by Nicole Helm
“Oh, well.” Tawny cleared her throat, her smile looking so forced Bennet winced. “Won’t this be fun?”
“Yes, it will. Won’t it, Alyssa?” he said, giving her a meaningful look he hoped she realized meant get your butt off the bed.
“Sure it will, Ben,” Alyssa said, emphasis on the shortened name, still lounging on the rumpled covers.
It was more than likely he was going to end up paying very dearly for this.
* * *
ALYSSA WATCHED AS Tawny the tall, put-together blonde started taking the covers off the dresses on the rack. She chattered on about jewel tones and coloring, and all Alyssa could think was she would never in a million years look like this woman.
There would always be a little drowned sewer rat in her. A girl who’d grown up locked in a room with only men for companions. Even when her mother had been alive and around she hadn’t spent much time around. The kids were supposed to play with each other while the adults did the serious business of running a cartel.
“Where should we do the trying on?” Tawny asked brightly.
“There’s a bathroom through that door there,” Bennet offered.
“Perfect.” Tawny turned her attention to Alyssa, all bright smiles and comforting drawl. “We’ll start with three. More than three and it gets overwhelming.” She plucked three dresses off the rack and rested them across her arm before marching for the bathroom. “These are my top choices based on your coloring and build.”
She stepped inside the bathroom and waited for Alyssa to hesitantly enter before she closed the door shut and hung the dresses on the shower curtain.
“My, the Stevenses do know how to build a house, don’t they?” Tawny said conversationally. She handed Alyssa a blindingly gold dress. “Let’s start with this one.”
Alyssa recoiled. Visibly. “No.”
Tawny blinked, and for a fraction of a second Alyssa felt kind of crappy for her antagonistic behavior. It wasn’t this woman’s fault she was everything Alyssa wasn’t and never could be.
“It’s a beautiful dress,” Alyssa offered, shoving her hands into her pockets. “It’s too loud for this. I need to blend in.”
Tawny smiled indulgently. “Isn’t it every woman’s fantasy to stand out?”
The question landed a little hard, right in the heart. Stand out? All standing out had ever gotten her was locked up, and somehow she still wanted that moment. A moment when the attention was on her for something good for once.
But, this wasn’t that moment. “This is more a business venture than a personal, womanly venture.”
“Okay, well, let’s try the black, then.” She held out a black dress with a fluffy thing of green hanging off it.
Alyssa wanted to refuse this one, too, but it was no use. She did have to fit in, and fitting in meant some fancy dress the likes of which she’d never even dreamed about wearing it was so foreign to all the lives she’d lived.
She took it and waited for Miss Texas Perfect to leave, but Tawny just waited expectantly.
“Oh, well, I’m supposed to stay with the dresses,” Tawny explained. “Part of the job. I do it all the time.” Sensing Alyssa’s continued hesitation, Tawny nodded. “How about I turn my back?”
“Sure,” Alyssa muttered. Maybe it was stupid, but the last thing she wanted was Tawny seeing her subpar underwear. Tawny probably had a matching set. All silk or lace or something beautiful and expensive.
And what would you ever do with something like that?
Hoping to get it over with as quickly as possible, Alyssa shucked her clothes and roughly pulled on the dress. It was black, somehow fit like a glove, and though she’d probably never feel comfortable in a dress, it wasn’t scratchy or uncomfortable or anything.
“So, how do you know Ben?” the woman asked conversationally, trailing her perfectly manicured pink nails across the decorative towels hanging off a rack next to the sink.
“Uh. Work,” Alyssa muttered, tugging the zipper in the back up as far as she could.
“Oh. Are you a Ranger?” Tawny asked, as if it was somehow possible her scrawny self could be a Ranger.
Alyssa couldn’t help but smile. “No. Just...helping out.”
“It must be dangerous if you’re working with the Rangers. Aren’t you scared?”
“Sometimes, but I know how to protect myself.”
Tawny sighed. “No wonder Ben likes you. He’s one of the few men I’ve ever met who wasn’t impressed or enthralled by weakness.”
Alyssa didn’t know what to say to that, so she smoothed her hands down the dress. “Uh, I’m done.”
Tawny turned and clapped her hands together. “Oh, isn’t that perfect!”
Alyssa had her doubts about perfect, but Tawny was immediately fussing, pulling the zipper up the rest of the way, tying the green ribbon around her waist into a beautiful bow Alyssa would never be able to replicate.
Tawny nudged her over to the full-length mirror, forcing Alyssa to look at her reflection.
“You’ll want to sweep your hair back, and have someone do your makeup, obviously,” Tawny said, pulling Alyssa’s hair back herself, artfully brushing some hair to hide the bandage on her forehead. “Maybe a tasteful necklace. Diamonds or rubies. Nothing ostentatious. You’ll fit right in without standing too far out.”
Even with no makeup and someone else holding her hair back, Alyssa didn’t recognize herself. It was like someone had put a fancy filter over the girl she’d always been.
“Do you want Ben’s opinion?”
Even though she’d warmed to the woman a little bit, Alyssa still hated her calling Bennet Ben. “No. I think I’d like it to be a surprise.”
