by Becky McGraw
“Why do you say if? I promise you, if she is in Vegas, we will find her,” Dex vowed, but the words didn’t seem to soothe Grace. If anything, she looked even more frightened. “You don’t think we’ll find her?”
“I know you’ll try your hardest,” she replied, moving her eyes to his throat. “But this time it feels different, and after having met Master Tim, I’m really afraid we won’t. Something about that man scares the heck out of me. His eyes remind me of a snake I saw at the zoo as a kid when I went on a school field trip.”
If Dex hadn’t felt the tremor under his hand on her shoulder, he wouldn’t have known it happened. He set his laptop case down beside his leg, then pulled her into his chest with the intent of comforting her. Her warmth spread though his body as she melted into him, laid her face on his chest and her arms circled his waist and his good intentions went to hell.
“Thank you for helping me,” she whispered, chipping away another notch in his purpose for holding her. “Even if we don’t find Marcy, you being here will help me deal with it. I’ve missed you, Brennan.” Grace nuzzled her face against his chest like she used to do often, and his own firewall shattered into a million pieces. Her hot breaths filtered through his t-shirt and a soul-deep yearning to feel that heat against his bare skin washed over him.
“I’ve missed you too,” he said, and she lifted her face from his chest to smile up at him.
Their eyes met, and the blatant need in her gaze drew him toward her. His hand drifted up from the center of her back to grip her skull, familiar electricity charged the air between them and his lips tingled as they drifted toward hers. When they connected he moaned, as a feeling of homecoming washed over him, and familiar heat ripped through him.
CHAPTER NINE
Dex swallowed her gasp and made it his own as their lips sealed. His hand gripped her skull tighter, pulled her mouth closer so he could savor the sweetness when her lips parted for him. Their tongues reunited, remembered the dance, and her honeyed flavor consumed him as the long, lazy hello kiss continued.
Desire wasn’t immediate, it was an ember, then a bright spark, and it finally burst into flames when her hands snuck under the hem of his t-shirt and her palms branded his back. Her nails dug in and she mewled into his mouth. His left hand found her perfect, round ass and his fingers dug in as he kissed her deeper. She sucked in a sharp breath and her body jerked, and Dex froze. He slid his mouth from hers to look down into her pinched face.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, and she reached behind her to pull his hand away.
“I’m ah—pretty sore,” she said, her face practically glowing. When the reason for that soreness came to him, anger scorched through him.
“I definitely might have to kill that sonofabitch before this is over, or at least give him a taste of his own medicine,” he growled.
“Well, it’s my fault really. I did give him permission,” Grace said, heaving a sigh.
“You didn’t give him permission to leave welts did you?” Dex grabbed her shoulders. “I had a girlfriend who was into that stuff, so I studied the lifestyle and I know for a fact that beating he gave you isn’t typical. Bruises can happen if you like being consensually spanked, but the bloody welts only happen when it’s taken too far, when your partner doesn’t take your well-being into consideration.”
“Honestly, I don’t know what I gave him permission to do to me. I was pretty out of it by the time we got to the room. I thought he was done with me, I wanted him to be done and to leave me alone, so when he gave me the contract, I signed it. He promised I could add in my hard limits later.” Grace huffed a breath and her lower lip trembled. “But I soon found out his punishment in the limo was nothing compared to what he had planned for me in the room.”
“Why was he punishing—no, abusing you?” Dex demanded, his fingers digging into her shoulders.
“He, ah…forced himself too deeply into my mouth in the limo…I couldn’t breathe, so I bit him,” she admitted, and a shiver racked her.
“You should’ve bitten it off!” Dex growled, with bile and disgust forming a hard knot in the center of his chest. He pulled her into a tight hug and vowed if he ever ran across the bastard again, he might well hold him down so she could. But she was talking to him about it now, so he needed all the answers. “Why was he dragging you out of the hotel the other night?”
“After what he did to me in the hotel room, there was no break before he dragged me down to that room. When he ordered me to strip in front of those people so he could dish out more, I refused. He got angry and said he was taking me to his lair for more training.” Another shiver racked her as she hugged his waist. “Thank goodness you intervened. I thought you were just another Dom wanting in on the action, so that’s why I fought you.”
“You have any idea where he was taking you?” Dex asked, thinking her sister might be at the same place.
“He said something about a house in Henderson,” she replied with a shuddering sigh. “I was stupid for putting myself in that position. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into by coming here.”
“It could’ve been much worse…and yeah, coming here, especially alone, wasn’t the smartest move.” And it was probably much worse for Marcy Wentworth since she’d been under that man’s control for a month. But he didn’t want to scare or worry Grace more than she already was. He pushed her away and picked up his laptop bag. “We need to find your sister fast, so I’m going to get set up at the table.”
“I’ll help in any way I can,” Grace offered, following behind him.
“No, you are going to soak in that tub,” he said unzipping his laptop bag. “I’ll get you some clothes out of Susan’s luggage, and some towels.”
“But—” she said, and Dex spun to face her.
“No buts, Gracie. Get your butt in that tub, and I’m going to find Marcy.”
