Primal Elements (7 page)

was certainly helping his recovery time, but now that his libido had been unleashed it didn’t want to stop. He needed to get things moving along quickly before he made a fool of himself.

“I think the first thing we should do is to give you a little massage. How does that sound?”

Again Jenna didn’t respond. She couldn’t keep constant eye contact, her gaze flicking from his face to his chest, and momentarily peeking lower.

“You minx. We’ll get to that later. For now, let’s start with this.”

Ben got up and moved around to the back of the chair so Jenna couldn’t see what he was doing without twisting around.

“Close your eyes,” he whispered above her head.

Jenna squeezed her eyes shut. The blackness didn’t offer any relief from the sensation overload she was experiencing. When his fingers caressed her shoulder, her eyes opened automatically.

“Now that’s not going to work. If you can’t listen to my requests, we’ll have to do something about that.”

A black silk mask suddenly dangled in front of her eyes.

“Where did that come from?”

Ben placed a kiss on her temple. “My secret. Besides, it’s more fun if you don’t know what’s coming.”

Her mind spun in indecision. This went beyond her fantasy.

“Apples?” he asked softly.

She was able to turn her head enough to see he was serious. Ben may be a pain in the ass, but he was also true to his word. The realization helped her relax.

“I trust you.” And gods help her she did. “Go ahead.”

He hesitated for only a brief second before sliding the mask over her eyes and plunging her world into darkness.

“Now where was I?”

Jenna jumped again at his touch. She couldn’t help it. Her skin tingled under his touch as he traced a figure eight across her shoulders. There, then gone. Quickly replaced by the warmth of his large hands. His palms were warm, the skin rougher than her own. The steady kneading of her shoulder muscles relaxed her. She dropped her chin to her chest to give him better access. He moved his hands lower. The muscles of her upper back relished his attentions, sending a shiver down her back. She groaned.

“This,” he tugged at the edge of her dress, “is getting in my way.”

The heat of his skin disappeared. Her skin seemed to absorb the vibration from her shoulder strap being untied. Cool air nipped at her superheated flesh as it was exposed.

Her nipple puckered, now available for him to see. The other tie soon followed the first and the entire top of her dress fell forward. Jenna held her breath and waited for what 41

Ben was going to do next.

Nothing.

She tried to sit up, tried to cover her chest, but the restraints held her still.

“Ben?”

The rustle of clothing being thrown to the floor finally reached her.
Relax.
He was getting more comfortable. At least, she hoped that’s what he was doing.

“Ben?”

In a flash his body heat washed over her again. He leaned in and his tongue lapped her breast. Jenna jerked her arms to grab Ben’s head but was stopped yet again. She groaned and twisted her hips against his unrelenting teasing.

“Do you like that?” he asked, lightly nipping at her nipple.

He didn’t wait for an answer. He moved his mouth to her other breast while his fingers continued to tease her. Jenna bucked her hips and managed to wrap her legs around his waist. She pulled him closer to her and relished the feeling of his naked back against her bare legs.

“Next time I’ll tie those as well.”

“What makes you think—?”

Ben flicked his tongue quickly over her erect nub and moved his hand down to pull up the bottom of her dress. As the material moved higher and higher up her body, Jenna felt each nerve start to burn with anticipation.

She wanted to see him. Wanted to touch him. He was so close to her, but she couldn’t help but feel removed. It was frustrating. And completely exciting.

“Kiss me.”

“I don’t think you’re in any position to be making demands, Miss Robins.”

“Oh no?”

She could feel his breath on her cheek, could smell the champagne on his lips. She licked her own.

“Unless my eyes deceive me, you’re the one tied to a chair.”

She smiled. “But all I need to do is say the magic word and I’ll be freed.”

She could feel frustration radiating off him.

“Right. What was your request again,
mademoiselle
?”

Jenna’s heart soared. “Kiss me.”

Ben placed his hands on either side of her head again and leaned in. Even knowing what he was going to do, she still couldn’t stop the jolt of electricity that zipped through her when his lips made contact.

They both parted their lips wide, their tongues lapping at each other. Hard and needy, their pace was frantic. Ben moved lower and kissed down her neck, skipped lower to her breast and lapped at her nipple.

