by Box Set
“Then, may I ask you officially, I mean, formally, to be my girlfriend?”
Brittney held the locket inside her closed hand and scrunched her face, looking like she was considering his offer.
Sweat popped on Ben’s forehead as she twisted her lips, and rolled her eyes as if he’d asked her to solve world hunger or end all wars. She took a deep breath and let it out.
Her face looked too serious, or was that concern or worry that she’d break his heart? Ben steeled himself, ready for her to tell him it was too late, that he’d acted too much like an ass, and that while he was sweet to do all the things he’d done, it was beyond repair. The hurt he’d caused her was too great, and worse of all, he hadn’t apologized for his hurtful remarks. He bristled over the small inner voice telling him to say he was sorry. She was the one who let me go, shouldn’t she say she’s sorry?
She opened her mouth and said, “The last time we talked about this, you said life was too uncertain, that if you wanted a girlfriend it would be me. What changed?”
Pain lanced Ben’s heart as it thundered like an avalanche of rocks into a deep ravine. She wanted him to explain the anguish of losing her? Of staring into a bleak future in a world without Brittney Reed? Of the jaws of death ringing his neck at a wasted life without hope or joy?
The seconds thudded by, and Ben knew if he didn’t say the right thing, he was doomed. He had no clue what she was after, and why she wanted to know.
The tiny voice said. What about the truth? Ben, tell her the truth, and it might help to say you’re sorry. You were the one who threw the first punch, not Nash.
Ben held Brittney’s hand, the one with the locket, and pressed it to his lips. “Losing you, Brittney, changed me. I was always afraid of losing in love, so I decided not to love anyone. The price of love is grief, I told myself. But you found your way into my heart and for a short time, I found joy and happiness. I hoped you’d be the perfect woman for me, and when it turned out you weren’t, I took it out on you and hated myself for falling in love.”
Brittney gasped and swallowed, but she didn’t interrupt. That was another thing he loved about her. She was calm and collected, not prone to hysterics or flying off the handle.
He took a moment to regain his nerve and continued, “I lost you when you told me you were letting me go. But that made me realize that yes, the price of love is grief, but love is worth so much more that I’m willing to pay anything, including grief and a broken heart just to have a taste of it. I was already paying the price by being away from you.”
His heart pained as he recalled the agony of being cast away from her, and he could no longer avoid saying what he needed to. He clasped her hands and held them still. “You’re not perfect, and neither am I, but Brittney, we’re perfect for each other. I’m sorry I caused you so much grief, but I promise you that if you take me back, I will give you my entire heart and soul to love and cherish you. Grief is not too high a price to pay for something even better—true and undying love.”
She blinked and opened her mouth with a surprised smile. “You, Ben, are worth any price. I’ll not only take you back, I’ll hold you tight and I will never, ever let you go again.”
Ben rose and placed the locket around Brittney’s neck. She pressed her lips against his, and he kissed her with every ounce of passion he possessed. Finding that photograph in his mother’s things and reading what she’d written about each one of her precious students had been either a stroke of luck, or part of a master plan.
Either way, it suited Ben just fine.
Chapter 81
~ Brittney ~
The locket is around my neck now, pressed between me and Ben, but I’m having trouble focusing or even articulating. All around me is Ben, his kisses melting me to the bone, and his fingers burning a trail around my bare midriff as he lifts me into his arms.
He carries me to the bed, his eyes beckoning, dark, deep pools of espresso, and lays me down, still watchful in case I’m not ready.
I reach up for him and pull him on top of me. “Think we should shut the blinds?”
“We’re on the highest floor, but I’ll turn off the lights. That way all we can see is the Golden Gate Bridge and the moon beyond it.” He reaches for the remote and the room turns dark, outlining the bright orange of the bridge further outside the window.
I’m done worrying about people watching. Ben’s right. We’re high above the headlands of the Marin peninsula without a single tall building facing us on this side of the Bay. Besides, what’s more romantic than being with Ben against the backdrop of the iconic bridge?
