Holden's Mate

by Meg Ripley

  The dinner plates had been cleared away, the waitress had brought them each a generous helping of tiramisu at Dirk’s insistence, and Alyssa was reeling from the good food—and surprisingly good company. For a moment, she had stopped worrying about when her work would be discovered and what the consequences of that would be. She smiled across the table at Dirk as he brought up a recently discovered bacteria on human skin with potential anti-cancer properties. “I’m sorry if I seem so surprised. I know you said you enjoyed science, but I never would have thought someone like you…I mean someone in your position…I don’t know. I’m not doing a very good job here.” She felt her face flush. There was just such a good rapport between them, and she hadn’t expected it.

  Dirk smiled at her, a dashing grin that made her catch her breath. “It’s okay. I get it. I wonder about it myself sometimes. For the last few years, I let myself forget what I was really interested in and what I wanted to do with my life. I’ve had some changes, and I didn’t appreciate it very much at first, but I’m starting to realize that it’s time I got back into it. That’s the whole reason Bios Labs intrigued me so much. I think synthetic biology is what’s going to bring us into the next great stage of humanity.” His gray eyes were alight as he thought about the future.

  Alyssa tipped her head to the side as she looked at him. “I have to say I agree, but of course I would.”

  “Alright.” Dr. Brinkmann slapped his hand on the tabletop, and Alyssa realized he’d hardly said a word for the last twenty minutes. His dark eyes looked tired, and he stood up from the table as though he had suddenly remembered he had an urgent appointment. “I’m going home and going to bed. I have only a few hours to sleep before I go in for the night shift. The two of you can keep talking about gene editing and cell therapy for as long as you want, but this old man is tired.”

  Alyssa stood to let him out of the booth and was surprised when he grabbed her arm and leaned in close. “Don’t let him charm you too much, dear. He’s too good to be true. He’ll give us money, but then he’ll have his fingers in everything we do. It’s a bad deal.” He marched briskly away from the table.

  “Well,” she said, turning back to Dirk and trying to smile. Brinkmann’s words had reminded her of the real purpose behind this dinner, a purpose that was no longer valid now that Brinkmann had shut down the idea of funding from Bennett. “I guess that means I need to be heading home myself. I’ve got a long day at the office tomorrow.”

  Dirk slowly stood and slipped his sport coat back on. “He doesn’t like me very much, does he?”

  “I don’t know about that,” she hedged, not really sure at all what the doctor’s problem was. Brinkmann had been very interested in what Bennett could do for them just a few hours ago, but now he wanted nothing to do with it. “I think it just caught him off-guard. Or maybe he really is tired. He’ll be at the lab all night.”

  Tipping his head back and looking down at her, Dirk asked, “Why is there a night shift at a lab?”

  Both she and the doctor had made a critical mistake, and she knew now that Bennett wasn’t just a stupid rich guy. But she couldn’t tell him about the work they were doing or that their test subjects who lived at the lab had to be monitored around the clock. “We find that we get more work done that way. You just never know what time of day genius might strike.”

  He didn’t look like he believed her, but he escorted her out of the restaurant without arguing. It had started to rain, the water flooding down on the city and filling the gutters. Steam rose from the sidewalks, and passersby trotted down the sidewalk under umbrellas. “I don’t know about you, but I’m not quite ready to turn in yet. There’s a little bar just around the corner. Want to have a drink with me?”

  “Um, sure. It’s kind of nasty out, though.” She blinked against the rain, not wanting to get it on her glasses.

  Dirk shrugged. “A little water won’t hurt us.” He touched her elbow and took off down the sidewalk, his long legs quickly gaining ground.

  Alyssa laughed as she ran after him. When was the last time she ran like that, and in the rain? She felt a bolt of joy surge through her as Dirk looked over his shoulder to make sure she was following. He looked so happy and free, an expression that reflected the way she felt.

  He ushered her down a set of concrete stairs and through a battered door into a dark place lit almost solely by neon signs. They found a small table in the corner where Dirk wiped the water from his face with the back of his hand and grinned at her. “Not so bad, huh?”

