Take Me Under

by Rhyannon Byrd

  “No one but me,” he growled softly against her ear, when he finally lowered her back to her feet and carefully pulled out. “You understand?”

  She nodded weakly, too limp to even be embarrassed by the sheer carnality of what they’d just done as she braced her forearms against the tiled wall, gasping for breath. It had felt so right, the way he’d staked his claim in such a raw, primal, dominant way. She never would have believed it, but she loved the way he took control of her body and its responses when it came to sex. The way he demanded she give him everything she had, reading her reactions as if they were his own, her pleasure his to create. And, God, but he was a master at it, wringing more sensation out of her tingling flesh than she’d ever imagined was possible.

  Moving her hair over her shoulder, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to the back of her neck as he said, “I love you, Reese.”

  Her breath caught on a quiet gasp. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to hearing you say that.”

  “You’d better,” he told her, touching his mouth to the side of her throat. “’Cause you’ll be hearing it every day of your life.”

  They finished in the shower, their movements lazy and slow, just enjoying the moment and in no rush to be anywhere but right there, in each other’s arms. Ben dried them both with the hotel’s monogrammed towels, then carried her into the bedroom and tucked her up under the covers, since she was cold. He put in a quick call to room service, ordering them both some breakfast. She laughed when he answered the door with nothing but a towel wrapped around his sexy hips and nearly gave the older woman who delivered the cart a lust-induced heart attack.

  “I can’t believe I was so stupid,” he said, after they’d finished every bite of the pancakes and bacon, drawn the curtains, and cuddled up together beneath a fluffy duvet.

  “About what?”

  “You.” He lifted his hand, brushing her hair back from her face and tucking it behind her ear. “Thinking I could get my fill of you, then cut things off and watch you walk away. It would have fucking destroyed me.”

  “I couldn’t ever walk away from you, Ben.” A crooked smile lifted the corner of her mouth, her tone deliberately teasing. “You keep me too exhausted.”

  His husky laugh filled her ear as he pulled her closer. “Sleep now, baby. ’Cause when you wake up, my cock’s gonna be tiring you out all over again . . .”

  With those breathtaking words keeping her company, Reese closed her eyes . . . and drifted away.

  * * *

  REESE WOKE TO THE SOUND OF SOMEONE WHISPERING HER NAME, A happy grin on her lips as she realized Ben was kissing his way up the side of her throat.

  “What time is it?” she asked, unable to tell with the heavy curtains blocking out the sunlight.

  “Probably middle of the afternoon,” he murmured, his voice low and serious. He braced himself on an elbow beside her, and stared down into her drowsy eyes. “I told myself to wait and that you needed your sleep, but I can’t. I’ve been lying here, watching you, and I just can’t do it. I can’t wait any longer, Reese.”

  She frowned, starting to get a little worried. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong. It’s just that . . . damn it, I swore to myself that I wasn’t gonna push you, but I need more. For the two of us.”

  “Oh.” She blinked, definitely wanting to be alert for wherever he was going with this. “Um, what did you have in mind?”

  His voice got even huskier, the look in his eyes stealing her breath. “You keep teaching while I chase bad guys. We build a bigger house together somewhere on the coast. Raise a few kids with your freckles, and hope like hell they turn out more like you than me. Get a dog. Fuck each other silly and grow old together.”

  With another slow blink, she said, “You’re talking about building a life together.”

  His dark gaze smoldered with heat. “I’m talking about building a hell of a life together. The best I can imagine.”

  Running her fingertip over his brows, she said, “But you’re not a settling-down kind of guy, Ben. You told me so yourself.”

  “That was just because I was too chicken-shit to admit what I really wanted.”

  Reese shivered, unable to believe that the big bad Ben Hudson was opening up to her like this. It was still too new, too astonishing. She half expected to wake up in some cold hotel room all alone, and realize the entire morning had been nothing more than a heartbreaking dream.

