Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-eight
Mazzy
I’d never been away from Katty overnight. I worried she’d have trouble with me leaving, but I should have known better than that. She and Kylie basically shoved me out the door without a backward glance from Katty while I drove away.
I, on the other hand, had to work a little to get to her level of unbothered.
By the time I’d found myself in first class with a glass of champagne, I was there.
I should have used the flight to study, but decided to relax instead.
It wasn’t a long flight. Plus, it was my birthday weekend.
If I’d ever deserved a break, it was now.
A driver was waiting for me at the airport in LA. Ben had wanted to be there but had a meeting with his agent. Even if he hadn’t, traffic was too much of a nightmare for him to make the trek.
I had another glass of champagne in the back of the town car on the way to the hotel.
By the time we pulled up to the entrance, my blood was warm and buzzing with anticipation.
I hadn’t seen Ben since he left my apartment Wednesday night, and I missed him.
I didn’t know how girlfriends or wives of players of other types of sportsball did it.
I’d looked it up, and Ben’s rugby schedule was incredibly low-key compared to baseball and hockey players.
They must have either gotten used to missing their partners or been able to travel with them.
The driver helped me out of the car, and I headed inside, looking for Ben. There was a line at the desk to check in, and a few rather large men who I assumed were Ben’s teammates milling around, but I didn’t spot him.
“Mazzy! You’re here!”
I turned and smiled. “I am.”
Murphy strode toward me, his arms out. “This is an excellent surprise.” Then he hugged me like we were old friends and not barely more than strangers.
“Hey, you.” I patted his back, trying to convey just friends with every smack. “Have you seen Ben?”
He pulled back, cupping my shoulders as he gave me a long, slow once-over.
Then he raised his eyes to mine, and they were filled with appreciation.
I normally would have been flattered—Murphy was handsome, and I wasn’t immune to compliments—but I’d worn this dress for Ben.
It didn’t feel right for his teammate to appreciate it before he’d gotten the chance.
Murphy’s gaze met mine, and he shot me a flirty grin. “I haven’t, but I can help you hunt him down.”
“I’m sure I can find him.”
I was taking out my phone to send Ben a text when a familiar voice cut through the lobby.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Drat.
I’d seen Ben look fierce and dangerous on the pitch. In real life? Nothing seemed to get to him. He was either cool and easygoing or an excitable puppy. Right now, however, he looked ready to charge, plowing down anyone who got in his way.
Murphy’s hands dropped off my shoulders like he’d touched a live wire.
Ben strode toward us with purpose, his gaze locked and loaded on me. My heart kicked with anticipation, and my mouth twitched, unsure if I should’ve been smiling or trying to defuse this situation.
“Oh, hey, Wellsie. There you are,” Murphy chirped.
Ben did not look away from me. “Stop calling me that.”
I snorted a laugh and tried to cover it with my hand, but Ben caught it.
Our eyes met, and his softened. The way he looked me over was entirely different to Murphy.
His gaze was warm, filled with affection, desire, and wonder.
Like, even though he’d flown me here, he couldn’t believe I had actually come.
When he reached me, he slipped his arm around my waist and pulled me against him. “You look incredible.”
I leaned in, pressing my nose to the base of his throat, inhaling his clean scent. “I missed you a lot.”
“Yeah? That’s good, because I missed you too.”
He brushed a thumb over my cheekbone, ignoring Murphy completely…until Murphy muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, “I was just greeting her.”
Ben turned his head slowly. “Greet her from a six-foot radius next time.”
Murphy threw his hands up. “Wow. That’s rude.”
Ben rotated us both to face his teammate, keeping me tucked securely by his side, his hand sliding to the small of my back, thumb drawing lazy circles that made my knees weak.
“We don’t flirt with our teammates' girlfriends. Cut that shit out,” Ben intoned.
I looked up at him. “I’m your girlfriend?”
He scowled at me, though I knew he didn’t mean it. “Damn right you are.” His forehead crinkled. “Right?”
I didn’t have to think about it. “Right.”
