by Abby Green
Displaying his uncanny ability to read her mind, Ben was making the most of her hesitation and continuing on his journey out of the room, leading her into the hushed lobby of the very exclusive London hotel.
A lift door opened nearby and Ben diverted suddenly, pulling her in with him just as the doors closed again, almost catching Lia’s dress. The lift started to ascend. And suddenly in the confined space, with Ben taking up most of the room with his big body, the panic returned. He really was here. And now she really had nowhere to hide.
‘This is crazy, Ben! You can’t just remove me to wherever you like, whenever you like.’
She watched as he hit a button with the palm of his hand and the lift shuddered to a halt. Between floors. He finally let her hand go, and caged her in with a hand on either side of her head.
‘I have issues with your note,’ he said, in a low, deep drawl that impacted Lia right between her legs.
The panic was draining away, to be replaced by something hot and illicit in her blood. And, more dangerously, the memories she’d been repressing all week were starting to break free of their moorings, flooding her brain with images and rising desire.
‘Primarily,’ he continued, oblivious to her inner turmoil, ‘the bit where you assumed that our...liaison wouldn’t last beyond the weekend.’
Lia was feeling breathless. Was it her imagination or were the mirrors in the elevator starting to steam up? She struggled to recall what he’d just said, and then asked, ‘Is that what it was? A liaison?’
Again, as if she hadn’t spoken, Ben said, ‘Do you really think I spent all that money just to get you into my bed?’
Lia wanted to squirm. Of course she didn’t. Not any more. But that was where the danger lay...in thinking about what he wanted from her outside of this insane heat. Or, worse, what she wanted. When she’d protected herself for so long—even going so far as to agree to a marriage of convenience.
She shook her head now. ‘No, I don’t think that.’
A slow, sexy grin spread across Ben’s face and Lia’s legs immediately felt weak. The tension thickened between them. He wasn’t going anywhere.
The giddy recklessness she’d felt in New York came back. Maybe he was here to finish what they’d started in Brazil. One more night? Two? And then he’d go back to his own life. After all, she reminded herself through the gathering heat in her brain, Ben didn’t do relationships, did he?
And neither did she. She shouldn’t have panicked in Brazil—it could have burnt out there. But she had. And now he was here. So maybe it would be okay to just...let it burn out. Here, as opposed to there. Did the geographics matter?
The fevered circling thoughts all led to one conclusion: Lia giving herself permission to stop fighting the inevitable. Resistance melted and she dived into the fever growing in her blood.
‘Kiss me, Ben.’
Stop the chatter in my head, a small voice begged.
He smiled, wickedly accepting her capitulation—again—and then he cupped her face in his hands, tilted it up to his, and kissed her, stroking his tongue into her mouth, deep. Reminding her of the exquisite pleasure he’d given her, and the gift of the knowledge that she wasn’t cold inside.
That alone made emotion surge again, and Lia wrapped her arms tight around his neck as if that would contain it. He’d flown all the way across the world to kiss her like this, deep and hot and wicked. And she would take it—because this was finite.
She arched her body into his, her blood throbbing in time with her heart when she felt the very masculine evidence of his arousal against her. His hands moved down her sides to her buttocks, where he cupped her through the slippery material of the dress.
He pulled back long enough to speak as he lifted her up, instructing, ‘Wrap your legs around my hips.’
She did it mindlessly, her dress sliding high on her thighs as he lifted her effortlessly. She hooked her legs around his waist. Kissing her again, Ben slipped a hand underneath the dress and explored between the lace of her panties and her bottom, caressing her bare skin. She moaned into his mouth, dizzy.
Her bare upper back was against one mirrored wall of the lift, and Ben angled his hips so that the bulge of his erection pressed against her, between her legs, where she was wet and hot.
Her dress felt too tight. But even as she was thinking that Ben was sliding his fingers under the top of it and pulling it down, so that one of her breasts was freed. He pulled back from the kiss, and stared at her. He looked drunk, dazed.