42

His hands pulled her dress lower, allowing him to kiss her stomach. That sensation only lasted for a moment before his hands moved to under her ass, pulling her to the edge of the seat. Without a word, he leaned in and licked a long and slow path over her clit. Jenna cried out, squeezing her eyes shut under the mask.

Over and over, slowly he devoured her. With each pass he spent a fraction of a second longer on her clit, teasing her. His tongue circled the bud, mimicking his motions on her nipple.

Close.

“Ben,” her voice trembled.

He slid a finger into her wet pussy, thrusting in time with the rhythm of his tongue.

A second finger proved to be too much for her. Her body tensed, pulling hard against the restraints that held her down. Her body shuddered and she screamed as wave after wave of orgasm exploded in her. Ben continued thrusting his fingers into her as he sucked her clit hard.

Completely spent, Jenna collapsed back into the chair, panting. A sheen of sweat formed on her skin, cooling her body. She wanted to sleep. Needed rest after the overpowering pleasure. Gods, she’d never come this much in her life.

“Baby, are you okay?” Ben asked softly.

“Yes,” she said in between pants.

“Jen, I need you.”

From out of nowhere, her body pulsed another wave of pleasure. No man had every affected her like this.

“Yes. Now please.”

It took her a second to realize what he was doing. Thankfully, she closed her eyes before he removed the mask. The dull light of the room seeped through her lids.

“I want to see you. Open your eyes.”

She did and was taken aback. Ben was completely naked on his knees in front of her. His eyes were nearly completely black, and reflected his struggle for control. She had complete power over him at this moment. Even restrained, he wouldn’t have done anything to her against her will.

“Now, Ben.”

A single thrust and he was deep inside her. He stopped and tried to get control of his breathing.

“Dammit,” he ground out from between clenched teeth.

He kept his gaze level and fixated on her eyes. She couldn’t look away, fascinated as she watched him fight against his own body. The steady rhythm began to increase, his muscles in his arms and neck began to visibly vibrate.

Jenna’s body responded, her fifth orgasm of the night building quickly. Gods, he was going to kill her. Her hips bucked up against his with perfect timing. It was too 43

much for Ben.

“Oh fuck,” he whispered.

His eyes rolled into his head before he closed them. Hard and fast he thrust into her. Unable to keep up with him, Jenna tried to open her legs wider. Ben’s cries of pleasure were quickly followed by hers. He continued to thrust into her until she couldn’t breathe. His body stiffened and his cum filled her, the warmth spreading within her body.

Ben’s upper body fell onto her. His head rested on her shoulder and his arms wrapped around her waist. She couldn’t move. Not that she wanted to at that particular moment. Ben had her cocooned in a warm embrace. Jenna closed her eyes, feeling the sting of tears beginning.

“Let me free your hands. You must be getting stiff.”

The knots that held her to the silk scarves had tightened considerably. It took Ben several minutes before she was completely free.

“Better?” He looked at her face for the first time since they’d finished. “Are you okay?”

“Thank you,” she said is a soft, calm voice.

“Open your eyes.”

She did and managed to not embarrass herself by crying. “That was more than I ever dreamed.”

A typical cocky smile slid onto his face. “That goes for me too.”

Jenna pushed herself to the floor beside him. Without a word, Ben helped her pull her dress back into place as she handed him his pants. Half clothed, they sat in silence side by side and watched the last of the sunlight dip down behind the horizon.

A loud chime suddenly filled the room. They both turned to locate the abrasive noise. When Jenna realized it was coming from her PCD, she moved to get it. A strong arm around her waist halted her crawl.

“Where do you think you’re going, Miss Robins?”

“To answer my communicator. It could be important,” she said back over her shoulder.

Ben closed his eyes and took a breath.

“We just had, purely from my perspective, the best sex ever, and you want to get your communicator?”

Well, since he put it that way.
Jenna let her head hang and sighed.

“I’m sorry. That was very unappreciative, wasn’t it?”

Jenna lay flat on her stomach and rolled over. Without missing a beat, Ben crawled over, placing his knees on the outside of hers and his outstretched arms on either side of her shoulders.

