Wild for Him

Chapter Seven

BEN sat out in the dark, quiet living room, skipping through the cable channels on Christine's TV in search of something worthwhile to watch at one o'clock in the morning. He stopped on an infomercial for some kind of car cleaner, then watched the ending of a cop chase on Court TV before jumping to a music video on MTV. Once that was over, he skipped to another paid program for Ginsu knives and decided that was about as good as it was going to get.

With a bored sigh, he tossed the channel changer onto the cushion beside him, then leaned back against the couch to make himself comfortable. Before the host could slice and dice through a tomato, Ben heard a door open, then the sound of feet padding across the carpet to the kitchen. He glanced in that direction and saw Christine's silhouette as she came to a stop in the distance, then changed course and started toward him in the living room.

She emerged from the shadows, looking sleep-tousled and wearing what he'd normally refer to as a modest nightgown, but on Christine it was anything but demure. The straps holding up the gown were thin, and the front V-neck was trimmed in lace, with a tighter bodice that molded to her small, firm breasts. The hem fluttered around her knees as she walked toward him, drawing his attention to her slender, bare legs.

Ignoring his body's instantaneous response to her irresistible, sensual allure, he lifted his gaze back to hers. "What are you doing up?"

"With the charity auction tomorrow night, I've got a lot of things going through my head," she said, and sat down on the couch a respectable distance away from him. "I was just going to make myself some chamomile tea when I saw that you were up, too. Is everything okay?"

Her concern warmed him. "Actually, this is pretty normal for me."

She tipped her head, causing soft, disheveled waves to fall across her bare shoulder. "What, not being able to sleep?"

He nodded. Sleep meant dreams, and not all of them were pleasant. Not since Iraq. "I'm used to getting by with very little sleep. A few hours, and I'm good to go." He smiled at her.

"I can't even imagine. Normally, I have to have my eight hours or I'm not functional the next day." She brought her legs up to the side and covered them with the skirt of her gown. "Have you always been that way? Only needing a few hours of sleep?"

"No, just since being in the service. Specifically, when I was sent to Iraq." He glanced back at the TV just as the host cut through an aluminum can with one of the Ginsu knives. "Hearing IEDs and gunshots going off in the distance has a way of making you sleep with one eye open at all times."

"That couldn't have been easy," she said softly.

"You get used to it." He shrugged, not wanting to get melancholy about his time in the military. "So, most nights, like tonight, are spent watching old reruns of I Love Lucy or cheesy infomercials, like this one."

"Ginsu knives?" She laughed and reached for the channel changer between them. "There has got to be something better than this on with all the cable channels I have."

Pointing the remote at the TV, she began flipping through the channels in search of something interesting to watch. The images on the screen blurred as she quickly jumped from one show to the next. She passed what appeared to be a couple in a heated embrace, and in the next instant she was hitting the reverse button and stopping on the Playboy channel and the soft porn movie in progress.

The man and woman were slowly stripping off each other's clothing as they indulged in deep, tongue-tangling kisses and provocative caresses as more and more skin was bared, until the pair was completely naked. It was evident to Ben exactly where this seductive scenario was heading… toward some hot and steamy sex.

Unsure why Christine had stopped on an adult skin-flick-possibly to torment him and remind him what he couldn't have when it came to her?-he slanted a covert glance toward the woman sitting on the opposite side of the couch. Her gaze was riveted to the TV, and she looked totally enthralled by the action unfolding on the big screen in front of them.

"What are you doing?" he asked, trying to sound casual about the whole situation, when he was anything but.

"Just watching," she said, never taking her eyes off the couple, who were now moving on to more erotic pleasures.

Ooookkkaay. If she could watch a porn movie with such composure and without getting flustered, then so could he. Except like most guys, the whole visual thing made his dick sit up and take notice-and wearing only a pair of sweatpants made it extremely difficult to conceal his growing hard-on.

