After Mariah pulled her pajama bottoms up and jerked the top over her head, she glanced at Jake. The tension radiating between them was all but visible. s.e.xual energy charged the air. Mariah sucked in her breath, released it and headed toward the door, her bare feet padding softly on the wooden floor. She snapped the lock on the doork.n.o.b and cracked the door just enough to peer out at Lester. The little creep put his face up to hers and grinned. She jerked back in time to avoid their faces actually touching. If Lester had tried to kiss her, Jake figured she would have whipped his b.u.t.t.

"Report back to Burgess that I have everything under control," Mariah said. "And tell him that I hope he feels better soon."

Lester grabbed the edge of the door. "You never did say why you locked the door."

"For privacy."

Lester grunted. "If Ingram got rowdy and you needed our help, we'd have to bust the door in, so how about keeping it unlocked?"

"Only if you swear to knock first and wait for me to open the door before you come barging in."

"That hurts my feelings, Doc. You're implying that I'm not a gentleman."

"Suffice to say that I'd never use your name and the world gentleman in the same sentence."

"You like talking all highfalutin, don't you? But I know an insult when I hear it.'' Lester shoved open the door, almost knocking Mariah down in the process. When she took a defensive stance, he paused just after crossing the threshold. "Maybe you prefer Ingram's company to mine since he's a genius and some sort of new and improved human being." Lester glared at Jake. "h.e.l.l, for all I know, maybe his John Thomas is twice the size of mine."

Jake wondered how long it would take before Mariah lost all patience with this jacka.s.s and put a couple of big knots on his thick skull. He could tell by the tense way she stood, her eyes narrowed to mere slits and just a hint of color in her cheeks, that she was ready to explode.

"Lester?" Mariah said his name in a sultry, feminine tone.

"Huh?" He snapped around and stared at her, melting into a puddle of white-trash desire.

She walked toward him. Slowly. A smile on her face. Then before Lester knew what had hit him, Mariah grabbed his arm, twisted it behind his back and added just the right amount of pressure.

"You're leaving this room." Forcing him into motion, she escorted him out into the hall. "You're going downstairs and you're not coming back up here tonight. Do you understand?"

Lester glowered at her. She increased the pressure on his arm. He struggled for half a second before the pain got the best of him and he yelped his surrender. "Okay. Okay. Don't break my friggin' arm."

"You be a good boy and leave me alone so I can sleep and I'll cook breakfast for you and Burgess in the morning." She gave Lester a none-too-gentle shove toward the stairs.

He didn't respond, didn't look back. His feet clomped loudly down the steps. Mariah returned to the bedroom and closed the door. But she didn't lock it.

"Lester could have waited awhile before barging in," Jake said. "At least long enough for us to have finished what we'd started."

"I'm not sure he won't come back up here later. I've all but threatened to kill him, but he's like a dog with a favorite bone. He just won't leave me alone."

"Given the chance later on, if you don't beat the h.e.l.l out of him, I'll be forced to do it myself."

Mariah grinned. "Do you need to go to the bathroom before I turn off the light and-"

"I don't need anything except more of you."

Mariah turned off the light. Moonlight stole into the room through the windows and cast golden black shadows across the floor. Jake slid down in bed until his head touched the pillow. He lay there atop the bedspread and tried not to think about the sight of Mariah naked or the feel of her in his arms or the taste of her on his lips.

Before his eyes adjusted to the semidarkness, he sensed her presence beside his bed.

"Mariah?"

"Don't talk," she told him as she reached out and unbuckled his belt.

"You'd better lock the door."

"No, I can't risk it."

"But it would be better for Lester to find the door locked again than to find us in a compromising situation."

"Just shut up, will you, and leave everything to me."

"Yes, ma'am?" Jake saluted her with his free hand.

Slowly, patiently, she unzipped his pants, eased her hand inside his briefs and freed his s.e.x. When her hand circled his erection, he thought he'd die from the pleasure. But that pleasure was nothing compared to what happened next. Mariah crawled into his bed, positioned herself over the lower half of his body and ran her tongue over him from dp to base. Jake's hips bucked up and his s.e.x jetted forward, begging for more. Much more.

After moistening him thoroughly and eliciting several deep moans from him, she took him into her mouth. Jake thought he would die. Pure s.e.xual sensation radiated through his body. When she moved over him, up and down, sucking and licking, Jake knew he was a goner. All rational thought ceased to exist. In that moment he became nothing more than a ma.s.s of highly charged male energy. Virility to the max.