“I think I can be persuaded to forgive you.”

44

Jenna smiled up at him. “Oh, how can I make it up to you?”

“I don’t know about my reputation, but I assure you, even I can’t recover from two rounds of mind-blowing sex that quickly.”

Considering the fact that her body couldn’t handle anything more strenuous than a nap at the moment, that was reassuring to her. But that didn’t mean she had to let Ben know that.

“Very disappointing.”

Another loud chirp from her PCD. Jenna made sure to ignore it, even though a small part of her was dying to know who was trying to contact her.

For his part, Ben was completely focused on her.

“Of course since I only have you for tonight, I may have to reconsider.”

For a third time the PCD rang. However, this time, it was joined by another. Ben’s head snapped up in the direction of the sound.

“The project.”

Jenna gave her head a shake. “What?”

“It’s the only reason why they would be trying to get a hold of both of us.”

She watched as he fought some sort of internal battle.

“Fuck,” he pushed away from the floor, stood and stalked towards the bar naked.

Unsure of what had just happened Jenna slowly rose to her feet. She watched Ben make his way to the vid screen on the bar and stab a finger at the answer button.

“What?” He made no attempt to hide his annoyance.

“Sorry, Ben.” Matt’s face popped up. “There’s been an explosion at the dig site. I thought you’d want to know.”

“What?” Jenna ran over, forgetting her near-naked state.

Matt’s gaze slipped momentarily to her breast.

“Matt!” Ben barked, and pulled Jenna’s strap back up. “What happened?”

“Sorry. Some of our people were observing a field test the university was conducting. There was an accident. I’m not sure what happened, but the whole thing blew.”

45

“Oh my gods, no.”

Jenna pulled away from Ben and scrambled to find her PCD.

From behind her she heard Ben ask the one question that scared her. “Were there any casualties?”

Not able to hear Matt’s response, she yanked her PCD out of her purse and quickly checked her call history. Three calls from Roger, her assistant. Jenna was relieved that he wasn’t hurt. It only took a second for the call to go through to him.

“Jenna! Where the hell have you been?” Roger was shouting over the noise in the background.

“I’m not home or else I would have answered sooner. What’s going on there?”

“We found something. Not sure what it is yet, but it’s definitely big.”

Despite herself, a thrill of excitement set her hands shaking. They found something.

“Is everyone okay?” she asked feeling guilty. “We heard there’d been an explosion.”

Roger looked surprised. “We?”

“Roger,” she said with enough menace to elicit a chuckle from Ben.

Ben quietly moved beside her, careful to stay out of the vid screen’s range, and whispered, “Everyone’s fine.”

“Only minor injuries. But you need to get down here now. You won’t believe this thing.” Roger sounded giddy.

“What is it?” Jenna’s mind raced through the possibilities but nothing seemed to make sense.

“It looks like some sort of alien artifact. And by alien I don’t mean Earth-based. Not sure what it does yet or where it’s from. That’s why I’ve been pinging you.”

Jenna’s mind began to whiz through the possibilities of what the artifact could be.

This was out of her league.

“Okay, I’ll get changed and make a few calls. I’ll see if I can get a hold of an archeologist. They may be able to give us a better idea of what we’re dealing with.”

“Hurry,” Roger said and the screen went black.

This was it. No, this was beyond anything she could have hoped for. An ancient artifact could prove that the soil on Mars once sustained life. That someone had lived here long before humans arrived. And if that’s the case, there may be hope that they could reclaim the soil, and somehow get out of the bind their planet was in.

46

“Jenna?”

Lost in thought, she’d momentarily forgotten Ben. His hand on her hip quickly brought reality back. She looked up into his dark hazel eyes and wanted to melt.
Why
tonight?

“I have to go. I’m sorry,” she said and sighed.

“No need to apologize. I’m coming with you.”

Her jaw fell open for a second before she snapped it shut. “Why on Mars would you want to come? I doubt there is anything of monetary value there. At least we won’t know if it even has any value until we have a chance to examine it.”

“And I have people who can make that determination. You need my help. That’s why CalCorp was brought on board this project to begin with.”

She couldn’t believe it. “Ben, think of the cultural and scientific significance of this find. There’s more to this than how much money your company can get out of it.”

