Virtually His (24 page)

“These walls have ears,” Armando acknowledged softly.

“So you can whisper into mine,” she retorted.

“I love an innovative woman. Where would you like to meet?”

“Any suggestion?”

“Room 18.”

She tried to remember what that was. “The interrogation observation room? Why?”

“Because there are no cameras there.”

“I don’t have the clearance.”

“Silly child. Do you need one with me?”

“All right. When? Now, I hope.”

“Would I keep the princess waiting? Of course not. I wouldn’t miss this for the world. Here’s a special code when you’re asked by the gatekeeper.”

He gave it to her before clicking off, leaving Helen to stare down at the intercom speaker. That man was too damn cryptic. He had something up his sleeve. Dammit, now he had her using clichés, too.

She went to the computer panel in the wall and used her security code to access the COMCEN map. She typed in Room 18 and studied the directions that came up on the screen.

She had never been to the interrogation sector before. That hadn’t been part of her training, not yet anyway. Interrogation was something behind-the-scenes that all Intel agencies tended to hide from even their own.

As a contract agent, this part of the shadowy world of cloak and daggers hadn’t really concerned her before. She had been trained by GEM to resist certain interrogation techniques, but had been fortunate so far. She had been in danger a few times more than she’d cared for, but had never been forced to give information.

By the time she reached the level where Room 18 was located, she was definitely feeling more than a niggle of pain. She smothered a yawn. That was the first indication her body was coming back to normal. Which was good, wasn’t it? She felt the bottle of painkillers Dr. Kirkland had given her in her pocket.

At the buzz and command of the electronic voice, she keyed in the code Armando Chang had given her. The doors slid open. Armando was standing there waiting, leaning against the wall, arms and legs lazily crossed, scruffy black T-shirt untucked from his black jeans.

“You look tired already,” he said, his eyes keenly studying her face as he straightened from his lazy stance. “It’s almost here.”

“What’s almost here?” she asked.

“The reckoning.”

Helen rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. You don’t let up with the act, do you?”

“And the act is?” he asked as he turned to walk down the corridor. “How’s the leg?”

“The leg’s fine.” Helen followed. “I meant the vampire act. The reckoning. You make me sound like I’m going to undergo a gothic horror change any minute now and will turn into the undead.”

Armando slid an amused glance in her direction. A small smile played on his lips. “That’s why I like you, Helen. You’re funny and scary at the same time.”

“
I
am funny and scary? Haha. Have you looked in the mirror lately?” Hell mocked back.

“Oh yes. Mirror, mirror on the wall, I say, and you know what? It answers back sometimes.”

She darted a quick look back at him. Sometimes, she wasn’t sure whether he was serious or not. “And what does it say?” she asked casually.

“Here’s Room 18.”

Armando pressed some buttons and the door unlocked with a click. It was dark inside. The only source of light was from the two-way mirror, coming through from the other side of the observation room. Helen stared at the scene for a long moment.

“That’s Heath with one of the Cummings,” she said.

“The female half. Caught by our Number Nine. Unfortunately, her husband escaped and we want him here, too.”

There was no sound coming in from the other side, even though Heath was speaking. He looked different, somehow, from when she’d met him in the truck. Then he turned and looked in their direction for a second. Helen blinked. His eyes—they were so cold compared to that melting puppy-dog gaze to which she’d been introduced earlier.

“Want to turn up the volume?” Armando asked.

She would love to hear what was being said but that wasn’t why she was here. Armando first. Then, if there was time, Heath. And Jed—she wanted to know whether her mistake had cost him his target.

She shook her head. “I’m feeling more tired by the minute. I want to talk to you first, Chang. And please be as pithy as you can because I really, really don’t want to fall asleep at your most interesting revelations.”

She pulled out the bottle in her pocket and poured out two capsules. She popped them into her mouth.

Armando chuckled. “There’s a certain irony here, I think, to be interrogated at the interrogation sector. There’s a water fountain to your left.”

“No doubt you’re doing this on purpose to amuse yourself,” Helen noted, as she went to get herself a drink.

“That, too, but I was serious about the cameras. You don’t want your downtime to be recorded by the COMCEN cameras, do you? It’ll be studied by every medical intern in the facility.”

