Unstoppable (A Country Roads Novel)

by Richard, Shannon

  His body was curled around hers, his front to her back. They were snuggled up under a blanket, and Bennett’s hand drifted under her shirt. He cupped her breast, his finger running back and forth across her nipple.

  “Are you trying to distract me?” she asked.

  “Hmm, maybe. Or I’m trying to comfort you,” he said as he kissed her neck. “You seem to be a little stressed out about what’s happening on the screen.”

  “I’m always stressed out by what’s going on in this show. I’m always so nervous they’re going to kill somebody else off,” she said as the credits began to roll.

  “Well, if you don’t want to watch anymore…” He let go of her breast and pulled his hand out from underneath her shirt. He reached over her and grabbed for the remote.

  “Hey,” she said, swatting his hand away.

  “You’re the one who said it was too much for you.”

  “I can handle it.” She looked over her shoulder at him.

  “I’ll just bet you can,” he grinned as he pressed his mouth to hers.

  Mel turned in his arms, one of her legs riding up between his, and she stretched up to kiss him. “Is this what it’s like?” she asked running her hands across his chest.

  “What what’s like?” he asked as he put his hand low on her belly. She’d borrowed a pair of his drawstring pajama pants, and he inched his fingers under the band at the top.

  “Always wanting someone.”

  “I have no idea.” He shook his head. “I’ve never wanted anyone this much.” His fingers continued to travel down to the promised land.

  “It scares me,” she said, nervously biting her lip.

  Bennett stopped his downward journey. He pulled his hand out from her pants and slid it under her body, wrapping it around her and holding her to him.

  “Melanie,” he said softly, and he reached up with his other hand and cradled her face. He pulled her lip out of her teeth with his thumb.

  “It’s just…it’s never happened like this before. Earlier…I’ve never done anything like that.”

  “Anything like what?” he asked.

  “Initiating sex. Bennett, I haven’t been with very many men,” she tried to explain.

  He’d picked up on the fact that she was a little inexperienced from the list, but if he hadn’t read it he wouldn’t have had any clue. She’d been incredible in bed, and in the shower for that matter. Yeah, he’d figured out that she wasn’t a virgin real quick.

  “How many is not very many?”

  “Including you? Two.”

  Two? That wasn’t what he was expecting.

  “You’ve only been with one other guy?” he asked, more than a little bit shocked.

  “Yes,” she said slowly. “He was my boyfriend in college. And we’d dated seriously for a while. But I was never impulsive with him, and things were never quite that…um, explosive.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Well, I…you know…finished. But not like that. Not like how it is with you.”

  “Mel, I’m not going to lie to you, I’ve been with more than two women. But nothing’s ever been like how it is with you.” He shook his head. “And I mean more than the sex.”

  “Yeah?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” he said. “That wasn’t why I wanted you to stay.”

  Her mouth quirked to the side in a shy smile, and Bennett couldn’t help but lean in and kiss her again.

  “You know what else?” he asked.

  “What?”

  “It’s been a little while for me. I haven’t been with anyone since before the crash, over three years for sex or a relationship of any kind with a woman. Letting you in was scary for me, too.”

  Terrifying would have been a more accurate word. But holy hell, was being with her worth it. And damn, was he glad he’d been prepared. The condoms had been an impulse buy the day before. He hadn’t needed one in years.

  “What made you get over your fears?”

  “Who said I’ve gotten over them?” he asked.

  “You’re still scared of little old me?”

  “Well, you can be pretty vicious. I’ve got the scratch marks to prove it.” He grinned.

  She punched him in the chest. “Shut up. I still can’t believe I did that.” She shook her head, a slight blush creeping up her cheeks.

  Bennett didn’t think he’d ever get over how beautiful she was. Even in this moment, with no makeup, her hair a crazy mess, and wearing his oversized clothes, she was simply the most stunning woman he’d ever seen. And she had more passion in one of those crazy curls of hers than most people did in their entire being, and she’d shown him more than he’d ever imagined.

