Stranded with the Tycoon (Mills & Boon Cherish)

by Pembroke, Sophie

  He couldn’t have said how long it was before she jumped down from the low remains of an interior wall, sending a puff of snow flying up. Time seemed to pass differently when he was absorbed in watching her.

  Her cheeks were pink and flushed as she flung herself onto the patch of bench he’d cleared beside him. ‘This place is fantastic,’ she said, sounding slightly out of breath from hopping around the castle walls.

  ‘I’m glad you like it.’ The urge to lean back against the bench, stretch an arm around her shoulders and pull her into him was almost overpowering. In an attempt to resist, Ben leant forward instead, resting his forearms along his thighs. ‘It must have been pretty impressive back in the day.’

  ‘It’s impressive now.’

  Luce’s voice held a tone of reverence, and he knew she saw something here that he never could—something beyond his world. It didn’t matter. He was content to enjoy it through her, to see her eyes light up at the history she saw here. He’d bring her back every week if he could. Just to see that sparkle, that life in her face.

  Except maybe it would wear off over time. Maybe they’d have to tour all the castles in Wales. And the rest of Britain. And overseas. I wonder how she feels about French châteaux?

  Or maybe he’d take her back to Cardiff and never see her again, as planned.

  That thought made the winter air colder, the clouds overhead more threatening. Ben squinted up at the sky. The reports said no more snow until that night, but those skies just screamed bad weather. They should get going or they might not make it to Cardiff. Again.

  But he didn’t want to leave. Not yet. He wanted a little more time with this Luce first. Excited, vibrant, castle Luce. Was that so much to ask?

  ‘So, where do you think Nest was taken from?’ Ben got to his feet as he spoke, reaching a hand out to pull Luce up again.

  She rolled her eyes as she stood. ‘The castle would have looked completely different then. Most of what you see today was probably built in the thirteenth century—a hundred years or more after Owain took Nest.’

  ‘Okay, so tell me what it would have looked like then.’

  ‘Earth and timber building, probably. We can’t really be sure.’ Luce gazed around her again and Ben realised he was staring at her the same way she looked at the castle. He didn’t stop.

  Luce carried on talking, almost as if to herself. ‘It doesn’t matter that it looks different now. The landscape’s the same. The feeling. She was here, and now I am. And I feel... It’s ridiculous.’ She dropped her head.

  ‘Go on,’ Ben said, trying to resist the desperate temptation to move closer to her.

  Luce reached out to place a hand against the stone of the castle wall, palm flat, as if she were connecting herself to the site. ‘I feel like I can understand her better here. Make more sense of her life and what happened to her. There’s so few facts that we can be sure about. But here they come together better.’

  ‘So it’s helped?’

  She looked up, her eyes wide and shining, and smiled at him. Ben felt the moment he lost himself as a dull ache in his chest.

  ‘It’s helped a lot,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’

  It was too late, now, he realised. He’d been hers since the moment he saw her again in Chester. Maybe longer. Maybe since that night in the library. It didn’t matter. None of it mattered any more. He just had to have her.

  Stepping forward, he raised his hands to her cold face, his body moving into her space as she fell back to rest against the castle wall.

  ‘We should get going.’

  Sharp white teeth bit down on her lip again after she spoke, and Ben almost groaned at the sight.

  ‘I know.’ But he didn’t move away.

  ‘Kiss me,’ she said, anyway, and he lowered his mouth to hers, the wind whipping round them, cold and icy and utterly unimportant in the moment.

  Her lips were soft and sweet under his as he teased them open, drinking in the taste and the feel of her. Luce’s arms wrapped around his waist, her hands firm against his back, pulling him in deeper, closer, even as he pressed his body against hers, the softness of her curves driving him wild.

  As the first cold drops hit the back of his neck, Ben pulled his mouth away, his hands tugging her body into the warmth and safety of his arms. Luce rubbed her cheek against his coat and he kissed the top of her head.

  ‘We need to get out of here,’ he said, and she moved away, leaving him cold and bereft.

  She blinked up at him and snowflakes landed on her lashes. ‘It’s snowing again.’

  ‘And it’s going to get heavier. But, more importantly, I need to get you somewhere more private than a ruined public castle.’ He took a breath. ‘So—Cardiff or the cottage?’

  Luce’s lips quirked up in a naughty smile, and the expression was so utterly unexpected that Ben bit back a laugh.

  ‘Whichever is closer,’ she said, and he grabbed her hand as they ran for the exit.

  Finally, Ben thought, as the car doors slammed behind them and he set a course back to the cottage. Finally something was looking up.

  * * *

  The journey back to the cottage seemed to take twice as long as the trip to the castle had done, and that was only due in part to the increasingly heavy snowfall. It seemed worse even than the drive from Chester had been. Cardiff would have to wait another day, apparently, but somehow the thought bothered her far less now. She couldn’t have left without having this, having him, just once.

  Ben drove steadily through the worsening weather, taking bends and dips in his stride. Luce kept her hands clenched against her knees, more to stop herself touching him than from fear of the drive.

  ‘You okay?’ he asked finally, just as the sky went from grey to black and Luce made out a sign welcoming them to the Brecon Beacons National Park through the falling snow.

