Ben was no shrink, but he sure the hell could tell there was a mess of issues going on in Alexis’s head. If he calmed his raging hormones for a few minutes and thought back to what he’d said or done right before she turned cold or distant, he might be able to figure it out.
To figure her out.
Growing up with a passionate, emotional mother and sisters had toughened him in the way of women. It didn’t mean he understood them any more than the next guy, but he didn’t scare easily. Alexis…intrigued him.
Anytime he gave her compliments or teased her about her past boyfriends she clammed up. Putting two and two together, he’d surmised her past experiences with men were uneventful and slim. Or she got hurt so badly she didn’t trust men.
If she’d been hurt her parents would be more protective. So if she was harboring some sort of angst, Ben figured Shane and Claudia hadn’t a clue. Not wanting to push her further, he decided to turn the conversation to light and flirty.
She could handle the sex talk, as long as he didn’t lay on the accolades too thick. He could, however, say them in Italian.
“Sei bellissima,” he said, rubbing his thumbs against the back of her hands.
“Isn’t that Italian?”
“Si.”
“Are you going to talk dirty or something?”
Her eyebrows furrowed together as if deep in thought, deciding if she should keep up the wall or let him through. He had to keep the light façade or the barrier would go back up.
“Dammi un bacio.”
“Sounds like you’re swearing at me.”
Ben chuckled. “Hardly.”
“Then what did you say?”
He pulled at her wrists, making her fall into his lap, hoping the twin bed could hold them both. “It means, give me a kiss.”
“Quite demanding. You could at least ask.”
“Per favore.”
“Better.” Alexis relaxed against his body, looping her hands around the back of his neck.
“You understand that?”
“I took Spanish in school. That sounded like please.”
“Si. There are some words that sound the same.”
“What else you got?” She licked her lips, her dark eyes dancing in delight.
“You like Italian?” He nudged her hair aside and kissed her neck. “That turns you on, bella?”
“Bella? Who is she?” Alexis attempted to break free from his embrace but he was fast, holding her in place.
“Bella means beautiful.”
“Oh. Oh,” she sighed, offering her neck again. “Can I ask you something?”
He murmured, not lifting his lips from her skin. Even coming from the vineyard or barn, or after making love, she always tasted like sweetness and nature.
“Why do you always kiss my neck?”
Ben lifted his head and looked into her heavy-lidded eyes. “You’re the most sensitive there. I know if you let me kiss your neck you’ll let me do other things as well.”
“Oh.” She closed her eyes and sighed again, sounding sleepy. “Like what.”
Smiling at his victory, he made a trail with his lips to her wanting mouth. Her unique flavor of grape and spices luring him in like a siren. She clutched at his back and he took the kiss deeper until the sensations behind his eyes, in his chest, in his hands were nearly too strong to contain.
“Sono dipendente dei tuoi baci.” He lay back, bringing Alexis’s body on top of his, his hands working their way under her shirt until he struck gold, caressing her satin skin.
“Mmm, yes. The sun depends on you, too,” she said between gasps.
Ben stopped, his hands cupping her breasts. “What did you say?”
“I don’t know. Don’t stop kissing me though. Keep these moving.” She dug under her shirt and squeezed her breasts with his hands, and then worked her hands in between their bodies until she met his zipper.
“The sun depends on me?” He chuckled and Alexis stopped working his fly. She lifted her head, her auburn waves tickling his face, and scowled. “You’re going to make fun of my translation?”
He couldn’t stop the stupid grin on his face. She did that to him. A lot. “You have no clue what I said.”
“Something about the sun. Which is going to be up any minute, and my parents are going to be home, and we aren’t going to be able to finish this. If you don’t stop talking.”
“I’m not one to keep a lady waiting.” Ben flipped their bodies so he was on top, hoping they didn’t fall off the tiny bed, appreciating the gasp that flew from Alexis’s melodious mouth. “Tell me, bella, where should I start? Here?” He lifted her shirt and kissed her hip. “Or here?” He lifted higher, kissing under her sports bra. “Possibly here.” He skimmed his way up her body, licking her mouth like she was an ice cream cone. “Or somewhere else?”
She squirmed underneath him, raising her hips against his hardness that had been straining to get free and join her heat.
“Yes.”
“Sono dipendente dei tuoi baci,” he said again as he explored, devoured, and loved every inch of her body.
Knowing her parents would be home from the movie soon, Ben brushed the sweaty tangles of hair from Alexis’s face and kissed the tip of her nose.
“I’m quite content lying here with your naked body on top of me, but I’m not sure how Shane and Claudia will feel about it.”
“Are my parents home?” She pushed up off him.
Ben was quick, though, and held onto her hips, anchoring her so she straddled his body. “Not yet.”
“How do you know?” Her hair swung in every direction as her eyes darted about the room, looking for what, he hadn’t a clue.
