Primal Passion (11 page)

“Yep. Lots of them. I’ve imagined us on the
beach, in a limo, in the bathroom of some ritzy restaurant, too
horny to wait until we get home. I’ve even pictured me bending you
over that counter in your lab and burying myself inside you from
behind.”

Denise squeezed her legs together, obviously
affected by Gunner’s descriptions.

Unfortunately, they had the opposite effect
on Price. “No sex without me.” He wasn’t sure where the words had
come from, but he didn’t like the idea of Denise and Gunner finding
their pleasure if he wasn’t there as well. They would be alone for
hours in the lab today and, if the past three days were any
indication, it would be damn near impossible for them to keep their
hands off each other. The request was unreasonable, impractical.
Undeniable.

Gunner narrowed his eyes, studying Price’s
face. There was no way Price could soften his features, take away
the threat he was certain his new friend could see there. “You
realize I’m returning to D.C. in two days. There’s no telling how
long it’ll be before I can come back to Boston. Is this really a
line in the sand you want to draw?”

Price considered what he would be giving up.
Gunner would expect the same promise from him in return. He knew
that. Even so, he couldn’t let go of the feeling that it would be
wrong for him to sleep with Denise without Gunner there. Maybe it
would fade with time, but for now…

“I’m sure.”

Gunner’s frown disappeared, replaced by his
usual pleasant smile. “Good. I feel the same way.”

“So do I,” Deni whispered.

Gunner leaned his head against the back of
the seat. “Damn. I’m afraid we’re all in for some long nights.”

“And cold showers,” Price added.

“I don’t know about that. Let’s face it.
You’re both going to jack off, so I think I might expand on my
masturbating skills. Maybe buy myself a vibrator.” Denise’s face
reflected pure mischief. She obviously took joy in taunting them,
proud of her ability to make such a dirty joke without
blushing.

Price pulled her closer, cupping her face
firmly in his hands. “No toys.”

“What? No way. That’s not fair.”

“Fingers are one thing, Denise, but you’re
not using any toys to get yourself off.”

She frowned and it took all the strength
Price had not to laugh. God, they’d unleashed a sex maniac. And she
was all theirs. She didn’t reply. Price watched as her mind
searched for some loophole. He was becoming accustomed to her long
lapses into silence. Denise was a thinker who struggled to put
things into words. He could only assume that came from being an
only child and spending years alone without friends her own
age.

“Denise. Promise me.”

“I was sort of hoping to try a vibrator. I
wanted to see what it felt like.”

Price grinned. “Fair enough. We’ll buy one
and use it on you tonight.”

Her face brightened. “Really?”

Gunner groaned. “You two are going to have to
stop talking or we’re going to have to instruct your driver to take
a few dozen laps around the block while we take care of this.”

Price glanced at the obvious erection in
Gunner’s pants. Nice to know he wasn’t alone in his arousal. They’d
all come no more than two hours ago and already Price felt
restless, hungry, horny.

He’d been wrong to demand that they limit
their sexual interludes to times when they were all there.

“We’re here.” Denise reached for her
messenger bag as the limo pulled up outside her work. “I’m going to
have a terrible time explaining why I’m arriving at work in such
style.”

Price grabbed her when she shifted, pulling
her onto his lap. He gave her a long, hard kiss, hoping it would
encourage her to wrap up her work early. “I’ll be here to pick you
up at five.”

She nodded, her lips puffy from so much
kissing. She didn’t appear to mind. “Okay. Five.”

Gunner chuckled. “Damn. We’re seeing a major
breakthrough here. Deni’s not fighting us for more lab time.”

She smirked at Gunner and then cupped Price’s
cheek in a way that couldn’t be described as anything less than
genuine affection. No one had ever touched Price that way.

She smiled sadly. “I’ll miss you today.”

Price swallowed heavily, touched by her
admission. “Ditto, beauty.”

Roman opened the door and Gunner and Denise
got out. Price watched as they walked into the lab, then sighed and
rested his head against the seat. The limo had traveled nearly ten
blocks before Price realized he was grinning like a damn fool, a
lovesick smile plastered on his face.

