Sera
I wish Naomi never opened her big mouth.
Ben sits across from me in the small booth and I can feel his dark stare on my face as he analyzes me. I know he has no clue who I am because he hasn’t come on strong or run the other way, but strangely, he no longer flirts with me. In fact, he looks for any chance to escape, only his attempts are thwarted by his friend Chad who, so obviously and so desperately, wants to bang Naomi. If you ask me, he’s trying too hard. She’s already decided she’s going home with him because he looks “safe.” It’s just a matter of when.
While Chad talks about his experience in Amsterdam, I take the opportunity to polish off my second drink and pluck my phone out of my bag. According to the time, my movie is set to finish in an hour, and Leo will begin his hunt to save his own ass when I don’t come out of the cinema. I figure in an hour’s time, I’ll text my father and tell him the girls decided on dessert. That will buy me an extra hour or two.
“Getting close to curfew, is it?” Ben’s voice, a deep, mellow tone that sends tingles down my spine, startles me and I slip my phone into my bag.
“I’m a grown woman.” I smile, drawing all of my anxiety inward, hiding it from my features. “I don’t have a curfew.”
The lines of frustration on his handsome face smooth into relief. Did he think I was underage? I mean, technically I am, but it’s not illegal for him to look at me like that. It’s not illegal for him to touch me like that either.
“A grown woman, huh?” He pushes his half-empty glass away. “How old is that?”
“Twenty-five,” I lie.
Who cares? It’s not like I’ll see him again after tonight. Ben surveys me with his dark eyes, trying to find the truth to my words, and I challenge him, keeping my stare locked on his face. The more I look at him, the more I appreciate just how good-looking he is. It’s not just one feature that makes him so strikingly handsome either. Everything seems to come together beautifully—his dark eyes, long lashes, full lips, and a strong jaw. I rarely see guys that look like him around Vegas.
“You expect me to believe you’re twenty-five?”
A quirk at the corner of his mouth draws my attention. I wonder how his lips move in a wild, passionate kiss or how his large, strong hands will feel as he follows the curves of my body.
He wants to sleep with me. I saw it in his face the first time we made eye contact. I’m not vain, but I recognize the sudden pause in a man’s natural expression when they look at me.
Ben paused.
Ben couldn’t keep his eyes on my face.
Lust.
“You can check my ID if you want.”
I pray to fucking God he doesn’t. He’s pondering it, I can tell. Ben strikes me as the kind of guy that requires hard proof and strict organization. I don’t know why…maybe it’s in the way he sits, like there’s a pole in his spine. His jaw is tight and strong and his shoulders broader than the back of a bus. He’s the manliest man I’ve ever seen.
“No. I believe you.”
He brushes his leg against mine, sending a tidal wave of electricity through my body. I don’t know if it was intentional or accidental, but if my father were here, he’d cut Ben’s leg off for touching me. And that’s so Goddamn thrilling.
When was the last time I felt the touch of the opposite sex, anyway? It’s been so long. What would I even do with him if I did manage to get him alone? I might dress and act like sex is my second language, but it is so far from being true. Ben, however, has this air of indifference about him. He sits in front of me, all proud and mysterious, and I don’t think there’s a woman in here that could truly blow his mind…but maybe, I’m suddenly feeling up for the challenge. I’ve already made the decision to be stupid and reckless tonight. Why not take it all the way? I’ve ditched my guard and drank two martinis. After a few shots, I should be good and ready to tackle this…this…fucking beast sitting in front of me.
I lean forward and his eyes flick to my chest. I know the look. It’s the look of a man who is starving for physical, female attention. Judging the way his gaze runs along the edge of the hemline, two inches from my hard nipples, I’d say he hasn’t had pussy in a while. Or maybe he has and he’s just weak for another taste.
“Do you want to do shots?” I ask, flicking my tongue over my lower lip, drawing his attention to my face instead of my chest.
He quirks an eyebrow at me and it makes my heart race. I’m going to do some stupid shit with this man. I can feel it in my blood.
“If I did, who’d drive you home?”
What do you know, chivalry isn’t dead? I laugh. “I can take care of myself.”
The last thing I need is a man dropping me off at my doorstep. He’d be hung by his ankles and drained of his blood by sunrise. No. I’ll just call James when I’m ready and he’ll do what he’s paid to do—drive.
Ben smirks at me and a tendril of excitement wraps around my spine. “All right. Who’s going to drive me home?”
“You’re a big boy.” I pluck the toothpick from my martini glass and put it between my lips. “You’ll figure it out.”
