“Ah. Does it work the same way for you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why am I here, if Carly fulfills all of your emotional needs?”
“I have…other needs.”
“And she isn’t allowed to have sexual needs? Why, because she’s a girl?”
“Yes, damn it! I don’t want to know about her sexual needs. She’s my daughter.”
Sonny threw back her head and laughed. “You’re going to know about them. And you’d better start talking to her about sex.”
“I’ve talked to her about sex,” he replied defensively.
“What did you say?”
“‘Don’t do it.’”
“Ben,” she scolded. “You need to make sure that she respects herself. That she understands the repercussions of her actions.”
His expression grew pained. “I always thought Olivia would do this.”
At the mention of his former wife, Sonny felt a twist of pain inside her chest. Maybe it was the way he spoke her name, or the tortured look on his face, but it was obvious he was still in love with her. Never mind the case, or that she was here under an assumed name, playing a role. Forget Summer Moore; Sonny Vasquez was crushed.
“What do you want from me?” she asked in a whisper.
Ben understood the question. The subjects of conversation might have changed, but not the topic. Slipping his arms around her waist, he dipped his head low, putting his lips very close to her ear. “Sex,” he breathed, making the word a caress.
The laconic statement wasn’t meant to be insulting, but he was surprised when she didn’t pull away. Instead, she looked up at him with those amazing blue eyes, and he saw his own ache mirrored there, along with hesitation, and a hint of fear.
Ben wasn’t sure why it sent him over the edge. Her reluctance was a novelty, and he certainly wasn’t accustomed to women being afraid of him. He knew he should be afraid of her, too. The threat she posed to him was much more than physical.
He’d never had a strong sense of self-preservation, so he went ahead and kissed her. She must have been suffering from the same malady, because she kissed him back.
His movements were stiff and awkward from lack of practice, but she didn’t seem to notice. When he tasted the seam of her lips, she parted them with a moan, twining her fingers through his hair. Pulse pounding with desire, he pressed closer, touching his tongue to hers, letting his hands roam over her lower back.
She went very still.
He lifted his mouth from hers. “You’re not going to hurt me again, are you?”
She laughed a little, tilting her head back to expose the silky column of her throat. Tantalized by the sight of that honeyed skin, he placed an openmouthed kiss there, following the delicate silver chain down her neck.
She clutched his hair. “I have to be in control.”
A wave of heat washed over him. On board with whatever kinky game she wanted to play, he raised his head and held his hands out to her, palms up. “Where do you want them?”
She put them on her breasts. “How about here?”
He groaned in agreement, backing her up against the rock wall and taking her mouth under his once again. Instinct had him pinning her in place with his body, his erection swelling against her belly, her nipples hardening at the brush of his thumbs. Frustrated with all the fabric between them, he unbuttoned her dress to the waist and released the front clasp of her bra.
“Wait,” she panted.
He stared down at her naked breasts. Her nipples were like pale brown sugar, beautiful, delicate, and unexpected. With a tremendous effort, he brought his eyes back to her face. “Why?”
“You’re going way too fast.”
“Oh. Fine.” He retreated, sitting in a cushioned patio chair, waiting for his heart to stop pumping blood to his groin.
She didn’t give it a chance. She straddled his lap, giving him a spectacular view of well-toned thighs and sheer white panties. His throat worked convulsively, his erection throbbed, and his fingers itched to touch her.
Clutching the underside of the armless chair, he closed his eyes and tried to regulate his breathing, but he hadn’t been with a woman for so long…
“Okay,” she said, looking down at his face.
He couldn’t keep up with her thought processes. “Okay what?”
“You can touch me now.”
“Where?” he asked reverently.
Impatient with him, she pressed her delightful breasts to his face. “Here.”
Wrapping his arms around her, he took one sweet, caramel-colored nipple into his mouth, hearing her sharp intake of breath and feeling her shiver of excitement. Greedily, his fingers slipped under her skirt, past the flimsy barrier of her panties, between her legs.
She was slick and hot and…crushing his trachea with her forearm.
“Stop,” she warned, applying pressure by holding one arm behind his neck, another in front. It was a damned effective headlock.
His hands fell away from her. Hell, in a minute he might pass out if she kept squeezing.
When she released him, he coughed and sputtered, covering his aching throat with one hand. “Goddamn,” he said in a strangled voice. “I’ll have to tie you up to have sex with you. No man is safe around you.”
She moved off his lap, closed the clasp of her bra with shaking hands, and pulled her skirt down over her legs.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“Home,” she said, buttoning the front of her dress.
He rose to his feet and went to her, taking her by the hand. “Wait. I didn’t mean it. I won’t tie you up. Hell, you can tie me up. Stay.”
She let out a slow breath. “No. You’re right. I’m a menace.”
“I don’t care. I like it.”
Shaking her head, she pulled away. “You’re not a masochist.”
“Sure I am. Whip me, beat me, make me sorry. Just don’t leave me like this.”
His insinuation that she owed him something for getting him worked up did not go over well. “Hey. I never said I was going to sleep with you.”
He still wasn’t thinking with his brain. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah, I am. Bye.”
He held on to her arm, detaining her. Her eyes flashed a violent promise, a warning that he recklessly ignored.
It was a mistake.
In an instant, the arm holding hers was wrenched up between his shoulder blades and he was flat on the ground, face pressed into the stone patio. “Please,” he wheezed, short of breath and instantly contrite. “Feel free to leave, whenever you like.”
“You’re damned right I’ll leave.” She pressed her knee into his back, punishing him a little.
“Will you please let me up?” he asked, resisting the urge to struggle. He didn’t doubt she could hurt him some more if she wanted to. How she’d incapacitated him so easily, he couldn’t fathom. He had at least fifty pounds on her, all of it muscle.
When she relaxed her grip and moved away, he breathed a sigh of relief. Wincing at the blow to his ego, not to mention the pain in his shoulder, he pushed himself up off the ground, hoping he wouldn’t be too sore for surfing tomorrow.
“I’m sorry,” he said slowly. “Nathan was right. I have been dating myself way too long. There hasn’t been anyone since Olivia.” He studied her from beneath lowered lashes, anticipating her response.
For a moment, he was sure she was going to walk out on him. Then she cocked her head to one side and said, “If you treat yourself as badly as you have me, I don’t suppose you ever get lucky at the end of the evening.”
Burying his hands in his jeans pockets, he shrugged his shoulders sheepishly. “Actually, I’m a pretty cheap date.”
Her lips twitched. “I’ll just bet you are.”
He liked her, he realized. Not just her face and her body and her sadistic sexual quirks, but her sense of humor, her personality, and her kindness. “Where did you learn those moves?”
“Self-defense classes.”
“Oh, yeah? Will you teach me?”
“No.”