by Reese Ryan
Her soft moan made him as hard as steel. His body ached with the desire for her that had been coursing through his veins these past months without release.
His hands moved to the front of her dress as he fumbled to undo the buttons, which were far too large for the buttonholes for his liking.
He could have hiked up her dress and reached underneath it, but he wanted to see every inch of the body he’d grown to love so. To feel the weight of her firm breasts in his palms and soothe the nipples that had suffered such abuse in the weeks after the twins were born and just learning how to latch onto their mother. He wanted to worship her gorgeous body from head to toe with his tongue and then start all over again.
He’d unbuttoned the uncooperative garment down to her navel when the unmistakable cry of their son blared from the baby monitor sitting on the table behind her. The sound was soon followed by the quieter, more delicate cry of his little princess.
Sloane broke their kiss and sighed, pressing her forehead to his. “So much for the after-dinner cordial I had in mind.”
He laughed hard, a belly laugh that reminded him that he’d stuffed himself like a Christmas hog. “Adorable little party poopers.”
“Those are your children.” She pointed a finger at him. “It’s time for their next feeding, so I’ll go and get them. Just leave the dishes, I’ll take care of them when I’m done.”
“You cooked. It’s the least I can do. Now go ahead before my poor babies get laryngitis.”
She stomped her foot, stood ramrod straight and saluted him before saying in the sexiest voice he’d heard her use to date, “Anything for you, Captain.”
He laughed heartily and slapped at her bottom while she skittered away. Then he collected the dishes and carried them to the kitchen.
Damn. He’d been bamboozled. The food had been delicious, but Benji was pretty sure every dish they owned was in that sink, many of which required hand washing.
He turned on the water, rolled up his sleeves and got to scrubbing. At least he’d burn some of the calories he’d just consumed.
* * *
Sloane sat in the chair in the nursery and breastfed both the twins. She hated to admit it, but she didn’t know what she’d have done without the lactation consultant Benji had hired. In fact, she couldn’t imagine having done any of this without his support.
The financial support was appreciated, of course. After all, it cost a small mint to clothe, feed and diaper one baby, let alone two. But the money came a distant second or third to the emotional and physical support Benji so willingly gave.
They were a team.
It wasn’t a platitude, it was a fact. Benjamin Bennett wasn’t just a good man, he was an amazing father and an incredible partner. Perhaps the circumstances weren’t ideal, but she couldn’t imagine herself going through this experience with anyone else.
She loved being a mother to the twins. Loved growing into this crazy life with Benji by her side. Sloane honestly didn’t think she could blame it on the hormones anymore, but nothing brought her to tears like seeing Benji interact with their son and daughter or watching how they reacted to him.
It was love, in its purest, rawest form.
But nearly as quickly as she was overcome with joy over her life with Benji and the babies, she was gripped by the throat with fear.
What would happen when the novelty of being a father wore off? Would he resent her? Would he resent the twins?
Part of her realized it was an irrational fear. Benji wasn’t her father and shouldn’t be judged by his standard of failure. Still, that fear had appointed itself as guardian of her heart. And it seemed safer to let it do just that.
Ten
Benji’s eyes fluttered open. His neck was stiff and his body unusually warm. The light from the television flickered over the otherwise dark great room of the cabin. His left arm, partially numb, was pinned between the back of the sofa and Sloane’s sleeping form nuzzled against his chest.
He glanced around the room. The twins were sleeping in the double bassinet against the wall. His gaze swept the rest of the room and a soft smile curled the edges of his mouth. When they’d first moved in, the cabin had been a high-end bachelor’s getaway. Now it looked like a baby-goods store had exploded and the random pieces had landed around the space.
Yet he was completely content with how the place had changed. It was warmer, more lived in. Now, it wasn’t just a cabin. It was a home. Their home.
He gently rubbed Sloane’s back. She stopped snoring softly and repositioned herself, but didn’t wake up.
Benji slipped from beneath her. He took Beau, then Bailey to their cribs, and turned off the television.
He stood over Sloane. She looked so comfortable, he considered tossing a throw over her and letting her sleep. But as comfortable as the couch was to sit on, she’d be far more comfortable sleeping in her own bed.
He squatted slightly, sliding his hands beneath her and lifting her into his arms, cradling her against his chest. As he carried her down the hall, she lifted her head, her eyes fluttering as she came back to awareness.
“No,” she said, halting him in his steps.
“Hey, it’s okay,” he said gently. “You fell asleep on the sofa. I’m taking you to your room so you can go back to sleep.”
She wiped the sleep from her eyes, her gaze meeting his. “I don’t want to go back to my room. I want to go to yours.” A sensual smile slowly curved her lips. “And the last thing I want to do is sleep.”
Benji stood still, stunned. A part of him wondered if he’d heard her correctly. If maybe she was dreaming, or maybe it was him who was caught inside a dream.
“Make love to me,” she whispered in his ear as she cradled his beard-roughened jaw. Sloane pressed her open mouth to his, slipping her tongue inside.
