Louise Bentley is a feisty, wild, 'let's-go-to-Capri-for-the-weekend-yeah?' kind of girl. She spends her days working at a party-planning company. Oh, and she never wants kids. Ever.
Ben Langford is a studious, quiet, 'I'm-busy-reading' sort of man...
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Ben half-carried her up the stairs.
Louise could feel her heart racing, knocking painfully against her ribcage. She'd never wanted someone so much before. Never been so desperate to have her hands everywhere, to have his hands everywhere. They collided with the bed, a whirl of tangled clothing.
She flopped back on the bed, tugging at his shirt in a silent demand. Ben grinned, tugging it over his head. Louise propped herself up slightly. She ran her hands over his chest, a musical instrument that she was leaning by instinct, memorizing the grooves and hard planes with her fingers. Ben closed his eyes.
She hesitated. "Is this okay?"
"More than okay."
"You can touch me, too," she whispered.
He held her gaze, his hands moving under her shirt, trailing pinpricks of stars along her skin. She wasn't sure that she was breathing. Wasn't sure that either of them were. The moment was a fragile, glimmering soap bubble.
Louise pulled her top off.
There was a moment — just a moment — where Ben kept his eyes on her face. As if out of habit. As if he was used to stopping himself from looking. Then Louise laced their hands, pressing a kiss to his wrist, and his eyes flicked down. Paused.
"Louise..."
"What?" she asked.
Ben shook his head. "If you don't want to do this, tell me now. I'm not sure how much more of this I can take."
A rush of something warm filled her. Louise stretched up, recapturing his mouth; he tasted of hospital coffee and peppermint toothpaste, and something like vanilla. Ben made a sound at the back of his mouth — it could have been a groan — and then his weight pressed against her, pinning her to the bed.
"God, I'm desperate for you," Ben murmured. "I've wanted you for so long."
His hands ran up her body. Gripped her hips. Louise arched her head back, and Ben pressed a trail of blazing kisses down her neck, his stubble tickling the sensitive skin.
"Me, too," she managed.
His words reverberated through her. "When I saw Sebastian speaking with you— at Vienna's birthday— I hated him." A kiss on her shoulder. "I had no idea why, but I wanted to hit him." A kiss above her breast.
"You were jealous?" The words were a gasp.
"Extremely."
Ben's green eyes were so dark they looked black. His hair was wild, and something about seeing him this undone — this hungry — had a pulse thundering through her. Louise shrugged out of her trackies, and then Ben's went too; she wrapped her bare legs around her waist, pulling him closer.
She knotted her hands in his hair. "I've wanted you ever since I saw you in the kitchen that day. I couldn't stop thinking about you."
