Wilde for Him (20 page)

"Thanks." He gingerly eased her off his lap, and she straightened as he stood up, too, obviously ready to put an end to the personal conversation that had dredged up a whole lot of deeply buried and painful emotions for him.

Picking up his coffee mug, he carried it to the sink, then turned around to face her, his expression all serious business. "By the way, I did speak to your father while you were in the shower to let him know what, exactly, happened at the charity event, and he let me know that he received another threat today to drop out of the election, which also made reference to last night's drugging incident with you."

"He better not give in to those ultimatums," she said adamantly. As a family, they'd been in similar situations with his political career, and this campaign for governor was too important for her father to drop out over someone's blackmail attempt.

Ben leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. "He's going forward with the election, but he's definitely concerned about your safety, first and foremost, and we both decided that until the election is over you need to keep a low profile."

She didn't like the way that sounded. "Don't tell me that I have to stay cooped up in this house for the next week and a half. I know I had a close call this time, but I have a business to run and I'm not about to give this jerk the satisfaction of thinking he's scared me off."

Ben chuckled. "Yeah, your father said you'd react just like that, so we came to a compromise. No more public appearances until after the election, and that includes hanging out at Envy with your friends."

She lifted a brow, not at all surprised that he'd made Envy off-limits, which made her wonder if that was due more to the night club's crowded atmosphere, or Craig's presence there. "Whose decision was that?" she asked with a tip of her head. "Yours or my father's?"

"It was a mutual decision."

His expression gave nothing away, but she suspected that Ben was immensely pleased that she'd be keeping her distance from Craig. And honestly, she was fine with that. "I don't have anything scheduled until my birthday party at Envy, but that's after the election. So, until then, I'll keep things low-key."

"Perfect." He nodded his head in satisfaction and pushed away from the counter. "You've had a rough night, so you really should rest and take it easy today. As for me, I have some reports and paperwork to get done."

She recognized his comment as an excuse for him to put some distance between them. She wasn't sure if it was because of their intense conversation about his mother, or something else. But she understood his need to be alone, to think about everything he'd just shared, and for the rest of the day she'd give him the space that he seemed to need.

But come tonight, he was all hers.

Chapter Ten

STANDING in front of Ben's closed bedroom door at quarter after nine in the evening, Christine figured she had two choices. One, to heed all the subtle signals Ben had been giving off all day long to keep things nice and platonic between them, or two, to walk through the door separating her from the man she wanted in more ways than one and proceed to seduce him, and indulge in what surely would be the greatest pleasure she'd ever experienced.

Knowing her time with Ben was limited, her choice didn't require a whole lot of thought or debate. Embracing the latter option, along with her inner vixen, she opened the door and stepped inside the guest bedroom where Ben was reclining on his bed wearing just a pair of boxer briefs and reading a hardback spy novel.

As soon as she entered the room, he immediately sat up and placed his book on the nightstand, his entire body going taut in alert mode. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything is fine," she quickly assured him, and watched as he relaxed somewhat—except for the tentative look in his eyes as he took in what she was wearing. At the moment, all he could see was a bright red silk robe and her absolute favorite Christian Louboutin shoes—a pair of leopard print platform pumps that were lined in red and had a four-inch spiked heel.

"Nice outfit," he said, a hint of wry amusement underscoring his husky voice. "Are you going somewhere?"

She laughed at his attempt to keep things light and humorous when it was so obvious why she was there in his room. Slowly, she strolled toward where he was sitting on the edge of the mattress, and came to a stop in front of him within touching distance.

"The only place I'm going is wherever you take me tonight," she said, and tugged on the sash around her waist. She let the material unravel her like a gift, then let the thin strip of fabric drop to the floor. A sultry shrug of her shoulders, and the coverup slithered down her arms and fell to her feet in a pool of red silk. What she wore beneath—a red, sheer lace bra and matching panties—made Ben groan deep in his throat.

