by Poppy Dunne
“Okay, I think we’re heading back to the hotel,” Rollie yells, tromping off the rink and dusting shaved ice off his back and arms. “We, uh, we’re tired.”
“Tired of not having you all to myself,” Katie growls, practically leaping onto her fiance’s back. I love seeing them together, but this exchange is making me think of my baby brother doing the nasty, and it almost causes me to vomit in my own mouth. Almost. I’m trying to be the grown up here.
Skates off, we all head to the taxis waiting on the street. Ben’s hand finds mine and squeezes it. Come on, heart. Stop shaking like that. It’s not medically safe, for one, and you know this isn’t real. He’s being a good sport, playing along. He’s the world’s best amateur actor/server/starving entrepreneur. He’s got his lines memorized, down pat. That’s it. And I’m about to get into a cab with the others, letting Ben go back to his apartment and his real life, when Katie laughs, her eyes crinkling.
“Like, did you two get in a fight or something? What’s with the separate cabs? Ben, you’re coming back to the hotel with us, right?”
Oh, fuck. Oh fuckity. That’s right, if we’re supposed to be your standard crazy-in-love boyfriend and girlfriend, we should probably act like we’re in love. Including kissing and enjoying each other’s company and spending the night in the same room with each other.
That one most of all.
“Of course,” Ben says easily, holding the door open for me. “After you, madame.” He even gives a teasing bow.
It’s a good thing I don’t trip on the curb and spill into the backseat. As I get in, Ben beside me, we ride through the night, and I have to try to get my expectations under control. Just going back to the hotel together. Probably means nothing. Once we’re tucked away in my room and everyone’s satisfied that nothing weird is going on, he’ll almost certainly leave right away and sneak out.
Almost certainly, hopefully not.
9
We say goodnight as we walk down the hall. If we hadn’t gotten a whole block of rooms on the same level, this would’ve been so much easier. We could’ve just gotten back into the elevator and ridden it to ‘my floor,’ then the lobby. As it is, Ben’s probably going to have to lie low for an hour until we know for dead certain that the coast is clear.
We wave as Marcie and two of the other girls drag themselves into their shared room. Well, really the two girls drag Marcie in. She’s still muttering something about being attacked by flying wombats. I sure do hope the drugs wear off soon. Todd and Vass totally deserted us back in the lobby, though Vass gave me a big hug and said something else I could make into an insensitive joke if I wasn’t too wired and nervous. Todd just scowled. He’s good at that. Always was.
I did notice that his eyes tracked me as I walked to the elevator, Ben’s hand firmly in mine. Despite the nervousness I’m feeling right now, that gave me a little bit of an ego boost.
“Ni-ight,” Katie says to me with a wink, before opening her door and pulling Rollie inside by his collar. Hopefully the sex won’t be too loud.
“You don’t have to stay too long,” I whisper to Ben as I fumble with my key card. “Just wait until we’re sure everyone’s safely either sleeping or fucking, then slip out.”
He just tsks. “I should leave right now. Look at this. You’ve been cheating on me.”
That’s a jolt, until I see what he’s looking at—the room service tray I ordered for lunch, still sitting here in the hallway. They’ll probably pick it up in a couple of hours. Ben lifts up one of the lids, and makes an exaggerated gasp.
“Really? You didn’t finish the mozzarella sticks? That’s not like you.” He shakes his head, like I’ve been terribly naughty and I should get down on my knees right now and…cover myself in bread crumbs in repentance.
Sorry, it’s been a while since I was in a compromising position with a guy. I’ve kind of forgotten the moves. Finally, the door slides open, and the (very dark) (very tasteful) room awaits us.
“Maybe they don’t make such good mozzarella on the East Side,” I say, stepping into the room and putting my purse down on the table before fumbling with my pea coat. Wow. Such scintillating banter skills. But Ben shrugs out of his own jacket and lays it on a chair. Good. He’s going to stay for a while. I mean, that’s what he said after all, but…
Why the hell am I this nervous?