  He wasn’t sure how ready he was for it, for her. But it was too late now. He was starting this relationship with her, and he was going to have to stop being a freaking coward.

  He leaned in and kissed her again, trying to get past this new wave of fear. He pushed his tongue into her mouth while her hand wound around to his back, her fingers lightly moving across his skin as she traveled down. Her hand slipped under the back of his boxers, and she was grabbing nothing but his bare backside.

  Bennett groaned, and a second later she was disentangling herself from him and getting off the couch.

  “What?” He looked up at her, confused.

  “Come on.” She held out her hand to him. “Let’s go back into your room, where there’s a bed. And condoms.”

  “Good plan,” he said, quickly getting up. He took her hand and let her lead him down the hall.

  * * *

  Bennett wasn’t exactly a wham, bam, thank you ma’am kind of guy, but he’d never been one to cuddle after sex, or while sleeping, for that matter. He wasn’t much for cuddling, period.

  Whenever he’d slept in a bed with a woman before, he’d made a point of staying on his side of the bed. And when that didn’t happen before he fell asleep, he somehow always made it to his side of the bed at some point during the night, wanting to be alone even subconsciously.

  This was not the case with Mel.

  Shocking.

  No, Bennett woke up in much the same position he’d gone to sleep. Both he and Mel were still firmly stationed in the middle of the bed, his arms wrapped around her while she used his chest as a pillow. One of her legs was thrown over his, her thigh inching close to very dangerous territory. Her hand was curled around his neck and there was more of her hair covering him than the actual blanket, which she’d stolen.

  Bennett had been more than a little nervous before he’d fallen asleep. His nightmares were fairly unpredictable, and he’d hate to have one when she was in the bed with him. They were more than traumatizing to him. They’d probably send Mel running for the hills. But she wasn’t running, at least not yet.

  Mel moved in her sleep and her thigh inched up higher. This was a problem. It didn’t matter that he’d had sex with her four times. His need for her hadn’t even been touched, and his body was more than prepared for round five. Painfully so.

  Bennett shifted, trying to get out of her oncoming path without waking her up. He was unsuccessful.

  She opened her eyes and gave him a warm, sleepy smile that was now officially the sexiest thing he’d ever seen in his life.

  “Morning.”

  “Morning,” he said, brushing the hair back from her face. “You sleep okay?”

  “Yeah. What time is it?” she yawned.

  Bennett rolled slightly and looked at the alarm clock. “Almost nine,” he said, staring at the clock in disbelief. He hadn’t slept that late since before he’d joined the air force.

  “Mmm.” She burrowed closer to him, put her lips on his chest, and trailed open-mouthed kisses across his skin.

  Well, round five it is, he thought as he rolled her onto her back.

  * * *

  Functioning without coffee was not a possibility for Mel. Well, it hadn’t been before. Apparently a Bennett-induced orgasm was leaps and bounds beyond caffeine, and it could quite pos
sibly make Mel a morning person. Or help her leap tall buildings in a single bound.

  Problem was, all of those orgasms had come at a price, and Mel could feel it in places all over her body.

  “Holy cow,” she groaned as she stared up at Bennett’s ceiling. She was still trying to catch her breath and work up enough strength to move.

  Yeah, that wasn’t going to be happening anytime soon.

  “What?” Bennett asked. He was sprawled out on his back next to her, breathing just as hard.

  “You’ve worked muscles on my body I didn’t even know I had.”

  He rolled to his side and pressed up close to her. He ran his hand up her hip and to her stomach, his fingers spanning her belly. “Is that so?” he asked as he burrowed his face into her neck. “Do you need me to massage those sore muscles for you?”

  “I think if you were to massage the muscles that are sore, we’d wind up doing things to make it worse.” She turned her head to look at him.

  “Probably.” He grinned right before he pressed his lips to hers. “I’ll get you some Tylenol.”

