Chapter Four
Two weeks. Two weeks since Dahlia’d slept with Ben, so why couldn’t she shake the feeling that he’d just spread her thighs and—
She cut off the thought for the thousandth time since waking to find him gone, more pissed than she’d ever been, and it wasn’t Ben she was mad at. After all, he was just a man, right? And men played. He’d proven he was a player from the start, yet she’d given him a second chance. This was where lust got her.
She’d wanted the big man with a burning desire and had let herself get carried away. But now she was just angry and disappointed with herself. Not for giving him another romp in her bed, but because this time she’d let herself get too entangled.
Maybe she was just lonely. Her girlfriends had abandoned her for new husbands and new lives, and she definitely needed to find a new crowd but hadn’t returned to the club since that night she’d found Ben again. For two weeks she’d been going home after work. She’d been trying to find new outlets for her stress but no amount of yoga downward dog or salutes to the sun were going to erase all the haunting calls she received in a regular shift.
Picking up her knitting needles, she attacked the wool again.
“How long are you making that thing, Dahlia?” Joanie asked from her desk.
She glanced up at her coworker, saw the worry written between the woman’s brows and threw the knitting back into her bag. “You’re right. I need to end it.” Her mind wasn’t on the project so much as what was going on inside her. Ben had walked out of her life, but he’d left a note behind with enough hope in the words to drive Dahlia batshit crazy.
She had to end whatever fantasy was going on in her mind.
Her earpiece buzzed, alerting her to a call. “9-1-1, what’s your call?”
“I know you told me not to call you here but it’s an emergency, Dahlia.” Serena’s voice projected into her ear.
Damn. She looked around for Kyle but didn’t see her boss lurking around.
“Fine, what’s your emergency?” she said urgently.
“Mike’s buddy’s in town and we want to double date.”
She glared at nothing in particular. “A double date? That’s your emergency?” She was getting more and more irritated with her friend. Calling during her shift, clogging up the lines with crap that could get Dahlia fired.
“Yes, he’s a nice guy. Pulllease? We have tickets to the game.”
On the other hand, a date could take her mind off her day’s work as well as block Ben from her brain.
“Fine. I’ll go. Now let me get back to work. Goodbye.”
When she hung up, she caught Joanie’s private smile. “Sounds like a good emergency to have, dear,” the woman said.
She twisted her lips in some semblance of a smile. She was feeling far from excited about the date, but at least she wasn’t going home alone. Somehow, the prospect helped her get through her shift without a pity-party.
After her shift she read her text messages and learned she was meeting her friends and the blind date at the club. The club, the only place where she’d seen Ben.
Just pulling into the parking lot had her pulse racing. Last time she’d been here…
She snapped out of that self-destructive train of thought. And just how the hell had her car gotten to her apartment when her keys were inside her purse anyway? Ben had question marks written all over his big, hunky body but she wasn’t going to dwell on the hotness of a mystery.
She parked the car and reached into her big bag. Inside, she kept an array of accessories needed to amp up her daytime look for night. From sparkly necklaces to high heels and all the flirty lipstick colors between.
Dahlia was a master of parking lot makeovers, and in seconds she went from frumpy 911 operator to date night ready. Hair fluffed, lips outlined in her trademark red lipstick, her comfy shoes ditched for stilettos with rhinestones on the toes and a cute velvet top pulled over her tank top. She got out of the car.
As soon as she glanced toward the entrance, her heart skidded to a stop. Her hand few to her chest and no wonder—she needed chest compressions to restart it.
Ben was leaning against a black SUV that looked big enough to haul a team of linebackers.
He drew away from the SUV and started toward her, big thighs straining against his jeans ohhh, so right. Her pussy clenched at the mere sight of all that testosterone headed her way.
When he stopped before her, he flicked his gaze down her body, lingering around her ankles before coming back up to settle on her face. “I see you got dressed up for me.”
She found her voice. “Arrogant ass. Who are you to assume that I’m here to see you?”
And just how was he finding her so easily? Could this really be coincidence?
Taking a step toward her, he let his eyes hood in that way that drove her absolutely crazy with desire.
She curled her toes in her rhinestone stilettos and attempted to slow her breathing.
“Look, Dahlia, I’m sorry for—”
She waved a hand, cutting him off. “It was nothing. Just a one-night stand.”
A growl left him, so low and rumbly that she nearly threw herself into his arms there and then. “A one-night stand? Is that what you think?”
“That’s what it was—twice. So if you’ll let me past you, I have to get inside.” She had to actually take steps toward the gorgeous man she’d been dreaming about for weeks in order to reach the door. Which meant ungluing her feet from the parking lot and putting one in front of the other. She took a step.
