Secret Fantasies Read online

  “That was a long time ago,” she said softly, but loud enough for him to hear her, even though he was sitting practically with his legs grazing hers. “You have an older collection of the holo-zines, I take it?” Phoebe continued.

  All the while, her fingers nimbly continued to type, as she carefully and thoroughly flicked through screen after screen of data. Years of practice had her assimilating the data and information the databases and assorted flight codes whizzed past her screen.

  Professional that she was, she easily chatted to the sexy man beside her as she highlighted notes and continued to search every virtual nook and cranny for other tidbits of information they sought.

  “Not particularly,” he replied, his voice husky. Phoebe felt a shiver run up her spine at the innate sexiness and sensual promise in the deep voice that practically caressed her neck. “It’s just very hard to forget one of your warmest and fondest fantasies, not to mention that pale, straw-blonde hair and those purple eyes once one has seen them.”

  Phoebe smiled wryly, casting a glance at the man who sat next to her.

  “Hey,” he said cheerfully, raising his hands in self-defense. “Much like any number of men, I spent more than my fair share fantasizing over that particular spread. I do have to admit, who you are didn’t click straightaway.”

  Phoebe snorted in disbelief. Apparently Michael was more than savvy enough to understand her nonverbal response. She didn’t think he was feeding her a line, but in the months following that cover spread, she had barely been able to move in public without being propositioned by almost every man from twelve to a hundred and twenty.

  She had never regretted the enormous coverage and prestige in the shoot, but she had grown quickly and heartily sick of the masculine response to it.

  Michael lowered his voice, the depth and feeling in his tone causing her to shiver. He turned his head so it looked like he was surveying the readouts on her holo-screen, when in fact he was whispering seductively, teasingly in her ear.

  “Or I didn’t recognize you until you were astride me,” he said, making the faint dampness in her panties flow like a molten river.

  Phoebe felt her eyes unfocus as memories of the night before, very poorly suppressed, leapt forth and inundated her with sensual images.

  “You cupped yourself,” he continued, reminding her of how wanton and hungry they’d been for each other, “much the same as you were in the shoot. I’d fantasized any number of times of having you like that, astride me, flushed with hunger and satiation. It hit me then, how you were no ordinary ‘Phoebe’, but the Phoebe Blenti, Miss July and pinup extraordinaire.”

  Phoebe felt her heart hammering, a kernel of disappointment inside her chest until the rest of his words penetrated her mind.

  “Of course, by that stage I was too far gone to care if you were Miss July, or some ravenous escaped convict. I needed and wanted you more than I’d wanted any woman before. I wasn’t grateful I knew exactly who you were until I woke up the following morning. Alone.”

  Phoebe stopped her nodding at the strong note of censure in Michael’s voice. She looked up hastily, glancing around to check no one was loitering near her stall or close enough to have overheard Michael’s heated confession, or his condemnation of her actions the following morning.

  Stunningly, Phoebe recalled thinking that night when she had posed on top of him, that there had been a flash of recognition in his eyes. Later she had brushed it aside, assumed she’d been wrong, particularly when he had said nothing. How could she have forgotten that?

  “So what are you really needing?” she whispered, wanting to cut as much of the game playing as possible. It also, she wryly admitted, circumnavigated the issue of her leaving without waking him up.

  “I really am searching for my father,” Michael said easily, so easily Phoebe knew he told the truth. Besides, he might possibly have been able to bullshit her, but no one could bullshit Brownridge.

  Phoebe shrugged and returned to typing on the console.

  “I want to make sure Gavreel’s trip will be safe and uneventful,” Michael continued, and Phoebe felt a measure of respect sear through her at his genuine caring for his father. “Even so, I also have a feeling I will need to go out and chase after him. That’s where you come in, sweetheart. I need someone to help me get there.”

