Chapter 4
This was madness!
Kissing a stranger was the absolute last thing she should be doing. Yet, here she was, locking lips with a man who’d saved her from being run over by a taxi.
A very handsome and charming man with a sweet mother, she interjected as her defense.
Well, what kind of excuse was that?
Why do I even need an excuse? Catalina’s inner voice countered. Don’t I have enough problems to deal with? Don’t I deserve just a little bit of something good coming my way?
That argument seemed to shut up her inner voice.
Finally! Now she could enjoy this. Feeling this gorgeous man’s arms around her awakened long-dormant desires in her.
Desires any woman in her late twenties had: to attract a handsome man who lavished her with pleasure.
And Benjamin was on the right path to do just that.
With a gentle coaxing tongue, he invited her to explore him, without being too forceful so as not to scare her.
Rather, the way he kissed her made her demand more from him.
She realized what he was doing: he was putting her in charge.
She could decide how far she wanted to go.
She couldn’t remember ever having been with a man who had done that.
They’d all pushed her to her limits, making her back away in the end.
Benjamin was different. He was wooing her.
Catalina put her hand on his nape, caressing him there, while she deepened the kiss. When she shifted in his embrace and pressed her stomach to his groin, rubbing herself against him, he moaned and ripped his lips from hers.
He stared into her eyes, and she felt captivated by their deep blue color.
“Damn, Catalina,” he murmured. “If we keep doing this, I won’t be able to stop myself.”
Provocatively, as if she were a seductress, she slid her hand onto his backside to pull him back to her.
She rubbed herself against his lower half again.
She could feel the hard outline of his cock there.
And even though she wasn’t a seductress, she liked that feeling.
Liked how he reacted to her. Liked what she could do to him.
“What if I don’t want you to stop?”
“In that case, you should know something about me.”
His eyes bored into her as he moved his head closer to her again.
“I’m a very sexual guy. And once I get going, it’s very hard for me to stop. So, if you don’t want this, it might be best for you to leave now, while I still have enough self-control and manners to let you go.”
“There’s something you should know about me too. I’ve never done this before.”
“You’re a virgin?”
At the sight of his shocked face, she stifled a laugh.
“No, what I meant is that I’ve never kissed a man after knowing him for all of thirty minutes. I’m not like that.”
She’d never been direct or confident enough to ask for what she wanted. But this stranger brought it out in her, challenged her to go for what she desired. And right now, she desired him.
“It’s just,” she added, “when I look at you, I want to be in your arms.”
“How about in my bed?”
He grinned, and it made him look even younger, maybe even younger than herself. Not that his age mattered to her. He certainly wasn’t behaving like a twenty-something kid; he was more mature. Maybe an old soul.
She suddenly realized that she hadn’t answered his question yet.
“A bed with you in it sounds pretty good…”
Where the boldness came from that she felt when talking to him, she didn’t know. Didn’t really care either. She simply enjoyed feeling free to do what she wanted—without any rules, restrictions, or conventions.
“I’m sure I can do better than pretty good,” he hedged with an amused undertone in his voice. “But I’ll let you be the judge of that.”
Benjamin lifted her off her feet and carried her across the living room. She slung her arms around his neck and brushed her lips over his. He responded to her kiss and stopped walking for a few seconds before he opened a door and entered a bedroom.
Benjamin flicked a light switch, and she let her gaze roam in the comfortable room.
Heavy red floor-to-ceiling curtains darkened the room.
A thick, lush carpet covered the floor, drowning out his footsteps.
He set her down next to the king-size bed.
Crisp, white sheets covered it, and the room had a decidedly grown-up flair.
This wasn’t the bedroom of a twenty-something guy.
“Everything okay?” he asked. “You changed your mind?”
She turned back to him and smiled, shaking her head. “You’re not getting out of this so easily.”
“Good.”
As if it was the most natural thing to do, he pulled his shirt over his head, freeing himself from it.
Immediately, she ran her eyes over his toned torso.
He was no stranger to the gym, that was evident in an instant.
But he also didn’t look like a bodybuilder, and she was glad for it.
