Give Me Tonight

by Lisa Kleypas

  "Don't!" Her anger mixed with fear as she realized he was out of control. The back of her head was forced against the wall by the pressure of his kiss. How far was he going to push her? She could call for help, but oh, what humiliation it might cause her and the family, and the trouble it would stir up! Why was he forcing her to make the choice?

  "Please," she choked, turning her face as his lips slid across her cheek. His groping fingers popped some of the buttons on her dress. "Jeff… listen to me…"

  She felt something hard press against her forehead, something metallic that swung gently. A horseshoe, hanging from a nail. Addie focused on the scrap of metal, straining to pull her wrists out of Jeff's grasp. It wouldn't be difficult to hit him with it as soon as she could get her hands free. But how hard? How much was enough to stop him without killing him?

  "Jeff, what's the matter with you?" She pushed at him, infuriated, as she felt his knee thrust between her legs. "Don't make me hurt you. I will, Jeff-don't force me." He seemed not to hear her, his mouth hot on her skin as he covered her throat with kisses. Then his grip on her wrists loosened, and she reached for the horseshoe. Simultaneously the door swung open and a fast-moving shadow slipped into the shed.

  Jeff was grabbed by the scruff of the neck and hauled away from her. Addie stumbled forward until his grip on her was broken. She retreated to the wall, her eyes dilating as she tried to see through the darkness. There was the sound of a brief skirmish, a man's heavy grunt of pain, the sound of a body hitting the ground.

  "Who is it?" Addie asked tremulously, gripping the horseshoe so hard the tips of her fingers were numb. "Jeff? Jeff…"

  She heard his pained gasps as he sat up, and Ben's voice, so cold and soft that it sent chills down her spine. "Horny little son of a bitch. If you lay a finger on her again, I'll kill you."

  "You have no right," Jeff muttered.

  "I have every right. It's my job to protect all Warner property, including her. Now, get out, or I'll finish this here and now. "

  "I'll fix your hash real good for this, Hunter."

  Ben snorted in disgust. "I hope you try."

  Frozen, Addie watched the doorway as Jeff left. She sighed shakily. Ben closed the door with his foot and walked over to her, stopping a few inches away. She could just make out the outline of his head and shoulders. Although he was ominously quiet, she sensed the dark fury that consumed him. She dared not breathe a word. Without warning he took hold of her wrist, squeezing until she gasped in surprise and dropped the horseshoe. Pulling her arm away, she rubbed her sore wrist, bewildered.

  "If y-you hadn't come in here," she stammered, "he might have-"

  "There was a time," he said icily, "when I wouldn't have bothered."

  "Ben… th-thank you for…" She shrank against the wall as he came closer. The familiar scent and shape of him did nothing to reassure her. Why was he so quiet? Why was she starting to sense that the real danger was just beginning? "Jeff acted so strange," she said, swallowing hard. "He was too liquored up to hear me. I think he was trying to-"

  "And what if he had? What if he had raped you?"

  "I wouldn't have let him."

  "Do you think anyone would have heard you scream with all the music and drinking going on?"

  "I was going to hit him with-"

  "That horseshoe? Did you happen to notice how easy it was for me to take it away from you? Do you think it would've been any different for him?"

  "Maybe."

  "Or maybe not," he said savagely. "And if he'd succeeded in getting what he wanted, you would have run to Daddy with the news, and then all hell would have broken loose. You little fool. Don't you realize we're on the brink of a range war as it is? You almost provided everyone with the perfect excuse to start it. They're all waiting for the first opportunity, your father included." His hands closed around her upper arms, tightening as she gave a cry of pain.

  "Ben, let go of me!"

  "Do you like the idea of causing all that bloodshed?" he snarled. "Men dying over you, blood being spilled… does that appeal to your vanity?"

  She flinched and shook her head wildly. "No. I didn't think about any of that. I just wanted to-"

  "You wanted to prove to Russ that you're a big girl. And to hell with what he asked of you. Jesus, you think the world revolves around you, and you've got everyone else convinced of it! What have you done to make us all insane over you? Are you worth all the trouble you're trying to cause, Addie? Damn you, I've had enough of wondering!"

