Seven Years of Bad Luck (18 page)

“Ben, your home is… wow!”

He chuckled while arming his security system. “Thank you.”

“Come with me. We’ll have some wine, and I will give you the tour.” I followed him into his kitchen, and he uncorked a chilled bottle of wine and poured two glasses. The tour left me dazzled. His home was filled with oversized luxurious furnishings. The living room had soaring ceilings with exposed wooden beams. I couldn’t imagine a more lovely home if I tried. He took me throughout every room in the house except for one. We walked right by it, and the closed door stayed that way. He didn’t acknowledge the space or explain. I wondered what was behind that door, but decided that my curiosity, for once, would have to wait.

His home was fit to be called a mansion, but it was warm and inviting at the same time. There was a captivating photograph above the fireplace. It was huge and framed, and it monopolized my attention the very moment I saw it. The photo depicted a grassy field with a tree line in the distance. Just beyond the tree line was the setting sun. The sky appeared to have angry looking clouds that seemed stormy at first glance, but upon looking closer, it was obvious that the storms were merely cast in shadow. It seemed as if the intensity of the sun was too much, so the clouds hid in the shadows cast by the first line of clouds that bore the brunt of the light. Where the rim of the dark clouds met the burst of golden orange from the sun was the focal point. The edges of the dark clouds were luminescent and glowing with the rays. It made the clouds look ablaze at the rim, like fiery heat licking at the edges to banish the darkness. I was awestruck by the beauty and the contradiction within the photo. It was dark and light all at the same time. I wanted to sink into a plush chair in the sitting room and stare at the photo all night. Ben reached for my hand and tapped a button on a remote. Soft music filled the space around us. The song was
Blue in Green
by Miles Davis. It had always been one of my favorites.

“Dance with me, Kathleen.” Ben broke the trance that the photo had on me, and I glanced at him. He seemed to be staring at me like I had stared at the photo above his mantle. He had rid himself of his jacket and tie. His shirt was unbuttoned at the top showing just a glimpse of skin. I nodded my head, and his arms encased me. He pulled me close to his body and guided us into a slow, swaying dance. My breathing stalled when one of his hands left my bare back and he cupped my face and neck while he leaned toward me and rested his forehead against mine. His hold on me was purely intimate, and despite my apprehension, I dissolved under his willful touch. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, and I followed suit. I shoved away my own personal fears and allowed the fire that burned between Ben and me to battle away the darkness that loomed over me for so long. We were a human, living, breathing version of the photo above his mantle that I was so taken with.

We danced slowly while the strains of soft jazz filled our ears, and the heat from our bodies pressed together expunged any lingering tension from the ball. I could hear only the music. I could smell only him. I could feel only him. I could see only him. The world fell away, and only he and I remained. We stilled. He leaned forward and cupped my face with his other hand and pressed his lips against mine, and this time it was not a brief, chaste kiss. I could feel his desire. His soft lips kissed me deeply, passionately. I moaned into his mouth as his tongue slipped across the threshold of my lips and deep into my mouth. Tasting, searching, longing for more. I flexed my fingers against his chest, squeezing his muscles.

“Ben,” I mumbled against his lips.

“Kathleen,” he rumbled back in a husky, lust-filled voice. He broke the kiss, and we both gasped to fill our lungs with precious air. I pressed my thighs together to mollify the aching need that pulsed there. Ben ran one of his hands down my arm and pulled my hand to his face. He pressed his lips to the palm of my hand and then guided my hand to rest on his cheek. He closed his eyes for a moment. The gesture was extremely intimate and made me want to run for the hills and stay forever all at the same time. He shifted my hand from his cheek, and his deep blue-green eyes burned holes through me as he placed a soft kiss on the inside of my wrist then on the inside of my forearm, near my elbow. He placed my arm back where it was resting on top of his broad shoulder, then resumed our desperate kiss. Frantic need overwhelmed the both of us.

“Ben. Please.” I pleaded. He stopped and looked at me for a moment.

“My patience has run out, Kathleen. Are you ready to stop fighting against this?” I stared into those intense blue-green eyes, and with sincerity that surprised even me, I answered him.

“I don’t want to fight anymore.” My voice was small, but no less genuine. Hearing an answer that clearly pleased him, he grabbed my hand and made long strides to the grand staircase leading to the second floor. My heels clicked against the glossy wooden floor, and I was afraid I would fall.

