With my arms pinned behind her knees, I took her hard and fast, slamming the headboard against the wall because there was no one else in the house to hear it. We glistened with sweat. We panted like animals. We came with loud grunts as we finished.
Then we lay there—all our pent-up stress released.
Once the heat passed, she snuggled into my side, his fingertips cold as if the short separation was enough to turn her to ice again.
I ran hot, so I relished her touch.
With her head on my shoulder and her hand on my stomach, she spoke. “What happened?”
I turned to lean my head against hers, her hair against my cheek and in the crook of my neck. “Told him to stay off my property.”
“And?”
“That’s it.”
She lay still for a moment before she propped herself up on one elbow and looked down at me. Her hair was a curtain behind her, and her makeup was smeared from the sweat and the tears. “Benton.”
“I left nothing out.”
“And he just…accepted that?”
“He doesn’t have a choice.”
“So, you really think that’s the end of it? That he’ll leave us alone?”
I couldn’t lie to her. As much as I wanted to make her feel better, I didn’t want her to drop her guard. “He still wants you.”
The light left her eyes—and it was a punch to the stomach.
“He might keep his eye on you, but he won’t come near you or come into the house while we’re away. No reason to be afraid.”
She gave a sigh and lay down again, snuggling closer to me this time. “As long as he didn’t make any other threats…I guess I can live with that.”
Eleven
Constance
I’d just pulled the pan out of the oven when the doorbell rang.
“Who’s that?” Claire asked, looking up from her homework at the dining table.
Benton sat in the living room, paying bills and doing paperwork in just his sweatpants in front of the fire. “Uncle Bleu.”
“Uncle Bleu?” Claire asked. “I’ll have to introduce him to Bleu!” She slid off the chair and ran off.
He got to his feet and crossed the living room like a Roman soldier, his muscles his armor, his strength his weapon. The pants were low on his waist, so the vein that ran from below his belly button and underneath the fabric was visible—and sexy. Unaware of my stare, he walked out of the room and disappeared into the foyer.
He let his brother inside, exchanged a few words, and then appeared in my view.
Bleu looked at me and gave me a nod. “Hey.”
“Hey,” I said back, not sure what else to say because I really didn’t know him. “Are you staying for dinner?”
“I hope so since I’m watching Claire tonight.”
“You are?” Claire held up her bear to him. “Guess what I named him?”
He took it and looked him over, as if there would be a tag somewhere. “Grizzly?”
“No,” Claire said. “Bleu!”
Benton clapped him on the shoulder. “Spitting image, huh?”
His brother flashed him a glare.
Benton hadn’t told me about these plans, and I wasn’t even sure why he needed Bleu at all. If he needed to leave the house, we were fine on our own. “Are you going somewhere?” My attention was turned to Benton, who stood there looking hard as rock.
Bleu took Claire back to the dining table and asked her about her homework. They fell into conversation, oblivious to us standing near the kitchen.
Benton held my gaze for a while before he cracked a faint smile. “We’re going somewhere.”
“We…?”
“I’m taking you to dinner.”
“What?” The outburst exploded on its own because I was so surprised. “Really?”
“Yes.”
“You?”
His eyebrows raised.
“I just… It doesn’t seem like your thing.”
“It’s not.”
“Well, don’t do it just for me—”
“We doing this or not?”
I gave a nod. “Sure…I’d love to.”
We walked together on the sidewalk, side by side, me wrapped up in a coat and scarf while he wore a long-sleeved shirt like it was a cozy sweater. He was in dark jeans that hung low on his hips, his muscles thighs stretching the denim. If there were a photographer in front of us, Benton would look like a model doing a shoot right there on the sidewalk.
“This is weird.”
He gave me a side glance.
“I think it’s the first time we’ve been out of the house without Claire…except when we drop her off at school in the morning.”
“Bleu will take care of her.”
“I’m not worried about that. It’s just…different.”
We stopped at the corner then crossed the street. There was a little bistro there, a nice place but not too nice.
“You know…” I stopped on the sidewalk before we could reach the hostess podium.
He turned back to me, his powerful arms by his sides, his blue eyes digging deep into mine.
“I’m happy just checking into a hotel room for a couple of hours…” Our relationship was anything but normal, so I didn’t need to sit in a restaurant and have a date like a normal couple who’d met at a bar or something. Our circumstances set us apart from everyone else. What we had was deeper than any conversation we could have over a bottle of wine and candlelight.