She kissed him hard on the lips, her tongue flicking hungrily into his mouth before she pulled away. “Tough day at work.”
“That’s not good.”
“It is what it is.” She put his hands on his shoulders keeping herself close to him. “I’m glad that you were still around.”
“You had me worried for a long time.” He nuzzled into her neck leaving a trail of kisses on her salty skin. She smelled clean and fresh, a hint of strawberry. It was a relief to have her in his arms again.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean for that to happen.”
“That’s good to hear.”
He kissed her again dancing his lips on her mouth. She responded back pushing her mouth into his. There was heat and passion, but also, he could tell she was tired, and something was bothering her. He’d been with her enough to know this.
“I know just the thing to help you forget about today and think only of me.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve thought a lot about you today,” she murmured. Then she flushed red as if embarrassed of what she’d just admitted.
“Is that right?” He couldn’t help it, but he needed to know with more certainty if what she was feeling was in line with his feelings.
“Ummm… well…”
He let her stumble for a little while enjoying how she was unsure whether or not to admit anything to him. Then he held out an olive branch. “I’m glad to hear it. You’re in my thoughts a lot, too, you know?”
“I’m sure I’m naked and well, you know?” The cheeky glint in her eyes turned him on even more. She now radiated confidence replacing the uncertainty of a few seconds ago.
“Not all the time.” His heart thumped with nerves. There, he’d all but said it. It was as close to admitting these true feelings that were developing quickly. After all, he still wasn’t sure about them. Though now, with Raven in his arms, he sensed that he didn’t ever want to let her go. They’d been doing this for the last two years, and so it wasn’t quite like they were rushing things. But could an affair really turn into anything meaningful?
Raven looked coyly at him. “Is that right?”
“Hmmm.” He opted to kiss her than continuing the conversation. She felt so good as he pressed his lips into hers and squeezed his arms around her body.
She sighed, a mix of pleasure, but there was also a hint of tiredness.
“I’ve got the perfect solution to forget about your workday.” He took her by the hand and guided her to the bed.
“Let me guess, sex.”
“Come on, give me more credit than that.” He motioned for her to get on the bed. “Though, of course, that would be the ideal solution.”
She sat on the bed. “See, I thought as much.”
He kicked off his shoes and got on the bed next to her. “Lay back on your stomach.”
“Aren’t you going to help me remove my clothes first?”
He held his breath as a bolt of pleasure tore through his body. That’s what he should be doing, but he was trying to take things slow. She certainly wasn’t helping. “Later. First, on your belly, I’m going to give you a massage.”
She raised one eyebrow. “Really?”
“Well, if you’d prefer sex now, then I suggest you take off your clothes.”
“Okay, okay, massage it is.” She rolled on her belly. “I hope you’re good at them.”
“Bloody hell, you’re a tough customer.”
“Customer now, am I?”
“No. Geez, you have had a tough day at work.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re not usually like this.”
“What?”
“Just shut up and enjoy the massage, will you.” He straddled her, keeping his weight on his knees and then put his hands on her neck and started massaging gently.
“Oh fuck, that feels great,” she mumbled into the pillow.
“I did say to be quiet, didn’t I?”
“I don’t do what I’m told.”
And that was one thing he really did like about her. He wasn’t going to admit that right now to her. He could feel she was tense. He moved his hands along her shoulders, then back, gradually increasing his pressure but still keeping it light.
Ben smiled to himself as he felt her finally relax. That was a good sign. He waited a few more minutes. Her breathing shallowed.
“Are you ready for the next stage?” he asked softly.
There was no answer.
Her breathing was slow and deep. She was asleep. He moved carefully so as not to wake her and wrapped his body around her, snuggling in close with her. His eyes closed easily, and his mind drifted toward sleep. As much as he wanted her right now, and he could sense the same with her, last night’s pleasures and a day’s work might just have caught up with them both.
