Stony Creek Hero [Stony Creek 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (22 page)

Ben came to a decision then and there. He was going to have to try to not screw this one up, not to control her all the time. Okay, maybe just some of the time. Perhaps only when they were going at each other sexually? Who the hell was he kidding? They would just have to try to figure this out together. That actually sounded nice, together. It was something he had never considered with a woman.

He gazed into her eyes as he lightly sipped at the softness of her plump lips, simply enjoying her taste and the warmth in her return gaze. He let out a contented sigh. She really was his. He felt her hands slip over his firm pectorals, as she allowed her thumbs to roll repetitively over his sensitive nipples. She was enjoying her exploration from the sounds of her approval as her hands skimmed down over his six-pack, her fingers tickling him pleasantly as she allowed them to follow every ridge and dip. His gaze turned darker as he lowered his hands to her ass to gently grind his ever-present arousal against her belly. He felt as Lizzie broke the kiss to nip along his strong jaw, running her soft little tongue on the skin of his neck. Shafts of pleasure raced down his spine as he quickly lifted her so her firm thighs were clenching at his waist. His rough fingers made her moan as he ran one hand up her silken leg and back again to clutch her succulent cheek under her dress. His groans filled the hallway as he tried not to come in his jeans at the feel of her satin G-string as her only undergarment. He leaned her against the wall, now thrusting more vigorously against her now exposed panties.

“Lizzie, baby, I need you. I need you now. Please let me love you,” Ben whispered harshly against her ear, almost afraid that he was verbalizing the truth of the words.

“Ben, we can’t, not in your parents’ house, not after their announcement,” Lizzie panted.

“They will be too busy to notice us gone for the next few minutes, baby,” he whispered again.

Without waiting for her reply, Ben held her more securely in his arms and walked into the bathroom, quietly shutting the door with his foot. Not needing the light, he slashed his mouth across hers in demonstration of his desperation. He used one hand to roughly yank his zipper down his pants as he shoved her against the back of the door.

“Ben!” Lizzie whispered softly in delight as he ran one finger across her plump, sensitive labia and into her cream that was now soaking her thighs and his lower belly. Her panting increased as he dipped two fingers back into her clenching channel and drew her moisture back to her rosette. Fueled by her gasps, he carefully inserted one finger this time effortlessly into her tightness up to one knuckle, pulling it out almost immediately much to her dismay. He thought he was going to fucking explode if he didn’t get inside her soon, so he quickly moved to now slide two fingers back into her rear.

“Please, Ben, please! Now, please,” Lizzie chanted as he hungrily sucked her tongue into his heated mouth. Their mouths twisted against each other, gasping and nipping as they ate at each other hungrily. With their tongues twining over and over again, Ben could hear her hitched breathing as she dangled on the precipice of her pleasure. He moved the fingers on his other hand so he could roughly pull the string of her panties aside as he surged up in one firm stroke into her silken wet heat.

“Oh fucking hell, baby. Fuck, fuck,” Ben whispered as he pumped himself almost violently into her welcoming body. He thought he was in heaven as her tight channel clenched on his cock, sliding sensually along his sensitive skin. His sounds of pleasure were muted only by gritting his teeth as he ravaged her and by using his arm to muffle the sounds of their banging against the door. The sheer ecstasy of feeling her soaked pussy caress his cock each time he pulled out and plunged back in almost sent him over the edge. He ground his groin against her clit in a circular motion as she let out a shuddering tremble and bit his neck hard, trying to quell her screams of pleasure. It was her uninhibited bite and the small pain that had pleasure roaring from his cock as he pumped his cum into her in almost an animalistic frenzy.

Sounds of their rough breathing filled the small, dark space as his thrusts lessened to gentle strokes as he kissed her tenderly. What the hell was it about her that made him lose it every time? He got scared and he fucked the shit out of her last week. He was so overjoyed with the news that he was going to be an uncle and he took her like an animal in the upstairs bathroom. Ben guessed that it was just another thing to figure out concerning his relationship with Lizzie. Why was it that every time he got emotional he felt the need to take Lizzie, gently, roughly, on the floor? He would figure it but not now though. He just savored the moment briefly as he ran his hands over her curves possessively. Lizzie Carmichael was his and he had just marked her again, as the evidence began to sensually drip from their joined bodies to prove it. The devil in him approved but the angel in him reminded him of his mistake yet again.

