Unstoppable (A Country Roads Novel)

by Richard, Shannon

  Mel couldn’t help but smile as she went over to the bed and unzipped her bag. She pulled out her bathing suit and started to undress.

  Yup, it was more than a little strange standing in Bennett’s room sans clothes, and maybe just a little bit thrilling. She had an image of him in the room with her. His hands at the front of her shorts, unbuttoning them and pulling them down her hips.

  God, what was wrong with her? She was thinking about sex entirely too much these days. But who could blame her? The man inspired thoughts, and they just happened to be of a sexual nature.

  Whatever.

  Mel shook her head and forced herself to snap back to reality. She really needed to not think about such things, especially with Bennett in the freaking shower.

  Mel grabbed her blue bikini bottoms and shimmied into them before she put on the matching top. She pulled on a pair of yellow water shorts and a white tank top. Then she shoved her clothes in the bag.

  As tempted as she was to check out his underwear drawer, she decided to pass. It would’ve just added more fuel to the fire. But she did look around his room. It was clutter free. Surprise, surprise.

  There was nothing on the white walls and very few items on the few pieces of furniture in there. Each of his nightstands held a lamp, and the one to the left had an alarm clock.

  Mel wondered if he favored the left side of the bed. It would be interesting if he did, because she favored the right. Not that they would be sharing a bed anytime soon.

  There were two pictures on his dresser. One was of him and his parents when he was in high school. The other was of him and a group of guys. They were all in fatigues and standing somewhere in the desert.

  She knew Bennett had been shot down in Afghanistan and that he’d almost died. She also knew that only he and one other man had survived, that eight of his friends had been killed. She’d never talked to him about it. It was probably too soon in their relationship to ask, but she wanted to know what had happened to him.

  She just wanted to know him.

  * * *

  Bennett had wanted to surprise Mel with their date. She hadn’t hounded him about what they were doing, which was nice. She could handle not knowing what the plan was. He just hoped she was going to have a good time.

  The first stop on the agenda was lunch. The Floppy Flounder was a landmark in Mirabelle. They had the best fish on the Gulf Coast, and their hush puppies were killer. The restaurant was right on the beach, and people would often come in their bathing suits and eat out on the deck.

  “I haven’t been here in forever,” Mel said as they made their way up the front steps. “And I’ve been craving it like crazy.”

  “Perfect.” He smiled as he opened the door for her.

  “Welcome to the Floppy Flounder,” a young girl behind the hostess stand said after they walked in. “Outside or inside?”

  Bennett turned to Mel.

  “Outside,” she said.

  “Outside,” he repeated to the girl.

  They followed her through the restaurant and out to the back deck, which overlooked the water. Clouds were forming in the distance. It didn’t look like it was going to get too bad, but if the wind kept blowing in the same direction it was now, those clouds would be heading straight for them. He just hoped the weather would hold out long enough for them to be able to do what he planned.

  “Stacey will be your waitress, and she’ll be with you in a moment.” The girl handed them menus before she walked away. The waitress arrived a few minutes later, and got their drink and meal orders quickly, as they’d both already known what they wanted.

  “So.” Bennett leaned back and looked at Mel. “I’m finally on an official date with the much-coveted Melanie O’Bryan.”

  “Coveted?” she laughed. “Where did you come up with that?”

  “You have a couple of admirers.”

  “No, I don’t,” she scoffed.

  “Really? ’Cause I’ve seen you around the sweaty little man and pretty boy.”

  “Who?” Mel asked.

  “Stu and Duncan,” Bennett clarified, maybe a tad bit grudgingly. He didn’t like either of those men. He just had a feeling, and maybe that feeling stemmed from the way they looked at Mel, but either way he didn’t like them.

  At all.

  “You’re kidding, right? They’re just friends.”

  “No, I’m not kidding,” he said. “Both of those guys are interested in way more than being friends with you.”

  “If you say so.” she laughed, sitting back in her seat.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “You. You’re jealous.”

  Jealous? He wasn’t jealous. Just protective of what was his.

  What was his? Where the hell had that come from?

  “I’m not jealous,” he said. “And those guys are interested in you.”

  “Whatever you say,” Mel said, as their sweet teas were delivered to the table.

  “I’m glad you find this amusing.”

  “Oh, but it is amusing. I’ve never had a man jealous over me before.”

  “You done yet?”

  “Not even close. You’re really adorable when you get all jealous.” She reached across the table and took her drink.

  “Adorable? I am not adorable.”

  “In a manly way, of course.”

  “I don’t think there is such a thing,” he said, unable to stop himself from smiling. He was getting used to that effect when she was around, and he had a feeling it would always be like that with her.

  * * *

  Lunch was incredible, and it had more to do with the fact that Bennett was sitting across from Mel than with the food she was eating. Though the food was pretty amazing, too. When they finished, they walked back to the truck. Bennett grabbed the cooler and led her down to the dock.

  “So I thought we could go Jet Skiing,” he said, coming to a stop in front of a Jet Ski that was bobbing up and down in the water.

  “I’ve never been before.”