Retrieving the foil packets she'd tucked into her bra for safekeeping, she tossed the trio of condoms onto the bed beside Ben. "I'm yours to do with as you please," she said, daring him to take what she was offering.

His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard, and his hands curled into tight fists on his thighs. "Christine…"

Hearing the beginnings of a rejection starting to form, she pressed her fingers against his lips to stop the words she refused to let him speak. "I want this, and you, so badly, Ben," she whispered achingly. "Please don't tell me no. Not tonight."

Gently, he pulled her hand away from his mouth, his gaze dark with lust and something much more poignant that made her heart skip a beat. "I should tell you no and make you leave, but I can't." His hands slid to her hips, and he pulled her closer, between his spread legs. "I want you too much."

"I'm right where I want to be, Ben." There was so much truth to that statement, and the intensity of emotion she felt in that moment almost frightened her.

He said nothing more. Didn't bother to fight what they both so obviously wanted. In a quick, lithe move, he twisted toward the bed behind him and pulled her with him, lifting her slightly and tumbling her back so that she was sprawled in the middle of the mattress, his for the taking. He moved up next to her, his gaze devouring the soft swells of her breasts nearly spilling from the demi-cups of her bra, the dip and curve of her waist, and the flimsy scrap of lace covering her sex.

"You are so incredibly beautiful and sexy," he murmured as he traced an enticing trail between her breasts, then down her flat belly to the waistband of her panties. "I want to touch you, and kiss you, and taste you… everywhere." That same finger followed the patch of lace between her legs and pressed against the fabric that was already damp with desire. "Especially right here."

His gaze was hot with erotic intent and promises, and a shiver of anticipation coursed through her. "You can do anything you want to me, except one thing."

He stroked the inside of her thigh with his fingers, easing them apart so he could move his knee in between and move closer to her. "And that would be?"

She ran the tip of her tongue across her bottom lip. "No missionary position." It was all she knew, and this time with Ben was all about pleasure, excitement, and new, thrilling adventures.

"You don't have to worry about that," he said with a slow, wicked smile. "There are about a dozen other ways to get deep inside of you, and I want to try every single one of them."

His provocative words made her hot and eager, and anxious to experience it all. "Sounds like we're on the same page, then."

"Perfect." he said, then settled his mouth over hers.

With an unraveling sigh, she parted her lips for the caress of his tongue, and lost herself in a cloud of luxurious bliss. He seduced her with slow, deep, drugging kisses, the kind that gradually increased in heat and tempo, until he was claiming her mouth with a fierce, hungry demand that made her melt. One of his hands glided down her throat, across her shoulder, and pulled her bra strap down her arm, until she felt cool air brush across her bared breast.

She shivered, then moaned when he cupped the mound of flesh and caressed the taut peak with his thumb. He pulled the lace cup away from her other breast and plucked at her other nipple until it, too, was hard and aching. Feeling impatient for more, a soft, needy sound escaped her, but he took his own sweet time in arousing her and building the anticipation of what was to come, which only served to heighten her desire—and she was pretty sure he knew it, as well.

After a while his lips trailed along her jaw, and he nuzzled her neck before spreading more lazy, spine-tingling kisses down to her breast. He took her nipple into his warm, wet mouth, and sucked gently, over and over, drawing a gasp from her. Threading her fingers through his hair, she gripped his head and guided him to her other waiting breast. At his own leisure, he laved the plump flesh with his tongue—stroking, licking, swirling around and over the hard, sensitive crest, until she was panting and arching restlessly against the heat of his mouth.

Chuckling in pure amusement, he finally parted his lips and drew her deep into all that decadent, silky, wet heat. He sucked once again, and she felt that tantalizing pull all the way down to her weeping sex. Groaning, she clenched her thighs tight around the leg he'd wedged in between hers, and she could feel the steel length of his erection pressing against her hip. He was huge and hard and that's exactly what she wanted. Him. Deep inside of her. Filling her completely and giving her the orgasm building inside of her.

