‘To give you some friendly advice, Sasha. Let Ben take care of you darlin’, this could be nothing, or it could be something. Not worth the risk of digging in the heels, my wife is from London, the most stubborn woman born, so I get you, yeah?’ I nod. ‘Now’s not the time to show your sass, you hear?’
‘Yeah, I hear,’ I murmur, glancing over to Ben who is watching the interchange closely.
‘At the same time, I don’t want you worrying, between us we will keep you safe,’ he promises.
‘Thanks, Nate,’ I smile. ‘She lives here now, your wife?’
Again, with the flash of a dimple, he evidently loves his wife, ‘yeah, finally got her to come home with me, maybe when all this is over, we’ll can all meet up for a beer?’ he suggests, ‘My Sophie would love that.’
‘Thanks, but I’m going home as soon as my sisters better,’ I inform him, politely.
‘You sure about that?’ He smiles as if he has a secret.
‘Yep,’ I insist. ‘Thank you and your brother for helping,’ I smile, as I lift my tray to carry on my tables.
His lips twitch, ‘no problem, darlin’,’ and he lifts up his chin as he wanders over to Ben.
********
Chapter Nine
I open my eyes to a feeling of pure contentment. My body aches deliciously, and it feels good to wake up naturally rather than by an alarm or two children jumping on my bed. Don’t get me wrong, I love waking up to my niece and nephew, I adore them, but after a late shift at Honour, the last thing I want to do is get up at the crack of dawn.
It takes me a second to establish that the heat surrounding me is Ben’s bear-like body wrapped around me like ivy. I smile to myself as I feel his erection, after the night we had I’m surprised it still works.
I push back against it, despite the soreness of overuse I feel between my legs. I am officially addicted.
‘Think my dick likes you, Queenie,’ I hear his raspy voice in my ear.
‘Good to know I didn’t break it,’ my voice sounds just as gravelly through lack of sleep, no doubt. He chuckles, that’s twice in the last twenty-four hours that I’ve heard that sound, the notion of me being capable of making him laugh brings on a smile.
Before I know it, I’m being rolled and end up on top of him, my hair falling around his shoulders.
‘Good morning,’ Ben calls up.
‘Good morning,’ I repeat, dropping down to kiss his soft mouth, ‘and it was definitely a good night,’ I flirt, the position I find myself in means, I am unable to stop myself from grinding down on his hardness. Instantly, I’m wet and turned on. ‘Sorry, honey, I need to take you,’ I kiss his neck, pushing my tongue along its length as I push down and slide him inside. ‘You clean?’ I ask, sitting up and gyrating my hips around his steel-like cock.
‘Yeah,’ his hands find my breasts and lift them, and ab curls up to suck first one, then the other in his mouth. I run both hands through his hair and fist tight, keeping his head nibbling on my nipple. ‘You covered on birth control?’
‘Yeah,’ I panted, my pace picking up with my need, ‘and clean, no one for almost two years, before that always with a condom,’ I tip my hair back and arch into him, my sex throbbing as it awakens.
‘Two years!’ He marvels, ‘no wonder your pussy is greedy,’ he lets my breasts go and flips us, so I’m back to bed. His mouth hits mine, and his hips plunge deep, ‘you okay with me going ungloved, baby?’ he stops the kiss to ask, his blue eyes dark with desire.
‘Yeah, need to feel you,’ I wrap my legs around him and run my nails down his back. ‘My pussy isn’t greedy,’ I announce, without any enthusiasm, my pussy is undoubtedly greedy.
He answering growl distracts me as he hammers in hard, over and over, before his thumb moves down to apply pressure on my clit, that’s all it takes, and I come, loud and hard as he thrusts deep until he empties himself deep inside me. ‘Fuck, yeah,’ he growls, his head moving into my neck as he slowly slides in and out. ‘Tell me now your pussy isn’t greedy, baby. I’ve fucked your countless times in the last day, and still, you want more.’ He bends to take my mouth in a soft, wet kiss.
