Chapter Fifteen
“You’re impossible.” I throw my hands up.
Jedi barks, making me jump. I look at him just as he yawns. I glance around. We’re alone out here, and the sky is in that beautiful navy-blue stage just before full darkness. I didn’t realise how late it was.
“And your idea is nuts,” he tells me, then pushes his chair back and gets up. The dog prances at his feet and barks a couple more times. “Shut it, Jedi,” he tells the dog. “The neighbors don’t need to be hearing you yapping.”
I’ve hit a nerve, and he doesn’t like it. I did go a little overboard, thinking back on what I said. I basically told him he’s settled, and his life is stagnating. Shit. That is so not what I want to do. When I came over here, finally able to have a moment alone, I was going to talk about what happened on the boat.
I hadn’t planned on telling him what I’d been up to in terms of Day Away Fishing. It wasn’t until the words poured out of me I realized it was a mistake. Not to mention why the hell did I invite him to New York? It’s actually laughable the thought of Ben Daniels in New York .
“Come on, I need to get you home, it’s late,” Ben says and at first I think he’s talking to the dog, but he’s looking at me.
“No more plans for the evening?” I say, rising and pushing the chair back under the table.
“Such as?” he smirks.
My cheeks heat and I bite my lip. “Maybe… we should talk about that… kiss.”
“Kiss?” he asks. Not in a questioning whether it even happened kind of way, more in a ‘ that was a hell of a lot more than a kiss’ tone. “What exactly do you want to say about it, Elle?”
My mouth moves as I try to think of something to say. What I want to say is, let’s do it again, but that would be wrong. Right? Ben takes a step closer to me. I can feel the heat of his body, smell the sea air and cologne on his skin. He towers over me, looking down at me.
“It was fucking hot,” he near whispers, leaning slightly towards my ear. “So much so, I had to jerk off in the bathroom earlier.”
“What?” I try to say it quietly but I’m so shocked, it’s a near screech.
“Jesus,” Ben puts a hand over my mouth. “You want my parents out here asking why you’re yelling? You’d think that kind of stuff was the norm for you, being a romance author.”
“Well, it is, but… it’s… This is different… It’s. You…” I splutter.
“I can see why you’re a best-selling author,” he winks and steps past me and clicks his tongue at Jedi, who trots after him. “You coming?”
“ You did, apparently,” I mutter. He glances back, clearly hearing what I said, and his lip tilts up.
We head inside and say goodbye to his parents and Zach, who are watching something on his son’s phone. They both lift their heads and wave before going back to the phone. His mom is watching us, and I start to think she knows what Ben just said to me, but it’s impossible. She doesn’t know. God, did he really do that? With all these people here ?
Not gonna lie, I’d been desperate for a release myself, but it isn’t like I could slip away and solve that problem. No, I’d had to suffer all afternoon and evening watching him, imagining things, getting all hot and bothered and knowing my underwear is going to have to go in the trash.
It’s been too long since I had sex. I spent the last few hours convincing myself sex with Ben was out of the question. Not when we’re at this crossroads over what is going to happen with dad’s will.
It is definitely a bad idea.
“What are you thinking so hard about?” Ben asks as he opens the back door for Jedi.
Don’t look… Don’t do it. Shit, my eyes drop to his crotch. His shoulders shake with silent laughter. He slams the door and leans against it, looking at me.
“Get in the truck.” He steps around me and opens my door.
As I step up, he puts his hands on my waist and lifts me in, making me gasp. I sit down as he comes around and gets in the driver’s seat. He sits there for a minute, the keys in his hand. I watch him, not knowing what to make of the look on his face. He looks up at me with his growly face, one I remember well from when we were teenagers.
His nostrils flare a little as he keeps staring at me.
“Yes,” I say.
He chews on the inside of his cheek, glances over my shoulder at his parents’ house, then back at me. He knows what I am saying. I don’t know why the hell I’m saying it. I’ve just got through talking myself out of making a bad decision. I watch as he puts the key in the ignition and slams the stick into drive, then pulls away.
Neither of us talk as we drive the short distance to his house. I’m surprised when we get there at how nice it is, a white and grey townhouse with a front lawn, an attached garage with steps leading up to it like my dad’s place. Ben gets out and lets the dog out, then walks onto the sidewalk. He looks into the window at me. Now or never.
I need to make a choice.
I reach for the handle and get out of the truck.
Ben jogs up the steps, opens the door, and ushers the dog inside. When I step in, he closes the door behind me and flicks on some lamps around the sitting room. I look around as he disappears into another room, Jedi running after him.
I barely have time to take in the masculine décor. With a huge corner sectional and bookcases, there is also a massive TV. Ben comes back within a few moments, shutting the door over but leaving it so Jedi can get out if he needs to. Then he stalks over to me, his gaze intense. I hold my ground even though my brain is telling my feet to move.
“You’re sure?”
My head nods and before I can get any words out, Ben has grabbed me and pulled me into him, his mouth landing on mine in a hard kiss. He groans as I open and let him in. My hands claw at him as much as he’s pulling at me. He’s so much bigger than I remember. His hand cupping the back of my head isn’t giving me any chance to pull back. And I don’t want to.
Ben pushes at my jacket until it falls off onto the floor. I tear at his t-shirt, pushing it up, revealing all that tanned, muscular flesh, the trail of dark hair into his jeans snags my attention and I grab his belt buckle as Ben pulls the t-shirt off over his head and throws it behind him. He takes my hands before I can undo the belt and then bends forward, putting his shoulder into my stomach.
