Dare Me (Take Me 2)

Nikki propped a hip against the vanity in the bathroom. “A Freudian slip of sorts?”

He stared a bit harder at her. “As in, I subconsciously want to knock you up?”

She couldn’t help but grin at his flippant terminology. He’d used it on purpose. Because this was actually very serious business they were discussing. Their own risky territory.

She reasoned, “You intimated that I might find a new professional home on the ops campus. In D.C. Where do you live, Damen?”

His jaw clenched for a moment. “In D.C.”

“And your niece, whom you want me to meet? Where does she live?”

“With me.”

“In D.C.”

“Her parents passed a while back. My mother watches her when I’m gone.”

Obviously, there was more psychological trauma wrapped around all of that.

Nikki stayed the current course, however, saying, “I’d certainly avoid disaster zones if I were pregnant.”

Now, his gaze narrowed on her. “I did not intentionally—”

“I don’t believe you did, either,” she was quick to interject. “Using a condom was the last thing on my mind as well. I would like to believe that, with anyone else, I would have immediately insisted. But with you, I was swept away and…that’s not even an excuse. I didn’t want you to use a condom.”

He took a step closer to her, still staring into her eyes. “How deeper into each other are we getting here, Doc?”

14

Nikki had no answer for that dire question.

This was all happening so fast, unfolding in a way that forced her to confront the emotions Damen evoked as strongly as the sensations he ignited within her.

So much of it was unexpected and overwhelming and, certainly, a lot to process.

She had to at least explain to him that, despite not having any clue where this was all leading, she did have feelings for him. They’d started to form when he’d been in the hospital in Mexico City. The attraction had grown when they’d been on the plane, and now…it was something significant, something worth taking the time to dissect and discuss.

So she bucked up, saying, “Damen, I—”

Suddenly, an eerie clicking sound echoed throughout the room, followed by a nearly ear-piercing, high-pitched tone.

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nbsp; “What is that?” she demanded.

Damen’s gaze snapped to her laptop, where the screen had stilled, so no more data scrolled.

“It’s done,” he said. “All downloaded.”

“And what, exactly, did we trigger by downloading the contents of that device?”

“It’s the device itself that’s engaged. It’s…sending another signal.”

“I’m beginning to hate technology!” she said over the wretched sound.

He reached for the laptop and swiveled it around on the counter so that she could see the steady red light on the dongle. Which promptly began to flash.

Simultaneously, the consistent shrill turned into a pulsating beat.