Better with Ben (How to Tame a Heartbreaker Book 3) (19 page)

Chapter 23

The party went great. There was a big spill toward the end of the night, but an attendee and not a staff member caused it, so Taylor was off the hook. They cleaned it up quickly and efficiently, and considering everything that could have gone wrong, it was virtually flawless.

Everyone was happy with the food and drink, and the crowd in general seemed to have a good time. Ben had been talking with a group of people that included his sister and Nick, and Taylor approached them as the party was drawing to a close. He didn't hesitate to catch her up into his arms as she came near.

"I'll be another half hour," she said. "I can meet you somewhere if you don't want to hang around."

"I'll wait for you."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Where do you want to go after this?" she asked.

"My apartment," he said.

Taylor didn't know if Molly had heard him say it, and she looked over at her to find out. "He already told me I can't come home for the next two days," Molly said. 

Taylor looked at Ben who shrugged.

"I just reminded her how much she liked spending the night at Nick's."

Taylor looked at Molly. "You don't have to—"

"It's all good," Molly laughed. "I was staying at Nick's anyway. I'm just giving him a hard time."

"You sweet little thing, you," Mary Lou Logan interrupted. She was addressing Taylor, who hadn't seen her coming. "That food was a
hoot
!"

"I'm so glad you liked it," Taylor said, leaning in to hug her.

"Do you know Ben?" Mary Lou asked, noticing their proximity.

"I do," Taylor said, smiling up at him.

Mary Lou reached up to pinch his cheek. "Isn't he adorable?" she asked. "We just love him and his sister, both." She handed out hugs and made sweet comments to two or three other people standing in the group before fluttering off like a butterfly.

"I guess I'll go finish up," Taylor said.

Ben just smiled and nodded.

Taylor was among the last to leave. It was almost eleven by the time they were ready to walk out. Ben followed her home so they could get her things.

"I wish I could say I have no expectations for tonight," he said on their way to his apartment. "I know it would be really nice of me to say something about how I'm okay with taking it slow and I'd be fine with just talking or whatever all night."

"Talking?" she said. "I thought that's what we were going to be doing. What else did you have in mind?"

He looked over at her for a second before putting his eyes back on the road. She flashed him a smile.

"I'm really excited about
not
talking to you," she said. "If I didn't have to work tomorrow, I'd probably
not
talk to you all day tomorrow too."

"What time do you have to work?"

"Noon."

"Where?"

"The coffee shop, but I brought clothes. You might have to give me a ride if you don't mind. I can get a ride home when I'm don—" Taylor stopped talking when she saw him take out his phone and dial a number.

He put it to his ear and she listened to the one-sided conversation. "Hey, can you cover Taylor's shift at the coffee shop tomorrow." A pause. "Noon." Taylor almost tried to stop him from continuing the call, but she
wanted
to have her shift covered so she could spend the day with him tomorrow. She waited patiently to see what would come of his efforts. "Thanks," he said. "Bye."

He ended the call and stashed his phone in a charger that was built into the dash. "Hannah's covering your shift," he said.

"Just like that?" she said.

He glanced at her and smiled. "She said she didn't mind."

"I don’t mind if she covers my shift, either," she said. "And I wish I could say something nice to you right now about how I don't care if anything happens between us tonight and I'm just looking forward to talking."

Ben drove home in the quick, efficient manner of a man who really wanted to be home. He grabbed her hand and pulled her from the truck to the apartment where he unlocked the door and opened it for her to walk through. She was still wearing her black dress, and it was all he could do to refrain from sweeping her off her feet and tossing her over his shoulder.

"I need you to know that I want you for more than just your body," she said.

One corner of his mouth lifted in a gorgeous grin." Are you sure? Because I don't know if I can do this otherwise."

She pushed at his chest and giggled. "I missed you," she said. She knew she'd said it before, but it was true. She hated the time they spent apart. "I know it's cheesy, but I think I'm better with you, Ben. I mean, I don't want you to think I depend on you for my anxiety or anything, because I've really been working through all that, and—"

He took her by the face and kissed her, deepening it instantly as he used his tongue to part her lips. The surge of desire that shot through her was almost unbearable. She'd been dreaming about him for the past month, and couldn't quite believe she was finally getting to live out her fantasies.

