CHAPTER TWELVE

      BEN LIKED THE WAY Jess let him lead her meekly into the bathroom. He could tell she was turned on, the same way he was. Even the slightest touch turned him on with her. It was quite incredible, the effect she had on him. But nothing he couldn’t control, now that she was being deliciously cooperative.

      He settled her, somewhat stunned-looking, on the side of the claw-footed bath, then started undressing.

      * * *

      Jess could not believe she was doing this, sitting there watching whilst Ben took all his clothes off in front of her. But, dear heaven, it was exciting!

      After he kicked off his shoes, he removed his jacket and then his shirt, revealing an upper half which didn’t look like it spent all day seated behind a desk. He must work hard in a gym, she decided, or go swimming a lot. His light tan suggested this might be the case. He had broad shoulders, one of which carried a nasty bruise. But it didn’t seem to stop his arm working. His chest muscles were wide and well-toned, his stomach a surprising six-pack. Very little body hair, she noted, and liked.

      Jess held her breath when he whipped the belt out of his jeans, but he just dropped it on the floor, then ran the zipper down. When his hands hooked under the waist band and pushed down, she finally let go of the air trapped in her lungs.

      He was wearing black underpants, made out of a silky material which hid nothing.

      She wondered if he was as big as he looked. Jess had always believed that size did matter. To a degree. She liked a man to be well built in that area.

      He was. Bigger than her previous boyfriends. And magnificently erect. Circumcised, with only a smattering of fair hair at the base. She knew he would feel—and taste—fantastic.

      He stood facing her, a golden Adonis in every way.

      ‘Now you, Jess,’ he commanded. ‘Stand up and take that nightie off. I want to see all of you.’

      She stood up onto shaky legs, utterly compelled to obey him. Her belly tightened as she slowly slipped the straps off her shoulders, first on, then the other. She wasn’t wearing any undies. She never wore undies to bed. The nightie slid down her body with a whoosh, pooling around her feet on the tiled floor.

      His gaze dropped down to those feet first, then gradually travelled upwards, lingering on the neatly waxed V of curls between her thighs, before lifting to her breasts.

      ‘Beautiful,’ he said.

      Jess knew she was attractive, but she’d never considered herself beautiful. She had physical flaws, like most people. Couldn’t Ben see that her nose was too big for her face? So was her mouth. The back of her thighs had some dimples of cellulite which no amount of massage or cream could remove, though he wouldn’t see that unless he ordered her to turn around.

      Jess suspected Ben wasn’t about to do that. He was enjoying looking at her breasts too much. Admittedly, they were the best feature of her figure. Full and high, with perky pink nipples that grew astonishingly in size when they were played with. Or when she was excited. Which she was right now. God, yes. Her whole breasts seemed to be swelling under his hot, hungry eyes, though perhaps it was just Jess’s ragged breathing.

      ‘No more arguments or excuses, Jess,’ he said thickly. ‘You’re coming into that shower with me and then we’re going to bed. Together.’

      Once again, she obeyed him, blindly and without protest, letting him pull her with him into the shower cubicle. And it was there, as the hot jets of waters did dreadful things to her hair, that he cupped her face and finally kissed her properly.

      Jess had been kissed many times in her life. And by men who were quite good kissers. But Ben kissing her was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. She felt its effect through her whole body right down to her toes. It overwhelmed her. Then obsessed her. She could not get enough of it. And of him. When at last his head lifted, she sank against him in total surrender, her arms wrapping tightly around his waist.

      ‘Are you on the pill, Jess?’

      She pulled back enough to glance up at him. ‘What?’

      ‘Are you on the pill?’

      Her mind cleared a little. ‘Well…yes…but…’

      ‘You still want me to use protection.’

      ‘Please,’ she said, despite being tempted to say no. Just do it to me. Right here and now.

      ‘In that case, I think we should cut this shower short this time.’

      Again, no protest from her. She just stood there whilst he switched off the taps, then reached for one of the towels hanging on the rack, rubbing rather roughly at her dripping hair before giving himself a brisk rub down. Then he scooped her up in his arms and carried her back to his bedroom.

      Jess shivered as he laid her gently down on top of the bed, goose bumps springing up over her body.

      ‘Are you cold?’ he asked as he lay down next to her, propping himself up on his left side.

      ‘A little,’ she lied.

      ‘Do you want to get under the covers?’

      She shook her head.

      ‘I’ve been wanting to do this all day,’ he said, and bent his lips to hers once more, his right hand sliding up into her still damp hair.

      His return to gentle kisses surprised her at first, then entranced her. She sighed under their soft sweetness. Gradually, however, the pressure of his mouth grew stronger. When his teeth nipped at her lower lip, she gasped, and his tongue slipped inside once more, Jess moaning softly as it explored the sensitive skin of her palate. She gasped again when a hand covered her right breast, playing with her nipple in ways she’d definitely never experienced before: soft rubbing with his palm interspersed with quite painful pinching till it was on fire.

      And all the while he kept on kissing her, his tongue alternately snaking deep, then withdrawing before plunging in again. When his hand moved across to her other nipple, she felt momentarily bereft for the abandoned one. If he could have played with both at the same time, she would have been in heaven. Or hell. Jess could not work out if she was in agony or ecstasy. Not that she cared, as long as he didn’t stop.

      He stopped, both the kissing and the nipple pinching, leaving her moaning in dismay till she realised why he’d stopped. Already he was down there with that knowing mouth and tongue of his, making her groan and squirm as he licked and sucked and showed her that all her other lovers had been seriously ignorant of a woman’s body. Ben knew exactly what to do to bring her to the brink of coming, not once but several times. How he knew when to back off, she wasn’t sure. Maybe it had something to do with his fingers being deep inside her all the while. Maybe he could feel the way her muscles tightened when she came close to coming.

      His head lifted at last. ‘Enough, I think,’ he muttered, then collapsed on his back beside her, breathing very heavily.

      She levered herself up onto her elbow and stared over at him. ‘You’re not stopping, are you?’

      ‘Just for a few seconds. I need a breather, and then I have to get a condom on. I put two in that top drawer this afternoon,’ he said, nodding towards the bedside chest next to her. ‘Get one for me, would you, Jess?’

      Jess wondered if Ben always used protection, even when his girlfriends were on the pill. She had a feeling that he did. Maybe he was worried that one of them might try to trap him into marriage. Seriously rich men would have to worry about such things, she imagined. If this Amber wanted to marry him enough, it wouldn’t be beyond her to do such thing.

      ‘Put it on for me,’ he said after she extracted one from the drawer.

      Oh, Lord, Jess thought as she opened the foil packet and turned