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He gently pulled the elastic thingie—girls had a name for it but he couldn’t remember it—out of Felicity’s ponytail and let her hair fall down over her shoulders. God, it was so beautiful, soft and honey-toned, with little platinum streaks and that almost white fluffy stuff at her temples. He cupped her head between his palms, letting all that softness fall over his hands and wrists. It was like plunging into a waterfall.

He bent but she met him halfway, rising up on her toes, hanging on to his wrists and oh, man. She stepped forward and there she was, right up against him, breasts against his chest, belly against his hard-on.

Blood surged through his dick again at the feel of her and she sighed into his mouth, rubbing her belly against him.

“Now,” he muttered. “It has to be now.” Otherwise he’d just make a mess all over her belly and embarrass them both.

“Yes,” she sighed.

“Say it in Russian.”

“Da.” She smiled under his mouth.

Da . Damned straight.

Metal put an arm under her and lowered her to the bed, gently and carefully, still kissing her. He was blasted, but not so blasted he didn’t remember she was wounded. Some remote, dusty part of his brain was still firing so he remembered to scrabble in his jeans for a condom. The way he was feeling he’d need a couple of pounds of condoms but for the moment one would do.

He angled his body so that his torso wasn’t on hers. He kept his hand on the edge of the gauze as a reminder that this area was off limits. He needed it because, man. She wasn’t remembering it for him. No, she was twisting in his arms, trying to get as close to him as she could, winding her arms around his neck, trying to hook her legs around his. Trying to bring him on top of her because for this first time, it should be missionary position all the way. The most basic position of all because these were basic feelings.

That wasn’t going to fly, though. Before he forgot himself, before he slid over to lie on her just like she wanted, he lifted his mouth, licked her behind the ear, then whispered into it. “Turn over.” His voice sounded cracked, as if he’d been screaming in the wind for hours.

“Turn over?” She didn’t understand. Yeah, it went against his instincts too. This first time of theirs should be wrapped in each other’s arms.

Before he changed his mind and did something stupid, he eased her gently over to her uninjured side. God, she was beautiful no matter what the angle. Narrow back, small waist, gently rounded hips. All pale ivory-colored skin, shiny blonde hair swirling around her shoulders. Her face was in profile as she turned to him.

“Metal?”

“Sh.” Metal fitted himself against her back. He was much taller than she was, her feet reached his shins.

He nudged that glorious pale fall of hair away from her neck with his nose. “It has to be this way. I don’t want to hurt you.”

Good. He had more control over his voice now, it sounded less cracked, less deranged. Maybe because he was very close to sliding into her and frustration wasn’t eating him up from the inside.

He licked the soft skin underneath her ear, kissed it, bit it. She shivered and sighed as he fit himself against her back, touching as much of her with as much of him as possible. No pressure on the wound, no pain, just pleasure.

He cupped her breast, rubbing his thumb over her hard little nipple and she shivered again. Pleasure, oh yeah.

He nipped her a little harder and growled against her ear. “This isn’t so bad, is it?”

She had goosebumps on her forearms. He only had one huge goosebump and it was poking her in the back.

“No, not bad at all.”

He pulled her even more closely to him, and slid his hand down between her legs. Yup, still wet, still soft. He pulled her leg up and hooked it over his and oh God, she was open to him. Completely open. He drew in a deep shuddering breath as he slid his fingers around her opening, sliding in and out. She felt like heaven, so incredibly soft. Her breathing speeded up and she put her hand over his.

With his mouth on her neck, Metal got a good look down her body and it was hands down the most erotic thing he’d ever seen. Her slender pale torso intersected by his tanned forearm, his hand disappearing between her legs and her artist’s long-fingered hand on his. His big hairy thigh between hers. Man.

He stroked deep inside her, soft and hot, and circled his thumb over her clitoris. Against the inside of his arm he could feel her stomach muscles pull just as she clenched around his finger. Again. Again. Again.

The leg thrown over his trembled.

