STORY EXCERPT

“You are certainly in all a flutter this afternoon, Ms. Carmichael,” Maddy drawled out in good humor to her friend. Billie’s appetite had returned today, with enthusiasm, if the sheer number of plates in front of her were any indication. Lizzie and Mimi had set out plates of sausages, pancakes, fresh fruit, and oatmeal for the ravenous new mommy.

“Careful, Maddy or Billie might bite off your fingers if they get any syrup on them!” Mimi laughed out in warning.

“Hey!” Billie mumbled with her mouth full.

“Let her eat whatever she wants. She is going to bring us a beautiful, sweet little baby soon!” Lizzie cooed at Billie’s completely flat stomach.

“Oh yeah. Um, Vera! You win the bet,” Mimi called to the kitchen.

Vera strolled out into the dining room and looked Lizzie up and down with a knowing smirk on her face.

“What bet? What is so funny, you two?” Lizzie asked now wary of her two dear friends.

“Well, you were late this morning and now you are practically giving a stellar performance of the Swan Lake ballet, so I bet Mimi that you got more than a roof raising last night. In fact, I would go out on a limb and say that hitch in your walk has nothing to do with the twisted ankle story you made up at all. Whatcha ladies think? Am I right?” Vera crowed out to the ladies eating.

Lizzie was turning something like fifty shades of red now at Vera’s declaration that had those new men smiling indulgently. She was going to secretly plot out how to shove a cork in her mouth and up her butt.

“Amen, sister,” Beth called from the doorway as she came in with all three of her brothers, Gabe, Preston, and Joe.

Lizzie swung around to the traitor. “Beth!”

“What? When she is right, she is right. I’ll have a cheese omelet please.” Beth laughed out, trying to ignore Lizzie’s indignation.

Gabe and Preston sauntered over to Lizzie, each draping a meaty arm over her shoulders in comfort. Gabe leaned down and whispered in her ear, “We believe you, Lizzie, baby. Let us comfort you from that big, bad old Vera.” Preston just looked at her with a very naughty grin, reinforcing his brother’s opinion.

Now that Ben had her, the Prestons were expressing interest? What was it with Ben anyway? Was he an aphrodisiac to both the male and female populace? Sheesh! Even though these two men and their brother Joe were delicious specimens of male flesh, there was only one man who made her melt. Unfortunately, he chose that very moment to come through her doors.

Ben was scaring the customers who knew him with the huge smile on his face as he saw Lizzie. The air in the room became heavy as everyone was afraid that he had lost his mind because he was never known to smile. The world began to make sense again when he suddenly looked deadly calm and mad. Really mad.

“She is not your baby and both of you orangutans had better get your hands off my woman in two seconds or they will be sent to the organ donation program,” Ben said in a loud and menacing manner.

Both the Saunders brothers started to laugh heartily as they removed their arms from Lizzie but not before Joe snuck in and planted a sweet kiss on Lizzie’s unsuspecting cheek.

“That was because you are beautiful today, Lizzie, and I love to rile up the other wild animals,” Joe proudly stated for all to hear.

“Save us a dance on Friday at the Gas Pump, Lizzie!” Preston yelled out before he sat down with his siblings.

Lizzie just stood there with Mimi and Vera, both looking very proud of themselves with their arms crossed and huge smiles over their faces. Lizzie just raised an eyebrow at them and walked away to calm her poor, now-peeved, big man.

“Hello, honey. Would you like some lunch?” she said with a salacious gleam in her eyes as she pulled him down to give him kiss on the lips.

The look he gave her made her shiver with its promise that it wasn’t her food that he wanted. Well, at least she knew for sure how to calm her savage beast.

“So what is our restaurant serving as specials in here today? I am feeling the beef personally!” Ben clapped his hands together as though planning out his favorites.

Lizzie rolled her eyes in an obvious display of annoyance.

“The whole premise of the expression ‘silent partner,’ Ben, is to actually be silent, you know,” Lizzie tried to explain patiently.

Giving her a wicked grin, he allowed his gaze to run over her curves, pausing on the hardening peaks poking through the soft material of her blouse.

