Ben (The Sherwood Series Book 3)

by Lee Wardlow

  Like the phoenix rising from the ashes, Disa pushed herself up on her palms. She glanced over her shoulder at me. “I am just fine, Benjamin,” she declared. “Show me what you got,” she purred at me.

  I shook my head at her. I gripped her hips and slammed into her body hard and fast. I could feel my own orgasm rushing at me. The tension in me was making it hard to keep up this pace. She knew that. She warned me to not stop.

  I had to though. I couldn’t come inside her. When, I knew I was coming. I pulled out and stroked myself until I came on her ass.

  She turned and threw her arms around my neck. Her lips punished my lips. I wrapped my arms around her waist and held her until she was done assaulting my mouth. She nibbled on my lower lip. Then she pulled away. “I need a washcloth,” she informed me.

  “I’ll get one.”

  I went to the bathroom naked. Seth was walking to his room. He clucked his tongue at me and shook his head. I knew then that my brother had heard me and Disa. Then he went to his room and shut the door. My baby brother didn’t know what he was missing though.

  I returned to our bedroom with a warm soapy washcloth and wiped off her ass. She had a peach for an ass. A perfect butt. I dried it then I slapped it again and she looked over her shoulder at me.

  “You enjoy doing that, don’t you?”

  “I do, baby. I love that ass.” She laughed at me.

  “I kind of enjoy you doing that. It tingles in places that I didn’t know could tingle.”

  I dropped the towel and washcloth in the hamper in the closet then I joined her on the bed. “Tired?” I asked.

  “Keyed up,” she responded. “I don’t think I can sleep.

  I straddled her hips, surprising Disa. “I’ll give you a massage,” I offered. She laid her head on her arms. I shoved her hair over her shoulder beside her head on the pillow. I reached into the nightstand drawer and retrieved a little bottle of warming oil. I squirted some into my hand and started rubbing her shoulders.

  My fingers dug into the muscles deep making her moan with pleasure. She was tense. The muscles were knotted and tight from shoulder to shoulder.

  I rubbed my thumbs into her shoulder blades working out the kinks. Disa moaned and groaned and I was slightly turned on by her noises. I tried to remain focused on her needs, not mine.

  I moved down her ribcage and dug my thumbs into her spine. I knew to avoid her sides where she was ticklish. I rubbed at the curve of her spine right before her ass. Her beautiful, curvy ass. This was more for me than her.

  She lifted her head and propped it on her palm. She eyed me over her shoulder. I was getting closer and closer to the perfect round cheeks of her perfect butt.

  “I don’t think my butt is tense, Ben.”

  I winked at her. “No but it makes me feel good.”

  She chuckled and laid her head back on her arms. “Ben, what do you think he’s up to? He’s not just going to forget about Merci and Lilah.”

  “No, baby. He’s not. I wish I knew.”

  I moved back up her spine forcing her to relax. “Is my sister safe with Heath? And Lilah too?”

  “I think so. He’s as crazy as Ron but he’s not mean. He’ll protect them.”

  She nodded. Then she wiped away a tear. “Ben, I saw Lilah without her shirt. She has scars on her upper torso.”

  I stopped rubbing her. I laid my hands on her back and just kept them there, afraid to move them. Afraid to lose the connection with her. “Scars?”

  She nodded. “I don’t know what caused them, but they are deliberate and I’m sure whatever caused them was painful.”

  I leaned forward and kissed Disa’s cheek. Then whispered words of comfort in her ear. “Come here,” she said. I covered her with my body and wrapped myself around her. Then, I held her while she cried. “I’m so afraid, Ben.”

  “I won’t let him hurt you, Disa,” I promised her.

  She clung to me. “You don’t understand. Hawk hasn’t been able to ever catch anyone at our compound in illegal activities. What makes you think he will catch Ron now?”

  “He has Lilah as a witness. She was a captive in his basement.”

  She shook her head. “Unless Ron gets to her first. You know he’s looking for her. He’s just waiting,” she said, and I heard the fear.

  “I do know,” I agreed.

