Weakness

by Shelley Michaels

  ‘Can I have five more minutes on the iPad, mum?’ he asks, his head popping up from the tablet in his hands.

  ‘Not today, Blake, you’ve had too much screen time already, spend some time with Aunty Sasha,’ she instructs him. He doesn’t look pleased but complies anyhow.

  When I return from reading with Blake, Ben is still in with Kristen.

  ‘I think she’s twisting him around her little finger,’ Liddy calls from the chair in front of the flat screen. I don’t bother asking her why she has swapped seats from the sofa to the armchair, mainly because I know full well she is enjoying this thing between Ben and me a little too much.

  ‘She’s probably on book number two as we speak,’ I agree. ‘Should we do the right thing and go and help, or?’ I send a questioning look in Liddy’s direction.

  ‘Nah,’ she waves her hand. ‘The man has to learn sometime,’ she smiles. ‘You happy, Waspy?’ She asks, entirely off topic, tipping her head to the side to look at me.

  ‘I’m fine,’ I turn to her, ‘how are you feeling?’

  ‘I’m feeling on top of the world,’ she responds. ‘We need to get through the six sessions of chemo; then we are home and dry.’ She moves her hands to her breasts, ‘my husband has the C-cup he has always wanted, what else could a girl want?’ She teases. I know for a fact that Cam is more than happy with my sister’s body shape and wouldn’t be as shallow as to request a cup size increase. That was all Liddy, wanting to have a C-cup, rather than her B-cup when they reconstructed.

  I laugh, ‘you will be fine,’ I tell her, although I know her chemotherapy begins at the start of next week and she is secretly worried about it. I turn, when I hear Ben re-enter the room. ‘Hey, did she have you re-reading, or starting another?’

  ‘You mean you don’t always read two books at bedtime?’ His mouth tips at the thought of being played by a five-year-old. ‘The man that gets that beauty is going to have his hands full,’ he tells Lydia.

  ‘You do know she is a model of my dear sister here, don’t you?’ Liddy confides. ‘As soon as she appeared it was obvious to both Cam and me that we had another Sasha on our hands.’

  ‘So, not true,’ I argue, although I know Kristen is just like me in personality. ‘I am not a handful,’ I glare over at Ben.

  ‘Darlin’, you are definitely a handful,’ he updates me with a salacious smile. I feel the heat in my cheeks as I clue into his meaning, but can’t stop the smile from splitting across my face. A boob-man.

  ‘Jeez, get a room,’ Liddy laughs, catching the innuendo.

  I roll my eyes at her and direct my line of vision to the TV as I feel him sit beside me and pull me against him, his lips touching briefly at my temple. Ignoring my sister, I snuggle in to wrap my arms around him as we focus on the screen in front of us.

  ‘Of course, you can,’ Lydia answers to Ben’s request to crash on the sofa. Her eyes move suspiciously to him and then to me. ‘Is everything okay?’ My sister is far from stupid and has immediately picked up that Ben is worried about leaving the two of us alone.

  ‘Nothing for you to worry about,’ Ben assures her.

  ‘Why don’t I believe you?’ She mumbles to herself.

  ‘Honey-bee, it’s fine,’ I pipe up, but I can tell by her expressions that she is far from convinced. ‘You won’t fit on the sofa, Ben. Crash in with Sasha. I’ll keep the kids away in the morning.’

  ‘I wouldn’t disrespect either you or Cam, by sleeping with Sasha under your roof, darlin’,’ Ben responds, ‘I’ll be fine right here,’ he insists.

  ‘I’ll sleep on the sofa,’ I offer, ‘you take the bed, although I don’t think you will fit there either,’ I deliberate.

  ‘Sasha, baby, go to bed, I’m fine here. I’ll have a chat with Cam when he gets in,’ so we were going to make this public knowledge. The threat is real.

  ‘You heard from your friends?’ I ask, but I know the answer.

  ‘Yeah, it’s okay, Queenie,’ he replies, softly.

  ‘Do one of you want to tell me what’s going on?’ Lydia’s tone exposes her anxiety.