Besides the fact that he got me off and seemed to think that was far enough. I bet he thinks it was trashy of me to let that happen. I bet—
Hey, screw that. It takes two to fingerbang, dude. If he’s trashy enough to do that, and I’m trashy enough to like it, then we’re just the trash each other needs. At least for one night.
“Right then. So…” I say decisively, hands on my hips.
“Did you say something?” Ben flicks on a lamp, casting the room into brightness and showing me just how crappy I’ve been at keeping the place neat. My bed’s still rumpled, my ear plugs and sleep mask decorating the bedside table. I’ve left a towel on the floor. Damn, I really shouldn’t have put the Do Not Disturb sign on the door today.
No, really, screw it. Screw feeling bad about keeping the room too neat, or too untidy, or too full of mozzarella or whatever. Because there is a hot man in my room right now—the hottest man I think I’ve ever seen—and I’m not going to waste it.
So I walk over to him, reach out, and turn off the light. The room plunges back into velvet darkness, dimly lit by the millions of city lights just outside the window. Ben makes a soft noise of surprise, but he doesn’t move away. He still smells like a New York evening, chilled air and snow, with maybe a deep bite of whiskey on his breath as he leans down toward me…
Fuck. Yes.
“You turned the lights off,” he says softly, his lips just a few inches from mine. His voice is husky, enticing, and instantly I’m wet. Ben draws an arm around me, pulls me close against him. I run my hands up his arms, which are coiled steel under the smooth fabric of his shirt. He groans a little, deep in his throat, as I wrap my arms around his neck and bring my lips just up against his, brushing them as I speak.
“I like the dark.” Did that sound throaty and sexy enough? This is the kind of thing you can imagine some high society lady back in classic New York doing, seducing her handsome not-boyfriend in front of the sprawl of city lights. And for a second I feel like that’s not me, not at all, but…why not pretend, just for a little while?
Ben laughs a little, that deep, rumbling laugh of his. I swear, I could record it and just play it back over and over every night before falling asleep. Granted, it’d be even better with the real thing next to me…
Okay, one step at a time, brain.
“Can I tell you something?” Ben says. He wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me in close against him. “I’ve never had as much fun in New York as I did tonight.”
“With Todd? He sure knows how to show a person a good time. Scowling, drinking, he’s got all of it going on.” My teasing sounds breathless, though. My pulse elevates. Ben keeps me close against him, running his hands up and down my back. It’s making every nerve in my body stand up and sing, crying out for attention.
“I knew it the first time I met you, back in the hotel room.” He grins. “The other hotel room, that is. We seem to meet in a lot of them.”
Meet, but not fully connect. Not yet. Please, let this be going where I hope it is.
“What did you know?” I whisper. His lips find mine, a kiss that’s simultaneously sweet and heated.
“I knew that you didn’t have any bullshit about you. I’ve met too many people in this city who are constantly trying to reinvent themselves. Men, women, it doesn’t matter. People act like whoever they naturally are isn’t good enough. It has to be reimagined.” He sounds a little pained. I wonder if he’s thinking about an ex of his own, and I push back a flash of jealousy that I know I have no right to be feeling right now.
“Sometimes I wish I could do a little reinvention, just to get through the family
gatherings a little easier,” I mumble. Ben kisses me again, our lips parting, his tongue stroking against mine. I groan deep in my throat.
“You can’t help being yourself. I could tell that at once. That’s why I was hoping we’d end up like this,” he murmurs, his fingers trailing up my bare thigh. My pussy clenches in anticipation. “I wanted you from that first moment.”
It’s everything I’ve wanted to hear. I twine my fingers through his hair, bring his mouth back to mine.
“That’s what I like about you, too. There’s no lying,” I whisper, my voice soft as he tilts my head back and kisses my neck. “Just you. Right here against me.”
“I do my best,” he growls.
Ben’s hands trail down my back, all the way down to cup my ass. He presses me tighter against him, bringing my leg up and around him. My eyes widen with how unexpectedly…endowed…he feels, rubbing against the thin fabric of my panties.
