Page 31 of Jacob

“It does. Crème caramel with pear, chocolate cake with rum, raspberry and fig ice cream. I could do a plate with small servings of each, too. A little sampler.”

“I don’t know if I have room for that. But I would like a small scoop of raspberry and fig ice cream.”

Jacob rose. “We’ll have another meal before landing and at any rate, everything is available at all times. Just check the galley.”

In a moment, he slid a dessert plate with the ice cream and watched as she tasted it. She closed her eyes for a moment in delight and his heart nearly stopped. No makeup, tired, in a track suit, didn’t make any difference. Alex was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. With her eyes closed with pleasure he had a sudden vision of her, stretched out on a bed, eyes closed tight with pleasure from what he was doing to her.

He wanted to do it all, right now. Even his imagination was having trouble keeping up because he wanted to kiss her mouth, her breasts, her belly, her sex. All at the same time.

He wanted to touch her all over, run his hand over all that smooth pale skin. Down over that long neck, down to cup what he could see were perfect breasts, over her belly, down to the area between her legs. He didn’t know what she looked like naked—not yet anyway—but he had a really good imagination.

He couldn’t have her open her eyes and see him fucking her with his eyes. What he was feeling was plain, and he had a hard-on to show it. He knew enough about women to know that he wasn’t even halfway home with Alex. She was good hearted, yes, but in her eyes, he’d avoided her for eighteen years. Let her think he was homeless, or dead. And most of all, he’d abandoned her at her absolute lowest point.

He’d had his reasons but she didn’t know them.

He in no way could assume that she was thinking lustful thoughts about him the way he was about her. And he couldn’t assume she’d jump into bed with him right now, either, which was what he wanted more than he wanted his next breath.

Wasn’t going to happen until they had time to talk, and he wanted to be touching her when they had that talk.

But Jacob Black, a man renowned for his self-control, couldn’t seem to control his dick around her. What the fuck?

He turned toward the galley, thinking of weaponized smallpox, millions of people dying a horrible death, evil triumphing, the end of society, until his dick started behaving.

And thank God there was a soft bell tone. Truly saved by the bell. He turned, sat down next to Alex, pressed a button in the arm rest. A big monitor descended from the ceiling.

Three pretty women were sitting in a room with a huge modern painting in the background. Hope Ellis, Emma Holland, Riley Robinson. His magic fairies. The smartest women in the world, right after Alex.

“Hope, Emma, Riley. Good to see you. How’s Felicity?”

“Fine,” Hope answered. “Mick has a fever and she’s staying home. Metal will be taking over when Mick’s fever goes down. But we’ll brief her and she’ll be back online soon. We’ve got what you asked for.”

“Great.” Jacob had no doubt that they’d get what he asked for. They’d never failed him yet. “First, let me introduce Dr. Alexandra Hethering. She’s a virologist with the CDC and has a problem we’re hoping you can help with. Alex, meet Hope, Emma and Riley. The fourth member of this little brain trust is Felicity, who just had twins. These women know everything and what they don’t know they can find out. Unfortunately, they don’t work for Black Inc., not for my lack of asking. They work out of Portland, Oregon, for a solid company, ASI, that happens to employ four men who are their partners, so I can’t entice them away.”

“But we’re always available to you, Mr. Black,” Emma said.

Jacob touched Alex’s hand. “Emma saved my life this year, Riley saved the world, and they have all saved my bacon. They are miracle workers.”

Alex was smiling, raised her hand. “Hello ladies, nice to meet you. So, what’re your specialties?”

“You name it,” Emma said.

“Intel,” Jacob said. “They can discover anything about anybody. And Riley can walk up buildings.”

Riley smiled and rolled her eyes. “Hardly. I do some low-level rock climbing. So, what’s the problem and how can we help?”

Jacob tipped his head to Alex. “You want to brief them?”

Alex, bless her, didn’t hesitate. The fact that he trusted them was enough for her.

“Okay.” Alex put her elbows on the table and leaned forward. The three women were each in a separate field on the screen and Alex and Jacob were in a small square in the upper right-hand corner. “Here’s what we’ve got. I’m a virologist with the CDC, and at the moment, I am completing a project with a colleague, Dr. Elias Field. Dr. Field is an expert at bioengineering. He is also an expert on smallpox.”

Three indrawn breaths could be heard through the mics.

“I will cut to the chase. Dr. Field disappeared three days ago, right in the middle of a project, which is unheard of. He has shown signs of a sudden influx of money and I received a phone call that originated from Zalny in Vostokova. Zalny was a bioweapons lab during the Soviet era. I have no idea what he’s doing, why he is missing and I am really worried.”

“What’s the worst-case scenario?” Riley asked.

“Okay.” Alex’s lips firmed. “Bottom line. The worst-case scenario would be an aerosolized form of smallpox with enhanced lethality, possibly 100%, and a reduced period of contagion. It could destabilize any country, possibly the world.”

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