The foreplay between the pair grew hotter, and more carnal as the woman in the movie dropped to her knees and focused her attention on her partner's jutting shaft. She parted her lips and took him deep inside her mouth, her cheeks hallowing as she slowly withdrew, sucking hard. The guy groaned and thrust in time to the woman's rhythmic strokes.

Christine shifted restlessly on the couch, her legs sliding against one another beneath her nightgown. "Now there's something I've always been curious about," she said huskily.

Her comment made no sense to him whatsoever. Being curious meant she wasn't all that familiar with what that woman in the film was currently doing to that guy. "Excuse me?"

"Oral sex," she said just as vaguely, her gaze still transfixed on the X-rated movie.

He still didn't get her point. But what he was beginning to realize was that watching the couple in the throes of foreplay was arousing her. He could see it in the way she was biting her lower lip, and especially how her nipples had stiffened into tight, hard peaks against the thin, cotton material of her gown.

Too damned intrigued by the direction their conversation was heading, he prompted her for a bit more information. "What, exactly, about oral sex has piqued your interest?"

"Everything about it." She finally tore her gaze away from the adventurous pair to look at him. "What it's like. How it feels to have an orgasm when a guy returns the favor."

Jesus. Her blue eyes were dark and dilated with excitement and fascination, but in a completely guileless, naive way. She wasn't trying to act innocent or sucker him in with feminine wiles like he'd known some women to do. Her curiosity was honest and real, and that put a whole different spin on the sultry, entranced way she was currently staring at him.

It was time to change the channel before this situation escalated to a more risque level. "Give me the remote." He stretched his hand toward her.

"I don't think so." She set the remote on the end table beside her, way out of Ben's reach. "This is just starting to get good. Maybe I'll learn a thing or two about oral sex and finally figure out what's so great about it."

Stunned by her comment, he had to ask the question foremost in his mind. "Are you saying that you've never had a guy go down on you before?"

Her cheeks turned pink at his frank, explicit description, and she shook her head.

The heat simmering in his gut kicked up a notch, because if Christine had been his, that would have been one of his all-time favorite ways of pleasuring her. "And you've never given a guy a blow job?"

Again, she shook her head.

His already hard shaft twitched at the thought of sliding deep into that warm, wet mouth of hers that had never taken a man's cock before.

Disbelief coursed through him. Christine was twenty-six, soon to be twenty-seven. How in the world had she gone her entire adult life without experiencing either intimacy? Unless… Oh, Shit.

"Are you a virgin!" His voice sounded strangled.

A small smile touched the corner of her lips. "I might as well be, but no, I'm not. I've had sex before."

He remembered her comment the other night about wanting to feel desire and taste passion, and felt more confused than ever. "So let me get this straight. You were engaged to be married, you even had sex, but the two of you never…"

"… did anything beyond your basic missionary position," she quietly finished for him. "It was always a quick, no fuss event. No hot and heavy foreplay. No oral sex. I wanted to, but Jason always got right down to business and it was all over with before I could get excited enough to have an orgasm. I guess he saved all the good stuff for those other women he was with." She drew a deep breath and released it just as slowly. "The best I can guess is that he just didn't see me as a sexy, sensual woman. And compared to the woman I'd caught him with, well, I certainly felt inadequate in comparison."

Her ex was a certified jackass, no doubt about it. "That's such bullshit, Christine. The fault wasn't, and isn't, yours."

A woman's breathy moan drew Christine's gaze back to the TV. At some point, the guy had laid his lover back on the big bed and he was kissing his way down her body, until he finally settled his broad shoulders between her widespread thighs, then lowered his head and slid his tongue through the woman's soft, dewy flesh. She gasped, arched against the man's mouth, then let out a long, unraveling groan.

The uninhibited display was hot and provocative and downright titillating, physically and mentally. But it wasn't the action happening on the TV screen that captivated Ben, but rather Christine's response to what the guy was doing to the woman that turned him on like no porn movie ever had.

He felt like a voyeur, but didn't care.

