Stony Creek Hero [Stony Creek 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (2 page)

“I can’t even, hiccup, look at that damned man and not get wet! Hiccup, well maybe not as wet as he is getting, hiccup!” Lizzie laughed out. Although moments ago her stomach was tied into triple knots of mixed fear and frustration, those feelings were now shifting to excitement and arousal at Ben’s approach and obvious destination. How could she miss the spectacle of his incredibly toned body on display from the rain saturating his shirt and jeans, fitting them deliciously to his body? Those thighs, that chest, and Lordy, that huge male member that even at rest looked intimidating with his sodden jeans molded to it.

Benjamin Powell was six foot and five inches of pure man, even slightly brawnier than his taller elder brother Jackson. It was his generous, quiet nature though that made her melt as he would gaze up at her with his green eyes while he thought she wasn’t looking. And looking he was, as she stared at him from inside her dim-lit restaurant watching as the rain ran in rivulets from his cowboy hat.

“Lizzie, baby, are in you in there?” she heard him call out. Damn, that rich voice caused her to tremble in excitement as it washed over her. I guess there was no more personal pity party for her. The poor man was soaked, obviously looking for her out of concern. Lizzie figured that she had to just let him in and deal with the unavoidable reaction of soaking her panties as he just turned her insides out.

Ben had his hands cupped up against the front window trying to see inside the glass as the outside light came on. He heard a click as the door unlocked and he quickly pulled it open as he ran himself in out of the downpour. He removed his hat immediately, a product of proper upbringing by his very ladylike drill-sergeant mother, Lillian, and started to shake himself off without looking up. A dry towel was thrust up into his face as an offering of assistance.

“Thanks,” he mumbled while wiping off his arms and clothes the best he could. “Where have you been…?” Ben caught his breath as he finally gazed over to look at her. He took in her swollen, watery eyes and the general air of sadness that was emanating from her. He felt a surge of unexpected protectiveness burst out with a need to fix anything that was upsetting or hurting her at that instant.

“Baby, what’s the matter? What has happened? Why are you crying? Who hurt you?” The questions flew out of his mouth quicker than he could formulate the thoughts.

Lizzie let out a small laugh as she realized that was probably more than he had ever spoken to her at once with the one erotic exception when he had words with her and “disciplined” her tush for putting herself in danger. At the time she was shocked and more than a little aroused as he pinked up her rear but hadn’t fought him verbally or physically during it. Rather, she found herself willing to do anything he would have wanted at that moment. There had been something in his voice and the quiet control he had used. After, he had just hugged her to him at the time, as though she were the most valuable thing in the world and walked her back to the assembled group dealing with the Len Drexel situation. It warmed her heart to know that he must be very concerned about her to be engaging in an actual conversation.

With his huge, comforting presence within reach, Lizzie was unable to help herself as she threw her slight form at his hard body. His arms immediately enveloped her in a protective cocoon as she began to tremble again and the sobs began anew. She guessed that even the temporary promise of concern was egging on her emotional state.

Ben’s concern grew as he felt her hug his body so tightly, as though her life depended on it. He stroked her back and she sobbed out whatever had her in such a state and knew he would have to wait for her to calm down in order to get his answers. He was a patient man so he knew that he would get them but there was a simmering anger within him that he wanted to hurt whoever or whatever had put her like this. In an effort to give her comfort, he ran his hands tenderly over her back and soft arms. The gentle caresses seemed to be relaxing her and having the opposite effect on him.

He suddenly heard a hiccup, figuring it to be just the end of her cry, and he proceeded to lift her soft body up into his arms, snuggled up into his chest. He sat her on his lap at the table that she must have been previously occupying. His cock swelled as she wiggled her rear against his lap, trying to cuddle even closer into his heat. Ben sighed, repeating in his head, ignore it, ignore it. It was a losing battle and he took a deep breath, inhaling her sweet intoxicating scent. He felt her hiccup again and noticed the bottle of tequila on the table in front of them.

