Saved By A Stranger (8 page)

Walking up the stairs to her bedroom, she
felt as if the last four weeks had passed in a busy blur—the
negotiations with the bank to help with immediate cash problems and
to support her new business plan. If only she had opened their
letters to her sooner, then she’d have known that they were willing
to help her, provided she met all their conditions.

But the final piece was still missing—her
new retail site. The bank manager had made it quite clear that it
all came down to picking a highly visible, highly trafficked area.
But the properties to lease in those kinds of areas weren’t exactly
affordable. Something she would continue to worry about
tomorrow.

She sank down on the mattress, curled her
fingers into the sheets and then ran her hand along the bed’s
footend. As always, the cool metal made her palms itch and her
heart flutter. It was easy to imagine a pair of handcuffs dangling
from the thick iron bars of the foot- and headboard.

The nerve of him, sending her a new bed.

She’d been so flabbergasted when she saw the
two delivery guys pack up her old bed, by the time she protested,
they just gave her a customer service number if she wanted to
complain and left her with a king-sized bed that made her bedroom
look dainty.

She’d slept like a baby for the last four
weeks tucked inside it while occasionally waking up panting because
her dreams had taken on a decidedly erotic edge.

The bed was the only evidence she hadn’t
imagined Ben.

The bed…and the check for fifty grand.

She stripped off her sweaty work clothes and
stepped into the shower. After a quick rinse down, she wrapped
herself in a towel, looking forward to a dreamless night.

Shaking her head to get rid of the droplets
of water clinging to her hair, she froze. The wind was howling
louder than before, as if someone had opened a window. A cool draft
wafted into the bath from the gap underneath the door and tickled
her bare legs.

Her stomach did a somersault as she stared
at the closed bathroom door. She pulled her shoulders back and
looked around for something to wear. There was nothing. Securing
the towel more tightly, she opened the door, thinking she was
prepared.

“
This is breaking and
entering,” she said, crossing her arms so he wouldn’t see her
shaking hands. He sat on the windowpane facing inward. Goose bumps
erupted on her skin, but not because of the cold air streaming into
the room

“
Only entering,” he said
casually. “The window wasn’t locked.” He shot a look around the
room, lingering on the bed, then on a stack of cardboard
boxes.

She’d forgotten how big this guy was, but
not that he had a dimple in his chin when he smiled.

Flustered, she grabbed the pile of clothes
she had laid out for the next day and went into hiding inside the
bathroom again. Trust him to turn up when she came fresh from the
shower.

She slipped into underwear, a baggy
button-down shirt and a pair of sweatpants. Not chic, but decidedly
better than a towel.

“
Why are you moving?” he
called through the closed door.

“
Not that it’s any of your
concern but I can’t afford to stay here anymore,” she said,
smoothing down the shirt as she stepped back into the
bedroom.

His brow knitted, a vee-shaped frown on his
forehead. “You didn’t get the reward?”

“
It’s yours,” she said,
feeling the same rage she had when the check had landed in the
mailbox. “How dare you play the hero by manipulating me into
turning over the evidence? I don’t need saving.”

Not quite true, she thought. He definitely
saved her from making the biggest mistake of her life—setting a
building, almost herself, on fire.

He closed his eyes as if she were being
complicated. “I was afraid you would react like that.” Despite the
weather, he wore only a tee and jeans but had a black leather bag
strapped to his back, which he now dropped to the floor.

She waved toward her desk, wondering what
was inside the bag. “Go ahead. The check is inside the drawer.”

“
With your name on it,” he
said calmly.

“
I’ll cash it for you,” she
shot back. “And while we are at it, what were you thinking with
that
.” She gave the bed a kick, instantly regretting it when
pain seared into her foot.

“
It was a gift.”

“
I tried to return it,” she
said, which wasn’t
entirely
true.

“
Now that would have hurt
my feelings,” he said, placing his hand over his heart.

