Fated in Stone, page 23
She shivered. It had taken her a good two years in therapy before she’d been able to talk about this next part to anyone. Her mother knew, because her father had left a note when he’d dropped Elle off at her mother’s house. But Elle hadn’t been able to talk about it for years.
“I wasn’t hurt in the end, because my father rescued me,” she said, slowly, “but… One of the men… He wanted me for a wife. To make babies with. Immediately. And he wasn’t prepared to wait for me to grow up.”
Ben’s low growl was his only response. Quiet, almost like he wasn’t aware of it. And the sound made the hairs on her arm stand up because it was the sound of a deadly predator. Her reaction to that sound wasn’t fear, though, as she might have expected. Especially given what she was telling him. No. Not fear of him. Instead, a warmth seeped through her. A softening.
“Because my father wouldn’t agree to that arrangement, the man came and tried to take me from my father by force. My father killed him. Shot him.”
“You saw?”
“Not…not the actual shooting. I was cowering in a corner, covering my head with my arms as the men fought. I was only eleven. I was scared. The man had come into my room in the middle of the night…” She swallowed. “Anyway, once my father killed him, he spent about an hour packing up the few things I had that were important to me. He wrote out a note. And that night, he drove me out of the compound. I didn’t know where we were going and had learned not to question my father over the years I’d lived with him. We drove for two days. I was asleep when we pulled up in front of my mother’s house. My childhood home. I barely remembered it, but…I remembered my mother.”
She pulled in a stuttering breath. Let it out on a long exhale. “So…yeah, he returned me to her. With a note. And then he disappeared. I found out later he’d turned himself in to the very authorities he’d feared and told them about the compound and the men there. There was a sting. Lot of militia people arrested for various things. My father went to jail for murder. I saw him once after that. Then he was killed in jail. I don’t know by who or why. No one bothered to find out, or if they did, they never told me.” Her shrug this time covered a whole lot of emotion. “So, as you can see, I understand complicated families.”
He nodded, his expression soft and understanding. No pity still. Not anger anymore either. Just…understanding.
“And so there we are.”
“Complicated,” Ben said with a nod.
A few moments passed as they stared at each other, as the understanding sunk in for both of them. Eventually, she thought she might tell him more of the details. How the time after she’d returned to her mother had been so difficult. How it had taken years to learn to trust her mother again, love her again. But, for now, this was enough. For now, this was good.
“Thank you for telling me,” he said. “I’m honored by your trust.”
She smiled a little at that. “Thank you for tell me about your family, too.”
He dropped his hands to his sides, but his fists were still clenched against his thighs. “It’s late and you’ve been through a lot today. I’m going to go next door so you can sleep. I would rather ask if I can stay here with you. But…today has been a lot. I want to give you some space and time.” He shrugged. “And if you let me stay here with you, I don’t think we’ll sleep much.”
Her nerves tingled and her thighs clenched. He was right. The last thing she’d want to do with Ben in bed was sleep. But she did need to sleep. It felt like she hadn’t slept in days and she could feel her eyes drooping, her head bobbing, as the exhaustion swept through her. As much an emotional exhaustion as a physical one.
She stood on wobbly legs and walked with him to the door that joined their rooms.
“Do you feel comfortable leaving the door unlocked?” he asked when he faced her. “I’d like to be able to reach you quickly if you need help. But I’ll understand completely if you’d feel better with the door locked.”
Under different circumstances, she would. But with him… “No. I’ll feel safer with it open. You?”
“I’ll feel better that way, too.”
“Good. Decided. Door open. Or at least unlocked.”
He brushed the backs of his fingers gently down her cheek. The sensation woke all the nerves in her body and made her suck in a breath. Without really thinking about it, she leaned into him, rising up on her toes when he cupped her face in one large palm and kissed her. The kiss was a slow, luscious exploration that left Elle a puddle of hot, liquid lust. Ben wrapped an arm around her waist, securing her to his big, strong body so solidly it didn’t matter that he’d made her knees weak and she could barely stand up. She didn’t have to. He was strong enough to take her weight. She buried her fingers in his hair and clung to him, kissed him like he was everything, and felt herself falling much harder and deeper than she would have thought possible after such a short amount of time.
When he eased away, she let go of him reluctantly. She had to grip the doorframe to stay upright, and she couldn’t even be mad at him for his smug smile. Not when he was standing there looking at her like that. She wanted to sink back against him, explore that erection she’d felt pressing against her stomach. She wanted to take his face in her hands and kiss him again. But she didn’t.
She whispered, “Goodnight,” and when he was in his own room, she gently closed the door halfway. Not fully. And not locked. But with the show of a barrier between them. More of a reminder to her that she needed sleep more than she needed sex right then.
Because her libido wanted to argue that point.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Elle slept like a rock and woke up the next morning feeling surprisingly refreshed. Given the day before, and everything that had happened in just one day, feeling good and well rested felt like a miracle.
