“What do you want me to say, ‘you clean up nicely’?”
“Maybe. You sure do,” she cocks her head to the side. “I hardly recognized you.”
I snort. “Right.”
“So where are we going?”
“To eat. Come on.”
Phoebe jangles a set of keys, and drops them in my hand.
“What’s this?”
“We’ll take my car.”
“The cop car?”
“Yeah, why not? You drive.”
I shrug. Sure, what could be the harm?
I unlock her door first, and take her by the elbow to lift her inside. She gives me a sharp look, but her lips tremble, as she holds back a smile.
Usually when I pick up a girl, I don’t drive their car, and their car doesn’t have a bracket bolted to the dashboard to mount a shotgun. At least, I think that’s what that welded box thing does.
The big SUV starts up with a purr.
“They let you take this home?”
“Yeah. I work on her myself when I can. Mostly change the oil and stuff.”
I glance at her.
She shrugs. “What?”
“Anybody ever call you a tomboy?”
“Yeah,” she says, sharply. “I don’t like it.”
“Oh. Sorry about that.”
I put the truck in gear and back out of her driveway. The switch marked SIREN is a temptation as I wheel it around.
“Listen,” she says. “Did you see a carrot orange V W around here lately?”
I shake my head. “No, why?”
“Just wondering. Where we headed?”
“Wesley House.”
She shifts in her seat. “I… you know, I can’t really afford…”
I snort. “Oh, please.”
“I can’t just…”
“Yes, you can,” I snap. “I’m paying for dinner, and holding the door for you, and helping you out of the car, and treating you like a goddamn man treats a lady, and you’re going to like it.”
The look on her face is so cute I could kiss her right here at the red light. She crosses her arms over her chest and sticks out her chin, pouting.
“I don’t know why I agreed to this.”
“That’s not what you said last night.”
“I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
“I think you were.”
It’s not a long drive. I roll into the parking lot and slow down, looking for a spot. It’s crowded.
“Can we take a handicapped spot?”
Phoebe rolls her eyes.
“It’s not like we’ll get towed.”
“No,” she sighs.
She tries to get out before I get to her side of the car, only to find me standing there to take her hand as she steps down from the running board. I close the door and put my hand on her arm as I walk her up to the front door.
Inside, it’s much cooler and quieter, though loud with conversation. The house is packed. The hostess looks up from her podium, then looks up some more to meet my gaze. She ignores Phoebe completely.
“Oh crap, you’re you.”
“I usually am.”
Phoebe clears her throat.
“Ah, yes, Wright party of two. Right this way, please.”
I can feel fifty people staring at me as we weave through the crowded dining room following the hostess. She seats us near the back the room, in a deep, high round booth that closes us off from the rest of the patrons.
Phoebe settles in across the table and takes a menu.
“If you try to order for me,” she says, when the waitress is gone, “I’ll kick you in the balls.”
“You say that, but I bet you get all mushy and feminine at me being so dominant and manly.”
“The last thing I want is to be dominated,” she says, her tone dripping with scorn.
“We’ll see about that after you’ve tried it.”
She looks up over the menu, and the way her eyes lock on me and she licks her lips with just a hint of her pink tongue makes my cock start to throb.
“Let me guess. You’ll have one of everything,” she says.
“Actually, yeah. I’m going to try the tasting menu. Looks good.”
“I’ll join you.”
“Good. I hope you’re last on the menu.”
Her menu drops and she looks at me wide-eyed, a blush creeping up her cheeks. I love how she goes from hardass to innocent when I push her buttons the right way.
The waitress walks up, staring at me the whole time like she expects me to pop her head off and garnish my drink with it.
“Coke,” I grunt.
Phoebe eyes me. “Same.”
“I don’t drink.”
“Me, either. Bad for your health.”
“That’s not why I don’t drink.”
“I sense a story behind that,” she says.
I shift uncomfortably in my seat. “Not what you think. It’s not a fun story.”
“You must have some,” she says, folding her hands together to rest her chin on them. “Fun stories.”
“Do you?”
She sighs. “Not any fresh ones.”
I see her searching, her eyes darting through her memories as she sifts for ones to tell me.
“I don’t want to start off with stories about my ex. My happy memories are mostly from my childhood.”
“Mine, too.”
“You had to be the big man on campus when you were in college.”
“I was, I guess. If you’re good at football, it makes things easy for you. Too easy.”
“Too easy?”
“Yeah. It was frustrating. I got an A on papers when I knew I should have gotten a lesser grade. There was no sense of challenge to it, and girls practically catapulted themselves through my windows.”
“And you just tossed them right back out, huh?”
“I banged most of them. Then tossed them back out.”
She scowls at me.
“That’s what they wanted. Don’t look at me like that. You ever been, what do they call it, objectified?”
“Objectified?”
“Yeah. Like when you walk up to my car and I suggest somebody sent me a stripper in a cop outfit.”
“Perfect example,” she says. “Poor you, all the hot girls throwing themselves at you.”
“Maybe I want more than hot.”
