by Joey W. Hill
"It's not that Ben doesn't love you, Marcie," she said slowly. "The problem is probably how much he does. You open up his heart in a way he never thought was possible. And he doesn't know how to trust that, because it's not something he ever expected to have. It's hard for darkness to believe it won't swallow light, because he's probably seen it happen so many times. He found a safe spot for himself, above all of it, where he had everything at arm's length, but you're right up inside him. You've made him feel clean, a part of the light, too. And that's a gift so big...he keeps looking for it to be a mistake, like a package delivered to the wrong house."
She was wrong. She couldn't talk about it without making it too personal, because she had a hard ache in her throat. She'd stopped talking, but Marcie's gaze was fixed on her, and she felt the attention of the other women again. "I'm sorry," she said. "That was so wrong. I'm sorry, I don't know why I said all that. This is your day."
"Yes, it is," Marcie said, her hand over Celeste's. "Which is why it's good for me to hear that. That night you spent with Ben, you saw it in him, didn't you? And Leland sees it in you."
Only in this company could Celeste imagine talking with a bride about the night her husband-to-be met another woman at a BDSM club and broke her open like an egg. Before ass-fucking her into climactic oblivion.
"I've only known Leland a few days. It's too much, too soon. I'm just babbling. You need to ignore me."
"For some people, it only takes a few days," Savannah said. "For some of us, it's a single moment."
"I met him in a convenience store," Celeste blurted out. "How do you find forever love in a convenience store?"
"Conveniently," Marcie quipped.
As the women chuckled, Dana shook her head. "We all know Leland. If that man was ever going to find forever love, that's where he'd find it. So did it happen by the nachos and cheap coffee?"
"Yes," Celeste said, and couldn't help smiling at the laughter that exploded around the table. Marcie squeezed her hand, hard, and let her go to snag another cheese straw and a berry tart.
"I recognize the men by their smell," Dana confided, mischief flirting around her bow-shaped mouth. "Like Ben. I can smell pasty white Irish boy a mile away. Leland's scent tells me I have a big, fine sexy black man headed my way, and the crappy coffee smell tells me exactly which one."
"And lemon," Celeste added. "Old wood, like from a historic house. Sometimes peppermint. He keeps a jar of peppermints on his coffee table." She flushed a little under their amused regard, but it was kind. They'd all been there. Every woman here had fallen hard for their chosen Dom.
"Jon smells like sandalwood," Rachel added. "My favorite time of day is when he gets home from work, and I put my nose against his throat, right there at the base, and inhale all of that. Especially when it's warm outside, so the smell just blends with his scent."
"Show of hands. Who hasn't snagged one of their shirts to wear to bed when they're away on a business trip? Except maybe Rachel, because Jon's got the lean sexy thing going on and she's got big tits," Marcie teased.
"I can wear one of his T-shirts," Rachel said with dignity. "They stretch."
"So, um...why hasn't Leland gone out with anyone in so long? Do you know?" The banter was making Celeste feel more comfortable, giving both the woman and the reporter in her permission to find out more about him. She expected she wouldn't find a better source, since this group seemed pretty familiar with the man's personal side.
"That's just Leland." Dana shrugged. "He decided he wasn't in the mood for casual anymore. He wanted it to matter, so he said he'd pursue a relationship with a woman when he felt the right spark from her. He's a 'still waters run deep' kind of guy."
"A reason he and Max get along well," Savannah put in. "Janet says they can have whole conversations sitting out on the porch together, trading nothing but the occasional grunt."
"Oh, I don't believe that. Max is such a chatterbox, I can hardly get him to shut up when he drives me to church," Dana teased. "Speaking of which, I hear that fine man is on the premises."
"He's here," Cassandra said, glancing toward Celeste. "He said he'd stay out of our way. He's just keeping an eye on things. Dale will come relieve him in the evening."
"I'm sorry for that," Celeste said, feeling a guilty pang. "I told Leland I should have stayed at a hotel."
"They're here for you," Savannah said with firm purpose, reinforced by the other expressions around the table. "We fully support that, every one of us. Matt would have done the same thing if you stayed at a hotel. You did something incredibly brave, Celeste."
