‘Benji …’
He turned, ready to fight it out with her. But instead of anger, Sierra’s face was flushed with something that looked oddly like nerves.
As he watched, she slowly unzipped her jacket and shrugged out of it, exposing a siren red getup that looked more like a bathing suit than a shirt. The contraption pushed her tits up high. Her nipples were visibly hard beneath the flimsy fabric, making his mouth water.
‘I’m sorry, but I’m not gonna wait much longer. And I would rather it was you,’ she said quietly.
Reaching down, she yanked off her boots. But when her fingers found the button of her jeans, Benji finally found his voice. ‘Stop.’ He wanted to be the one to undress her.
She wavered. Doubt fluttered across her features, shaming him. How could she ever second guess that he wanted her? Christ, he was in love with her. He had been for years. Without a word, he disappeared into the tack room and then came back out immediately, this time carrying two sleeping bags that they rotated for medical overnights. It wasn’t the Ritz, but in Benji’s mind, the ranch house was as out of the question as the Wrangler’s Cabin, and even if he was ashamed by how little he could give her, she needed to understand what she was getting into. He had some savings, but not enough. Not even close.Yet.
Sierra smiled when she saw it. As if she knew his every thought, she said, ‘I don’t need frills, Benji. Just you.’
He laughed. ‘If you think this is frills, we might just make a go of it yet.’ But he held out his hand, and when she took it, he linked his fingers with hers, binding them together.
He guided her to the feed room, unlocked the door, and ushered her inside before closing them in relative privacy again. The room was a huge addition they’d put on the barn the year before. On one side, various feed and supplements for the horses were neatly contained and stored. On the other, square bales of hay and alfalfa were stacked to the ceiling, waiting to be used.
Benji used the hay hook to form a makeshift bed out of eight bales. When he was done, he spread the open sleeping bags over the platform, cushioning it as much as he could.
He took one deep breath and turned to face Sierra. ‘I know it’s not much.’ He thought about the college sophomores she’d taunted him with last summer and felt embarrassed because a college dorm at NYU had to be better than a bed of hay. ‘But it’s what I have right now.’
Sierra didn’t hesitate; she took a running leap and jumped into his arms. Her weight knocked him backwards, and even though Benji could have easily counteracted it, he didn’t. He caught her, let her body take them down, so that he was flat on his back on the makeshift bed and she was straddling his hips.
‘I know exactly who you are, Benji.’
‘Oh?’
She nipped his chin playfully, whispered, ‘Mine,’ in his ear.
Benji’s heart took a physical hit. It mattered, he realized. It mattered that she knew him intimately, knew what he had and what he lacked, and was choosing him anyway. And still, he had to warn her, ‘If we do this, that’s it. There’s nobody else for either of us.’
She nodded.
‘I need the words, Sierra.’
‘Only you.’
Everything settled. Calmed. ‘Only you,’ he repeated.
Helpless to resist, he reared into a seated position so that he could start on her clothes between long, searching kisses. His fingers slid under the thin straps of her top and slowly shifted them off her shoulders, revealing tantalizing inches of her flawlessly soft skin. And when he worked the garment down to her waist, exposing her heavy breasts to his gaze for the first time, the sound that left his lips was a rough, almost agonized groan.
He cupped her with his hands and rolled his thumbs over her nipples. ‘Fuck, Sierra. I’ve needed to see you like this for so long, baby.’
Her breath hitched. The sound was quick and surprised, maybe nervous.
Wanting to soothe her, he asked, ‘Do you know how many nights I’ve dreamt of you?’Leaning down, he circled one nipple with his tongue and then gently sucked the hard point into his mouth.
Sierra moaned and ground her hips over his erection. Her hands found his hair and gripped, pulling him back so that she could crush her mouth to his even as she guided his hand back to her breast.
Benji was mad for her. His blood ran hot. His lust was crazed, leaving his body in frenzied bursts of energy. But because it was their first time together, he asked, ‘What do you want, Sierra?’
She paused. Her face flushed with an uncharacteristic blush. She averted her gaze. ‘I … I’m not sure exactly.’
Benji stilled. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I may not have been entirely honest … Before.’ Her arms rose to cross her breasts, confusing him further. Sierra wasn’t self-conscious. Where was the wildling who had taunted him for years? Where was the woman who had hounded him until he’d had no choice but to fall asleep thinking about her?
He tipped her face up, forcing her gaze to his – and saw everything in those quicksand eyes. ‘You’re a virgin?’ he asked gently.