“Ben. Wait.” He turned back to me and swept me up into his arms with the utmost fluidity and climbed the stairs. He stopped in front of his bedroom door and kissed me again. He carried me into the room and stopped beside his enormous, cherry wood four poster bed. The walls were painted in a dark shade of cinnamon, and the lighting was muted. The entire atmosphere of the room was gentle, warm, and seductive. The moment I was carried into his room I felt like a sex kitten in some forbidden place lapping up the essence of all things erotic and sexy. The feeling was empowering, and I indulged in it. I slowly unbuttoned his shirt while doing my best to calm my shaking hands. I freed his arms from the shirt and released it to fall to the floor. His eyes stayed locked onto me. I could see something wild and passionate in those blue-green depths. I jerked the undershirt over his head, and it joined his other shirt on the floor. Ben’s hands were all over me. One hand cupped my face while the other cupped my breast, and he tweaked my distended nipple between his thumb and forefinger through the delicate fabric of my dress. His bare chest had a dusting of dark hair across it that tickled my sensitive skin as he pressed me to him. His chest was hard, warm, and broad. Ben released my breast and both of his hands roamed to my hips.

He held me tightly and rocked his hips into mine. I felt his erection fighting to be freed from the clothing that separated us. I reached for his pants, but Ben caught my wrists and whirled me around so that my back was against his chest. Our breathing was fast and choppy. His fingers dug into my hips again as he pulled my ass against his erection and ground into me. The palm of his left hand left my hip and laid flat against my back as he pushed me forward to lie across his bed. He teased me more with hard grinding motions against my ass. I moaned as arousal enveloped me. Hot, wet, desire gathered at my center and drove me to moan and whimper, desperate for relief. I wanted nothing more than for Ben to be deep inside me, claiming my body with his. He leaned forward until his chest grazed against my back.

“I fucking love this, Kathleen.” His fingers drifted over my inked skin and his kisses berated my spine from the nape of my neck down to the small of my back.

I shivered as chill bumps peppered my skin. He reached up, unclasped the dress at my neck and pulled me to stand. The dress slinked down my frame and pooled at my feet. His grip steadied my trembling body while I stepped out of it. Ben turned me to face him again. I stood before him in my ecru lacy thong. He paused and his eyes glided over me. He kicked off his shoes and socks and swept me back onto his bed.

Oh God, this is really happening.

Ben hovered above me as I hesitated and became nervous thinking about how sex with him could screw everything up.

“Ben. This could mess up everything,” I whispered. He closed his eyes slowly and shook his head.

“No Kathleen, it won’t. You’re killing me. I’ve wanted you since the moment I laid eyes on you. I know it’s the same for you. There’s no denying this anymore.”

He wants me.

I had to agree with him. The connection between us had been disarming and profound since day one at the Book Ends. It had only intensified in the month and a half since we’d known each other. Ben nudged my thighs apart with his hand, and I opened myself to him without a second thought, spreading wide to accommodate him. He settled between my tremulous thighs and rolled his hips into me. I moaned and squirmed beneath him. He lowered his head and began kissing my jaw down to my collar bone. He licked, kissed, and nibbled as he made his way between my full breasts. His powerful hands kneaded my breast as he covered my taut nipple with his hot wet mouth. He licked and flicked my nipple in a teasing manner, then sucked hard, drawing my sensitive peak deeper into his mouth. I drew in air through gritted teeth. I twined his wavy chocolate brown locks in my fingers and held his head to my breast. I arched my back as my hips undulated beneath him, searching for more. His hands roamed freely over my curves while I lifted my leg and tucked a toe into the waist of his pants and tugged, urging them off. He unfastened his pants and kicked them away. He was glorious in just his charcoal gray boxer briefs. They hugged his form revealing just how exquisite his body was.

Ben licked a hot trail down my torso around the piercing in my belly button. He flicked the metal belly button ring with his tongue and lapped at my skin. His fingers slipped past my lacey thong and glided like silk through my wet opening. He smoothed my arousal over me with his deft fingers.

