Page 29 of Black Bay Protector

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He didn’t even have to touch her. The orgasm rocked through her as her body bowed off the mattress, his name torn from her lips in a ragged cry of pleasure.

Jace snarled as the scent of Paige’s arousal flooded his senses, drugging him, and making him crazy to have her. The need to taste her, to feel her coming on his tongue was too much to resist. Gripping her hips with his palms, he held her still as he buried his face in the heaven between her legs. The taste of her was an erotic jolt to his system as he licked and sucked at the swollen bundle of nerves that pulsed against his tongue like a heartbeat.

Her fingers dug into his scalp, her thighs squeezed around his head, and her voice grew hoarse as she called out his name again and again. Her body bucked but he stayed with her, licking her through that first release and rocketing her quickly into another. Only once she was limp and sated beneath him did he raise his head and contemplate taking his own release.

His cock was like iron, begging to be inside her tight, wet heat. Still, he took his time, savoring his woman as he slowly kissed his way back up her body.

Her hair was rumpled, both from the wind of the ride in the Jeep and her own fingers as she’d gripped handfuls of it during that last orgasm. Her cheeks were flushed and rosy, her lips swollen from his earlier kisses, and her eyes were heavy-lidded with satisfaction. To Jace, she’d never looked more lovely, and he stored the image away in his mind.

“I want to be inside you,” he whispered against her ear and felt her responding shiver.

Leaning back slightly to see her face, she offered him a sensual smile and teased, “Finally.”

Moving to the side of the bed, he made quick work of his boots and pants while Paige’s fingers drifted over the skin of his back, drawing erotic little patterns on his skin and raising goosebumps wherever she touched. As soon as he was done, he moved back over her and Paige latched onto the back of his neck, pulling him to her for a kiss.

As their mouths joined, her arms and legs wrapped around him tightly and his cock unerringly found her entrance. He let out a rough, ragged breath as he slid home. The feel of her was perfection. The taste of her arousal still lingered on his tongue, and the scent of her made his head spin. It was an erotic combination that drove him wild. His hips thrust hard and fast, the bed rocking with each movement and Jace broke the kiss to look into her eyes. What he saw in those depths nearly stole his breath. Heat, and passion, yes. But he also saw love. He knew the emotion was mirrored in his eyes as well.

Reaching for her hand, he laced his fingers with hers, both of them holding on tightly as they tumbled over the precipice together in a blinding burst of pleasure.

Lark was methodically going through the files Jace had sent her. Most of the projects in the medical facility’s research and development department were exactly as one would expect – advancement in treatment for life-threatening conditions. One rather large file, however, stood out. LabeledResurrection, it detailed research of a very different kind – modifying soldiers for technological advancements on the battlefield. Clicking on the first folder, Lark began to read about what these upgraded soldiers were capable of. It varied depending on what tech had been added, but all of them possessed the ability to hack into complex computer systems and bypass most known security measures.

Handy, Lark thought as she moved on to the next folder that held detailed financial statements and where the funding for the project was coming from. Cross-checking the listed businesses that had made heavy “donations”, she found most were shell companies. Not surprising. What was surprising was that she recognized a few of them. They were the same shell companies listed for funding Black Bay which meant off-the-books government involvement. CIA, NSA, DOD?Interesting…

Leaving that for now, she clicked on a file marked Clean Slate. Inside, there were detailed reports of using memory manipulation after some of the initial soldiers they had attempted to upgrade had failed to acclimate. Eighty-two percent failure rate when those first recruits rejected their implants.Yikes. There were several video files attached and Lark clicked on the first one.

The feed was black and white, taken from a camera that had been mounted in the corner of a room not all that different from the one Lark had grown up in – windowless, barren, sterile – and inside, there was a man who barely looked twenty years old. He was kneeling on the floor, screaming as he tore at his head and eyes with bloody fingers. Her throat tight with a mixture of sympathy for the man and disgust at those who had done this to him, she clicked away, not wanting to see more.

Spotting a file labeled “Recruits”, Lark clicked on that one, grateful to be away from the horror she’d just witnessed. Names and dates. The names were clickable and were similar to a standard personnel file that included the soldier’s personal information, next of kin, rank, and service history with achievements and demerits if any, any medical information, that sort of thing. As that was nothing unusual, she focused instead on the dates and cross-checked them with the military database she had accessed. The dates of admission to the program all coincided with when the soldier was reported killed in action.

Scrolling down, Lark was brought up short when she got closer to the end of the list. The dates beside these names were a range, and they hadn’t happened yet. Cross-checking those names, she discovered they were still on active duty and currently deployed overseas. Horrified at the implication, Lark clicked on one of the names and was met with a list of qualifications as to why the soldier had been chosen for the Resurrection program, as well as the preferred method of injury to be inflicted in the field that would best preserve the specimen for the planned upgrades.

Chilled to the bone and sick to her stomach, Lark called the General.

Chapter Fifteen

Jacewouldhavelikedto have stayed in bed holding Paige in his arms forever, but when the call came through from Lark, their bubble of contentment popped. Lark had found the relevant files, and what she’d found was not good news.

Dressing quickly, they’d jumped back in the Jeep and driven back to Black Bay’s center before making their way to the war room.

Only General Davies and Lark were inside the room that held a large conference table as well as several computer terminals and wall-mounted screens. The General was frowning as Jace walked in, but that frown worsened when he spotted Paige. “She can’t be in here.”

Paige wasn’t deterred. She pushed past Jace to approach the older man. “If you found anything on my brother I need to know. Please.”

“She may not want to know,” Lark muttered with a grimace as she turned back to the computer she was sitting in front of. “It’s not good.”

Jace heard Paige’s breath catch and her panicked eyes flicked between Lark and the General. “What’s not good? Please tell me. I can take it. I just need to know.”

The General let out a grumble as he scrubbed his hand roughly over his face. “Fine. You can stay. But sit your ass down so you don’t, you know,” he gestured vaguely with his hand, “faint or something.”

Lark glared at the General. “Just because she’s a woman doesn’t mean she can’t take a hit.”

“Jesus Christ, that’s not what I meant and you know it. But this shit’s rough and it’s her brother we’re talking about.”

“I’m ready,” Paige announced, but she did pull out one of the seats at the table and sat.

Jace braced himself as well. That look on the General’s face was not promising.

Lark swiveled her chair around and faced them. “From what I’ve learned so far, the experiment is based on those old super soldier experiments they did in Germany, the Soviet Union, you get the point.” Her eyes flicked to Jace. “Same as why we were created, but unlike us, this time they wanted technologically advanced soldiers. Humans up fitted with bio-robotics. Cyborgs for lack of a better word.”