  She tried to roll over but couldn’t because of my weight. I moved off her to my back. Disa curled into my side and laid her head on my chest. “I knew this was too good to be true.”

  I tilted her chin up to me. “Don’t say that. Don’t you ever doubt that this is forever. You and me, Disa.” The thought of losing her crippled me. I didn’t even want to think about it.

  I brushed my lips across hers. She settled back against my chest when our kiss ended. Time wasn’t on our side. Ron Parson had a plan I was sure. A plan to smoke out Merci, Disa and Lilah.

  He needed Lilah because she was a witness to his crimes. Merci and Disa were his obsessions. I was sure he wanted both sisters. I glanced down at the woman in my arms. Disa was mine. I knew then a need to protect her that included killing the man if necessary. I knew that I would protect her and Asia with everything in me.

  Chapter 17

  I knew it was probably frustrating Elder Ron that he couldn’t just walk into Ike’s and intimidate Disa anymore. She wasn’t there. Dad said he made several visits over the next few weeks while we planned our special night for Disa.

  I wanted to surprise her. Dad kind of laughed at my romantic gesture. Mom slapped him in the back for a change and Danni eagerly offered to help me.

  On a Saturday night, one of Dad’s busiest nights of the week, he closed early. Ike’s was decorated like a prom night for high schoolers with streamers and a disco ball that circled the ceiling casting diamond shaped lights across the walls. The tables were decorated in paper tablecloths with heart shaped center pieces made of flowers and a purple candle in the center because it was Disa’s favorite color.

  A banner hung across the back of the bar welcoming Disa to her prom night. This was the night that I was going to propose to her too.

  Music was playing on the juke box. Songs I chose because I wanted to slow dance with Disa. I was like my other brothers except Seth. I couldn’t fast dance to save my life. Seth was a smooth one on the dance floor. He might dance with the girls but otherwise my girl was going to have dance with my sister and her friends if it was a rock and roll song.

  Disa was with Danni at Elijah’s house getting dressed. I hadn’t seen what kind of dress Danni had bought for her, but I couldn’t wait to see Disa in it.

  I wore my only best suit. The one that I had worn to Granddad’s funeral. The charcoal color looked good against my dark skin and hair. Danni bought me a light gray shirt with pale purple and gray tones to it to match Disa’s dress.

  I was waiting on my woman to arrive with my sister and brother. Walker, Matt and AJ were here already. Heath was staying home with the women at his house. He wasn’t much for parties anyway. He might have felt differently if he had known I was asking Disa to marry me tonight.

  India, Asia and Jeremiah were staying at Heath’s house with them. An older woman Mom introduced Matt to was watching my other nephew at the farm. She was good with him.

  I had appeared in court for temporary full custody of Asia and now we waited for another court date about thirty more days for the time that Jasmine had to be gone then they would grant me full permanent custody of my daughter.

  Tonight, when I asked Disa to marry me I wanted it to be a happy occasion but we all had it on our minds that Elder Ron had done nothing in the weeks since Heath and AJ had taken Merci and Lilah. He hadn’t even approached me or Disa. He had to know who I was and where I lived. Sherwood was small. It wouldn’t take much to find out much about me.

  Hawk was biding his time, hoping to scrounge up more evidence against the elders of the church. With Lilah, he had only Ron and he wanted them all. I didn’t much like Hawk’s pl
an. I wanted Ron Parson off the street, so he wasn’t a threat to Disa.

  Dad was standing behind the bar. He was wearing a suit too. Mom was wearing a dress that I was pretty sure she had worn when she had dated him as a teen. I couldn’t believe that she was still the same size after giving birth to seven kids. The dress was strapless revealing far more of my mother than I cared to see. Dad was liking the view though as she leaned over the bar to receive a kiss. I rolled my eyes at them. I guess I should be happy that they were doing so well this time. I hadn’t seen them this happy in a long time.

  Elijah and Jenny were bringing Danni and Disa soon. I had the ring in my pocket. The mood was set. I just needed the girl to arrive.

  I was getting nervous when she was a little late. I paced in front of the windows of the pub looking out for Jenny’s car. There was no way they would come in Elijah’s jeep. Not that heap of metal. Not this time when it was so important to me.