It was time. He bit down a little on her earlobe, not enough to hurt, just enough for her to feel it. Sliding another finger into her he separated his fingers, holding her open, and fit himself against her. “Okay?” he whispered right against her ear and she nodded. He slid just a little inside. “More?”

“More.” It was like a whispered moan, as if she didn’t have the strength to say more.

He wanted her to feel everything. Reversing their hands, he put her hand down to where he was entering her, just barely inside, and pressed her hand against him.

He was torturing himself. The stimulus was almost too much. The soft heat of her where he penetrated and her hand around him where he was still outside.

She was shaking all over, her thigh over his, her hand under his. She clenched around him and softly exhaled. Holding her hand tightly against him, Metal tightened his buttocks and slide all the way inside her, exhaling heavily when he was solidly in.

He was shaking a little too. It was like sliding his dick into an electricial socket, this incrediblely exquisite painless shock. Metal held her hips still as he pulled slowly out, slid slowly back in. Felicity gave a little cry and he stopped, shocked.

“Did I hurt you?” He was careful not to touch the gauze or even near the wound. But in holding her hips had he pulled the stitches? God. He started pulling out when she slapped her hands over his.

“No!”

Metal froze, barely breathing. “No?”

She turned her head, kissed him on the cheek. “Don’t stop, please.” She shifted, pushed herself against him, pressing him more deeply inside her. “Don’t stop,” she repeated.

Fuck no. He wasn’t going to stop. If he wasn’t hurting her, if she was getting one billionth the pleasure out of this as he was…he couldn’t stop even if a gun were held to his head.

He was covered in sweat, a trickle ran down his shoulders onto his bed. “Honey…”

He stopped. She’d clenched around him at the word and a pulse of blood ran through his dick.

“Honey, I don’t think I can go slow. Not this time.” Maybe after the hundredth time, but not now. “I’m going to have to go fast but I don’t want to hurt you.”

She twisted her face so she could see him and smiled. She was flushed, blue eyes impossibly bright, mouth soft and red. He had a flash of that mouth on him, his dick pumping into her mouth and the image made him groan and swell even further. He pushed forward with his hips helplessly and it set her off.

“Oh!” She made a low, pleased sound.

“That’s it, honey,” he said, holding tightly. “Let go.”

Her eyes closed, her head tilted back against his shoulder and she started coming, clenching convulsively around him, hips undulating against him. He didn’t even dare move, breath held, as he watched her, watched his beautiful woman take pleasure from him. She shook, mouth open, tightening around his dick in powerful convulsions, twining her fingers around his, as if needing him to ground her.

He held himself still, letting her grind herself against him until she slowed, relaxed, glowing in his arms.

Now. Now it was his turn. Metal gripped her as hard as he dared, pulled almost all the way out, then slid back in, hard. Her breathing changed, speeded up again. He wasn’t hurting her, she was rocking back against him, moving in rhythm with him, small sounds of pleasure coming from her.

Metal thrust hard, thrust hard again and started coming when he felt her convulse around him again. He was known for his stamina but he simply lost all control when he felt her trembling on the edge and then falling back into orgasm, making soft panting sounds.

Too much. It was simply too much and he held her tightly against him as it all came roaring out of him in huge spurts so hard he hoped he wouldn’t punch through the condom. He was jerking and sweating, completely out of control, the relief of the orgasm nearly electric in its intensity.

He came and came, hips circling as he stayed inside her until finally the storm abated. His muscles relaxed and he embraced her, instead of holding on to her. He crossed his arms beneath her breasts, pulling his thighs up under hers until she was almost completely enfolded in his embrace.

He could feel her rapid heartbeat against his chest and knew she could probably feel his. Their hearts slowed at the same rate, like they were an organism with one heart.

“Whoa,” she finally said.

“I don’t have the energy to look at you,” he grumbled. “I hope that was whoa in the good sense.”

“Oh yeah.” Felicity folded her arms over his and settled even more deeply against him. God, it felt good. Not as good as the sex, but a real close second.

