Nikki. I expect she told you what kind of man I am, that I enjoy certain things. Here is your chance to back out. There will be no turning back once this starts.” He lowered his voice. “Nikki, are you still coming to my place?”
He held his breath. For her sake, he wanted her to refuse. Yet the darkest part of him urged her on silently, tempted to capture this elusive butterfly.
“Yes.”
He exhaled. So be it. “Good. Tonight, come to me and bring with you something to tie you with. I’ll leave the choice of material in your hands.” He disconnected without waiting for her answer.
On the TV, she stood still for a moment before putting away her cell phone. Rick mentally shrugged away the urge to call her back. He shouldn’t give a lick about her fear. He wanted her to be afraid of him; she was too much in control of this game they were playing.
He didn’t know where he was going with this but if she was willing to come to him in fear, then what she was after must be very, very important. Since it had to do with his dead wife, then it had to do with Gorman, because it was only Gorman who knew the truth. Was I.I. trying to get him to confess to Nikki, and if so, how would that tie in with their plans to use him as a scapegoat for the Gorman scandal?
He watched Nikki walk out of the room, her long braid swaying gently behind her. Tonight she would come to him with her hair down. His loins clenched at the memory of how she looked and felt in his arms. He still couldn’t decide if what he felt was real or was just some twisted psychological reaction to his past.
Focus, Harden, focus . He stepped out of the room and nodded to the security guard outside. Focus on what she was hiding from him. So far, she had revealed two things. They had sent her to find out about his dead wife. And to learn whether he was a security risk.
His decision to act must have reactivated his dead brain cells. He stopped in his tracks as if a lightning bolt had struck him. The similar looks. Questions to bring back his memories. Seduction. Would she then betray him, like a replay of the past?
His beeper cut into his thoughts, reminding him of Harpring and paper trails. Rick flexed his hands, then looked at them. He had gone crazy the last time someone close to him was killed. Who was deliberately bringing back those memories?
Chapter Eight
N ikki didn’t need Denise Lorens to tell her what kind of man Ricardo Harden was. She didn’t think that woman even saw beyond the lies that made up the operations chief of Task Force Two. That wasn’t the real Rick. Besides, Denise’s agenda was very different from hers. She wouldn’t care whether she had the truth, as long as she proved I.I.’s conclusions.
Nikki suspected her own image of Rick Harden would be a far cry from Denise’s. Of course, she didn’t have the same experiences that Denise undoubtedly enjoyed. Unfamiliar warmth flooded in the pit of her stomach at the images that came with that thought.
His request for a rope was meant to bring up those images. He was playing on her fear of him. Well, not exactly of him, she corrected. What she feared were ghosts that could no longer hurt her. What she feared were the strange emotions he made her feel. He wanted control of her, and instead of fighting him, she found that she had to fight herself. She couldn’t say no to him. The insight into her own sudden emotional flurry was unsettling.
It was only natural to start comparing herself with Denise Lorens, even though there was nothing in the world that would make her wish to be like that woman. However, it would be nice to lose her cowardice. Denise didn’t fear her own body’s reaction to a man, didn’t even think twice about giving in to her own needs while stealing a man’s soul, for itwas Rick’s shell she had been after, and not what was inside. To take pleasure that way was stealing. And wrong.
Nikki wished, though, that she didn’t fear what Rick Harden was making her
He held his breath. For her sake, he wanted her to refuse. Yet the darkest part of him urged her on silently, tempted to capture this elusive butterfly.
“Yes.”
He exhaled. So be it. “Good. Tonight, come to me and bring with you something to tie you with. I’ll leave the choice of material in your hands.” He disconnected without waiting for her answer.
On the TV, she stood still for a moment before putting away her cell phone. Rick mentally shrugged away the urge to call her back. He shouldn’t give a lick about her fear. He wanted her to be afraid of him; she was too much in control of this game they were playing.
He didn’t know where he was going with this but if she was willing to come to him in fear, then what she was after must be very, very important. Since it had to do with his dead wife, then it had to do with Gorman, because it was only Gorman who knew the truth. Was I.I. trying to get him to confess to Nikki, and if so, how would that tie in with their plans to use him as a scapegoat for the Gorman scandal?
He watched Nikki walk out of the room, her long braid swaying gently behind her. Tonight she would come to him with her hair down. His loins clenched at the memory of how she looked and felt in his arms. He still couldn’t decide if what he felt was real or was just some twisted psychological reaction to his past.
Focus, Harden, focus . He stepped out of the room and nodded to the security guard outside. Focus on what she was hiding from him. So far, she had revealed two things. They had sent her to find out about his dead wife. And to learn whether he was a security risk.
His decision to act must have reactivated his dead brain cells. He stopped in his tracks as if a lightning bolt had struck him. The similar looks. Questions to bring back his memories. Seduction. Would she then betray him, like a replay of the past?
His beeper cut into his thoughts, reminding him of Harpring and paper trails. Rick flexed his hands, then looked at them. He had gone crazy the last time someone close to him was killed. Who was deliberately bringing back those memories?
Chapter Eight
N ikki didn’t need Denise Lorens to tell her what kind of man Ricardo Harden was. She didn’t think that woman even saw beyond the lies that made up the operations chief of Task Force Two. That wasn’t the real Rick. Besides, Denise’s agenda was very different from hers. She wouldn’t care whether she had the truth, as long as she proved I.I.’s conclusions.
Nikki suspected her own image of Rick Harden would be a far cry from Denise’s. Of course, she didn’t have the same experiences that Denise undoubtedly enjoyed. Unfamiliar warmth flooded in the pit of her stomach at the images that came with that thought.
His request for a rope was meant to bring up those images. He was playing on her fear of him. Well, not exactly of him, she corrected. What she feared were ghosts that could no longer hurt her. What she feared were the strange emotions he made her feel. He wanted control of her, and instead of fighting him, she found that she had to fight herself. She couldn’t say no to him. The insight into her own sudden emotional flurry was unsettling.
It was only natural to start comparing herself with Denise Lorens, even though there was nothing in the world that would make her wish to be like that woman. However, it would be nice to lose her cowardice. Denise didn’t fear her own body’s reaction to a man, didn’t even think twice about giving in to her own needs while stealing a man’s soul, for itwas Rick’s shell she had been after, and not what was inside. To take pleasure that way was stealing. And wrong.
Nikki wished, though, that she didn’t fear what Rick Harden was making her
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