She was watching the scene intently, her skin flushed with arousal, the tips of her fingers touching the base of her throat. Her lips were parted, her breathing deep and shallow, and when the woman in the movie started to come with a high-pitched cry, Christine let out a small choked sound of her own.

That sexy little sound she made, combined with the look of longing on her face and the slow, sensual way those fingers of hers trailed down to her breasts, was enough to ignite a strong dose of heated lust in his veins, and elsewhere. God, he was so fucking hard, his entire body strung so tight he knew he'd never get any sleep tonight without some kind of relief. And a cold shower just wasn't going to cut it.

Christine turned her head and glanced at him, her eyes dark and glazed with the kind of desire that could bring a man to his knees. And, oh, Lord, was he ever tempted to do just that and make her come undone, then scream from the sheer pleasure and strength of her first orally induced orgasm.

"That's what I want to know and feel," she said, as if she'd been reading his mind when in reality she was referring to what had just transpired between the couple, which was pretty much the same thing. "I've fantasized about what it would be like… with you."

He swallowed back a groan. She was literally killing him. With her candid words. With her soft, blue eyes. With her honesty and trust. He could only take so much, and he was nearly at his breaking point.

"Do not look at me like that," he said, forcing a deep warning note to his voice.

She blinked at him, but the need shimmering in her gaze didn't dissipate one bit. "Like what?"

A wave of frustration crashed over him. "Like you want me to be the one to teach you all about sex. Good sex," he clarified.

She glanced down at his lap and the fierce erection he couldn't even begin to hide, and a beguiling smile slowly eased up one corner of her mouth. "Maybe I do," she murmured huskily, and licked her bottom lip in a way that heated his blood even more. "Would that be so bad?"

He swore beneath his breath and resisted the overwhelming urge to give Christine exactly what she wanted, and so much more. He couldn't remember ever wanting anything as much as what she dangled in front of him right now, and after struggling between right and wrong, he managed, just barely, to do the ethical thing.

"It's not going to happen, Christine," he said, knowing he was trying to convince himself as much as her.

She sighed, her disappointment at his decision nearly tangible. She stood, and as she strolled past him she lightly skimmed her fingers along his jawline and brazenly stroked her thumb across his bottom lip, branding him with her oh-so-tempting touch.

"Okay, but if you change your mind, you know where to find me," she said, and started to walk away.

Ben didn't know what possessed him to reach out and grab her wrist, then tug her back so that she fell across his thighs. Because once he had her in his lap, all soft and warm and aroused, he knew that stopping her had been a very bad, bad idea.

Still holding her wrist, he stared into her eyes, torn between the multitude of emotions swirling inside him. Of course there was lust and need rising to the forefront, but it was the other more complex feelings that threw him off-kilter and had his heart beating hard and fast in his chest.

Affection and caring. Tenderness and longing. All the types of emotions that scared the shit out of him.

Christine shifted restlessly against his thighs, drawing his attention back to her and the unavoidable temptation she presented. "Either do something, like kiss me or touch me, or let me go so I can take care of this ache on my own," she whispered.

The seductive image of Christine bringing herself to orgasm zapped the last of his control, and his sanity. Refusing to think of consequences, regrets, or anything else other than giving this woman every pleasure she'd been denied, Ben tumbled her back onto the couch and stretched his body over hers.

She gasped and looked up at him with wide, shocked eyes that gradually glowed with excitement. Plowing all ten fingers into her silky hair, he shoved a knee between her thighs to align them more intimately, then dropped his mouth over hers, possessing her with the ravenous assault of his lips slanting across hers. He thrust his tongue inside, delved deep into all that silken warmth, and lost himself in the hunger and need inflaming him, heating him from the inside out.

She kissed him back just as passionately as her cool hands came around to his sides, glided in a sensual caress to the base of his spine, then skimmed up the slope of his tense, muscled back. Her fingers dug into his flesh, trying to pull him impossibly closer while she arched wantonly beneath him.

Even through the fabric of her nightgown, he could feel her stiff nipples rubbing against his chest. Aching to touch more of her, wanting skin on skin contact, he slid his fingers beneath those thin straps on her shoulders and dragged them down both of her arms, until the front of her gown was bunched around her waist and her breasts were freed.

