Chapter 18
The next day Ben is already out to his meeting with Luciano by the time I drag myself out of the bed. Which is a feat, by the way. Because this mattress is made of literal heaven.
But breakfast out on the balcony is a treat when the room service is so nice and the view of the canal is so calming. Even if I fumble my way through ordering with a woman who speaks more Italian than English.
And as I cross my legs against the balcony railing and eat my cornetto in my pajamas, I wish someone was here to take a picture so I can remember this always.
After downing an ungodly bitter espresso they brought with my breakfast, I shower in the big marble-tiled bathroom that feels much larger without Ben’s presence. I take care not to let my hair get wet, just damp from the steam of the shower, and then take out the braid Ben wove my hair into yesterday.
With a little finger combing and some mousse, the waves fall around my shoulders nicely, more body to them than the natural state of my hair normally allows.
Dressing in a loose skirt and pullover sweater, I stare at my heels before flopping back on the bed. It’s eleven now, but I’m not sure when Ben’s going to be finished with his meeting. Grabbing my phone from the side table, I lay back and swipe through to our conversation thread.
| Whatcha doing?
It doesn’t take him long to answer me, which is great given that I don’t know what to do with myself right now. I could easily turn the TV on or scroll on the internet, but both of those seem so normal and being in Italy is anything but.
| Still in my meeting. I’ll probably be another couple hours.
My hopes and dreams have just died a sad little death. As much as I don’t mind being alone, a vacation is not the place for it. I’m not a solo traveler. But I’m here for him, not the other way around.
I bite into my lip. I suppose I could do something with that.
| Was afraid of that. Have a proposition for you, tho
| And that is?
| How about instead of cash this week, you buy me some lingerie? I can be ready and waiting for you when you get back
I’m already looking for a shop close to me, because I’ve pretty much already decided on this course of action.
| Lucky for you, I left my card on the table in case you wanted to go out.
I sit up, sliding off the corner of the bed and pad across to the small sitting area next to the lounge and there it is: Ben’s credit card resting next to my purse, like he’d already planned my day but forgot to tell me.
| How convenient. Thank you
| Have fun.
Sliding into my heels, I sling my purse over my shoulder with his credit card zipped safely inside. I already know where I’m going as I set the GPS on my phone: a local lingerie store that stocks several Italian-made brands. A little far, but worth it. If I stop at another store along the way and Ben notices two charges on his card instead of one, well, sue me. He didn’t say how much I could spend.
It’s a miracle I made it back to the hotel before Ben at all. After lots of walking—which, why did I wear the freaking heels out—two water taxis, and an inordinate amount of time spent choosing a set of lingerie, I’m finally ready.
Considering the fact that I really couldn’t make up my mind, maybe it’s a shame the set is so practical. No excessive straps, no frills, no bows. Just a simple set made of Leavers Lace from La Perla—a bralette with a matching cheeky thong in a dusty silver that edges toward blue. But it feels good on my body when I run my fingers over the fabric laying against my skin.
And the new heels help. Black velvet Prada platform sandals. They might have cost more than the other pair he bought me. They make my legs look so fucking long.
Checking the time on my phone, I put the bags away and lay back on the bed. I’m already looking forward to the dinner Ben promised us for when he’s back, as long as we don’t get carried away here.
Another ten minutes or so pass while I’m scrolling on my phone and staving off a nap before I hear the card swipe on the door unlocking. I lay my phone on the bedside table and relax against the bed, raised up on my elbows and legs pulled together.
“You really weren’t kidding.”
“I was committed,” I reply to him, watching as Ben lets the door click shut, leaning against the dark wood behind him.
He stays there for a moment, gaze roaming over me, but he decides soon enough that he’s much too far away. The way he crosses the room in a rush, his hands peeling his suit jacket off and tossing it to the floor, have my jaw dropping open even as he’s kicking his shoes and socks off in record speed.
“Ben?”
“What?” he asks, lifting a knee with the bed dipping underneath his weight. But he doesn’t move any further, not yet. Though his gaze is dark, hungry, as it moves unhurried over my body, from my face all the way down to the heels on my feet.