  “I know.”

  “How do you know that?” she asked, tilting her head to the side.

  “All right, so don’t get mad.”

  “Nothing ever starts off well with those words,” she said, suddenly nervous.

  “I found your list.”

  “My list?”

  Oh, please not the list. Oh please, oh please, oh please.

  “Yeah, your ‘I Didn’t Kick the Bucket List.’ I believe ‘Go Jet Skiing’ was number twenty-seven.”

  “Oh. My. God,” she whispered, mortified. She put her hands up to her flaming cheeks and stared at him in horror.

  There were a couple things on that list that involved sex. And even though she’d vowed to be over Bennett when said list was written, he’d been in the back of her mind the whole time. And there were a ton of other ridiculous things on there. Things that proved just how inexperienced she was in multiple aspects of life.

  “Hey,” he said, grabbing her elbows and pulling her in close to him. “Don’t be embarrassed. I thought it was pretty awesome, and pretty informative.”

  “Oh, I’m sure you found it very informative,” she said, not moving her hands from her face. “When did you see it?”

  “On Tuesday.”

  “So while I was sleeping, you were snooping?” she asked, not successfully hiding the edge to her voice.

  “I wasn’t snooping. I found the list when I was fixing the drawers in your kitchen. Are you mad?”

  “Yes. No. I don’t know. I wasn’t exactly sober when I wrote it, so I feel like I said a lot more things than I’d normally share with the public. It’s like you reading my diary or something.” Not to mention a significant number of those things on that list were Harper’s and Grace’s ideas, and they tended to be a lot more daring. Mel had agreed to every single thing they’d written down, but still this was just horrifying. “You read the whole thing?”

  “Melanie, don’t overthink it,” he said. He brought his hands up to hers a
nd pulled them from her face. “I saw it as an opportunity to get to know you more. To learn a little bit of what goes on in here.” He tapped her temple. “I read it without even thinking, and I’m sorry if that was going too far.”

  He looked so sincere as he said it. She didn’t think he’d ever lie to her, or do anything to hurt her. His words counted for a lot. Probably way more than they should have this early on.

  “I wasn’t lying when I said I thought the list was awesome. It’s really brave, too, to want to do all those things you’ve never experienced before.”

  Brave? He thought she was brave?

  “Am I forgiven?” he asked, looking intently into her eyes.

  “Umm, yes,” she whispered.

  His mouth turned up in a smile, and a second later it was on hers. All Mel could really think about was the way his tongue moved against hers. When he pulled back a minute later, the heat that was now in her face had very little to do with embarrassment.

  “You ready?” he asked.

  She nodded and he pulled back from her.

  “Good, come on,” he said, pulling her to the edge of the dock. “I borrowed this from one of the guys I work with.” He lifted up the seat and put the cooler inside. Then he slipped off his shoes and put his keys in a mesh pouch on the side. “You have anything you need to put in?”

  “Just these.” She slipped off her flip-flops and handed them to him.

  He put those in and gave her a life jacket before he started to put his on. Then he shut the seat and held out his hand.

  “Ready?”

  “Yes,” she said putting her hand in his.

  He helped her sit, the Jet Ski rocking underneath her, and then he got on in front of her.

  Holy shit, she was straddling him.

  She wrapped her arms around his waist and held on, not only because she didn’t want to fall off when they got going, but also because she just wanted to touch him.

  “Let’s go,” he said, pushing off from the dock before he turned the engine over.

  When they were in the clear he rolled his wrist and they took off. She gripped his waist harder, her palms going flat against his stomach. He had a six-pack, and it was glorious.

  Yes, she’d seen him with his shirt off at the beach before, but it was a whole new experience touching him. Feeling every inch of his defined muscles.

  * * *

  Every time Bennett hit a wave, Mel’s thighs tightened around him and her fingers moved against him. She was tracing his abs, and damn, did he love the way it felt. But it was driving him crazy.

  They hit another wave, and as it splashed up around them she laughed. God, he loved that sound.

  He wasn’t sure how long they drove around for because he completely lost track of time. When he pulled into a small cove, the dark clouds he noticed earlier were rolling in. He’d kept an eye on them, and he hadn’t seen any lightning nor heard any thunder. They were just rain clouds, so he figured they were good to not call an end to the afternoon.

  Bennett pulled up to a public dock and secured the Jet Ski before he got off and helped Mel up.

  “You thirsty?” he asked.

  “I could use a drink.” Her hair was windswept and her cheeks were flushed.

  Bennett lifted the seat and grabbed two waters from the cooler. “You want to go for a swim?”

  “Yeah.” She pulled the string on her shorts and let them fall to the dock. She put her water down and took off her sunglasses before she grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it up over her head.

  Bennett’s mouth went dry when he saw Mel in just her bikini, so he chugged the rest of his water. He’d seen her in a bathing suit before, but he didn’t remember ever liking it this much. It wasn’t one of those teeny tiny numbers that was only held together with string. The straps were thicker, and the triangles that covered her breasts were bigger than postage stamps. Again, she somehow pulled off modest and sexy all at the same time.

