Extrasensory Read online

  Shock vibrated through her. Had he actually said that or did she just imagine it? Imagine, of course. This wasn’t real. She’d heard voices before but never like this. Never focused on her so personally. Never erotic! And why now was she having one of her rare visions where the image was as clear as if this man had really been in her presence? She was aware of every detail of it, awake and in a trance at the same time. Sensuality radiated from his body, reaching out to her like shimmering tentacles of heat.

  Did you hear me? I want to fuck you. Take off your clothes.

  An unfamiliar urgency gripped her and she had her blouse unbuttoned and half off before she snapped back to reality. She blinked her eyes, hard, and the image disappeared. Her hands were shaking and she was sweating. But more than that, the pulse in her womb throbbed with an insistent beat, demanding attention. Craving release.

  What the hell?

  She could barely catch her breath.

  An unfamiliar bolt of lust speared through her, and her body was so hot she was sure she had a fever. She had a sense of actually watching herself, not being a part of this, even as she felt every throb, every sizzle, every electrified enhancement of her senses.

  On legs not quite steady, she stumbled to her office door, closed and locked it. Her trembling body collapsed into her desk chair and with almost frantic haste she unzipped her slacks and splayed her legs. Something sizzling in the core of her was demanding satisfaction, craving release. Every sense she possessed, normal and psychic, was on high alert. Desperately she slid her hand under the silk of her panties until she found her very wet cunt. The tips of her fingers grazed across her clit and shock sizzled through her, intensifying the low thrum in her body.

  Mia leaned her head back and started to close her eyes.

  Open your eyes.

  The voice was rough, commanding. Her eyes flew open.

  Watch me while you do that.

  Watch him? But as she fastened her gaze on him the boxers melted away and he stood before her in magnificent glory with an erection that defied description. Long and thick, it jutted from a nest of black curls that seemed to glisten. Slowly he wrapped the long fingers of one hand around his erection and stroked in a languid movement from root to tip and back again.

  Don’t close your eyes.

  Now she couldn’t have closed them if she wanted to. As she rubbed her clit, letting the pleasure streak through her, he matched the strokes of his hand to the motion of hers. Fire danced in his dark eyes and every plane and angle of his face stood out in stark relief.

  You have no idea how much it turns me on to watch you like this. You have the most gorgeous cunt I’ve ever seen. Sweet, pink, glistening with your juices.

  The walls of her pussy were already quivering, anticipating the release that was spiraling through her so quickly. His words aroused her even more, lust spiking through her like shards of lightning.

  That’s it. He increased the tempo of his hand. Rub harder. Work that little clit. God. I can just imagine the feel of my lips around that bundle of nerves. Do you know when it swells it turns a rich, deep rose color? I want to suck it into my mouth and nibble on it with my teeth.

  The throbbing inside her vagina was so strong it vibrated through her like the waves of a tuning fork. She was so close now, her cunt slick with her juices, pre-orgasmic shivers flexing the walls of her pussy. The head of his cock was darkened and a bead of liquid seeped through the slit.

  I want to see you slide your fingers inside your cunt, imagine it’s my hand down there, my fingers fucking you.

  It took only a few more strokes before her climax gripped her, shaking her body, muscles clenching and unclenching. Faster, faster. She increased her movement and so did he, the broad head of his cock seeming to swell before her eyes.

  Now, he commanded.

  She pushed three fingers into her slick cunt and bucked against them, hunching and moaning as her cream flooded her hand. At the same time his big body tensed and ejaculate spurted from the slit on the head, spilling over onto his fingers. He held himself until the tension stole from his body as it did from hers.

  Next time take off all your clothes.

  Next time?

  Holy mother. What next time.

  Quiet at last but weak, Mia leaned back in the chair, waiting for her breathing to even out and some measure of strength to return to her body. Finally she blinked, the vision shimmered and disappeared.