He still had her face in his hands when he took a step closer, closing the gap between them completely. He was applying as much forward pressure onto her body as possible without knocking her over, and she returned the pressure, feeling like if she could, she'd just hold on and never let go. She wrapped her arms around his waist and held him close. She was absolutely in love with touching him. He was huge, with layers of hard muscle she could feel even from over his shirt.

She ran her hands over his back, over the ridges. She was so turned on, she felt crazy with it. She opened her mouth, letting his tongue dip more deeply into it. Their tongues worked seductively for a few seconds before he broke the contact. His chest rose and fell as he took a steadying breath. He stared down at her, and she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the feeling of relief she had was mutual.

"I wouldn't be mad if you had to go right now," she said. "I might make you finish me off real quick, but I wouldn't be mad."

He didn't say anything, just continued to stare at her. "You know I don't want you going out with anyone else, right?" he finally said.

She laughed. "And, what about you?"

He shrugged. "I'm not trying to see anybody else," he said. "I don't even have time for you, much less somebody else too."

She reared back and slapped at his chest like she was mortified, but it was obvious that both of them were kidding around.

"I was a fuckin beast at the gym these last two weeks," he said. "Don't be scared when you see me without my shirt. I won't hurt you or anything."

She laughed. "Well I haven't eaten a thing for a month," she said. "I have almost no gut at all."

He smiled. "You did good tonight," he said. "I was proud of you out there, looking all in charge."

She took a deep breath. "I honestly can't believe I just did that."  She was quiet for a second before her gaze returned to meet his. "Speaking of seeing you without your shirt on," she said, realizing she'd like to go back to that topic. "I still haven't gotten a good look at your tattoo."

His eyes narrowed. "Yes you have."

She'd seen it several times, but never gotten to sit and stare at it in close range. "No I haven’t. Not like I want to at least."

He started unbuttoning his shirt at the neck. The top, near his collar and bottom near his wrist were visible on a regular basis, but there was a lot of tattoo in between that she wasn't familiar with at all. He shrugged out of his shirt, which would have been awesome, but he still had a wife beater on underneath. The undershirt didn't really hide much of the tattoo, but still, she wished it would come off. She couldn't quite work up the nerve to tell him to go ahead and get out of it, so instead she led by example. She kicked off her shoes, leaving them at the door before walking into the living room. Ben stepped out of his shoes as well. Then he set off toward Taylor, stopping to put his shirt on a chair back.

"Why don't you just leave the other one there too?"

He gave her a curious expression.

"The shirt. I thought that undershirt might want to stay with his buddy over there." She was standing in the middle of the living room looking way too tempting.

Ben stayed by the chair, but didn't move to take off his shirt. "You gotta give me something first."

Her eyes widened. "You mean like take something off? All I have is this one dress. Once I get it off, there's pretty much nothing left."

"Do you not have panties on?" he asked.

She could tell he was hopeful, which made her laugh. "I have underwear on, I just meant that my dress for your undershirt isn't a fair trade."

"Your hair then."

"My hair?"

"Your hair. Take it down."

She regarded him with a skeptical expression, but understood by the look he returned that he was serious.

What a nightmare.

She had no idea how her hair would look when she unpinned it, and no mirror to check it out. Her gaze met his and she suddenly realized that she didn't really
care
what her hair looked like when it fell. He was so hot, and she was ready to do just about anything to play along. She carefully unpinned her hair, collecting bobby pins one by one. She set the group of pins on a nearby table before using her fingertips to comb through her hair. It fell onto her shoulders in a loose wave that was a result of the twist it had been in.

It was a pity she didn’t have a mirror because it was much better than she imagined. Ben stared at her for a few long seconds before pulling the undershirt up and over his head. She'd seen him without a shirt once before, but the beautiful display of abdominal muscles was still a bit of a shock. She swallowed against the ever-growing feeling of nervousness at the thought of having her way with his body. The sculpted chest and beautiful tattoo made him an absolute work of art.