He turned her and pushed her across the living room toward the hot tub on the balcony. He opened the sliding door, dragged her outside to the tub, then bent to press the button to start the jets and heat. When he stood, she stepped to him and put her hands on his chest. Holding his gaze, she skimmed her palms over his pecs and sighed.
“I wish…” she whispered, but didn’t need to finish the sentence.
Everything she wished for was right there in her beautiful eyes as she dragged her hands across his chest to his arms and gripped his biceps. Waves of heat washed through him, his cock went rock solid behind his fly and he gritted his teeth, because he wished too.
“Me, too,” he replied, his hands gliding down to the indention of her small waist. “I really, really wish—but I have to get to work finding your sister.”
She sighed, and her soft smile faded. Her right hand smoothed up his arm, over his shoulder to his face where she rubbed her palm over his beard scruff. Her thumb strummed through it, sending sweet music through his body.
“You’ve changed so much, Brennan. I wouldn’t have recognized you if I saw you on the street,” she said, her eyes dreamy.
“You didn’t. You looked right at me at the airport,” he replied, pushing her away, because if he didn’t, he knew he’d change his mind. That soft vanilla scent she wore had always driven him nuts—made him want to lick every delicious inch of her body to see if she tasted that way too. Dex knew firsthand some parts of her did, but other parts were more spicy and dark.
And that thought didn’t help the problem in his jeans, so with a groan, he took another step back to adjust himself, and a deep breath to clear his head.
“I did?” she asked, frowning. “You followed me to the resort from there?”
“Yeah, I saw and recognized you immediately…I also saw how that bastard treated you. When you got into that limo with him anyway, I knew something was wrong. The name of the resort verified it, so I had to find you to make sure you wanted to be there.”
“After I was there, I didn’t want to be, so thank goodness you recognized me and cared enough to come after m
e,” she said, her eyes intense as they tracked down his body to his toes.
He did care—had always cared about Grace. Theirs may have been a sexual relationship on the surface, but he hadn’t been able to keep his feelings out of the picture all of the time. He just took a break from her when they cropped up to get his head right. They had an agreement back then and it worked for both of them.
“I still can’t get over the change in you,” she whispered, her eyes hot as they met his. “No wonder I didn’t recognize you.”
“I bulked up trying to join the military after I left MIT and kept up the gym routine. Deep Six has a gym on the compound, so it was easy. The scruff might be another reason.” He stroked his lower face and laughed, but she frowned. “Women seem to like both, and I definitely need all the help I can get to distract them from my social awkwardness.”
“It’s more than that,” she replied, looking thoughtful. “You’re not awkward at all anymore. You have more…confidence.” Her eyes darted to the left, and her face flushed. “It’s sexy as hell. You must’ve had lots of girlfriends since I saw you last.” He almost didn’t hear her last words over the sound of the water rushing in the tub.
“Less than you’d think, and I had to resort to online dating to even find women who might be interested,” he said with a self-deprecating laugh. “The problem is, I’m still the same weird geek in here.” He tapped his skull, and forced a grin. “That’s not as much of a turn-on for them as the muscles evidently, which explains why I’m still single.”
He caught Grace staring at his chest again, and a strange feeling swept through him. She’d always loved his mind, her words, but it seemed even she was more fascinated with his muscles now. The jury was out as to how he felt about that discovery.
In college, he and Grace were two misfits who just fit.
Now, she’d grown into her curves in a spectacular way, and he’d developed muscles and a little confidence. They were both different people, adults rather than kids, so was the attraction all superficial now that they were no longer misfits? God, he hoped not.
“And I’m still a driven workaholic who is single because I don’t have time to date,” she informed with a laugh, and her declaration relieved him. “Between taking care of Callie, my sister, my job and after-hours research, I’m lucky to get five hours sleep a night.”
“What kind of research?” he asked, inhaling a deep breath of the steam that floated up from the tub. From the sounds of it, even though Grace was single, she was still tied down with raising a child that wasn’t her own. Did her sister not realize what she was doing to her sister? Or did she just not care?
Her smile fled, and made Dex wish he hadn’t asked the question. They didn’t have time for this anyway, but he needed to know all about her new life. This woman interested him more than any he’d ever met.
“I’m a gene therapy researcher by day, with big breakthroughs in auditory cell regeneration coming with our adult trial study, and drug investigator by night.”
“Drug investigator?” Dex repeated, wondering why she was stretching herself so thin. But then again, that was Grace’s typical mode of operation evidently.
“My sister’s obstetrician prescribed some drugs for morning sickness while she was pregnant with Callie, and I believe they are directly responsible for her being born deaf. I’ve been trying to prove that to the pharmaceutical company and FDA since the day she was born, so they’ll be taken off the market. I almost have enough evidence to give to my boss, and that is why I don’t need to be here.”
Dex was stunned, but not really surprised. Grace Wentworth was a phenom when it came to advanced molecular biology, which she’d studied at MIT. This woman was like his alter-ego in her field. He’d never told her before, but he was in love with her mind too. He thoroughly enjoyed being able to talk to her about things, even things she didn’t understand, without getting a blank look.
