Take Me Under (29 page)

“Tell me about it,” he said in a low rumble. “You taste fucking incredible. I could live with my face buried in your sweet little cunt and die a happy man.”

“That’s a lovely thought,” she whispered, slipping down to her knees, “but it’s my turn now.”

“Reese, I’m ready to fu—” The rough words were cut off when she leaned forward and licked the flushed, heavy head of his cock . . . then started to suckle, and Ben knew those soft, plump lips were going to be the death of him.
Christ.
He’d been ready to blow his load the second he felt her breathe on him, and now he was too primed to hold back for long, her warm, silken mouth too perfect to resist. His back arched, hands fisted in her hair as he pumped himself over her tongue in hot, blinding bursts, knowing damn well that he’d never come so fast in his life. But he was more than ready to let her blow his mind and reduce him to putty whenever she got the urge. Which he hoped would be often.

Gripping her under her arms, he pulled her up and against his chest, then went in for a deep, eating kiss, getting off on tasting himself in her mouth. “I’ve never done this”—his voice was like gravel—“never kissed a woman after . . . But I like the way you taste with a part of me inside you.”

Reese didn’t like thinking about him with anyone else, but she wasn’t going to let his past stand between them. And she liked that this was something new they could share, the way his tongue kept sweeping the inside of her mouth making her toes curl. The feel of his stiff erection rising against her stomach made it no secret that he liked it, too. She couldn’t believe he was already getting hard again, but then, his recovery time was always impressive. And she knew exactly what she wanted him to do with this one.

Breaking away from the kiss, she was panting with excitement as she stepped back and reached into the bag again. Then she pulled out the bottle of lube that she’d picked up during her little shopping spree.

Ben’s beautiful green eyes went wide, then hot. “Fuck, Reese. Does that mean what I think it means?”

She smiled as she laughed. “Considering how dirty your mind is, I’m pretty sure that it does.”

It was sexy as hell, the way his breathing got a little rougher, his tough muscles bunched a little tighter under his skin. He was all leashed power and sexual, visceral hunger, just waiting for the moment when it could be set free. But instead of moving things forward, he gave a hard swallow and said, “As much as I want it, you don’t have to do this now, honey. You’ve been through enough since yesterday. It wouldn’t be—”

She shushed him by pressing her fingers against his lips. “I know I don’t
have
to. But I want to. So if you want it, too—if you want me that way—then I’m telling you right now that I’m ready.”

He ran his tongue over the edge of his teeth, his deep voice guttural and sharp. “Want you? I want you so much I want to fucking brand every part of you as
mine
, Reese. Do you have any idea what you’re setting yourself up for? Because I can tell you right now that I’m going to give a whole new meaning to the word
possessive
.”

“I can handle that,” she murmured, staring into the dark heat of his eyes. “Just know that I feel the same way about you.”

“I sure as hell hope so. Because no one else exists for me. No one. There’s only
you
.” His smoldering gaze was as sharp as a raptor’s, reading every minute shift in her expression. “You understand what I’m saying?”

Her throat shook, chest so warm she should have glowed. “I understand.”

“Good. Because I might drive you crazy at times, but I will always be true to you. I will not fuck around on you. That’s never even going to be on the table, because you’re the only thing in this world that I want. There’s
never
going to be anyone else for me.”

Oh, God. Who would have ever thought that the notoriously badass sheriff of Moss Beach County could say such outrageously romantic things? Reese was fairly certain she’d just melted into an embarrassing puddle of blissed-out happiness on the shower floor.

Flattening her palm against his chest, she tried to let every beautiful, breathtaking emotion she was experiencing show on her face, wanting him to see just how much he meant to her. “I love you so much, Ben.”

“God, Reese. I love you, too.” He pulled her close and kissed the hell out of her, as if to seal the deal, then pulled back and said, “Now ask me again if I want to fuck you in the ass.”

“Do you?” she whispered, knowing damn well that she was blushing like crazy.

The crooked smile on his lips was pure, explicit sin. “Say the words, Reese. You know how much I love it when you talk dirty.”

“All right,” she murmured, teasing him as she fluttered her lashes. Voice theatrically breathy, she asked, “Sheriff Hudson, sir, would you like to fuck me in the ass this morning?”