Raven sighed contently as the pull of the morning took her away from her sleep. For a moment, she snuggled into the soft mattress, then remembered it was a workday, and she’d better get up. She stretched her body and bumped into another person. A sharp yelp came from her mouth as she sat up.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Ben sat up next to her still wearing his clothes from last night. He looked quickly around the room, then back at her. “Are you all right?”
Raven blinked, her mind taking that moment to work out what had happened. Fuck it. She realized noticing she too was in her clothes from last night, which were now wrinkled. At least I could’ve got laid. She’d never been too tired and missed such an opportunity before. I must be getting old.
“I’m fine. Just surprised that I slept the night.”
“That doesn’t warrant a scream. You scared me half to death.” He put his hand on his heart and winked.
Raven laughed. She might not have gotten laid last night, which was a shame, especially with someone as sexy hot as Ben and knowing that he was only in Adelaide for the week. I could’ve stayed awake at least for a quickie. She didn’t want to be wasting movements sleeping with him, though she was acutely aware that it felt fucking great waking up next to Ben. She’d had the best night’s sleep for ages, even if she did startle herself when she woke as she’d forgotten where she was. She wasn’t accustomed to waking up with someone in the bed with her.
“You mean to say I scared a big, strong farm boy like yourself/”
Ben cleared his throat. “Course not.”
“Oh, I don’t know, I reckon I did.”
“No way.”
Raven laughed. “Yeah, right. What did you think was going on?”
“That I had to get ready to protect a beautiful woman.” He reached down to her ankle, slipping his fingers under her denim jeans.
Pleasure shivered up her leg as he touched her skin pushing as high as he could go before the tightness of her jeans stopped him. Her body was already beginning to respond so quickly, so easily without him having to do much. She wanted him. And she liked that he knew what to do to stimulate her. He remembered. He was becoming familiar, and it surprised her how much she was enjoying this development between them.
“Come here, you,” he spoke softly as he kneeled on the bed. He pushed her back on the bed.
“Hey…” Raven couldn’t help but grin as she looked up at Ben. Hair ruffled from sleep, he was still eye candy. She knew whatever was coming, she was going to enjoy it. Realization coursed through her. She trusted him. More so than any other man she’d been with. Her thoughts mingled and tangled as she felt his hands unbuttoning her jeans.
“We’ve got better things to be doing.” He pushed her jeans down along with her panties as she wriggled helping them slip down past her knees. Before she could say something, she felt his hands change direction, going back up her legs as anticipation grew inside of her. He adjusted his position. Then without warning, he went down her on, his mouth hungrily sucking between her legs. Her hips pushed upward as the sensation thundered through her body
She gasped, holding her breath, enjoying the pressure of his mouth slipping betwee
n her intimate folds of flesh, his tongue pushing into her opening, then sliding up, then down her length, playing for a moment before settling at the top of her slit at the bud of nerves. Her body quivered. Sounds of enjoyment filtered from her as his tongue circled with intention. The rhythm built the tension within her, and she let herself go on the ride with him driving her to pleasure. His movements caused her body to jerk as she filled with pleasure. Her breath quickened as she tried to slow down. He knew just where to pleasure her, his tongue flicking the bud of nerves, her muscles contracted, the pleasure shuddered uncontrollably, and she groaned as the orgasm filled her, her hips arching forward.
He reduced the intensity of his mouth making a few soft strokes of his tongue before pulling away. “And that’s just for starts.”
Raven sighed at the thought of more pleasure from Ben. “Lucky we both had a good night’s sleep, then.”
He chuckled. “One benefit. I can think of a few more.”
Raven could too. But she wasn’t sure this was something that she wanted to admit to Ben. Why would he want more than this with me? An affair-type set-up suited them both. It would be too hard, too complicated if it were anything more. They lived hundreds of miles away from each other in what was almost different worlds. Her life was in the city, his in the country, and their only common ground was this, a yearly meet-up.
