Check Mate (12 page)

Twenty minutes later, Mariah returned to the upstairs bedroom she shared with Jake. Unfortunately she wasn't alone. Burgess had insisted on helping her set things up for the next hypnosis session and she hadn't protested very
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strongly, fearing he might become suspicious.

Since she and Jake were not going to attempt an escape anytime soon, she had to maintain her cover, otherwise her life and Jake's would be in imminent danger.

When Burgess and she entered the room, Jake lay quietly on his bed, his eyes closed, his breathing steady and even. Sighing with relief that Jake had followed her instructions to feign sleep, Marian hurriedly went to work setting the scene, choosing soft, repetitive music that would blend in with conversation and mask the individual words if heard from a distance. She ordered Burgess to adjust the lighting, then once the mood was set, she asked him to help her rouse Jake and get him to his feet.

Jake played his part well, acting lethargic and completely cooperative as they placed him in the chair beside the desk. His arms hung loosely on either side of the chair and his head lolled backward slightly as he seemingly struggled to keep his eyes open.

"Thank you," Mariah told Burgess, offering him a warm smile. "I'll certainly let my boss know how much help you've been to me."

"If he gives you any trouble, just holler." Using his index finger. Burgess tapped Jake in the chest with hard, quick jabs. "You behave yourself. Ingram."

When Burgess went downstairs, leaving the door open behind him, Mariah turned up the music just a bit, then knelt beside Jake and said very softly, "Gideon is alive and safe. For the time being. I won't lie to you ever again. I promise. My Coalition contact informed me that things are beginning to fall apart. They're feeling intense pressure from outside forces and are becoming greatly concerned that Gideon's whereabouts will leak out, so they plan to move him around from one Coalition safe house to another."

"Damn!"

"Shh. Stay calm. And keep your voice low."

"Yeah, I understand."

"More bad news. It will be difficult to find out where Gideon will be at any given time because all info about his location will be transmitted by secret code. His whereabouts within the Coalition will be on a strictly need-to-know basis. And unfortunately, they believe that I don't need to know."

"Figures." Jake glanced at the door. "What did you tell those two downstairs?"

"The same thing I just told you—the truth."

"Right." Jake focused his attention on Mariah. "Did you get in touch with your superior at the bureau?"

"Yes, and I shared what information I had with him. They're doing everything they can to find Gideon. And now that they know the info about his whereabouts will be shared in secret code only, they plan to bring in your sister Gretchen to see if she can break the code."

Jake released an indrawn breath. "Gretchen is the best. If anyone can break the code, she can. But she'll be under tremendous pressure, knowing that time isn't on our side and Gideon's life might well be in her hands. And she doesn't need any stress. Not right now. She's pregnant, you know."

"Considering the fact that you Extraordinary Five siblings were only recently reunited and haven't been together since you were all kids, the loyalty and love you feel toward one another is remarkable."

"Each of us is regaining his or her own specific memories," Jake said. "In time we hope to remember everything about the past. It's only natural, considering our sibling bonds go beyond the normal, that we would reconnect so strongly."

Mariah heard footsteps. "Shh. I think we're about to have company again," she whispered.

Immediately Jake went into groggy, easily manipulated mode. By the time Lester appeared in the doorway, the Coalition stooge saw and heard what he was supposed to—Mariah putting Jake under to gain control over his subconscious.

"Betty's a lady, and wears a gold ring," Mariah chanted the trigger that Agnes Payne and Olive Grimble had implanted in Jake's mind when he'd been a child. "And Johnny's a drummer, who drums for the king."

Jake murmured incoherently, pretending the old conditioning still affected him. Mariah glanced over her shoulder and glared at Lester. Shaking her head and placing her index finger to her lips as a signal for silence, she warned the man off. Lester grinned. Damn infuriating pest. Go away, she wanted to shout. If either Lester or Burgess knew anything about hypnosis other than what they saw on television, neither would buy her act. Lucky for her—and for Jake—that she apparently had the two men fooled.