  Phoebe frowned, partially at the endearing term, but more at the rogue thought that crossed her mind on his proclamation of needing her to come with him to Klampor. “Surely you have a ship license?” she asked disbelievingly. She frowned as she realized she trusted him not to lie, and wondered where that level of belief in Michael came from. Surprisingly, she didn’t feel anger or deceived when he nodded at her.

  “Of course I have a license, but only for small crafts,” he said without the least bit of guilt or defensiveness. “But previous to coming here, I had no idea where Klampor was, had no indication of just how long this trip would be and whether I was licensed correctly for it.”

  Phoebe smiled at the bland, almost disgustingly innocent manner in which Michael spoke. She knew he was being truthful, but she had a sneaking suspicion it played perfectly into his plans at the same time.

  “It just appeared to be simpler all around to come out here and request the specialized skills of someone like you to help me and lead the way,” Michael continued, a grin breaking through the serious and oh-so-innocent expression on his face.

  Phoebe laughed, quickly collecting herself back under control, and shot a wry smile to the man seated so casually next to her. She turned to face him properly, to shoot him a solid, hard question.

  “Easier?” she said, keeping her voice lowered just in case her earlier laugh had gathered the attention of some of her co-workers nearby. “Or more like the feeling of Providence handing you a gift, taking it and running as far as you can with it?”

  Phoebe felt her heart flutter as Michael smiled, his face seeming angelic in its stunning beauty. Damn. She tried to keep her raging hormones under control. How can one man’s beauty turn my insides to mush so often and so easily?

  “Both,” Michael said roguishly, his confession not upsetting her and instead making her chuckle. He joined in with her and they both enjoyed a quiet laugh at themselves.

  Phoebe shook her head and turned back to the holo-screen in front of her, shaking some starch into her back and purposely pulling her work façade down over her face, needing to be cool, calm and professional. Usually it wasn’t even necessary for her to chide herself, the mask came down easily. Today, however, she more than struggled, she didn’t even know if she succeeded or not.

  “Does everything always work this smoothly for you?” she asked, intrigued to learn if Michael was blessed or something, always having everything fall so easily into his lap.

  She shook herself, grateful all the information flashing across the holo-screen would be saved, collected and neatly arranged however she chose to see fit. With so much of her mind concentrating and focusing on Michael, she couldn’t have sworn to her retention of the facts and data, and even that was embarrassingly unusual for her.

  Determined not to lose her mind completely, she tried to focus more on the readouts flashing before her eyes.

  “Not always, no,” Michael stated humbly, or what she assumed was humble for him. She smiled to herself as she continued to watch the holo-screen. “But when something is this important…” Phoebe glanced at him as he smiled wryly and shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t know, Phoebe, everything always just seems to work out, yes. Haven’t you found the same?”

  Phoebe let her eyes glaze for a moment, remembering her huge rise up the modeling world, and then falling into the merc world afterward. She wrinkled her nose slightly and nodded. Somehow, yeah, things always did seem to turn out. Sure, the path might be hard, or bumpy, or both, she justified to herself, but Michael had a point. When push came to shove, and she really needed a break, things usually just tended to fall into place. Much as he said.

 
; “Yeah,” she said softly, taking a deep breath and forcing her attention back to the information she sought.

  “Sometimes feels rather like fate has me marked for something, that’s for sure. I make my own choices and decisions, but somehow it often feels rather like even my own free will is moving in whatever direction fate has in store for me.”

  Instead of instantly agreeing or denying, Phoebe noticed Michael remained silent, looking at her, and then turned his attention back to the screen. He smiled slightly, but thankfully, didn’t say anything.

  They both lapsed into a companionable silence as she went back to work.

  Chapter Six

  Vasili had never felt so incongruous standing inside the Book Nook. He watched with hunger, like the predator ancient fiction had held his kind to be, as Lea skimmed her hands over a shelf full of books.

  He had no idea how the mere knowledge of Lea’s true age had metamorphosed his lust toward her so dramatically. He figured the fact she wasn’t really jailbait had unblocked the thin veneer he’d been forcing himself behind, and let his real feelings roam free.

