Page 9 of Into the Dawn (The Devil’s Claw #3)

9

VANESSA

B en’s hands slide down my legs, leaving tingles wherever they graze my skin. At my knees, he taps the inside of each leg, encouraging them wider.

Swallowing hard past my embarrassment, I do as I’m told. Right now, I’d do anything he tells me. I might not have followed him when he left, but I still belong to him.

As I shimmer the thin material down over my hips and let it fall to the floor around my ankles, he tightens his hold on my waist, refusing to let me step out of them.

Shifting forward on the edge of the sofa, he breathes deep and hums in pleasure.

“It’s nice not to be sneaking around this time.”

He lazily strokes a finger across my entrance then brings his glistening finger to his lips before licking off my arousal with a decadent moan. Slowly, he takes my hands and places them on his shoulders before he presses his mouth to my sex and devours me. His tongue strokes over my clit while he pushes one finger, then two, deep between my legs.

Keeping my balance by leaning on him, I shut my eyes as his fingers thrust inside me, curling to tease a bundle of nerves somewhere deep inside that I never knew I had.

“Ben!” I cry out, going up on my toes and rocking forward to escape the strength of the sensation, but a tug of my hips has me back where he wants me.

He sucks my clit between his lips, the tip of his tongue tormenting me, as I clamp down around his fingers and a climax barrels toward me, embarrassingly quick.

“Fuck. That’s it, Nessie. Give it to me.”

When he presses a third finger into me and sucks my clit even harder, I’m done. I break on him, my core convulsing around his hand, over and over again. An arm wraps around me to keep my legs from giving out as I hang my head, breathing hard, my body sagging against his while wave after wave of pleasure washes over me.

“Yes, yes. Fuck, that was amazing.”

Ben pulls me forward with the arm around my waist, and my legs buckle. Sitting on his lap, I curl up against his hard, bronzed chest and let my fingers slide down to rest against his massive pecs. Running one fingertip around the edges of the tattoo on his chest, I catch my breath, twitching with little aftershocks as my body recovers.

Wrapped up in Ben’s arms, I’m safe and protected, the way it should be. The very opposite of how I’ve made him feel. The realisation of how different we are, how good he is compared to me, rocks me. Even now, when he’s willing to risk it all to rescue the man who stepped in as a father figure when he had none, he’s giving to me rather than taking.

And I’m letting him.

His lips brush my hair as he whispers words of praise and encouragement, but I can’t hear past my own self-loathing. I turn my head to look up at him, and he smiles down at me, all of his earlier anger and confusion gone.

It’s just Ben and me, like we used to be.

With a sudden rush of clarity, of knowing that I’m going to do anything to keep this man alive, I stretch up and kiss him before he has the chance to pull back. The taste of my juices on his lips pushes me on.

He’s mine. Nobody is going to fuck with him. Not my dad, not Jed, not even me. When this is all over, I’m going to make sure Ben gets whatever he wants. John, freedom, me or a life where none of us bother him again. Because he deserves it.

“Nessie…”

Ben’s hesitant as I shift positions, swinging around so I’m facing him now, straddling his thick thighs. I pull back for a second, not because I’m listening to his mature, selfless bullshit about why this is a bad idea, but to rip off my top and hopefully end this argument before it even begins.

Ben groans, his eyes dropping to my heavy breasts. His hands come up to cup them, feeling their weight, brushing his thumbs over my nipples with a possessive growl.

Digging my hands into his dark curls, I press his head forward and bring one to his lips. He can’t resist.

With a pained groan, his mouth wraps around it, and his teeth graze my stiff peak, making me gasp at the jolt of pleasure it sends straight to my still sensitive core.

He stares at me, hard, his eyes blazing golden brown, and my beast reaches out to him, pleading for him to show he hasn’t moved on completely, to give us some hope. His length thickens and hardens beneath me, and I squirm, whimpering with need.

Something about the noise I make breaks Ben’s resistance. One arm slides under my ass to gather me harder to him, while the other slides into my hair, burying into the strands at the nape of my neck and holding me firmly in place.

With a surprised yelp, I let him lift me up, and in one swift movement, his cock is released from his boxers and pressing against my drenched core.

“This is going to make things complicated,” he mumbles, his mouth pressed to my breast once more as he greedily licks and sucks while keeping me suspended above him, taunting me with his broad head pressed right at my entrance. Yet he doesn’t move.

