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.
She sucked in a gasp, but he heard something else. A light bump of wood on the dock.
He shot out of bed, had on his briefs and snatched up his gun before Dahlia could even track him with her eyes.
“What is it?” She bolted upright.
“Someone’s here.” In stealth mode, he moved to the window, weapon at the ready. He peeked around the frame but all he could make out was the trees and water. The only view of the dock was from the other side of the cabin.
“Stay put,” he ordered Dahlia.
“What!” Her feet hit the floor and she snatched at the nearest thing she could throw on, which was his shirt. He barely registered the flurry of her movements as he sneaked to the door, his steps deadly silent.
There it was—another bump of wood on wood. He’d been sleeping in this cabin since he could walk, and he’d never heard of a log falling into the water and floating against it, but there was always a first.
There were also thieves, terrorists, gunmen and hitmen.
With one finger, he pushed the door open and stepped into the hall.
A girly squeal had his heart leaping into his throat and pounding so hard he felt it must be expanding his neck like a bullfrog. With a grating sigh, he lowered the weapon and safety’d it.
“Jesus, Lexi, what the hell are you doing here?”
Behind her, more people were pouring through the cabin door. The whole family, in fact.
She grinned and threw her arms around him. “I’m so glad to see you, Ben. We know how you can get stuck inside your head and that you’d come to the cabin. So we came to keep you compan—” She broke off, looking behind Ben.
He didn’t need to turn to know Dahlia stood behind him—his family was all gawking at her like they’d thought he was gay all these years.
Turning, he extended an arm for her to come into. She must be nervous as hell. Meeting his family was daunting enough when you hadn’t just been interrupted by them, thinking they were invaders and after having Ben’s tongue in her pussy.
He could still taste her.
She moved forward with shoulders back and head high, wearing only his T-shirt like a queen wore bejeweled robes. No wonder he was so fascinated by her. She was freakin’ perfect.
“Everyone, this is Dahlia.”
His brothers grinned and exchanged looks. Chaz held out a hand, and the other guys slapped twenty-dollar bills into his palm. He thanked them and pocketed the cash.
“Great to see you again, Miss Jackson,” Sean said.
Ben arched a brow at the amusement in Sean’s tone. He’d get whatever was tickling his brother’s fancy out of him soon enough.
Directing his attention to the Knights who hadn’t yet met Dahlia, he said, “Maman, Pére, Tyler, Lexi… this is Dahlia.”
Lexi’s face split into a wide smile. “Are you the one who called the house looking for Ben the other week?”
Dahlia shifted. “Um, yes. Well, I’m going to get dressed.” She threw a wave that was at last showing her nerves and practically dove back into the bedroom.
Ben pushed out a sigh. “Ya’ll couldn’t have warned me you were coming?”
“Get dressed, Ben. Nobody wants to see you in your skivvies,” Tyler drawled, running her fingers through her long brown tresses.
“I’ll be right back. Hope you know there’s no food up here. We didn’t bring any—been livin’ off fish.”
His father finally rubbed the smirk off his lips. “There’s always something to eat in these swamps, and it’s been an age since I’ve had me a fine, roasted gator. But lucky for you, we brought a few coolers of food with us and we’ll share. I don’t think that tiny slip of a woman’s going to eat much.”
Ben grunted. “I’m going to change.”
As soon as he walked into the bedroom, he found Dahlia just sitting on the side of the bed, staring at her hands. She looked dazed and so beautiful the sight made his heart give a painful squeeze.
“Cher… what is it?” He sank to his knees before her and gripped her hands, searching her face for the despair he expected. What woman wanted to walk out of the bedroom to find her lover’s huge family had joined them in their private getaway? Hell, he’d wanted to run for the hills after learning Colonel Jackson was her father.
She tipped her face up and smiled. Then laughed. Her giggles took hold and she threw herself back on the mattress, curving onto one side to hold in her laughter.