“Easy, prin—” He stopped himself, knowing she wouldn’t appreciate an endearment right now, especially being called princess.
Alexis may not see herself as one, but Ben saw the beauty that existed inside. Her beautiful heart loved her family, her traditions, even her town. She wasn’t one to succumb to money or the glittery light of fame.
Not that he was anywhere close to fame. In her eyes, however, she thought of him as the elite and wealthy, he could tell by the way she called him California boy, and Italian. It was the tone of her voice that was the dead giveaway. The way she got defensive about her rural, intimate winery. The way she avoided compliments, and grew tense and irritable when he teased her about boyfriends.
She shied from the spotlight, unlike the girls he usually dated. They were attracted to his upscale condo, the black Audi, the Martevino connection. Little did they know Ben was not rolling in money. Sure, he did well for himself. Being single with few financial responsibilities at thirty-three allowed him to save and spend at his leisure.
Most of his money was tied up in investments and the vineyard, and a good chunk of change went back into the community to support low-income housing in and around San Francisco. None of his cash or investments would impress Alexis.
Which was why she made the perfect princess. Too bad the connotation of the title came with snobbery and materialism. The classic princesses, not that he knew many, but he’d heard stories from his Italian grandmother, cared about the less fortunate, gave back to the community, and were more about character than reputation and glory.
“Uh, thinking much?” Alexis cocked an eyebrow but his eyes traveled south to her naked breasts. “Eyes up here. You sort of drifted off.” She crossed her arms, covering her chest, and he gently moved them to the side.
“Just reliving the past thirty minutes.” He sat up and her muscular legs wrapped around his waist.
“Do you ever think about anything else?”
“Not lately.” He pushed her hair away exposing her bare neck. Like a long, smooth, white beacon of light calling for him. He didn’t know what it was about Alexis’s neck; normally he was a breast man, but there was something about her sensitive skin that drove him mad.
“What did you…earlier…what did you say to me in Italian?”
Her vulnerability struck a soft chord in him.
Tracing her lips with his fingers, he spoke the Italian phrase again. “Sono dipendente dei tuoi baci. I’m addicted to your kisses.”
Alexis gasped. Caught in a powerful battle of wills, they sat and stared deep in each other’s eyes, the intensity of her gaze hitting him deep in his core. A wall broke around his heart, exposing something he didn’t know existed.
She must have felt the intense emotion too, her eyes focusing again, her body snapping out of its trance.
“We should get dressed.” She smiled and ran her fingers through his hair. “This is a dead giveaway, you know. Your fancy California style is a mess.”
“Maybe if you could control yourself a little more it wouldn’t be so obvious,” he teased, massaging her back with his knuckles.
“Hmm.” Her eyes were serious and focused as she played with his hair, putting it back in place, he presumed.
“Like I said. If you continue putting your hands all over me I can’t be held responsible for what I do next. I respect your parents too much to take advantage of their daughter.”
“I’d say you crossed that line already, Italian Stallion.”
“Maybe. But we’re under their roof.”
“And past the point of being old fashioned.”
Showing more self-control than he really had, he lifted her off him, setting her on the bed with a thud. “Stay here until I get dressed.”
Ben stood and glanced over at Alexis, sprawled out on top of the covers naked as the day she was born, tempting him with her innocent smile.
“Shit.” He reached for a blanket that had fallen to the floor and tossed it over her. He found his jeans and shirt, and scrambled to get dressed before temptation took over again. “I’m going downstairs. If you want me to stay away from you tonight, lock your door.” He couldn’t look at her or he’d be tempted to kiss her again. And if he kissed her again they wouldn’t be leaving her bed tonight.
“Ben?” She called when he was halfway through the door. He paused, keeping his back to her. “My door doesn’t have a lock.”
He cursed loudly, and heard Alexis’s laughter as he bolted down the stairs. Finding his way to the bathroom, he checked himself out in the mirror and chuckled. Instead of smoothing out his hair she’d fingered it into a mess. Maybe it was time for a haircut.
He splashed water on his face and ran his wet hands through his hair until it had a semblance of normal. It wasn’t long before Alexis joined him in the living room, dressed in an ugly, paint stained gigantic maroon sweatshirt and gray sweatpants, returning to her seat behind the oak desk in the living room.
The outfit didn’t work. He still wanted her.
Hemmy woke from his nap on his dog bed, sniffed at Ben’s legs, and made three circles around Alexis’s feet before laying down on them.
“Stop staring.” She kept her head down, her fingers continuing to type on her laptop, only lifting her gaze to his for a fraction of a second.
“No can do.”
“You got your sex. Now pipe down and…” she waved her hand through the air. “Do whatever it is you do.”