  Seth had the food ready for dinner. They just had to get here. I glanced over my shoulder at my brothers and Walker.

  “Ben, relax. You have three women who need to get ready,” Walker informed me. “I’m sure that is why they are late.”

  I nodded and turned back to the window. They were a half an hour late when I tried Disa’s cell. She didn’t answer. That was unreasonable, she always answered for me especially now with Ron being a threat to her or me. I tried Danni’s cell and she didn’t answer. That wasn’t good.

  I was starting to panic. “They aren’t answering. Neither Danni or Disa,” I told them.

  Walker came to the windows. He looked outside too. Matt took out his phone and called Elijah. He answered, and I felt my heart drop into my throat, waiting to hear his explanation.

  He chuckled then hung up. “Hawk is dropping them off in ten minutes,” Matt told me. “Danni as usual left her phone home because she hates having a phone. Disa can’t find her phone. She thinks she left it at home in the rush to get of the house to get to Elijah’s when Danni picked her up.”

  “Why is Hawk dropping them here?”

  Matt rubbed his hand over his jaw. “Elijah was driving. Hawk ran into them on his way here with Bonny his wife. They were on their way here for your party.”

  He did it. My older brother. My best friend. He tried to cause me to have a heart attack at twenty-eight. “He drove the jeep.”

  Matt nodded. “I’m going to kill him.”

  “Now Ben, calm down.”

  I shook my head and headed towards the door. I needed a few minutes to unwire myself. I was wound tighter than barbed wire and feeling just as prickly. I headed toward my truck and put the gate down. I slipped onto the tail and loosened my tie, so I could breathe.

  Then I glanced across the street at the restaurant that closed at midnight. The neon sign blinking as dusk settled over Sherwood.

  It was a late-night diner not as good as Pat’s in town but sometimes the younger crowd went there for a meal and a soda after football games.

  There he was watching me. Elder Ron and his men. Men about my age or younger, dressed like him in dark, starched pants and white crisp shirts. They looked anything but dangerous, but I knew differently.

  I saw Hawk coming down the street in his expensive Escalade like the one that Samson had. Samson could afford it. I wondered how Hawk could on a sheriff’s salary.

  I watched, the big white truck turn into Ike’s parking lot and then make its way down the first row of cars where my family was parked.

  I could only see Disa’s hair. It was fixed on her head in a bun with curls framing her face. Her shoulders were bare. Other than that, I couldn’t see anything about her dress.

  Hawk got out of the truck and I slid off the end of gate and shut it. I headed to the Escalade to point out Elder Ron and his group across the street watching Ike’s.

  “Across the street,” I whispered to Hawk. Then I saw her, and I forgot if there was anything else I should tell him right now.

  She was wearing a strapless number that was layer after layer of sheer material. Diaphanous and sparkling. The color was silver which looked lovely on her with her hair being so blonde and her eyes so light in color. It flowed from the strapless neckline around her curves, hugging them and swaying with her every movement.

  She held out her hand to me. Not only was Disa wearing more make-up than I had seen here wear before and her hair was fixed but her nails were done too. I lifted her hand to my lips and kissed the top of it. She hid her smile from me like she was embarrassed.

  “What are you up to?” She asked.

  “You’ll see,” I declared.

  I heard Hawk in the back of my mind while I focused on her. He asked the dispatcher to send over a car to sit in the parking lot until we left.

  I nodded at Elijah to look across the street. We were used to sending signals to each other. It was how we communicated without speaking when we were hunting, as boys then as men. He glanced over his shoulder and nodded back at me.

  He stepped to the left. His broad shoulders blocked them across the street from seeing her. He extended his arm to Jenny. Her dress was one that I thought she had worn before too. “You look lovely,” I told her.

  “I can’t believe I fit in this,” she declared smiling at me. “It helps that it has some give in the hips.” She winked.

  “Let’s go inside, shall we?” I wanted everyone in the pub and out of Ron’s prying eyes.

  I extended an arm to Disa and to Danni and led the ladies inside.

