Laney looked up at me from her laptop and even her eyes smiled when she looked at me. How could a man not try to slay every dragon that came after a woman who looked at him like that?
“I’m done.”
“Done?”
She nodded. “Done. Last night after you were fast asleep I went back down to my lab to work out something I’d been thinking about for the past few days. It was the last hurdle to clear, and now it’s done. Well, done is relative. The numbers worked out and my simulations held up, but now comes the hard part.”
“Real life?”
She grinned. “Yes.” Laney stood and wrapped her arms around my waist. “This means I can present my dissertation any day now.”
I nodded. “That’s great. Can I call you Dr. Doctor Watson then?” Her laughter was the sweetest sound, hitting me right in my chest as I inhaled the sweet watermelon scent of her fiery hair.
“No but I do have a question I want you to answer. Honestly.”
I frowned and took a step back. “Haven’t I always been honest with you?”
She nodded but uncertainty swam in those blue depths. “I think so.” Taking another step back she dropped back to the sofa. “You think someone in my department, or at least from the university, told those guys about my research and that’s why they’re after me?”
Shit. I took the seat beside her and dropped my head back on the sofa. “Yes.”
“Now that my research is complete I need to show it to the committee and prepare to present it. What do you think will happen when I present my dissertation officially?” Those big blue eyes were so filled with concern, begging me to tell her what to do. Begging for comfort.
“Defending it isn’t the problem. Once you submit your research to the committee it will be out there and likely find its way into the hands of the people who’ve been chasing you.” I didn’t want to scare, her but I needed her to understand the situation.
“What do you think that means?”
“I don’t know Laney.”
She stood and began to pace. “Okay. Do you think I will be in more or less danger by submitting it to the committee?”
“I want to say less but I can’t be certain. Once you hand it to the committee, that will make it pretty clear who the leak is, right?” She nodded and stopped pacing, staring at me for a long moment before she paced again.
“Not necessarily. I mean the committee consists of several people, and any one of them could be the leak. Or more than one of them.” I could tell the moment she realized what she’d said. More than one of her colleagues, people who had known her since she was a little girl could have betrayed her.
“Hey, come here.” She settled beside me and laid her head on my shoulder. “We don’t have to figure it out tonight, but we do need a plan.”
“So I should hold off on defending it? Maybe I should publish it first. Since I’m not looking to get rich maybe that will diffuse the situation. Probably not, but I can’t just not publish it.”
She had to publish it. That was the only thing I knew for certain. “Laney.” She stopped and looked at me. “You’re familiar with the troubles in the middle east? How often scientists are kidnapped and murdered?”
“Okay so you think I shouldn’t publish it?”
“I think you should absolutely publish this Laney. It’s brilliant and you’re brilliant too. This will change the world and we both know that.”
“Thanks” she gave a shaky smile.
“But we have to be smart about it. Pack a bag.” I couldn’t help but smile at how she turned and took the first four stairs two at a time and then stopped, turned back to me. “Why?”
“We need to get out of here for a few days, maybe a week. Or more.”
“Where will we go?”
“First stop is San Diego to speak with my Commander.” He would have a better idea how to handle this and then we could move on to the next stop.
“And after that?”
“We’re going to take a road trip. To Virginia.”
Laney didn’t say much after that, just busied herself with packing a small bag of clothes and toiletries. The woman knew how to be efficient, wasting no space with unnecessary items. Just the basics. We drove all night, stopping for gas just once. She’d been so nervous that she refused my offer of road trip snacks and insisted we both have fruit, and carrot snacks to keep our minds sharp.
“Junk food leads to a junk mind,” she said robotically, skin pale and hands shaking.
“Fine,” I told her with a wry grin, “but when this is all over I plan to load you up with plenty of grease, fat and sugar.”
“You have yourself a deal Bennett Atlas,” she told me, losing the battle with a smile at the edges of her mouth. After a couple hours on the road she finally turned to me and sighed. Heavily. “How is your Commander going to help me?”
This was the problem with lies, even those of omission. They eventually came to light and people got hurt. But still, I couldn’t risk that her anger over a lie might force her to do something irrational. That might end up with her getting hurt. Or worse.
“Commander Mahoney is not only the most respected in any branch of the military, but he’s in charge of any and all issues that pertain to new energy, free energy and any other energy related issue that could impact America.”
She let that thought roll around in her mind for a few minutes, watching as the scenery passed in a blur. “I’m starting to think that maybe meeting you wasn’t as serendipitous as I would have liked to believe.”
There. She’d given me the perfect opening to tell her the truth, to explain that I had known about her research for more than a year and had been sent to protect her when the threats became more credible. But I didn’t.
“We can talk about that later. Now we need to work on setting a trap for the leak.”
Delaney
If you have to leave your life and go on the run, Bennett Atlas was the perfect man for the job. A little too perfect, a fact I couldn’t let my mind gloss over no matter how much I wanted to. I liked Bennett, and if I had ever experienced such things before, I might even go so far as to say I’m in love with him. But having never experienced the emotion, I couldn’t say if my feelings were endorphin-based thanks to the mind-altering sex we had, or if my heart had truly been engaged as well. The feeling of confusion didn’t sit well with me.