"It didn't seem brave at the time. I was just so pissed that they were shooting at Leland, and then Jai..." She broke off at that. "It was such a waste. He was a good man. No matter what happens with the two of us, I think he'd like knowing Leland and I met at his place."
"I agree with all that, but what I meant was your determination to find out who killed those women, even when it brought you squarely into the sights of the man who killed them." Savannah kept those blue eyes on her, unwavering. "Your past may shape your future, your character, but it's your actions that determine your worthiness in this life, Celeste. I think Leland is very fortunate to have finally found a woman who can match his own integrity and inner strength."
Great. Now she was going to tear up as well. She shot Marcie a glance. "You need to call him, dumb-ass," she declared, fighting back her emotions.
"Leland? That is so nice of you. Quid pro quo and all that. A lot of brides have a last-minute fling, right? Is it true what they say about black men...ow." Marcie yelped and slapped at her as Celeste pinched her arm, hard. "Quit it."
"Call Ben, bitch. Tell him you'll meet him at Cafe Beignet. I'll take you. I want to do some shopping. Haven't bought you a damn wedding gift yet."
"I do have a gift registry, you know."
"Yeah, yeah, stuff I can't afford. I want to find you something cute and tacky you'll have to haul out every time I visit and tell me how much you love it."
"I'll just say I accidentally knocked it off a shelf and broke it during violent sex."
"Do you and Ben have any other kind? And thanks for the tip. I'll make sure whatever I buy is sturdy plastic."
"You don't have a car," Marcie hedged.
"Max will take you," Cassandra said brightly, shooting Celeste a pleased, conspiratorial look. "That way you don't have to worry about parking and driving."
"Here." Celeste produced Marcie's phone from under the table. She'd slid it off the edge when Marcie was talking to her sister. By glancing down, she'd quickly found the speed dial button for Ben's number. "It's ringing."
"You bitch," Marcie said, but she snatched the phone just as Celeste heard Ben answer. Marcie left the table, moving away for privacy. Savannah nodded.
"Nicely played, Celeste."
Cassandra agreed. "If I'd done it, I would have been the interfering big sister."
"Well, it's eating at her. And I'm just the irritating friend from Baton Rouge who visits her every few weeks. She can be mad at me."
"They're both terribly stubborn," Rachel said, fondness in her expression. "It won't ever be a tranquil marriage, but it will be a passionate and loving one. They're meant for one another."
Celeste had always scoffed at what seemed like a pat phrase, but as the women continued to chat, Celeste watched Marcie's body language out of the corner of her eye. She'd started with the phone to her ear, her other arm across her body, a defensive posture. As they talked, she began to wander and her hand fell to her side. Pressing the toe of her shoe against invisible divots in the grass, she curled a lock of hair behind her ear, her lips pressed together. She responded to something he said, and her gaze softened, as did the set of her mouth, lips curving. Celeste turned her attention back to the table then, her heart aching and every part of her missing Leland. She fingered the burner phone in her pocket, wishing it had come with a texting plan. But she could just call him, couldn't she? He was probably working. He
said he'd call, after all. She'd just wait for that. No need to seem desperate.
SS
Max was the head limo driver for K&A. Celeste knew that he and Janet, Matt's executive assistant, had become an item recently, but Marcie filled in some intriguing details while Max brought the car around. Janet was a Domme and Max...well, Max wasn't a sub in any way, shape or form. Celeste had to bite back the intense desire to interrogate him about how that worked.
Max pulled up and got out to open the door for them. Though a former Navy SEAL, his mannerisms and the superior fitness of his mouthwatering body suggested he considered himself still on active duty. The black jeans hugged strong thighs and a tight ass, the K&A logo polo shirt stretching over his wide chest and muscular biceps. His firm mouth didn't smile, but his storm colored eyes did. "Doing all right, Miss Lewis?"
A nice way to confirm that he was assigned to oversee her protection without being overt about it. Celeste nodded. "Thanks. For this. And to your friend Dale as well."
"It's our pleasure," he said.