“Good,” he said and nudged her with his hips. “Let’s do it again.”

Her hair made a little rasping noise against the pillow as she shook her head. “I am so wiped out.”

Shit. He was still hopefully semi erect inside her and with any kind of encouragement he’d be ready for Round Two in about five minutes. It didn’t feel like he was a 38 year-old man. It felt like he was sixteen again. He remembered sixteen. The notion of ‘too much sex’ had been utterly foreign in his late teens.

He sighed and she laughed. He liked that feeling. Her laughing in his arms. He liked it a lot. He hooked his chin on her shoulder and kissed the side of her face. She smiled and looked at him over her shoulder. That was a very special kind of smile. He’d never actually seen it on her face. He liked that too. He liked everything that was happening.

His cell rang, spoiling the moment. He reached down, scrabbled, and pulled his cell out. He wasn’t answering unless it was Jacko or Midnight or Senior with news.

It wasn’t. It was a poker buddy looking to set something up for their regular last weekend of the month game. He cut off the ringing. He didn’t want to talk to anyone except Felicity or someone who had news about her situation.

“Gosh!” Felicity sat bolt upright in the bed, blankets around her waist. Metal’s hand itched to cup that perfect little breast. He reached out but was too late. She’d slid out of bed, grabbing one of his tees. It floated down onto her, hiding more or less everything he was interested in at the moment. “I forgot about my cell! I took the battery out two days ago.”

Metal frowned. “You can’t answer your cell. If this Lagoshin has any computer skills he’ll trace it.”

Felicity tugged on his tee until it covered her thighs and smiled gently at him. “This won’t be traced, guaranteed. But first I think I want to wash up. And before we, um—” she turned bright pink, which was fast becoming Metal’s favorite color. “Before. There was talk of food. Was that true or were you blowing smoke?”

“True, scout’s honor. And yes I was a scout.” Metal rose up on his elbow, full of hope. “Do you need help washing? Because I can give a hand, absolutely.”

She glanced at his groin where his dick was lengthening. “I think you want to give more than a hand. And thanks, but no. I’m good.”

She certainly was.

She disappeared into the bathroom, grabbing some clothes from the carryon Lauren had brought on the way.

Well, looked like sex was off the table, for now. But not for long. Metal contemplated a future in which the kind of sex he’d just had would be available, always. Wow. Days with Felicity, maybe working in the same office, seeing her. A lot. Nights with Felicity doing what they’d just done, only without the bandage getting in the way.

Honing his computer skills with her. Cooking for her. Maybe teaching her how to shoot. Watching TV together, going out together. Just being together.

Maybe that was in his future, in their future. It felt so good that a Felicity-less future seemed like a cold dark place. He couldn’t even contemplate it.

Having Felicity around made him feel…complete. Whole, in a way he hadn’t felt since his family had shattered. Being in the Navy, serving in the SEALs teams had helped. They’d become a surrogate family for him but it was a limited kind of family. Being with Felicity felt like something else entirely. He felt whole with her, a man with something close to him to defend.

He shook his head. Instead of philosophy he needed food. He pulled some focaccia out of the freezer, washed some lettuce and left it to drain while making a ham and cheese omelette. He made really good omelettes. He’d just flipped his—pretty spectacularly too, even if he did say so himself—when a disturbance in the Force made him turn around.

She was smiling at him, leaning against the doorframe, barefoot, unspeakably beautiful, dressed in another sweater and another set of yoga pants that would be easy to pull down. He’d buy her a hundred pair of yoga pants and they’d have sex everywhere.

That was his dick talking, which is what he usually listened to.

But something in his chest thumped hard when he saw her standing there, watching him with a half smile on her face. She was incredibly beautiful, yes. But intelligence shone out of her eyes, and humor too.

She didn’t have any of the complex ego issues beautiful women had. She wasn’t coy or vain and she didn’t play those female games he hated. It was incredibly easy being around her. She’d been wounded and hurt and she hadn’t complained, not once.

