Her long hair was piled on top of her head and for the past hour he'd been consumed with the idea of taking it down and letting it fall to her shoulders. Then he'd capture her lips and...
"Brody? Are you okay?" Mari stood in front of him with a board in her hand.
"Yep."
She smiled and his cock twitched.
"What were you thinking about?"
"You," he said before he could stop himself.
What are you doing? Screwing everything up.
She blinked. "Me?" she asked as she set the board she'd been measuring on the sawhorse.
"Yes. It happens a lot, especially lately. You're a gorgeous woman and I can't stop myself. It's a bad idea. I get it, as well as I know how to breathe."
"We- I mean, I think about you, too, but-"
His body tensed. She thought about him?
"It complicates things," he said, wondering if her thoughts were heading in the same direction that his were. "We're friends. Anything else will, like I said, be complicated."
She nodded.
He caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers and she leaned into his hand.
"Mari?"
"Yes." Her eyes were caught in the same web, neither of them able to look away.
"I need to kiss you."
"Yes. You should do that," she said as she took a step closer. "Friends kiss, right? I mean, they do it. Oh. Uh. Not what I meant. There's a whole movie about friends with benefits. Oh. Crap. I can't shut up."
He caressed her jawline with his fingers. "We can't do this. It will ruin everything."
"You're right."
She stepped so close to him, their bodies touched. Her breasts, the ones he'd been dreaming of, were pressed into his chest. A man could only take so much.
"But if we gave in to the sexual tension," she continued, "kissed and got over it, maybe we could move on. Be friends. We're probably making more of this than there really is."
She made way too much sense. But maybe the reality wouldn't match the fantasy?
"We're in agreement that this is a really bad idea."
"Stupendously bad," she said.
"Stupendously?"
"New vocabulary app on my phone. I'm trying to use a new word at least five times a day."
Wow, she was too much. But that didn't stop his lips from capturing hers.
Sweet. Delicious. And so soft, a mixture of peppermint and Mari. Better than he could have ever imagined. His hands itched to hold her, but he settled on resting one hand on her hip as the other pulled the knot from her hair.
He teased her mouth open with his tongue, needing to taste more.
And then she sighed into him. Her body melding into his.
He was a drowning man and she was his savior.
"More," she whispered against his lips, and then she took his hand from her hip and put it on her breast. Who was he to deny her? His thumb raked across her taut nipple.
She gasped, the sexiest sound ever. He backed her against the wall as his mouth explored her, and his hands took full advantage of the permission she'd just granted him.
"I don't do commitments. I have to be honest about that," he whispered in her ear as her hands squeezed his shoulders.
She tilted her head away from him and stared, her cheeks flushed. "I'm in no position to ask for something like that. I just want this, right now."
As long as they were clear on that one thing, he didn't see any reason why they shouldn't do exactly what they wanted to.
Using his other hand, he lifted her leg around his hip and pressed his hardness into her. He thought that might scare her away, for her to feel how much he needed her. She moaned and rocked against him. He stilled.
This was wrong.
This was Mari.
Hadn't he told himself only moments ago that he didn't want to risk their friendship? He should stop this before things got out of hand.
"We can't," he said. His voice was hard, but he didn't let her go. She rubbed against him.
"Why?" she asked.
"Friends. We're friends," he answered. His hand caressed her hair and his gaze snagged hers, forcing her to focus on him.
"Yes. But why can't we have the benefits? I really need the benefits."
He smiled, because damn if he didn't want the benefits as well. But they were caught up in something here. Something powerful. "No." He had to be strong enough for both of them.
She blinked and then frowned. "Oh, you don't want me?" She started to pull away, but he held her there.
How could she think that given the position they were in just then?
"I can't remember ever wanting a woman more, but this changes things. We talked about it."
"Right," she said, but she still didn't move. "But it's been six months since I had sex. You're ready. I'm ready. We do it. It's simple. We just have to keep it simple."
He leaned his forehead against hers. "What we want to do is far from simple. I'm not the guy for you. You need the forever kind. I'm a here-for-now-only type. I could get deployed tomorrow."
"Stop trying to plan a future for me. I want to be with you. Have you inside me. I don't care about tomorrow. I need this." She put her hand on him and rubbed, the friction nearly driving him mad. "Please." Then she kissed him, darting her tongue in and out of his mouth, matching time with her hand on his shaft.
When he pressed himself into her hand, she groaned, and he was lost.
A good five minutes later, he forced himself to back away. His cock was still rock-hard, but he made himself stop.
"I should go," he said. "We...you. You might think differently tomorrow." And he couldn't get it out of his head that this one night might ruin the first good thing he'd had in years.
Her eyes were still closed, but she nodded. What a sight, with her swollen lips from his kisses, her nipples tight against her tank.
Walk away now.
"Or you could stay," she said, opening her eyes. The desire he saw there was raw and drew him back to her. "Please. I meant what I said. I can separate this," she whispered, pointing to her heart, "from what I need right now. I know the difference. Although, I should warn you. I might not be very good at it, but I want to try with you. Call it an experiment. A test mission."
"What do you mean you're not very good at it?" The last few minutes told him quite the contrary. She was a good match for him, going after what she wanted. He loved it when a woman did that.
"I, uh. I've been told I'm boring. In. Bed."
"What? Oh, the ex, right? That guy is a first-class dolt for letting you go. I wouldn't believe anything he says."
"That's so sweet, Brody. This is a one-time thing I promise you. I want to experiment...or go on a mission with someone-I want it to be you. I feel like you won't judge me."
That look, when she glanced up at him through those lashes of hers, kept him from leaving.
Walk away.
No. He had to show her that her ex didn't know what he was talking about. If he gave her nothing else, it would be the confidence that she was the sexiest woman on the planet. And she felt safe with him, she'd told him so. "We're clear? This is a bad idea."
"Already established." She reached her hand out to him.
He took it and the other and then raised them above her head. He kissed her again, his control straining. It had been so long.
"Tell me now if you want to stop."
Eyes wide, pressing her pelvis into his, she said, "No stopping. No talking. Just this." Her pert breasts teased his chest. He lifted her leg, stroking her thigh and wrapped it around his waist. She ground into him.
He was quickly losing what little control he had left.
"Need more," she demanded before kissing him long and hard. He slid his hand between them and lower into her shorts. She was wet for him and undulated against him. He had to breathe, had to slow down. But she was so tempting, so encouraging. He stroked her hard nub and she moaned. She was so tight, so hot.
"Yes," she hissed, and then she caught his tongue and sucked. He was on fire for her, her mouth might as well have been on his cock.
Could he come from just kissing her?
Her muscles tightened around his fingers and she matched his rhythm with her hips.
Yes, yes, he could. But he wouldn't. He wanted to be inside her when that happened.
"Oh," she cried out and threw back her head. He loved that she was so responsive to him. Loved the sounds she made. "Yes," her voice rasped. Her body trembled against him. He had to be inside her now, but he'd take his time, be everything to her. She was a woman to be indulged and savored.
"Brody," she gasped when he threw her over his shoulder. "What are you doing?" He took the stairs two at a time and she giggled as they bounded up the steps, his hand firm on her ass. He made it to her bedroom, where he carefully laid her on the sheets.