"What's the other one?" She pointed to his left side, and he knew she was talking about his other tattoo. He turned to the side so she could inspect it. She was several feet away, but could see it was a small, black rifle that ran along one of his ribs. It was a simple design and almost invisible compared to the other one, but it was still really cool. She liked the whole package. Her eyes roamed over his sleek, grey dress pants and black belt that hung low on his hips, and found herself forgetting to breathe.

Just looking at this guy was getting her all hot and bothered. She could only imagine what touching him would do. He gave her a wry smile as he exhaled and flexed his arms, chest, and abs. He held it flexed for a second. "I told you I'm a beast right now," he said.

She laughed and covered her face with her hand. "Oh my God, Ben. That's intimidating." She stared at him in wonder. "Not in a scary way, cause I'm not scared of you or anything, but I, uh," she pointed at him, "look nothing like that."

"I hope you don't," he said. "I don't like girls who look like this."

"I'm serious," she said. "You need to be prepared that I'm not in shape like that. Gina has to drag me to the gym kicking and screaming, and even that's only about once a week."

"I think you'll be just fine," he said. They were standing several feet apart, and he looked her over.

"It's your turn," he said. "Why don't you get out of that dress so you can stop worrying about it."

She slipped the sleeves over her shoulder and slowly worked them down over her ribs then she reached behind her back to unzip the dress far enough to get it over her hips. She shimmied out of it, letting the dress fall in a pool at her feet before stepping over it. She let her hands fall to her side and stood there letting him look her over. He took in the curves of her body with an intensity that could only be compared to a predator sizing up its prey.

Chapter 24

Taylor looked like a pin-up model in her little pink lingerie set. Ben found it hard to refrain from peeling them off right away. He wanted so badly to see what was underneath that he almost forgot to appreciate how she looked wearing the delicate set. The powder pink against her pale skin and blonde hair made her look fresh and innocent—it was a stark contrast to the black ink on his chest and arm.

"I am so glad you called in sick tomorrow," he said.

She looked confused, "Why?" Of course she was only joking and Ben knew it, so he responded by tossing her over his shoulder like he wanted to. In one quick motion, he bent far enough to put his shoulder into her stomach. He grabbed the back of her thighs and stood with her dangling over his shoulder like a sack of flour. She let out a shriek of surprise when he did it, but didn't protest.

She giggled as he walked with her over his shoulder into his bedroom. He had simple but nice taste and she felt comfortable in his room—even from her upside-down perspective. He had a steel blue down comforter on his bed, and he tossed her into the center of it. She sat up, situating herself on the bed.

He walked to his adjoining bathroom where he turned on the light. The room had more light than Taylor was expecting, and she wondered if he was planning on leaving it on. He turned to face her.

"Stay right there, Imma snap a picture for Instagram."

She gasped and threw a pillow at him. "You better not." She used her hands to cover herself even though he wasn't even reaching for his phone.

"No, no, get back to how you were."

"What you mean like this? " She stretched out, bracing herself with one arm.

Without a word he unbuttoned and unzipped his pants. His erection was clearly visible under there, and she wondered how in the world he was going to get them off. She stared at the action happening with his pants for a few long seconds before looking up to meet his gaze. His eyes were trained on her and he was smiling has he watched her watching him undress. He went ahead and stepped out of his pants, not even bothering to leave on his boxers. He stood there with his huge piece on display. Taylor giggled and covered her face with both hands, peering out through the gaping holes between her fingers.

He used a hand to cover his crotch, but it didn't really work. She could still clearly see him even though his tattooed arm was now in the mix. He climbed onto the bed, stopping in front of her on his knees. He still tried in vain to shield himself with his hand. He was in close range now, and she stared at the back of his hand, looking at the light dusting of dark hair that ran up the side of his hand to his pinky.