  Her heart jumped with fear, and she made a move to escape. He caught her rigid body against his, easily holding her prisoner. Jeff had been strong, but not like this. Trying to fight Ben was useless. His muscles were as hard as steel, his body as tough as rawhide. "Now that you've gotten rid of Jeff," she gasped, "are you planning to take his place?"

  "There's a big difference between him and me, darlin'." He sneered. "The consequences if he takes you are a lot different than if I do. If you need a man so badly you have to sneak out here with him, I'm more than willing to satisfy you. We're all better off if I'm the one who does it."

  "I hate you." Wedging her hands against his chest, she shoved as hard as she could, managing to knock them both off balance. As they fell to the ground, Ben twisted to take the shock of the fall for both of them. Then Addie gave a muffled cry as he rolled on top of her. She tried to strike him, but he was too quick, catching her wrists and pinning them over her head. Outraged, she continued to struggle, stretched out underneath him while the ravaged neckline of her bodice sagged.

  "Stop it, Ben! I've had to put up with enough of this for one night! If you don't let me go, I'm going to have you fired first thing tomorrow m-"

  "Shut up."

  "I will not! You let me go, you stinking bully-"

  "I said shut up!" His tone was so vicious that Addie was startled into silence. "Count yourself lucky I'm trying to remember your father right now. It's only out of respect for him that I'm not going to give you what you deserve. Dammit, stop wiggling!'

  Her eyes had become accustomed to the darkness, and she glared at him furiously. "If you're not going to give me what I deserve, then get off me!" His response was to straddle her and dig his lips into hers. Even through her skirts she could feel the hard, protruding shape of him wedged between her thighs. The feel of him there, pressed against her so hard that their bodies seemed meshed together, made her tremble. Warm weakness seeped outward and upward from her loins, irrepressible, relentless.

  No. She couldn't feel such a thing, not for Ben Hunter… her enemy… he was deadly… he was forbidden. In a sharp move she brought her knee up, trying to disarm him. Deftly he shifted so her knee struck the inside of this thigh, which was as solid and unyielding as a tree trunk. He pulled up the billows of her skirts and used his knees to spread her pantalet-encased legs wide.

  "Is this what you're so anxious to avoid?" he demanded, lowering his hips to hers, and she gasped. He was startlingly turgid and hot as he pressed against her. "Because this, " he continued, grinding his loins harder into hers, sending shock waves through her body, "is the result of all your little smiles and schemes, Addie-"

  "I've never tried to arouse you on purpose-"

  "You can do it to a man just by looking at him, and you know it. Hell, I don't blame Jeff for wanting you. It's the little game you play, making a man crazy with need for you and then freezing him out. "

  "No! I don't!" Addie stared up at him through the darkness, shaking with unfamiliar emotions. She was stunned by his violent anger. What had she done to make him so furious?

  Ben's face loomed above her. His eyes gleamed like a eat's as he took note of the labored hiss of her breath and the curving of her fingers into claws. "You'd scratch my eyes out if you could," he muttered.

  "Worse than that," she said, aware he was toying with her, hating him for it. "I'm going to make you pay for treating me like-"

  His mouth slammed down on hers. It was a kiss of anger, not passion, meant
to show her who was master. She groaned and fought him with all her strength. After nearly a minute had passed by, she realized how useless it was and went limp, surrendering. Finally Ben stopped and lifted his head, the harsh puffs of his breath striking her cheek. She knew his lips had to feel as bruised as hers did, but the thought gave her little comfort.

  "Are you finished now?" she gasped. "You proved you're a big strong man. I'm sure you're satisfied. You won. There's just one thing I want to make clear. I heard what you said to Jeff a few minutes ago. Don't you ever call me property again. I'm not anyone's property, not my father's, and not yours. So remove your paws and get the hell off me!"

  He glared down at her, unimpressed by her fury. "When I'm ready."

  "What do you want me to do?" she exploded. "Pretend I enjoy this?"

  "Maybe. Yeah, let's try that."

