Ben took her by the hand and led her to the bedroom, smiling back at her seductively as they walked.
When they arrived at their destination, Lauren reached up to her tip toes so that she could whisper in his ear, “I'll be right back. I'm just gonna go freshen up.”
Lauren ducked into Ben's bathroom and shut the door behind her. She should freshen up, sure – and she would – but right now her immediate interest was getting a look at herself in the mirror.
There hadn't been a good time all day to touch up her makeup, pay any attention to her hair, straighten her clothes – and the stuffy taxi ride and dash across the hospital parking lot couldn't have done her any favors, either!
Lauren eyed herself critically. Hmmm...it wasn't how she would have chosen to look while having dinner and getting romantic with Ben, but it wasn't as bad as she had expected, either. Still. She was going to need to make some cosmetic adjustments if she wanted to be able to surrender to this experience and not just feel self-conscious about her state of disarray the whole time. Hey. Maybe shallow, but it was true.
Lauren tried smoothing her hair into place with her hand, and then turned her attention to smoothing the wrinkles out of her clothing. She sighed. Very little success on both counts.
She looked around the bathroom to see what she had to work with. It was a man's bathroom, so obviously very little. She started to feel a little depressed. She wanted to look beautiful for Ben, but she didn't have the tools!
Suddenly, inspiration struck. Remembering Karina's words about the 'power of female nakedness' she quickly stripped down to her bra and panties. She eyed her hair. Wrangling it back into its sleek style was not going to be an option, so she quickly took the pins out and fluffed it out with her fingertips so that it fell in soft waves around her shoulders.
With no make-up to work with, she had to go old school. She licked her lips to give them a sheen and pinched her cheeks to help them color. She felt like she was in the old west or something.
She looked herself up and down, pleased. Just one last decision to make. Keep the heels or go barefoot?
She smiled wickedly at herself in the mirror.
Oh, heels, for damn sure.
After one last spot-check, she opened the bathroom door and strode seductively back into the room, Ben watching her, clearly mesmerized.
She smiled, liking that reaction.
He had also been busy while she was occupied in the bathroom, making over her appearance. He had lowered the lighting to a sexy, soft hue and chosen some soulful jazz music, which was currently playing on low through his high-quality sound system. She also spotted a shiny, square condom in its wrapper lying on his nightstand which hadn't been there before. She smiled. Good. No more interruptions.
Ben walked slowly over to her, his eyes drinking her in, and stopped when he was about a foot away.
“My God,” he breathed reverently, “You look amazing.”
He reached out and ran his fingers gently down the side of her torso, almost as if he had to touch her to believe that she was real.
Lauren felt her flesh jump under his light touch, and she drew in her breath. Even at this soft touch, her body was responding. She felt her breath quicken, felt the muscles in her limbs melting and growing shaky.
She took the final step towards Ben, closing the gap between them and pressing her body hard against the length of his. She loved the way they seemed to notch together so seamlessly, as if their bodies had been molded in a factory, created for the very purpose of joining flawlessly. They were like puzzle pieces finding their true mate for the first time.
Lauren began to kiss Ben's neck as she moved her hands over the length of his body. His muscles were an alluring landscape of peaks and shadows, set off by the soft glow of the lighting. She wanted to explore every inch of that tantalizing territory.
She felt the quickening pace of his thudding heartbeat under her touch as she moved her hands over his chest, felt the blood rushing through his veins under her lips as she kissed his neck. His growing passion fed hers, and she felt her skin becoming flushed with desire as she kissed and touched him with ever growing urgency.
Ben placed his hand flat on her lower back and guided her firmly to the bed. Lauren was beside herself with desire. Touching Ben's body had that effect on her, without fail. She marveled at the fact that, although it magnified her arousal tenfold, it wasn't even actually necessary for Ben to touch her – the simple act of exploring his body would send her into a blurry haze of desire each and every time.
Smiling at her in between placing soft, gentle kisses on her face and neck, Ben laid Lauren back onto the bed, taking care to cushion her body inch by inch.
Lauren felt treasured, cherished, and desired. It was a heady combination. Every muscle in her body was trembling and she found herself feeling grateful that Ben had displayed the foresight to lay her down on the bed – she didn't know how much longer her quaking muscles would have kept her on her feet.
Lauren settled back onto the pillows of Ben's bed and luxuriated in the feeling of his soft lips and tongue trailing a wet, hot path down her body. She took in her surroundings and felt the fire within her belly increase – she was making love with Ben in his most private of sanctuaries, his bedroom. The place that he went to recover from long and difficult days, the place where he recharged, the place where he fell asleep at night and woke up in the morning – this sanctum would now forever include in Ben's mind the memory of kissing Lauren here, of touching her, of the two of them reaching heights of ecstasy together.
She loved that thought. She loved the thought that each time he glanced at his bathroom door, he could be reminded of the sight of her walking out seductively in her tiny, lacy bra and panties. She liked the idea that every time he lay his head back on his own pillows, he could be reminded of Lauren's head gracing that same pillow as he used his mouth and hands to give her pleasure.