  ‘Okay,’ Ben sits forward on the sofa and leans his elbows on his thighs. ‘You and the children are under no threat, Liddy,’ Ben insists, probably a good place to start. ‘But, some asshole is trying to extort money from me, blackmail and they have used Sasha as a threat. I have some friends of mine looking into things, and until they investigate further, I need for us to act as if the threat is real. Therefore, I am not letting your sister out of my sight; obviously, Sasha won’t leave you when Cam isn’t around, which means you are stuck with me too. I’m sorry about that, and it’s probably unnecessary, but I’m not prepared to gamble on that.’

  ‘Fuck!’ Lydia sits on the edge of the armchair, ‘you told Cam?’

  ‘No,’ I step in. ‘They said if Ben tells the police they will hurt either Ben's mum or me.’

  ‘You have to tell Cam, Ben. You know this!’ She hisses. ‘He will freak the fuck out if he finds this out second hand. He thinks of Sasha as his sister. He will protect her.’

  ‘I will protect her,’ Ben’s voice holds an edge. ‘She’s my woman, I will take care of her, Liddy.’

  ‘Actually, I’m no one’s woman,’ I butt in again.

  ‘Now is not the time, Queenie,’ Ben turns, his eyes glaring in my direction.

  ‘I’m just saying,’ I hold up my hands in defence.

  ‘I should call Cam,’ Lydia moves towards her phone.

  ‘No!’ I call, at the same time as Ben. ‘They said they would hurt us, Liddy, if we involved the police.’

  ‘So, what do we do, sit and wait?’ She freaks out.

  ‘Enough!’ Ben’s voice is terse. ‘I will speak to Cam in the morning,’ he declares, running a hand around the back of his neck in a frustrated gesture. ‘There’s no point in telling him anything now, he’s could be in the middle of a case. I’m here to take care of you all,’ he gives my sister his death glare and then moves it to me, okay, his is definitely more threatening than mine. ‘There’s nothing he can do that I’m not already doing. Put it out of your mind and go to bed, Liddy, I have this,’ he commands.

  I would have thought my sister would tell him to take a running jump, but she meekly nods, hugs me to her and moves in the direction of her bedroom with a small, ‘goodnight.’

  It isn’t until she disappears down the hallway that I turn my eyes to Ben’s. ‘Please don’t ever speak to me in that condescending tone,’ I ask, but at the same time, I’m warning.

  ‘Sasha!’ He starts.

  ‘No, no Sasha,’ I frown. ‘My sister is worried about me. We have already had a few days to get used to this, but this is the first she has heard about it, she is going through some serious shit herself right now, which is probably making things worse if they could indeed be worse. She loves me and has a right to freak the fuck out, Ben.’

  He runs his hands over his face before he stands up and takes my hand to bring me up to face him, he looks tired, and I instantly regret my rant. ‘Okay,’ he pulls me into his arms, ‘I’m sorry, you are right, I’ll apologise in the morning, Sasha.’ He promises, and I know by his tone, he means it.

  ‘Okay then,’ I run out of steam and allow my body to relax against his, it’s been a very long day, and the quickie we recently had seems but a distant memory. I feel my body humming at his proximity and rub my cheek against his hard chest. ‘Wish we were still at yours,’ I whisper.

  ‘Me too, baby,’ I feel his smile against my hair. ‘Get some shuteye, darlin,’ he suggests, minus the dominating tone.

  ‘What about you, you're tired too,’ I remind him.

  ‘I sleep light,’ he updates me, but I know he won’t sleep a wink if he’s on babysitting duty.

  ‘Why don’t you come and lay with me?’ I kiss his jaw, softly.

  ‘I’m okay. You sleep. I’ll catch up tomorrow, once Cam is home,’ he explains. ‘Maybe we’ll go back to mine then,’ his voice hushes, ‘pick up where we left off.�
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  ‘It’s a deal, but how is that catching up?’ I mildly, contest.

  ‘You can do all the work,’ his eyes warm. ‘Now give me a kiss, woman.’

  I give him a kiss that lasts a while before he walks me to my small bedroom at the back of the house. He checks the windows and leaves me with a brief kiss on my lips.

  ********

  Chapter Ten

  I hear raised voice and just know that Cam has arrived home. I jump out of bed and grab my short robe, pushing my arms through it as I run to the living area.

  ‘Are you fucking kidding me?’ I hear Cam shout. He is standing in the middle of the room, one hand on his hip as he faces Ben, who, has to be said for someone that has had a limited sleep, looks mighty fine. I ignore the tripping of my heartbeat and stand in between them.

