Unstoppable (A Country Roads Novel) (15 page)

“I look like a freaking poodle.”

“I’m going to have to strongly disagree with that.” He nibbled on her neck.

His hands came down to her thighs, and he pushed up the very large T-shirt she was wearing. He’d let her borrow one of his and it read Air Force across the chest. He’d worn it so many times that the gray fabric was ridiculously soft, and it felt good on her naked skin and bare breasts.

She hummed, unable to keep up her annoyance. It was impossible when he had his mouth on her. “Well, if you want a repeat performance in the shower you’re going to have to buy me some conditioner.”

“Mel, I’ll buy you a whole damn case,” he said just under the hollow of her ear.

He was wearing only a pair of boxers low on his hips, so his chest was completely bare. She put her palms flat against his stomach, her fingers going back and forth on his abs. As he kissed her neck Mel rested her head on his shoulder, and then she saw their reflection in the mirror.

“Oh, my God,” Mel said in another horrified whisper as she got a good look at his back.

“What is it this time?” He pulled back so he could look at her face.

“I, uh…” Mel trailed off as the heat rose to her cheeks. “I might’ve gotten a little carried away earlier.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Bennett, I scratched you.”

“What?” He looked over his shoulder at the mirror. “Holy shit,” he said as he got a look at the dozen or so scratch marks she’d made across his back. “I must’ve done something right.” He looked back at her, grinning like an idiot.

Something?
He’d done
everything
right. But she wasn’t going to tell him that. He didn’t need any more of an ego boost at the moment. No, not with that self-satisfied look that was plastered across his face.

“Looks like I’m not the only one who can’t control myself.”

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” she asked, still completely mortified.

“Yup. And I’m enjoying this, too. Enjoying
you
underneath my hands.” And those hands started an upward journey underneath her shirt. He ran his fingers across the swells of her breasts. “You are
soooo
soft,” he groaned, moving his hands down her sides and around to her back, and continuing south. He palmed her bottom and pulled her against his body. “I don’t think I’ll ever get over how your skin feels.”

Ever?
Ever was an awfully long time…and Mel wondered exactly how much of it she was going to get to spend with Bennett.

Shit. She was already in this too far. She was so totally screwed, both literally and figuratively, the literally being the much better part of the deal.

But she needed to talk to him, to explain things. Like how she’d never just jumped into bed with a man before. She needed to tell him that this was more than just lose-control-sex for her, tell him that she really liked him.

He had asked her to stay, and she thought it might have meant something. But what did it mean? She had no idea. Did he just want more sex? Or did he want to spend time with her?
Be
with her?

“Bennett.” She leaned back to look at him.

“Yeah?” He reached up and pushed away one of the many wayward curls behind her ear.

“Are you going to make me dinner now?” she asked, chickening out.

Yup, she was going to stay in the moment for just a little bit longer, and worry about her little heart later.

He gave her a slow, lazy grin that made her think of about a million other things besides food. “Absolutely,” he said, grabbing her hand and leading her into the kitchen.

After they finished eating and cleaned up, they lay down on the couch and started watching the third season of
Game of Thrones
.

His body was curled around hers, his front to her back. They were snuggled up under a blanket, and Bennett’s hand drifted under her shirt. He cupped her breast, his finger running back and forth across her nipple.

“Are you trying to distract me?” she asked.

“Hmm, maybe. Or I’m trying to comfort you,” he said as he kissed her neck. “You seem to be a little stressed out about what’s happening on the screen.”

“I’m always stressed out by what’s going on in this show. I’m always so nervous they’re going to kill somebody else off,” she said as the credits began to roll.

“Well, if you don’t want to watch anymore…” He let go of her breast and pulled his hand out from underneath her shirt. He reached over her and grabbed for the remote.

“Hey,” she said, swatting his hand away.

“You’re the one who said it was too much for you.”

“I can handle it.” She looked over her shoulder at him.

“I’ll just bet you can,” he grinned as he pressed his mouth to hers.