  He smiled, knowing he wasn’t entering his heat phase, and remarkably grateful for it. He had no idea how he would have been able to deal with the clamoring emotions, wildly out of control needs and primitive urges, as well as trying to not scare Lea silly, or push her away with his rampaging needs and screw her blind. He snickered, relieved beyond measure he was not even close to his heat phase.

  The strength of his desire for Lea was already almost as strong as he could bear. There just seemed to be something magical, something elemental about her that drew him like a magnet.

  He enjoyed looking at the sassy hairstyle which framed her face and would never go out of fashion. He ran an eye up and down her neat body, sexy even in the ridiculously asexual Force uniform.

  He watched her unashamedly as she wandered around the mazelike structure of the shop front, appearing to casually touch the books at random. Vasili knew, however, that her mind would be cataloguing everything, never missing a thing.

  Never again would he take her at face value, nor would he blithely assume because she didn’t appear to be paying attention that she wasn’t analyzing every move and sound the people around her made.

  So hard did he stare at her that she cast numerous quick glances at him from under her lashes. A completely alien thrill washed through him as they snuck small, lightning quick smiles at each other.

  After a number of minutes of comfortable silence between them, as well as more than just a few coy smiles, finally Lea broke down and spoke first.

  “What?” she finally asked, her voice unusually low and slightly husky. Vasili wondered if she had added that sexy cadence into her voice on purpose. Realizing he couldn’t care less either way, he let a ripple of lust run though him as he laughed.

  With her white-blonde hair gently grazing her shoulders and her light blue eyes glancing frequently back to him, she still appeared young, but no longer barely a day past her Majority Eighteenth. From the flicker of heat in her eyes, to the seductively feminine manner with which she swung her hips and turned her shoulders, Vasili knew the lust he felt for her was reciprocated.

  “Little Lea,” he murmured almost to himself.

  He smiled and shook his head, clearing his throat as he spoke louder. “I think I’m still reeling from the knowledge that you’re not some barely legal little girl,” he explained honestly, “not to mention trying to get my head around the fact that you’ve been working with Gavreel, for months moreover, and none of us had the faintest inkling or even any suspicions. That’s a lot for a vampire to come to grips with in the one sitting.”

  Vasili watched slim, feminine shoulders shrug through the thin blue fabric of her uniform. He wondered how soft Lea’s skin would be to his touch. Even though he had pretty much seen all there was to see, somehow Lea managed to give the impression she retained her own womanly secrets.

  Vasili swallowed and tried to shift his focus back to something less erotic as she sat herself down in one of the comfortable reading chairs, which had been strategically scattered throughout the shop front.

  “It’s not as if Gavreel’s consulting for us is a Territory secret or anything, but neither did we want the knowledge of him working with us on certain projects falling into the wrong hands. I hadn’t exactly meant letting you and Gav’s sons in on his jaunting for us, but now that it’s out in the open, the galaxy hasn’t ended.”

  Vasili nodded and could practically hear a number of small, odd things he had seen Gavreel studying and researching all snap into place.

  “He looked into the DeMonte artifact for you, didn’t he? I remember—”

  Vasili cut off as Lea hissed at him, looking around her like some cheesy ancient secret spy.

  “Vas! Be careful what you say.”

  Vasili smiled wickedly, enjoying the novel sensation of taunting Lea.

  “Come over here and make me, sweetie,” he said softly, but with enough emphasis to carry to Lea’s ears. She blushed a strong, dark red, and he could tell she was about to stand up. He felt his blood thicken and heighten, the lust, desire and faint tingling of attitude which seemed uniquely Lea.

  He drew a deep breath in, unconsciously feeding gently from the incredibly strong waves of emotion she sent out to him. He had never felt anything so potent or powerful as the deep burning desire within Lea to “teach him a lesson”. She didn’t even need to try and project her thoughts, he could hear them loud and clear without her even attempting anything.