The motel room was dim and quiet, only a little light leaking around the sides of the blackout curtains. She’d turned the TV off last night—something she rarely did when in a hotel room alone—and hadn’t noticed the difference. Probably because she’d left the door between her room and Ben’s cracked open and that was enough to reassure her she was safe and could sleep comfortably.
Though, now that she was well rested and awake, that half-open door posed a problem. There was no real barrier between her and Ben just then. She could walk into his room without trouble. And once there, if he was still in bed, it would be incredibly easy to crawl into that bed with him, slip under the covers, see if he slept in pajamas or naked. Do something about those states no matter which it was.
She pressed her legs together under her own blankets and tried to bring her mind back under control. Didn’t work. Her gaze jumped to the half-open door. Temptation beckoned. Would he mind? From the way he’d kissed her yesterday, last night, from the remembered feel of his erection, she was pretty sure he wouldn’t mind. Pretty sure. But not absolutely sure.
Still. It never hurt to ask.
She swallowed and considered the door as she cupped her breast through her t-shirt and pinched her nipple. What would his mouth feel like there? Did she want him to be rough or gentle? She tightened her fingers and twisted hard, pressing her lips together so she wouldn’t moan out loud. Both. She’d want him rough and gentle. And she had a feeling he could manage that.
He was several centuries old. That meant he probably had a great deal of experience with sex and pleasure. That sounded…useful. She cupped her other breast and nibbled her bottom lip, still contemplating that half-open door.
Despite the building restlessness and need, a small part of her still hesitated to take that last step. To walk through that door and wake him up with her mouth on his and see where that took them. Maybe leave her clothes behind when she did. The thought was so so appealing. So so tempting. And she was pretty sure he’d welcome that kind of good morning.
But… But this wouldn’t be an ordinary fuck. They were talking about a lifetime together. If she chose to stay. They were irrevocably linked now. Tightening that link too soon seemed like a bad idea.
Her body disagreed. A lot. She sighed and closed her eyes, dropping her head back onto her pillow. Really, she wasn’t going to hold out long like this. She was just torturing herself for no real reason. She wanted to fuck him so bad she was wet just thinking about it.
A light knock on the door between their rooms startled a gasp from her. She hadn’t heard any movement in his room, had just assumed he was still asleep. She scooted higher up in the bed, and said, “Ben?”
Why the hell was she asking if that was him? Who else would it be?
Well, given the last few days, she supposed it could be monsters. But she doubted they’d knock.
“Did I wake you?” he asked through the crack in the door.
The sound of his voice settled her sudden worry about monsters but did nothing to calm her raging lust. In fact, her body tingled everywhere, like his voice had been a caress along her already sensitive skin.
“I was awake. Is something wrong?” Her voice sounded breathy and husky. She cleared her throat.
He didn’t open the door, continuing to speak through the small opening. Was that better or worse for her hormones? She couldn’t see him, that seemed like a good thing for her ability to think. But the sound of his voice, with no other distractions, was stroking over her, sparking tremors of sensation.
“I was going to go get some breakfast,” he said. Did his voice sound even deeper now? “Do you want anything?”
You. “I could really use some coffee.” There was a little squeak in her voice that made her cheeks heat.
“You should eat, too.”
Now she was sure his voice was deeper. And huskier. She clutched the blanket in an attempt to remain where she was, because all her more lusty instincts were urging her to go fling that door open and step into his arms. Was he dressed yet? Or only half dressed? The thought of him standing just the other side of that door without anything on left her dizzy, sent a surge of wetness between her thighs.
And all this with a few words, no visual, and a perfectly mundane conversation. She would combust if he started actually talking dirty to her right now.
She nearly said she was easy again, but that might be too on the nose considering how she was feeling. “Something with eggs would probably be good.”
“Coffee and eggs. Got it. Anything else?”
You. You naked and in this bed with me. You with your mouth on me. “That should be good.”
“Okay. I’ll be back soon.”
She listened intently as he left his room, his door closing solidly behind him. Then she collapsed back against the pillow and let out a loud groan. She wasn’t going to resist this pull much longer. She’d be lucky to get through breakfast without jumping his bones. She was just too desperate for him.
A shower would help. Getting dressed would definitely be a good idea. Being half naked herself when he got back was not going to help matters at all.
She couldn’t stand cold showers—her father had tried to get her used to cold baths as a kid and she’d never adjusted—so she kept the water scorching hot instead, hoping it would boil the lust out of her. Not quite how it worked. But the heat did feel very good so she luxuriated in it for just a little longer than she would have normally.
When she found her hand sliding down her body to her throbbing pussy, she gave in. If she had a quick orgasm, she’d be able to control herself better when he got back. Sliding her finger through her wetness, with the hot water pouring over her back, felt decadent and delicious. With thoughts of Ben, naked and hard and so big and strong, filling her head, she fingered her clit, hissing in a breath when the first stroke made her legs tremble.
