My eyes snagged on Hannah who was looking my way with a beaming smile, which I returned with one of my own, and winked. It was nice seeing her so relaxed around her parents, not to mention mine. It looked like my meddling had worked.
“So how’s it going with you two?” Adam asked.
My eyes snapped from my girlfriend to her father. His eyes were humored and his smile widened at the sight of the grin that spread across my face. “Great,” I said.
“Why do I sense that there’s more you’re not saying?” Dad asked.
My gaze fused to Adam’s. “I love her.”
“Can’t say I didn’t notice with the way you look at her.” Hannah’s father patted me on the back. “You could have told me earlier, you know.”
“That’s it?” I asked. “No warnings, no threats, no-?”
“Ben, what’s there to say? You’re two adults. You know what’s at stake here.” Dad nodded in agreement. “You were a stranger that chose to look after our little girl. If we trusted you then, we sure as hell will trust you now.”
“Thank you, sir.” I cleared the ball of nerves from my throat. “Dad, what do you think?”
“I couldn’t be happier,” he said with conviction. “That woman brought you back to us. If anything, I’d propose on your behalf right now.”
“Well let’s not get carried away.” I chuckled. “But don’t be surprised if it happens.”
“Oh, it’ll happen.” Adam crossed his arms, wearing a sure expression. “And I want grandchildren before I can’t move.”
“I’m with you on that one,” Dad said, tipping the rest of his drink back.
I smirked. “You two sound more like old maids than grown men. Does old age make you go soft over the years?”
The men looked at each other, then burst out laughing.
The three women lifted their heads at the commotion, and as our eyes met and locked, I mouthed those three little words to Hannah without thinking.
“You what?” Anne got up to her feet and looked about ten years younger with the beaming smile on her face.
“Mom!” Hannah got up to stand beside her mother.
She looked at her daughter. “He just said he loves you.”
“Well, I didn’t say it as so much as mouth it, Anne, but I guess the secret’s out now. I love Hannah.”
“You’re not going to start yelling it from the rooftops are you?” Hannah asked, walking over to me.
I pulled her onto my lap, my arms surrounding her waist, and she wrapped hers around my neck.
“I could if it would make things even better, but they’re pretty damn perfect enough as they are.” My lips met her temple.
“Hot damn!” Mom said. “Did you hear that, Doug?”
“Hear it? I can’t believe we knew about it a whole two minutes before you two hens,” he said, and I laughed along with Adam. Hannah shook her head at our fathers.
“Thank you,” Hannah said after a moment.
“For what?” Our surroundings had grown quiet.
“For having my parents be here tonight.”
“You’re welcome, sweetheart.”
She pulled my head down for a soft kiss, our fathers snickering about young love, the mothers giggling like school girls.
At that point, everything felt right. Everyone who needed to know about us knew.
Everyone but Candace’s parents, but something told me that they’d be fine, what with them already having warmed to Hannah.
Chapter 52
By the time we’d reached Hannah’s house, I was bursting at the seams and trying hard not to curse the woman that sat next to me.
Getting head while driving hadn’t been what I’d imagined it to be. Talk about the mother of all driving distractions!
I rushed around the car, grabbed Hannah, and set her over my shoulder in a fireman’s hold. Giving that firm ass of hers a good smack, I hurried us to the door and made sure the damn thing was locked before I took us up to her bedroom.
“Baby, you’re evil,” I said to which she giggled.
“What’d I do?”
Lifting the hem of her dress up to her waist, I made sure nothing would come between my hand and those cheeks of hers. I smacked her ass for good measure. Her legs tightened together, and she squirmed over my shoulder.
I growled. “You know very well what you were doing.”
“It was only a little sexy gratitude.” I let her slide down the front of my body. “Can I make it up to you?”
Sexy gratitude? I liked the sound of that. Hannah’s eyes glittered in the dim lighting, pleased as punch that I was considering her latest pitch. “What do you have in mind?”
“Well,” she grinned lasciviously, “I have me a fireman here, and his hose still needs clearing since I was interrupted earlier.”
Her hands made haste at divesting me of my pants rather quickly before her silky fingers grabbed hold of my length and pumped it once.
She nipped my chin before dropping to her knees, my jaw dropping along with her.
“Han-na-nah,” was all I managed as her tongue traced the rim of my head. And then those sensuous lips wrapped themselves around me, taking me to the hilt. “Fuck!” The woman had clearly held out in the car. If she kept this up, she’d render me to my knees.
My hand fisted her hair and pulled back. “Baby, you have to stop.”
The slight shake of her head and her refusing moan around me sent tremors down my spine. She continued to slide my length in and out of that criminal mouth of hers.
Overwhelmed by the sensations, I couldn’t bring myself to release her tresses. Hannah’s throat muscles worked around my length, my release imminent. Blood pounded in my ears, white spots filled my vision, and my hips jerked forward as she broke me, swallowing all I had to offer.
When Hannah released me from her mouth and stood up, I pulled her against me, my hand tightening around her hair to tilt her head back. Her eyes widened with lust.
“I’m going to make you come so many times you’ll be climbing the walls backwards in an attempt to get away from me for that stunt, baby.” I growled and captured her mouth with mine in an aggressive kiss.
