Chapter 1
Val
M y grip tightens around the edge of my desk, fingers aching and knuckles going white as I stare at the lines of code flashing across my screen. DAMN. The numbers and symbols blur together, taunting me. It’s not like me to miss something like this- nor is it like my team. Our security system is airtight.
It has to be.
Yet, here it is, a breach lurking in the shadows like a snake in the grass waiting to strike. Letting out a sigh, I roll my eyes, stomach twists, worry, and rage warring within. I don’t know what data, if anything, has been taken or how deep the damage goes.
A knock at the door startles me, still my eyes are glued to the screen. “Miss Hayes, do you need anything else before I head out?” Paige, my assistant, lingers in the doorway. Her voice is soft but professional.
There is no way I can let anyone know about this breach until I’ve got a better picture of what’s going on. Especially not when there is a strong possibility that the breach came from within my company.
“Leave the reports on my desk, and you can leave.” My voice is clipped and much harsher than I mean it to. I force myself to soften my gaze and glance up at Paige, offering her a small, forced smile.
She hesitates and steps forward placing a pile of paperwork onto my desk, “Have a good night then.” She says.
I nod, my eyes returning to the screen, and after a moment, Paige’s footsteps retreat. My chest tightens, the knots in my stomach twist and untwist. I lean back in my chair and roll my neck, feeling the familiar pull of exhaustion settling in.
This can’t be happening right now, not to me, not to SableTech. It’s every cyber security’s worst nightmare to be hacked and to have information stolen from them without raising any alarm bells. And as the CEO and Founder of SableTech, I could be living my worst nightmare.
The thought makes my skin prickle. Strange, this restless energy humming throughout my body. But it’s not just stress. There’s something else crawling beneath the surface of my skin, something else fluttering in my stomach and despite my efforts to ignore it all day, I haven’t been able to.
It’s like I’m wired wrong today.
After battling with myself for a while, I glance at the clock. Nearly eight. The office is ‘you can hear a pin drop’ quiet. Everyone else has gone home to live their lives, yet here I remain, making absolutely no progress on the hack.
Tears prick at the back of my eyes as my exhaustion gives way to frustration. At least no one is here to witness this moment of weakness. I do my best to refocus on my screen, trying to concentrate on what’s important here.
But, despite my best efforts, my mind keeps drifting back to the strange, undeniable ache pooling low in my belly. I try to push it away, but it claws its way back, demanding my attention.
I need air. I need to move. Anything to shake this discomfort off.
Without thinking I grab my coat and head out, enabling every security system we have on my way out. I don’t know where I’m going, I just start walking. The click of my heels propelling me forward.
Before I realize where I’ve gone, I’m outside of a bar a few blocks away from my office. The place I always wind up when the pressure gets to be too much. Tonight, I’m searching for something- maybe a drink, maybe something more…
God, I don’t even know what I want anymore.
By the time I push open the door, the noise and warmth from the bar hit me like a wall. The music pulses, thick and heavy, vibrating through the floor and into my bones. I find myself gulping down heavy breaths of air.
God, I feel like a thread pulled too tight, like I’m one small tug away from unraveling completely. I dig my heels into the floor where I stand as a moment of clarity washes over me, I better go home before I do something I regret.
But, as soon as that thought comes to me, it melts away the moment I see him.
He’s leaning against the bar, broad shoulders outlined in the dim light, the fabric of his shirt pulled tight across his muscled back. I’m drawn to him like a moth to a flame, and I can’t help but wonder if moths have the same sense of danger as I do right now.
I’m tugged nearer and nearer, even with the distinct feeling that this man might be my undoing. I don’t care.
This desire has nothing to do with logic or reason. The stirring deep in my gut, the tugging in my chest, the difficulty I have catching my breath, it’s primal. Raw.
This is stupid, so unbelievably stupid. I’m not the type to approach strange men in bars. I don’t do one-night stands, I don’t follow whims, and I definitely don’t let my body make decisions for me. But tonight… tonight feels different. Like the rules don’t apply.
My feet keep moving, I can’t seem to stop them carrying me across the room. The crowd parts around me like it knows I’m supposed to be here. Like they know where I’m meant to end up.
With each step I take, the buzzing in my veins intensifies. The strange heat that’s been simmering under my skin all day builds into something sharp and undeniable. I’m afraid that I will burst into flames and burn to dust here in this bar.
As soon as I am close enough that I can reach out and touch him, he turns, standing up straight, and his green eyes lock onto mine. The air crackles between us, and my breath catches in my throat.
He’s tall, taller than I imagined, easily over six feet. His messy light brown hair catches in the light, unveiling honeyed hues of rich gold surrounded by green. His eyes scan over me with a lazy sort of interest that feels like a challenge.
Under that gaze, I fight the urge to squeeze my thighs together, the pulsing thrum of energy now tantalizing me between them. He doesn’t smile, not really, but there’s a glint of something in his eyes.
Something almost like conquest. As though he already knows where this is headed, and yet I don’t even know his name.
For a second, I think about walking away from whatever this is. But the idea barely forms before he grins, and I’m mesmerized once again. It’s a slow, confident curl of his lips that sends a shock of heat straight to my core. I’ve never seen a more delicious man in my life.
“Buy you a drink?” he asks, with his voice low that vibrates through me like the bass of the music, and that voice does things to me I don’t have the capacity to understand right now.
