Chapter 24 #4
“God, I missed you. Please, I want to—” I moan again when his hips slam into me.
“What?” he grunts out. “What do you want, Honey? You want me to fill you up? Let you walk into that party leaking my cum? Want to feel me running down your legs?”
I bite down on my lip, nodding fervently, because it’s the only response I can give.
“Fuck, you take me so fucking good, baby,” he whimpers, hips stuttering slightly. His fingers dig into the swells of my hips so hard I’m sure there will be bruises. Every thrust is more brutal than the last, and growing increasingly staggered, until we’re both teetering on the edge of release.
“Ben…please. I—” A cry rips past my lips when one of his hands reaches around to find my clit, pinching the bundle of nerves between two fingers, and I lose all control. He continues to pump into me, his own release not far behind, and I can feel the warmth of his cum inside me.
We stay there—connected as one—for what feels like an eternity, and when he moves, it draws a moan from deep in my chest.
“C’mere, Honey,” he says, softer than moments ago.
Ben pulls me onto the bed, his chest flush against my back.
I feel him stroke his cock a few times, can see his hand pumping behind me in the mirror, before he pulls my leg over his own and slips inside me again.
His breath is hot against the shell of my ear as he exhales, fucking me with slow, measured strokes.
This position is new, different, deeper than before, and it feels so fucking good.
Turning my head over my shoulder, I kiss him and relish in the new connection.
The pressure of his weight keeps me pinned while his left hand caresses up and down my leg, keeping me spread wide.
With every swipe of his tongue, every roll of his hips, and stroke of his hand, the fire in my core slowly builds once again.
This one is different than the last two.
This one is warmer, softer, all-consuming as it spreads until it leaves me trembling beneath him.
“I can feel how close you are,” he mumbles against my shoulder, and he reaches around to fondle my clit. “Get there, Honey. One more, just like I promised.”
“No funny business,” I say with a breathy chuckle.
“No funny business,” he confirms, voice strained as the hold on his control slips.
His hand moves from my clit to my breast, squeezing the flesh before rolling my nipple between his fingers.
My fingers replace his, circling the bundle of nerves between my legs, and I watch in the mirror as his jaw clenches, eyes rolling into the back of his head when my walls clench around him.
The only way to describe it is euphoria. “Now come, Sloane.”
And I do. I shatter against him. His lips find mine, and he swallows my moans as the waves of ecstasy crest, and I seize beneath him.
With only a few more pumps, Ben leans his forehead against the side of my face and whimpers softly before I feel the warmth of his second orgasm spill inside me.
The sensation is too much, and I try to wiggle free of his hold, but he holds me against him as he finishes.
Ben pulls my mouth back to his in a sweet kiss, taking his time to explore my mouth as our tongues move together in a slow and sensual dance.
My heart thunders against my chest, and I can feel his do the same.
Slowly, he eases out of me, breaking our final connection, and the bed shifts beneath his weight before he pulls me into his chest. We lie wrapped in each other’s arms, catching our breath and letting the high last a little while longer.
He kisses the crown of my head and draws invisible circles on my back.
“Glad to know you can keep your promises,” I say with a soft chuckle.
“I’m a man of my word,” Ben says.
The words strike a chord in my chest, one that reminds me I’m running out of time. Tonight, I tell myself. After the party. That’s when I’ll tell him everything.
Ben groans when a knock echoes from the other end of the room. He buries his face in my hair, takes a deep breath, and presses a long kiss on the top of my head. “It’s probably Lexi with your surprise.”
“My surprise?” I ask as he pulls his sweats back over his hips. “What are you talking about?”
He smiles, a real smile, and leans back down to kiss me. “I thought you could use a friend tonight, someone besides my sister or me,” he says, untangling from me.
What is he talking about? A friend?
“Yes, I’m coming,” he says when Lexi knocks again. “You’d better put some clothes on. Hair and makeup will be here soon.”
“Hair and makeup? Ben, what are you talking about? I can do my own—”
“I know you can, but that doesn’t mean you have to on nights like tonight. I’m allowed to treat you sometimes, Honey.” He leans down and kisses me again, leaving my clothes on the bed when he walks away.
Pulling the tank top over my head, I step out of bed and tug my jeans back up my legs, tucking my shirt in as the door opens.
“What are you doing without your crutches?” Lexi asks Ben immediately. “You lying asshole! Does Mom know?”
“No, she doesn’t know, and I would appreciate it if you didn’t tell her.”
“Oh, she’s going to be so pissed when she finds out. I cannot believe you’re faking an injury. You know how ridiculous that sounds, right?” Lexi pauses briefly. “Wait, where’s Sloane? And why aren’t you dressed?” She scoffs. “I’m sorry, are we interrupting something?”
“For the love of God.” Ben sighs, and I hear a soft feminine laugh that most certainly does not belong to his sister.
“All you had to do was send a text and say to keep her busy for a little bit longer.”