  Quietly, she said, “Whatever you want from me, Ben. It’s yours. You don’t have to do something you’re not ready for.”

  “But I am ready. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.” He grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips, placing a tender kiss against her palm, before pressing it against the heavy beat of his heart. “Reese Monroe, I know you’re an amazing woman who could do a hell of a lot better than me. But if you say yes, I swear on my honor that I will do everything I can to make you happy.”

  “Ohmygod!” she gasped. “You’re proposing? Now?”

  He gave her a hard, breathtaking look of determination. “Damn right I am. I want to know we’re legally bound together. We can go shopping for a ring in Miami before we head back home, because I want to marry you as soon as possible. I want to make you mine.”

  “I already am.” Tears filled her eyes, catching on her lashes. She’d been so wrong about this man. About who he was and the things he needed—like love, tenderness, and devotion. And more than anything in the world, she wanted to be the woman who gave them to him. “Ben, I’ve been yours since the first time I ever saw you. You just didn’t know it.”

  “I know it now, and I want all those other bastards out there to know it, too. I want it clear to everyone exactly who your sweet little ass belongs to.” With a wicked gleam in his eyes, he caged her beneath him, bracing himself on his hands and knees. Then he gave her a devilish smile, and said, “Come on, Reese. I dare you.”

  She couldn’t help but smile right back at him. “You know I can never resist your dares.”

  His expression was an insanely sexy mix of love and resolve. “Then say yes and let me fuck you.”

  “Yes. Yeah. You betcha,” she whispered, her smile melting into a grin.

  A deep, throaty laugh shook his chest. “God, woman. You don’t know how good it feels to hear you say that.”

  Before she could even draw her next breath, his powerful thighs were wedged between hers and he was working himself inside her, their gazes locked together as he braced himself on his forearms and started to move. The rhythm was slow and thick and outrageously good. She gripped the strong, lean muscles in his back, loving the way they moved and flexed under her hands, his hips driving that beautiful cock into her hard and deep . . . but so achingly slow. She writhed, undone, able to feel every inch and ridge and pulse in perfect, explicit detail as he became a part of her. She started coming somewhere along the way, and then couldn’t stop, the lush waves of pleasure rolling through her again and again, like riding the surface of an ocean. She made sounds she’d never even heard before: low, breathless cries for more . . . for all of him . . . for everything that he had. And he gave it all to her. His body . . . his heart . . . his soul. She could see it in the dark, glittering depths of his eyes. Feel it through that charged, emotional current that connected them . . . binding them together.

  “I want to fill you up, Reese. Give you every drop of cum burning inside me.”

  Her eyes went wide. “I could get pregnant.”

  “I know.” His voice got lower, rougher, sending a blistering rush of warmth through her veins. “But we’ve already wasted so much time. I feel like I’ve been waiting for this moment for years, and I don’t want to wait anymore. I know it might take some time, but I don’t want to put it off. So what do you think? You ready to start working on that family we talked about?”

  “Yes,” she breathed out, clutching him to her. “I can’t think of anything that would be more incredible.”

  She only caug
ht a brief flash of his gorgeous smile before he claimed her mouth in another one of those deep, deliciously drugging kisses that made her dizzy with pleasure. The instant she fell into another pulsing orgasm, he started riding her harder, his muscles rippling with power as he slammed his hips against her faster . . . and faster, a guttural growl on his lips when it suddenly crashed down on him. He pumped himself inside her with a savageness that was as beautiful as it was shocking.

  When he finally pulled out, he braced himself over her on straight arms, that dark, glittering gaze focused intently between her sprawled thighs. “You look so fucking sexy with my cum dripping out of that pink little pussy,” he groaned, moving one of his hands between her legs.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, when she felt his finger pushing into her.

  “I want to feel it inside you,” he rasped, his attention focused hard and tight on her sex. “I’ve never done that before.”

