Bytes of Passion

Chapter 2

Teegan double-timed it to the cockpit, anything to get away from that wide-eyed beauty in the guest cabin. Running systems checks and adjusting his course setting would be the best distraction right now. She'd toyed with him enough already, and he'd found his self-control slipping when she mentioned bench-pressing her. Just the thought of putting his hands on her warm flesh and lifting her over him and then lowering her... positioning her right onto his... Hells, he was doing it again. Maybe by the time they reached Nova Station tomorrow he'd figure out what to do about her. She certainly didn't have the good sense to be scared of him. Sure he wasn't going to harm her, but she didn't know that. She was testing him, in more ways than one. Trying to make him angry to see what it would take for him to lose control was a risky game. He had half a mind to show her exactly that, except he admired her bravado.

At least she hadn't realized how she affected him. Her insults bounced off him easily enough, but those hazel eyes of hers drew him in like a siren's call, promising he'd enjoy what lay beneath the sassy exterior. As for her figure, after hauling her curvy ass over his shoulder he'd decided it best not to look too closely at those long legs or deliciously round breasts.

How was he going to turn her over to whoever had hired him? She was just a twenty-four-year-old woman, with basic self-defense skills and a knack for getting herself into trouble. Maybe she'd been kidnapped before at some point in life. That would explain her bravado. Or maybe it was all a front. People acted differently under stress. Denver from his old team had gotten squirrely just before every mission and ran laps naked. The base commander finally gave up trying to discipline him and merely asked him to run elsewhere.

But damn, when he'd agreed to kidnap Skylar, he hadn't expected her to be so cute and sexy. Even holding her hair back as she threw up hadn't turned him off. There was something about her that made him want to watch out for her, not turn her over to the lowlife who had hired him to kidnap her.

Her face showed every emotion, making her easy to read. She was innocent. He was fairly certain of that, at least in terms of criminal activity. What he'd read in her eyes and her body language told him there was nothing nefarious about her, though something was wrong, beyond the fact that someone had hired him to kidnap her.

What the hell did they want her for? He'd seen plenty of estates dripping with wealth and less security. There were a lot easier Ephrams out there, so why her? As for the Parsons, they weren't her real family despite how the job description referred to the couple as her parents. She wasn't exactly a prisoner either, not given that posh little set up she had at the estate. That was the odd part. What was she to them? Was being a family simply a façade the three of them had agreed to?

He couldn't help but think this kidnapping had more to do with the Parsons' illicit activities. One thing was clear; Skylar was smack dab in the middle of whatever was going on. Just how involved she was in the Goldsmith's activities had yet to be determined. His stomach turned at the thought that they'd turned her.

From what he'd read about her, she was a quick learner and a skilled hacker with minimal survival skills. And yet he couldn't forget that casual look on her face when she'd mentioned knifing him in his sleep. She'd been joking – at least he hoped she had been. Just the same, he'd keep her locked in her cabin for the night.

Teegan logged into his account and frowned at the memories the alias spurred. He should change the alias to something less distracting. Ah, there, a message from ByteMe, the person who'd hired him. The message confirmed the meeting location as the Topless Bar on level three, Nova Station at 1400 hours tomorrow. That gave him plenty of time to reach the station and scope the area before taking Skylar off the ship for the handoff.

He typed back instructions for payment to his account. Forty thousand credits. Half now, half on delivery. Gods, he hated this. He'd had a respectable career in the military once. He'd dressed, lived, fought as a soldier with clear duties and orders. Even when a mission went awry, the outcomes were predictable – most of the time. Now there was all this sneaking around, covert exchange of money and soon... handover a seemingly defenseless woman. One very delectable, and if his instincts were right, innocent woman.

He could handle dealing with the criminals, their guns, their egos and maniacal personalities, because quite frankly if one of them ended up dead, no one truly cared. But Skylar... he wanted to take her home, to tell her that her part was over and she could relax, but he still had no proof of whether she was helping the Goldsmiths as some suspected, or simply caught up in their web of illegal activities. If she were guilty, then he'd have no qualms about turning her over. But if she were innocent... he'd be risking her, all for a lead. Hell, he had no choice. He'd have to make his peace with it.

Second after he hit 'send', sealing the deal, money poured into his account. At least he wouldn't be lacking funds.