Chapter Twenty-Three
Alayah held up her glass. “To Hugo.”
“To Hugo,” Derek whispered, clinking his glass to hers. “May he rest in peace.”
They swallowed the wine and set their glasses aside. The food had been delicious, and now, she was full, happy and enjoying being snuggled up in bed with Derek without any demands on her time.
“Do you get tired of eating kids’ food?” he asked, stroking her arm.
“Are you saying corn dogs and chicken strips aren’t for the refined palate?”
His laughter tickled her ears, and she smiled.
If she could keep him laughing, then maybe the shock of inheriting a multibillion-dollar business would feel less overwhelming.
Derek had an appointment tomorrow morning with Anthony to go over everything with him and put a formal proposal together for the board.
Anthony asked Derek to think about how he wanted to frame things, and she was hoping food and wine would relax him so he could look at it objectively.
“I just wondered if I could cook for you and make things you’ve wanted to try but don’t want to have ten servings left over. ”
“You couldn’t know this, but at Secure Inc.
, we have a resident chef. She prepares three meals a day and keeps the extremely hungry security personnel well-fed.
Mostly, she cooks buffet-style, so I can take as little as I want.
However, when she makes steaks or burgers on the grill, she always makes one for me that’s smaller.
When I’m out on jobs, I stick to the kids’ menus if I don’t have a way to keep the food for a few days.
It’s never for an extended period, so I don’t mind. ”
“I didn’t know that about Secure Inc., though I shouldn’t be surprised. Cal seems to have everything in hand when it comes to keeping that place running smoothly.”
“He hasn’t always,” she admitted. “But as the company grew, he had no choice but to figure out ways to grow with it. Many of the Secure Watch employees work remotely, but I’m fortunate to have a room at Secure Inc. It’s a great place for someone like me to work.”
“Someone like you? Someone who is amazingly brilliant and scary good at her job, not to mention a beautiful person inside and out?”
Her smile was wide when she turned to him. “Are you trying to butter me up, Mr. Benjamin?”
“Nope,” he said, tracing her lips with his finger. “Just speaking the truth. From what I’ve seen over the last few days, you consistently underestimate your skills and yourself. I want to be the one who points out how truly remarkable you are so that one day, you’ll believe it too.”
“‘Remarkable’ is what they put on my chart at the hospital. A remarkably complicated case.”
“A remarkably resilient woman who deserves to be happy and enjoy life,” he corrected, stealing a kiss.
His tasted like sweet wine and she moaned as he dipped his tongue in to taste hers.
Her hand was tangled in his shirt, and she gasped for air when he finally released her lips.
“Say you believe that, or I’ll keep kissing you until you do. ”
“I absolutely do not and will never believe that,” she whispered with a sly smile.
“I warned you,” he teased before his lips attacked hers again.
She wrapped her hand behind his head to hold his neck while his hand wandered to stroke up and down her rib cage.
Each time he got dangerously close to her breasts, she inhaled a sharp breath, both wanting and not wanting him to touch her there.
She yearned for his touch but knew he’d be disappointed by what he found, which wasn’t much of anything.
“Stop thinking,” he scolded, his lips still on hers. “Whatever it is, it can wait.”
“Not really,” she replied. Since his lips were on hers, she didn’t have to look into his eyes, which gave her the courage to say what had to be said. “I was thinking about how disappointed you’ll be if you move your hand three inches to the left.”
“Like this?” he asked, sliding his hand from her rib cage to her chest.
The sensation was foreign after so long without a man’s touch, and she had to steady her breathing before she answered.
“Not much to see, right?” she asked, but rather than answer, he simply put his lips back on hers and kissed her breathless while his hand lay flat against her chest. His warmth soaked into her and somehow healed parts of her she hadn’t realized were broken.
If they parted ways and she never saw him again, she would be thankful to him for the rest of her life for that.
“A woman’s body is always something to see,” he said, kissing his way across her chin and down her neck.
“But you’ve never seen a body like mine,” she promised.
“I won’t deny that,” he said, running his tongue along her collarbone until she shuddered. “Doesn’t mean I don’t want to. I know you think you’re not worthy of being worshipped like any other woman, but you’re wrong. You deserve to be worshipped and ravished.”
“And you’re the man for the job?” she asked, to which he gave her a naughty grin.
“I sure as hell hope so.”
“Prove it,” she said, lifting her arms over her head. “Take my shirt off and prove it.”
Without a word, he grasped the hem of her shirt and then tenderly pulled it over her head to reveal her chest. She waited for him to say something, anything, but he just stared at her bare skin until goose bumps lifted across her torso.
“Derek, you don’t—”
He put his finger to her lips and lowered his head, where he kissed every inch of her skin, including the long scar that ran between her breasts.
When he was finished, he lavished her nipples with his tongue to warm them until she was writhing under his hands.
Before she realized it, he had worked her pants down past her hips, leaving her naked and open to his searching gaze.
“So damn beautiful,” he said, kissing his way down her belly.
