Where I Belong

But I’m prepared.

“Talk to me.”

His lip twitches with that knowing smile of his and he slides out of me, grabbing me by my neck and sitting me up so we’re face to face. I’m pulled into his lap, my legs wrapped around his waist and he brings his mouth to mine. “And say what, angel? That I could kiss you for hours. That I love the taste of you on my tongue.” He licks along my bottom lip and I open up for him, allowing him the access we both want. He explores my mouth, breathing his fire into me and setting me ablaze from the inside out. And then he breaks our kiss and presses his lips to my ear, his hands holding me tightly against him. “You’re going to have to be specific. There are a lot of things I could say to you right now.” His voice is a low rumble, like thunder in the distance. He leans back and commands my attention with the storm in his eyes.

I shift in his lap so he brushes against my entrance. “I want all your words. I want to be filled with them so that when I go home, I’ll never forget how I made you feel.” I’m hovering over him, wet and ready when he grips my hips and prevents me from lowering myself onto him.

He brushes his lips along my jaw, nipping at my skin. “You are home,” he whispers. I lower my face into the crook of his neck, biting back the tears that sting my eyes. He strokes my hair with one hand, his other still firmly holding me above him. “I’ll always want this, Mia. I could have you every day for the rest of my life and I’d never get enough of you.”

“Me too,” I say, finally leaning back and letting him see my face. He reaches up and brushes the tear off my cheek with his thumb. A smile teases my lips and he gives me one in return. “Can I have it now?” I ask, shifting in his arms so he brushes against my *. A gasp escapes my lips when he applies the slightest amount of pressure to my swollen sex.

“You want it?”

I nod, slowly, emphasizing my desire. He eases me down onto him, grunting when I’m fully seated. I let him take the lead, moving my hips in the rhythm he wants. He keeps his eyes on my mouth, a constant of his that I love. He isn’t ashamed about his obsession with certain parts of my body and I’ll gladly let him stare at me with that wild hunger of his. His one hand digs into my hip while the other pushes on the center of my back, arching me up so he can take my left breast into his mouth.

“Ben, my God.”

I watch him leave bite marks all over my chest, whimpering each time I feel his teeth graze my skin. He tilts my head, giving him access to my neck while his other hand grabs my ass and grinds me into him. I rake down his back through his shirt and he groans against my shoulder.

“F*ck. Get there, baby. I’m not coming without you.”

I rock harder into him. “Bite me.” His teeth skim over my shoulder and then I feel it. The sharp sting that pulls a gasp out of me like I’ve been starving for a breath. “Ben.” My orgasm knots in my stomach, radiating up to my chest and I grab his face and make him look at me. “Coming. Now.” I can barely get my words out as my climax takes over, burning me from the inside out. I fall around him, a pile of embers as he gives me his release.

My eyes are already closing when he positions me on the bed so my head can rest on a pillow. And the sensation of the bed dipping next to me and his lips on my forehead are the last thing I register before I slip into a dream.

**

I know I’m alone before I open my eyes. His body isn’t tangled with mine, his breath isn’t blowing on my skin, and I simply feel like a part of me is missing. I rub my face into the pillow before opening my eyes. And there, lying in the spot that belongs to Ben is a bouquet of sunflowers. I could cry right here. And I do.

He remembered.





Chapter Seventeen


Ben

She was perfect.

No other woman got to me the way Mia did. No other woman will ever know what I need without me having to ask for it. I want control but I also want her to take what’s hers. To tell me what she needs when I might hesitate to give it to her. To demand I f*ck her harder, to bite her there, and to bare my soul to her.

And I almost said it.

I love you. The words were right there on the tip of my tongue but I swallowed them down.

I know she is waiting for my own admission before she gives me that heart of hers that she so fiercely protects. But once I have that last piece of her, I won’t be able to let her go. And how much of an a*shole would I be if I asked her to choose between going back to Georgia to take care of her mother and having a life with me? Mia is mine, and she’ll be mine forever, but I can’t have her two hundred miles away from me. And my only other option is packing up my shit and moving to Georgia with her, but that means leaving Nolan behind. Because of my screwed up situation with Angie, I’ll never be able to take him with me. Which means that I am f*cked.

Completely f*cked.

Leaving her this morning was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. She was an angel next to me, curling up against my body as if she couldn’t get close enough. I loved how our bodies sought each other’s even in sleep. We were completely intertwined, one entity instead of two. It was hard to tell where my body ended and hers began. And still, I needed her closer. I wanted her with me at all times. Every second I spent with Mia, I fell harder. And f*ck, I wanted to fall. I wanted to risk everything for something so unpredictable. Something I didn’t quite understand. Loving her was wild and I wanted more of it. I wanted all of it.

Figure out your shit, Kelly. Then make her yours.

My post Mia mood was tainted by the day I was having. Everything seemed to be going to shit and to top it off; I had a partner that was suddenly into sharing his feelings with me. By midmorning, I was very aware of the reasoning behind my sister’s tears the other night. And I couldn’t tell what bothered Luke more. The fact that he got dumped, or the fact that he had no f*cking clue as to why.

“It was completely out of nowhere,” he informs me for the hundredth time today as we patrol downtown Ruxton. No matter what topic I brought up or what the hell we were doing, Tessa crept into the conversation. I can’t say anything though. I did the same shit the other day when I couldn’t get my mind off Mia. “I know you really don’t care to know the details of my sex life.”

“No, but that’s never stopped you from sharing before.” In fact, he overshared most of the time. Luke didn’t have a filter when it came to his sex life, even when it involved my sister.

He exhales exhaustively, dropping his head back to the seat. “I just don’t get it. She was insatiable that night, and the next morning. I don’t think I have any semen left.”

“Jesus, man. I don’t want to know that shit.”

“Sorry. But what the f*ck? She goes from not being able to get enough of me one minute to dumping my ass the next. And she didn’t even give me a reason. I could f*cking work with a reason.” He starts scrolling through his phone, no doubt debating on sending her another pleading text message. I’ve had to stop him seven times already today from embarrassing himself.

“Do I need to throw that out the window?”

He shoves it back into his pocket with pure aggravation. “She didn’t say anything to you?”

He was in deep. I knew Luke was infatuated with Tessa, but I hadn’t realized until today that he was in love with her. I don’t think he knows that though, and if he does, I doubt he’ll admit it. Especially after getting dumped for the first time in his life. I turn the receiver volume up on the radio before answering. “No, in the ten minutes it’s been since you last asked me that same question, she hasn’t said anything to me. The only thing I know is that she looked really upset.” I begin tailing a car that is going twelve over the speed limit. I’d normally let it go if we weren’t currently in a school zone and I wasn’t in a shit mood. Having a kid has made me stricter on certain things, and the a*shole in front of me picked the wrong day to go a little heavy on the gas. We’ve already ticketed nine people today, all of whom decided it was in their best interest to give me an attitude. And once you argue over a driving violation with me, I’m not giving you a f*cking warning.