  Checking the time on her phone, Alyssa told herself she would have just one beer and then she would head home. But they were having such an interesting conversation about the importance of stem cell research that she automatically let him order another round. The rest of the bar seemed to have disappeared around them, leaving only Dirk and their mutual passion for life sciences.

  The more they talked, the more she found herself studying his face. When she had seen pictures of Dirk in the tabloids, she hadn’t really understood what women saw in him. His jaw was too square, his eyes too small, and his hair too trendy. But as the night went on, she was beginning to see that his jaw was a strong one, one that indicated just how stubborn and determined he could be when he got onto a subject he truly cared about. He didn’t mind having a friendly debate with her when it came to the latest theories about life on other planets. And those eyes were sharp and watchful, constantly on the lookout for something new and exciting. His hair was long in front, but the way it fell over his forehead flattered the rest of his face and she wondered what it would feel like to reach out and run her fingers through it.

  Two beers later, Alyssa found herself feeling far too good for it being so late. “I’m sorry. I really do need to get going.” It was going to be hell to get up in the morning, and Dr. Brinkmann would no doubt have a list of questions for her. She used an app on her phone to summon a cab. She still had to get back to her car and then home again, and if she didn’t do something to make herself leave, she probably never would. Dirk was so much fun, and not in the way she would have thought when she first met him.

  “Alright.” Dirk paid the tab and guided her outside. “I have to thank you for such a nice night. I go out plenty, but everyone just wants to talk about what my father is doing with oil and which society party is coming up next. It’s nice to just be normal for a little while and talk about the things I truly care about.” They huddled under the small awning near the stairs that led to the bar, waiting for her cab to arrive.

  Alyssa tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and looked down. “It’s not really normal for me. I don’t get out a whole lot, but I guess that probably doesn’t surprise you, considering what I do for a living.”

  “Well, you haven’t exactly told me what you do for a living. I know you’re a scientist, and I know where you work. I even know that you have quite a bit of medical school under your belt, lacking only a few small formalities before you can be officially called a doctor.” He was close now, so close that she could feel the heat radiating from his skin.

  “You’ve been checking up on me,” she said with a smile. Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it was the fact that she had someone she could actually talk to about science and biology, but she didn’t really mind. Let him Google her all he wanted to; Alyssa knew there wasn’t much out there.

  “You can’t really blame me for using my connections, can you? I wanted to be prepared before I came to tour the facility. Of course, there’s nothing anywhere out there that says what you’re really doing.” Dirk towered over her, his square jaw tipped down toward her face.

  He looked like he was going to kiss her, and for a moment, Alyssa let herself wonder if this was all a charade to unlock her company’s secrets. But if Dirk Bennett wanted secrets, he was the type of man who could pay someone else to get them. No, she had to believe that he was genuinely curious about his potential investment. That wasn’t enough to get her to talk, though. “What I’m really d
oing is working hard. There’s not much else I can tell you.” The cab pulled up to the curb, its tires sloshing on the wet road. “Looks like it’s time for me to go. Thank you again for a nice evening.”

  As she turned away, Dirk took her hand and pulled her back under the awning. “Please don’t.”

  “What?”

  He turned up the collar of his coat and trotted out into the rain, bending forward to talk to the cab driver. After a moment, the yellow car pulled away and zoomed off into the night without a passenger.

  “What are you doing? That’s my ride home.” Alyssa watched the taxi’s taillights blend in with the rest of traffic and felt a bubble of nerves and excitement float up into her chest, uncertain of what to expect in that moment. She had always carried a sense of certainty about her, making logical decisions and following through with them. Dirk sent her off-kilter in a way she didn’t know how to deal with. The only other times she had stayed up late on a work night were when she was still at the office, and she definitely hadn’t been drinking.

