Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-five
Ben
Slipping her glasses off her face, I kissed her.
Five years ago, I’d stolen a kiss at her hotel room door, and it had led us here. That night had been dulled by alcohol and time, but now that my lips were on hers, it all came flooding back. And I remembered why I hadn’t been able to drag myself away from her until life forced us apart.
I threaded my fingers in the back of her hair, angling her head.
Her soft mouth opened, letting me in. My tongue slipped between her lips, meeting hers.
The sounds that slipped from her—a moan, a keening sigh of need—shot straight to my gut.
I gathered her against me, her full curves so lush and solid I couldn’t get her close enough.
I groaned into her mouth, my hands finding her hips, sliding up the back of her shirt, needing to touch skin. I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t stop. Every time I thought about pulling back, giving her space, she made this quiet sound—half gasp, half plea—and I dove back in.
When I finally tore my mouth away, my forehead rested against hers, both of us breathing hard.
“Worth the wait,” I rasped.Her laugh trembled between us.
“I don’t know. Five years is a little extreme.
”“Worth it,” I reiterated. My thumb traced her bottom lip, already pink and swollen.
“My memories of you don’t do you justice, and I remembered you being one of the most gorgeous creatures I’d ever laid eyes on. ”
“Only one of?” she teased.
“Mazzy Belle, you drive me nuts.”
She sighed. “We should probably talk.”
“Probably,” I agreed.I kissed her again.
This one wasn’t careful. It was rougher, hungrier.
She gasped, then gave in, her hands sliding into my hair.
Having her on me, wanting me, just as hungry for my lips, made me antsy.
I could have crawled out of my skin. I had to move.
The heat coming from her core was too irresistible, even through our clothes.
I rocked into her, but it did nothing to relieve the ache in my cock. I’d been hard the second I’d gotten close to her, and with her on top of me, touching me, letting me touch and kiss her, I was throbbing.
Usually, I had better self-control, but not with Mazzy. Her thighs hugging my hips, her big tits against my chest, round ass resting on my legs—it was a specific formula designed to make me lose my mind. And it was all in the palms of my hands.
How could I not be on the cusp of making a fool of myself?
Her breath hitched when I pressed against her.
“Sorry,” I muttered, even as my hands refused to let her go. “You’re just so very hot.”Her smiling lips brushed my jaw. “You have nothing to be sorry for. At all.”
That did it. A laugh mixed with a groan propelled me forward. I kissed her again, slower this time. I wanted to memorize the shape of her mouth, the feel of her breath, the way her fingers shook as they touched my neck.
Every time we broke apart, it was like surfacing for air then diving straight back under. My vision went spotty, and my head was so light I was spinning, but I liked it. And I couldn’t stop rocking against her heat, seeking her out again and again.
She whispered something against my lips, but I couldn’t even make out the words. Her voice was wrecked and soft and mine.
She pulled her lips away. “We’re supposed to be talking.”
“Yeah. I’ll talk to you with my mouth.”
She giggled against my lips. “Isn’t that how you usually talk?”
“My way has a lot more tongue involved.”
Who the hell knew what I was saying? Every ounce of my blood had relocated to my cock. And Mazzy was being no help, pretending she wanted to chat while pressing and rocking against me like a little fiend.
She was going to be the death of me.
Every time she moved, even just to breathe, I felt it. The pressure, the heat, the sheer unbearable closeness. I was losing track of where I ended and she began, and somewhere in the back of my mind, I realized she knew—she knew what she was doing to me.
Clawing at my neck, she rasped my name and pressed down on me.
Right on the ridge of my erection. It should have felt good.
Incredible. But what it did to me…what it caused…
there was no going back. Panic struck me, but it was too late.
There was no stopping the barreling train about to fly off the tracks.
My hips knifed upward, and I sucked on her lips, the rest of me taut, a puppet on a string Mazzy held in the palm of her hand.
We were just kissing.
Kissing.
But a gut punch of pleasure sent me arching off the couch, clutching her hips to me as I panted and shook, losing my sense of place and time with her body on mine and her breath in my lungs.
I rutted against her as my cock throbbed and spurted, so out of control, I wondered if it would ever stop.
Mazzy was no help. Not with her grinding and heat and round hips and soft tits.
Her scent and voice and skin. Oh, holy hell, she plucked those strings until I was dangling at her whim, my limbs and core and guts tied up tight.
And when it snapped, I fell a hundred feet, and Mazzy followed. She lay on my chest, her face tucked in my throat. All I could do was blink at the ceiling and try to breathe. She stroked my hair, softly kissed my neck, letting me hold her close.
“That was embarrassing,” I finally uttered.
“Maybe, but I’m pretty flattered,” she murmured.
