The Midnight Hour - Brenda Jackson [103]
Tori licked her bottom lip nervously then said, "Okay, I'll spy on your wildlife with you," knowing as she said the words that she was probably making a big mistake. "So you're into modern technology these days?" she asked, curiously. She didn't recall him having such an interest before.
He smiled over at her. "Sort of. I got interested when F had a lot of free time on my hands after that Haiti mission. Because of what happened, the top brass in the Marine Corps felt I needed at least six months off to get myself back together. During that time I distracted myself by doing things with my hands. Roy is a whiz with technology and on his days off he came around and helped me set things up."
A short while later they finished eating and cleaned u» the kitchen together. Tori was surprised at how quickly he had gotten over being upset that she had forced her way into coming here. In fact it seemed that her presence was not bothering him at all.
"Ready?"
Tori looked up at him and nodded, but she doubted if sha would ever be fully ready for Drake Warren. "Yes, I'm ready," she replied, unable to calm the rapid and intense thump of her heartbeat.
"Watch your step on your way down."
"All right."
Before she could recover from his closeness, he took her hand in his. His touch immediately sent a sexual current radiating through her that she felt all the way to her toes. She glanced up at him and knew he had felt it, too. But he didn't say anything as he led her out of the kitchen toward the hall that went to the basement.
He stood back and let her go down the stairs before him.
The moment her foot touched the last step she gazed around, impressed at what she saw. It looked like a miniature security control room that contained a computer, several television screens and some sort of state-of-the-art control panel. All of the screens were turned on and were showing different areas of his land. Although it was nighttime, the moon's glow provided more than sufficient light to see certain areas.
She took a deep breath. This particular room must have been where he spent most of his time whenever he came home. It was set up like a mini-apartment with a small refrigerator and microwave on one side of the spacious room, a table with chairs and a love seat as well as a double bed on the other side. She tried not to concentrate too long on the bed. Like the one she had been sleeping in, it looked just the right size for two people.
"This is quite a setup," she managed to say when she heard him come to stand directly behind her.
"Yes, and using it to deal with Cross will give us an advantage. Nothing and no one can penetrate Warren Mountains without me knowing about it."
His use of the word penetrate caused another image to fill Tori's mind. She would never forget their first time together and how after kissing her senseless, not to mention the way he had nibbled and licked her to sweet oblivion,getting her unbelievably wet, he had slid his hips between her spread thighs, teasing her with a rubbing motion of his body over hers, making her moan and groan till she thought her throat would go raw, before he had finally given her what she'd wanted and entered her, penetrating deep into her virginal core and introducing her to the most wild and erotic lovemaking of her life. All of their mating sessions after that only got better.
Tori fought to steady her pulse, forcing that memory away as well as the others that wanted to follow. Stepping back she watched as he took a step forward and moved toward the first screen.
"This shows the north section of my property. This camera is well-hidden high in the trees with a scanner." He chuckled. "It frustrated the hell out of the squirrels when they discovered it wasn't a huge nut they could carry off somewhere to save for winter."
Tori smiled. "I'm sure it must have been frustrating to^ find that out," she said, trying not to look directly into Drake's eyes. She glanced at another screen and her smile widened.