“Matt, I’d like you to meet Atty. Atty, this is my youngest brother, Matt.”
I was about to reach my hand out but thought better of it considering his expression. Instead I just said, “Hi, Matt. Nice to meet you.” Then I smiled genuinely, partially because I was actually glad to meet him and partially because I was impressed with the fact that I had delivered a normal sentence to a good-looking boy without stuttering or feeling awkward at all.
“Wow, you’re beautiful. I didn’t think my talent worked on Ben but maybe it does.”
The compliment made me blush. At least I thought that first part was meant as a compliment, I wasn’t sure what the rest of the statement meant.
“How …” It seemed as if he’d started to ask a question but instead of continuing he just stared for a moment. “Wait, I better not. I’m sorry. I’m going to go upstairs for a second and change. Ben, please explain me to her. I’m afraid I’m making myself look like a bigger freak than usual. Excuse me, Atty, I’ll see you later.”
“I’m not sure about the bigger than usual part, Matt,” Ben called after his brother and started to laugh.
When Matt had disappeared upstairs, I turned to Ben and asked, “Umm. What just happened? Did I scare him?”
Ben started to laugh again. “No, silly, you didn’t scare him. He’s only 19 and being able to speak smoothly to women is an ability that takes centuries to acquire.”
“Wow, you really must be old then,” I said with a smirk.
“I’m not certain whether to take that as praise or insult,” he pouted, so I gave him a real smile.
Ben continued, “Age and smoothness aside—he’s a freak, just like he said.” I shot him a disapproving frown. “Well, not really a freak, just gifted. You remember I told you what he can do?”
I couldn’t have forgotten if I tried. “He can make people tell him the truth.”
“Yes, that’s why he stopped talking before completing that sentence. I’m pretty sure he was going to ask how you were, but he knew you didn’t really want to answer that. Actually, you must have really stunned him. He usually doesn’t ask questions unless he knows someone well enough that they’re comfortable answering.”
“But you said I didn’t scare him, why would I have stunned him?”
“Well, you probably did scare him a little, but not in a bad way. He was awestruck by your beauty, Atty, didn’t you hear him say it?”
“Well, that was weird actually. I thought he was just being nice because I’m your girlfriend, but guys don’t usually say that to your face when they first meet you. At least they don’t to me.”
He frowned at my answer but said, “He tends to always say what he’s thinking. His mother taught him it was only fair since he could get everyone else to tell him what they were thinking.”
“Oh. So what was that bit about his talent working on you? I didn’t get that part at all.”
“His talent doesn’t usually work on those of us who are as old as I, but he meant that I hadn’t lied to him about your beauty.”
I blushed deeply then, and he gave me a quick kiss. “Come on, you want to get a drink or something? I’m sure Matt will come down later, and you can get a new first impression.”
“OK.” I followed him to the kitchen, glad that at least this awkward meeting hadn’t been my fault.
About 20 minutes later, Ben had not only gotten me a drink, he’d also laid out five platters of food that his father had ordered to be ready for me before we had arrived. Apparently Ben’s father didn’t have a cook since the family barely ate. He wanted to be sure I had something good to eat but wasn’t sure what I liked. I was deciding where to start when Matt walked into the kitchen.
“I smell real food,” he stated, sounding surprised but excited.
“Yes, we got it for Atty. She still likes to eat,” Ben explained.
“She and I both!” he exclaimed then stared at the food longingly.
“You want some? There’s enough here for 20 people!”
“Definitely! I haven’t had real food here in forever. If I want something, I usually have to go out or make a sandwich. That’s the extent of my culinary skills,” he said with a grin.
I laughed as he started to serve himself. “I can cook a bit; I learned from Nana. I’ll make you something one of these days.” My heart only ached a little when I mentioned Nana. She would have been happy to have me cook her recipes. I was really glad I had taken the time to learn.
