Pale Stranger, New Adult Romance (PALE Series)

CHAPTER 10

  I helped him back to the car and it was another quiet drive back to the house. When Benson got out he didn't look any more relieved, or rested, than when he got in. Inside the safety of the house he shed his dark clothing, and I saw how warm he'd been. His shirt and pants were soaked with sweat, and I swear I heard him squeak every time he took a step in his sweat-filled shoes. He removed the rest of his clothes down to his pants; even the socks flew off. I tried not to look, but it was hard when he tossed the wet clothing at me. "Put those in the laundry room," he gently ordered me.

  I went to the rear of the house and deposited the laundry in a basket as though it were radioactive dirty laundry. Apparently his secretary needed to be tasked with doing his laundry, too, or it would never get done. I shoved a load into the washer and set it going, then went in search of Benson. I expected to find him in the study, but that room was empty. I heard a deep sigh from the living room and found him leaning back on the couch with one hand holding a damp cloth over his eyes.

  "Things went that bad?" I asked him. He nodded. "You want to get it off your chest-" that damn nice chest, "-or will I not understand all the business lingo?"

  He sighed, pulled the cloth off his face, and patted the cushion beside him. I sat down, careful to keep my distance from his sexy, half-naked body. Benson stared straight ahead and ran his hand through his short hair; the effect was untamed, wild. It suited him. "I don't know how much you know about my business-"

  "Not a thing," I replied.

  He smirked. "Then I suppose I should start at the beginning."

  "Always a good place."

  "My family has a very long tradition of being stockbrokers, investors, accountants, bankers, and other sorts of money managers."

  "So your family tree looks more like a bean-counter pole?" I teased him.

  He chuckled. "I suppose that's one way to look at it. That's the kind of family I was born into. I think I told you my mother died giving birth to me." I nodded. "My father and Cecil ran the family company until my father died twenty years ago." He raised his eyes to glance around the room. "Cecil raised me in this house, away from prying eyes-"

  "-but not away from the family business," I guessed.

  Benson gave a nod. "Cecil worked with me to use technology to keep track of my holdings, but even with Cecil's help control of the company slipped out of our hands. When I reached twenty-one I was given a partnership in the company, and a place on the board. I tried to manage everything on my own, but it was too much."

  "And in comes the secretaries," I finished for him.

  He glanced at me with a raised eyebrow. "Are you sure you're not reading my mind?"

  "I could say maybe you don't have a mind to read, but I think you're a little smarter than the average person," I replied.

  "I'll take that as a compliment, but would you like me to finish my story?" he returned.

  "By all means."

  "I haven't had much luck with secretaries. Perhaps because I brood too much," he admitted.

  "Definitely."

  He glared at me, and I imitated zipping my mouth shut. "As I was saying, I couldn't find reliable help and recently things at the company have been growing more, well, intense. There's been a lot of ambitious people climbing the ladder, and some of them made it onto the board without Cecil or me noticing. One of those men is Greg Monroe. He was the man surrounded by the others when we left the boardroom."

  That set off all kinds of alarms in my mind. "The young one? I saw him with Miss Sievers right before he went into the room," I told him.

  Benson straightened and snapped his face toward me. "What about Sievers?"

  "She came in with that Greg guy and handed him his briefcase. They looked like they were old friends," I explained to him.

  I jumped when Benson slammed his hand down on the table. "That bitch!" he yelled. "She played me to get at information for Monroe!"

  I blinked; this sounded outrageous, like something out of a romance serial. "Seriously?" I asked him.

  "Seriously," he growled through clenched teeth.

  "So Sievers came here posing as a secretary to get info for Monroe? What kind of info?" I wondered.

  "My personal contacts, messages, files, she had access to everything that dealt with the company," he bitterly told me. "She passed on what she found out to Monroe and he maneuvered himself into a greater position of power on the board."

  This wasn't just awful, it sounded downright illegal; like insider trading without the trading part. "Isn't there anything you can do about it? Anything illegal about what they did?"

  He grasped his head in both his hands and sighed; it was a deep, tired groan. "None that I can think of, but I'm so tired I can't think straight."

  "The sun?" I guessed.