“That’s fine with me, baby. You are the face of this operation. I can think of better things to do with my mouth anyway,” Ben whispered huskily in her ear, allowing his lips to touch.

Lizzie felt shivers and returned his smile. For once, she had to agree with him completely.

ADULT EXCERPT

“And so it begins, darlin’. From now on, baby, you are mine. Mine to pleasure, mine to care for, and definitely mine to punish. Starting now.”

Ben barely gave Lizzie any time to process his declaration before his hand snaked out and threaded through her wet hair to pull her face to his. He used his other hand to pull her body toward his with a yank on the rope that held her. He shifted until their increasing breaths mingled as he probably shocked her by gentling his intent and softly stroking her cheeks with his thumbs, causing her body to quake as she couldn’t physically hide her response to his tender touches. The look of surprise on her face made him smile as he leaned in to run his hot lips over the skin that his thumbs had stroked, savoring her wet flesh. She was probably expecting the punishment part first. Silly girl, he liked that he was going to have to keep her on her toes in this relationship.

He heard her moan softly as he shifted his mouth to lightly rim her ear, allowing her to feel his hot, tantalizing breath as her scent consumed his senses. She tasted of sweetened vanilla bizarrely enough, earning a moan of his own. It was his favorite. She became restless as he positioned his tongue and lips to run down the column of her neck and that soft spot where it met the shoulder. He pulled her head to the side with a bit more aggression as he dropped his other hand to trace the wet path his hungry mouth left for it to follow. His fingers almost reverently slid down her heated neck as he listened to her ragged breathing proclaiming without words of her increasing arousal. Her skin was the softest silk as he began to memorize its feel and texture.

“Ben, please. Release my hands,” Lizzie panted out. “I want to touch you, I need to touch you.”

Ben didn’t even lift his head as he held hers in his tight, commanding grip. His wicked tongue was forging a trail that was going to end when it made its way to her breast.

“No.” It was all that Ben offered as a response.

Lizzie began to struggle against her bonds in earnest when he reached the upper swell of her right breast. His ran his tongue in a swirling pattern, toying with her already overwrought emotions.

Without any warning, Ben tugged her across his body so that she lay like a baby in his arms, bound and trussed with her chest only covered by the damp, thin white satin and lace of her demi bra, or what was left of it. He allowed his eyes to brand her as he ran them from the exquisitely delicate features of her face, over the smooth column of her neck, down to her abundant mounds that were bouncing with his sudden movements. He took in the flat planes of her smooth stomach and the outline of her soft mound, down to her strong, firm legs and then back to her pulsating core again. He used his hand, the one not still threaded in her hair holding her to his whim, to lightly trace the obvious outer lips that were practically begging him to slip his fingers into their depths.

“Baby, I can’t resist you any longer. I need to hear you come for me. I just need it, Lizzie.” Ben’s voice sounded harsh even to his own ears as he vocalized what was necessary to bring him back to sanity. He needed this one control over her as his body began to release the fear and alien sense of helplessness that had tortured him while he had been trying to save her.

Deftly he plucked the snap of her capris free and pulled the zipper down slowly, allowing his fingers to tease the pale, soft flesh underneath. He watched as though enthralled by Lizzie’s own response as she was held captivated by his hand as it descended under the white satin of her thong. Ripples of arousal caused her body to tremble in his lap, causing her rear to rub so enticingly against his rock-hard cock again. His two fingers found her clit and rubbed gently in a circular pattern, forcing her to arch her back at the obvious pleasure that he was giving her. He slid them further, eliciting a small gasp as they slid effortlessly through her juices as they found her unbearably wet and ready for whatever “punishment” he would administer. Moans filled the cab as he ran them back and forth through her slick arousal before sliding them up and into her hot, tight channel which clenched in obvious approval. Lizzie let out a frustrated sigh which then turned into a groan as she watched him suck those very fingers into his mouth. The look of satisfaction on his face was more than sufficient enough to convey his pleasure at her taste.

“Baby, you taste like heaven. You were made for pleasure and I am going to see to it that you are used in that manner to the very best of my abilities.” Ben allowed a grin that was both arrogant and decadent to follow in the wake of his declaration. He felt tense from his restraint as his need to get inside of her was about to override his ability to take her gently.