Ben would have laughed at her playfulness, but his control was already shredded. Instead, he made a thick, serrated sound deep in his throat as he took the lube from her, set it on the shelf, and got her into position—hands braced against the tiled wall, legs shoulder-width apart, and that rosy little backside presented to him like the sweetest fucking gift he’d ever received.

“You have the juiciest little ass,” he groaned, running his hands over the soft, pale globes. “We’re talking so fucking gorgeous, baby.”

She snuffled a nervous, but excited-sounding snicker under her breath, then gave a high-pitched squeal of surprise when he smacked his palm against her right cheek.

“Ben!”

“If I remember correctly, I think you’re due quite a few of these,” he murmured silkily. “You ready for another?”

“Oh, God,” Reese moaned, unable to believe how much she was enjoying this.

“We’re going to five,” he told her, the low words husky with lust as he ran his palm over her burning skin. “And then I’m going to fuck you, sweetheart. Right in this tight little hole,” he rasped, rubbing his thumb against the sensitive opening. “Ready?”

She swallowed, trying to find her voice, so excited she could barely stand. “Y-yes.”

“Good girl.” Then he smacked her left cheek, and she gave a throaty cry, feeling the burn seep into her sensitive skin, spreading through every part of her. By the time he’d delivered the fifth blow, she was panting for breath, her limbs shaking, her clit throbbing with a tight, hungry pulse, body on the very cusp of crashing into an orgasm she thought might damn well knock her out. But she struggled for control, not yet ready to go over, too eager for the next step in this dark, provocative, decadent interlude.

As she rested her damp forehead against one of her trembling arms, Reese could hear the rough cadence of Ben’s breathing. Could sense the dominant male energy pulsing from his hard, mouthwatering body, and couldn’t wait for him to take her. With one hand gripping her hip, he ran the rough palm of the other over her stinging bottom, then slipped his thumb into the crease and pressed against the tiny hole there, pushing inside. She breathed out a slow, shuddering breath, trying to relax and not fight the strangely pleasurable penetration as he kept pushing, going deeper than any of the other times he’d played with her there. She could tell he’d lubed his thumb, especially when he started working it in and out, fucking her ass with it. She was saying hoarse, shivery things under her breath, but they didn’t make any sense. Just pleading phrases for more . . . for
everything
.

It wasn’t long before he pulled his thumb back, a deep, throaty sound rumbling up from his chest as she felt the heat and width of his cock head pressing against her. His body tightened, both hands digging into her hips, and then he started to push inside the clenching ring of muscle. It was the oddest sensation she’d ever known. Painful, but so deliciously good. He didn’t rush her, taking his time as he worked more of that massive shaft into her in careful degrees. One of his hands snaked around her hip, two of those clever fingers working her sensitive clit as he started working her ass with lunges that were a little rougher . . . a little faster. Reese wondered if he would come inside her or pull out, then had her answer when she could feel him getting even harder inside her. His fingers stroked her into a shocking, screaming orgasm just as it overtook him. With a sexy, guttural shout tearing from his throat, he wrapped an arm across her chest and yanked her against him, holding her off the ground as he blasted inside her, coming hard and thick and long.

“No one but me,” he growled softly against her ear, when he finally lowered her back to her feet and carefully pulled out. “You understand?”

She nodded weakly, too limp to even be embarrassed by the sheer carnality of what they’d just done as she braced her forearms against the tiled wall, gasping for breath. It had felt so right, the way he’d staked his claim in such a raw, primal, dominant way. She never would have believed it, but she loved the way he took control of her body and its responses when it came to sex. The way he demanded she give him everything she had, reading her reactions as if they were his own, her pleasure his to create. And, God, but he was a master at it, wringing more sensation out of her tingling flesh than she’d ever imagined was possible.

Moving her hair over her shoulder, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to the back of her neck as he said, “I love you, Reese.”

Her breath caught on a quiet gasp. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to hearing you say that.”

“You’d better,” he told her, touching his mouth to the side of her throat. “’Cause you’ll be hearing it every day of your life.”

