“No, you are stronger than any woman I know, and coming from Texas that’s saying something. You don’t let what happened to you hold you back.” Hannah didn’t know if he meant her parents or the kidnapping. “You let it make you become an even stronger woman and you want to build a new life for yourself.”
Was that how he saw her?
Hannah craned her head back to look at him fully. “I’m not.” She said lamely.
Ben leaned down until their lips were a hair's breadth apart. He gave her ample opportunity to pull away but she remained rooted. He did what he had been longing to do since meeting her again, he gently pressed his lips against hers and slightly pulled back to gauge her reaction.
Hannah’s hands slide up his chest and clenched his t-shirt in his hands. He leaned back down and kissed her again with a little more pressure. “Tell me to stop and I will.” He groaned out. Her lips were so soft and inviting. She tasted of pizza and he wanted more.
“Keep going.” She said keeping her eyes closed and enjoying his attention. A kiss hadn’t felt so powerful or drugging since he kissed her at the lake all those years ago. Every fantasy she had built up around him came flooding back. Ben Grant was in her arms again and it felt so right. It wasn’t as passionate of a kiss as he gave her at the lake but it was just as moving. So perfect. He certainly knew how to kiss. If anything he was better at it now. She tried not to let that information go to her head. She couldn’t have expected such a viral man to remain chaste. She didn’t have room to talk. She had hardly stayed pure after he left.
His lips were soft and firm against her mouth. Hannah felt herself drowning in his kisses. She felt liquid pool between her legs and knew she had to stop. She couldn’t allow herself to become intimate with him. Even though it was all she ever wanted with him, she wasn’t ready. She didn’t know if she would ever be ready. With great reluctance, Hannah pushed against his chest and separated himself from him.
Chapter Six
Ben was breathing just has heavily as she was and passion was clouding his eyes. He looked at her confused on why she stopped them from going any further. She had returned his kiss with just as much enthusiasm as she had when they kissed at the lake. It made him harder than trigonometry and he was ready to divest her of her clothes and truly explore her the way he could have only fantasized about before but he saw the change in her eyes. They were no longer clouded with passion but instilled with fear. He cursed his libido. She had been a prisoner of sex traders. She would hardly allow him to ravish her right here in his living room. She probably never wanted to be touched again. Hannah was opening her mouth, probably to explain her hesitation when he stepped even further back from her and walked towards the staircase.
“You must be tired, let me show you to your room.” He was trying to save face and will his erection away. He may have initiated the kiss and she allowed it to continue but he knew he had been in the wrong to start something she obviously couldn’t finish. Hannah remained quiet and followed him upstairs.
Ben showed her to a small bedroom with a bed and dresser but had a connecting bathroom. He opened a closet in the hallway and pulled out towels and handed them to her. “Bed sheets are clean and here are towels if you want another shower. There are shampoo, conditioner, and soap in the bathroom under the sink. I’ll get you something to sleep in. I don’t have pajamas so a t-shirt and sweatpants will have to do.” No point scaring her in telling her he preferred to sleep naked.
He said everything so officially Hannah wondered if she had imagined the kiss. Gone was the carefree Ben she was coming to know. He was on edge and she didn’t know how to fix it. She knew she had to be the cause of it. She should never have let him kiss her. “Thank you.” She said and rushed into the room and closed the door. Ben was an enigma that Hannah didn’t have the energy right now to solve. She just wanted to savor being free and help Ben and his team end the reign of terror on Alejandro.
Even though she had just showered she was ready for another one. She doubted she would ever truly feel clean again. She went into the bedroom and turned on the water and started shedding clothes. She turned around to turn on the fan and stopped when she saw Ben walk back in the room with clothes in his hands. He froze when he saw her half-dressed standing in the doorway with steam billowing behind her. He gulped audibly and seemed to struggle with himself. He lifted his foot as if he would approach her but thought better of it. He averted his eyes and threw the clothes on the bed and quickly retreated.
Hannah fell against the bathroom sink and shook her head. She warred with herself. She wanted him there was no doubt about it, she had wanted him since she was old enough to like boys if she was honest with herself, but she couldn’t have him. Staying with him had been a mistake. But where could she go? She didn't know anyone here and she didn't trust anyone the way she did Ben. Her only choice was to stick it out and not allow herself to be alone with him. Simple and effective. After all, they had been able to avoid each other for the past thirteen years. How hard could it be?
“Oh, Hannah," she said to
