Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Lincoln arched, stretching out his back. His muscles ached. His brain hurt. For the last three days, he’d worked tirelessly on the new security system for Zero Gravity. He tweaked and tested and tweaked and tested some more. It wasn’t done. Far from it and his frustration came out of the fact that he should be, but because David, and Samantha, chose to keep certain aspects of the original system from him, his code was weak and open to blind spots.
Unfortunately, they were apparent—too obvious—and he needed to correct them if his plan would work.
Lincoln couldn’t shake off his doubts about the accuracy of his theory. They hadn’t yet tested it under real conditions.
“Lincoln?” Stormi’s sweet voice rang out, calming his nerves.
“In my office,” he called. He hated admitting how much he missed her during the daylight hours. Or how her warm body at night affected his heart and soul. Whenever he stared deep into her eyes, it was as if she could see his darkest secrets. His inner fears.
His feelings for her grew too thick, too fast. He was lost in a sea of emotion with no life raft in sight. He drifted off to sleep every night with her in his arms and woke with her body draped over his. It was like nothing he’d ever experienced before, and he’d lived with Samantha.
Only sleeping with her sometimes was like being stuffed inside an icebox next to a couple of lifeless fish, and he wasn’t talking about the sex. That wasn’t bad. It was actually pretty good when they had it. But outside of that, Samantha was about as cold of a woman as anyone could possibly be.
Stormi, on the other hand, was flesh and blood. She was wild and hot and made his heart beat out of control.
“I brought sustenance.” She appeared at the doorway holding a take-out bag from the Sunny Side Up Diner. “I got you a patty melt, onion rings, and a chocolate shake.”
“My God, woman. I could kiss you right now.”
“I wouldn’t say no to that.”
He pushed his chair back, stood, took the bag, set it on the desk, and yanked her to his chest, crushing his mouth to hers, melding their lips together like two ships. She tasted like a fine wine and all he wanted to do was get drunk on her rich flavor. “How was work today?”
“Pretty boring.” She clasped her fingers behind his neck. “How was your day? Solve your coding problem?”
“What I could with the information I have,” he said. “I had a nice little conference call with David and Samantha and according to David, I have everything and when I compare the original system to what I’m working on, it would appear that I do.”
“What are you seeing that makes you believe that you don’t?”
“Code that was either written by someone other than Samantha, or new code written by Samantha.” He leaned against his desk. “Are you ready to do a little fishing?”
She arched a brow. “Are you serious?”
He nodded. “I told Samantha someone tried to break through my firewall today, but I shut it down. However, I also told her that I put a crack in the system and that the hacker tagged it. All I have to do is open it and you should come running.”
“Does this mean I get to play?” She smiled wide.
“I wasn’t about to have all the fun. Besides, while you go in, and my program chases you around, I can do some real digging.”
She scowled.
He kissed her nose. “Aw, come on, babe. We both know that Samantha is going to be watching. I need you to lead her down one hallway, while you direct me elsewhere.”
“I know. I get that I’m going to be sitting right next to you while you go hunting for intel to clear my dad’s name, but sometimes the hacking is half the fun.”
He kissed her temple. “I get it. I do. But we have to play this smart. It’s not just about your dad, the explosion, and the cover-up. We need to figure out exactly what Samantha has planned for me. If it’s a takedown, like Kurt tried to do with you, or if it’s something else. Because honestly, it doesn’t make sense. You and Kurt had a history of butting heads in your business and he wanted you out so he could go down the path of darkness. For the life of me, I can’t figure out?—”
“Do you not understand a woman scorned?”
“I didn’t scorn Samantha. I’m not the one who cheated.” Lincoln arched a brow. “I invested in her company. Literally gave her all the money I had, and what do I have to show for it? Fucking nothing. I’m the one who has something to be bitter about.” He let out a long breath. “Okay. Yeah. I get it. If this job gets fucked up, she doesn’t have to pay me and it’s also cause to terminate my contract early. It’s just one way for her to get rid of me without dealing with me.” He took Stormi’s chin with his palm. “But she knows me pretty well and knows that while I don’t give a shit about money and might be willing to part with that just to be done with her, I would fight her tooth and nail if it meant my integrity. I was a poor boy from the streets. I once had to fight, steal, and beg for food. I worked damn hard to get where I am and wouldn’t let her, or anyone else for that matter, strip me of what I’ve bled for without a fight.”
“Is it bad that I’m totally turned on right now?”
Lincoln shook his head as he ran his hand under her shirt, fingering the hook of her bra. “We have time and I would never dare deprive you of your wants, needs, or desires.”
