Chapter Six
Dahlia ended her call with a happy sigh and leaned back in her seat to process what she’d just gone through. A life saved. A child crying happy tears. The world was good, at least for the moment.
A movement caught her eye, and she turned in time to see Joanie doing a weird walk-jog across the room to Dahlia’s desk.
“What the…?”
Joanie grabbed her by the shoulders and leaned close to whisper, “There’s someone outside who wants to see you.”
She blinked. “Is it one of my friends? I can’t leave my desk right now, but I could slip away and text her.”
“No, no! It’s not a girlfriend.” Joanie waggled her brows.
Dahlia looked more closely at the older woman. She wore a flush over her face and appeared to be sweating a little. That could only mean…
She pushed back from her desk and shot to her feet. Joanie straightened too and they stared at each other.
“A big man? Green eyes?”
Joanie fluttered a hand in front of her face to fan away her perspiration. “My God, yes. Girl, if you don’t go outside right now and talk to him, I’ll personally pick you up and carry you out.”
She threw a desperate look at her desk and touched her headset.
Joanie glanced around. “Kyle’s on break. Just go. I’ll cover you.”
Impulsively, she leaned in and gave the woman a kiss on the cheek. “We find friends in unexpected places, don’t we, Joanie?” Then she removed her headset and rushed away before her boss could spot her. If she was quick…
Heart thumping, she made it to the exit before realizing what she was doing.
She stopped dead, her palm on the cold metal door. Air conditioning hummed from the vents and outside the street would be a buzz of afternoon traffic. And Ben was there waiting for her.
Suddenly, she felt as if someone had dumped a shot of excitement into a martini shaker, along with a splash of arousal and followed it with a whole lot of irritation. After all this time he was here? Coming to do what? Lure her in with his smoky voice and a flash of his eyes? Would he grab her and kiss her up against the wall of the place where she worked, making it impossible for her to focus on her job for the rest of the day?
She had to face him or she wouldn’t be able to concentrate. And the clock was ticking before Kyle returned from break.
She pushed open the door and looked around.
There, leaning against the building, arms folded across his chest and causing his biceps to bulge the sleeves of his T-shirt, was Ben Knight.
A breathy sigh left her, and she could have kicked her own ass if she could have gotten her foot that high. All those emotions started swirling around the cocktail shaker, until they were blended and she couldn’t separate the flavors.
“You can’t be here,” she said, voice low and urgent.
He pushed away from the wall, his expression changing to one of total happiness.
Oh God, her heart felt that. The muscle fluttered uncontrollably.
“It’s so good to set eyes on you,” he rumbled, reaching for her.
She stepped back. “I’m working. I sneaked away but I only have a few seconds.”
He moved his arm, and she caught sight of the bandage on his forearm. Her gaze flashed to his face, finally seeing the yellow of fading bruises and a red stripe across his throat she didn’t even want to contemplate. Her stomach dropped.
“My God, what happened to you?”
He sliced his hand through the air as if what he’d done to get these injuries was nothing. But it wasn’t nothing—he’d laid his life on the line to serve his country and in the meantime, she’d been a bitch about him not returning when she’d expected.
“Dahlia, honey, I’ve been thinking about you so much. I know you need to get back to work, but I couldn’t wait until your shift was over to see you. Will you…” he caught her elbows and pulled her against his hard body until her nipples strained to get closer. “Will you let me kiss you once before you go back inside? Then I’ll come back when you’re finished working and we’ll go somewhere. Eat something good. Look at the water or go catfishin’.”
A perplexed smile tipped her lips. “Catfishin’?”
“Yeah. I don’t care what we do—I just want to be with you. Please.” The final word grated against her senses, and all she wanted was to go on tiptoe and kiss the hell out of this man.
She glanced at the deep cut above his brow and to one on his forehead, covered by the dark hair flopping over it. “Just tell me you’re all right.”