“You threw your jacket on the floor.”
“It’s fine, it’s dirty anyway.”
The fact that I’ve never heard him say that before. His normal clothes, yes, but usually he takes more care with his business wear.
Ben circles his hand around one of my ankles, separating my legs and lifting my foot into the air. He runs his fingers along the velvet fabric just above my toes, and it makes my skin tingle as if he’s touched me.
“We didn’t discuss shoes.”
“Maybe I had these already.”
He gives me a look, one that has my resolve threatening to crumble already. He’s so good at seeing through all my lies. Or maybe he’s just more versed in women’s shoes than he should be.
“Fine, I bought these, too. This lingerie wasn’t that expensive. I needed something else.” Something that cost more than my weekly payment altogether. Twice over.
“I like them,” he says simply. But then moves his fingers underneath the strap at my ankle before unbuckling the fastening. “But they’ve got to go for now. Wear them to dinner with your black dress.”
I was planning on it. But the words don’t make it up my throat before his fingers are running up the instep of my foot as he drops the heel to the floor. It makes a loud clacking, but the blood pounding in my ears is louder as he brings my foot higher to press his lips to the thin skin of the inside of my ankle. He repeats the process on the other side, and I’m already burning up for him from that alone.
“You look divine in this color.”
Ben lets my legs back down against the bed before stepping back, beginning to unbutton the white button-down he’s wearing. His attention never strays from me, though it feels like time is moving in slow motion. Each breath pulls from my chest in ragged form as he reveals more of his tanned skin, the trail of hair disappearing beneath the waist of his pants. He doesn’t remove his shirt completely though, just lets it flow unbuttoned.
“Do you like the way it feels on your skin?”
“What?” I ask in a daze.
“Do you like the way the lace feels on your skin?”
“Oh,” I say, bringing my hands up to let my fingers skim over my breasts, enjoying the way his gaze focuses in on that. “Yes, it’s so soft, it’s almost silky.”
“Good, because I’m going to rub this little cunt through your new panties until you come.”
My knees move to press together reflexively, thighs wanting to garner some friction, but his palm stops them from closing, instead pulling my legs wide apart with both of his hands. He kneels further onto the bed, moving up so he has one thigh pressing between my legs.
“But to do it, you’re going to ride my thigh like a good little girl.”
Oh fuck.
He hovers over me, forearm caging me in, and even though he isn’t even really touching me, I’m dying inside.
“Ben, please.”
“Begging already? I’ve trained you so well.”
He is so infuriating.
My hands raise to his shoulders, gripping tight and pulling him down closer until his breath bleeds against mine, and I can nearly taste the sweet wine he must have had with his lunch.
“You’re an asshole.”
“And you’re my sugar baby,” he says with a bit of bite that makes my head fall back against the sheets. He chases the exposure of my throat with his lips, the hot press to my skin making me squirm, and my hips seek his thigh which is still out of reach.
“Then make your sugar baby happy, asshole.” If it comes out breathy as fuck, well, I can’t exactly help it.
His smirk is prominent against my neck as his lips pave a line of kisses down toward my collarbone. Teeth grazing my skin, he keeps his hands off of me as he wanders down to rub his cheek against the side of my breast. Even with his beard, the fabric glides smoothly across his cheek as he nuzzles my tits.
He looks up at me, head tilted, tongue darting out to lick his lips. It barely grazes the skin atop my breast, and I nearly arch off the bed.
“Ben,” I say again. I’m actually not above getting down on my knees for him, if that’s what he really wants. I’d love to suck his cock, actually. I’m surprised he hasn’t asked me to yet.
“A little patience goes a long way.” He indulges me at least, lifting back up so we’re face to face as he lowers his thigh between my spread legs until it’s pressed right against my center.
“Your pants,” I gasp, so confused by his complete disregard for his clothing today.
“I was going to change anyway,” is all he says before applying more pressure to my pussy as he leans into me, rocking me into the bed as my vision whites out.
The friction, the pressure on my clit is intense. The fabric of my panties is soaked, and I’m sure his pants are growing wetter with each rock of his body and each seeking roll of my own. But if he doesn’t care, then I don’t.