“That would be amazing. No one around here eats, so forget cooking. Homemade food is different from catering,” he said in between bites.
“It really is,” I agreed.
As we ate, Matt filled me in on what he considered to be his brothers’ most annoying habits. Most of them had to do with sneaking up on him because they knew he couldn’t feel them. Ben just laughed and said he better stay alert because they would certainly do it more often now that he was whining about it.
“Oh, and though this isn’t annoying, it’s weird. They don’t really watch TV. So if you want to watch anything, come use my room. I’ve got the only good television in the house.”
“I’ve got a television,” Ben said in protest.
“I said good, Ben. Yours is like 30 years old.”
“You have got to be the first guy I’ve ever met who’s not obsessed with the latest technology,” I told him, and Matt laughed as if I were understating it. I probably was.
“So Ben, you going to take Atty out later?” I realized then that he hadn’t asked me any questions but managed to get answers. I guessed it didn’t bother him to ask Ben things since he didn’t affect him the same way.
“Not sure what she wants to do yet. It was a really long trip. Why? Did you have something in mind?” he replied.
“I’m playing with Josh and Andrew, thought you might want to come listen,” Matt said.
“Josh and Andrew are his band mates, they play over at a pub in Katoomba some times,” Ben explained.
“Wow, you’re in a band? What do you play?” I asked.
“Guitar. And I sing.”
“Can’t expect a boy as pretty as Matt to hide in the background, now can you?” Ben teased.
I just laughed. I wasn’t about to comment on my boyfriend’s brother’s looks.
“You guys are playing tonight?” I hated to miss it, and Ben would probably want to see his brother play, but I was really tired and wasn’t sure I could handle staying up late.
“Yup, at eight.”
“So what do you think, Atty?” Ben asked.
“Um, that sounds like a lot of fun,” I said, but I must have sounded less than enthusiastic because Ben frowned a little.
“But do you want to go? Don’t worry, if you’re tired, we can go next time.”
“I got this, Ben. Atty, are you too tired to go tonight?” Matt asked.
“Yes,” I responded immediately. Matt smiled, and Ben frowned more deeply.
“Ugh! That sucks. I can’t believe you just made me answer like that! I feel so rude.” I said, blushing.
Matt just laughed. “Don’t worry about it, Atty. I shouldn’t have even brought it up. I figured you were tired but wasn’t sure if you wanted to go do something that didn’t involve hanging around here all day.”
“Well, thanks for the invite anyway. I definitely want to go next time,” I told him.
“I’ll let you know when it is.” Matt smiled widely and picked up his plate. “I’m going to go finish upstairs. I’ll see you guys later.”
Once he was out of the kitchen, Ben turned to me, a serious expression on his face. “You know you can always tell me the truth, right? You don’t have to pretend to want something you don’t.”
“I wasn’t pretending for you, I didn’t want him to think I wasn’t interested in seeing his band. He’s your brother, and I just met him. I wanted to make a good impression.”
Ben smiled then. “OK, thanks for trying to impress my brother, but believe me, he wouldn’t hav
e been offended.”
“I’ll try to remember. I’m used to being polite, it’s weird just saying exactly what I feel when it might upset someone else.”
“You’ll get used to it. You can’t help it around someone like Matt.”
I nodded. I wondered if it was the same with the rest of the brothers. I guessed I’d know once I met them. Luckily, as far as I knew, they didn’t have the same power Matt did.
Chapter 19
After I finished stuffing myself with lunch, Ben led me back outside to sit on the sofas and enjoy the good weather. It was very sunny out, but cool, like a nice day in winter in Miami. The combination of the trip plus a full belly was making me very sleepy, so I folded my legs under me on the couch and leaned on Ben’s shoulder as he told me that I would probably meet his other brothers that evening. I asked about his sister, but he said she only visited on occasion since this was not her father’s house. I tried to listen to the rest of what he was saying, but the feel of his arm around me was so pleasant, and the air smelled so fresh, that I closed my eyes to better appreciate it all.
