by Taylor Berke
“Well, color me black and call me an eight ball because now I have seen everything, Lillian,” Florence said in a loud voice.
“Aunt Florence, really? I have shown affection in public before,” Ben defended himself.
“Oh, when would the last time that happened be, dear? When you were five perhaps?” Lillian questioned her middle son.
Ben gave Jackson a look and left the ladies to seek out more testosterone. Jackson immediately followed in a wise sense of self-preservation.
“They do have the nicest rear ends, don’t they?” Billie said admiringly.
“Well, Bill and I worked hard to make them,” Lillian returned, bursting out laughing at what she must have thought was a very risqué comment.
* * * *
A few hours later the men had enough liquid fortification to cross the room back toward the ladies. Ben didn’t want to be more than an arm’s length away from Lizzie that night anyway. The women all were having a few drinks and Lizzie was a lightweight. He didn’t want her to get harassed by anyone whether she was sober or tipsy. He needed to be right there so his fist could be in someone’s face. He blamed it on how fucking hot her legs looked. The most important reason not to be far from his love was the disgusting waste of space that was sitting in a corner booth across the bar. Theodore Davis sat with the three men that Ben recognized from Lizzie’s café the other afternoon. They were deep in conversation, one that Ben didn’t get a good feeling about as they kept glancing up and over to look at Lizzie. It wasn’t that they were looking, she was gorgeous after all, but there was something calculated about how they would turn to gaze her way all at once. Theodore gave him a small nervous wave of his hand when he saw that Ben was watching him. There was no trusting Theodore when it came to his Lizzie. He knew that it had chafed the man when he rubbed it in his face that Lizzie was now his responsibility. Being the unscrupulous man that he had a reputation for, Ben decided to try to find out who those men were and what their interest was in his woman.
He was distracted by the men in his group that had started an interesting conversation of their own. They were unaware that the women had quieted down to listen very intently to their scientific observations.
“You see, I read somewhere that if you ejaculate in a woman, then she will be more relaxed and have lower blood pressure than a woman that you fuck with a condom,” Cole said with great authority.
“Is there any truth to that bullshit?” Sean Taggart asked, looking genuinely interested. He had his arm slung over Troy’s shoulders in his usual display affection to whomever and whatever crossed his path.
Cole look confident as he replied, “Yep, I read it in a study online. I am telling you that it’s true!”
Ben and Brody looked at Cole like he had just gone off the deep end but Sam Ellison and Phillip Garner, the contractors who built Billie’s house and office, looked as enthralled as Troy.
“Really, the study said that it lowers the woman’s heart rate and blood pressure, like a drug. Our stuff is really powerful,” Cole said with no small amount of pride.
Jackson let out a hearty laugh. “It’s magic juice, man!”
Ben watched Hunter elbow Jackson in the gut when it became apparent that there were more spectators to their conversation than they would probably like.
Jackson stopped laughing and all the men turned in the direction of the women that they were supposed to be watching over. Ben didn’t like the look of that crowd. The natives were restless. One unhappy woman he could handle but a whole passel of them, including his mother, no way. Ben decided to act natural and to keep quiet. Most of the women, including his Lizzie, were standing there with annoyed looks on their faces and hands on their hips, not a good sign.
It was Beth who spoke up. She had apparently had a few and was raring to go. “You dumbasses! It is the orgasm that makes us relaxed, not any magic from you guys, trust me on that one! You could put a gallon of it in me but if I don’t orgasm then I will be one frustrated, mean, cranky bitch! Oh, and don’t tell my brothers that I have sex.”
Ben watched as Beth stomped over to say hello to the new real estate agent in town, Candice Cambell. The women were all nodding their heads in support of Beth’s explanation and promptly turned their backs on the men.
“I think that is what they call a direct cut, fellas,” Ben said with no real eagerness. The men went back to their beers as their overblown egos were now deflated at the hands of the youngest Saunder sibling. Hunter stood quietly, drinking from his bottle, with his attention directed on that exact person.
“Hey, buddy, you okay over there?” Ben asked Hunter, trying to find out gossip like a girl.
“Yup, why?” Hunter replied, as simply as always. Hunter was a man of few words but the ones he usually chose were honest, kind, and straight to the point.
