Chapter 41 Melody
Melody
“Where are we going?” Melody asked as she allowed Ben to lead her across the sprawling lawns of his parents’ property, away from the house that had only just started to clear of its mass of local guests, toward a destination unknown.
“You’ll see,” he said as he gave her hand a light squeeze and continued to guide her along.
She felt contented after a long, but fabulous, night filled with phenomenal food and even better company.
Cathy had really outdone herself. Add to that all the contributions made by their guests—she was going to have to wrestle that roasted brussels sprouts recipe out of Mrs. Higgins up the road—and Melody could well believe they had enjoyed a feast fit for royalty.
It hadn’t been her usual intimate gathering with her mom and dad, but it had been just as heartening in its own way.
There was something unexpectedly wonderful about a community coming together in celebration.
She felt grateful to have been a part of it.
It had been everything she hadn’t realized she could want in a Thanksgiving.
The moon was barely a sliver in the sky as they walked with little more than starlight lighting their way.
She could scarcely see three feet in front of her, but she wasn’t afraid.
There was such comfort in the warm, certain clasp of Ben’s hand in hers.
She loved the way his big hand enveloped hers, making her feel safe and cared for. His grip was relaxed, but solid.
As her thumb teased the surprisingly smooth skin on the back of Ben’s muscular hand, she couldn’t resist asking, “How are your hands so soft? Aren’t hockey players supposed to have rough skin?”
Ben chuckled softly. “You’re not wrong. Most of the guys’ hands are pretty torn up.”
Melody winced. She didn’t do a lot of work on the hands, but she’d seen some wicked-looking abrasions during her months with the Challengers.
“Do you want to hear my secret?” Ben teased as he leaned down to nudge her shoulder with his. It was too dark outside to make out the subtleties in his eyes, but she imagined they twinkled much like the vibrant blanket of stars overhead.
“Is it a secret?” she teased back. “Do I need top-level security clearance to find out how you’ve managed to elude calloused hands?”
Melody could hear the amusement in his voice when he answered. “No, it isn’t a secret. But it’s not the most manly thing to admit to.”
Tendrils of excitement unfurled within her at the prospect of learning undisclosed details of Ben’s life.
This was the best part about being in a new relationship, wasn’t it?
Learning personal information that wasn’t shared with just anybody.
“Now you’ve really got me curious.” She bounced their clasped hands together in excitement. “Lay it on me.”
Ben laughed lightly. “Okay, Ms. Curious,” he murmured. “My secret . . .” He halted to create a dramatic pause.
She glanced at Ben in time to see him raise one eyebrow playfully, as if daring her to guess what he might reveal.
She felt drawn to this playful side of him.
So much so that she couldn’t resist closing the distance between them and nestling into his side.
Ben didn’t disappoint, dropping her hand to circle his arm around her waist.
“Okay,” he said, squeezing her toward him in what felt much like a hug. “My secret weapon against calloused skin,” he revealed, “is Udderly Smooth.”
She blinked in confusion. “Say what now?”
Ben chortled.
A smile tugged at her lips as the sounds of his amusement rolled across the field and into the quiet night. It tickled her musicality to hear the rich baritone of his voice was evident even in his laughter.
“Udderly Smooth,” Ben repeated with vivacity, proving she hadn’t misheard him.
“Remember that I was raised on a farm,” he pointed out, sweeping the arm not currently wrapped around her waist out to illustrate the very farmland to which he referred.
She could hear the smile in his voice even if she couldn’t see it. Since her attention was currently focused on not tripping over her own feet as Ben led her along increasingly uneven terrain, she had to rely on her ears to fill in anything missed by her eyes.
“Udderly Smooth,” Ben explained as he steered her to the left, “is a cream that was developed for use on dairy cows. Most people don’t realize it, but cows’ udders can really suffer from all the milking.
When I started playing hockey and getting calloused skin, I figured if it was good enough for the girls, it was good enough for me. ”
A giggle escaped her mouth at the suggestive comment.
“You think it’s funny that I use bovine lady butter, do you?” he challenged, his tone playful.
