Seduction of Steel: The Complete Series Page 17

  Jessica squeezed a bit of lemon juice and then she took her fork and stabbed the ice-cold oyster. She thought she'd try the first one without sauce, just to see what it was like.

  “Ooh,” she said, covering her mouth as she spoke. She was surprised by both the taste and texture as she tasted the slick, briny bivalve. It was not-quite-solid, and not-quite-liquid all at once, with a slight, but not overpowering seafood taste. She chewed once, and then swallowed. “Interesting...and not exactly what I expected. I wonder why they're supposed to be aphrodisiacs?”

  “I have no idea, but I'm not sure you'd need one, anyway,” he said with a laugh.

  “No, probably not. I'm usually horny enough as it is. Still, they're tasty. They feel kind of weird in your mouth, though.”

  “They do. You'll find that they tend to go better with Martinis, beer, or Bloody Marys than they do with fruity drinks.”

  She took a sip of her drink. “You're probably right. Still, the Cosmo and oyster combination isn't bad. I wouldn't mind eating a few more of these. If they increase the libido, that's a bonus.”

  “I think your libido is just fine, Jess, but if you want more oysters, go ahead.”

  “So, how did your meeting go? When are you going to tell me what we're doing here?”

  “OK. I'll tell you what I can. I'm supposed to infiltrate a company called Peavy Manufacturing. They make high-end electronic medical equipment. I've been hired to find out what they're working on, and to see if I can obtain some of their computer files that have to do with manufacturing specifics of whatever it is they're making.”

  “You don't know what you're looking for?” she asked, as she twirled another oyster on her fork.

  Ryan shrugged. “I don't. Supposedly, they're working on something pretty amazing, something that may revolutionize some aspect of medicine. I don't know what it is.”

  “How are you going to find what you're looking for if you don't know what it is?”

  “I'm going to have to find out what it is, and then find the computer files. I've arranged, through a contact that provides contractors, to get hired for a few days as a temp in the marketing department. I'm going to have to wing it from there.”

  “This sounds like you're just planning to steal stuff outright. It also sounds illegal.”

  “It is a little different from what I usually do. I promise you that what I'm doing isn't illegal and won't get you in trouble. I can't say any more about it right now.”

  “Where do I fit in?”

  “I hope that I won't need you. I'll only need your help if something goes wrong. I've got a packet of information for you back at the hotel. It will tell you what to do in the event of a problem.”

  “OK, but I'm a little uncomfortable with this. I wish I had a better idea of what this was about.”

  “You'll just have to trust me on this one, Jess.”

  “Will I have to hang around the hotel the whole time?”

  “No. I should be able to call or text in the event that something goes awry. Just don't stray too far, OK?”

  “All right. I'm getting kind of hungry, and those oysters aren't all that filling. Can we get something else to eat?”

  “Sure. They've got a full menu here, but why don't we call room service? We can eat on the balcony.”

  “Sounds wonderful.”

  They went back to their room, ordered a sumptuous dinner for two and a bottle of wine, and dined on filet mignon and shrimp while watching the crazy partiers on Bourbon Street below.

  “This really is romantic, Ryan. Thanks for bringing me along.” She smiled and took a sip of wine.

  “My pleasure. I love having you along, Jess. I think I work better having you around, though you are sometimes a bit of a distraction.” She smiled at his compliment.

  Their meal finished, Ryan and Jessica sat on the balcony, enjoying the view and having a good time watching the crazy drunks on the street below. Jessica was really enjoying having a bird's eye view of a popular tourist attraction without having to get actively involved. Her balcony view was just terrific. Ryan's company was even better.

  Their wine finished, Jessica suggested that they move indoors.

  Their lavishly appointed room had beautiful furniture; new, but antique-looking. Along with the bed and nightstand were a pair of large upholstered chairs and a coffee table.

  “These chairs probably cost more than I earn in a month,” said Jessica, as she urged Ryan to sit in one. He sat down, and Jessica bent over to kiss him. Not a lingering kiss, just a tease of a peck. As she did so, she reached for his crotch, and noticed that he was becoming firm.

  “I'm going to give you a good luck present for tomorrow,” she said, as she moved her hands over his bulge.

  She unbuckled his belt, unzipped his pants, and pulled them down. She worked a finger under the band of his undershorts, just touching the tip of his erection with her finger. He flinched slightly.

  Jessica pulled the waistband away further, and his cock sprang forward like a lunging animal.

  After all this time, she still marveled at the sight of his magnificent cock, large, firm, and exquisitely shaped. She touched the very tip of her tongue to the head, and Ryan flinched again. A drop or two of salty essence appeared at the tip, and she licked it away.

  She ran her tongue around the head, teasingly. She could tell from Ryan's expression that he was eager for her to take him into her mouth, but Jessica was determined to take her time. As she licked the tip with her tongue, she ran an index finger up and down his shaft, ever so lightly.

