Edward grunted a sound like satisfaction, and I gritted my teeth. What a creep.
“So, can I buy you a drink, then?” He studied my face, his gaze pausing on my mouth, which I knew must still be puffy from Leon’s kiss.
I shifted on my stool, crossing my legs and letting my skirt rise up somewhat, instantly pulling his attention. I’d definitely made the right call in taking my thigh-holstered gun off.
“That would be lovely,” I replied in a simpering voice. “I’m Michelle, by the way.”
His smile was pure predator as he took my limp hand to shake. “A pleasure, Michelle. I’m Ted.”
“Ted,” I purred back, “how exotic.”
He slid his seat closer and our knees brushed. When I didn’t move away, Edward’s smile spread wider, and his hand rested on my leg, much higher than my knee. Oh yeah, Edward was drunk and crazy horny.
“So, Ted,” I murmured, giving him a coy smile, “how come you were here all alone tonight? Your wife isn’t here with you?”
His fingers stroked my thigh. “I’m not married, Michelle.”
“Oh,” I breathed, sounding surprised. Then when his hand pushed my dress up slightly, I bit my lower lip as though I was turned on. It was all I could do not to shove him away, though. I’d never been so bothered by a mark touching me before.
I was raised by the Guild. My body was not my own, and I was well aware of that. It was a fact I’d accepted a long, long time ago. My body, my sexuality, it was a weapon to be used however the Guild saw fit. I’d let countless men—and a handful of women—use me in all sorts of ways when the job called for it. Sex—like torture—was simply a means to an end, and often a whole lot less cleanup afterward.
And yet, here I was with Edward Gates barely groping me, and I wanted to throat punch him. What the fuck had gotten into me lately?
Leon. Obviously. He’d fucking gotten into my head with that kiss, and now I was all messed up for it. Goddamn , maybe he was in on the plan to kill me after all? Distracting me in the middle of a job was a good way to get me killed, that was for sure.
“What do you say we get out of here?” Edward suggested, licking his lower lip in a way that I was sure he meant to be seductive. He was drunk enough that it just came off as sloppy, but I still fluttered my lashes and nodded eagerly. Michelle was an unhappy, rich, bored trophy wife. Michelle was desperate for a man to pay her attention.
Edward stood up, and I put a small wobble in my step as I slid off the stool. Better he think I’d had just as much to drink as he had. That way there would be no possible way I could be playing him.
“I’m in place,” Leon said quietly in my ear. “You ready?”
“Oh, dear,” I said with a giggle, wobbling another step, “that wine has gone straight to my head.”
Edward, gentleman that he was, generously looped his arm around my waist, pulling me in close as he helped to steady me in my high heels. I took the opportunity to slip his keycard back in his pocket, not even remotely listening to the sleazy bullshit he was murmuring as he led me out of the restaurant.
The hostess flashed me a worried look as we passed her, but I just gave her a reassuring smile before leaning in closer to Edward Gates.
“Oh… I really shouldn’t go to your room,” I said reluctantly as he tried to steer me toward the elevators. “If my husband finds out…”
Edward’s eyes flashed with irritation through the alcohol haze, but he quickly masked it with a smile. “Of course, that was presumptuous of me,” he replied, his voice soothing. “You do look a little pale, though. Perhaps a breath of fresh air?”
Pale. Hah. I was permanently pale. But I obligingly smiled back. “Yes, that sounds good.”
Edward gave a confident nod, changing direction to head out to the lobby courtyard. No sooner had the doors closed behind us than he had me up against the wall. His whiskey breath was heavy as his mouth clamped onto mine, and I officially ditched any hope that he might be a good lay.
Better to get what we needed and get the fuck out.
“Stop, Ted—” I protested, pushing him away weakly. “I just… I need a moment to catch my breath.”
“Don’t think about it too hard, Michelle,” he snapped, his tone losing the charm entirely, “you wouldn’t want to give yourself a headache.”
Oh wow. He was going to be lucky to make it out of this hotel alive, pushing my buttons like that. But Michelle was a doormat. She wouldn’t even flinch at a scathing comment like that.
“Okay, sure,” I simpered back, “I guess I’m ready then.”
“Finally,” Leon muttered in my ear. “Okay, first word I need is squirrel . Thirty seconds, go.”
I rolled my eyes, but Ted didn’t notice, he was too busy sucking on my neck. Fucking voice activated password systems were such a pain in the ass, but so easy to hack like this. All I needed to do was have Edward say the randomly generated words out loud. On the other end of my communication device, the computer would hear him say the passphrases, and hopefully unlock for Leon.
Easy, right? So long as I could get Edward to say the stupid words within the thirty second time allotment, without tipping him off to what we were doing.
I let him kiss me sloppily another moment, then pulled away with a small shriek.
“What?” he demanded. “What happened?”
“S-sorry,” I stammered. “There was something moving. Just over there in that tree.” I pointed a trembling finger at the tree in the middle of the courtyard.
Edward rolled his eyes, not even turning to look. “It was probably just a squirrel. Ignore it.”
He went straight back to mauling me, his hands sliding up my skirt as Leon confirmed the voice scan on his end.
“Next word is Zimbabwe .”
“Oh my god, ” I groaned aloud, mentally cursing the stupid random word generator. Edward thought I was all kinds of turned on, though, and it just encouraged him to grind his erection against me.
“Twenty-five seconds, DeLuna,” Leon snapped. “Come on.”
“Shit,” I breathed. “Hey, Ted, have you traveled the world?”
“Huh?” he replied, pulling away from my neck that he’d been slobbering all over to look at me in confusion.
I shrugged and gave him doe-eyes. “You seem so worldly. I’ve always wanted to travel. You know what’s the top of my list? That country in Africa that starts with Z . Ugh, I can never remember the name of it, but it sounds so exotic, you know? Like with elephants and stuff? What’s it called?”
Edward frowned. “Zambia?”
I shook my head. “No, it’s a longer word. Gosh, this is going to annoy me until I remember.”
He shook his head. “Zaire.”
Okay, firstly that was a shorter word, dumbass, and secondly, it’s called the Democratic Republic of Congo now.
“Unh-unh, no, that’s not it.” I held him at arm’s length.
Frustration darkened his features, and his hands grabbed at me a little more insistently. “Fucking Zanzibar, then. Why are we even talking about this?”
“Running out of time, DeLuna,” Leon reminded me. Meanwhile, this idiot had named a city before the other one of two African countries starting with the letter Z . For fuck’s sake. Stupid voice biometrics.