She shrieked when Ben curled his hand into her side and started tickling the underside of her rib cage. Goodness, but the man had quick reflexes. She hadn’t seen him coming. Not that she should be surprised given his superstar athletic status.
She strove to evade his questing fingers, but it was no use. She was no match for his tickle tactics. “Okay! Okay! I give!” she capitulated between shrieks of laughter.
Ben put an immediate end to the torture, but he didn’t remove his hand from her body. Instead, he splayed it across her ribcage before trailing it down her increasingly sensitized frame.
Ben paused at the dip of her waist and squeezed lightly.
She shivered at the primal possessiveness of his hold.
She knew that modern day women were supposed to be strong and self-actualized—and she liked to think she was just that most of the time—but she couldn’t deny there was something thrilling about the way Ben was taking what seemed like effortless control of her body.
He appeared to know what he wanted and he was going after it.
All while still making her feel safe and respected. It was a skill, really.
Ben sidled closer to whisper in her ear. “I’ve had the devil’s own time resisting you tonight.”
“Have you really?” she asked, her voice breathy with anticipation.
Ben’s hands trailed down to her hips. With gentle pressure, he shifted her so they were fully facing each other. “Wasn’t it obvious?” he asked in a candid way that had her midsection fluttering with awareness.
Moonlight shone onto the angular planes of Ben’s chiseled face and spilled down onto his chest and shoulders, making him look like some sort of demigod.
He was so handsome it was hard to believe he was a real flesh-and-blood man, but it was the intimate warmth lighting his eyes that truly took her breath away.
She bit her lip, not quite certain what to say.
Ben tilted his head in consideration. “Surely, you could tell I couldn’t keep my eyes off you.
” His hands moved up her back, over her shoulders, and stopped just above the nape of her neck to cradle her skull.
“I documented every thoughtful furrow of your brow.” He dropped a soft kiss above the outside edge of her eyebrow.
“I took note of every delicate crinkle of your nose.” Ben pressed the tip of his nose against hers and rubbed gently.
She shivered as the cool skin of his nose made contact with hers.
“And I catalogued every one of your many radiant smiles.” His lips quirked in the manner of someone who knows something that others don’t.
“Of which you have at least four different variations, by the way.”
She felt like she was going to melt into a puddle. Who said stuff like that? Had Ben really been watching her so closely? And did she really have four different smiles so bright they could be termed radiant?
When he placed a lingering kiss on the side of her mouth, she was convinced she had dissolved into a fully liquid state.
She was so engrossed in the sweet romance of it all that she was caught completely off guard when he flicked the inside corner of her lips with his tongue. Her hips pressed into his in reaction.
She reveled in the primitive groan that escaped Ben’s lips.
“I’ve been dying for another taste of these lips,” he confessed as he tunneled his fingers through her hair and pressed his lips to hers in a full-mouth kiss.
Sensations exploded from the top of her head to the tips of her toes at the full-body contact. She wasn’t sure when it had happened, but her body was now melded against his. She doubted there was enough room for even the most opportunistic breeze to pass between them.
Ben’s lips moved over hers with perfect pressure. He kissed with an impeccable blend of lazy exploration and unequivocal need that left her shaking with longing.
She was more than ready for him when he applied gentle downward pressure to her jaw and licked at her lips, his tongue the best kind of tease. She needed no further enticement to open for him.
She groaned when his tongue swooped into her mouth, ready to lay claim to all that lay within. He began with feather-light touches, enticing her with the gentle glide of his tongue over hers, under hers, against the smooth skin of her inner cheek.
He tagged her tongue with his and retreated, inviting her tongue to follow his. She took Ben’s lead, mimicking his earlier actions by keeping the kiss light and shallow before moving in for a more thorough exploration.
Ben tasted delicious. Had he managed to sneak a slice of red velvet cake when she wasn’t looking, or was it simply the silky-smooth warmth of his mouth that was leading her to wonder? Deciding that a deeper taste was required, she caught his tongue between her lips and sucked gently.
The intimate contact didn’t bring her any clarity. It was hard to think when her nerve endings were exploding with sensation, but even through the fog of her lust, she was certain Ben tasted as outstanding as any cake she’d ever sampled.