“I am now.” He claimed her lips. The touch so tender that she feared his lips were bruised as well, but then he yanked her against him and crushed his mouth to hers. The searing heat of his body reached through her summery wrap dress, stroked her skin and reached deep into her chest and grabbed her heart.
He moved his lips back and forth over hers, not deepening the kiss with his tongue but content to explore her. This was a new side of Ben, and one she had to know more about.
Call her stupid, but what did she have to lose really? She could get her heart broken, but so what?
Trembling at his touch, she pulled away from the kiss. With her hands pressed to his hard chest, she said, “I have to go.”
“I’ll pick you up right here after work. What time do you get off?”
“I have a twelve-hour shift and I’m off at six.”
“Then I’ll be waiting.” He caressed the hair off her cheek, studying her far too closely for a man who just wanted to bang.
On shaky legs, she went back inside and hurried to her desk. Kyle was nowhere in sight, but Joanie dropped her knitting and ran to her desk, surprisingly light on her feet for a woman who was nearing sixty.
“Tell me that man has a single daddy.”
She opened her mouth to reply, and a laugh projected from it. She clapped her hand over her lips and shook her head. “I don’t know anything about his parents, but he does have several brothers.”
“Well, I can be a cougar if pressed to it.” Joanie smoothed her hands over her full hips and Dahlia laughed again, feeling lighter than she had in a month. Just knowing Ben was okay seemed to be the injection of happiness she’d been missing.
“He’s picking me up after my shift.”
“Your lipstick’s smeared,” Joanie noted.
She brought her fingers back to her mouth, feeling the aftershocks of his kiss. Then she grabbed a tissue and wiped her lipstick off. She’d reapply it before he picked her up tonight.
Need rolled through her—she was almost giddy with it. For now, Ben was back and she could ride the high. Knowing how military men were, she’d soon come crashing down. Loving a man who served his country was like riding a gator—bumpy as hell. She had no idea if she was cut out for the lifestyle, but for now, she wasn’t going to think about it.
She gripped the edge of her desk. “I just have to get through a few more hours of my shift.”
Joanie nodded and shot her a smile as Kyle entered the room. He looked between the women as if trying to catch them at something, but he couldn’t find anything to complain about in their flushed faces, so he returned to work.
Dahlia slid her headset back on and sat there for a long minute, daydreaming about seeing Ben after work. Falling into bed with him was so easy, but this time she’d actually like to spend time doing the things he suggested—going out to eat or even catfishing. But fishing would mean returning to her place to change clothes, and the bed would be ohhh, so close.
She covered her private smile with her hand, aware that her boss was staring at her again. Quickly, she picked up her knitting and took all her bottled energy out on the stitches.
The hours seemed to crawl by, and it didn’t help that there weren’t many calls to keep her busy. Of course, that was a good thing, but by the time Kyle told her to go home, she was on edge with anticipation.
After a quick trip to the restroom to fluff her hair, spritz herself with perfume and reapply lipstick that would stay put through dinner and as many kisses as Ben could dish out, Dahlia fought to keep herself from running out the door.
With her knitting bag and her purse slung over her shoulder, she exited the building. Her gaze shot to the place where Ben had been standing before, and a tingle spread through her lower belly.
Mother of God.
He’d cleaned up since she’d seen him. His jeans molded to his hard body, and his button-down shirt looked tailored for him. The blue stripes somehow clashed with his eyes and went all at the same time, and the cuffs were rolled over his veined forearms and the bandage he still wore.
He caught her looking and lifted his arm. “It’s fine. I can remove the bandage, but it’s itchy as hell while it heals. The bandage keeps me from digging at it, sort of like a dog wearing a cone.”
Their gazes locked. In that heartbeat, a dozen emotions ran through her, but the most important was her need to sit next to him, hold his hand and hear whatever he had to say to her.
He took her hand and squeezed her fingers. “I’ve got my car this time.”
“You mean I don’t have to keep my skirt from flying up while I ride on the back of your bike?”
