Close Quarters (16 page)

“Well, the home office certainly is in one,” Fleur said.

Rachel agreed. “Yeah. My gut says it's someone in Sympa-Med, but I know Ben's been researching the doctor and supplier too.”

Fleur turned to Ben. “You found out who the supplier is?”

“It was just a matter of hacking into financial records. It usually is. Follow the money. The payments for the chips led right to the supplier. It's a wholesale distributor, not the manufacturer. One thing I found interesting was that the invoices clearly state the chips have transceivers, not GPS. Now, not all people are technically savvy enough to make the distinction, but it's still worth noting.”

“Yes, I'm sure you're right.”

Rachel asked, “Did you get an e-mail from Alan?”

“I did. He's our top researcher and information gatherer,” Ben said, making sure to include Fleur in the conversation. “He found a family connection between the supplier and a board member at Sympa-Med. Since that board member is not on this trip, we're not sure what to make of it.”

“Which board member?” Fleur asked.

Ben named a man who had always struck Fleur as too self-centered to be on the board of an organization like Sympa-Med.

“If company gossip is accurate, he's dating the Director of African Operation's personal assistant,” Fleur said.

Ben's face creased in a satisfied grin. “Now, that
is
interesting.”

“You can never be sure of the accuracy of gossip,” Fleur warned.

But both Ben and Rachel looked too happy to have heeded the warning.

“I'll ask Alan to look into it. He's got informants all over the world,” Ben said.

“Is this board member married?” Rachel asked.

“Separated,” Fleur supplied. With the exception of tonight, she never repeated gossip, but she kept abreast of it.

“Okay.” Rachel nodded, as if she'd filed the information away, and then looked at Ben. “If you don't have anything else, I'll hit the sack. I want to get these contacts out—they're starting to irritate.”

Only by looking closely could Fleur see the other woman wore a pair of contacts that enhanced the color of her eyes. “What is your natural eye color?” she asked with curiousity.

“They're a pale green. It's always been convenient for getting the best look with colored contacts.”

“I don't think mine would take another color so easily,” Fleur said in agreement. The brown of her eyes was so dark it looked black in certain lights.

“You'd be surprised what they can do with the right medium, but yeah, it's easier to get a natural-looking change with light irises.” Rachel stifled a yawn. “Okay, enough talking. I'm off to bed.”

Ben gave Fleur a questioning look after the other woman left the room. Knowing what his silence was asking, she nodded and led the way into her bedroom.

Once there, she stopped at the foot of the bed and turned to face him. “You treat me like you do not suspect me of involvement in the espionage.”

“I don't.”

“But you did,” she guessed.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“You aren't American. Selling our secrets to provide future financial security for Johari might appear a rational choice to you.”

“And you were okay with that?”

“Okay as in thought it was a good thing to do, or okay as in still wanted to bring you into my life?”

“Either?”

“I've spent my entire adult life protecting my country's security. Yet, before I realized you were innocent of any part of the espionage, my mind was as busy working out a way to change my life so you could be in it as it was trying to determine who was behind the technology thefts.”

That amazed her. How could he give her equal weight with a patriotism so deeply ingrained in him? “Why?”

“Because my instincts tell me I will never react to another woman the way I do to you. The moment I saw you, something inside me settled. I had found the other half of my soul.” He spoke as if making such claims was perfectly reasonable, though a shadow in his expression showed how important and different this conversation was for him.

“I thought love at first sight was for books and cheesy movies.”

“It's clearly also for a federal agent who has spent big chunks of time pretending to be someone else in order to protect national security.”

“You are not pretending to be anyone else with me.”

“No, I'm not. I haven't since the moment we said hello.”

“I know.” She did. Just as she knew that for this man, to be willing to change his life so he could have her in it—especially if she'd been guilty of espionage against his country—was almost a miracle. “I did not believe I would ever meet a man like you. I did not believe a man like you existed.”

“I'm glad you aren't part of this mess,” he said.

“Me too. For your information, I would do almost anything to protect my daughter, but selling another country's secrets would never strike me as a reasonable way to ensure her future safety.”

“That makes me very happy.”

She laughed. “I think, Bennet Vincent, that life with you will be a very good one.”

He went perfectly still, as if she had said something incredibly important. “So, you feel it too?”

“Yes.” There was no use denying it. She didn't even want to, not really. As frightening as this might be, she wanted it.

“You don't think we are going too fast?”

“Does it matter? I would not retreat from you if I could.”

“No, you're right…. This is not something either of us can control.”

“So, we trust it. We trust each other.”

“That is my deepest hope.”

She knew what he meant. He wanted her trust, but he would never demand it or even ask for it. He would wait until she could give it to him of her own volition.

“Is a platonic marriage even possible?”

“For us, it will be.” And he didn't even look bothered by the possibility, just confident that one day they would have it all.

“I want to try.”

He didn't ask if she was sure. That was one of the things she loved about him. He trusted her to know her own mind and did not attempt to influence it.

“I know exactly where to target a body to maximize pain,” he said in the same way he would have told her they were having
sadza
for dinner again.

“What does that mean? Is that supposed to inspire trust?” she wondered aloud.

“It means I also know how to touch your body and maximize the pleasure. More importantly, I know every touch that hurts and I will never inadvertently use one on you.”

“I believe you.” Maybe he really was her miracle. “I'm going to undress now.”

“All right. I'll stay here.”

How had he known that was exactly what she needed? Did it matter? This connection they had went beyond rational comprehension.

