A Matter of Trust: London Calling Book One (11 page)

She sat at that bar, drinking martinis, uncaring. Probably flirting with the bartender.

She enticed him. Attracted him.
 

She stopped near their table on her return trip, minutely swaying on her feet. “Enjoying yourselves?” She owlishly eyed both Bennett and Natalie, squinting at the distance between them.
 

Abruptly, he realized she was a little, if not a lot, drunk.

He unconsciously scooted over, to put some space between himself and Natalie. He stopped when Natalie turned her head to glare, chin held high. A flush warmed his face and he thanked the darkness of the bar’s interior.

Devon, damn her, watched the interchange with belligerent sass. With hand on hip, brow cocked, she openly stared until even Natalie began to fidget. “You two seem to be having a good time. It’s cozy in here, isn’t it?” She didn’t wait for an answer, just winked insouciantly. But not before he’d seen something flash into her eyes, briefly darkening them before it was gone.

Was she distressed? Hurt?

She walked stiffly back to her seat, as though her knees weren’t bending quite properly. As she settled back in, the bartender reappeared, questioning her pallor.
 

“What’s gone wrong? What’s happened to you?”

Before Devon could answer, Bennett’s deep voice interrupted. “As much as I hate to interfere with another man’s play, I really think this one’s had enough to drink.”

“Now wait a minute, mate—”

“No, you wait.” Bennett’s level stare had the bartender backing up a step. He hitched a thumb in the direction of his booth. “I sat right there and watched. You may not have realized it, but you over served her. Now, I’m stepping in.”

Devon cleared her throat. “If you two don’t mind, I’d like to speak for myself. And I’d also like another martini.” She pushed her glass toward the bartender while staring at Bennett in defiance. She turned, missing his reluctant nod of assent to the bartender to begin mixing her another drink.
 

She carefully enunciated her words. “I resent your attitude.” Bennett bit back a smile. The prissy tone she liked to adopt was starting to grow on him, especially when it was coupled with ill-concealed intoxication.
 

“And why are you over here anyway?” She gestured to the booth he’d left. “Natalie looks awfully lonely. And cold. Maybe you should go back and practically sit on her again. That should warm her up.”

“I’ll worry about Natalie.” Bennett smothered a laugh. Devon was virtually green with jealousy. His mood was improving by the minute.

Devon turned her back on him. “Good. I’ll just worry about my martini then. Good night.”

Bennett stared at Devon’s back, debating what to do. He couldn’t leave her here; she was too drunk for her own good. But Natalie sat in the booth where he’d left her, drumming her fingers.
 

He held up a finger, signaling the bartender he’d be right back. Then he heard her.

 
“
And good riddance.
”
 

Grasping her upper arm, he swiveled her seat around.
 

“What did you say?” He roared the question, his patience evaporating at her obvious desire to see him gone.

“I said,
good riddance
,” she cried. “I liked this place, I thought it was special. And you brought
her
here.” Devon clapped a hand over her mouth, horrified embarrassment making her eyes glow pearly gray.
 

Bennett was thrilled with what four and a half vodka martinis made her reveal. But as his lips started to tilt into a satisfied smile, she grabbed her drink and knocked it back, never pausing for breath. Then she fisted a hand and brought it slicing down to break his hold on her. Before he could react, she pivoted off her chair, grabbed her purse and flew out of the pub.

CHAPTER SEVEN

D
EVON
BREATHLESSLY
RAN
up the few stairs to her front door, desperate to beat the man hard on her heels. Cursing, she briefly fumbled her keys but it was enough to give Bennett those last needed moments to catch up to her. He wedged his foot in the door just as she slammed it, hard, on the booted leather.

“Dammit, you let me in right now, Devon. Or so help me God, I’ll push this door in and you with it.” He snarled the words into the gap, his voice throbbing with anger and intent.
 

“If you don’t move your foot, I’m going to break the damn thing. Now get out!” She wasn’t about to be bullied by the seething mass of angry male on the other side of her door. Giving an inch to someone like Bennett Sterling could only result in him taking a mile.
 

The thought was no sooner formed when he set his shoulder against the solid wood and heaved the door wide open. Although Devon staggered back two steps from his momentum, she quickly recovered.
 

Standing tall and angry despite his dark intimidation, she shouted, “You have one minute to get out of my house or I start yelling for help.”
 

Bennett took one deliberate step closer, brows lowered in threat.
 

“I mean it. One minute!”

Another step and he was so close she could breathe his woodsy cologne. He growled into her ear, “You wouldn’t
dare
. Now you’re going to shut up and listen for once.”

Devon allowed herself one heartbeat to indulge in the midnight abyss of his eyes. He stilled, taking her compliance for granted while she moved a deliberate step backward.
 

With no break in eye contact, she opened her mouth and released a blood-curdling scream.

***

Aghast, Bennett grabbed a hank of hair at her nape, jerking her to press a bruising kiss on her parted lips. He held her captured, punishing the tender flesh before invading her mouth to further taste and plunder.
 

He lost control. He held her still, hair fisted while his other hand slid around her waist and flattened onto her low back, arching her into his demanding bulk. As his tongue touched hers, he tasted olives and something uniquely Devon. He eased back slightly, realizing she stood immobile, barely breathing.

He was behaving like a maniac.

He breathed deep, taking a moment to claw back his sanity and some sense of himself. This was not who he was. He did not push in doors and grab women. He thought back to their beginning. Ever since his eyes had touched hers, he’d been struggling in a morass of compulsions. He wanted as never before. A hunger burned in him, but not to frighten. Never to intimidate. His heart skipped.
 