When she pumped him in and out of her mouth, he grabbed her head and encouraged her to take more. And she did.

Her mouth milked, her tongue stroked. And Jake came. It was all he could do not to roar with satisfaction. When his body calmed and the climatic spasms ceased, he grabbed the back of her neck and dragged her up over his body until she lay on top of him. Cupping the crown of her head, he kissed her pa.s.sionately and tasted himself on her lips, in her mouth.

As he ended the kiss, he whispered her name. "Mariah."

"Shh. Don't say anything."

He kissed her again, but she was the one who ended it this time, then pulled away from him. He didn't try to stop her when she got up and went to her own bed. Silence filled the room; "Thanks," he said.

She didn't respond. He figured she was as puzzled as he was by this hot, mad pa.s.sion they felt for each other. He'd known a lot of women, but never anyone like Mariah. And never had he been as wild about a woman as he was about her. But the important question was would a fiery pa.s.sion this intense soon b.u.m itself out? Once they were out of danger, would their desire cool?

The next morning Mariah woke before six, checked on Jake and found him still asleep. As she headed for the bathroom, all she could think about was what had happened between them last night, when what she should have been thinking about was disabling Burgess and Lester so Jake and she could escape. She turned on the shower, stripped and stepped under the warm water. Her body responded when she touched herself with a soapy washcloth, all her senses recalling the feel of Jake's hands, mouth and tongue caressing her.

She was no novice to s.e.x, although she'd been a late-bloomer, losing her virginity at twenty-three to an up-and-coming congressional aide. She'd dated Chip La.r.s.en for nearly two years and they'd even talked about marriage somewhere down the road, but it hadn't worked out. She'd loved Chip, but... At the time, she hadn't been sure why their relationship had fizzled out, but in retrospect, she knew. They'd been young, both in exciting jobs, working with and socializing with interesting people. They had allowed their zest for life to dupe them into believing that fervor carried over into their love affair. But not once had Chip ever made her feel the overwhelming, uncontrollable l.u.s.t she felt for Jake. h.e.l.l, no one had ever brought out the wild woman in her. She hadn't even known that part of her existed- not until she'd taken one look at Jake Ingrain and every feminine instinct in her had gone into overdrive.

Okay, Mariah, so you've got it bad for this guy. Just don't go convincing yourself that it's anything more than. s.e.x. Especially not to him. Remember Jake Ingram is a superhuman, a nearly perfect specimen, physically and mentally. He could have his pick of women. Only recently he'd been engaged to Tara Linden, a successful corporate attorney and the daughter of a wealthy Texas tyc.o.o.n. When Jake finally married, it would be to someone like his former fiance- rich, gorgeous and socially prominent.

Mariah turned off the water, flung back the curtain, stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. Wrapping her hair turban-fashion, she tried to vanquish thoughts of Jake from her mind. Common sense told her she'd made a major mistake in allowing her desire to override her professionalism. But her body-and yes, dammit, her heart-told her something else entirely.

Concentrate on business, she told herself. You've got to drug the coffee, make sure Burgess and Lester drink enough to knock them out, then get Jake away from the cabin and place him in the care of the bureau, where he would be safe from the Coalition. Unfortunately, she couldn't tell Jake about Gideon's capture until then, otherwise his hero mentality would demand he rush into harm's way and try to not only retrieve the invaluable disk, but save his brother.

After putting on her clothes, she went back to the bedroom and checked on Jake again, this time finding him awake and sitting up in bed.

"I'm going to head down to the kitchen and start breakfast." She went over to him and unlocked the handcuffs. "I'm hoping I can get the coffee made and doctored before Burgess and Lester get up."

"No good-morning kiss?"

Jake's beguiling grin was almost her undoing. Almost.

"No time for fun and games this morning. We've got more important things to do."

"I'll have to remember that you don't have a sense of humor early in the morning."

Despite her determination to remain unaffected by Jake's charm, Mariah had no control over her reaction. Having interpreted his comment to mean he expected they would be spending more early mornings together, her heart actually leaped for joy.