  ‘I’m fine,’ she said.

  ‘Really?’

  No. I want you to pull over so I can ravish you in the back seat. Luce felt her eyes widen at the very thought. Not a very Dr Lucinda Myles type desire at all.

  ‘You’re not over-thinking this?’

  She looked up at Ben as he spoke. His eyes were still firmly on the road, his arms braced tight to the wheel. He looked as if every muscle in his body was taut. Was that because of the weather? Or because he was resisting a similar urge to hers?

  Luce gave herself one moment to believe it was the latter, then realised she still hadn’t answered his question. With a soft laugh she said, ‘Honestly, Ben, I’m barely thinking at all right now.’

  She was watching, so she saw him blow out a long breath, saw his shoulders sink, his body start to relax. Had he really been that worried about her?

  ‘I’m not going to fall apart because you kissed me, you know,’ she said, forehead furrowed with the effort of trying to figure out what he was thinking.

  His mouth slipped into a half-smile. ‘Yeah, but I might if I don’t get to do it again soon.’

  The heat that pooled in her belly seemed hotter, more desperate at his words than it had been even in the castle. Back there she’d told herself it was the location, the romanticism of the castle and its history. But here, when he should be focused on the road, he was still thinking about kissing her.

  ‘Are we nearly there yet?’ She could hear the wanting in her own voice, and Ben obviously did, too. He glanced over at her, just for a moment, surprise on his face.

  ‘Nearly,’ he answered, his voice low and full of promise.

  Luce was almost certain that the rest of the journey took considerably less time than it should have done. But he had to slow down again as they reached the twisting path up to the cottage itself, and Luce gripped the edge of her seat as the car slipped and slid over the still falling snow. Not going to be fun trying to get back through this
to Cardiff, even tomorrow.

  The thought was too depressing to dwell on. Instead, Luce focused on thinking about what might happen when they got inside the cottage and bit her lip.

  ‘Okay, this is as close as we’re getting,’ Ben said eventually, wrestling the car onto the side of the road and pulling on the handbrake. They hadn’t even made it to the parking spot they’d managed the day before. This snowstorm was making yesterday’s look like a mere sprinkling. ‘Think you can walk from here?’

  Luce nodded because, honestly, she could do anything if it meant Ben was going to kiss her again soon.

  He trudged round to the other side of the car, helping her out into the snow, and pulled her arm through his so he held her tight against the side of his body. Together, heads down against the snow flurries, they made their slow way up the last of the hill to the cottage, with Ben yanking her upright whenever her boots slipped.

  And then, just when Luce had started to fear they were never going to make it, the cottage appeared through the snow, and warmth burst through her despite the weather.

  Ben fumbled the door open and in moments had slammed it shut behind them and pressed her up against it, his hands cold as they found their way under her coat and jumper to bare skin. His lips were hot, though, warm and demanding, and Luce let her head fall back against the wood and surrendered herself to his kiss.

  Then he wrenched himself away again and Luce’s body ached with the loss.

  ‘This is what you want?’ he asked.

  Luce nodded furiously. ‘Of course—’

  ‘For you,’ he interrupted. His eyes were dark with want, but his face was serious. ‘Not because someone else wants you to, or because it’s what you should do, or even because you’re trying to be something you weren’t in university. Because you want it.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And you know...you know what this is?’

  At last Luce realised what he really wanted, and even though she’d promised herself she wouldn’t give it to him, the need that burned through her body meant she couldn’t stop the words even if she wanted to.

  ‘I want you, Ben. Me. I want your hands and your mouth and your body on me. Just for tonight. Just one night.’

  His hands tightened around her waist as she spoke and Luce swallowed at the heat in his eyes. Then she said the words she knew he was waiting for.

  ‘Seduce me.’

  * * *

  That was all Ben needed to hear. With a growl of satisfaction he captured her lips again, even as his hands pushed her coat from her shoulders.

  ‘You’re wearing far too many clothes,’ he murmured, working his kisses down her throat.

  She bent her neck enticingly, to give him better access, and he allowed himself a moment to admire the pale skin there, and the line of her throat to her shoulders. How had he never noticed how beautiful she was when they were younger? Maybe she was more confident now, better dressed, more aware of her own attraction. But her beauty had always lain in the essence of her, the bones and the lines, and he just hadn’t been looking carefully enough.

  Except for that one night, drunk and stupid. Then he’d seen it.

  ‘It was cold in the castle,’ Luce said, and Ben had to concentrate to remember what they’d even been talking about. He was past words already.

  God, how had she bewitched him so completely, so quickly? Taken charge of his senses so that all that mattered was getting her in his bed as quickly as possible? Hell, he didn’t even care about the bed. He was on the verge of taking her right here against the door.

  He needed to regain some control. He needed to be able to walk away from this tomorrow. The wild, blood-boiling feeling that had taken over had stripped away what he knew of himself. He needed this to be back on his terms.

  With more effort than he would have liked, he pulled her away from the door. ‘Bedroom,’ he said, sentences still beyond him.