  What had just happened here? What had she just done? Masturbating in her office was never on her to-do list. And who in god’s name was that delicious vision who had poked himself into her brain? In all the years since she’d first realized she had extrasensory abilities, she’d never had a vision like this one. Not even close. And certainly not one who spoke to her. What was going on with her brain?

  She reached into the drawer for her purse, took out her hand mirror and examined her face. Her eyes had an unusual slumberous look, her cheeks were flushed and somehow her hair had acquired a mussed appearance. She looked as if she’d, well, as if she’d just been…been…fucked. Well, that would never do. Not for proper Mia Fleming, museum staff member, who certainly never masturbated herself at her desk.

  She wondered if somehow she’d fallen for a moment into an alternate universe.

  Digging in her purse again, she found one of the wipes she habitually carried and dabbed her face, then wiped every trace of fluids from her hand.

  Holy hell!

  When she was sure she had herself under control again, her clothes properly rearranged and in place, she stacked everything in neat piles on her desk and put away her pen and magnifying glass. Okay, time to go home. Letting out a slow breath, she rose to her feet, making sure she was steady enough to walk out of the building to her car. She needed to get her visions under control—the one with more clarity so she could interpret it better, the other to disappear. She didn’t need very sexy men showing up in her mind and destroying her control like that.

  What she needed was a hot bath and a glass of wine. And a good night’s sleep.

  * * * * *

  The five people sitting in the darkened conference room stared at the big flat screen monitor hanging on the wall. The lean, sandy-haired man was doing his best to sit quietly but the rubber band he kept stretching betrayed his edginess. When he and his head design engineer had first discussed the project, they’d seen it as an almost unattainable challenge.

  But as they’d begun developing it, trying different things, testing different components, their level of excitement had risen. Now an enormous amount of money had gone into this development—the most expensive project they’d developed yet. Today they’d find out if the investment was worth it.

  The picture on the screen showed an adobe house, one story, sitting on a sandy lot surrounded by scraggly looking plants and a scattering of rocks. To one side was a rusted pickup, parked at the side of a dilapidated shed. There was absolutely nothing to relieve the depressing air of the place.

  Suddenly one of the larger rocks, about six inches in height, began to move forward, its progress a series of jerks and bumps. The house was abruptly lit up with six infrared heat signatures. A thin wire emerged from the top of the rock, extending upward and the darkened room was alive with static-filled sound cackling from the speakers mounted in the corners.

  “Need to be prepared…

  “Guards posted at every exit…

  “New shipment due in tonight…”

  The rocklike figure continued to move forward until it was about ten feet from the house. A team of ten men, all in black, moved in silently from both sides of the screen and surrounded the house. The observers watched as, in silence, stealth-like, the team moved forward. They heard the sound of the front and back doors slamming open, echoing in the dark room. Then a series of shots. Fast. Not loud, more like the soft pops bullets made on guns with muzzle suppressors. The people directing the exercise had decided to use the silencers to make sure the robot could pick up
the softer noise.

  When the team emerged from the house they herded four other men in front of them who were covered in red. One of the men in black touched his lip mic.

  “Perfect, boss. Just like you planned it. Did you get it all?”

  The man at the center of the conference table in the darkened room picked up a tiny microphone in front of him and depressed a button. “Every bit of it. What about pictures?”

  “Oscar was busy snapping away. The miniature camera eye works great. Mike said everything went directly to the laptop. He’s sending the file to you right now.”

  “Good job. Bring your guys back so they can wash off all that paint you sprayed them with.”

  The man in black laughed. “I think they look kind of cute. A few paintballs never hurt anyone.”

  “You’ve had your fun. Give them a break.”

  “Okay. On our way.”

  Chase Carpenter put down the mic. He was a tall man, lean, with sandy hair and dark brown eyes. His ready smile had fooled too many people, to their chagrin, into thinking he was easily led. But those people never looked beyond that “gee whiz” façade. Every line of his body shouted power and his eyes always blazed with fierce concentration.

