Authors: Layla Nash
D
arkness washed over me
, cold covered every inch of me, and I struggled to breathe. Nothing moved. Paralyzed. Blind. Deaf. So very cold.
I sat straight up, sucking in great lungfuls of air as I stared into the darkness.
Benedict snorted awake next to me, palm on my thigh. "Babe? What's wrong?"
My heart pounded as I stared into the dim surroundings. His bed. In his bedroom. In his apartment. Safe. My chest heaved and I fought to slow my breathing. It felt so real. I'd been paralyzed, lost in that dark water with not even a shred of hope to drag me to the surface.
"I dreamed I was -- back there," I whispered, shivering.
"It's okay." His arm slid around my waist and dragged me down next to him so he could spoon me close. He kissed the back of my neck. "You're safe."
I almost didn't dare blink.
Benedict stroked from my waist and down my hip to my thigh, over and over, then his hand began to wander elsewhere. A delicious heat ignited in my stomach and drove away some of the fear and ice weighing me down. I rolled so I could face him and plant my lips on his.
He laughed, then kissed me back until I lay breathless half-under him. He traced shapes on my clavicle, nuzzling behind my ear. "I want to give you another shower. Make you smell like me even more."
I kissed his jaw and the corner of his mouth, my hands more bold on his sides. Not quite desperate but almost. I touched his stomach and let my palm slide down and down until I found his hard length standing between us.
Benedict sucked in a breath and caught my shoulders, holding me back for a moment. "Are you sure you're ready, Eloise? You just came back this morning and --"
"I'm still cold," I said. I stroked his velvety cock and pulled a groan from him as well. "I want to be warm everywhere, Benedict. Inside and out. Warm me up. Please."
He rumbled in his chest and grabbed my hips, kneading my butt until I arched my back and gripped his hair. His mouth left a searing trail to my breasts, drawing on my nipples until I cried out and tried to pull him closer, pushing my hips at him. I wanted him inside me, moving on top of me. Driving me towards that cliff of pleasure that would fix everything.
"Tell me what you want," Benedict said as he knelt over me, all dark and mysterious in the shadows of his bedroom. He gripped my thighs and his eyes devoured every inch of me until I flushed and squirmed under his survey.
"I want you to hold me," I said. I caught his face and dragged his lips to mine, then wrapped my legs around his hips. "Make me feel again."
The grumble turned into a purr. He lay on his side and drew my leg over his hip, murmuring, "Nice and easy, baby," as the blunt head of his cock slid against my channel.
I gasped again and held still as he pressed forward, the thick length parting me in an inevitable push. My head fell back on the pillow and stars sparked in my vision. Benedict's hand slid into my hair and drew my head to his shoulder, keeping me close, and he began to rock his hips to mine. I shivered and shook in his arms with the gentle thrusts, the crush of my breasts against his chest, the nipping at my shoulder.
Heat traveled from my core to every part of me, thawing the rest of the darkness that lurked inside me, and I held on to him desperately as I tried to move faster. But he kept up the gentle, steady rocking until I clawed at his back and my muscles clamped down on his invading cock. I moaned, pressing my face against his neck, and he grumbled in pleasure.
Sweat covered us both and made a slick friction where our bodies met. I sighed and tensed against him as he continued his slow torment, rocking into me as he teased my sides and kissed my throat and loved every inch of me. Everywhere he touched me, I burned with fierce desire. He ignited strength in me, until I felt powerful and invincible and protected. Loved.
I cried out as another wave of ecstasy rolled over me and Benedict groaned, his movements short and sharp and deep as he found his own pleasure. The hot rush of his climax filled me as well and I clung to him, hitching my leg higher on his hip as I tried to pull him deeper, keep his stomach pressed to mine.
Benedict sighed as he kissed a trail from my shoulder to my lips, stroking my hip in appreciation. "I love you, Eloise."
"I love you," I said to his throat, even as fatigue rolled over me and I wanted to sleep.
"Are you warm enough?"
It sounded like he was laughing at me, but I didn't care. I nodded and stretched. "Good job, Bennie."
"Don't ever call me Bennie," he murmured, kissing my forehead. He rolled to his back but took me with him, until I sprawled across his chest. The purr vibrated through me and I stretched. He traced the path of my backbone from my shoulders to my butt over and over, as if he petted me, and I settled more closely against his body.
Benedict pulled the sheets and comforter up over us but kept me cradled on his chest so he could wrap his arms around me. I set my teeth to his earlobe and said very quietly, "I'll call you whatever I want, Bennie."
His smile curved against my cheek and I smiled back. He patted my butt -- not quite a spank, but a harbinger of good times to come. "For now, you naughty girl."
