Bennett (On the Line Book 2) (3 page)

“Really? Not even an on-again, off-again thing? Or an ‘it’s complicated’ thing?”

He smiled as he tipped back his glass and finished the last of his beer. “Nope. Nothing.”

“I think you should come home with me,” I said, my heart racing.

I’d never done this. I was a woman who made pro/con lists and alphabetized my paperback collection. But something about spontaneity felt so right in this moment. Riley had wounded me, and Bennett was the salve I needed.

“I’d love to see you home, but I don’t think your head’s clear enough for anything more tonight,” he said. “Much as it pains me.”

“My head’s
fine
. I didn’t even finish the second drink.” I pointed at the glass for emphasis.

“
Fine
, huh?”

“Yep. Feel free to give me a field sobriety test, officer.”

He smiled. “I just might.”

I arched my brows in challenge and slid off my barstool. “You coming?”

“Share a cab?” he asked. “My ride took off already or I’d drive you.”

I was about to answer him when a burly guy at a nearby table got up, still looking at the person he was talking to as he approached the bar. He ran into me with his shoulder, knocking me off-balance.

Bennett steadied me with an arm around my waist.

“Watch it, asshole,” he said to the guy who’d run into me.

The guy turned around, scowling, but then took in Bennett’s tall, muscled form and grunted.

“Yeah, sorry,” he mumbled.

I nestled myself a little closer against Bennett, eager to get him home. The alcohol had squashed my tendencies to analyze and be cautious, and I was loving it. This was what life was like for my girlfriends who lived in the moment. I’d been missing out on so much fun.

When we stepped out the front doors of Cosmos, we got lucky and found a waiting cab. I gave the driver my address and reached for Bennett’s hand. My hand was cold, but instead of commenting, he just covered it with his own and rubbed my hand to warm it up.

We didn’t talk on the ride. I was thinking about my apartment. The dishes were done, the laundry was picked up, and my roommate James was out for the night. Thank God. He would’ve killed the mood for sure.

As soon as the cab cruised to a stop, I reached into my purse for money to pay him. Bennett squeezed my hand.

“I’ve got it. I’ll walk you in.”

My hopes deflated as I realized he was serious.

“Can you wait for me?” he asked the driver.

“Bennett,” I said softly, putting on my best sober face. “Stay. I want you to.”

He sighed, looking conflicted. “You’re sure?”

“Completely. Get out of that car and walk that fine ass into my apartment.”

He smiled as he reached for his wallet, took out some cash, and handed it to the driver.

We walked into my building and I unlocked my front door, closing it behind us. We both slid our coats off, but I made no move to turn on the lights.

“I like you,” I said softly.

“I like you, too.” He reached out and brushed a thumb over my cheekbone.

I grabbed the lapels of his black leather jacket and pulled him toward me, stretching up on my tiptoes. He kissed me then, soft and slow, the taste of beer and smell of leather making my heart pound.

At least, I thought that was it. Maybe it was the alcohol. Something was making me dizzy and warm all over.

Bennett deepened the kiss then, wrapping his hands around my waist. I moaned into his mouth and put my arms around his neck.

“Bedroom,” I said, tugging on his coat.

He stepped closer, forcing my back against the wall. Hot, insistent breath hit my bare neck, making my skin tingle with awareness.

“You’re so beautiful, Charlotte,” he said in my ear. “That long, curly hair is sexy as hell.”

“
Oh, God
.” I gasped as I felt his sizeable erection against me. “I want you to pull it. Fuck me from behind and pull it.”

I’d just said
what
? I couldn’t believe the words had come out of my mouth. Normally, I was a compliant sexual partner, figuring sex was more for men than women anyway. But this leather-scented, hard-bodied man was making me want things I’d never wanted. Things that were just for me instead of him.

Did he want to pull my hair? Maybe. But I didn’t care, because
I
wanted it. I wanted to come,
definitely
more than once. I wanted him to take me in every possible position. I wanted to get sweaty and exhausted with satisfaction.

“Bedroom,” I said, breathing heavily as I pushed out from against the wall and led the way.

We stood next to the bed in the moonlit room, pulling each other’s clothes off frantically. Bennett’s erection sprang out from his underwear as I pulled them off and I laughed lightly.

“The fuck you laughing at, woman?” he murmured in my ear.

“Oh.” I covered my mouth with my hand. “No, not like that. I just can’t believe the way it sprang out like that. I thought that was just a thing I read about in books.”

“I’m hard as hell, baby,” he said, cupping my breast in his hand. “Can’t help springing out when I’m like this.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I like it.”

He hummed with amusement. “What, the springing or my cock in general?”

I looked down. Hell yes. That was one large cock. The breakup gods were going all out to get me over the asshole I’d dumped earlier.

“Both.”

He wrapped an arm around my lower back and eased me back onto the bed, his warm body never breaking contact with mine.

