Chuckling, he leaned into her, kissing her temple as Autumn asked, "So you lost your brother too, all to car crashes?"

Benji nodded, meeting her sad gaze. "Same car crash. All three of them."

"My goodness, bless your heart," she was almost crying and Benji nodded.

"Enter drinking problem," River stated with a nod. "Been there. Done it."

Lucy's eyes widened. "You did?"

"Oh, yeah," River said, holding Autumn closer. "Baylor's mom left me, and I left the NHL. I was depressed to no end, turned into a functioning alcoholic, and I thought I was good. But then I met your mom and things just changed. I didn't need to be numb-I wanted to feel everything because I loved her."

"Gagging, but wow, that's sweet," Lucy said, sending her mother a grin, but Autumn was too busy beaming up at River.

"Yeah, mine started when I was younger, but it got worse. Took me a long time to come back from that, but I'm coping. And while I didn't stop for a woman, I stopped because I wanted to be a good guy, someone people could depend on, and maybe one day, love." Looking over at Lucy, Benji found her lips quirked at the side, watching him with dark eyes.

"Well, I think you're a great guy," Autumn decided and Benji smiled.

"He's okay," Lucy said, and Autumn tsked her as River chuckled.

"Yeah, I think I'm finally enjoying life. And when you enjoy life, you become the person you want to be."

River and Autumn both grinned at Lucy as she groaned. "Ugh, stop, guys."

That made them all laugh as Benji held her close.

"Well, I've been around Ms. Lucy Lane for a little over a year now, and I can say I've never seen her smile or laugh as much as she does when she's around you," River said, toasting his cup of milk to Benji.

Lucy rolled her eyes, her face filling with color as she looked across the table at her soon-to-be stepdad. "Never had anything to smile or laugh about, unless Angela Lynn had something to say." That made all of them smile, but the tension was back. All of them worried about spunky little Angie. Lucy eyed Benji, a grin pulling at her lips. "But maybe I do now."

"Well, I'd say so," Autumn gushed, beaming ear to ear as River nodded happily. "So, Benji, tell me, what are you doing on Christmas?" Autumn asked and Benji shrugged.

"Well, I was hoping I could score an invitation to hang with you guys at apparently the coolest wedding ever."

"Done. The whole family will be in. Jude and Jace will be excited to meet you. So please come."

The thought of meeting the other Sinclair brothers as Lucy's boyfriend kind of made him nervous, but he wouldn't miss it for the world. "I'm there."

Lucy grinned as she leaned on the table, his arm falling to her hip. "It's his birthday," she said as Audrey came to the table.

"Is it?" Autumn exclaimed, looking up to Audrey. "We need to have that lemon cake he keeps talking about as a side cake for one." Benji wanted to protest, but he knew Autumn would ignore him. She was Lucy's mother, very headstrong but not as angry, and he was finding he was starting to care for the sweet lady. "It'll be Benji's birthday."

When Autumn flashed him a grin, squeezing his hand, Benji smiled.

And he felt like, maybe, he could really belong to this family one day.

As he pressed Lucy into the wall, Benji's fingers bit into her ribs and he got lost in her kisses. She tasted like cake, Audrey's fabulous cake, and he honestly wasn't sure if he liked the cake more on a plate or on her mouth.

One thing was for sure, he wasn't about to stop.

Lifting her up, he pressed himself into her as her fingers threaded through his hair, arching her chest into his. He held her ass and she gasped against his mouth, pulling away as his lips trailed down her jaw.

"I'm gonna put a sectional over there."

He couldn't fathom why she wanted to talk about the design right now, but he was too busy to stop her. Dragging his teeth down her throat, he gasped against her as she squeezed her legs around his waist.

"It's gonna look great... Oh God, yes," she moaned as he dipped his tongue in the V of her shirt. "But, but, can we pause?"

"No," he said against her skin, nipping her collarbone before grazing his teeth against her jaw. "No shits are given about design right now. All I care about is getting inside you."

She gave him a serious look. "But I want to tell you."

"And I want to fuck you," he said desperately. "I leave in two days. I won't get this ass for almost two weeks. Talk later, okay?"

When he went to kiss her, she put her hand up, stopping him. "It will take me five minutes, and then you can have your way with me."

