An Indecent Longing (24 page)

Ben had drawn the afternoon shift that Friday, so he was sitting in Dorrie’s reception area, keeping an eye on the security feed from the hallway on his tablet while he flipped through a magazine without seeing the pages.

For the past four nights, Dorrie had slept in his bed. Alone.

He told himself he and Ian had made the right choice by not sleeping with her until this situation was resolved. That they were more focused and that she was safer for it.

Which was true.

But Ben’s neck had been itching again. And he was pretty sure it had to do with that back door into her office.

That door connected to a service hall that ran between the office suites and could only be accessed through a steel door inside the office suite, meaning someone inside the office would need to open it for access.

It bothered him that he didn’t have access to that security feed on his tablet. So, every now and then, he’d walk down the hall there and take a look into that hall.

He never saw anything suspicious. Or anyone at all, for that matter.

But his neck kept itching.

Since it’d been at least an hour since he’d moved from this chair, he figured he was due to stretch his legs. And check that hall again.

Afterward, he returned to his seat. Ian had told him there’d been a steady stream of patients through the office all morning and Ben had figured it’d be the same this afternoon but around two, he heard the receptionist call two patients to reschedule their appointments for this afternoon.

He’d been keeping track and knew she had two patients in the back. But within a couple of minutes of each other, they left.

Which begged the question… Why did Dorrie need to clear her schedule?

He considered asking the receptionist, a middle-aged woman who rarely smiled and had said fewer than twenty words to him the entire time he’d been there, if he could talk to Dorrie but he figured he’d get a glare and be told to sit and stay.

Fuck it.

He got up, stretched his arms over his head then walked to the desk and leaned against it with a smile. “Would you tell Dorrie I’d like to speak to her? It won’t take more than a couple of minutes.”

The woman didn’t even look up. “Dr. Haverstick is in a consultation. I can’t disturb her and I don’t know when she’ll be finished.”

Bullshit. Total fucking bullshit.

Nurse Ratched gave blank face even better than Ian but she was lying through her teeth.

Christ, had she left through that back door? He didn’t think she’d be so reckless but…

“Look, I don’t know what she told you about why Ian and I are here, but her life is in danger and I want to make sure nothing happens to her. I need to know if she’s still in the back.”

The woman’s expression might have softened a very little bit. “She has
not
left the office. If she contacts me, I’ll be sure to tell her you’ve asked.”

And short of pushing by this woman and busting into Dorrie’s office, that was the best he could hope for.

Forcing a smile, he thanked her and headed back to his chair. It was comfortable enough but now he felt like he could feel every spring poking into his ass.

Then he gritted his teeth and prayed for patience.

* * * * *

“So how was your day?”

Frowning, Dorrie turned her head to stare at Ben as she sat in the passenger seat of his car on the drive back to his home. Something in the tone of his voice made her stomach clench. And not in a good way.

“It was fine. Why?”

Except it hadn’t been fine. That gunshot wound had been worse than she’d expected, and getting the bleeding to stop had taken much more time than she’d liked. As it was, the guy should be in a hospital but if she admitted him, there’d be questions she couldn’t answer and lies she didn’t want to tell.

“Your receptionist said you had a consult.” He shrugged. “Guess I’m just curious.”

No, he wasn’t curious. He was fishing.

Damn it. He knew something had happened this afternoon. She should’ve realized he was too smart not to notice she’d had no patients but hadn’t come out of her office.

So tell him. He already knows who you work for.

She also knew Ian had a huge issue with her dad. She just didn’t know what that was and she wasn’t sure if Ben had the same issue. Maybe Ben just hid his loathing of her dad better than Ian.

This is the opening you’ve been looking for. Go ahead. Talk to him.

And if she did and he became even more distant than he’d been the past week? She wasn’t sure she could handle that. She’d have to call her dad and make him hire someone else, which she knew he would do in a heartbeat.

And then he’d want to know what Ian and Ben had done to deserve getting fired, and she couldn’t exactly tell him she was upset that they hadn’t touched her after she’d spent time in both their beds, separately and together.