She was a keeper, definitely.

She pushed off from the door jamb and walked toward him. His clinical medic’s eyes noticed the high color in her face, the clear white of her eyes, her easy gait. His dick noticed the soft high breasts under the sweater—was she wearing a bra? God if she wasn’t wearing a bra he was a dead man because touching her breasts was really easy if the only thing he had to do was reach under the sweater. His dick also noticed the long slender legs under the loose material of the pants. His dick was really glad to see her.

He was glad to see her.

Sizzling and the smell of something burning…He turned the gas off just in time. Another few seconds and the omelette would be burned beyond eating.

Felicity smiled up at him. “A sex god and he cooks.”

A grin spread across his face. What his teammates would undoubtedly call a shit eating grin. “I have other tricks too.”

“That’s good to know.” She moved past him and started setting the table. “I’m starving and can’t think straight when I’m this hungry. But right after that I’m checking my emails.”

Metal slid the omelette onto a serving plate and dressed the salad. “Are you sure you can do that safely?”

She smiled secretively. “Yes. And I’ll teach you how to do it, too.”

“Sounds good.” More than good. Being able to check on email untraceably would be very useful. She probably used an IP mask, but those sometimes leaked.

She wasn’t joking when she said she was hungry. She ate elegantly but fast. Metal ate less elegantly but fast, too.

Felicity put down her fork. “I want to help clean up but right now I want to check my messages. I’ve been out of touch for days. I’ve never done that before.”

They moved into the living room where she set up her laptop. It was completely unlike any laptop Metal had ever seen. He had a Mac Air, shiny aluminum, lightweight. Hers was heavier, with a dull matte finish, a super clear screen and barely raised letters on the keyboard. He didn’t recognize anything when she powered it up. No familiar programs, no familiar chimes as programs came on. The screen was black then was lit with with brilliant icons he didn’t recognize, going from black to HD icons in less than a second.

“I’ve never seen a laptop like that before. What make is it?”

She was typing faster than he’d ever seen anyone type. The shallow keys allowed her fingers to float over the keyboard rather than keying in the letters.

“Not a make,” she said absently, almost totally absorbed. The bright colors of the screen reflected off her pale skin. “It’s a prototype, still in beta. There are probably around 100 of them in existence. Right now the market price would be about $50,000. Okay.” She sat back. “I have several own domain email addresses. One is the one I used with Lauren. It’s been a quiet few days, nothing particular. My work email—” her fingers blurred on the keyboard. “Hm. 400 messages.”

Metal paused with two mugs of coffee in his hand. “What? Four hundred messages?”

She shrugged, scrolling down fast. “I’m a freelance. I get a lot of offers of work. But I’m selective. They have to be interesting or pay well. Preferably both. Okay. Nothing that can’t wait. Now I have to check my cell.”

Alarmed, Metal stood behind her. If the bad guy was looking, and presumably he would be, her cell would ping somewhere where he could triangulate. Felicity knew what she was doing, but still.

But Felicity didn’t put the battery back in her cell. As a matter of fact she didn’t pull out her phone at all. Her fingers blurred again and then a list appeared.

“What did you just do?” Metal asked. If she’d replied summoned the cell phone fairies he wouldn’t have been surprised.

“I, um, accessed the cell phone service provider’s servers.”

“You mean hacked?”

“Okay, hacked.” She shrugged.

Man, she’d hacked into one of the nation’s largest cell phone providers in less time that it took him to take a sip of coffee. She was scary good. “Remind me to treat you extra special well.”

She smiled then frowned.

“What?” Metal leaned forward.

She swiveled in her chair to face him. “Several phone calls from Kay Hudson, Al Goodkind’s granddaughter. She rarely calls. She called four times in a couple of hours.” Her face pulled tight. “I hope nothing has happened to Al.”

“Al?”