She pulled off her turban, revealing her closely cropped curls. Unlike her daughter, Fleur had no desire to spend her mornings fighting her hair into stylish submission. Her sari skirt came next and then her blouse, until all that remained was the serviceable bra and panties she wore beneath her clothes.

Taking a deep breath, she unhooked her bra and dropped it to the floor, and then pushed her panties down her thighs, leaving her completely naked.

That heated tenderness she found so appealing was very much evident in Ben's eyes as he looked at her.

“I have not been unclothed with another person since I left Rwanda,” she admitted.

He nodded, his eyes never leaving her as he slowly undressed, once again seeming to know exactly what she needed him to do next.

Ben was not a large man, being about the same height as she, one hundred and seventy-eight centimeters. Tanya always wanted to know feet and inches, so Fleur did an automatic translation to five-feet-nine inches. He might be a few centimeters taller, but not more than three. Which was tall for a woman, but not more than average for a man. However, he was not in any way effeminate. Each of his muscles was solidly defined, the small patch of hair on his chest only emphasizing the strength of his pectorals.

“I like that,” he said.

“What?”

“The way you look at me.”

“You drew me to you with your gentleness and your consideration, so different from other men who desire a woman, but I am happy to say I find your body very pleasing as well.” She had not believed she would ever say such a thing to a man. She had been absolutely certain she would never feel the sexual arousal coursing through her right now.

“That's a good thing.”

“Yes, I do think it is.”

Fleur walked forward, feeling a type of feminine power she had thought lost to her. His eyes traveled over her, touching her with his controlled desire as if his hands had followed the path his eyes took.

She shuddered as unfamiliar but welcome feelings surged through her. “I want you,” she said with wonder.

“You have me. For this. For everything you need or desire.”

“For a life built on something besides loneliness?” she asked, not quite believing it could be possible.

“Especially for that.”

She reached out and his hand met hers, the touch electric. She closed the distance between them, her breath catching as her hardened nipples brushed his chest.

He cupped her cheek with his other hand. “This right now, this is your first time making love.”

“Oh, yes.”

“Thank you.”

She repeated the words to him, her voice barely above a whisper.

“I'm going to touch you now.”

“Yes.”

While his one hand held hers, anchoring her to the present, the other traveled down her neck, over her shoulder and down her arm. But instead of taking her other hand, he moved it to her waist, holding her with careful intimacy. “You feel so good, my sweet flower.”

“I
am
yours.”

“I know.”

“This moment, it cannot be undone for me.”

“Not for me either. Trust me, beautiful.” The intensity glowing in his gaze told her he knew exactly what fears plagued her and he would meet and conquer them.

She smiled. “I can do nothing else.”

“That's right.” He caressed her side, and then slid his hand around to touch her back. “This is right.”

For another woman, that would probably be an easy, casual touch, but for Fleur it was different, intimate,
amazing
. He caressed everywhere his hands could reach, bringing a wash of pleasure over her.

He hadn't been overstating the case when he said he knew how to bring the most pleasure possible to her body. He had not touched any of the accepted erogenous zones, but Fleur was already shaking with the need to go to the next level.

“Please,” she whispered.

He nodded and then bent to lift her. They were close to the same height, but he had no problem carrying her to the bed. This reminder of his masculine strength filled her with delight rather than the fear she'd trained herself to expect at any show of physical power in a man.

But Ben was not other men and he would not hurt her. Not even a little.

He laid her on the bed and then lay down beside her, his body touching hers all along her side.

“So beautiful.” He trailed a path from her collar bone to a just barely there caress over her breast and then down her stomach, dipping between her legs to tease the curls covering her most private flesh. The sight of his pale skin against her espresso darkness only added to the magical sensations surrounding this incredible moment. They were from different worlds, but were still complements for each other.

Was that not a miracle?

He played a soft tattoo with his fingertips on her inner thigh, humming something with it.

“What is that?”

He tipped his head up from where he'd been watching himself touch her. “What is what?”

“The music you were humming?”

He jolted as if he hadn't realized he'd been doing it and then he gave her an embarrassed smile. “‘Pretty Woman.'”

She laughed softly. “You really think I am beautiful.”

“I do. So do others, but I am the only one who gets to act on it. Do you know how special that is?”

“Yes.” She actually did.

His finger slipped between the slick flesh at her core and she gasped.

“Too much?” he asked, without moving his finger away.

“No.
More
.”

He smiled and went back to humming and touching. When she realized he was touching her in tempo with his humming, she laughed, but the sound broke on a gasp as one finger slid inside her.

Oh, my…that was so different from what she remembered. No pain. No sense of violation, only a true intimacy she could not help enjoying with this man.

“Is that good?” he asked.

“Oh, yes.”

“And this?” He slid a second finger into her.

“It's tight,” she gasped. “But good.”

He nodded, as if that was exactly what he expected to hear. He caressed her like that for a long time, bringing her pleasure and helping her body adjust to the unfamiliar invasion.

A sensation unlike anything she had ever known began to build inside her. Tension pulled her muscles taut, but she didn't know what to do about that.

“Ben?”

He pressed his mouth to hers in a kiss that both gentled and claimed. Some of the tension drained, while a new sense of need spiraled inside her.

“Give me your pleasure, beautiful.”

“What?”

“I want you to come before I penetrate you for the first time. It will relax you and you deserve all the pleasure I can give you.”

She'd never had an orgasm. After the rapes, she'd shut off that part of herself. When she'd gotten old enough to have been willing to explore it, she'd allowed her ignorance of her own body to dissuade her.