Free Benjamin by Emma Lang Page A

thoughts of Ben’s kiss.
    She had no idea why it had happened, but she did know that kiss had changed her. It had changed their relationship, such as it was, from two people traveling together to something else. What that was, she didn’t know, either.
    The cold seeped into her bones and the bedroll wasn’t keeping her warm. Perhaps it was because she was wearing the feminine clothes instead of trousers. The skirt and blouse were a lighter weight fabric, but it was more than that, and she knew it.
    Grace wanted to sleep beside Ben and be close to him. It wasn’t sexual, at least not yet, but it was a need. One that drove her to pick up her bedroll and walk toward where he slept. It was too dark to see him and she trembled with the cold. She reached out and found a leg, then pulled away, afraid she’d wake him. Her heart pounded with uncertainty but she couldn’t stop now.
    Need to be near him compelled her to keep going.
    She placed the bedroll on the ground beside him and lay down. Grace listened to his even breathing and moved a bit closer, then a few more inches closer until the heat from his body permeated between the blankets.
    Only then did Grace close her eyes. She had slept lightly for a year, her stomach always jumping as though anticipating the next danger to present itself. Unaccountably, lying beside Ben put that fear to rest. Somehow.
    She found herself drifting to sleep, then dreams filled her. When warm lips pressed against hers, she opened her mouth. Sweet wet dancing of tongues. Large hands touching and caressing her curves. She was drugged by the pleasure coursing through her.
    Grace felt safe. She felt treasured. She felt loved.
    Holy shit.
    She realized what she thought was a dream was, in fact, real. It was Ben she was kissing. It was Ben who was running his hands up and down her body. His scent filled her while his breath replaced her own.
    She wasn’t frightened. On the contrary, Grace felt alive. The blood sang through her veins and she felt like a desirable woman. Ben was hard beneath her hands, all muscle and sinew, a man in his prime. Her nipples hardened to aching points and she pushed them against his chest.
    When his mouth slid to her jaw, he nipped and kissed his way to her neck. Grace moaned and her fingers dug into his shoulders.
    He stiffened and his mouth stopped a hair’s breath from her ear.
    “What’s wrong?”
    He let out a choppy breath. “Grace?”
    “You expected some else?” She wasn’t hurt by his question, not really. After all, she thought she was dreaming at first. Perhaps he did, too.
    “I didn’t expect anyone.” He moved his hands away from clutching her body and she almost asked him to put them back.
    Almost.
    “How did you get next to me?” His voice had lost some of its husky confusion.
    “I was cold so I moved closer.” She wanted to go back five minutes to where she’d been happy and cherished, pleasured and treasured. Right now she felt rejected.
    “Oh.” He cupped her cheek in his big palm. “I’m sorry if I scared you.”
    She leaned into the callused paw, relief coursing through her. “You didn’t scare me at all. I liked it.”
    “I liked it, too,” he whispered. He sounded as though enjoying their pleasure had surprised him. She shared in the surprise. Unrestrained passion was still new to her.
    “Does this change anything?” She wasn’t one to mince words. It served her well when she was pretending to be a man. Most women had been put of by her forthrightness. Sliding back into who she’d been as a woman wasn’t possible. Grace would never be her again. She was discovering whom she was now and that person enjoyed the physical closeness with Ben. A lot.
    “Maybe. Yeah, probably.” His warm breath caressed her cheek.
    “We’re still going to the compound. To find Henry and Dominic Cunningham.” She might be in the haze of lust, but she couldn’t forget why she was here and what her ultimate goal was. Grace also knew at the end