He caught her elbow as tried to pass and drove her crazier by placing his lips inches from her ear. “It wasn’t just a one-night stand. Or even a two-night stand, honey.”
Shivers raced up and down her spine and tingles started between her thighs.
“Let me take you out on a date. But not here. Someplace nice.”
“I…” Her throat closed on the need to respond with a loud, resounding yes.
No, she couldn’t go anywhere with him. He was toxic, just as poisonous to her mindset as losing a patient over the phone was.
She shook her head. “I have a date waiting for me inside.”
Instead of releasing her arm as she expected, he gripped it tighter and swayed her into him, totally overstepping all her boundaries.
“A date?”
She didn’t need to glance at his expression to know he didn’t like what she’d said. His tone said it all.
“Look, Ben, you’ve been gone for two weeks. You know where I live, could have contacted me any time. But you didn’t, and I have a date.”
“The hell you do.” He spun her against his chest and lowered his lips until they hovered over hers. Need pounded in her veins and much, much lower as his scent enveloped her. Why the hell were there so many pheromones at play? As if she needed another reason to be attracted to the man, her body was picking up whatever invisible waves he was tossing out at her.
She swallowed hard. “Please let me go.” Her words wobbled, and she didn’t sound one bit convincing.
His green eyes burned. “You don’t really want that, cher.”
“I… do. Ben, I have a da—”
He silenced her with his kiss. Firm lips trapping hers. She made the mistake of dragging in a deep breath of his delicious male scent.
Her knees threatened to give out.
He worked his lips over hers until she parted them on a soft sigh. To her surprise, he didn’t sweep his tongue inside, which left her throbbing, aching, smoldering for more.
Damn him.
“You have to come with me.” Why did his low voice have to reach inside and tug on her ovaries?
She opened her mouth to protest, but he claimed her with another deep kiss. The music coming from the club pulsed through her body as need took hold. Crap, she was a goner. She’d never hear this particular blend of zydeco and techno without thinking of Ben.
He plunged his tongue into her mouth as he lifted her and carried her to his SUV. When he pushed her against the side and cupped her ass in his big, rough hand, she made a throaty noise.
How horrible. So shameful. Yet she couldn’t stop her libido from responding a hundred and fifty percent to this man.
“Ben…”
“It’ll be better this time, I promise.” He kissed a path up her neck to her ear. When he gently bit into her lobe, gooseflesh broke over her.
“That’s what you said last time,” she said between lashes of his tongue on her ear.
He held her prisoner against the side of the SUV. “Honey, I can feel how wet you are.”
“How? You haven’t touched me.”
“Because you’re so hot that I can feel it radiating from between your legs. Maybe I should check though.” Holding her gaze, he eased a hand up under her skirt. When he ran a fingertip along the thin fabric covering her seam, she couldn’t choke back the moan.
“Mmm, just as I thought. Soaking.” He followed the cloth from her clit to her entrance and then farther back where the string of her thong disappeared between her cheeks.
“Oh God, Ben,” she rasped. Her body remembered his touch back there and reminded her how much she wanted it again.
He let his fingers linger there for a heartbeat too long before sliding them up again, over the swollen lips of her pussy to settle over her clit.
He didn’t press down like she wanted—needed. She panted and fought for control. What was he doing to her? She was a smart woman who knew her mind but when he got near her, her brain caved in and her body cried out for his touch.
“I can’t. Ben, I really do have a date.”
“Yep. With me.” He edged his fingertip under her panties and skimmed her clit. The nerves leaped, and her pussy flooded. He brushed his lips across hers. “Tell me you’d rather go out with someone else, Dahlia. Say the words and I’ll let you walk into that club and have your boring, polite date.” He flicked her bud back and forth with his words, and her legs buckled. He pinned her to the vehicle with his body and thigh. “Or you can have this.”
With that, he ground her clit into her body. She threw her head back and issued a cry that was part sexual frustration and part annoyance at her own lack of control.
He reached around her and opened the passenger door. “What do you say, Dahlia? Polite date with boring Joe-Bob or me demanding that you take off that sticky, hot thong and spread your legs for me while I drive you back to your place?”
Oh God. She threw a look at the door of the club. He was probably spot-on when it came to her date. Blind dates were never easy, and they sure as hell weren’t spiked with innuendo and the promise of explosive sex like she had with Ben.
He crushed his lips down on hers again, cupping her breast and using his thigh against her pussy to prove his point.
Gasping, she tore away. “Fine. I’ll get in.”
The arrogant man actually smirked as he pushed off the side of the vehicle and helped her on shaky legs to the passenger’s seat.
She barely hit the leather when he got behind the wheel and stared at her for a long second.