“Atty. Atty, don’t go to sleep. You should stay awake until at least tonight, or your system’s going to be really off. Don’t let the jet lag get you,” Ben woke me out of my stupor. He laughed a bit when I jumped and sat straight up.
“Come on, why don’t we take a walk?” he suggested.
“Good idea, I don’t think I’ll be able to stay awake if I’m sitting.”
He led me down the porch steps, and we walked toward the edge of the clearing. We strolled quietly around the perimeter, and I was fascinated by the amount of wildlife I could feel in the woods. We passed the tree where I had seen the bird flying up and down before Matt came into the clearing. It was directly in line with the corner of my room, the back corner of the house really. As we went around I could feel a large amount of energy coming from the woods in front of the other back corner of the house. I could see a trail leading in that direction, and my body naturally moved toward it out of curiosity.
“You feel them?” Ben asked, following me as I approached the trail.
“Yes, what are they?”
“Horses. Our stable is that way.”
“You have horses?” I asked, excited. Though I had gone riding with him in Miami, I hadn’t really been able to enjoy it; I had been so worried about Nana. Like any little girl, I had always dreamed of having a horse. I hoped Ben would let me ride one once I was feeling better. Actually, I was pretty sure he would, but I didn’t want to presume.
“Yes, several. Some to ride and some as sources. Keep following the path, I’ll show them to you.”
I started walking a bit more quickly and soon saw the building. It was the same color as the house and maybe half its size. There had to be a lot of horses in there. Behind the building there was another clearing with a fence surrounding the perimeter. I stopped in front of the main door, and Ben opened it and motioned I should go in.
“Wow!” There had to be maybe 20 stalls, 10 on each side of the building. Some of the horses had come to their doors to see who had come in and the others I could feel inside.
Ben smiled at my expression. “The ones in these first eight stalls are for riding. Actually, these three belong to my brothers and that one to my father,” he pointed to each of the horses as we walked. When we reached the front of the fourth set of stalls, he entered the one on the right. “Come here, Atty.” I followed him cautiously and peeked into the stall.
“This is my horse, Armin.”
“He’s beautiful, Ben.” Armin was standing next to Ben as he pet his neck. He really was beautiful, a deep brown, almost black with no white markings on his face.
“You want to touch him? He won’t mind.”
I walked next to Ben, and he took my hand, guiding it down Armin’s soft neck.
“If you ever want to ride, just let me know. You can ride Greta. She’s really calm.” He turned and pointed toward the opposite stall. Inside was a gorgeous, cream-colored mare.
Ben stopped petting Armin and walked back out of his stable. He motioned toward the rest of the horses in the back. “The others are for energy. I must admit I walked in the direction of the stables in hopes that you’d consider transferring a bit. You could use it.”
“Won’t they freak out?”
“Not at all. They’re used to us. Just be careful not to take too much at once.”
I nodded and approached one of the stables. Ben stood directly behind me and called to the horse inside. Once it came near, he put his hand on its neck and spoke quietly to it. “Go ahead, Atty. Just put your hand behind mine.” I did as he said and carefully took just a bit of energy from the animal. It felt great. I hadn’t realized how drained I was feeling, and not just from the lack of sleep. The past few weeks had been exhausting. I felt years older than when I had first met Ben just a few months before. He was right: eating food just wasn’t going to cut it.
“You need a little more?” he asked and walked to the next stall. He called to the horse and I took a little bit from it as well. We did this with five horses before he was satisfied that I’d had enough.
I felt completely renewed as we walked out of the stables and back down the path that led to the house. “So is that where you get all your energy? Are those horses enough for all of you?”
“They are good for easy access, but no, they’re not the only things we take from. We have a wildlife reserve about an hour away. We take care of animals that have been injured or abandoned after people realized they wouldn’t make good pets. We go there when we need more than the horses can provide.”