Murphy’s eyebrows shot up. “Is this an official announcement?”
Ben didn’t even blink. “I guess it is. Would you like me to get a megaphone, or is me telling you to back off enough?”
Murphy held up his hands. “Dude, relax—”
“I am relaxed,” Ben replied, his fingers curling into my waist. “Just making sure the message is clear.”
Ben looked at me again, and his whole demeanor shifted into a smile so warm I sagged against him like melted honey.
“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” he murmured.
“You are too,” I said, smiling back.
Murphy gestured between us. “Okay, great. Established. Together. I’ll go…be somewhere else.”
“Fantastic plan,” Ben said, not taking his eyes off me. He turned to face me, cupping my hips. “You wore this dress for me?”
“I did.” It was red, with his favorite kind of tie on the side. I’d bought it as a present for myself—Ben too, I guessed. From the way he was looking at me, it had been well worth the money.
“Gorgeous, baby.” He shook his head. “I’m taking you upstairs before anyone else sees you. I don’t think I can take on my whole team, but I’ll try if I have to.”
I laughed. “Literally no one is—”
He wrapped an arm around me and pulled me into him, his mouth brushing my ear.
“Not taking chances,” he murmured. “Not tonight.”
Inside our hotel room, Ben peppered me with kisses on my neck and cheeks as he asked me about my day and how the flight was.
As he unwrapped me, he asked if there was anything I wanted to see while we were in LA.
He sat on the edge of the bed, standing me between his legs as he told me what his schedule was going to be on game day.
He pushed my dress off my shoulders, his breath hitching. “Damnit, Mazzy Belle. You’re killing me.”
My lacy black teddy wasn’t exactly travel friendly, and the stunned look on Ben’s face made the sacrifice worth it.
His mouth opened and closed. He stared at me, his eyes trailing over the lace barely covering my curves.
Finally, after what felt like forever, he gripped my hips and brought me to him, kissing the open space around my belly button.
His fingers dug into my ass, slipping into the valley where the lace disappeared.
He grumbled as he touched me, mouthed my stomach, rubbed his face against my middle.
Then he lay back on the bed, bringing me with him.
I landed on his chest with an “Ooof,” and he wasted no time latching onto my mouth with his.
He kissed me breathless then started all over again.
It was overwhelming in the best way. My insecurities were so far in the background, I could barely think of them, let alone identify them.
Ben wanted me. He wanted me. The only time I’d ever experienced the same kind of heat was…
well, with him. Five years ago. On a little island where the outside world didn’t exist.
Here we were again, fully in our real lives, the fire between us burning just as bright. I might not have had a lot of experience, but I was smart enough to know this wasn’t common.
His mouth broke from mine. “I need you on my face. Will you do that for me, baby?”
“For you?” I laughed at the idea that me sitting on his face was for him. “If you want that, I will, but I need you to tell me what to do.”
His mouth hitched. “That’s no problem.” He gripped my hips, tugging me upward. “Climb up here, put your knees on either side of my head, and hold on to the headboard.”
I crawled up his long body, my heart in my throat. He’d make this so good, he’d pull me out of my thoughts again, but I had to get there first.
Once I made it to where he’d told me to be, hovering over his face, I gave in. Closing my eyes, I let him position me how he wanted, pulling me down until there was no space between my pussy and his mouth.
The moment he undid the snaps on my lingerie, his face buried between my thighs, he inhaled. Gripping my ass, he spread me wide, tugging me deeper onto his mouth.
My head fell onto my arms braced on the top of the headboard, and when he dragged his tongue along my seam, taking a taste of me for himself, a long moan slipped from me.
For once, he didn’t speak. He was all action and concentration, and I was the center of it. He touched me everywhere, and as nervous as it made me to give myself over to him, I wanted it too badly to let that stop me. Ben was an experience—a joyride and whirlwind I’d willingly climbed aboard.
My moans came faster, my belly coiling tighter and tighter. I could barely hold myself up, but Ben had me in his palms. He wanted me lower—sitting on him—and it was impossible to fight him.