“What?” Her voice wavered.
He glanced at her thighs. “The thong—off. And spread those legs for me. I’m going to finger you as we drive. I figure I can get at least one orgasm from you before we reach our destination.”
* * * * *
Ben wanted to go back inside that club, locate the man Dahlia had a date with and break his legs. Okay, that was going a bit far. He’d just rough him up a little. Standard black eyes, bloody nose, maybe a loose tooth or two.
His eyes hooded as he watched her squirming in the seat next to him.
“The thong, Dahlia.”
“Oh God,” she murmured.
He ran a finger up her thigh. “Or I’ll rip them off you.”
“Fine. Don’t rip them. I like these ones.” She shot him a look that was too heated to be a glare and reached under her skirt. She shimmied her thong down her thighs.
“All the way off.”
She did his bidding, and the string caught on her high heel.
“Leave it. It’s kinda sexy.” He leaned over the console to eye the tangle of lace and silk around the spike heel.
“Now let me feel this wet pussy.” Without hesitation, he reached under her skirt and cupped her steaming hot, drenched flesh.
“Oh my God!” she cried out.
He reached over with his left hand to put the SUV into drive and probed her silken folds with his right while bumping out of the gravel lot. Need slashed through him, sugarcoating the high he was on after she’d given up her date for him.
When they hit the road, he gunned it.
“You’re not going to…” she gasped as he sank a finger into her, “make me come before we get to my place if you’re driving so fast.”
He slanted a look at her, brow raised. “Is that a challenge?”
She sucked in a gasp as he began to fingerfuck her with slow, rhythmic plunges of his finger.
“You’re going to wreck. This vehicle’s huge and the console is so wide you can hardly reach me.”
“Scoot closer them and spread your legs farther,” was his only response.
“You do have long arms, though,” she continued in a shiver of a voice.
He liked the way she was puzzling through what was happening. By the time they hit the turn for the South Market District where her apartment was, she’d be screaming and writhing with her release.
“Get out your phone, cher.”
“Wh-what?”
He swirled his finger around her clit before plunging it inside her again. “Take out your phone and video what I’m doing to you.”
“Oh my God.”
“It’ll be sexy. You know you’ll want to watch it again. Do it.”
She fumbled in her purse at her side and came out with her phone. She nestled it between her knees and angled it. As soon as her own pussy and his fingers came onto the screen, she moaned and he nearly jizzed in his jeans. The sight was the fucking hottest thing he’d ever seen.
“Now watch your pussy come for me.”
Her breathing changed. Each rasping noise came faster and louder as he alternated between her clit and her soaking wet entrance. She was shaking, vibrating his fingers, hand, arm. God, this woman was so damn hot and working her out of his system wasn’t even an option anymore.
But he was a Marine and a Knight and that meant he had a backup plan, which meant he was demanding more from her and damn the consequences. The past two weeks had been hell and debriefing after the drug bust on the shore had only rolled into another damn mission, and the final story was that he’d just returned from some bullshit town in Texas after witnessing shit that no human should ever see.
After dropping off Rocko and his brothers, he’d come straight to the club, determined to find Dahlia and if he didn’t see her there, he’d planned to go to her apartment. But her sweet scents of arousal wafting from the passenger seat and the soft, tormenting moans leaving her lips made him forget all the crap he’d lived through since being with her last.
She gripped his wrist, guiding him to fingerfuck her faster. “Ben, I’m so close. Right there, oh God…”
The phone slipped in her grasp, but she righted it as her orgasm hit. On screen, he watched her pussy pulsate even as her juices flooded him. Her cry echoed through the SUV and his balls clenched so hard that he growled.
He continued to run his fingers over her slick heat to the tune of her quivering sighs. When she let the phone drop to the floor and threw her head back with a final rasping cry, a satisfied smile crossed his face.
“You’re so full of yourself,” she shot out.
Damn, he loved that sass too.
“I think I have good reason to be.” He pulled his fingers free of her pussy and brought them to his lips.
“Holy shit.” She issued a shaky breath, watching him lick at his fingers. Her flavors were just as he remembered. Better, in fact. Pure, sweet woman.
He pulled up in front of her apartment and cut the engine.
When Dahlia met his gaze, her eyes were hazy with pleasure and the passion that had driven him to hightail it back the minute he was debriefed.
He nodded toward the floor. “You may want to pick up your phone and call your date, let him know you’re not going to make it.”
* * * * *
They barely made it through the door before Dahlia’s skirt was up and Ben’s fingers were inside her again. She clung to him, swirling her tongue over his as he worked a magic that had her inner walls screaming for more.