  “No. It’s late, and I can be more of a gentleman than to just put you in a cab. I’ll be your ride, and you can decide if you want me to drop you off at your apartment, or if you want to come back to my place for one last drink.” He kept a hold of her hand as he led her down the sidewalk and around the corner to the lot where he had left his car when they had come to dinner. The rain had slowed a little, and they skirted around a large puddle that had accumulated near a clogged storm drain.

  “That depends. Can we talk about the anti-aging studies they’ve been doing on mice using epigenetic markers?”

  “Anything you want,” he promised as he held open the door.

  She paused before she got into the sleek car. “Do I have to take my shoes off or anything?” She’d never ridden in anything that expensive before, and she wasn’t sure she was comfortable with it. Maybe it would have been easier to take that cab.

  He laughed. “Of course not!”

  Minutes later, Dirk opened the door to his apartment, flicked on the lights, and headed for the kitchen. “Make yourself comfortable. What would you like?”

  She shrugged, suddenly feeling a little uncertain. It was a nice place, but a little intimidating. When was the last time a man had taken her home? She had been involved in her work for far too long. “I don’t know. What do you have?”

  “A little bit of everything, but I’m a big fan of White Russians.”

  “Then I’ll try one of those.” She sat down tentatively on a leather couch and looked around, noting that his bookshelves not only had real books, but that most of them were about science.

  He reappeared a moment later with a rocks glass in each hand. “I have my own recipe for these. It’s a little heavier on the Kahlua than you usually get in a restaurant.”

  She studied the heavy brown liquid on the bottom of the glass with a thick layer of white cream on top. “I don’t think I’ve ever had one before.”

  “There’s always room for experimenting a little, isn’t there?” He sat next to her, their knees almost touching, and he used the short stick in his glass to stir the drink. “Let me know what you think.”

  She copied him, watching as the two layers slowly converged to a pale coffee color, and took a sip. “It tastes like…melted ice cream or something. But a grown-up version.” She wondered if she sounded as silly as she felt, sitting in the apartment of a near-stranger and trying a drink for the first time.

  “Good. Then there’s one other experiment I’d like to try.” Dirk set his glass down on the coffee table and waited until Alyssa did the same. He leaned in close, boldly putting his hand on her waist and drawing her forward until their lips were nearly touching. “Newton’s third law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. I wonder, if one scientist were to kiss another, what kind of reaction would that arouse in the second scientist?”

  Her breath was shallow in her lungs, and Dirk was the only thing holding her up. Her pulse throbbed in the back of her tongue, and every nerve in her body was awake and waiting. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she shouldn’t let him play his games with her. He was a rich playboy, known for getting any woman he went after. But if he treated them this way, she could certainly understand why. And he was going to take science and turn it into dirty talk. Damn it, there was no way to resist that. “Well, I’m no physicist. But I know that a simulation is often the best way to prove a hypothesis.”

  He pressed his lips to hers, and she felt herself melt into his arms. He was gentle with her, exploring first her lower lip and then her upper. His skin was soft against hers, only the stubble from his upper lip grinding delicately against hers as he performed his experiment. Dirk slowly parted his lips to make hers do the same, gently probing with his tongue until it met hers. Alyssa felt her entire body react, demanding more. She brought her hands up to touch the back of his neck and felt the softness of his short hair. Dirk’s arm was around her waist, and he pressed her close to his body.

  There were no thoughts about work or financing anymore, and Alyssa was glad to follow along with anything Dirk wanted. He was tall and handsome, his arms muscular and strong as they held her tight. She could feel his rippling abs against hers, the hardness in his pants, the need he had for her that matched her own. In that moment, she would do anything that he asked of her. When he picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, she made no move to resist.

  As he set her gently on the edge of the mattress, Alyssa reached for the buttons on her shirt. She was desperate to be next to him, her skin against his. They didn’t break their kiss as they undressed, their need so urgent that nothing else mattered. The rain pounded on the windowsill in earnest now, adding atmosphere and accentuating the undercurrent of what they both felt.