Oh my god, she might just dissolve into a puddle and die right then.

“Dorrie? You okay? You look a little flushed.”

More like mortified.

Shaking her head, she made her lips move in an approximation of a smile. “Yes, I’m fine. Just a little warm.”

She glanced at Ben, who didn’t look convinced. In fact, his expression looked pretty damn disbelieving. But it was July in the city and close to ninety degrees. Yes, the air conditioning was running but still…

And that’s your guilt talking.

It was. At least she could admit it to herself.

Shaking her head, she sighed. “You know who I work for. One of his men needed to be stitched up. That’s what I was doing this afternoon.”

After a few seconds, Ben unclenched his jaw enough to speak. “Does that happen a lot?”

She sighed. She’d cracked open the door, might as well throw it open as wide as she could. Maybe she’d actually feel better with this all out in the open.

“It depends. If there’s something going on street-level, I could see ten or fifteen guys a week. Gunshots, knife wounds, broken bones, bruises, punctured lungs, I can deal with almost anything in-office except massive internal injuries. I don’t crack chests and I don’t make cuts more than a couple of inches long.”

Several beats of silence passed.

“And you’re okay with this setup?”

“Yes.”

She could tell he wanted to say something else but he managed not to. Probably because they’d reached his home.

But when he’d closed the back door behind him and reset the alarm, he turned to her and she knew they were about to have a conversation she wasn’t entirely sure she could handle.

She’d much rather strip naked and spread herself on the counter than have this conversation now.

So she took a page out of her sister’s playbook and went on the offensive.

“Is that the reason you haven’t laid a finger on me since Sunday?”

Ben’s mouth dropped open for a split second before his eyes went wide. “Excuse me?”

Sucking in a deep breath, she pushed on, trying to channel her sister’s confidence. “Is the reason you haven’t touched me since we had sex Sunday morning because you think I shouldn’t be working for Mr. Antonoff? Or is it because I’m now a client and off limits?”

He shook his head. “I don’t—”

“I’ve worked for him for years. I’ve stitched up more gunshot wounds than I ever saw during my rotations at the hospital. I’ve saved more than one man’s life because if he’d gone to an emergency room, those doctors might’ve pushed him farther down the wait list because no one would care if some shady low-life thug stopped breathing, right? Except they’re not all thugs. Did you know most of the men in m—Mr. Antonoff’s organization have families? Their children get sick, they come to me. Their wives have a lump in their breast, they come to me. I diagnose their mothers with Alzheimer’s and help them find a good private care nurse. Which he pays for. Did you know that?”

“Dorrie, wait—”

“I had a guy the other day. You’d see him on the street and cross three lanes of traffic to avoid him. He has a daughter who’s the most beautiful baby in the world. She needs diapers and food and maybe one day she’ll need medical care because she’s diagnosed with asthma.”

“Dorrie—”

“And I know you’re going to say I’m rationalizing but—”

Ben wrapped a hand around her neck and put his mouth over hers, kissing her with barely restrained lust. This was no chaste peck. It was a full-on assault on her senses and it should have embarrassed her how easily she gave in to him.

She reached for him, her hands grabbing on to his hips and tying to tug him closer. But he was immoveable. He kept her just far enough away that only their lips touched but every part of her felt touched by fire.

For several long seconds, they stood locked in place as the heat between them began to build.

And then he took a step away and left her gasping.

“That’s the reason we haven’t touched you.” The rough tone of his voice only served to make the ache in her gut that much worse. “You wipe out everything around me. I put my hands on you and I can’t see anything but you. So don’t mistake our distance for anything other than our desire to keep you safe. Because, babe, if I had my way, you’d be bent over that counter and I’d be deep inside you. Understand?”

Her sex clenched and she sucked in a deep breath. And nodded. “Maybe that’s exactly what I want.”

Ben didn’t say anything for several long seconds, his gaze locked on hers. Each breath he took rasping in the silence.