“Al Goodkind. I guess you could call him my mentor. He’s a retired FBI Special Agent. I’m not too sure what the history is but I think he handled my father’s case before the Marshal’s Office took over. Whatever. He and my dad were friends, or as much friends as they could be considering the circumstances. He was like an uncle to me growing up. He’s the one who offered me the Felicity Ward name so I could start with a clean slate.”

“Are you in touch with him a lot?”

“I guess. We email or Zoom a couple of times a month. Why would his granddaughter be calling me? We’ve spoken just a few times and I’ve never actually met her.”

“Do you want to call from my cell? Or we can go buy a burner phone,” Metal offered.

“No.” Her fingers were blurring over the keyboard again. “Never go out when you can do something in the comfort of your own home. My motto.”

She pressed ‘enter’ and a phone started ringing. “VOIP. Untraceable. And to make sure, I ran it through Untrakr.”

Metal understood about half of that sentence, but he trusted Felicity.

“Hello?” a female voice said.

Felicity straightened in her seat. “Kay? This is Felicity.”

They heard a sigh of relief. “Felicity! I’ve been calling and calling!”

“I’ve. Uh, been out of town,” Felicity said. “Am still out of town. Sorry not to return your calls. Is something up? Something wrong with Al? Listen, can you videocall?”

“Yes, I can,” the woman said. An image blossomed on Felicity’s super sharp screen. A very pretty redhead in an airport terminal. In the background a robotic woman’s voice announced a flight to St Louis, departure immediate. “There. Is it working?”

“I see you.” Felicity pressed a button. “Do you see me? Are you at an airport?”

“Yeah, JFK.” She frowned. “Listen Felicity, I’ve been trying to call grandpa and he’s not answering his cell. We had a Zoom date last night and he missed it. He has never done that. He’s never been out of touch like this before. I know it’s early to be worried but this is just not like him.”

Felicity was frowning, too. “No, it’s not like him,” she agreed. “I’ve never known Al to miss an appointment of any kind.”

“I was hoping that he’d at least been in touch with you. I know you guys touch base. I’ve been out of the country and in places where there is very little cell reception, so I wasn’t worried that I didn’t hear from him. But I landed in New York last night and we had a Zoom date he didn’t keep. And he was supposed to meet me here today and he didn’t show up. I’m really worried.”

“Ask if she has contacted his neighbors,” Metal said in a low murmur. Whispers carried more than a low voice.

“Have you contacted the neighbors?”

“I only know one neighbor, a retired State Department officer. He rang grandpa’s bell but no one answered. He said the lights have been off for two days. Felicity, he just wouldn’t behave like this. I’ve booked a flight to DC and I’m going to go directly to his house.” She swallowed heavily. “God, I just hope I don’t find him?—”

Felicity now looked as worried as the woman. “Me, too. Listen call me when you get to Al’s place.”

All of this had Metal’s spidey sense tingling. He bent down to Felicity’s ear. “Can I talk to her?” he asked.

She looked up at him, startled. “Sure.”

Metal moved to where the screen’s camera could see him. “Hello, Ms. Hudson.”

The woman’s eyes rounded. “Who are you?”

“My name is Sean O’Brien,” he said. “I’m a friend of Felicity’s and I work for a security company. Felicity was attacked three days ago.” He nodded at Kay Hudon’s gasp. “We have no information at all who her attacker was but we can only assume he is still looking for her and he might contact people close to her. Ms. Hudson, do you know anyone in DC who could go with you to your grandfather’s house? Someone like a police officer or soldier?”

“No.” She shook her head. “Sorry.”

“Okay. Can we contact you in about ten minutes? What’s your flight number and when are you landing?”

She swallowed again. Metal understood exactly what she was going through. This was a new world for her, as if she’d plunged down a rabbit hole. By contrast, he realized that Felicity had lived with a subtext of intrigue and even violence all her life. She had never shown that moment of cognitive dissonance. Not once.

“Flight 4512. Landing at Reagan at 5:20.”

“Okay. We’ll contact you again immediately.”

