Arielle Immortal Fury (The Immortal Rapture Series Book 6) (18 page)

“Did they steal secret documents again?”

“No, they have hackers that are trying to get through company
security and steal classified information. I had a meeting with Nathan, Troy, and all the company officials. We are working on a
new system to repair weak servers, change passwords, enhance physical security,
and boost counter-intelligence, so we are protected from external invasion. We feel that we have a foolproof system right now, but
several of our top systems analysts are working on an even better solution. There will be a presentation tomorrow morning, and I’ll decide on the best solution provided. We’ll take it from there.”

“Well, it sounds like you are doing everything possible, not that I expected anything different from you,” she said and smiled. “But what about Annabel? Do you think she is here?”

“No, I really don’t. I have a feeling this is a totally different issue.”

“A different issue? What do you mean?”

“I mean I think the car had something to do with the company
documents and me. I’m almost one hundred present sure it has
nothing to do with you. We’re dealing with the Russian mafia, and they work in very brutal ways.”

Arielle was speechless. She never imagined anything like that.

“What do you mean brutal ways? You are scaring me.”

“Arielle, don’t worry about me. You know they can’t hurt me. I have an army of immortals that I can call on if I need help. I’m sure Nathan, Troy, and I can handle this.”

“Is Nathan back from his honeymoon?”

“Yes, they came back early, because Jasmine, his wife, got sick. They’ll take a second honeymoon at a later date.”

“There you go…” her voice trailed. She turned and started to
walk away, mumbling. She sounded despondent. Sebastian caught her wrist and pulled her back to face him.

“What are you mumbling about? And why do you look so
upset?” he asked gently.

“Sebastian, Jasmine is human, and I’m sure she feels horrible for
spoiling their honeymoon. That’s what happens when you get
involved with us. We humans are breakable.”

“Now, you are being totally ridiculous. Falling in love has
nothing to do with what you are but everything to do with who you are. I’d rather be with you that any other person in the whole world.” He pulled her into a tight embrace, and she stopped breathing. “I want you to stop talking like that. It hurts me to see you upset, because I love you,” he said. He shook her lightly and took her mouth.

“I’m sorry. I was just making a measly comment,” she said.

“Well…don’t do that anymore.” His lips traced her jaw line. “I want you to stop worrying about things. I’m here, and if I have to go away, I’ll make sure you are protected.”

Reassured, she stepped out of his embrace and walked back into the kitchen to take a bottle of water out of the fridge. She poured a glass of salve for him, and they went to sit in the library. Sebastian
turned the telly on to the Discovery Channel, and she heard him exclaim in amazement. She turned to the telly screen and noticed
that the
documentary was about extended CIA studies involving stolen
secretive documents. They were analyzing the motivations of a criminal mind to invade private locations and to lift documents, either for personal use or just to sell them for profit.

Sebastian would be glued to the telly for as long as the program lasted, so she walked back to the bedroom and picked up her book
from where she dropped it earlier. She carried
Lady Susan
by Jane
Austen back to the library and settled in the big recliner. It didn’t take long for her to become lost in the story.

Sebastian averted his gaze from the telly to Arielle. A book
rested on her lap, and her eyes were fastened on the pages. He was astonished by how much he loved her and how excited he was just watching her
get lost in a book. His heart filled with warmth and exhilaration
knowing that she was going to be his wife. It was essential for him to know that she was safe and happy in order to
feel complete. Her mere existence made him feel as if he had a faint heartbeat, something that was totally impossible. He guessed that the strength of his love for her made his heart swell with joy. All he wanted to do now was take her to bed and make love to her on a soulful level. Being in bed with Arielle was like fireworks. He could almost hear her moans.

Arielle felt the weight of his gaze on her, but she didn’t look up.
His voice reached her, soft as whisper. “Another Austen book,
baby?” His tone was playful.

She looked up at him, and something about his eyes made her feel happy. “Yes, another Austen book,” she said and smiled gently.

 “What is it about?”

“It’s about Lady Susan, a widow who’s thirty-five years old and uses flirtation and seduction to gain her way through life. She is extremely cold towards her daughter for whom she feels little or no affection.”

“She sounds cruel, not like the typical Austen love stories.”

“I have read that Jane Austen wrote this book based on a true character that lived in her neighborhood. That alone makes it a great story. There’s a lot of love in this book, just like in all the others.”

He laughed at her enthusiasm and averted his eyes back to the telly. Arielle was about a third of the way into the book when she heard him turn the telly off and stand up. He walked over to her and took the book from her hands. He pulled her up to him, and his lips
found hers in a
feverish kiss as his hands moved over her body, caressing every inch of her. Arielle moaned as she heard his breathless voice through the
kiss.

“Are you ready for bed?”

She threw her arms around his neck submissively, and without
another word, he carried her to bed.
God
, she thought to herself,
what an extraordinary feeling!
She could scream with euphoria every time she was in his arms. Making love with him caused her to feel
emotions that
overwhelmed logic. The act always filled her with a rare feeling of satisfaction. When they finally lay in each other’s arms ready to
sleep, she kept pondering how he felt making love to her. She would love to be able to get inside his head like he could get in hers and get an answer to her question. Unable to hold back, she asked him out of pure curiosity.