Relief swept him as he crawled onto the bed with her. Slipping his arms around her, he drew her into the pocket of his body where she fit so perfectly. “You’re not upset then?”
“I guess if I didn’t know what I was getting into when your brothers practically kidnapped me at my own father’s birthday barbecue to force me to talk to you, I know now.” Another choke of laughter left her, and she dug her knuckles into her teeth.
He rocked back to look at her. “I think you’re hysterical, honey. Seeing my family does that to everyone.”
She laughed harder, and he joined her for a long, breathless moment. Then a crash sounded and a raised voice followed—one of his brothers telling off another for dropping something.
Ben sobered. Staring at the pink-faced woman in his arms, he stroked her hair off her temple. “You sure you’re okay with this? We can still escape.”
“No.” She shook her head. “Let’s get dressed and meet them before they think I’m rude. It’s bad enough they saw me wearing only your shirt and… Well, you know what I wasn’t wearing.”
He cocked a brow and grinned down at her. “Oh, I know, honey.” He leaned in closer, but before he could kiss her, she planted her hands on his chest and pushed him back.
Watching her dress was a turn-on like nothing else, especially since he’d only seen her get out of clothes, never put them on. He loved the little shimmies she did to get her dress hem to fall into place around her knees and the care she took knotting the tie at her waist.
Finally, she raked her fingers through her hair and turned to him. “Do I look like someone you’d bring home to Maman?”
“Honey, I’d bring you home wrapped in a feed sack. You’re gorgeous no matter what. But before we go out there and face the grilling we’re sure to get, promise me something.” He searched her eyes.
“Anything.”
“That you won’t walk away based on what’s about to take place.”
She blinked. “You think I’ll dump you because of one meeting with your family?”
He considered if that was what he meant and then nodded. “They can get wild here at the cabin. You might see a side of us that you don’t want to know. But that isn’t me… not all the time, anyway.” He dashed a hand through his hair. “Look, I’m explaining this wrong. Just promise to give me another chance to ease you into my world. Okay?”
“All right, Ben. I’d like to say that if I’d met your family weeks ago, I wouldn’t have been prepared. But now we know each other better.”
“I like how you said that. Now we’re in this together. On the count of three, we’ll open the door. Ready?”
When they entered the main room of the cabin, nobody took notice of them. Lexi was busy rummaging through cupboards to find cooking utensils at their mother’s orders and Dylan was digging all the fishing tackle out of a closet while Sean checked the poles’ rigging.
Everyone else must be outside. Coolers and bags of food littered the dock.
“How the hell’d you all fit on that old pirogue anyway? It’s a wonder it didn’t sink,” Ben said by way of greeting.
Tyler threw him a dirty look. “Almost did. Got my foot wet.” She lifted her running shoe, which looked a shade darker than the other.
Ben walked up to his little sister and put his arms around her. “I’m not teaching you how to ride that motorcycle, Tyleri.”
She batted at him, nearly shoving him off the dock. He laughed but noted how her eyes zeroed in on his injuries he sported. He sobered. “Well, maybe I’ll teach you.”
Sweeter now, she went on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. Then Sean walked out, and Ben broke away to meet his brother. He wanted to get him alone, but he’d been at the cabin enough with his family to know that alone time was scarce. He stopped Sean with a grip on his shoulder.
“I have you to thank for getting everyone out of there safe, bro.”
Sean’s lips pulled tight across his teeth. “Just doin’ my job.”
“I know, and you’re a damn good leader as well as a team member. You knew what to do, and everyone’s alive because of you.”
Sean’s gaze dipped to the red line on Ben’s throat. “Yeah,” he grated out, “we’re damn lucky. But all part of the job, right?”
“Yes, but your handle on tactical maneuvers is—”
Cutting across him, Sean said, “Nah, bro, my skill just complements what you bring to the team.” He grasped Ben’s shoulder roughly and pulled him into a bro-hug.