“Why am I the only one without clothes on?” she squeaked as he ran his finger through the soft hair at her apex.
“I’ve been too busy taking off yours,” he answered, reluctantly pulling away to strip himself of his clothes. The sight before her was a solid reminder of how much bigger he was.
“So damn handsome,” she said, reaching up to touch his face when he bent for a kiss.
“Bruises and all?”
“Bruises and all,” she agreed, letting her hand wander to touch and feel his velvety skin under hers. Leveraging herself upward, she sat to feather kisses across his chest, taking time to trail her tongue along his sensitive spots the way he had hers.
When she reached his navel, she dipped her tongue in for a moment before kissing lower until she could place one on his tip, drawing an exclaimed gasp from his lips.
Rather than back off, she continued kissing, licking and suckling as his moans of pleasure filled the room.
His body shook with the effort it took to hold back and let her explore him the way he had her.
When he groaned long and low, she glanced up, worried by his expression. “It just hit me that I don’t have any condoms,” he whispered.
“I can’t get pregnant, and I’m clean,” she answered before running her tongue down his shaft.
“I’m clean, too, but I want you to understand that I do respect you. We can wait until I have condoms if that makes you more comfortable.”
“I trust you, Derek. Maybe that’s nuts after only knowing you a few days, but you’ve given me every reason to trust you.”
“That’s the first time someone didn’t say you’ve given me no reason not to trust you.”
“When you’re my size, actions speak much louder than words. There is a difference between showing someone they can trust you and telling someone they can trust you.”
His lips were on hers as he leaned over, ramping up their desire until she thought she’d combust. “Derek,” she moaned. “Please.”
“I won’t hurt you?” he asked, lifting his lips to hold her gaze. Maybe he was searching for honesty, so she’d give it to him.
“Physically? No. Emotionally?”
Before she could finish, his lips were on hers again as his hand moved between her legs to prepare her for their joining. “Also no,” he murmured.
“You can’t know that. We haven’t known each other that long.”
Rather than respond immediately, he continued to stroke her until she lifted her hips, showing him how ready she was to be with him.
“To be clear, I don’t sleep with women I’ve only known a few days.
At least, I haven’t until tonight. I have strong feelings for you—stronger than I’ve had for any other woman in my life—and in a completely different way.
Maybe that doesn’t make sense to you, but it does to me. That’s what tells me this is right.”
“When you know you know?” she whispered, but rather than answer, he rolled to the side and gently lifted her to straddle him. As they locked gazes, she saw the answer to that question. He knew, and now he would give her time to accept him with her body and her heart.
* * *
ALAYAH WOKE SLOWLY, her body warm and tingly as she cuddled into Derek’s side.
He’d been so incredibly tender during their lovemaking that she’d wanted to cry.
It wasn’t just his touch but the way he made love to her with his eyes.
When he told her how beautiful she was and how lucky he was to be part of her life, she realized that she’d never made love to any other man.
They’d shared their bodies, but not their minds or their hearts.
That wasn’t the case with Derek. They’d opened themselves up and shared everything.
For her, that included the parts of herself she never let anyone see.
He saw it all, kissed it all, and changed her unequivocally for life.
Her gaze strayed to the clock, and she was surprised to see it was after eleven.
As much as she wanted to stay snuggled up next to him, she needed to check in with Mina.
It had been hours since their request for Secure Watch to dive into Josh’s business.
They might not have anything yet, but it was her job to be sure.
The moment they had a path to follow, she had to work quickly if they wanted to end this and return to their normal lives.
Not that hers would mean much without Derek, but he deserved a chance to do big things.
Slowly, Alayah scooted away from him, his hard body now soft and relaxed in sleep.
She hoped he was getting the rest he needed to plot a new course for his life, however unexpected that might now be.
It would be a life she would never be part of.
As much as she had enjoyed their time together, city life wasn’t for her, and neither was working with tech moguls.
She’d been there, done that, and couldn’t do it again.
Did the idea of losing what they could be together make her sad?
Terribly so, considering she had fallen for him hook, line and sinker.
Regardless, Alayah would never ask him to give up an opportunity like Black Marlin Technologies.
Hugo wanted him to have his company, and he had worked hard for it, even if he hadn’t come to that realization yet.
She would never ask him to compromise or give up his dream if that was what he wanted.
Sure, Minneapolis was only six hours from Secure Inc.
, but long-distance relationships rarely work.
Determined, she put all the “what-ifs” from her mind so she could find a killer who was determined to stay hidden.
If she couldn’t share her life with Derek, at least she could be the hero he needed right now.
Once she had shimmied off the bed, she scooped her phone off the nightstand and closed the bedroom door behind her. After a quick shower, she threw on a pair of warm pajamas and checked her phone. Mina had left a message that she should check her email ASAP.
Excited, she fired up her machine and clicked open the email, hoping they’d found something on Josh. It only took her a few seconds of scanning the files to let out a soft whistle. They’d hit the motherload. Josh was up to his ears in debt and sinking fast. Now she just had to figure out why.