He paused, thinking it over as he held her gaze. "Actually, I can have my way with you without listening because I'm pretty sure you can't say no to me."

She scoffed. "Don't get me confused with yourself," she said, patting his chest and wiggling out of his grasp, her feet hitting the ground. "Now, as I was saying..."

Groaning loudly, he leaned into the wall, his cock throbbing in his pants. He didn't want to wait. But like she said, he couldn't say no to her. As she moved away from him, pointing to the long wall that held all the big windows, she said with a raspy voice, "This is where the sectional will go." He nodded but it was hard, especially with his heartbeat roaring in his ears and all the blood in his body going right to his cock. When she started to remove her shirt, throwing it down on the spot, he paused. He drank in the sight of her pale skin against the dark red of the bra she wore, and his groin tightened as she moved to the corner. "Here will be the big, man recliner. Sorry, the gamer chair is going upstairs in the toy room." She undid her pants, pushing them down her thighs. His mouth went dry as she turned, bending over to give him one hell of a view of her plump ass with only a peek of a red string thong.

Choking on his words, he said, "You mean collectibles?"

She nodded, looking over her shoulder at him. "Oh, of course," she muttered, turning and going to the TV. "This will be wall-mounted." With her eyes holding his, she undid her bra and hung it over the TV. "Good spot, huh?"

But Benji couldn't speak. He was aching to touch her breasts, and he had almost closed the distance between them, but then she was walking toward him. Strutting in the wickedest way, she paused beside him, running her hand down his chest, his stomach, and pausing at his cock, squeezing it through his jeans.

"Damn," he wheezed and she grinned, her eyes wicked as she held his.

"Wanna see what I'm gonna do to the stairs?"

He swallowed hard as her hand moved along his hip before she headed to the stairs, bending over to pick her coat up off the floor. Hanging it up, she started up the stairs.

"I'm gonna put up pictures of you playing," she said roughly, her eyes never leaving his. Then she paused, pushing her panties down and laying them on the banister, her eyes half-lidded as she said, "Maybe some jerseys. Not sure yet."

Before he knew it, he was moving.

Her lips curved as he stopped in front of her, his face at her breasts since he was down a stair. "Sounds great."

"I thought so," she said, moving her hands down her body. "Wasn't it worth it to listen?"

His eyes narrowed as he wrapped his arms around her butt, holding her to him. Looking up at her, a breast on either side of his face, he grinned. "Yeah, now can I make love to you?"

Her brow quirked. "Oh, make love now?"

He nibbled at her breast. "Yeah, decided I wanted more than just a fuck."

"Just now deciding that?"

"Well, you are designing my house. Might need to throw in some deep, soulful kisses."

She nodded in agreement. "Maybe a little gazing into my eyes to make me feel like I mean something to you."

He tried not to laugh. "Yes, of course, a lot of caresses too as I move into you ever so slowly."

"Yes! And promises of tomorrow."

"And beyond," he cheered, and she dissolved in giggles as he threw her over his shoulder. "I don't want some cheesy romance novel. I want you."

"Well, good thing 'cause I'm more smutty than cheesy."

Grabbing a handful of her ass, he squeezed as he said, "Just the way I like you."

"Take me upstairs, Benji. Make love to me," she said in her best heroine voice and he grinned.

"All right, milady," he said roughly, smacking her ass hard. She squealed as he laughed before running up the stairs and down the hall to his room. As he threw her on the bed, she grinned up at him while he removed his shirt and tossed it on the floor. Reaching for his belt, he pulled it out in one fluid movement, his gaze on hers as he ran his tongue along her lips.

Slapping the belt to his palm, he winked. "Maybe we can move into some BDSM."

Her eyes widened as she scoffed. "And maybe I can kick you in your dick if you come anywhere near me with that belt."

He paused. He wasn't sure why that surprised him, but it did. He was soon laughing so hard, he was crying as he fell onto the bed beside her. Giggling with him, she reached for his pants, undoing them as she shook her head.

"Jeez, disabled by laughter," she teased as his chuckles subsided and he looked up at her.

Cupping her face, he grinned. "You're insane."

"Eh, been told that a time or two," she said with a grin before getting off the bed and yanking his jeans and boxers off. "Lazy! Make me do all the work."

"Hey, damn right. Now climb up here," he demanded, stroking his cock, his gaze locked with hers. "I want to be inside you."

