She smelled great, like woman and candy and heat. He brushed her throat with his lips then sunk his teeth in the curve where her neck met her shoulder. She gasped and clutched at his arms, breathing his name.
“Yes, ma’am,” he repeated before he covered her mouth with his, kissing her a little desperate, a lot hot, and very deep.
Pressing his tongue to hers in the same glide and pull his body ached to achieve, he ran his hands down her curves, stroking and caressing with equal fervor. She was soft, so damn soft and hot. He drew back, untied her satin straps and watched, his body tightening, as he tugged the black satin down her mouthwatering breasts, until her nipples were freed. “Perfect,” he muttered before dipping to suck one peak in his mouth and cup the other with his hand.
“Mmm…” Her grip on his arms tightened, and she leaned into him, filling his mouth with more of her delectable curves.
When he switched his attention to the other nipple, he trailed his hand between her quivering thighs, finding her wet.
Her breath shuddered out in a sexy, low purr, and his need to taste the woman increased to an unreasonable, insatiable ache. He released her, tugged the silky garment down her body until it hit the floor and she stood before him completely, gloriously naked—except for her black do-me heels.
Finally.
“All damn night, I wanted you in nothing but those heels,” he murmured, running his lips and hands up her naked body, lingering on some of his favorite parts, until he had her panting and sweating.
“I-I don’t think I…c-can stand,” she said, voice shaky with need.
“No problem.” Kissing her neck, he guided her backward to the cushioned bench in front of the bed and helped her sit down. “I’ve got you.” He dropped to his knees, spread her legs with his shoulders and kissed one inner thigh, then the other. Then in between.
Her breath caught as she grabbed his head, and her fevered responses fueled his desire to give her more. Running his tongue over her in feather-light strokes, he increased the pressure when she wiggled against him.
The mewling sound she made nearly ripped him in two.
He lengthened his stroke, and she cried out and arched up into his mouth.
“You taste so damn sweet.” So damn sweet. He licked her again.
“Ben—” She thrust into him and clutched his head.
He upped the pace and pressure of the stroke. With a long, low moan, she bucked up off the cushions, but he held her, and stayed with her, watching her as she exploded, nearly taking him with her. Eyes glazed over, head thrown back, she had her bottom lip pulled between her teeth as she rocked against him.
So damned hot.
Letting her down gently, he moved his mouth to inner thigh, then slowly drew back before he stood and stared down at her. “I needed that.”
He also needed to be inside the sensual woman eying him with a lazy, sinful smile.
“Me, too.”
Her satisfied sigh shook through him.
“You have on too many clothes.”
What he wanted to have on was her, so he stripped in several, swift, economical movements. “Better?”
She smiled a wicked ass smile. “Almost…”
Before he knew it, her hands were on his hips and she twisted them around so he was seated and she was kneeling.
“Better,” she murmured, surging up to put her mouth on his chest while her hands pressed into his thighs to keep him there. “Much better.” Her lips moved lower.
“Wait. Don’t…” He grabbed her shoulders to hoist her up, but he was too late.
Her fingers wrapped around his erection, and she licked him.
He muttered a curse. He wasn’t going to last. “Lea…don’t. I want to come inside you.”
She glanced up, heat smoldering in her eyes, steeling his strength. Shit. He nearly lost it right then.
“You will.” She licked him up one side then down the other. “I promise.”
A light sheen of sweat broke out over his shoulders and chest. “This isn’t how—damn—”
Her tongue swirled over the tip of him and he groaned, the deep rumbling sound filled the air between them. Then she slowly took him into her mouth.
Ah, hell. She was so warm and wet and moving in a rhythm he loved. “Lea…” The exquisite feeling became too much. His hands moved to her hair, and he closed his eyes as his hips arched up to meet her. He’d been sporting a hard on all day, dreaming of her all damn week. Heat skittered down his spine, and the tell-tale tightening in is groin signaled he was about to lose control.
He forced his eyes open to stare at the vision of the sexiest-damn woman he’d ever met, kneeling between his legs, naked except for her heels, dark hair falling to form a silk curtain around them, as she worked him in her mouth.
She slayed him. Her inhibition. Her acceptance. Her need for him, which matched his need for her.
She picked up the pace.
“Ah…yeah…hell, yeah…” His eyes rolled back in his head.
It was all too much. The pent-up frustration he’d endured all week. The wicked things she was doing with her mouth. The feel of her soft breasts bouncing off his thighs.
She brushed her thumbs over his sac and hot pleasure like he’d never known rushed through him. He was done. Cupping her head, Ben thrust up into her mouth and came so hard he saw stars.
When his vision finally cleared, he focused on the woman smiling up at him.
“How’s that for fun?”
Ben laughed and hauled her up on his lap, feeling lighter, better. He always felt better with her around. “It’s a start,” he said, kissing her lips, plans for round two already forming in his brain.
Lea awoke to the feel of a soft caress down her back. She opened her eyes and found a sexy man in her bed. “Good morning.”
“Yes it is,” Ben said, running his hand down her body and back up. “But it’s getting late, and we need to get ready for the wedding.”