She reached down and cupped his shaft in her hand, stroking him through his boxer briefs. This time, it was him that groaned, deep and low. Releasing her breast, he grabbed her wrist and pinned her arm on the mattress beside her, then lifted his head to look down at her face.

"You keep doing that, and I'm not going to last very long," he drawled in a husky, lust-filled voice.

At the moment, she didn't care. "I want you inside of me."

"Don't be so impatient," he chided playfully as a sinfully sexy smile curved his lips. "I promise we're getting there, but I'm not done with you yet."

A moan of frustration slipped out of her. She was already burning up, her body already primed for his. "You're driving me crazy on purpose, aren't you?"

"It's called foreplay, sweetheart." He brought his hand back to her breast and lightly pinched the stiff peak, then soothed the sting with a featherlike brush of his thumb over the velvety crest. "I'm just getting you nice and ready for the good stuff."

"I thought this was the good stuff," she said, unsure of just how much more she could take of his sensual torment—or whatever else he had planned.

His fingers swept downward, tickling and teasing her belly with delicate, barely-there caresses that only served to electrify every nerve ending she possessed. "When it comes to sex, it's all good stuff, but the best is yet to come."

That made her laugh, which was something she'd never done in the bedroom with another guy. With Ben, it just felt so natural and right. "Pun intended?"

"Oh, most definitely." Quick and agile, he moved over her, straddling her thighs with his legs so that she couldn't move. He lowered his upper body to hers until they were face to face and his long fingers were tangled in her hair.

She felt deliciously trapped beneath him, unable to do anything but let him have his way with her. It was a little bit dangerous, and a whole lot arousing. The dark, hungry look in his eyes excited her even more, and she relished the heat and strength of his body pressing into hers, and the rasp of his lightly hair-covered chest against her smooth breasts.

With a gentle tug on her hair, he pulled her head back and skimmed his lips along the arch of her throat. "You're about to get your first lesson in oral sex," he murmured as he scattered tender love bites along her neck to her ear, rendering her breathless with not only his brazen words, but the feel of his mouth on her skin. "I'm going to go down on you and lick and suck your clit, and push my tongue deep inside of you until you come for me. Are you ready for that?"

She was already trembling inside, and because she trusted Ben so explicitly, she surrendered to him without hesitation. "Yes."

His lips captured hers again, and what began as a soulful and deep connection, eventually gave way to hot and primitive mating of their lips and tongues. His hands slid beneath her back, deftly unfastened her bra, and tossed the piece of lingerie aside. A moment later, his mouth paid homage to both of her breasts, bringing them alive with sensation once again before he continued his downward trek to her quivering belly. From there, he spread an agonizingly slow, damp trail of kisses around her navel, then hooked his fingers into the elastic band of her panties at her hips and started tugging the flimsy scrap of material down her thighs.

In order to remove them completely, he sat up so he could slide the panties down her legs and carefully maneuver them around her heeled pumps so they didn't get tangled. He dropped the bit of lace to the floor, then smoothed his hands up along the backs of her calves, gradually easing her legs wider and wider apart to make room for him in between.

Being completely naked in front of Ben for the first time, with the nightstand lamp leaving nothing to the imagination—and especially with him still wearing his boxer briefs!—she felt a small bout of modesty surge through her. Grasping for any kind of distraction, she caught sight of her red and leopard print heels and used them to divert his attention away from the fact that she was literally sprawled on the bed in front of him like an offering.

Not that he seemed to mind.

"Aren't you going to take off my shoes?" she asked on a ragged breath.

"Nope." He pressed a kiss on the inside of her bent knee, his breath fanning hot and moist against her skin. "They're sexy as hell and they're staying on."

Oh, God. Her heartbeat quickened as he licked and nibbled his way up the inside of her thigh, leaving a damp imprint behind with each lingering kiss, a reminder that he'd tasted that part of her body and was moving on to more carnal pleasures. When he reached the apex of her thighs, he draped her legs over his shoulders, brought his hands around so that he could splay them on her stomach to hold her down, and settled in for a more thorough exploration.