close and possibly trying to crack onto her.
Ben frowned as he realised just how possessive he was beginning to feel about Jess. It wasn’t like him to be jealous. He’d always despised that kind of self-destructive emotion. But with Jess he just didn’t have the control over his emotions that he usually had. He didn’t have as much control over his body either.
It had been a battle to stop himself from having an erection all evening, finally losing the war when he’d taken her in his arms just now. Not that anything showed. His dinner jacket covered the evidence of his almost obsessive desire. But he could feel it, damn it. Not just in his flesh, but in his mind. Never had he wanted a woman as much as he wanted Jess. He could not wait to strip that infernal dress off her and do all the things he wanted to do to her.
‘THANK GOD THEY’RE GONE,’ Ben muttered under his breath as Andy and Catherine drove off in their much-decorated car. The happy couple were spending their wedding night in a nearby, very swanky guest house, which was fortunate, given Andy had imbibed quite a lot of champagne. Ben hadn’t touched a drop; he needed a clear head and an un-intoxicated body for the games he had in mind for Jess tonight. It possibly would be the last opportunity to indulge himself with her in such a fashion. He did have full access to his mother’s apartment at Blue Bay tomorrow night—she didn’t get back till Monday—but Jess might not be willing to stay the night with him there. It was obvious that she still lived at home and still had to answer to her parents. Her mother, anyway.
Meanwhile…
Jess spotted Ben standing at the edge of the throng of guests who’d gone outside to watch the bride and groom depart. He’d been in a distracted mood the last hour or so. Not talking much. Not drinking either. She’d kept her consumption to a minimum, but then she had to drive. He didn’t.
When she came up to him, he was frowning.
‘Why are you frowning like that?’ she asked him. ‘Is your shoulder aching?’ She wouldn’t put it past him to have lied to her about his arm. Men hated to admit to any weakness, especially physical ones.
‘No,’ he said, giving her an odd look. ‘It’s fine. And more than capable of giving you a good spanking when the time comes.’
Jess sucked in sharply. ‘Spanking?’ she repeated in shocked tones even as the picture of her being bent naked over his thighs zoomed into her mind.
She stared up at him, her whole head whirling as she tried to work out if the idea excited or repulsed her.
‘I think you might enjoy the experience. But only if you want me to, Jess,’ he continued in that soft, seductive voice he often adopted. ‘I would never force you to do anything you didn’t want to do.’
But that was the problem, wasn’t it? Once he started on her, she wanted to do whatever he wanted to. Already she was wondering what it would feel like to be spanked.
Jess struggled to act cool when she was anything but. ‘I…I’ll think about it,’ she said. And of course that was another problem. Thinking about doing sexual things with him invariably turned her on. She was already turned on. Had been all evening. Now, her body temperature and her desire metre were zooming off the charts.
‘Come on,’ he said brusquely. ‘Let’s get out of here.’
Jess hesitated. ‘But shouldn’t we say goodbye to people first?’
‘Who do you have in mind? We’ll see Glen and Heather in the morning before we leave. We can say goodbye to them then.’
‘But we won’t see the bride’s parents in the morning. We should say goodbye to them. It’s only polite.’
Ben grimaced. ‘You can, if you like. I can’t stand either of them. I’ll wait here for you. Don’t be long.’
She whirled away from him and raced back into the marquee, taking less than five minutes to say the appropriate goodbyes and collect her bouquet. He was still looking impatient when she returned to his side.
‘What took you so long?’ he growled as he steered her in the direction of the main house and her parked SUV.
She could not contain a surge of exasperation, shrugging off his bruising hold and grinding to a halt. ‘For pity’s sake, Ben, what’s got into you all of a sudden? You’re acting like a jerk.’
He sighed. ‘Sorry. Just impatient to be alone with you, that’s all.’
‘Oh.’ Trust him to say the one thing guaranteed to defuse her anger.
‘Do you have your keys with you?’ he asked when they approached her vehicle.
‘Yes, of course.’
‘Good. Now, get in and drive.’
She got in, tossed her bouquet in the back, then drove, all conversation between them ceasing during the five minutes it took to negotiate the short trip back to the cottage. By the time she pulled up in front of the small porch, her stomach was churning and her heart was pounding behind her ribs.
Was she really going to let him spank her?
Oh, Lord, she thought, and let out a panicky rush of air.
Ben heard her ragged sigh and recognised the reason behind it.
‘Don’t be nervous,’ he said gently.
‘I am a bit. I’ve never been spanked before.’
‘I gathered that. Have you ever been tied up before?’
Her eyes went like saucers. ‘No. I…I thought they only did things like that in books and in brothels.’
‘Lots of real people like to play erotic games. Which is all I’m suggesting. Nothing serious. I’m not into humiliation or pain. I just want to give you pleasure, Jess. You can say no at any stage to anything you don’t like.’
‘But…but I might not know that I don’t like it till you’ve done it.’
‘I see.’ God, but she was delightful. And delicious. And he wanted her like crazy. ‘I promise to take things slowly, then. Give you time to say no before things go too far.’
‘Oh. All right.’
‘Let’s go.’
He took her into the bathroom first where he undressed her—slowly, as he’d promised. The sight of her fiercely erect nipples revealed that she was genuinely enjoying herself. So far. She gasped when he tweaked one of the pink peaks, then groaned when he did the same to the other one.
‘Still a little tender?’ he enquired as he quickly disposed of his own clothes.
‘A little,’ she confessed shakily.
‘But not too tender,’ he said, and she shook her head.
‘Good. Here, I think I should take off that diamond pendant as well. We