“Fuck, I love the way you kiss me back,” he muttered between thrusts of his tongue. When he withdrew, he gazed down at her for several long heartbeats. She swallowed hard at the need chiseled into his rugged features.
“Forgive me for everything I’ve done, Dahlia.”
She didn’t reply but he didn’t seem to need it—simply asking forgiveness was enough to ease his conscience. He closed the door and locked it and then pinned her to the wood, staring at her until her need spiked again.
“Ben.” She had no idea what she was asking for. Her body demanded and her heart was on the verge of begging for more from this man. But her mind was clear.
Well, sort of.
He traced his lips across her jaw, licking at her earlobe with each pass. She was soaking wet and aching for Ben, and there was no way he was staying clothed another second.
She tore off his T-shirt and went for his cargo pants. He moaned against her throat as she ran her fingers over the hard length of his cock curving upward toward his abs. She sagged at the knees, starting to slide down the door to take him in her mouth.
But he caught her elbows. “No, honey. Not this time. Turn around and place your hands over your head.”
Holy crap. She was melting into a puddle, couldn’t even think straight to obey his command. When she didn’t move, he eased her around, took her wrists and locked them to the door.
The bulk of his body against her spine and the way his cock nestled at her behind only inspired uncontrollable need. She twisted her head, panting. “I need this.”
“Yes, you do. And I’ll give it to you, cher. If you promise me there won’t be any more dates.”
“I… I’m not promising that. I don’t owe you anything and—”
She sucked in a gasp as he probed her drenched folds from behind, finding her opening and sinking his fingers in shallowly. She wiggled to make him slide his fingers deeper, but he resisted.
“Right now, we’re working out what is happening between us. And we don’t want any distractions. Promise me, Dahlia.”
If she didn’t, he might not continue with his sexual explorations and leave her panting with want.
Besides, she hadn’t wanted to date Mike’s friend anyhow.
She nodded at the same time she arched her back, pushing her hips up. “I need your fingers.”
“Honey, you’ll get more than my fingers. Is that a promise?”
“Yes,” she said raggedly.
“Good.” He painted her juices up and down her slick seam. “Now stay in that position.”
The only sound in the apartment was her rough breaths and the rustle of clothing. The sounds heightened her need and by the time he poised his rubber-sheathed cock at her opening, she was gagging for it.
“Spread your legs farther,” he demanded.
A noise left her throat as she did his bidding. Arousal dripped down her inner thighs, and she was helpless against his commands. She’d do anything he asked if only he’d end this sweet torment right now and fuck her.
He ran the head of his cock up over her pussy, sinking only enough to stretch her opening with the flared head. In her ear, he whispered, “You want this?”
“I want your cock.”
“Oh, you’ll have it, little temptress.” He pushed inside her. She cried out, curling her fingers against the door for purchase. He wrapped an arm around her middle, anchoring her to his big body and supporting her as he drove inside her. Churning hips, his teeth grazing her throat. She closed her eyes and gave herself over to sensation.
Ben was all she’d wanted for months, and now that she had him, she wasn’t going to waste time dwelling on when it would end. She only wanted the high he gave her, the complete ecstasy that made her forget even her own name.
When they came down from their releases, he turned her into his arms and lifted her. Staring into her eyes for a long moment before carrying her to her bed for round two.
Then three.
* * * * *
Dahlia’s car was back home—again. For the second time, she’d left with Ben and for the second time, he’d managed to get her vehicle back to her. How?
She hadn’t given him her keys and that could only mean that he’d hotwired it. Great—she was sleeping with… obsessed with… a car thief.
Just thinking of Ben gave her an occasional twitch, as if her body still experienced the aftershocks of their blazing night of passion. She clamped her knees together and waited her turn in line at the café for her hazelnut coffee.
She didn’t usually make the stop to the coffee shop and brewed her own, but this morning, she wasn’t willing to stick around her apartment for another second. Each time she caught a whiff of Ben’s lingering aftershave, she wanted to scream and that would likely bring in negative calls from her neighbors.
The man had freakin’ left—again. And Dahlia was officially an idiot. There was no other word to describe her actions.
She pushed out a sigh and tapped a heel on the tile floor. The line moved forward, and she shuffled with it.
This was the story of her life. Shuffling along, only getting small glimpses into what her real life could be. She had flashes of amazing highs—like when Ben had pinned her to his vehicle and dragged rough moans from her. Not to mention him licking his fingers clean after—
“What can I get you?”
She opened her mouth to speak, and her phone buzzed.
She froze. She was not answering that. She hadn’t given Ben her number, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have it. The man hadn’t had her keys either, yet he’d gotten her car back to her apartment.
She mumbled out her order and was shuffled on down the line while the barista prepared her drink.
