by AJ Nuest
What. The. Hell? She blinked. That was his laugh? That incredible, intoxicating, contagious rumble he kept hidden from the world?
No. There was no frickin’ way.
Untangling her fingers from his hair, she moved her hand to his cheek and held it as if she could somehow capture the sound. Geez, it wasn’t just a crime he refused to share that sexy purr with every person he met, it was an outright sin against humanity.
“My God, that’s amazing.” She ran her thumb along the coarse stubble framing his full bottom lip. Her vision blurred, and she shook her head as alarm filtered through his gaze and his smile faded. “I’m not upset, I’m happy. Good Lord, the next time you’re looking to take someone down, just laugh. Trust me on this. They won’t be able to think straight for a week.”
The corner of his eyes softened, but his smile returned, and damned if the light in his gaze didn’t spark with everything a girl could ever hope to see. Desire, admiration, trust…they were all there. And what really blew her away was how every single one appeared to be hers for the taking.
Holding her hand against his cheek, Ben turned his head, his beard prickling her skin as he pressed a kiss to the center of her palm. He twined his fingers through hers and her pulse spiked as the glint in his eyes went from tender and sweet right back to I’m gonna eat you alive.
Damn. Snagging her other hand from behind his back, he lifted her arms toward the headboard and inched forward. Ridges flexed and shifted along every inch of her torso as he cuffed her wrists, one on top of the other, in his tight grip.
“Never thought I’d be saying this to you, but hands over your head and keep ʼem where I can see ʼem.” He cocked a brow. “I got some serious catching up to do.”
Her lungs froze with a slight squeak, and he smirked, rolling his hips side to side at the same time he buried his cheeks in her neck.
The rhythm he set was a slow, sweet torture. The contrast of his lips in comparison to all that yummy scruff rasping a slow path down her skin made her nipples peak, and she tilted into the way he teased her, biting her lip to suppress a moan.
He latched onto her throat and her spine arced off the bed. “Christ, I’m dying to find out how wet you are.” Shit. She jerked one of her arms to get her hands on him, hold him still so she could ease the ache, but he cinched his fingers and refused to let go. “I wanna taste you, Tanner. Bring you to the edge over and over so I’ll be a tight fit.”
Goddamn it. She writhed underneath him, riding the rim of his erection and her ankles locked behind his knees. What in the hell was he doing to her? And since when had he gotten a masters degree in filth? Barely one conversation under their belts, and he’d all but taken her apart by breathing a few choice words in her ear?
Or maybe removing the last of his filters was exactly what this was about.
Before last night, he’d guarded every thought that formed in his head around her, and now that he’d finally decided to let her in, he wasn’t about to censure himself whether they were in or out of bed.
God, the fact he’d grown comfortable enough to unleash the carnal side of his personality only served to stoke her hotter. The man could bring it on because she loved every dirty phrase that fell from his mouth.
He jammed his fingers under her A-shirt to seize her hip. Held her down as he thrust and gyrated against her. Trailing sharp little nips along her jaw, he brushed his parted lips over hers before driving inside her with his tongue.
Her head left the pillow as their kiss deepened. She lapped and sipped at every smooth stroke. Damn, his taste and the expert way he mimicked the movement of his hips had her every bit as needy as how he kept her hands pinned.
He was like taking a drink of sparkling spring water. Filling her lungs with a breath of fresh air. Pure and natural at the same time the raw sexual energy simmering off of him made her head spin like a drug.
The tension in her shirt tugged across her breasts as he shoved his hand up her ribcage. He broke off from her lips to drag the material up and over her head. The downy line of hair near his waistband brushed her stomach and cool air rushed in. She trembled as he urged the fabric past her elbows and wound it snug around her wrists.
“When’s the last time you gave up control, Tanner?”
She snapped her gaze to his and sharply inhaled. Ecstasy spiraled through her belly to pulse, hard and fast, in her clit. Dammit… Goddamn it, she should’ve known.