  When the door to Ike’s closed Matt teased Elijah that he almost died tonight because I was about to kill him when I found out that he drove the jeep.

  “I think my jeep might have finally died tonight,” he declared. He glanced at Jenny with a melancholy look on his face.

  I just shook my head at my brother’s depression over the demise of that vehicle. It should have been condemned long ago. He needed to let that thing finally die. It was beyond seeing better days.

  “So, Ben,” Disa said. My hand rested at her lower back, holding her to me. The need to touch her was always there. “What is this?”

  She was gazing around the room, at the covered tables with the soft lighting from the candles. The beautiful centerpieces that the ladies in my family had made.

  Then the door slammed shut and we all turned to the door. Daisy was standing in the doorway looking pretty, amazing. Not even AJ’s murmured curse words could ruin this moment.

  “Disa invited me. She didn’t really know what she was inviting me to, but she said to dress formal. I couldn’t turn that down.”

  She too was wearing a dress that I was pretty sure she had worn to either homecoming or prom with AJ. The dress was black, form fitting with spaghetti straps and a slit that was nearly to her waist. Her short legs looked long in this number.

  I turned to Disa with a smile. “This love is your homecoming or prom that you never had, whichever you want it to be but the sign over the bar says prom.” I pointed to the bar where Mom and Dad were ogling each other. If this continued, we would find them making out in the storage room.

  She laid her hand on my arm and whispered to me, “You did this for me? Simon closed the bar early on a Saturday for me?”

  “He did, and I did.” I told her about Seth’s plan for dinner. Dancing after the meal although if there were fast songs she had to dance with the ladies. She laughed at me.

  “I’m so excited,” she declared. “Ben, thank you.” Disa stood on tip toe, she drew me to her so that she could kiss my cheek.

  It was the best night of my life. After dinner I was going to propose to her.

  We sat down to eat a half hour after Disa arrived. Mom and Dad, Danni and Walker sat at my table. I noticed that somehow, Daisy had to sit with AJ, Matt and Seth. She didn’t sit by AJ, but she was too close for his comfort.

  Seth had prepared a vodka sauce that smothered homemade noodles with shrimp and scallops as the main course. Disa tucked her napkin in the neckline of her dress. Then s
he glanced at me. “You know me, I’ll be wearing this vodka sauce. I don’t want to ruin my dress.”

  I chuckled at her.

  Mom and Danni monopolized Disa which was good since I was nervous about what Disa would say to my proposal. I know we hadn’t been together long this time, but I didn’t want to let her get away again. I wanted to start working on the future together.

  A couple of the Dad’s servers were working tonight. They cleared our plates and took them to the back to be washed by our new dishwasher since Walker had quit. His name was Alec. He was younger than Seth. Desperate for a job and he worked hard.

  We moved away from the tables and stood near the bar talking. I held Disa’s hand while she talked to my sister, Jenny and Daisy and I talked to my brothers and Walker. I couldn’t help but notice AJ’s eyes traveling over my shoulder to stare at Daisy from time to time.

  If I had any advice for him at all, it would be to make up with her, somehow. Make her listen to him and forgive him for whatever led her to believe he had cheated.

  I glanced at Disa and she smiled. “Want to dance?” She asked when the song was slow and something she liked.

  “Sure.” I sat my drink on the bar and headed to the dance floor with her.

  I tucked her into my frame and held her close, my hand around her waist and the other one holding hers to my heart. I kissed her cheek while we moved slowly about the floor. No one else danced with us yet. I didn’t know why. They could have. We wouldn’t have noticed them.

  “Thank you, Ben.”

  “For what? For this?” She nodded. “It was nothing,” I informed her.

  “Ben, I got to dress up in a beautiful gown and go to a prom at Ike’s. It means everything to me. You don’t know how thoughtful it was.” Her beautiful eyes glistened with unshed tears.

  She glanced around the room at all the things that I had put together to make tonight special. “You put so much thought into everything.”

  “Danni and Dad helped me.”

  “I am so happy,” she replied.

  We were barely moving as we swayed together to the beat of the music. I closed my eyes. “I love you, you know.”