10. Ben
Chapter ten
Ben
A fter dinner at Nobu Downtown, we took a cab back to the airport, and the private jet I had arranged for the trip was soon in the air.
It was quite late by that time, and we had a two-hour flight ahead of us, so I asked Sophie if she wanted to lay down in the bedroom.
“There’s a bedroom on this thing!”
“Well, yes. This “thing” is a Gulfstream G650ER, and there’s a bedroom in the tail with a double bed. You’re welcome to use it, if you like. It would be a lot more comfortable than nodding off while you’re sitting in one of these seats. Granted, they’re comfortable, but I still wouldn’t want to take a nap in one.”
“But you’re tired too, Ben. I can see it on your face. And you just said that you wouldn’t want to take a nap in one of these seats.”
“I’ll be fine. Go on, and don’t worry about me.”
“Can’t do it. The guilt would keep me awake. Why don’t you come and lie down with me. We’ll just keep our clothes on, okay?
Well, if you’re sure. It’s been a long day.”
Back in the bedroom, I pulled off my shoes and lay down on top of the bed. Sophie stood on her side of the bed, looking doubtful.
“It’s comfortable, Sophie. Come on, lay down and get some rest. I promise not to bite.”
“It’s not the bed or you I’m worried about. It’s the dress. I love it so much, but it’s not the most comfortable thing to wear for a nap.”
“No problem. Turn off the lights, take off the dress, and crawl under the covers on your side. I’m over here on top of the covers, and I promise not to look.”
She did, and I mostly kept my eyes closed. It was quiet for a few minutes, then…
“I had a really good time tonight,” she said.
“Me too, Sophie. I don’t know what it means for us, but I enjoy every minute with you.”
“Ooh, what a nice thing to say.”
I felt her roll over toward me, so I turned to her, wondering why, wanting to see the expression on face, thinking it might clue me in to her mood. The room was just too dark. Our faces were inches away. I knew this because I was aware of her breath, just slightly sweetened from all the wine we had drunk.
“I would really like to kiss you right now,” I told her. “Any chance that’s allowed?”
“Yes, there definitely is a chance. We didn’t say no kissing. We just agreed to keep our clothes on.”
“Well, I did promise not to bite.”
Her hands reached out in the dark, found the sides of my face, and pulled me a little closer for a kiss. That helped us find each other’s lips, and the kiss began…slow and sweet. In spite of the slow and sweet—or maybe because of it, I was instantly hard, and I pulled away from her, not wanting to take advantage of the situation.
“Where are you going, Ben?” she asked, and I explained my dilemma. She continued, “Well, we can’t allow that to continue. I mean you’ll never get any rest with a hard on.”
The girl was definitely flirting with me. The next thing I knew, she had her hand down my pants and around my cock. Oh my God, is there anything in the world that could possibly feel better than that? Well, yes there is…Sophie.
“God, Sophie! You’re driving me crazy. Let me get my clothes off.”
And she did. She had a lot less to shed than I did, and she was quick about it. Faster than I would have thought possible, we were both under the covers, skin on skin, my mouth on hers, tongues in a mating dance.
She reached down again and stroked my dick, quickly heightening my pleasure with every slide of her hand. I wanted to taste her again and moved between her legs, scooting down until I could tongue her clit. Almost immediately, she arched her back and moaned.
“Ben, that feels so good…so good. Don’t stop.” I didn’t…until I wanted more.
“Sophie, I want to feel you around me.”
“Yes, yes, Ben. Fuck me hard. Now.” I moved up until the tip of my dick was just at her entrance, the anticipation driving me crazy while I caressed her breasts, teasing her, wanting to draw out this feeling of being on the edge as long as possible. When I couldn’t stand it any longer, I plunged my length between her tight, wet walls. She arched again.
“Oh God, yes. Hard, Ben. Fuck me hard.
I did. I pounded myself into her, and she rose to meet me at every stroke until we came together, a climax that rolled over us and through us until we lay panting, still joined together.
“Do you realize that we’re members of the Mile High Club now?” I asked Sophie a few minutes later, when my breathing had gotten closer to normal.
“And we achieved that dubious honor in a lot more comfort and style than most people do,” she said.
Back on the ground, I drove us home, and the only thing we wanted to do once we got there was to go to bed. I told Sophie I’d love for her to sleep with me if, by any chance, she wanted to do that. Even though I emphasized the sleep part of the invitation, she said that date night was over, and she would sleep in the guest room.
Every so often, I catch a glimpse of a hesitation on her part, a doubt about something to do with me, or maybe a reluctance to face the possibility of a relationship with me. I know that we still need to talk about why I kept Caleb a secret, and I wish we could do that soon and get past it. I just feel increasingly as though Sophie could be someone important in my life, and I’d like to explore that. But I need her to be willing to explore that with me.
I woke up late the next morning and phoned the couple who had arranged the sleepover for their son and Caleb, wanting to see if he was ready to come home. He was, so I drove into town to pick him up. I do need the occasional break from parenting, but I’m always so glad when we get back together afterwards. He’s such a good kid: easy-going, usually happy, just a joy to have around.
He’d already had breakfast, so he wanted to go up to his own room while I made myself something to eat. Sophie appeared in the kitchen just in time for me to add a couple more eggs to the pan and make her breakfast too.
“I passed Caleb on the stairs,” she said. “He told me about some of the things he and his friend did yesterday. Sounds like they had a good time.”
“Yeah, I like the friends he’s made. We have sleepovers here too sometimes, and they’re all good kids. What are your plans for the day?” I added, changing the subject.
“I need to spend some time writing, and Madi may come over to talk wedding preparations. You may not see a lot of me today.”
“Well, I’ll try to bear up under the disappointment,” I said, smiling to show that I was joking, even though I actually was a little disappointed. I got an eye roll in return. I had something I needed to ask her, though, so I handed her a plate of eggs and toast and continued.
“I’m sorry to bring up the stalker, Sophie, but I was wondering…Have you ever noticed anyone at a book signing or some other public appearance who just seemed off in some way?”
“You know, there was something that happened at the last book signing I had in the city before driving home for this visit. I didn’t think that much of it at the time because there are a lot of people in New York that, well, march to the beat of their own drum, you could say.”
“What happened?”
“Well, this guy had bought a copy of my book and wanted me to sign it. You know, like everyone else in line, but this guy wouldn’t leave after I signed his book. He kept asking me questions about myself, and he looked at me so intently, as though the answers were of huge importance. Some of his questions were pretty personal, too, like what part of New York I lived in and so on. I didn’t tell him, of course, but I didn’t know how to get him to move on. Fortunately, the store employee who was kind of orchestrating the whole thing walked over and convinced him to let the next person in line get her book signed.”
“Do you happen to know if the store has any cameras covering that area. If by any chance, there’s some video footage of the guy, it might help the police identify him and then rule him out or look at him more closely, depending on what they find out.”
“I have no idea if there are any cameras there, but I’m sure we could find out.”
Later, when Sophie had gone back upstairs to work on her book, I spent a few minutes trying to decide whether to go to Detective Roberts with this possibility or go around her to someone from my past who could accomplish the same thing. In the end, I decided to see what the detective could do and not risk alienating her in some way by running an unauthorized investigation.