She moved toward him, coming between his legs, her fingernails running along his thighs before she stopped, her lips curving. Taking his cock in her hand, she dropped her mouth to him, sucking the head of him between her sweet lips. Breathing out her name, he threaded his hand into her hair as the other clenched above his head. He swore she had the hottest mouth, and he almost couldn't handle it. Especially when she got a good rhythm, moving her hand and mouth in perfect unison, taking him deep to the back of her throat and then back out, driving him absolutely crazy.

"Babe, come on. I'm going to come," he warned, his hand fisting her hair. "I can't take it."

She paused, looking up at him, his cock deep in her mouth, her green eyes bright.

Fuck, she was gorgeous.

Ever so slowly, he bit into his lip as her lips moved up his cock until he was out of her mouth, her hand still moving along his bulging shaft. "Do you want me to stop?"

"Fuck no," he scoffed. "But I really want to be inside of you."

She shrugged. "Fine. Whatever you want," she said before dropping her lips to his head, making him jerk from the sensation as she kissed him lightly. Climbing up his body, she moved her pussy along him as her mouth met his. Her legs fell to either side of him as his hands came up to hold her thick, sweet ass. She was wet. So fucking wet, causing him to moan against her mouth as she moved herself up and down on top of him.

Driving them both mad.

Kissing his jaw, she used his chest to sit up, going up on her knees before directing him inside of her. As she slowly lowered her body, his eyes drifted shut and he disappeared inside of her, filling her to the hilt.

"God, you feel so fucking good," he grunted, one handful of ass and the other holding her breast. "I can't get enough."

She could only nod as she started to raise and lower herself on him, her rhythm painfully slow, but he loved it.

He loved her.

Squeezing her ass, he thrust up into her, stealing her breath as she started to bounce faster on his dick. Holding his shoulders, she rode him like a champ. And when she cried out, stretching her body up and grabbing her own breasts, he could only drink in her beauty as he fought for breath. As she moaned, her pussy clenched around him and that did it. His toes curled, his breathing stopped, and her name fell from his lips as he came from what he was sure were the depths of his soul.

She fell onto him, and he wrapped his arms around her torso as their mouths met, her pussy continuing to squeeze him as he filled her. Closing his eyes, he pressed his face into the crook of her neck and shoulder and breathed her in. He never wanted to forget anything about this gorgeous woman. He doubted he ever could. Her breath, her smell, her sweat, her kisses were absorbed inside of him. Seeping into his soul. God, he loved her.

He kissed her ear and then her cheek, and she moved her head, meeting her mouth to his. As his fingers threaded back into her hair, he moved his tongue against hers, his body vibrating with the aftershocks of his orgasm but also with the love he had for her. When she pulled back, that little kitten grin on her face, her eyes locked with his and he felt it. He knew she was going to say it. Say the words he so desperately needed to hear from her.

"Thank you for today," she whispered against his lips, her eyes searching his. "I really couldn't have done it without you."

Even though those weren't the words he wanted, they meant almost the same thing. "I'm not going anywhere."

She smiled, her eyes drifting to his lips as she ran her fingers along his jaw. "I'm starting to believe that."

Curving his lips, he closed his eyes. "We're making progress."

She nodded her nose along his. "We are."

Rolling them to their sides, he moved his hand along her cheek, looking deep into her eyes. The sun was shining brightly into the room, making the lighter parts of her hair look almost red. Her face was flushed, her body red with splotches from where he had held her, kissed her.

"You're so beautiful."

Grinning, she pressed her forehead into his jaw and exhaled loudly. "I don't think I'll ever get used to hearing that."

"You'd better 'cause I think it's a shame that someone hasn't been saying it your whole life."

Pulling back to look at him, she pursed her lips. "Shut up."

He scoffed at that, holding her close as he kissed her temple. "Tell me something."

"Okay?"

"What do you want to do? You pick, we'll do. Movie, dinner, more sex-I'm down for whatever you want."

She beamed up at him. "Anything?"

"Anything."

"Even dancing?"

He cringed since he wasn't much of a dancer, but he nodded. "Even dancing."

She bubbled with laughter. "But you'd much rather get a root canal."

He shrugged, chuckling. "Eh, maybe not that far, but I would go to Walmart instead."