by Em Petrova
“I… do. Ben, I have a da—”
He silenced her with his kiss. Firm lips trapping hers. She made the mistake of dragging in a deep breath of his delicious male scent.
Her knees threatened to give out.
He worked his lips over hers until she parted them on a soft sigh. To her surprise, he didn’t sweep his tongue inside, which left her throbbing, aching, smoldering for more.
Damn him.
“You have to come with me.” Why did his low voice have to reach inside and tug on her ovaries?
She opened her mouth to protest, but he claimed her with another deep kiss. The music coming from the club pulsed through her body as need took hold. Crap, she was a goner. She’d never hear this particular blend of zydeco and techno without thinking of Ben.
He plunged his tongue into her mouth as he lifted her and carried her to his SUV. When he pushed her against the side and cupped her ass in his big, rough hand, she made a throaty noise.
How horrible. So shameful. Yet she couldn’t stop her libido from responding a hundred and fifty percent to this man.
“Ben…”
“It’ll be better this time, I promise.” He kissed a path up her neck to her ear. When he gently bit into her lobe, gooseflesh broke over her.
“That’s what you said last time,” she said between lashes of his tongue on her ear.
He held her prisoner against the side of the SUV. “Honey, I can feel how wet you are.”
“How? You haven’t touched me.”
“Because you’re so hot that I can feel it radiating from between your legs. Maybe I should check though.” Holding her gaze, he eased a hand up under her skirt. When he ran a fingertip along the thin fabric covering her seam, she couldn’t choke back the moan.
“Mmm, just as I thought. Soaking.” He followed the cloth from her clit to her entrance and then farther back where the string of her thong disappeared between her cheeks.
“Oh God, Ben,” she rasped. Her body remembered his touch back there and reminded her how much she wanted it again.
He let his fingers linger there for a heartbeat too long before sliding them up again, over the swollen lips of her pussy to settle over her clit.
He didn’t press down like she wanted—needed. She panted and fought for control. What was he doing to her? She was a smart woman who knew her mind but when he got near her, her brain caved in and her body cried out for his touch.
“I can’t. Ben, I really do have a date.”
“Yep. With me.” He edged his fingertip under her panties and skimmed her clit. The nerves leaped, and her pussy flooded. He brushed his lips across hers. “Tell me you’d rather go out with someone else, Dahlia. Say the words and I’ll let you walk into that club and have your boring, polite date.” He flicked her bud back and forth with his words, and her legs buckled. He pinned her to the vehicle with his body and thigh. “Or you can have this.”
With that, he ground her clit into her body. She threw her head back and issued a cry that was part sexual frustration and part annoyance at her own lack of control.
He reached around her and opened the passenger door. “What do you say, Dahlia? Polite date with boring Joe-Bob or me demanding that you take off that sticky, hot thong and spread your legs for me while I drive you back to your place?”
Oh God. She threw a look at the door of the club. He was probably spot-on when it came to her date. Blind dates were never easy, and they sure as hell weren’t spiked with innuendo and the promise of explosive sex like she had with Ben.
He crushed his lips down on hers again, cupping her breast and using his thigh against her pussy to prove his point.
Gasping, she tore away. “Fine. I’ll get in.”
The arrogant man actually smirked as he pushed off the side of the vehicle and helped her on shaky legs to the passenger’s seat.
She barely hit the leather when he got behind the wheel and stared at her for a long second.
“What?” Her voice wavered.
He glanced at her thighs. “The thong—off. And spread those legs for me. I’m going to finger you as we drive. I figure I can get at least one orgasm from you before we reach our destination.”
* * * * *
Ben wanted to go back inside that club, locate the man Dahlia had a date with and break his legs. Okay, that was going a bit far. He’d just rough him up a little. Standard black eyes, bloody nose, maybe a loose tooth or two.
His eyes hooded as he watched her squirming in the seat next to him.
“The thong, Dahlia.”
“Oh God,” she murmured.
He ran a finger up her thigh. “Or I’ll rip them off you.”
“Fine. Don’t rip them. I like these ones.” She shot him a look that was too heated to be a glare and reached under her skirt. She shimmied her thong down her thighs.
“All the way off.”
She did his bidding, and the string caught on her high heel.
“Leave it. It’s kinda sexy.” He leaned over the console to eye the tangle of lace and silk around the spike heel.
“Now let me feel this wet pussy.” Without hesitation, he reached under her skirt and cupped her steaming hot, drenched flesh.
“Oh my God!” she cried out.
He reached over with his left hand to put the SUV into drive and probed her silken folds with his right while bumping out of the gravel lot. Need slashed through him, sugarcoating the high he was on after she’d given up her date for him.
When they hit the road, he gunned it.
“You’re not going to…” she gasped as he sank a finger into her, “make me come before we get to my place if you’re driving so fast.”
He slanted a look at her, brow raised. “Is that a challenge?”
She sucked in a gasp as he began to fingerfuck her with slow, rhythmic plunges of his finger.
“You’re going to wreck. This vehicle’s huge and the console is so wide you can hardly reach me.”
“Scoot closer them and spread your legs farther,” was his only response.