  ‘I can take care of my woman, Cam, what would you have done?’ Ben argues, his eyes fiery. Oh, fuck!

  ‘I would have told her family, man, especially seeing as one of them is a cop!’ Cam explodes, ‘anything could have happened, my family are here, my kids!’

  ‘Ssshhh,’ I tell them both, ‘we don’t want the kids listening to this!’

  They both look down to me standing in the middle of them as if I hadn’t been there for at least thirty seconds.

  ‘Cam, I agreed with Ben that we shouldn’t bother you with this unless we had to, you have enough on your plate as a family without having an additional worry. Ben has been taking care of me,’ I look to Ben, yummy, I have to remind myself to focus. ‘He refused to leave Liddy and me alone last night, and no doubt stayed awake, despite the fact he is exhausted with the grief of losing his grandfather. You two going at each other like this isn’t going to resolve anything, we need to pull together,’ I remind them both. ‘How you and Ben decide to play this regarding informing the police, or not, is fine with me, but just so you know Cam, I am going back to Ben’s with him today, so you sleep after your shift and so can he, both knowing I’m fine.’

  ‘You are not, you are staying right here,’ Cam instructs with a scoff, and its then I realise why Liddy took Ben’s dominating attitude with a pinch of salt, she is used to it with Cam. Well, if he thinks he can speak to me like that, he needs to think again. I feel the red mist descending.

  ‘Err, I don’t think so,’ I laugh, sardonically, as I glare at Cam and know that for once someone is feeling the full effects of my death stare. ‘I don’t remember making you the boss of me, Cam, and last time I looked I was a fully-grown adult who is more than capable of making my own decisions!’ I lift my stubborn chin up towards him, ‘and my sister may have your ring on her finger, but I certainly hope you don’t assume that gives you the right to speak to her in such a patronising manner.’ Yeah, I know it’s not my business, but he’s behaving like a complete caveman.

  I watch a muscle in his jaw clench.

  ‘Sasha goes where I go,’ Ben announces, arrogantly. I am just about to remind Ben that I also didn’t give him the title of boss of me when Cam interrupts.

  ‘Why’s that man?’ Cam’s eyes burn into Ben’s as if he already has the answer.

  ‘Because she’s mine, that’s why?’ Ben’s jaw is tight, and his eyes were almost emitting sparks with the fury that they hold.

  ‘What? Until a better offer comes along?’ Cam growls, nastily, with a sound that is almost a laugh. I am perfectly aware of what he is alluding to, he is referring to Ben’s man-whore status, but I don’t care, right now Ben is what Ben is to me. We both know it’s a short-term thing, that doesn’t mean neither of us cares.

  ‘Sasha goes where I go,’ Ben repeats, through his teeth.

  ‘Come on, honey,’ I put my hand to Ben’s chest to gain his attention. I’ll talk to him later about this ‘Sasha is mine’ comment. ‘I’ll grab some things, and we’ll make a move.’

  He nods and allows me to drag him alongside me to my room, wherein record time I pull on some jeans and a t-shirt over my bed shorts and tank, throwing some toiletries and underwear into a bag determining I’ll shower at Ben’s. He looks tired as he stands by the window looking out at the morning, while I rush around eager to make a hasty exit.

  When we reappear in the living area, both Liddy and Blake are up and sitting at the breakfast table. Cam is gone. My sister looks worried, and I regret that I have brought this into their home, knowing it’s the last thing either of them needs, so I kiss my nephew as if everything is fine, before hugging Liddy to me.

  ‘I’ll be back later, Honey-bee,’ I promise, with a reassuring smile, ‘everyone needs a bit of breathing space,’ I explain, softly.

  She nods, knowing I’m right, ‘okay.’

  Ben calls, ‘later, buddy,’ to Blake, and we exit the house.

  ********

  Ben had been quiet on the journey home. I had left him alone in his thoughts, knowing, firstly, how tired he was and secondly, I could still sense the fury coming from him in fumes. I didn’t fancy my chances with poking the bear. As soon as we walked through his front door, he slammed me against the wall and kissed me stupid, before taking me fully-clothed to the bathroom, stripping me naked and fucking me hard up against the hard, cold tiles. It was unbelievable, ridiculously, unbelievable! Yes, I know I said that twice.

  He was thankfully in a better mood after the shower scene, so over bacon and eggs, I broached the subject of Cam. That’s when I got the death stare that confirmed for the second time or was it third that mine was lame.

