Bodyguard Pursuit (7 page)

Tyler and Ben both groaned. Yeah, nothing was ever off limits when they talked and the men knew it.

They wandered down the gangplank and onto the wharf. Her sister unstrapped her heels and she followed suit. Leaving their shoes next to their mooring, they stepped onto the sand still warm from the day’s heat. The breeze cooled her skin, and the frothy-tipped waves rolled into shore and splashed her feet.

“I’ve missed these kinds of moments.” Lydia linked arms with her and let out a contented sigh. “Now, tell me everything. Is Ben pushing all the right buttons?”

“Yes, but we agreed on button-pushing for one day and no more.” She cleared her throat. “I want to share something with you but you need to keep it to yourself, okay?”

“I love a secret, and I promise not to say a word.” She crossed her heart.

“Like me, Ben was a virgin.”

“No way.” Lydia’s brown eyes went wide. “I know Tyler said he’d never even seen Ben date a woman before, but I didn’t realize that meant he was into abstinence. Still, that’s kinda cool you were each other’s first. Do you know why he chose to wait?”

“He said there were bad genes in his family’s stock. He has issues, and whatever they are, I’m keener than ever to get to the bottom of them. I certainly understand he doesn’t want a relationship, and not everyone does, but I think there’s so much more to it than that.” They strolled up the sand dune and sat with the coconut trees swishing in the gentle breeze behind them. Across the darkened water, light glowed from behind the ship’s slatted blinds.

“Yes, but you two are close. If anyone can get Ben to open up, it would be you. Ah, looky there.” Lydia motioned toward the ship where Ben and Tyler emerged from the dining room and walked across to the stern. Tyler leaned against the rail then hand to his brow, peered their way. Lydia waved and checked her watch. “A whole eight minutes. Those boys are slipping.”

Saria laughed as the men marched along the wharf toward them. “Poor Brigs. I hate to think how he’s going to handle them tomorrow.”

“My bet’s not very well since they hate not being in control.” Lydia shoved to her feet. “Time for you to have some one-on-one time with your man. See if you can’t get him to open up about those issues.”

“I’ll do my best. Thanks for the privacy.”

“Anytime, and think interrogation. Grill the man for whatever information you need.” Lydia grinned as she strolled toward Tyler, caught his hand then led him back toward the ship.

Ben jogged across, plopped down next to her and linked his hands over his raised knees. “Are you all right?”

“Never better.” She slid her hand over the back of his and rubbed a soothing circle over his knuckles. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I need more time alone with you.” He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her fingertips. “What did Lydia have to say?”

“She gave me the go ahead to interrogate you.”

“That sounds dangerous.” He watched the waves rolling in. “About what exactly?”

“Your issues.” She brushed a finger along his cheek and gently moved his gaze back to hers. “Tell me about your family. You never speak of them.”

“I don’t have any family. Raised in the foster system, remember?”

“Yes, but you must know who they are.” He had the ability to track them with such ease through his mass of contacts. “Was yours a closed case?”

“No, nothing I ever asked for was withheld from me. I requested my full file when I was thirteen and read all the damning evidence firsthand.”

“What evidence?”

“Saria, no.” He shook his head. “I’ve accepted my past and I’d rather it stay right where it is.”

“You mean controlling you?”

“Everyone who’s ever known the truth has turned away from me.” He slapped his legs and stood. “I can’t lose you too, which means this conversation is done.” He stormed along the beach and into the dark.

“Hey, you’re not allowed to run from me.” She chased after him. “Wait up, Hammers.”

“Go back to the ship, Saria. That’s an order.”

“You’re upset and I won’t leave you alone when you’re feeling this way.” She raced around him then hiked it backward, her hand pressed against his chest. “You also don’t have one bad gene in your body. You’re a man who has dedicated his life to helping others.”

“Yeah, to right the wrongs of my stupid father.”

Now she was getting somewhere. “What did your father do to you?”

“Not me. Two days after he was released from the slammer, he raped two eighteen-year-olds. Mary Hammers was one of them, and she had to bear the burden of carrying me.” He fisted one hand and punched his other palm. “I’m surprised I ever survived my birth.”