It somehow knows how much I want this. Want him.
I nod yes, my lips parting slightly, but no words come out. His left eyebrow flickers upward, and his grin widens as if amused by me. Amused by what he’s already doing to me.
What the hell is happening?
Before I know how it even occurred, we are dancing, bodies pressed close in the dim light with scarcely the hint of a word shared between us.
His hand on my waist. His fingers brushing the bare skin at the small of my back. All I can feel is him. All I want to feel is him.
Every time he touches me, it’s like he’s lighting a fuse inside me that’s been smoldering all day.
His hand traces the line of my spine. I shudder under his touch, something deep inside me unraveling, piece by piece. His breath is hot against my ear, and when he pulls me closer, my body reacts without hesitation. I want him. No, I need him.
By the end of the night, my skin hums with electricity, my thoughts are tangled and frayed. I don’t even pretend to resist as he grabs my hand and leads me out of the bar. The night air hits us, cool against my flushed skin, but it does nothing to cool the fire burning through me.
We barely make it through my front door before his mouth is on mine, rough, demanding. It’s not sweet or gentle but wild, like we’re both on the edge of something we can’t control.
And God, I don’t want to control it. Not tonight.
Our bodies move together as though they were made to work in unison. His big hands send uncontrollable pulses of desire through me as they map out every inch of me like he’s mentally recording every detail, not wanting to forget a single curve or bump.
Aching pulses between my legs, and were I not completely breathless, I’d beg him not to keep me waiting. Beg him, God, this is so unlike me. I want to scold myself, but right now, I truly don’t give a damn.
And the moment he slides inside of me, all thoughts beyond the recognition of pure ecstasy dissipate. All there is-is him, this nameless man with whom I’ve lost myself. The way he fills me up like no one ever has before or probably ever will again, is like a fantasy.
His hips thrust, and I grind into him in perfect timing. This otherworldly force magnetizes us together, and our bodies are like puzzle pieces meant to connect. His breath is hot against my throat as the tip of his tongue flicks up from my collarbone to my jaw before his lips find their way to mine again.
A gasp escapes my lips in the brief moment our lips disconnect, as his thumb rubs careful circles over my clit. The pressure mounting. Pleasure blinds me until both of us are screaming out, my walls clamping down over him as he pulses.
Exhaustion closely follows the release. My eyelids heavy as he traces circles on my back lulling me into a deep, restful, sleep.
By the time I wake up, he’s gone.
And I’m left wanting more.
My mind is anywhere but on the screen in front of me. I sit in my office, trying to focus on the mess of code I’m seeing, trying to piece together how my system was breached.
And yet, despite the severity of this situation, I can’t stop my thoughts from traveling back in time to last night.
I still feel the ghost of his touch on my skin, the heat that hasn’t left me since last night’s pleasures. It’s messing with my mind.
My fingers hover over the keys, but they don’t reach them. The green eyes of my bed partner burns into my memory and the way they locked onto mine like he could see every part of me that I keep hidden.
I bite my lip.
Focus, Val.
The tension in my body refuses to ease.
Then a dull rumble shakes the floor under my feet.
My pulse spikes. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. It comes again, louder and harder. The windows rattle in their frames, and a low vibration hums through the walls.
The floor shakes violently beneath me. I stumble back from the window. My heart pounding wildly in my chest. In an instant, the world goes sideways.
A roar splits the air.
I barely register the shockwave before it slams into me, knocking me off my feet.
“Shit!”
I push myself back up to stand, through the haze of dust and debris, adrenaline floods my veins. My body snaps into action before my mind can process the situation. I shove the door open and stagger into the hallway, where smoke is beginning to seep through the cracks in the walls.
The air is thick with the acrid scent of burning insulation, and panic flares in my chest, but I shove it down. Now is not the time to lose control.
They didn’t get to the main building, but judging by where the blast came from, they were aiming for one of our server rooms underground. Fuck.
“Everyone out! Now!” I can hardly hear my own shouts over the ringing in my ears as I dash down the halls. People are already pouring out of their offices, wide-eyed and disoriented.
“Down the stairs! Move!” I call out, ushering people toward the emergency exit.
I spot Paige huddled near the reception desk. She’s clutching her phone. “Paige, let’s go!” I snap, pulling her to her feet. She nods, dazed but obedient, and we move toward the stairwell.
More people rush past us crying, dazed, yelling ‘I love yous’ into their phones.
Once I’m sure the last person has descended the stairs, I glance back toward my office. Every instinct screams at me to leave, to get the hell out, but I can’t. Not yet.
This bombing isn’t a coincidence. It has to be connected to the data breach.
My fingers curl into fists as I turn and race back to my office, my mind snapping into problem-solving mode, and all traces of distraction blasted away.
How did they slip past our detection systems? SableTech is supposed to be impenetrable.
Whomever did this knew exactly what they were doing.
I wait for another rumble, but it doesn’t come.
Sirens wail all around me as I type furiously, bypassing the damaged network systems to run a quick forensic check. There’s not much time, but I need to know what kind of invading tech we’re dealing with.
The initial analysis pings back at me, confirming my worst suspicion: this bomb was designed to bypass standard detection systems. Advanced tech, too sophisticated for your average hacker. I glance out the shattered window. Whoever did this didn’t just want to hurt us. They wanted to send a message.
And I’m going to find out who.