“Um, Lizzie, baby. How much of this stuff have you been drinking, honey?” he inquired gently. Ben realized that he was in a potentially difficult situation as he felt her soft lips press tantalizingly, for the first time, against the base of his throat. Electric currents of arousal ripped across his groin as he tried to sound like he was more in control than he was at the moment.

“Just a few,” she replied softly into his warm, damp skin.

“A few as in two or a few as in eight?” he asked gently.

A small pause allowed Ben to take in the quiet of the room that was being soothingly enhanced by the soft glow of a candle that she had lit for the table and the gentle drumming of the rain on the ceiling.

She let out a small sigh. “Perhaps six but I lost track.” Ben’s eyebrows rose in silent shock as he had never known her to drink so much, and at the way she had calmed in his arms, he knew that there was not any imminent threat to her. He wondered what could have sent her into such a state.

“Want to talk about it, baby?” Ben murmured into her sweet-smelling hair, unable to help himself.

Lizzie allowed herself an inward sigh. What would be the harm in telling Ben? In just a few weeks, everyone in town would know that Theodore Davis, disgusting vomitous man that he was, had put her out of her house and business as she couldn’t keep up with her payments. Other than Billie and her new dear friend Maddy Daniels, the town’s veterinarian, Ben was one of the few people that she trusted.

Life and the people in it hadn’t always been kind to her. Oh, that hadn’t ever stopped her from trying to find the good in all people but she always held a part of herself back, quietly, in an effort to prevent as many bruises as possible. This was true especially with men. Her father had been withdrawn and emotionally bankrupt. After her mother had died when she was a child, he had turned to the bottle in an effort to soothe his own pain. He ignored the living reminder of his beautiful wife and let her grow up under the caring and watchful eye of the matrons of Stony Creek. Millie Braxton, Mabel Winston, and Julia Morgan had kept a watchful eye over her as she grew up to be the generous and loving person that she was now, under their caring guidance.

Lizzie had few relationships with men as most had little to offer as far as love and much to give in the form of heartache. She had known Ben most of her life. Being that he was a little older, he was just one of the boys until she was seventeen. He had begun to fill out as a man from all the hard work on the family ranch, Rugged Hill. Lizzie had watched him from afar as armies of big-haired, made-up girls in breast-popping shirts had thrown themselves at him and the other male members of his family with enthusiasm.

There was just always something about him that made her feel so safe, even though he had never considered her as a girl. He was the quiet one of the Powell clan, so tall and so calm all the time. The girls of Stony Creek had gone into a frenzy as the Powell boys had all come of age. Lizzie could appreciate how Jackson, Ben, and Troy, and their first cousins, Brody and Cole, all were works of art. However, it had always been just Ben who touched her in some way. A kind smile, picking up the book she dropped, or the pounding he gave to the bullies that had been picking on a skinny boy. He had an inner confidence and kindness that she wished she could call her own.

She took a deep, fortifying breath and snuggled herself into his protective embrace as she attempted to begin her sorry tale of woe.

“Do you want the long, detailed movie-script version or just the CliffsNotes for now, Ben?” she questioned.

Ben smiled at her obvious return to sanity as she sounded like the Lizzie that he adored and was insanely attracted to.

“How about you give me the abbreviated story first and then we can delve into the details. Okay?”

Momentarily distracted by the intoxicating scent of male musk, leather, and a hint of cologne, it took her a moment to process his request.

“You remember earlier this year when you kicked out Mr. Davis as he was upsetting me that one afternoon?” At his silent nod of understanding she continued. “Well, due to my father’s incredible parenting skills, protective nature, and gambling enthusiasm, it turns out that the building and my house are mortgaged to the hilt at a ridiculously high interest rate that I cannot possibly keep up with. I am now at the proverbial end of my rope with no other options left unless I get struck by lucky lightning or hit with a money stick. I cannot meet the payments for both, Mr. Davis knows it, wants me to work off the interest in a very nauseating way or I will be homeless and out of business in roughly two months.” She began to shake in his arms again as the weight of her troubles, now out in the open, sat on her shoulders again, making her feel like it was a hopeless dead end.

