Before Ben (Wilde Ways Book 3)

by Cynthia Eden

  “Hell, yes,” Ben urged her as his thrusts quickened. “Let me feel you, let me feel you come around me.”

  Her lips parted. A wild cry broke from her. The pleasure slammed into her again, and her sex clamped around his cock as she erupted. And he was right there with her. Courtney felt the shudder that ran the length of his body, and Ben held onto her so tightly, his hands locked around her hips as he seemed to seal her to him.

  Her heart thundered. Her breath heaved. The whole world spun.

  Had she screamed his name? Courtney had no clue. She had to wet her parched lips. Clear her throat. And then she managed to open her eyes, too.

  He was staring down at her.

  Weren’t guys supposed to look all sated and relaxed after sex? She was pretty sure that was typically the case. Only Ben didn’t appear that way.

  His eyes were darker than normal. His hair tousled. His jaw locked. His whole expression was just—dangerous. Intense.

  “We’ll be going again,” he told her.

  Oh, yes, please. She didn’t say that. She could try to play this whole thing cool. Try.

  He withdrew from her. She hated that. Missed him almost instantly.

  He stalked to her bathroom, and since she didn’t normally just hang out in bed, totally naked as she waited for her lover—well, naked except for the high heels—she immediately grabbed for the cover and yanked it over herself.

  She heard water running in the bathroom.

  I had sex with Ben. With Ben. And it had been as incredible as she’d always both feared and hoped it would be. Her hands raked through her hair. It was a long and tousled mess, and she needed it get it looking better so—

  Her phone was ringing. Courtney frowned. Where in the hell was the phone? She’d come inside, and she’d had her bag on her shoulder. Had she dropped it on the desk in the corner? Right before Ben had stalked toward her and things had gotten hot, way fast?

  She slid from the bed and made sure to pull a sheet with her. The phone rang again, the peal guiding her to the corner. She wrapped the sheet around her so her ass wasn’t flashing, and Courtney snaked her hand in her purse. The number on the screen wasn’t one she recognized, but she had given the cop at the scene her contact information. Maybe he was calling to tell her that he’d already made an arrest? Her finger slid over the phone and then she put it to her ear. “Hello?”

  “You lying bitch.”

  The voice was so angry and filled with hate that it took the actual words a moment to register.

  “You will fucking pay, you understand me?”

  No, she didn’t understand. “Who the hell is this?” Courtney demanded.

  He hung up.

  She immediately tried to call the number back. It just rang and rang—

  “Everything okay?”

  Courtney spun around. Ben stood a few feet away, his head tilted. Still wearing the shirt and pants. She clutched the phone with one hand and pressed the sheet to her chest with the other.

  His eyes narrowed. “Who’s on the phone?”

  “I have no idea.” She swallowed. “Just a prank call.”

  He took a step toward her. “You sounded…stressed.”

  Because someone had called her a “lying bitch” and said that she would “fucking pay”—yes, that would make a person stressed. “It’s nothing.” Just an asshole who wanted to ruin her already crazy night. She slid her fingers over the screen of her phone and selected the option to block that particular caller. He wouldn’t be spewing his hate at her again.

  Courtney dropped the phone.

  But she kept holding her sheet as she faced off with Ben.

  After sex talk. Um, extreme awkwardness.

  His gaze was hard, and the gold was still showing in the blue. “I don’t like it when you’re scared.”

  His words surprised her. “I—I’m not.” Okay, yes, that crazy caller had made her a little afraid for like…two minutes, but it had really been one hell of a night already. She should be entitled to stress or fear or anything else she wanted.

  He advanced slowly.

  Before he’d headed to the bathroom, he’d told her they’d be going for another round. In the heat of the moment, that had been an awesome plan, but now she was getting nervous again. Because—Ben. It was Ben. And they were crossing lines left and right. Like, all of the lines. Every single one out there.

  His hand lifted, and his fingers trailed over her shoulder. “You’re beautiful.”

