Chapter 10
Diamond closed her open mouth, which was a first for her; no man had ever walked away from her like she carried a disease. When she envisioned her wedding night, it damn sure wasn’t this.
Well, she had to own the fact that she’d never told anyone that she was a virgin. But he should be honored to be her first sexual lover; instead, Ben runs away from their marriage bed. She folded her arms against her naked breasts and moaned because they were still a bit sensitive from his suckling and then flinched when she moved her legs toward the end of the bed. She flushed with the memory of what led up to him bolting from the room. She’d meant to tell him after she got out of the tub and prepared in the lingerie Diamond received from the wardrobe assistant that had showed up prepared with the different items from the bridal shop.
She didn’t even get to wear that, it was a peak-a-boo barely there white two piece set with feathered high heel slippers but all of that had gone out the window when he’d pleasured her not once, not twice but several times so that she’d lost all train of thought and had been swept up in the moment with Ben to the point when he had penetrated her it had felt so good at first, she was so sensitized now and his cock and the ring set fire to her nerves in her inner walls that was until he breached her hymen, the pain from it had caused her to rake her nails along his back from it but then between the burn and his movement, the pain and pleasure mingling sent her over the edge and she’d come hard and had continued until he spent himself on top of her.
She was sore and sticky, but her body thrummed with energy, and she marveled at the heights he’d taken her to and wanted it again, and again, and again. She winced, probably not right now; her high from his lovemaking was starting to drop, and she shivered. She made her way to the washroom and cleaned herself off, grumbling under her breath the whole while, and then took the silken white robe that came with the nightgown and padded barefoot out her bathroom door that connected to the hallway and went in search of her husband.
Diamond frowned because it looked like he was nowhere in sight until she saw a light on in a room that she hadn’t seen until now, and she approached silently and then pressed her ear against it, at first hearing nothing, and then she heard glass clink down on something.
She knocked lightly and received silence in response. “Ben, I know you are in there. We need to talk.”
“Not now. Go to bed; we can talk in the morning.”
“I am not going anywhere until we talk.”
“Diamond.”
“I will just sit on the floor and wait—”
She heard something sliding closed and then the heavy tread of Ben’s feet. He opened the door, his big frame blocking the view of the room he was in; the only thing she got to see was the ceiling above him and the lights. She turned her eyes away before she blinded herself looking up, trying to get a peek inside, and turned her attention to her husband, staring down at her with a frosty look, making the silver in his eyes look lighter.
Her eyes ran over him, and she sucked in breath. He looked good wearing loose-fitting pajama bottoms that hung low over the V shape of his hips, his abs tight, to his chest and arms that were sculpted. Ben’s body was molded and well proportioned, suiting his tall frame.
Her husband was a gorgeous man. Had she noticed his looks before? Yes, and she could admit to herself that she’d been attracted to him, but that was all she would allow herself because she was with Bryce and an engaged woman. But now that wasn’t in the way anymore, and Diamond decided she wanted to explore this new relationship with him. She’d known him since he was a young teen, and he was her sister’s best friend. She had put him in the off-limits zone even if she’d considered it.
But now her circumstances had changed drastically in the blink of an eye. She found herself in deep shit and married to a man that she should have detested for blackmailing her to marry him, even though she thought that was a ballsy move on his part and respected that he’d at least gone after what he wanted when the opportunity presented itself, and that had excited her.
She was also practical and knew that fighting him would get her nowhere. The Brooks men were stubborn in that regard. But what she hadn’t expected was to melt from her husband’s touch. She’d felt one with him when they had consummated their marriage, and even now her body was coming alive just being near him. She’d never felt this type of chemistry with Bryce or any other men, the way she was with Ben.
Ben didn’t say anything; his eyes just ran over her, and she saw a fleeting flare of heat in his eyes before they’d become shuttered again. He moved towards her, causing her to step back to make room.
“Okay, let’s talk in the study. I want to check on the virus, and we could both use a drink.” He ran his fingers through his light-colored hair.
“Wait, why can’t we talk in there, and didn’t you already have one?” She tilted her head to the side, watching his face closely.
“No, this is off-limits to you, and don’t ask me why either.” He warned before turning and pulling a key out of his pocket, locking the door behind him. The light went off inside of the room because she no longer saw it through the crack in the door and figured it must be a sensor.
“Have one what?” He strode past her, leaving her to quicken her pace to his long strides, staring at the hard muscles of his buttocks.
She followed him into the study and then almost crashed into his back when he stopped abruptly.
“A drink? I thought I heard you having a drink inside the other room.”
He shrugged and then headed over to the decanters that were on top of a counter and took two glasses, filling them with a dark amber liquid and then dropping ice into hers while adding nothing to his.
She took the smooth liquid from him; in the evening when she got home from work, she liked to sit back and relax on her couch with a stiff drink, listening to soft music on the radio. But when she was out, she liked to drink wine or a cocktail.
He took a sip of his own liquid, watching her intently over the rim of his glass.
“So was our fucking not to your standards?”
He began to choke on his drink, and Diamond watched as Ben ended up taking in air and liquid at the same time as she’d surprised him with her comment. She’d meant to shake the facade of calmness and his contained expression that showed no emotion that he tried to keep up in front of her. She succeeded.
He scowled down at her as he caught his breath and moved away to put his drink down.
She followed, still calmly sipping her drink.
“You are a virgin, were a virgin, Diamond.” He sounded accusatory to her ears.
