Wyne and Dine (Citizen Soldier Series Book 1) (12 page)

He thrust a hand through her hair
to cup the back of her head, pressed her against the cushions and brushed a
thumb over her nipple straining the lace of her bra.  Liquid heat pooled at her
core.

Needing to touch all of him, she
ran her hands up and down his hard, hot body, stroking his taut abs all the way
down his happy trail.

How long they kissed and stroked,
she had no idea. She was lost. Lost and drunk. Drunk on her desire for Benjamin
Wyne. When they broke for air, she blinked at him.

“Every time,” he muttered, lowering
his mouth to her neck, kissing and licking a path to the curve of her shoulder.
“Every damn time.”

Did that mean he’d been lost, too?
God, she hoped so. It was no fun being lost alone.

He sank his teeth in the soft spot
behind her ear, and breath hitched in her throat as she clutched at his
shoulders.

“Mmm…”

“I agree,” he said, brushing his
lips down her jaw to her mouth, where he proceeded to kiss away what was left
of her strength.

A rubbery pile of mush. That’s what
she was. Warm mush. Warm, throbbing mush.

Skimming her hand down his torso
again, she found him the opposite of mush. He was deliciously hard. And thick.

“Lea,” he said, breaking the kiss,
voice so rough and sexy she shook.

Or was that him?

His wicked hand slid up and down
her belly, making it very hard for her to concentrate on even the simplest
things like breathing. She glanced at his hovering lips, wondering, waiting,
needing to taste him again.

With a strangled groan, he lowered
his mouth, then stilled. A second later, he released her and shot to his feet.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” she
asked, fixing her shirt as she stood, glancing around to see if someone had joined
them.

“I’m not sure,” he answered
distractedly as he fished the phone from his pocket and dialed a number.
“Ethan? What’s going on?”

Lea’s heart rocked against her ribs
as she watched his face. It was his gift. His sensing thing he’d inherited from
his mother. She chewed her lower lip and continued to study his face for a clue
to his older brother’s well being. Tyler had said his dad was on an overnight
hike. Maybe Ethan was okay. Maybe Ben’s sixth sense was off.

Okay, it had never been off. Ever.

One summer, he’d been at her house,
playing football in the backyard with Ryder and his brothers when he’d gone all
still. And a little green. His gaze had crashed into hers. And she knew. She
knew something bad had happened before the state police had shown up at the
door with the news about her mom’s accident.

This was not going to turn into
that. They all had had enough tragedy. Especially little Tyler. Nope. She
wasn’t going to allow it. Thinking good thoughts, happy thoughts, willing away
anything bad, she turned around and glanced over at the mountain, having no
idea where the oldest Wyne brother was camped.

“I can barely hear you.” Ben
frowned, glancing at the mountain as his youngest brother came rushing out of
the house.

“Is that Ethan?” Keiffer asked, holding
up a phone. “We were talking when all of a sudden the line went dead. But not
before I heard a gunshot.”

Ben’s whole body stiffened, and the
urge to grab his hand and squeeze shook through Lea, but she stayed put, out of
the way as the two brothers banded together.

“Ethan? Are you there? Did you fire
your gun?” Ben frowned as he strained to hear on the phone. “Okay.” He nodded,
and her sigh of relief mingled with Keiffers. “Where are you? Give me the
coordinates.”

If she could feel her legs, she’d have
rushed inside to grab a paper and pen, but she needn’t have worried. He fished
both from a pocket in his cargos and started to jot something down.

“Got it,” he said. “You need
Scott?”

Her heart hit her ribs again. Scott
Holden was one of her brother’s guard buddy, and a paramedic.  If he was needed
then…

“No? You’re sure? Okay.” Ben was
nodding again, some of the tightness easing from his face and body. “All right.
Keiffer and I will meet you at the bottom of the mountain in two hours.” He
hung up the phone and blew out a breath.

His younger brother cocked his
head. “Let me guess, bear spooked someone?”

“Yep.” He nodded, mouth tight. “And
now they’re insisting on coming in tonight, even though Ethan explained it’s
more dangerous to trek down the mountain in the dark than sleep with a bear on
the prowl.”

Keiffer plopped down on one of the
chairs and shook his head. “There’s always one or two every year.”