All those times she’d gone searching for the rush of adrenaline. The thrill of knowing she couldn’t make the smallest miscalculation even as she spread her arms and leapt. “Two years ago. Diving into the Pacific off La Quebrada Cliffs in Mexico.”
A dark curiosity glinted in Ben’s gaze, and he threaded the end of her shirt through her fingers. “That part of your list?”
“Yes.” Dear God, he’d nailed it. Her hips bucked on their own, and he chuckled, palms gliding down her inner arms to fold her bound wrists behind the pillow under her head.
No matter how many times she’d tried, she’d never been able to achieve the same intense release she got during those moments she set control aside. Regardless of who she’d slept with, the experience had left her disappointed. Frustrated. Labeled frigid or an ice queen by her lovers since the fault couldn’t possibly lie with them.
But Ben had located the missing piece. He rose to his knees between her legs. The blankets tumbled down his back, and she twisted on the mattress as anticipation built and crackled over every nerve-ending searing her skin. And he’d done so simply by asking for what he needed as if she wasn’t already prepared to offer him everything she had to give.
“Fuck, you’re beautiful.” He fisted himself through his shorts, tugging the waistband down past the bulbous tip. A full body flush scorched her from head to toe as he took her in with a rotating squeeze at the base. “You got me so goddamn primed, it’s gonna be hard for me to make this last.”
The agonizing pleasure built, and she gritted her teeth through the need to touch herself. Touch him.
“But the longer I make you wait, the better it’ll be.” Falling forward, he braced his hand near her shoulder and bent down to swipe his wide, flat tongue across her nipple. A concentrated stream of air left his lips, tingling through the moisture. She moaned and he shifted right to repeat the same teasing lick to her other breast.
She was never going to make it. He sucked her into the warm cavern of his mouth and she yanked at her wrists, his tongue darting and flicking. Arousal throbbed an unrelenting beat and she thrashed as his sharp teeth grazing the beaded tip.
His fingertips curled around the top of her panties, and he pushed off the bed. Tendons strained across his pecs. A raised vein popped along his bicep, and he jerked her boy shorts down to her thighs.
“Aw, Christ.” His stomach contracted as he hissed, cupping the head of his erection and pushing the elastic farther down his hips with two rapid pumps. “You’re drenched. So fucking wet and swollen.”
Reaching forward, he circled her clit with his thumb and her ass shot off the bed. More, more. She squeezed her eyes closed. Forced her heels into the mattress. She needed more pressure. Would do anything if he just—
He slid his index finger along her sex and she gasped, slamming her knees together and trapping his arm so he wouldn’t stop. Her head rolled side to side as he swirled and tapped, keeping her balanced on the thin line between just enough stimulation and not enough. “We’re almost there, baby, but I need to take you down so I can bring you back up.”
God, shit, he was making her crazy. Pushing her limits just like every time she chased the high of that ultimate thrill.
She whimpered as he urged her down to the bed and pried her thighs apart. Tugging her boy shorts off one ankle and then the next, he carefully bent her knees and planted her feet on either side of his legs.
The calluses riding his palms coasted down toward her sex. She breathed deep and he squeezed her inner thighs, a frustrated cry lodged in her throat. His
fingertips kneaded and stroked, and she tipped and angled her hips even though he ignored the one spot she needed him most. “Dammit, Ben. I can’t—”
“Sh-h-h… I’m as anxious as you are, but we’re doing this right.” Palming her bottom, he pushed her higher up the pillows and went down on his elbows, his focus riveted on her face. “I wanna find out how much you can take, Tanner. I wanna know how far I can coax you before your control breaks.”
Jesus, the man knew just what to say to her. He parted her with his thumbs and she curled her toes into the blankets, bracing with everything she had left. His nostrils flared and hunger flickered in his eyes as he dragged her scent into his lungs. Instinctively or not, he’d pinpointed the very thing that made her tick, and had her harnessing her release even as she was ready to tip over the abyss so they could push the limits as one.
