Chapter 33 #2
Somewhere between the point of the heart and the B, he’d stopped breathing entirely. My eyes flicked up to his face. He’d caught his bottom lip between his teeth as he stared at me, shock and awe written all over his features.
I pressed on his chest. “Breathe, baby.”
Warm air expelled from his lungs as he continued to stare. I pushed up his chest to bring my nose to his, our eyes connecting. Brushing my lips back and forth along his, we breathed together.
“You are the sweetest man I’ve ever known, and I was raised by two very gentle men. I’m sorry you understand how it feels to be abandoned. No matter what happens between us, I won’t ever do that to you.”
He covered the invisible heart with his hand and cupped the back of my neck with the other, holding me in place.
“You’re not supposed to be comforting me,” he croaked.
“I’m only telling you the truth.”
“Well”—he squeezed his eyes shut for a long beat—“if we’re being truthful, I should say I’m really in love with you.”
It was my turn to stop breathing. “You are?” I nibbled his bottom lip. “Open your eyes and say it again.”
He squeezed his eyes shut even harder. “I’m kinda scared shitless. Feels better to keep them like this. I don’t have to see your look of horror.”
I snorted. “Oh, yeah, I’m absolutely green with disgust. Watch out, I might puke.”
“Now that’s gross, Mazzy Belle.”
“Still love me anyway?” I whispered.
His eyelids fluttered then fully opened. “Yeah,” he breathed. “Still super wildly in love with you.”
I didn’t think tonight would be the night we’d make these confessions.
I’d hoped it was coming. I knew how I felt…
and I’d thought maybe he was there too. But hearing it, the way he said it, the way he looked at me like he was afraid I didn’t reciprocate his feelings—it was surreal.
Like I had actually fallen asleep and this was the best dream I’d ever had.
I tried to be surreptitious and pinch myself where he wouldn’t notice, but he didn’t miss it. His eyes flared, and his forehead crinkled.
“Did you pinch yourself?” he asked, bewildered and amused.
“I had to make sure this wasn’t a dream.”
He pinched his chest. “Not a dream, but it’s kinda feeling like a nightmare. Here I am, hanging in the breeze, my feelings out, all alone. I’m glad I said it, but…yeah, not liking being so vulnerable.”
I wanted to tease him. Tell him he was adorable when he was vulnerable. That he’d never been sexier than he was now. But I couldn’t do that to him. I wanted him to feel free to share his feelings, always, and making light of something so big would only make him second-guess next time.
I tilted my head back so I could see him and he could see me. “You’re not alone in your feelings at all. You say I’m easy, but you are the easiest. I fell in love with you without any effort. It just happened.”
His brow dropped. “When?”
“When what?”
“When did it happen?”
“Um…” I thought back, trying to find a single moment. “I’m not sure I can pinpoint the time it occurred to me what I feel for you is love.”
He glared at me. “But you’ve known for a while and kept it secret?” Wrapping both arms around me, he rolled us until he was hovering above me. “You kept that from me?”
“Uh…” My eyes were wide, even as I tried to keep my giggles at bay. “Maybe?”
A low growl was my only warning before he dropped his face into my neck and latched on, sucking and biting, kissing and licking. His hot breath roamed over my sensitive flesh, strong arms locked around me so I couldn’t escape—not that I tried.
“Ben,” I yelped. “If you give me a hickey, I’m going to be mad.”
Pausing, he raised his head. “How mad?”
I thought about it. “At least a little.”
“But you’ll still love me?”
“Most likely.”
His eyes narrowed, then he nodded. “A chance I’m willing to take.”
He descended upon my neck like a wild animal, his teeth clamping down on me like a werewolf claiming his mate. It was silly and sexy and hot, and all I could do was cling to him, wrapping my legs around his back.
Soon, our clothes were ripped free and tossed aside, and Ben was sliding into me. His mouth never left my skin, nipping and sucking all over, leaving his mark on my breasts and shoulders—wherever he could reach.
And in between, he asked me to tell him I loved him.
I whispered it, shouted it, moaned it, along with his name, and when he fucked me harder, the words turned into something that had never been uttered before by a human.
Gibberish that seemed to make sense to him while he answered with his own subhuman grunts and snarls.
He pushed my legs to my chest and rose to his knees, towering over me. Peering at me from above, he held the backs of my knees in his huge hands, making me feel small, desired…his.
“Love you,” he rumbled lowly. “Gorgeous Mazzy.”
“Love you too.”
Watching him, I slid my hand down my middle to touch myself and rolled my clit, never taking my eyes off his wide, powerful frame fucking me with life-and-death urgency that made me so wet and hot, I could barely hang on.
Seeing my soft thighs against his sinewy arms, wrapping around his granite-carved hips, only made me hotter.
Such contrasts, yet so perfectly complementary.
Where I gave, he took. And when I bent, he stayed solid.
“Love you, Benny,” I repeated, my hips arching to meet his.
“Say it again,” he pleaded, his voice wrecked, muscles coiling as he drove into me. “Say you love me.”
“I love you,” I gasped, pleasure cresting in my belly. “I love you. I love you, Ben.”
And we both soared right over the edge together.
His jaw clenched, a broken sound tearing from his throat as he spilled inside me, hips jerking once, twice, then going still. Hot, heavy, shaking, he dropped forward, bracing himself over me so he didn’t crush me, his forehead pressed to mine as we both tried to breathe again.
For a few seconds, there was only heartbeats and gasps and the faint hum of the baby monitor on the nightstand.
Then he huffed out a shaky laugh.
“Okay,” he panted. “That was…a lot.”
I smiled up at him, brushing damp curls away from his forehead. “I think you went full werewolf.”
“I had no choice,” he argued, pressing a kiss to the corner of my mouth. “You were telling me you love me and squeezing the life out of me with your thighs.”
“That was a hug.”
He rumbled under his breath. “From now on, always hug me that way.” Then he flopped down on the mattress, bringing me with him. Our legs tangled, and he tucked my head under his chin, right where he wanted me.
The side of my throat tingled as I settled against him. “I’m definitely going to have at least one noticeable mark.”
His fingers trailed over the curve of my neck. “Yeah, but it’s a romantic mark.”
“It’s a territorial mark.”
“Same thing.”
That made me laugh in a way I hadn’t all day. And he noticed of course. He always noticed.
“There it is,” he murmured, soft again. “That smile. I missed that today.”
“It’s back,” I promised, cupping his face. “You brought it back.”
He studied me for a second, deciding whether to believe it, then nodded. “Good. I prefer this version of you. The one in bed with me. Naked. In love with me.”
“I’m not going anywhere. Too naked and tired to even try,” I teased.
The bedroom was quiet now, and my body hummed, completely relaxed, like all the tension had finally bled out of me.
“Hey, Mazz?” he whispered.
“Yeah?”
“Still scared?”
I thought about it. About the old wounds and lurking doubt. The fear that good things couldn’t last.
Then I thought about him and his vulnerability with me—about the shape of the night we’d just shared.
“No,” I said quietly. “Not right now. Right now, I feel safer than ever.”
He pressed a kiss to my forehead and tightened his arms around me. Like he could physically hold me close enough my fears wouldn’t be able to find me again.
“Good,” he murmured. “Then go to sleep.”
Another laugh bubbled out of me, softer this time, already half-asleep. I felt his breathing start to slow, deep and steady beneath my cheek.
“Love you,” he slurred, already drifting.
“Love you more,” I whispered back.
“Impossible…” he mumbled.
With his arms locked around me, heart strong and solid against mine, and not a trace of the day’s frown anywhere on my face, I finally slipped into sleep.