by Em Petrova
“Mmm.” A shudder ran through her, and he bent to the task. With short licks over her breast to the center peak and sucking it into his mouth with soft pulls until she gasped and clutched at his head. Then he moved to the other breast and showered kisses over it.
“Suck it, please, Ben.”
He did better than that—he grazed the tip with his teeth and she cried out, shaking in his hold.
He couldn’t wait another second. He tossed her onto the bed, cradling her head in one hand and lowering her to the pillow. They shared a wild tangling of tongues before he moved down her body, kissing each inch of flesh he came in contact with. As he reached that tiny thong, his mouth watered to think of what was beneath.
Her breaths hitched, and he knew she was as crazy for him as he was her. Balls about to burst, he eased down her thong, hooked her legs over his shoulders and sank his tongue into her sweet, wet pussy.
* * * * *
In her experience, most men didn’t want to perform oral, but Ben had done it every. Single. Steaming-hot. Time.
He trailed his tongue up and down her slit like it was his life’s work, and she couldn’t hold still if she tried. Her hips rose off the bed without her mind telling them to, and she jerked against his mouth each time he reached her clit. Need climbed and she stopped thinking and only felt.
He clutched her hips and wagged his tongue back and forth. A cry struck her as she rocketed sky-high but he backed off, keeping her away from what she needed most.
She thumped a balled fist on the bed. “Ben!”
Was he chuckling? The asshole.
Locking a hand to his nape, she yanked him down where she wanted him. He changed his rhythm, lapping slowly, tenderly. Each strum of his tongue against her folds made that knot in her belly pull tight. When he opened his mouth over her clit and sucked it with extreme gentleness, she quivered.
Maybe this was better than demanding he take her fast and hard.
He watched her up the length of her body, and she couldn’t tear her gaze from his tongue moving over her clit, back and forth. Up and down. Back and—
Her pussy contracted hard and her orgasm hit out of nowhere. She bowed upward, and he drew on her clit as the bundle of nerves short-circuited and ecstasy swept over her.
Dizzy from not breathing, she gasped on a final cry but her hips continued to twitch upward to the soft caresses of his tongue.
“You’re… so fucking… good at that,” she panted.
“Mmm. We’re well-matched then, because your mouth was sending me straight to hell.”
“Next time I’m finishing you,” she declared, staring at him boldly.
He laughed as he donned a condom and poised over her, lips glistening with her juices. “I’ll take you up on that offer. But right now, I want this pussy.”
He moved her leg upward, resting her calf on his muscled shoulder, and slid inside in one slick move.
The angle— Oh God, how did he know he was hitting that spot? She was already shaking and on the verge of coming.
His eyes hooded as he did an erotic pushup, withdrawing to the tip and gliding back in over that sweet spot. Again and again. She wanted to gallop off to the finale her body craved, but he’d taught her a lesson just now with his mouth—good things came to those who waited.
She sank her teeth into her lip and watched his handsome face contort with the bliss he was experiencing. Knowing he liked how her pussy hugged his cock only sent her racing to the end again.
When she came apart, he took his time, watching her tremble and finally leaned in to kiss her with all the passion she needed at that final moment.
Panting, she lay there like a dead person. But Ben wasn’t finished with her.
He turned her over onto her stomach and stuffed a pillow under her belly. The position smacked her with awareness. That time he’d fingered her ass and it had felt so good, but… was she ready for more if he asked for it?
She could almost feel his gaze washing over her behind. Then he touched her cheeks, running his hands up and down them. When he pulled them apart and cool air struck her most intimate spot, she sucked in sharply.
“Shh. I’ve got you. I promise not to do anything you don’t want. When I take this ass, you’ll be warmed up for me, believe me.”
Oh, she had no doubt that she’d be begging him like some wanton slut. And that he’d do things to her body that she’d never imagined.
She shivered and clutched at the sheets as he ran a fingertip over her pucker.
“Fuck, what I wouldn’t give for some lube.” His words sounded with the roughness of need, and suddenly, she wanted to offer herself up to him completely.
But he was right—they needed to prepare for such an event.
He swirled his fingertip around and around her pucker, and her pussy flooded. Then he moved, and a second later something warm and infinitely wet was at her backside.
He was tonguing her.
“Oh my… Gawwwwd.” She shook.
He delivered short strokes of his tongue around and around, taking the same path his finger had. When he sank into her slightly, she squeezed her eyes shut, clinging to the edge of insanity.
“Ben!”
“I want to make you come with my tongue but I’m going to fucking blow my load if I don’t get inside you.” He shifted again, and all at once his cock head bulged against her pussy folds.
With one arm wrapped around her waist, he drove inside her and drew her up to meet his thrust.
* * * * *
Don’t blow. Don’t blow. Don’t blow.
The mental chant was doing nothing for his control. Especially with the exciting and musky taste of her on his tongue and knowing she was so responsive to anal play with him. Not to mention knowing she was a virgin there and when he took her ass, it would be a claiming unlike any before.
His gut clenched as heat swept up from his balls. She was so tight, so hot. And now she was gripping him tighter with her inner walls, her sweet pussy sucking at him almost.