The woman smiled somewhat wistfully. “He isn’t an easy man to surprise, but this might do the trick.”
“Do you know him well?”
Tawny’s smile didn’t change. “Sometimes I wonder if anyone knows him well. And for the record, I call him Ben because it irritates him and that’s about the only time he’ll pay me any mind.”
“Oh.”
“But you don’t seem to have that trouble.”
Alyssa turned away from the mirror. This woman was confusing, and Alyssa didn’t have any idea how to talk to her. She seemed...well, perfect for Bennet’s world of icy mothers and charming fathers and smooth, Southern drawls.
And somehow this tall blonde with class and elegance for miles seemed to be under the impression Bennet liked Alyssa. And that wasn’t weird, just something to sigh over.
Alyssa moved back to her regular clothes, and Tawny dutifully turned her back again. “W-why do you think he likes me?” Alyssa couldn’t help but ask, pulling the zipper down. “This is all work.”
“You’re in his bedroom, sweetheart. He might be calling it work, but men are apt to say lots of things to get a woman into their bedroom.”
It all sounded so worldly and adult, and Alyssa felt like a child again. A child playing at being an adult.
Except she was twenty-four. And she’d survived what might kill most people. She was not some little girl. She was just a little inexperienced.
But Bennet had kissed her last night. Of his own accord, with no pretending it had been meant to throw anyone off. It had been a real kiss. He’d said so himself.
So, it was time. Time to get rid of the inexperience, and if she ended up doing that before they unraveled their myriad of mysteries, well, so be it.
She had a life to live, after all, and she was tired of it being thwarted.
Chapter Twelve
Once Tawny left with the dresses, Bennet made himself scarce. He knew Alyssa wasn’t happy with him for running some mysterious errands, but he also knew she was losing her mind locked up in that room. So, he set about a safe way to give her a little excursion.
Hell. He hated that wild look in her eyes like she was reliving all the ways she’d been a prisoner in her life. He hated the way she paced that room like it was some kind of cage. And, worst of all, he liked way too much the way she’d sometimes stare at him, considering, assessing. The same look she’d had in her eyes last night when she’d approached him before seeing the picture on his computer and recognized one of her brothers.
One of her brothers. Possibly fraternizing with a rival cartel. A lead, something to go on. What he should be focused on instead of Alyssa’s state of mind.
But no matter how he chastised himself for his lack of focus, he still secured his parents’ screening room, checking every nook and cranny, locking it down in a way that eased his worries. It was still just another locked room, but it wasn’t the room he currently had her locked in.
He had no idea if she’d appreciate it, but it was worth a shot. And she could pick a movie and some snacks and he could still focus on finding a connection between Sal/Dom Cochrane, Salvador Dominguez and one of Alyssa’s brothers.
So, he was hardly ignoring his duties or his case. And if he’d told Captain Dean he was taking a vacation until after Christmas even though he was working on this case 24/7, it was only to keep Alyssa safe. It wasn’t lying to his superior. It was protecting a vulnerable piece of the case.
He’d work on believing that. He left the movie room, locked sufficiently, and went to collect Alyssa for their little...night in. Not theirs. Hers. It was like a gift.
Certainly not like a date.
He forced that thought out of his head and walked up the stairs, hand on the butt of his weapon, scanning every corner for anything suspicious.
It was strange to walk through his parents’ house feeling like danger could be lurking anywhere. He’d grown up in this house and there had been a lot of feelings it had prompted. Suffocating, cold, frustration, disgust. But never fear.
It made him sick to his stomach to think too hard about his mother being involved in this, but if Sal Cochrane was connected to Dom Cochrane, and they were both connected to Salvador Dominguez...
Ambition had made worse monsters out of people. He just hated to believe it of his mother even with as strained a relationship as they had.
But he would find the truth regardless. Justice. One way or another.
He walked down the hall to his room, something uncomfortable jittering in his gut, and it wasn’t the fear of danger or worry over his mother’s involvement.
It was anticipation and nerves. No one had ever affected him quite like Alyssa did, and he wasn’t altogether certain he liked it, but he seemed incapable of resisting it.
He knocked, three hard raps. “It’s Bennet.”
The door edged open, just a crack. She didn’t open it farther, so he pushed in himself.
He made a noise, one he couldn’t have described to save his life. Everything just kind of whooshed out of him.
She was standing there in one of his button-down dress shirts. And that was all. Her long legs bare from midthigh on down to her toes. She’d left the top of the shirt unbuttoned far enough he could see the enticing tops of her breasts.
“This is your shirt, right?” she asked, her expression unreadable.
“Uh, yup. That’s...my shirt.” He glanced around the room and found her jeans and pointed at them. “You should put some pants on.”
She cocked her head, toying with the top buttoned button of his shirt. If she undid it...
“Why?”
He’d completely lost his train of thought. “Why what?”
“Why should I put pants on?”
“Oh, right.” He cleared his throat, trying to speak past the dryness there. “I have a surprise for you.”
