Page 54 of Waging War
I smack him lightly as our smiles touch. “That’s a lie and you know it.”
“Oh, how could I forget?” He searches my gaze for the amusement he’s after. “You look a little plain straddling that Harley of yours.” Nipping my bottom lip, he smiles wide. “A disappointment, truly.”
Gathering the front of his leather jacket in my hands, I laugh. “I hate you.”
Air whooshes from my lungs when he hooks a leg under my knee and shoves me back onto a mound of blankets. I’m stunned, reeling from the sudden rush as Ben removes his jacket and discards it somewhere behind him. He drops to his knees between my spread legs and crawls up my body.
“That’s a lie and you know it,” he repeats my words just before bringing his mouth to mine.
I gasp against his lips. He wastes no time being gentle, trailing his tongue across my lower lip, demanding access. I greedily welcome him in, twirling my tongue against his.
It’s familiar, yet something has changed from our last kiss to this one. Ben kisses me as if he knows me. His lips pull and suck, erasing any doubt, and instead, dragging me to a place where no one else can reach us.
I melt into the comforters underneath me like chocolate. I’m high on what he offers me, and like an addict, I want and want, though I know I’ll never get my fill.
Bucking my hips, I break our kiss and roll us so I’m straddling him. My thighs clench his legs between mine while I press the heels of my palms into his shoulders to keep him in place.
He looks as stunned as I felt just moments ago.
Don’t say it.
“You’re right,” I breathe unsteadily.
Hazel.
“I don’t hate you.”
He arches into me, proudly showing off the effect I have on him.
“What Ihate, is that I desire you.” I roll my hands over those broad shoulders and down along his triceps. “And Ihatethat, night and day, you’re all I can think about.” I lean in close, nibbling along his chin as he stares at me with hooded eyes.
“There are fifty different reasons why we shouldn’t do this, but what I hate the most is how much Ineedto.”
Ben’s pupils explode outward as I lift his shirt, and a breathless laugh rolls through my chest when he sits up to help me remove it. Reaching for the hem of mine, he tugs the material over my head and tosses it somewhere near the couch. “Your old man’s going to be furious about this.”
Ben knows it, I know it, but neither of us are willing to do a damn thing to stop it.
“I stopped caring the second I saw you at the garage tonight.”
Ben squeezes my wiggling hips so hard I hiss.
“Good, because this time, I won’t be giving you back.” He bucks himself against my core, and I’m surprised by the ecstasy flooding my chest as I turn my face upward.
Firelight dances across the old popcorn ceiling, and I wonder how many women have run here to escape similar situations as mine. I’ve not been beaten by the men I love, but what about my spirit?
The Christy House was meant to be a place where a woman could fall asleep and wake up knowing she was safe. It was a place meant to help her find herself and get her mind right before moving on to a new life.
Have I been pulled here for the very same reason?
“I’m so sick of other people trying to control me, Ben.” Bringing my gaze back down, I find him studying me intently. “At what point do I have a say in what I do with my life?”
Heat from the fire kisses my breasts, but it’s Ben’s attention that causes my nipples to harden. His rough hands scale up my torso, grazing the buds when he reaches the underside of my naked skin.
“You decide right now,” he says simply, as if the choice has been mine all along.
“Is it really that simple?” To leave the only safety I’ve known. To leave my family. It would kill me. But what other choice do I have?
Ben’s big frame envelops me as he guides my upper body toward his lips. He takes one nipple into the heat of his mouth before teasing it with his slick tongue.
