Sin's Haven (16 page)

She didn’t mean
to gasp but now that he was bared to her, she saw the pink, uneven skin of his left
hip and upper thigh. It looked like he’d been burned. “Ben…”

“I trust you,
Hazel.” She watched his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed. “This,” he gestured
to his groin scarred skin, “is why I was so in shock that you’d slept with me
that first night. You didn’t say anything about it so I figured you’d slept
with me and it hadn’t bothered you.”

Not sure if any
words would say what she needed him to hear, she kept it short and true. “Like
I said, you’re a beautiful man. And I’m so sorry.”

Drawn to a part
of him that had been undoubtedly wracked with pain, she leaned down and ever so
gently laid a kiss over that pinked skin. Feeling the hardened tissue, she
couldn’t help but ask, “What happened,
hun
?”

Ben brought her
head up, smoothing his fingers through her hair. “Accident from when I was a
freshman in high school. Wouldn’t you know it, trying to impress a
girl.
” He frowned but kept going. “I was in Home
Ec
and my partner and I were making pasta from scratch. I
had already boiled our pot of water so she could leave class early and Meg
didn’t realize it. She pulled the pot off the stove too fast and some of the
boiling hot water spilled on her hand. She didn’t mean to, but her instant
reaction was to let go and let the pot fall. It would have gotten her had I not
jumped in front. It landed on me and burned through my pants.”

“Oh Ben, I’m so
sorry.”

“It’s okay. It
healed after a while but, you know…”

“No, I don’t
know. What?”

“I was ecstatic
to graduate high school.”

She did not want
to hear that kids gave him a hard time about being burned. Had they actually
done that to him? “Ben, what happened with the girl?” She stroked her palm
gently up his thigh, which aside from the serious nature of their talk, still
managed to stimulate his body. Hazel couldn’t believe how open he was being
with her, how his body loved her touch.
And how badly she
wanted to make love to him until he felt more virile and capable than even
Superman.
He’d been hiding so much from her.

“She was nice
enough to ride with me to the emergency room but I could tell she wasn’t really
into me after that. There were a few other guys who were interested in her when
I finally asked her out. I have good taste, you know. But these guys gave her
crap over it. I stayed away from her after she politely said no, didn’t want to
make it any worse. Then after graduation, I moved to Los Angeles.”

“Can I ask? Is
that what this is about?” Hazel touched her fingertips to his chest and the
selfie
tattoo about love healing his wounds that had clued
him in about her lie. It had faded a little.

“Yeah.”

“Are you
thinking about making it permanent?”

He looked
bashful but she coaxed whatever he had to say out with another stroke to his
thigh, creeping closer to his erection and the soft hairs surrounding it. She
watched the smooth muscles of his stomach shudder. “No, I’ve just been drawing
that on there off and on for a while. Is that crazy?” His eyelids nearly closed
each time she stroked him.

“Ben, that’s not
at all crazy. I hope the next time you and I find ourselves naked together,
that it’s gone. And that I’m the reason why.”

With that, she’d
brought back his sexy smile.
Which came with a sexy kiss, and
the hottest, most delectable tongue action she’d ever had.

“Are you sure
about this?” he asked her, his head following her hand that she’d let drift further
into the soft patch of hairs growing between his thighs.

She didn’t know
if he meant for more food, more talking, or more touching, but yes, with Ben,
she was sure.

****

She was here.
She’d come.

And he wasn’t
letting her leave.

He turned off
his hanging lantern now that she’d seen what he needed her to see and she
hadn’t bolted. He’d be sure and see all of her when they woke up in the
morning. For now, he just wanted to feel a woman’s touch.
This
woman’s touch.

The camp was
quiet, except for his heart and her breath. Ben sank his fingers deep into her
long,
soft curls and placed his other hand on top of hers.
Gliding his hand along with her while she stroked him was by far the sexiest
thing he’d ever done with a woman.

Breathe,
Ben.

Chapter Fifteen

Hazel had come
to know two Bens this week.
The cute, quirky one with the
goofy grin, funky slang and bright green eyes and this one.
His touch
was incredibly gentle and he didn’t fumble around, making her feel like an
experiment. The vulnerability he’d shown with his scar tissue kicked her desire
to levels beyond anything she’d ever felt. Laying on his sleeping pads, hidden
inside his tent, snuggled so closely under the stars, it was a fantasy she’d
only realized these past twenty minutes as it happened in real time.

This was what
life, love and happiness should be like.

His lips tiptoed
up her neck and stopped at her ear but he’d already left goose bumps from her
scalp to her soles. “Are you warm enough?” he asked, slipping her blouse off
her shoulder.

“Maybe a little cold,”
she admitted until he pulled her sleeve back up. “There was a ‘but’ you didn’t
let me get to.” Hazel twisted her neck until she looked up at his long brown
bangs falling into his face. He watched her like he was in love.

“I’m sorry, what
was the ‘but’?” He kissed the inch or two of skin behind her ear and along her
hairline. It felt amazing.

The best part
about Ben spooning up behind her was the way his long body shielded her from
everything, but she worried about him. Before she answered, was he okay being this
intimate with her
out
here?

“Ben, can I ask
you something?”

“Of
course.
Shoot.”

“Is this, what’s
between us, is it happening too fast? I know I’m the one who put us in this
mess on night one with that god awful lie. It must have been hard for you to
know how to approach me or what to do with me ever since.”

“Hazel, can I
tell you something that I think might answer that?”

She nodded.