  She blinked, more than a little surprised. “You haven’t?” she asked, loving that this was another first they’d been able to share together.

  Shaking his head, he said, “I fucked in the raw a few times when I was too young to know better, but I always pulled out. Never saw it through to the end.”

  “Well, you certainly saw it through to the end today,” she murmured, her eyes slipping closed as she stretched her arms up over her head and smiled with satisfaction.

  His chest shook with a breathless laugh. “Don’t be falling asleep on me, sweetheart. I’m ready for round two.”

  She cracked one eye open and laughed. “Are you kidding me?”

  He took her hand and wrapped it around his rampant erection. “You tell me,” he said with one of those sexy smirks that made him look too gorgeous to be real.

  “Hmm. You’re an awful lot to take on, Sheriff Hudson.”

  His eyes burned with heat. “I know. But it’ll be worth it, because I’m going to fucking worship the ground you walk on. Now, tomorrow, forever.”

  “You don’t have to sell it. I’ve already signed on for the permanent package.”

  He gave another husky laugh, his deep-grooved grin the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. “You won’t be sorry, baby.”

  “I know.”

  “I promise I’ll make you happy.”

  Reese pulled him close, and held on to him as tightly as she could. “You already do.”

  Epilogue

  Three months later . . .

  REESE HAD NEVER THOUGHT HER LIFE COULD BE SO WONDERFUL, BUT it was. She’d started her new job and loved it. There was a great camaraderie among the staff at the school, and her students were awesome. She’d had Ben come in and do some special safety presentations, and now all the kids kept begging for him to come back. They loved him, but she wasn’t surprised. She loved him so much she sometimes couldn’t believe that she’d gotten so lucky. After everything that had happened at the start of the summer, they’d come through even stronger than she’d thought was possible.

  Thanks to Ryder, a lot of the questions they’d had about Lizzie and Rick Jennings had been answered in the weeks following that horrific night in Islamorada. The business dealings Lizzie had mentioned were con jobs she’d made her brother help her pull off. Most of them had involved tricking wealthy older men out of their money, though Ben and the deputy believed the two might also be responsible for some violent robberies that had taken place up in Vermont the previous year. When she’d talked to Brit about the pair, Brit had said that both of the siblings were so unbalanced, there was no telling what kind of past had shaped them. It was an upsetting thought, but Reese was just glad they were no longer a part of their lives.

  After his release from hospital, Drew had gone back to Boston, which had been a huge relief. He’d asked to see her before he left, but she’d told him there was nothing left for them to say to each other. Despite how badly their marriage had ended, Reese knew he’d never intended for her to be in danger, and she wished him the best.

  And that was exactly what she’d found in Ben. The absolute best, most incredible man in the world, and one who had so many fascinating sides to his character she was still in awe. He was so deliciously rough and rugged, and then at times so endearingly playful, tickling her until she begged for mercy. And he could be amazingly tender, just cuddling her in his lap as they curled up on the sofa to watch TV or a movie. At those times, he would stroke his hands over her legs and hips, or the back of her neck. Little intimate touches that let her know he was aware of her, and that he enjoyed having her so close. It put a warm feeling in the center of her chest that she knew made her look blissfully happy all the time. But that’s only because she was.

  And tomorrow she was going to marry his fine ass.

  Finishing with her mascara, Reese slipped on the slinky silver dress she’d bought especially for tonight. In an hour, they were having their rehearsal dinner at McClain’s, and all their family and friends were going to be there. The only one who would be missing was Rachel. After their lunch that day at Casa di Pico, Rachel had left town in a hurry, heading to Lafayette, Louisiana. Everyone who knew her hoped she was doing okay there and that she’d come back soon, even if it was only for a visit.

  Reese had just put on a pair of strappy silver heels, and was checking her makeup in the mirror over their dresser when Ben came into the bedroom looking all studly and gorgeous. From his reflection in the mirror, she could see that he was dressed in black slacks and a gray silk shirt that’d been left open at the throat, the molten heat in his dark gaze as he looked her over nearly making her forget what she’d wanted to ask him.