  She sucked in a gulping breath. “You’re still dressed.” The words blurted out.

  He blinked. Then slowly, that killer smile of his curled his lips. She waited, almost holding her breath, until she saw his dimples wink at her.

  Some of the tension slid from her body. Fuck that prank caller.

  He wasn’t going to take the rest of the night away from her.

  “I am still dressed,” Ben agreed. “Want to help a guy out with that problem?”

  In order to help him, she’d need to let her sheet go.

  If you’re doing this thing…

  Her hand slid away from her chest. The sheet immediately slithered to the floor—near her heels.

  If you’re doing this thing, then do it right. After all, she only had the one night with him. One night to live out every single fantasy she had. Why hold back? There would be no second chance at this thing. Not like you got a do-over on a wild sex night with your sworn enemy.

  The same enemy who’d come rushing to your rescue.

  “Holy fuck, Courtney.”

  She smiled at him, feeling sexy, feeling bold, and feeling determined to make the rest of this night work. Screw the guy on the phone. Screw the asshole in the garage. She was taking the power. She was taking her pleasure. She’d have the night she wanted.

  Her fingers trailed over his shirt. Slowly, enjoying every second, she began to unhook the buttons. The fabric parted, and, oh, yes, he had abs. So many abs. A six pack. A twelve pack? A whole lot of working out must be on the man’s daily schedule. Courtney leaned forward. Her lips skimmed over his chest even as her fingers slid down to the front of his pants.

  He’d buttoned up. Zipped up while in the bathroom.

  That just wasn’t going to work.

  Down, down she slowly went. She reached for the top of his pants. The button there gave way beneath her fingers. The zipper hissed down.

  Her knees touched the floor.

  A moment later, that thick cock of his was in her hands. Her heart thundered, and part of her could not believe she was about to do this. She was going to go down on Ben Wilde. Ben Wilde. Seriously, what was she—

  “I’ll go insane if you put your mouth on me.” He pulled her up. Lifted her in his arms and held her with the strength that she was finding so stupid sexy. “Save it for next time because I have to make you come first.”

  She’d already come. Twice. And she’d wanted—

  “I need in you. Now. The first time barely took the edge off. I want to be balls deep, and I want you moaning beneath me. On top of me. Wherever the fuck you want to be.”

  He carried her to the bed. Put her down. Used so much care. Then he grabbed his wallet. “One condom left.” A muscle flexed along his jaw. “Tell me you have more here.”

  “I have more here.” A woman liked to be prepared, right? Not that she’d needed the condoms lately. The box might even be a wee bit dusty. A fact she would not share with him.

  “Fucking fabulous.” He rolled on the condom. Climbed on the bed. She reached for him, so ready, so eager. Turned on more for him than she could ever remember being for any other lover.

  When he sank into her, her whole body trembled.

  The bed shook beneath his thrusts. She held onto him as tightly as she could. He was thick and long, and the man knew exactly how to move every single inch of his body. They rolled over the bed. He pulled her on top of him. One of his broad hands gripped her hip as she rose and fell, and his other angled to stroke her clit.

  �
�Want to watch,” he growled. “Every single second.”

  The tension that had gathered within her exploded. She came, her knees shoving against the mattress as she fell forward and slammed her hands onto his chest. Courtney called out his name. She may have screamed it.

  Only fair, because a few moments later, Ben roared hers.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Her alarm sounded—immediately blasting her favorite song because that was how she had the helpful device set up. The pounding music filled the air and brought her to instant wakefulness and to the realization that she was so not alone.

  Because a naked Ben Wilde was growling next to her.

  She snatched up the covers. Light had just begun to trickle through the blinds, and seeing him first thing in the morning—all that tanned skin, those flexing muscles, his—

  Her gaze whipped away from his crotch. Someone woke up happy in the morning.

  “Why, why would you have your alarm set for 6 a.m. on a Saturday?” His voice wasn’t happy.

  She sat up in bed, tugging the covers with her. He didn’t even try to conceal his body. “Because I…” Do not look down again. “I run on Saturdays.”

