“If you would just stop moving around, I am sure that sleep would come easier.”
Teri didn’t know whose sleep he was talking about, but it didn’t matter. He was all worked up about something and Teri wasn’t going to push it. He seemed already on the cusp, his hard length pressing against her back. Teri didn’t want to push him.
Well, she didn’t subconsciously want to do it, but something happened with her when she thought about it some more and felt him against her. Her husband felt good, his body was nice and tight. Teri had many thoughts rushing into her brain, and they all included how good it would be to feel a guy like Ben. She shivered to think about it and Ben’s breathing changed.
“What? I am not squirming anymore,” Teri said with a hint of defense.
“No, but you are ready now. I can smell you.”
Teri didn’t ask for him to elaborate. If that was true and he could smell what was going on with her, how she wanted to explore her desires with him, Teri wished that she could hide it. He didn’t need to know that her curiosity had almost gotten the best of her. Almost being the key word.
They laid together in silence, Teri ready and Ben bothered, raging hard behind her. Teri didn’t think that sleep would ever come, but it did eventually. Ben was still so warm and being in his arms was right where she needed to be. Teri was out in moments, not worried at all about how long her husband stayed like that holding her, trying to sleep, but only getting more desperate by the hour. When she woke up, he was quick to let her go, but he avoided her eyes as they got ready to leave for another day. Teri wished she knew what he was thinking.
Chapter 13
Ben
Mark came through in the morning early and told Ben that there had been some movement overnight that they weren’t sure about. Mark wasn’t going to take any chances, so he wanted to keep them in the tent until they could find out who it was that had come close to where they were sleeping the night before.
“Do you really think it is something to worry about?”
Ben didn’t feel threatened, but his friend wanted to be cautious. He knew that he was going to have to be, but it was hard to do what was told. “I think we should always worry about safety. I can’t have anything happen to Teri. Do you think they are here for her?”
Mark shrugged. “I think they are here for any kind of leverage they can get on us. If they have leverage, then they can do what they can to get what we have. You know how this works.”
Ben did know how it worked, but that didn’t mean that he was ready to give in so easily. He was sure that if they could get there in one piece, everything would be okay. “Let’s just get there. I want her back home with me, safe and sound.”
“Is she everything you were hoping for?”
Ben didn’t know how to answer that. He had a feeling she would be when he was given the chance to know her better, but at the moment, he had no clue. At the moment, he was left out of those intimate details of his mate.
“I’m still not sure of that, Mark. Things are moving slower than I would like in that department.”
Mark just kind of looked at Ben like he had lost his mind. It didn’t take long for his mind to take it all in and spit out the conclusion. It was one that Ben wasn’t too fond to hear said out loud. “Wait, you two haven’t done it yet?” Mark asked incredulously. Ben didn’t want to answer but he didn’t have to, apparently it was written all over his face.
“You don’t seem to be the type that likes to wait. I mean, what the hell?”
Ben sighed loudly and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “What can I say? She just keeps turning me down? I can’t do anything with her if she doesn’t let me touch her.” Ben could hear the whine and complaint in his tone. It wasn’t all that attractive, but damned if it wasn’t how he felt. Ben felt like he was being gipped and he wanted her, really wanted her. She was his, they were married, that should be enough, but for some reason it wasn’t.
Mark tried to suppress his laughter, but he wasn’t very good at it, which made Ben annoyed as fuck. It was bad enough that he couldn’t have Teri, it was worse that people knew about it. Not only did Mark find it funny, but there was a moment of lust that no matter how much he tried to deny it, he couldn’t. There was a part of him that was trying his best to ignore it, but Teri wasn’t quite his yet and that was there for all to see. Ben could tell what Mark thought about her then. He was thinking about her in a sexual way. That was how everyone was going to look at Teri if they knew that she wasn’t spoken for. He had to get it done before they got back home, which wasn’t going to take but a couple more days.
“You really ought to get her under your wing, Ben.”
“Don’t tell anyone what I told you.”
Mark scoffed. “No one would want to hear it and I would never. That is your mate and privacy, I am sure that someday it is going to be a funny anecdote that you tell people, how long you had to chase her.”
He was changing his tune, making fun of the fact that Ben hadn’t gotten her to agree to it or not.
“Why don’t you just use the draw that you have on her? I am sure if you turned that up, she would be unable to say no to you. It’s not ideal, but it’s better than going back home with a virgin bride that everyone can smell. I can smell her, Ben.”
The conversation was ending badly and if Mark was having that hard of a time hiding his needs and desires, what was that to say about others that saw it? They would be pushed to try and take her, his wife. Ben wasn’t going to let it happen. When he told Mark that the rest of them could go and they would follow behind, Ben meant it. He needed some quiet contemplation time with Teri. He had to convince her of what he already knew to be true. They were meant to be together.
Mark left and Ben now had a lot on his mind. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do about Teri, but he needed to figure something out. She was already in his bed; would it be so hard to have her in his bed properly?
***
Teri woke up with a start, Ben watching her sleep and trying to figure out how he was going to get Teri underneath him. He must have had too much in his eyes because she subconsciously moved away from him. Ben saw it, didn’t like it, and tried to make his face more neutral. That was easier said than done, of course. He couldn’t be neutral about something that was so important. Teri was too important to pretend like she didn’t matter. She mattered the most.