“You do have long arms, though,” she continued in a shiver of a voice.
He liked the way she was puzzling through what was happening. By the time they hit the turn for the South Market District where her apartment was, she’d be screaming and writhing with her release.
“Get out your phone, cher.”
“Wh-what?”
He swirled his finger around her clit before plunging it inside her again. “Take out your phone and video what I’m doing to you.”
“Oh my God.”
“It’ll be sexy. You know you’ll want to watch it again. Do it.”
She fumbled in her purse at her side and came out with her phone. She nestled it between her knees and angled it. As soon as her own pussy and his fingers came onto the screen, she moaned and he nearly jizzed in his jeans. The sight was the fucking hottest thing he’d ever seen.
“Now watch your pussy come for me.”
Her breathing changed. Each rasping noise came faster and louder as he alternated between her clit and her soaking wet entrance. She was shaking, vibrating his fingers, hand, arm. God, this woman was so damn hot and working her out of his system wasn’t even an option anymore.
But he was a Marine and a Knight and that meant he had a backup plan, which meant he was demanding more from her and damn the consequences. The past two weeks had been hell and debriefing after the drug bust on the shore had only rolled into another damn mission, and the final story was that he’d just returned from some bullshit town in Texas after witnessing shit that no human should ever see.
After dropping off Rocko and his brothers, he’d come straight to the club, determined to find Dahlia and if he didn’t see her there, he’d planned to go to her apartment. But her sweet scents of arousal wafting from the passenger seat and the soft, tormenting moans leaving her lips made him forget all the crap he’d lived through since being with her last.
She gripped his wrist, guiding hi
m to fingerfuck her faster. “Ben, I’m so close. Right there, oh God…”
The phone slipped in her grasp, but she righted it as her orgasm hit. On screen, he watched her pussy pulsate even as her juices flooded him. Her cry echoed through the SUV and his balls clenched so hard that he growled.
He continued to run his fingers over her slick heat to the tune of her quivering sighs. When she let the phone drop to the floor and threw her head back with a final rasping cry, a satisfied smile crossed his face.
“You’re so full of yourself,” she shot out.
Damn, he loved that sass too.
“I think I have good reason to be.” He pulled his fingers free of her pussy and brought them to his lips.
“Holy shit.” She issued a shaky breath, watching him lick at his fingers. Her flavors were just as he remembered. Better, in fact. Pure, sweet woman.
He pulled up in front of her apartment and cut the engine.
When Dahlia met his gaze, her eyes were hazy with pleasure and the passion that had driven him to hightail it back the minute he was debriefed.
He nodded toward the floor. “You may want to pick up your phone and call your date, let him know you’re not going to make it.”
* * * * *
They barely made it through the door before Dahlia’s skirt was up and Ben’s fingers were inside her again. She clung to him, swirling her tongue over his as he worked a magic that had her inner walls screaming for more.
“Fuck, I love the way you kiss me back,” he muttered between thrusts of his tongue. When he withdrew, he gazed down at her for several long heartbeats. She swallowed hard at the need chiseled into his rugged features.
“Forgive me for everything I’ve done, Dahlia.”
She didn’t reply but he didn’t seem to need it—simply asking forgiveness was enough to ease his conscience. He closed the door and locked it and then pinned her to the wood, staring at her until her need spiked again.
“Ben.” She had no idea what she was asking for. Her body demanded and her heart was on the verge of begging for more from this man. But her mind was clear.
Well, sort of.
He traced his lips across her jaw, licking at her earlobe with each pass. She was soaking wet and aching for Ben, and there was no way he was staying clothed another second.
She tore off his T-shirt and went for his cargo pants. He moaned against her throat as she ran her fingers over the hard length of his cock curving upward toward his abs. She sagged at the knees, starting to slide down the door to take him in her mouth.
But he caught her elbows. “No, honey. Not this time. Turn around and place your hands over your head.”
Holy crap. She was melting into a puddle, couldn’t even think straight to obey his command. When she didn’t move, he eased her around, took her wrists and locked them to the door.
The bulk of his body against her spine and the way his cock nestled at her behind only inspired uncontrollable need. She twisted her head, panting. “I need this.”
“Yes, you do. And I’ll give it to you, cher. If you promise me there won’t be any more dates.”
“I… I’m not promising that. I don’t owe you anything and—”
She sucked in a gasp as he probed her drenched folds from behind, finding her opening and sinking his fingers in shallowly. She wiggled to make him slide his fingers deeper, but he resisted.
“Right now, we’re working out what is happening between us. And we don’t want any distractions. Promise me, Dahlia.”
If she didn’t, he might not continue with his sexual explorations and leave her panting with want.
Besides, she hadn’t wanted to date Mike’s friend anyhow.
She nodded at the same time she arched her back, pushing her hips up. “I need your fingers.”
“Honey, you’ll get more than my fingers. Is that a promise?”
“Yes,” she said raggedly.
“Good.” He painted her juices up and down her slick seam. “Now stay in that position.”
