Chapter 19

The four of us were up before six; Izzy and Peggy helping Lilly finish her packing while I was in the shower. Breakfast was light, coffee and cinnamon rolls, the conversation even lighter. No heavy discussions, thank goodness, although I did pass on the list of presents I'd promised our daughters for their birthday. Izzy and Peggy promised to pick them up and hide them away where they couldn't be found. I had some doubts about their ability to manage that.

"Better, I hope, than you hid your box of toys." I smirked.

Izzy looked scandalized, Peggy tried to look innocent, and Lilly was busy pretending to be fascinated by the remains of the cinnamon roll in her hand. None of them could hide the flushing that coursed up their lovely necks and across their cheeks, or the embarrassment they were feeling.

I just grinned and sipped my coffee.

"What toys?" Peggy asked, her eyes flicking back and forth between Lilly and Izzy.

I waggled my eyebrows a bit. "The ones the girls found not so well hidden in Peggy's room right about this time last year. They were hunting for their birthday presents and found the box. Tink asked me what they were." I replied blandly.

"Oh hell."

"What did you tell her Ike?" Lilly asked, still staring at her roll.

I took another sip of coffee. "You wouldn't want me to lie, would you?"

Peggy glared daggers at me.

I shrugged. "Half of that stuff I couldn't even begin to identify. We all know how innocent and naïve I am about that sort of thing."

"Ike! What did you tell her?" Peggy demanded.

I smiled very widely. "I said they were probably some of your veterinary tools."

Three loud 'whooshes' of air exploded from them.

I chuckled and finished my coffee. "You're a cruel, cruel man Ike Blacktower." Lilly said, her eyes sparkling.

I nodded. "I have my moments."

The one bag I'd told Lilly she could bring turned into three. I decided not to say anything and even helped carry them out to the car.

"Hurry home." Izzy said in my ear as I hugged her.

"As soon as we can. Absolutely no later than the thirteenth." I promised.

"We'll miss you." Peggy told me when I picked her up and held her close.

"We'll miss you too, squirt. Be good. And keep an eye out for trouble, okay?"

"I will."

I squeezed her tight. "That's my girl."

There was a round of hugs, kisses and weepy farewells between the three women before I was able to pry Lilly free and put her in the car.

"By the way," I called out before getting in behind the wheel, "Evan and Janis may be stopping by to talk with you two. Feel free to badmouth me as much as you like."

Lilly and I drove off, heading for Anderson AFB and the CIA executive jet that waited there to take us to California.

Do you have any idea how many schools there are in the state of California that offer degrees in computer science? I didn't, not until I started researching hackers. It turns out that there are just over 235, if you include 4-year Universities, 2-year Colleges, Junior Colleges, Vocational Schools and Technical Certification Programs. They ran the gamut alphabetically from Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria to Yuba College in Marysville. There are huge and expensive schools like USC in the south and Stanford in the north, small expensive ones like Santa Clara University, just plain well known state schools like the University of San Diego, California Polytechnic at San Luis Obispo or the University of California (which had campuses at Berkeley, Irvine, Davis, Chico, Bakersfield, Sacramento, San Bernardino and what looked like pretty much every other significant population center in the state) as well as the less well known, but very highly regarded, California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

They were all over the damn place. I'd given myself just under two weeks to find Lucifer and my plan for doing so was based exclusively on interviewing my way up the state, hitting roughly four or five schools a day until I got a solid lead. That meant a lot of driving, a lot of talking and a lot of discomfort and frustration for me. And poor Lilly was going to have to put up with me the entire time; alone and with out any of the support from Izzy and Peggy that she was used to.

So why, I wondered, was she so cheerful and upbeat? Granted, it had been eight years since we'd last spent much time alone together, the way we had in the hospital ... if you can call that being alone, so maybe it was the prospect of our being alone together; no children, no Izzy or Peggy, no CIA or Congress; just me, Lilly, the California state educational system and, hopefully, Lucifer.