Mel turned in his arms, one of her legs riding up between his, and she stretched up to kiss him. “Is this what it’s like?” she asked running her hands across his chest.

“What what’s like?” he asked as he put his hand low on her belly. She’d borrowed a pair of his drawstring pajama pants, and he inched his fingers under the band at the top.

“Always wanting someone.”

“I have no idea.” He shook his head. “I’ve never wanted anyone this much.” His fingers continued to travel down to the promised land.

“It scares me,” she said, nervously biting her lip.

Bennett stopped his downward journey. He pulled his hand out from her pants and slid it under her body, wrapping it around her and holding her to him.

“Melanie,” he said softly, and he reached up with his other hand and cradled her face. He pulled her lip out of her teeth with his thumb.

“It’s just…it’s never happened like this before. Earlier…I’ve never done anything like that.”

“Anything like what?” he asked.

“Initiating sex. Bennett, I haven’t been with very many men,” she tried to explain.

He’d picked up on the fact that she was a little inexperienced from the list, but if he hadn’t read it he wouldn’t have had any clue. She’d been incredible in bed, and in the shower for that matter. Yeah, he’d figured out that she wasn’t a virgin real quick.

“How many is not very many?”

“Including you? Two.”

Two?
That wasn’t what he was expecting.

“You’ve only been with one other guy?” he asked, more than a little bit shocked.

“Yes,” she said slowly. “He was my boyfriend in college. And we’d dated seriously for a while. But I was never impulsive with him, and things were never quite that…um, explosive.”

“Meaning?”

“Well, I…you know…finished. But not like
that
. Not like how it is with you.”

“Mel, I’m not going to lie to you, I’ve been with more than two women. But nothing’s ever been like how it is with you.” He shook his head. “And I mean more than the sex.”

“Yeah?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “That wasn’t why I wanted you to stay.”

Her mouth quirked to the side in a shy smile, and Bennett couldn’t help but lean in and kiss her again.

“You know what else?” he asked.

“What?”

“It’s been a little while for me. I haven’t been with anyone since before the crash, over three years for sex or a relationship of any kind with a woman. Letting you in was scary for me, too.”

Terrifying
would have been a more accurate word. But holy hell, was being with her worth it. And damn, was he glad he’d been prepared. The condoms had been an impulse buy the day before. He hadn’t needed one in years.

“What made you get over your fears?”

“Who said I’ve gotten over them?” he asked.

“You’re still scared of little old me?”

“Well, you can be pretty vicious. I’ve got the scratch marks to prove it.” He grinned.

She punched him in the chest. “Shut up. I still can’t believe I did that.” She shook her head, a slight blush creeping up her cheeks.

Bennett didn’t think he’d ever get over how beautiful she was. Even in this moment, with no makeup, her hair a crazy mess, and wearing his oversized clothes, she was simply the most stunning woman he’d ever seen. And she had more passion in one of those crazy curls of hers than most people did in their entire being, and she’d shown him more than he’d ever imagined.

He wasn’t sure how ready he was for it, for her. But it was too late now. He was starting this relationship with her, and he was going to have to stop being a freaking coward.

He leaned in and kissed her again, trying to get past this new wave of fear. He pushed his tongue into her mouth while her hand wound around to his back, her fingers lightly moving across his skin as she traveled down. Her hand slipped under the back of his boxers, and she was grabbing nothing but his bare backside.

Bennett groaned, and a second later she was disentangling herself from him and getting off the couch.

“What?” He looked up at her, confused.

“Come on.” She held out her hand to him. “Let’s go back into your room, where there’s a bed. And condoms.”

“Good plan,” he said, quickly getting up. He took her hand and let her lead him down the hall.

Bennett wasn’t exactly a
wham, bam, thank you ma’am
kind of guy, but he’d never been one to cuddle after sex, or while sleeping, for that matter. He wasn’t much for cuddling, period.

Whenever he’d slept in a bed with a woman before, he’d made a point of staying on his side of the bed. And when that didn’t happen before he fell asleep, he somehow always made it to his side of the bed at some point during the night, wanting to be alone even subconsciously.