“What, they’ve never seen a woman fall asleep before? Or are you suggesting I’m really going to change into a vampire of sorts?” Helen joked, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. There was a short silence. She sniffed and added, “Come on, Chang. I need info here. What happens next?”

He sighed. “It’s almost here,” he whispered. “Just don’t fight it when it comes and it’ll be less so.”

“When what comes, and less what?” she asked impatiently.

“I don’t know for you. Besides the pain and sleepiness, I mean,” Armando said. “The drug inhibits and when it stops inhibiting, your brain tries to double everything it thinks your body is missing. There’s a chemistry imbalance and wham! You’re in a lot of trouble.”

Helen frowned. She turned and watched Heath touch the face of the woman he was interviewing. “Is he trying to seduce her?” she asked. “I don’t think that’ll work when the woman is worried about her husband, you know.”

Armando glanced at the couple for a few moments. “All information has a price. All traitors have a price. She might give her body up for freedom. And if she does, what else would she give up? Maybe the possible location of her husband?”

“And that’s what Heath does? He seduces prisoners?” Helen asked slowly.

“Not necessarily. He likes to play with their minds. Everything’s an illusion, as usual.”

She was mesmerized by Heath’s hands. They were massaging the woman’s head now. Boy, that would feel good on her at this moment; she was beginning to have a slight tension headache. What was he saying to her? His hand went lower and unzipped the back of the woman’s dress. Because the woman’s back was toward her, Hell couldn’t see her expression—what was she thinking? She wasn’t fighting him. If it were her, she’d be kicking Heath’s ass. But those hands. He was massaging the back of the woman’s neck now. That
would
feel so good. She thought about Hades massaging her neck in a similar way when she was tense. That led her to thinking about Hades’ hands, which wasn’t good, because that further led her to think about what Hades’ hand had done to her…

“Helen,” Armando’s voice cut in. “Look at me.”

She did, startled that she had forgotten he was there. “What?”

“How long has it been since you had sex?”

“What?” she asked again, not sure why he was bringing that up.

“Because what Heath’s doing to that woman is turning you on plenty, so much so you have the horniest look on your face. I know when a woman’s longing for some pleasure.”

“What?” She felt stupid but that was all she could say at the moment. “What are you talking about?”

“Answer me first, how long since you had sex? Because if it’s been a while, your body chemistry is just about to overcompensate your needs. Let me demonstrate.” Armando moved closer. He reached out in the semidarkness and trailed a hand up Helen’s thigh. At the small gasp she let out, he nodded. “You see? You’re sensitive to my touch.” He came even closer and added, “That’s your reckoning, my dear, which is a lot better than mine.”

“I…don’t know…what you’re talking…about,” Helen said obstinately. But she suddenly felt flushed with fever.

“I’ll prove it to you,” Armando said, and kissed her.

Helen burst into flame. Or at least, that was how it felt. Every sense zeroed in on the touch of his lips moving against hers. It was as if she had been cold for a very long time and had now found a source of heat.

She opened her mouth and kissed him back. His tongue danced with hers sensuously and he moved even closer, his hands on her hips, pulling her hard against his body. She twined her arms around his neck, dug her fingers in that long hair, desperately pulling him even nearer. The heat surrounded her, softening the edge of the tension headache, and she gave in to the tactile pleasure of his caresses for a few minutes.

It didn’t feel right—wanting a man so desperately so suddenly—but she found she had no control at all. She wanted the kiss to go on; she wanted to feel him hard against her. She wanted that heat that was spreading like slow hot lava inside her, moving downward, following his hands as they squeezed her buttocks lightly, as they moved down some more to part her legs. Everywhere he touched, the heat stayed and grew.

Armando broke off the kiss. “I want you,” he said thickly, “but is this what you want?”

All Helen wanted was his lips back where they were. “I feel hot all over. Kiss me some more,” she demanded.

He sighed. “I was right, wasn’t I? You haven’t had sex in a long time.” His slow sinuous caresses stopped, even though he still held her against his body. She could feel him hard and hot against her lower stomach. “We could continue, Hell. I’d be too happy to oblige you, but you might not be a happy camper when it’s over, especially if you have a boyfriend.”

