Deep (Stage Dive, #4)(24)

“What? In the bar?”

A jut of the chin and he went back to examining my hair, carefully extracting another pin.

My hand slipped down, fingers skating over the side of his warm neck. The skin was so soft and smooth. “If it makes you feel any better, I pretty much want to scratch Karen and Meli’s eyes out with my bare hands. But that doesn’t change the situation here.”

The edges of his mouth turned down.

Fuck it. I edged forward, getting closer, leaning into his broad chest.

No.

No.

Apparently the dude seriously liked my hair. Because something in his pants was definitely making its presence felt against my stomach. The fire in my pants turned into a blazing inferno. I’m surprised we weren’t both incinerated on the spot. Everything low in me tensed, my thighs getting weak and strung out all at once. So this was what being really and truly f*ck-me-now-or-I’ll-die turned on felt like. And yet, leaning into the heat and strength of him, I also felt perfectly safe.

Just not from rejection.

“Ben?”

“Hmm?”

“What is this? Do you know what you’re doing?”

“What I shouldn’t be doing.”

He slid his hand down my back, drawing me in firmly against his erection. Oh yeah. I dug my fingers nails into his neck, holding on tight. If he tried to ditch me now, I’d kill him. No joke. Death by hairpins. It would be messy but highly necessary.

Lucky for him, he didn’t.

“I mean it,” he said, voice devastatingly low but certain. So beautifully, perfectly certain.

“Okay.”

He covered my hand with his, holding it against his skin. The small acceptance of me touching him turned me on almost as much as the heat of his body. I rocked against him, rubbing myself against his erection.

The man swore up a storm. “Fuck, Lizzy.”

“What a good idea.” My heavy head lolled to the side and his hot mouth was there, sucking, licking, and biting. My blood ran hot, racing through me at the speed of light. His teeth sunk just a little into my skin, making me moan. Then his hand slid down, cupping my ass through the silk of my dress, fingers digging in. And this was all nice, really nice. But I wanted to kiss him so bad.

“Let me…” I stretched up, looping my arms around his neck, dragging his mouth down to mine. Once, twice, he grazed my lips with his. The f*cking tease. And I had no control over him at all because, “You’re too tall!”

He laughed deep and dirty, hands sliding over my ass to lift me up. Genius. The man was a f*cking gorgeous, bearded, bass-playing, oversize genius. My legs went around his waist and the smile on his face—shit. It was a total smirk. Just this once, he could have it, and for the record, it looked damn good on him too.

“Better?” he asked.

“Yes.” I attached my lips to his and shoved my tongue into his mouth and kissed the man stupid. Just like I’d been dying to do for so long.

He groaned, one hand cupping my ass, the other rubbing and caressing the back of my neck. Encouraging me or holding me in place, I don’t know. Either way, it felt sublime. What was going on between my legs, meanwhile, the hard length of his cock rubbing just so, pretty much drove me out of my mind. When had sex gotten so good? My six-or-so-year abstinence had a lot to answer for, and yet I was damn glad I’d waited.

I kissed him deep, tasting and exploring. The feel of his beard brushing against my face, the soft slip of his hair through my hands. In lieu of actual f*cking, I’d done a lot of making out over the years. No one kissed like Ben, though. Though I’d started out in charge of the mouth-to-mouth, the battle was more of a draw now. His tongue slipped into my mouth, teasing and tantalizing me, turning me on even more.

I hadn’t even realized we were moving until my back hit the wall. The bathroom wall. We wouldn’t be making it to the bedroom this time, and all right, fair enough. His hand moved from my neck to fumble with his zipper, knuckles brushing against the damp crotch of my panties. Ratcheting up my excitement levels just that much more. Then his finger hooked the satin material of my panties aside and his cock was rubbing against me there. Right f*cking there. Yes, yes, yes.

“Ben.”

“Lizzy. Shit. Stay still.”

“I’m trying.”

He pressed into me, the lips of my * giving, opening to take him. And there was a lot of him. His hips flexed and I squeaked in surprise. But it wasn’t long before we were both groaning, in both the good and the bad ways. The thick head of his cock was lodged inside of me, but going no further. Not without some serious pain, at least on my part. How damn wide was the guy?

Ben rested his damp forehead against mine, panting. “This isn’t working.”

“I’m not a virgin, it’s just been a while. It should fit!” I clung to him tighter, hiding my face in his neck. No way would I burst into tears, despite the current uncertainty of the situation within my actual tear ducts, fueled by both pain and need. How ridiculous. A hand rubbed my back in big, soothing circles.

“Shouldn’t have rushed,” he said.

I sniffed.

“Easy.” He lifted me off of him, and even that did not feel good. “’s okay.”

“I really wanted this.” I confessed into his neck. “You.”

“And you’ll have me. Shh.”