She rolls her eyes. “Is this where you tell me how my big brain gets you so hard?”
“No. Your body gets me hard. Your ass, your legs, your big pretty eyes, your freckles. I want to lick them off you.”
“You can’t. They don’t work that way.” She grins.
“Not for lack of trying.”
My whole body tenses when her foot slides up my calf.
“I’m sorry for the way I treated you before. I really am.” I say.
“Why? What changed your mind. Did you always think I was good looking?”
“I know you are. You’re pretty even when you try to hide it under those aviator shades.”
Her cheeks turn pink. I don’t care how hard she is on the outside, every time I compliment her, it’s like no one has ever said it to her before. It makes me feel warm.
The waitress shows up with the food, finally, and Phoebe eats slowly. I can’t take my eyes off her lips and tongue as she slips the morsels of food off her fork into her mouth. Her eyes lock on me every time she swallows.
“When did you decide to become a cop?”
She shrugs. “After my husband.”
“Oh. Because…”
She nods. “Yeah.”
I have a funny feeling about the way she says it. Phoebe is rarely uneasy or unsure, but when she talks about him she seems so nervous, like there’s something very big she’s sitting on.
She looks down.
“You wonder why I still wear the ring.”
“Kinda, yeah.”
She smiles. “Keeps guys off me.”
“Really,” I say, grinning.
She snorts. “
No, everyone knows everyone here, they all know David is gone. Truth is, I don’t know why I wear it. I just do. I never take it off.”
“Wish I had something like that.”
“What do you mean?”
“A token. Something to remind me. I could carry with me.” I stop myself before I go any further.
“You live alone,” she says. “Father’s in prison. Where’s your family?”
“Are you interrogating me?”
“No. I just want to understand you. I really don’t.”
“Understand me.”
“Right,” she sighs. “I don’t get you at all. Before I pulled you over, and I had no idea it was you, by the way, I only knew you from TV. You have a reputation, you know.”
“Yeah. I do.”
“You’ve been fined a lot, been in a lot of trouble, arguments with your sponsors. I’ve never seen you look happy about anything until…” she shrugs. “Until you were in my house.”
“I like you.”
“Really.”
“Are you fishing for compliments?”
She smiles. “Maybe.”
“When I was in your life for a few minutes, I saw a look at something different. Something I was missing, but I didn’t know it. I like cooking for you. Taking care of you.”
“I don’t need anyone to take care of me.”
I trace my fingers over the back of her hand, circling her knuckles with my thumb.
“You want someone to, though, don’t you?”
I feel her thinking about it. The way her eyes light up, the way she bites her lip and her grip tightens on mine.
“I didn’t know I was lonely until I realized I don’t have anyone like you in my life,” I tell her. “I don’t care about anything. I want something to care about. Care for. Someone.”
“I don’t know if I can be that. I’ve been hurt, Alexander.”
“Alex.”
“Alex. I’ve been hurt before. I don’t want to do that again. It’s hard for me to trust after what happened.”
“What was it? What happened?”
“Some other time, okay? Can we have fun now? Like we were before. You don’t need to be all serious.”
She scoots around the table to sit by me while we eat.
I just like sitting next to her. I like how she smells, like lilacs. My hand rises naturally to toy with her hair. She takes care of it, but her idea of putting it up is just to tie it back behind her head so it forms a curly puffy ponytail. It’s so soft, like her.
“I thought you were really arrogant when we first met,” she says, softly. “I didn’t thank you enough for rushing out onto the field to help Carrie. It meant a lot to me.”
“It’s nothing. Anyone would have done the same.”
“Everyone else just stood there, so no they wouldn’t.”
The waitress brings the check, and Phoebe reaches for it before I bat her hand away.
“What did I tell you?”
She smirks at my tone.
“You really think you can boss me around, don’t you?”
“I think you’d like someone else to be the boss for a while. I’m not asking you to wear a collar and follow me to a parade in San Francisco.”
She laughs. “Good. It would ruin my butch image.”
“Now, I can’t stop thinking about you wearing a collar.”
“Oh,” she says, grinning. “Maybe I should wear little kitty cat ears.”
“You’re better at this than you realize.”
She looks so embarrassed, I can’t help myself. I kiss her lightly on the lips, and when I pull back, she follows me and kisses me in return, her arms sliding around my waist.
Phoebe jerks back when the waitress returns with the receipt, and sits straight as an arrow in her seat.
“Want to sit for a while? They won’t throw us out.”
She shakes her head. “Why don’t we get some air. I know a place.”
“Oh?” I drop the keys in her hand.
“Oh.”
Outside, I half expect us to be mobbed, but no one approaches the door as we leave. I walk close behind her, hovering over her shoulder. She may be wiry and fast, but something about her makes me want to protect her, shelter her.
Phoebe drives.
“Grace can spend the night if she needs to,” she says idly as she starts up the truck.
“You look really badass driving this thing in your cute little floral dress.”
“Don’t call me cute.”
“I will if I want,” I say, stroking her arm. “I know you like it no matter how much you bitch me out over it. You’re adorable. Precious.”