Only when she had the cup in hand and was on her way out the door did she check her phone. Damn. Serena.
She hadn’t explained why she’d skipped out on her blind date.
Juggling her phone and coffee, she started a slow stroll through the neighborhood. Typically, the walk gave her pleasure on her days off. Right now, she wasn’t feeling very calm, though.
She put the phone to her ear and took a sip of the creamy hazelnut goodness, the only good thing about her day so far. She braced herself for her friend’s irritation.
“Oh, so she isn’t dead. She answered her phone.”
Okay, irritation was a little understated.
“I’m sorry, Serena. Something came up last night.”
“Wasn’t that your car I saw in the parking lot?”
Shit. Think fast.
She could feed her friend a line about a sick friend or a call-off at work and a second shift to work, but Serena would see right through the lie.
“Mike and I were really disappointed and so was Mike’s friend. He was really looking forward to meeting you. He’d seen you at the wedding.”
Fabulous. Hadn’t Dahlia had one champagne too many and ended up busting out to the Electric Slide near the end?
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s all you have to say?” Serena asked. A beat of silence and then, “Fine. It’s obvious you’re sneaking around or seeing someone else. The worst thing about this is that you’re not being honest with me and I thought we were friends.”
Dahlia groaned. “Look, I ran into an old friend. One thing led to another and—”
“Old friend? Who was it? Because if you’re back on that Alexander thing, I’m dumping you as my friend. I’m not going to sit back and watch you get involved in that toxic—”
“It’s not Alexander.” Though it may be just as toxic. Ben was like an addiction she couldn’t turn down. “I’m sorry again, Serena. It won’t happen again. It’s over now.”
“Oh. Good! Then you can meet us tonight for drinks. Mike’s friend is still in town.”
“I can’t. I have another obligation. But look, I need to duck into the drugstore for a minute. I’ll call you soon.” She ended with a false brilliance to her voice that, if Serena was really listening, she’d know was brittle. They ended the call.
Dahlia looked at her surroundings and slurped down her coffee rather than savor it. The quaint shops of this district usually made her feel peaceful, uplifted with the energy of the city. But right now, she was too irritated, not with her friend but herself. Why had she let Ben derail her determination again?
She turned around and headed toward home again. She’d start the day over, beginning by going home and changing her sheets. Washing all her bedding so it didn’t smell like Ben was step one to purging the man from her memory.
So, when was she going to stop feeling his touch all over her body? It was as if the man had left behind a ghost touch, and she could feel each callused stroke of his fingertips.
She made it back to her apartment and had barely dropped her empty cup in the trash when her cell rang.
“Kyle.” She held her breath, waiting for him to call her in to work on her day off.
“I warned you about personal calls, Dahlia.”
“What? I’m not even working today.”
“I know. And some guy named Ben keeps calling demanding he speak with you.”
Oh God. He was going to get her fired.
He’s trying to contact me.
Heart thumping, she stared into space, seeing nothing but the man’s chiseled jaw as he lowered his head to kiss her.
She had to put a stop to this before he jeopardized her livelihood and she ended up broke and living with her father again. No way could she be under his radar again.
“I don’t know any Ben.”
“Hmm. That isn’t what he’s saying.”
Dammit, she was going to have to hunt down the gorgeous man and wring his neck. Only she’d end up on her knees with his thick, deliciously veined cock in her mouth.
Shut off your libido.
“Turn him over to the police for making false 911 calls,” she suggested.
“I did. I just wanted to let you know so you can warn this Ben guy before the police pay him a visit.”
Dropping her head back, she exhaled slowly and tried to come up with some way to respond to her boss. This whole day was really sucking so far. The only good thing about it was she wouldn’t need to take an Uber to pick up her car at the club.
“Fine, Kyle. Thanks for the head’s up.” With that, she ended the call. Two seconds didn’t pass before her door buzzer rang.
“Fucking hell,” she murmured and went to press the button on the wall to answer. She didn’t even get to speak before Ben’s voice filled her space.
“Dahlia, it’s me.”
Her eyes flew open wide as she stared at the speaker as if the man had materialized there.
“Can I come up?” he asked.
Panic set in. She hadn’t stripped the sheets off her bed yet. It was a little rumpled but they could still fall into it. Wait—what was she thinking? She wasn’t having sex with Ben again, wasn’t even going to go downstairs to look at his face. If she did, she’d be a goner, lost in the green pools of his eyes and jonesing for all that muscle.
“No, you can’t come up.”
Good, she prided herself. She’d managed to keep an even tone.
“Dahlia, I’m sorry. Something came up and I had to make an emergency run.”
“Is this for your job?” she heard herself ask. This was ridiculous. Holding a conversation through the intercom was even dumber than getting into his SUV and videoing him fingering her pussy the previous night.