“Now you’ve completely insulted me.” Ben stretched out on the couch, fluffing a pillow beneath his head and crossing his feet over his ankles. “I flew across the country for more than just sex.”
Alexis stopped typing and lifted her head. “For the wine.”
In all the excitement of seeing her again, he had yet to sample the ice wine. Sure, he was dying to taste it, but being with Alexis clouded his mind from everything else.
“Not entirely true.”
“Why then?”
“To see you.”
“To have sex.”
“With you, yes. But I wanted to…be with you.” He didn’t mean to sound so corny. Normally lines flowed as easily as the wine. Only it wasn’t a line. It was truth.
“What is it that you want to do with me?” Ben couldn’t help the wicked grin that took over his face. “Like I said. Sex.”
“You’re not serious?” Of course she was. Alexis wasn’t one to take to kind words or compliments. Ben swiveled his legs to the floor and made it across the living room in two quick strides. “You’re serious.”
Cupping under her elbows, he lifted Alexis to her feet, resting his forehead against hers. “I’m not going to lie. Sex with you is…mind blowing. Of course, I was hoping to sleep with you again, but I look forward to spending time with you as well.”
“Doing what?” Those innocent, vulnerable chocolate eyes looked up at him in doubt.
The more she tried to hide her insecurities the more obvious they became. She doubted herself, doubted whatever it was they had together was anything more than a quick roll in the sack.
Ben lifted his head and cupped her cheeks in his hands. “Experimenting with grapes and fruits. Exploring the sights. Hanging out. Talking. Taking Hemsworth for walks.” At the sound of his name, the dog roused himself to all four paws and shook his mighty coat.
“You can’t say that word around him and not bring him out. He’ll expect a w-a-l-k now.”
“Then let’s go for a w-a-l-k together.”
“Now?”
“Isn’t that what you said?”
Alexis nudged Hemmy away with her knee and held onto Ben’s waist for support. “I wasn’t expecting you to actually do it.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s almost nine, and it’s dark and cold.”
“We’ll bundle up. I’m not afraid of the dark, are you?”
“I normally just let him out at night. He doesn’t roam for long.”
“So that’s a no on the romantic moonlight walk?” He slid his hands down her arms until their fingers met and interlocked.
Alexis chuckled. “It’s cloudy. There’s no moon. And I’m not dressed for romance.”
“Hmm.” He assessed her bulky clothes with an inspector’s fine eye. “And what would one wear if she were dressing for romance?”
“I…I don’t know. I don’t do the romance thing.”
“I bet you do.”
“You’d lose on that bet, Italian.”
Ah, the Italian sneer again. Miss Self-Doubt was in the room again. “You’re a competitor, yes?”
“Depends on the challenge.”
“That’s fair. This challenge is a win-win. And just to be clear, it’s totally selfish.”
“Thanks for the warning, but I already knew you were a selfish guy,” she said with a glimmer in her eye and a cocky smile.
He’d been called worse and didn’t think she believed what she said, so he didn’t waste time defending himself. Taking their joined hands and locking them behind her back, he leaned into her body, inhaling her sweet scent.
“I challenge you to a day of fun. You can pick our day plans or our evening plans. Whoever comes up with the better idea, wins.”
“I thought you were challenging me with romance.”
“You see,” he said, lowering his mouth to hers, “I’m going to show you that doing fun things can be just, if not more, romantic than a stereotypical candlelit dinner.”
“I take it you want to plan dinner then?” she said breathlessly.
“Your pick.” Ben touched his lips to hers, and drew back when she tried to take the kiss deeper.
“Fine then. I’ll plan tomorrow night. You have the day.”
“What are the rules?”
“I thought you were making them?” Alexis licked her lips, and he held himself back before he surrendered to her seductive ways, making her think he was only in this for the sex.
“We’re making them together.”
“Oh.”
If she continued to sigh like that, to lick her lips, to lean her chest into his, he’d say screw getting caught by the parents and throw her over his shoulder and march her back up to bed.
“How long do you need to get work done around here?”
“Hmm?” Her gaze was still locked on his mouth so he did what any kind, caring, giving man would do. He succumbed and kissed her long and deep, like her eyes and body language had been asking.
When he had her completely breathless, and before he tented his pants, again, he repeated his question.
“A few hours, I guess.” She panted and puckered her lips, begging for more. When he denied her, she pouted and continued. “Once spring comes our days will be long and arduous.”
“Well then, I’ll see you bright and early. Go get some sleep. You’re going to need it.” He kissed her nose and patted her butt, then tapped his leg, calling for Hemsworth to follow.
He’d only been outside for a few minutes when headlights flashed over him. The parents were home.
It was going to be one long hell of a night.
After a few hours of tossing and turning, knowing Ben was downstairs working on his laptop, Alexis finally dozed off to sleep. He’d purposely stayed in the living room to keep her at a distance. He’d all but told her so when she’d headed to bed.