Leland shouldn't have set this up without her say-so, but Celeste couldn't argue his choice of location or the type of people he'd put around her. When Max closed the door and returned to the driver's seat, she really wondered how a Navy SEAL acting as a sub worked. Having that powerful body, firm mouth and the simmering fire in those gray eyes at a woman's command...
"Don't worry," Marcie whispered, seeing Celeste's expression. "Janet comes to our monthly girl dinner parties. I'll make sure you get invited sometime soon. I bet we can get her to talk."
"You'd have a better chance of getting an al-Qaeda suicide bomber to spill," Max offered from the front.
"Donkey ears," Marcie said, sticking her tongue out at him in the rearview mirror.
"Don't make me pull this car over, young lady."
"Promises, promises." She batted her eyes at him and Max sighed.
"Incorrigible. All of you. It's bad enough I have to put up with Dana."
"He loves us," Marcie informed Celeste. "Wouldn't know what to do without us."
"Stretch out on a beach in Bimini, drink fruity drinks and read the latest Guns & Ammo magazine. I think Janet's due for six months of vacation time, at least."
"Yeah, and if you think Matt's going to approve that, think again. According to Savannah, he can barely survive a week without her, let alone six months."
"Matt can adapt."
Marcie gave him a look of mock horror. "I'm going to tell him you said that."
He chuckled and then focused on traffic as Marcie and Celeste chatted about the wedding and less-intense subjects for the drive into New Orleans. Celeste bit back another sigh as they passed areas where she'd be only a hop and a skip away from some story follow-ups. It was only for a few days, she reminded herself. Surely they'd find Dogboy quickly or verify he wasn't that much of a threat to her. Even if he had gone out of his way to take a shot at her yesterday, maybe the MoneyBoyz would set him straight and he'd give it up.
Yeah, because a psychopath killing women could turn off that urge like a faucet.
"I know you're going stir-crazy," Marcie said, touching her arm. "Don't worry. You'll be back to work in no time. Just think of it as a short vacation."
"I'm a workaholic. We abhor vacations."
"Turn it into a feature piece. 'Waterboarding or Vacation: Pros and Cons.'" Marcie smirked at her while the limo pulled up in front of Cafe Beignet. As she started to get out, Celeste held up her burner phone. "I'm going to go check out the Blue Dog gallery and the antique place across the street from it," she said. "Just call the burner number when you're ready to hook back up."
"I'll go with you. This will just take a second," Marcie said, surprising her. "Wait here."
When Marcie closed the door behind her and moved toward the front of Cafe Beignet, Celeste saw Ben was already waiting for her. It had been quite a few months since Celeste had seen him last, but she noted immediately the changes their relationship had wrought. Despite the conflict they were having, there was an easiness to his features, a warmth around his mouth and in his green eyes that had been missing during his and Celeste's evening. Some of the weights of his past had been lifted.
Celeste had dug into the backgrounds of the K&A men enough to know some things about Ben she was sure most outside his circle didn't, things that had prompted her insights to Marcie. Even at the height of her bitter and misguided state toward them, nothing would have compelled Celeste to expose his private struggle as an abandoned orphan. Or those empty blocks of time when it was obvious he'd chosen the streets over whatever the foster care system had offered. But here he was, top legal counsel for K&A, standing on the corner in tailored Hugo Boss. And all his attention was riveted on the woman who emerged from the car and came toward him as if the two of them were magnets.
Marcie had changed as well. She'd always been lovely and accomplished, but there was a grace and maturity to her movements, a deeper level of confidence that said she'd found the person she wanted to love and cherish forever. Despite Marcie's tears this morning, Celeste could tell her friend was sure he felt the same way, no matter his dark spaces. She went right to him, slid her arms around his neck and brought her mouth to his in a no-holds-barred kiss he took over in a heartbeat, his strong fingers in her hair, his other hand gripping her skirt at her hip in a possessive hold. The passion he injected in the embrace, the depth of the kiss, had Celeste blinking and Max suddenly looking at the dials of the temperature control with great interest.