He still didn’t stop his caresses, trailing a finger down her breast to touch her nipple. Heat pooled low in her belly, and she squirmed.
“Then you have to stop that.”
A wicked grin claimed his lips. “Make me.”
Now all her good parts were tingling. So she reached out and did some stroking of her own.
“Hey, none of that,” he warned, making to grab her hand.
Laughing, she pushed him onto his back and sat on him. “I prefer all of that.” And to prove it, she wiggled her butt right over him.
He let out a curse. “You’re killing me.”
“No.” She shook her head, and bent down to nip at his chin, her body on that delicious slow burn he was so good at achieving. “Just starting the morning with a bang.”
Which, surprisingly, he was up for, considering they were up most of the night having fun.
Twenty-seven minutes later, she was dried off from their shower and slipping into a robe, her gaze never tiring of watching the play of muscles across his back and arms as he began to get dressed.
She sighed. “Seems a shame to cover up all that goodness.”
His hands stopped buttoning his shirt as he lifted his gaze to her. “No worries. If you play your cards right, you can have more goodness tonight.”
“Is that right?” She smiled, walking over to the credenza to pick up the green negligee he’d unknowingly delivered last night and dangled the delicate material from her finger. “And if you play yours right, you can unwrap yours.”
He stilled, the amusement gone, replaced by unmitigated heat. “You’re really going to wear that today?”
“Yep. All. Day.” She dropped it back into the bag. “But you don’t get to see me in it, unless you play your cards right.”
Emerald eyes stared a moment before he growled and reached for her. But the knock on the door stopped whatever he was about to do.
“Lea, it’s Brandi. Are you awake?”
At the look of panic that crossed Ben’s face, her frustration t
urned to compassion. But then his moment of crisis was gone, and he was the one who opened the door.
“Hey, sis. Yes, she’s awake, but I can’t say for how long. The woman had me up most of the night.” Then he surprised her again by pulling her in close and kissing her right in front of his sister. As her body took over and she began to melt into him, he drew back and grinned. “I’ll leave you with that thought.”
She grabbed his arm to stop him, and lifted the nightie still clutched in her other hand. “And I’ll leave you with this one.”
He let out another of those sexy growls and mumbled something about her killing him before he turned to hug his sister. “Morning, you. I’ll talk to you later. Before you become Mrs. Kade Dalton.”
“Okay.” Brandi smiled up at her brother and tapped his chest. “You don’t have to leave on my account. I can come back. There’s still time—”
“No.” He shook his head. “You two have things to do, and I have a wedding to get ready for.” His gaze found her, and she was happy to see it was warm and open. “Lea and I are good.”
She responded with a smile and a nod, then watched him kiss the top of Brandi’s head before he left the room.
Brandi turned to face her and blinked. “Wow. What did you do to my brother?”
She laughed, unable to stop the blush from finding her face. “We had wild, monkey sex.”
“Well, you two need to do that more often,” her friend said, walking farther into the room. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him smile with his whole face before. It was in his eyes and everything.”
“I know.” She nodded, feeling all kinds of warm and, yeah, smug, because she put it there.
Brandi narrowed her eyes and studied her. “Same goes for you.”
“That’s because we had fun.”
“How did you get him to agree to that?”
She smirked. “Jordan had a hand in it.” She lifted the negligee and bag. “Seems she told Ben I’d left this downstairs last night, and he thought it was the gift you gave me. But when I pulled this out, whatever reservations he’d had, they flew the coop, and he told me he was on board with having fun until I leave for the city.”
Brandi shook her head and laughed. “That woman is too much.”
“I know. And I’m glad.”
“Me, too.” Her friend admired the garment. “I can’t believe it’s the same color as your maid-of-honor dress.”
“I know,” she repeated, and grinning, dropped her robe to put the negligee on. “Now I can wear it underneath today without it showing…and I told him that, too.”
“Oh my God.” Brandi’s hand flew to her face as she smiled. “You’re as bad as Jordan. That’s going to drive him insane.”
“I hope.”
“Yep, as bad as Jordan.”
Slipping the robe back on, she glanced at the clock on the nightstand. “Enough about me and Jordan. Today is your day. Time to focus on you. Since Kade stayed in a guest room last night, I have the hair stylists meeting us all in your room in an hour. So, what do you say we start getting ready for this wedding?”
“Sounds good.” Brandi pushed the hair back from her face, and that’s when Lea noticed the necklace glinting on her neck.
“Oh, how beautiful,” she gushed, stepping close to admire the vaguely familiar square-cut diamond pendant. “From Kade?”
Her friend shook her head, tears filling her eyes. “No. My dad. He gave it to me a little while ago. He had my mother’s engagement ring made into a pendant for me.”
Now that her friend mentioned it, Lea remembered how she’d once admired the stone on Mrs. Wyne’s finger way back when childhood had been perfect. Before car accident and cancer had robbed her and Brandi of their mothers.
“It’s beautiful. Come here.” Throat hot and tight with emotion, she pulled her friend into a hug, and together, they held onto each other in solidarity of another milestone they’d never get to share with their mothers.
After a few minutes, they pulled themselves together and wiped away their tears. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair. Her friend’s mother should be in the room with them, celebrating this wonderful occasion. But, she wasn’t, and they would cope. They always did.