Her gaze traveled up his arm, over the beautiful lines of muscles. A wave of desire washed over her as she marveled at how gorgeous he was and took in the package that hung between his legs. He didn't touch it, but it jumped an inch or so from its position. She'd honestly never seen one move by itself like that, and her eyes snapped up to meet his. He smiled and caused his piece to jerk again. She saw it out of the corner of her eye, which made her stare down at it again. It moved by itself for a third time and she looked up at him again.

"I didn't know they could do that."

He smiled as he crawled over her. "That's not all it can do," he said. She sprawled out underneath him and he hovered over her, barely letting his erection touch her thigh. She wanted to take hold of it and see that it was securely buried inside her. The level of need she felt almost made it impossible to refrain from putting her hands on him.

After only a few seconds of staring at his body as he hovered over her, Taylor reached out to touch him. She ran her hands over his hard chest and shoulders and down his stomach. She repeated that gentle process a few times, sometimes tracing a piece of his tattoo with her fingertips. He let his hips fall onto her thigh so she could feel how hard he was.

He only let her enjoy that pressure for a few seconds before repositioning where he was lying next to her on the bed, stretched out on his side. He rested his head on his hand and regarded her as she lay sprawled out in front of him. Taylor couldn't help herself—she turned into him, trying to get closer, needing to have more of his skin on hers. When she turned, he pulled down her bra and bent and kissed the hardened bud of her nipple. Her breath hitched as he drew it into his mouth, gently sucking.

They were both lying on their side, and her legs worked to intertwine with his as she readjusted to get even closer. His body yielded to hers, and both of them seemed to be doing what was necessary to get closer and touch more. He continued to suck on her breast as their legs mingled, adjusting to wrap around each other.

Neither of them could stop. They both continued moving, exploring until they were almost pulsing with the effort to touch one another. He pressed his mouth to hers at the same time he thrust his hips forward. They were both still lying on their side, and his erection stretched over one thigh over near the place where her thighs met. She'd imagined being with him so many times, but never could it have been as good as this. She moaned into his mouth when he thrust his hips into hers.

They kissed deeply and somehow during the kiss he ended up on top of her again. She slid her hand between them until she felt his extremely hard erection. Gently, she grasped it, thinking it felt even bigger than it looked, which was already intimidating. He thrust into her hand and she responded by gripping it more securely.

"I want to feel you inside me," she said.

They'd already had a discussion about birth control, and he knew she had it covered, so there really wasn't much standing in the way of him giving her what she wanted.

"Guide it in there," he said.

She hesitated for a second, but then pushed her panties to the side and positioned the head at her opening. She tried with little success to push it inside.

"Move it around a little bit. Let me feel your lips."

She used the tip of his erection to tease and play around her opening. He looked down, enjoying watching her as she manipulated him. She toyed with them both for a few minutes before positioning his tip at her opening again. She was really wet by that point, and one thrust was all it took to break the barrier. She let out a little gasp when he went in halfway, but he could tell by the sound of it that she wasn't hurt, so without even thinking, he finished the motion, burying himself inside her. She closed her eyes and let out a whimper, so he stopped moving.

"You okay."

She opened her stormy blue eyes and smiled at him. "I think I've never been better," she whispered. She wrapped her hands around his backside holding him in place.

They both stayed still.

She was lost in the feeling of being stretched and filled by him, and he was lost in the feeling of her pulsing and clenching involuntarily around him. Ben pulled out and pushed in one time slowly, and she closed her eyes again enjoying the sensation.

"You're so big inside me," she said. Her voice was unsteady with desire.

Again, he pulled out and pushed in. She was tight, but her slickness made it easy for him to glide out and in again. She made a noise of pleasure each time he pumped inside her. The slow rhythm gradually increased to the point where he was pumping into her at a pretty good pace. She wrapped her hands around his backside letting him know she wanted more pressure.

"Harder," she whispered. He answered by grinding his hips into hers with all the pressure she needed. Her hips thrust upward into him, needing to feel him buried fully inside her. Then she was suddenly teetering on the edge of what she knew would be an earth shattering orgasm. He bent to kiss her, and that was all it took. His unrelenting pressure on her clit combined with his mouth on hers sent her reeling as wave after wave of pleasure crashed over her.