The only sound in the apartment was her rough breaths and the rustle of clothing. The sounds heightened her need and by the time he poised his rubber-sheathed cock at her opening, she was gagging for it.
“Spread your legs farther,” he demanded.
A noise left her throat as she did his bidding. Arousal dripped down her inner thighs, and she was helpless against his commands. She’d do anything he asked if only he’d end this sweet torment right now and fuck her.
He ran the head of his cock up over her pussy, sinking only enough to stretch her opening with the flared head. In her ear, he whispered, “You want this?”
“I want your cock.”
“Oh, you’ll have it, little temptress.” He pushed inside her. She cried out, curling her fingers against the door for purchase. He wrapped an arm around her middle, anchoring her to his big body and supporting her as he drove inside her. Churning hips, his teeth grazing her throat. She closed her eyes and gave herself over to sensation.
Ben was all she’d wanted for months, and now that she had him, she wasn’t going to waste time dwelling on when it would end. She only wanted the high he gave her, the complete ecstasy that made her forget even her own name.
When they came down from their releases, he turned her into his arms and lifted her. Staring into her eyes for a long moment before carrying her to her bed for round two.
Then three.
* * * * *
Dahlia’s car was back home—again. For the second time, she’d left with Ben and for the second time, he’d managed to get her vehicle back to her. How?
She hadn’t given him her keys and that could only mean that he’d hotwired it. Great—she was sleeping with… obsessed with… a car thief.
Just thinking of Ben gave her an occasional twitch, as if her body still experienced the aftershocks of their blazing night of passion. She clamped her knees together and waited her turn in line at the café for her hazelnut coffee.
She didn’t usually make the stop to the coffee shop and brewed her own, but this morning, she wasn’t willing to stick around her apartment for another second. Each time she caught a whiff of Ben’s lingering aftershave, she wanted to scream and that would likely bring in negative calls from her neighbors.
The man had freakin’ left—again. And Dahlia was officially an idiot. There was no other word to describe her actions.
She pushed out a sigh and tapped a heel on the tile floor. The line moved forward, and she shuffled with it.
This was the story of her life. Shuffling along, only getting small glimpses into what her real life could be. She had flashes of amazing highs—like when Ben had pinned her to his vehicle and dragged rough moans from her. Not to mention him licking his fingers clean after—
“What can I get you?”
She opened her mouth to speak, and her phone buzzed.
She froze. She was not answering that. She hadn’t given Ben her number, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have it. The man hadn’t had her keys either, yet he’d gotten her car back to her apartment.
She mumbled out her order and was shuffled on down the line while the barista prepared her drink.
Only when she had the cup in hand and was on her way out the door did she check her phone. Damn. Serena.
She hadn’t explained why she’d skipped out on her blind date.
Juggling her phone and coffee, she started a slow stroll through the neighborhood. Typically, the walk gave her pleasure on her days off. Right now, she wasn’t feeling very calm, though.
She put the phone to her ear and took a sip of the creamy hazelnut goodness, the only good thing about her day so far. She braced herself for her friend’s irritation.
“Oh, so she isn’t dead. She answered her phone.”
Okay, irritation was a little understated.
“I’m sorry, Serena. Something came up last night.”
“Wasn’t that your car I saw in the parking lot?”
Shit. Think fas
t.
She could feed her friend a line about a sick friend or a call-off at work and a second shift to work, but Serena would see right through the lie.
“Mike and I were really disappointed and so was Mike’s friend. He was really looking forward to meeting you. He’d seen you at the wedding.”
Fabulous. Hadn’t Dahlia had one champagne too many and ended up busting out to the Electric Slide near the end?
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s all you have to say?” Serena asked. A beat of silence and then, “Fine. It’s obvious you’re sneaking around or seeing someone else. The worst thing about this is that you’re not being honest with me and I thought we were friends.”
Dahlia groaned. “Look, I ran into an old friend. One thing led to another and—”
“Old friend? Who was it? Because if you’re back on that Alexander thing, I’m dumping you as my friend. I’m not going to sit back and watch you get involved in that toxic—”
“It’s not Alexander.” Though it may be just as toxic. Ben was like an addiction she couldn’t turn down. “I’m sorry again, Serena. It won’t happen again. It’s over now.”
“Oh. Good! Then you can meet us tonight for drinks. Mike’s friend is still in town.”
“I can’t. I have another obligation. But look, I need to duck into the drugstore for a minute. I’ll call you soon.” She ended with a false brilliance to her voice that, if Serena was really listening, she’d know was brittle. They ended the call.
Dahlia looked at her surroundings and slurped down her coffee rather than savor it. The quaint shops of this district usually made her feel peaceful, uplifted with the energy of the city. But right now, she was too irritated, not with her friend but herself. Why had she let Ben derail her determination again?
She turned around and headed toward home again. She’d start the day over, beginning by going home and changing her sheets. Washing all her bedding so it didn’t smell like Ben was step one to purging the man from her memory.
So, when was she going to stop feeling his touch all over her body? It was as if the man had left behind a ghost touch, and she could feel each callused stroke of his fingertips.
She made it back to her apartment and had barely dropped her empty cup in the trash when her cell rang.