Chapter 9 - Gemma

I wanted to hate him.

I needed to hate him. More than anything.

But the brush of his lips against mine was electrifying. It sent a shiver through me and sparked every sensation within my system at once. It was almost like he triggered a fuse, and I just couldn’t help myself from getting caught up in it.

I should’ve despised Ben for everything. I did, yet that resistance just couldn’t hold up against the way his mouth melded with mine, pulling me closer by the hip.

It was overwhelming and all-consuming, yet I couldn’t get enough.

He had me pinned there against the countertop, and while something in my head was screaming at me to push him back and run away, an even louder part of my mind wanted to do the exact opposite.

It was hungry and greedy, and I couldn’t ignore it, as much as I wanted to. As much as I should’ve.

As my hand slid up his chest and rested there with ease, my slipping resolve crumbled completely, and I gave in to the enticing sensations his lips had to offer.

Letting go of a breathless sigh, Ben returned with a throaty growl, pulling me impossibly close. The brush of friction pulled a hum from me, feeling just as eager.

“I don’t know how you managed to do it so easily,” Ben whispered against my lips as his hands moved up and down my waist, giving me an affectionate squeeze while he left another scorching, drawn-out kiss on my lips. “But you’ll be the death of me.”

Those words, dripping in lust and pure need made a chill race down my spine. A flicker of excitement in my chest made me moan for him as I became more and more addicted to his tongue.

Ben’s hand crept to the nape of my neck, making my skin tingle as his fingers flexed slightly while he sucked in a deep breath and claimed my mouth as his own. My head was spinning from the dizzying pressure of his lips and how he commanded so much from mine. While that haze clouded my thoughts, it also allowed me to shut out everything else that didn’t have to do with the present moment.

I focused solely on the way he guided us into that tempting dance, and how every touch felt far too good to give up.

That small voice inside me—the rational one—was screaming at me to pull back and not give in to him. It wanted me to stand my ground and resist him, to not give him the satisfaction of thinking he had any kind of effect on me.

But he wouldn’t be wrong to assume that, of course.

Ever since the moment I laid eyes on him in that club, I wanted him. The forced marriage got in the way of that attraction, but it still existed anyway. With his body so close, hands holding me firmly, and the way his mouth devoured mine, it was impossible to deny just how badly I needed him, too.

The nonchalant, arrogant, dismissive man I came to know over such a short amount of time seemed to wane as he cradled me like it was the last chance he’d ever have, and he wasn’t willing to let the moment pass him by. The force in his lips and the way he embraced me made me question if I had him all wrong. If deep down, he really was a tender person. If there was more to him than I once assumed.

But none of that mattered the moment his hands started roaming with curiosity—from my waist, my hips, and even brushing against my thighs, making me shudder against him, it was all so effective in weakening me.

It was in my best interest to stay as far away from him as possible, and I knew that, but the moment his knee slipped between my thighs, all reason fled my mind. A whimper escaped me at the sudden rush of friction that made my stomach squirm and had my temperature steadily rising, and I couldn’t stop from gripping his arms to steady myself.

Ben picked up on my reaction and hummed his approval, both kissing me harder and grinding his knee against me, almost like we were two horny teenagers that couldn’t get enough but wouldn’t dare cross that line yet.

Every new spark of pleasure had me feeling like I was about to collapse from how incredible it was, and I relied on the hold he had on my hips to keep me upright.

I sucked in a deep breath as Ben pulled away to press his lips down my neck, kissing and lightly nipping to spread that addictive sensation throughout my system. My eyes closed instinctively as I focused on those affections along with the encouragement of his knee between my legs.

The more I felt, the more I wanted, and I couldn’t resist rolling my hips forward in a bid for another fix. Any inhibitions I might’ve previously had were all gone as I repeated the movement and sighed my contentment while he suckled against my neck.

Ben chuckled, lips ghosting against my skin as he spoke, “You like this, don’t you?”

I shivered at the gruff buzz in his voice—where the deep hunger and desire existed. And even if my cheeks warmed at his question, I didn’t stop moving against him.

Light-headed and desperate for more, I nodded weakly and hummed.

I could’ve sworn I could feel his smirk as it pressed against my neck, and instead of moving his leg forward, he tightened his grip on my hips and pulled me towards him. Using his hands to guide me, he sent wave after wave of delicious pleasure through my system.

By then, I was panting and squirming, eventually muffled as his lips claimed mine again. I melted into the touch and gravitated closer, wondering just how much more I could siphon from him. Even if he wasn’t getting much out of the exchange himself, Ben seemed to take pleasure in watching me squirm against him, as his satisfied humming and muted groans didn’t stop as I ground into his knee.

But as if the last thread had finally snapped, the kiss broke as Ben swooped down and wrapped his arms around the back of my thighs, hoisting me up in his grasp.