She imagined Ben’s fingers on her, Ben’s mouth, Ben’s cock filling her. She throbbed with just the thought of stroking his thick erection, of filling her mouth with him. But the thing that pushed her over the edge was an image of Ben between her thighs, looking up at her as he tongue fucked her pussy. The orgasm tore through her, sudden and hard, the sound of her gasping cry echoed in the small shower stall.
Taking in a shaky breath, she rested her forehead against the cool tiles as her body shivered and settled. As the hot water continued to slide over her back. Okay. Okay. That should help. She’d be able to be in the same room with him now. At least for a little while. Maybe.
They had a long drive ahead of them today. Important things they had to do. An innocent man to rescue and some monsters to face. She needed to focus on that. Not get distracted by plans to get Ben’s mouth on her clit.
She climbed out of the shower and got dressed quickly, hoping routine would keep her head out of Ben’s pants and focused on the job ahead. When she concentrated, she could pick up Professor Arron’s trail, sense the direction they needed to go. North and west still. But not as far west as she’d feared. Her tracking sense was honing in on a specific place now, not just a vague direction. Oh, that was good. The kidnappers had probably stopped moving, settled into a new location. If they were in one place, she and Ben could reach them that much quicker.
Still, they had some ground to cover today. They didn’t have time for a morning of fucking. Desperate as she still somehow was even after that shower orgasm. Nope. Coffee, breakfast, check out, then get on the road. No sex in the middle of all that.
A refrain she kept repeating to her hormones for the rest of the morning.
When Ben got back with breakfast, she nearly scorched her mouth drinking her hot coffee too fast to cover her reaction to actually seeing him. How had he gotten more handsome overnight? She’d been looking at him for two days. But as soon as he walked through the door adjoining their rooms, she found it impossible to stop staring at him.
He’d showered sometime that morning too, though she hadn’t heard his shower when she’d woken up. And he’d shaved, which made her fingers twitch to touch him and test the difference between his scruff from last night and the smooth skin over his jaw now. He smelled like the hotel soap, which was nice, and like him, which was delicious. Even the smell of coffee wasn’t enough to block out just how yummy he smelled. She did a sort of lean in and sniff when he passed her to set the bags of food down and then closed her eyes as her cheeks heated, hoping he hadn’t noticed.
The coffee was better than she’d expected from a chain diner, and the eggs and toast hearty enough to see her through the morning. But still, what she really wanted was Ben. And all the food and coffee in the world didn’t seem to change that equation.
“They’ve stopped moving,” she said to get her mind focused on what they needed to do, not what she wanted to do on the bed she was using as a seat. He’d settled in the plastic chair still lodged against her room door, which she thought showed great wisdom on his part even if she was ready to go climb onto his lap and ride him like the world was ending.
“The professor?” Ben’s attention was on the plastic tray in his lap, his breakfast a huge pile of omelet and toast and potatoes and bacon.
“I’m getting a precise location now, not just a direction. North and a little farther west. Once I look at a map, I should be able to pinpoint the exact place.”
“Good. Easier to catch up to them if they’ve stopped moving.”
He glanced up from his tray and Elle nearly melted. He had beautiful eyes. She blinked. “Exactly. And since I’m still able to track him, I’m hoping that means he’s still alive.”
“He will be. They still need him. Whatever those experiments are they’re running, whatever those new monsters are, it’s obvious the professor is the one responsible for making that happen. They won’t want to lose him.”
Talk of the monsters and the things they’d seen in the house and in the woods by the river helped cool her raging lust. Finally. She probably should have thought of that sooner.
They finished breakfast quickly, with her eating significantly more than she normally would, including the second breakfast of eggs and toast he’d brought her and a little bit of his second omelet and potatoes, which he’d offered almost eagerly, as if feeding her made him happy.
She flicked on the TV as he went to his room to get his bags, wanting to check the local news in case they’d missed a monster. She was waiting through another report on the billionaire Logan family’s latest museum opening when Ben came back in.
“This is the second story on this museum opening in the last twenty-four hours,” she said. “I just want to make sure there haven’t been any more monster sightings.”
Ben glanced at the TV and winced. “Yeah, we usually don’t do that many stories at once. We’re pretty controlled on what we allow the press to report on. But this museum is one of my mother’s pet projects, so she must be doing more PR than usual.”
“Wait…” She turned slowly to look at him. “Who is we?”
He frowned and gestured to the TV. “What do you mean?”
“You said my mother.”
“Yes.”
“Is she, like, the head of the PR firm or something?”
“She’s Laksana Logan. She’s the museum’s primary financial backer. And on the board, I think. She’s gotten back more into in person charitable work recently. Took her a while after my father died. I don’t think her heart’s been in these things much. But the museum is for young sculptors, so it’s special to her. That’s helping.”
Elle blinked at him more. “Laksana Logan is your mother?”