We spent the first day, or what was left of it, relaxing and recovering from the long flight. There'd been one stopover in Dallas-Fort Worth to refuel the plane, but apart from that the trip was coast to coast. We landed in San Diego, took our bags in hand once I'd given the pilots their marching orders, got in the limo and were driven directly to the hotel. Our bodies complained that it was late, but the clocks and the just beginning to sink into the ocean sun said otherwise. I'd booked us a suite at the Marriott, as close to the beach and the ocean as I could manage, and after I stashed my steel briefcase in the hotel safe and we'd taken a quick shower and dressed, Lilly and I went out to dinner.

Dinner was interesting on a couple of levels.

First, I've never been very good in social situations; they make me exceedingly uncomfortable, because I stand out, which draws attention. Even after all these years I've never gotten used to the attention. I can handle people when I'm on the offensive, when I'm working. At times like that I'm in my element, secure in what I can and cannot do or say. Social events take me right out of that secure little world and leave me feeling uncertain and insecure.

And second, since 1995 I've been able to sense emotions without linking. The combination of the two only increases my discomfort.

Lilly picked up on this right off the bat and went out of her way to take the social obligations out of my hands. She dealt with the waiters and stewards, ordered for us, chose the wine, even directed our conversation to areas where she knew I felt at ease.

After I'd finished with my lobster bisque, and while Lilly was picking thru her caesar salad, I picked up my wine glass and lifted it towards the lovely woman sitting opposite me.

"A toast ... to the most beautiful woman here tonight."

Lilly's head came up slowly and she looked around at the other tables.

"I mean you Lilly. The most beautiful, most thoughtful, most loving wife any man could wish for."

Then she smiled. Slowly at first, very-very slowly. Apprehensive and unsure. I shot her a blast of admiration, appreciation and gratitude and her timid smile blossomed into an effusive, full lipped, soul searing smile that threatened to melt every bone in my body.

And feeling the love and affection she was emitting at that moment, I suddenly became aware of a significant surge in emotions all around us.

From the corner of my eyes I saw women turning their attention in our direction, from the very young to the elderly. Their bodies heated up, their passions and lusts became more obvious and intense, which in turn brought on increased irritation and aggravation levels in the men they were with. Until they noticed the woman I was with, and then their libidos kicked into hyper-drive. It wasn't long before Lilly and I were sitting in the center of a torrential hormone storm.

Lilly reached out and put her hand over my own, closing her fingers tightly around mine.

"Is it always like this? When you're out in public?"

"No, not usually. Mostly people react to me on a visceral level. This is different. I've never felt anything quite like this."

"The women," Lilly said from the corner of her mouth, as she glanced around, "some of them look like they're ready to start drooling."

"Yeah, well some of the men already are. And it's not me they're staring at."

"You tease." she laughed. "You sure know how to make an old broad feel good."

I set down the wine glass, took her hand in mine, bent forward and kissed the knuckles of her hand.

"Sweetie, you're not old, not by a damn sight. You're younger, sexier and more desirable than any of these silicone sisters. And there's no one here I'd rather have in my bed."

Lilly blushed, flushed and smiled so brilliantly that half the blood in my body immediately set sail for my cock. I was hard as a rock in less than two seconds.

"Hold that thought." she whispered across the table, gazing lovingly into my eyes. Stars began to sparkle in their depths.

"It's not my thoughts that need holding."

She chuckled lightly. "You're such a pig."

I nodded in agreement and shrugged.

"You'd better do something about all these people or we'll never be able to finish our dinner in peace."

"Okay, but just you remember; every emotion I take from them is going to be simmering inside me for the rest of the night. That's a hell of a lot of lust for one man to hold inside."

Lilly grinned evilly and licked her lips lasciviously. "You won't have to hold it in too long."

I returned her wicked grin with one of my own as I removed all traces of lust and passion from every other person in that restaurant. Then we finished our meal, hardly ever losing eye contact for more than a few seconds.

We returned to our suite, undressed, and I took a quick shower while Lilly removed her makeup. I hadn't even noticed that she was wearing any. When I mentioned it to her, she simply smiled tolerantly before giving me a tongue teaser of a kiss.

I got out of the shower, threw on one of the hotel towel robes and was blow drying my hair as Lilly headed in to take her shower.