  She took in a sharp breath when he stood naked before her. His handsome face and smoky gray eyes had only been the tip of the iceberg. The cords in his neck ran down to a powerful chest over those firm abs she had felt through his shirt before. Dirk’s fine clothes had disguised the bulge of his biceps and the black dragon tattoo on his forearm. It was a sharp contrast to his smooth skin, but she would have to ask him about it later when her voice worked again, because at the moment she could say nothing. She was too busy studying the sculptured structure of his legs. A fine dusting of dark hair trailed down his stomach to his package, which was hard and ready for her.

  Dirk gently pushed her backwards onto the mattress, his body over hers. “Tell me you’re certain.” He kissed her again, deeply and thoroughly, before he paused and looked into her eyes. “Tell me you want this.”

  If she hadn’t been turned on before, she was glowing now. “Yes. God, yes, Dirk.”

  He entered her, slowly and smoothly. Dirk was gentle and demanding at the same time, a marvelous combination that she hadn’t experienced before. He sank himself completely into her, but was careful not to hurt her. His arms shook gently as he held himself over her body.

  “Are you alright?” she asked.

  Dirk smiled and bent his head to kiss her neck. “I’m just excited.”

  She thrilled at the words. To think that someone like Dirk Bennett, someone who could have any woman in the city he wanted, was actually excited to be with her. She had dedicated her life so thoroughly to Bios that she’d almost forgotten she was an actual person, with actual desires. She moved her hips against his, adjusting her legs to let him sink even deeper inside her. “You feel so good,” she whispered. She hadn’t realized just how much she had needed this, and she could feel her body coming to life.

  He thrust a little harder at that, clearly turned on. His breath came faster. “Not as good as you do.”

  A shimmering of energy pulsed through her body, contracting and releasing every muscle until her core was rippling around him, pulling him deeper, demanding that he give her everything he had. She cried out, unable to help herself. It was so fast and so strong, and there was nothing she could do about it. As
the waves of ecstasy surged and swelled inside her body, she didn’t know if she wanted to laugh or cry, or maybe both. Her nails sunk into his back as she came, needing to keep him close.

  His girth expanded and he pounded into her faster, coming with a roar that rivaled the rain outside. He collapsed on top of her, just barely keeping his full weight from crushing her. His lips traced her neck once more. “That was one hell of an experiment.”

  “Agreed. I don’t think any of the science journals will care about our results, though.”

  Alyssa blinked, trying to bring herself back to reality. She had just slept with the richest bachelor in New York City, and she doubted he was much of a snuggler. Now was the time when he made some sort of excuse about having to get up early in the morning so he could get her out of his apartment and have his bed back to himself. It would be a long ride home in the rain, but she still had to think of it as being worth it. She wouldn’t be forgetting this night anytime soon.

  To her surprise, Dirk settled down on the bed next to her and pulled her close to him, spooning his body around hers. His arm draped over her ribcage and down across her waistline protectively. His other arm scooped under the pillow she was laying on, and even his leg twined around hers. He had her completely, and there was no talk of anyone leaving or what work they had to do in the morning. Content to let things be what they were, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

  4

  Alyssa had fallen asleep quickly, but Dirk found that his mind wouldn’t let him do the same. He propped himself up on his elbow and watched her as she dozed, wondering what made her so different from other women. He had instantly been attracted to her when he’d been introduced to her at Bios Labs, even with the simple way she dressed and the clear lack of plastic surgery. That hadn’t completely been a surprise, since he’d been attracted to many women in his lifetime, but he hadn’t expected such a beauty to be tucked away in an upper corner of a lab building. Though her hair was trapped in a braid, he could instantly see how soft and tempting it was. With her blue eyes and heart-shaped face, she looked almost like any other pretty girl he might have run into. Her lab coat did very little to hide her curves, and it was difficult not to appreciate them openly. But he could see the intelligence behind her eyes, and she had made it very clear back at her office that she was a no-nonsense type of woman. It didn’t hurt when she had taken off after him in the rain, her practical sneakers slapping against the sidewalk as she laughed behind him.