Page 85 of Stick Side
“I’m glad you like it,” Ben chuckled as Melody continued to run her hands over the expanse of his delicious skin.
Ben smiled into her eyes before adding, “But I do hope this body of mine isn’t all you’re after.” He paused briefly. “Not that I could blame you if it was,” he said with a conspiratorial wink.
Despite his teasing manner, she couldn’t help but consider the way he’d told her only moments ago that her own beauty came from somewhere deep within. Ben gave the impression of being a very confident man, fully comfortable in his own skin, but did he crave the same sort of reassurance? To know that she sawhim? That she wanted the man and not the athlete?
How often was he left wondering what women truly wanted from him? Having grown up in the sport, as the daughter of a high-level coach, she’d heard stories about unscrupulous women who had schemed and connived to trap hockey players, not because they loved them, but because they wanted the glamour and riches of the lifestyle. Had Ben ever had to deal with that?
Her heart beat a steady tempo as she lifted her gaze to his. A feeling of deep connection slammed into her as her eyes linked with his. She felt lost but sheltered as she melted into his gaze.
There was something affable yet powerful in the way their gazes held. It was like an invisible bridge formed between them, connecting them on some soul-deep level. It was primal and undeniable.
She drew a calming breath and focused on the reassuring warmth in his eyes. It grounded her and made it easier for her tospeak the words she thought they both needed to hear. “As much as I’m enjoying all of this,” she said as she ran greedy hands over the broad expanse of his chest, physically demonstrating what she was so enjoying. “That’s not all I want,” she told him truthfully. She grazed her nails lightly over his pecs before marshaling her courage and adding, “What I really want isyou.”
Ben used the back of his fingers to tenderly graze her face. “I know that, sweetheart,” he reassured in a voice as smooth and round as a top-shelf cognac. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy hearing you say the words.”
Ben gathered her hands in his and pressed them over his heart. It beat a strong, steady rhythm. “In the event there’s any doubt in that beautiful mind of yours, I wantyou, too,” he said before brushing a gentle kiss along her hairline.
Something inside her relaxed at his words. She’d known this was going to be more than a simple mating of bodies, but there was something comforting about hearing him speak the words so plainly. She wanted him and he wanted her, but not just for tonight.
A sense of rightness settled over her as she allowed herself to fully embrace the moment. Without conscious thought, she lifted her hands to Ben’s face and allowed her fingers to lovingly caress the planes of his handsome visage. She couldn’t help but smile at the way he instinctively turned into her touch as if he, too, craved closer contact.
As he stared down at her, Ben’s face was soft and open and so devastatingly handsome her breath caught in her throat. She could barely believe the way he was looking at her. He was regarding her like she was some kind of treasure that had magically fallen into his clutches. It was the way she’d always dreamed a man would look at her one day. And here she was, right in the middle of her own fantasy brought to life.
Her need for him was the most powerful craving she’d ever had. Her center ached and throbbed. Her desire to be filled was so overpowering, it was almost painful. She’d never experienced anything like this before. He thought she was ready? Darn right she was ready. Ready to tear off their clothes and fully explore this incredible connection that sparked to life whenever they were within the same orbit.
She snaked her hands over his shoulders and pulled him down until every inch of their bodies was pressed intimately together. She ran her hands over the broad expanse of his back and shoulders, acquainting herself with yet another delicious area of his body. Then she moved on to the well-formed muscles of his lats and obliques before palming his powerful glutes. She couldn’t help but smile at the firm muscles. Hockey really did make for great butts.
Ben responded by pressing his hips into hers. She shivered when he nuzzled her neck with his bristly jaw.
“As much as I’m loving the press of my body against yours and those deliciously exploratory hands,” he revealed in a passion-roughened voice that made her shiver all the more forcefully, “I’m going to need a little more room to maneuver if I’m going to be able to return the favor and touch you the way I want.”
Candlelight flickered across his face as he hoisted himself up and looked down at her. His eyes twinkled in a way that was at once boyish and incredibly masculine.
He flashed a fiendish grin before dropping his lips to hers and proceeding to kiss the very breath out of her.
Her heart rate accelerated as he ran the pad of his thumb along the lacy fabric of her bra cup. She moaned at the way the warm brush of his fingers teased her sensitized skin.
Warm lips brushed against hers. “Don’t be afraid to talk to me, Melody,” Ben breathed against her lips. “Tell me if I do anything you don’t like.”
He lowered his face to her cleavage and nuzzled her breasts. He looked up and pinned her gaze with his, “And be sure to tell me if I do something youdolike.” Without breaking eye contact, he kissed the rounded curve of one breast and then the other before licking a steady line up her cleavage.
“That,” she gasped as a heady jolt of energy moved through her. “I like that. Alot.”
His answering smile was positively sinful. “Do you now?” he teased, a self-satisfied quirk playing at his lips.
His warm breath fanned her collarbone. “Let’s see what else you like.”
With a smile still curving his lips, Ben placed warm, open-mouthed kisses along her upper chest and shoulders before drawing back so he could reach lower. Now that he had more room to move around, he used his lips and tongue to explore her abdomen while his hand traced a tantalizing path of its own.
Her muscles contracted when he gently nipped the skin just above her belly button. She shuddered when he drew out the sensation by using his teeth to graze a path up her midline. She trembled further still when he blew a cool stream of air across her kiss-dampened skin.
His eyes twinkled. “I think you might like that, too,” he accurately deduced.
She couldn’t help but smile at the masculine pride she heard in his voice.
Melody gave a little jolt when his tongue traced the underside of her bra. He used his teeth to nibble at the fabric, startling her when he pulled gently and released, causing the fabric to lightly snap back against her skin. She wasn’t given time to recover her wits before Ben used his teeth to yank her bra cup down, exposing the round globe of her breast to his view for the first time.
Melody gasped, her breath coming in increasingly labored pants.