“Lizzie, honey, I’m sorry, baby. You looked so gorgeous in this dress and then you barely had anything on underneath it and well…” Ben stammered out his apology.

“Ugh men, why do you have to ruin the moment? I am fine, Ben, we will be more careful or abstain for another three weeks, honey. Don’t worry. I should worry. How will I face your family down there?” she whispered to him nervously.

“Trust me, no one is going to notice with all the celebrating going on and hell no, we aren’t going to abstain! I wouldn’t survive it with the way you look. Nope, we are just going to have use more caution for the remaining time until I can take you bareback again,” Ben said with authority. He grinned audaciously at her and continued. “Thank you, baby. Thank you for making me feel so good and for allowing me to have someone to share this with, someone special that is.” Ben stumbled through, trying to comfort her and share his feelings.

“If this is how you express yourself, Mr. Powell, please feel free to do it more often, okay,” Lizzie teased.

“Put your money where your mouth is, baby,” Ben returned as they walked hand in hand down the stairs. Lizzie gave him a naughty look as Billie launched herself at them. Hugging them in a tight embrace, she ran her eyes knowingly over Lizzie and with surprise shifted them to Ben, pulling on his shirt.

“Don’t let them see that bite mark! If they do, you and Ben are never going to live that one down, oops, sorry! Hormones!” Billie giggled as she skipped back over to Jackson.

Lizzie just sighed as she had a feeling that was going to be her catch phrase for the next nine months. She wondered if all Sunday dinners at the Powells’ were going to be this emotionally turbulent and this exciting.

A week had gone by. It was a whole week that had consisted of fantasy and frustration. Every morning, the sweetest face in the world was at her door to bring her to work. That same face peppered her with hungry kisses from the moment the door opened and continued until he walked her to the door of the café. It was that same face that picked her up at the end of the day looking like he couldn’t wait to be near her yet again. That face, the one that even without words was expressing his increasing delight at being in her presence, would light up as he spied her gathering her things. Lizzie would find herself enveloped with his comforting embrace, a feeling that was rapidly becoming an addiction.

The alien sensations of adoration, love, contentment, security, and trust were her new armor against everything that had ever caused her fear in her life. Every day she found these feelings being reinforced, contrary to her expectations that they would dissolve away, leaving her back in her prior state of vulnerability. Was she crazy to hope that someone, the special someone that she had been waiting for, was falling in love with little Ms. Carmichael? It was such a captivating dream, so sweet that she was afraid to dwell on it for fear that she was wrong or worse. What would she do if and when Ben decided that it was time for him to move on, that he had lost interest? Oh, he had interest at the moment all right since he hadn’t stopped touching her since last Sunday.

As she lay in her bed on Saturday morning, she recalled her “date” with Ben last night. A small argument had ensued last evening when he told her, not asked, but told her that the entire family and friends would be over Sunday to put a new roof on her house. He had nailed several tarps over her leaks that had become waterfalls during the storm that also took her car. Apparently that storm also took his sense of fairness, too, as he seemed to find it appropriate, now that they were intimate, to try to run roughshod over her life and her opinions. Well, not all the time and sometimes she actually felt herself almost, well, enjoying the feeling of being taken care of. It wasn’t that she couldn’t do it herself but had pleasure that someone else wanted to, something else that felt foreign to her. The small skirmish was over her concern of where the money for the roofing materials was magically appearing from and that everyone was giving up their free or not-so-free time. The Rugged Hill Ranch, the Green River Ranch, Wild Mustang Ranch, etc…they didn’t run by themselves so all the men were being inconvenienced, in her opinion. She didn’t want anyone to put any stress on anyone else to help her deal with what she felt was solely her problem.