"I'm going to need your help," she told him, remaining cool toward him even though what she'd like to do was give him the good-morning kiss he'd requested.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Take a shower, get dressed and then come downstairs. If they're around, act subdued. Wait for my signal before you do anything. If I've already put the knockout drops in the coffee, I'll say something about not being hungry myself but hope they enjoy breakfast. If I haven't had a chance to doctor the coffee, then I'll say I've decided that you won't get any breakfast because I'm through being nice to you. That's when you can protest. Put up such a ruckus that it will take both Burgess and Lester to control you. I'll tell them to bring you back upstairs and shackle you to the bed again."

"I think I can handle that."

"I'm sure you can."

When she turned to leave, Jake grabbed her wrist. "About last night-"

She pulled free, but forced herself to meet his gaze head-on. "What about last night? No big deal. We fooled around a little bit. It's not as if it was the first time for either of us or as if it meant anything. Right?" Holding her breath, she waited for his response. A part of her wanted him to deny her a.s.sessment, wanted him to tell her that it had meant something to him.

Jake shrugged. "Right. No big deal. Just s.e.x."

"Yes. Just s.e.x." Before she got all female, all emotional, Mariah turned around and left the room. She managed not to run, although she needed to get away from Jake as fast as she could.

Just s.e.x. Yeah, that was all it had been. For him.

Jake couldn't shake the feeling that he'd made a major mistake in pa.s.sing off what had happened with Mariah as no big deal, just s.e.x. But she'd been the one who'd said it hadn't meant anything. Yeah, In-gram, and you just automatically agreed, didn't you? No way were you going to risk denting your colossal male ego by admitting that there was something d.a.m.n powerful happening between you two.

Jake tromped into the bathroom, stripped and got in the shower. While the warm water peppered over his back, he lathered his hair and tried to put all s.e.xual thoughts of Mariah from his mind. Easier said than done. How did a guy forget about something so d.a.m.n good, something that had, on a scale of one to ten, been an eleven? If oral s.e.x had been that fantastic, what would it be like to bury himself deep inside her, to take her in the most basic, primitive way? Just the thought aroused him. Great. Just great. He'd awakened with a hard-on, but he'd managed to get it under control when Mariah had taken a shower. Now he had another erection. Bigger and better than the one before.

His life was in a mess. Kidnapped by the Coalition. His future on the line. The project his biological parents had created and for which each had died would possibly be reenacted to create another set of superkids-unless he and his siblings were able to stop the Coalition once and for all. He had to escape, make his way to secret Coalition headquarters and find Gideon's computer disk. So why in the middle of all this chaos had Mariah Daley come into his life? Wrong time. Wrong place. But the right woman. Romance should be the last thing on his mind. Not romance, he reminded himself. Just s.e.x. Yeah, sure. Who was he kidding? He'd had "just s.e.x" on quite a few occasions and he'd made love many times. He knew the difference. With Mariah, it was definitely making love.

But lovemaking usually required a level of intimacy that took longer than a couple of days acquaintance, at least in his experience. So why was it that after having met Mariah less than forty-eight hours ago, he found himself attached to her on an emotional level unlike anything he'd known in any previous relationship, short- or long-lived? Including his engagement to Tara.

Jake stepped out of the shower, dried off and dressed hurriedly. For now he had to forego psychoa.n.a.lyzing his feelings for Mariah. First things first, he reminded himself. They had to escape, and that meant putting Burgess and Lester temporarily out of commission.

While he made his way downstairs, Jake recalled the cues Mariah had given him so he'd know whether to go berserk shortly after entering the kitchen or to keep a low profile. If Mariah could manage to drug the coffee, then there was a good chance her plan would work. Otherwise, they'd have to hatch a new escape strategy.

As he approached the kitchen door, he heard voices and knew Mariah was talking to the Coalition bodyguards. Before entering, he hesitated a couple of minutes and listened, but heard nothing but idle chit-chat. He kept his head bowed and his gaze downcast, following Mariah's instructions.

"Well, look here," Lester said. "Walking around free as a bird. What did you do to him last night, Doc, to make him so submissive?"

Burgess clamped his meaty hand down on Jake's shoulder. "What do you think she did? Isn't it obvious that she told him about his brother and he knows he's got to cooperate or else?"

Jake snapped his head up and glared at Burgess. What had he said? Something about Jake's brother? Did he mean Gideon? Jake looked toward Mariah, but she turned, faced the counter and began fiddling with the ingredients for their pancakes.

"What's he talking about?" Jake asked her.

"Just shut up," Mariah replied. "You don't ask the questions. I do." She eased around slowly and shot him a warning glare. "And you might as well go back upstairs because I've decided that since you don't respond well to good treatment, I'll try a different tactic. From now on, no breakfast. As a matter of fact, no food at all-not until you cooperate fully."

