Her Wings

by Liz Peters

  Soon Camille started to look a little pale and tired. Clearly, a case of morning sickness was creeping up on her. “It should be called all-the-time sickness,” she’d grumbled as she let Jeremy help her out of the booth and towards the door. Ben had offered to see them home, but they’d been very insistent that he stay here and talk to his friend. Jeremy had even shot him a wink and nudged him with one elbow before he walked out the front door.

  “Have fun, old man.” Ben shook his head, but he did move to the bar now that he wasn’t keeping his friends company so that Ali could focus on her work and still hang out to talk to him without being too distracted. By the time he’d realized that he was the last customer left in the bar, it was almost two o’clock in the morning.

  “Come on, Handsome,” Ali walked around the bar, grabbing her keys from under the counter and then grabbing his hand. “I’m taking you home.”

  Ben opened his mouth to say something about how he would call a taxi, though it was really the last thing that he wanted to do. Ali noticed and shook her head.

  “Don’t argue. I promise to bite only if you beg for it.” She winked and dragged him out to the jeep parked in the lot. It was the second to last car remaining. “That’s Jimmy’s. He’s the barback, and it’s his job to make sure the place gets locked up for the night since I’m just filling in. Now let’s get you home.”

  She grinned, turning the key in the ignition before pulling out of the lot and turning towards where they both lived. Ben had no idea what was coming next, but the whiskey in his brain was just telling him to go with the flow and enjoy whatever was about to happen.

  Chapter Seven

  Ali

  Ali had no idea what she was thinking by driving her teacher home from the bar. Hell, she didn’t know what she’d been thinking by getting him drunk and all but sitting in his lap for the entire night. Flirting with men around the bar was second nature to her. She did it out of habit to get better tips, but with Ben, there was a whole new challenge to it. She wanted him to reciprocate it, and by the end of the night, when he had a few drinks in him, he was definitely giving as good as he got.

  When they pulled into the parking lot of their apartment complex, Ali had no plan as to what do next, but she was damned sure that she wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip by without taking advantage of it. As soon as she put the car in park, she just went with her instincts. Leaning over to the man in her passenger seat, she reached out, grabbed his shirt and pulled him in for a long, hungry kiss. She expected him to pull away, to get out of the car and give her a lecture about how they were supposed to only have a professional relationship.

  Instead, to her surprise, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into the kiss. Before Ali realized what she was doing, she had crawled over into the passenger seat, her legs straddling his waist as they melted into each other. Ali lost track of her common sense for the moment, she was definitely going with her instincts on this one. She wanted Ben. There was no denying that, and he clearly wanted her as well.

  They sat there, kissing in the front seat of her jeep for a while, things growing more and more heated between them. They were already beginning to fog up the windows around them when Ali pulled away and looked into his eyes.

  “You’re coming up to my apartment. No arguing.” She moved to let them out of the passenger side of the jeep, pulling him along up the stairs to the second floor where she lived, and in through her front door.

  Ali paused just long enough to open her door before pulling Ben into her bedroom. She had no idea if Sabrina was home or awake. She also didn’t care. Neither did Ben apparently, because as soon as they were in her room, he pulled her back in, and began to kiss her hungrily. Though this time, his hands moved to tug her clothing off as quickly as possible.

  Ali grinned against Ben’s lips, her own hands mirroring his motions as she quickly removed the casual button-up shirt and jeans that he’d come out to the bar in. She wasn’t thinking, and clearly neither was he beyond the thought that they wanted each other as they crashed around the room.

  They were moving blindly without even caring where they were, hands reaching wherever they could as they tried to take in each other’s bodies fully until finally, Ben’s hands found her ass, lifting her off the floor to settle her on top of her dresser. Ali’s back pressed into the cold glass of the mirror behind her, her legs wrapped around his waist, and his fingers gripped her hips roughly enough that she knew there were going to be tiny bruises left behind in the morning. It was probably the hottest thing she’d ever experienced.

  Ben pulled her in closer, their bodies nearly joined when he pulled back in a moment of hesitation. It was the first time since she’d kissed him that Ben seemed like he was uncertain of what they were doing.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” He was giving her an out, and maybe himself as well. This was all a bad idea, and that just made it that much better in Ali’s mind.

  “Do you mean am I sure I want you to fuck me? I’ve never wanted anything more in my entire life.” Ali reached around his body, digging her fingers into his waist to pull him in closer as he sank his full length inside her core with a low groan. Ali wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting when she set out to make him lose control, but it definitely wasn’t as good as reality was turning out to be.

  She had a fleeting thought that she didn’t really know Ben very well. She wasn’t sure if he was normally an animal hiding behind that perfectly professional mask, or if she was bringing it out in him. It didn’t seem to matter. The usually polite man had forgotten all of his manners the moment he was inside of her, keeping her barely propped on the edge of the furniture as he slammed into her over and over again. Ali moaned his name out loud, her nails dragging across his back as they moved together until she could feel herself falling apart. The only thing holding her up was Ben driving his hips forward to pin her body against the dresser harder and harder.