A trickle of warmth slid through her lower abdomen and pooled between her thighs. She still had the video on her phone, but she could have the real thing. All she had to do was unlock the door and let him in.
“Yes, my job. Something came up,” he said.
Anger swept her. “I thought you were in construction. Or demolition. Why are you getting calls in the middle of the night? I think you’re a car thief.” In the back of her mind, she was ignoring that cocky swagger that reminded her of all the Marines her daddy had paraded through their home over the years.
“What?”
“You’re pretty capable of getting my car back to me without even a set of keys. Look, I don’t want anything to do with you, Ben. We had a few nights of fun, but it’s finished.”
There—she’d said it.
Ouch.
Her gut instinct was to take it back, hit the button to unlock the door and let him come in and fuck her brains out.
All day.
It was her day off, after all.
No. She had to get a grip. Not even a man who could use his cock like Ben could was worth all this drama let alone the feelings of letdown each time she woke to find him gone.
“I’m not a car thief, cher. Just let me come up and we can talk.”
“No.”
“Then come down and I’ll take you out.”
“Not a chance.” She could only imagine the things he’d do to her on the street, with all those alleys to hide in.
He pushed out a breath, and she could nearly see him running his hand through his hair. “Fine. Then meet me tonight and let me make it up to you.”
“I have a date tonight.”
Was that a groan she heard cut off by the intercom?
“Dammit. You promised.”
“You promised you were staying till morning how many times now? I’m finished with promises too.”
A second passed, and then his voice came to her clearly. “Fuck, I’m getting a text from my brother that the cops are looking for me concerning a fake 911 call?”
She couldn’t stop a giggle, but luckily, he didn’t hear it.
“Dahlia, open the door. There’s too much between us.”
That she heard loud and clear. Time to cut ties and be the strong, independent woman her daddy had raised her to be.
She pressed the button and leaned close to the speaker, trying not to think of his lips next to her ear. “I can’t see you tonight or any night, Ben. Please forget this address.”
* * * * *
Ben didn’t think he could be in a fouler mood. Running on no sleep, the woman he couldn’t quit thinking about had dumped him, the cops were on his ass about making fake 911 calls, and he was on orders to show up at a fucking barbecue for Colonel Jackson at eighteen hundred hours.
Or risk being court-martialed.
And now his brothers were relating a story about his little sister that was threatening the enamel of his teeth as he viciously ground them.
He glanced in the rearview at Dylan, who was speaking. “The guy was trying to take advantage of Lexi.”
Ben growled. “Let me get this straight. Some asshole came into the flower shop where Lexi works and tried to schmooze money from her.”
Dylan gave a solemn nod. The rest of the Knights were grim-faced, and even Rocko appeared to be bothered by the story. Ben gripped the steering wheel hard, wishing the cracking of his joints was this motherfucker’s bones.
“Start at the beginning,” Ben ordered.
“I guess Lexi’s been seeing this guy on the down-low,” Dylan said.
“And you know this from Lexi herself?”
“No, from Tyler.”
Lexi’s twin counterpart would know. The two were like one and the same person, equally as beautiful and drawing male attention since they were thirteen and Ben and their brothers had started beating the boys back. Only Tyler was savvy in the ways of the world while Lexi was too sweet to be anything but sucked in.
“Fuck,” Ben bit off.
“What’s the big deal about your sister seeing some guy?” Rocko asked. All five Knights turned their glares on him. To his credit, the SEAL did not flinch, just shrugged. “Well?”
“Lexi suffered a lack of oxygen when she was born. She’s not handicapped, but she’s… special. She’s perfectly capable of dealing with anything life throws her way, unless it has to do with numbers.” Ben waited for Rocko to catch on. When he didn’t, he said, “She can’t deal with numbers, and that includes money.”
“Ohhh. Fuck,” Rocko said softly.
“Yeah, she’s smart as a whip when it comes to literature. Quotes things that none of us can understand the meaning of and she’s sporty as hell. Lexi can even outrun Ben here.” Dylan waved at him.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Ben grumbled. “Though she’s damn fast. So, what did this asshole do to try to get money from her? He must have known her weakness.” Just saying that pissed Ben off. Nobody fucked with his family, let alone Lexi. Each Knight protected her like the Templars protected the Grail.
“Tyler says Lexi was dating him. She must have gotten close enough to the jackass to tell him about herself.”
“Dammit,” three of the brothers said together.
“Okay, I’m lost again,” Rocko spoke up. “Tyler is…?”
“Lexi’s twin.”
“Another Knight brother? How many of you assholes are there?”