After several minutes of watching Mariah take Jake deep into a hypnotic trance, Lester came into the room, leaned down and whispered to her, "Can you make him cluck like a chicken?"

Mariah barely contained an exasperated groan. Changing the tone of her voice from the melodic and soothing rhythm she'd been using with Jake to a sharp, no-nonsense clip, she replied in a quiet yet deadly serious manner,

"Please leave immediately. You're interfering with my work. You don't want me to report you to—"

"I'm leaving." Lester backed off. "I just thought we might have a little fun with the boy wonder here. Nothing like
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seeing Mr. Superhuman Genius making a fool of himself."

Mariah simply glowered at Lester, once again amazed that someone hadn't already shot this idiot out of nothing more than sheer aggravation. Lester shrugged, then obediently slithered away.

"Damn little pissant," Mariah said.

Jake reached out and grasped her wrist. "Should I thank you for not making me cluck like a chicken?"

She stared at Jake and couldn't believe he was actually smiling at her. Had his sense of humor returned so quickly?

Had he already forgiven her?

"I don't believe any reputable hypnotist would make such an idiotic request of a patient," Mariah said. "But while we're faking these sessions, we should be talking. After all, I'm supposed to be trying to reprogram you. So, I'll ask you some questions and you reply. We need to kill at least an hour before I make a report to my Coalition contact."

"Perhaps we should discuss what you're going to tell him." Jake released her wrist abruptly, as if he had just realized he'd touched something he shouldn't have.

Mariah's breath caught in her throat. She swallowed hard. "All right. What do you suggest? Anything other than you are being cooperative and I seem to have made some progress in reprogramming you, that you're susceptible to the old nursery rhyme trigger?"

"That should be enough... for now." Jake paused, thought awhile, then added, "Maybe you should suggest that it might make me even more cooperative if they brought Gideon here, so that I could see he's all right."

"I don't think they'll buy that argument. They'll want to keep you two apart until they're certain they can control you completely."

Jake nodded. The silence between them became deafening. Mariah rose to her feet and paced around the room.

How was she going to do this, be with Jake twenty-four hours a day and not touch him, not act on her feelings? And dammit, she did have feelings—strong feelings—for Jake. Remember you're a federal agent, she told herself. Act like a professional, will you? And not some lovesick teenager!

It shouldn't matter so damn much what Jake thought of her, but it did. As long as she kept him safe, she was doing her job. And if she somehow managed to help him save Gideon and retrieve the all-important computer disks, then Jake would forgive, her, wouldn't he? But by proving her loyalty to Jake, wasn't she also risking the job that meant everything to her? Of course she was.

"Mariah?"

Sensing Jake directly behind her, she gasped, not realizing until that very moment that he'd left the chair and crossed the room. She turned slowly and faced him. Before she had a chance to say anything, he reached out, grabbed her shoulders and pulled her to him.

"I don't trust you," he said, his voice rough.

"I know."

"You lied to me."

"Yes, I did."

"I don't know if I can ever forgive you."

She wanted to cry. And she wanted to swear to him that she'd never betray him ever again. But the words lodged in her throat.

"Damn you, Mariah!"

"Oh, Jake, don't you know that we're both damned."

He shook her once. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. He grabbed the nape of her neck and held her in place as his mouth covered hers in a desperate, hungry kiss.

Eight

His mouth ravaged hers, the kiss demanding and turbulent—and tinged with anger. He didn't have to tell her that this savage desire overruled his common sense. She knew only too well, because she felt the same. They were consumed by a hunger bred into their species in primordial times, a basic human instinct. With his lips on hers, his hand grasping her neck, his body pressing intimately, his arousal strong and hard against her, she couldn't resist her own primitive needs. A voice inside her head told her that they shouldn't be doing this. The door was open. They could be seen. And Jake was angry and hurt, the motives for his actions a combination of passion and rage. The logical part of her nature demanded that she put a stop to this immediately; but the emotional side wanted more. Think, dammit, Mariah, think, an inner voice cautioned. But her body disregarded the warning. Her body had needs. Her heart had deep-seated longings.