Ben released her hip and moved across the room to gather his clothing. He didn’t say anything, but she could tell he was annoyed with her. He snatched his belt from the floor, cracking the air. With steady jerks, he slipped the belt through the loops of his pants, all the while keeping his gaze locked on her. She had to fight the urge to squirm under his stare.

“You said you need an archeologist. Do you know one?” he asked in a tone that held a heavy edge.

She had to stop and think. “Alex Hanshaw from the university is quite accomplished. He’ll be able to figure it out.”

“If memory serves, Mr. Hanshaw is an expert on Earth antiquities and has only been on the planet six months. I very much doubt he’ll be of much use.”

“Oh, and I suppose you have an expert on alien artifacts on retainer,” she said and crossed her arms across her chest.

“Gareth Sanderson.”

Jenna blinked. “The linguistic expert?”

“And archeology, amongst other things. He’s also spent the last five years working for us on a special project.” Ben shot her a cocky grin. “He should be of use.”

Jenna couldn’t move, staring at the change in him. What had happened? Ten minutes ago she was lying in his arms thinking she’d been wrong about Ben all this time. And now here they were, facing off again. Her heart ached.

Something must have shown on her face because Ben was across the room and at her side within seconds.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

A tight lump filled her throat. No, she wasn’t going to do this now. Jenna looked up and shrugged.

Ben’s lips tightened into a thin line. “Just like old times. That’s what you were 47

thinking?”

They’d gone through too much tonight for her to lie to him now.

She nodded. “I guess this means our date is over.”

He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. “I guess it does.” He paused and looked intently at her.

“What?”

His jaw tightened for a second before he smiled. “This evening wasn’t what I was expecting.”

That was an understatement.

“Me either,” she said and gave his hand a squeeze. “Back to business now.”

“Matt will be here in ten minutes. We can swing by your place to get your things.”

Jenna felt her head nod in an automated response. She sucked at the whole morning-after scenario. Having to go through this now certainly sucked. Her mind bouncing between her team’s discovery and her evening with Ben made the ten minutes they waited for Matt seem like an eternity.

* * * * *

Jenna hopped out of the limo, not bothering to wait for Matt’s assistance this time.

Her dress was long abandoned for slacks and a tight-fitting t-shirt.

“Jenna, wait.” Ben’s voice chased her, but she didn’t stop.

“Roger!”

Her skinny assistant stalked across the sandy terrain and caught her in a fierce hug.

She could feel him shaking.

“I was there, in the tent. Not five minutes before it blew. I could be…”

He stopped, unable to go on. Jenna hugged him again.

“You’re not. That’s all that matters.”

Jenna felt a tingle move down her back as Ben moved quietly behind her.

“Do you know what could have caused the explosion, son?” he said, his voice calm and reassuring.

Roger pulled away from Jenna and looked hard at Ben. She knew how her assistant reacted to people he didn’t know.

“Roger, this is Ben Hawthorn. He is the head of CalCorp.”

Roger scowled. “Didn’t take long for you to get here. Wanted to check the damage?

See how much money you’re out?”

Jenna cringed. Ben, for his part, barely blinked.

“I was told people were hurt. I wanted to make sure they got the care they needed.”

Roger rolled his eyes.

48

Ben smiled before turning his attention to Jenna. “I’ll be with Matt. Let me know if you need anything.”

“Will do.”

She watched as he walked away. Confident, in charge and incredibly sexy. She sighed before she turned her attention back to her friend. He was staring at her, mouth hanging.

“
He
was the reason you didn’t answer your communicator? Are you insane? From what you told me, that guy is an asshole. Shit, from everything we’ve seen, that guy is an asshole.”

Jenna straightened. “It was arranged through a dating service. I didn’t set out to kiss up to the boss, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Her body quivered at the memory of Ben’s kiss. His hands caressing her back and thighs. A wave of desire shivered through her. She gave her head a shake.

“And Ben’s changed since the last time I saw him.” She wasn’t convinced that he
had
changed, but rather she was seeing another side of him for the first time.

She turned her back on Roger and walked quickly to the tent where a temporary headquarters had been set up. Instinctively, she knew he would follow, so she kept talking.