She whimpered when she felt the evidence of his desire pressing against her belly. There was something gratifying about knowing she’d brought this sinfully delicious man to such heights of arousal.
She drew back just enough so that she could speak. “Your lips are like some kind of dream,” she breathed. Like some kind of delicious, pastry-filled dream. “You could teach lessons.”
“Kissing 101?” he chuckled as he delicately tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear.
“Oh, no,” she corrected. “You’d have the advanced class.” As if this man’s skill should be wasted on amateurs.
“You’re adorable when you’re spouting nonsense,” he said with a soft smile and a gentle tap to the tip of her nose.
“I’m not even kidding,” she admitted. “It would be a crime to hoard all this skill.”
Supposed nonsense aside, Ben must have liked what she was saying because his smile deepened until twin dimples appeared in his cheeks. Lordy, but he probably couldn’t teach that.
“I’ll tell you what,” Ben said with undisguised warmth as he moved a comforting hand to her low back. “I’ll teach whatever class you want. The only catch is that you have to be my teaching assistant.”
Her attraction to him ratcheted up by multiple degrees. He was like a silver-tongued devil the way he always seemed to know what to say.
She allowed him to hear her groan, briefly dropping her head against his shoulder before reconnecting her gaze to his. “You’re going to ruin me for anyone else,” she admitted with an only semi-joking twist of her lips.
Ben smiled saucily, his dimples on full display. “That was the plan all along.”
She shivered for what felt like the millionth time in as many minutes, her muscles tightening and then relaxing in rapid succession. The words had been said lightly, but she had a feeling he wasn’t joking.
“Are you cold?” Ben asked with evident concern. He placed warm hands just below her shoulders and rubbed her upped arms with just enough friction to send heat coursing through her limbs.
She couldn’t help but smile at his sweet ministrations. It wasn’t the cold that had made her shiver. It was him and the very physical effect he had on her.
“Come on,” Ben said, drawing her close. “We’re almost there. Let me get you out of the cold.”
She’d been so caught up in Ben and everything he was making her feel that she’d barely noticed the temperature. Now that he mentioned it, though, there was definitely a bite in the late autumn air.
She let out a contented sigh as she nuzzled more firmly into Ben’s side, eager to enjoy all the warmth he seemed so willing to offer her. A pleasant heat spread through her body as he held her close and guided her toward their destination at a steady, measured pace.
It wasn’t long before Ben stopped in front of a medium-sized building.
It was dark out, so she couldn’t make out all the details—nor could she see within the enclosure—but the structure appeared to be made almost fully out of glass.
If she had to hazard a guess, she would wager that it was a greenhouse.
“Here we are,” Ben said as he led her to a stop in front of the door. He twisted around to look at her. “Would you do me one more favor and close your eyes?”
She lifted a questioning brow she wasn’t sure he could even see within the shadow cast by the building.
“Please,” he requested.
She couldn’t help but give into his quiet entreaty.
“Okay,” she agreed as her eyelids fluttered closed.
“Just one second,” he said as he released her and stepped away to do whatever it was he needed to do under cover of darkness.
Her body gave an involuntary shudder as he moved away from her.
She was surprised by how keenly she felt the loss of him.
It wasn’t just the way the chill was now able to get to her without the comforting warmth of his body shielding her from the worst of it.
It was the way his whole body had enveloped hers, making her feel safe and cared for.
The chilly night air, which she knew wasn’t really that frigid, felt all the more harsh by comparison.
She would keep her eyes closed, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t use her other senses to help clue her in to whatever he was up to. She cocked an ear and strove to catalogue his actions by sound.
The click of the door opening and closing was obvious, but the rest was harder to discern.
The farther he moved away from her, the more whatever sounds he was making were drowned out by the soundtrack of nature.
Her only auditory constant was the steady breeze, the gentle crinkle of leaves, and the occasional bird sound.
Ben wasn’t gone for long, but by the time she heard the door reopen, she’d started to shuffle from foot to foot. Her movement was as much to stave off the chill as it was to provide an outlet for her growing curiosity.
“Okay,” Ben said as he interwove his warm fingers with her chilly ones. “You can open your eyes now.”