I nodded and kept walking toward the house. I was feeling a lot more energetic, though, so my steps were a little faster.
“See, you’re feeling better, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I really am. Thanks.”
“So do you want to keep walking, or would you like to try something else?” he said, a suggestive smile playing on his lips. I couldn’t help smiling back.
“Well, I’m thinking that maybe I will feel good enough to go see Matt’s band later. What do you think?”
“I think that he’s not playing for another few hours,” he said, one eyebrow raised. He grabbed my hand and led me back in the house. It was quiet inside; I couldn’t hear or feel anyone around. I wondered if that really meant that no one was there; I hadn’t felt his father earlier. I probably wouldn’t be able to feel some of his brothers, though I had felt Matt. I figured that was because he was younger. He wasn’t there though.
We went up the stairs and back into my room. Ben shut the door behind us as he turned and pulled me toward him. It had been a long time since he’d touched me like that, not since before Nana. He put his hands to my face and kissed me deeply, the entire time walking me backward in the direction of the bed. When we reached the edge, I fell onto it, and he landed on top of me. He was very eager and while it felt amazing, I started to get a bit anxious. My apprehension didn’t come from what we were doing—it felt way too good to be frightening—rather, I worried that I had been in too much of a haze lately to decide whether this was something I wouldn’t regret doing with him. Growing up, I had thought I wouldn’t sleep with anyone until I was married, but finding out what I was had confused me on the subject. If I couldn’t get pregnant and I couldn’t get sick, then it was just on principle that I shouldn’t sleep with him. I wasn’t sure I wanted to resist, but I did want more time to think about it. I broke the kiss to take a deep breath, and he moved his lips to my neck while running his hands through my hair.
“Ben, what are we doing?” I asked.
“Kissing, obviously,” he said between heavy breaths. My breath was coming hard too, and I arched my neck so he could reach more of it.
“Yes, I got that part, it just seems really intense. What are you thinking?” I had my hands in his hair, and I was impressed with my ability to get entire sentences out. My skin was beginning to ache for his, and I wondered why the sensa
tion was so intense considering I had just had my fill of energy.
“I’m thinking that you are so full of life right now that I want to share it.”
My skin was searing with current, and his kisses were soothing all the places they brushed. It felt so good that I didn’t even flinch when he slipped my shirt over my head and ran his hands along my sides and stomach. He’d taken his own shirt off as well, and where his skin touched mine I could feel the ebb of energy, it moved from me to him and back. It was almost overwhelming.
I was thinking that maybe I didn’t care whether I’d regret this when I felt someone come near the house. Whoever it was walked in for a moment, then I felt them turn around and walk away again. The oddness of it cut through the daze I was in, and I pushed Ben up a bit and stopped kissing him.
“Who was that? Was that Matt?”
“Huh? What are you talking about?” Ben asked, breathing hard.
“I just felt someone approach, then back away again.”
Ben started kissing the base of my neck again. “Yes, it was Matt. I can feel him heading away. Don’t worry about it.”
“Why’d he run off like that? Is everything OK?”
“He probably felt us and wanted to give us some privacy.”
At that I pushed him all the way off, “Wait, what do you mean he felt us?”
“Umm, Atty. The flux of energy between us, it’s pretty easy for him or anyone else to feel what’s going on. You can’t feel my father or my other brothers so it wouldn’t bother them to be in the house. They know you don’t know they’re around, so it won’t embarrass you. But Matt, he knows you can feel him and that it would probably make you feel self-conscious doing this while he’s around.”
“Oh my god! That’s so embarrassing!” I sat up, blushing deeply.
Ben started to laugh. “No one cares, Atty. Really. It’s no big deal.”
“It is to me!”
“You’re so innocent, come here.” He reached over and laid me next to him on the bed. He propped himself on one elbow so he could see me. “Sorry, I guess I shouldn’t have told you all that, now you won’t want to kiss me anymore.”
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