It's Always Been You (21 page)

“I’d like that. I have no food, though.”

“I’m not interested in food.”

She smiled. “I didn’t think you would be.” She braced her palms against his chest. “But we need to talk shop before you head in to work.”

“Let’s get naked while you talk to me about legal packets,” he said, his mouth curving into a wicked grin.

“Tempting,” she said, nuzzling his top lip with hers. God, but it felt so good to touch him again.

“Had to try,” he said with a warm smile. “What have you got for me?”

“You’re not going to like this,” she said quietly. “Major Denis hauled me into his office last night and asked for an update on the legal packets in every company. He singled out Zittoro’s and wanted to know what was taking so long on getting it processed.”

Ben glanced at his watch. “Just a few more days before Zittoro meets his thirty-six month mark. Brief him that I’ve got the packet. Tell him I’m dragging my feet.”

She frowned. “But—”

He leaned forward, bracing his hands on either side of her against the car. His body was warm and hard against hers and she thought long and hard about reconsidering his plan for doing naked legal work. “I asked you not to tell the battalion commander. Telling Denis gives him the opportunity to take a shot at me and gets him off your back.”

She tipped her chin and studied him quietly. “Okay.”

He shrugged. “No reason to make his job easy,” Ben said. “I damn sure hope I’m around to see karma stick it to him.”

“One of these days you’re going to have to tell me why you hate him so much,” she said quietly. She stroked her fingers over his sides, well aware that they were still standing in his driveway as the sun crept over the hills into the early morning sky.

She had no desire to move. No desire to bring the real world crashing in between them. She didn’t have any official information from the school nurse. Not yet.

She could wait before she brought Escoberra between them again.

Ben breathed out deeply and she realized he was almost falling asleep where he leaned with her. “Can I see you tonight?”

“I thought we answered that question already.”

“Just making sure.” He brushed his lips against hers. “I missed you,” he whispered.

Olivia smiled before she lost herself in his kiss. “Don’t work too late,” she said against his mouth.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he said.

* * *

“Are you still at work?” He called her at exactly six-oh-one. “Never mind, don’t answer that. What’s really important is what you’re wearing.”

Her laugh eased some of the ache around Ben’s heart. He was dead on his feet but he wasn’t going to skip a chance to see Olivia. “Dog tags and a smile?”

Ben froze, his body tightening instantly. “Really?”

“You’ll have to find out. Don’t get any speeding tickets.”

The line went dead and it took Ben a moment to realize that he was standing in the middle of the parking lot, staring at his phone like a madman.

Ben dropped his phone back into his pocket and climbed into his truck, heading off post toward Olivia’s house.

He’d survived the day. Barely. But he’d managed to get Foster’s paperwork started for rehab so he had to take the win where he could. He rolled through a stop sign before turning down the road to Olivia’s house

He pulled into her driveway and sat for a long moment.

Maybe things weren’t terrible. Foster was going to get help. Zittoro was going to get his college benefits.

Maybe this was why he was a commander. Maybe these few things were the only way to make a difference.

Maybe if he could do these few good things, command would be worth it.

He killed the truck’s engine and walked to the front door. He was bone tired but every ounce of that fatigue dissipated when Olivia opened the door. Ben’s gaze flicked down her body when she opened the door then darkened with disappointment when she answered in yoga pants and a bright orange tank top. He could see the outline of every curve in the tight-fitting clothing and he very much suddenly had the urge to see how flexible she might be.

“You didn’t honestly expect me in dog tags and a smile, did you?” she said.

“A man could hope.” He captured her against his body as soon as the door closed behind them.

* * *

She expected him to devour her, to crush her against him with a fierce desire that would end up with them naked on her living room floor.

Instead, Ben kissed her gently. Slowly. Nudged her lips apart. Coaxed a soft sigh from her throat as he made love to her mouth.

She leaned into him, enjoying the slow, subtle way his mouth relaxed her. His hands rested gently on her hips. One thumb stroked her hip bone beneath the soft cotton of her tank top.

It was a gentle kiss. Filled with desire, raw and hungry, that she could taste.

