Well, she wasn’t going to have someone coming in here and catching her moaning by herself. Hades said they were the drivers behind the theories, so she was going to wait and see what he would do. If he reported what happened, then she was bound to get questions from either Dr. Kirkland or T.
Washing her hands, Helen looked at her reflection again. Her eyes still had those green glints, dammit. She curled the loose tendrils of her hair behind her ears. She would not allow herself to be manipulated by someone unseen. She was a GEM operative first and this was just another contract. GEM operatives always got the better of their men.
Arousal during a job was nothing new to him. He’d seduced women while interrogating them. If need be, he’d used sex to manipulate and retrieve information.
“I’m fine. I don’t need any help,” he said and clicked off the intercom.
He got up and walked through the private entrance into his quarters, unzipping his VR avatar suit as he stepped into the shower area. He stepped out of the garment, slung it on a nearby rack, and closed the shower door. He turned on the water, leaving it on cold.
He looked down. His hand reached for his flesh, his eyes closing involuntarily. Anticipation was a strange aphrodisiac. She’d aroused him more than any other woman had been able to in a long time, and this time hadn’t even been real. Nonetheless, her hands and her lips had the same effect of her actually physically being with him. Her having made a certain part of him bigger hadn’t helped, since he felt the heaviness of his erection even more during the session. The unfamiliarity of it had actually made him harder, tempted him to go a little further.
He wasn’t averse to crossing the line. God knew he’d done that more times than he could count, but in all those times, he’d been in total control, even in the middle of sex. He opened his eyes, ignoring the sharp stab of cold liquid needles on his head and shoulders. He thought of how wet she’d felt. Real or not, he’d felt her response through the feedback oscillator. His lips twisted wryly. The experiment—a virtual reflection of her virtual reality experience being fed back to him—was going to be more successful than they’d thought. He had felt her very close to coming without having touched her. What would it be like when their minds became even more in sync with remote viewing?
The cold water didn’t appear to affect his current condition. Kirkland would be coming over here soon. He squeezed a small amount of liquid soap in his hand. Reached down. Closed his eyes. And thought of the feel of her hand around him.
Six
Area 4, secret test facility, Virginia
“Iwant you to find out the identity of our target. Here are the coordinates. Find out exactly what they’re doing. Remember how it felt to lose to that woman. We aren’t going to let some other candidate win, are we? Think of it. You can beat her. This is your chance.”
Zoom.
Dark. Dark.
“This is where I am. The room inside the monitor room. Right turn. Electronic panel. Going to open…”
“We’re not interested in the panel, Agent. Go through into that room on the right. What’s in there?”
Zoom. Focus.
“I…the door is gray and made of…”
“Agent 22! Just walk through it.”
“I…can’t.”
“What does he mean, he can’t?”
“I don’t know. He’s never said that before. Listen, Agent 22, go through the door and tell us what’s in that room. This is an order.”
Zoom. Close-up. Make door open. Make door disappear.
“I…can’t. Can’t go through. Feels like thick liquid. Like drowning. No, there is some electrical current. I feel energy. No, waves, like…”
“Shut him up. Those drugs are really fucking him up more and more. He’s useless.”
“Agent 22, this is your monitor. I’m your guide. You can trust me, remember? You can go through anything. You’re the camera. Tell us what you see. Zoom in.”
“Can’t…see. Feel lots of pressure. Like waterfall. Like electric current. Like big waves moving and rolling together.”
“He isn’t even making sense. The others never had this problem. Waterfall, big waves?”
“Let me try another way. Agent 22, listen to me. Why can’t you go through?”
Zoom. Pan back.
“This is what I see. Someone walks into the room. A doctor. He opens a drawer and pulls out some files. He walks back toward the entrance. The phone rings. He pauses, then returns to the desk and picks up the phone.