  "Among the other stresses in my life," he answered.

  I cringed. "I hope I'm not one of them," I whispered.

  He glanced up at me with a wry smile. "Only if you're a spy trying to steal my secrets, too," he teased.

  I grinned back. "Do you really think somebody as cute as me could be a spy?"

  "Yes."

  I flinched, and clutched dramatically at my chest. "That really hurts." He smirked, but in the creases of his face I could see the fatigue. "You do really look tired. Maybe you should take a nap and sleep on everything. You'll feel better when you wake up."

  A mischievous grin slid onto his face. "That sounds like a wonderful idea," he agreed. I saw his plan in those bright eyes, but couldn't get up before he wrapped his arms around my waist and laid his head in my lap. He swung his legs up onto the couch and curled up around my side.

  "I don't think I had this in mind!" I scolded him. His eyes were already closed, and his breathing had evened out. I opened my mouth to yell his name, and realized I had never called him before; I had no idea what title I should have addressed him. "Mr. Benson?" I tried. He didn't stir, but surely a man couldn't fall asleep that fast. I shook his shoulders. "Benson?" Still nothing; I lost my patience for decorum and rolled my eyes. "John!" I hissed.

  Not a sign of life other than his even breathing. I sighed and leaned back against the couch; it had been a long day for me, too. Driving Miss Daisy here to his meeting, being introduced to suits, and then playing the part of spy watching Sievers talk with that Monroe guy. It was enough to make a girl exhausted, and yet excited; I'd been useful to him, and felt I'd definitely earned my pay for today.

  I glanced down at his relaxed face, and gently ran a hand through his hair. He stirred, and I stiffened when his hands slid down behind me to grab my butt. I scowled at the sleeping pervert, my suspicions aroused by his trying to arouse us both. The breaking point came when one of his hands slid up and wrapped around my breast. My face turned red and I knocked him on the head. "Now I know you're not asleep!" I yelled at him.

  He grinned and cracked one eye. "Too obvious?"

  "Just a little, now get off," I growled back. I tried to pry him off my lap, but his arms wrapped around my waist and stuck him fast to me. I was trapped, and yet I wasn't alarmed; he could never scare me because he would never hurt me. "Haven't you ever heard of taking too many liberties with the hired help?" I scolded him.

  "Yes, but when you love someone taking too many liberties isn't possible," he teased.

  "You're proving yourself wrong right now," I snapped back.

  Benson lifted his head and our noses brushed together. His voice was soft, low, and sweet, and sent shivers down my back. "I'm going to prove how much I love you." He took me in a kiss so intense my mind short-circuited and I pushed back against his lips. We battled for supremacy, and his demanding mouth won the war. My stiff body relaxed in his arms and I groaned into the kiss. He pulled away and showed off a smug smirk. "Proof enough?"

  My cheeks were warm and my eyes half-lidded. I slowly shook my head. "No, I want more."

  He raised an eyebrow. "Really?" I nodded, a
nd his eyes wandered down to my blouse. My heaving chest strained my breasts against the front, and he raised his hand to pop off the top button. "That better?" he teased me.

  I parted the shirt to show off the tantalizing tops of my breasts. "Is it?" I tortured him in return.

  His eyes were glued to my pale breasts. "No," he hoarsely whispered. He popped off two more, and my bra pushed out of my blouse to show off the full curves of my breasts. His breaths came out in strained gasps, and his bright blue eyes had a darker tinge to their color. They were the blue of a stormy sea; he was holding back that storm inside himself; I wanted to sail those waters and let the wind take us where it would.

  I undid the rest of my buttons and completely opened my blouse. He caught my hand and raised those sultry eyes to mine. "Are you sure?" he softly asked me.

  I wasn't, but not enough that I wanted to stop. My hand slid up and seductively massaged the tops of my swollen, tingling breasts. They ached for his gentle caresses, as did the rest of me. Heat pooled between my legs and soaked my underwear, and I rubbed my thighs together to satisfy the craving. Rubbing my thighs only increased my need, and I leaned my head back and groaned; that broke his control.