I sprawled out on top of the bed and tried to stay awake. I sat up, yanked the bedspread down and pulled a couple of the pillows next to me over, tucking them under my head and shoulders, then hiked myself up so that I was half leaning, half sitting back against the head board. I picked up the remote off the night table next to me, turned on the TV and started channel surfing.

Lilly came scurrying out of the bathroom wearing what looked like one of Peggy's t-shirts, a sly smile and nothing else.

My attention was divided between the CNN news report and Lilly's bare ass wiggling and twitching as she stood in front of the dresser and combed out her damp hair.

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

"Ike?" she said, turning slightly and looking coyly over her shoulder, the comb stopped half-way down the dark silky cascade of her hair.

"Hmmm?" I murmured, pretending to watch the newscaster. Lilly smiled knowingly and drew the comb the rest of the way down very slowly.

"I don't want to sound like I'm complaining, but this place must be costing a small fortune. How can we afford to stay here?"

"We aren't paying for it ... not directly anyway. Congress and the Agency are picking up the tab for this trip. They're your tax dollars at work, so if you get an urge to splurge..." I left the rest unsaid.

"So, if I feel like calling room service and having them send up a couple bottles of champagne and some caviar, that's okay?"

"If that's what you want I'll even make the call for you." I said.

Lilly turned back to the dresser mirror, put her comb down, opened one of the middle drawers, bent over at the waist and began rummaging around.

The TV might as well have ceased to exist. My eyes were firmly locked on the image of Lilly's naked behind; tight taut cheeks slightly spread, hairless outer vaginal lips plump and prominent, all bouncing and bobbing to the rhythm of a soundtrack only she could hear, and only I could feel.

"What if I'd rather have something else?" she asked, bending even farther over the open drawer, very nearly shoving her head inside.

I chuckled softly and quietly to myself, knowing that she could feel my growing interest and fascination.

"Anything you want, sweetie." I told her.

"Yeah?" Her head came out of the drawer and her upper body contorted so that she could look over her shoulder while still aiming her naked backside at me.

I clicked the remote a couple of times, calling up VH-1, and reduced the volume so that I could just barely hear it.

"Yeah."

"Would you like anything special?" she dutifully inquired, her smile approaching seduction wattage.

"No thanks. I've got everything I want right here."

Bammm! Lilly's smile went from bake to broil and I could feel the heat begin to build within me.

"Now don't you go getting ideas. It's late and we have to be up early." she chided me as if I were one of the children.

I gave her a leering smirk.

"Don't need to go get ideas ... already got a silo full. And it's still early." I picked up the digital alarm clock off the night stand and showed it to her. "See, only 11:20."

She stood up slowly, turning around to face me as she did. Her firm breasts were kept motionless by the tight fabric of the overly tight t-shirt. The light pink cloth was ineffective though at hiding the dark outline of her rigidly erect nipples and engorged areola. With feline grace she put one foot directly in front of the other and stalked towards me.

"What kind of ideas?" she rasped, slinking closer and closer; her hips hypnotically swayed from side to side.

"The usual kind." I replied easily, lifting my arms, putting my hands behind my head and locking the fingers together. I was amazed and fascinated, staring raptly as she moved closer; her entire body appeared to rotate around the epicenter of that sweet, succulent, enticing little belly button. I did my best to remain calm and act unaffected. I was faking it, and Lilly knew I was faking; and she knew that I knew. Hell, that's the kind of mutual deception that makes the game worth playing. I could feel the delectable trembling in the muscles of her belly and legs along with the growing heat between her thighs as she perched herself on the bottom corner of the mattress next to my feet.

"Nothing in particular?" she asked, sounding a little breathless.

I smiled, linked and allowed her to taste my emerging desire and passion ... as well as my unlimited approbation of her physical beauty and the enthralling rush I got from seeing her smile.

Lilly shuddered, causing her breasts to quiver enchantingly despite the cotton shirt's firm grip. The feedback started. She felt me, I felt her, we felt each other and before long it was like looking into a series of mirrors ... a long never ending tunnel of ourself.