I was in a haze of bliss. His mouth and hands worked magic on my skin, waking every nerve in my body. I cried out when I felt his breath between my thighs, both because it felt so good and because I knew I’d come in a few seconds if he did what I thought he was about to.

“Can we . . . ?” I panted, gripping his shoulders. “I mean, can you . . . I want you inside me, Bennett.”

He reached for his jeans on the floor and I tried to get my breathing under control. I’d never felt this way—on fire for a man. I didn’t just want this sex; I
needed
it.

“Hurry,” I said, moving into a more comfortable position on my back. I fluffed my pillow, lay back on it, and opened my legs, my thighs on the verge of shaking with desire.

Bennett lowered his mouth to one of my nipples and sucked on it. I groaned softly.

“We good?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said, reaching for his shoulders again. “Now. I want you now.”

He pushed inside me and we groaned together. I’d never been filled so full.

“Fuck, you’re so wet,” he said.

“Well, you made me wait about seven hours for this.”

He hummed his amusement as he eased out and then pushed all the way back in with a hard thrust.

“More like half an hour, doll,” he said, lowering his lips to mine.

My mouth was open in a silent “o” of satisfaction.

“Like that,” I managed to say. “Do it like that again.”

He eased out and pounded into me again. I moaned loudly and dug my nails into his shoulders. It felt so good that I never wanted it to end, but within a couple minutes, I couldn’t help coming. Hard. I wrapped my legs around him and screamed as the orgasm pulled me under, the sensation spreading through my entire body.

“Oh my God,” I said, breathless. “That was . . .”

Bennett kissed my lips softly and I felt him smiling. “Yeah.”

He got up to go to the bathroom. I felt myself sliding deeper into the relaxation that had overtaken me. What time was it? Not that it mattered because I had a lot more uninhibited sex ahead of me tonight. After I rested my eyes for a minute.

I woke up feeling groggy, squinting at the sunlight streaming in my window. Whose idea were those white curtains that blocked no light, anyway?

Mine, but it had been a design choice by sober Charlotte. Hungover Charlotte would have gone with room-darkening black.

I sat up and looked at the clock. 8:20. Great. I was late for work. I had no hearings this morning, but still . . . coming in late the morning after Riley had gotten the juvenile job made me look like a slacker who didn’t deserve it.

My eyes flew open as I looked down at my naked body. I grabbed at the covers frantically, pulling them up over my breasts.

Oh, shit. I’d brought a man home last night. A random man. And we’d . . .

Shit, shit, shit. He was probably in my kitchen right now, making coffee or something.

I slid out of bed and ran to my dresser for a shirt. There was a piece of white paper sitting on top of the dresser. I picked it up.

Charlotte,

Had to go to work. Didn’t want to wake you. I had a great time last night. Would love to take you out soon.

Bennett

His phone number was written beneath his name. I just stared at the message, my heart beating like a drum.

I’d waited a year and a half to have sex with the first man I’d slept with. Eight months with the second. Seven months with Riley. And maybe an hour with this guy Bennett, who I was damn lucky had been sane. I’d read cases in law school about murder victims who’d done what I did last night.

I’d been stupid, careless, and impulsive. And my walk of shame would take me to my office, where my bucket was likely full of rainwater and Riley would be taking over his new job.

Hell. It wasn’t my finest hour. But I’d still have to pop some Tylenol and do this thing.

I crumpled up Bennett’s note and tossed it in my bathroom trash can. Someday this lapse in judgment would be a distant memory.

Two months later

Bennett

“H
urry up. I need that big cock in my mouth.”

I arched a brow at the woman next to me on my doorstep. Alayna was hot and her panties had hit the floor as soon as I told her I was on the Flyers. But I kind of wished she’d stop talking.

“I’m gonna suck it like a big, fat lollipop,” she said, grabbing at my crotch. “You want me to suck that lollipop,
papi
?”

Ugh. What I wanted was for her to shut the fuck up. I turned the door handle and slid to the side until her death grip on my junk loosened.

“Yeah, let’s do this,” I said, slipping off my leather coat. “My roommate’s gone.”

Alayna pouted. “That’s too bad. I would’ve done both of you.”

She kicked off her high heels and pulled her shirt off over her head. Her big tits spilled out of a tight red bra. They filled up my large hands, and I groaned with satisfaction when I realized they were real.

This was just what I needed. A hot, willing woman to get my mind off Charlotte. I’d waited a month for her to call me, not looking twice at another woman the whole time. Hell, I’d even had Liam call my phone one evening so I could make sure it was working.

But nothing. She’d never so much as texted. The second month, I’d decided to put it behind me and move on, but it’d been harder than I’d expected.

I was still thinking about those curls. That laugh. And the way she’d felt in my arms that night. But apparently none of it had meant a thing to her.

“Will you wear your mask thing?” Alayna asked me.

“My mask thing?”

“Yeah, you know . . . the hockey mask.”