by Lynn Rae
“You’re staying?”
She nodded weakly, too overwhelmed by his physical proximity and her own impetuous actions to say anything coherent. He gave her one light kiss and returned to staring at her.
“Why?”
“I don’t want to go anywhere. Mat wants to stay.”
“Simple enough.” Instead of kissing her as she’d anticipated, he stroked one fingertip down her cheek. “Whatever you need, I’ll do.”
“I know.” He shifted his position and nestled himself between her legs, his thighs brushing against hers, little hairs tickling against her skin. Now, she had to find out what else he knew.
“Ben, did you hear what Soren said to me at the end?”
He nodded and kissed her neck.
“About how we aren’t Ignar’s?”
She felt his head move in another nod as he brushed his lips along her shoulder.
“About how Mat and I are actually—oh it feels strange to say it—the lost La Torre heirs? And we might have sisters somewhere out there in the millions of square light years of the galaxy?”
He mm-hmmed against the skin of her breast, and she involuntarily shivered and rocked her hips to his.
“Does that change the way you feel about…” What he did to her nipple now made her throw her head back and writhe against the mattress.
“I love you, Cara Belasco, the person you’ve always been. Since I’m never going to meet your parents, it doesn’t really matter to me who they were. We can find your sisters.”
She let out a pent up sigh, either of relief or building arousal. It was hard to say, but both were excellent ways to feel. Trust Ben to confidently state her lost relatives would be found and move on to more pressing matters. “Thank you. I love you too. Oh goodness, what are you doing now?”
“Trying to seduce you before your brother arrives. We missed a lot of time last night.” He’d been running his thumbs across her sorely tight nipples and bolts of excitement ran through her.
“I know.” Cara recalled how frightened she’d been, how panicked at the thought they had been found out. “Ben, I want to stay, but if someone comes here after Mat and I, we’ll have to go.”
That had suddenly become her biggest fear. Now that she had decided to stay, all she could think was that they’d soon be forced to flee by another accuser. She’d be leaving Ben, and it ached even more now than it had before.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll watch out for you.” Ben stopped touching her and caught her gaze with his own. “If you have to leave, I’ll go with you.”
Another wave of relief and gratitude rushed over her, and she wriggled against him and caught his mouth with hers. She had no idea what the future held, but she was secure with the knowledge that Bendix Zashi would discover it with her.
Ben had returned to his rooms while Cara told Mat what had happened to Soren. It had given him the opportunity to put on fresh clothing, deal with some immediate messages from the station, and stare aimlessly at his piano, wondering when he’d ever get to play it for Cara.
His datpad buzzed with Cara’s signal, and he took a breath. She wanted him to come over and answer any questions Mat might have about his side of last night’s situation. He left his suite and stood at the Belasco’s door after signaling his arrival. Cara’s face appeared on the display, and she frowned at him.
“Why are you waiting out there?”
“Because it’s polite.”
She huffed out a sigh, but her quirked lips made her aggrieved tone unbelievable. “It’s also inefficient. You know the door code, start using it.”
Ben bit back the smile he felt growing inside. It had to have been stressful for her to discuss the death of their old companion with her brother, but all he could think was she wanted him to come and go as he pleased.
When the door didn’t open, he narrowed his eyes at her, and she smiled. “Unless you don’t remember the door code.”
With a shake of his head he keyed it in and entered the suite. Cara rushed up to him and gave him a quick soft kiss and then turned and headed back toward the living area.
Ben entered to find Mat sitting on the sofa, his eyes red and shoulders slumped. Ben edged closer and took a seat on the edge of a chair cushion. The boy glanced over and wrapped his arms around his belly.
“Mat, I’m really sorry about Soren.” Ben bit back his urge to offer more words of comfort since they would surely sound false coming from the man who’d been indirectly responsible for his death.
Mat sniffed and nodded his head once. Ben glanced at Cara who’d taken a seat next to her brother. She tilted her chin down, so he guessed he was proceeding correctly.
“Do you have any questions for me?”
“Yes. Why was that man so angry at Cara and me?”
Another glance at Cara and she gave him a nod. “His name was Myltin Tarl, and he was very curious about the people who lived here. He started to ask questions about you three and made some assumptions. I think Soren was following Cara last night, and when he saw Citizen Tarl take some images of Cara, he attacked to protect her.”
Mat swallowed. “That’s right. We never have digimas done, do we, Cara?”
His sister shook her head and rubbed her hand on his back. She sent him a worried look, her mouth downturned. She was probably thinking about what they’d discussed earlier.
She hadn’t wanted to tell him about Soren’s claim of their true parentage. Ben felt the boy deserved to know, but Cara decided she’d wait to tell him when he was older and better able to come to terms with their changed heritage. They both agreed there was nothing to be gained by making any sort of suspicious requests for additional information about the La Torre monarchy for a measureable time. Myltin’s attempts to access files might have alerted sinister forces, and the more time that elapsed, the safer they’d be. Searching for her sisters would have to commence with finding whatever encrypted file might exist in their secret account.
Cara had wanted to tell her brother about their relationship, but Ben had counseled some patience in that regard too. The boy had to adjust to the loss of a man he’d known and depended on his whole life, and it was hardly time to introduce someone new into it. Cara had frowned with displeasure, but Ben looked forward to some more sneaking around from terrace to terrace.
“Any other questions for me?”
Mat straightened his shoulders and stared him square in the eye. “Yes. Are you moving in here or are we going to live with you?”
Cara burst out an inarticulate puff of shocked air, and Ben blinked.
“Mat, what are you talking about?”
“I know you two are doing grown-up stuff at night. And you have these softie eyes at each other all the time. I like my room here, but as long as I got a big display, I wouldn’t mind moving to your place. Ben, will you show me how you climb from one terrace to another?”
The End
Publisher’s Note
Please help this author’s career by posting an honest review wherever you purchased this book.
About Lynn Rae
Lynn Rae makes her home in land-locked central Ohio after time spent in the former Great Black Swamp, beside the Ohio River, and along the Miami and Erie Canal. With professional experience in fields ranging from contract archaeology to librarianship along with making donuts and teaching museum studies, Lynn enjoys incorporating her quirky sense of humor and real-life adventures into her writing (except the naughty bits). She writes sci-fi, contemporary, and historical romances. You can find her posting frequently on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/lynnraewrites or at her webpage http://www.lynnraewrites.com/
grayscale(100%); -ms-filter: grayscale(100%); filter: grayscale(100%); " class="sharethis-inline-share-buttons">share