“It’s already complicated.” I pant, rolling my hips, trying to get his cock inside me.

I need it, crave it. This is torture.

For a brief second, when his fingers dig in painfully to my flesh, I think he’s going to turn me away, but then his body goes loose, and his hold turns possessive.

“Fuck it.”

With one brutal thrust of his hips, he impales me on his cock, and for a second, all's right with the world. This is how it should have been between us. Every night. Forever.

I cling to him, trying to think, trying to adjust to the stretch, but all I can feel is him, everywhere. His scent is in my lungs and his arms are around me. I pant as I breathe in his sweat mingling with mine and feel his breath on my skin. Hearing his words in my ear, and tasting him on my tongue, has my body purring. And now, his erection, buried to the hilt inside me, has me teetering on the brink.

Humming in pleasure, I rock my hips, and we both groan.

I knew it would be good, but I never… this is… wow. Just wow.

“Nessie, stay with me.”

Feeling drunk, I lock eyes with Ben, who’s staring up at me with unbridled lust, and despite feeling completely off-balance, I feel strong and confident. As he holds my gaze, he lifts his hips, thrusting up into me slowly, gently, then faster and harder.

I match his movements, gaining confidence in what I’m doing as something explosive builds between us.

“I’m not going to last, Nessie. It’s too good.” Shaking his head, Ben focuses on the spot between us where our bodies join, mesmerized. “You’re incredible. This is incredible.”

This. This is what I missed out on all those years ago.

Feeling bold, and for once in my life, strong, I take what I need, arching my back as Ben’s thumb finds my clit, and he strums it in a slow, steady rhythm, pushing us higher and higher.

His teeth nip at my nipple as he sucks my breast and licks a path around my areola, turning my brain to mush.

This is going to complicate things, and it’s a terrible idea, but it’s hard to care right now when I’ve got everything I’ve ever wanted right here, and I feel better than I ever have.

His stomach grazes my belly as he licks a path between my breasts, up to my neck.

“Mine.” He snarls against my skin. I shiver at the claim and the sheer male aggression coming through in his rough words. “No matter what happens, remember that, Nessie. You were mine first, and you always will be.”

I’ve never been anyone’s first choice but Ben’s, and to hear him demand my submission is enough to throw me over the edge of my climax. My body convulses around him, my core gripping him hard and claiming him as my own.

He bucks up into me, a string of expletives tumbling from his lips as each aftershock has my pussy pulsing around him. With a guttural shout, he presses me down as he thrusts his hips up, clamping me down against his powerful thighs. I feel every twitch and surge as he empties into me, and the hot splash of his seed paints my insides.

Gasping, I tug at his hair as it sets off a fresh wave of pleasure inside me that leaves me speechless while Ben continues to fixate on where my body joins with his.

“Yours,” I whisper, wrung out and exhausted, as I cling to his broad shoulders and sag against him.

Bundling me up in his arms, he holds me tightly as the chilly air cools the perspiration coating our bodies. Nothing, not even the cold nipping at my skin, could make me leave the cocoon of him, my mate, wrapped around me.

When Ben tries to move me, I whimper. “Don’t.”

Sighing, Ben stands, still inside me, and makes for my bedroom door. “You need to rest. We both do.”

His voice is husky, and the deep vibrations travel straight to my core. I can’t help it when I tighten around him once more, and he grunts, biting his lower lip as he ignores my body's attempts to start up round two.

“Stay with me, Ben. You can go back to hating me in the morning,” I mumble, not caring how desperate I sound.

This could be the last time we’re together, so I want to drag it out for as long as I can, but apparently, he doesn’t agree.

When he lowers me to the bed, one knee on the mattress, I moan, disappointed, as he slips from my body. I feel his stiff posture soften as I catch his wrist, imploring him not to go. Instead of leaving, he slides under the covers behind me and hooks an arm around my waist, pressing my back to his solid chest.

“Sleep, Nessie. Tomorrow’s going to be a big day.” As sleep tugs him under, he takes a deep lungful of my scent then exhales. “I’m not sure I can let you do this. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

I go completely still. “You have to let me help you, Ben.”

“Do I?” he mumbles, holding me closer as his breathing evens out, and he falls asleep, like he hasn’t got a care in the world. Like he hasn’t thrown our plans wide open.

Well, shit.