She waited, listening for his footsteps on the stairs, but she must have finally crashed.
Her internal clock roused her from her fitful sleep. A heavy warmth draped over her, keeping her nice and toasty warm making it harder to get out of bed. Hemmy knew better than to come upstairs. Her parents didn’t want dog hair in the guest rooms. Not that they had company very often.
“Move it.” She nudged her butt back into him, hoping he wouldn’t hurt himself when he fell off her small twin bed.
“Mmm,” he growled and pulled her tighter in to him.
Alexis’s eyes popped open. Hemmy didn’t moan, and he didn’t have arms. And he sure as hell didn’t spoon her.
“Ben?”
He moaned again, this time slipping his hand under her shirt and massaging her breast.
“What are you doing in here?” she whispered.
“Sleeping with you.” He nudged her hair away with his nose and scraped his scratchy chin across her neck. Ben grinded his hips into her and his growing erection rubbed against her backside.
“How long have you been here?” She closed her eyes and moved her body with his, unable to fight him off. Heck, she had no desire to fight him off. Morning sex was new to her, and she had a feeling she was going to enjoy it. Thoroughly enjoy it.
“All night.” His hand left her breast, and she would have protested if it didn’t move south toward her core where she was a volcano of lust waiting to be touched. Did she seriously just think that? Alexis didn’t come up with metaphors for sex.
She bit down on her lip, forcing herself to stay quiet and not scream to the heavens like she wanted as Ben touched her in all the right places. He knew when to be gentle and exactly how to bring her to the brink. It didn’t take long for her to erupt or for Ben to join her.
“Oh,” she panted sometime later. “Wow.” She’d never done it like that before, staying in their spooning cuddle while making love.
Ben hooked his foot over her leg and drew her in tighter. “Good morning, bella.”
“I don’t think I can move.”
“Good.”
A litany of chores ran through her mind. Hemmy would get antsy if not let out before the sun fully rose, and with sunrise coming earlier each day, that meant less sleep. She needed to check on the chickens, gather the eggs, inspect each vine, look for signs of early budding, and to meet with the contractors. Ty and his crew were up and in full swing by seven every morning.
And then there was her special day with Ben. He didn’t have to say he’d be leaving tomorrow, she could sense it in the urgency in their lovemaking, in their plan to spend every waking minute together today.
Tomorrow morning would be different. She wouldn’t be waking to his roving hands, or his kisses on her neck, or the heat of his strong body next to her, inside her.
The sun would rise, signaling a new day, and Alexis would wake alone and empty.
As always.
“What do we do first?”
“Hmm?” She looked over her shoulder and couldn’t help but grin. Ben’s hair was plastered against his skull on one side and puffed out like Hemsworth’s coat after a thorough brushing on the other.
“Something funny?”
“Nope.” She chuckled.
“I’m not accustomed to a woman laughing at me when I’m still buried deep inside her.” He shifted his hips and she gasped.
“Oh…yes…I…mmm.” She settled back into her downy pillow and the comfort of Ben’s strong arms around her middle.
“I thought you were an early riser.”
“Seems like you are, too.” She didn’t mean the double entendre but couldn’t help snickering.
“You’re looking for trouble, Miss Le Blanc.” He slipped out of her, and she moaned in disappointment. In one swift move, he rolled Alexis to her back and straddled her, holding her hands in one of his near the headboard.
“How did you get in my room?” she asked, changing the subject.
“You told me there wasn’t a lock on your door.”
“I was just teasing. I didn’t think you’d really come in. Why didn’t you wake me?” Why did you cuddle with me all night instead of making love, is what she wanted to ask. Cuddling took their confusing relationship down a path she wasn’t sure she was ready for. Or wanted.
It was all a heartache waiting to happen. That is, if she let her heart get involved at all.
“I flew across the country to be with you, Alexis. Twice. I thought you believed me by now.”
She wouldn’t make the wine joke again, especially since he still hadn’t sampled it. If Ben didn’t work it into their afternoon adventure, she’d include some tonight. Which she had no clue what to do. Excited about the challenge, she ignored the fluttering his flattery did to the cave in her chest and focused on planning.
“You’re ignoring my compliment? I guess that’s better than being insulted by it.” Ben sighed and bent down to kiss her chin. “I’ll meet you downstairs. Unless you want to stay in bed a little bit longer.” He wiggled his eyebrows and she couldn’t help but laugh at his goofiness.
“My parents will know something is going on if I’m not up soon.”
“I think they already know something is going on.” He kissed her lips and jumped out of bed, looking silly and sexy and incredibly comfortable in his naked skin. “Stop staring.” He picked up his boxers and hopped on one foot trying to put them on in a hurry. When she laughed at him he shucked the covers off her body and fled.