SEALs of Summer 2: A Military Romance Superbundle (137 page)

As their friends grouped around the ticket booth, laughing and joking with the young woman running it, Ben tugged her aside. “You’re a sight for sore eyes tonight.”

“You clean up pretty well yourself.” He looked more than good in a pair of black jeans, boots and a neatly pressed white shirt that buttoned up the front. But then Ben would look good no matter what he wore.

Or didn’t wear.

She wondered if her thoughts were plain to see on her face. Judging by Ben’s grin, she guessed they were.

“I’m sorry—for what I said earlier,” he began.

“Don’t worry about that.”

“I am worried about it.” He cut her off. “Let me have my say, Caitlyn.”

She waited uncomfortably, not wanting to make him go through with the apology.

“It’s been hard to get used to this.” He frowned down at his ankle. “I can’t help wondering why me sometimes, but I’m going to get past that. I swear I’m going to stop feeling sorry for myself and get back to being the man I know I can be.”

When she opened her mouth to speak, he took both her hands. “Hold on, now. Let me say it all. I don’t apologize much; better make the most of it.” He caught her gaze. “This injury makes me angry sometimes, but I had no call to take that out on you. I lied back there. Making it to the top of the salmon ladder was the best thing that’s happened to me in a long time, and not just because it proves I can still do it. Because it meant I was going to get to spend the evening with you. That’s all I want right now.”

“I want that too.” She wanted to match Ben’s honesty with her own. She wanted him to be clear exactly how she felt.

“Good.” His smile sent flutters through her. “Come on, let’s go have some fun.”

‡

B
en enjoyed himself
at the dance far more than he’d expected to. Their large group claimed several tables on the periphery of the room, so even when he couldn’t dance to the faster country songs the band was playing, he had plenty of company to talk to while he watched the others.

He assured Caitlyn he didn’t mind if she danced with other partners. He wanted her to have a good time and he could tell from the tapping of her toes that she was eager to join in. Mia’s husband, Luke, was the first to ask her for a dance and after that, the other women’s husbands took turns squiring her around the floor. After each number she came back to check on him, though, and when the music finally turned slower, he stood up.

“My turn.”

“Are you sure it’s all right?” Caitlyn took his hand but concern furrowed her brow.

“I can handle a slow dance.” He tugged her out onto the floor and pulled her close. She came into his embrace eagerly enough to put to rest his fears she might have found one of her other dance partners more appealing. As her arms circled his neck, he put his hands low on her hips and tugged her tight against him. With her cheek pressed against his shoulder, he felt like he’d finally come home.

As they swayed to the music, Ben realized he wouldn’t leave Chance Creek any time soon. Whatever it was he had with Caitlyn, he needed time to see it through. Dan had mentioned there might be a job for him teaching shooting skills to his extreme training camp clients. He hadn’t taken the idea seriously, but maybe it was time to start. He’d liked what he’d seen so far of life in this small town and he’d be a fool not to take the opportunity his friend was trying to hand him.

His arms tightened around Caitlyn as if she was his already. He hoped she was prepared to share her life with him because he meant to share his with her. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and when she glanced up, he bent to kiss her mouth, too.

“What was that for?” she asked with a smile.

“Because I can. I think I’ll do it again.” He gave her all the time in the world to pull back but she didn’t. Instead she stood on tiptoes to meet him. Their kiss was tender but passionate, too, and by the time it was done, Ben knew he’d be a goner if Caitlyn didn’t feel the same way he did. Suddenly, he had to know. He tilted her chin up with a finger. “I want to take you home tonight.” He waited, his heart pounding, for her answer.

When she nodded, he felt like he could conquer the world.

Caitlyn had never
known an evening to pass so quickly and so slowly at the same time. On the one hand, it was over in a blur of dancing, drinking and laughing with the crowd they’d come with. On the other hand the minutes stretched out endlessly until she could be alone with Ben. Finally Dan dropped them both off without comment at Caitlyn’s rental house on the outskirts of town. Ben walked her to her door, one hand on his cane and one on her waist as she fumbled in her purse to find her keys.

Her hand was shaking as she unlocked the front door and invited him in. She’d left a light burning in the living room and before she could turn on any more, Ben set his cane aside and pulled her into his arms for a soul-searing kiss. He leaned against the wall and tugged her to stand between his legs. Cupping the back of her head, he kissed her until her knees went weak and she had to cling to his shoulders for support.

“Caitlyn.” That was all he said, but she knew what he meant and she guided him quickly to her bedroom at the back of the house. She’d barely entered the room when he leaned his cane against the wall and took hold of her again. She melted into his arms as he kissed her a third time, so hungry for him she couldn’t stand to wait another minute. She hadn’t known a man could feel this good. It was like Ben’s arms had been made to hold her—his mouth made to kiss her.

“Am I going too fast?” He pulled back and she clung to him more tightly.

“You’re not going fast enough!” She gasped as his mouth slid to her neck and his hands cupped her bottom, tugging her tight against him. Her fingers tangled with the buttons on his shirt until she had it open and smoothed her hands across his chest. She rained kissed over the broad expanse of his skin and he found the zipper at the back of her dress and slowly began to tug it down.