Lia was vaguely aware that the only things holding her up were the wall and Ben’s hand on her bottom. Because now he was thumbing her nipple and she was biting her lip.
‘Please...’ she begged.
He looked at her, and some hair flopped forward onto his forehead.
She brushed it back, feeling inordinately tender. ‘Touch me...like you did before.’
He smiled, and it was wicked. He lowered his head and flicked his tongue against her straining nipple. He looked back up, all innocence. ‘Like this?’
‘Yes...’ Lia growled, feeling even needier now. ‘Damn you...more.’
His eyes flashed and he lowered his head to her breast and took her nipple deep into his mouth. Lia tensed, to try and hold off falling over the edge, but Ben was remorseless and his hips were making thrusting movements against her... All he’d have to do would be to slide her panties aside and free himself and he’d be inside her, where she needed him so badly.
Shocked at the completely wanton direction of her thoughts, and at how desperate her desire was, Lia’s eyes snapped open.
In the reflection of the mirror behind Ben she saw her long pale legs, wrapped around his slim hips, and his dark head at her breast. She saw her own flushed face, blue eyes glittering fiercely. Her hair was mussed and her mouth was swollen. And they were in a lift.
She tensed even more and gripped Ben’s hair, pulling his head up. ‘We can’t make love here—in a lift.’
Ben looked about ready to refute that statement, but then he seemed to come to his senses and straightened up, removing the delicious friction of his body from Lia’s. She immediately felt bereft.
‘Actually,’ she said, feeling reckless and changing her mind abruptly, ‘I’ve never made love in a lift...the idea is growing on me.’
Ben looked stubborn. ‘No way. You’re right. I’m not going to be the crass American caught in flagrante delicto in one of London’s most exclusive hotels.’
Lia felt a little shard pierce her. He was not crass—at all. Ben unhooked her legs from his hips and helped her stand again. She was wobbly on her feet and only belatedly realised her breast was still exposed when the lift started moving again. Ben efficiently covered her up, his fingers brushing against her sensitive skin.
Just in time, too, because the doors opened and an older couple with severe expressions got in, muttering about how long they’d had to wait for the lift. Lia had to stifle her giggles and Ben took her hand, gripping it tight.
The lift came to a halt again and she followed him out, not having a clue where they were going until he stopped outside a door and unlocked it with a hotel key. The fact that he’d booked a room at the hotel made something bloom in her chest—something she hadn’t allowed room to breathe since she’d taken that flight from Salvador, back to New York and then home.
Hope.
The door shut behind them and Ben had her lifted against it with her legs around his hips before she could take another breath.
‘Now,’ he said throatily, ‘where were we?’
* * *
Dawn was breaking outside when Lia awoke. For a few seconds she lay there, blinking, taking stock of all the pleasurable aches in her body. She was aware that her dress was hanging precariously off the end of the bed, and that there was a trail of destruction along the floor from the doorway to the bed, of her underwear.
She blushed when she thought of the urgency of their lovemaking against the door of the suite...and then th
e much more languid second time...and the third.
She turned her head to see Ben sprawled in unashamedly masculine splendour. Déjà vu made her feel momentarily dizzy and her heart hitched. Instinctively she started to move, but those blue eyes snapped open and before she could take another breath he had her trapped under one powerful thigh, a hand on her breast. Lia’s blood leapt, and her sleepy body was awake and humming in seconds.
‘Where do you think you’re going?’
His voice was deliciously rough. Lia could feel her nipple peaking under his palm and he moved it so that he could flick it with his thumb, rousing it to a sharp point. She almost groaned, but forced herself to put her hand over his—which didn’t really help.
All her bravado, and the justifications she’d used in order to acquiesce to Ben’s lovemaking last night, felt flimsy in the cold morning light. Her emotions were too raw all of a sudden.
‘I should go.’