  He rolled out of bed and Mel closed her eyes, letting her body sink into the mattress. She dozed off briefly. When Bennett came back into the room he was carrying two mugs.

  “I figured you needed something to wash the pills down with. And what better than coffee?”

  Bennett was wearing a pair of boxers low on his hips. Mel, on the other hand, was still entirely naked, so she pulled the sheet up as she sat to keep her breasts covered.

  “Mmm,” she said. “You know me so well.”

  “I’m trying.” He kissed her on top of the head before he handed her a cup and sat down. “And what’s with this?” he asked, raising an eyebrow as he tugged at the sheet.

  “Seriously?” She tried to hold the sheet up and not spill her coffee.

  “Yup,” he grinned, tugging at the sheet again until it fell into her lap. “Let’s see how daring you can be to sip coffee with me just like this.”

  “Daring? You just want to stare at my breasts.” She shook her head.

  Sitting and having a conversation with her breasts on display was soooo not something Mel would ever do, but if he was going to challenge her, she most definitely wasn’t going to show fear.

  “You got it. Besides, it isn’t like I haven’t had my mouth all over for them for the last day.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You’re such a guy.”

  “You say that like it’s a bad thing. I didn’t hear you complaining before,” he said, waggling his eyebrows at her.

  “If my entire body didn’t hurt right now, and we didn’t have steaming cups of hot coffee in our hands, I’d grab that pillow and smack you in the face with it.”

  “Big talk for such a little girl.”

  “You did not just call me a little girl,” she said, trying so hard to give him an intimidating glare. It was taking everything in her not to smile.

  “I sure did.”

  “You just wait, Bennett Hart.”

  “You going to show me what you’re made of?” He leaned into her and pressed his lips to hers.

  “Yes,” she said, against his mouth. “But maybe just a little bit later, when it doesn’t hurt so much to move.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” He sat back and took a sip of his coffee, watching her over the rim as he did so.

  Mel brought her cup up to her lips, too, blowing the steaming liquid before she took a tentative sip.

  It was perfection.

  “So, speaking of plans, what are you doing for the rest of the day?” Bennett asked.

  “I’m going to lunch with Grace, Harper, and Paige at one.”

  “So I only get you for three more hours?”

  “Not even that. I have to go home and deal with this mess,” she said, pointing to her hair.

  She didn’t even want to know the state that it was in after two more rounds of hot sex with Bennett and sleeping on it.

  “What about tonight?” he asked.

  “You mean you’re not tired of me yet?”

  “God, no.”

  The emphasis in his words made Mel a little giddy…okay, a lot giddy. But she couldn’t help it—she hadn’t had enough of him, either.

  Chapter Twelve

  The Perils of Wild Sex

  The Tylenol Mel took had little to no effect on her muscles. She was pretty sure she was walking funny.

  She’d spent plenty of time in the shower that morning, letting the hot water work it’s healing powers on her body. The problem was her right shoulder was acting up a little bit more that usual which made the task of combing her hair a bitch and a half.

  But whatever. Every single pain was soooo worth it.

  Mel pulled into the LaBella parking lot to find Grace, Harper, and Paige all standing next to Mel’s yellow bug.

  LaBella was the same resort that Harper worked at a couple days a week, and they had a rather expensive little restaurant called LaBouche. The only reason the girls ever ate there was because Harper got an employee discount.

  Mel had more than a little trouble getting out of her car, and she was pretty sure that all three women caught her wincing.

  “Had a good night, did we?” Grace smirked.

  “Maybe.” Mel smiled. She couldn’t help it; that man was magic.

  “Seriously?” Paige asked, more than a little surprised.

  “Yeah? Seriously? I was just joking. Did you and Bennett…” Grace trailed off and raised her eyebrows.

  Mel hummed in response. Or was it a purr? Too close to tell.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Harper threw her arms up in the air. “Am I the only one who isn’t getting hot sex?”