She took a few steps toward him, still toying with that button, and no matter how strictly he ordered himself to look away, he simply couldn’t. She looked impossibly soft, even knowing how tough and strong she could be.
She reached out, pressing her palm against his chest, looking up at him from underneath her lashes. “Let’s do my surprise first.”
He should not ask for details on that. He should not be deterred. He should... Hell.
He managed to clear his throat and put his hand over hers, gently pulling it off his chest. “I have a feeling your surprise isn’t very...appropriate.”
“No, it’s very, very inappropriate.” She grinned up at him, and he shouldn’t smile back, but he couldn’t help it.
“Alyssa...”
“Don’t say no to the virgin throwing herself at you. That’d scar her for life.”
He reached out and touched the edge of the bandage on her head. She hadn’t complained about it once. “Nothing I could do would scar you for life.”
She stepped closer. This time instead of pressing her palm to his chest, she stood on her toes and wound her arms around his neck. She was all soft curves against him, the fragrance of his own damn soap on her skin and in her hair.
“I want you, Bennet. And you want me, too... I think.”
“I do.”
“Okay, well, you may have gotten most of the things you’ve wanted in life, but I’ve gotten very few. So, it’s my turn to get something, have something, I want.”
“I thought you wanted to get out of here.”
“This’ll do.” Then her mouth was on his, and what could he do but pull her closer, sink into that kiss. He slid his hands down the sexy curve of her back, exploring her mouth with his tongue. When his hands slid over her ass, he realized she was not, in fact, wearing any underwear.
“Hell.”
She laughed against his mouth, pressing her body more firmly against his. “I figured if the shirt didn’t work, full-on naked would do the trick.”
“You do the trick all on your own,” he murmured, lifting her up.
She clung tighter, smiling against his mouth as he maneuvered her onto the bed. He should resist. He knew he should resist, but she smiled up at him from beneath his body, and who had that kind of willpower? He’d wanted her since she’d reached for the gun in her desk all those days ago, and it had only intensified each second of getting to know her.
She was beautiful and seemed so sure, but he knew she’d been sheltered. She was untouched.
Except she wanted him, and she might be innocent, there might even be hidden fragile pieces of her, but Alyssa Jimenez knew what she wanted, and who was he to keep it from her?
“After all this is done, I can’t promise—”
“I didn’t ask you to promise anything, Ben.”
He scowled. “Don’t call me that.”
Her mouth curved. “Why do you hate it so much?”
“It isn’t my name.”
“Hmm,” she murmured, tracing his hairline with her index fingers. “It’s half of your name. Why don’t you like it?”
Bennet sighed. He had no idea why they were talking about this when they could be doing far more interesting things that she’d initiated, but he also knew she wouldn’t just let it go. “It was my grandfather’s name. Well, Bennet was, but he went by Ben. Everyone loved him.”
“It doesn’t sound like you did.”
“He used to hit me.”
Everything on Alyssa’s face morphed into shocked outrage. “What do you mean hit you?”
“It’s the Stevens way. Beat you into proper behavior.”
“And your parents agreed with that?”
“They didn’t practice it themselves, but they didn’t stop it either. You can hardly be shocked by that. You grew up in a cartel. You must have seen far worse things.”
“I was sheltered from the good and the bad, I suppose.” She studied h
is face then wiggled beneath him. “Let’s focus on the good right now, huh?”
“Yes, I like the sound of that. Why don’t you unbutton the rest of that shirt?”
She smiled up at him as she brought her fingers to the buttons that were still buttoned. She pushed one button free, and then the next, and next until they were all free and he could pull the fabric apart and reveal her body completely.
She was petite, all bronze skin and slight curves. Everything inside him tensed and hardened.
“You’re beautiful.” And his, somehow. She was his.
* * *
ALYSSA DIDN’T QUITE know how to handle Bennet’s words. Whether it was that sad little story about his grandfather, or telling her she was beautiful with such awe she almost believed it.
So, she pulled his head down and kissed him, because she knew what to do with her mouth then. Absorb the warmth of him, trace his lips with her tongue until he groaned and invaded her mouth with his.
She pressed her naked body to the rough fabric of his jeans and then pulled at the hem of his shirt, wanting to feel him against her. Skin and skin and hearts beating erratically against each other.
He pulled the shirt up and off his body, discarding it on the floor before his mouth returned to hers. But only briefly. Then it was moving down her jaw, her neck, feather-light brushes, the occasional brush of his tongue.
His palm slid up her stomach and rib cage until he was cupping her breast, kissing down her chest until his tongue touched her nipple. Her body would have jerked off the bed if Bennet hadn’t been above her, a solid, warm wall of muscle.
She felt as though she was pulsing with something. Need probably, because the more his tongue played with her nipple the more restless she became—needing to move, needing to press against him, needing more. More, so much more.
But he seemed content to kiss and lick her everywhere but where she needed him most.
Nothing in the whole world had ever felt like this. Not the sight of the sun after two years of confinement. Not the closure on someone’s face when she put a dangerous skip away. Nothing. Nothing had this kind of physical and emotional charge to it.