Chapter Seventeen #2
“Yep,” he said, looking very pleased with himself.
“I saw it on the teacher’s desk with a bunch of other pictures she took at the Harvest Festival.
When no one was looking, I took it and hid it in my notebook.
The edges are kind of bent because it came with me to basic training and deployment when I was in the Army. ”
Her eyes widened. “Really? I, uh, I don’t know what to say to that. I just never…Well, I guess I’m surprised…”
His finger touched her lips, effectively silencing her. “I never forgot you, Paige. Outside of my brothers, you were the best friend I ever had.”
She lightly grabbed his hand and lowered his finger. Then, rising on her tiptoes, she touched her lips to the corner of Ben’s mouth. The roughness of his five o’clock shadow caused her skin to tingle in the most delicious way.
“I feel the same about you.”
Her voice was soft, and she was acutely aware of how close their bodies were. She released his hand and placed hers on his chest. His heart thudded underneath her palm. Ben tangled his fingers in her hair, drawing them through the strands slowly, sensually. A shudder wound through her body.
“I’m glad.” His voice was deep and low, causing heat to flood her belly. “But I’m no longer interested in being your friend.”
His head lowered, his lips hovering over her mouth. If she wanted to stop him, he gave her every chance to do so. But she didn’t. She would bet good money she wanted this kiss more than he did.
His lips touched hers, and her mouth opened in response.
His tongue dipped inside, tasting her. He pulled her flush against him.
Her hands wrapped around his neck to steady herself.
Her knees weakened, and she was grateful for his hold keeping her upright.
A haze clouded her mind, her senses attuned to his taste, his touch, and the feel of him.
Fireworks exploded behind her eyes when he deepened the kiss.
Her lungs tightened, begging for air, but she wasn’t about to pull away.
Desire swept her in a dizzying web, holding her prisoner to the passion lacing the kiss.
Ben was the first to break away. They stared at each other, panting and pulling in deep breaths.
His eyes had darkened to almost black, and she was captivated by the fathomless depths.
Her fingers tangled in his hair, her eyes memorizing every slope and plane of his face.
All traces of the boy she once knew were gone.
Left in their place was the evidence of a man who was strong, battle-hardened, and weathered by the tests of time.
The result was potent, the substance of every fantasy she’d ever had… only better.
“If friendship’s not what interests you,” she began, her voice breathy. “What do you want?”
He pressed his forehead against hers. “You, sweetheart.”
“And if I tell you that you can have me?”
“Don’t say it unless you mean that I can have all of you. I want to explore every inch of your body. I want your heart and your soul to belong to me. I’ve never had much to call my own, and I’ve never cared. But you, sweetheart? You were always meant to be mine.”
“I want that too. I don’t want to focus on the fear or my problems or anything but you. I don’t want to feel anything but you, Ben. I want you to touch me, to kiss me, to make love to me, until I forget everything else.”
He kissed her again, hard and unforgiving.
She tried to push her body closer to his, craving the feel of him, but they were already as close as two people could be.
Lowering back to the pads of her feet, she released her hold on him without breaking the kiss.
Her hands glided up his torso under his shirt, and she groaned at how smooth and solid his abdomen felt.
With his hands wrapped around her biceps, he gently set her back until the kiss broke. He backed up several steps, and she saw his internal struggle to collect himself. Something she definitely didn’t want to happen.
“Why did you stop?” She ignored her whiny tone.
“We can’t . Not like this.” His voice sounded ravaged, and Paige felt a surge of pride that she had affected him that way.
“I want this, Ben. More than I’ve wanted anything in a long while.”
He shook his head, and she couldn’t tell if he was doing it to respond to her or to clear his mind.
“Not true. You want your freedom. You want to live without fear. I want that for you, too, but I won’t be a distraction to help you forget.
When I make love to you, it’ll be because we’ve started something we don’t want to end.
Not because we’re trying to avoid reality. ”
Her breath hitched when she realized he was right. She did want him. He was good and kind and smart and hot as hell. She had no doubt sex with Ben would ruin her to anyone else. But in the moment, she was using him. He had the power to make her forget anything but him and how he made her feel.
Before she apologized, he dropped a lingering kiss on top of her hair and strode toward the kitchen.
“I’ll see to dinner. Make yourself comfortable. Ziggy will keep you company until it’s ready.”
She hadn’t even noticed the animal’s return until she collapsed in a chair, stunned by what just happened.
Ziggy jumped onto her lap, his fur tickling her face.
His long body reached across her lap, and she scooted as far back in the chair as she could to give him room.
The cat circled her lap, careful not to slip off.
Then he dropped to a heap on her thighs, his head resting on the arm of the chair. A loud rumble erupted from him.
With tentative movements, she stroked his fur, the texture calming her.
With each pass of her hand, hair swirled up from his body to float on the air and settle on the floor, on the chair, on her.
His warmth and weight relaxed her, and when he gave a low throaty groan as his eyes closed in sleep, she smiled.
She didn’t expect Ben to be a cat person, but if a strong and intimidating man like him was going to own a feline, it would be one the size of a small jungle cat. She would have to ask him how he came to own the unusual kitty.
In fact, there was a lot she wanted to ask him.
She wanted to know him. He had been right to imply there was too much between them to pursue anything serious right now.
She had to resolve the threat on her life before that could happen.
But what frightened her almost as much as being hunted by a killer was not being able to put an end to it.
If she didn’t stop the threat, she’d have to go on the run again.
Ben couldn’t give up his life and his work to follow her, to live under a secret persona, never knowing what day would be the one when it all would end for good.
She would be on her own again because it would be too dangerous to return to Ivy Springs and bring trouble to the people she loved there.
She heard Ben moving around in the kitchen and the occasional clang of pots and utensils colliding. Ziggy was sound asleep in her lap, and she continued to stroke him. She allowed her thoughts to drift away, to dream of a life that could be if the demons in this one were slain.