Her stomach was knotted, but it was time to push the sadness aside and focused on all the good the day had to bring. “All right,” she said, conjuring a smile as she hooked an arm through Brandi’s while she held her garment bag with the other. “Let’s go get you ready to marry that handsome Texan.”
Chapter Eleven
Ben wasn’t an overly emotional guy. Hell, he buried them deep, under years of layering he’d built around his heart as a shield. Between women and New York and deployments, he had a veritable fortress in his chest. But Brandi had always had a secret passage, and today was no exception. And probably Lea had something to do with it, but he preferred to blame the feelings on the day.
He knew his dad had given his sister the necklace he’d asked Ben to help him have made from the engagement ring his father had given to Brandi’s mother. The sentiment was huge. Not only for obvious reasons, but from the not so obvious. The one where his no-nonsense, hard-driven, emotions-are-for-wusses father actually came up with the idea.
Yeah, that was huge.
And it had meant the world to Brandi, as Ben knew it would. He saw it shining in her eyes when he’d shared a quiet moment with her before the wedding. Sure, they were filled with tears, but there was also a deep love and a deep affection for their father, and no one would ever guess, if they hadn’t already known, that the two weren’t blood related.
Just as, later on, when the older Wyne had walked down the aisle, head held high, chest out with a radiant Brandi on his arm, Ben had felt the honor and pride rolling off his father in waves. His sister had been stunning in her white satin gown, reminencent of old Hollywood, with only a few white satin roses sewn at the hip. She was a lot like Lea, not pretentious, so he wasn’t surprised to see she’d picked out a gown that was simple, elegant and graceful with a little playful air, just like the woman.
Despite his dire outlook on relationships, he stood watching, with the Pocono mountains a breathtaking backdrop, as his radiant sister professed her love and devotion to a good man, whose humbled gray gaze held the same deep love and affection glowing in his sister’s open gaze, and he couldn’t help but be happy for them. Kade had gone through hell, and Ben was glad Brandi would bring joy and peace into the man’s life as she had to him and his brothers and father.
With the ceremony now over, and tears and hugs and handshakes had passed, Ben was more than ready to clip his emotions and return back to normal. Too much emotional overload. His chest was tight with it. But now, it was over. His sister was married; it was time to eat, drink and be merry.
And turned on. Again. Damn it.
Try as he might, all damn day, Ben couldn’t help see past Lea’s elegant green dress and picture her walking down the damn aisle—or on a gorgeous rescued horse as the wedding party rode around the resort—mingling at the reception—or standing in the damn food line—in the negligee of the same damn color. She was very distracting, but he welcomed the distraction; it helped him to get through whenever the day got too emotional.
Yes, he much preferred the emotion she tugged from him.
Lust.
Lea’s pretty hairdo all piled high and sexy on her head with little pieces hanging down, made him want to twirl them around his finger and pull her luscious mouth to his, and as he stood in line behind her at the buffet, he gave into the need to lean closer and inhale her scent. A wuss move, he knew, but didn’t care. She smelled as sweet as she tasted, and he was looking forward to easing away the tension of the day as he lost himself inside her sweetness.
“Hello, handsome,” she said, sending him a sideways glance full of the heat rushing through his body. “How are you doing?”
Behind the heat, there was more, there was a knowing in her gaze. His heart cracked open a little. She always
could see past his pretense, his tough exterior and knew, just knew he was dealing with shit.
“I’m good, but I’ll be better later when we’re alone.”
She smiled on that one, then nodded. “Me, too.”
He spent the next hour reliving that conversation, using it to get him through. Everything had been going fine. He was standing in the corner having a drink with the guys, watching Lea swaying to some Latin type pop song, imagining her in that damn nightie, when Kevin ambled over with Shayla’s cute little baby girl, Amelia, in his arms.
“Ah, what’s the pout for, pumpkin?” Cole asked, smoothing the little girl’s brow.
“She’s not too keen on going home tomorrow without Tyler,” Kevin answered, blowing raspberries on the flower girl’s arm, eliciting a sweet giggle.
He knew Tyler had been thrilled to have Cody and Amelia around the past few days.
“And I suspect she’ll be asking for him for a week or two once we get back to Texas.” The cowboy’s tone, usually light with mischief and amusement, held an undercurrent of concern and deep affection.
For some reason, the tension ratcheted up in Ben. The invisible bands returned to squeeze his chest tight. He had no idea why, and refused to dwell on it. So, when the music turned slow, he was happy to escape with an excuse to go ask Lea to dance. And within two point one seconds of her wrapping her arms around him and holding him tight, that unreasonable tension dissipated in her warm embrace.
“You’re awfully tense,” she said, brushing her nose into his neck as she snuggled close. “We should do something about that.”
He smiled and gathered her close, already feeling so much lighter. “What did you have in mind?”
Her chuckle rumbled through him. “You’ll have to wait and see.”
Forty minutes later, his sister and her new husband said their goodbyes and left for their island honeymoon. Which meant he no longer had to party. At least, not with all the guests. No, he just wanted to party, privately, with only one.
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