“You seemed to be very interested in the women, so I was just wondering who had captured your fancy.” Ben taunted the muscular man a little bit. Hunter was shorter than Ben, but there was no one in Stony Creek who would ever want to get him mad. His being an ex-SEAL and also possessing all that muscle were usually healthy deterrents to not irritate the man. It didn’t mean that Ben couldn’t be a little obnoxious with his friend and neighbor though.
“I was just checking on Billie. She looked tired, being pregnant and all,” Hunter replied simply.
Ben got a shit-eating grin on his face now. “I know you and Billie have the whole friend love-love thing ever since she stuck up for you but Jackson has that covered, I think.”
Hunter gave Ben a dirty look and took another swig of his beer.
“Uh-oh, there is another problem with that answer.” Ben continued to prod Hunter mercilessly.
“What the fuck is it now, moron?” Hunter gave his version of a death stare.
The evil grin on Ben’s face just got bigger as he went in for the kill. “The problem, idiot, is that Billie is over there, while…” Ben swung his finger in Jackson and Billie’s direction at a table across the room and then point back in the direction that Hunter had been staring. “But you were looking over there. Humm, that is a mystery. Well, there is a very beautiful friend of ours over there named Beth. Is it possible that you were looking at her?”
Instead of the meaty fist that Ben figured Hunter would throw, he was met with silence. Hunter just continued to stare at Beth for a moment. “She is different, you know.”
Ben was shocked. Hunter never displayed interest in a woman. He went trolling in other towns to get laid but never like this and never in Stony Creek. This was interesting.
Ben decided to keep it simple. “Yes, she is.”
Hunter nodded in agreement, much to Ben’s chagrin, and moved himself over to the girls to get a closer look.
* * * *
All the women in their group were definitely feeling a buzz, except Billie, as the conversation turned to sex, as it always did. Lizzie’s earlier concern that Lillian or Florence would end up on the bar proved unfounded as they remained standing on their own two feet. However, it was Ms. Julia Morgan who had the microphone, sitting politely in front of Donny who was begging her to stop singing. Her song choice was “I Will Always Love You,” which Lizzie felt should be stricken from Julia’s repertoire. Focusing her attention back to the girls, she found that sex and how to deal with a sex drought was the topic. She figured that she had some expertise in that area so she decided to add her two cents. The ladies immediately went to town with her suggestions. Maddy was getting herself quite an education as the topic of toys was brought up by Lizzie.
“I am just saying that before I was fortunate enough to be rescued and seduced by the Powell power penis over there, I had needs that were not being fulfilled. Girls have to do what girls have to do. I loved my pocket rocket.” Lizzie giggled out.
Maddy turned three shades of red as Billie laughed, almost choking on her virgin green drink. “I thought you were in love with the Powell power penis!”
“I heard that!” B
en hollered at them from six feet away. “Okay, I am not mad. Thank you for the compliment, baby.”
“He is so funny since he fell for you, Lizzie. Who knew that Ben could talk so much?” Maddy smiled at Lizzie.
“Well, I know of another Powell, probably with a penis, that has a very obvious interest in you. Are you ever going to do anything about poor Troy and his ever-present obvious inability to control his arousal when he is around you?” Beth volunteered.
Maddy blushed furiously and whispered back, “No! There is no way I could date a man like him. Troy reminds me of that calendar that sits on people’s desks with the witty sayings on them. Every day you tear off a new sheet with a new comment. I hate that he is always around a new woman. I am not like that!”
Lizzie, feeling a kinship to that exact sentiment due to Ben’s own previous history with casually dating many, many women from the area offered, “Look, sweetie, Ben, being his brother, was just the same way. I don’t understand why really with Lillian and Bill being madly in love for all these years, but they are two birds of a feather. Ben just confessed his feelings this week, this week! How darned long did that take? I have gray hair and wrinkles but I have to tell you, it was so worth the wait. They are such good men. However, they are still just men and that makes them sort of stupid, you understand.”
Their conversation was again interrupted by Ben hollering, “I heard that, too, Lizzie!”
“Sorry, honey, I meant all other men,” Lizzie returned with a wink to the other women. Maddy just laughed but Lizzie noticed that she did give Troy, dancing with Candice, a looking of hesitant interest and maybe just a hint of longing.
Feeling no pain and a bit naughty, Lizzie turned to Beth and decided to see what was going on in her head.
“Sooo, Beth. I notice that you have been a bit occupied in sightseeing, too, this evening. Find anyone, I mean anything, in particular?” Lizzie giggled with the girls.