It’s after a shared shower and breakfast of eggs and bacon that Ben announces he needs to visit his Ma. I offer to stay at his place, or for him to drop me off at Lydia’s, but he refuses and instead invites me along, telling me today we are spending the entire day together. This means we have to make a stopover at my sisters for me to change my clothes, as all I currently have is my uniform from Honour. Whether his mum has dementia or not, I’m not sure I would be comfortable with her seeing me in my tight tank, which has to be said does little to conceal my generous breasts.
It is lunchtime by the time we get to Lydia’s, we walk in to find the whole family are out in the backyard, the boys throwing a ball and the girls painting each other’s nails, sitting on a couple of chairs on the deck. Ben ruffles Kristen’s hair as he walks past, but not before dropping down to kiss Liddy’s forehead. He then takes the wooden steps down to the grass area where Cam and Blake are playing. I watch Cam lift his head in greeting and Ben ruffle Blake’s hair in the same manner as he did my niece. They stand and chat for a bit, and I see Cam smile, knowing they were okay, I tell Liddy that I am going to change and make a hasty exit before the inquisition begins.
When I reappear, dressed in a flirty skirt and a vest top that offers more support than my club uniform, I see Ben’s eyes move up to me on the deck. He says something to Cam, who with his hand to his son’s hair follows Ben in my direction.
‘Hey, guys!’ I call, my eyes going to my nephew.
‘Hi, Aunty Sasha,’ Blake makes his way over to me, and I bend to steal a kiss from him. He almost pushes me away but sends me a smile that suggests he secretly likes it really.
‘You two have a good evening?’ Liddy asks, trying to mop up the nail varnish that has somehow ended up all around her fingers, courtesy of her daughter.
I feel an arm snake around my waist as I am pulled back into a warmth I know is Ben. I feel heat touch my cheeks as my entire family take note of the simple gesture. I glance over my shoulder and provide Ben with a harsh stare to prevent him from taking things any further. He sees that I’m uncomfortable, but I sense he doesn’t care, just as he warned.
‘Shall we go, baby,’ he whispers down to me, amusement in his blue eyes.
‘Are you Aunty Sasha’s boyfriend, Uncle Ben?’ My darling niece enquires, her head tilted curiously.
‘No!’ I swing my glance back to Kristen. ‘We are just friends,’ I assure her with a smile, my hand going to my middle where Ben’s arm clamps. Nope! Can’t unfasten it.
‘With benefits,’ hisses my sister, under her breath, with a grin.
‘What do benefits mean, mummy?’ Kristen asks, intrigued.
‘Nothing, sweetie,’ she palms her daughter’s cheek, ‘how about you and me making cupcakes?’
‘Yeah!’ Kristen jumps up and begins to celebrate with a little dance. Crisis averted!
I roll my eyes to Liddy before tapping the arm around me to be released. ‘Come on, Romeo,’ I sigh, giving up.
I don’t know what I expect to find when I meet Ben’s mum. I’d seen a photo, obviously, so knew she was pretty and looked too young to be suffering from the terrible disease that she faced daily, but I wasn’t sure how much she could comprehend on a day to day basis. When we entered the very plush care home, which has to be said could compare to a five-star hotel, I watched as every female member of staff almost drool over Ben as we walked the corridor. He was wearing casual clothes, his jeans roughly cupped his pert derriere, his black t-shirt doing the same for the broad expanse of his shoulders. I could get turned on just watching him saunter through a room. He moved with such confidence. He had my small hand held tightly within his large one as we continued to his mum’s place. A few women smiled at him, aching for him to notice them, others just stared and yet he seemed oblivious.
Nerves curled in my gut as we entered a room
where his mum was sitting by a window looking out onto a lake that sat to the rear of the property.
‘Hi, Ma!’ Ben called as we rounded into her view.
‘Hello,’ she smiled, but I instantly saw the vacancy within her gentle eyes.
‘Ma, this is a friend of mine, Sasha,’ he introduces, she turns to me, and I hold out my hand in greeting.
‘Hello,’ she responds, politely.
‘It’s lovely to meet you, Ben has told me a lot about you,’ I share.
‘My Ben, such a good boy,’ she turns back to the window and leaves my hand dangling. I instantly move it back to my side and feel Ben squeeze my shoulder in support. Ben then indicates for me to sit in the chair next to his mum, while he moves to get another one from the corridor. I feel awkward and as if I am imposing. When he returns, I glance up.