I inhaled sharply at the sudden change, yet his lips were on me again so fast I could hardly breathe.

As he carried me out of the kitchen and toward the living room, he melded our mouths together in sloppy kisses as a display of unfettered desperation he wasn’t afraid to show. Even if he was too distracted by the exchange to see where he was going, I didn’t care. I couldn’t get enough either.

From within his arms, I cradled his face and focused wholeheartedly on that kiss, overcome by how right it felt despite it all.

It seemed to spur him on as he hurried over to the couch, falling back into the cushions and automatically dropping me into his lap. Legs straddling him, a shiver ran down my spine as I instinctively wrapped my arms around the back of his neck and continued that heated kiss.

Ben groaned into my mouth with the new proximity as his hands roamed up and down my back until he settled on my hips again, giving them an enthusiastic squeeze.

Soon enough, his fingers wandered beneath my top and grazed against my skin before he grabbed the fabric and removed it completely. There was nothing patient about the way he reached for the clasp of my bra, unhooking it before throwing it away, too.

His palms were on my breasts immediately as he consumed me, growing more impatient the longer his lips were on mine. A hum reverberated in his chest as he kneaded them, sounding like he was more than ready to drown in everything we had to offer one another.

Moaning at the attention, my hips moved involuntarily, eliciting a grunt from Ben as he leaned in and swiped his tongue against my left nipple, heavily lidded eyes meeting mine.

My ears warmed at the sight while he used his opposite hand to hook a thumb in the waistband of my bottoms, showing his clear intentions.

The desire in his eyes was louder than anything else, and as much as I wanted to think I was showing more restraint than him, I knew that wasn’t the case. I was just as needy, just as impatient.

Before long, we were a mess of limbs as we reached for each other’s clothes, shuffling material off and tossing it all to the side in between kisses. In the blink of an eye, we were impossibly close again as his hungry grasp pulled me against him and commanded the nearness that made my heart squeeze with more anticipation.

When our centers collided in another tug of my hips, Ben groaned against my lips the moment a shaken moan left them at the feeling of his cock brushing against me. It sent a shockwave of excitement through me in anticipation of what was to come.

His fingers tightened against my hips as he urged me to roll them again with his eyes locked on mine, slower this time to draw out our mutual breathlessness and to slick himself in my arousal. My eyes fluttered shut at that as I gasped quietly. The beginnings of a new, warmer haze filled my mind at the enticing sensations that seemed to bring me to life in a completely different sense.

I could’ve sworn Ben’s eyes darkened as he watched me, lips eventually curling in the hint of a smirk.

“Fuck, Gemma,” he uttered, voice low and gravelly. His grip on my hips didn’t loosen as he continued to guide me against him, gaze flickering between my eyes and where our bodies collided. “So wet just from my thigh, huh?”

My heart nearly stopped at that, causing my hips to stutter slightly as my bottom lip caught between my teeth. A quiet moan slipped between the cracks, and I found myself becoming greedier for more.

It didn’t matter how close we were, it wasn’t enough. I needed more of him—all of him.

Despite my brain fog, I remembered the fact that he asked me a question, and I nodded with a dazed expression.

Something moved through his eyes then as Ben put a hand on the back of my head again to pull me closer, opposite hand still on my hip as he slowly, agonizingly, moved me back and forth against him. He met me halfway and pressed our foreheads together as he shuddered with his eyes closed.

“You can be angry with me all you want,” he began, lifting me slightly to align himself with my heat, pausing only to accomplish the task. Another swallowed groan lodged in his throat as he brushed against me, poised and waiting for that initial sensation. “You can shout at me, hate me, and wish you had married anyone else…”

My eyes rolled back as a breathless moan escaped me the moment I felt him press in, slowly inserting himself while I held his shoulder for stability. I stretched for him with a gasp, my body opening in acceptance.

Ben grunted as he pulled me on to him, warm breath fanning against my lips as he continued with a harsh rasp in his voice, “But your body betrays you…it wants me, doesn’t it?”

Too overwhelmed by the combination of him filling me and the lust that dripped from his words, I couldn’t get any sound more coherent than a moan past my lips. Instead, I pressed my forehead against his for support and allowed myself to be consumed by the overwhelming feeling.

But that wasn’t what he wanted.

Before I could do anything, Ben lowered me until he was completely inside me, then stopped as his hand reached up and secured my chin in between his fingers.

I was pulled back slightly to look at him, aware of how firm both his grasp and gaze were. I swallowed hard, startled by the sudden force.

“It does, doesn’t it?” Ben demanded, sharper than before as he withheld pleasure from me.

My brain was so fixated on receiving more of the addictive shock currents running through my system that it took me a moment to string any kind of thought together. He filled me so deeply from his size alone that I could hardly think or breathe. I just wanted him to move. I needed him to.