He kissed her inner thigh softly. Her thoughts settled. Right now, all she wanted to do was enjoy this time with him. She tousled his hair. “Come up here.”
“In good time.” He promptly ignored her request and kissed his way up over her hip to her belly, pushing up her shirt.
A harsh sound of a phone on silent vibrating on the wooden side table reverberated in the room.
Ben kept kissing her. The phone stopped. She felt herself relax back into how good it was to have his lips moving over her body, and how his touch sent a burst of hot anticipation of more to come.
The phone started again.
“Dammit,” grumbled Ben. He didn’t move away from her but instead started to undo the buttons on her shirt.
The phone sound was annoying. It was at odds with the desire that coursed through her, building again and wanting to be released.
“Just answer it.”
“No, I’m busy.” He struggled with one of the buttons. “Dammit,” he muttered.
“I’ll get it, then.” Raven reached over and managed to reach the phone while Ben finally undid the last button on her shirt. He moved his hands up over her belly, slipping his fingers under her bra.
She steeled herself from Ben’s touch and not noticing who was calling pressed answer on the phone.
“Where are you, mate? Your pregnant female is about to drop.” A male’s voice came from the phone.
“What the fuck.” Ben looked up at Raven. She turned the phone in his direction, showing him the caller ID.
“Jason, it will be fine, it’s not her first time.”
“You knew she was about to give birth? Well, it’s happening.”
Raven pursed her lips together. She wasn’t sure what this conversation was about. Did he get some woman preggers? She figured what else should she expect. This is an affair, no strings attached. They were meant to be single. He said he was single. A lot of questions demanding answers flooded her mind.
“Calm down, mate. I’ll be there in a minute.” Ben sat up and grabbed the phone.
“You better. Why you bought an alpaca that was so close to giving birth to the Show, I don’t know.”
“Is she doing all right? Any complications?”
“No. But you get down here right now.”
“I will. I’m leaving now. I’ll be there in five minutes.”
Ben reached up and took the phone, hitting call end. “Fuck it. Sorry, I’m going to have to go.”
“I got that bit, the rest I’m a bit confused over.”
“One of my female alpacas is about to have a baby at the show.”
“Okay. Why did you bring her?”
“She had a good chance of winning a prize, and she did. It’s something I can use for advertising.” Ben got off the bed and picked up one of his work boots. “I have to hurry.”
Raven nodded, not that this was making a whole lot of sense, but she was getting the gist. She pulled up her panties and jeans. Playtime was over.
She watched him fumble trying to quickly put on his work boots. Something dawned on her. She’d had a few pets over the years, but one thing she thought he should do was to call a vet. “Aren’t you going to call a vet?”
“Hopefully, not.”
“Umm, so you’ll do the delivery?”
“Evie will.”
“Evie?”
“That’s her name. She’ll do it all herself and save me the expense of a vet bill.”
Ben walked over to the bed. “Stay for as long as you’d like.” He leaned forward and kissed her. “I hope to pick up where we left off tonight.”
A flush of heat went through Raven as she had a mental thought of what they would do tonight. “Sounds good.” She wanted to add she couldn’t wait that long, but she could tell he was anxious to get going.
“It will be more than good.” He kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll promise you that.” He winked before turning away and walking to the door.
“Bye,” Raven called out.
“Bye.”
The door clicked closed.
Raven let herself fall back on the bed with a sigh. She glanced at the bedside clock. Too early. It was almost seven o’clock. She couldn’t believe she’d woken up so early, but then it was a good outcome, especially after missing out on some sexual fun last night. She rolled her lips, and they tingled pleasantly. Not for the first time did she realize in so many days that this was the sort of kiss that spoke more than just lust.
“Housekeeping.”
Raven stirred.
“Hello?”
The sense of someone else in the room forced Raven awake.
“Yes.” She sat up, slowly recalling that she was in Ben’s hotel room. And that she must’ve fallen asleep. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
The clock on the bedside table showed it was ten forty-five, and the light coming through the gap in the curtain meant that it was a.m. not p.m. Fuck.