I dozed. The rhythm of his heart and the even rise and fall of his chest lulled me. But when I dreamed and thought I might be paralyzed, the sound of his heart drew me back to safety. To warmth. To love.
A
week later
, I still didn't feel entirely myself. Periodically vertigo would wash over me and I would have to brace against something solid until the world stopped swirling and the feeling returned to my hands and feet. Luckily Benedict was always near, and solid and warm to lean into. He didn't endear himself by insisting I face the city prosecutor at the courthouse to deal with some of those pesky criminal charges I thought I'd outrun.
But I went, wearing business clothes that Natalia pronounced made me look "almost respectable." Benedict went with me, and Carter lumbered along with us as extra help in case I had an "episode" and needed to be hidden or rushed away. He also gave me encouraging smiles as I limped into the courthouse and Benedict whistled and swung his arms like he was playing hooky.
The prosecutor was an older woman with half-moon glasses on the end of her nose and an expansive coif of gray hair reminiscent of an earlier decade. But her steel gray eyes, the same shade as her hair, cut right through me. "You've been quite busy, Ms. Deacon. Imagine my surprise to hear Mr. Chase is representing you."
"Serendipity?" I said. The chairs in front of her desk were uncomfortable but I didn't dare move to ease the pain in my back; I got the feeling she might chastise me for fidgeting and I'd end up back in jail.
Her lips pursed. She directed an arch look at Benedict. "And you, Mr. Chase. I've never known you to do pro bono work."
"Serendipity," he said with a grin, as innocent and sunshiny as a boy scout.
The woman, Geralyn Mastriano, did not look charmed by handsome Benedict. Her fingers drummed on the surface of her battered desk, and I started to panic. She could throw me right back into jail for whatever she wanted, and even Benedict's perfect white teeth and fat wallet full of cash wouldn't get me out. Geralyn moved the glasses higher up on her nose and studied my file. "I heard you had some health problems recently, Ms. Deacon. I'm sorry to hear that. I also heard these health problems changed your world outlook and you're no longer going to be engaging in illegal pursuits. Is this true?"
"Yes ma'am," I said.
She made an unimpressed noise in her throat and watched me over the tops of her glasses. "If I agree to plea this down and give you community service, Ms. Deacon, where would you do that service?"
"A soup kitchen, ma'am." I winced and moved in the chair, hoping the pins and needles in my butt were due to the hard plastic and not getting re-paralyzed. "The same one I used to have to go to. I know what it's like to be there. I want to show them what it's like to get past it, to move forward. Move up."
I hadn't told Benedict that part; I didn't dare look at him directly, but in my peripheral vision, his expression softened. Looked like he wanted to hug me right there. The prosecutor did not look similarly impressed. She paged through the file. "And how do you propose to support yourself?"
"A receptionist at a gym. It's a new gym." I cleared my throat, hand flapping nervously in Benedict's general direction. "Some of Mr. Chase's friends are opening a gym and asked me to be the receptionist and do odd jobs around the place."
"I'm sure Mr. Chase's friends are doing all kinds of things these days."
Benedict put his hand over his heart. "Geralyn, you wound me. I'm just a good samaritan, trying to help a misguided little lamb find her way through a treacherous --"
"Mr. Chase," the prosecutor said, but her lips twitched in something like a smile. The first hint of any emotion other than irritation. "While I'm sure you're perfectly altruistic in your support for this young lady, the court does not have quite your enthusiasm for Ms. Deacon's potential. She's been a petty criminal for some time without any hint of remorse. So. Rather than expunge your record entirely, Ms. Deacon, you and I will make a deal. You will complete three hundred hours of community service. You will hold down a full time job. You will report in to your parole officer every week in person. At the end of three months, we will meet to evaluate your progress. If you're on the straight and narrow, I'll close out your case and you'll be free to continue your life as you please. So long as it's legal."
She fixed me with a hard look and jabbed her finger in my direction. "But if you violate any of these conditions, Ms. Deacon, I will come after you with everything I have, do you understand? I know you worked for Val Szdoka, and though she disappeared under questionable circumstances, I've no doubt there are many more skeletons in your closet than we see here," and she dropped the file on her desk. "And believe me, child, Benedict Chase doesn't make me even slightly nervous. You would need Jesus himself defending you to have a chance of remaining a free woman."
I blinked, leaning back in my chair without thinking. Holy shit on toast. That woman was terrifying. "Y-yes ma'am. I don't think I can afford Jesus's retainer."
"You can't afford Benedict Chase's, either," she said under her breath. Geralyn scowled at Benedict, who grinned gleefully next to me, not at all perturbed by her speech. "And you, young man. Do not cross me. I will absolutely call your brother if I see you shirking or leading Ms. Deacon astray."