His hands roamed, playing with my entrance one second then the puckered flesh farther back the next.
He sucked on my clit and reached up to toy with my nipples through my lacy lingerie.
He was everywhere, all at once, and I was vibrating, restless and needy, so hot I wanted to claw off my skin, but far too weak to even try.
He brought me over the edge with ease and kept licking me through it, building me up all over again. Pushing and pushing, two fingers inside me, another pressing on my back hole, lapping at my throbbing clit.
“Ben, Ben, Ben,” I rasped. “It’s too much.”
I didn’t mean it, and he kept going, wringing pleasure and pain out of me until it was an amalgamation of both.
Something new and different I couldn’t identify but needed like oxygen.
And Ben kept giving it to me then stealing it away for himself until I was nothing but a worn-out husk with no bones to hold me up.
That was when he took me in his arms and laid me on my back. He moved over me, kissing my lips. His were warm from my body and slick from my pleasure. I licked him, taking my taste into my mouth.
Reaching between us, I slipped my hand into his athletic shorts and wrapped my fingers around his length. He jerked at first contact then went still, staring at me as I caressed him.
“Tell me you have a condom.”
“I do.” He reared back to his knees and took a condom from his pocket, letting it fall on the bed beside us. “You ready for me, baby?”
“More than.” I lifted my foot to his hip, giving it a shove. “But you’re wearing too many clothes. I want to see you.”
He raised a brow. “You want it fast or a show?”
I bit my lip. “A fast show?”
Ben smiled like the devil himself. “Fast show it is.”
He hopped off the bed with easy, athletic grace, bracing one hand on the wall, and rolling his hips at me. Something told me this wasn’t the first time he’d done this. His moves were far too experienced.
I didn’t know whether to laugh or drool. Then he shook his very nicely bubbled ass, and I couldn’t help myself.
“Oh my god,” I wheezed, covering my face as he started to lower his athletic shorts one inch at a time.
“Nope.” He pulled my hands away from my face. “Eyes on me, Mazzy Belle. This is premium entertainment.”
He peeled off his shirt, dragging it over his head in one smooth pull. His chest was broad and golden, thick muscles roping across lightly haired pecs down to his cut stomach, every dip and ridge so outrageously carved, he was almost unreal.
I whimpered, and he definitely heard. His chest puffed up, and he preened as he hooked his thumbs in the waistband of his shorts and tugged them the rest of the way down, revealing the thick, solid slabs of his thighs. They were so strong, they could have snapped me in two.
Why did that idea turn me on so much?
“You like these?” He slapped the outside of his thigh, the sound loud enough to echo off the hotel walls. “It’s all for you, baby.”
“Ben,” I breathed, “you’re…huge.”
He winked. “You haven’t seen anything yet.” Then he dropped his briefs, kicking them to the corner, and locked his hands behind his head to give me an unobstructed view. “Now what do you think?”
He was being silly, but I’d never taken him more seriously. I licked my lips, eyeing him with the appreciation he deserved. “I think you’re the hottest man I’ve ever seen in my life. I want you to come here right now.”
“For my tip?”
With a breathy giggle, I ran my hands down my body, stopping at my core. “I was hoping I’d be the one getting the tip.”
He growled, taking one threatening step forward. “Oh, you’re going to get a whole hell of a lot more than the tip, baby.”
He came back to the bed and leaned over me, eyes dark and hungry.
His hands slid under my hips, lifting me, and in one powerful motion, he pulled me off the mattress and into his lap as he sat back on the edge of the bed.
I found myself straddling his thick, open thighs, my legs spread over the breadth of him, his body burning hot beneath me.
He gripped my ass and dragged me against his hard length. The friction made my breath catch, my nails digging into his shoulders.
His voice dropped to a gravelly, possessive rumble. “Ride me.”
My lips parted on a shaky exhale. “Ben…”
“Come on, Mazz.” His lips brushed my jaw. “Show me exactly what you want.”