Page 7 of Benjamin and the Thief

“Would that be alright?” he murmured, dipping his head so his lips hovered over hers without touching. “You can say no, and I won’t touch you.”

Her scent was even more potent now, drugging him. He could hear her heartbeat accelerate. Her breath rushed from her lungs and tumbled over her parted lips. His own body felt hot now, and his pulse drummed against his skin in an even faster tempo. His fangs itched, eager to descend. But he couldn’t allow it. He had to use all his strength and willpower to hold the vampire inside him back. But he couldn’t stop his next words from crossing his lips.

“I would love for you to kiss me,” he whispered, wanting her to make this decision.

He didn’t want to steamroll her. After all, she might still be in shock, and it would be selfish of him to behave like a caveman who could think of only one thing: to take her to his bed and make love to her.

When her lips brushed over his, the contact was so tender that he thought he was imagining it. Yet when she put her arms around him and molded her petite body to his much larger frame, he knew this was real. He allowed himself to respond to her tentative kiss, parting his lips and angling his head for a deeper connection. When she explored his mouth with her tongue, a deep moan rumbled through his chest, and he pressed her to him and kissed her back.

4

This was madness!

Kissing a stranger was the absolute last thing she should be doing. Yet, here she was, locking lips with a man who’d saved her from being run over by a taxi.

A very handsome and charming man with a sweet mother, she interjected as her defense.

Well, what kind of excuse was that?

Why do I even need an excuse? Catalina’s inner voice countered. Don’t I have enough problems to deal with? Don’t I deserve just a little bit of something good coming my way?

That argument seemed to shut up her inner voice. Finally! Now she could enjoy this. Feeling this gorgeous man’s arms around her awakened long-dormant desires in her. Desires any woman in her late twenties had: to attract a handsome man who lavished her with pleasure. And Benjamin was on the right path to do just that.

With a gentle coaxing tongue, he invited her to explore him, without being too forceful so as not to scare her. Rather, the way he kissed her made her demand more from him. She realized what he was doing: he was putting her in charge. She could decide how far she wanted to go. She couldn’t remember ever having been with a man who had done that. They’d all pushed her to her limits, making her back away in the end. Benjamin was different. He was wooing her.

Catalina put her hand on his nape, caressing him there, while she deepened the kiss. When she shifted in his embrace and pressed her stomach to his groin, rubbing herself against him, he moaned and ripped his lips from hers.

He stared into her eyes, and she felt captivated by their deep blue color.

“Damn, Catalina,” he murmured. “If we keep doing this, I won’t be able to stop myself.”

Provocatively, as if she were a seductress, she slid her hand onto his backside to pull him back to her. She rubbed herself against his lower half again. She could feel the hard outline of his cock there. And even though she wasn’t a seductress, she liked that feeling. Liked how he reacted to her. Liked what she could do to him.

“What if I don’t want you to stop?”

“In that case, you should know something about me.”

His eyes bored into her as he moved his head closer to her again.

“I’m a very sexual guy. And once I get going, it’s very hard for me to stop. So, if you don’t want this, it might be best for you to leave now, while I still have enough self-control and manners to let you go.”

“There’s something you should know about me too. I’ve never done this before.”

“You’re a virgin?”

At the sight of his shocked face, she stifled a laugh.

“No, what I meant is that I’ve never kissed a man after knowing him for all of thirty minutes. I’m not like that.”

She’d never been direct or confident enough to ask for what she wanted. But this stranger brought it out in her, challenged her to go for what she desired. And right now, she desired him.

“It’s just,” she added, “when I look at you, I want to be in your arms.”

“How about in my bed?”

He grinned, and it made him look even younger, maybe even younger than herself. Not that his age mattered to her. He certainly wasn’t behaving like a twenty-something kid; he was more mature. Maybe an old soul.

She suddenly realized that she hadn’t answered his question yet.