He slanted a look down at her. “That was hot as hell.”
As they strolled away from the building, their bodies brushed together. She tried to walk in a straight line, but no matter what she did, her body seemed to have other ideas.
“I keep bumping into you.” She laughed. The need to strip down in the middle of the street and let him take her was too strong to ignore. But if something besides sex was going to happen between them, they needed to do more than get naked.
“You’d better stop looking at me that way before I find an alley to take you in.” His low voice shot sparks over her like fireworks scattering across a hillside.
She glanced away before she egged him on to do just that. “Maybe we’d better get some dinner quick then.”
“Mm. I have a place that’s out of the way in mind. It’s a bit of a drive, but we can talk on the way.”
She nodded. “Sounds great.”
When he led her to an old pickup, she could only imagine how well he could reach between her thighs without a console of a newer model between them.
He paused, looking down at her. “I know what you’re thinking.”
Heat crept up her throat. “How do you know?”
“Because you chew your lip when you’re turned on, and damn, I want to forego dinner and take you to bed. But I’m going to prove I can be a gentleman and hold a conversation that doesn’t include a groan at the finish.”
Her laugh was too throaty to say she was anything but ready for that primal noise. He opened the door and she slid into the truck. His scent filled the cab and there was a battered cowboy hat on the seat.
He got behind the wheel and shot her a grin that had her clenching her thighs.
“Is that your hat?”
“Yeah. Surprised?”
He plucked it off the seat and settled it on his head, eyes smoldering. “What do you think?”
“It suits you,” she said honestly.
“I got used to it after spending summers at my uncle’s place in Texas.”
Leaving the hat on, he squeezed her thigh. How easy it would be to pick up where they’d left off that night in the SUV. Hell, she had her phone ready to video another sexy fingering session. But he seemed determined to stick to his word of being a gentleman. He pulled his hand off her leg and put it on the gearshift.
“Ready, honey?”
She nodded, heart too full to speak.
They zoomed off through the city and soon were headed into the bayou. When he pulled off at a roadside barbecue, she found herself surprised once more. What she knew of Ben was that he was a sweet-talkin’ playboy who knew his way around her curves, so she’d expected some classy restaurant with expensive wine involved and not some barbecue in the bayou. Though, she had a feeling she was seeing the real Ben tonight.
“I sense you’re surprised again,” he said, cutting the engine.
“I realize that I don’t know a lot about you, Ben.”
He gave her a crooked grin. “That’s what we’re here for. C’mon.” He got out and came around to her door before she could open it herself. Then he took her by the hand and parked her on a picnic table while he went to the window to order from the backwoods version of a food truck.
She sat admiring his jeans straining across his backside and the way his shirt hugged his shoulders as he extracted his wallet and paid for their meal. Then he took a seat across from her and reached for her hand. She stared at their entwined fingers lying on the rough wood.
“This place is great. I’ve never been here.”
“Anatole has been feeding the Knights barbecue ever since I can remember.” He nodded toward the window where the Creole could be seen giving orders to his workers in the roadside shack.
A waitress came out bearing drinks and then she took a minute to light a candle inside a Mason jar in the middle of the table.
“Haven’t seen you in a while, Ben,” the waitress drawled.
“Yeah, time passes quickly.”
The waitress shot Dahlia a look. “Looks like you’re all set, but if your brothers need some barbecue…” She smiled in a secretive way, “Tell them to come find me.”
Ben nodded. “I’ll do that.” When the woman left, he grunted. “Sorry about that.”
“I have a feeling she knows you pretty well.” Dahlia arched a brow. Not even meeting one of Ben’s ex-conquests could dampen her mood right now.
He shook his head. “Never had her in my bed, if that’s what you’re asking.”
He reached for her fingers, entwining them. Dahlia stared into Ben’s eyes. A long moment passed. For a long time, she’d been thinking about what she’d say to him after he returned from his mission. And only two words ever came to mind.