He drops another lush kiss over my lips and says, “Let’s make this the first time for both of us.”
“Yes, let’s.” I no longer have a coherent thought as heat and desire buzz through my body. I take his hand and clasp his fingers between mine. “Make love to me, Ben.”
“If you’ll make love to me, sweet angel.” He nuzzles me behind my ear and tugs the lobe, flooding me with loving heat, as I run my fingertips over his hot, solid body.
He arcs his fingers underneath my cropped elf top, and I raise my arms, eager to be rid of the faux-fur trimmed costume. The long sleeves slide off me, and I toss it aside in time to meet Ben’s gaze as it drops to the black lace bra I wear underneath the dark green velvety top.
“Do you know how utterly beautiful you are?” He frames my face by sweeping my blond hair onto the pillow and slips the straps from my bra.
I catch my breath when he bends down and tugs at the shell of the bra with his mouth. He truly thinks I’m beautiful. Maybe I am.
Heat flushes over me as he works the bra off my breasts, exposing me to his hot, hungry gaze. He licks his lips with a teasing smile, then thankfully pops one achingly peaking nipple into his mouth while he fondles the other one, gently rolling it between his thumb and forefinger.
I’m already arching into him, grabbing his head, and threading my fingers through his hair, moaning my approval. Spikes of pleasure sizzle like drops of water on a hot griddle, and the area between my legs throbs with wetness.
His long tongue wraps and rolls around my nipple, and I’m aching now, aching for him to be inside. As if sensing my desperation, he gives my nipple a quick pinch, then splays his hand over my belly while he kisses his way over to my other breast. I must have died and gone to heaven, because the pleasure just keeps on increasing with no end.
His hands are now busy tugging my skirt off, and I’m wiggling beneath him to help him undress me. He inhales when he exposes me, wearing nothing but panties—black lace ones.
“I can’t get over how beautiful you are.” He kneels and places both hands on my hips, teasing the waistband and shooting sparks all over my body. I’m open entirely to him—to the man I love.
“I’m all yours, Ben. Every bit of me. All yours. Take me.”
“Oh, I will.” His mouth widens, ready to feast. As he lowers his hot, hungry gaze from my breasts down to that patch of black lace between my legs, I almost combust from sheer anticipation.
In one swoop, he lifts my hips and bumps his nose against the sensitive area between my legs. I almost come from the solid heat of his hands cupping my ass, and the edge of his teeth lowering my panties.
When his hot tongue glides over me, tickling my most private place, the sweet ache in me grows and expands, spreading from my clit to the tips of my fingers and toes.
“Ben,” I moan, as my head swirls and every color of the rainbow spins like cotton candy and sugar cream cookie sprinkles. I give into the long, slow swish of his tongue, pulling pleasure from me like melting taffy, ebbing and floating with every delicious burst of his sensuous licking.
He knows me so well. His touch is both strong and tender as he slicks his finger into my wet, pulsating canal, and strokes me steadily, building that ache of almost losing him into the passion of reigniting my wholehearted love.
I lose myself, all sense of time and space as a roaring rushing river sweeps me from my
moorings and flings me high into the night sky above the twinkly, sparkling bridge.
“So sweet, so very sweet,” Ben mumbles as he covers my mouth with his lips, still tasting of my arousal, the slick, smooth feel that draws quivers down my spine.
Just like that, I want him, now. Inside. I drag my hands down his muscular abdomen and press it against the huge, raging erection straining at his jeans.
“Mine, mine,” I mutter as I make quick work of his zipper.
He smiles at me, stroking my hair over my forehead. “I’m not going to argue with that, my sexy elf. You’re mine, too.”
“I know.” I stretch my entire body, full of tingling nerves and shimmering desire. “Bring it on, Mr. Santa. I’ll be your pet every Christmas.”
He kneels and rips off his shirt. Now I can appreciate cowboy shirts having snaps and not buttons, as I bet every cowgirl can attest.
A moment later, he’s naked and glorious, as he lowers himself over me, letting me stroke him balls to tip. He’s hot and so very hard, pressing against me but waiting.