He ground his teeth to hold back, but there was no use. She was tearing away his last shred of control.
With a roar, he threw his head back and poured jet after jet of cum into her pulsating pussy, aware that she was emitting those tormenting cries of release too, their coupling more complete than he could even dream.
His mind blanked as he spouted another hard shot and he hung over her, on the verge of collapse.
What the hell was this woman doing to him?
He lowered her to the bed gently and pressed a kiss to the side of her neck. She didn’t move.
Then got up and went to the bathroom, taking care of the condom and swishing his mouth with mouthwash. When he returned, she lay in the same position.
“Did I kill you?” he asked.
Her shoulders moved with a laugh. “Yes. You can hide my body in the swamp.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time such a thing was discussed in this cabin.”
She twisted to crack an eye up at him. He chuckled and lay down next to her, pulling her into his arms with her head resting on his shoulder.
“Maybe you’d better explain your last statement. I can’t tell what a man like you is capable of, Ben.”
He laughed again. How she made him feel so carefree after the shit he’d been through was nothing short of miraculous. “My brothers are a rough lot,” he said in explanation.
“Hmm. Were those guys all your brothers? The ones at my father’s barbecue?”
“All but one. Rocko is part of our team.” He feared saying too much and turned the topic. Running his finger down her arm, he grew fascinated by the gooseflesh he raised in his wake. “About what I did a little bit ago.”
She stilled. “What’s that?”
“When I tongued your ass.”
A shiver coursed through her, making her shift against him. His cock hadn’t yet settled and bobbed against his abs once more.
“What about it?” Her tone was shy.
&nbs
p; He cupped her chin and raised her gaze to meet his. “Did you like it?”
“I— I’ve never had that done before.”
“I know.”
“How can you know?”
“I can tell by your reactions to me.”
“Cocky, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
She pushed out a breath that was more like a hidden laugh. “Fine. Yes, I liked it. It makes me feel out of control and centered on you at the same time. Does that make sense?”
She could never know how her words struck him. So perfect, so true. They explained exactly how he felt each time he was with her. Damn, he’d known back at the roadside restaurant over that flickering candle on the picnic table that he was falling for her. It was what spurred him to tell her he wanted more, and the fact he wasn’t back-peddling to take those words back meant that he was really in deep shit.
Ben Knight didn’t do relationships. He did women—lots of them.
Except when he was with this particular woman. Then he never wanted to leave her bed.
How to hold onto her was another problem altogether. He could snipe a man before he killed one of his team members, could blow shit up without remorse, but he could not bear to hurt Dahlia.
In his line of work, he had no idea if he could keep from doing that. Hell, even this last mission had gone so sideways it was almost horizontal. What if he made promises to her and then never came back? He couldn’t leave a widow behind.
Then how long before some asshole like Winters moved in to take his place? He nearly growled. He couldn’t begin to think of some other man claiming her while he wasn’t even on earth to stop it.
Fuck, he was really far gone.
And she was asleep. His little dark-haired angel was cuddled against his chest, long lashes casting shadows across her cheeks and tearing his heart out with each soft breath she took.
Somehow, he had to figure out a way to cling to this. To hold onto her and continue to be the captain of Knight Ops. Half the night, he lay awake listening to the frogs peeping in the swamps and the water lapping at the cabin supports, but Ben could not figure out a way to keep Dahlia and not hurt her in the long run. Only one answer surfaced time and again, and it was selfish as hell.
He’d have to retire his position of captain and leave the force.
Chapter Seven
There was nothing sexier than a half-naked man standing barefoot on a dock pulling fish out of the water for her lunch.
Ben unhooked another fish and dropped it into a bucket sitting on the dock.
Dahlia wrapped her arms around her knees and smiled to herself. “You know, there’s something so erotic about a man who can protect and provide.”
He shot her a look over his shoulder. “That so?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“Well,” he said, dropping the line into the water again, “there’s something so erotic about a woman wearing nothing but your shirt while watching you provide.”
Her smile widened. The shirt he spoke of hung to her knees and off one shoulder. She couldn’t deny she felt sexy wearing it. And more than a few flutters of emotion too. After last night…
The swamp and cabin in the daylight was exactly what she’d pictured. Wild, primitive—a little like Ben himself, and from what she’d seen of his brothers at that party, she imagined the whole family to be the same.
She watched Ben unhook another fish.
“So what’s for lunch besides fish?”
“Could rustle up some turtle eggs if you’re up for it.”
She didn’t like the thought of little turtles not hatching because she’d eaten them for lunch.
“Or a gator,” Ben continued. “There’s one lazing on the rock over there.”
She got up and stood beside him to follow his finger where he pointed to a rock beneath a branch sagging under the weight of Spanish moss.
The creature looked small enough for Ben to take down, but then again, she figured the man could take on much larger beasts and most likely had. But the tiny spikes of its skin and long tail swishing back and forth as it sunned itself didn’t appeal to her taste buds.
“I think the fish will be enough.”
He flashed a grin. “You sure? If you don’t want to eat the gator, I could make you a purse or some shoes.”