“
Bottom line,” she said,
“it was uncalled for.”

“
I broke your old
bed.”

“
Well, I already regretted
that I tied you to it!”
Must stop yelling,
she thought,
wishing he would tell her why he’d finally come back to her after
all these weeks.

His eyebrow rose and he zipped open his
backpack, slipped his hand inside, and she rose to her toes and
craned her neck to find out what he had hidden inside but still
couldn’t see a thing. “Are you angry at me?” he asked, fixing her
with a dark stare.

“
Why would I be
angry?”

“
Because I left you so long
alone?”

Yes.
A lump formed in her throat.
“It’s not like I was wringing her hands
waiting
for you to
show up again.”

“
Of course you weren’t,” he
said, making her squirm. “But in case you were, I had to wait until
Simon got off my back for good. They also had their eyes on you for
a while. But we’re good now.”

Again, he started rummaging through the
backpack. “And I wanted to wait until it was confirmed that the
Writer wasn’t going to be set free because of a procedural
error.”

“
What’s inside your
bag?”

“
Nosy much?” he replied,
and to her disappointment, his hand emerged empty. “I’ll show you
later,” he said, winking, and she realized he was just teasing her.
“So, how have you been, honey?” He cocked his eyebrow.

“
You know I
hate
being called that, don’t you?”

“
But you taste like honey,”
he said, his lowered voice sending shivers across her skin. “You
taste sweet all over, but there’s one spot I especially
enjoy.”

She wrapped her arms tighter around herslef,
her nipples turning into aching points.

“
Is that so,” she drawled,
almost able to feel the sliding friction of his tongue between her
legs. Damn him for turning her into a damp puddle of
lust.

“
Yes, that’s just so.” He
took two steps toward her until his breath feathered over her face
and she glanced up to meet his eyes. “I’ll show you.” Closing his
hands around her waist, he pulled her close.

“
Show me what?” she
whispered when his lips brushed against hers. “This isn’t what I
had in mind…”

“
You can tell me later what
you had on your dirty mind,” he said against her mouth.

She stiffened when the tip of his tongue
touched the center of her bottom lip. The feeling shot straight
between her legs.

“
Love your mouth,” he said,
and sucked her bottom lip between his teeth and bit down gently.
“Plump and wet and sweet,” he murmured, his tongue tracing her
lips. “Made for kissing.”

His tongue delved deep, taking all. Wrapping
her arms around his neck, she rose on tiptoe and threw herself into
his kiss. He cupped her face, breathing hard, backing her up
against the wall, seeking her mouth again.

The taste of him, the scent of his skin made
her groan in lust. “You make me feel so weak,” she whispered.

“
All I want is to touch
you,” he said. “And allowing me to take care of you is not what I’d
call weakness. It takes guts to trust someone.”

Maybe it was time to trust him, God knows,
he’d proven himself enough to her. She lowered her hands to her
sides, suddenly unable to meet his silent stare.

“
Yes,” he said, and pulled
his shirt over his head in one fluid motion and tossed it to the
floor. “You will submit to me tonight.”

Her breath caught in her throat and she
reached out to trace a finger along his flat abs and hard pecs.

Flattening her hands against his stomach,
she trailed them up his chest and through the shock of dark hair.
So male.
All hard angles and corded strength. She traced her
finger down, following the path the hair led until she reached the
edge of his jeans. Rough denim against the pad of her fingertip,
she traced over his bulging erection trapped inside.

She longed to feel him against her palm, the
smooth hardness of his cock. Longed to flick her tongue against his
shaft and taste his arousal. Longed to lick from his balls up to
the thick head of his cock until she tasted the first drops of his
come.

“
I want you in my mouth,”
she said, fingering at the metal buttons of his jeans.

“
No.” His biceps flexed as
he brushed her hand aside. “Tonight,” he said, and reached out to
run his finger along her cheek, “you’ll submit to my wishes for a
change.”