“Well, I hate to say it, but I’m glad you’re here,” he said, smiling. “Otherwise, we might never have seen each other again, because I’m in Dallas now. I haven’t been back to Boston in eight years.” And might never go back again.
“What, exactly, do you do at Deep Six?” Grace asked, reaching down to swirl her fingers in the water. She leaned over and Dex’s eyes locked on her ass as she reached to lower the heat on the control. She turned around and caught him staring evidently, and her inviting smile tugged his cock to attention again.
“I keep the guys supplied with cutting edge electronics, weaponry and technology, and do research to help with cases.” He shrugged, and she licked her lips then focused on his mouth and his jeans became entirely too tight again.
“What does the company do exactly to need all those weapons and technology?” she asked, her voice getting raspier. When she took a step toward him, Dex took another step back, but knew that was the end of the line when his ass hit the stucco wall. “Dave and Susan seem very familiar with finding missing persons, is that what you do?”
“That, and other things,” he replied, and tensed when her hand skimmed down his body to rest on his hip near the waistband of his jeans. “Deep Six does a lot of things, mostly missions that need to be completed quickly, but can’t because of government red tape.”
“Sounds fascinating,” Grace whispered as her hand glided past his waist to cup him through his jeans. “Get in the tub with me and tell me more, Brennan. Please.”
Those words were like the apple Eve handed Adam and the rush of desire that ripped through his body made his knees weak. She squeezed his erection and he moaned, his hips moved with her hand when she stroked him. When she lifted her hand to reach for his zipper, he put his hand over hers.
“As much as I’d love to climb into that tub with you, Gracie, I can’t. We have to find your sister, and I only have four hours to formulate a plan for us to do that.”
Her lower lip wobbled and she bit it as she nodded. “Of course. Marcy always comes first, how could I forget?” The connection between them snapped like a dry rubber band as she turned away and walked back to the tub. “It’s the reason I’m in Vegas. Thank you for reminding me of that, and thank you for your help.”
Marcy always comes first.
The cold tension in her voice, in her body, became his too. Grace had always been wound tight, but now there was a fragility, a tiredness and frustration in her tone that hadn’t been there before. She reached for the hem of her scrub top and wiggled it up to her shoulders, where she stopped. Her head dropped forward and she just stood there breathing, as if trying to corral her emotions.
“Fuck me,” Dex mumbled to himself as he reached for the bottom of his shirt and jerked it up his body, then over his head.
He was just as guilty for putting everyone else first too. For too long, he thought, as he tossed the shirt aside to unzip his jeans and step out of them. This was supposed to be his damned vacation too, which he wouldn’t be having now. He was going to claim an hour of that vacation, and enjoy every fucking second of it.
After what they’d been through in the last forty-eight hours, they deserved to find some stress relief. An hour wasn’t going to keep him from finding her sister—nothing would. Besides, he needed a shower too and would much rather that be with her than alone. Grace made it perfectly clear to him that she wanted this, so why was he fucking making excuses?
Dex walked up behind her just as she pulled her top over her head with a sigh. He circled her waist with his arms and pulled her back against him, then leaned in to kiss her shoulder. Grace whimpered and her body went still. He skimmed his palms up the silky skin of her midsection to cup her breasts and her body tremored. Grace Wentworth was still the softest, most feminine woman he’d ever touched in his life. She pressed back against him, her backside branded his cock, and he moaned.
“You feel so damned good,” he whispered into her ear, breathing in her scent, and she turned her head to rub the side of her face against his. “So beautiful and soft…remember how well
we fit together, baby?” He kissed her cheek, and then the corner of her mouth and she turned in his arms.
“Help me remember, Brennan. I need to remember to forget—ugh,” she begged breathlessly, stroking his face.
She needed to remember to forget that filthy bastard’s abuse. Well, he was more than happy to help her wash away every vestige of that devil’s touch from her beautiful body.
“Let’s take a bath, Gracie,” he said, his voice raw, his heart beating hard against his rib cage. “You get in, and I’ll go get towels and clothes.”
And two condoms, because he had every intention of her remembering this for a long time. He turned to stride back inside and felt Grace’s hot gaze on his rear end.
CHAPTER TEN
Brennan was right, they did need to find Marcy quickly, but Grace was going to step off the merry-go-round that her life had become to enjoy herself. It was selfish, but she just wanted one hour for herself. And she refused to feel guilty as she shed her shoes and scrub pants, then stepped on the step outside the tub.
Warm steam wafted up to envelop her in a soothing blanket that warded off the chill that was quickly coming with sunset. Grace wished she had a glass of wine to relax her, because she was wound tight and her nerves were shot. She contemplated stepping back down to go get one from the mini-bar, but Dave Logan’s words came back to stop her.
And don’t you dare get a drink out of that mini-bar or make a call on that landline!
Brennan’s boss was giving enough, so she was definitely going to abide by his wishes, she thought as she sat on the ledge of the tub then dropped in.
His words also stopped her from calling on the phone in the living room to check on Callie in Boston. Well, that and the fact she’d have to talk to her mother if she called. She’d found since she moved away and her father died, the less she initiated phone calls with her, the better they got along.