Page 75 of Cups of You

“Amber?”

She said nothing but leaned over brushing a kiss against his arm. In all their other dates, she had held back and let him come to her with kisses and touches of heat. She had held back and not pushed, but now she wondered if maybe he was waiting on her to make a move.

“Yes?” Amber asked softly. She wiped her hands on her apron as she turned. Benjamin’s eyes drifted closed as Amber traced her fingers over his freckles. She would never get tired of following their paths along the bridge of his nose cataloguing them like constellations in the sky, but for now, she forced herself to keep her focus.

“I can stop.”

“Don’t,” he said not hesitating to lean into her touch. “I don’t want you to stop, I just…”

Amber gazed at him her touch drifting over his thick eyebrows and curving around the shell of his ear.

“You just?”

“Are you sure?”

The question threw her off and her fingers paused as she tried to make sense of it. “Am I sure of what?”

He opened his eyes and the vulnerability in his gaze made her feel powerful. “Me?”

Where someone else might want to control, Amber wanted to protect. This man, this gentle giant with his never-ending smile, was hers to protect. She chuckled softly before guiding his lips down to hers.

This kiss was everything and nothing like the ones they had shared before. Even with the passion she had felt, there was always a part of her that held back. Not anymore. Amber kissed like she wanted to tattoo herself on Benjamin’s soul.

Amber’s breath hitched when she felt hands grip her hips and outright groaned when those same hands pulled her in and around until she felt the board press against her lower back. It wasn’t painful, but it was enflaming. She felt surrounded without being smothered. Everywhere was the scent of coffee, bread, and the unique spice that was all Benjamin.

“Fuck.”

Amber’s laugh bubbled out of her and she pulled back slightly to look at Benjamin. His face was flushed making his freckles stand out like they were in high definition. When he opened his eyes, they pinned Amber in place with the heat in them.

“I think that is the first time I have ever heard you curse.”

He snorted. “I curse, just not often. After I started losing money with Liv’s freaking swear jar, I forced myself to keep those words inside.”

“Swear jar?” Amber asked snorting at the thought of having one of those. She would go broke before the day was over more than likely.

Benjamin shook his head, but he was smiling as he cupped a hand against her cheek. “Yeah, yeah. Kiss now, laugh later.”

Amber’s answering giggle was lost beneath Benjamin’s lips and she could feel his lips smiling against hers before a swipe of his tongue had her groaning. Amber’s fingers tangled in the short hairs of his beard before the moved further north to wind their way through his hair. She gripped his thick strands and angled his head more opening her lips and granting him entrance.

Their tongues slid together and when the tip of his brushed the roof of her mouth, Amber groaned like she was dying. She sucked on his tongue in response and delighted in his rumbled moan. The hand that had been cupping her cheek, slid around until it gripped the back of her neck and Amber had never been so turned on in her life. Benjamin leaned over more making her bend back slightly. She couldn’t even complain about the position. Amber didn’t care how he bent her as long as they came sooner rather than later.

“Fuck,” he groaned again breath wafting over Amber’s face as he leaned back in for one more sucking kiss. “I need—”

“Anything,” she panted out. She didn’t care what she was agreeing to as long as it happened now.

Benjamin’s lips were on hers again even as his hands fell away, and he shifted. Amber didn’t have long to wait to know what his plans were. Before she could ask, the hands were back but this time on the back of her thighs as he lifted her plopping her onto the counter…

…and right on top of the ball of dough. Amber jerked up knocking their noses together. They broke away looking at each other in surprise. Amber was the one to give in first her lips parting on a bubble of laughter as she pointed at the counter.

“You sat me on the dough.”

Benjamin’s expression blanked for a moment before understanding spread over his face. He lifted her back up and brushed a hand over her ass laughing when the dough fell back down with a thump. His hand stayed on her even as he lowered her back down. Amber slid her hands from his hair enjoying how he shivered and closed his eyes.

“Maybe we should take this to a different location.”

His eyes opened and the heat there let Amber know. Tonight, was on.

TWENTY-NINE

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