“I would hope not.” Stormi tore his shirt over his head and tossed it to the floor before shoving him back to his chair. It rolled into the desk with a resounding thud. Leaning over him, she kissed her way down his chest and stomach while working on the button and zipper to his jeans.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
She shimmied out of her blouse and bra, smiling up at him as she settled between his legs, taking him into her hands, and gently stroking his length. “Having my way with you.”
He swallowed hard; his throat suddenly dry. "And if I told you to stop?"
Her smile widened, dark and seductive. "Would you really want me to?" They both knew the answer to that question. In the short time he’d known Stormi, she’d always been bold, dominant even, but in moments like these, Lincoln could only marvel at her confidence and poise. She was the sun wrapped in the bright-blue sky with a fiery passion burning beneath her touch.
"I thought so," she murmured as she continued her exploration. Her fingers set every nerve on fire. He gripped the armrests of his chair tightly, biting back a moan.
Her brazen actions were making him lose control and he loved every second of it. He watched her, his breath hot and heavy as she moved her hands confidently over him.
Stormi rose to her feet and dropped her slacks to the floor. She straddled him in the chair. Her eyes held a certain level of satisfaction as she saw the effect she had over his mind, body, and soul.
With a smirk that promised everything yet nothing at all, she leaned down slowly until their lips were just a breath away from each other's.
"Let's have some fun," she whispered with a wicked glint in her eyes before sealing their fate with a searing kiss.
His hands, trembling from the anticipation, sought out the faint curve of her hips. He drew her closer, their bodies fitting together like two pieces of a long-lost puzzle. Each touch from her was a scorching brand against his skin. The taste of her lips as she claimed him with a fervor that matched his own, the feel of her pressed against him, was intoxicating.
She pulled back abruptly, leaving him panting and yearning for more. Her eyes were full of mischievous sparks as she reached behind to unclip her bra. It fell to the floor forgotten, a casualty in this game of desire they were playing.
“Stormi…” His voice came out hoarse and pleading.
Her fingers danced along his chest, tracing invisible patterns that left him shivering with want. “Shh…” She silenced him with a finger against his lips, replacing it seconds later with another heady kiss.
Her hands gripped his shoulders as she began to move against him in a rhythm that made his world tilt on its axis. His hands roamed freely through the expanse of soft skin on display before him, setting ablaze every inch he touched.
He was lost to the sensations she was stirring within him. His senses were filled with Stormi—her touch, her scent, her taste. Her name escaped his lips in delirious pleas as she continued to push him closer and closer to the edge.
With one last coy smile, she pressed herself harder against him, driving Lincoln to utter surrender wrapped in boundless ecstasy.
As they collapsed into each other's arms, spent and contented from their ballet of passion and desire, Lincoln knew he wouldn't trade this moment or any other with Stormi for anything else. As he held her close, listening to the rhythmic lullaby of her heartbeat under his ear, he realized that he was irrevocably lost in her, and he wouldn't have it any other way.
“You’re incredible,” he whispered. “I’m addicted to you.”
“That’s a sweet thing to say.”
He cupped her face and stared intently into her eyes, searching them for a reason to say something bullish. To push her away and make her hate him in this moment, because as soon as she found out that he was keeping from her the one thing that mattered to her more than anything, she’d never speak to him again anyway. “I told myself this could be a fling. That I wouldn’t fall for you. But I’m falling so hard it hurts.” His heart rattled around in his throat like a drunken sailor, unable to stand up straight. His breath hitched.
“You’re serious, aren’t you?” She bit down on her lower lip and let out an audible gasp.
“I didn’t mean to freak you out or come on too strong. But you have to know that I would have played my cards very differently if I didn’t care about you.”
She dropped her head to his shoulder, nuzzling her face in his neck. “You are playing a little bit with fire by helping me.”
“Not a little bit. A lot.” He lifted her chin. “The moment I learned of who you were, I should have stopped talking to you. I certainly shouldn’t have brought you into my circle and asked for help. I should have shut you down and blocked you from the system. But I couldn’t do that. And not just because I wanted and needed your help. You have to know that I truly want to see your father vindicated.”
“I do believe you.” She kissed his cheek. “This is going to come out backward because I didn’t want to have feelings for you, but I do and that scares the crap out of me.”
“Trust me. I understand.” He patted her bottom. “Now, let’s get dressed. Eat our food. And get to work. It could prove to be a long night.” What he really needed was a phone call to Jimmy because he couldn’t keep fucking lying to her this way.