Benny

by Terry Bolryder

  Now that the adrenaline was fading, he was realizing life was totally different. She knew his secret. He didn’t have to hide anymore. But would she still be in danger?

  “Is this why you never told me?” She rested her cheek against his shoulder. “You thought I would think the wrong thing?”

  He nodded. “I didn’t think you would try to misunderstand. It’s just that I never saw it the way you did. I thought I did a terrible thing that could never be forgiven, especially by a human like you.”

  “No,” she said. “I don’t need to forgive you. I’m proud of you.”

  He sat back. “Why?”

  “Because you took such a horrible situation and still rose so far above it.” She gestured around them. “Look at this club. You built a place where people can come together.”

  “I think I always wanted to help shifters be with humans because I felt I could never be with you,” Benny said. “Maybe it soothed something in me to at least know others could be happy where I wasn’t.”

  She swallowed. “That’s the sweetest thing ever.” Her red hair was starting to dry now, and Benny put a hand in it, feeling the curls, loving the way they held on to his fingers.

  Like Harley had always held on to him.

  “I would never have thought of you as a murderer,” Harley said. “I would only have thought self-defense. But even if you didn’t want to tell me about the murder, why were you so afraid to have me know about your bear?”

  “It’s all connected,” Benny said. “But I was afraid to even be with you with him inside me. I don’t have any control when he’s out. Because I couldn’t forgive him for killing my parents, I couldn’t ever connect. Dires are already more separate from their humans than regular shifters. After what happened, I wanted to be separate from mine.”

  “But why would you think someone who kills child beaters would kill me?”

  “I guess it makes no sense,” Benny said. “Except for the fact that I saw myself out of control, watching blood and carnage. I had no way to know what rules my bear had or what would bring him out. I didn’t want him to hurt you. I’d rather die a thousand deaths of heartbreak without you than let you get hurt.”

  “Dammit, Benny, anyone who could say something so wonderful could not possibly have a ruthless murderer inside him.” She poked him in the chest. “Besides, now that he’s been out a second time, hopefully you see who he is. He comes out when you are in very real danger. I’m glad he came out.”

  Benny let out a shuddering sigh, finally releasing all the fear and heartache he’d shouldered for the past twenty years.

  If he could trust the thing inside him… if he could trust it…

  He brushed her hair back. “I want to be with you.”

  She nodded. “And?”

  “I want to mate you.” He tilted her head so her lips were close to his, their breath mingling.

  “And?”

  He kissed her softly, just a slight brush of their lips. Then he went in for a deeper kiss, parting her lips.

  She moaned and tightened her arms around her neck, kissing him back, and he felt even the animal inside him at peace.

  For once, Benny didn’t try to force him back.

  Benny withdrew so he could meet her eyes. “I want to be with you forever. Make you mine. Give you kids.”

  “Or cubs?”

  “Or cubs,” he said. “I want a real family with you. If it’s only us, that’s fine too. Or we could adopt. But I want a future. I want to finally be able to stop living with the past trying to suck me back.”

  “The past is gone,” she said. “It can’t hurt you. But if the memories do, I’ll be here to hold you.”

  “You couldn’t possibly be more wonderful,” he said, claiming her lips again, enjoying the rise and fall of her chest, her hands around his neck.

  His everything.

  His.

  She nipped at his lips. “So I know something about mating…”

  He chuckled, standing and lifting her in his arms. Even though he’d been through a hard battle and almost had his dire bear pulled out, he couldn’t wait another day to claim her.

  But not here.

  He carried her outside to his truck. “Let’s go home.”

  Chapter 18

  Harley had always loved Benny’s house, with its quaint size, homey furnishings, and large plot of land behind it.

  She wondered if now that he could accept himself, he could run out there in his bear form.

  He set her down after he carried her over the threshold, and she looked around with new eyes, knowing this was probably where they would live.

  “Now that I think about it, why did such a big guy get such a small house?” She walked past a couch, fingering a floral pillow. “And such pretty furnishings?”

  “I always wanted you to feel at home,” Benny said. “Maybe it was hard to make a home at all if it didn’t remind me of you.”

  She flushed. She couldn’t believe all the sweet things that were coming out of him now that he didn’t have to hold back.

  She understood now why he’d hidden from her, even if she wished he hadn’t.

  At least from now on, there would be no secrets.

  He shucked off his jacket and led the way to the bedroom.

  She’d never been in there.

  He turned on the light, revealing a large bed framed in cedar. The covers were blue with white flowers, and the dresser and nightstand were cedar as well.

  She giggled. “I guess you were hoping to one day have me here as well?”

  Benny shrugged, cheeks lightly flushing, looking so tall and adorable that he took her breath away. “I guess so. Also, I just kind of like this look.”

  “It’s funny to see a big, burly lumbersexual with such a soft-looking room.”

  “Oh, I’m not soft,” he said, picking her up around the waist and tossing her on the bed, making her gasp in shock.