“There was a
point when all I could remember about your name was that it started with an H.
Until Manny called you Hazel the night you two saw me in the parking lot, I had
been thinking of you as Haven.
Wanna
know why?”

She nodded her
head yes.
And tried not to well up at his tender admission.

Ben reached his
arm around from behind, wrapping it around her with amazing strength and
caution all at the same time. His forearm rested at the undersides of her
breasts, nudging them up when he hugged her body closer to his. Part of her
surprise making up gift was that she’d gone braless for Ben. She watched her
creamy skin rise and become two mounds of cleavage, thinking for the first time
in a long time that she looked pretty, knowing it was Ben’s doing. He laid his
hand carefully just under her right breast but her chest was so heavy from
wanting to share and be close to him that when she breathed out she practically
sank down onto him.

And when she
slid her back into his torso, she felt for where his hips should be, except they
weren’t hugged to her bum because he was holding that part of him back.

“Ben,” she said,
about to plead for that connection.

He’d been
propping his head up with his right hand on his bent elbow but without any
warning, he brought that hand around her ribcage as well and held her so close
and tight. She felt his body shift slightly when his head
laid
down sideways on the mat without support. Even if she’d wanted to escape, she
wouldn’t have been able to. Happily, she was his prisoner.
But
only from the waist up.

“Is this okay?” he
asked her.

She reached
back, wiggling her arm until he still held her in his captivating hug but she could
stretch her hand and feel for him. There was no mistaking when her fingers came
in contact with the head of his erect penis.

He sucked in air
and she held back erotic thoughts of sucking pleasure from him all night long.
“I think this is more than okay, don’t you?” she
asked,
glad to feel more and more like she was fitting back into the right skin.

“Yes,” he got
out, barely.
“Haven.”

Ah, he still
wanted her to know why he’d thought of her that way when she’d turned his life
upside down.

Hazel made sure
only to softly stroke him, although it was difficult because she was reaching
behind herself and therefore could not see. She felt Ben push his hips slightly
forward, nudging her hand with his dripping, warm tip. It made her feel so
wanted. It had been so long since she’d felt that way. But she made sure not to
grab for him and only touched softly.

“Tell me,
please,” she said, a new anxiety creeping into her thoughts. Would it hurt Ben
to make love with her?
Because of where he’d been burned?

He whispered
through her hair into her ear, “On that night you think you screwed up so
badly, you were the one person I didn’t feel like I’d let down. Whether it was
real or not, your note kept me from going to a very lonely place. You were the
only one who saw me as a man.”

“Babe, you are
all man,” Hazel said as a cover-up to the sloppy, tearful kiss she wanted to
plant on his hand holding her so close. “Ben, I have a question.”

“I’m all ears,”
he said except for he was more like all hands. He’d become more venturesome,
branching out from the undersides of her breasts to her neck with one and her
tummy with the other, while still maintaining the distance where she craved him
most.

“Will it hurt
you here?” She paused and gently led her hand down his shaft, to his hairs and
up his hip. She didn’t want to cause him pain anywhere and wasn’t sure which
parts could still be sensitive. “If we make love, I mean.”

Ben’s arms
shifted, taking a handful of her hair and twisting it out of the way. His lips,
moist and cool, landed solidly on the side of her neck. “It’s not a question of
if,” he said.

The confidence
in his voice flooded her and caused her clitoris to throb. “I have something
you need to take care of,” she said.

Next he pulled
up on the hem of her loose blouse until it was over her head. He tossed it to
the corner with his wine colored pile of clothes. She shivered, noticing her
nipples pucker when his warm, softly haired forearm brushed against them. More
cool kisses snuck heady breaths from her each time they landed at her neck. And
then the kisses became warm with his tongue as he tasted her.

“I want to take
care of you, Hazel.”

Then he ran his
hand over her hip until he’d hooked his thumb under the elastic waist band of
her pants and began to tug. She helped him with this part until they kicked
them to the corner together.

She began to
roll so she could face her Ben, her Mr. Eyes. He stopped her with a mostly
steady hand to her hip and then decidedly pulled her back to his chest so he
could continue tasting and teasing her neck. This time she felt his hardness
poke just below her bum as he moved his hips until they were flush with her
backside. Kissing or being inside her. “I think you’re going to have to choose
one or the other,
hun
. You’re so much taller than
me.”

****

Ben could barely
think with words, let alone sentences that would make sense, but Hazel had
asked several questions in the past few minutes. How did he tell her he’d
waited years for the right woman, so no, this wasn’t happening too fast on his
end.
And that his scar tissue was more a source of his embarrassment
than pain anymore. He’d deal with the odd numb sensations. Or that the twelve
inches he had on her wasn’t going to be a problem. He was usually pretty good
with words.
Right now, not so much.

“All I can think
about right now is your body, Hazel.” And the position he’d found when he
Googled
How to please your much shorter
partner
. That image hadn’t left him since the night when she’d told him her
answer to camping wasn’t a no and it was why he’d been so into spooning with
her now. She moved her head back so it rested on his right bicep. “You’re
perfect, everywhere.”

Keeping his arm
crooked so she could still use him as a pillow, totally sexy, he angled his
hand down, finding her beautiful, full breast. He held it firmly, exhilarated
at how his touch seemed to make her nipples even harder.

“Ben,” she let
out softly and kissed his bicep as she tormented him with little bumps of her
butt to his stomach. When he slid his left hand down the middle of her ribs to
her belly button and then up and over her thigh and hip, he knew this would
work. Her wiggling had him so hard.