  Bennett put the empty bottle next to hers and took off his sunglasses. He pulled off his shirt and dropped it on the dock next to hers.

  Mel smiled as her gaze dropped to his abs, then she took a step back and dove into the water. Bennett followed, diving in and surfacing a couple feet from her. He swam toward the shore until he could stand and the water lapped at his shoulders. He wiped the water from his eyes just as Mel swam to him. She slipped her arms around his shoulders, and he pulled her legs around his waist.

  “Hey,” he said, sliding his hands to her lower back.

  “Hi.” Her hands came up to the back of his head.

  He kissed her slowly. She opened her mouth to his and when his tongue touched hers, her entire body tightened around him.

  Bennett wouldn’t have been able to stop the groan that came out of him if he’d tried. Nor was the water cold enough to calm the certain parts of his body that he needed calmed.

  Then the skies opened up, and the water came down all around them. Mel pulled back and looked around. The rain was cooler than the ocean water and the contrasting temperatures felt good—not as good as Mel’s body wrapped around his, but good.

  Mel stretched her head back further and looked up at the sky, exposing her neck as her ponytail dipped back into the water. She closed her eyes and the raindrops landed on her face, catching in her eyelashes.

  Damn, she was beautiful.

  Bennett moved one of his hands from her back and reached up to trace the bullet scar on her shoulder. Her head came up and she looked at him. There was an uncertainty in her eyes that he really didn’t like seeing.

  “How’s your arm?” he asked.

  “It’s better. Still healing, but I don’t think those scars are going to fade that much more.” She looked away from him.

  “Melanie?” As he said her name softly, he moved his hand to her chin and gently pushed up.

  When her eyes met his they were filled with sadness. “It’s just a constant reminder of that night. I wish I could forget it ever happened.”

  “We all have scars. Some of them are just more visible than others.” He took one of her hands and placed it on his left shoulder. Her eyes dipped down, and her fingers traced the multiple scars from his bullet wound and surgery.

  It was interesting to him that when they faced each other their scars were mirror images.

  “They make us stronger. They change and shape you into something, but they don’t take anything away from what you are. Every part of you is beautiful,” he whispered right before he leaned down and pressed his mouth to her shoulder, kissing every single scar.

  When he looked back up he saw tears in her eyes, but she was smiling.

  “Thank you,” she said and returned the gesture. No one had touched Bennett’s scars since they’d healed, and the fact that Mel was the first felt right. Her sweet little mouth felt like heaven no matter where it was on his body. She spread kisses up his shoulder and to his neck, licking the water from his skin.

  And then her mouth was on his again. This was another instance where time seemed to get away from them. Bennett wasn’t sure how long they stayed out there, but when he pulled back the rain was coming down harder. He looked at the clouds in the distance and knew that it was only going to get worse.

  But if anything, the impending bad weather was the exact opposite of how he felt, because at that moment he’d never felt better.

  * * *

  When Bennett pulled into his driveway, the rain was coming down in sheets. The clouds were a dark gray, almost black, and they stretched out across the sky, with no reprieve in sight. Their clothes had dried slightly on the ride back to the house, but they were both completely soaked again by the time they got inside. The cold air from the air conditioner made goose bumps crawl across Mel’s skin. She started rubbing her arms.

  Bennett put his hand at the small of her back and led her down the hallway. She shivered under his hand.

  “Come on. Let’s get you warmed up,” he said as he opened the door to the bathroom.<
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  He moved his hand from her back and went to the shower. He flipped the handle and water started streaming out. She watched him as he tested the water a couple of times until it warmed up.

  One date. They’d had one date, and she already knew she was in for the count with this man.

  God, nothing could describe how he’d made her feel when they’d been out there on the water. She’d never experienced anything like when he’d held her and kissed her scars. And then he’d gone and told her she was beautiful.

  It hadn’t even been a week since he’d kissed her, since they’d started seeing each other. But she knew without a shadow of a doubt that she wanted him, that she wanted him right then and there.

  Mel had never been one to really follow through with impulsive decisions, but she wasn’t going to run away from this one.

  Life was too short.

  She crossed the small space to Bennett and ran her hands around his waist. She pressed her body into his and stretched up to kiss his neck. He turned, and she caught the look of surprise on his face a second before she put her mouth on his.

  His arms came around her and his hands were in her hair. He pulled back after a moment breathing hard.

  “Mel?”

  “You read the whole list, right?”

  “What?”

  “Number six was to find someone who knew what they were doing in bed. Do you think you’d know what you were doing in the shower?”

  “You’re serious?” he asked, his eyes going hot.

  “What do you think?” she asked as she let her hand slip to the front of his swim trunks. The second she touched him through the wet fabric his nostrils flared and he took a sharp breath.

  Apparently it wasn’t always true that a man shrunk when he was cold and wet. Well, at least not with Bennett, because this man was hard and his erection more than filled her hand.

  “I think we can start in the shower, but I promise you, I’m not going to stop until your legs are shaking.”

  “Really?” she asked, sliding her hand up and down. “Prove it.”