  Before she could react, he was on top of her, a hand on either side of her head, knees on either side of her legs.

  “I just like pretty things,” he said, pulling on one of her curls. She had a feeling he was going to be doing that a lot. “Like you.”

  She laughed. “Now that you’re not afraid of your dire bear, you’re quite a charmer.”

  He snorted. “I don’t know about that. You saw my bear. He’s still in there.”

  “Speaking of which, I’m not sure I fully understand what was going on with that man. The purple glow?”

  “The one you attacked? Uh, I was going to have him try to take the bear out so we could be together.”

  She felt a huge wave of relief. “So that’s what you meant by ending it.”

  “What did you think I meant?”

  “I thought you were breaking up with me,” she said. “But I second-guessed that when you walked away. I knew you wouldn’t do it like that.”

  “Never,” Benny said. “I couldn’t tell you my secret, so I thought I could solve things by having nothing to tell.”

  Her body was heating just having him close to her, and she squirmed. “Well, I’m glad I showed up to save you. I couldn’t stand if you were hurt. Never try anything like that again.”

  His eyes softened. “He saved you. I could never hurt him now.”

  “He’s part of you,” she said, stroking Benny’s face because she would never get tired of feeling that hard jaw.

  It was finally sinking in that she could have everything. That Benny could finally be hers.

  So many years of waiting and dreaming, and now nothing stood between them.

  She’d finally have what she’d always seen others have and wanted for herself.

  A mate.

  She pulled off her clothing, wanting to get away from the dampness and also to be freely naked against his skin.

  He began to remove his clothes also, and for the first time, she noticed there was no hesitance in his eyes.

  Just beautiful, peaceful hazel.

  It was the
early hours of the morning. They had just been through hours of horrible trauma.

  Yet with so many years of aching and waiting, they couldn’t wait another minute to be one.

  When he took off his clothes, she memorized every plane of his body, every hard muscle, his wide chest dusted with just the right amount of dark hair.

  His huge pecs bunched as he held himself above her. Strong arms. Narrow waist with rippling abs.

  But even if he’d looked different, he would have been beautiful to her just because of who he was.

  So to combine it all made Harley feel like her heart couldn’t take it. He was too much goodness for her to have all to herself.

  But perhaps she had a bit of shifter in her, because she felt something inside her growl to own him for her own.

  Finally. Finally, after all the waiting, Benny would be hers for the rest of her life.

  He spread her legs, then kissed down her chest and stomach until he reached her center, kissing her there as well, grinning when she was already wet.

  “Excited?”

  She nodded fiercely. “Never wanted anything more in my life.”

  Delicious heat coursed through her as he licked and played, keeping his hand over her waist to gently hold her down.

  She twisted her hands into the covers, loving the soft feel of the mattress beneath them, the early morning light streaming through the window.

  The feel of his mouth on her clit, making pleasure build like oncoming rain.

  She squirmed, trying to fight the feeling, trying to draw it out, but it was no use. He was already too good at reading her, so attuned to her expressions and emotions and movements that he left her nowhere to go but over the edge.

  She fell, feeling his tongue stroking up against her, so warm and intense that her orgasm felt as if it went on and on.

  When the last wave had abated, she looked up at him blearily, wondering if he was ready to take her yet.

  Instead, he came forward, kissing her lips and turning her on when she tasted herself against his mouth. It was something she’d never guessed she’d find sexy, but knowing it was Benny, knowing he’d had his mouth there, that he cared about her pleasure, it made her almost ready to come again.

  His hand found her center again as his mouth lowered to her breast, and he flicked his tongue out over one tight nipple. She arched against the simultaneous sensations, feeling her entire body tense.

  He kissed her eagerly, suckling at one breast and then the other, moving each time she was too close to the edge and then coming up to kiss her mouth again.

  Every time he kissed her, it was with the desperation of a man coming up for air, like he’d die without her.

  Every time she kissed him back, it felt like the world got brighter, like nothing would ever be the same.

  When she came against his hand, the pleasure was blinding, forcing her to close her eyes as she wound her hands around his neck and held on, feeling like he was the only steady thing in a storm of pure sensation.

  The waves came over and over, cresting higher than before, leaving her breathless and quaking, and as she fell back against the bed, she realized they hadn’t even mated yet.

  His hand gently slid inside her, and she felt her sex clench as he let out a little growl.

  “God, you’re gorgeous, Harley. Are you ready to be my mate? To be with me forever?”

  “I’ve been ready since the moment I met you,” she said desperately. “I’ve never wanted to be away from your side.”

  With that, he slid into her, his hard length filling her from every angle as she began to tingle inside. He was so big that even without moving, she could barely take the sensations. Yet, as she slowly relaxed, all she wanted was for him to move and give her even more.

  She wriggled against him as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Not because she feared he would pull away from her, but because she wanted him to know how wanted, how supported, he was.

