Stony Creek Hero [Stony Creek 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (27 page)

Ben just looked at her a moment while he did some thinking. He figured he would try to unnerve her as he did a circle around her slowly, making humming sounds. He allowed his hands to skim lightly over her hip and ass appreciatively as he circumvented her gorgeous body. Get his freak on, she said. There was no way in hell that his brother was going to let Billie out of the bedroom much less the house in a shirt like that, he thought with a laugh. Okay, he thought with evil intent, he would give her what she wanted.

“You want me to respect you, baby, like Jackson is going to respect Billie in her top, right?” he asked her, his evil grin making her uneasy.

“Um, yes, Ben,” Lizzie said hesitantly.

“Okay, baby, just remember that you asked me for this,” Ben returned softly.

He leaned over to place a light kiss on her partially open mouth when the sound of ripping suddenly filled the quiet of the room. He had placed both hands on the deep V of her shirt and allowed the backs of his fingers to suggestively rub against the mounds of perfection that he considered to be his and his alone. With that, the shirt had been no match for his strength as it tore right down the center, leaving it hanging open to her waist. The special bra that she had to wear with it, a black satin plunging type, lay visible to his appreciative gaze. He bent down, ignoring her shocked gasp and laid a tender kiss on each of his succulent breasts that were now displayed for his viewing pleasure.

“There! Now that is much better!” he exclaimed proudly.

“Ben! How could you do that?” Lizzie could barely get out. “It is ruined!”

With a smug look he calmly returned, “Why yes, yes it is.”

“I spent a lot of money on it, honey! Billie and I were going to match our outfits tonight. I cannot believe you did that!” she wailed.

“I will buy you another, ten if you like, when Jackson and I chaperone yours and Billie’s shopping next time. I can promise you that there is no way Dr. Rothman will be wearing hers tonight either. I only tore it down the middle, while I am sure that Jackson probably tore the thing to pieces, if I know my brother, darlin’.”

Lizzie gave him a look that said she thought he was crazy. He gave her another quick peck, slipped his hand under her skirt to pat her barely covered folds as though to show her he was the boss of her, making her squeak in surprise as he pushed her back toward her room.

“I get to pick out the top for this outfit tonight! Let’s go find something.” Ben sauntered down to her bedroom, apparently very eager to choose her wardrobe.

Lizzie stood there for a moment, somewhat frustrated and not only from the destruction of her new shirt. Her tiny thong was now soaked in response to the actions and brief tease. She let out a very unladylike sigh and then proceeded to follow him to her room, mumbling sarcastically, “This ought to be good.”

* * * *

Everyone who was anyone in Stony Creek was apparently at The Gas Pump that evening because it was seriously crowded. Lizzie held her glass of “green drink,” in honor of Billie. It was some green-colored concoction that Danny made especially for Billie personally but now that she was pregnant, all the girls had at least one in her honor. They were waiting for Jackson and Billie to actually get there. Danny had even made some sort of virgin version for Billie as well. Mayor Carson, his wife, and the other elders of the town always got here earlier than the younger groups and had a bite of dinner before socializing. Lillian, Bill, and Florence were here of course, keeping sharp eyes over their brood even though Jackson was pushing forty. Maybe she should think about what that meant. Lizzie laughed to herself. Lillian and Florence had already had a drink or two, made obvious by their conversation. They were discussing and trying to confirm that Ben’s behind, the best of all their boys’, was just like Bill’s. They were laughing themselves silly that it was their homemade DNA test. Lizzie thought they had better slow themselves down or they would be dancing on the bar by the end of the evening. She could only imagine that one. The men would need therapy for a year.

The most shocking surprise of the night wasn’t only her shirt. The girls gave her big thumbs up in reference to her outfit but questioned her as to why her shirt was rather conservative by comparison. Ben beamed with pride as he unapologetically explained to the ladies that her first choice was unacceptable in every which way and the poor shirt was put out of its misery.

“Put out of its misery?” Lillian asked. “What exactly does put down mean, Benjamin?”