  “Lights, please,” he requested.

  One of the other men got up and flicked the light switch.

  “Well?” Chase looked at the other three people in the room. “Looked good to me.”

  Lucas Grant, his partner, nodded his head. “I agree. If Oscar’s pictures look as good as everything else, we’re set.”

  “Impressive demonstration.” Ladd Tolbert, Chase’s personal attorney as well as the legal representative for Carpenter Techtronics, put the pen he’d been fiddling with back in his pocket, stood up and stretched. “I have to say, I wasn’t sure you could.”

  “As long as the numbers prove out, we’ll be in great shape.” Paul Harrison, the company’s chief financial officer, only looked at things in terms of cost ratio and projected income. “But I have to admit, I’m impressed.”

  The man at the light switch, Stan Forbush, Carpenter’s chief design engineer and the leader on the project, couldn’t wipe the grin off his face. “All accolades gratefully accepted.” He turned to Chase. “I’d like to tinker a little more with the microphone, see if we can get a little better reception.”

  Lucas looked from one man to the other and shrugged, his thick muscles flexing beneath his shirt. He was dark to Chase’s light, thick to the other man’s lean body. Their personalities contrasted as much as their physical appearances. “Seems to me we’re doing okay as it stands. We got all the heat signatures, placed the location of everyone in the house and picked up the conversation. If the pictures are clear we’re good to go.”

  “You know me,” Stan objected. “I’m always fine tuning.”

  “Like I said, that’s fine with me,” Lucas stressed. “Just as long as we’re good to go next week for the press conference.”

  “We’ll be all set,” Chase assured him. “No one else has been able to miniaturize a robot this much and still get all the data needed. This will be a hot commodity, not just for the government but for police departments, corporations and private security agencies. The press conference will go off as planned.”

  “And then the bucks will roll in,” Lucas predicted.

  “I’m counting on it,” Paul told him.

  Chase’s face sobered. “I want all security on this double and triple checked, Lucas. And biometric scans for the room where the prototype will be locked up. I invited Dan Romeo from Phoenix to the demonstration. He’ll be here a couple of days early so he can go over everything with you.”

  Lucas’ face darkened. “I can handle it. I don’t need a nursemaid or a babysitter.”

  “And I’m not giving you one. But Phoenix designed the biometric system and installed it, so they should give it a final check. And if we need to beef up security, they can help us with it. We can’t afford to take any chances.”

  “I’m telling you, it’s all taken care of,” his partner assured him. “We’re tighter than Fort Knox.”

  “It never hurts to hedge your bets. Too much has gone into this to have it blow up in our faces at the last minute.”

  “Trust me.” Lucas’ voice had picked up just a tiny edge to it. “It’s done.”

  Chase raised an eyebrow. “Do you have some reason for not wanting Dan to check things over?”

  Lucas grinned. “Nope. Sorry for arguing. I’m just a little uptight too. And you’re right. The more eyes on the prize, the better off we’ll be.”

  Chase looked around the room. “All right, then. Stan, let’s you and me meet in my office and go over whatever tinkering you think you want to do. Lucas, you’re also going to check with marketing to make sure everything’s set on their end, right?”

  “Jesus, Chase.” He blew out a breath and shoved his hands in his pockets. “You’re my partner, not my mother. Relax, buddy. I said everything would be fine and it will be.”

  “This is the biggest thing we’ve done yet, the project that will bump our competitors off the map,” Chase reminded him. “I’m entitled to be a little overprotective.”

  “Chase, why don’t we go to your office first,” Ladd broke in, “and you can take that fine old bottle of cognac out from its hiding place. We can have a toast and enjoy the prospect of our success for just a few minutes.” He looked from one partner to the other. “And the two of you can stop sniping at each other.”

  Chase allowed himself a small laugh. “You’re right. Sorry, Lucas. I’m being a horse’s ass. Let’s go get that drink.”