He nibbled on the corner of her lips before kissing the spot gently. “Hi,” he murmured against her mouth.

“Hi.”

He lowered his forehead to hers with a quiet sigh. “I’m so tired,” he admitted.

“Yeah.”

They stood that way for a long moment. She didn’t want to move away from his embrace. The strength of his presence.

She wanted to stand there with him, holding him up, feeling his body against hers. Right there, in that moment, the world was steady. Stable.

Ben’s lips brushed against her cheek. “You’re thinking too hard,” he whispered.

She closed her eyes, sliding her nose against his. “I’ve been trying to stop all day,” she said.

“I know.” His fingers tensed around her hips.

Then his fingers slid up the small of her back. She shivered, arching away from the gentle caress in a sensitive spot. “You’re ticklish?”

She swallowed. “Maybe.”

He smiled, a lazy, seductive smile that reminded her of warm caramel on a hot summer day. “Oh, now this is interesting,” he murmured against her lips.

She narrowed her eyes and tried to slip from his grasp. His fingers tightened. “Let me rub your back.”

She stilled. “This is an attempt to get me naked.”

“What else would it be?” he said, grinning. He kissed her again, slow. Lazy. But beneath the sensual glide, a hunger. “Please?”

His hands on her hips guided her backward, past the kitchen and the uneaten pizza she’d ordered. Toward her bedroom and the unmade bed.

“When is the last time you had a massage?” he asked, slipping his fingers over her spine.

She trembled, her back spasming away from his teasing fingers. “It’s been a while.”

“Yeah? What’s it going to take for me to get you to lie facedown on that bed?” he asked against her lips.

“Naked?”

“Completely naked.”

“I’m not sure where you’re going with this. I was only kidding that time I said you could bend me over and have your way with me.”

Ben laughed and hugged her close. She nuzzled his neck, enjoying the connection of skin on skin. Wanting more. A slow need unfurled inside her. A spark of heat.

Ben took a step back and bent down to unlace his boots. He glanced up at her when she hadn’t moved. “Completely. Naked.”

Still she didn’t move. Not when he kicked his own boots off and unbuckled his belt. Not when he slid the uniform pants down his narrow hips and revealed black boxer briefs.

Not when he lifted his shirt over his head and stood in her bedroom wearing dog tags and a wicked smile.

Her gaze dropped to his erection. “Is that for me?”

He shook his head. “You’re not naked.”

She hooked her thumbs into the waist of her yoga pants and slid them down over her hips.

A thrill of power shot through her when his throat moved. “Christ you’re sexy,” he whispered.

She stepped out of her pants, then reached for the tank top. She lifted it slowly, enjoying the power of making his gaze darken as she inched it higher, higher up her stomach.

Her nipples tightened as the cotton brushed over them.

The top fell to the floor, forgotten. Ben simply watched her for a long moment. He didn’t move but his gaze… his gaze was a caress. Despite the scars. He looked at her like she was a precious thing, whole and undamaged.

He moistened his lips. “Lie down,” he whispered. “Facedown.”

* * *

The sheet was cold against her nipples but it warmed quickly from the heat of her body. Olivia stretched across her bed, the sheets rumpled at the bottom. She rested her cheek on the backs of her hands and closed her eyes.

Every sense was aroused, keyed in to the sounds Ben made as he moved around her bedroom.

He turned out the light but reappeared a moment later with a candle. She frowned, leaning up to look at him. “I’m not into candle wax,” she said.

“Relax.” He set the candle on the nightstand. “I just want to be able to see you.”

He still wore his underwear. The outline of his erection was heavy and thick beneath the cotton. He knelt on the edge of her bed, his knee near her thigh.

The bed shifted again and warmth spread over her. His thighs framed hers where he knelt. She arched her hips toward his. He laughed quietly, then surprised her with a kiss above one buttock. “Not yet.”

She made a throaty sound when his lips brushed her skin. He brushed her hair off her neck and back.

She closed her eyes as the ache inside her intensified with each passing moment that he didn’t touch her. He shifted again and then both of his hands slid over her shoulders. His fingers were strong and warm, slipping over her skin. His thumbs pressed against the spot where her shoulders and her neck met.