“Shut up, Lexi,” Ben says, and I see him roll his eyes when I step out of the bedroom. Lexi stands with her back to me in the hallway, while Ben holds the door open for my surprise.
“Sophia Mayfield,” I say, and all eyes turn to me. “What are you doing here?” I talked to my best friend yesterday, and she forgot to mention I’d be seeing her today.
I pull my dress from the armoire while Sophia shows the last of the hair and makeup team out.
It’s a floor-length, satin yellow dress with a plunging neckline, that will “put him on his knees,” as my best friend described it earlier.
She walks into the bedroom as I pull the thin straps over my shoulders.
“Yeah, it’s definitely going to put him on his knees,” she says with a half-smirk, falling onto the edge of the bed. She begins fiddling with her fingers, and the action tells me everything I need to know.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, tugging the zipper up to my waist, leaving the rest of my back on display.
“Sloane, I’m going to ask you a question, and I don’t want you to take offense to it, but I have to ask.”
A pit forms in my stomach when I meet her gaze in the full-length mirror on the wall.
“Are you…” Sophia sighs. “Please tell me you’re not doing all of this for that story…That you’re not going to break his heart. Because Sloane, I don’t know if you noticed, but he loves you. Have you even told him about it?”
Turning to face her, I swallow back the lump building in my throat. “No.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Sloane.” She jumps up from the bed.
“Okay, answer me this. Can you honestly say you would’ve been interested in him when you saw him again if it weren’t for this article?
” Sophia asks, and the question stops me in my tracks.
“Say you’d never been given this opportunity, but still ran into him that night. What would you have done?”
“I don’t…I don’t know,” I say, and my best friend shakes her head.
“If you had asked me a few weeks ago, I don’t know, but if you’re asking me right, I would’ve never walked away from him in the first place.
It’s not like I wasn’t interested in him last year, but I didn’t see how things could work between us. I—”
“And now that you’ve been forced to be interested in his work, you suddenly think it’ll work out?”
“I am interested. I would’ve never sat through a whole show willingly before.”
Sophia takes a deep breath. “What happens when the article comes out, Sloane? What happens when Wolf finds out you’ve been using him—using your relationship—to get the inside scoop?”
“He’s not going to find out.”
She scoffs. “You can’t be that delusional. Don’t you think they’ll be able to put the pieces together when an article comes out with the kind of insider information you’ve been privy to? All eyes will be on you.”
“How would they know it’s me?”
“Process of elimination points to you. Not only are you the newest addition, but you’re a journalist. The writing is on the wall, Lolo.”
Well, when you put it like that…
“Not to mention, and probably the most obvious point, your name will be on it.”
“I was going to ask Barry to change it.” I had already considered that fact. If Troy could do it, why can’t I?
“Do you even hear yourself?” Sophia asks, her gaze narrowed.
“Did you even have a plan for after all hell breaks loose? Or were you just going to dump him and move on? Pretend like nothing even happened?” I can’t get a word in before she continues.
“Fuck, Sloane. Do you like this man at all, or is this some fucked up method of doing whatever it takes?”
“Of course, I do! But Amos refuses to—”
“Stop!” Her outburst catches me off guard.
“You have turned into such a workaholic since your parents died. Everything is about work with you! You’ve used it to numb the pain, trying to ignore it, and all it’s done is turn you into someone I hardly even recognize.
Sloane, this man isn’t some toy you can throw to the side when you’re done playing with him.
You’re messing with a real person, with real feelings.
And if you’re not careful, you could end up hurting him and a lot of other people. ”
“I didn’t have a choice, Soph. Amos refuses to talk to anyone,” I say, and she scoffs. “I was able to get him one-on-one. I got to sit and talk to him, I got to ask him questions, and I swear, he pointed me in the right direction.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I asked him about the biggest sacrifice he’s ever made for his company,” I say, pulling out the manila envelope that’s been weighing my purse down since I left the office this morning. “He told me he’s paid the cost so others didn’t have to, and with a little help from Troy and Chase—”
“I’m sorry, did you say Chase? You dragged Chase into this, too?” My best friend looks at me like I have three heads. “What the fuck, Sloane?”
“No one is going to know! I’m not putting his name on anything, but I needed help understanding some of it.
Do you know how many people Amos has covered for?
How many debts he’s paid? How many people he’s bailed out?
The amount of hush money paid for God knows what?
But that’s not even the worst part. Theo uses the company to pay off his drug debt, and I’m pretty sure he’s been smuggling company funds into a separate account, but that couldn’t be verified.
Chelsea opens a new business every six to eight months, and once she gets bored, she lets it go under.
And then, I discovered that Amos has a—”
“I don’t want to know,” Sophia says, taking a few steps back.
“Sloane, you need to think about what this is going to do. And not just to the company, but to Wolf. I get it, this is the story you’ve been waiting for, but you need to ask yourself if it’s worth the consequences.
Is it worth losing him? Look, you can either spend your whole life looking for the dark side of people, looking for their mistakes and wrongdoings, or you can accept that everyone has a past, and acknowledge they’re better for it. ”