Chapter 16 – The Spy who Taped Me

"Mr Tanner, Miss Burkhart is here to see you," Dex Tanner's butler announced to his employer.

"Is she now?" Dex murmured, looking up from the profit and loss report of his South Asia operation. The butler waited patiently as Dex considered whether he should turn her away – no doubt she would be furious with him for drugging her last night. Then again, perhaps her memory was unclear as to exactly what happened and he could talk his way out of it. The decision was taken out of his hands when Jackie overrode good manners protocol and barged into his study. His first guess was right – definitely furious.

"Darling, thank God you're safe," Dex opened, moving towards her with arms outstretched. "I don't understand what happened to you last night – there was some sort of raid and I lost you in the crowd. I was frantic – "

"Save it, Dex," Jackie said with a dark look. "You – penguin man – beat it!" she snarled at the butler. As soon as they were alone, she exploded.

"Who the hell is Sharon?" she accused.

"Sharon?" Dex stalled, unprepared for this line of questioning. "I don't know any Sharon."

"Liar!" she yelled, kicking him in the shin for good measure. While he held his leg in pain, she berated him, "I know everything, you two-timing sleaze. I ran into a girl at the hair salon who knows your little chippy from one of those special parties you never have the consideration to invite me to! She told me about the little slut and how you would take her away to exotic locations – you've never even taken me out of the state!"

"Dammit, Jackie, that all happened before we even met," Dex argued.

"So you admit you dated this Sharon Wilder," Jackie pounced.

"She meant nothing to me," he replied. "She's out of my life, now. You're the only woman for me."

"Fine words," Jackie scoffed. "If that were true, you would have stayed with me last night. What was that about – you prime me with sex drugs, promise me a night of wild passion and then ditch me!"

"Drugs? I never gave you any drugs," Dex denied, expecting Jackie would have his head if she thought he had pulled such a slimy move.

"The hell you didn't! And about time, too. I was starting to think you were never going to share the bounty?"

"What?" Dex was incredulous.

"I tried to tell you last night, Dex – I'm into that scene. What you gave me last night – I mean, wow! We have got to try that again, only this time you had better stick around!" She favoured him with a bad girl smile that made him remember why he had been obsessed with her for the past month. She came around his desk to where he was seated in his swivel chair, straddled his lap and took possession of his mouth with a wild passion that made him lightheaded.

"Something tells me we won't be needing any enhancers next time," he breathed. He tried to pull her head back down to his mouth but she resisted.

"Uh uh! I'm still mad at you," she said though her smile belied her words. "When I heard about this Sharon I went crazy with jealousy. I can't bear the thought of any other woman touching my man."

"You don't have to worry about Sharon," Dex assured her as he enjoyed the way her pelvis was rocking against his own.

"You don't get it, Dex," Jackie breathed in his ear as her teeth tugged on his earlobe. "I want you to get rid of her so I'll never have to worry that she could come back and take what's mine."

"Get rid of her… right." Dex was having a hard time concentrating as Jackie's hands found their way underneath his shirt. "Consider it done. In two more days Sharon Wilder will be history."

"Oooh, baby, what are you going to do," Jackie cooed as she planted nipping kisses on his neck. "Are you going to put a contract out on her? Oh please, Dex – show me how much you want me."

"You are a bloodthirsty little wench, aren't you?" Dex said, amused. "I had no idea you had such a dark side."

"Give me what I want, lover, and I'll show you just how dark that side can get," Jackie purred as her hand unbuttoned his Armani trousers and closed around his hardening cock. God, she is perfect, Dex thought, his wolf like intelligence dulled as his lust took over. She had the same evil smile Salome must have worn when she asked for John the Baptist's head.

"She's going to be executed in Singapore," he gasped. "I stashed some drugs on her and the police caught her. In two days she'll be dead." Dex stood up, holding Jackie to him, his hands underneath her thighs. "Now, let's discuss my reward."

At last, Jackie thought, and Steven said my Mata Hari routine wouldn't work. Ha! But when Dex swept his desk clear of papers and office stuff and laid her upon the polished wood, she began to think perhaps she should have thought ahead to what she would do after she got the confession.

"Oh no," she cried in simulated disappointment. "I forgot to take my birth control pill. Damnit! Oh well, I'll come back tonight and we can seal the deal then."

"Not to worry – I have condoms," Dex replied, lifting himself off her so he could open a drawer of his desk. She took the opportunity to quickly slide off the other side of the desk, grab her purse and back away rapidly towards the door.

"I – I don't trust condoms – a friend of mine got pregnant from a guy who used condoms," she babbled, feeling for the doorknob behind her. Then there was an ominous click as Dex pushed a button on his desk – she turned the doorknob to find it locked.

"What is going on here," Dex asked grimly, his suspicions aroused by her attempted escape. He moved slowly towards her and noted the panic in her eyes. "One minute you're on me like a bitch in heat and the next you're running for your life. What is your game, Jackie Burkhart?" He belatedly remembered that Jackie was a reporter – it was easy to forget what she did for a living as she rarely talked about it. He snatched the purse from her hand and reached inside to find a hand-held tape recorder, the little wheels turning around and memorising every incriminating word he uttered. "Oh Jackie," he said softly, his eyes cold as a snake's. "You have been a very bad girl."