Finally, she said, “Tell me.”
* * * * *
Ben looked down at their hands and tried to think of what to say. He’d never stayed with one woman long enough to explain his job or even his life. But being here with Dahlia felt so right that he knew there was no other way than to let her in.
“Things didn’t go great,” he said.
“I figured.” She inclined her head toward his bandaged arm.
“I can’t tell you much, if anything at all. You know how it is, Dahlia.”
“Yes, I do. I don’t like it any more than my momma did, I’m guessing. She paced and worried every time my dad went away, but then he’d come home, and I’d see the love between them… Well, she knew nothing of what he did and they still had a life.”
His heart jerked hard against his ribs. It took him a long second to recover from the shock of her words. “Are you saying you’re willing to give us a try?”
She dropped her gaze. “I’m not sure, but…”
“You are,” he said with confidence.
Her gaze snapped up. “Aren’t you cocky?”
“Yes.” He wasn’t apologizing for it either.
Their food arrived and conversation turned to other topics, such as the loudness of the peeper frogs in the ditches along the road. Ben asked her about her job, and she clammed up.
“I’m sensing some stress with your work. Is it your boss? The one you were worried would find out you were outside with me?”
She shook her head. “Kyle’s strict but could be worse. After all, we have a very serious job and a lot of people depending on us.”
“Ah, so that’s it.”
She searched his face, a rib dripping with barbecue halfway to her mouth. “What’s it?”
“You carry a lot home with you from your job.”
“Maybe.” She wiped the grease off her lips with a paper napkin. Then she said, “Don’t you?”
More than she’d ever know. But being here with her, the night air wrapped around them and only a small candle in a Mason jar providing light in the falling darkness, he was rapidly putting that stress behind him.
“Silly question,” she said. “I know you do.”
“I saw your bag in the truck. Were those knitting needles I spotted?” His voice lilted into a tease that roused a smile from her. If anything, he hoped to wipe away her anxiety of a stressful job the same way she helped him. Just being together could be enough for both of them. At least he hoped.
She chuckled. “You got me. I’m old before my time.”
He laughed. “I don’t think that’s true.”
“It’s a thing we all do at work. Between calls, we knit—even my weird boss.”
“Hmm. Never heard of a guy knitting before.”
She looked him over as if imagining him at work with a set of needles. “It’s mindless, calming. It’s easy to drop as soon as a call comes in and easy to pick up where you left off when you’re finished with the call.”
“So, did you save anybody today?” he asked, digging into his greens fried in bacon grease with a fork.
“Yes. Did you save anybody while you were away?”
He stared at her. “Just did my job is all.”
She grew quiet. For a second, he worried his refusal to answer her questions would turn her away from him. But she took a bite and thoughtfully chewed.
“I’m sure you did, Ben, and it’s okay if you don’t want to tell me. But I do want to know why you asked me to wait and not to see Winters while you were gone.”
He stiffened. “Did you see that jerk?”
She raised a brow. “Now he’s a jerk? Hmm. Could it be you want me to be exclusive, Ben Knight?”
She was so adorable with a smear of barbecue on her lower lip and stray hairs twitching around her beautiful face in the Gulf breeze.
“Yes, he’s a jerk. He’s nothing but a POG, guarding an inactive base, and my guess is you could push him around, too.”
“Why would I want to?”
“Exactly. You need someone who could handle shit when it goes south.”
“Someone like you?” she asked.
He gave a nod. “Damn right. My shoulders are big enough to bear the weight of anything.”
She skimmed her stare over his shoulders and across his chest, her lip caught in her teeth again. He released a growl and leaned across the table, more than ready to be finished with their meal.
“I asked you to wait so we could do more of this, Dahlia. And because I want you. I’m not going to pretend I don’t want more with you.”
“More?”
“More of this.” He waved between them, causing the flame to leap in the glass at the increase of oxygen. “More of your sweet lips… and my tongue buried in your pussy.”