With a soft, unraveling moan, he buried his face against her neck, nuzzling that warm, inviting spot and breathing in the heady scent of vanilla. She moaned, too, as he scattered hot, moist, open-mouthed kisses down her throat and along her collarbone, then lower still.

Shifting to the side, he settled a hand over one of her breasts and swept his thumb across the pebble-hard tip. She shivered and exhaled a breathy sound that shot straight to his already rigid cock. Dipping his head, he curled his tongue around her other nipple-licking, nipping, laving, until the peak was swollen and damp from his ministrations and she was writhing wildly beneath him. Finally, he took her breast into the wet heat of his mouth, and at the first suctioning pull of his lips she clutched his head and pressed him harder, closer, forcing him to take her deeper.

Her thighs tightened against the one he'd nudged between her legs, and she began to breathe hard and fast. "Touch me, Ben," she begged, without inhibition, or the faintest ounce of modesty or reserve. "Oh, God, I need… I need to come so badly."

Now that he knew just how selfish her ex had been when it came to foreplay and Christine's pleasure, Ben wanted to show her how good it could be, how it should be when it came to a woman's gratification during sex.

With his mouth still on her breast, he slipped a hand beneath the hem of her gown and smoothed his palm up her thigh, until he reached the drenched fabric of her panties. She was so wet and aroused, from the X-rated movie still playing in the background and their hot and heavy kissing, and he didn't hesitate to work his fingers beneath the elastic band so he could touch her intimately.

Instantly, his thumb glided through slick folds of flesh and found her clit, and he caressed her with slow, unhurried strokes meant to tease and build the tension cresting higher and higher, hotter and hotter. One finger, then two, pushed deep inside of her and that quickly, that easily, he felt the tremors within her begin.

She whimpered helplessly, and moaned incoherently. Her hands clutched at his back as her hips began to move in time to the circling pressure of his thumb, and the driving force of his fingers impaling her.

Giving in to the unstoppable urge to watch Christine as she climaxed, he lifted his head and stared down at her face. Her eyes were dark and filled with carnal need, her skin flushed with excitement all the way down to her heaving breasts. Her inner muscles fluttered around his fingers, and she tossed her head back in utter abandon, her lips parting on a shocked gasp of breath as the force of her orgasm sent her soaring. With his name tumbling from her lips, she shattered completely, blissfully.

When it was over, she slowly looked up at him, licked her bottom lip, and whispered, "I want more."

Her words shot liquid fire straight to his groin, unleashing his own lust, making him delirious with need. She was temptation personified, and having her became a live thing, something uncontrollable and inevitable, and suddenly jacking off all alone to ease his own ache held no appeal whatsoever.

He didn't have a condom, but he didn't need one for what he had in mind. Shoving his sweatpants down to his thighs, he released his heavy, throbbing erection and rubbed the sensitive head along the wet, gossamer stretch of panties covering her mound, saturating the length of his cock with the evidence of her own desire.

He settled his weigh more fully over her, pushing her thighs farther apart to make room for him between. He lifted her knees higher, parting them around his hips, then wrapping those slender legs tight around him. He slid every part of his body flush against her, hating the barriers between them, wishing they had nothing separating skin from skin. Meeting her heavy-lidded gaze, he thrust against her, the friction sending a warning shiver straight up his spine.

His self-discipline vanished. His control shattered. Knowing he wasn't going to last long, he crushed his mouth to hers, devouring her with the demanding pressure of his lips and aggressive invasion of his tongue. The hard ridge of his erection nudged her clit as he rocked against all that silky wet heat, again and again.

It was the next best thing to being inside of her, and he went a little wild at the thought.

Her moan vibrated deep inside him and she strained against him, ramping up his own urgency to let go. His hips pumped against hers in long, frantic strokes, and amazingly, he felt her shudder beneath him as another orgasm took her by surprise. And that was all it took for him to come right along with her in a hot, pulsing rush of unrestrained ecstacy.