Beth was easy going even when sober so right now a feather could knock her over. “I was looking at Hunter. He would be perfect if he only actually talked instead of grunting at everyone. Just look at that body, those muscles, those hands, even his feet. He is quite a man, no?”
Hunter was obviously aware, by the questioning look on his face, that he was the center of attention. All the women had turned to look at him, smiling and giggling before they turned back to face each other.
Billie answered honestly. “Yes he is, Beth. He is a smart, handsome, and very kind man. You know this better than I do though, so what gives?”
Lizzie waited on impatiently as Beth delayed answering. “I don’t know. He just has been giving my stomach those butterflies lately. It’s so weird, as I’ve known him since practically the day he moved here. He just turns me on.”
All the women looked dumbstruck at the honesty of her answer. Lizzie hadn’t been expecting that. Humm, perhaps she was going to have to do some matchmaking. Perhaps a romantic dinner was in order? Beth stood there shifting from one foot to the other, looking obviously uncomfortable.
“Hey, Beth, are you okay?” Lizzie asked her looking concerned.
Beth turned to reassure her friends immediately. “Yes of course. Just looking at him is really making me hot. Oops, sorry, that must be the alcohol talking!”
A chorus of giggles escaped the women at her comment.
“That’s okay, it happens to me all the time while looking at Jackson these days. Damned hormones,” Billie shared with a laugh.
“I think I am going to have to go to the ladies’ room,” Beth said quickly.
“Why? Do you want me to come with you?” Lizzie offered, thinking maybe she needed to throw up.
Beth grabbed her purse and turned back to the women. “Thanks but no. You can’t rely on these men for anything. I am going to go and take care of this one myself. If I wait for Hunter to do something about it, I might be dead by the time that happens. I need some relief right now! Be back in a minute!” Beth sang out as she ran for the ladies room.
Lizzie and the ladies watched Hunter put his bottle down and watch Beth all the way to the ladies’ room. Interesting, it was very interesting.
Maddy started blushing and looked at Lizzie and Billie.
“Is she going to do what I think she is going to do in there?” Maddy whispered her question.
“Of course she is, Dr. Daniels. Why do you think she took her purse? She has Mr. Rocket in there!” Lizzie whispered back. The women burst into laughter again and changed topics to Billie’s two huge dogs, Madison and Zeus, and how Billie ever managed to get pregnant if they were on the bed. That is until Beth came back about ten minutes later looking, well, flushed and very relaxed.
Before any of them had a chance to tease her, a huge male pushed forward and Lizzie observed with interest as Hunter looked Beth up and down as though to visually inspect her for damage.
Hunter quickly asked her, “Are you okay, Beth? You look flushed and sweaty. Are you sick?”
Lizzie was now even more in awe. That was more than Hunter usually said in a week.
Beth had a slight blush now when she replied to Hunter. “Yes, I am fine, Hunter, thank you for asking. I just, um, self-medicated. So you see, I am all better.”
At Hunter’s look of utter confusion, the women dissolved into hysterics. Ben looked over at Hunter, his face sporting the same expression and just shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. It was an interesting night all around.
Chapter Twenty
“Uh hello, Ben, can you please pick up your phone, dumbass? You are disturbing the herd!” Brody yelled out in Ben’s direction.
Ben looked over at his cousin, his face sporting a slight flush of embarrassment as he hadn’t even realized that his cell had been going off. Well, it was understandable as he was reliving one evening last week at Lizzie’s house. He still was either sleeping there every night or picking her up every morning. Not feeling comfortable with being away from her now that he had expressed his feelings, Ben had found it difficult to sleep without her warm, curvaceous body wrapped in front, on top of, or around him. Apparently, finally admitting that he was in love with his business partner had opened a floodgate of needs and emotions that he hadn’t even known were inside of him. Love was tricky. It appeared that the only addiction that he ever had to battle in his life was one to a very sexy, sweet, and effervescent chestnut beauty who now had his heart and he didn’t know if there was a support group for that.
He recalled how he had let himself into her house Wednesday evening, with his key, the one that he couldn’t believe he actually wanted. In the past, it had been too personal of a thing, too intimate to accept approval to enter a woman’s abode at will. There had never been the need for that sort of intimacy and familiarity with any other woman, not even the smallest itch. He never had felt that strongly about any woman that he couldn’t just wait for them to answer the door instead. With Lizzie, however, everything was different. Not only did he want her key, he wanted to know where she was, did she eat, and if she was happy. Ugh, he was getting sappy and girly again. Soon he and his mother would be swapping recipes. Lizzie laid his soul bare and he found that allowing his feelings to be naked was just as appealing as being naked inside of her. She was rapidly becoming his everything.