The Grand Master would have a field day when
he found out Price was falling in love with the quirky little
scientist.

Time to get his head back in the game. He
rarely missed work, so he could only imagine the pile of paperwork
he’d have to wade through today. Somehow he’d put Denise and Gunner
out of his mind. Eight hours. Surely he could do that.

He glanced at his watch. Or maybe he’d call
and talk them into meeting him for lunch. Four hours. Price
suspected that was the most he’d be able to manage.

Four hours.

“Listen, I think we could sit here for hours
debating the worthiness of—”

Price stopped talking when his personal
assistant opened the door of the boardroom and waved to him.

“Yes, Bridget?”

“I’m very sorry to interrupt you, but there’s
an urgent call on line one.”

Price frowned. Bridget knew better than to
disrupt a meeting with the stockholders. “Bridget—”

“It’s from a Gunner Wells with the FBI. He
insisted. Wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

Price’s chest tightened. Denise.

He stood quickly. “If you gentlemen will
excuse me.”

A couple of men nodded, while he read the
curiosity on more than a few faces. No doubt they were dying to
know why an FBI agent was calling him with an urgent message.
They’d just have to wonder. Price had no answers to give them.

He walked to his office quickly, shut the
door, picked up the phone and pressed line one. “Gunner?”

“I know you’re in the middle of a big-ass
meeting, but you might want to get over here. Curtis has been
shot.”

“Fuck. Where’s Denise?”

“She’s fine, but she found him. She’s pretty
shaken up.”

“I’ll be right there.” Price didn’t bother to
ask for details. He’d get them once he was sure Denise was okay. He
pulled his CFO out of the boardroom and told him he’d have to
finish the meeting. Fortunately, he had a good man in place. The
CFO simply nodded and said he’d handle it. Then he gave his
personal assistant instructions to cancel the rest of his
appointments for the day. He called for Roman to meet him in front
of the building as he headed for the elevator.

He drummed his fingers on his knee during the
return trip to the lab. He’d been an idiot to think the threat
against Denise wasn’t real. His gut had told him she was in serious
danger, but he’d let Denise and that damn FBI agent, Young,
convince him it wasn’t as bad as he feared.

His heart raced as he considered what this
shooting meant. In his rush to get to Denise, he hadn’t even asked
if poor Curtis was okay. Price hoped so. It was obvious Denise
thought the world of the young man. She’d be devastated if he was
killed.

He leapt from the limousine as soon as Roman
pulled up to the curb, not bothering to wait for his driver to open
the door. “Stay close,” he instructed the man.

If he felt like there was still a looming
danger, he’d hustle Denise out of the building and to his house. He
made a mental note to call his butler and inform the man to beef up
security around the property.

He was met at the door by a police officer,
who started to turn him away.

“It’s okay, Officer Riley. I called
Price.”

The officer stepped aside as Gunner
approached. Obviously Gunner had been flashing his FBI credentials
around.

Together, they walked toward Denise’s office
as Gunner quickly filled him in. Apparently, Denise had begun
checking her trials as soon as they hit the lab. She’d spent almost
an hour going over Curtis’s findings and filling Gunner in on her
work. Then Gunner had set up his laptop, settling down to work
while Denise borrowed his phone to call Curtis, concerned about the
man’s tardiness.

That was when they heard Curtis’s phone
ringing in Denise’s office. The door had been closed when they’d
arrived and Denise hadn’t bothered to open it. When they entered
the room, they discovered Curtis lying on Denise’s cot, a pool of
blood beneath him.

Mercifully, the man was still alive, but
barely. No one was exactly sure how much time had passed between
the shooting and Denise finding him, but he’d lost a lot of
blood.

The ambulance had already left for the
hospital, and Gunner said Denise was chomping at the bit to follow.
Unfortunately, the lab director and the Boston City Police
department had lots of questions for her.

Price paused at the doorway of Denise’s lab.
She was sitting in a chair, her shoulders slouched, her face pale.
He longed to take her in his arms, to hold and console her, but to
do so would expose them to too much gossip and supposition. They’d
agreed that Gunner would be her boyfriend, Price a benevolent,
eccentric friend.