Her mouth fell open on a puff of air. “Ben.”
“Are you finished eating? Because I’m so hungry for dessert that I can’t sit here another second.”
He got her off the picnic bench and halfway to the truck before he couldn’t hold back anymore. He swept her off her feet but didn’t hesitate before he was kissing her.
* * * * *
Ben climbed behind the wheel and looked at her through the darkness. Dahlia felt like her body was humming, the first soft whisper of more. She gripped the seat, shivering under his gaze. He didn’t move to touch her or continue that burning kiss he’d just laid on her.
He ran a hand through his hair. “My family has a cabin. We could be alone there.” His gritty tone heightened her need.
She nodded. “Is it far?”
He cocked a brow. “Eager to jump my bones?” Not waiting for an answer, he put the truck into gear and took off onto the highway. The crepe myrtles were draped with Spanish moss and the occasional marsh hawk swept out of the darkness after its prey.
Suddenly, Dahlia felt as if she was sitting beside a stranger. Whether it was the sexual tension fogging the air or a true panic at what he’d said to her back at the roadside restaurant was anybody’s guess.
He wanted more? What did that mean? One part of her was saying he was all wrong for her—that she wasn’t entering a relationship with a man who might not come home to her one day. But her mind was telling her to just look at the man sitting there with his thick shoulders and broad chest, his long fingers on the wheel inciting need in her she couldn’t control.
So, would she stomp on her heart for a chance at that sexy body?
Hell yes, she would. And everything that came with it.
He was a jungle gym and she wanted to climb all over him and lick every inch too. The way his hair tumbled into his eye and even the bob of his Adam’s apple was damn masculine. Maybe they didn’t need to reach the cabin, after all. She could just scoot across the seat and duck her head while unzipping his fly…
Did she want to be another woman who gave a hot guy road head? Well, who cared if she was? Damn, now she was wetter and overthinking.
He kept his hands on the wheel and his eyes off her, directed at the road illuminated by the headlights. His demeanor didn’t give any hint that he was actually happy about taking her to this family cabin of his.
She fidgeted on the seat, and he threw her a look—eyes hooded in a dark and utterly panty-soaking way.
“So you do want me,” she said.
He did a double-take. “What would give you the idea I don’t? I’m practically dying over here for you.” He took her wrist and smashed her hand over the front of his jeans and the massive erection there.
She sucked in a breath.
“I’m trying to be a gentleman and not fuck you along the road, Dahlia. I want to show you something more, but you’re killing me just with the way you’re looking at me. And fuck, I can smell your arousal.”
A tingle of heat spread into a wave. She clenched her thighs together. Under her hand, still pressed to his cock, his erection seemed to throb. She curled her fingers around it and he tugged her hand away, keeping hold of it on the seat between them.
He threw her another glance. “Do you have any damn idea how much of a temptation you are sitting there in that sexy wrap dress with your cleavage begging for my tongue all night? Or the way you widen your eyes a little and lick your lips while I’m talking? It’s distracting as hell and all I want to do is bend you over and fuck you.”
Practically panting, she managed to say, “Doesn’t sound so bad to me.”
He let go of her hand to run his over his face, as if wiping away any lust she’d see there. He may be good at masking his expressions, but she knew Ben’s lustful stares like she knew the freckles smattering her own collarbones.
When he cast her another look, he let out a rough groan. “Dammit, woman. I’m trying to take this slow and make it right for once. Help me out.”
His plea caught her off guard and she tossed her head back with a laugh. “All right, I won’t tell you that I considered laying my head in your lap and unzip—”
He swerved on the empty road for no good reason, but she wasn’t sorry for the chance to tease him.
Leaning closer to the windshield, she peered into the night. “Did a bobcat just step out? I’m glad you didn’t hit it.”
A throatier growl left him but he didn’t speak. She liked the thought that she’d stripped all the words from him and as soon as he stopped driving, he’d have all those slick moves of his body for her. Right now, she couldn’t wait for the scorching-hot brainless fucking only he could give her.