He considered asking her if she was sure, but the insistence of her kiss made it clear that she was fully aware and quite determined.
Benji carried her to his bedroom, stripped off the pesky button-down dress and helped her slip from the pretty but simple nursing bra and panties. Then she helped him out of his clothing until they’d dispatched every barrier between them.
He lay her down, kissed her shoulder, nibbled on her neck and blew a stream of warm air across her skin. “God, you’re beautiful. I can’t believe how lucky I am.”
“I’m glad you’re home. We missed you.”
“I’m glad Beau and Bailey missed me.” He kissed her again and again, his fingertips tracing the stars tatted along her spine. “But I’m especially glad Beau and Bailey’s mama missed me. Because I missed her, too.”
“Really?” Her lips curved in a mischievous smile, then she sank her teeth into her lower lip. The erotic motion caused his shaft to tighten. “How much did you miss me?”
He reached beyond her, into the nightstand and retrieved a black velvet box, hoping she’d be receptive to the gift he’d deliberated over so intensely.
Benji pulled out the necklace he’d purchased in Tokyo and opened the clasp. He slipped the chain around her neck and let the charm fall between her breasts as he pressed a kiss to her ear. “This much.”
He turned on the light so she could see. It was a family necklace with entwined white-gold hearts, each with an emerald suspended near the top of the heart. One heart was engraved with Beau’s name and the other with Bailey’s. Diamonds were embedded in the remaining surface of the hearts.
She fingered the necklace and turned it so it faced her. Her eyes went wide, and tears spilled down her cheeks. “It’s beautiful, Benji. Thank you. I don’t know what else to say.”
Say you’ll marry me were the words that sounded in his head.
“Don’t say anything,” he whispered. He kissed her, gliding his tongue between her lips as his body moved against hers.
She pressed a hand to his chest. �
�Benj, don’t forget...” She nodded toward the nightstand.
The last time they’d made love she’d been eight months pregnant, so pregnancy wasn’t an issue. Now they had to go back to the dreaded barrier between them.
He nodded, reached into the nightstand, sheathed himself and turned the light out again. He kissed her mouth and neck. Trailed kisses down her chest. Ran his tongue over her beaded tips as he reverently held the heavy globes in the palms of his hand. He was gentler with her hardened nipples than he’d been the first time they’d made love. Now he lavished them with delicate kisses and the swirling of his tongue as she squirmed beneath him.
He rained kisses down the valley between her breasts and across her soft belly.
She tensed beneath him, her squirm no longer signaling desire and anticipation, but rather apprehension. As if she were self-conscious about the stretch marks and fullness that the twins had left behind.
“This...” He placed her hand on her belly beneath his as he pressed kisses to the narrow stripes on her skin that were badges of honor. They represented the sacrifice she’d made to have their babies. “This is now my very favorite part of your body. I’ll never forget the first time you placed my hand here so I could feel Beau move.” He eased their joined hands higher on her stomach. “Or when I first saw Bailey’s little shoulder right about there.”
He released her hand and kissed lower, to the edge of the small patch of curls over her mound before gliding his tongue along the slick, swollen flesh.
“Or watching you give birth to our children from here.” He licked her again. She shivered beneath him and made a little humming sound that made him so hard it hurt. “Then again, maybe this is still my very favorite part.”
Wrapping his arms around her thighs, he spread her open with his fingers and delved inside her, licking, sucking and teasing her until she shattered on his tongue. She tensed, her body convulsing as she slowly came down.
Benji kissed his way back up her body, enjoying the way she tensed and relaxed in response to each kiss as she shivered beneath him.
Gripping the base of his shaft, he glided the tip between her slick folds. Something in his chest roared at the delicious feeling of being inside her again. At the way he felt, when she called his name.
Be gentle. Take it easy.
It was their first time together since the birth of the twins, and he didn’t want to hurt her. He desperately fought the urge to go hard and fast. Battled the driving need for release after months of not having her.
He strained to move his hips slowly. Deliberately. Despite the fire that burned inside him, screaming for release.
Her body softened beneath him as she moved with him, her fingers digging into his hips. Her breath quickened, coming in hot little pants that made him think about all of the naughty things she could do with that mouth. And how much he’d enjoy them.
He tensed his muscles, trembling as he squeezed his eyes shut and tried to slow his ascent toward climax. He was determined to bring her over the edge one more time. To give her body the intense pleasure it deserved.
Benji lifted her legs higher, changing the angle of entry, grinding his hips slowly and intensifying the friction against her swollen clit.
She cried out his name as she stiffened and her inner walls clenched and unclenched around his heated flesh. He released a primal groan of his own, his back arching as he plunged deeper inside of her.
He hovered above her for a moment, both of them panting as they caught their breath and came down from the peak they’d just been driven to.
He would happily spend the rest of his life making love to this woman. Showering her with gifts. Raising their family together. And he’d never been prouder in his life than he’d been the day their twins were born. Or more content than he’d been falling asleep on the couch with Sloane and their babies surrounding them.
All of those words came to him as he stared into her eyes. But they lodged at the back of his throat.