“Why?” She could barely think, even though logic was telling her that she shouldn’t be feeling like this so suddenly. All she wanted—she struggled with the urge to reach down to touch him—was to find out whether that part burning against her was really that sizzling hot. “Armando, how do I stop this?”

“I don’t know. When your body decides it’s back in balance, I guess.”

“What do you do when it happens to you?” She pulled away from him and his hands dropped, freeing her. She wrapped her arms around herself, the loss of heat almost unbearable. She had expected pain, but this—she was totally flummoxed. “Is that why you don’t tell the medics what’s happening to you? That you get to feel like this, that all you want to do is…is…”

Helen waved her hand impatiently. Saying it crudely was too close to the truth. He was right. She would really be mad at herself if she let this control her.

Armando shook his head. “I told you, the serum is different for everyone. I don’t go through what you’re experiencing, Hell. I have…normal male needs. I suffer from…” He shook his head again. “Regardless, it’s pretty obvious what you suffer from. Like I said, I’m happy to oblige.”

“No, thanks,” Helen said, licking her lips, desperately trying to ignore how sensitive they felt. “I think I’d better cut this meeting short before I—”

She glanced over at the two-way mirror and was surprised to see the room on the other side empty. Had she been so lost in one kiss that she didn’t see two people leaving a room? That shocked her, that she could be distracted so easily.

“When did they leave?” she wondered aloud.

“Five or ten minutes after we started,” Armando replied. He hadn’t attempted to come closer to her again. “You weren’t paying attention. I like that. And if you don’t leave very soon, I’m going to have to seduce you. Then Alice in Wonderland is going to be all grown up by the time I’m done with you.”

“Armando, you’re a jerk. A really sexy jerk at the moment but still a jerk,” Helen told him.

“And turning you on, nonetheless. What a pity about honor and all that. I really need to learn to overcome that problem.” He sighed again. “Better go, Hell. We’ll talk again when you’ve slept this off.”

Sleep this off? He had to be kidding, right? Sleep was the furthest thing from her mind right now. “Okay, since you won’t tell me what your reckoning, or whatever that term you used, is, at least tell me how you deal with it. Besides going to Dr. Kirkland. I really don’t feel like telling him I’m in this state.”

“Kiss me and I’ll tell you what I do.”

He truly was a bastard. “You’re trying to make me lose control,” she accused. “I thought you were being honorable.”

“It’s good to know the new anointed toy has weaknesses,” Armando whispered. He took a few steps toward her. “Besides, I’m constantly fighting this honor thing. Most inconvenient. One kiss and I’ll tell you my secret.”

“Tell me now and I’ll kiss you,” Helen said. Never trust jerks. “That way, I’ll know you’ve kept the bargain.”

“Okay, I’ll play along. My secret is simple.” His hands came up and trapped her face between them. He kissed her softly once, his tongue tracing a fiery path from her lips to her neck. Helen bit her lips to stop the moan that threatened to escape, as she fought to pay attention to his words. He was speaking deliberately softly, playing with her senses. He bit her earlobe as he whispered, “It’s illusion, remember? When I feel my pain, I go back to the source of my illusion. Where’s yours, Helen? Where do you go where you can sort of disappear for a while, where you can get your satisfaction by tricking your brain?”

The CAVE. She had to go to the CAVE and…

“Are you him?” she asked, closing her eyes, wanting the heat to go on.

“I can be him if you want me to.” His lips were close to hers again and tempting, very tempting.

She shook her head. Hades would have had her stripped naked here by now without any qualms. He had no honor. Armando Chang wasn’t Hades.

This time Armando’s kiss was firmer, more demanding. She couldn’t help herself. She kissed him back. Each stroke of his tongue sent trills of pleasure down her spine. She didn’t object when he pulled her closer again, his hands roaming her back freely, pulling her shirt out of her pants.

Okay, so the man had limited honor. For some reason, he’d changed his mind and was now intending to continue with his earlier seduction. His hands touched her bare skin and she almost screamed at the heat enveloping her. Hands—Hades touching her—now is
not
the time to think about Hades’ hands, girl. It was too late. Heat and desire, all mixed up with the memory of Hades’ hands in her pants, giving her what she needed. She wanted to take her clothes off. She had to leave before…