She clung to him, her hands running wild and free over his shoulders, her fingers threading through his hair. They kissed and touched, their bodies in tune as all five senses came into play. He smelled of soap and water and manliness.

Jake's own unique scent. She knew that she could pick him out of a lineup of a dozen men by his scent alone. As he
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thrust his tongue into her mouth, he moaned, the sound bursting inside her head like skyrockets. Her nipples peaked, her femininity moistened. Ceasing to think coherently, she gave herself over completely to the moment, to feeling and not thinking.

Jake walked her backward, all the while kissing her and touching her. He controlled her, like a puppet on a string.

And she didn't care. It didn't matter that she felt powerless to stop him, and completely unable to stop herself. His big hands reached behind her to cup her buttocks and press her against his erection. He kissed her chin and then her throat. One of his hands moved upward, skimming over her hip and waist, reaching higher and higher until he covered one breast and squeezed. Her head lolled back against the wall. Her breasts thrust forward. Jake undid several buttons on her shirt, then lowered his head and put his mouth on her, sucking her through the thin barrier of her cotton bra.

Her core throbbed, the need within her escalating quickly. She ached for him.

While she pulsated, her femininity clenching and unclenching, he managed to undo and unzip her slacks. The moment his hand delved into her panties, her thighs parted, giving him easy access to his objective. His fingers worked magic. Rubbing. Stroking. She bit down on her lower lip to keep from crying out, the pleasure was so intense.

And when he slipped a couple of fingers inside her, she melted completely. While he manipulated her body to the point of release, they continued kissing feverishly, and in the frenzy Mariah undid his jeans.

Everything happened quickly, at a frenetic pace. Mariah climaxed. And while she trembled with fulfillment, Jake jerked her slacks to her ankles. She kicked them aside, preparing herself for what they both desperately wanted. Jake freed his sex from his briefs, lifted her and rammed himself into her. She clung to him, wild with renewed excitement. He filled her completely, stretching her to her limits. And while he took her, his thrusts hard and deep, only one thought managed to surface through the fog of indescribable pleasure. One word kept repeating itself in her mind. Superhero!

Jake was
the
ideal man. Her man.

He came only seconds before she did, so they exploded almost simultaneously. Their breathing labored, sweat glistening on their faces, they stared at each other, really seeing each other for the first rime since Jake had kissed her.

She noted the satisfaction on his face, the masculine triumph, but she couldn't miss the glimmer of regret in his eyes.

"Mariah, I—"

"No, don't say anything,"

He eased out of her, then released her and turned away. She stood against the wall, her knees weak, her body quivering and suddenly realized how vulnerable she was at that very moment. She needed something more from him. A kind word. But she didn't dare allow him to speak, out of fear of what he would say. No kind words. I'm sorry. Or even, You were a good lay, but that's it.

"Is everything all right up there?" Burgess bellowed from downstairs. "I thought I heard some bumping noises? Do you need us. Doc?"

Oh, God! What had she been thinking? That's just it, Mariah, you weren't thinking. Undoubtedly while she and Jake had been going at it like a couple of wild animals, they'd bumped against the wall loud enough to be heard downstairs.

Thank goodness neither Burgess nor Lester had come rushing to her rescue. Mariah managed to pull on her slacks and rearrange her clothing hurriedly, despite the need to clean herself and knowing the scent of sex hung heavily on her body. She hurried to the open door and called out a response.

"I'm fine. Mr. Ingram is a little unsteady on his feet and when he got up, he staggered into the wall. I have him under control. But thanks for checking on me."

"Need any help?" Lester chimed in.

"No, thank you!"

Mariah closed the door, then forced herself to turn and face Jake. His shirt still hung open, but he'd zipped his jeans. He looked like someone who'd just had sex—and enjoyed it. No doubt she had the same look.