“
Make me,” she whispered,
knowing she’d uttered an invitation as well as a
challenge.

“
Don’t worry, I will.” He
flicked open the buttons on her shirt, working his way up from the
bottom to the top. “And I’ll make you beg for more.”

Her breasts strained against the faded
cotton of her sports bra. She wore underwear for comfort, not to
arouse men, but he didn’t look put off as he ran an appraising
glance over her décolletage before he discarded the blouse to the
floor.

“
Turn around,” he
said.

When she did, he unclasped her bra. She
pressed her hands over the cups and turned back to him. He reached
out, sliding the straps from her shoulders, his gesture almost
reverent.

“
Lower your hands,” he
said, and she let the bra drop to the floor, thrusting her chest
out, longing to feel him kiss her breasts.

“
Touch me,” she
whispered.

He reached to his backpack and pulled a
heavy duty cable cutter from it.

“
What the heck,
Ben?”

He reached out, grabbed the heavy roll of
cable and made quick work of it, his skilled fingers wielding the
cutter until he had a several different lengths of cable cut.

“
Hands on your back,” he
said, closing in on her, holding a cut-off piece of cable between
his fingers.

“
My hands?” she asked,
taking another step away from him. A vision of herself bound and
helpless and at his mercy turned up in her mind. Her breasts
tightened, her entire body felt heavy, and the idea alone sent a
spasm of lust through her pussy. “Make me.”

He pulled her hard against him and thrust
his tongue between her lips and deep into her mouth. Taking his
time, taking her breath, he ignored her attempts to struggle out of
his tight embrace. She gasped for air, her body turning liquid
under the strokes his tongue gave her, her heart speeding up to an
alarming rate.

“
Such a good girl,” he
said, wiping his thumb over his bottom lip. “You’re made for hard
kisses.” Closing in, he grabbed her by the shoulders. “Made for
hard fucking.”

Oh God, yes.

His mouth came crushing down on hers, taking
everything she had until she thought she’d die of lust. When she
shoved at him again, his deep laugh sent goose bumps all over her
skin. Sliding his hand into her hair and grabbing her by the nape
of her neck, he backed her up against the iron footboard of the
bed.

Moaning under his onslaught, she grew dizzy
with the lust to feel him inside her. With a sigh, she explored the
corded muscles beneath his skin.

He slipped his hand into the elastics of her
sweatpants and pulled them over her bottom. The pants bunched down
to her ankles, immobilizing her. Cupping her bottom with one hand,
he made a low sound of approval in his throat when she froze. He
slipped one finger beneath her panties. “Spread your legs,” he
said, and his knee nudged between her thighs.

She clamped her legs together. “Don’t think
so,” she said, but it came out rough and smoky, and it brought a
smile to his face. Idly, he traced the outer edges of her panties,
staying painfully away from the spot where she craved his touch the
most.

The air whooshed out of her lungs as she
landed flat on her chest and face, a heavy weight pressing her deep
into the bed’s mattress. He’d thrown her so fast onto the bed, she
hadn’t had time to blink, much less time to react.

He covered her from bottom to top and drew
her hands over her head. Her breasts pressed flat against the
mattress with each movement.

“
Hands on your back,
sweetheart.”

She pressed her face into the mattress,
slowly crossing her wrists behind her back, her body shaking with
the effort to control her breathing. She rubbed herslef against the
bed, enjoying every little pressure she could get on her clit.

He flung cold cable around her wrists,
knotted it tight. Experimentally, she tested her ties, but let out
groan of frustration.

A light slap landed on her bottom. “Kneel,”
he said, and then helped as she slid onto the mattress while she
felt awkward for not being able to use her hands.

Her chest stuck out, her nipples two hard
points, and she caught his appraising gaze when she kneeled with
her legs slightly apart on the bed. She settled her bottom on her
heels, keeping her back erect, painfully aware how her tied wrists
pushed her shoulders back and her breasts forward.