Fire spreads along my limbs, and my nails dig into his shoulders again, twisting the fabric of his shirt as I yank him closer, needing him to be close so I can taste him if he’s not going to be inside me.
“Kiss me.”
Ben abides by my request immediately, crushing our mouths together in a kiss that has my toes curling as my knees lift to squeeze around his leg. He grinds down against me, thigh pressing in over my pulsing clit as my back bows off the back and my body trembles in delight. I shake all the way down to my fingers as pleasure ripples along my spine, and I’ve never been so close so quickly.
“I’m gonna come, Ben,” I moan against his lips.
“Atta girl. Come for me, and then I’ll give you my cock.”
As if that wasn’t a good enough incentive, he licks into my mouth, tongue tangling with mine as his fingers brush over my nipple and tugs through the lace. It pulls a keening moan from my throat as my head thrusts back against the bed. Tension winds through my spine, pulling tighter with each tug of his fingers at my nipple. My pussy flutters, clenching greedily around nothing.
My chest heaves as I suck in a breath, holding it for that heightened sensation that makes me burn all over. My hips roll up in a deep grind against his thigh as I cling to him before going rigid beneath him. Pleasure washes over me in a whirlwind that has my limbs jerking in time with the spasms of my clit. I breathe in, the black spots fading from my vision as my body shakes with the force of my orgasm.
“That’s it,” he whispers, working me through it. And for some reason, that makes it last even longer.
“Oh fuck,” I pant when my body finally loosens up, and I drop back to the bed, releasing my grip on his shoulders. “That was so intense.”
Ben leans back to rest on his knees, looking down at me. I can see the beginnings of a flush on the tops of his cheeks extending down his neck. His stomach ripples with the movement of each breath he drags in, and I can tell he’s struggling before my gaze even lands on his cock straining against the zipper of his slacks.
I pat the bed next to me, scooting up a bit more before moving to remove my undergarments.
“Leave them on.”
“What? Why?”
“That’s why you bought them, right? We can get them dry-cleaned while we’re out to dinner.”
My cheeks burn at the thought, but I drop my hands back to the bed as he lays next to me, still clothed. He circles an arm around my waist and pulls me to my side before tucking his face into my neck and breathing me in.
“You good?”
“Yeah,” he answers after a beat, his fingers drumming up the ladder of my ribs before cupping my breast in his hand. “I just want you to know I can be gentle, too, before I’m rough.”
“Rough?” My breath hitches, my heart kicking up in excitement.
“Yes. Remember your colors, little bird.”
It’s only another few seconds in his hold before he flips me onto my stomach and straddles my upper thighs. I hear the sound of his zipper pulling down, but then his weight presses me down into the bed. Before I can even lift my torso to look over my shoulder at him, he takes hold of each of my wrists and guides them above my head.
“Keep them there or I’ll stop.”
I lift my chin up, staring at the headboard past my hands as I dig my fingers into the sheets at the edge of the bed.
Ben’s hands glide down over my arms, all the way from my wrists to my shoulders, and it sends tingles all the way from my head to my toes. His touch is a mix of gentle pressure between the pads of his fingers and then the brush of his knuckles as he entices an electric pulse beneath my skin, like he’s trying to jump start my heart back to the living.
Except I’m far from dead. My heart is beating a mile a minute as his touch drifts down the slope of my shoulders blades, the dip in my spine, then back up the curve of my sides. His fingers slip up underneath the band of my bralette, sliding to the front of my breasts and teasing my nipples with his hot touch.
My mouth parts on a moan, and I’m not sure I can prevent myself from drooling on these expensive sheets if this is the way it’s going to go.
“Are you ready?”
I blink, because of course I’m ready—
He tugs sharply on my nipples, so harshly that my eyes water, and I groan, loud and low. He flicks and pulls on the bars running through them, and I nearly curl in on myself.
“Oh fuck, oh fuck—Ben—” He doesn’t stop, just leans in and plasters himself to my back and presses me into the bed, his teeth and tongue at my ear nipping as white hot pleasure curls low in my belly and spots my vision.