His tongue swirled a languid circle, and her spine bowed, her body taut as a string. He groaned and she was pitched forward then back, repeatedly clenching her bottom as spasms rippled and warmth vibrated her folds.
The way he played her was torture. It was bliss. Jabbing and prodding, he sucked her between his teeth and she dug deeper. Struggling and wriggling, she moaned as his fingers opened her from behind and he glided down to tease her entrance with swift, wet strokes.
Tingles flooded the soles of her feet, and she scooted away from his talented mouth. It was too much. She was ready to shatter. He grabbed her hips and took another groaning swipe, stabbing and flicking as he pumped his hips against the bed.
The headboard slammed the wall. Once, twice, the pictures rattled as he held her down and feasted.
Heat unfurled low in her belly, the tendrils winding and expanding, and she skidded higher up the pillows as she shook her head. “Stop, I can’t. I’m too close.”
He jackknifed to his knees and crawled over her, wrenched open the nightstand drawer and fumbled in his wallet for a condom. “What do you want, Tanner?” Tearing the foil open with his teeth, he stared at her while guiding the latex down to the base. “Tell me what you want, and I’ll give it to you.”
Her mouth dried, and she swallowed at the hard-riding need ticking near his temple, the pulsing vein in his neck and coiled tension in his shoulders and chest.
Dropping her focus to the way he stroked his erection, she took the slow journey back up and met the smoldering lust highlighting the infinite depths of his eyes.
All he’d ever wanted was to protect her. Last night, he’d set aside every instinct he owned to give her a peek inside his soul.
Um, yeah. The answer to that question was a no-brainer. “I want you, Ben. All of you.”
Wrapping his fingers behind her knees, he jerked her onto his thighs and lifted. She brought her arms over her head and he kissed her knuckles as he unwound the shirt from her wrists.
A shudder tore through his body, and he cursed as she slid down, the stretch and pulsating fit echoing along her walls. Tossing her head back, she locked her arms around his neck and held him tight to her body, his large hands bracing her bottom and easing her down to his thighs.
He swiveled his hips, and her breath caught as he nudged the high sweet spot that sent shivers racing over her skin. Fingers curled around the nape of her neck, he urged her to his lips and entered her a second time with his slow, deep kiss. “You have me. Whatever I have to give is yours.”
Her heart lurched, executing a series of back handsprings as if it suddenly didn’t know which direction faced forward. She cradled his cheeks in another lingering kiss but, before she could think how to respond, he rocked underneath her and any attempt at logical thought was gone.
A penetrating twitch drove her closer to the brink, and she clamped her legs around his waist. Tremors built and rushed her limbs as she ground against him. Easing her down to the bed then back up, he swayed her in his arms and, God, the beautiful friction. The increasing angle seating him deeper each time he lifted her to his chest…
“Come for me, Tanner.”
He jerked inside her and she convulsed at the same time he jetted, groaning into her hair and pumping his hips as the last of her tethers snapped with a soul-shattering quake.
The next moment she was soaring, floating on air. Ben cinched her tighter and she was pitched headfirst into another full-body orgasm as he spasmed and heated her core.
Then there was only him. Her.
And sweet, sweet release as she slipped the surly bonds of control.
Chapter 15
The enticing aroma of savory vegetables filtered into his dreams, and Ben peeled his eyelids open to frown at the empty spot on Tanner’s side of the bed.
Sliding his palm over the cool sheets, he flopped to his back. His stomach let out a protracted grumble, asking why he wasn’t already halfway to the kitchen, but his brain told it to shut the hell up because he had other, more confusing, problems at hand.
Number one—he’d just referred to the crumpled blankets on his right as Tanner’s side of the bed.
Number two—he’d really been looking forward to waking up with her snuggled against him, and the fact he’d missed out on that rarity had his arms feeling more deserted than, well, dammit, Tanner’s side of the bed.
Sitting up, he raked his fingers through his hair and swung his feet out from under the covers, digging the sand from his eyes as he made a half-assed attempt at locating his sleeping shorts. The elastic waistband snagged his attention from under the bed, and he reached down to collect them off the floor.