They finished in the shower, their movements lazy and slow, just enjoying the moment and in no rush to be anywhere but right there, in each other’s arms. Ben dried them both with the hotel’s monogrammed towels, then carried her into the bedroom and tucked her up under the covers, since she was cold. He put in a quick call to room service, ordering them both some breakfast. She laughed when he answered the door with nothing but a towel wrapped around his sexy hips and nearly gave the older woman who delivered the cart a lust-induced heart attack.

“I can’t believe I was so stupid,” he said, after they’d finished every bite of the pancakes and bacon, drawn the curtains, and cuddled up together beneath a fluffy duvet.

“About what?”

“You.” He lifted his hand, brushing her hair back from her face and tucking it behind her ear. “Thinking I could get my fill of you, then cut things off and watch you walk away. It would have fucking destroyed me.”

“I couldn’t ever walk away from you, Ben.” A crooked smile lifted the corner of her mouth, her tone deliberately teasing. “You keep me too exhausted.”

His husky laugh filled her ear as he pulled her closer. “Sleep now, baby. ’Cause when you wake up, my cock’s gonna be tiring you out all over again . . .”

With those breathtaking words keeping her company, Reese closed her eyes . . . and drifted away.

* * *

R
EESE WOKE TO THE SOUND OF SOMEONE WHISPERING HER NAME, A
happy grin on her lips as she realized Ben was kissing his way up the side of her throat.

“What time is it?” she asked, unable to tell with the heavy curtains blocking out the sunlight.

“Probably middle of the afternoon,” he murmured, his voice low and serious. He braced himself on an elbow beside her, and stared down into her drowsy eyes. “I told myself to wait and that you needed your sleep, but I can’t. I’ve been lying here, watching you, and I just can’t do it. I can’t wait any longer, Reese.”

She frowned, starting to get a little worried. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. It’s just that . . . damn it, I swore to myself that I wasn’t gonna push you, but I need more. For the two of us.”

“Oh.” She blinked, definitely wanting to be alert for wherever he was going with this. “Um, what did you have in mind?”

His voice got even huskier, the look in his eyes stealing her breath. “You keep teaching while I chase bad guys. We build a bigger house together somewhere on the coast. Raise a few kids with your freckles, and hope like hell they turn out more like you than me. Get a dog. Fuck each other silly and grow old together.”

With another slow blink, she said, “You’re talking about building a life together.”

His dark gaze smoldered with heat. “I’m talking about building a hell of a life together. The best I can imagine.”

Running her fingertip over his brows, she said, “But you’re not a settling-down kind of guy, Ben. You told me so yourself.”

“That was just because I was too chicken-shit to admit what I really wanted.”

Reese shivered, unable to believe that the big bad Ben Hudson was opening up to her like this. It was still too new, too astonishing. She half expected to wake up in some cold hotel room all alone, and realize the entire morning had been nothing more than a heartbreaking dream.

Quietly, she said, “Whatever you want from me, Ben. It’s yours. You don’t have to do something you’re not ready for.”

“But I am ready. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.” He grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips, placing a tender kiss against her palm, before pressing it against the heavy beat of his heart. “Reese Monroe, I know you’re an amazing woman who could do a hell of a lot better than me. But if you say yes, I swear on my honor that I will do everything I can to make you happy.”

“Ohmygod!” she gasped. “You’re proposing?
Now?
”

He gave her a hard, breathtaking look of determination. “Damn right I am. I want to know we’re legally bound together. We can go shopping for a ring in Miami before we head back home, because I want to marry you as soon as possible. I want to make you
mine
.”

“I already am.” Tears filled her eyes, catching on her lashes. She’d been so wrong about this man. About who he was and the things he needed—like love, tenderness, and devotion. And more than anything in the world, she wanted to be the woman who gave them to him. “Ben, I’ve been yours since the first time I ever saw you. You just didn’t know it.”

“I know it now, and I want all those other bastards out there to know it, too. I want it clear to everyone exactly who your sweet little ass belongs to.” With a wicked gleam in his eyes, he caged her beneath him, bracing himself on his hands and knees. Then he gave her a devilish smile, and said, “Come on, Reese. I dare you.”