  “Is Ryder going to make it to the dinner?” She’d been growing increasingly worried about the deputy the last few times that she’d seen him. There’d been dark circles under his eyes, and he’d had those brackets that men sometimes got at the sides of their mouths when they were really stressed . . . or pissed about something. Whatever was going on in the deputy’s personal life, he hadn’t been acting like himself lately.

  “He’ll be there, but I don’t want to talk about Ryder,” Ben drawled with a sharp smile, coming up behind her. “Not when I could be telling you how much I love your ass in this dress.” He leaned down, brushing his lips against her ear as he ran his hands over her silk-covered hips. “But then, I love it bare and covered in my handprints, as well.”

  Locking her gaze with his in the mirror, Reese gave him a playfully suspicious look. “Did you ask me to marry you just so you can act out your perverted fantasies on my ass?”

  His crooked grin was ridiculously sexy. “Not just your ass, sweetheart. The second you’re mine, I plan on debauching every beautiful little inch of you. So be warned.”

  The laughter spilling from her lips was husky, and full of joy. “I thought you already did that.”

  “Mmm, but just wait till we get home tonight.” With a wicked gleam in his gaze, he said, “I went shopping this morning for a few things to help us celebrate.”

  Her eyes went wide. “Shopping where?”

  “It’s a surprise,” Ben replied with a smile, imagining her face when he showed her the plug he planned on pushing inside her sweet little backside . . . and the nipple clamps for her beautiful breasts. “One I promise you’re going to enjoy.”

  * * *

  LATER THAT NIGHT, REESE FOUND HERSELF HANDCUFFED TO THEIR bed, Ben’s hard cock buried deep in her body. He’d already done the most shocking, explicit things to her, and she’d come more times than she could count. But it was the way he was staring down at her flushed face, his gaze smoky and dark and full of stunning emotion, that completely undid her.

  “Do you know why I’m going to marry you?” he asked in a low voice.

  Her eyes went heavy. “Tell me.”

  “Because being inside you feels like my own little piece of heaven. Because you’re the most amazing, wonderful, beautiful, sweet, funny, courageous person that I’ve ever known.” His voice got rougher. “I’m marrying you because I love yo
u, Reese. More than any man has ever loved a woman.” Those dark eyes burned with need. “I’m marrying you because I can’t fucking do without you.”

  “You won’t have to, Ben. I promise.”

  “You’re mine,” he growled, thrusting into her harder . . . deeper.

  Knowing in her heart that it would always be true, she whispered, “Forever.”

  Read on for a sneak preview of

  MAKE ME YOURS

  A Dangerous Tides Novella appearing in the anthology Wicked and Dangerous by Shayla Black and Rhyannon Byrd.

  Coming soon from Berkley Sensation.

  DRIPPING WITH SWEAT AS HE TOOK A LATE-NIGHT RUN ON THE MOONLIT beach, Scott Ryder had a strange feeling burning through his veins, twisting its way into his bones. One that didn’t have anything to do with his grueling pace or the miles of sand he’d already covered.

  The feeling had been building inside him for weeks now, making him restless, leaving him in a generally shitty mood. He’d tried to shake it, but he couldn’t. Damn thing just kept growing, pissing him off even more. People were starting to go out of their way to avoid him at the station, which was just as well, seeing as how he hadn’t been in the mood for conversation. But tonight he’d been forced to attend the retirement party for one of the other deputies in the sheriff’s department, and his nerves were still scraped raw. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Dwight Jones. Dwight was an okay guy who was looking forward to spending his days either out on the golf course or on his new fishing boat, and Ryder wished him luck. But Ryder’s boss, Ben Hudson, had been at the party with his new wife, and for some unknown reason the sight of them had set his teeth on edge.