Not a good sign when your mother uses your formal name.
Lizzie let out a snort.

Florence found her grin and waited patiently as well to hear what her dear nephew had done now.

“Well, it means that it went to an early death. We mourned it, some cried, but now we are over it, aren’t we, baby?” Ben said almost with a glee-like enthusiasm quite out of character for him.

Lizzie raised her eyebrow at his reoccurring sarcasm tonight. “No, baby, we are not over it. As much as I love this mock turtleneck you have got me in, I cannot wait for the ladies to see how much nicer my shirt was when Billie arrives in the same one.”

“It was a very attractive shirt, Benjamin. I hope you replace it and not with a horse blanket,” Lillian said.

Bill chose that moment, unfortunately, to offer his opinion. “I think you look just lovely tonight, Lizzie. If Ben didn’t like the shirt, I am sure he acted appropriately and with just cause.”

That didn’t go over well. Lillian, Florence, Beth, and Julia all gave him the death stare as he took a deep breath and hastened his retreat. “Perhaps, maybe not. I think I will just go see what Gus and Sly are up to. I am sure there is lots to talk about with the sheriff. Excuse me, ladies. Sorry, Ben. A man knows when to run.”

With that, Lizzie watched as Bill raised a trail of dust as he practically tore across the room. She heard Ben mumble something along the lines of “coward” but he was drinking his beer so she couldn’t be sure.

Apparently Lillian had heard. “No, dear, not cowardly, just smart. Oh look, here comes Jackson and Billie. Oh dear!”

Everyone swung in the direction of the door but with the huge crush, Lizzie couldn’t see a thing. The smug expression on Ben’s face, however, gave her a sinking feeling.

“Good evening all!” Jackson called out jovially. He, too, had a huge obnoxious smile that matched his brother’s when he saw what sort of top Lizzie was wearing, obviously also having been informed that the girls had both purchased the same.

“Nice shirt, Lizzie,” Jackson drawled out. This garnered a slap on each arm from his mother and aunt while the rest of the ladies had frowns drawn on their faces. Ben gave his brother a high five.

“Nice shirt, Billie,” Ben countered. Billie was in a silky, sleeveless button-up top with only the top button open.

“Ben ripped my shirt, Billie!” Lizzie cried out in dismay to her friend.

“Don’t worry, we will just have to go buy more. Jackson actually tried to put mine through our paper shredder. Stop laughing, I am not kidding here!” Billie tried not to laugh as well.

“See, baby, I told you!” Ben let out with too much enthusiasm. “Hey!” Poor man, he was on the receiving end of slaps from every woman in their little circle and just when he thought that they were finished, Julia finished up with a loud one on his butt. The Powell men were forever getting punished. Some of Ben’s kinks were starting to make some sense.

“Sorry, Ben, I just wanted an excuse to hit you rear for ages. Now you gave me one. Thank you!” Julia said with a smile and took a sip of her green drink.

“Darned men. See, this is why I am never going to get serious with anyone. They are all too arrogant and controlling out here,” Beth declared to the group. However, her eyes betrayed her words as they immediately drifted across the tonk to meet a huge hulk of a man, Hunter. Beth’s face was blushing as she lowered her eyes. Humm, Lizzie thought. I am so going to have to check that situation out later. She leaned into Ben for a quick snuggle and was shocked to find herself hauled up against his side. He then shocked the female populace by leaning down and kissing the top of Lizzie’s gorgeous head.

“Well, color me black and call me an eight ball because now I have seen everything, Lillian,” Florence said in a loud voice.

“Aunt Florence, really? I have shown affection in public before,” Ben defended himself.

“Oh, when would the last time that happened be, dear? When you were five perhaps?” Lillian questioned her middle son.

Ben gave Jackson a look and left the ladies to seek out more testosterone. Jackson immediately followed in a wise sense of self-preservation.

“They do have the nicest rear ends, don’t they?” Billie said admiringly.

“Well, Bill and I worked hard to make them,” Lillian returned, bursting out laughing at what she must have thought was a very risqué comment.