Pulling away, much to Hannah’s protest, I retreated enough to remove my shirt, as well as to kick away my pants, which were pooled at my ankles.
“Take off your clothes,” I commanded. She started as if it was a race. “Slowly. And stop after each item so I can admire you.” This is going to be good.
I sat down in the armless lounge chair that took up a corner of her bedroom and proceeded to enjoy the show.
To my delight, Hannah twirled after she removed her dress, exposing her thong and the pink mark of my hand on her left cheek.
Her bra and underwear were next.
Hannah reached to remove her shoes. “The heels stay.” Her posture straightened. I held out my hand to her. “Come here.”
When Hannah’s fingers laced with mine, I pulled her closer so she stood in front of me in naked perfection, her hands connecting with my chest. I ran mine over her back, up to her shoulders, barely touching her heated skin.
“You’re beautiful, sweetheart.” She blushed at my heated appraisal. “Now, I need you to sit on my face.”
Getting up, I positioned myself so I straddled the back of the chair and laid back, my head at its foot. Without argument, Hannah straddled my head, facing my feet, her feet tucked under my armpits as I pulled her closer to my mouth.
“Have I ever told you that your pussy was the best I’ve ever had?” My tongue traced the length of Hannah’s lower lips, where she graced me with a whimper.
My mouth worked her, as I nipped with my teeth, sucked with my lips, and probed her with my tongue. Her moans turned guttural and mixed with the occasional shriek as my fingers joined the mix.
Hannah was so into it that she hadn’t even realized that she was attempting to ride my face.
At some point, her body began to shift forward and she gripped my shaft. My hand con
nected hard with her ass, making her hiss. The clenching of her hot channel on my inserted fingers told me she loved it.
“You don’t touch until I tell you to. You got me once already, this is my time.”
“B-but…” I slapped her again and this time, she moaned and pressed her bottom closer to my face in a submissive offering.
Hannah came twice before I allowed her sweet pussy away from my face.
“Get on your knees on the lounge,” I told her.
She moved into position, gasping loud when I breached her entrance hard and without warning, from behind.
“Play with yourself while I fuck you, baby. I want to hear you scream.”
Boy did she indulge me! Lowering a leg to the floor for added leverage, Hannah pistoned backward onto my shaft. My hands gripped her hips and pulled her into me until she came again, her screams making my ears ring.
Her body was a limp mass, but my cock sure wasn’t.
Pulling out, I picked her up and set her down on the bed where I opened her legs, lifted her hips and plunged right back in, eliciting a grunt from her.
My thumb tweaked her clit as I thrust balls deep into her and after a few hard flicks over her nub, I could feel her hips and legs start to work as she tried to get away from me.
“Ben, I can’t… I can’t come anymore.”
“Just one more, baby, one more.” I gritted my teeth, picked up the tempo and added more pressure to her already hyper-sensitive jewel.
A vice-like contraction took hold of my cock and that was my undoing.
Hannah’s screams became silent, her breathing remained heavy and her eyes were closed.
“Baby?” I asked.
“Hmm?”
I lay back and pulled Hannah’s limp form into me. It took a minute for her to respond, but she eventually wrapped her arms around me, while I rubbed her back.
“Baby, are you okay?”
“You’re a maniac,” she mumbled. “Call me crazy, but I want to do that again some time.”
The tremendous relief I felt at her words surprised me. For once, I didn’t have to hide that part of me that loved control with an aggression that all of my partners over the years had gone running from. It only solidified the fact that Hannah was made for me.
I chuckled and kissed her forehead. “Sleep, sweetheart.” I pulled the covers over us, kissing her forehead. “I love you.”
Chapter 53
A few weeks came and went in a flash.
Work was a pain in the ass today with some hot-shot businessman’s wife having a fit about one of my servers checking her out over breakfast.
By the time lunch rolled around, Hannah had called me to cancel our daily lunch date because of a last minute order.
My day had gone from bad to worse when Chris walked in and made a bee-line for me. There was no escaping the man this time.
“What do you want?” I growled out.
“We need to talk.”
My eyes narrowed on him. “You fucked my wife, what’s there to talk about?”
The heads of the few remaining lunch patrons turned toward us.
Chris stepped back, his voice cracking when he spoke next. “You know.”
“Oh boy, do I ever.” My blood boiled. “What other reason could I have for being pissed off at you?” Now this I have to hear.
He looked around and saw that some people were still looking our way. “Can we speak somewhere a little more private?”
“Are you sure you want to do this right now?” I could be liable for a hell of a lot more than just yelling at the man if he pushed me over the edge.
“I’m done tip-toeing,” the man said.
Give the man what he wants and move on.
Derek took over as I led Chris to my office.
He refused the seat I offered him, and I shut the door with a little more force than necessary.
“So what do you know?” he asked.
“Does it really matter? Let me ask you a question, Chris. Did you ever love her? I mean, for a married man, there had to have been something about Candace that made you want her more than your own wife.” At least the man had the decency to look guilty. “Tell me… What did you do when you found out that Karen was yours and was being raised by another man?”