“I want you bare inside me. I did a quick computation, and I think I’m safe.”
“You’ll always be safe with me.” His eyes are half-closed, as he seals my lips with a loving kiss and slides into me.
We both moan together at the exquisiteness, skin to skin, nothing in between, his hardness inside my soft center, completing me, loving me, and maybe creating a life only the two of us can share.
I grasp his sexy hard ass and rock him, as he touches me in a way no one has ever done before. The fullness of him, stroking me like a slow, deep fire.
“I love you, Brittney, so much.” The smile on his face is so pure, so loving, and innocent with a tinge of surprise, no doubt at how good and natural all of it feels.
I’m too far gone in the pleasurable sensations to speak as I writhe and coil beneath him, pushing his pace faster and harder. Guttural cries punch from my throat, and unbelievable sensations mount. I clench him hard, my fingertips digging into his flesh, and then he’s losing control, grunting and pounding into me with a raw hot fury.
His thrusts are rough and eager, no longer holding back. But his eyes don’t leave mine, and I watch him, mesmerized as sweat pops onto his face and his pupils dilate. His eyelids droop as he gets closer to the edge, and he huffs, “Brittney, now.”
A thunderclap explodes from the friction between us, and my insides clench and pulse. A climax larger and more powerful than the last one rocks both of us, socking all the breath from me and curling me from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.
“I love you, Ben, love you, love you, love you,” my mouth mutters as my walls contract around him, squeezing and kissing him through his blessed release.
I’ll never forget the expression on his face if I live to be a hundred. It’s so sweet, so pure, so satisfied, and oh, so loved, as he lies down next to me and closes his eyes. Pride swells through me. I’m the only one who put that heartfelt look of joy on his face.
I’m the one for Ben Powers.
Chapter 82
~ Ben ~
The Day before Christmas
The Christmas train, pulled by a real steam engine and decorated to the hilt with wreathes, holly, and yes, mistletoe under every archway, chugged through the redwood forest.
Ben, Brittney, and the Powers family took up half a railcar as they traveled past six- to eight-hundred year old trees towering like eternal sentinels in the hills of Northern California.
Ben was dressed as Santa, now that Grandpa had officially retired from both playing Santa and running the Powers Pet Store, which had been in danger of shutting down before Nash stepped in with a bailout.
A week ago, Ben and Nash had gone over the accounts when the sole remaining employee, a young single mother named Lindsay, had complained about not being paid.
Nash looked over the location and decided it was in an area ripe for revitalization. As for the employee, Nash not only paid her, but got himself a date for the evening. Ben had warned him not to go out with a single mom, that he’d be raising the woman’s expectations only to dash them to the ground when he rolled away, but Nash had accused him of being old fashioned.
“Women know the score these days.” He’d smirked as he placed his cowboy hat on his head to pick her up for the date. “She needs a free meal, and she’s bringing the kid, too.”
Shock hadn’t even begun to describe Ben’s surprise at how his cad of a brother had hidden a kind heart under his bluster—just like all of the Powers men.
The train sounded its whistle as it neared the stop to pick up more passengers. Ben put his arm around Brittney to steady her as the train slowed. She was dressed in her favorite Cowgirl Elf costume, which she decided was the right blend of sexy and sweet. He couldn’t get over how lucky he was to be the man to put that precious smile on her face and the jaunt in her now confident step. Her hips swayed just enough to be flirty, and she was without a doubt, the prettiest and smartest elf there ever was.
Susanna milled around the railcar with a selfie stick on which she’d attached a sprig of mistletoe, bugging everyone to either kiss each other, or kiss her, depending on the angle.
She wasn’t having much luck until a redheaded cousin of Brittney’s jumped aboard from the platform. The man had the practiced look of a player, and Ben’s hackles rose as he watched his sister swing the stick toward her destruction.
“Relax,” Brittney said. “Your sister’s old enough to take care of herself.”
“Isn’t that your cousin, the actor?”