  "Go to hell! The only thing I feel for you is disgust. "

  He was silent for a few seconds, looking over her and then shaking his head as if to clear his mind. "I guess you do. But tonight I haven't exactly been enchanted by you, either."

  He shifted his weight off her, letting go of her wrists and fitting his thigh over her hips to keep her pinned down. Suddenly she could breathe again. Her arms fell by her sides, tingling as the blood began to circulate through them. She lay still, waiting for him to release her, trying to gather her wits.

  Ben's eyes flickered over her chest as it rose and fell rapidly. Even bound in stays and tangled up in skirts as Addie was, there was no mistaking the enticing shape of her body. He couldn't help but recall the feel of her breasts crushed against his chest, the soft cradle of her hips. His anger vanished just as quickly as it had been roused, replaced by a purely masculine interest. He should be fired on the spot for what he'd just done to her, for the way he was lying over her right now with his thigh slung over her. Russell would string him up by the balls if he knew.

  And yet, somehow he was certain Russell wasn't going to find out. Not if Ben's instincts concerning Addie were right. If she felt anything similar to what he was feeling, she wasn't altogether sorry she was in here alone with him. Of course, she'd never admit it. Ben looked down at her, debating his next move. Let her up and apologize? It would probably be best… but something inside rebelled at the thought of letting her go just yet. As long as he had her at his mercy, why not take advantage of it? She wouldn't hate him any less. And to hell with his scruples. He wanted her so badly he was about to burst into flames.

  "You're sure disgust is all you feel, Addie?"

  "Yes," she said sullenly.

  "Not meaning to contradict you, darlin', but a little while ago I could have sworn you felt something very different from disgust. Just for a few seconds, you-"

  "I don't care what you like to imagine, I didn't feel anything!" By now Addie was thoroughly humiliated, longing for the entire episode to be over. To compound her confusion, Ben bent over her and kissed the tip of her nose, as if they'd just had a friendly argument. Addie was utterly bewildered. There was never any way to predict what he might do.

  "I'm sorry for calling you property," he murmured. "I didn't mean it."

  "You did, or you wouldn't have said it. You're like all the other men around here. I can't abide the attitude you have toward women."

  His lips smoothed over her eyebrow, then touched her eyelid in a butterfly caress. "Then help me change."

  "I… I don't c-care if you change or not. I just want…" Her heart began to hammer in her chest as he kissed her chin. What was he doing to her?

  "You want what?" he prompted, sliding his arm underneath her neck. She tried to push him away. But now that he had her in his grasp, he wasn't about to let her go.

  "I want you to l-leave me alone."

  "Are you sure?"

  "Yes," she said faintly.

  "Think I could change your mind?" His voice was as raspy as a cat's tongue, the sound of it sending shivers down her spine. She blinked, forgetting what he'd asked until he repeated the question.

  Shaking her head jerkily, Addie made a move to get up. "You didn't say you were s-sorry for k-kissing me."

  "I'm not."

  "It hurt."

  "That I'm sorry for." He picked up one of her hands and brought it to his jaw, stroking the back of her knuckles against it. The gentle scrape sent an electric shock down to her toes. "Your hand is so small." As she tried to pull it away he held it more firmly and pretended to examine the rest of her. Slowly he smiled. "Why, you're no bigger than a minute, Adeline Warner."

  "Big enough to handle you," she snapped, and went scarlet as he chuckled.

  "You might be at that."

  "Oh, let me go, you crude, overbearing… I'll never forgive you for… No, Ben-"

  "No what?"

  "Don't do that.'

  "Don't do what?"

  "Ben-"

  Her words were smothered as his mouth possessed hers, insistent and skillful, kissing her as she had never been kissed before. Feebly she tried to turn her face away, but he cradled the side of her cheek in his hand, his thumb tracing over her temple in a delicately drawn circle. He kissed her as thoroughly as he'd wanted to for weeks, exploring the inside of her mouth, savoring the texture of her inner cheeks, the ticklish spot at the roof of her mouth, stroking her tongue with his. She trembled, no longer trying to fight him, and her lips parted as she began to drown in a sea of fire. They kissed frantically, delving, tasting, consuming.