“Definitely not.”
He reeled her in with an arm around her shoulders and anchored her to his side. They stood together in the sun, looking over a world she didn’t see every day with a man she had no idea if she’d see again.
This idea kept jumping into her brain. How had her parents’ marriage survived such conditions?
Standing next to the shirtless, barefoot man didn’t seem the time to think on it, so she pushed the thoughts from her mind.
“Does your family come here often?”
“As often as we can. We’re all busy, in separate parts of the country even. Though now we have more opportunities.”
She nodded. Her cheek against his warm arm.
“My parents and sisters come here more often.”
“Sisters?” she asked in surprise. “You didn’t mention sisters.”
“Twins.” He flipped another fish out of the water. They were small and a man of his size probably needed a lot to fill him up.
She recalled the woman who’d answered the phone that time she’d called the Knights’, and she’d asked to take Dahlia’s message. Had that been one of the sisters? Now Dahlia felt like a bitch for thinking the worst of Ben, that he had other women on the sidelines.
She had to ask the thing that had been niggling at her all day. “Ben, how long can we really stay here? Won’t they be trying to get ahold of you?”
He looked down into her eyes. “Meaning your father with another mission?”
She nodded, stomach hurting and the idea of freshly fried fish no longer appetizing.
“Believe it or not, there is cell service, even if there isn’t electricity out here. They know how to reach me if they need to.” His gaze sharpened. “But I didn’t think to ask about you. Do you need to get back for work?”
“No, it’s my day off. Tomorrow I have a twenty-four-hour shift.”
He raised his brows. “That’s a long shift.”
She nodded. Those times were harder because she had no way to escape the stresses. And a lot could happen in twenty-four hours.
“Can I ask you something about your job, honey?”
“Of course,” she said. “Even though I’m not allowed to ask about yours.”
He gave a hint of a smile and continued, “Do you enjoy what you do or is it just a job? Something to pay the rent?”
She brushed her hair off her face, considering his question. “It’s difficult many times, but there are joys too.”
“That’s not what I’m asking. I want to know if the stress gets to you too much.”
“What makes you think I’m stressed?”
“I saw your face yesterday, honey. When you came outside, there were lines on your forehead and I know seeing me didn’t put them there. And after I picked you up, I could see you slowly cast off the worries after we’d been together for a while.”
She swallowed. Was she that transparent?
“It’s high stress, yes. But I love it. I do,” she insisted, meeting his stare.
“All right. I believe you. I just don’t want you stressed out. If there’s something else you can do for an income, I’d encourage you to find that.”
She didn’t know how to take his suggestion. Was he being concerned or high-handed? She couldn’t help but wonder if he was thinking of himself. On days she had long shifts, she couldn’t see him even if he was in town. They had yet to encounter that problem, but Ben wasn’t stupid. He would have thought of it.
And what about the times she was off work and wanted to spend time with him, but he was off disarming criminals and taking down terrorists or whatever else he did?
She couldn’t dwell on the topic any longer. She
looked into the bucket. “Do you think that’s enough?”
“Depends on how big your appetite is, but yes, I think it will do.” He removed his fishing line from the water and sat cross-legged on the dock to clean the fish, tossing the inedible parts back into the water for the gators. They surfaced one by one to feast, and Dahlia inched her toes back from the edge of the dock as they did.
“You asked how long we can be here, and I’ve been thinking, honey.”
She looked to him. His green eyes seemed to glow in the sunlight and the green surroundings. “What’s that?”
“We could leave after lunch. Go back to my family’s home. Pay them a visit.” He paused. “If you’d like, that is.”
Oh God, he was asking her to meet his family? This was barreling too fast. She wasn’t ready for anything more than having a fried fish lunch and maybe another roll in the hay with the muscled man.
“Tell you what,” he said as if sensing her hesitation. “Let’s eat. Then I’m going to take you back to bed and make you scream my name a half dozen more times.” When he grinned, the sun dimmed because he was the only light she saw. “Then if you want to go back to my family’s house for dinner, I’m sure my mother will love to meet you.”
“Who’s to say she’d have enough to feed us? She doesn’t know we’re coming.”
He gave a light shake of his head. “You don’t know my mother.”
* * * * *
Ben lifted Dahlia’s leg into the air, admiring the sexy curves of calf, the sloping rise of her knee, those strong inner thighs that could clamp around a man and make him forget… well, everything.
From the tangle of bedding she rested upon, she gazed up at him, a slight smile brushed over her beautiful lips. With her hair spread over the pillows, she could be a mermaid or a Cajun voodoo priestess. One look and a man was on his knees, begging to serve her.
Ben included.
He turned his lips against her calf and kissed his way to her ankle. Flicking his tongue over her dainty ankle bone.
“Do you have an obsession with ankles or just my ankles?” Her voice was throaty, he liked to think from the screaming orgasm he’d just given her.
“I’m pretty obsessed with this part too.” He sank his teeth lightly into her calf and then her knee, working his way up to her inner thigh. A stuttering breath escaped her as he tongued a line straight to her soaking pussy.