She groaned when he found a sore spot. Then closed her eyes and surrendered to his touch.

* * *

Ben was out of his mind. There was no way he’d be able to do this long enough to brush aside the terrible memories of the day. He’d meant it as a game.

But then she’d lain on the bed and his blood had throbbed, hot and fierce in his veins. He ached to touch her. It was sweet, sweet torment to kneel over her, knowing he could do anything and she would let him.

There was something beautiful about the way she arched her hips when he touched her. Lifting them ever so slightly off the mattress, a tiny offering.

He traced the tip of his index finger down the centerline of her spine. Her gasp escaped before she could muffle it. His finger continued its easy glide down the center of her buttocks, stopping before he touched her most secret place.

She made a sexy sound deep in her throat and it might as well have been a fist around his cock. He leaned over her, tracing the path his finger had just taken with his tongue. Gently, barely touching her, he flicked his tongue down her spine, to the gentle part of her legs.

He wanted to taste her. To feel her moist slick heat against his tongue as she came.

But torturing her this way was infinitely more pleasurable. He nipped her buttock. Felt her breath catch in her throat. He smiled as he nipped her, tiny bites across her back, her shoulders. With each nip her body tensed, then released. She tried to part her thighs again.

He kept her there, lying on her belly, her back exposed to him. Her body supple and warm beneath his touch.

Moisture flecked her thighs each time she shifted. He was tormenting her, dragging out the promise of pleasure with each slide of his tongue, each gentle caress of his fingers.

He slid his fingers down the length of her back, his thumbs tracing her spine, sliding further down, down, over her buttocks, his thumbs parting her. Opening her. Barely brushing against her aching, swollen core.

He repeated his movements, each time coming closer to where she craved his touch. Each time denying her. Sliding his hands over her body, molding her hips. His thumbs flicked over the underside of her buttocks, the seam of her thighs. She arched a tiny bit, lifting.

Her body was taut. Tense. Ben had never been so fucking aroused by just touching a lover this way. Soft caresses, denying them both. His thumbs danced closer to her wet heat, closer to the spot where he wanted badly to slide his fingers through. He wanted to feel her coat him, feel her slick heat envelop him, pull him deeper.

His thumb brushed against the seam of her body. She jerked and cried out at the barest touch. He smiled and held her in place. “Shhh.” He pressed his lips to her buttock. Gentling her. Loving every minute reaction. She whimpered.

He brushed his thumb over her seam once more. Slightly more pressure.

His touch came away wet. So fucking wet.

“Spread your thighs for me,” he whispered. “Just a little.”

Her eyes were closed. Her lips parted. Her breath coming in tiny little gasps.

He stroked her again, this time with his index finger, sliding the tip along her entire seam. He barely touched her. His finger was slick. Wet. Her body was soft. Swollen.

“Beautiful,” he murmured.

He slipped his finger through her again, increasing his pressure slightly.

She fought to spread her thighs against his.

“Ben.” His name, a plea on her lips. “Please.”

“Please what?”

“Touch me.” Her hips lifted from the sheet below her. He wanted her. Needed to tumble into the pleasure of sliding inside her.

He wanted her like this. Just like this.

He moved, lying against her, keeping his weight on his arms and his knees. Keeping her from spreading her legs any wider.

He slipped one hand beneath her belly, lifting her hips slightly. Her back arched beneath his touch, her skin scorching his.

* * *

Olivia’s body was on fire. She’d never in her life imagined making love like this, her lover’s thighs outside of hers, her body trapped beneath his. But she didn’t feel vulnerable. She felt cherished. Erotic.

And then he was there, pressing inside her body, her thighs clenched tight, her hips lifted. A gasp of pleasure slipped from her lips as he slid into her body, filling her.

And then he began to move. The friction of her thighs made it impossible for her to do anything but receive him, take the pleasure he offered with each stroke. She surrendered, arching beneath him and urging him deeper. Her lungs refused to cooperate. The pressure built and built until she crashed into the wave, riding it until Ben tightened and tensed and then wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Her back to his chest. His arms holding her.