  After a moment or two of teasing, she put her mouth on his shaft sideways and worked up and down its length, coating it with her saliva. Once he was slick, she used her hand to slowly pump him as she took the head into her mouth. Ryan moaned as he finally got the deep oral penetration he'd been craving.

  “Oh, Jess, that feels wonderful.” She didn't reply; she simply kept on licking and working his shaft. His hips began to gyrate, and he involuntarily began to thrust slightly. She could feel the head continuing to swell in her mouth as Ryan became more aroused.

  She briefly paused to admire his cock again.

  “Your cock is truly beautiful,” she said.

  Ryan arched his back as Jessica took him deeply into her mouth. She narrowly avoided gagging, but over time, she had gradually become accustomed to his size. She began working his cock with her hand and her mouth, creating a regular rhythm as she bobbed up and down.

  He continued to thrust his hips as she accelerated her pace, gliding her hands on his saliva-slickened shaft. She would alternately take him deep and then tease his head, and Ryan's gasping breathing suggested that he wouldn't last much longer.

  He began to thrust in desperation as Jessica tried to keep the pace with her mouth and her hand. He grabbed the armrests of the chair tightly, and his groans became more audible.

  A moment later, Ryan said, “I'm coming, Jess. I'm coming.”

  He came hard, releasing a torrent of salty juice down Jessica's throat. She continued to suck and move her hand on his shaft, more slowly now, as she milked the last of his essence from his cock. Ryan continued to moan as he shook slightly in the chair, overwhelmed by the magnitude of his orgasm.

  Jessica felt powerful and sexy at the same time, still amazed at her ability to make Ryan come. After she had finished sucking, and after his cock grew limp, she sat in his lap. He put his arms around her and gave her a deep, soul-scorching kiss, the kind that would have made her knees buckle had she been standing. Even so, the kiss gave her goosebumps all over.

  She unbuttoned his shirt and ran her hands over his tight, muscled chest. He kissed her again.

  “That was wonderful, Jess. Thank you.”

  “I'm glad you enjoyed it. I did, too.”

  She did truly love getting Ryan aroused and bringing him off with her mouth. Ryan was a strong, masculine man, but he was completely powerless when Jessica was sucking his cock. She loved that, and would eagerly do it
again.

  They cuddled in the chair for quite a while before turning in for the night.

  Chapter 6

  They woke up early the following morning and ordered breakfast from room service. Ryan handed Jessica the manila envelope he'd been working with the day before.

  “If you receive a text message from me that suggests I'm in trouble, just open the envelope and follow the instructions inside.”

  “What kind of trouble? What do I do?”

  “It's all pretty self-explanatory. I've got complete instructions in there. Just do what it says and everything should be OK. Feel free to have a look at it if you like.”

  “I'm worried about you, Ryan.”

  “Don't be. This will work out. I've got to go now. Have fun today, but don't stray too far, just in case. OK?”

  “All right. But I'm a little uncomfortable with all of this.”

  “Trust me. This will all be OK.”

  Ryan kissed her and left. Jessica put the envelope on the nightstand and soon forgot about it. She decided to spend the day doing a bit of sightseeing. She started off by doing a bit of shopping in the French Quarter. There were a lot of stores with astonishingly tacky souvenirs, but there were also a few specialty stores with some interesting fashions and jewelry.

  About mid-morning, she stopped to have a cup of coffee at Cafe Du Monde, a one hundred and fifty year old coffee shop in the French Quarter that serves a mixture of coffee and chicory, served with hot milk as cafe au lait. They also make these delicious donut-like pastries called beignets.

  They're fried, like donuts, but they're square, and have no hole. The part Jessica really liked is that they're covered with powdered sugar. The hot, sugary dough almost melts in your mouth.

  Jessca found a seat at a table and a waiter came by.

  “I'll have two beignets and a cafe au lait, please.” Jessica would have loved to have ordered a half a dozen beignets, but she exercised some restraint.

  “Yes, ma'am. Are you visiting New Orleans?” The waiter was an older man, perhaps sixty, and looked like he'd been working there for decades. His pronunciation of the name of the city sounded like, “Nawlins.”

  “I am. Just in town for a few days. I'm looking for something interesting to do while I'm here.”

  “Do you like riverboats? You might want to consider taking a steamboat ride on the river. They serve lunch and it's a pretty popular thing to do among tourists.”

  “Is the food good?”

  “It's not the best that New Orleans has, but it's not bad. If you haven't done it, you should try it. You can buy your tickets just a few blocks from here; right down that street.”

  “I'll think about it. Thanks.”

  She really hadn't given a whole lot of thought to what she was going to do with her day, but she was pretty sure that Ryan wouldn't be back until later.