  John pulled me down so my back was against the cushions of the couch, and went after my breasts like he was a man starved of milk. He nipped and licked at my sensitive flesh while his hands pawed at the bra clasp. The bra was freed, and his hot lips grasped my buds in a wild abandonment to lust. I moaned and arched my back into his sweet mouth. My legs opened and he settled between them, but not comfortably. He rubbed his hard manhood against my inner thigh like a dog in heat, and I was his bitch; I whimpered and pushed back.

  His hands worked feverishly to remove my pants, and with my help they found themselves on the floor along with my shirt and bra. I had only my underwear to protect me from his feral needs, but he paused atop me and glimpsed my nakedness. His hungry eyes swooped over every curve and bit of flesh. I blushed against such an inspection and tried to cover myself with my arms. He pulled my arms apart and leaned atop me to catch me in one of his commanding kisses.

  I felt him pull away his pants and underwear, and he lay atop me completely naked. His pale skin blended with mine as our hips rocked against one another. I looped a finger beneath the band of my underwear and slowly, teasingly pulled that down. He grabbed the band and tore it down my legs. His thick manhood twitched and pulsed with heat, and he eagerly set it at my hot, wet entrance.

  He paused too long; I needed him as badly as he needed me. "Please," I groaned. "Please take me."

  John grunted and thrust himself into me. What he didn't count on was that he was my first, and he roughly broke through my maidenhood. I flinched and grasped his shoulders with my quivering hands. His eyes glanced down at me in surprise and fear. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't know-" I shook my head.

  "It's fine, just don't you dare stop," I breathed out.

  John nodded and pulled out just a little. My tight, wet walls clung to him, and he shuddered at the feel of them massaging his stiff erection. I let out a shaky breath, both from the dissipating pain and the increasing pleasure. His entire length brushed against my sensitive nub, and started a flow of sensual titillation. He grunted and lay down on top of me, covering me in his sweat-soaked, tense body. I wrapped my legs around him, and when he pushed back in he penetrated deeper than before. We both groaned and gasped, and he planted soft, nipping kisses along my neck.

  His pace was tortuously slow, but oh so gratifying. I matched his hips and pushed against him, and my nerves hummed with the pleasure of him brushing against me. My hands slid along his tense, sweat-soaked back, and reached as far as his delicious butt. He penetrated me again and again, and I reveled in the faster speed as his lust overtook his desire to keep us in this self-made paradise. I squirmed and gasped, and he wrapped his arms around me and pinned me to the couch to hold me still while he thrust into my quivering folds. I couldn't keep up with his fast penetrations, and my body twitched and pulsed with the reverberations of the coming orgasm.

  My muscles deliciously tightened and my juices flowed over him as he pounded harder into me. The world around me disappeared; there was only the feel of him inside of me, pushing me to a greater place of sensual satisfaction. The waves of pleasure flowed over me with all the power of an ocean, leading me higher and higher. I gasped for breath and thrashed in his hold. He tightened around me, in me. All my senses but one disappeared; there was only touch, and he touched me in my deepest, most sensual spot to the point of bursting with desire.

  My orgasm swept over me in crashing waves. He sent me to a place I could never have dreamed of in all my fantasies. It was so filled with blinding lights and a touching, lustful wave of bliss that I never wanted to leave, but all good things come to an end. He finished inside of me and collapsed atop my smaller frame, pulling me out of paradise and the air out of my lungs.

  I wheezed and glared at his face in the crook of my neck. His eyes were shut tight, and his breathing was shallow and hoarse. He was soaked in sweat, but I'd never seen so great an angel as I saw in him. I smiled and brushed aside one of his golden locks. His eyes fluttered open, and those sky-blue eyes were returned. The stormy seas were passed; we'd made love. Now all I wanted to do was sleep, but I was afraid he'd strangle me with his weight. "Mind switching places?" I squeaked out.

  His eyes widened when he realized my dilemma. "Oh right." He deftly flipped us both over so I was on top and he beneath me. It was a comfortable arrangement for both of us, and completed when he grabbed a blanket from over the back of the couch and lay it over us for some propriety. "Better?" he asked me.

  I yawned and nodded before I set my head down in the crook of his neck. He wrapped his strong arms around me, and we both fell asleep.