He closed his eyes. “You’re better than you think.”
“I’ll try very hard,” I said softly.
Ben opened his eyes, then leaned up and caught my mouth with his, wrapping his arm around my waist. In one fluid movement, he picked me up and rose to his feet. “Come with me,” he said gruffly, and strode toward the sliding door.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, feeling the delicious heat of his bare chest against mine. “Ben Laderman. Now that I’m your boss, shouldn’t I be the one ordering you around?”
He lifted me higher, walking quickly through the living room and into my bedroom. “I’m pretty sure you’ve been doing that for months, Stoner.”
“Yes,” I said. “But now it’s official. You’re my submissive.”
He stopped abruptly in front of my bed and, before I could say anything, tossed me on it. I bounced once against the mattress, and he gripped my ankles and tugged me toward him.
“Lee.” Ben’s eyes darkened as he stared down at me. “Take your leggings off.”
The change in tone surprised me. Curious, I leaned forward and pulled them off, leg by leg, feeling the bite of cool air against my legs.
He bent over the bed toward me and tugged at my panties. “Now these.”
I took a deep breath, hooked my thumbs under the seam and slid the panties down, without dropping Ben’s eyes. I was lying in bed naked and light-headed. It had been too long since I’d touched him. My body was starved.
The look on his face was so serious I got a chill. “Don’t move,” he said, and slid a hand over my knee and up my thigh, tantalizingly slow. The small calluses on his fingers from lifting weights gave me goose bumps. I lifted my hips out of instinct, seeking more contact, and his eyes hardened. “Don’t. Move.”
Oh.Suddenly I did not mind Ben was ignoring everything I’d said about being his boss. I stilled completely, heart racing, as Ben’s hand continued up my thigh, until he found me between my legs. His fingers moved idly, sliding over me, circling the center. He leaned closer, until I could feel his breath on my chest each time he exhaled, and his eyes remained serious, the blue rings around his irises dark. His face filled my vision as his fingers stroked me, the pressure so light I thought I would scream, except the look in his eyes kept me from moving. And then he pushed his fingers inside me.
I shuddered, body tensing, as he brought me to the edge. I closed my eyes—I couldn’t help it. I was going to explode.
“I want you to come, Stoner,” Ben said, his fingers working inside me. And I did, my body lifting off the bed.
“Please,” I begged, reaching a hand below his waist, where I could feel him, rock-hard against the front of his jeans.
Ben unclasped his belt and tossed it aside, then took off his pants, climbing over me on the bed, his body a delicious pressure.
“See how good it can feel taking orders?” he whispered, smiling wickedly. “Now you know why I’ve grown to like it.”
An electric charge raced through me, making my nipples harden, making me wetter.
“This time I came prepared.” He held up a condom, then ripped the packaging. “Come here,” he said, and flipped onto his back, lifting me onto his lap, knowing what I craved. My hair had fallen out of my yoga bun and spilled over my shoulders. I sank down slowly, inch by inch, hands gripping Ben’s hard biceps, eyes squeezed closed as he filled me. The instant I could feel all of him my hips rocked, and he reached down and rubbed me. I was lost to it—I ground against him, forgoing breathing so I could kiss him, bite his bottom lip, steal his air for myself.
He sat up, fingers tangling in my hair, kissing me possessively as I pushed into him. His hands slid to my waist, rocking me up and down his hard length, his mouth at my throat. “I’m going to come again,” I said desperately, lips pressed into his thick dark hair, and in response he sucked my neck harder, bringing blood to the surface, pumping deeper into me, until my body went taut and then shattered. Ben kept his grip on my waist, kept moving me over him, a relentless, delicious pleasure, and then I was coming again. He kept going, stealing orgasms from me, my body no longer mine but his to coax and command. Finally, he took a deep breath, and I felt him tense and shudder.
His arms circled my waist and he pressed his forehead against mine. “Love you,” he whispered, his voice catching. I kissed him and we sank down into the bed.
“Anything else, boss?” He played with a piece of my hair and twisted it between his fingers. His eyes were tender. “Lee. Stoner. Senator.”
I looked at him sternly. “It’s Ms. Stone to you.”
Ben laughed and kissed the corner of my mouth, his lips trailing to my jaw, and then down to my neck.
“This is where you belong,” I told him. “Right here. Never leave.”
This was what the opposite of heartbreak must feel like. I thought about each of my Four Major Heartbreaks and smiled tenderly, no longer feeling any sting. Just tiny, baby, idiot Lee, doing the best she could.
Ben hummed against my skin.
I closed my eyes and remembered the day I’d discovered Ben was coming home, in the middle of Disney World, dressed like a fairy-tale princess. I still owed Daisy David a long-overdue thank-you note, come to think of it. She’d dragged me into the land of true love, and although I’d been resistant, look where I was now. What would I even say, after all that had happened? Maybe something like this:Daisy, Daisy, Daisy. Hat’s off, you minx. You sure called my bluff. Happy endings? Maybe they do exist, as long as they’re bespoke. A woman with love and power at the same time? Maybe not so stupid, after all. (Apologies for that wedding toast.) Was this your plan all along, Daisy? Could you read me—did you know, underneath, I was secretly a believer?
If so, what a long con. I can almost admire it.