The man’s face grew red with fury. “Leave my baby girl out of this!”
“That’s right, Chris, your baby girl.” I walked toward my desk. “I have something for you. You had your assistant drop them off at her parents’ house and they finally came my way a few months ago.” Opening the drawer, I pulled out all five journals, letting them drop to my desk with a loud thud. “They make for great, kinky reading. I’m sure you’ll enjoy them since they’re all about you two.”
“Ben-”
“Don’t Ben me. We’re not old friends. You were an ex-boyfriend of my dead wife’s, her boss, her lover. Were you ever really out of her life?”
The man shook his head. “I should have never left her to begin with.” The man’s eyes teared up. “I loved her, Ben, so much. I-”
“I don’t want to hear your apologies or excuses. You’ve had three years to come clean and you haven’t. Fuck, you had a hell of a lot longer than that if we’re being honest here.” I took a deep breath, giving him a hard look. “Take them, read them, they’re yours. They don’t belong to me just like Candace and Karen never did. It’s too bad I wasted so much of my life thinking I was happy when I was clearly about to suffer the biggest heartbreak of all.”
“I know you don’t want to hear this, but-”
“What?”
“She did love you,” he said. “She loved us both.”
A snort escaped. Was he for real? “You must be delusional. You don’t love someone and fuck around on them. Get your head out of your ass for one second and take a look around.”
The man remained silent.
After a long minute, he picked up the journals, tucked them under his arm.
“I have one request of you.” I sighed. “I know that you haven’t changed and the fact that you’re standing here in front of me with no wedding band around your finger tells me that life hasn’t been all that kind to you over the last few years. I need you to move on. As for your business meetings, you need to take them elsewhere. You’re not welcome in my establishment.”
The man nodded. “Is that all?”
“No. I saw the way you honed in on Hannah.”
“I didn’t know she was taken.”
“Fair enough. But what you said after knowing she was mine indicates that you’re still an ass.”
“I’m sorry. I know it doesn’t mean anything to you, but I need to say it. Candace’s parents were the ones that said I needed to talk to you.”
“You talked to them?”
“I bumped into them about a month ago. Her old man looked as if he was ready to throttle me. They told me that they knew what their daughter had done and urged me to be a man for once.”
“So that’s why you’ve been in here,” I said, piecing the puzzle together. The man nodded. “Fine.”
“I’ve seen you visit them,” he said. “I can’t bring myself to walk up to their graves.”
“What is this?” I turned away from him, irritated. “For all intents and purposes, we’ve cleared the air, Chris. Be a man, go see them, cry your eyes out for all I care. Lord knows I’ve done more than enough of that when I shouldn’t have.” I headed toward the door and held it open. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a business to run.”
“Ben-”
“I said get out!”
Chapter 54
By the time my shift was done, I sped home like the Hounds of Hell were on my ass. I walked through the threshold and slammed the door behind me, ignoring the unfamiliar car that was parked in my driveway.
“Well that wasn’t the kind of ‘glad to see you’ I was expecting.” My head snapped in Hannah’s direction.
Much like the vehicle, I hadn’t noticed her standing there u
ntil she’d spoken.
Marching past her to the liquor cabinet in the den, I poured myself a generous amount of scotch, downing it and enjoying the numbing burn as it slid down my throat.
Hannah’s arms surrounded my torso as I tilted the glass down from my lips. “Bad day?” she asked into my back.
I groaned my response. After a few seconds, my eyes widened. “Who’s car is in the driveway, and why are you here? I thought I was picking you up later.”
“Mine, and I took an early day because I was desperate to see you, why?”
“You got a car?” I put my glass down on the cabinet and turned to face her. “When?”
“Today. I can’t expect you to drive me around all the time. Let’s face it, I needed to get back behind the wheel.”
“I wish you would have told me.” I grabbed her face in my hands, trying to gauge where her head was at. This had been a big step for her, what with the anxiety that riddled her every time she tried to get in the driver’s seat. “We’d decided that I’d go with you.”
“I wanted to do this on my own.” She gave me an apologetic look before it was chased away with a look of excitement. “What do you think of it?”
Aside from it being a black SUV, I hadn’t really paid that much attention. “Let me go look at it.”
A hand grasping the back of my shirt stopped me before I could move away. “Hold on, mister. You’re not getting away without my kiss first.”
My lips met hers for a quick peck. “Like magic. You can always make my day better with one of your kisses.”
“And you look like you could do with a good one with this mood you’re in.” She wrapped her arms around my neck. “Come here.”
The moment her lips captured mine hungrily, the world faded away. Chris? Gone! My problems? Gone! It was just Hannah and those luscious lips of hers that brought me more than pleasure. They brought me comfort, brought me home.
She pulled away first and I leaned my forehead against hers. “Hi, sweetheart,” I said huskily, then grinned. “Let’s go check out your new ride.”
“I gave you a kiss like that, and all you want to do is check out the car?” She huffed melodramatically. “Men! You may be a sweetheart, a sex God, and one hell of a boyfriend, but you men are all the same aren’t you, all for the toys?”
To Forgive & Hold Safe (The Broken Men Chronicles Book 4) Page 17