“We’re safe here, aren’t we?” she said. “Then why can’t we indulge?”

She almost couldn’t believe the words coming out of her mouth. She’d never had the courage to say anything at all like this to anyone in her life. But with Ben, she felt safe. Felt free enough to be adventurous.

And being horny didn’t hurt.

God, she ached with need.

Gathering every ounce of her will, she let her hands fall to her thighs, where she gripped her skirt and began to inch it up.

Ben’s gaze dropped to her hands and his mouth flattened into a thin line as she slowly bared her thighs. Every centimeter of skin she bared gave her that much more courage. And it continued to build until she’d raised her skirt enough that she could slide her thumbs into the strings holding her underwear together.

Her heart beat fast and hard as she began to slide her underwear down her legs, letting her dress fall back into place as she did.

By the time she reached her knees, her underwear started to fall on their own and she let them go. They dropped to the floor and she bent over to pick them up.

She’d had the vague idea that she’d dangle them from her finger and smile. And he’d grin and take the panties and say something sexy and funny.

Instead, Ben slowly raised his gaze back to hers, stopping only momentarily to stare at the panties in her hands. Those copper eyes gazed at her so steadily, she was almost convinced he was going to send her upstairs to her room. To his room, actually.

Instead, he made a twirling motion with his finger.

She blinked, unsure for a moment what he wanted. And then her brain made the connection. Her lungs constricted as a pulse of heat spread from her core to her breasts, making them tender and achy, and to her clit, which throbbed.

Sucking a breath, she did what he wanted. She turned to face the counter.

“Now bend over and pull your dress up.”

Which would bare her ass.

Man up, honey. You started this.

Nerves had started to churn but she did what he asked. She bent at the waist until her breasts almost reached the island counter and reached for the hem of her dress to flip it up onto her back.

Behind her, she heard Ben moving, heard the rustle of fabric and the tearing of foil. She had a split second to wonder where he’d gotten the condom when she felt his hand on her left hip.

“Are you ready, sweetheart? Because I am.”

“Yes. Please. Do it.”

She didn’t want him to wait even a second more—

The brush of the tip of his cock against her labia was her only warning before he curled his other arm around her waist, tilted her hips to the right angle then thrust inside.

If she’d expected him to go easy, she would’ve been so wrong.

He went hard and fast immediately and never let up.

Each thrust made her cry out at the shock of his full length spreading her wide. Each retreat made her want him to thrust harder the next time.

Bracing her hands on the counter, she gave herself over to Ben, let him take what he wanted and give her what she needed. Which was this. Exactly this.

Pure eroticism flooded her body, heated like lava, and drenched her until she had to close her eyes to process it all.

The hand he held on her hip tightened until she knew she’d have marks. She wanted to see them on her body. Wanted the reminder of his desire for her.

His other hand he had splayed across her stomach, using it to pull her back. His fingers were so close to her mound, they tantalized and tormented.

“Ben.”

“What do you need, babe?”

“Touch my clit.”

Never before had she asked for what she wanted, much less demanded, but this felt right.

“Whatever you want.”

His fingers made a quick dip and trapped her clit between his index and middle finger. He squeezed and she climaxed hard and fast, clenching around him until he groaned and, with one last thrust, he buried himself deep.

Ben let his forehead rest between her shoulders for a few seconds before he pulled out of Dorrie’s tight channel.

God damn, she felt amazing wrapped around him and he didn’t want to pull out at all, but he didn’t want Ian to catch them. And not because he didn’t want Ian to know what had happened. He didn’t want Dorrie to be caught in the middle of something that Ian and Ben should work out on their own.

Then again, maybe if Ian did catch them, he’d take the hint and give Dorrie the affection she was craving.

He was grateful she’d felt he was safe to practice her wiles on but he figured she was gearing up for the bigger challenge. Ian.

For now, Ben would take care of whatever itches she needed to scratch. He knew himself well enough to know nothing would cause him to lose focus on her safety.