When it was over, he burrowed his face against her damp neck, a raspy groan escaping him. Christine threaded her fingers through his hair, so sweet and affectionate, while her heart beat rapidly against his chest. Then she turned her head and pressed her lips near his ear.

"Thank you," she whispered, and he heard the lazy smile in her voice as she stroked her fingers along his nape. "That was amazing."

Amazing didn't even come close to describing what he'd just experienced, even without the luxury of being inside her. How in the hell was that possible?

He squeezed his eyes shut, unable to believe what he'd just done. Unable to believe he'd let things go this far when he knew better. His body was drained, depleted of every ounce of energy and months worth of all the sexual tension that had been building between them. His explosive orgasm had nearly slayed him, and the very worst of it was, he wasn't done wanting her. Not by a long shot.

And he had a feeling she was going to use every bit of that knowledge to her advantage.

WITH a whole lot to do before the elaborate charity ball that evening, Christine was up early Saturday morning and working in her office at home. She spent a couple of hours printing out bidding sheets and item descriptions for the silent auction, as well as organizing gold-embossed place cards to coincide with each donation. She checked and double-checked her master list against all the goods she had on hand to make sure everything matched and nothing was missing, then polished up her speech and made sure she had a copy of that, too.

By the time she was done, it was nearly noon and her stomach growled hungrily. She'd eaten breakfast hours before and had been running on pure caffeine since. She needed protein to keep her going for the rest of the afternoon.

Shutting down her computer, she picked up her empty coffee mug and headed down the hall toward the kitchen. She passed the guest bedroom, and for the first time that morning the door was open and no one was inside. It appeared that Ben had decided he could no longer avoid her after their hot and heavy make-out session the evening before, and had finally ventured out.

Smiling, she continued on, and when she walked into the kitchen she found him sitting at her small dinette table eating a big bowl of the Froot Loops he'd bought when they'd gone grocery shopping together earlier that week. He must have recently taken a shower because his hair was still damp. He didn't look up at her, and he didn't say a word.

Refusing to cater to his mood swing, she acted as though nothing was different between them. "Good morning," she greeted cheerfully.

"Morning," he muttered, and shoveled another spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

She retrieved sliced turkey breast, Dijon mustard, tomato, and lettuce from the refrigerator and set the items on the counter, along with a loaf of fresh honey wheat bread. "Did you sleep well last night?"

"Just fine."

She started putting together her sandwich, waiting for him to return the polite question. When he said nothing more, she took it upon herself to reply. "I slept great, too. Thanks for asking." She cast a grin over her shoulder, but it was lost on Ben, who was still concentrating on inhaling his Froot Loops.

Wanting to get some kind of reaction from him, she poured herself a glass of iced tea and went on. "In fact, I can't remember the last time I had such a good night's rest. It's incredible how a good orgasm can make a person relax, unwind, and sleep like a baby, huh?"

He merely grunted in response.

She carried her sandwich and drink to the table and sat across from him. Frustrated beyond reason by his cool composure and his refusal to acknowledge their hot, sexual encounter the evening before, she decided to shake things up a bit. "Do you think we can do it again sometime? Because I'd really like to." She picked up half of her sandwich and took a bite.

That snagged his attention and his head jerked up. His dark gaze, filled with stunned disbelief, met hers. She'd asked the shameless question purely for shock value, and she had to admit her ploy had worked in terms of snapping Ben out of his aloof attitude, but she couldn't deny that the idea of being with him again held immense appeal.

His gaze bore into hers, clearly trying to gauge if she was serious or not.

She exhaled an impatient sigh and opted for the direct approach. "Are we ever going to talk about what happened last night?"

"I would prefer not to." Reaching for the box of Froot Loops, he refilled his bowl with the colorful cereal and added more milk.

"That's what I figured," she said, and summoned the confidence and determination to get through this conversation with Ben-and hopefully come out the other end with exactly what she wanted. "So, I'm just going to put it all out there and get everything out in the open."

