully avoided detection within the network. A reward for doing her job that had her arching into him, straining in a way that begged him to touch more, to cup her breasts and make her scream his name. Olline was getting too swept up in her own magic, fueled too much by the desire that had leached into every molecule of Refractory. She leaned back, using one hand to cup the back of Casimir’s head and pull him closer.

She shouldn’t have done that.

Because Casimir didn’t pull back, didn’t shake her hand off. He didn’t reject her at all. It was the opposite, really.

Uh oh .

Now she knew how impossibly thick and silky those soft, silver-white waves were. Now she no longer had to wonder what his hair felt like slipping through her fingers, didn’t have to imagine the response he would give her if she tangled her fingers in those locks and pulled him down, directing that wicked mouth to kiss her senseless. Because now she knew and she could never forget.

Casimir responded eagerly. Her magic flared, a white-hot glow behind her eyelids as she struggled to keep control of the power and her desire at the same time. She pulled him closer, feeling his chest vibrate against her back as he groaned—before he growled and pulled back a fraction. He whispered so quietly that she wondered if his words were meant for her at all: “Not like this. Not here.”

Or she thought that was what he said.

She didn’t have time to question. His hands began moving again, this time down to her waist where they curved, framing her lower stomach and pressing her back into his hard body. He walked them forward, his erection pulling up her micro-dress, getting them closer to the panel again, a subtle reminder to them both that this fondling business was a cover for their real mission.

It was such a bummer. But a bummer that let her reclaim focus and start the transfer like she had done in Casimir’s apartment.

Casimir nuzzled the side of her head so he had better access to the hollow behind her ear and the sensitive skin of her neck. His teeth found her earlobe, teasing the skin on the right side of pain, and Olline sucked in a breath.

“Darling,” he murmured in her ear, “we’re still being watched.” How he could possibly know that she couldn’t tell and she squirmed for another reason entirely. “No, no. Don’t look. The fact that we are still very much clothed is a hindrance. If I . . . do more, will you still be able to concentrate?”

Fat-fucking-chance, she thought, even though that was the wrong thing to say. She really didn’t want him to stop touching her. The bigger issue was that if she wasn’t careful, someone would notice her hacking, which would be worse than a suspicious worker inching closer and closer to them.

Olline loved a good challenge, but this was decidedly not it.

“Do what you have to. Just give me more time,” she said, her voice so breathy she was surprised he heard her at all.

Casimir stilled behind her for two heartbeats, then asked again, “You trust me?”

Normally, having to answer the same question multiple times would annoy her, but with Casimir, knowing what she did, she found him seeking that reassurance endearing. Sweet, even. Though she didn’t think he would appreciate her saying so.

“I do,” she said, her voice firmer. “Of course, I do.”

“You’re a gift,” he said, before dragging one hand up her torso, snaking between her breasts to lightly grasp her throat, a tender echo of his rough treatment when they first met. Even with the firmness of his grip, Olline never felt forced or scared. The intimate possessiveness had her pressing her body back against his, giving him access to more of her. Whatever he wanted, whatever he could handle. She perfectly nestled against him, feeling his own desire so long and hard between them. His lips moved from her ear to her neck, his kisses sharp, his teeth nipping the skin, his tongue poking out and tracing the sensitive curve of her neck, as if he were trying to outline her rose tattoo from memory. As if he wanted to do more than merely taste her.

Olline bit her lip, hard. Hard enough for the faint taste of iron to fill her mouth. She needed to keep some semblance of control, of focus. She put her hands against the mirrored panel as if willing herself to feel what was beneath rather than the places on her body Casimir traced.

While Casimir’s lips continued to tease her neck, his hand still firm around her throat, his other hand moved from her stomach. Sliding down until those graceful, strong fingers found the hem of her dress. He began moving then, rolling his hips, pressing firmly into her in time with the music. The tips of his fingers brushed the sensitive skin of her thighs, exposed beneath her dress. Her hands clenched against the wall. The sparks of the magic behind her eyelids showed her where he was touching again. Her ethereal body glowed brightest in the places she wanted him to touch, where she wanted him to slide his fingers into.

Olline held her breath, wondering if he would do more, kind of sort of hoping he would, but too shy to ask for it. Especially when she was actually trying to save him at the moment.

His hands stayed where they were. One holding her chin, elongating her neck and giving him access to where the curve of her neck met her shoulder, his sharp teeth nipping until she was practically vibrating with desire. His other toyed with the hem of her micro-dress, his fingers dancing up and down, and slightly between her thighs at random intervals. She wondered if his little shivers meant his fingers trailed closer to her aching clit when he could no longer contain himself.

All Olline knew was she couldn’t contain herself. As her magic latched on to the decryption code, she flicked from her holo-tablet hidden in the clutch at her side to the system behind the panel. Her magic showed her what Casimir finger fucking her would look like. Each time she envisioned his fingers sliding into her wet pussy, her magic diverted another attempt at the security system to stop her. So, she had her magic move faster and faster. All the while her flesh prickled where Casimir’s fingers trailed across her skin.

She rubbed her thighs together, clenching them closed, desperate for the release of orgasm—

Then the mirrored panel flickered slightly, like there was a light behind it, before stabilizing. There was a nearly imperceptible vibration that Olline hadn’t even noticed until she disabled and rerouted the surveillance and monitoring system. She blew out a breath of relief, releasing her magic at the same time before she did anything she would regret. At least now Etzel could not monitor Casimir from the Refractory.

For as much as she enjoyed his attention, this wasn’t the way she wanted to enjoy him. She didn’t want any pretense about what they were doing, no pheromones to cloud their judgment, no public sex acts from others to make their bodies respond. If she was to ever have Casimir, she wanted it to be for real, not like . . . this.

Slowly, Olline turned around and gently undid his blindfold, letting it fall to the floor between them.

For a moment Casimir looked at her, his eyes half-lidded in a type of relaxed bliss. Like he found harmony and ecstasy and was blinded by the sheer peace of it for the first time in his life. The lines around his mouth and eyes were soft, his expression unguarded. But in the blink of an eye, it was gone, and he was staring at her with concern.

She lightly tapped him on the nose, hoping it looked playful to fool the club worker, who she could feel staring at them from within the moaning crowd. “We’re good,” she whispered in his ear. “Etzel can’t track you from here anymore. You’re safe, and, even though it’s weird, thank you for trusting me to handle, you know, all of this.” She flinched slightly, her words not quite coming out the way she wanted, but she had meant them all the same.

Olline stepped back, and Casimir’s face dropped slightly. Regret flitted through his gaze before he blinked, and it was gone. He was good at that; his emotions flickering by too fast before he shut them down completely. It was tragic, really.

He snaked his arm around her waist, and began leading her back out of the club as he murmured, “It was my pleasure, my precious little caster. You are my pleasure.”