‘Maybe I should wait in the car,’ I offer, ‘I might be confusing her further.’
‘I want you to meet my Ma, Queenie,’ his stubborn blue gaze holds mine, I assess it and nod.
Ben talks to his mum about random subjects as we sit there beside her. I just take in the beauty of the view as he spends time in the company of his only parent. The carers come in with a tray of tea and chat briefly to Ben about how his mum has been, before leaving us alone.
I pour the tea, and it is during this task that she turns to me, ‘thank you, Tanya, darling. You are a good girl,’ my eyes sweep over to Ben, who has no response. ‘When are you two going to give me grandchildren, that’s what I want to know?’ She turns to Ben and smiles.
‘Plenty of time, Ma,’ he updates her.
‘Such a beauty,’ she gazes at me warmly, ‘you will make stunning children.’
My mouth opens and closes as I can find no words. Who the frigging hell, is Tanya? I arch an eyebrow to Ben who shakes his head just enough for me to know not to push it.
When we leave, Ben kisses his mum’s forehead and I hear him tell her he loves her. She cups his cheek and says he’s such a good boy, I’ve no idea if she knew it was her son, I only know that Ben gained some comfort from his daily visits to his Ma.
‘I thought we’d stop for dinner,’ Ben suggests on the way home.
‘Okay,’ I agree. ‘You know I’m at Liddy’s tonight. Cam is working?’
‘Yeah, which is why I thought we’d share a meal,’ he mumbles, then he proclaims, ‘I’ve rethought the idea of not updating Cam about the blackmail letter,’ he glances over to gauge my reaction.
‘Why? I thought we’d agreed until we know whether the threat was real, we wouldn’t worry him. Also, the blackmailer warned against getting the police involved,’ I remind him.
‘I don’t like the idea of you being left vulnerable at any point in the day,’ he confesses. ‘Cam at work means that you and Liddy are alone, I’m not down with that Sasha. In fact, I’m going to hang with you guys tonight,’ he decrees.
‘How’s that going to work, Liddy will know something is up if you appear and plot up in her living room?’ The truth is, she will probably be over the moon seeing as every time she sees the two of us together, she is usually grinning.
‘I sometimes spend time at Cam’s, and they know something's going down between you and me. My guess is she will think you will want me to spend time with you.’ Egotistic maniac.
‘Why wouldn’t she think it was you that wanted to spend time with me, rather than the other way around?’ I scoff, ‘because you think you are too irresistible, I guess,’ I roll my eyes at him. ‘She will see through it, Ben, besides don’t you have to be at the club?’
‘No, I have managers,’ he tells me, casually.
I nod, then wonder about something that I meant to ask him. ‘What exactly did you tell Cam about us, by the way, he seems less like he wants to cut your throat now?’ I tease.
‘I reminded him we were both consenting adults, each capable of making our own choices in life,’ Ben turned to look at me again, ‘he also knows I won’t be swayed away from something I want, but I made a promise I would be respectful to your feelings.’
‘And he fell for that crap?’ I grin over at Ben, to show I was joking.
‘Certainly, seems that way, Queenie,’ he calls with a quirk of his lips, as we pull into the Diner we first ate at all those weeks ago, when Ben bumped into me at the hospital.
This visit was entirely different from our previous one. Ben sat next to me, instead of opposite me for one, his arm stretched across the back of the booth, his fingers playing idly with my hair and he was leaning in my direction, giving me all of his attention. Without being aware, I found myself facing in his direction and during our conversation, I found my hand touching his thigh on numerous occasions. It all seemed unnervingly natural.
Ben asked me about my life in London, my job, my friends and I found it therapeutic to reflect on what I had at home. The past three and a half weeks had all been about worry and apprehension, and it was a relief to focus on something more positive.
The reality was, I loved my life in London. I had good friends and a job I loved. When Lydia had first met and then married Cam, she had decided early on to settle in Denver, she had begged me to accompany her, but I was happy living in London and didn’t want to start all over again with friends and a career. We saw each other as regular as possible and skyped once a week, so I kept up to date with her life and her mine. Did I miss her, yes, but she had her life to lead as did I, which meant I had to let her go with a smile and a wave?