“You look so fucking beautiful against these white sheets, with lingerie you bought with my money covering this tight little body.”
He lets go of my nipples suddenly and I ache at the loss, even though I can still feel the echo of his touch. His hand slides down my stomach beneath my panties, and his fingers slide through the drenched mess of my folds. He circles my swollen clit once before dipping into my pussy and thrusting two fingers as far as he can in this position.
I moan his name, hating the way I sound so desperate.
“Always so wet for me, baby.”
Ben gives me a few shallow thrusts that have my chest pulling tight before dragging his fingers out and up to my clit to pinch tightly. Pleasure pinpoints so tightly in my veins, hurts so deeply that I can barely draw in a purposeful breath. He releases it, then does it again. And again. And again. Until I can barely stand to keep my arms above my head, to keep from shaking uncontrollably.
“I’m going to fucking lose it, Ben.”
The word red is on the tip of my tongue.
But maybe he can tell I’m close to breaking even without my words, maybe he can tell I’m close to sobbing into these sheets as sounds pour out of me that are only increasing in pitch. Though I can’t tell if I need just a little more or a little less for an orgasm that will shatter me irrevocably.
But his touch softens suddenly, his fingers soothing over my tender clit and up into my entrance and making his fingers wetter before he lifts away from my back and lifts me up so he can pull his hand out from under me.
He lets me go and I collapse against the bed again, which is where he wants me anyway, because he grabs my jaw with his hand and lifts my face up.
“Keep my fingers in your mouth,” he says before hooking the wet fingers of his other hand between my parted lips. I taste myself as he grazes my tongue, and I make a sound of protest that muffles against his fingers. “As much as I love the sounds you’re making, these walls don’t exactly seem sound-proof.”
And as much as I feel like he normally wouldn’t care, we met the older woman staying next door to our suite and she reminds me of my grandmother. I don’t want to traumatize her with the way I want to call him Daddy and beg for another orgasm.
Bracing against the bed, I suck on his fingers. He gives me a little groan, breath blowing in my ear as he leans over my back and it makes me throb all over.
“Gonna let me in this tight little pussy while I hold you down?”
I nod.
“Mmm, such a good fucking girl.”
Ben lets up for a moment, shuffling behind me, and then he’s slipping his hard cock underneath the wet fabric of my thong to nudge against the entrance of my pussy. His hips knock forward and he slides home in one thrust, pelvis pressing into the curve of my ass so tight, I can feel the outline of his zipper flayed open.
It feels so good being so full. My eyes roll upward, and I let them stay there because he can’t tell me to keep my eyes on him like this.
He picks up the pace after only a moment, hips slamming into me until he’s scooting me up the bed with each thrust. Pulling on my mouth with his fingers, my head tilts, drool spilling over the side of my lips, and I already feel like my head is in the clouds. Bracing against the bed with my palms, I push against the force of his cock slamming into me and shudder when the pleasure swirls in my limbs, builds in my veins.
I raise my hips, meeting him thrust for thrust and enjoying the way he moans despite telling me to be quiet.
“You take my cock so fucking well, baby girl.”
Ben shudders over me when my pussy clamps down around his cock. But I can’t help it that I love when he calls me that.
His fingers tighten in my mouth, pulling harder, until I’m nearly looking over my shoulder. I catch a glimpse of him flushed and panting over my back as he hammers into me, and I nearly float out my body.
He lets me go suddenly and I moan unabashedly, not fucking caring anymore as his hand strikes against my skin over the curve of my ass between the thrusts of his cock. He slides in and out of my pussy, smacking my ass in tandem, and it has me melting into the bed, trembling all over. Even my scalp is tingling now as my fingers grip the sheets for purchase, for some semblance of control that’s barely hanging by a thread.
“I’m gonna come,” I say quietly, because I can’t even get enough air in my lungs to say it any louder.
“Do it then.”
Ben smacks my ass again, even harder this time, and my skin stings; the pain radiates all through my spine until I’m shaking and a sob really does leave my lips.
His cock hits just right, and I fucking fall apart. And it’s not until Ben has finished and has me on my side with his arms curled around me again that I come back to myself.
I want to move to Italy even more now.