Their mother’s voice ended the moment. “Ben, sweetheart, will you be a dear and fetch that red cooler in here for me? I need to start chopping the tomatoes for the salad.”
Ben reached for the cooler. Their father had already gotten the grill fired up. Wisps of smoke curled from the charcoal and wood mixture they cooked over, and Ben’s stomach growled at the idea of a big, traditional Knight meal.
With Dahlia at his side.
He stopped beside his father and stared at the flames already turning into the perfect embers for grilling.
“She’s a pretty one,” his father said.
Ben gave a single nod.
“Good to see ya, son. Your brothers said…”
Ben arched a brow. What happened on that mission had better remain confidential or he’d have to put on his captain pants and dole out some punishment to his team.
“Don’t worry—their mouths are sealed up tight as clams. But they don’t have to say much. You know that.”
Affection for his father swept through Ben. He grasped his pere’s shoulder. “I know.”
His father reeled him in for a brief hug. “Damn glad you’re okay.”
“So am I. Now what’s for grub?”
While he detailed chicken, shrimp and roasted corn, Ben glanced over at his brothers, Chaz and Roades on the dock, lines already in the water and more at ease than he’d seen them forever. Roades didn’t even appear to be favoring his leg, though he wore a brace around his thigh.
Ben hadn’t seen them all together since shit had gone downhill, but he pushed those memories from his mind and savored what he had right now.
* * * * *
This was a day of firsts for Dahlia. The first time she’d watched Ben in action, stalking around with a weapon in hand, looking hot as hell. And the first time she’d ever met a boyfriend’s family wearing nothing but a man’s T-shirt and not a stitch on underneath.
Also, the first time she’d been swept into a big family and felt she belonged.
The long plank table was set up on the dock and the breezes washed the good scents of Cajun cuisine toward her. The Knight family took up a lot of space, but Ben had made room for her to squeeze in between him and Lexi.
Dahlia watched the woman from the corner of her eye. There was something different about her, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Then Tyler was as sassy and bold as the brothers, trash-talking each in turn. Ben’s parents were kind to Dahlia and kept trying to feed her by passing dish after dish her way until her plate was overflowing.
Ben just shot her a grin and talked baseball scores with his brothers. Dahlia couldn’t help but sit in awe. These men fought wars and protected the country on a daily basis. They did unspeakable acts. Yet here they sat, munching on seasoned shrimp and corn like anybody else.
The cabin’s surroundings were beginning to become familiar to Dahlia, as was sitting next to Ben. Just being with the man surprised her every time she thought of it. And right now, with him bumping her arm each time he raised the corn on the cob to his mouth, she could easily imagine herself being at his side forever.
Which also terrified her. One dinner with his family wasn’t a marriage proposal. She had to stay in the moment, just enjoy her meal.
“Dahlia, what do you do?” his maman asked. She’d asked Dahlia to call her Ellietta, an odd name but in the Deep South, any name was acceptable.
She swallowed the bite of shrimp she’d taken before speaking. “I’m a 911 operator.”
“Wow, that’s fantastic,” Lexi spoke up. “So you save people. Like Ben.”
Dahlia looked up into his eyes and something passed between them, a deeper understanding of what drew them together and could possibly keep them together.
Feeling weirdly shaken, Dahlia glanced away and resumed her conversation, answering Lexi’s questions and a few from Ellietta. When she couldn’t pack another shrimp into her stomach, she folded her hands over her midsection.
Sean’s eyes twinkled as he raised his jaw at her gesture. “You full, Dahlia? You’ll have to get more game if you’re going to keep up with the Knights.”
It was true—each of them was packing enough food away to feed a third world village and yet they seemed to all be fit. The dishes were quickly emptying, and Ellietta had promised a peach crumble for dessert. Dahlia might not have much room, but she could get a few more bites down for peach crumble.
“Not everyone can win eating contests like you, Sean,” Ben said, taking his third ear of corn.