More than almost anything that had happened between them today, this made Lauren feel like she was being granted access into the most private, guarded areas of his heart, soul, mind, and life.
She trembled even more violently, and there was nothing in Ben's touch at that moment which had made that happen – it had been triggered by the momentous realization of the extent of their growing closeness.
It was a HUGE aphrodisiac!
She looked down, watching Ben as he kissed and swirled his way down her belly. She didn't have her hands in the back of his hair to urge him onward, she wasn't giving him encouragement (or instruction!) with small verbal remarks – she was simply relaxing and enjoying whatever he had in mind.
She almost didn't recognize herself, but she sure as hell was enjoying the experience! Lying back and letting Ben roam the length of her body and give her pleasure, like she had done to him in the past – it was a revelation! She had never known that simple, in the moment enjoyment of something could be so sweet!
From the look on Ben's face, he was also deriving a lot of pleasure from the freedom that she was giving him to explore her, just as she had gotten from exploring every inch of him.
As Ben made his way down past her lower belly, he smoothly slid her panties off, looking up at her and giving her a devilish grin as he did so.
“You did this for me in Aspen. I've never gotten to return the favor,” he said softly, spreading her legs open wider and lowering his head between them.
Lauren began to groan in delight at the delectable sensations which were radiating out from the place where Ben's talented tongue was doing its work.
Unable to keep her hands from him a moment longer, she dug her fingers into his hair, urging him onward. Her hips rose to meet his mouth, matching his rhythm, and she felt herself building closer to climax with each stroke of his white hot tongue.
This would normally be the place where she would stop her partner in his tracks no matter how lovely the sensation, and move the encounter along. Lauren had made it a point to never come unless her partner
was also experiencing the same intense physical climax.
To experience that level of loss of control in front of a person who was not distracted by the fact that they were experiencing a similar loss of control? Unacceptable.
To thrash about, to cry out, to wrinkle her face into who knew what kind of unattractive contortions while being watched by someone who was completely sober and had all of his wits about him...again, unacceptable.
That was all in the past, however. As Ben's mouth urged her on to greater and greater heights of delirium, she wanted nothing so much as for him to take her further, faster, higher...oh, God...she reached a hand above her head and grasped the headboard, her back arching in rapture, tiny explosions beginning to erupt over every inch of her skin, with the largest and most powerful radiating out from the core of her being.
She felt a scream tear from her throat, but didn't even hear it. Her blood pressure had raised to the point that she was so lightheaded, so outside of herself, that she was out of touch with her five external senses. There was no room in her awareness for anything but the massive force of the waves of pleasure ripping violently through her.
Before her powerful orgasm had even begun to subside, Lauren felt Ben enter her. She opened her eyes to see that he was balancing his body above her, his face less than a foot from hers.
“Yes!” she gasped, and he smiled as he began to move inside of her.
Lauren found that she loved this, more than she ever could have imagined – feeling Ben within her, stroking her most sensitive core, as she looked into his eyes and watched the entrancing micro-expressions of bliss that passed across his face as their bodies moved in harmony.
She even found herself getting an erotic charge from knowing that he was watching her face in the exact same way.
As their pace increased, Lauren found herself again climbing to the peak of pleasure, and could see by Ben's face that he was making that journey right alongside her.
Their bodies moved in ever-increasing speed, their cries grew louder, and at the penultimate moment, Lauren cried, “Kiss me! Please, Ben, kiss me!”
He lowered his mouth to hers, crushing their lips together and plunging his tongue into her mouth as they raced over the edge of oblivion together, their cries muffled by the kiss, their bodies trembling and bucking.
Lauren wrapped her arms and legs around him as their breathing began to slow and the world began to right itself around them. She simply could not get close enough, could not hold him tight enough, to feel satiated. Every cell in her body was screaming 'closer, closer, closer.'
She could not believe the intimacy that she felt, the connection, when making love with Ben. It was entirely unprecedented.
She had thought that she wasn't made that way, and she had been wrong. She was made for connection, for intimacy, for passion...for love. She had just never known it until she met Ben.
Chapter Nineteen
When Ben and Lauren arrived on the set at 6 am the next morning, it was already a beehive of frenetic activity.
“Thank you!” said Lauren, “THIS is what I expect it to be like!”
Ben looked at her strangely, but she didn't feel like explaining because she was not eager to relive the pain and fright she had felt, thinking he was injured or sick or...worse...in the hospital.
They climbed out of the town car and embarked immediately on a hectic whirlwind of a morning, rushing from hair and makeup to wardrobe to set.
Paul made it clear that they needed to be sharp and on their games that day. They had double the amount of shots to get through since they were playing catch-up from the day before. When he said this, Ben apologized profusely.
“Seriously, stop,” Paul said sincerely, “You were where you needed to be. I'm not saying this to guilt you into giving a flawless performance, although if I thought that would work or was necessary, I'm certainly not above it. But here's the thing – both of you are pros, I'm just giving you the lay of the land. We have a metric ton of work to get through today. So let's get started.”