  ‘All I’m asking is for you to see it from his perspective,’ I argued when he told me to please leave things alone. ‘I am his sister-in-law.’

  ‘You’re also my woman, and as long as you remain in this country, you will remain my woman,’ he enlightened me, with an edge to his tone.

  ‘What?’ I almost stutter, that was a new one. ‘Well, maybe that’s something you should discuss with me and wait for me to agree to, rather than presume,’ I point out, although his words create a somersaulting in my belly along with a stirring in between my legs.

  I receive another glare, ‘you wanna fuck someone else?’

  ‘No!’ I mutter.

  ‘Then, what is there to discuss?’ He asks, sternly.

  ‘Jesus, you are cranky when you are sleep deprived,’ I note. I see something in his eyes flicker, and I know he is still upset by his argument with Cam, an argument that was in effect, over me. I feel guilty for causing problems between them, knowing how tight they are with each other, although I have to defend that if they hadn’t of both been thumping their fists to their rather large chests then they would have grasped quite quickly that we are all on the same side.

  ‘Although at this point, I will admit to quite liking having sex with you,’ I confide, ‘like a lot.’ I see his lips twitch, at last, ‘obviously, long term that won’t be an option, me being on the other side of the world and all, but for now I can agree that it seems like a good idea to continue this…. thing,’ I conclude.

  ‘Bed!’ He orders.

  ‘And just to add,’ I continue, ‘just like Cam, you are also very bossy, long term I couldn’t and wouldn’t deal with someone so dominating. I like an easy life and would prefer to be with a man who discusses things with me before they make decisions if you know what I mean.’

  ‘Stop talking, Queenie,’ Ben barks in warning. ‘You, talking about you, with another man isn’t helping to improve my mood.’

  ‘What will improve your mood?’ I ask, softly.

  ‘Your lips around my dick might help,’ his eyes go soft and lazy, and I know his moodiness is leaving him.

  I step towards him, as he sits on the bar stool in his loose-fitting jogging bottoms and a black t-shirt, and begin to run my hands slowly up his thighs. ‘I would like to add at this point; I am complying with your demands only because I like your dick in my mouth, not because you have commanded it.’

  ‘Point taken,’ he purrs, standing up so that I can kneel and pull down his tented bottoms.

  I look up through my lashes
as I run my nails down his pert butt, he tries, but can’t conceal the small flinch that my action causes. My lips smile up at this knowledge. It’s a powerful feeling knowing I can make him lose his cool.

  Grasping hold of his length, I run my tongue from the bottom to the tip, circling the head when I reach the top, before starting again at the bottom. His hand runs through my hair as I continue my feast. The next time I reach the tip I wrap my lips around him and suck in deep. I hear him hiss as he tips his head back, oh yeah, he likes that. Using my hand, mouth and tongue, I devour him until his hips begin to thrust forward as he starts to lose control and only then do I drop my hands to my thighs.

  ‘Fuck my mouth, honey,’ I breathe.

  ‘Jesus!’ He growls, as he fists my hair and fucks my face as gently as he can. I only know he's gentle because if he fucked my mouth how he fucked me, I wouldn’t be able to take him. I breathe through my nose as I take all he is giving. ‘Gonna come, baby, you don’t want that you stop me.’ I let him carry on, knowing it is turning me on as much as it is him. After a few more thrusts, he pulls my hair tighter and plunges just a little bit deeper before exploding into my mouth. I immediately take hold and suck up as much as I can of his cum.

  ‘Fuck, and she swallows,’ he groans. ‘Baby, I just may have to marry you,’ he teases. When he can take no more, he stands me up and kisses me long, hard and wet.

  ‘Now it’s your turn,’ he murmurs, lifting me up and sitting me on the breakfast bar. ‘Lay back, Queenie,’ he instructs.

  For obvious reasons, I do as he instructs.

  All I am wearing is one of Ben’s t-shirts and no underwear, thank goodness for no underwear. He parts my legs wide and lifts my hips to lean down and gorge on my already glistening sex. ‘Fucking wet for me, always so ready for me,’ he mutters as he licks and sucks along my core. His fingers dip in and out, and his teeth nibble on my clit, that’s all it takes, and I am crying out his name as I spasm around his fingers. He continues to suck until I can take no more, only then does he pick me up and take me to bed, to sleep.