Page 46 of Fighter
“Tell me now if you want me to stop,” I whispered thickly, “and I will let you go. But if you tell me otherwise, I want to do what I've been dying to do since you walked in the gym.”
Her eyes were mere glimmers in the darkness as she studied me, and I wondered what she saw. Did she fear me like she feared her brother? Did shewantme to ravish her with a kiss that would burn us both?
How could she not feel this power between us?
Words came to her lips, but never materialized. She seemed locked in a battle until her hand slipped across my collar bone and onto my neck. I shivered at the heat of her palm on my open skin.
Her hand came to my face next, the palm resting against my cheek. Starved for the touch, I closed my eyes and leaned into it. Her fingers curled slightly, accepting the desperate movement.
“Ben,” she whispered. “I—”
The crushing sound of my phone broke the quiet house. I muttered a curse when the ringtone of the songLet the Bodies Hit the Floorpeeled through the air. If it were any other caller, I could have ignored it.
But I couldn't. Not this one. This call was trouble.
I pressed my cheek to hers and drew in another tantalizing, torturous breath. The coconut twined through my nose until it hit my brain and I thought I'd lose it. My grip on her waist increased until I thought I'd drop her to the couch and kiss her there, but I pulled away. The moment shattered.
“I'm sorry,” I whispered, my lips against her cheek. “I can't ignore that.”
With a growl, I let her go, stalked to the other side of the room, and clicked theacceptbutton just to get the stupid song to shut up. Then I snapped, “What?” into the phone.
“Benjamin,” my sister-in-law Mallory drawled, but there was an edge of sharpness to her tone that didn't mean anything positive. “Always so good to hear your radiant voice. I call with news. Brace yourself. You aren't going to like it.”
15
Serafina
When Benjamin shoved away from me and crossed the room like a wary panther, my mind scattered like a dozen whirling butterflies.
Geeeeez. What just happened?
My hands trembled as I lowered to the couch and pushed my hair out of my face. Had I dreamed all that? The look in his eyes as he crossed the room to me, grabbed my hands, and then my heart? Hadn't I dreamed of this moment every day of my life the past few days and maybe before that too?
Yes.
And it ended on aphone call.
Disbelief permeated my every thought, followed by an intense rage. Couldn't he just ignore the phone? Not that the sharp, grating tones ofLet The Bodies Hit the Floorwere exactly subtle.
Who had that kind of ringtone anyway?
I'd heard his ring before and it was the normal trill of a cell phone. If he'd programmed that song for someone in particular, maybe it meant something else. With a shake of my head, I stopped that train.
I should be grateful to whoever called.
Benjamin was, no doubt, feeling affection for me. I'd brought him a delicious dinner, gifts for his daughter, evencookie doughwhich would soften any mortal's heart, and snuggled up to his daughter. Of course he wanted to kiss me, the lonely old codger. Because of me, he didn't have to wrestle his daughter's braids in the morning. If he'd get out more, maybe he wouldn't be so desperate.
That didn't sound right, but in my half-delirious state, and with trails of fire in place of where his hands had been on my body, I went with it.
Desperate.
Yes.
He was just lonely and I was here. Isthiswhy nannies ended up getting in trouble with the fathers of the children they took care of? The blurring of boundaries had powerful effects in a dark house after a satisfying day.
Except, no. I wasn't a nanny. No nanny came over on her day off, and certainly not to crackling tension like today had.
Or did they?
