Chapter 51 Benny
fifty-one
Benny
REST.
“I don’t think I can come.”
I ran my hand gently up and down Harper’s arm. We stood in the doorway to the garage, staring at my car. The one Harper had stolen and I’d had to bring back home without him.
“It’s just family dinner, love.” I kissed his temple softly.
“But Ma… I just… left her.”
I kissed him again. In the days Harper had been back, I hadn’t let him out of my sight, and Matthew had been over every day to check in with him, but Harper hadn’t seen the rest of the family, including Ma, since he’d left. “She’s not mad at you.”
“She should be. It’s my fault she got hurt… and then I just left.”
“It wasn’t your fault. It was Leon’s. And he can’t hurt anyone anymore. No one wanted you to leave, my love, but we understand why you thought you had to.”
He turned into me, burying his face in my chest. My arms wrapped around him. Despite what had happened between us in Hollow Creek, I knew the person who was hardest on Harper about running away was Harper.
No one had wanted him to leave, and it was harder on all of us with him gone, even if it was safer. But it was the hardest on him. And he’d done what he believed he had to in order to protect us. We couldn’t fault him for that.
“You gonna avoid her for the rest of our lives?” I asked him.
“No,” he grumbled after a moment.
“Then you’ll have to see her eventually, and the longer you wait, the harder it’ll be.”
He groaned, holding on to me tighter, and I did the same.
“Fine,” he sighed as he pulled back.
“Trust me, baby, you’ll feel better after you see her.”
He nodded and, with a deep inhale, continued to the car.
Ma’s house was as loud and chaotic as it always was as I opened the front door and Harper trailed in after me.
“Uncle Harper!” Harvey yelled, skidding to a stop, diverting from chasing Lachlan to head toward us instead.
Harper grunted as Harvey collided with him, and a moment later, Lachlan did as well. Both of them hugged him tight.
“Mom bought us new water guns. Will you play with us after dinner?” Lachy asked.
Harper’s eyes glassed over. He cleared his throat and refused to let the tears fall as he held the boys back. “Sure.”
The boys cheered, and then they were off again, squealing as they bolted down the hallway.
I reached for his hand, and he gave it to me, our fingers threading together as I led him further into the house.
Rachel was in the living room. “There he is.” She got up, storming over and yanking Harper into a hug. “Welcome home, idiot.”
Harper huffed but returned her hug.
“Is Ma in the kitchen?” I asked.
Rachel nodded. “Yeah, she’s bein’ gross with Matt, so I’m hidin’ in here.”
I gagged, but we both knew it was all for show. We were happy that Ma had Matthew now. She deserved to have love again, and Matthew was an amazing guy.
Sure enough, when I pulled Harper along to the kitchen, I saw exactly what Rachel had been talking about.
Ma’s wheelchair had been pushed to the side, and Matthew had lifted her onto the counter, a chopping board balanced on her lap with diced vegetables as she ordered him around her kitchen. He seemed quite pleased with the arrangement, and so did she.
Harper tucked himself further in behind me. I cleared my throat to catch their attention.
“You’re late,” Ma said as she turned to look at us. “Get over here.”
Harper tensed. I stepped to the side so he couldn’t hide from her anymore, and he sent me a brief look of betrayal before his eyes flicked back to Ma.
They tracked over her injuries. Most of the bruising was gone already, but both her legs were still in casts and would be for another couple of weeks before she could escape the wheelchair.
“Are you goin’ to come here, boy, or are you gonna make me come to you?” she asked, sounding stern.
Harper swallowed and took a few steps closer.
“Closer,” Ma demanded.
He took another few steps.
Ma put the chopping board to the side, then held her hand out to Harper.
He looked at it cautiously for a moment before he reached out to take it.
The moment she had a hold of him she was yanking him into her with surprising strength. Her arms closed around him.
A moment later, and he was trembling. “I’m sorry, Ma,” he sobbed.
“Shhh. It ain’t your fault, baby. You hear me?” Her hand rubbed circles over his back. “It ain’t your fault.” She placed a kiss to the top of his head. “I’m just happy to have you home with your family again, where you belong.”
He cried harder. Matthew pulled the saucepan off the stove so he could come and wrap his arms around the both of them.
“Group hug!” I yelled at the top of my voice. Then I joined them. A moment later Rachel was in the kitchen with us too, finding a spot she could fit into the hug. Then two tiny humans were crashing into the side of me as Lachlan and Harvey laughed hysterically.
The hug lasted a long time, and when we all pulled away, more eyes were damp than not.
“Right, now get outta my kitchen so we can finish cookin’,” Ma said, as she smacked Harper on the backside.
He huffed and turned into me instead. His body wasn’t as tense, and I knew without asking that he already felt lighter.
Dinner had passed the way it always did, with small talk, laughter, and teasing.
Harper was quiet for most of it, but it was a good type of quiet.
Ma and Rachel knew what we’d done to Leon. There weren’t going to be any more secrets in this family, especially not one as big as that. We’d done what we needed to in order to protect our family, including its new members. We all agreed on that.
When we returned home, Harper was tired and quiet, his emotions drained, but in a way I hoped he found peaceful, because he’d been able to let go of a lot of the negative ones. Guilt and fear. There was no place for them in our home.
Although we’d spent every moment together since he’d returned—we’d showered and slept together, with nothing between our naked bodies—we hadn’t had sex since he’d left.
As we showered now, his hands smoothed over the skin of my abdomen in a way I was so familiar with, and a soft smile pulled at his lips as his fingers dared to drift lower.
He stopped just above my cock, looking up at me as his eyes searched for a permission he really didn’t require. I was his, always. My body was his, always.
I nodded, and he continued, wrapping slender, perfect fingers around me as my dick responded to him instantly.
Then we were both hard, and our kisses turned urgent.
I lifted him as I shut off the water, carrying him to our bed before we’d even dried off.
“Make love to me,” he panted against my lips.
“Always,” I told him, and I meant it.
I kissed him deep and slow as I opened him up on my fingers.
Then I was sinking into my home within his body. He welcomed me easily.
His legs wrapped around me, preventing me from pulling fully out of him as I started to move.
“I love you,” I spoke into his neck, thrusting deeper.
“I love you,” he moaned. “So much, Benny. More than I ever thought possible. I love you.”
“Always?”
“Always.”
I moved faster, letting his body remember every inch of me. He made such beautiful sounds.
It didn’t take long before I was spilling inside him and he was coming over his perfect skin. I didn’t mind, because we had all night and the rest of our lives to do this as much as we wanted.
After we’d recovered, I placed a kiss to his forehead, and he grumbled in disapproval as I pulled out of him.
There was something I needed to give him, though.
I opened the drawer of the bedside table, getting out my black leather collar. There was still more we needed to talk about, and time needed to get us back to where we were before, but I trusted him.
We were safe now. We could rest. I was ready for him to have it back.
He sat up quickly when he realized what I had, and I slowly sank to my knees on the floor in front of him.
“Will you put this on me again?” I asked.
“You… you still trust me with that?” His voice was strained.
I held it up to him. “Always.”
He sniffed and reached for the collar in my open hands. “I’ll spend my whole life trying to be worthy of you.”
“You already are.”
Tears fell, and I moved up to my knees so I could catch them for him.
“It’s okay now. We’re okay. We won,” I told him, and more tears fell. I caught them too. “I have you, baby. You’ve been so strong for so long, and you did it. You won. Now we can be together.”
He nodded. “We won.”
“We did.” I placed a kiss to his forehead. “You can rest now.”