“Eating contests?” Dahlia asked to get some of the focus off herself.
Ben chuckled. “Yeah, Sean has always been a big eater and from the age of six discovered he can pack away enough hot dogs to win a county fair.”
“Which sent him to the state champs,” Tyler piped up.
“How would you know? You weren’t even born yet, Tyleri,” Sean said around a bite of buttery corn.
Dahlia looked to Ben for clarification on the name Sean had called their sister.
“Tyleri is our dear sister’s nickname.”
“Is not,” she shot back. “You asses just call me that to drive me crazy.”
“Language,” their maman chided with a hint of a smile at her grown children’s antics. Dahlia could only imagine the pride the woman must feel to have raised all of these kids and made it through with all her hair.
“Well,” Tyler huffed, grabbing another roll from the basket, “this is your fault, Maman.”
Ellietta rolled her eyes. “Here we go, Chip,” she said to her husband, an older but just as handsome version of Ben.
Tyler stared at Dahlia as she told the story. “My parents didn’t know I was coming, and instead of taking a few more minutes or even days to come up with a female name for me, they gave me the boy’s name they had in mind. I bided my time until I could talk—”
“Now she’s hitting her speed,” Ben said, to laughter.
“—and voice my disapproval,” Tyler continued, waving her fork like a sword she’d use to stab anyone who interrupted again, “and when I finally told my family I hated my name because it’s a boy’s name, Ben and these jerks,” she twitched her fork at Roades, seated on her right, “started calling me Tyleri.”
“It’s very feminine,” Lexi said, pressing her lips together to hold back her laugh.
“And my own twin doesn’t even have sympathy for me. No wonder—she’s got the good name.” Tyler’s grumble only made the whole family chuckle.
“But think of all the things you’ve been able to do with a boy’s name,” Lexi said.
“Right, baseball, for one.” Ben ran his tongue along the corn he held in front of his face, gathering the creamy butter and making Dahlia clamp her thighs shut on the memory of that tongue in other places.
“Tyler joined the boys’ baseball league and stuffed her hair under her hat. By the time they realized she’s a girl, she’d pitched a no-hitter.”
Tyler looked a bit more appeased, but she was obviously used to getting her way in this family and was reserving her smiles for something bigger.
Dahlia liked each and every one of the family members. So far, she’d heard little from Dylan, who sat across from her looking studious in a pair of horn-rimmed glasses. And Sean seemed preoccupied with something, keeping out of most of the conversation and only occasionally speaking or offering smiles.
Or maybe it was just Dahlia’s innate sense of a person’s well-being from all those 911 calls she took. She might be imagining it. Though the way Ben kept glancing at Sean too, she thought he must be picking up on the vibes as well.
After the meal was finished, she stood to help clear the table, but Ben got up and pushed her back onto the bench. Tyler, Lexi and their mother all remained seated.
Ben’s smile was soft and made her heart flip. “We men do the dishes. You sit and try to eat more of that peach crumble.”
Her smile widened, and she watched him gather half a dozen platters in his big, capable hands and carry them inside the house.
Lexi giggled, causing Dahlia to look up in confusion.
“You have that look on your face, Dahlia.”
“What look?”
“The look we didn’t think we’d ever see on any woman’s face for our brother.”
“What? Ben’s been with a lot of women. I’m sure many of them have looked at him in whatever way I was—or wasn’t—looking.”
Lexi nodded. “That’s true—he’s had a lot of women. But thing is, Dahlia, we’ve never met a single one.”
The impact of what Lexi was telling her struck. Ben had never allowed his family to meet any of the women he’d been with. Sure, the Knights had barged into the cabin in the middle of their lovemaking and there had been no choice but to meet her.
But before that, he’d asked to take her home with him and show her off for himself.
Dahlia raised a bite of sweet peaches to her mouth, ducking her head to conceal the flush of pleasure in her cheeks.