She covered his fist with both her hands. “So you feel as if you have to pay for what your father did?”

“My birth should never have happened, which means my ruthless father’s line ends with me.” He pulled away, strode up the beach and disappeared into the dark interior of the jungle.

An innocent child, not at fault for how he’d been conceived, shouldn’t have to pay for the sins of his father. No wonder he’d never told anyone the truth. She ran after him, barely catching the crunch of his step somewhere far ahead.

Low branches scraped her shoulders and face as she stumbled in the pitch black. Prickly bracken stung her bare feet, and whatever moonlight shone above, hadn’t a chance of penetrating the dense foliage overhead.

Long minutes passed with no trace of his movement.

She knocked into a trunk, bent and caught her breath. An owl hooted.

“Ben!” She screamed his name. “I need you.”

Crashing surf rumbled close, but he didn’t reply. She trekked toward the roaring ocean, plowed through the tree line and tumbled down a sand dune onto her bottom. Moonlight trickled over the secluded area scattered with driftwood and seaweed.

Clutching her chest, she willed her racing heartbeat to slow. Ben was safe even though running from his problems. She’d find him. She had to. She controlled her breathing, slowly in and slowly out as the therapist had instructed her if panic set in. With no time to lose, she shoved to her feet and set out in pursuit of her bodyguard.

She’d never abandon him as so many others had done.

He was hers to care for.

* * * *

Arms pumping, Ben ran. Voices played in his head, those of the foster parents he’d been shipped from one to the next from. He was the son of a rapist, a man who deserved to die. They’d pitied him, but pity wouldn’t get him anywhere in life. The moment he’d turned eighteen, he’d gotten as far away from anyone who’d ever known the terrible circumstances of his birth as he could. With limited funds, he’d joined the army, and there he’d met Brigs and Tyler. All these years, he’d never spoken a word beyond the bare necessities, and now he’d blabbed every damning detail to Saria. As soon as the knowledge sank in, she too would pity him. He shouldn’t have told her.

Exhausted after crossing a mile of jungle, he stumbled through the trees and onto the white sand beach. The stars twinkled above.

At least he was alone, like he’d always been.

He sank onto the sand and fell back.

Hell, he’d done his best to carve out something for himself, even giving up the dream of having a family. No woman should ever have to bear his children knowing they too would face the same ridicule he had while growing up.

“Ben!”

He sat upright.

Saria ran down the beach, her short white dress illuminated by the moonlight and her dark locks swaying around her waist. She appeared a vision, one he wanted to hold onto, but he had to end their time together. Being with her would never work.

“Here,” he called out, not wanting her running aimlessly around the island in search of him.

“There you are.” She dashed toward him, fell onto her knees then toppled him onto his back as she sprawled over top. “I was so worried. You’ve never run from me like that before.”

“I wasn’t running from you, but letting you go.”

“Right now, I’m not going anywhere.” She kissed him, her breath hot as it mingled with his. “I want every one of those twenty-four hours you promised me.”

“Well, you’re out of luck.” He gripped her arms and instilled some distance, an inch, but one necessary inch. “My father is a rapist, the scum of the earth.”

“And you’re the exact opposite, my thirty-two-year-old virgin.”

“Ex-virgin.”

“Which I’m rather pleased about.” She kissed him again and he wanted to rip her clothes off and take everything she offered except she would never be his. For her own good, he had to let her go.

“I don’t want you, Saria.”

“You’re not responsible for what your father did, or for your mother’s actions when she handed you over into the foster system. I can’t even imagine the pain and anguish she must have gone through, but at least she gave you your life, and for that I’ll be immensely grateful.”

“I said my father was a rapist.”

“I heard you the first time, but that doesn’t change who you are. You would die to protect me. I know your true heart.”

“We’ll never be together. The last thing I want is a relationship.”

“I understand that’s your choice, but before we became lovers, we were friends. If you give me nothing else beyond the day you promised me, I want that friendship back.” She rubbed against him, one eyebrow raised as she encountered his hard cock. “See, and that is what I want right now.”

The need to make love to her one last time thrummed through him, but it would all be for nothing. “You have your whole life ahead of you, and it’s not with me.”