  They filed out of the conference room, Lucas and Stan still deep in conversation.

  “You’re the glue,” Ladd said in a quiet voice.

  Chase gave him a sharp glance. “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me. The lynchpin. The one who holds it all together. This is the biggest thing this company has done yet. If you’re on edge, everyone else will be too.”

  “I tell you, Ladd, I just have the strangest feeling. I can’t put my finger on it. Like something’s out of place but I can’t see it.”

  “You’re also the chief worrier,” Ladd said with a chuckle. “Come on. Let’s go toast to the success of Carpenter Techtronics. We’ve all earned it.”

  * * * * *

  The Carpenter Techtronics building was lit up as if it was the middle of the day. Teams always worked 24/7 in three shifts on the highly specialized electronic units that the company was famous for.

  Standing at the elevator, Chase marveled at the success of the company bearing his name. Not so very long ago he’d quit his job at a large engineering design firm, cashed in his retirement fund and taken a chance on his own startup company. He began in an incubator building—a place created especially to nurture new businesses and provide them with assistance—with only Stan and two other employees.

  Almost before he turned around Carpenter Techtronics had grown from a small boutique-type company to their current status as a leader in the world of specialized electronics. The expansion had taken a giant leap forward when Lucas Grant had joined the firm as a partner. Bringing with him a suitcase full of contacts and the ability to sell anything to anybody, he told Chase he was buying into a company that he saw on the verge of explosive growth. With the corporate and government contracts he’d negotiated for them, they’d had the capital to move to their present location and the reputation to attract the high dollar clients.

  Sometimes Chase had to pinch himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

  He knew he was obsessive about security but corporate espionage was the crime du jour, especially when the military, police departments and private agencies were hungry for the kind of electronics Carpenter was known for. The kind that could give them an edge in whatever war they were fighting. Carpenter was known for its security being unbreachable and Chase had no intention of changing that now.

  Once a prototype had sold, production crank
ed into high gear. The units were manufactured on four floors of the ten-story building. Then they were sent to packaging and shipping in the basement. And every step of the production was carefully watched over by security guards and by a member of the design team.

  Now, thanks to his idea and Stan’s genius at engineering design, Carpenter Techtronics was about to take a giant leap forward. He could feel the excitement hum throughout the building. Any time a new project was underway, the guards were doubled, just in case someone got itchy fingers or an outside source tried to breach the building. This time the project was so revolutionary security was even more important.

  He thought about this as he biometrically unlocked the door to the vault where Oscar’s prototype was stored.

  He stopped now in front of the Plexiglas block where the robot was stored, resting from the earlier demonstration. The pictures the team had received from Oscar’s miniature camera had incredible clarity. These were only of the exterior but they could detect any hidden sources of danger to a waiting team. And in a case where interior shots were needed, Oscar could be inserted into a building with no problem at all. The images the tiny camera could transmit to the computer might possibly save lives in a hostage situation or help prevent a mission from going south.

  Chase stared at the small object for a long time, then left the room, locking the door after him using the special code.

  Tomorrow he would double-check with Lucas on all the arrangements for the announcement and the reception following. Their division of labor worked very well for them. Chase was the engineer, the nuts and bolts man. Lucas was the glad-hander, something Chase felt uncomfortable doing. So far it had worked very well that way.

  He checked his watch. His fiancée, Joy Rivers, was sure to be waiting for him in his office. Lately their quality time had been in short supply. As excited as she was for him about Oscar, the demands on his time had begun to wear thin with her and she hadn’t been shy about letting him know it.

  People were fooled by her appearance. Tiny, with long blonde hair and pale blue eyes, she looked like an angel made of spun sugar. But she had a core of steel that gave her strength and determination. The very thing that had drawn him to her in the first place. Joy knew what she wanted out of life and she was going to get it. And he, Chase, was going to give it to her.