for himself."
"He seemed smart enough."
"Really?" She laughed, motioning for the waiter to come over to their table. "Don't flatter me. He's a fool. And we both know it."
Jonathan didn't answer. She was right and obviously didn't need him to agree with her. But she did seem much more in charge than her brother did. It explained why her advancement through the hierarchy at Novacorp had been more spectacular than her brother's had been.
"Bring more champagne and your best appetizers. We'll start with that." She winked at Jonathan as though they were sharing some private joke. "And we want to see the list of your best li quors."
"Yes, Ms. Luke." The waiter bowed, then scurried away.
"You come here often?" Jon asked. The view here on the ninety-fifth floor was even more impressive than it'd been below in Ron's office.
"Only when I meet with my brother." She sipped her drink, her gaze lingering on his hands. "You've got very capable hands. I'm sure there are other parts of you that are just as…capable."
"Excuse me?"
"My investigation was very thorough, Jonathan. I found out everything before I met you. You own a club called, "The Answer" in the Port City on Astarte and you're thirty-two years old." She set her crystal goblet on the table. "Grey eyes, curly dark brown hair, and a body I'd love to see more of. And, you're living with a Guardian, of all people. Why aren't you contracted with her?"
"If you wanted to know about my personal life, all you had to do was ask."
"All right, I will." Karin flicked her thick, brown hair off her shoulder, exposing more of her cleavage. "You know that they use Guardians to do interrogations at the detention center. They have the power to reach into a person's mind and extract information."
"So?"
"Well, if they can do that, can they also put information in? You know, like fantasies? I imagine they can insert anything…in the right place."
Jonathan was about to answer when the waiter returned and refilled their glasses. The champagne bubbled up over the rim of Karin's glass and spilled onto the clear, glass tabletop.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Luke!" the waiter gasped, his voice shaking.
"It's nothing. Leave us now," she ordered, waving him off.
She dipped her fingers into the liquid, then eased her index fi nger into her mouth. All the while, her eyes were on him, daring him to react.
Sure, there was a time when he would've responded without hesitation. Her deep violet eyes, the way her hair curved around her oval-shaped face, and her almost-too-perfect skin the color of burnished topaz would've driven him to distraction. He wouldn't have thought twice about taking her to nearest private place. Or, maybe one not so private.
But his desires were much different now.
"Guardians are so much more powerful than ordinary humans. I've heard rumors, but I've never met someone who is actually in relationship with one. You must be very powerful to be able to satisfy her."
Looking at Karin's cool, flawless beauty only made him want Nadira more. Even now he felt her consciousness through their connection. Her passionate energy like fire, burning through him whenever he thought of her. Her strength that yielded only to him, just as her body did when they were together.
Heat rose up past his ears and across his forehead. If only Karin knew that her words were fueling his ache for Nadira right now. Good thing they were sitting and she couldn't see quite how much he was feeling it. "I thought we were discussing business, not my sex life."
"Well, here in Nova City the two intertwine so often that it might as well be the same thing." Karin ran her palm over the spilled champagne, smearing it across the tabletop. "Jon I've never met a man who didn't want to discuss his exploits. You almost sound like you're offended."
"I'm not. But it's my business, isn't it?"
Karin sighed. "If you insist. So, what other impressions do you have of my brother?"
Did she really want the truth? Might as well
Darrell Gurney, Ivan Misner