“Are you even listening to me Laney?”
“No, sorry.” We had just entered the city of San Diego to speak with Commander Mahoney, a man who appeared to be Bennett’s superior. This only gave credence to the thoughts swirling in my head. “What did you say?”
“I think we should put out an altered form of your research. Change the findings before you submit it to the committee.”
“I’ll think about it,” I told him, watching all the uniformed men at each checkpoint as we entered the naval base. They all moved with purpose, wore serious expressions and seemed fully engaged in whatever job assigned to them. These men were family. They lived together, worked together, and based on Bennett’s stories, they spent their free time together as well. If the military would have taken me before Stanford I believe I could have had the family I always wanted, but that seemed so far out of my reach now.
“We’re meeting the Commander in his private quarters,” he told me when he pulled open my door. I’d been so lost in my own thoughts I hadn’t realized we were no longer moving. “Come on.”
I followed him on shaky legs up a small, but neat walkway just as the door opened to reveal a large man with short blonde hair and the sharpest green eyes I had ever seen. He stood tall, erect with his chest puffed out and wide shoulders perfectly squared.
“Atlas, glad you made it.”
“Yes sir. We made the drive quickly with only necessary stops. This is Dr. Delaney Watson. Laney this is Commander Reece Mahoney.”
“Good to meet you Commander. Thank you for your service. And your help with this matter.”
“Of course, come on in.” He stepped back and let us enter his tidy living space. “Your research has caused quite a stir young lady. I look forward to getting a look myself.”
I shouldn’t have been surprised, but for a moment I was a bit taken aback.
“Well, I have it here if you’d like to take a look at it. Apparently it might cost me my life.” It should have felt weird or inappropriate to joke about it but at this point I couldn’t keep being afraid.
“I won’t let that happen Laney.” Bennett’s expression came across fierce and protective.
I believed him. I loved him. I just didn’t know if I could trust him. At least not with my heart.
“Okay, so what do we do now?” I could tell Bennett wasn’t pleased with my reaction but I couldn’t focus on that right now. I had to focus on what came next.
Commander Mahoney took a seat and invited us to do the same. But I felt too wired to be still, in addition to the fact that I’d been sitting in a car for more than seven hours.
“Atlas has kept me apprised of the situation and I’ve reached out to a friend, Colonel Banks and there’s an Army flight headed to D.C. on Thursday, 0800 hours.”
“Obviously we can’t fly due to the danger it poses to others, so we’re driving?”
He nodded and reached for a set of keys on the scratched up coffee table. “I have a vehicle gassed up with supplies and cash. Get a few hours of sleep and then I suggest you start driving.” After a brief conversation with Bennett, Commander Mahoney shook my hand and bid us goodnight. “Check in every night Atlas, 2000 hours.”
“Yes, sir.”
This was a new side to Bennett, one I knew existed but hadn’t yet experienced, and it truly brought home the fact that I had fallen in love with a man I didn’t know. So I needed to keep my feelings to myself and try to make it to the other side of the country in one piece.
“I’ll take the sofa.”
“No need. I have a place on base so we can sleep there. Four hours and then we hit the road.”
“Fine.” The short drive to his place was quiet. But not like the comfortable, companionable silences we’d shared over the past couple months. This one felt strained and uneasy, exactly how I felt. Bennett’s quarters were as tiny and as tidy as the Commander’s. Calling the living room Spartan would be an overstatement. There was one olive green sofa and two matching chairs, a plain coffee table and a giant flat screen TV. That was it. The kitchen counters only held a toaster and a coffee maker. The bathroom held no personal items other than shower gel and a two in one shampoo and conditioner in the shower.
“And this is the bedroom,” he told me with a shy grin, nodding towards the large bed with the plain green and off-white bedding. “It’s big enough for two.”
When Bennett smiled at me all I wanted to do was wrap my arms around him and kiss him until my body burned with need and desire. I just wanted to curl into his arms and stay there forever. I even felt myself leaning in to him, letting his masculine scent—even after hours spent in a car—envelope me. Intoxicating and sensual, I felt the first stirring of arousal in my body.
“Sounds good. I’ll take the shower first.” I wanted to be mad at him, to scream and yell but how could I when his protection is what had kept me safe so far? Maybe he’d used my inexperience with men to get close to me, and maybe his feelings for me were just a means to an end, but my feelings were real. At least I thought they were. And I knew once we figured out who was the traitor in my department, Bennett would be gone from my life.
Probably for good.
So I decided to go with it. To pretend that I wasn’t angry at him. I would have plenty of time in the future to deal with my emotions. Besides, what could possibly be more normal than pushing aside doing the right thing in favor of the thing that felt right?
“I could join you,” he offered with a smile that told he was completely oblivious to my inner turmoil.
“You could,” I told him with a coy smile. “But then we’d never get any sleep before going on the run.” I heard a groan behind me and smiled to myself as I undressed in the small bathroom.
“Leave the door unlocked,” he called out just as my fingers hovered over the brass lock.