  “Looks like it,” Paige said with a smirk.

  “Hey, let’s not be so loud. One never knows who’s around,” Mel said, looking behind her. As far as she could tell, no one was in the parking lot.

  “Come on,” Grace said as she headed toward the building. “Let’s get seated and then you, Ms. O’Bryan, need to spill.”

  * * *

  Bennett tried to work out at the gym on a regular basis. He went that afternoon because he needed to do something to distract himself. All he wanted was Mel, and he wasn’t going to get to see her for a couple of hours.

  His mind was still completely blown by what had happened the night before as well as that morning. He’d never expected their first date to end in bed. Not in a thousand years. She’d shocked the hell out of him in the bathroom when she’d pressed her body up against his.

  And the sex? There were no words for how incredible it had been. He still couldn’t believe she’d been with only one other person besides him. They’d found their rhythm pretty quickly, and she’d matched him in everything.

  And now he couldn’t get her off his mind no matter how hard he tried. Hard being the operative word, because every time he thought about being inside her that was exactly what happened. No woman had ever had this kind of effect on him, thus the need for the gym.

  When Bennett got there, he put his bag in a locker and grabbed his gloves. He went out into the main workout area, and as he made his way across the floor he spotted Shep and Tripp lifting weights. He nodded at them before he headed over to one of the punching bags and let loose.

  After the accident, it had taken Bennett a while to work up to using a punching bag again. He still couldn’t do it for as long as he had before, but he was grateful for the fact that he could do it at all.

  “You letting out some frustrations there, pal?”

  Bennett stopped and turned to find both Shep and Tripp behind him. He’d been going at the bag for a good thirty minutes, and sweat was pouring down his face. He used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe at his forehead before he bent down to grab his water bottle.

  “Something like that,” Bennett said before he shot a stream of cold water into his mouth.

  “You seem tense,” Tripp said.

  Sure, if tense meant “horny.”

/>   “Hmm, I don’t know if tense is the word I’d use,” Shep said, studying Bennett. “But there is definitely something going on with you.”

  “Did your date with Mel not go very well?” Tripp asked.

  “No, it was good.”

  More like perfect. He couldn’t have planned for it to go better.

  “So you didn’t fuck it up?” Tripp asked, surprised.

  “No, I didn’t,” Bennett said.

  “Well, there’s a first time for everything,” Shep said with a grin.

  “You two are assholes, you know that?”

  “We’re aware,” Tripp said. “So you up for a game of basketball? Preston is going to be here in about five minutes. He thinks he’s going to mop the floor with us.”

  “So it will be the two of you against Preston and me?” Bennett asked.

  “Yup,” Shep said, nodding.

  “I’ll take those odds any day,” Bennett said. “You two are toast.”

  “We’ll just see about that, Hart,” Tripp said, as the three men made their way to the basketball court.

  * * *

  As it turned out, Tripp and Shep were a pretty good team out on the court, and they gave Preston and Bennett a run for their money. But Preston and Bennett pulled it out in the end.

  The four guys headed back to the locker room to grab their bags. Though Bennett was just going to get a shower at his place, he had to change his shirt because it was soaked with sweat. He peeled it off and grabbed a dry one from his bag.

  When he turned around the three men were staring at him: Shep with a smirk, Tripp with raised eyebrows, and Preston with his mouth hanging open in complete shock.

  “Well, shit. I didn’t think she had it in her,” Shep said.

  “Her? I didn’t think he had it in him,” Tripp said.

  “What are you talking about?” Bennett asked.

  “Did Mel seriously do that to your back?” Preston asked.

  Oh. Fuck.

  “We aren’t talking about this,” Bennett said as he threw his nasty T-shirt in the bag and zipped it up. He was not turning Mel into locker room talk. Besides, Bennett didn’t brag about his conquests. Not that Mel was a conquest or anything. She was so much more than that.