In an attempt to get more of that relief I wanted, I nodded weakly, managing the faintest squeak as I tried to wriggle my hips above him.

But Ben’s grip on my hips forced me to stay firmly in place, not letting up in the slightest. “Say it. Use your words, wife.”

I shivered at his domineering tone and mustered up the courage to speak. “Yes…it wants you—I want you…”

With a satisfied smirk on his lips again, Ben chuckled and pulled me closer by my chin, plastering a sloppy kiss against my lips. At once, he guided my hips back up, groaning into my parted mouth before easing me down again.

Every inch of him moving within me seemed to hit all the right places, spurring those agonizingly perfect sparks of pleasure to course through me and leave me begging for more.

He took advantage of the situation and slipped his tongue between my lips, claiming my mouth like he was starved and might never get the chance again.

Even through the first few lazy strokes, I was a mess. He swallowed up my moans as my brows furrowed in concentration, and I felt completely overwhelmed by how he was so all-encompassing. He demanded everything from me at once, all while doing it so right that I couldn’t help but comply. It didn’t matter what he wanted—so long as he guided me through it, I was more than willing to see it through.

As I found myself searching for that addictive pleasure like a lifeline, I wasn’t willing to slow our momentum. Instead, I met his guidance halfway by moving my hips in tandem with the movement of his hands, causing us both to erupt in those shared moans.

Eventually, Ben’s lips left mine as he dropped his head back against the couch and watched while I moved above him. He grumbled his approval as I picked up a rhythm of my own, and his hands relaxed on my hips.

He hummed, gazing at me like he couldn’t get enough—as if he decided long ago that I was going to be his final meal. “Your body seems to know what it wants…so by all means, take the reins.”

With that pleasant yet urgent haze getting even worse in my mind from how much I was enjoying the feeling of how perfectly he filled me, I didn’t need to hear his encouragement to do exactly that.

Every roll of my hips sent wave after wave of gratification moving through me, not leaving an inch untouched, and as I used his shoulders for leverage, I wasn’t prepared to stop.

Ben did his best to watch me with that interested gleam in his eyes, intently focused on the way our bodies came together again and again, almost mesmerized by the sight. The almost imperceptible curl of his lips revealed just how much he was enjoying it, along with the grunts and pants leaving him with ease. But as the pleasure became too much, he’d groan and close his eyes to soak in every moment of it.

I was losing myself in the throes of passion and unfettered sensation, riding him like it was the last thing I’d ever do—and the only thing I wanted to do.

Feeling as his grip on me tightened only to brace himself against becoming overwhelmed, I knew his cool exterior was beginning to crack.

“Fuck, Gemma…” Ben uttered as his head dropped back again, chest rising and falling as he started slipping. “Like that…keep going. Damn it, keep going.”

His words were enough to make me subconsciously clench around him, to which he only succumbed more with a grunt.

As he asked, I didn’t let up. I was nearly high from the raw delight my movements brought me, along with the sight of Ben unraveling piece by piece.

Initially, he seemed itching to assert his dominance and lead the game, but as he gave in to the pleasure, he wanted nothing more than to receive. To allow me the opportunity to steer my pleasure that complemented his own. Regardless of his usual attitude and demeanor, Ben’s neediness was something I found myself reveling in.

With the increased volume and repetition of our moans, I could feel myself getting closer, and given how frantic he was becoming, I knew Ben wasn’t far behind.

Then, as his patience waned and he couldn’t hold back, he gripped my waist and bucked upward, both forcing me down and himself upward at the same time in a rush of nearly blinding pleasure.

My breath caught in my throat then as he continued, unrelenting with his eager, rough thrusts. I had no choice but to meet them, but I wasn’t complaining.

Every muscle in my body tightened as I cried out, pushed to the edge by his frantic thrusts. My arms tightened behind his neck as I squeezed around him, encouraging us both to give in. To surrender and allow that bliss to wash over us both.

My body shook and trembled as I reached that precipice, guided through it as his uncalculated thrusts urged me forward. That fog in my head only thickened as my orgasm tore through me.

With a few final bucks of his hips, Ben buried his face in my neck and grunted, letting go of ragged breaths as his hips stilled, and he released.

I could hardly register what was happening around me as I relaxed into his firm body, catching my breath as my heart raced.

Satisfied at last, Ben eased into the cushions beneath him as his arms lazily wrapped around my waist to keep me close, cheek still pressed against my neck.

As we came down together, I knew we had crossed a line we couldn’t come back from. I'd given in to my relentless attraction to him, and regardless of how guarded I still wanted to be, none of that seemed to matter in the moment.

He had something I wanted more of, and after I had my first taste of that passion, I knew that craving would be insatiable.