I squeal as he throws me over his shoulder. “Put me down.”
One of his hands clamps onto my ass to steady me as he turns and heads to a set of stairs that are hidden behind a wall. “Not a chance,” he says. He takes the stairs quickly, as if I barely weigh a thing in his arms.
I don’t even care what room we’re in when he pushed the door back so hard it slammed into the wall, he walked in and dropped me, pushing me back up against the wall, his face dips into my throat as his lips kiss and suck on the skin of my neck, making my eyes roll.
He didn’t forget. Him doing this always drove me crazy. He only stops when he pulls my shirt over my head and reaches for my bra. He makes quick work of that too and his hands take the place of the cups of my bra, rolling my nipples between his fingers, as his lips trail back up to claim my mouth.
Desire flows through me with every brush of his tongue and pinch of his fingers as he works my breasts in his huge, rough palms. His skin is so hot against mine and I run my hands over the ridges of his chest and abs, surprised by the definition there. He clearly works out a lot.
“Fuck, Elle,” he groans as my hands work between us to grab his belt buckle and this time I won’t be deterred or stopped.
I make quick work of getting it open, flicking the button, and dragging the zipper down. Ben hisses as my hands meet the thick hot flesh of his shaft, his hands leave my breasts and plant against the wall on either side of my head, his lowers so his forehead is on my shoulder, but he is watching my hand as it works up and down, smearing the pre-ejaculate around the head of his dick.
For a moment, he just stays there, letting my hand work him over. I’m not about to do all the work, though. I tug him a little harder and he looks up at me, his pupils completely blown, then he kisses me again, harder and more thoroughly than I remember ever being kissed.
His hands finally work at my jeans and once they’re undone, he shoves them down. I stamp them out of the way and kick them off to the side, pushing at his until they drop to his ankles. He steps out of them as I roll his underwear down, freeing him completely.
I don’t know why I gasp when I see all of him. I’ve had him in my hand for the last few minutes. I know how big he is and so damn hard. Ben hitches his hands under my thighs and lifts me, pinning me against the wall with his hips, his erection grinding into me .
At this point, my underwear is destroyed, so when he grabs at it and it tears, I don’t even care. He spins and walks me towards the bed, but he doesn’t put me down. He presses me against another wall and blindly gropes at the bedside table drawer. He hands me the condom as he kisses my throat again.
Thank Christ he thought of this because I was about to do something completely reckless. He moves back only enough for me to roll the condom over him and then he leans so my shoulder blades are against the wall, but my ass is pulled away. I wrap my legs around his hips and cross my ankles at his back as he pushes into me. It isn’t slow, but he doesn’t slam into me either. He moves halfway in and lifts his head to look at me.
“Don’t stop,” I groan.
His lip tilts up on one side and he nips my lower lip as he pushes the rest of the way in. “Forgot how fucking amazing you feel,” he says, pulling back a little, then slamming in again so he is fully seated inside me. “ Fuck .”
Ben tips his head back, one hand clamping so hard on my upper thigh I’m sure there will be fingerprint bruises there tomorrow and I don’t care one bit. I push my hips against him as he thrusts into me, his breath coming in sharp bursts. I can’t stop myself from clenching tight around him, feeling that familiar fluttering inside. I’m about to come far too quickly.
“Yes,” he grunts. “Squeeze me, Elle. Shit like that. Yes,” he pushes one hand up through my hair at the side of my cheek and tilts my head so I’m looking at him.
Ben pins me with his gaze as he pushes into me again and again, watching me closely as the orgasm finally hits me. I break eye contact when my head tips back at the sheer explosion of ecstasy as it takes over my body and I cry out.
Ben strokes me slowly through it, his hand cupping the side of my face. My heart is slamming against my chest as my head drops and I look at him .
He brushes his fingers over my collar bone, up my jaw and across my lips, then he leans in and touches his lips to mine. It is only gentle for a moment, then I gasp sharply as he grinds against me, still so full of his dick. He shifts, getting a better grip of me under my ass before he lets go, pounding into me. All I can do is hold on to his shoulders as he takes what he needs.
“Shit,” I feel another orgasm coming. It’s near on impossible for me to come this much through straight sex, but something about Ben is making my body react in the best possible way.
“Yeah, Elle, that’s it baby, give me another one,” he thrusts deeper, and he brings his hand down to stroke my clit between us. I feel him thicken when his last thrust pushes me up the wall, making me explode all over him again with a keening sound I’ve never heard from myself before. Ben groans through it, his muscular chest pushing my breasts flat against him.
I feel strangely dazed, like I’ve had an out-of-body experience. As I catch my breath, my clenched muscles slowly relax into his hold. For a moment, neither of us speak, nor even make eye contact. His head is hanging, looking down at where we’re joined.
When he helps lower me to the ground, my legs feel weak, and I wobble enough that he has to steady me. He looks at me then. We’re still pressed together, our chests slick with sweat. He reaches up and smooths my hair back off my face.
“You good?” he asks softly.
“So good,” I sigh.
He steps back and slides his hand down my arm, taking hold of my hand. His eyes take me in, roaming over my body like he can’t get enough of me. I’m not usually embarrassed about my body, but I’m not the young girl he once knew. There is more flesh where there never used to be, not as much elasticity as an eighteen-year-old. I suddenly feel vulnerable under the perusal. His eyes meet mine and all I see there is lust and desire.
“Come on,” he kisses me before stepping back, but he doesn’t let go of my hand. “My shower is big enough for two.”