  Crap. Her gaze had darted down.

  No, no, no. Courtney snatched her gaze back up.

  “Every Saturday? Like, is that a Courtney McKenna rule?”

  She nodded. Kept her gaze on his. A line of stubble covered his jaw. Jeez. He looked even sexier first thing in the morning. All rough and gorgeous.

  Oh, damn. She was in trouble. They’d had awesome sex last night. Amazing sex. The toe-curling, and, heaven help her, screaming kind. But it was supposed to just be for one night. Ben wasn’t the kind of guy who looked for a commitment.

  And she wasn’t looking for commitment. Especially not with him.

  One and done. That was what it should have been. Right?

  “Why are you giving me that look?”

  She cleared her throat. “What look?”

  His head tilted. “And why are you trying to pull the covers over your head?”

  She inched the covers back down. “I was not.”

  He leaned toward her. His eyes narrowed. “You are the most confident, determined attorney that I have ever faced in a courtroom. But right now, you are blushing like hell and trying to sink into the bedding.” He smiled and flashed his dimples. “You are so fucking cute.”

  This was a nightmare. “It’s time for you to leave.”

  He nodded. “Sure. Because you have to go on your run.” Ben climbed from the bed and presented her with one delicious view of his ass.

  Then he glanced back, caught her looking, and winked.

  Her flush burned even more.

  “Want company?” he asked as his hand scraped over the stubble on his jaw.

  “What?”

  He’d pulled on his pants. Good. Very good.

  Bad, very bad.

  “On your run.” He motioned one hand vaguely in the air. “You want company?”

  “You…don’t have running clothes here.”

  Ben just shrugged one powerful shoulder.

  She sidled from the bed. As fast as she could, Courtney jerked on her exercise clothes. And he kind of…watched.

  And whistled.

  Her hair flew around her shoulders as she spun back toward him. “Shouldn’t you be rushing for the door?”

  His gaze darted to her bedroom door, then back to her. “Why?” Ben seemed genuinely confused.

  “Isn’t that how your one-night stands end?”

  His brows climbed. “You do a lot of research on my love life?”

  “No.” Yes. OhmyGod.

  He stepped toward her. Ben had lost his smile. “That what you think I do? Just hook up and move on?”

  “Don’t you?” Courtney had no idea what else to say.

  Ben shook his head. His hand rose, and he tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear.

  A shiver slid over her body. And when she found herself leaning toward him, when her lips parted as if she’d go in for a kiss again…

  Courtney snapped her spine straight. “This was a mistake.” Such a mistake. A huge, colossal, life-altering mistake.

  He frowned at her.

  Her chin lifted. “Mark me off your list. You had sex with the woman you’ve been facing off with since law school. Done. Challenge met. One and done. Now just move on to the next lucky lady on your list.”

  His hand fell away from her. His fingers fisted at his side. “You have a really bad fucking opinion of me.” His voice vibrated with anger.

  With rage?

  She blinked. “I…I thought you’d want an easy out.”

  “Nothing about you has ever been easy. And no, I don’t want an out.” A muscle flexed along his jaw. “And I wouldn’t call it a mistake. I would call the sex fucking awesome. Phenomenal, even.”

  He’d call it what now?

  “Whoever the fuck you were supposed to meet at that bar last night?”

  Uh, yeah, about that—

  “Forget him. I can make you forget him.”

  He already had.

  “But you want space? You got it.” He pulled on his shirt. And she caught a glance at the wicked scars on his side. She hadn’t seen the scars last night, and her breath sucked in, but before she could talk to him, he fired out, “If you change your mind, you know where to find me.”

  In court, fighting against her.

  But he was grabbing his things and heading for her den, and she rushed to follow him. He stopped at the front door and spared a glance over his shoulder at her. There was still rage on his face, but his voice was more controlled when he said, “I don’t like it when bad things happen to you.”

  Courtney swallowed. “Neither do I.”