Her hands were trapped between them, so he flattened one of her palms against his chest, letting her feel the thunder of his heartbeat. While she kept her hand where he’d placed it, he felt the other lightly cross over his shoulder and glide down his back. Unconsciously, she soothed him. Reckless temper melted away with the stroke of her hand. And in its place was need.

He waited. When she met his gaze again, he lowered his mouth back to hers. This time, his tongue softly explored, a gentle contrast to his hard strength surrounding her. He softened his hold, pulling back slightly, whispering his lips over hers in a request, a question. He brushed his lips over her cheeks and forehead, patient.
 

Devon sighed her acceptance, leaning into him. He briefly kissed each of her closed eyelids before coming back to her mouth with lips that firmed again, but with desire now rather than anger.
 

She yielded. Opening her mouth to his searching kiss, she met his tongue while her hands came up to clasp his shoulders before settling on his muscled biceps.
 

“Put your arms around my neck.” Bennett rasped the words into her ear.
 

As she obeyed, he neatly circled one arm beneath her knees and scooped her into his arms. She breathlessly tossed her head back to laugh, surprising him, while he carried her to the nearby living room.
 

“Honestly, I know I should protest, but I’m enjoying this too much. I could get used to this kind of treatment.” Still laughing, she met his eyes just as he dropped his mouth to hers for a briefly devastating foray.
 

“I’ll keep that in mind. You’re a long, tall one, but pretty lightweight. I could carry you around half of London, but I think I’ll sit instead.” Cradling her on his lap, he ran one hand down the length of her legs that lay stretched out beside him. “Now, where were we?” Fitting his mouth back to hers, he proceeded to muffle any answer she might have given.
 

He reclined beside her, face to face. Small gasps and moans escaped while they caressed, tested, and learned each other. Tangled tongues mimicked the slide and push of a much more intimate act. Bennett unbuttoned Devon’s blouse while pulling it free of her skirt. He pressed an open-mouthed kiss over one cotton-covered breast as she fumbled with his shirt buttons. She stopped, arching up and gasping with pleasure.
 

“My God, you’re responsive. And as much as I have a new respect for American cotton, let’s see you with this off.” Expertly, Bennett flipped open the front clasp to her bra with one hand and spread the sides apart.
 

Seeing a rosy blush suffuse her cheeks, Bennett shifted back to gaze at her. Refusing to meet his eyes, she diverted his hand back to her breast from where he’d raised it to touch her face. He noted her shyness, her sudden preoccupation with looking anywhere but at him.
 

Deciding to let it pass, he enjoyed the perfect moment of seeing her near naked for the first time. Thumbing the erect nipple of one breast, he lowered his head to blow gently over the other. Hearing her gasp, he smiled briefly against the bud before closing his mouth tightly over it and rhythmically sucking as she arched sharply against him.
 

Devon curved beneath him while pivoting so Bennett’s weight shifted above her. He rucked up her skirt and caressed her thigh while pushing the fabric as high as it might go. Meanwhile, having finally undone the buttons on his shirt, she touched his naked skin.
 

She explored his chest in broad strokes before reaching over his shoulders to push his shirt over and off. Pulling him to her, she breathed, “Kiss me, Bennett.” She tugged him down further.
 

Careful to support his weight, Bennett moved back up to her mouth and lost himself again, exploring and retreating as their tongues danced in a carnal rhythm. He should slow this down. She was innocent, he was sure. Her blushes and reactions to his touch had given her away. They were going too far, too fast. But she was so beautiful, and so willing. Reason was abandoned under the drumbeat of desire.
 

Just a little longer.

***

Devon took the kiss deeper, inviting his tongue into a dark duel while she pressed her pelvis into his, trying to find relief from the ache he’d aroused. There were no pretenses between them now, only giving and receiving, each generously trying to please the other.
 

She shifted her lower body, sinking further into the couch while his erection simultaneously notched into the softness between her legs. Her skirt bunched up, revealing dainty white panties.
 

Sweating, Bennett levered himself up slightly, grinning while he ogled her. “More cotton, I see. I love the little daisies.”
 

Devon felt herself blushing furiously, unused to a man’s teasing. Personally, she found distraction to be the better part of valor. In that spirit, she parted her thighs, drawing them up to hug his hips and allowing him to press further into her.
 

She only struggled with his belt for a moment before it released and she started work on his pants. Satisfaction darkened her eyes as she heard him suck in an involuntary breath when she brushed his rigid shaft.
 

He took hold of her hands, loosely pinning them over her head. “We need to slow down.”

Unfazed, Devon dragged her mouth to taste the salty skin of his neck, smiling against him when she heard his deep groan. She nipped the corded muscles there before using the flat of her tongue to quickly bathe the small bite. Sensing him strain against her, she shifted again to explore the intricate whorls of his ear while allowing the hard buds of her nipples to graze the hair of his chest.
 

The soft friction tore another groan from Bennett before he abruptly loosed her hands to crush her against him. She felt the pounding urgency of his heart, banging in desperate need. Sweeping her palm along his abdominals, Devon felt the strong muscles ripple in reaction. Triumphant at his response to her, she trailed her fingers to his waistband before slipping down to cup his length.
 

Large masculine hands gripped her thighs, pushing them further apart and up along his waist. Devon squeezed him, overcome with pleasure and desire. She felt free, unencumbered by her past. There was only this moment. And it was only she and Bennett.
 

Her gaze locked with his, unknowingly innocent. For once, she left herself unguarded and exposed.