Dark Powers (26 page)

The only thing he could think to say to her was, “How’s your sister?”

“Better than you might expect. She’s not going to live with Mom. We talked about transferring her credits to The University of Maryland, Baltimore County.”

“What’s your mom going to do?”

“The same as always, I assume. That’s not my concern,” she clipped out.

“Is Laurel going to live with you?”

“That depends.”

“On what?”

“What she and I work out.”

She stood by the door, and he thought she might explain what she meant. Instead, she said, “I didn’t thank you for everything you did. How did you find us?”

“Cole located the other body, and I touched it the way I did at the warehouse.”

“Andrea Dvorak?”

“I assume so.”

“How did he find her?”

“He’s got a sense of smell that’s almost superhuman. That’s how he knew you’d left here in a car. And that someone had anesthetized you.”

“What did you see when you touched Andrea?”

“I saw the man take off his black hood, and I saw Bettie’s face.”

“She took off the hood?”

“Yes. When Andrea was dying. To kiss her good-bye. Chief Judd didn’t want to believe how I’d gotten any new information, but I made him help us locate the house Bettie had inherited from her uncle.”

“Thank you,” she breathed.

She shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

“No thanks necessary. I was doing my job.”

“Your job. And was touching Andrea as bad as touching Magdalina?”

He gave a little nod.

“I wasn’t there to pull you back.”

“Cole did it.”

“Thank God.” She swallowed hard. “I think you went above and beyond on this assignment.”

“I . . . had to find you,” he answered, hearing the emotion in his voice.

“Thank you for telling me all that.” Sage clenched and unclenched her fists, seeing the closed expression in Ben’s eyes. Figuring she had nothing to lose—or everything—she said, “But we need to talk about us.”

“That’s pretty direct.”

“I think I have to be.”

She could see him stiffen and knew that in the next few moments everything would change—for the better or they would get much worse. She almost wished she’d kept her mouth shut. Then she forced herself to plunge ahead.

“You had a dream about me, where we were on that ship together.”

“The
Windward
,” he interjected.

“You said I was punishing you for what you’d done there, and that . . . uh. . . I had you in my power.”

He nodded tightly.

“I just went through a terrible experience, where a killer had me in his power. I was terrified of what he—I thought he was a man—was going to do. I worked like mad to free myself before he could come back and . . . kill me and Laurel.” She felt her chest tighten as she said it.

“Like the slaves on the
Windward
,” he muttered.

“No. Not exactly. They were there because they wanted to be. They didn’t realize they might be risking their lives.”

He shifted on the bed. “I guess that’s right.”

“Putting yourself in someone’s power voluntarily is different from having the choice taken away.”

“What does that have to do with what we’re talking about?”

“You keep beating yourself up for what you’ve done. I want you to see that I trust you completely. And I want you to understand that you trust yourself.”

She saw his confusion, and she pressed ahead before she lost her nerve. “Tie me to the bed. Naked. Like you were tied down in that dream you keep thinking about. Then do whatever you want to me. Find out what you’re really like in that kind of situation.”

Disbelief bloomed on his face. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Are you afraid to try it?” she demanded.

“No!”

“Good. Because I’m not.” She made her voice businesslike, when she was so nervous she felt light-headed. “I guess we should strip the covers off the bed.”

He kept his gaze on her as he stood up. She moved to the other side, and they pulled the spread, blanket and top sheet off the end of the bed. She looked at the mattress, finding two handles on each side. Pointing them out, she said, “We can use those to tie me down.”

“And what do we use for rope?”

She laughed. “We can rip up the top sheet—and leave some money to pay for it.”

He thought for a moment. “I guess I’ve got something in my car we can use.”

He walked to the door and exited the room, and she wondered if he was going to drive away or come back. He reappeared a minute later with a roll of duct tape, his expression challenging.

Her mouth was dry as she looked at the tape, but she managed to say, “You’re in charge. Tell me what you want me to do.”

He waited so long to answer that she thought he still might back out.

Finally he said, “Take off your clothes and lie down on the bed.”

Was he testing her to see if she’d go through with it? Her hands weren’t quite steady as she pulled off her tee shirt and bra, then unhooked and unzipped her jeans. When she was naked, she lay down on the bed with a pillow behind her head. She had never done anything like this in her life, and she felt a strange mixture of fear and sexual excitement.

He stood over her, looking down at her body, his eyes bright. “Stretch out your arms and legs to the side.”

She did as he asked, already feeling more vulnerable. And the feeling increased as he wrapped her right wrist with the tape, then attached the other end to the handle on the side of the mattress.

“Okay?” he asked.

“Yes,” she managed to say.

He swiftly did the same with other hand, then went on to do her ankles.

A little trickle of fear made her shiver as she moved her arms and legs as far as the tape would allow. Maybe she could have ripped herself free, but she didn’t want to do it. She wanted to find out what would happen.

He stayed where he was as he pulled off his shirt and tossed it away, and she stared at his broad chest with the scar angling through the dark hair. He kept his jeans on, but she could see from the bulge at the front of his fly that this was exciting him.

Her throat was so dry that she could barely speak, but she managed to say, “You’d better tape my mouth.”

“Why?”

“So you have complete control over me.”

“What are you doing, topping from the bottom?”

“That’s an expression you learned on the
Windward
?”

