His lips curved up at a wicked tilt, and he stood slowly, instantly dwarfing me with his height. He slid his sunglasses into the V of his shirt, all lazy confidence. "What happens if I get my book back?"
My mouth went a little dry as I gauged the height and strength difference between us. "You… have to let me leave with the soap."
"And if I don't?" he asked just as calmly. He hadn't moved, but I got the feeling that the little bit of distance I had put between us wasn't going to mean much.
"Youtakeme to the store." There. He'd opened himself up to a logical snare, and I wasn't going to let him muscle his way out of it.
He hummed, looking up in thought. "That is a conundrum for me."
I waved the book tauntingly. "Which one will it be?"
Benjamin lunged for me, so fast I barely had the presence of mind to gasp and turn. He grabbed my free wrist in his large hand and then tugged me off balance until I fell into him with my back to his chest. Wrapping his strong arm around my middle, he pulled us both down into the chair. I fell heavily with him, but he caught me, trapping my legs between his, and settling me in a reclining position against his hard stomach and chest. I was so shocked, I didn't fight him when he moved me like a doll and forced my hands to open the book for him. "There. Now you still have the book and I'm still reading."
My temperature climbed two degrees higher, and I whooshed out a breath of surprise. "Benjamin."
He forced my hand to clumsily turn a page. "This is nice. See how safe this is?" He shimmied his shoulders like he was getting comfortable.
"Stop teasing," I gritted out, trying to fight him and realizing quickly that it was a losing battle.
"Never." Benjamin let my hands go but wrapped his arm around my waist, bringing his mouth close to my ear and sending a thrilled shiver down my arms. "I get you for one more week. And we do what I say." It sounded like a promise, a cipher hidden beneath translucent layers of forbidden thoughts.
And I'd been having a lot of those, lately. Forbidden thoughts. Although, maybe forbidden wasn't the right word. There was no reason I shouldn't enjoy the way that Benjamin's lean, toned body felt under me. There was no one to say that I couldn't relish the feel of his steel arm around my waist and daydream about what his sharp-cut, bow lips might feel like pressed against mine.
The only thing stopping me was… nerves. I hadn't lied when I'd said that his dick hadn't been the first one I'd touched. What he didn't know was that the one and only penis I'd come in physical contact with had left me with abysmal expectations.Half-hard, sloppy sex that had left me sticky and confused my first year of college, there really was no better birth control than that—well, except the implant I had in my arm. Regardless, I honestly had no desire to repeat the experience.
Or… I'd thought so. Literally coming face-to-face with my dick fears in the form of Benjamin's rock hard, intriguinglylengthyerection might have piqued my curiosity again. But that was bad. Unprofessional. Very wrong. Right?
I wiggled, this time focusing on pushing my ass against his pelvis. To my satisfaction, he stiffened, his arm going rigid around me and his chest halting. Getting close to Benjamin, teasing him, poking away at his defenses—I'd noticed that it left him speechless. And I needed him a little foggy. "If I don't keep my business afloat, then all of this will be for nothing. I'll have no life to protect, Benjamin."
He remembered how to breathe again, and his chest pushed against my back as he filled his lungs and exhaled in irritation. "Logistically, it doesn't work. If we both leave, then anyone can sneak onto the property, and it leaves your family undefended. If you leave by yourself, obviously, there's no one to take you to the ER when you inevitably get your nose broken again."
"Micah is ex-military, too," I argued, twisting to look at him. "He was in the military for twenty years before he transitioned and theynot so politelyencouraged him to not renew his contract. He's the real deal. I'll leave here in the car where I'm safe with you and only stop when I'm there and safe with him."
Benjamin looked beleaguered. "It's a terrible idea. I'm sure he's competent, but that doesn't account for your drive there and back."
"I'll lock the doors," I said. "And Micah can unload the soap. If you want, I can stay in the car the entire time."
He let his head fall back against the seat. "You have to wear one of the tracking tags the whole time."
"I'll put it in my bra," I promised.
"And you stopnowhere," he added, picking up his head again and glaring. "From here to there, and straight back here."
"Absolutely," I nodded.
"This is a terrible idea."
I lightly fluffed his curly, dark hair playfully. "You worry too much."
His weary expression in return told me I clearly didn't worry enough. But we'd been "visitor"-free for days, now. The security system they'd installed was, frankly, overkill. There were sensors completely surrounding the property so that anyone who crossed would trip an alarm. There were cameras at every conceivable angle around the houses, and short of actually booby trapping the property, I didn't think it could get more secure. It was working. This would work.
We packed the boxes of brightly colored beeswax soap into the back of my little EV. Benjamin looked grim the whole time, glancing back at Nan's cottage and my car like he wasn't sure where he wanted to be. I patted his chiseled bicep consolingly and reminded him that Micah knew I was coming and would meet me in the back. As I opened the driver's side door, Benjamin stopped me by bracing his arm across the open car door and crowding me with his height. I tipped my head back to stare at him in question, and his jaw flexed as he looked away. "I have a funny feeling."
I cocked my head. I wasn't one to ignore feelings, but what could he possibly be sensing when I hadn't even left yet? "I have to work."
"Evelyn, I mean it." He slid an intense stare down to me, and this close, I made out little streaks of yellow that tinted his blue eyes, like sunflowers against a bright summer sky. "Stay in the car."
"I said I would," I replied with a hint of umbrage.