The feelings this woman engendered in him raged in his chest. Made him crazy with want and need and the closest thing he’d ever felt to love.
But he’d asked her to marry him and she’d flatly turned him down. Had the months since that rejection changed things for her? Or deepened her feelings for him, the way his feelings had deepened for her?
One night in his bed didn’t mean Sloane was suddenly ready to commit to a life with him. Nor did it wipe out the lingering pain and the hint of resentment he worked so hard to hide. But it was a start.
He tumbled onto the mattress beside her and gathered her into his arms. Kissing the side of her face, damp with sweat, he cradled her against his chest, one arm behind his head.
They lay in silence for several minutes before he finally spoke.
“Sloane?”
“Hmm.” She sounded like she was in that hazy glow just before sleep.
“Promise me something.”
She was silent for a moment as she ran her fingers through the hair on his chest. “If I can.”
“Tonight...don’t go back to your room. Stay with me. I want to wake up to this beautiful face.” He kissed her again.
“I promise,” she said without hesitation. He could hear the smile in her voice. “In fact, I was wondering if maybe...” She seemed to lose her nerve momentarily, before she cleared her throat and finally forced the words from her lips. “Would it be okay if I moved in here with you?”
His heart thumped against his breastbone as the weight of her request registered.
Not wanting to sound too eager, he waited a beat before responding. “Yes, I’d like that very much.”
* * *
Sloane awakened, sprawled across the king-size bed she’d shared with Benji the night before. He was gone. Now she understood the disappointment of awaking to a cold, empty bed when expecting to still be wrapped in the warmth of a lover’s embrace.
She dragged a hand through her hair, wondering just how crazy she’d looked when he got up. Or perhaps her tendency to be a wild sleeper had driven him from the bed.
Sloane sighed, staring at the ceiling, one arm thrown over her forehead. She’d spent the night in his bed. Asked to move into his room. A terrifying move she’d been considering during the final days of his trip.
In the scheme of things, five days didn’t amount to much at all. But, during those five days, Sloane had discovered something unequivocally.
She’d missed everything about Benjamin Darnell Bennett.
His smart-ass mouth and nerd-boy humor. His innate sense of when she needed him to take control. The heart-melting love and adoration he had for their babies. His incredible body. His friendship and the unique partnership they shared.
Sloane had tried breaking herself of her growing need for Benji. Tried to convince herself that they were co-parents and they needn’t be anything more.
But during his first long business trip since the birth of the twins, she’d realized the truth. She wanted to be with Benji, but only if he truly loved her, not because he felt some noble sense of obligation.
Sloane fingered the lovely necklace Benji had gifted her the night before. It was the only item she was wearing besides the sheet she’d pulled up to her chest. Sloane appreciated the necklace, but she appreciated the thoughtfulness of the gift even more.
She’d taken a chance by asking him to make love to her. It had been her way of letting him know she wanted more with him. She wasn’t sure how things would end between them, but she was ready to consider taking another step forward in their unconventional relationship.
He’d asked her to stay the night with him, rather than slinking off to her room in the wee hours of the morning. But she’d hoped for something more. That perhaps he’d tell her he had real feelings for her. Not lust or a boyhood crush, but the kind of true, deep feelings she was slowly realizing she had for him.
>
But she’d seen the devastating shift that happened in a relationship where one person loved unequivocally, and the other wielded all the money and power. She’d seen how that kind of dynamic eroded not only the relationship but damaged everyone in it. Sloane didn’t want that for herself or the twins. Nor could she bear to watch the man she was growing to love turn into a bitter, resentful monster.
Sloane got up, showered and dressed. She was greeted by smiles from the twins as she leaned over their cribs. Beau and Bailey were her main priorities, and she needed to focus on them.
She’d keep her feelings for Benji to herself for now.
Eleven
Sloane inhaled deeply, her stomach in knots, as Benji pulled into the driveway of Blake and Savannah’s home. Benji seemed to instinctively realize how stressed she was. He threaded their fingers together.
“Relax. It’s only Blake and Savannah. We’re going to have a great time.”
“Of course.” She shrugged, as if she didn’t have a concern in the world about their lunch date slash playdate.
Sloane glanced over her shoulder where Beau and Bailey lay asleep in their car carriers. The motion of the SUV seemed to put them both to sleep instantly.
At five months now, the twins were already starting to get so big, and they each had their own distinct personalities.
They parked and got the twins out of the car, then Benji went back to get their portable playpen. Blake and Savannah’s little boy, Davis, was now nearly eighteen months old and fascinated by the “babies,” which he said often and gleefully. He was clearly glad not to be the baby of the family anymore.
They fed the children and shared a delicious meal prepared by Blake—who, Sloane was learning, was quite the cookbook aficionado. He’d prepared a roasted vegetable antipasto plate, a delicious salad and the best eggplant parmesan she’d ever eaten, all served with a lovely Chianti she couldn’t have because she was still breastfeeding. For her, there was a yummy hibiscus ginger punch instead.