  After a moment, Lea slowly lowered herself back into the seat, crossing her legs primly as if the gesture itself could keep her emotions in check. Vasili smiled in what he hoped appeared an innocent manner. Lea merely shook her head and continued speaking.

  “You are incorrigible. It’s really no wonder I never flirted with you or led you on.” Vasili opened his mouth, ready to point out the numerous times they’d playfully flirted down in Scooper’s pub, but she continued not letting him get a word in edgewise.

  “Anyway, as I was saying earlier, Gavreel has helped us out with a few bits and pieces. Sometimes I sought him out myself, but Gavreel had already independently begun to study this particular assignment. Apparently it’s a pet project of his, or something like that.”

  Vasili pulled another huge armchair over and close to the one on which Lea sat. He looked her in the eye and nodded to indicate he was still listening to her.

  “Well, one of our techs kept on finding Gavreel’s PCC’s footprints everywhere we had been searching. Being a savvy young man, he came up with the idea of approaching Gav and suggesting we pool data. From that Gav suggested he consult for us, and we pay him a pretty credit to do so. We gave him the few kernels of information we were already privy to which he hadn’t come across, and now he shares his findings with us.”

  Vasili sat next to her, idly stretching an arm over the back of her chair, letting his fingers rest just barely on the juncture of her shoulder and neck, faintly and oh-so carefully stroking the sensitive skin there.

  “So since this is Gavreel we are talking about here, I’m assuming it’s all something vaguely academic he and you are chasing? Gavreel isn’t really interested in paltry things such as new weapons or performing secret surveillance on an insurrection or something along that ilk, is he?”

  Lea shook her head, pale blonde strands lightly swishing across her shoulders. The manner in which she pressed her lusciously pouting lips together showed she once again appeared to be mentally weighing just how much she wished to confide in him.

  Rather than get all heated and upset over her strict personal code of justice, and which aspects of her work she chose to share with him, Vasili instead concentrated on resisting the temptation to remove the tie that held her thick, white-blonde locks together in the cheeky but proper ponytail.

  Already a few small wisps of hair were falling free from their bondage, and Vasili had an insane urge to release them all so they
could run wild and free around her face, and turn him on even more than he already was. His mind was held up as Lea obviously decided he did not represent some threat to her secrets.

  “Gavreel, to my knowledge, is perfectly safe and in no danger whatsoever. He is on a pure information-gathering search, or that’s what I sent him on. The only thing I know of that might get him into trouble is grief from the brass.”

  Lea bit down on her lower lip, driving Vasili insane with the need to taste her, but he held himself in check as she smiled at him, utterly unaware of his entrancement with her.

  “Management is going bonkers because Gavreel refuses to check in regularly,” she confided quickly, as if she said the words fast, instead of normally, no one could prove she stated them. Yet the fact she thought that was a secret at all really hit his funny bone.

  Vasili laughed loudly, unable to stop when Lea merely looked at him as if he were insane.

  Finally, he managed to get himself under control. “Welcome to our life,” he said with a grin. “Gav can’t even remember to check in regularly with his family, so what hope do you honestly expect to give his employers? The man always has, and likely always will, do whatever the five hells he pleases.”

  Vasili laid his hand gently on her nape as they both laughed and relaxed into each other’s company. The chilly ice that had been sitting between them since she stormed into Gav’s office earlier seemed to tingle, then break and melt away.

  Vasili leaned forward, knew he wanted to kiss Lea and taste her lips more than anything he had ever wanted.

  He saw the recognition in Lea’s eyes first, the gentle, hungry acceptance. He even could have sworn he saw curiosity burning in her depths, a feminine interest he had never noticed before, not when she looked at him or any other man.

  Vasili bent toward her, could taste her soft breath. Just as his lips were about to close that last hairsbreadth and finally taste the true softness of hers, the door buzzer sounded, jolting them both.