The Summit (13 page)

You're scaring me, Ben.

Yeah, well, you're scaring me too.

The words had just popped out, but as soon as he'd said them, he realized they were true. Intriguing little Autumn Sommers scared the holy bejeezus out of him. He wasn't quite sure why.

He only knew that when he had checked his calendar this afternoon and discovered he had a date Friday night with Beverly Styles, a woman he spent time with on occasion, the notion seemed so repugnant he had actually picked up the phone to call and cancel.

He couldn't, he'd realized. It was an important affair for Bev and her father, Sam, a long-time friend and business associate Ben admired and respected. He would have to go, but he would try to end the evening as early as possible and he didn't intend to ask her out again.

Maybe it was just that finding Molly came first and doing that meant spending time with Autumn. Maybe it was just that Autumn was so different from any of the women he had dated since he and Joanne had divorced.

Hell, she was
way
different from the woman he had married.

Joanne came from an old-money, high-society family and that, along with her good looks and expensive education, had attracted him. Even after they were married, they'd led fairly separate lives. Ben worked long hours, Joanne was involved with her mother in charity events and spent her days at the country club.

After the girls were born, she was even busier and so was he, though on weekends they always made time for their children. At least Ben had until Molly disappeared from his life. After that, the less time he spent at home the better.

He sighed as he strode along the sidewalk toward Autumn's cozy apartment and reminded himself that nothing had changed. He still worked the same long hours. There still wasn't time in his busy schedule for a serious relationship with a woman. And he really didn't want one.

But whenever the unwanted notion crept in, he thought of Autumn in her ridiculous T-shirt, her strong legs and small feet showing beneath the hem. He remembered her sleekly toned body climbing the wall at the gym, the tight round cheeks of her bottom flexing in a way that made him hard just watching her.

He was in lust—of that he was sure.

He told himself he couldn't allow himself to feel anything more than that. He imagined what Autumn would say if he told her how much he wanted to take her to bed and he almost smiled. She was hardly the type for casual sex. He didn't have to read a report to know that.

He resigned himself to being on his best behavior as he knocked on her door and Autumn pulled it open. She was wearing a soft fleece jogging suit in a pretty apricot shade; her auburn hair curled casually around her face. She smiled and he remembered how soft her lips felt moving under his and his body tightened. When she looked up at him, lamplight glittered on the red, gold and mink-brown strands of her hair and he wanted to run his fingers through it.

“Come on in,” she said and he did the damnedest thing. He reached out, hauled her into his arms and very thoroughly kissed her.

It was a long, deep, demanding kiss that had her swaying toward him with only a token protest. Then he stepped back and walked past her as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.

Autumn just stood there, her hand coming up to her lips.

“I brought my own pillow,” Ben said lightly. “Yours was too hard.” Parts of his anatomy were far harder, but he didn't say that to Autumn.

“You promised you wouldn't kiss me,” she said tartly, still holding open the door.

“I said I wouldn't kiss you goodnight. That was a hello kiss.”

Autumn closed the door. “You can't just waltz in here and…and…”

“Actually, I didn't plan to. I planned to be extremely well-behaved. You just looked so delectable I couldn't resist.” He tossed the pillow down on the sofa and set his overnight bag on the floor.

“You have dozens of women, Ben. Why are you doing this to me?”

“I'm not doing anything. I kissed you, okay? It isn't a federal offense. You want to watch some TV?”

She stomped off into the bedroom. He wasn't sure why her reaction amused him but it did. When she came back out, she was once more in charge.

“This is my home.” She marched over and stood right in front of him. “Therefore, I have some say in what happens here.”

“Yeah…so?”

“So if I want you to kiss me, I'll let you know.”

The corner of his mouth edged up. “I don't think you will. I think you want me to kiss you right now, but you won't say so because you're afraid of what will happen if I do.”

“I'm not afraid of you or any other man!”

“Then why is it you never date? Why is it, the only men in your life are
friends?
Did Steven Elliot really hurt you that badly? Or maybe it was that guy, Ronnie Hillson. Any full-grown man who still calls himself
Ronnie
has to be a nitwit.”

She was standing so close he could see the pupils of her eyes flare. When she swung, he almost didn't see the blow coming until it was too late. Thankfully, he caught her wrist before her hand connected with his cheek.

“You bastard! My private life is none of your business!”

He told himself to let go. He couldn't believe he had goaded her the way he had. He never did that to a woman. He always treated them with complete respect. And kept them at a distance.

“You're too good for a guy like that, Autumn,” he said softly, gentling his hold on her wrist. “Hillson didn't deserve you and neither did that fool, Steve Elliot.” And then he eased her closer and very tenderly kissed her.

For an instant, she resisted. Then a soft little sigh came from her throat and she was kissing him back. God, she tasted like apples—or maybe it was pears—and her mouth felt like silk under his. He went achingly hard inside his jeans and a jolt of pure lust tore through him.

You can't do this,
he told himself but he just kept kissing her. He couldn't seem to stop. His hands sifted through her hair and silky curls wrapped around his fingers.

“God, I want you,” he said against her cheek and then he kissed her again and drove his tongue into her mouth and felt hers slide over his. “I don't know what it is but I can't stop thinking about you.”

Autumn trembled. “We can't…please, Ben…please don't do this to me.”

He swallowed, then took a long, deep, shuddering breath. It took sheer force of will to pull away. At the loss of her warmth, his body clenched as if he'd jumped into an icy stream and he saw that Autumn was trembling. He pulled her against his chest and wrapped his arms around her.