That was his cue to start a ruckus to distract these two goons so Mariah could doctor the coffee. But first he wanted her to explain what Burgess had meant when he'd said, "She told him about his brother."

"You heard the doc. Get going." Burgess gave Jake a none-too-gentle shove.

"If you aren't a good boy and jump whenever Doc tells you to, there's no telling what will happen to your brother," Lester said. "Ain't it just a kick in the pants to find out that you risked your life to keep Gideon Faulkner safe and now the Coalition's got both of you?"

For a couple of seconds all that registered in Jake's mind was Lester's cackling, maniacal laughter, but then realization dawned-the Coalition had captured Gideon. And Mariah knew about it. But she hadn't told him.

Jake stared at her and saw the truth plainly in her guilty expression. "You knew, d.a.m.n you, you knew!"

"Shut up! I don't want to listen to your meaningless tirade," Mariah told him.

"He acts like he didn't know," Lester said, then turned to Marian. "Didn't you tell him? We were told that you were instructed to inform Ingram that Gideon Faulkner had been captured and that if In-gram didn't follow orders, his brother would pay with his life."

"How could you have lied to me?" Jake demanded, thinking of nothing but the sense of betrayal he felt knowing Marian hadn't been honest with him. He'd been a fool to think she was different-from Tara and all the other women he'd known. Mariah had her own personal agenda and what he wanted or needed was secondary to her a.s.signment. "You d.a.m.n b.i.t.c.h, you used me. You were going to-"

Before Jake realized her intention, Mariah crossed the room in a flash and crashed her fist into the side of his face, sending him reeling. For a couple of seconds, he saw stars. Literally. The lady certainly had a powerful punch.

Seven.

After doing what she'd needed to do in order to silence Jake immediately, Mariah issued an order. "Take him back upstairs and cuff him to the bed. But gag him first. Once we've had breakfast, I'll start a new hypnosis session with him. And this time, I'm sure Mr. Ingram will cooperate fully."

Burgess grabbed Jake's arm, jerked him up from where he'd landed on his knees, and herded him toward the door.

After saying a silent prayer of thanks that Jake hadn't continued his tirade, Mariah turned her attention to Lester. "Go with them and-"

"No need," Burgess replied. "I can handle Ingram without any help."

d.a.m.n! Not only did she have to deal with Jake's reaction to finding out that Gideon had been captured by the Coalition and she hadn't shared that information with him, but now her plan to drug the coffee wasn't going to work, not with Lester remaining in the kitchen. So be it. She'd prepare the d.a.m.n pancakes and undoctored coffee for Burgess and Lester, since she'd promised to fix breakfast for them this morning. But as soon as she'd wolfed down a few bites, she'd go upstairs and try her best to do some damage control. She had to find a way to make Jake understand why she hadn't been totally honest with him.

And just how do you propose to do that, Marian? she asked herself. You've lied to him, albeit by omission. He's not going to trust you. There's a good chance that no matter what you tell him, he's not going to believe you. Dammit, she had to find some way to make him believe that she was on his side. One hundred percent. And there was only one way to do that-stand by him no matter what, and that included going with him to save Gideon!

How quickly this mission had changed for her, how quickly she'd gone from being an FBI agent doing her job to being a woman standing by her man. Idiot, she scolded herself, no matter what you do, Jake may never forgive you.

With robotic movements, she prepared breakfast, then served the meal when Burgess returned to the kitchen. Thankfully Lester had done nothing more than ogle her. Heaven help her, but if the man had come on to her again this morning, she might have reacted violently.

As she finished the third bite of syrup-drenched pancakes, Mariah glanced at the two Coalition flunkies who were thoroughly enjoying the fruits of her labors. She swallowed, then said, "I'm going to try to put Jake Ingram under a deep hypnotic trance and that procedure requires absolute concentration on my part and complete quiet. I don't want either of you bothering me while I'm working. Do you understand?" She glared at Lester first, then at Burgess.

"We understand," Burgess said. "But we'll be right here, ready to a.s.sist you if you give us the word."

Mariah nodded, offered him a weak smile, then picked up her plate and headed for the kitchen garbage can. After dumping the contents of her plate, she placed the earthenware dish in the sink. Totally ignoring everything and everyone, her mind focused on how best to deal with Jake, she headed upstairs.