He managed to drive for another thirty minutes before taking a right turn onto a dirt road. Thick mud sucked at the truck tires and even the moon didn’t seem to penetrate this part of the bayou. The headlights panned over the side of the road and she swore she saw the red glinting eyes of a gator.
“This is off the beaten path,” she commented.
“That’s the point.” His words came out soft.
Need rolled through her, and she managed to keep from diving for his fly. How the tables had turned and she was now respecting a hot guy’s request to go slow, she had no idea. This must be fate’s sick joke on her.
“Your family owns this?”
He nodded but didn’t say more until the headlights struck a small cabin clinging to the edge of the waterway. A good rain looked as if it would flood it, if not for the stilts it was built on.
He stopped the truck, and she looked at the swamp between the truck and the cabin.
“How do we get there?” she asked.
He was staring at her, and her heart tripled in speed under his direct stare. “I pull us there in a pirogue.”
A thrill ran through her. She might be a Louisiana girl, but she’d never done this herself. Though she’d heard of people who lived deep in the swamps traveling by pirogue, and she was enchanted.
He reached for her hand, and she placed it in his big, warm one. “Ready?”
Her nipples peaked against her bra. She couldn’t think of anything she’d rather do than spend a night at this isolated cabin with the hottest special ops guy on the planet. “Yes.”
He got out and she did too. When he circled the truck to take her hand, he said, “Watch your footing. This place isn’t exactly right for those shoes.”
“I wasn’t thinking of bayous when I got dressed this morning.”
“It’s okay.” He eyed her platform heels. “They’re sexy as hell and I can’t wait to take them off you and kiss you from your ankles up. Now stop here.” He left her standing on a bank and she hoped like hell that red-eyed creature she’d spotted along the road hadn’t slithered this direction.
Ben was only a dark figure as he rustled through some weeds and came out with a long pole. “Good. My brothers didn’t drop the pole into the water like they sometimes do when in a hurry to leave.” He did something that made a scraping noise and then walked back to her.
When he was within her orbit, she felt his pull on her. Then he stopped in front of her and leaned in, lips by her ear. “I’m going to carry you so you don’t get your feet wet.” Without waiting for her agreement, he picked her up and she forgot all about the romantic beauty of their surroundings and savored the feel of being in his strong arms, against his big chest and enveloped by his clean smell.
His boots scuffed as he stepped onto the flat-bottomed boat with the shallow sides that would be their transportation to the rustic cabin. He set her on her feet and she gripped him to gain her balance.
“Oh fuck.” He crouched and made a quick move she couldn’t exactly make out in the darkness. But when he stood and she spotted the long curled shape of a snake in his hands, she released a bottled scream.
He flung the snake into the water and it made a splash. Small ripples caught the faint moonlight streaming through a break in the swamp trees.
“It’s okay now. Sorry about that. I should have checked before I set you down.”
She wrapped her arms around her middle and rubbed the chill off her upper arms.
“You all right?” She couldn’t see his face but heard the smile in his voice.
“Yes,” she breathed out.
“Good. If you haven’t ridden in a pirogue before, you can sit or stand.”
She glanced at the blackness pooling around her feet. How he could see better in the darkness than her was probably due to his training. Who knew what the man did in the dark.
Well, she did know a bit…
“I’ll stand.”
“Okay. Then why don’t you get behind me and put your arms around me. That’s it. Now brace your legs apart a bit so you have more balance.”
She mirrored his stance, though his leg spread was much wider. With her arms tight around his waist, she felt anchored.
“Ready?” He had the pole in hand and when he felt her nod, he dug the pole into the swamp bottom, propelling the pirogue along.
With each move of the pole, his back muscles rippled. She leaned her cheek against his spine and breathed in, staring at the mysterious swamp they drifted through. The cabin was only a short distance, and the pirogue bumped something wooden. A dock.