“Oh, sorry, miss. I’ll come back.”
“No, no. it’s fine. I was just leaving.” Raven pushed up from the bed, slipped on her shoes, and grabbed her clutch. She’d wasted time falling back asleep on a workday. There was no way she could rock up to work now, not without a bloody good excuse, and she was clean out of them. Bloody hell. She needed to smarten up, otherwise she wouldn’t be getting the skills for her own business.
Raven rushed out of the room and went down the corridor to the elevator. She cringed as she saw her reflection in an ornate mirror on the wall. Sex hair without sex was very disappointing to see. Let alone wrinkled clothes, not because they’d been taken off in a passionate hurry, but slept in. There was no way she was going to work in these clothes, and while she had a change of clothes in the car, another option was forming in her mind. No, I couldn’t. She rolled her lips in thought waiting for the elevator. I couldn’t call in sick, then go into the Show and see Ben. She could taste him. Her lips throbbed with something that was more long-term than a fling. She knew she was falling for him. But she didn’t know anything about him. One way to know more would be to go and see him at the Show.
The elevator door opened. She stepped in. A daring feeling surfaced. I can.
Ben practically ran out of the Goody, down Leader Street, and through the farmers’ entrance, flashing his life membership pass thinking it was good that he had slept in his clothes last night, and he’d grabbed his phone and wallet on the way out. He hated leaving Raven like that. So quickly without properly having a chance to talk. Well, and, of course, a bit more fun would’ve been welcomed too. Sleeping together like that overnight had made something clear to him. There were feelings starting to surface that he di
dn’t think he was going to be able to settle them down. More so, he didn’t want them to settle down. This might have started as a fling, and despite only seeing each other for the last two years at the Show and not knowing much about Raven, he knew what he was feeling was true-blue.
This side of the showgrounds was starting to stir, a few forklifts were in motion clearing away the pile of used straw. He rushed down past the sheep pavilion to where the alpacas and goats were housed in a modern, oversized shed made from galvanized iron. It was the very start of spring, thank goodness, so it never really got too hot. He slipped inside down to where his alpacas were. He was pretty sure that Evie would be fine. She’d birth her first last year with no worries.
“You took your sweet time.” Jason looked frazzled. He stood a few pens over from Evie’s enclosure leaning on the metal fencing. Dark shadows were under his eyes.
“Thanks, mate, glad you called me.” And he was glad that Jason had gotten here early. I should’ve too. A pang of guilt twisted in his stomach. He’d gotten carried away with Raven, with the pleasure, with the distraction of wanting to be with her. He wrestled with these emotions trying to push them away. He had to focus now. His priority right now was Evie and her unborn baby alpaca. And in less than two hours, the showground gates will be opened to the public, and she didn’t need an audience. Or anyone saying there needs to be a vet.
“Thought you’d be here early? Is that chick got you not thinking straight?”
Heat rushed to Ben’s cheeks. “Not at all.” As if he was going to admit to Jason right now that he was right.
Ben approached Evie’s pen slowly. She looked to be fine, just a subtle pant. It was clear her water had broken. Her belly had dropped, though he knew that.
“You should’ve brought her, mate.”
“I know.” He surprised himself. But Evie was strong, healthy, and this was natural. Plus, by his reckoning, there had been another week at least before she was technically due to give birth. Part of the truth was that he wanted to honor his dad’s memory as much as possible and give him a farewell with some prizes for all the years of his hard work. And to show that he could carry on without missing a beat. He rested his arms on the top of the fence, the metal coolness seeping through the thin material of his shirt. He didn’t want to admit to how close he might’ve been in missing a beat. Right now, at least things were going well. At least I cleaned out her pen last night. It had been a push, but, of course, he had made sure his stock was well cared for before he left to socialize.
The Royal Show Affair Page 5