“So what did you find? Where is it?”

Business, she needed to focus in on the matter at hand. That’s what was important, not Ben.

She kept her head down and examined a busted, scorched piece of metal that had been lying on the table. The smell of burned sulfur turned her stomach.

“What the hell’s this?”

“It was near the artifact we found. I don’t think it was a part of it. More like a piece of something someone was using to lever the object with.”

“Someone was trying to steal it?”

Roger shrugged. “Looks that way. I found this just as you see it. The explosion didn’t cause that damage.”

When she picked it up, a black residue rubbed off onto her fingers. The metal looked to be reinforced steel from Earth. What it was doing here and who would have access to something of this nature were two questions that needed to be answered.

“Something happened to the owner of this. What was the condition of the artifact when you found it?”

Roger rifled through a stack of files and folders spread over the tiny desk. With a click of his tongue, he pulled out a photo pad.

“I took as many pictures as I could. Managed to get UV and basic structural scans done too. I was on my way to get my radiation meter to take some readings when it blew.”

49

The photo pad flicked through the images at a rapid rate. Jenna paused it on an image of the device in the ground. The crew had set up the tent around the dig, a barrier of four feet prevented anyone from accidentally disturbing the ground. What caught her attention was a test kit lying two feet from the artifact.

Roger coughed and Jenna looked up and frowned. All thoughts of what she was going to say fled her mind when Ben walked in.

“You should come see this.” He didn’t wait for her to answer, simply held the door open.

“I was getting there,” Roger said, hands on his hips. “She needs to understand the background before she can understand what happened.”

Ben leveled an icy glare at him. Roger took it for several seconds before he stuck his hands into his pockets.

“I’ll go check on the beta team. See how they’re making out,” Roger said, quickly averting his gaze.

It was Jenna’s turn to roll her eyes. The testosterone was stinking up the place. She pushed past Ben and charged halfway across the courtyard until she realized she didn’t have a clue where she was going.

Ben’s chuckle came from her right. “This way.”

She had to jog to catch up with him, but easily fell into step beside him.

“Any thoughts as to what it is?” she asked when the silence got to be too much for her.

He shrugged casually. “I was hoping you could tell me.”

A short distance away, Jenna could see the remains of a metal and plastic portable lab skewed over the ground. It was the same color as the portable in the pictures. As they got closer, a large crater became visible, smoke drifting upward.

“Oh shit.”

They stopped on the edge and Jenna was stunned at the destructive force needed to blow a hole this deep into the surface. In the side of the crater the artifact was half buried, the end sticking out like a stick in the dirt. Its round belly was mostly buried by sand and rocks. It looked like the force of the explosion sent it flying hard and fast.

Ben gently caressed her arm. “Come take a look.”

He jumped down into the hole, turned and offered her a hand down. She slid her fingers into his, the contact sending tingles through her hands and up her arms. As she jumped beside him, there was a sudden buzz of electricity around them. Her heart raced, and blood pounded in her ears.

She was hit with a sudden wave of sensations. Ben’s scent washed over her. His cologne and desire mingled with a scent she couldn’t place. It made her nipples tighten, her breathing became ragged. So overwhelmed with desire, Jenna didn’t know what to do.

A glance up into Ben’s face didn’t help. His eyes were wide, a look of pain and 50

pleasure mixed on his face.

“Were you down here before?” she asked in a quiet voice.

She watched him fight some sort of internal battle before he nodded.

“Was it like…this last time?”

“No.” He swallowed.

His fingers tightened around her hand. Her body swayed towards his so she had to tilt her head back to look into his eyes. This pull was unlike anything she’d felt for him before. It was a living pulse of desire. One too powerful for her to resist.

Ben was fighting the same battle. He bent his head down and brushed his lips across hers. On a second pass he sucked on her bottom lip before devouring her mouth with his. Their contact only lasted a moment before he pulled back. He closed his eyes for a moment and then as if it took every ounce of his strength, he stepped back.

“Not here.”

Her heart sank.

“Let me show you this and get you out of here before I cross the line.”

Cross the line!
her mind screamed. Instead she nodded and smiled.