He had started pulling off his clothes as he quietly made his way to her room where he knew her scrumptious sleeping form would be waiting for him, always eager to be loved as he seduced her out of her slumbers. That evening was no different except another piece had clicked into place for him in his heart.
The moonlight had been filtering into her white, filmy tribute to femininity that was her bedroom. At first he had been a bit uncomfortable sleeping in such a frothy display of satins and lace but now, he almost felt calm at being in her realm as it was truly an expression of his Lizzie. It was all woman, sweet and soft, just like her. He stood by her side of the bed for quite a while gazing down at her sleeping form. She was beautiful with long eyelashes guarding her
gorgeous blue eyes that were always so expressive to him whether happy or sad. He followed the line of her slim neck as her thick hair was spread out over her pillows, making him itch to get his hands gripped in it. The gentle rise and fall of her soft breasts was barely covered by the thin, gauzy sheet that revealed the curve of her hip and the slimness of her legs. He almost groaned in memory of how tightly she could grip him around his waist when she was driven to ecstasy by their lovemaking.
Ben had gotten down on his knees next to her and gently started to pull the sheet down her succulent form. Her breasts popped free of the sheet, allowing him to observe with pleasure the pinkish hue of her erect little nipples. He leaned in to blow softly on the one closest to him, eliciting a soft moan of awareness from his love. Spurred on by her response, he returned to suckle the tip into the warmth of his wet mouth, reveling in the way she arched her back at this new sensation.
“Ben,” she had whispered with sigh.
“I know how tired you are, baby, just enjoy,” he answered her.
Using his strength and the silkiness of the sheets, Ben made a sudden move that caused Lizzie to squeak as she was turned sideways on the bed, still on her back. Ben had spread her legs and pulled her until her butt was just at the very edge of the bed, legs dangling and he was still kneeling but now between her firm, silky thighs. Soft kisses were laid from breast to breast, gently tasting and suckling every tender spot. He used his tongue to brand her skin, enjoying the feel as her stomach contracted under his onslaught. She smelled like the sweet vanilla cream that she loved for him to massage into her skin and tasted like a siren that was tempting all men into sin. Well, it had better be a club of one from now on anyway.
He had needed to taste her in the way that bound them together in the intimacy of the act. He gently slid his hands up the backs of the honeyed skin of her calves and thighs, laying each one on his shoulders. He felt her shiver in anticipation as his lips nibbled delicately up the sensitive flesh, marveling at the cream that was already visible to his hungry eyes. The scent of her arousal had made him dizzy as his cock was fighting with his tongue as it wanted to be the one to breach her swollen lips. Ben held her hips as his tongue tasted the musky sweetness that was her essence. She bucked and moaned as he sucked her lips, one by one, into his mouth, nipping gently on the smooth, bare skin. He teased her by allowing just the tip of his tongue to penetrate her honeyed tight channel before drawing back to lick her from clit to her rosette. Ben shifted position as he sucked her clit, allowing the flat of his tongue to bring her to the very edge of her precipice as he thrust three fingers in her dripping folds, thrusting upward to her sensitive spot. Lizzie’s hands threaded in his hair as she shook momentarily before a wail of extreme delight was ripped from her throat as he sent her careening into ecstasy. He growled in pure male arrogance as she writhed beneath his decadent hands and lips. He was the only one who she allowed to touch her this way. It was only him who would ever again taste her and bring her to such pleasure. It ignited some primal instinct in him. He surged up on the bed and with a twist of his hips plunged deep within her still-clenching core, dripping the evidence of her pleasure. Unable to control his lust, he pounded into her, shifting to grind his groin against her clit. Lizzie had wrapped her firm thighs around his torso, squeezing him deliciously, causing his cock to pulse inside of her in response. She had let out a soft gasp and he felt her contractions grip his steely length as he pushed her over into another orgasm. Her release catapulted him into his own, causing his heart to violently contract with love as his seed jetted deep into her womb, bathing her in a sign of his possession. Ben had been satisfied on so many levels both physically and mentally with the newfound knowledge that had brought him to his knees today.