“I can’t wait to see this in the daylight.”
“It’s a swamp,” he said, obviously unattached to the beauty. He dropped the pole onto the dock and twisted to pull her into his arms, plucking her off her feet and setting her onto firmer footing.
“This is an interesting way to reach a destination.”
He bent to tie off the pirogue with a rope around a metal hook. “At least you know I won’t be running out on you before morning.”
She wrapped her arms around herself again, this time to hold in the warmth oozing through her. Part of her was scared to do that—wake up with Ben. It would push them toward that intimacy he claimed he wanted and she still hadn’t yet processed.
When he stood, he grabbed her by the hand and led her blindly across the short dock to a ramp that meandered to the cabin. They paused before a door, and in the darkness she couldn’t see how he opened it. For all she knew, he’d used Cajun black magic. She wouldn’t put any skills past this man.
He fiddled with something and then pushed open the door. It gave a pleasant creak of welcome, making her think of summer nights and porch swings. A second later, he turned on a battery-powered light.
A warm yellow halo wreathed them, and she blinked at the brightness. “I’m not accustomed to seeing things in the dark.”
He only smiled and drew her inside. That odd feeling between them was back—like they were strangers meeting for the first time. It excited her. Was this how her momma had felt each time her daddy had returned from a mission?
Ben closed the door and moved close to her. He wasn’t even a little out of breath after poling them through the swamp. He took her by the shoulders and leaned down until his lips were an inch from hers.
Falling into those green eyes of his was easy—too easy. But she’d come here willingly, and she’d take what she could from the experience. Tomorrow would be soon enough to figure out her course and nurse any bruising on her heart. Because surely, this man wasn’t meant for her. It was sweet talk, pillow talk—and didn’t he know he didn’t need those things to get her into his bed?
Too many conflicting emotions whirled through her brain. For now, she needed to let all of her misgivings go and just be in the moment.
She slipped her arms around his neck and her breasts brushed against his very firm body.
“Dahlia, you’re so beautiful.” His gaze flicked over her face and hair as if drinking in her appearance, and her heart gave a small tug.
“And I’ve never seen a more gorgeous man in my life,” she admitted, watching his lips because she wanted them the most. On her own lips, on her breasts, belly… and lower.
He stroked her long hair, twisting a lock in his fingers. “I won’t run out on you tonight. Tonight, it’s just the two of us and nothing can interfere.”
Dammit, his sweet talk was getting the best of her. Warmth pooled around her heart.
Going on tiptoe, she waited for his kiss, but it didn’t come. He seemed content to stare at her and just hold her. The longer they stood there, the more the feeling of being with a stranger heightened.
“I’m Dahlia,” she said foolishly.
A small smile tipped the corner of his lips. “Nice to meet you. I’m Ben. Does this mean we’re starting over?”
Controlling her urge to shiver at his words, she lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “If that’s what you want.”
He gave a light shake of his head. “I don’t want to bury the moments we’ve had already, but I need you to know right now that I meant what I said about wanting more, honey. You make me feel…” He trailed off as if unsure of how to put it into words.
Gripping him tighter, she drew him down. “Just kiss me, Ben.”
He nodded, nose brushing hers. When he leaned in millimeter by millimeter to settle his lips over hers, electricity and passion bloomed out from the place their lips were joined. She held him tighter and pressed her body closer.
The feel of him, the flavor, the scent… all mixed together, forming a blaze of sensation in her brain. She wasn’t going to even think that the emotions were colored pink and had little red hearts dotted all over them.
She dragged in a breath, dizzy and burning up for this man.
He planted a hand unapologetically on her ass, kneading her flesh through her flimsy dress and deepening the kiss. Hesitantly moving his lips across hers and then nibbling lightly. When she sank her teeth into his lower lip to urge him along, he chuckled, the sound so carefree that she tumbled a little deeper into the moment.