  A low purr vibrated in Ben's throat, making the hairs on the back of Addie's neck rise. Her body went liquid inside. Oh, the pleasure was more than she could stand. Sensations surged together, and still she wanted more. What was she doing, here on the floor with Ben Hunter? She'd lost her mind.

  "I can't think-"

  "Hush. Be quiet for once." He followed the curve of her neck down to the upper rise of her breasts. Her heartbeat was rapid beneath his hand. Before she could stop him, his fingers slid underneath her dress until his hand was cupped around her breast. The friction between his palm and her bare flesh made them both gasp. His fingers flexed into the warm softness, his hand rotating until her nipple hardened and pressed into his palm. Addie moaned helplessly. She had never trusted any man with such intimacy, and it was frightening, and very good. Her mind screamed for her to stop, but the night was filled with madness, and the voice of reason had diminished into a whisper. She couldn't pull back.

  His palm skimmed her ribs carefully, as if he were afraid she might break, and she arched up to him like a wanton. Her guilty, pleasured sigh filled his mouth as his hand returned to her breast, and his thumb made a slow excursion around her nipple. The sweet ache of it rippled all through her being. Writhing closer to him, she tangled her fingers in his hair and pulled his mouth harder on hers. Their tongues slid together and mated in delicious thrusts, their lips clung until they were completely sealed.

  After a long time Ben lifted his head and took a deep breath in an effort to master the powerful urgings of his body. The need to take her, here and now, was almost impossible to contain. She was his obsession. He wanted to know her most private secrets, explore her until he knew her body and soul as intimately as his own. With all his experience he'd never felt so drawn to another human being, or craved to know and be known so completely. He tugged briefly at her hair, his agile fingers hunting for pins and pulling them out. The locks that had been bound up and pinned away from others' sight and touch were now his, freed and loose.

  Addie wound her arms around his neck as she felt his body move over hers, settling until they were molded together. The layers of clothing that separated them did nothing to disguise his desire and her softness, the hardness of him and the yielding woman's shape of her.

  Trembling, she felt him ease her gown down, lifting her breast out of its confines, his hot mouth descending to her nipple, covering, pulling, sending streaks of lightning down to the pit of her stomach. Blindly she reached for his shoulders, gripping his hard-muscled flesh as she sought to tell h
im without words how it felt… don't stop … don't ever stop. His tongue feathered over her lightly, learned the tender hard texture of her.

  "Adeline," he whispered, moving back up to her lips and kissing her without restraint. "Don't hold yourself back from me. I won't hurt you." She shivered in his arms, her breath rapid and hot against his neck. His hand wandered down her body, beyond her waist, underneath her pantalets. She tensed as his fingertips searched her gently.

  "No… I shouldn't be letting you-"

  "But you are," he said into the curve of her shoulder. "And I shouldn't want you. But I do."

  "Ben," she gasped, "Please-"

  "No one will ever know you like I'm going to, Addie. You can keep the rest of the world at bay, but you're going to let me inside. You understand what's happening between us. You know nothing is going to stop it, no matter what either of us may do." She moaned as he found the tender spot he had been seeking, as he brought her to the fine edge between pleasure and madness. "I want you to remember this," he said, crushing the words against her mouth. "Remember every time you think of me."

  She clung to him tightly, her hips arching upward. "Much as I'd like to, I'm not going to take you here," he muttered, burying his face in her hair. "If for no other reason than because he would have." Sighing tautly, Ben withdrew his hand from between her thighs, bestowing a longing caress on her abdomen before pulling her skirts back into place. He looked around the shadowy little building as if noticing their surroundings for the first time. His lip curled with disgust. "A blacksmith shop."

  Aching and frustrated, Addie shifted underneath him, her breath ragged. Ben smiled, pulling her into his arms and pressing her head against his shoulder, holding her until her quivering had stopped. The unsatisfied wanting was just as painful for him.

  "I have to go back to Sunrise tomorrow after the wedding," he said, trying to sound casual. "Someone has to look after the ranch, and right now I don't trust it out of my hands more than a day or two. If you don't want to undergo a repeat of Jeff's performance tonight, then stay close to your father and your family. "