Jesus, what was wrong with him?
When the ostentatious woman in front of him shot him an incredulous look, he clutched his stomach and kept going even though it hurt, and he couldn’t stop. Nothing short of a punch to the face would make him, and even then, he probably wouldn’t quit.
By the time he’d regained control, Maggie had joined him, her musical laughter mixing with his. His mother no longer looked quite so unaffected. She seemed pissed.
“Darling,” he said, swiping his hands across his face. “You’re killing me.”
She smiled, her face lighting up. “It worked.”
“What worked?”
“I made you laugh.” She blew her bangs out of her face with a short puff of breath. “That’s all I wanted.”
“You.” He yanked her into his arms and pulled her into his arms. She gasped, resting her hands on his chest. “You’re amazing. You know that, right?”
She shrugged and scrunched her nose up adorably. “I may have heard that a few times last night…”
“And you’ll hear it again.” He kissed her jaw. “And again.” Her nose this time. “And again.” He kissed her fully on the lips, and she clung to him.
By the time he pulled back, they were both out of breath.
She smiled up at him. This. Right here. This was what he wanted. And come what may, he’d fight to keep her and his job, too. He didn’t want to lose her yet.
Hell, that wasn’t true. He didn’t want to lose her period. Ever. So whatever it took, no matter the cost—well, he guessed he was more like his mother than either one of them suspected.
He would win.
Chapter Fourteen
The second they entered Benjamin’s apartment, he pulled Maggie into his arms and kissed her. He’d already excused William and sent him off, so they were finally alone. After watching the musical with him, her recent choices made perfect sense. All throughout the show, the words the characters sang had echoed pretty much every feeling and conversation they’d had about taking chances on one another, and not being afraid to leap blindly into something that could possibly be everything.
Toward the end, during an emotional song about learning to live without the one you loved, he had glanced over at her, seen the tears streaming down her face, and caught her hand in his. And he hadn’t let go of her for the rest of the musical. It was as if that entire score had been written for her, to teach her a lesson.
And she’d listened.
God, had she listened.
She had a feeling he had, too. He was oddly silent on the way home, as well as throughout dinner at The Monkey Bar, and now he kissed her with an abandon that was unparalleled. As if she was about to slip out of his hands. She felt it, too.
The desperation.
It was real, tangible, and as unavoidable as it was unwanted.
He pressed her back against the door of his apartment, slid his hand up her dress and skimmed his fingers between her thighs. His knuckles brushed against her core, and she groaned, her stomach twisting into a tight knot at his barely-there caress. She undid the buttons of his shirt with shaking fingers, as he cupped her, pressing his palm against her.
The second she had the last button undone; she shoved his jacket and shirt off in one swoop. They hit the floor, and he stepped closer, towering over her as he trapped her between the door and his chest. He tasted like wine and smelled like woodsy cologne. And felt like paradise.
She dragged her hands over his crisp chest hair and hard muscles. His tongue dueled with hers, and the unyielding urgency she felt inside engulfed her. He seemed to sense her need, because he picked her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck.
When he rubbed his hard length against her, she almost came. He groaned and undid his pants, not breaking off the kiss even for a second even as they hit the floor.
Twisting her head away, she gulped in a deep breath. He didn’t waste any time putting his mouth to use elsewhere. He bit down on her shoulder, and sucked on it gently. “Benjamin. Yes. Now. Please.”
He grunted and shoved her panties aside with two fingers. He ran them along her slit, slowly, torturously. “All I’ve been able to think about all damn day was getting you home, lifting this dress, and fucking you so hard you wouldn’t be able to walk straight for the rest of the night. I need you, darling. I need you now.”
Slipping his hands under her butt, he tilted her hips forward and drove into her with one thrust. She screamed and let loose a few curses.
He froze. “Shit, are you—?”
“I’m fine, and I’m on the pill. Have been for years.” She smacked his arm. It was so hard it hurt her knuckles, but she was past caring about that. “Don’t you dare stop. Do it again. Harder.”
Letting out a sexy chuckle, he buried his face in her neck and thrust inside her again. “How about that? Hard, fast, rough?”
“Yes.” She dug her nails in so deep they drew blood, but he didn’t seem to care. Instead, he moved his hips even faster. And she—exploded. “Benjamin.”
He moved inside her relentlessly, not giving her time to catch her breath or come down from the orgasm he’d already given her. She lost track of how many times she hit him, or cried out, or came. All that mattered, and all she was aware of, was that she needed this man in her life more than she cared to admit.
More than she would’ve ever thought possible.
Pulling out of her, he set her on her feet and spun her so she faced the door. She flattened her palms on the cool steel, gasping as he ran his hands down the curve of her hip, and across her upper thigh. He grabbed it, his fingers brushing against her core.
“So damn pretty.” Seizing her butt, he tilted her hips backward and kicked her legs apart. “So fucking mine.”
She swallowed a moan. “Yes, I’m yours. And you’re mine.”
Fisting her hair, he pressed against her, his front glued to every inch of her back. His other hand splayed across her bare stomach, holding her exactly where he wanted her. “Damn right I am. Don’t you ever doubt that. I’m all yours—happily and willingly.”
His tender words were at odds with his dominant hold on her, but somehow that only made it all the more intimate. His fingers curled over the front of her core, pressing against her clit as he thrust them inside her. She bit her lip to hold back her moan. “Me too. I swear it.”
The second the words came out of her mouth, she was flat against he door and he slammed inside of her again. She screamed, and the pleasure of the new angle blinded her momentarily. She scrambled for something to hold on to, but couldn’t find anything. As if he sensed her need, he wrapped her in his embrace, one fist still in her hair, and thrust into her again.
Tension spiraled inside her, building higher and higher, until she was sure it would tear her in half. “I’m gonna…I…”
“Me too. Fuck, me too.”
His uneven breath grew faster, more frantic, and so did his hips. The faster he moved, the higher she went, until she came again. And this time, when the world exploded around her, he was with her the whole way. He stiffened behind her, a guttural groan escaping him. “Maggie,” he said, long and low, drawn out like a sigh.
She dropped her head against the door, struggling to recover her balance when all she wanted to do was collapse into bed with him and never move again.
He broke the silence first. “I’m serious about what I said earlier.”
“Which part?” she asked, peeking over her shoulder at him. She couldn’t see his face, because it was buried in her neck. “You’ll have to be more specific.”
“I have no doubts.” His hold on her hair loosened, and he dropped a kiss on her bare back. “You make me…happy. I didn’t think I knew what that was, or if it was even a real thing, until you. But now I do, and I don’t want to let go of it. I don’t want to let go of you.”