With a rough groan, he parted her lips with his tongue and plunged inside. Need spiked. She mewled and pasted herself to his body. Hands roving over his strong back and down to his chiseled waist and lower to his rock-hard ass. He inched up the hem of her dress, exposing her thighs and backside to the humid cabin air as he ravished her mouth.
When he eased a finger under the elastic of her thong, she cried out for more.
He broke the kiss and stared down at her, chest heaving. Her head swam.
“I’m going to love you all night long, honey.”
“So much talk and so little action,” she cooed, going on tiptoe again for another kiss.
He vibrated out a laugh and started walking backward with her, somehow navigating around furniture of a small living room and past a big rough-hewn table that looked large enough to seat a big family or a lot of guests.
“You’ve done this before,” she said, not breaking their stare.
His brow crinkled. “What do you mean?” He sidestepped an end table holding an oil lamp.
“Brought women here before.”
He shook his head. “Never. I always kept that part of my life separate.” At least he wasn’t insulting her by denying he’d had other women. Though the idea unsettled her.
When they reached a short hallway, he opened the first door and pulled her inside.
Moonlight spilled through one window, shimmering across a patterned quilt.
He gazed down at her. “God, Dahlia. I want you.”
The gritty admission undid her, and she wasn’t going slow for another second. She ripped off his shirt and went at his body like kissing each swell and dip of his chest and abdomen would bring about world peace.
Need blasted through her as she reached the yummy love trail leading down into the waist of his jeans. She set her tongue on the trail and dropped to her knees to stare up at him. “Take off your jeans. I want to suck your cock.”
* * * * *
Fucking hell, he was going to explode. Dahlia’s soft lips pouted and her eyes flashed up at him. From her position kneeling at his feet, he had a clear view down her dress and the swells of her breasts made him think of sinking his cock between them and feeling all that warmth and softness.
His mind reeled.
When he didn’t obey her womanly command, she took matters into her own hands and unbuttoned his jeans. The zipper sliding down was the most erotic sound he’d ever heard.
Her warm breath came in pants across his briefs, and his eyes rolled back in his head. He sank his fingers into her thick hair and drew her head to him as she fingered down the waist of his briefs and his cock sprang free.
She nuzzled it and he damn near lost his mind. “Jesus,” he breathed out.
Dahlia snaked out her tongue and lapped at the head of his cock. His slit pooled with juices, and he let out a groan.
“Keep that up and—” He broke off as she swallowed his cock head. Liquid heat shot to his balls and he yanked her in, sinking his shaft to the back of her throat.
She moaned around him, and his control slipped precariously. He clenched his hands in her hair, and she released another throaty noise.
He swayed his hips backward, pulling out of her mouth. But she grabbed his ass and jerked him back in, swallowing him to the root.
“Fuck. Holy hell.” He stared down at her. Hollowed cheeks and wide eyes glistened up at him with lust. He was losing it. If he didn’t pull out now, he was going to blow in her mouth and then he couldn’t be responsible for holding her in place to swallow every drop of his cum.
She sucked him in again, tongue dancing up his length to flick over the tip and all without withdrawing on his cock. Jesus, at this rate he’d have a Cajun pêtre in here to marry them. Walking away from a woman who could use her tongue in ways like this was not an option.
When she cupped his balls and stroked the sensitive flesh, he jerked away. She yanked him back and sucked him in again.
“Oh God, honey. I can’t. Stand up here.” Using his hands in her hair, he brought her to her feet. He cradled her face and swooped in to kiss her. The flavors of himself on her mouth only drove him crazier.
He stripped off her dress and left her in only bra, panties and high heels. He rocked back to look at her. Moonlight kissed her curves in all the right places, imprinting them on his mind. His cock throbbed against his abs, and she dropped her gaze to it, licking her lips once more.
“Hellll, don’t do that, honey. I’m barely holding onto my control.” In seconds, he tore away her bra and palmed her full breasts while searching her eyes. “These perfect tits need my tongue.”
“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.
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.