* * * *

A few hours later the men had enough liquid fortification to cross the room back toward the ladies. Ben didn’t want to be more than an arm’s length away from Lizzie that night anyway. The women all were having a few drinks and Lizzie was a lightweight. He didn’t want her to get harassed by anyone whether she was sober or tipsy. He needed to be right there so his fist could be in someone’s face. He blamed it on how fucking hot her legs looked. The most important reason not to be far from his love was the disgusting waste of space that was sitting in a corner booth across the bar. Theodore Davis sat with the three men that Ben recognized from Lizzie’s café the other afternoon. They were deep in conversation, one that Ben didn’t get a good feeling about as they kept glancing up and over to look at Lizzie. It wasn’t that they were looking, she was gorgeous after all, but there was something calculated about how they would turn to gaze her way all at once. Theodore gave him a small nervous wave of his hand when he saw that Ben was watching him. There was no trusting Theodore when it came to his Lizzie. He knew that it had chafed the man when he rubbed it in his face that Lizzie was now his responsibility. Being the unscrupulous man that he had a reputation for, Ben decided to try to find out who those men were and what their interest was in his woman.

He was distracted by the men in his group that had started an interesting conversation of their own. They were unaware that the women had quieted down to listen very intently to their scientific observations.

“You see, I read somewhere that if you ejaculate in a woman, then she will be more relaxed and have lower blood pressure than a woman that you fuck with a condom,” Cole said with great authority.

“Is there any truth to that bullshit?” Sean Taggart asked, looking genuinely interested. He had his arm slung over Troy’s shoulders in his usual display affection to whomever and whatever crossed his path.

Cole look confident as he replied, “Yep, I read it in a study online. I am telling you that it’s true!”

Ben and Brody looked at Cole like he had just gone off the deep end but Sam Ellison and Phillip Garner, the contractors who built Billie’s house and office, looked as enthralled as Troy.

“Really, the study said that it lowers the woman’s heart rate and blood pressure, like a drug. Our stuff is really powerful,” Cole said with no small amount of pride.

Jackson let out a hearty laugh. “It’s magic juice, man!”

Ben watched Hunter elbow Jackson in the gut when it became apparent that there were more spectators to their conversation than they would probably like.

Jackson stopped laughing and all the men turned in the direction of the women that they were supposed to be watching over. Ben didn’t like the look of that crowd. The natives were restless. One unhappy woman he could handle but a whole passel of them, including his mother, no way. Ben decided to act natural and to keep quiet. Most of the women, including his Lizzie, were standing there with annoyed looks on their faces and hands on their hips, not a good sign.

It was Beth who spoke up. She had apparently had a few and was raring to go. “You dumbasses! It is the orgasm that makes us relaxed, not any magic from you guys, trust me on that one! You could put a gallon of it in me but if I don’t orgasm then I will be one frustrated, mean, cranky bitch! Oh, and don’t tell my brothers that I have sex.”

Ben watched as Beth stomped over to say hello to the new real estate agent in town, Candice Cambell. The women were all nodding their heads in support of Beth’s explanation and promptly turned their backs on the men.

“I think that is what they call a direct cut, fellas,” Ben said with no real eagerness. The men went back to their beers as their overblown egos were now deflated at the hands of the youngest Saunder sibling. Hunter stood quietly, drinking from his bottle, with his attention directed on that exact person.

“Hey, buddy, you okay over there?” Ben asked Hunter, trying to find out gossip like a girl.

“Yup, why?” Hunter replied, as simply as always. Hunter was a man of few words but the ones he usually chose were honest, kind, and straight to the point.

“You seemed to be very interested in the women, so I was just wondering who had captured your fancy.” Ben taunted the muscular man a little bit. Hunter was shorter than Ben, but there was no one in Stony Creek who would ever want to get him mad. His being an ex-SEAL and also possessing all that muscle were usually healthy deterrents to not irritate the man. It didn’t mean that Ben couldn’t be a little obnoxious with his friend and neighbor though.