Ben shot him a glare over his shoulder. “Tyler’s female. And watch your mouth.”
Rocko was nonplussed. “There has to be a story behind Tyler having a boy’s name.”
“Yeah, she was a surprise twin. Our parents didn’t know she was coming then out she came, and since they had so many boys, they never expected one girl let alone two. Our mother had always loved the name Lexi, so she got the one and only female name they’d picked out.”
“And Tyler got the leftovers.” Rocko bobbed his head as he put it all together.
“I’m so kicking your ass,” Ben warned.
“Save it for this guy who tried to get into Lexi’s bank account,” Sean said from the passenger seat.
“Fine. We’ll get through this mandatory barbecue of the colonel’s and then tonight we’ll go look up Lexi’s ‘boyfriend,’ shall we?” Ben took the final turn that would take them to the private road leading to Colonel Jackson’s home.
“Why are we invited to a barbecue again?” Sean drawled as they were swallowed by a grove of trees on either side of the road old enough to have been planted when Louisiana was founded.
“I don’t for a minute believe it’s for the food,” Ben said.
“You think he’s sending us somewhere?” Chaz spoke up from the back.
Ben didn’t respond as the house came into view. Not any house, but one of those big old Southern homes that seemed to sprawl across acres, with big front windows and columns that had probably kept the place standing during some battle of the Civil War.
Sean whistled. “Guess it pays to be a high-ranking officer.”
After parking and cutting the engine, Knight Ops piled out of the vehicle and fell in behind Ben. As the natural leader, he led them to the double doors. Using the doorbell irritated him, though. It roused bad memories of earlier that day when Dahlia had not only told him she wasn’t seeing him but that he should forget her address.
Pressing his lips into a firm line, he waited for a butler to answer the door, but it was Jackson himself. Out of uniform, he might be any guy at a country club. In summer slacks and a polo shirt, he could even be a golfer. Ben should be golfing right now, and instead he was neck-deep in special ops that so far had sent them on some bullshit missions. Knowing what he did of Jackson, though, he figured those operations were just warmups.
Ben saluted his superior officer, as did the rest of the team.
“At ease, Marines. This is a party and I see none of you dressed for it.” He glanced over their cargo pants, combat boots and black T-shirts. “At least leave the weapons at the door.”
They stepped into the grand foyer and it was easy to see some belle sweeping down that curving staircase in a big dress. Sean let out another low whistle.
Jackson was waiting for them to check their weapons, but nobody was willing to make the first move. Ben reached for his sidearm and set it on a table next to a huge vase of fresh-cut flowers most likely from some extravagant Southern garden it took two gardeners to keep up.
One by one, the guys disarmed and when Jackson was satisfied, the tough old fucker actually smiled. He took off through the entryway. “Party’s out back on the lanai.”
Ben had been in a lot of odd situations, and this was gaining a top spot on that list. In his position, he’d pow-wowed with a lot of higher ranking officers, but why they were invited to a barbecue at the colonel’s personal residence was weird as fuck.
Outside, the fragrance of grilled meats hit them, and Jackson gestured to a metal tub of beer on ice. “Help yourselves, boys.”
“Now this is turning out to be a real nice party,” Sean drawled as he moved off toward a small group of women sitting by the pool. Any bikini had a Knight’s head turning, and typically Ben was no different. But not today, not with Dahlia’s scent still filling his mind and the silky feel of her sliding down over his cock fresh in his memory.
Jackson let the Knights and Rocko mill with the guests at their leisure as he stood talking and joking with some other old gentlemen.
“I don’t know a fucking person here, do you?” Dylan asked.
“Nope.” Ben tipped the beer to his lips. “Just see where this thing goes. And don’t hack Jackson’s computer.”
Dylan cocked a brow. “I’m insulted that you’d think I’d do that. I wouldn’t bother with the computers. If I was hacking anything, it would be the security code to Jackson’s gun safe.”
* * * * *
Dahlia descended the stairs and stopped dead when she reached the bottom. She stared at the weapons piled on the entry table. “What the…?” Her daddy threw some weird parties in his time, but she’d never seen this. Typically, his guests were old friends and family members, especially when it came to his birthday barbecues.
She took a second to glance in the mirror at her appearance. Her eyes weren’t red or swollen—a good thing. She’d gone upstairs to shed a few tears, which wasn’t like her at all, and her daddy would pick up on that like a flea on a dog.
She was just so out of sorts today, and she didn’t feel like mingling with guests at all, though she didn’t have any choice but to slap a smile in place and party like her father was turning fifty-nine.
Pausing at the lanai, she smoothed her hands over her long black sundress. Her sandals made a soft clicking noise as she crossed the patio and stopped dead at the sight of the Marine at the bar. That back, the broad shoulders, were so familiar that her heart somersaulted.