“Deni.” Gunner knelt beside her, taking her
hand. “Price is here.”

Denise looked over and, for a moment, he
feared she’d forget her role as her eyes lit up. Gunner must have
shared his concern because Price noticed how the other man
tightened his grip.

Denise gave him a friendly smile. “It was,
um, nice of you to come over.”

Price winked covertly and then turned to the
police officer questioning her. “I’m Price Bennett,” he said,
offering his hand to the man.

Then he shook the lab director’s hand. The
man’s eyes widened with recognition and a bit of awe. Price came
from one of the oldest families in Boston. The Bennett name was
well known in the area as several public buildings were named in
honor of various members of his ancestry, including a dorm on
campus. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Bennett. Your family’s reputation
precedes you, as they’ve provided countless support to our school
and facility. I wish we were meeting under better circumstances.”
Even if the man wondered why Price was there, he had the good grace
not to ask. “I need to talk to the security guard on duty last
night, make sure he hasn’t gone home yet. The police want to
question him next. Please excuse me.”

Price turned back to the police officer after
the lab director left. “Lieutenant Miller?” he asked, glancing at
the man’s badge.

“That’s right. Miller.”

While Price didn’t want to insult the man, he
needed to know the police department could handle this case
competently. “I assume you’ve requested the security surveillance
videos? Issued an order to search for the weapon?”

The officer nodded and gestured to Gunner.
“He did all that before we arrived.” The man’s tone let him know he
wasn’t happy to have to deal with the FBI…and now the CEO of
Bennett Securities.

“Very good.”

Gunner rose, releasing Denise’s hand. “I can
tell you now that I suspect the police will find precious little on
those videos. There aren’t any cameras connected to this corridor
and none pointing toward two side entrances. Only the front door is
covered.”

“Shit,” Price muttered.

Gunner raised his hand. “However, the side
doors are locked. People can only enter those with a fob, and that
information is logged into a computer. I’ve requested a list of
people who used their fobs yesterday and this morning.”

“You still don’t have any idea when the
shooting actually occurred?” Price asked.

Gunner shook his head. “The nearest the EMT
could guess was somewhere after two a.m. Maybe the doctors at the
hospital can give us a better estimate.”

Denise looked at him, tears brimming in the
corners of her eyes. “The EMT said if we hadn’t found him when we
did, he would have died from blood loss.”

Price couldn’t stand it anymore. Trinity
Masters be damned. He walked over and helped her stand, wrapping
her in a tight embrace. “I’m so sorry, Denise.”

Lieutenant Miller cleared his throat. “Agent
Wells said that Dr. Parker’s apartment was broken into a few nights
ago?”

Price released Denise but kept his hand on
her back, offering her support. “That’s right.”

“And there was a bomb recovered from the
scene?”

Denise sighed. “I’ve already told you all
this. Can I please go to the hospital?”

The police officer looked from Gunner to
Price. Price could read the confusion and frustration in his eyes.
Obviously he was struggling to figure out the group dynamics of the
three people in the room and he suspected they knew more than they
were saying.

“If you discover you have any more questions
for Denise, you can reach her at my place.” Price handed the man
his business card.

“So, what are you?” Lieutenant Miller asked.
“Her bodyguard?”

Gunner nodded. “That’s exactly what he is. I
hired him. Mr. Bennett has been kind enough to offer the use of his
guesthouse to Deni and I until we find out who’s trying to harm
her. Now if you’ll excuse us.”

Gunner wrapped his arm about Denise’s waist,
holding her close enough to leave no doubt of his romantic
relationship with the pretty scientist. Price walked two steps
ahead of them, assuming his role as bodyguard. Gunner had told the
lie smoothly. Price appreciated his friend’s steady nerves.

Typically Price was better at shielding his
emotions, but he’d been thrown for a loop ever since Denise’s sweet
farewell kiss in the limo this morning. Though in all fairness,
Gunner had had years to accept his feelings for Denise. They were
still too new, too unexpected for Price.