Groaning, I curved my hands around her back and down to her plump ass, giving it a squeeze. “God, you should be. You turned me into a horny teenager with one make-out session. I understand if you want to back out now and forget about dating me.”
Her sigh was hot against my neck. “We were supposed to talk about that.”
“Yeah.” I lifted my head to look around then promptly let it fall back. “Give me a minute. Let me hold you for a while, then I need to clean up. I can’t talk in the state I’m in.”
“Okay.” She nuzzled closer. “I can wait.”
Her patience outlasted my will to sit there in sticky underwear, no matter how good it felt to have this woman’s weight on me and my arms around her. Finally, we untangled ourselves, and I went to the bathroom to clean myself up.
When it came down to it, I wasn’t surprised Mazzy had made me come in my pants, but I wasn’t happy with my performance. With any luck, she’d let me have a redo—where I actually got her off and didn’t finish in under five minutes.
I found Mazzy where I’d left her on the couch, a smirk playing on her kiss-swollen lips. “All better?”
I made a cross with my fingers. “Don’t look at me like that. I can’t survive coming in my pants for a second time tonight.”
She sputtered with laughter. “Shut up and get over here. We really do have to talk.”
I fell down beside her, flinching at the way the damp fabric of my underwear clung to my skin. Mazzy took my hand and held it on her lap, quickly distracting me. Her thumb stroked along my knuckles as she bit her bottom lip.
“I like you, Ben.” She rolled her eyes. “I mean, that’s obvious.”
“It’s good to hear you say anyway.” I canted my upper body toward her, bumping her shoulder. “For the record, I like you too, Mazz.”
“Well, we have that part right.” She pulled in a deep breath and let it out. “I don’t know what dating looks like with a kid, but I would like to try. I have a stipulation, though.”
“Let me hear it.”
“We have to sort out our custody agreement first. In case things don’t work out between us, there won’t be any question—no woman scorned or vengeful father.”
“That’s not us,” I argued.
“I would hope not, but you never know.” She held our hands to her stomach.
“I don’t want even a second of doubt between us.
If either of us wants to end things, we can do that without worrying about what might happen with Katty.
And I know it sounds like I’m jumping the gun since we haven’t even been out on a date—”
“You aren’t jumping the gun. I have been going out of my mind for weeks about you. This isn’t a whim.”
I wasn’t a paperwork guy. I left that kind of thing to my brothers.
But Mazzy was right. Not about us ending.
But if we had an agreement, I’d never question if she was with me so she didn’t lose time with Katty.
No questions. Nothing hanging over our heads.
It made sense to have everything in writing.
“That’s good to know,” she said.
“My lawyer has the agreement. I’m sure he’ll want to make tweaks so he can charge me his exorbitant hourly rate, but I’ll instruct him to call your lawyer so we can get this done soon.”
“Thank you, Benny.”
I lifted our joined hands to my mouth and nibbled her index finger. “I mean soon, Mazz.”
“Too bad you’re going to Chicago tomorrow. We might’ve been able to fit you in.”
I bit her hand a little harder, making her yelp. “Monday. I’m showing up at your office, with or without an appointment.”
“Wow, you’re really kind of desperate, aren’t you?”
With my free hand, I snagged the back of her neck, bringing her forehead to mine. “You have no idea. I want you, Mazzy Belle. I spent all night thinking I was too late, and your aunt and cousin had me convinced Carrot was going to make his move—”
She burst out laughing. “What are you talking about? Garrett and his girlfriend go to Aunt Barb’s church. She knows he has zero interest in me.”
I stared at her in horror. “Did Aunt Barb play me? Did she play me, Mazz?”
“It seems she did.” Her brow dropped. “Don’t tell me you’re mad.”
“I’m mad like a Hatter, but I’m not angry. Honestly, I’m impressed with how slick they both were. I guess fiendery runs in the family.”
She pointed to herself. “Adopted, remember? I’m not blood related to them.”
“Nurture over nature, baby.” I winked. “Luckily, Katty has me around to be a good influence.”
“Yeah.” Her smile softened. “She really is lucky you’re around. We both are.”
“Don’t be sweet when I’m forced to wait at least a week to properly have you.” Despite myself, I leaned down and touched my lips to hers. “Don’t worry, baby. This is going to be good. We’ve got this.”
Her eyes found mine. “You sound so sure.”
“I am.” I cupped her cheek. “Who got you through that near plane crash?”
Her nose crinkled. “The pilot…and you.”
“Mostly me.” I kissed the tip of her nose. “And I’ll get you through dating me.”
“Well, if it’s anything like that near plane crash, I’m looking forward to it.”
“It’ll be Pago Pago every day.”
“I can’t wait.”