Ben ignored her hand on his and continued torturing her breast. He also subtly moved his thigh, so that his erection nestled close to the juncture of Lia’s legs.
‘I think that’s a very bad idea.’
Ben bent his head and started to press kisses along the exposed shoulder nearest to him. His hand deftly dislodged hers and he pinched her nipple between his fingers, just as his hot mouth found and started torturing her other breast.
Not able to hold back the groan this time, Lia felt all resistance fade as Ben’s hand smoothed its way down over her belly to between her legs, pushing them apart so his questing fingers could seek and discover for himself how much she wanted him—again. Already.
He lifted his head and smiled smugly. A surge of irritation at her own weakness galvanised Lia to move and she took him by surprise, coming up to straddle him, her hands holding his arms back behind his head. She knew he could break free easily, but it was still momentarily heady to have him at her mercy, however illusory.
She moved her body back until she could feel the head of his erection against her and, keeping it between them, slowly started to move up and down, sliding her body along his thick length, seeing his face flush and his pupils dilate.
‘Witch,’ he ground out, and she could feel him lengthen and grow harder under her.
Their breathing became more laboured as Lia obeyed the dictates of her body to go faster, press down harder. Ben lifted his head and captured her nipple, biting gently with his teeth. It sent a shudder all the way down to between Lia’s legs.
And then, proving how little control she really wielded over him, Ben moved and she was flat on her back, trapped under him again. He reached for protection and expertly rolled it over his erection, and then, before Lia could take another breath, he was sinking deep inside her, his eyes on hers, not letting her escape for a moment.
The climax that broke over them came swiftly and was brutal in its power, washing everything else away. And in the shuddering aftermath, when Ben pulled Lia close and wrapped his arms and legs around her, something inside her just...melted.
* * *
Lia was feeling marginally restored as she belted a thick robe around herself after taking a quick shower. When she’d woken again Ben hadn’t been in the bed and she’d spied him in the living area, dressed in dark trousers and a long-sleeved thin grey jumper that did nothing to disguise his muscles. He was pacing up and down while talking on his mobile phone, so she’d taken quick advantage, locking herself in the bathroom.
She’d avoided looking at herself in the mirror, not wanting to see the aftermath of their cataclysmic night and morning. She’d also avoided letting her mind stray to dangerous thoughts like, Why did he come here really? And, What happens now? She’d decided she was just going to nip it in the bud now because sleeping with Ben again had only reinforced her fears about not being as emotionally detached as she’d like to be. As he undoubtedly was.
When she padded into the living area of the plush suite, Ben was seated at the table, reading a newspaper. He put it down as she approached and that blue gaze swept her up and down. Even under the thick robe she could feel herself respond.
‘I’ve ordered some clothes for you to change into.’
For a second she felt inordinately touched at his consideration and relief for the fact that she wouldn’t have to do the walk of shame out of the hotel, into the glaring London daylight. ‘Thanks, I’ll pay you back.’
His eyes flashed at that, but he let it go as she sat down and looked at the array of breakfast/brunch items laid out. ‘I wasn’t sure what you’d like, so I ordered a selection.’
Lia slid into a chair, avoiding his eye. Her pitifully few experiences of morning-after situations with her ex-fiancé had been sterile, dispassionate affairs—she’d never experienced this intense level of awareness before.
‘Coffee will do for now.’
Ben reached for a tall slender pot and poured fragrant coffee into a cup. She couldn’t take her eyes off his hands: large and masculine, yet elegant, too. She fought back a blush as she thought of how they’d felt on her skin, and took a quick sip of coffee to try and dislodge her lurid memories.
When she felt able, she looked at him. ‘So...what’s your plan while you’re here in London?’
Ben looked at her and a small smile played around his sensual mouth. ‘You, Lia. You’re my plan.’
To hear him confirm that he really was here just because of her was seriously disarming—and overwhelming. Emotion swelled and it made her want to push him back.