I left it unlocked.
***
Thanks in part to Bennett’s inefficient, but oh so delightful method of showering, we only ended up getting three hours of sleep before hitting the road in the middle of the night. The highways were empty and once we passed the state line into Arizona the scenery left a lot to be desired. Mostly flat and sandy, particularly at night, I had two choices. Let the scenery put me to sleep or engage in conversation with Bennett. I chose the latter.
“So how long are you planning to drive before letting me get behind the wheel?”
He turned blue-green eyes onto me, a lazy grin kicked up one side of his mouth and I just wanted to kiss him. And never stop.
“Sorry sweetheart but you’re not driving at all.”
“What? I have a perfect driving record and I even took an evasive driving course just for fun.”
“Why in the hell did you take an evasive driving course?”
His outrage brought a smile to my face. “It sounded like something that might be interesting as well as intellectually taxing. I passed at the top of the class. So, you’ll let me drive?”
“Hell no. But I will let you keep me company the whole ride. And if you decide to fall asleep on me,” he let his right hand fall on my lap and inch up, stopping before things got truly interesting. “I guess I’ll be forced to find ways to keep myself entertained.”
I felt my eyes widen at his tone. “While you’re driving?”
“You’re not driving and I think the sounds of you crying out in pleasure will definitely keep me awake.” He laughed at my shocked expression and I decided to return the favor. “Hey now, what do you think you’re doing?”
I slid over in the old gray Lincoln with bench seats that were perfect for getting close. “I just want to see if you were right. I wanted to do my own research and see if your sounds of, um, pleasure would keep me entertained.” I let my hand slide up his thigh until my fingers brushed the giant bulge resting behind his zipper. “Wow, you’re so hard already.”
“Laney,” he bit out through clenched teeth, voice thick with desire.
“Eyes on the road, Sailor.” A surge of power flowed through me at the sight Bennett made, jaws clenched, highlighting the rugged lines of his face. And the feel of his erection, twitching even in the tight constraints of his jeans. “You’re very aroused, aren’t you Bennett?” Tentative at first, I rubbed his hard length with my palm until he groaned. Then my fingers clasped the zipper and tugged, releasing the button until his cock spilled over in relief. “Oh my!”
“Laney, please.”
“Please?” I felt like the most sensual, sexiest woman in the world when he growled my name. I knew how he felt, because I felt the same way every time he touched me. Kissed me. “Please make you feel good? Because I plan to.”
Well to be honest it hadn’t really been my plan, but now the only thing I could think about was pleasing Bennett. Right here in this car as we plowed forward on the I-40 East.
“Laney you don’t-,”
“I know I don’t have to.” I told him as I slid down until I felt that I was in the right position. “But I want to Bennett. I really want to.” Then I wrapped my mouth around him, loving him long and slow with my mouth. Enjoying the silky feel of his flesh and the hard rod buried beneath. I loved the way he felt so heavy on my tongue and the drops of ejaculate that burst to life on my tongue. The more turned on he became, the more moisture seeped out of me and soaked my panties.
He speared one hand through my hair, just holding me and letting his fingers run through my hair. I expected him to push my head but he didn’t, and what a turn on that was!
I sucked him deeper, in appreciation and in desire, because I just felt eager to taste more of him. When I moaned his foot pressed
the gas hard and I stayed there, with the tip of his cock resting down my throat. And moaned again.
“Fuck, Laney!”
Yeah, that felt incredible. I began to move with a purpose, fast and with a lot of suction until his thigh muscles tightened and flexed under me. Then the warm streams of his seed as it shot down my throat served as proof he’d enjoyed, or at least appreciated the pleasure. I sucked him dry and tucked him back inside his shorts, leaving his pants unbuttoned as a courtesy.
“You were so right. That is a great way to pass the time.”
“What the hell am I gonna do with you Laney Watson?”
I grinned and stayed snuggled under his arm. “Enjoy me?”
“I plan to,” he said with a hint of affection I didn’t expect from him.
Since I knew he felt satisfied and probably sleepy, I kept up a steady stream of conversation, explaining to him the math behind my Green Harness. Telling him what I could remember about my family and all the things I wanted to do as a kid, but never got a chance.
“I guess I can cross off getting frisky with a boy in a car.”
He laughed and the sound was deep and contagious, filling my chest with emotions I couldn’t afford to name or feel right now. “That you did. What else would you like to do?”
There were so many things I wanted to do. “I want to dance a with man, like really dance where we look into each other’s eyes and move as one across the dance floor. I want a romantic date with candles and flowers. I want to f-,” I had to cut myself off at the last thought because I wasn’t ready to say it and it wouldn’t be fair to lay that on the man who put himself in danger to protect me.
“You want to…fuck? Fight? Fly?”
“Sure. I just want a life where I have the option of doing new things and having people to join me.” Even though I knew I would never be normal, I wanted to have some normalcy in my life.
The sun had risen and set hours ago by the time Bennett finally decided he needed a rest. In Santa Fe, New Mexico. He pulled off the highway and parked the car in a motel parking lot. The place looked to be straight out of a horror movie.
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