Ben was quiet for moment as he struggled to take all that information in. His brain roared with fury that this little woman was left to shoulder all the responsibility of the mistakes made by the very person in the world who should have cherished and protected her. He was raised better than that. His rage intensified as he thought about the offer Theodore Davis had made her. The banker should be trying to help her find a way to meet her obligations and was instead trying to force her into an intimate relationship! No fucking way, not on his watch was that going to happen. He cared for Lizzie way too much not to get involved. He definitely didn’t do relationships and had no experience with them but even he knew that this was pathetically wrong on so many levels. His protective instincts for this sexy little creature who was currently torturing his cock and his mind rose to the front of his mind. He was going to see what could be done to relieve her of some of her burdens first thing Monday morning. As for now, he was going to go against his very nature and actually get involved, with her pain, for her.

“Listen to me, baby. We can talk about specifics later but I can promise you this, there is no way that you are going to lose this restaurant or be homeless any time in the next century. Take a deep breath for me now, baby. I will not let that happen and that is something you can count on.” Ben spoke firmly but softly against her head while stroking his fingers over her back.

“Ben, if only you could mean that. I so desperately want to believe that, but I have already explored every possibility other than sleeping with that lecherous, revolting excuse for a man. There are no other options left for me.” She smiled sadly up into his eyes.

Ben sat up straight, forcing her to pull away slightly and crane her neck up to look into his eyes. In a move that caused her breath to catch and made the butterflies in her stomach flutter, he cupped both of his hands around her face and leveled his gaze directly into her watery one.

“No one is going to hurt you, no one. Period,” he emphatically stated.

Before she had an opportunity to respond, she was surprised with the arrival of a moment that she had been desperately waiting for years to experience. Having wanted him for so long, he managed to shock her. Without deviating his gaze from hers, he lowered his firm lips to her quivering ones. It was a soft, gentle kiss of promise that had her struggling not to sob in the relief it brought her. Ben slid his lips back and forth over the softness of hers as he indulged in his first taste of her mouth. He let out a soft groan as he slid his lips tenderly up her tear-stained cheek, to her eyes, gently kissing each one closed. His hands that had her head cupped within their embrace pulled her in a bit closer as he rested his lips against her forehead as he inhaled her exotic scent. She was a mixture of sweet baking scents, probably from all the cooking she did combined with a sultry light perfume that never failed to distract and arouse him as she sauntered by.

“Never, Lizzie. I promise you, never. Now let me lock up here for you and take you home. We can talk over the details tomorrow morning when I come over for brunch,” Ben said with a serious tone to his voice.

Lizzie had to give a little giggle. “Who said I was inviting you over for brunch, Mr. Big Strong Hero?”

For the first time that evening, Ben felt a smile cross his face.

“You did, baby, but I had your mouth and brain otherwise occupied, so you didn’t hear it!” He laughed out. Ben realized in that moment that while he had no idea what the hell he was going to do with this firecracker of sensuality sitting contentedly in his arms, he was happy that she was finally there. He would help this little amazing woman and then retreat back into his voyeuristic world of watching her make him hard every time he looked or thought about her.

“Come on, baby, let’s get you home and out of these damp clothes. Sorry, that’s what happens when you hold on to a wet cowboy.” Not realizing his innuendo and the raise of her eyebrows at his comment, he began to stutter. “Warm, I mean warm and dry. Ugh, ignore me. Let’s go, baby.” With that he lifted her into the cradle of his arms and locked up as he carried her out into the pouring rain.

Lizzie, still feeling the heavenly buzz from the tequila and Ben’s body, smiled into his chest. Tomorrow was very scary and uncertain but today, well, today one of her dreams had come true. She was in Ben’s arms and if she had her way, she would never leave.