  Why not spend the day on the river? A steamboat ride sounded like fun, and it might give her a great view of the city and perhaps even some ideas for a story.

  Her coffee and beignets came a few minutes later and she savored the strong mix of coffee and chicory. The hot beignets were delicious, but Jessica was a bit surprised at how sticky everything was in that coffee shop. When your primary product is a pastry that's covered with powdered sugar, the powder tends to get everywhere. The table was sticky, the chairs were sticky, and even the napkin dispenser was sticky.

  The stifling heat and humidity in New Orleans only contributed to the stickiness. Still, sticky can be washed off, and the fresh beignets were better than anything she'd get at the grocery store. Jessica ate every bite of the two she'd ordered, and even had a second cup of coffee.

  She decided she'd spend the rest of the day shopping and take a ride on the steamboat the following day. She finished her coffee, walked toward the pier, and bought a ticket for the next day's lunchtime/afternoon ride.

  She bought a nice dress that afternoon that she hoped would captivate Ryan during dinner that night. She spent the rest of the afternoon reading her Kindle on the balcony at the hotel, catching up on the latest in the world of erotic fiction and enjoying the view. If someone were to tell her that she'd have to spend the rest of her life at that hotel, Jessica would have been fine with it.

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  Ryan drove to the Peavy Manufacturing plant, which was located on the outskirts of town, not far from the airport. The plant was large, employing several thousand people in a group of six multistory buildings. He was pleased to see that the campus was as large as it was, since it's much easier to move around without drawing suspicion in a large area than it is in a small one.

  The company was actually based in upstate New York, but this plant was their largest manufacturing facility. If there were corporate secrets to be found, they would be here.

  The receptionist directed Ryan to the human resources department, and when he mentioned the name Ryan Smith, they said that they'd already received his paperwork from the temp agency. He looked it over and was pleased to see that all the information on the documents were fictitious.

  He was given a badge which gave him access to the secured area of the building, and he was escorted to the marketing department, which was where he'd been assigned for his short-term stay with the company. The company expected him to work in marketing for a month, but Ryan knew he likely wouldn't be there for more than a couple of days, if even that.

  He was given a cubicle, and was introduced to a handful of people in the office. The marketing department was primarily concerned with existing products; Ryan knew that he'd have to go elsewhere to find information about the products that were currently in development.

  Having been given some work to do in his cubicle, Ryan pretended to be interested in the work for an hour or so. Then he began the work he came to do. He'd previously done research on the company via the Internet; it's amazing how much you can learn about a company from publicly available resources. He knew, for instance, that the individual in charge of research and development was a man named Scott Parker. He'd begin by talking to him.

  A quick check of the company's internal Website provided him with Parker's phone number. Ryan gave him a call. He answered the phone right away.

  “Parker.”

  “Hi. My name is Ryan Smith. I've been brought in from corporate for a few days to look into the company's security strategies. I want to help make the company's data more secure, but I'm not entirely sure exactly what it is that we're supposed to be protecting. Can I meet with you to discuss that?”

  “You could, but actually, the person you want to talk to is a guy named Howard Kensington. He's in charge of new products, and his department has most of the company's sensitive information.”

  “Great. Could you give me his number?”

  Parker gave Ryan Kensington's phone extension and Ryan gave him a call. Kensington told him that he could meet with Ryan in about an hour. That would work well, coinciding with Ryan's lunch break. He went to Kensington's office, which was located in an adjacent building.

  He knocked on the door, although it was open.

  “Hi. I'm Ryan Smith. We spoke earlier.”

  Ryan handed him a business card that he'd had printed up the week before that identified him as a company security officer. The card, printed at a local print shop, looked just like the company's genuine business cards. Kensington gave it a casual glance and set it aside.

  “Ryan? Come on in. Call me Howard. How can I help you?”

  Ryan proceeded to fill him in, saying that he was interested in helping the company secure sensitive information, but he didn't know which information was actually sensitive. Companies have millions of files on their network, but little of it is of vital importance. Ryan was looking for information about yet-to-be-developed products, things that hadn't yet been patented, and things that were due for production soon. These were the items that needed vital security, he said, and he needed to know what those items were and where thos
e items were stored.

  Howard explained that most of the information was stored on a single file server, and that the details of that information were available in some documents that had been distributed in a company meeting some weeks before. Much to Ryan's surprise, Howard offered to give him copies.

  Ryan took the copies, shook Kensington's hand, and thanked him for his cooperation. He'd look over the documents later. Right now, he needed to get back to his cubicle, or his co-workers in marketing would be suspicious of his absence.

  Ryan returned to his cubicle, and spent the rest of the day looking over a mixture of documentation relating to marketing and documentation relating to products that were in development. He was astonished to discover that not only had the papers from the company meeting outlined, in detail, the location of the files related to new products, but they also provided a username and password for access to the documents themselves.