Ben hadn’t answered her opinion, not in words, as usual. His eyes had taken on a darker shade of green as he had stalked her around the couch that she tried to keep between their bodies. In one smooth maneuver, he vaulted over the back of the furniture and almost soundlessly landed right in front of her, cutting off her escape. Damn all that ranch work that left him nimble and fit.

Lizzie sat there smiling at the memory of their “quarrel.” They should quarrel like that every darned day in her opinion.

“Ben, I can’t afford a new roof. I can’t afford the leaking one that I have got for heaven’s sake!” Lizzie craned her neck all the way back to try to look him in the eye.

Ben had looked bored and unconcerned with her tone. Instead, he seemed to get taller, if possible, and appeared more interested with the outline of her breasts in her blue silk shirt than the conversation.

“Ben! Are you listening to me? Focus please.” Lizzie tried to hold his attention on the subject.

“I am very focused, baby, on what is important,” he said, allowing his palm to plump up her right breast, as though measuring it. She shivered as she felt him lightly run his thumb over her beaded nub now pressing against the silk.

“But, Ben…” Lizzie tried again.

“No buts, baby. What is important is that your roof doesn’t cave in on your head. What is important is that you are mine to take care of, mine. Get it? What is the most important is you. You need to be safe, you need to not be stressed, and I need to make you feel what you make me feel inside. The roof will be taken care of on Sunday,” Ben finished with a sense of finality.

Lizzie, however, would not be easily deterred. “If you would just listen for a moment, Ben…”

“Lizzie, baby, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. What is it going to be?” Ben had evilly asked her as he cut her off. He looked amused and too darned cocky. Well, what else was new?

Lizzie had backed herself up a bit in an attempt at self-preservation. “I have a feeling, Ben, that either way it is going to end up being your way, right? It is all going to have the same outcome.”

All Ben had done was nod in his affirmation. Lizzie had let out a very unladylike sigh of resignation and allowed him to reach out for her with both of his long arms. Instead of crushing her to him, overpowering her will, making her melt under his dominant passion like he usually loved to do, he had gently allowed his hands to run down her arms. The caress had created tingles in its wake, probably as he had intended, causing her to immediately forget her anger at his arrogance and focus on the slow burn of desire he was igniting within her body. His fingers were moving slowly and deliberately down her silken skin, memorizing the texture. He had closed his eyes as though the touch of any part of her body was enough to give him the pleasure that was displayed on his face. She had felt his fingers twine with hers as his body lightly leaned over her frame. Ben inhaled her scent and rubbed his smooth cheek along the nape of her neck which she had tilted to encourage his affection. Lizzie had felt his need as he continued to nuzzle her, much like she has seen his horse Cuff do to him. Lizzie smiled as she recalled the image, wondering if that man thought of her as another possession, like Cuff. Oh, who cared? He always made her feel so wanted, so loved and even the argument was because he had been trying to take care of her. They were hardly the actions of a man who didn’t care for her, as a person. She had lifted her head seeking his kiss, his brand, some intimate contact to satisfy her craving. He hadn’t denied her and lightly allowed his lips to roll over hers in a gentle caress. Ben had sipped and nipped at her lower lip while taking their joined hands and running them up her ribs and belly. He turned their hands so that her palms had been the ones flat against her curvaceous form and slid them until they rested just below her full breasts. His head had withdrawn just a fraction so he could gaze into her face, as though trying to gauge her reaction as he had used his intertwined finger to stroke over her distended nipples. Her breath had caught as the featherlight stimuli sent her core to quiver with pleasure rocketing to her thighs. She had noticed his face take a more serious, dark look as he withdrew one hand to undo her shorts. The act alone made her dampen her thong with excitement as he had deliberately allowed his fingers to make contact with the skin of her lower belly and outer mound. She had watched as he pulled that hand up briefly to lick his fingers and then slid them back down over her bare labia and clit. Her knees began to weaken with his covert attack of sexual intent. He had known how to shut her up but wasn’t going to make it easy for her.