New Orleans being what it was, a few catcalls and encouragement came from Cafe Beignet patrons and shopping pedestrians, but the couple seemed oblivious. Both of Ben's hands were at her hips now, holding fast, and when Marcie pulled back, Celeste felt a shiver low in her belly at the look in his green eyes. She'd seen that look before, and knew exactly what he wanted to do to Marcie. He was a Dom who could masterfully administer extreme levels of pain, tangling them inexplicably with nigh-unbearable pleasure. He broke a woman's mind into tiny pieces, gathered them up and closed them in a fist, applying more pressure, somehow making her beg for more.
He'd been a one-time-only experience for Celeste, something she didn't need to repeat. Leland had proved his point. His unique blend of gentle force and relentless seduction as a Master had broken things loose inside her that even Ben's talents couldn't, probably because, despite the intensity of her session with Ben, there had been no intention that night to create a relationship. To start something for the long haul.
Acknowledging the thought gave her the usual spurt of panic, but she noticed it wasn't quite as strong. Not since yesterday, when Leland had come face-to-face with the core of her issues. Not only had he not run, he'd done everything right. She'd been upset, she'd fought him, she'd gone back to that sense of self-loathing, and he'd pulled her back from that edge, several times, until all that was left was being in his arms, exhausted...and content.
Celeste decided to leave the thought right there before she could twist it into something negative, and focused on the tableau in front of her.
Marcie was a different animal from Celeste. Her hunger for the extremes Ben had to offer was obvious in the strain of her body against his. Celeste had seen Marcie spar with men at the gym regularly. The blonde might take hits to the body and sometimes the face, but she'd just spit out the blood and come right back at them. She knew how to embrace pain. More than that, she'd obviously known how to reach through it to find Ben's heart, twine them together and take them on a rushing ride to physical and emotional bliss together.
That ache was back. Celeste dialed Leland's number before she could doubt herself. She almost hung up, but he picked up on the second ring.
"Celeste? You all right, darlin'?"
His voice sent a rush of pleasure through her so strong, she closed her eyes, told herself to pull it together. "Yeah. I just...um, anything new on the case? That you can share with me, I mean."
He paused. "That's not why you called."
"Let's pretend it is."
"Let's not. Did you wake up missing your Master?" His voice had lowered and she suspected he was moving away from someone so their conversation could become more private.
She glanced toward Max, who was checking some sort of log he had on his phone. Whether he was doing it to give her the illusion of privacy or not, she appreciated it. "Yes. I did."
"Good. I've had some pretty graphic thoughts about what I plan to do to you next time I see you. Things I think we'll both like."
"How soon do you think that will be? This is New Orleans. Lots of temptations here. I'm watching the bride-to-be have a heavy public make-out session with her over-the-top hot fiance right now."
"Over the top, hmm?"
"I only report the truth."
"I'll keep that in mind. I'll be there sooner than later, so you behave." She heard the smile in his voice before he sobered. "Dogboy's gone to ground, but the detectives think it's just a matter of time. We put out an APB and released his picture to all the news outlets. We're patrolling his favorite hangouts and haunts in the applicable districts. They're also rounding up and talking to his friends and neighbors, anyone we can get our hands on."
"Good. I'm going back to work on Monday, no matter what. Otherwise, I'll claim you're guilty of a First Amendment violation."
"I suspect there isn't a force alive that can inhibit your freedom of speech. Except a gag. Got a couple in mind for you."
"I think it's illegal for an officer of the law to be doing phone sex. Or at least inappropriate."
"You started it. You okay, darlin'?"
"Yes. Yeah. Just come back soon, okay. I...I'd like to see you."
She ended the call before the frogs jumping into her chest could overcome her. Marcie had broken the embrace with Ben and was backpedaling. A totally besotted grin was on her face as he held her hand, refusing to let it go. She said something and stopped. He cocked his head, a light smile on his lips, replied. Whatever he said came with a look that should have ignited everything flammable in a fifty-foot radius around them, but he let her go and slid his hands into his pockets. As she moved back to the limo, Ben glanced toward the front seat. Celeste saw him and Max exchange a nod of acknowledgment before Marcie jumped back into the vehicle. "Okay, how about the French Market after we check out Blue Dog? I can show you what I want and you can buy it."