She nodded and Felicity blanked the screen. “Okay, she’s deaf and blind but we’re still connected. What are you going to do?”

“Contact a friend in Washington. He’s FBI HRT and if he’s free, I’ll have him meet Hudson’s flight and accompany her. He owes me a big favor. If he can, he’ll do this. And if there’s any funny business he’ll know what to do.”

Felicity nodded. “Hostage Rescue. Yeah, he’ll definitely know what to do.”

Metal gave a half smile as he tapped a number on speed dial. “Nah. Not because he’s an FBI weenie. Because he’s a former SEAL. We were trained for everything.”

She smiled back. “Including leaping tall buildings in a single bound.”

He winked at her. “You got it, honey.”

“Hey.” Nick Mancino’s deep voice came on. Metal put his cell on speaker phone.

“Hey Nick, hozzit hanging?”

“Metal my man! To the left, as always. You?”

“That’s classified. Look, I’m putting you on video.” He held the cell so Felicity could see it too.

“Fine,” Nick answered then whistled. “Hey, who’s the babe?”

“Babe’s mine, Nick. Hands off. We have a situation here and we need your help.”

Nick’s grin disappeared and the operator came online. “Shoot. Anything you need, big guy. I owe you.”

Metal nodded and put his hand on Felicity’s shoulder. “This is Felicity Ward. She’s a freelance service provider for the FBI.”

Nick nodded. “Felicity. Any friend of Metal’s is a friend of mine.”

“Nick. Ditto.” Felicity hadn’t smiled at their banter. She was too worried about her friend.

“Nick, Felicity was attacked at the Portland airport. We haven’t found her attacker though we’ve been looking. It’s possible that the attack has something to do with Felicity’s family’s background. She’s friends with a retired FBI Special Agent, Al Goodkind.”

“I know Al,” Nick said. “He’s a good guy.”

“He is,” Felicity whispered. Her eyes were wet. She hadn’t cried for herself, not once. But at the thought of danger to her friend…

“Al seems to be missing. He had a Zoom appointment with his granddaughter which he missed. And he was supposed to meet her in New York today and he’s not there. His granddaughter is really worried and she’s catching a flight to DC right now. But we’re worried?—”

“You’re worried something might have happened to Goodkind and you don’t want her walking into trouble.” Nick’s face had changed completely. Felicity recognized that look from Metal and Jacko. And John and Douglas. “Gotcha.”

“Nick.” She leaned forward. “It’s probably nothing, but it is not like Al to miss an appointment, particularly with his granddaughter. I can’t think of anything that would make him do that. We’re—we’re really worried. Do you think you can go with her to Al’s place? It would make me feel a lot better. There’s something going on and I don’t want Kay to be caught in the middle of it.”

“No problem.” On the video feed he was shrugging on a jacket. “I was scheduled to run a training session but I can get a teammate to cover for me. Give me details.”

Metal gave him Kay’s name and phone number, the flight number and arrival time. “Thanks, Nick. I owe you one.”

“No,” Nick said. “You don’t. Al’s a friend. I’ll get in touch when we get to Al’s house. I’ll make sure his granddaughter is safe. I’d go by myself but she’ll know the house better. Catch you later, then.”

Felicity got Kay back online. “Kay, We’ve got an agent of the FBI coming to pick you up at the airport. I’m sending you a photo so you recognize him, but he’ll have his badge.”

“Why?” Kay looked frightened. “Do you think something has happened to my grandfather?”

“It’s just a precaution,” Metal said. “Trust me when I say your grandfather would want someone with you.”

“Okay.” She shifted her gaze to Felicity. “I’m scared something has happened to him.”

Felicity nodded. “We’ll know in a while. And if something has happened to him, the FBI will be on it right away. Let me know as soon as you get there what’s going on.”

Kay nodded and her image disappeared.

Metal put a hand on Felicity’s shoulder. “Nick’s really good. He’ll make sure Kay is safe.”

Felicity put her hand over his and shook her head. “I have a bad feeling about this, Metal.”