Needing more food in her stomach, she ate another bite of her turkey sandwich, and washed it down with a drink of cold tea. "First of all, last night was not a fluke or something that happened in the heat of the moment. The attraction has been building between us for months, and I wanted to be with you because I knew it would be so good, and I was right."

He didn't argue or try to stop her, and that gave her an added boost of fortitude to continue.

"Last night, with you, was the first time a guy has ever given me an orgasm of any kind," she admitted, finding it much easier to open up to Ben the more she talked to him, and the more he listened. "And it was much better than any orgasm I've given myself."

"That's the way it should be," he replied gruffly.

"Yeah, well, tell that to my two exes," she said wryly, and finished off the first half of her sandwich.

He lifted a brow, silently prompting her to tell him more. Last night she'd given him some insight into her relationship with Jason, but now she was about to reveal a part of her past that not even Madison knew about.

"Besides Jason, I only had one other boyfriend that I slept with. I think I told you that I attended an all-girls' boarding school, and there wasn't a whole lot of opportunity to date or interact with guys. So, by the time I was in college, having a guy interested in me was new and exciting, and especially the hot quarterback on the football team."

She felt her face grow hot, because even now she could remember how infatuated she'd been with Brian, and how all his flirting and attention had made her feel special-only to realize much too late that it was all a ploy to get into her pants. Just like every other girl he'd dated before her.

Pushing her embarrassment aside, she forged ahead with her story. "The first time he took me out, we went to dinner and a movie, and afterward he walked me to my dorm and gave me my first French kiss. The second time we picked up fast food, ate it in the car, then he parked in a place that was dark and secluded and we made out. One thing led to another, and before long we were in the backseat of his Honda Accord doing the deed and it was over before I could get used to having a guy inside of me for the first time. He never called me again after that last night, so ultimately I'd given my virginity to a guy who didn't care about anything but getting laid."

"Jesus." Ben shook his head, his expression irate on her behalf as he pushed his empty bowl aside. "The guy was a prick, Christine."

She gave him a half-smile. "I can't argue with that, but at the time I couldn't help but wonder what I did wrong. That whole first experience, combined with Jason's preference for trampy escorts over the woman he was engaged to marry, left me feeling sexually inadequate." She drew a deep breath, and finished before she lost her nerve. "In fact, after Jason I couldn't help but wonder if I was frigid like my mother."

He stared at her incredulously. "What?"

She cringed, realizing she'd unintentionally opened a can of worms. "That's a whole other story that we don't have time for right now," she said, dismissing her comment with a wave of her hand. "Suffice it to say, I had plenty of reason to believe that I just didn't have what it took to be sexy and seductive and arouse a man's interest sexually. Not to mention have an orgasm when I was with him."

He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, which was covered in a screen print T-shirt. "I think we dispelled that notion last night."

"Twice," she corrected him, and shivered when she thought about how hot and erotic their tryst had been, and how she'd love a repeat performance. "And it was great. Better than great. Even though I know it would have been even better if you'd been inside of me, the pretending was pretty damned exciting. Enough so to make me come that second time."

He groaned and scrubbed a hand along his jaw. "I really don't think we should be having this conversation."

She knew he'd eventually start resisting, especially when the subject became more intimate and personal between the two of them, and she was prepared to see this through.

"Why not? I'm just being honest, and I think last night proved that we'd be great together." Despite her outward bravado, inside her nerves were jumping. Never had she been so open and frank with a man before, but she had to admit it was a wonderful, liberating feeling. "With you, I feel desire and passion and lust. And that's more than I've ever had with either Brian or Jason. And I'd like to think that I aroused you a little bit, too."

"Yeah, a little bit," he replied, a sarcastic edge to his voice. "That's why I'm sitting across from you with a goddamn hard-on straining the front of my jeans. Because just thinking of how responsive you are when I kiss you or touch you makes me want to pull you across this table and have my way with you right here and now."