She cried out to him, but she wasn't even sure what she said. She definitely said his name, and probably a few words about how good it felt, but honestly she didn't even care. The pleasure of having him pump himself inside her was too much to handle. She couldn't be responsible for her actions at this point. She felt the muscles in her womb flex and contract around him as she rode out the amazing orgasm.

He was still buried inside her a moment later when she came to her senses. He looked down at her when she opened her eyes.

"Shit Ben," she said. "I needed that I think."

He smiled, but didn't have time to say anything before she pushed him out of her. She squirmed out from under him and got to the edge of the bed before standing up in the middle of the room. Her bra was pulled down onto her stomach and she unfastened it and took it off before stepping out of her panties.

She crooked a finger at him and he got up and stood next to her, wondering what she was doing. She walked over to the edge of the bed and leaned over it, bending at the waist. It was obvious by her posture that she was inviting him to stand behind her.

"What you want me to do with that?" he asked. He knew good and well what to do, and couldn't wait to do it, but he wanted to hear her say it. She looked back and crooked a finger again, which made him take a step closer. She continued motioning with her hand for him to get closer until he was standing close enough for her to feel his body heat. She ran her hand over the curve of her ass and along her opening.

"Don't you want to put it in me?" she asked.

Did he want to put it in her?
He was relatively sure that if he
didn't
put it in her within the next few seconds, something very bad would happen. He took a hold of her by the hips and pressed his erection into her backside, letting it fit in the channel between her round ass. She leaned into it encouraging him.

He grasped her hip with one hand, but used the other to take hold of his Johnson and find her opening. She was wet and ready, and he didn't waste any time getting inside her.

Having him enter her from behind created all new sensations, and she felt as though the change of position might just cause her to go over the top again. She stayed bent over the edge of the bed as he pounded into her. He started gently at first, but she moaned and pleaded with him to go harder. Another wave of ecstasy washed over her when she glanced back to see him pumping into her from behind. She fisted the comforter as she buried her face in it.

"Oh God Ben, I think I'm gonna come again. Oh shit. Yes. Please." She let out whimper after whimper of pleasure until he knew she'd gone over the top for a second time.

Once she was finished, he let himself find his release. He loved seeing her bent over in front of him—loved the way her back arched as she turned to watch him. He pulled out and finished on her back, moaning with the pleasure. After waiting a few long seconds, she let her upper body collapse onto the bed—all together satisfied and loving the feel of his warm seed on her back. A moment later, she felt him wipe off her back with what she assumed was a piece of clothing.

"Thanks," she said. She was so satisfied and spent that she turned over, lying on the bed with her legs still dangling off. He dove onto the bed, landing behind her. She giggled and readjusted to lie beside him, and he wrapped an arm around her, holding onto her tightly.

"I'm glad we did that," she said.

He let out a little laugh. "I'm glad we did it too," he said. He used a finger to push a stray hair out of her face. "I think you're stuck with me," he said.

She buried her face in his tattooed chest and snuggled into him, feeling more comfortable than she ever had in her life. "I guess I'm okay with that," she said. "As long as you never get called into work."

He looked down at her gauging her seriousness, and she let out a laugh.

"I'm just messing with you," she said. She regarded him with a sincere expression. "You don't have to worry that I want to change you Ben. I know you have a dangerous job. I know I can't ask questions about your job. I'm okay with that. I like you for who you are." She paused and hugged him, and when she spoke again her face was turned so he couldn’t see her. "I have things about myself that you'll have to accept too," she continued, a bit sheepishly. "There's dead-girl baggage and Passout Kings—oh and don't forget what a bonus it is that I come with a couple of winners like Jennifer and Charles."

He held her tightly. "You're perfect," he said. "And everything you've been through is what's shaped you into the person you are."

She didn't say anything, just relaxed next to him. She felt like he really wanted her there—wanted to be with her, and the level of contentment she was feeling was off the charts. They stayed intertwined like that for a long time.