  “Ben... please...” Her cries were echoing around the room as he lifted her off the dresser to carry her over to the bed, while they were still joined, his cock deep inside her when he settled her down onto the mattress and began to move hungrily against her again. Just when she thought things couldn’t have been any more intense, he amped it up. He was like an animal, and Ali was loving every breath, every move, and every moment of it. She had no idea how many times she’d lost control of her senses and called out his name in the now-warm air of the bedroom when he finally cried out in a deep roar, shuddering until he nearly collapsed on top of her in exhaustion.

  Ben moved so that they were lying side by side on the bed, looking at each other nearly nose to nose.

  “Well, Mr. Dixon... That was a surprise.” She shot him a smile that betrayed exactly how satisfied she felt right now as he let out a deep laugh. He was clearly still a little drunk, but not so much that he didn’t know exactly what he’d been doing.

  “I think that was a surprise for both of us.” Ben let out a soft laugh before leaning in to steal a kiss off of Ali’s lips. They both fell quiet for a moment, then wrapped their arms around each other. It was Ben who broke the silence as the enormity of what just happened hit him.

  “I should be going... well...I mean I can’t... I have company at home, and your roommate.”

  Ben stumbling over his words was probably the cutest thing, and Ali couldn’t stop herself from letting out a soft giggle.

  “I know that you have to go. You can’t spend the night at my place, and there are people over at yours. It’s okay. I wasn’t expecting a sleepover, Handsome. Go ahead and get dressed and go home. I’ll see you on Monday?”

  Ben moved to get up off the bed, gathering his clothes from the floor as he slowly began to dress.

  “Maybe tomorrow? I don’t know if I can get away from home to go running, but I’ll definitely see you on Monday at work.”

  Ali leaned on one hand on the bed, watching him get dressed. This was almost as fun as getting him undressed. She
smiled and then yawned when she realized what a long night it had been.

  “I’ll probably be sleeping in, but you still have my number right?” She was curious if he’d kept it after she slipped it into his pocket that afternoon in class.

  He nodded, and Ali felt the nervousness that had been beginning to build in her gut dissipate. Ben was interested in her, at least interested enough to keep her number after she’d slipped it to him. Ali wasn’t sure why it mattered. This had all started out as a game, just trying to see if she could get under his skin. Now here she was worrying that he was only here for a one night stand even though she’d been the one to initiate it.

  “I’ve got it. I’ll text you or call you tomorrow then?” The statement was a question more than anything else as if Ben was uncertain whether or not she wanted to hear from him again.

  “I wouldn’t have given you my number if I didn’t want you to use it.” By now, Ben was finished getting dressed as he’d slipped his shoes on both feet and backed up towards the door.

  “I’ll see myself out. Goodnight, Ali.” Ben paused, coming back to steal one last kiss before he turned and left the room entirely, leaving her alone on the bed in the dark.

  Ali maneuvered herself so that she was under the blankets as the exhaustion of a full night of work followed by being pounded into near oblivion by her teacher and neighbor hit her with full force. Tonight was certainly a big one, and she was definitely going to have a good night’s sleep after this, even if that meant she was going to be in bed until noon tomorrow. It had definitely been worth it.

  THE next day, Ali managed to drag herself out of bed around lunchtime, far past her usual wake up time of six or seven in the morning. There was no way she was going to manage a run this morning, though the soreness in her muscles as she stretched and tried to climb out of bed told her that she’d gotten more than just a small workout the night before. She had definitely earned the sleep-in, and when she grabbed her phone and checked her messages she had only one text that lit up the locked screen of her phone.

  Ali didn’t recognize the number, but she knew immediately who it had to be just from the message alone.

  I’m going to have a hangover, but it was definitely worth it. -B

  Ali paused to save the number as a new contact before she even tried to get out of bed and drag herself into the bathroom to get ready for the day. The first thing she was planning to do was to get a shower. Whether she was going to see Ben again today or not, she knew her hair was a hot mess and her entire body was a little stiff and achy and sore. Hot water was only going to help all of that.

  By the time she got out, got dressed, and wandered into the kitchen to try to make a cup of coffee, Sabrina was already sitting at the kitchen table with a plate containing a sandwich in front of her.

  “Listen, I have no idea who Ben is, but I felt like I needed a cigarette after all of that at like three in the morning. Geez...” Sabrina grinned over at her roommate with a wicked smile.

  Ali could only blush a little. She knew they were slightly out of control last night, but she had no idea they’d been loud enough to have woken Sabrina up.

  “I didn’t know you were even home.” Ali tried to put her focus on making a cup of coffee rather than be smug about the fact that she’d woken her roommate up in the middle of the night while banging her teacher on every piece of furniture in her bedroom.

  “Well, I was, and that was quite a show. I should give you a standing ovation. So who is Ben? Some guy you met at the bar last night?” Sabrina took a bite of the sandwich.

  Ali thought about her answer, unsure of how much to tell her best friend. In the end, if she could trust anyone with the fact that she’d hooked up with her teacher last night, it was Sabrina.

  “I mean... I did meet him at the bar last night, but I already knew him from class...” Ali grabbed a coffee cup from the cupboard, putting it down on the kitchen counter as she heard the gasp come from behind her where Sabrina was sitting at the table.