She reached out one hand to glide it over the smooth skin of his chest. A breath rushed over his lips, and she lifted her eyes to meet his gaze.
There was a golden sheen around his irises, a play of the light in the room, and it made them look as if a fire was burning inside them, ready to spread to her if she wasn’t careful.
He gripped her hand and pressed it against his chest, then guided it lower.
At the waistband of his pants, he stopped for a moment as if to confirm that she would allow him to continue.
She held her breath, and he guided her hand lower, making her slide it over the zipper so she could feel the bulge that had formed there.
Beneath her palm, she felt heat emanate from his flesh.
“That’s what you’re doing to me, with just one kiss,” he claimed before he let go of her hand.
She didn’t remove it immediately, but let her hand linger, caressing him through the fabric.
“It’s getting warm in here,” she said softly. “Maybe I should take off my top.”
One side of his mouth lifted. “I’ll help you.”
“Thank you.”
He pulled up the hem of her long-sleeve top, and she raised her arms so he could take it off her completely. Cool air blew against her skin.
Her black bra was thin and almost see-through. She’d bought it on a whim a long time ago, for a date that had been cancelled in the end.
“It looks like you might be a little too cold now,” Benjamin said.
She knew why he said that: she could feel her nipples harden.
“Then maybe you should warm me.”
“That’s a good idea.”
He pulled her into his arms, then lifted her off her feet and slowly lowered her onto the bed.
He reached for her feet and took off her shoes, then kicked off his own and joined her on the bed.
Braced on one elbow, he lay on his side, his right hand free to caress her.
He didn’t rush when he slid his hand over her chest, rubbing his fingers alongside the seams of her bra before he stroked over her breasts.
Her nipples turned into hard little pebbles, responding to his tender touch.
A low moan escaped from her mouth, and she yearned for more.
“Please…”
He understood, so he slid his fingers underneath the thin fabric to touch her skin without a barrier between them.
A sigh of relief rolled over her lips.
“I love how responsive you are,” he murmured and shifted slightly, so his mouth now hovered over hers.
“I love your touch.”
His lips were on hers a second later, and the kiss turned from tender to scorching in an instant.
At the same time, he pushed one bra strap from her shoulder to free one breast. He cupped it in his warm palm and squeezed it in the same rhythm he kissed her, while his lower body rocked against her hip.
She could feel him rub his erection against her, and was surprised that he hadn’t already stripped them both naked so he could sleep with her. It appeared that Benjamin had more self-control than she’d expected—or more self-control than she had.
As he kissed her and caressed her breasts and somehow managed to loosen the bra and take it off her, moans and sighs bounced against the walls of the bedroom. She urged him to give her more, sliding her own hand to his butt to yank him closer, to make him realize that she wanted to feel more.
He finally seemed to have mercy on her and let go of her breasts to slide his hand down to her pants.
Expertly, he undid the button and lowered the zipper.
She was glad that she’d chosen one of her loose-fitting pants today, because it made it easier for him to pull them down to her feet and free her from them.
A moment later, he did the same with her panties.
He brought his hand to her pussy and slid it through her coarse hair until his fingers connected with her female folds. They were drenched in her own juices.
Benjamin ripped his lips from hers, and she too needed to take a deep breath.
“Damn, baby, you really need this, don’t you?”
She couldn’t get a single word over her lips. Nobody had ever acknowledged her need so openly, not even herself.
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you,” he assured her.
He captured her lips once more, kissing her again, while farther below, he caressed her intimate flesh.
Holding this sensual woman in his arms and feeling her surrender to his touch was something Benjamin hadn’t expected tonight.
In fact, he’d planned on returning to the office, eager to get busy after his boring out-of-town assignment.
He had extra energy to burn and realized now that a busy night at the office wouldn’t have given him what he needed.
Not by a long shot. Because this was what he needed: a beautiful woman in his arms. A woman who trusted him to take care of her.
It felt like she was opening up to him like a flower in bloom, and he appreciated her willingness to surrender in his arms. He would make it worth her while.