Ben and Lauren both nodded, and then smiled at each other. They were vibing today, Lauren could already sense that they were at the top of their games, both individually and collectively. It was going to be a good day. She could feel it in her bones.
As the shooting day wore on, Lauren was gratified to realize that she had been right. She and Ben were in the zone together. Most of the shots they were able to get in the can in one take because they were perfect on the first try.
Lauren felt the magic of the shoot running through her veins in an electrifying current. What should have been a really miserable, tense day on set because of all the makeup work they had to get done and the possibility of blowing the budget by going into overtime if they couldn't all be quick and efficient enough, was turning out to be one of the most relaxed and fun shooting days she'd experienced since starting this new job.
The first opportunity that anyone had to even breathe was during the dinner break as people sat around with their paper plates full of food from craft services, talking and laughing and just giddy in general that the day was almost behind them and had been a total success.
Ben and Lauren were sitting next to each other, talking and laughing and enjoying their food just like everyone else was, when all of a sudden Ben surprised her by leaning over and giving her a kiss. And not just a little kiss, either, like a buss on the cheek or even a chaste peck on the mouth, but a full on tongue-twirling, toe-curling kiss.
The crew exploded in cheers, clapping, whooping and hollering. Even Paul was smiling, and there were some teasing shouts of “You go girl!” and “It's about time!”
Lauren smiled demurely. She certainly didn't want to be the spoil sport that ruined everyone's fun, so she just waved to the crowd and did her best to take the good-natured ribbing as if she were enjoying being the center of attention.
She wasn't.
Lauren was a private person when it came to relationships, and she felt extremely uncomfortable that Ben had just put theirs on display. Especially after the previous day spent with his family, and the night together that followed, it seemed as what was unfolding between them was intimate, private...sacred.
And Ben had just turned it into a spectacle.
Paul stood. “OK, OK...” he said, gesturing for the crowd to quiet down, “This is very exciting news, I'll grant you. But we still have two more shots to get through this afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, so let's take this energy and channel it into work, alright? Five minutes.”
Lauren was relieved. At least in five minutes, she could distract herself with performing in front of the camera – in other words, having all the attention focused on her for the reason that they were paying her to, as opposed to for her personal life!
As soon as Paul yelled 'Cut!' for the last time, Lauren made a beeline for her trailer. Suddenly, she was feeling extremely claustrophobic, trapped out of town with Ben. She needed to get back to Hope Falls.
This caused her to pause – to freeze in place, actually – midway through the mundane task of gathering her laptop and luggage to load into the town car that would take she and Ben back to LAX.
Since when, she wondered, do words like 'trapped' enter into my thoughts when I think about being with Ben? When did that start?
As she thought back over the whirlwind past couple of days her first instinct was to think that it sprang out of nowhere, beginning full-formed with that public and uninvited kiss at dinner. However, the more carefully she considered, the more she saw that there had been seeds of it during the visit with Ben's family yesterday, and those seeds had begun to sprout at his home, especially while looking at his family photos, although she had choked them at the time. Apparently, though, she hadn't pulled them up by their roots.
She shook her head. Was it possible that, as much as she cared for Ben and as special as their connection was, things were getting too close, too serious for her liking?
The thought made her highly
uncomfortable, even scared her...but it had the ring of truth.
Lost in thought, Lauren slung her bags over her shoulders and made her way to the small beach parking lot next to the house they had been shooting at where the town car was slated to pick them up.
She was looking forward to the ride to the airport, alone in the back of the town car with Ben, where they could just hold hands and chat, reconnect on that magical level that was only available to the two of them when no one else was around – and maybe her fears about how far and how fast down the road of commitment this relationship had sped would dissipate as surely and as easily as morning dew in the light of the strong, bright afternoon sun.
Lauren sat down on the molded stone bench which graced the far side of the parking lot, wondering idly what was taking Ben so long. She knew that her internal crisis had added several minutes to the process of gathering her things from the trailer. She had fully expected to see Ben here waiting for her when she arrived, but he was nowhere in sight.
She glanced at her watch and frowned. If he didn't hurry, the town car was going to show up and they would be forced to wait. Hopefully not for too long, she didn't want to take even the smallest chance that they would miss their flight. She really needed to get home. Home to Hope Falls – the one place that she felt like she could actually think.
Just then, she heard a high pitched shriek of laughter coming from the direction of the house where they had been shooting. She frowned. That didn't sound like the kind of frivolity that the crew would indulge in as they were packing up their equipment – hell, they probably wanted to get back on the road as badly as she did!
Lauren slipped off her heels and took a few steps out into the sand so that she had a fuller view of the oceanfront in front of the house. She was struck dumb by what she saw: Ben, in full “Television Host Persona” mode, surrounded by six bikini-clad college bimbo types!
He was taking photos with them in all different combinations, laughing, charming the hell out of them. Lauren steamed. Oh, she knew exactly how he was charming them, he'd used that exact routine to try to charm her before! It hadn't worked on her, of course, but then again she wasn't the sort of person who considered a two-piece swimsuit appropriate attire in any situation where you weren't actually planning to get into the water at some point.
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