  “When I saw that bastard trying to hit you, I swear something snapped inside of me.”

  She realized she was holding her breath. Courtney let it go in a quick exhale. “Thank you for rushing to the rescue last night.”

  He took her hand in his. Brought her fingers to his lips. Pressed a tender kiss to her knuckles.

  His knuckles were sporting bruises.

  “You were driving your keys into his stomach. From where I stood, you were saving yourself. Just hate that you had to do that. I want you to always be safe.” Another kiss. “Thanks for one hell of a night, Courtney.” His left dimple winked.

  She didn’t smile back. She didn’t do this. One-night stands weren’t casual or easy for her. What in the heck had she been thinking?

  I wasn’t thinking. I was scared and shaky from adrenaline. He was there, and I’d wanted him for so long.

  Line crossed.

  No going back. They could only go forward. She could—would—put this behind her. They would go back to being professionals. To being enemies. To being—

  “When you want to scream again, like I said before, you know where to find me.”

  He was so arrogant—and, fine, dammit, she had screamed for him last night but—

  His face sobered. “Or if you ever get scared, if trouble should come your way again, call me, baby, and I’d be there in an instant.”

  What? “Why?”

  A shrug. “You’ll figure it out eventually.”

  He opened the door. Headed out. The guy was leaving at 6 a.m., walking away with rumpled hair, a serious line of stubble on his sexy jaw, and wrinkled clothes. There was no hint of a shame walk. Just a slow, satisfied prowl.

  Men.

  She shut the door. One and done. One and done. One and…

  Done?

  ***

  Her scent was on him. A sweet strawberry scent. And Courtney’s beautiful image was in Ben’s head as he strode into the elevator and pressed the button for the bottom floor. As the elevator descended, he reached down to hook another button on his shirt.

  The doors opened. Not the ground floor.

  The dark-haired, tattooed guy from the night before stood there. The fellow was wearing jogging shorts and running sho
es, but no shirt. He had a bottle of water clutched in one hand. When he saw Ben, his expression tightened. “Kicked your ass out, huh?” The tightness gave way to a smirk as the fellow marched onto the elevator.

  Ben didn’t like the guy, and he sure as shit hadn’t liked the way the fellow had looked last night when he’d caught sight of Ben and Courtney in the elevator. Shock. Then…anger. An anger that had looked far too personal.

  “Just so you know, I’m a friend of Courtney’s,” the man drawled.

  A friend who was wearing jogging shorts and running shoes at 6 a.m. Oh, hell, no. They’d better not have a habit of running together first thing on Saturdays. That was not cool. Not. Ben grunted. “I’m the same thing. Her friend.”

  The guy stabbed the elevator’s control panel.

  Ben’s gaze scanned over him. Some of those tats were military.

  “You didn’t look like a friend last night.”

  Friend with fucking benefits, asshole. Ben’s stare rose to pin the man. “What I do with Courtney isn’t your concern.”

  The elevator dinged. When the doors opened, Ben marched forward.

  “You won’t be back.”

  Ben stopped. Then he turned his head to flash a slow smile at the fool. “Of course, I will be.” He threw up a hand so the doors wouldn’t close. “Stop worrying so much about Courtney. I’ve got her.” The words were possessive as they slid from his mouth. And he realized…

  Hell. Maybe he didn’t have Courtney. But she sure had him. Because one night with the woman he’d fantasized about for so long just wasn’t going to cut it.

  He wanted more. A whole lot more.

  ***

  “I was starting to think you weren’t going to make it.”

  Courtney straightened her spine when she heard Cole’s deep voice. She’d just slipped outside of her building, and it was about ten minutes later than her normal Saturday morning running time.

  Cole raised one dark brow as he stared back at her. “I waited a bit, just in case.”

  Because sometimes they would run together. It had become a routine they’d followed since he’d moved in a few months ago. And, truth be told, she preferred not to run alone. Having a partner helped to push her to run faster, to make new goals. To keep shit going.