When she shrugged her shoulders free of the dress and shimmied it off of her to fall in a puddle at her feet, he leaned back to get the full effect. “Beautiful.” She knew the cups of her bra plumped her breasts into soft mounds and her thong underwear did little to cover her. She basked in his appreciation as she disposed of these last few bits of fabric, enjoying the knowledge that he found her so attractive. Her skin burned under his gaze and she felt wanton with the thought of what was to come.

She pushed his shirt off of his shoulders and he tugged it the rest of the way off while she undid his belt and the button of his jeans. By the time she’d freed him of his pants and boxers, he was hard and ready for her. Caitlyn couldn’t resist. She pressed kisses to his collarbone, his chest, the flat planes of his stomach as she sunk to her knees.

Taking him into her mouth, she gloried in the size of him, aching with the knowledge that soon they’d make love. Ben groaned and tangled his hands in her hair as she drew him in and pulled back, again and again until she knew she’d taken him almost to the edge. His muscled legs framed her. Every inch of Ben was so male he made feel more feminine than she ever had before. She took her time, wanting to show him how beautiful she thought he was—how much he turned her on. When he finally drew her upward to stand before him again, the look in his eyes told her he wouldn’t be able to hold back much more.

She didn’t want him to hold back at all.

Ben swept her up into his arms and she wrapped her legs around his waist. Pressed against his hardness, she felt so good there she didn’t want him to move, but he grabbed his cane, held her with his free hand, carried her to the bed and laid her down on it. As he tossed his cane aside and climbed onto the bed too, her heart sped up in anticipation. She knew he’d feel so good inside of her.

He crouched above her. “Tell me how you like it.”

“Just like this.” She wanted Ben to keep looking at her like that forever.

With a groan of appreciation, Ben kneed her legs further apart and lowered himself down between them. She allowed him to explore her, his kisses waking up a long-repressed need. He cupped her breasts, kissing, licking and teasing first one nipple and then the other until she was aching with desire and begging him for more. She didn’t know how she’d gone so long without male companionship, but Ben was worth the wait. She ran her hands down his back and over his ass, urging him on, pulling him closer. She couldn’t wait much longer.

“Ben,” she implored.

His hardness nudged against her and she lifted her hips to invite him in, but Ben pulled back.

“Ben, please.”

He nudged her again. “Tell me what you want.”

“I want you—inside of me. Now.”

“Right now?” He grinned.

“Right now.”

He reached over the edge of the bed, fished a condom from his pants pocket and sheathed himself. “Ready?” he asked.

Caitlyn nodded and kissed him again. She’d never wanted anything more.

‡

B
en pressed slowly
inside of Caitlyn and groaned. He had to hold back from burying himself deep within her with one fast stroke. He wanted to be sure of her pleasure but her gasp when he entered her and the way she dug her fingers into his skin told him she felt as good as he did. He bent to kiss her and she met him hungrily, lifting her hips to meet his, urging him further inside.

When she’d taken him into her mouth earlier he’d thought he’d lose control then and there. Her tongue had done wicked things to him and the nip of her waist and curve of her hips as she knelt in front of him had driven him wild with desire to touch her all over.

Now he pulled out and stroked in, losing himself in making love to Caitlyn, and all the anger and pain of his last few months disappeared. Here in bed they were perfectly matched. His limp didn’t matter. He was just as much a man as he’d ever been. More, even. How could he not be with Caitlyn looking at him like that?

He stroked in again, tangling his fingers in hers and loving the way she moaned when he moved within her. She was luscious, beautiful and entirely unafraid to bare her sensual reactions to his gaze. As he picked up his pace, she met him stroke for stroke, wanting him as much as he wanted her.

He wanted to make it last forever, but Caitlyn was too beautiful, too close to ecstasy herself. She arched her back, bit her lip, and writhed beneath him until she came with a series of cries that carried him over the edge, too. As his release overwhelmed all his senses, he knew he’d never let Caitlyn go.

Caitlyn woke with
a gasp, knowing something was very different from her usual mornings. For one thing, the angle of the sunlight streaming in her bedroom window told her she’d slept far later than Lottie usually let her.

Speaking of Lottie—

Caitlyn surged upright, ready to scramble out of bed, and remembered only then that Lottie had spent the night with Ellie. As scenes from the dance played through her mind, she took in her clothes scattered across the bedroom floor.

Mixed with a man’s jeans and cotton shirt.

And boxers.

She turned slowly to take in Ben lying next to her, his grin as wide as a Montana sky.

“Morning, beautiful.”

“Morning,” she echoed, memories of their night cascading into her thoughts. They’d made love not once, but twice, the first time fast and explosive, the second time slow but oh-so-satisfying.

“Come here.”

She didn’t hesitate, already aching to feel Ben inside her again and she wasn’t disappointed by their third round of lovemaking. Ben fulfilled her every wish, making her feel sensual and womanly and—

A knock at the front door stopped them when they were well on their way to a fourth attempt.

“Shoot!” Caitlyn glanced at the clock and scrambled from the bed. “It’s Ellie. She’s bringing Lottie home. Don’t make a sound!”

“Don’t make a sound?” Ben shot her a puzzled look as she threw his clothing at him, but she raced from the room, donning a bathrobe as she went and shut the door before he could say anything else. She wasn’t ready for Ellie to know she’d spent a wild, passionate night with Ben.