“Yes, and you make it seem like it was a crime the way you ran from the bed, like you were on fire.”
“Dammit, woman, you should have told me. Then I would never have—"
“Forced me to marry you, touched me, made me cum several times, and taken me to bed. We both know that you still would have even if you found out. You wanted me, and it didn’t matter how.” She continued to sip as she moved closer, studying his expression. A look of guilt now crossing his features, and then his jaw clenched and his lips firmed.
“Yes, you would still be my wife and my lover.” He said and then dipped his head, looking at her arrogantly. Indicating it would have been a fact. Then his features softened. “But I would have made your first time special for you and would not have been so rough.” His voice sounded remorseful.
“Why are you still a virgin, Diamond?” He approached and touched her lips and then her jaw before stepping back like he forgot himself and couldn’t help wanting to touch her.
She shivered; she was beginning to get used to his touch and liked feeling his hand on her skin since she walked into his place. She always heard of slow build or fast and hot chemistry between people, and when she was around Ben now, she found she couldn’t think clearly; his scent, voice, and body was like an aphrodisiac to her, and she craved it like she did now. She took a step closer, and he crossed his arms while giving her a look that she needed to talk to him.
“I was saving myself for marriage.” She said. Ben flinched and then looked confused.
“The night at the high school dance, I overheard some of the cheerleaders talking about how Bryce had planned a special night for the two of you and that you were going to do the deed. Then you both left the dance early before it ended.”
Her eyes shifted slightly away from his and then back. “We both decided that night at the hotel that we were not ready, and I wanted to wait until marriage so that it would be special to me and my husband.”
Ben nodded. “I am not sorry for marrying you and making you finally mine, but I am sorry for not making it special for you and taking my time.” He touched her cheek again and then pulled away, rubbing his hand through his hair and suddenly looking tired.
She shivered, and his gaze turned sharp. “Go to bed, Diamond; it’s late, and we can talk some more in the morning.”
Diamond moved closer; she was sore, but she found she wanted to spend her first night of marriage lying next to Ben.
“Are you coming? You had a long day too and looked tired.” She reached up to touch his cheek and then the skin underneath his eyes.
His lips quirked to the side, and he took the finger that was tracing his jaw now. “No, you need to go to bed now.”
Her eyebrows rose. “But—”
“Go before my control snaps again, Diamond.” He warned harshly. Then he pulled her hand down to cup him, and she felt his cock getting harder and rising in her hand.
“I still want you, and if you don’t go to bed and away from me, I will fuck you, even though you are sore, and I hurt you the first time.” He then groaned when she cupped him fully and began to squeeze as she moved closer to him, her eyes taking in the truth of the power she had over him, and she was getting wet again from his body’s reaction to her touch. She rose up on her tiptoes and, with her other hand, grabbed the back of his head, moving his mouth closer to hers.
“Please, Diamond, I don’t—” She silenced him with her mouth, and then her tongue ran against the seam of his lips. He growled and then opened to her, his head dipping lower to deepen the kiss between them.
The length of him grew in her hand, and she ran it along his base to the tip she could feel through the material of his pajamas; his hands went around her waist and pulled her against him, trapping her hand. She removed it, and he lifted her up so that her wet core rested against his cock head. She flexed her hips, and he began to walk back with her when suddenly he pulled away from her, lowering her feet to the floor and his attention now on his wrist. Through the haze of intense desire running through her, she heard the beeping sound and screamed internally.
“Go to bed.” He now sounded distracted as he moved away from her.
“What is happening?”
She followed behind him as he reached his desk and opened his laptop, waking it up. He then pressed his thumb to it, holding it for a couple of seconds and then moving back. The screen opened to several applications running in different areas on the main screen; he touched one, and it opened up to her bank account. She didn’t see anything; the money hadn’t changed, and she did understand why it went off, sounding the alarm.
“The virus is testing the parameters and looking for a back door; that was why I got the beep. You should go and get some sleep; I am going to run some stuff and see if that will get it to go dormant again.”
She nodded, finally feeling the exhaustion of the past couple of days hitting her. As she made to move away, she thought of something.
“Tomorrow is Sunday, and Monday is soon to follow. What should I do at work?”
“You’re not going in for the next couple of days.”
She came back as his fingers flew over the keys, his focus seemingly on what was in front of him, but as she moved closer, she saw his jaw clench, showing that there was still sexual tension between them.
“Why, why not? And won’t that make me look very guilty when or if this virus gets rid of the rest of the money exposing me?”
“No, because on Monday everyone will be too busy talking about us getting married. All the outlets are set to run with the story.”
“Well, thank you for not talking to me about it. I would have liked to have gotten ahead of this and talked to my family, and you should let yours know too.”
He shrugged. “They will find out at the same time, and this is for the best; it will cause a firestorm among the gossips and our families that it will buy us, namely me, more time to get rid of this virus and to find the culprit.”
“Have you received anything?” He turned his head, his eyes studying her.
“How? You have control of my phone; anything coming in or going out, I am sure you know about.”
He nodded, pleased, and she suddenly had the urge to thump him for testing to see if she was telling him the truth.
She rolled her eyes and then turned to head toward the door, and before she left, she turned and did some studying of her own, watching the look of concentration, determination, and a look of, was that excitement ? Ben was having fun pitting his tech knowledge against the person who created the virus and knew that he would not give up until he found whoever did this.