“Yeah.” Ben glanced at her and
blinked as if forgetting she’d been there. He walked over, small smile tugging
his lips as regret filled his eyes. “Sorry. We’re going to have to break out
the gear and go get them.”

She nodded, answering his smile
with one of her own. Sex was out of the question, but she was okay with that.
Ethan needed help. “I’m just glad everyone is all right. My heart is still in
my throat.”

“How do you think I feel having
heard that damn gunshot?” Keiffer asked, rising to his feet, face still a
little pale.

The three of them shuddered.

And because the last thing Lea
wanted to be was in the way, she said her good-byes and went home, but not
before she got Ben to agree to come over to her dad’s for dinner the next day.

D
éjà vu rippled
through Ben’s mind Sunday afternoon as Lea’s father led him into the Gablonski
kitchen where the delicious aromas of homemade pot-roast beckoned like a long
lost friend.  A lifetime ago, he’d practically been a fixture at their house
for supper. Not that the food hadn’t been good at home while Brandi’s mom had
been healthy, it was after she’d become sick and the duty of cooking meals had
fallen to the boys that he looked forward to invites at Ryder’s. He loved his
brothers, but unless it was Mason who had kitchen detail that week, Ben had
taken to eating cold spaghetti out of a can. Much more appetizing than anything
the rest of them could cook.

Truth be told, after a few visits,
it hadn’t just been the food that had drawn him there. Ryder’s sister, Gwen,
had been everything his teenage body had yearned for, a popular, beautiful,
blonde cheerleader. Yeah, he’d been in heaven when she’d actually started to
flirt with him. And he’d enjoyed Lea’s company, too. The young girl had been a
great friend to his new sister. And smart. Like Brandi, she hadn’t been the
type to play with dolls. And if she didn’t have her nose in a book, she liked
sports and the outdoors, and was a quick learner. There was nothing superfluous
about the youngest Gablonski

Unlike Gwen.

Funny how he’d never realized that
before.

He also never realized just how far
from superficial the woman was either. Walking into the kitchen, they found her
placing the roast on a hotplate on the table. She wore a jean skirt and a
simple baby blue, scoop-necked shirt with her hair pulled back in another
ponytail and no fancy necklace, or earrings or bracelets jangling from her
limbs. The only piece of jewelry she wore was a pinky ring that used to belong
to her mother. He knew this because Brandi wore one of her mother’s rings the
same way. He remembered the two girls donning them around the same time.

“Something smells great in here,
Lea,” her dad said with a smile as he slowly sank into his chair.

“Of course it does. It’s your
recipe.”

She smiled back, then transferred
that gaze to him, and his heart rocked hard in his chest.

“Hi, Ben. You’re just in time.”

Felt more like he was years late.
He’d been walking around with blinders on or something, because although he’d
always found her beautiful, he just never really looked beyond skin deep.
Peering past the surface was always a risk, and one he’d learned never to take
lest he risk getting hurt. Or disappointed. Again.

But he couldn’t help it now. Her
blue eyes sparkled with warmth and acceptance. No judgments on his lack of
dress clothes, which was good, because he wore a uniform all damn week so on
weekends he relaxed in a T-shirt and jeans or cargos. She didn’t seem to care
in the slightest. In fact, her gaze had lingered on him, as if she wanted to
add him to the menu.

His ribs took a jolt on that. The
woman didn’t pull any punches. And that was okay with him. Just like yesterday.
He’d vowed to stay away from her, but the minute she’d stumbled upon him
fishing with Tyler, he’d caved like a  man starved for her attention. Because
he was. Damn it.

“Thanks for the wine.”

Wine…

Remembering the bottle held in a death
grip, he thrust the red wine toward her and cleared his throat. “Hope it’s the
right compliment to your hard work.”

A blush colored her cheeks,
deepening the blue of her eyes. “I’m sure it will. Thank you.”

Pure and real, her beauty fogged
his mind and stole his breath. He rubbed at his chest in an attempt to relieve
the tightness squeezing without mercy.

“Have a seat while I get some
glasses.”

Once she removed her debilitating
gaze, he found his breathing returned and the tightness slowly dissipated.