“Stop it.”
“What if I don’t?”
“I’ll arrest you.”
“You left the cuffs at home, gorgeous.”
“I didn’t want you trying to use them on me.”
“Maybe, or maybe you wanted to work that into the conversation to give me the idea. Would that make you hot, being chained down and helpless while I do whatever I want to your naked, sweaty, quivering body?”
Her lips tremble and finally she grins. “No, that’s not hot at all. You’d have to chase me down and make me.”
“Oh, really, because I think you’d come begging. Then you’d be begging to come.”
“You’re not taking the hint. Maybe I want you to chase me down and throw me over your shoulder and carry me back to your cave.”
“For a nice rough fucking?”
She turns so red, I can hardly believe it.
“You haven’t flirted with anyone in a long time.”
“I think this goes beyond flirting.”
We’re leaving town, I realize. “Uh, ankle bracelet.”
“We’re still in the town limits,” she says. “We’re in the game lands. There’s no hunting now so no one comes up here.”
“Oh?”
“Well. People do.”
I raise my eyebrow. “They do.”
“To park.”
“Park. Is that a code for sex?”
“Maybe.”
“So we’re driving into the woods to fuck.”
“I thought you wanted this to be romantic.”
“I am a romantic at heart. I want to thrust my throbbing man rod into your slick love channel.”
“Shut up,” she giggles. “Stop that.”
“You ever read those books?”
“No,” she says, plainly lying.
“I bet you do. You know what I want? I want to watch you playing with yourself. All sweaty and curled up getting yourself off.”
“You do?”
“Then I want to show you what a real fuck is like. Fantasies will never satisfy you again.”
She wheels the truck off the dirt path and under some trees, then shuts it off.
“You know,” she sighs. “Being short sucks. I’ve gotten shit about it my entire life.”
“Yeah? I wouldn’t know.”
“No, you wouldn’t. It also has its advantages. Like this.”
She hops the console and plops in my lap.
Oh God, the moment her tight ass rubs against me, my cock strains to full hardness. I know she feels it from the look on her face, her soft lips begging for my kisses. I taste her mouth as my hand slides up her leg.
She’s not wearing underwear.
“You naughty girl,” I murmur.
“If I’m bad, will you spank me?”
I snort. “Careful now, I might start thinking you’re submissive.”
“I’m not. I just like having my butt smacked.”
“Really. Why do you think that is?”
“I don’t, um…” she trips over her own words. “I mean, I never tried it.”
I do the only thing I really can do in that situation. I hook my arm around her waist and pull her around so I can swing my open hand and crack her right on the butt.
She has a smackable ass. She yelps when my hand hits her and goes rigid, her whole body shuddering. I give t
he other cheek a hard slap for good measure. Phoebe twists in my lap.
The look on her face is so hungry. She squirms around in my grip and straddles me, kissing me hard. When I caress her entrance with my finger, she bucks and rolls her hips, trying to pull it inside her.
“I thought you wanted cock,” I growl in her ear.
She pulls back from me and grins, staring into my eyes with her pretty blue ones, a big grin on her face. When she smiles like that, she’s so gorgeous it makes my chest ache.
Phoebe is undoing my fly. She draws me out, and runs her fingers over my balls. God, I could thrust in her and explode in one pump, then keep going until my heart bursts.
She tries to mount me, take me inside her. I stop her and pull her hard against my chest, trapping her arms at her sides.
“Remember when I made you beg for my cock,” I purr in her ear.
Her whole body tenses, her muscles undulating under my grip as desire clenches inside her.
“Yes. You said…”
“I didn’t say when. If you want it, you need to worship it first.”
“What?”
I grip the back of her head and hold her still, and snarl my command in her ear.
“I want you to get on your knees for me. I want you to suck my cock for me. I want you to swallow everything for me. Then I’ll fuck you so hard, you’ll forget your own name.”
When I let go of her, she drops into the footwell between my legs, and looks up at me hesitantly. This can’t be her first time.
It must be. She’s been through a dry spell. She knows what she’s doing. She wraps both hands around my shaft and brings her lips to the tip, and when her soft warm mouth brushes my cock, it feels so good, I could die. I relax into the seat and stroke her head as she starts working up to it, spreading her mouth open a little more with each kiss, wetting my cockhead.
God, she makes me hungry for her. Just the sight of her lips parting and wrapping around my cock as the pleasure ripples through my body fills me with an almost angry lust. I want to grab her, pull her up here, lick her mouth clean, and shove her on my dick. All the way down. Watch her eyes go wide as she takes me. Listen to her cry of pleasure.
I feel the tension in her. As she sucks me, something in her opens. I see it in her eyes, the lust, the desire, the shivers of pleasure as I stroke her head for sucking me like a good girl. She rises a bit and holds my cock so she can rub her cheek against my stomach as she sucks me off.
God, I’m not going to last long. She knows it, too, the little minx. She caresses my balls and my hips jerk in a short, involuntary thrust as the need to come becomes painful, a tension in my legs and balls that must be released.
BENCHED Page 10