“I swear I didn't come here for this. I can't figure out what's going on between us but something sure as hell is.”

Her tremors began to lessen, but she didn't pull away. “It's just stress,” she said softly. “Both of us are worried about finding Molly.”

“I don't think it's stress.” He kissed the top of her head and she turned to look up at him, her green eyes wide and uncertain.

“It must be. It has to be.” Tentatively, she reached out and touched his face. “I wish you were someone else. Any man but Ben McKenzie.” And then she kissed him full on the lips.

Her tongue was in his mouth an instant later and he thought how small and sleek it felt gliding over his. Her breasts pressed into his chest, soft and full and yet her nipples were diamond hard. His body clenched so hard he throbbed and desire poured through him.

He deepened the kiss and his hand found the hem of her zippered fleece jacket and slid beneath the fabric. She wasn't wearing a bra, he realized as his fingers curled over the apple-round fullness of her breast, testing the size and shape, the texture of her skin.

Ben groaned and Autumn trembled. She went up on her tiptoes to press herself more fully into his hand and he thought what a passionate creature she was and what a shame it was that she worked so hard to hide it.

He slid down the zipper on the front of her jacket and eased it off her shoulders. She had lovely breasts—the kind that tipped up—and her nipples were the color of pale pink roses.

He wanted her. Lowering his head, he took one tight bud into his mouth and Autumn's small hands slid into his hair. She arched her back, giving him better access, then jerked in a breath as he bit down on the end, began to suckle and taste her, circle the tip with his tongue.

She caught the hem of his pullover and tugged it up and over his head, leaving him bare-chested. Her lips pressed against his skin and his heart pounded. His groin contracted and his erection throbbed painfully against the fly of his jeans.

He hadn't been this turned on since he was a kid. He told himself it was just that she was so different, that she had caught his interest in a way few women ever had. He pulled the cord on her pants and eased them down over her hips. She was wearing a pair of tiny apricot thong panties that barely covered the russet curls between her legs and a shot of heat went straight to his groin.

In the antique mirror on the wall, he caught a glimpse of them standing there half-naked. The apricot thong rode between the cheeks of her bottom and his erection throbbed. He'd been itching to hold those tight globes since the day he'd first watched her climb the wall and he did that now, cupping the roundness, pulling her against his arousal, letting her feel how hard he was.

Autumn made a soft little whimpering sound that made him go harder still and in the mirror he watched them clinging to each other. It was such an erotic image it was all he could do not to drag her down on the carpet and bury himself as deep as he possibly could.

He watched a moment more, enjoying the way his big body wrapped around her petite, feminine frame, then something in the mirror caught his eye. He moved his hand a little and there—tattooed on a pale, perfect globe—was the tiny image of a pink butterfly.

It was her
wicked secret,
he realized and the knowledge released something primitive inside him.

“I've got to have you,” he said, kissing her fiercely as he lifted her into his arms and strode toward the bedroom, determined to satisfy this need he couldn't explain. “I have to have you
now.
” She clung to his shoulders as he settled her on the mattress and started to unzip his jeans.

When Autumn looked up at him, he couldn't miss the panic in her eyes. “What…what are we doing?”

“Something both of us seem to want very badly.” Worried she was about to bolt, he leaned down and kissed her, taking his time, stirring the passion he knew was there. When she was pliant in his arms, he finally let her go, kicked off his shoes and stepped out of his jeans and the rest of his clothes.

She was staring at his erection, gaping as if she had never seen a man with a hard-on before, when the phone next to the bed began to ring.

His body clenched so hard he shook and Ben foully cursed.

The line rang again before Autumn jerked her gaze away and reached for the receiver.

She raked back her thick auburn hair with a shaky hand. “Hello…Myra is that you?” She sat bolt upright. “Slow down. Tell me what's wrong.” There was conversation on the other end of the line. “Is he going to be all right? Yes, yes, I know you'll stay with him. I'm on my way. I'll get there as quickly as I can.”

Her eyes were huge green pools as she hung up the phone and looked up at him. “My dad had a heart attack. I have to go.” She shot off the bed and raced into the living room, frantically searching for her clothes.

His own clothes were scattered all over the floor. He pulled on his boxers and jeans, then found and put on the rest of his garments. Autumn was dressed and searching for her car keys by the time he finished.

She grabbed her purse and picked the keys up off the kitchen counter.

“I'm sorry, Ben…about everything. I don't know what happened, I just…” She shook her head. “I have to go.”

Ben reached out and plucked the keys from her fingers. “You're in no shape to drive. Get your jacket and I'll drive you to the hospital.”

“You don't have to do that—I'm fine. Besides, I've already made a mess of the evening. There's no need for you to—”

“Bullshit. You didn't make a mess of anything. Sooner or later, we'll finish what we started here tonight, but for now you've got more important matters on your mind. Now get your jacket and let's go.”

For a moment, he thought she would argue. Instead, she hurried over to the closet, dragged a lightweight jacket off a hanger and started for the door. They took her car, since his was still parked at his apartment. Some of her climbing gear was in the passenger seat. She tossed it into the back with the rest of the stuff she carried and threw their jackets in the backseat.

Ben took the wheel and they headed out of town. He drove the little red SUV up on the Interstate and headed north. The roads were fairly easy to travel this time of night; it was a little over an hour's drive to Burlington. Autumn sat statue-still all the way, her eyes focused on the white line appearing ahead of them. It was clear she wouldn't be dreaming about Molly tonight. They'd be lucky if either of them got any sleep.