“You like that?” he murmurs, pulling me against him roughly as he gazes down at me. There’s only a domineering light in his eyes now. “Tell me what you want,” he growls.
This is where I’d usually laugh and make a joke and pick up the room service tray and dance with it or something to diffuse the tension of the moment. Because that’s the kind of adorkable person I am. Or maybe I’m just usually too scared to say what I want. I’ve never been the kind of person who’d take Ben’s hand like I do now, sliding it onto my breast and then whispering,
“I want you to fuck me,” against his lips. Not that person at all, no, no wait, that was me. I did that. I am doing that.
I win.
Ben’s mouth is on mine in an instant, his kiss explosive and searing hot. His mouth claims mine, my lips parting and a groan escaping me as his tongue flicks against mine once, twice. His hands continue their exploration, sliding under the band of my skirt, skimming up under my sweater to finger my bra clasp. My nipples are rock hard at once, ready for some attention.
“I believe in giving a lady exactly what she orders,” he murmurs. And I can’t help it—I laugh a little. But so does he. God, it’s not at all like Todd, I realize. Ben can kiss like a motherfucker, crack a joke, then get right back to the business of undressing me. Get you a man who can do both, ladies.
An instant later, my sweater’s over my head, then discarded in a pile on the floor. Ben gets to his knees—he really is tall, and I really am tiny—and begins to suck at my breasts through the thin lace of my bra. A gasp escapes me as he licks and bites at one nipple, then the other. He gently unzips the back of my skirt, and slides it off me.
Holy shit, I’m doing this. I haven’t had sex in over a year, not since Todd casually strolled out of that restaurant and my bedroom got a hell of a lot colder. Can I even still do this? Do I even know how? I can feel my breath getting faster, more panicky.
“Relax,” Ben breathes, kissing the hollow of my throat. His fingers expertly unhook the clasp of my bra, and the straps slide off my shoulders. Now there’s literally nothing between us but air. “Fuck, your breasts are perfect.” He kisses them again, taking one in his mouth as I arch my back and moan. He inserts one finger down the front of my panties, and begins stroking me expertly. I bite my lip, trying not to break apart the instant he circles my clit.
“Hold on.” I force him to stop, and he looks up at me. The light from the windows highlights the sculpted lines of his face, and the shimmering lust in his eyes. “One of us still has way too many clothes on.”
He smiles and lets me start unbuttoning his shirt. Hot damn, carrying trays up and down all day long does wonderful things for your physique. His chest is perfectly sculpted, his abs practically chiseled.
His shirt peeled off, I explore his body with my hands. Every bunch of muscle, every fine line of hair that goes down his flat stomach to disappear into…
And then Ben’s on his feet and I’m falling to my knees, unbuckling his belt and unbuttoning his pants. They tug down to gracefully land at his feet, and then I free him from his boxers and…holy shit.
There are a million jokes that spring to mind. Visual gags. Quips about measuring things. Balloon animal jokes. But right now, that would actually be out of place. The only thing I can do is gape.
Ben chuckles, clearly enjoying how out of my mind I am. Well, I’ll have to show him. Gazing up at him, the whole beautiful, naked stretch of him, I smile.
“I think it’s my turn,” I tell him. When he raises a quizzical brow, I smile once more and take him into my mouth.
“Fuck,” he breathes as I suck gently, swirling my tongue around the glorious, silken tip of his cock. Slowly, very slowly, I ease down the length of him, as far as I can go. Then I start pumping with one hand, feeling the girth of him as I glide up and down with my mouth. Ben starts moaning, gripping my hair and whispering my name as I move faster and faster. I moan, and he moans in response. His body stiffens, and he starts to thrust. I run my hands up his legs, clenching his rock hard ass, and—
“Wait,” he gasps, stilling me and gently helping me to my feet. “I’m not ready to come.” He kisses me, running a hand down my body until he slips my panties off. Then he picks me up, walks a few steps, and lays me down on the bed. My body is aching for him now, my pussy throbbing with need. He fishes for his pants, pulls out something that crinkles from his pocket, and tears the foil deftly. Good boy scout, coming prepared.