“Oh, Kathleen, you’re ready and waiting for me.” He let out a growl the moment his amazing mouth covered my slick wet opening. His tongue slid in and out of me and alternated between shallow quick flicks and deep lingering strokes. My breathing became erratic as Ben’s mouth edged me closer and closer to climax. I could feel a tightening deep in my stomach, then Ben moved his tongue over my neglected clit and slowly slid one, then a second, long finger into my pulsing opening. His fingers lazily stroked my inner walls as his tongue rolled like a warm wave across my clit. Over and over. Back and forth. Up and down. In and out. I was ready to explode into pieces. I moaned loudly.

“Oh! Yes! Don’t stop! I’m so close!” My pleas only made him continue with a fervor I hadn’t yet seen from him. He worked me harder, faster, deeper. The dam broke, and I burst at the seams in an explosive, mind-altering orgasm. I cried out his name as the best climax of my life raged through my quaking body.

“Mmmmm, you’re the best thing I’ve ever tasted, Kathleen.” As Ben spoke, his warm breath assailed my sensitive clit, and I trembled even more. My head fell back into plush down pillows. By the time I looked up to find Ben, he was kneeling between my legs, sheathing his thick, considerable length with a condom. I gasped at the sight of him. His body was the epitome of male perfection, and his chest rose and fell rapidly in anticipation. His cock was thick and long. Undoubtedly the most, well-endowed man I had ever seen, much less been intimate with.

Ben crushed his lips against mine, and his tongue dove into my mouth. I could taste my pleasure on his tongue, and it was erotic. I wanted him. I needed him. He settled his hips between my thighs. The crown of his rigid cock was poised at my opening. I was so eager to have him in me. He looked into my eyes. The weight of his stare was too much. I escaped behind my closed eyes.

“Open them. Look at me, Kathleen. I want to see your eyes when I take you.”

Oh sweet Jesus! Can words make me come?

I stared into his fierce eyes, and with one swift, hard, thrust Ben was buried to an untouched depth within me. He let out the most erotic and slow groan I had ever heard come from a man. I gasped, startled by his size and power. His balls were flush against my ass, and his erection was completely sheathed by my quivering channel. He paused, allowing both of us a moment to adjust to the immense pleasure we were giving each other. I sighed as my eyes rolled back in my head.

“No. Open them,” he demanded in a firm, raspy voice. My eyes snapped back open compliantly. He retracted his long shaft so that only the very tip remained at my opening, then thrust hard back into me, burying himself once again. My moan only drove him further. He ran his hand down my side and grabbed my thigh roughly, forced me to open wider and propped my legs high on his hips. This new angle allowed Ben to push deeper into me. He rested one forearm beside me, semi caging me in a sexy prison formed of defined muscle. His other hand remained on my thigh digging into my flesh to the point of pain. I had my arms wrapped underneath his and my nails clung to his back.

“Ah, you’re so tight,” Ben groaned as his hips rolled expertly, driving himself deeper still into me. His pace quickened, and my hips met his, thrust for thrust. His lips came to mine, and our tongues battled in a deep breathless kiss. My core began to tighten again, my channel clenched around his cock, and another mind-blowing orgasm tore through me while Ben kept the same pace, painfully drawing out my climax as he worked towards his own release.

Once I came down from my orgasm, Ben pulled out of me and in one swift graceful movement, flipped me so that I was face down, with my ass perched in the air for his taking. He ran his hands up my back and growled deeply before nudging me back open with the tip of his cock. His hand twisted into my hair, and he tugged my head backward slightly. He plunged into me from behind. I could barely breathe through the intensity of each thrust. I felt like I was drowning in the most exquisite sea of pleasure. He released his grip from my hair and both hands dug into my hips. Without warning, Ben’s powerful hand came down hard across my ass and caused me to clench my muscles and gasp in shock. A twinge of pain shot through me, but was replaced with pleasure the instant he smoothed his hand over my reddened cheek.

“Are you going to fight me anymore?” His voice was raw and demanding as he kept relentlessly pounding himself into me. “Who does it belong to, Kathleen?” Ben growled through gritted teeth. He was so rough and animalistic. It was exquisite. I wasn’t sure what to say and couldn’t think clearly anyway. I was barely able to breathe through each powerful, deep thrust, much less speak. I hesitated. Ben’s hand came down harder and landed on my ass again with a loud smack. I clenched again. His hand instantly smoothed over my flesh. It was a delectable mix of pleasure and pain that I was unfamiliar with. This time, he leaned forward and whispered into my ear in a harsh voice. “Who’s is it, Kathleen?”