A potent thrill shot through her, searing a path straight down to her stomach. "If we weren't on a time constraint, I'd let you," she said, her voice taking on a low, husky quality.

He cursed heatedly and abruptly stood up. "You just don't get it, do you, Christine?"

Calmly, she stared up at him. "No, I guess I don't."

"Then let me explain things in a way that you'll better understand. Yeah, I'm attracted to you. I can't deny that." Placing his palms flat on the table, he leaned toward her, his eyes blazing with intimidation. "And yeah, I'd like to fuck you every way imaginable that would make your traditional missionary position look tame in comparison. But your father hired me to protect you, not to have sex with you."

He was trying to make her back off, but she was so done being the kind of good girl who in the past would have dropped the subject and retreated. Hell, a year ago she never would have been bold enough to discuss sex and orgasms with a guy. But most important, she was done doing what everyone else wanted or expected her to do.

"My father has nothing to do with my attraction to you," she said easily. "I'm a big girl and if I want to indulge in an affair, that's none of my father's, or anybody else's business."

He didn't look one bit convinced. "When the guy you want to have the affair with is me, your security agent, it complicates everything. And because of that, I don't ever mix business and pleasure."

"You did last night," she pointed out oh-so-sweetly.

He didn't seem to appreciate the reminder. He straightened from the table, but he didn't say a word or move from where he was standing.

Pushing her own chair back, she picked up her plate and the empty glass of iced tea, and carried both to the sink. Then she turned around to face her bodyguard again.

"Look. Ben. I understand that you have a job to do, and I'm not asking you to compromise my safety in any way. Out in public, you can do what you need to do to ensure I'm protected, but here, in my house, there is no threat and I couldn't be more secure with an alarm system on at all times."

She strolled toward him, and he watched her approach through narrowed eyes. "With that said, why can't we enjoy each other like we did last night?"

Again, no reply, but that didn't dissuade her in the least. He hadn't flat out refused her, and if anything, his silence gave her hope that he was actually considering her proposal.

She came to a stop just a few feet away from him. "I'm not asking for any kind of commitment," she said, just in case that fear was running through his head. "I've had enough of that for a while and I want to enjoy my freedom and independence before getting serious with anyone again."

"So, all you want is sex," he said, his bland tone belying the heat flickering in his gaze. "No strings attached."

"Not just sex. Good sex. Great sex," she clarified, but she already knew that wasn't an issue when it came to Ben and her as a couple. "We have two more weeks together before the election is over, and I'm thinking that's more than enough time to enjoy this mutual attraction and get it out of our systems. And when your job is done, we part ways as friends."

For all her daring, determination, and no-nonsense approach to an affair with Ben, she already knew it wouldn't be so easy to let him go in the end. This was a man who didn't try to be something he wasn't, and accepted her for who she was, as well. That in itself was a novelty for her when it came to the men she dated. He was charming when he wanted to be, and he made her feel alive and sexy and desirable, too. And if a few weeks was all they had with one another, she wanted to make the most of their time together, to take everything he was willing to give.

The rules she'd just laid out between them had been all for Ben. To make it easy on him when the affair was over, so he could walk away without worrying about any expectations or pressures from her. She already knew by previous conversations they'd had, combined with the compact way he lived his life, that he wasn't a man looking to settle down with any one woman anytime soon. She supposed losing the woman you loved and adored in a country torn apart by war had a way of making a person more averse to emotional attachments-and more disposed to a single, solitary lifestyle.

"You're awfully quiet." She could only imagine what was going through that head of his, and knew there was nothing left to do but ask him one last question. The most important one of them all. "So, are you interested in a short-term affair?"

His jaw worked back and forth, and just when she thought he was going to give her an unequivocal no, he instead shocked her with his answer.

"I'll think about it," he said.

She realized that he was attempting to placate her with an answer that wasn't really an answer, but at least he hadn't flat out refused her, and that's all she cared about right now. Sure, she'd give him time to think about it, and then she was going to take matters into her own hands.

Starting tonight after the charity ball.