“Yep. Declan Reed, my famous cousin. He played Romeo a few years back and just got through with a role as the Huntsman in Little Red Riding Hood.”
“I don’t like the way he’s looking at my sister,” Ben grumbled.
“Your older sister,” Brittney said. “I’ll say your sister likes the way he’s checking her out.”
Sure enough, Susanna lifted the selfie stick above Declan’s devilishly charming face, and the cad roped her in for a long and languishing kiss.
“Don’t look now,” Brittney said. “But look who’s holding hands with Nash. They’re coming this way.”
“You’re trying to goad me now,” Ben mumbled under his Santa’s beard, a convenient way not to let people see him speak. Sure enough, Nash sauntered toward them holding hands with both Lindsay and her little girl, Abbie, who looked to be around six years old.
The little girl was clearly in love with Nash, and if Ben had to guess, so was the mother, although she kept her adoration under wraps, or tried to.
“Hey, Santa Brother,” Nash said as he approached the painted Santa’s throne bolted onto the railcar. “Abbie wants to sit on your lap and tell you her secrets.”
“No see-cwets, Uncle Nash,” the little girl lisped. “I already told Mama what I want for Chwistmas.”
“But Mama’s not Santa,” Nash said, lifting the girl onto Ben’s lap.
Ben ignored Brittney’s eye roll and settled into his role of being jolly. “So, Abbie, tell Santa your secrets.”
“No see-cwets,” Abbie whispered loudly into his ear. “I wanna guitar, but Mama has no money. No one wants to buy bunnies and birds from her.”
“Let me see what Santa can do for you,” Ben said, hooking a glance at his brother. He couldn’t picture Nash settling down with this little family, no matter how attracted he was to Lindsay. Nash just wasn’t the family type.
But then, the same could have been said about him before he met Brittney. Not that she was in the family way, or at least she hadn’t mentioned anything since their night of love after the benefit concert.
Ben’s heart twinged between hope and worry, but he put his attention back on Abbie and grinned for the picture when Lindsay waved her phone.
After letting both Abbie and Lindsay kiss him, Ben held Brittney on his lap until the train chugged to its destination near the coast.
They were met at the station by a fleet of limos Nash had arranged. T
he day before, Ben and Nash had moved most of Grandpa’s clothes and personal things from the farmhouse. He’d agreed to go to the assisted living facility, but wanted to spend Christmas and New Year’s with family. It turned out his lady love was easier to persuade. Once Nash found out she was Lindsay’s grandmother, it was fast work to convince her to speak to Grandpa about it. Funny how he agreed with everything she said, even admitting the big white bird might be too noisy for him.
Brittney agreed to take the cockatoo, and her parents adopted Treat who would visit Grandpa whenever they visited her grandparents at the Happy Bear Retirement Center.
Ben helped Grandpa into the first limo. The older man had steadily regained his strength, but was on a heart monitor and tired easily. He was also growing back the beard they’d shaved off when he was stuck on the ventilator in the hospital.
“Did you enjoy the Christmas train?” Ben asked.
“First time I wasn’t playing Santa,” Grandpa said. “I’d enjoy it better if I got some mistletoe action.”
“Don’t worry, where we’re going is infested by mistletoe,” he said, winking.
“Harrumph. I’m not quite ready to go to Happy Bear yet.” Grandpa shook his jowls and settled into the seat. He didn’t say much until the limo took a turn onto a gravel drive.
“Wait, Ben, where are we going?” Grandpa pressed his face against the tinted windows. “I thought Bob and Cece Reed rented the cottage.”
Brittney’s grandparents had rented the cottage, and in fact, were busy inside with Brittney’s family preparing a special Christmas Eve dinner of Jon-balaya and Sally-Beary Steak with Colleen Greens, Nash Browns, and Britt-oche Bread.
“Do you like all the lights we put up?” Ben leaned over as the limo came to a stop.
“The flamingos,” Grandpa exclaimed. “I plumb forgot about them.”
From the back of the limo, Ben’s father laughed. “You don’t remember how mad you were when I hid the reindeer in the neighbor’s yard?”