She put down her cup with a jarring clatter of porcelain. ‘You can’t expect me just to drop everything to accommodate you. I have a life here...work.’
Ben’s eyes narrowed on her. ‘Work for your father? Like you were doing last night...being his emissary?’
Lia felt immediately defensive. ‘It’s a family business.’
‘But what about your plans for your own work?’
She immediately regretted telling him all that she had. ‘I don’t think you’re here to discuss my career options.’
Ben inclined his head slightly in concession. ‘Not really, no. But as it happens I have an office here in London. I’m taking advantage of the trip to check in with my team on the ground. We’ve got several projects in development, and they’re setting up some meetings for me while I’m here.’
Lia cursed herself for not guessing that he had an office in London, or checking.
He leaned forward then. ‘But, more importantly, I want to get to know you better, Lia. That’s really why I’m here.’
Her silly heart hitched as trepidation warred with that illicit sense of hope. She’d run from this in Bahia and he’d chased her down. She was afraid that she wasn’t strong enough to walk away again. And he knew it.
* * *
Ben felt a surge of triumph when Lia didn’t immediately jump up from the table at his declaration that he wanted to spend time with her, and tried to hide it from his expression.
Even though she’d acquiesced to him last night, he’d known she’d be prickly in the morning—no doubt lambasting herself for her weakness. And he knew that a large part of why she’d succumbed had been because he’d all but ambushed her.
He was still reeling from the effects of seeing her again after a week. He had intended to come to London, find Lia at the charity function where he knew she’d be, and woo her. Show her how determined he was to get to know her. But he’d taken one look at her across that crowded room and something inside him had turned feral. He’d had to have her. And then he’d morphed into some kind of caveman, all but dragging her into that lift, and if she hadn’t stopped them when she had...
But he could see now that her expression was closing off, becoming shuttered. Those beautiful eyes becoming unreadable.
He shook his head, ‘Don’t do that, Lia.’
She looked slightly alarmed. ‘Do what?’
‘Retreat behind that prim wall you put up.’
He reached for her, taking her hand and pulling her ou
t of her seat and over to him before she could object. He tugged her down into his lap and stifled a groan when she came into contact with a still sensitive part of his anatomy. The hunger he felt for her was alarming...he was used to it diminishing with a lover. But what he felt for Lia was getting stronger.
Ben knew that if he hadn’t been there because he wanted to woo her into considering a very long-term arrangement with him, then he would most likely be running from the intensity he felt when he was around her.
He assured himself that it was all part of the plan. Lia was important to him because of what she represented. The fact that they were combustible in bed was a bonus he had every intention of exploiting to its full potential.
She looked at him, with a wary expression on her face that made Ben wonder if she was reading his mind.
‘What are we doing here, Ben?’
If any other woman had asked him that question Ben would definitely be running. But right now the last thing he felt was an urge to leave.
‘Well, for a start, we’re not leaving this hotel room for the whole weekend.’ He could see Lia’s immediate reaction to that—rejection—and he said quickly, ‘Look, neither of us is what the other expected—would you agree?’
Slowly, she nodded her head. ‘I guess so.’
Ben started moving his hand in small circles on her back. His other hand was on her thigh and he exerted slight pressure, seeing how her eyes flared with heat. He would use everything in his arsenal if he had to—unashamedly.
‘I want to know more about you. And there’s too much heat between us to walk away yet. Spend the weekend with me.’ Ben mentally assured himself that by the end of the weekend Lia would be his—in more ways than one. Didn’t women find whirlwind affairs romantic?
His hand explored underneath her robe to find the silky skin of her bare thigh. He felt the immediate reaction of her body.
She put her hands on his chest. When she spoke again, her voice was breathy. ‘Look, I—’
She stopped and bit her lip when Ben’s hand delved between her thighs, opening them slightly. She tried to glare at him, but it didn’t entirely work as her cheeks had gone pink.