  His beautiful hazel eyes glittered beneath long lashes as he slowly pulled out of her, then pushed back inside, inch by agonizingly sweet inch.

  “Nothing in the world should feel that good,” she said.

  “You feel that good, my Harley,” he said softly, jaw tightly clenched with the effort of holding back. “Just being anywhere near you is wonderful, but this? This is heaven.”

  She loved that she could make him feel that way and put her hands on his strong arms, moving with him as he stroked in and out.

  Both of them were panting, bodies tight with exertion as every thrust that brought them together as one took them closer to the edge.

  Harley became aware of the scent of mountain air and saw Benny’s eyes flash a dark black. She was truly here with him, and when they mated, she’d be accepting everything, including his bear.

  That was fine with her. She loved all of him, even before she’d known what all of it was.

  Nothing could stop her from loving him forever. Everything she learned only made her love him more. So she knew her love would always increase for him, which scared her because she already loved him so much it was hard to breathe.

  But she knew he would be there with her, growing in love alongside her, staying along for the ride, and that made her a little less scared.

  “I love you,” he said simply as he thrust deeply into her, his body so close to the edge it was rigid. She bit her lower lip, feeling as though she couldn’t hold on for another second as well.

  And then he jerked, and at the thought that Benny was coming, that he was inside her and they were about to be mated, she came as well, hot, intense pleasure rolling over her from top to bottom as her sex clenched in time with his release.

  Over and over until they were both panting and shaking. And it looked like it took all of Benny’s strength to just stay propped up.

  She loved the way his hips met hers, how she couldn’t tell that there was any separation between them, and how close she felt to the one she loved.

  He stayed there for a moment, then pulled out of her and grabbed a towel, coming back to help her clean up.

  Then he pulled her to him, chest to chest under the covers, so tight that every part of her was pressed against him.

  She was still thrumming inside where he’d claimed her. It was a moment she didn’t think she would ever forget, no matter how many times they came together.

  And she hoped for a million of those times.

  As one of his hands curled in her hair and the other stroked her back, he hummed softly, happier than she’d ever seen him in her life.

  “See, the situation isn’t so dire after all.” She snorted as she looked up to see him glaring at her joke.

  Then his mouth softened into a smile. “You’re wrong. I’m in dire danger of loving you forever. I’m in dire need of being able to always protect your heart. And I’m in dire risk of always wanting more time with you, because a million years could never be enough.”

  She grabbed his face and kissed him because it was the only response she had for something so sweet. She was in danger of her heart exploding from sheer happiness.

  He was right. They were in dire straits indeed.

  Thank so much for reading Benny and Harley’s story! If you enjoyed it, I’d really appreciate it if you would consider leaving a review to help other readers find it.

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  Felix’s book is out now!

  Felix doesn’t mind that most people don’t look beyond his beautiful, charming exterior. He doesn’t care if people know him as the frivolous ’Fifi’ or as the deadly assassin ‘Darkness’. There was only one woman he wanted to share all of himself with, and losing her made him lock down his heart. But when she shows up again, like a ghost, all he wants is to grab hold of her and never let her go.

  Felix (Club Crimson Book 4)

  Sample of Felix

  She knew him the minute she saw him, thoug
h it had been so many years.

  So much waiting. So much planning.

  Yet when she blinked, all of that faded, and all she saw was the man from her youth.

  A youth that had been cruelly stolen.

  Now he was going to pay. He was going to… look over at her.

  Those purple eyes, shaded by heavy lashes, froze her as she stood across the room, watching him as he sat at the bar.

  Did he remember her? Was she just one of many he’d loved and lost?

  Recognition flickered in his eyes, and she felt her heartbeat quicken, making her slightly nauseated as she tried to remain calm.

  Tried to show nothing as his eyes slowly scanned her up and down.

  She took a moment to study him as well, to see how he had changed from when he was barely more than a teenager.

  His body was even taller than she remembered, and the large, defined musculature was still there, as was the incredible beauty he had always possessed.

  The beauty that fooled everyone.

  Had anyone else been as captivated as she was? Even now, she was glad for the change in her scent, or he would have detected her body longing for him. For his touch.

  But it was too late for that.

  The music pounded all around her, making everything feel surreal. Was she really seeing him after all these years? Was he really within her grasp?

  She palmed a long knife she had hidden in a pocket.

  Today, things would finally be fair.

  His eyes were slightly unfocused as he looked at her, and then, to her shock, he turned away, shaking his head as he did so.

  She felt like someone had dropped a rock in her stomach. Of all the reactions she had expected when he saw her, that was the last one.

  Did she mean so little to him that he could just turn away so easily?

  The knife felt so warm in her hand.

  Her view was blocked when a man stepped in front of her, asking her to dance. She shook her head quickly, not sure what about her all-leather ensemble, combined with her short hair and intense resting bitch face, would attract someone.

  She waited impatiently as the man sought another partner and then craned her neck to catch a glimpse of Felix again.