Page 60 of Rescuing Ally: Part 1
“Whatever you want. Your wish is my command.” I look at him through my lashes, enjoying this game between us. “Set the price. I’ll pay it.”
“Fuuuuck, I think I just came in my jeans.” Gabe shakes his head. “You should not be saying stuff like that.”
“Like what?” I innocently bat my lashes at him, knowing I’ve got him. He’s hot and bothered, and from the bulge in his jeans, he’s very hard, long, thick, and aroused.
Gabe and Hank exchange a loaded glance that makes my skin tingle.
“We don’t have time forthat,and there’s no way I’m ruining dinner.”Hank shakes his head with a chuckle. “Just give her a kiss and hand over the drive. We’ve got all evening to make her beg.”
“Fine.” A disgruntled Gabe taps his cheek. “I’ll take a peck on the cheek.”
I do one better than that.
I rise onto my toes, sliding my hands up thesolid expanse of Gabe’s chest before looping my arms around his neck. His smirk falters as I pull him down to meet me.
I don’t just brush a kiss across his cheek—I claim his mouth. Soft at first, teasing, coaxing, but when his breath hitches, I deepen it, pressing my body flush against his. A low sound rumbles in his chest, vibrating against me as his fingers tighten around the USB. For a moment, I wonder if he’ll make me work for it. If he’ll refuse to let my USB go to prolong the kiss.
His lips part beneath mine, his heat wrapping around me like a second skin. The kiss stretches, slow and unhurried, each drag of his mouth against mine pushing the tension between us higher. His grip on the drive tightens before—finally—he releases it, slipping it into my palm as if surrendering something far greater than a simple piece of plastic and metal.
I pull back, savoring the dark intensity smoldering in his gaze.
“Satisfied?” My voice is a little too breathless.
“For now,” he murmurs, his thumb dragging slowly across my lower lip before he steps back, his smirk returning. “But I’m gonna need more than that next time.”
I settle back onto the barstool, powering up my laptop while dinner preparations continue around me. The computer fires up immediately—at least my father kept it charged while I was gone.
“You’re eager,” Hank comments, stirring the pasta sauce.
“It’s been too long since I’ve had access to my work.” My fingers hover eagerly over the keyboard. “Dr. Whittman wants me to take a few months before returning to work. Says I need time to decompress before I can defend my doctoral thesis.” I let out a small laugh. “But I need to dive back in, dust off the cobwebs, get my mind back into the equations.”
I look up at them both, feeling safe enough to share more. “And there’s something else too—a little side project I was working on. Somethingtheydidn’t know about.”
“Oh?” Gabe slides onto the stool beside me, close enough that I can feel his warmth.
I insert the USB drive, watching as the computer recognizes it. “As you know, Malfor had us working on the fusion reactor, whichwe almost got operational before that whole explosion when you guys swooped in and rescued us.”
“Yes, what kind of side project?” Hank asks, turning from the stove with a furrowed brow.
“We were doing everything we could to delay implementation,” I explain, opening the first folder on the drive. “But the knowledge is out there. It’s only a matter of time now—it’s just a race between whether Malfor and his agents build one first or someone else does.” I pause, scrolling through files. “Hopefully, someone else does.”
“Why is that important?” Gabe asks, leaning in closer.
“Because they weren’t just trying to do a proof of concept,” I say, my voice dropping slightly. “They were clearly interested in more than a working fusion reactor. They were looking at rapid implementation, and from some conversations I overheard, they had specific plans for it.”
“What do you mean by that?” Hank asks, setting down his spoon.
“They were planning to control who gets power and who doesn’t,” I explain, finding the file I was looking for. “Imagine having your hand on the world’s energy switch. Great way to disrupt the global economy. Malfor is insane, but he’s wickedly smart. He scares me.”
Hank exchanges a glance with Gabe. “Ally, did you meet Malfor? Did you talk with him?”
“He never came to the facility.” I shake my head. “But there were a lot of video conferences we had to attend. He was always on those, demanding updates daily, sometimes more often.” I open another file, satisfied to see my hidden work intact. “That’s why I started my little side project—to thwart his plans.”
I begin opening files, checking that my equations and models are intact. Everything seems to be there—my modifications to their designs, the subtle flaws I introduced into our work on the reactor, calculations and my own hidden work.
“All there?” Gabe asks, leaning closer to see the screen.
“Looks like it.” Relief floods through me as Iopen document after document. “I’ll do a more thorough check after dinner, but it seems like everything survived.”