"Geralyn," he said, holding his hands up. "I promise, Logan is also --"
"I will call your mother if I have to," she said, glasses once more on the end of her nose as she frowned at him. Benedict went still next to me, the color draining from his face as she went on, each word slow and deliberate and meant to terrify. "I've no doubt she would have a strong opinion on this matter."
"Yes ma'am," he said.
I stared at him, mouth gaping. Benedict Chase, huge shifter lion and powerhouse corporate lawyer, lost his devil-may-care attitude the moment she brought up his mother? And how the hell did the prosecutor know his mother?
"Very well." Geralyn stacked the papers on her desk and directed her attention to me. "Do we have a deal, Ms. Deacon?"
"Yes ma'am." I nodded, half a second away from curtseying or rolling over to show her my belly.
"Good. I will see you in three months." She rose from behind her desk and I scrambled to my feet. Geralyn briefly shook my hand, then gave me a final stern look over her glasses. "You'd better be on your best behavior, young lady, or I will hear about it and you will
both
answer to me."
She frowned at Benedict as she shook his hand, then added, "Give my best to Esther."
"Yes ma'am," he said.
I waited until we were in the hallway to smack his arm. "She knows your
mother
?"
"Hush," he said, putting his arm around my waist to guide me out of the building. "You'll ruin my reputation around here. I can't let anyone know my mother is the most terrifying person on the planet."
Carter grinned as he fell in behind us, hands shoved in his pockets. I glanced at him and he shook his head. "She's a lovely woman. Just doesn't like practical jokes," and Carter sent a significant look at his brother.
I laughed, delighted, and almost tripped in my glee as Benedict opened a door and we were outside in the chilly air. He held me close to his side and bent to kiss the top of my head. "I don't know what he's talking about, I was an absolute angel as a boy."
And I'd believe that right after I met the tooth fairy. By Carter's snort, doubt was the correct response. I leaned into him as we walked slowly away from the courthouse, down an almost-familiar street. "How does she know your mother?"
Benedict dropped his wounded expression. "Geralyn is a badger."
"A what?" I stopped in my tracks and looked back at the courthouse.
"A werebadger," Benedict said. He smiled, and held my face in his hands as he pressed his lips to mine. "She's tenacious as fuck, too. No one crosses Geralyn. Even the loan sharks won't dare pop up on her radar."
"A badger," I said under my breath, and shook my head. So I would definitely have to be on my best behavior. She meant every word of her threat.
"Yep." Benedict kissed me again, slower, and as I melted against him, humming with pleasure as he kindled heat all the way through me, Carter cleared his throat. Benedict glanced at his brother, still kissing me, and managed to say with half his mouth, "Give me a break, dude."
Carter rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone. "I'll call Edgar for a ride. Congratulations, Eloise," and he walked away with a long-suffering sigh.
Benedict nibbled on my lips as his hand pressed to the small of my back and drew me close. My knees weakened and I linked my arms around him. He chuckled. "I like you in those fancy clothes, looking all prim and proper. I want to take them all off you, of course."
"Maybe you should," I murmured, and played with his tie.
"I promised to buy you lunch." Benedict canted his head at the restaurant right next to him, Bistro Nord, where we'd eaten together that first day. "And this time I want to make it all the way to dessert."
I bit my lower lip as I looked up at him and nestled my hips to his. I pushed my hair back and went up on my toes to whisper in his ear. "Are you sure?"
"Maybe we'll get dessert to go. They'll box it up for us." He groaned as I kissed his jaw, and he squeezed my butt to draw me closer. "We can skip the salad. It's terrible. Vegetables are rubbish."
I laughed and drew away, tugging on his hand to guide him toward the restaurant. "Well, if we have the salad, we might need to take a break in the middle. I certainly might need to excuse myself." As he pulled me back suddenly and crushed me to his chest, I added, "And if you meet me in the bathroom, we can have dessert early."
The purr rumble started in his chest and he kissed me, hard. I closed my eyes and relaxed against him. I finally felt warm all the way through. Every time he touched me, I felt alive. Benedict drew back but kept me close as he headed to the restaurant and the polite doorman with averted eyes. My lion leaned to murmur in my ear, "Maybe we have dessert before the soup, and then after the salad, and then we take the chocolate mousse to go so we can have dessert at home. Twice."
I laughed, cheeks on fire, and headed straight for the bathroom as Benedict chatted with the maître d'. If we locked the door, he could hold me up against the wall and we'd have plenty of time and room in the super fancy bathroom. I shivered in ecstasy, ready for him as I heard the heavy tread of his steps approaching. I unbuttoned my skirt.
Maybe not entirely on my best behavior.
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