‘So, you have no family at all in London?’ Ben recaps when I explain my decision to stay.
‘No. Well, none of any significance. We have a few distant relatives that neither Lydia or I bothered. When mum died not one of them stepped up to offer support, we didn’t want anything else from them, Liddy was eighteen, and I had always had to take care of myself. I think they thought we wanted to someone to take us on, but we were covered as far as a roof over our head, dad saw to that. It was hard for us, but it was probably easier than when our mum was alive, she put a heck of a lot of strain on us both. And as you know our dad was from Dallas, but his parents died young, he was an only child and his relatives spread around America, we never saw any of them, but I imagine they must exist somewhere.’
‘Yeah, I knew your dad was American. I can’t understand after all that you had to deal with, you still went into the caring profession,’ he states. ‘Didn’t you have enough of that taking care of your Ma?’
‘It was all I knew, no one ever took care of me, I always took care of others, and I was good at it,’ I shrug. ‘It was a breeze after mum.’
‘Any idea how long you are staying?’ It didn’t feel like a loaded question, so I answered it honestly.
‘Not really, as soon as Liddy doesn’t need me, I’ll go home. My flat is sitting empty for me whenever I need it, I left my job, but they said if they can keep it open for me, they will. It isn’t the end of the world if they can’t, there is plenty of Bank work in London,’ I explain.
‘Bank work?’ He asks.
‘Temporary. You get directed to hospitals that have a shortage of staff but don’t have the budget for a full-timer. It’s better money than a permanent job, but you never know where you are going to be from one moment to another.’
‘I could just sit and listen to you speak,’ Ben says, unexpectedly.
‘Sorry?’ I ask, confused by his confession.
‘Your accent makes me hard, Queenie,’ he leans in and kisses me softly on the lips.
I close my eyes, and when I open them, he has that lazy look that makes me melt. ‘Please do not look at me like that when I can’t do anything about it,’ I whisper, moving my hand over his thigh to his crotch area. I can feel he is already getting aroused and a soft groan escapes my lips.
‘What time do you need to be home?’ His hand fists a handful of my hair at my nape and tugs hard enough for goose bumps to appear on the surface of my skin as his eyes penetrate mine.
‘Cam is going to work at seven,’ I b
reathe, my body tingling with sensation.
‘Let’s go,’ he throws some bills on the table and stands uncomfortably in his heightened state.
I glance at my watch to see it is already five-thirty, we will have to be quick. ‘We will have to be quick,’ I warn him, as I shuffle out of the booth and allow him to grab my hand and drag me out with a quick nod to the waitress, who has to be said looks a bit shocked at the speed of our departure.
‘I can do quick,’ he answers as he opens the door to the Audi for me.
********
‘I hope you don’t mind me hanging here,’ Ben calls to my sister while tickling an excitable Kristen, who is bathed and shiny clean and sitting in her pink flannelette pyjamas.
‘Of course not, you are always welcome, you know that,’ Liddy informs him from the kitchen area.
‘Can you read my bedtime story?’ Kristen asks Ben, her eyes alight with enthusiasm.
‘Sure, darlin’, long as it’s okay with your Ma?’ Ben tells her.
‘That’s fine. It would be a help, thank you, Ben,’ Liddy smiles at him, as she carries through two glasses of wine for her and me, while Ben’s opts for coffee. ‘Seems all the women in this family enjoy his company,’ she murmurs for my ears only as she hands me my wine.
I give her my death stare, but she giggles, ‘Waspy, you do know that the look you claim is your death stare is quite adorable,’ she sits beside me, and we clink glasses.
‘Is that what that look is about?’ Ben asks, his voice containing the same amount of humour as my sister. ‘Yeah, I’m with Liddy here, baby, it’s totally adorable.’
‘I don’t recall asking your opinion, but thanks anyhow,’ I throw over at him, he chuckles. That must be a handful of laughs I’ve heard so far. This does make me happy.
‘Come on then, Blake,’ I call my handsome nephew. ‘You can read me a chapter of your book,’ I had long since stopped reading to Blake, who when I first arrived, informed me sternly that he didn’t need reading to like a baby but was in fact completely capable of reading on his own. We had then struck a deal, and he’d agreed to read to me, instead.
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