“So, I heard Ethan had a bunch of
pansies on the mountain yesterday,” Mr. Gablonski said, and the dinner
conversation centered on bears, mountain lions and rookie hikers.

A half-hour later, having just
barely resisted the urge to lick his plate clean, Ben acknowledged he was one
mouthful away from a food coma. The pot-roast had melted in his mouth the
instant it hit his tongue, and the mashed potatoes…
ah hell
, the mashed
potatoes were real. And hearty. And had just a hint of garlic enhanced by the
rich, thick gravy she should patent and sell to every damn bachelor on the
planet. The delicious meal was the stick-to-your-ribs kind of meal a guy longs
to have after a hard day’s work.

Then she’d placed a
warm-from-the-oven peach pie—made from scratch—on the table.

Two mouthwatering slices later,
that damn food coma had him by the shirt tails.

“Well, Ben, what do you say we go
catch what’s left of the four o’clock football game?” her dad suggested, rising
to his feet and slapping his belly.

He glanced from the mound of dishes
on the table to Lea. Who smiled and waved him toward the front room. “Go ahead.
I’ve got this. It’ll be nice for Dad to watch the game with someone other than
me…you know, someone who actually
likes
the NFL.”

She sat and watched games with her
dad?

Lea Gablonski was the most
warm-hearted, kind and giving person he’d ever met. That damn tightening in his
chest returned. Nodding to her, he left the kitchen, rubbing his chest, again,
and wondering how he could reverse the effects.

“How are the wedding plans coming
along?”

It took Ben a full five seconds
before he realized Lea’s father had been asking about Brandi’s plans and not
his.
Jesus
, his heart had stopped for those full five seconds, too.

“Good, sir,” he replied, settling
into the other recliner facing the TV. “The resort has the rooms reserved for
all the Harland County guests, and the banquet hall details are complete down
to my sister’s favorite color. The cook has the menu figured out. Lea took care
of the flowers and cake arrangements. And my brothers and I will be standing by
to pick everyone up at the local airport when we get the call on Wednesday.”

The older man nodded, then smiled.
“How is your dad through all this? Is he ready to give his little girl away?”

Normally, Ben would’ve responded
with a yes, of course. But lately, he’d caught his stoic, no-nonsense father
lingering over photos of Brandi hanging on the walls at home. “I believe, so,
sir.”

“Yeah, even your dad will feel the
punch to the gut, I’m sure.”

Ben nodded, suspecting the man was
right.

“At least Brandi is marrying the
right man.”

“I agree.”

“Sometimes you think you know what
you want, and don’t realize how wrong you are until you discover the right one
was in front of you all the time.”

Since he wasn’t sitting across from
the man, and could only gage him from the side, Ben had no idea if Lea’s father
was referring to him…or Brandi. Thankfully, Lea chose that moment to waltz into
the room and save him from himself.

“Okay, you’ve had Ben for a
half-hour, so now it’s my turn to torture him,” she stated with a smile
sparkling in her gaze.

“Oh boy. That sounds like more
wedding stuff, Ben.” Her father grimaced. “Sorry. You’re on your own, there.”

“
Hey.
”

She jammed her hands on her hips,
and he really tried not to notice how the movement thrust out her mouthwatering
breasts. But he was a guy. And her breasts really were to die for.

“He’d promised Brandi he’d help.
And it’s not that bad. I need to show him the silk leis for the horses.”

“Oh, that’s right.” Her dad’s face
lit up. “Kade was happy about that, I bet.”

Ben nodded with a smile tugging his
lips. “Very. They’re all rescues the resort is proud to own. Brandi and Lea’s
idea to reach out to the local shelters up here was brilliant.”

“Yes, it was.”

“Thank you very much,” she said,
hooking her arm through his and tugging him forward. “It’s time to go look at
the leis and tell me if they are too girly or not.”

He said a quick good-bye to her
chuckling father and found himself descending back into that déjà vu territory
again. The basement. The make-out den where he’d copped his first feel, ever,
and with her sister Gwen, which now just made him feel a lot weird.

Weirded out.

But as he reached the bottom and
glanced around, he realized the place had been completely overhauled and
brought back no twinges of the past. It was still a rec room with a TV, a bar
and couch, but they were new, and the room was set up differently.