“Yeah.”

“An interesting way to put it. But go ahead and do it.”

His manner was grim as he pulled off one more piece of tape and pressed it over her mouth, making her nerves jump. What if he went too far? Could she get out a scream?

He took the other pillow from the head of the bed, raising her hips with a hand under her butt, and arranged the pillow so that her middle was thrust upward toward him, giving him total access to the most vulnerable part of her body.

He was frightening her and exciting her at the same time. She could feel wetness gathering between her legs. He touched her there, running a finger through the folds of her sex, collecting some of the slick moisture, then wiping his finger on her abdomen.

He could whip her now. For that matter he could take out a knife and cut her. Instead he sat down on the side of the bed and stroked her cheek, then her collarbone, working his way downward to her breasts, lifting and shaping them in his hands, making her nipples rise to tight peaks. He skimmed the very tips with his fingers, then took them between his thumbs and fingers, twisting and pulling on them, increasing her arousal so that she had trouble lying still.

Leaning over, he replaced one of his hands with his mouth, sucking on her, taking her nipple between his teeth, teasing her with small bites that alternated with the sucking motion, drawing a moan from her gagged mouth.

He raised his gaze to her face as he slid his free hand down her body, making a trip through her wet, swollen folds and pressing his finger into her vagina, slipping in and out, imitating the motion of intercourse.

She raised her hips toward him, silently pleading with him to stroke her clit. She was sure he knew what she wanted, but he ignored the plea.

He moved away from her, and she wanted to scream in frustration. Then she saw that he was standing up so that he could unbutton and unzip his jeans. He pulled them off, along with his briefs, freeing an enormous erection, and she knew this was turning him on as much as it was arousing her.

Leaning down, he played with her breasts again, making her writhe on the bed in frustration. Then he knelt between her legs and spread the lips of her sex, exposing her to his gaze.

“Lord, that’s a beautiful sight,” he murmured, slipping one finger into her again, twisting it with a maddening circular motion. “You’re all hot and creamy for me.”

She couldn’t speak, but she hoped her eyes told him how much she needed release.

He smiled down at her. “You’re right. Having you in my power is a learning experience.”

Gently, he stroked a hand up and down her ribs, then caressed her abdomen and ran his fingers through her pubic hair. Although his touch was light, she was so sensitized now that she felt like she might burst.

He continued speaking. “Do you need to come?”

She nodded and rocked her hips against the pillow.

“I could free one of your hands so you could show me what you do when you pleasure yourself. Would you do that for me?”

Her face reddened, the thought of doing something so personal in front of him filling her with embarrassment. But she nodded again.

“But I’d rather do this,” he said, kneeling between her legs

Lowering his head, he lapped at her with his tongue, slipping his finger into her again, stroking in and out as he sucked on her clit then caressed it with his tongue. Small tremors shuddered through her sex, tremors he must feel. He continued to work her with his mouth, bringing her up and up until an all-consuming climax rocketed through her.

While she was still coming, he shifted his position and plunged his cock into her, moving in a frantic rhythm, following her over the edge after only a few quick strokes.

He cried out, gathering her in his arms, and she yanked one of her wrists free so that she could pull the tape off her mouth, then circle his shoulder with her arm and hold him close.

He lowered his lips to hers for a long, hungry kiss.

“That’s what you wanted to do when you had me in your power?” she gasped when he raised his head. “Make me so hot I thought I was going to explode.”

“Yes.”

“I think it’s a good sign.”

He laughed, then sat up and twisted around so that he could untape her legs while she pulled her other hand free.

He came down beside her, holding her.

“You learned something about yourself?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“And you’re okay with what you found out?”

“Yes.”

“What was it?”

“That . . . I’m the same as I was before the
Windward
. Well, more aware of the dark side of life, but the same man.”

“Good.” She swallowed. “I realized something about myself, too. Not just then, but as we got to know each other. I’ve had relationships before, and they never worked out. I think a lot of it was my fault. I was afraid to open myself totally to a man because deep down I was terrified of being dependent—like Mom.”

“You’re not her.”

“I know. But she was a lousy role model. Then I met you, and I knew everything could be different for me—if I stopped being afraid to open myself up.” She dragged in a breath and let it out. “Maybe I was testing myself too. Seeing how far I could open up to you.”

She found his hand and knitted her fingers with his. “Ben, I know there are people who would say we only met a few days ago, and we should wait to . . . decide where we want to go from here.”

She felt him relax and knew she was giving him the reassurance that he needed, and perhaps she needed too.

“Promise me you’ll give us a chance.”

He swallowed hard. “I can do that.”

She rolled toward him, pillowing her cheek on his shoulder and holding on to him. “And I want you to know, I accept everything you are. Even the ghost stuff—or do you want to stop getting memories from the dead?”

He shook his head. “I’d like to stop, but if I can help people, I will.”

She held him even tighter. “If you want me there with you when you do it, I will be.”

“You’d do that?”

“Of course.” That and so much more. But now she knew they had time to find out how much the two of them were going to mean to each other.

She wanted to tell him she loved him. But she wasn’t sure he was ready to hear that yet. Instead she snuggled against him. She knew that he still had doubts about himself, but she was here beside him now, and she knew that as long as they were together, they’d manage anything the future threw at them.