  “Oh my freaking god! Alicia Hansen! You did not hook up with your instructor last night!” The shock was evident in Sabrina’s voice as it finally hit her whose name Ali had been yelling through the walls of the apartment in the middle of the night.

  “Maybe...” Ali finally turned to face Sabrina, the corners of her lips curling up into a smirk.

  “Don’t you maybe me. You did! I don’t know whether I should be proud of you or give you some kind of lecture about dipping your pen in the company ink. I’m leaning towards proud considering what I heard last night, though.”

  Ali laughed, running a hand through her still-damp hair.

  “Just be proud of me then. It was worth it.”

  Sabrina shook her head, rolling her eyes slightly.

  “Just don’t do something stupid like getting caught banging your teacher, okay? I know how much this whole flight attendant thing means to you.”

  Ali watched the expression on Sabrina’s face flicker from one of amusement to one of concern when it hit her what could happen if Ali and Ben got caught hooking up with each other.

  “It’s cool, Bri. It was probably just a one-time thing. He had a lot to drink, and I was in the mood. Besides, I’ve only got six weeks of class left. I can definitely make it through six more weeks without getting caught.”

  “Famous last words, sweetheart. I’m going to remember that if this all comes back to bite you in the ass.” Sabrina went back to eating her sandwich after a soft laugh.

  “Yeah, yeah. You can say I told you so if anything happens, but nothing is going to happen.” Ali went back to drinking her coffee before trying to put her focus on finding something to eat.

  For the first time, it hit Ali that maybe she was in over her head. This could be dangerous for both her and Ben if anyone figured out what was going on. She was just going to have to keep things as normal as possible when they got back to work on Monday. She would have to keep her fingers crossed that Ben was just as good at putting on a poker face as she was when they were finally back in class.

  It was starting to feel like the thrill of this little game she was playing could go wrong at any moment and ruin everything she had worked so hard for to secure her future.

  Chapter Eight

  Ben

  It had been a few days since the fateful night that Ben and Ali wound up in each other’s arms. It made things a little awkward around the classroom for the week, though Ben couldn’t keep his mind from wandering to what had happened on Saturday night.

  He couldn’t remember any time he’d done something that impetuous and possibly stupid, but he also couldn’t remember a time when he’d enjoyed something quite so much. The tension had been building between them for a while, and working together every single day had made it all worse until it built to a crescendo. If they weren’t careful, and things continued on this path, they were going to do something that they might both regret. The consequences could be horrific for both of them.

  Ali was still being her usual flirtatious self when they got back to the regular swing of things on Monday morning, hanging back to talk to him, giving him her best smile and always placing herself in the front of the class. Ben wasn’t sure if they were being obvious, or if it was just his paranoia about breaking the rules. Alicia was just flirty by nature, but he was enjoying the attention and hoping no one had guessed that there was anything else going on between them.

  Class had been pretty much uneventful for the most part of the day. Everyone seemed to do well with their drills and both Ben and Ali kept their sparks below everyone’s radar. Still, it was frustrating to spend the entire day together and not be able to act out on their feelings for each other.

  When Ben got home, he found Jeremy and Camille busy at work in his kitchen. “Hey, what are you two crazy love birds up to? It smells amazing in here.”

  Cami greeted him with a warm smile. “Welcome home! Jeremy and I spent a lovely day around town and found a farmer’s market that carried some
fresh food we wanted to try. We decided since you’ve been such a great host we would treat you to a home-cooked meal.”

  “It was all Cami’s idea. She’s the cook in this family, I’m just doing my best to assist.” Jeremy was carrying in a steaming pot of pasta that smelled of lemon and garlic. There was a bright green salad with fresh veggies already on the table beside a basket of what looked to be bakery fresh bread.

  “Well, everything looks and smells great!” Ben felt overwhelmed with gratitude and he hadn’t even had his first bite yet. He took his seat at the table and the three of them kicked back and enjoyed the meal, chatting and eating until their bellies were full.

  He had to admit, living alone was taking its toll, and nights like this reminded him of just how much he needed to be around people he loved and could really be himself with.

  “So, Alicia....” It was Jeremy that finally took the leap and brought up her name. “I can’t help but notice you two were having a pretty good time at the bar the other night. She seems really special.”

  Ben tried to keep his expression neutral, but his eyes were twinkling. “Yeah, I think she really is. But there’s a slight glitch in our relationship.” He went on to explain how she was more than just a neighbor, that she was actually a student in his class. He didn’t mean to leave that out of his introduction but it didn’t seem pertinent at the time. After that night though, his feelings were growing, and he could no longer keep it a secret from his best friends.

  “Oh, Ben! I just knew it. You finally found someone that’s as smart and serious about their career as you are. Jeremy and I thought the sparks between you two were going to set the place on fire. She’s funny and quirky and sassy. I’ve never seen you laugh as much as you did Saturday night.”

  Cami had a point. Leave it to her to notice the chemistry between them and call things out for what they were. “You’re right, I had a really great time. I’m struggling with it though. It’s hard to spend the day together and hide everything that’s going on between us.”