Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 101254 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101254 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
“Aunt Lily uses this exact recipe,” she says. “But she was cooking for a large crowd, and that’s different.”
I take another bite, relishing the deliciousness.
“I have flan for dessert,” Tessa says.
I nod.
But I already know what I want for dessert.
Chapter Forty-Three
Tessa
The way he’s looking at me…
I’ve seen that look in a man’s eyes before. Many times, of course.
He wants me.
And for once, that fact doesn’t frighten me.
It arouses me.
I want him to want me.
I’m ready for him to want me.
Because I want him, too.
If possible, I want him more than I’ve ever wanted a man before.
When both our plates are clean, I swallow, gathering my courage. “We could have our dessert later.”
“Are you sure?” he asks.
I nod a bit hesitantly—not because I’m actually hesitant, but because this is Ben Black. The billionaire extraordinaire who could have any woman on the planet. Can I measure up? Will I measure up?
Old Tessa wouldn’t have concerned herself with such thoughts. She would have let her hair down and seized the day.
“Say it, Tessa,” he commands. “Say you’re sure. Say you want me to take you to bed.”
I gulp down my last bit of apprehension. “I’m sure, Ben. I’m very sure. I’m feeling things with you I wasn’t sure I could ever feel again.”
His lips are on mine then, and the kiss is feral. So raw and untamed, and I welcome it.
I melt into him, into the kiss, into everything this represents. Not just the first time with a man I’m attracted to and who I think I might love, but the taking back of my body. Of my heart and soul.
This is Ben. Kind Ben who won’t harm me. Who’ll be with me every step of the way.
And there it is… That familiar tickle between my legs that I felt for the first time in what seemed like forever when Ben kissed me under the rain.
I let my hands wander over his broad shoulders, into his silky dark hair. He groans against me, a humming growl that I feel more than hear.
Ben’s aroma of leather and spice mingles with the scent of the Mexican food. He tastes of all three, his tongue like velvet against mine as our lips slide together in a kiss that is ferocious in its intensity.
Have I ever been kissed like this? Have I ever wanted a man this much?
Mere weeks ago, I didn’t think I’d ever want a man this close to me again.
But then Ben…
Sweet but commanding Ben, who refused to kiss me until the right time, who told me what would happen if he’d kissed me that night on the beach…
That’s going to happen now…and I want it.
I want it so much.
He breaks the kiss with a smack.
Disappointment surges through me. “Ben?” I say tentatively.
“I want to go slow with you, Tessa, but I—” He shakes his head. “I need you. I need to fuck you, and I need it now.”
I absently touch my finger to my lips, tender and swollen from our passionate kiss.
Ben’s eyes—they’re both on fire and haunted at the same time.
“What is it?” I ask.
“I have no business being here, asking this of you.” He threads his fingers through his hair.
I close the distance between us, cup his stubbled cheek. “You have every business being here. I invited you. I want you here. I want this.”
He grabs me by my waist and pulls me into him, the bulge in his jeans grinding into my tummy. “I’m giving you this one chance, Tessa,” he says. “If you ask me to leave, I’ll leave. But if you don’t, I’m going to fuck you. And it’s going to be hard and fast. It won’t be pretty. But it will be consensual, I assure you.”
His words travel into my ears and straight between my legs.
I’ve had pretty fucks. Lots of them. Right now I want Ben. I want to be with him, but I also want to give him what he needs.
“You deserve better,” he says before I have a chance to reply. “So tell me to leave, Tessa. Tell me to leave, and I will.”
I look into his burning brown eyes, into his soul.
Something torments him, and it’s not just how much he wants me in this moment. That’s part of it, but there’s more. Much more.
“Take what you need from me,” I say. “Please, Ben. I want this as much as you do.”
He inhales deeply. “I want to give you what you need, and I can’t right now.”
I look him right in his beautiful and tormented dark eyes. I want more than anything to ease his pain. Whatever is haunting him, I want to be the one to erase it. “What I need is what you need. I swear it.”
His mouth comes down on mine once more.
Everything. This is everything all at once. The feel of his tongue entwined with mine, the robust flavor of his mouth, the fullness of his lips, the spicy scent of him.