“You planned ahead,” I say, as he rolls the condom on. “So sure I was going to give in?”
“I think you were more in the taking mood,” he whispers, kissing up my stomach, his tongue flicking against my nipple. I grab the sheets for support, gripping tight as he rubs his cock up against my pussy, never quite entering. Teasing bastard. “That’s why I want you so fucking much. I like a woman who goes after what she wants.”
And right now, what I want is him.
“Then I want you to fuck me and don’t stop,” I gasp as he kisses me, mouth covering mine. I groan as he parts my legs.
“Then I have my orders,” he groans, and thrusts inside of me.
I cry out as he buries himself in my body. I want to take him as deep as he can go, as much as my body can handle. Fuck, he’s huge, filling me so well and so tight I’m almost afraid I won’t be able to take it. But I do, and then let out a low moan as he wraps my legs around his waist, grinding even deeper into me. He leans down over me, his gaze locking onto mine as he starts to thrust steadily, rhythmically. I squeeze my legs tight, trapping his body against mine. God, already he’s hitting my clit in just the right way, making me arch my back and pant.
“Do you like that?” he growls, speeding up. He pushes us forward so that he lands on top of me, his body covering mine.
“Yes,” I gasp, repeating that word over and over as he grinds into me. I kiss his shoulder, bite it. He moans, lifting me up onto him and leaning back in one swift move, his cock never leaving me. I’m sitting on top of him now, his cock buried in me. My clit’s throbbing, and he rubs it with his thumb in just the right way, nearly driving me screaming over the edge as I ride him.
“Move for me. I want to watch you come,” he whispers. I do exactly what he asks, leaning back so he gets a full view and riding him slowly. “Faster,” he growls, his hands cupping my breasts. I do what he says, my tits bouncing as I ride him hard. Already, I can feel the tension building in my back, my legs, the point right between my legs. I throw my head back, taking him so deep as I feel his mouth sucking on my breast.
“Ben,” I gasp, crying his name over and over as I ride him to my climax.
My body seems to fracture under the weight of the orgasm. I drag my nails down his shoulders as I moan, losing control of his name, my name, the whole goddamn English language as I come. The room goes upside down, the picture exploding as I come longer—and louder—than I ever have before. Ben throws me backward onto the bed, and with a last few thrusts, cries out as he finishes. Then we’re lying there, both of us panting for breath.
Jesus, even though he�
��s big enough to be crushing me, under Ben Williams is exactly where I want to be right now.
Eventually, we disentangle ourselves and lie back in bed, the sheets twisted and twined around us. Nothing beats looking out at a hazy, wintry New York City skyline when you’ve been freshly banged and are hovering on a cloud of good endorphins.
“How do you feel?” I ask Ben.
He waves his hand—so-so. But he also grins, the enormous, sexy asshole that he is. I swat at him and steal a kiss.
“I think that was good calisthenics.” His eyes scan down my body. “You’ve got to work off those mozzarella sticks somehow.”
“Oh?” I prop myself up on an elbow. “You want to be my personal trainer now?”
“Personal trainer. Room server extraordinaire. Hired date. Sex god.” He ticks all the titles off on his fingers. “Yeah, I’ll add one more position to the list.”
About five good ‘position’ jokes get into a car jam in my head, so I have to move on. Can’t pick just one.
“Think you’ll be up for another training session soon?” I ask, kissing down his body. And by ‘up,’ I of course mean…well, hello. Something’s stirring already down south.
Ben drags me down and rolls on top of me. Yeah, he’s really ready already.
“I haven’t been like this since high school,” he says, kissing my jawline.
“If I made a room service joke right now, would it kill your hard on?” I ask. He stops and ponders.
“I went a little half mast at the thought,” he admits. Another pause. “But it’s back. Keep going.”
So I get service again. With a smile.