“Sebastian?”

“Yes, baby,” she heard his passionate voice say.

“How do feel when we make love?” she asked softly.

He seemed to stop breathing; she couldn’t hear a sound from
him. She finally heard him cough softly, trying to clear his throat.

“Arielle, you make me prickle with anticipation, you shoot fire
through my body, and my every impulse is focused on how to give you
sexual fulfillment. I ache for you so badly that I can hardly wait to become physical with you. Your mouth on my skin drive me out of my mind, especially when you press your lips against the hollow of my
throat.”

She giggled. “Mmm…that’s good to know.”

“I try to keep it slow and sensual to please you, but believe me,
that is the hardest thing to do when I’d rather devour you whole,” he said. He chuckled, and she laughed. She pulled herself closer to his warm body, and he held her tightly. Completely spent, she pressed
her
lips against his, asking for a goodnight kiss. The hunger he
demonstrated kissing her back left her certain that his tireless self could keep going for the rest of the night. That was her last thought as she drifted off to sleep, a huge smile on her face.

Sebastian stayed awake, watching her sleep. He felt her warmth
and pulled her even closer to him. He was worried about the
situation at work, and he was extremely concerned about the black car outside the house. He didn’t know what to make of it, but he knew he would have to get to the bottom of both issues. Troy, Nathan, and he would have to be involved in determining what they needed to do next to
make sure the business was safe. He was going to have Christian
and
his wife, Isabella, watch Arielle at school. Ian, Eva, and Loren had
offered to watch her while shopping or going about her business outside the school perimeters. That would have to be enough.

Chapter 12

THE BOARDROOM
on the twenty-fifth floor of the huge IIRL
building was getting louder as the executives that Sebastian had carefully handpicked slowly trickled in. Taking their seats around the elegant oval table, they waited for Sebastian to come in. Sebastian was the sole owner of the IIRL and the only one with the authority to approve recommendations made by his executives. In his absence, Troy or Nathan could make those decisions when necessary.

The head engineer with the vice president of the systems administration
were prepared to introduce new security measures.
Both
reported directly to Troy. Their presentation was to show their expert plan for preventing unauthorized access to any of the computer systems throughout the international company. They
already had in place what was thought of as a state-of-the-art system. To this date, no one had been able to fully break the security codes.

Everyone there understood that criminals working long hours
with the sole determination to infiltrate the company’s security
systems
would eventually succeed. Access to Sebastian’s company would jeopardize highly dangerous substances. IIRL was ready to
revolutionize the way people did business around the world.

All twenty seats at the table were finally taken except the three at
the head. Conversations were being directed across the table and laughter was in the air. Silence fell across the room as Sebastian,
Nathan, and Troy entered and sat down.

“Good morning, ladies and gentleman.” Sebastian’s voice was
soft and clear. He smiled, gazing around the table, attempting to make the atmosphere lighter. The executives greeted the three
politely, but everyone’s attention was focused on Sebastian.

Paul Callahan, the head engineer, walked in holding a pointer in
one hand and an envelope in the other. Madeline Ross, Sebastian’s private secretary, walked behind him, clutching several folders in
her
arms. She moved quickly and silently, setting a folder in front of
each board member while holding a pleasant smile. She then took a seat behind Sebastian with a pad and a pen, ready to take notes.

The presentation was long, and most members seemed engaged. However, a couple of the executives appeared to be struggling to pay attention. Sebastian read their minds and knew that they were good men who were trying desperately to understand the technology, but they were having difficulty absorbing the information. Sebastian also understood that their strengths lay in
other fields, and not everyone in
that room was gifted with skills to follow the latest technology.
Nothing escaped immortals as their senses were highly attuned to everything around them.

Sebastian liked what he heard from Paul’s presentation. Next, he
needed to get skilled people to put the system in place and make it tough for hackers to get through their codes and passwords. Any delay would potentially cause of large-scale destruction. Sebastian looked at Nathan and Troy with a smile. He stood, ending the meeting. The three of them walked to Sebastian’s office. He asked them to sit as he pressed Dylan’s number on the desk phone and put the call on speaker.

A female voice answered on the second ring. “Chief Wilson’s office.”

“May I please speak to inspector Dylan Wilson?” Sebastian asked.

“You mean Chief Wilson, sir,” she corrected him.

“All right, Chief Wilson,” Sebastian repeated, suppressing a chuckle.

“One moment, please,” she said politely while putting him on
hold. Sebastian muted the phone as he and Nathan broke out into laughter. Troy looked at both of them with a clueless expression.
Nathan walked over to the window of the sixty-fifth floor that
overlooked the city of London and murmured under his breath.

“Chief Dylan? How about that? I wonder how he got the promotion?”

“Dylan here,” Dylan said, his voice was loud and commanding.

Sebastian unmuted the phone, suddenly serious. “Hey, Dylan. It’s Sebastian Gaulle.”

“Sebastian, it’s good to hear from you, old chap! How are you?”

“Doing well,” Sebastian said. “I understand that you’ve been trying to get a hold of me.”

“Yes, it’s important that we meet as soon as possible. I have documentation that is important to your safety, your family’s safety, and the welfare of your business.”