  Luce glanced around as though she’d forgotten entirely where she was, hadn’t even noticed the splintered door at her back. At least he wasn’t the only one losing control.

  She followed him without argument as he tugged her towards his bedroom and kicked the door shut behind them. He’d worried that she might be spooked when they were finally there, that once it became too real she’d change her mind. But instead she melted into his arms as he stripped off her clothes, her fingers already dragging his jumper up over his head.

  Skin to skin, touch to touch, Ben laid her back on the bed, covering her with his own body. She was so smooth under his hands, and every touch made her arch and moan and mew, responsive in a way he could never have imagined. And he responded in turn, his fingers and his mouth reaching deeper, more demanding, until finally, finally, he slid home into her and felt her moan against his shoulder.

  ‘Okay?’ He kissed her ear as they stilled for a moment, letting her adjust.

  ‘More than,’ she whispered back, and then Ben couldn’t help but move and move, until she was falling apart under him, and his whole world narrowed to the feel of her, to a pinpoint of sensation that made his body tense until it might break...

  Afterwards, once enough of his brain had returned to his body, Ben rolled onto his side, pulling Luce with him so she was tucked safe in his arms. Her breathing was the only sound, deep and even, as if she were trying to bring her body back under her own control. It was too late, though. He’d already seen the wildness at the centre of her, the free parts she kept locked up tight. The hidden side of her that wanted, wanted—wanted so much.

  He couldn’t let her lock that up again.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  THE ROOM LAY under a strange hush, as if nothing existed beyond the bed in which they lay. Luce supposed it was the snow, blanketing the world outside and deadening the sounds. But maybe it was the sex as well. After all, such a moment deserved a reverential silence, surely?

  Because it wasn’t just sex. Luce felt a stab in her chest at the realisation, and she must have flinched, because Ben’s arm tightened around her, pulling her closer into that magnificent chest. She felt his mouth brush against her hair, soothing, comforting. As if he was trying not to startle her.

  ‘Freaking out?’ he asked, his voice a murmur. But the grip on her body told her he wasn’t letting go even if she was.

  ‘A little,’ she admitted, and cursed herself even as she spoke. The last thing she needed Ben to know was that sex had reduced her to a gibbering wreck.

  Except it wasn’t the sex. The sex had been phenomenal, taking her everywhere she’d needed to go and then some. Her whole body was thanking her for the sex in its own languid, melted way. No, the sex was just fine.

  It was the feelings that went along with it that caused the problems.

  She wasn’t deluded enough to think that Ben would break his one-night rule for her. But, lying in his arms, it was hard to imagine how she would tear herself away the next morning.

  But she had to. Because Ben wasn’t a man looking for responsibility, family, a wife. And she knew herself. She wasn’t Nest, for all that she’d been taken from Cilgerran Castle and bedded tonight. She had a family she had to take care of, and Ben would never be able to bear to have anything take affections away from him. If she were to fall in love, to find someone to make a life with, it had to be someone who supported her, helped her, understood that she had other responsibilities.

  Ben Hampton was not that man. Ben was so far from being that man it was almost funny. Or hugely depressing.

  The best she could hope for with Ben was an occasional night together when he happened to be in town and it suited him—and even then never more than one night in a row. And that wasn’t enough for her. He wanted her to think about her own needs? Well, she needed more than that from a relationship.

  ‘What can I do to help you relax?’ he asked, his
voice soft and seductive.

  Luce felt her body reacting even though every muscle in it was already exhausted.

  ‘I’m never going to be able to sleep if you keep thinking so loud. Normally a woman is more relaxed after I finish my work.’ He sounded faintly put out at that.

  Luce bit her lip. She had to leave tomorrow morning. She knew that. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t make the most of her one night.

  Shifting in his arms so she was facing him, Luce let him pull her flush against him, her breasts brushing against the hairs on his chest, his right leg pressing between her thighs.

  ‘Maybe you haven’t finished work for the night, then,’ she said, and watched his eyes darken as he smiled.

  Yes, if she only got one night with Ben Hampton, Luce was going to make sure every moment counted.

  * * *

  According to the clock on the bedside table, it was late morning when Ben awoke, but the room remained dim and close. Guess it hasn’t stopped snowing, then. He supposed he could get up and look, see what they were dealing with. But the bed was so warm, and when he shifted Luce snuggled closer into his arms.

  Yeah, he wasn’t going anywhere in a hurry.

  And neither, he realised, was she. Not if the snow was as heavy as it had looked before they’d retired to the bedroom for the night. If he hadn’t been able to get the car all the way up to the cottage yesterday afternoon, they’d be lucky even to get back to it this morning. No point even trying.

  Not, of course, that logic meant she wouldn’t need some convincing of that fact. Ben smiled. Given how responsive she’d been to his ‘convincing’ the night before, he didn’t see it being a particularly arduous task.

  ‘Are you awake?’ Luce asked, her voice fuzzy with sleep.

  ‘Yeah,’ he murmured, and she turned over in his arms to face him.

  ‘Has it stopped snowing?’

  She was blinking up at him, her hair falling into her eyes, her face pink and sleepy, and Ben thought she looked more beautiful than he’d ever seen her.