“Ah, but until dawn you’re all mine, and I’ve never known you to back out of an agreement.” Straddling his hips with her knees in the sand, she pulled the ties on the back of her dress and wriggled the fabric down until the soft cotton pooled at her waist. The cool night air tightened her nipples and made him hunger for more.

“You’re using seduction to get your way.”

“I certainly will if it works.” She pressed her breasts together. “Kiss them. I love feeling your mouth on my body.”

Seduction wouldn’t work on him. He rolled her over and came up on top, but when he tried to push up and away, she wrapped her legs around his waist, clutched his head and brought his mouth down to within a breath of those tantalizing mounds.

The sight of her creamy breasts sent his resolve scattering into the wind. He carefully cupped and eased them together then kissed each perfect bud. “I shouldn’t be doing this.”

“That’s your frustration talking. But if you truly want to stop”—she lowered her legs to the sand and spread her arms out wide—“then go. I’d never force you to make love to me. Just know I’ll keep your secret about your father and your birth. I would never judge you.”

“You give so selflessly.” Damn. Walking away from her would be impossible. She’d captivated him from the very beginning. What was one more night? He bent and devoured her breasts, licking and sucking each one in turn. “I wish I could be the man you need.”

“Does this mean you’re giving me a yes?” Arching into him, she stroked his scalp.

“Yes, until dawn, I’m all yours.”

“Thank you.” She unbuckled his belt, slid his zip down and freed him. “Because I want it hard and fast to start with. We could even call this make up sex. I’ve heard it’s fantastic.”

“It better not be.” He didn’t need the sex between them getting any hotter than it already was. He eased the hem of her dress up and rubbed his straining cock against her wet folds. “From now on, you never go out anywhere without any underwear on. That’s an order.”

“If you haven’t noticed, I stopped taking your orders the second I boarded the ship.” She cupped his butt and pulled him into her. “Make me scream, Hammers.”

“We also need to talk about your desire to take control.” He pushed in deeper, until her hot heat pulsed around him. Ahh, he loved the way she held onto him.

“That feels so good. Don’t forget I want it hard.” Panting, she rocked underneath him. “Like really hard. Move. Now. Make me come.”

He claimed her lips and plundered her mouth while below, he plunged into her again and again.

“Oh, purrrfect.” She pushed her hips forward, meeting every single one of his thrusts. His cock throbbed on the verge of release, and as she cried out, he bellowed and sank balls-deep inside her. He came, pulse after pulse jetting from him until every ounce of his energy was gone.

He tipped to his side, rolled and brought her up on top.

With their bodies still joined and limbs tangled, all he wanted to do was lie like this with her forever.

“Sooo good.” Her eyelids fluttered shut and she sighed with a wide smile. “Make up sex is everything I’d hoped for.”

For him too, not that he’d ever tell her that. He closed his eyes. A few minutes’ rest wouldn’t hurt. Then he’d continue to love her throughout the remainder of the night.

He had until dawn, and he intended to make every moment count.

The sun’s dawn rays crept over Saria and warmed her, not that she wasn’t already basking in the heat from Ben wrapped around her, and the sandy hollow they’d snuggled into a comfy cushion underneath. She opened her eyes to the new day and held perfectly still.

Ben’s long golden lashes swept his cheeks, and his lips tugged upward as he slept. He’d made love to her twice more during the night, those times achingly slow and with complete devotion.

Gently, she kissed his closed eyelids, cheeks and nose. He stirred and his arms banded tighter around her. “You are courageous and determined, Ben Hammers. Never a burden, only a pillar of strength. My lover, and the only one I ever want to take.”

He blinked, then flopped a hand over his eyes. “Ugh, too bright.”

“Did you hear what I said?” She rose up onto one elbow so her shadow covered his face. “Look at me.”

“I heard you.” He lifted his hand and his blue gaze speared on hers. “I’ll never want a wife, children, and all the trappings a family brings. We’re the exact opposite. You love caring for others. For heaven’s sakes, you’re a trained nurse. You don’t want to just care for those who you’re closest to, but anyone and everyone in your vicinity.”