Prior to last night, he’d never purposely split rack time with anyone, and the few times he had, the next morning he’d generally hustled for the nearest exit, consigning the entire incident to too many sleepless hours out on patrol.
But with Tanner… He didn’t know, things were different. Unique. He’d had the most fulfilling sexual experience of his life with her. Been more himself than with anyone else before. After what they’d shared and the enthusiastic way she’d responded, to deliberately drop off with her tangled in his arms and legs had made their time together special. Intimate way beyond the norm.
There was just something about her that beat back the darkness. Got him out of his own damn head. Having her close made him human again, and he wanted more.
Stepping into his shorts, he stood and pulled them onto his hips, stretched his arm toward the nightstand and tapped his phone to check the time.
Half past noon. No wonder she was hungry. Though what she’d found in the cabinets to create such an appetizing aroma, he couldn’t wager the first guess.
A few strides toward the window, and he rifled the top drawer of a dresser that touted more war wounds than him, pulled out a V-neck tee and stuffed his arms into the sleeves.
Generally speaking, he usually carried in whatever groceries he might need to last throughout his stay. Leaving so much as a box of crackers behind tended to attract wildlife, and other than a few MREs he kept on hand for emergency use, at his last inventory, the cupboards had officially been bare.
But he’d also done his fair share of shoving that tasteless glop down his gullet. Enough to know the pre-packaged provisions the Army passed off as a meal, ready-to-eat had nothing on whatever Tanner was stirring up in the kitchen.
Tossing the shirt over his head, he rounded the end of the bed. Down the two steps into the living room, and he stumbled to a stop, brows jacked toward his hairline and hands braced on his hips.
Good Christ. He swiped his palm down his face. There would’ve been less damage had an F-5 tornado decided to stop in and whip up a meal.
Opened cardboard boxes covered one end of the rollaway island, the meals inside dissembled and sorted according to use. Cereal bowls overflowing with packets of condiments littered the counter, several pots bubbling on the stove and a Thanksgiving Day’s load worth of dirty dishes soaking in the sink.
Damn, woman. How long had she been going at it?
He closed the remaining distance at an angle, tipping his head as she came int
o view behind the flap of a stacked cardboard box. Crossing his arms, he camped one shoulder against the fridge, and then nearly blew his chance at a little covert surveillance by clearing his throat to contain a smile.
Disaster zone or not, he had to admit she was damn cute. He’d even go so far as to say she looked like she belonged here. Hair pulled back in a short, blunt ponytail. The sleeves of a red, over-sized plaid flannel rolled up and pushed past her elbows. Frayed cut-off sweat shorts skimming her bare upper thighs in a way that made him inwardly groan.
One word from her, and he’d even drop to his knees and worship at the altar of those red painted toenails on her feet.
“Okay, next.” She swung open the cabinet beside the sink and wiggled her fingers. A short step back, and she slumped. “Oh, my God. He’s got the spices organized alphabetically? OCD much?”
He cocked a brow.
Rising on tiptoe, she carefully selected some or another bottle. The slightest hesitation in her movements, and he squinted, following her motions as she approached the stove and cracked the seal to sprinkle some guesstimated amount into a pot.
She knew he was watching. He pushed up from the fridge. Without bothering to check over her shoulder. Without him having to say a word. And for some stupid reason, knowing she’d picked up on his presence based on nothing more than the weight of his gaze made him hard as a rock.
Fuck, that was a turn-on. He shook his head. And he’d just stepped into the no man’s land that stretched far beyond his usual SOP of screwed.
“Well?” She adjusted the burners to low and walked the bottle back to the cabinet. If he had to guess, purposely returned it to the wrong spot. “You just gonna stand there grinding your teeth? Or are you gonna come over here and kiss my neck to say good morning?”
“Neck.” Hell, yeah. That was as great a place to start as any, and he’d move on from there.
A few long strides, and his arms were finally content with everything they’d been missing, his hands happy to do a little exploring and lips nibbling her throat.