Ditching his conversation about the biggest “bong” he’d ever seen, Chad claps a large hand on Ben’s shoulder and the hand I once thought was large practically shrinks in size. “You can stay with me tonight, mate. I booked a suite at one of the places down the road.”
Ben grimaces, and even that’s a gorgeous look on him. “I’d rather take my chances driving home.”
I push myself to my feet and tug down my dress, slipping the fabric further down my thighs. Ben watches, but quickly averts his gaze, pretending the look of my bare skin doesn’t kick his heart rate up.
Naomi slips out of the way as I shuffle out of the booth and head to the bar. I don’t expect anyone to follow, but the warm presence at my back as I slide my hands along the glass surface of the bar isn’t a surprise. I had Ben hook, line, and sinker from the moment we met.
“What do you want to drink first?” I ask, dropping my bag to the floor and propping myself up on a stool.
“That depends.” He leans against the bar on his elbow. “Are you drinking to have fun or to get fucked up?”
He looks absolutely mesmerizing in the blue light of the illumined bar. Shadows pool in all of the handsome hollows of his face, the light reflecting perfectly off his short, jet black hair.
“Both.”
Grinning, he signals the bartender. “Set up a tab for me. To start, I want six shots of liquid cocaine, please.” Tilting his head to the side, his attention is back on me. “Hold on to your heels, Princess. Shit’s about to get wild.”
***
I hiss and grunt as Ben slams me against the wall, the light switch digging into my spine. Without breaking the kiss, without withdrawing his firm, overpowering tongue from my mouth, he pulls me off the wall and turns sharply, pressing me against the smooth opposing partition in the hall of Chad’s hotel room. We’re pressed together so tightly, I’m certain there’s no visible gap between us. My head spins from all of the shots I took, but I’m hyperaware and super focused on the rough hands that roam my body…
My eyes flutter open and I squint as the warm sun beams through a sliver in the blinds, my gaze unable to focus on anything except the dust that floats so effortlessly through the air. Groaning, I touch my throbbing forehead and roll over, slipping back into unconsciousness.
His large hands are relentless, desperate to feel every inch of me, desperate to get me out of this dress. I gasp as the fabric gives way somewhere below my hips and Ben’s hands are right there, pushing the fabric up my thighs.
“I want to taste you,” he groans, flicking his tongue along my bottom lip.
He doesn’t wait for my agreement. Instead, he plunges his tongue back into my mouth, taking all the air from my lungs. He’s a good kisser. The best I’ve ever had.
Ben doesn’t stumble in the dark. He walks confidently, as if he knows where every surface and every stand is situated. Breaking the kiss, he tosses me out of his arms and I squeal as I drop hard against the soft mattress and sink into the blankets. I barely have time to correct my position before he whips his shirt off over his head and drops his body on top of mine, catching himself on his hands either side of my head. The room is dim, but I can make out the shapes of his arms and his chest.
Beautiful.
Every single inch of him…
I open my eyes for a second time, unsure how long it’s been since I last did. What the hell is going on? Where am I? I stare at the ceiling, blinking rapidly until it comes into focus. An elegant fan hangs low and spins slowly, casting a gentle breeze against my warm skin. I watch it as it turns, round and round…round and round…
Ben makes me come twice. First on his fingers. Then his tongue. I return the favor, but he stops me with a yank on my hair before he can fill my mouth. He kisses me again and savors his own flavor, groaning into me, as if my saliva were laced with crack. It’s obvious in our movements who the most experienced one is. He knows it and I know it, but he leads me well. He puts my hands where he wants me to touch him and I try my best to do it the way he likes, using the noises he makes as a guide. Eventually, when our bodies are damp with clean sweat, he rests against the headboard and pulls me onto his naked lap. In the blink of an eye, his touch turns from desperate and rapid, to soft and sensual. I let my head loll back as he traces the curves of my naked body with his calloused hands. In them, I feel all of his power. He’s strong…so strong I’m certain he could crush my bones if he really wanted to.
Ben lifts me, gently, and positions his protected cock at the apex of my thighs, the very tip pushing inside me. I gasp and he holds me steady by the hips, kissing me softly on the lower lip…
Shit.
I shoot up, gathering the knotted, black sheets around my chest. I’m wide awake, no longer dazed by the remnants of last night’s shots. I push my dark hair out of my face with one hand and turn to my left. Sure enough, there he is. The man of what I thought were my dreams…
…turns out those weren’t dreams at all. They were memories. Of me and him.
Holy fuck. I am in so much trouble.