This was not the case with Mel.

Shocking.

No, Bennett woke up in much the same position he’d gone to sleep. Both he and Mel were still firmly stationed in the middle of the bed, his arms wrapped around her while she used his chest as a pillow. One of her legs was thrown over his, her thigh inching close to very dangerous territory. Her hand was curled around his neck and there was more of her hair covering him than the actual blanket, which she’d stolen.

Bennett had been more than a little nervous before he’d fallen asleep. His nightmares were fairly unpredictable, and he’d hate to have one when she was in the bed with him. They were more than traumatizing to him. They’d probably send Mel running for the hills. But she wasn’t running, at least not yet.

Mel moved in her sleep and her thigh inched up higher. This was a problem. It didn’t matter that he’d had sex with her four times. His need for her hadn’t even been touched, and his body was more than prepared for round five. Painfully so.

Bennett shifted, trying to get out of her oncoming path without waking her up. He was unsuccessful.

She opened her eyes and gave him a warm, sleepy smile that was now officially the sexiest thing he’d ever seen in his life.

“Morning.”

“Morning,” he said, brushing the hair back from her face. “You sleep okay?”

“Yeah. What time is it?” she yawned.

Bennett rolled slightly and looked at the alarm clock. “Almost nine,” he said, staring at the clock in disbelief. He hadn’t slept that late since before he’d joined the air force.

“Mmm.” She burrowed closer to him, put her lips on his chest, and trailed open-mouthed kisses across his skin.

Well, round five it is
, he thought as he rolled her onto her back.

Functioning without coffee was not a possibility for Mel. Well, it hadn’t been before. Apparently a Bennett-induced orgasm was leaps and bounds beyond caffeine, and it could quite possibly make Mel a morning person. Or help her leap tall buildings in a single bound.

Problem was, all of those orgasms had come at a price, and Mel could feel it in places all over her body.

“Holy cow,” she groaned as she stared up at Bennett’s ceiling. She was still trying to catch her breath and work up enough strength to move.

Yeah, that wasn’t going to be happening anytime soon.

“What?” Bennett asked. He was sprawled out on his back next to her, breathing just as hard.

“You’ve worked muscles on my body I didn’t even know I had.”

He rolled to his side and pressed up close to her. He ran his hand up her hip and to her stomach, his fingers spanning her belly. “Is that so?” he asked as he burrowed his face into her neck. “Do you need me to massage those sore muscles for you?”

“I think if you were to massage the muscles that are sore, we’d wind up doing things to make it worse.” She turned her head to look at him.

“Probably.” He grinned right before he pressed his lips to hers. “I’ll get you some Tylenol.”

He rolled out of bed and Mel closed her eyes, letting her body sink into the mattress. She dozed off briefly. When Bennett came back into the room he was carrying two mugs.

“I figured you needed something to wash the pills down with. And what better than coffee?”

Bennett was wearing a pair of boxers low on his hips. Mel, on the other hand, was still entirely naked, so she pulled the sheet up as she sat to keep her breasts covered.

“Mmm,” she said. “You know me so well.”

“I’m trying.” He kissed her on top of the head before he handed her a cup and sat down. “And what’s with this?” he asked, raising an eyebrow as he tugged at the sheet.

“Seriously?” She tried to hold the sheet up and not spill her coffee.

“Yup,” he grinned, tugging at the sheet again until it fell into her lap. “Let’s see how daring you can be to sip coffee with me just like this.”

“
Daring?
You just want to stare at my breasts.” She shook her head.

Sitting and having a conversation with her breasts on display was
soooo
not something Mel would ever do, but if he was going to challenge her, she most definitely wasn’t going to show fear.

“You got it. Besides, it isn’t like I haven’t had my mouth all over for them for the last day.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re such a guy.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing. I didn’t hear you complaining before,” he said, waggling his eyebrows at her.

“If my entire body didn’t hurt right now, and we didn’t have steaming cups of hot coffee in our hands, I’d grab that pillow and smack you in the face with it.”