But something about the man wasn’t quite right. She watched him as he turned into profile, and relief swept her. That wasn’t Ben at all. Besides, why would he be here when…
Hold on.
There wasn’t just one Marine here but six, by her weapons count in the foyer. She scanned the group of guests, drinking, laughing, talking, even swimming. And standing in groups, sticking out like aliens at a Fourth of July parade, were men dressed in black T-shirts and cargo pants. Two of them had the same way of holding their shoulders that Ben did. And—
“What the hell are you doing here?” The gritty voice speared her as Ben’s lips were suddenly at her ear.
She whirled to face him, and God, did he look amazing as a Marine.
On the heels of that thought was something along the lines of fuck, he’s a Marine.
She should have guessed that her father had some hand in this. Leave it to him to meddle in her love life.
Without waiting for Ben to say more, she grabbed his arm and hauled him several feet away from the nearest group that could overhear their conversation. In a low urgent tone, she said, “Did you tell my father about us?”
He blinked down at her. All she wanted was to throw her arms around him and slide her thigh up his hip, tilting her pussy toward that thick cock she craved so bad.
“Your father?” A stunned expression crossed his rugged features. “Jackson’s your father?”
“You didn’t know that?”
“Hell no. How could I? No last names, remember?” He narrowed his eyes at her. “Did you know my position?”
“Well, now I’m guessing that you’re the new OFFSUS team, but I’m not supposed to know anything about that. But no, I did not know when I met you in the club.”
“Shit.”
“Shit is right. I need a drink.” She took off for the bar, leaving Ben behind her, though she could feel his hot gaze burning into her back. She picked up a wine glass as he reached her side again.
Hovering over her, he said, “You look fucking stunning in that dress. I want to rip it off you, Dahlia.”
Her insides melted but she took a sip of the wine to cover her reaction. The only way to deal with this man—and keep herself from fucking him in the pool house—was to find some semblance of cool. Though that was difficult when the real problem struck her.
She was screwing around with a member of a special ops team that was put into danger daily. Something she never wanted for herself.
All her life, she’d watched her mother struggle with worry over where her husband was and if he’d ever come home. Dahlia had never gotten over the idea that constant stress had taken her mother in the end and the cancer had just been the final blow.
She sipped her wine and tried not to reveal any of this on her face, but Ben was looking at her too closely.
“Were you crying?”
“What? Of course not.” She buried her nose in her glass again, inhaling the fruity notes of the Zinfandel.
He wrapped his fingers around hers holding the glass and stared down into what felt like her soul. “You’re not throwing me away so easily. I—”
“Dahlia, dear, could you come here for a moment? I’d like you to meet someone.” Her father’s raised voice ripped through whatever sexual wall wouldn’t crumble between her and Ben.
“Excuse me.” She relinquished her wine glass to him and walked away to join her father. He held out an arm and slid it around her shoulders as she stopped before another Marine. Though he wasn’t dressed like the others in attendance, there was no doubt in Dahlia’s mind of what he was.
“Dahlia, this is John Winters. I’ve told you about him.”
She extended a hand, fighting the tremors she still felt after being in Ben’s presence. As she accepted the man’s firm handshake, she swore a growl came from somewhere behind them.
“Yes, my father speaks highly of you.”
Winters squeezed her hand a moment too long. He had a nice smile. A direct, straightforward gaze. There was no nonsense about this man. She wouldn’t be left wondering if he was a car thief and discovering he was just a member of OFFSUS.
Ha! Just a member of OFFSUS.
“Why don’t you two get better acquainted? I see Charles flagging me down,” her father said, leaving them alone.
From the corner of her eye, she spotted Ben angling their way as if to break them up, but her father intercepted and sent him off in another direction, probably on some errand. The fact that her daddy didn’t want her involved with a Marine like Ben but was matchmaking her to Winters had her swinging on a pendulum of confusion.
On one hand, her inner rebel child wanted to make a beeline right for Ben and to hell with her father’s thinking on the matter. But she wasn’t into scary missions and not knowing where her lover was or if he was even alive either. She’d sworn off that life long ago and most likely, Winters was in a very cushy position.
Not that she was looking for a boyfriend in either man. She was just fine flying solo.
While Winters spoke to her about the party and the weather, Ben came at her again. Once more he was blocked by her daddy. He made two more failed attempts before dinner was served. And when they sat down to dine, she was placed between her father and Winters, leaving Ben scowling from halfway down the table.
She didn’t dare look his direction. The heat coming off the man was enough to turn her on from ten feet away, and her body was not about to let her forget whose touch had done those unspeakable things to her hours ago.