Dangerous by Jacquelyn Frank Page A

but surprisingly handsome face, and strange amber colored eyes with gold and umber flecks in them. Devon was unaware that she lightly licked her lips as she admired the broad field of his chest and the sinew roping down his arms. His black T-shirt clung to both like a second skin. She licked her lips again, wondering if he had any body art. Human body art was fascinating to her. Because of the way Morphates healed, their bodies refused to hold the ink of any tattoo not acquired before their transformation into Morphates. The art would fade, like any other foreign injury, within a few days. She really rather wished she’d been the type to get tattoos before she’d had her run-in with Dr. Eric Paulson. On the other hand, living with artwork forever seemed like a very long time, and right now it didn’t look like Morphates were ever going to age.
    Devon let her eyes move over Nash as he hauled things off the truck, his huge body twisting and bending with fluid ease. His strong, muscular legs glided and bent as needed, showing no hint of error in movement despite the awful leg wounds he had suffered during the previously mentioned encounter with a Morphate while in the Secret Service.
    Devon wondered if his crew knew he was the first human, the first person , to ever figure out how to permanently destroy a Morphate. His report had claimed it to be a stroke of luck, and so it might have been, but it wasn’t as though the weapon were a mainstream material or, as he had mentioned, anything a human being would willingly want to touch for fear of its toxicity.
    Irradiated mercury.
    Devon had gleaned from her conversation with Nash that his team could be appropriately armed with mercury-filled bullets. She had to assume that meant they were trained in the handling of them as well as their purpose. The toxic ammunition, while instantly fatal to Morphates, was potentially just as poisonous to anyone who handled it. Mercury broke down body tissue on contact no matter what the species. Radioactive mercury . . . well, that was a no-brainer.
    Mercury ammunition was ineffective without a way for the liquid metal to break out of the bullet. Often, when a bullet impacted the internal bone structure of the body, it would deform on impact, which would release any substance contained within the bullet. However, just as often it would remain intact. The shooter couldn’t depend on those odds when in a fight for his or her life. At present, those who knew about the effects of mercury on Morphates used bullets tipped with a wax-like substance. It held the mercury in during storage, as well as for the duration of the trip down the gun barrel and to the target, but dissolved quickly at body temperature. The result was effective and deadly, culminating in a gaseous cloud of Morphate remains.
    However, accidents were frequent and misfires dangerous or deadly. The ammunition couldn’t be used in the summer safely when high temperatures threatened the special wax plugs. Carelessness could end in mercury leaking everywhere, poisoning the weapon’s carrier. The delivery system, as Nash had pointed out, was flawed and unstable and had needed dire improvement.
    Devon had seen to it that the military would court Candler International for the solution, and she was in the process of providing one. The first prototypes were resting carefully in the armory behind the surveillance room she now sat in. She would introduce Nash to them shortly. She smiled when she thought of how his face would awaken with excitement, just as it had when she’d told him she’d come up with the solution in the first place.
    Just like it had when she’d touched him.
    Mmm, an unsafe thought , she scolded herself as she watched him move and speak with his team. He was a beautiful specimen of masculinity, there was no denying that, and part of her itched to get a peek at the underlying sexuality she sensed within him, but unfortunately they were going