Page 42 of Because of You
But I’m not going anywhere. I am rooted to this spot by the weight of whatever is happening right now, and I never want to move.
He eases back and looks me in the eyes again. Then he leans down and gives me one more long, slow kiss that has my heart rolling over in my chest before he steps back, his eyes never leaving mine.
We are both silent for a couple of seconds. What do two lifelong friends even say after they kiss the shit out of each other for the first time and like it? It’s me who breaks the silence, voicing the only thought in my head.
“How long do you think that’s been in there?”
“I don’t know,” Ben says quietly, in a way that makes me feel like he does know, but I opt not to press it.
The silence descends between us again, and this time it’s heavy and filled with something I can’t quite name. And then Ben takes another step back and clears his throat.
“So…I guess I’ll go back to my room?” He phrases it more like a question than a statement.
The face I know so well is full of uncertainty and hesitation. It’s a letdown considering my entire body is still buzzing, and I’m strategizing about how I can kiss him again—and then do a whole lot more than kiss him—as soon as humanly possible.
“Oh, okay, I mean, yeah. I guess it is pretty late,” I stammer.
He starts towards the door, but him leaving is the last thing I want right now. So, I pull up my big girl pants.
“Or you could…stay?”
“Yeah?” Ben stops in his tracks, his smile lighting up every inch of him.
“Yeah. Unless you want to go. It’s okay if you do, but I want you to stay.”
“Hallie, the last thing I want to do right now is walk out that door.”
“Really? Okay. Good. Because that kiss was…” I trail off, not knowing what to say. Electric? Mind-blowing? The best kiss of my life?
“Yeah, Hal. It was.”
We look at each other, my heart pounding and my need for Ben rising up like a tidal wave. It threatens to swamp me if he doesn’t get his hands back on me in the next three seconds. I should probably stop and think about what all this means, but I am so damn sick of thinking all the time. I just want to feel, and this feels absolutely right. It’s like all my confusion over the way Ben has been acting over the last couple of days has coalesced into this one single moment. All that is between us right now is want and heat and our chests rising and falling in sync.
As if we decide something at the exact same time, we fly at each other, bodies colliding and mouths crashing together. Our tongues tangle and we are a dizzying frenzy of lips and hands and riotous electricity. I wrap my arms around Ben’s neck and stand on my tiptoes, trying to get closer to him, but there is no closer that would be close enough. As if understanding what I’m trying to do, Ben reaches down and wraps a hand around each of my thighs, boosting me up and wrapping my legs around his waist while never pulling his mouth away. He has one hand under my ass and the other gripping the back of my head while his lips assault mine.
I can feel Ben’s cock, hot and huge and rock hard, contained only by his thin sweatpants. I grind down on him, trying to ease the ache between my legs. All I’m wearing are underwear and sleep shorts, his cock settled right against my clit, and it feels so fucking good that I could probably come just like this, still fully dressed. The hand on my ass tightens, pulling me even closer to him, and he groans, pulling his mouth from mine and holding me tightly in place so I can’t move.
“Nuh-uh, Hallie girl. I’ve been waiting a long fucking time for this, and the first time you come for me, you’re coming on my tongue.”
Arousal shoots through me, and I dimly register the “long fucking time.” But I’m too buzzed by the proximity of my body to Ben’s and the way his mouth grazes the sensitive spot behind my ear and slides down my throat to nip at my collarbone to hold my curiosity for long.
He walks us towards my bed and sets me down on the edge before dropping to his knees. His gaze is fire, the expression on his face hungry as his eyes sweep down my body and back up again, and I’m shocked when I don’t burst into flames.
Eyes still on mine, he drifts his hands from my knees up the outsides of my thighs to rest on my hips. He pauses for a second before curling his fingers into the waistband of my shorts.
“Can I?” he asks.
I nod.
“Words, Hallie. I need words.”
“Yes. Please.”
His smile has a smug edge to it, and fuck if it’s not the sexiest thing I have ever seen on his face. I could spend hours pondering the fact that I suddenly find Ben’s smile sexy, but then he tugs on my waistband and pulls my shorts down and off in a single move, tossing them onto the floor behind him. Also, so sexy.
He traces a finger down the seam of my underwear and then up the middle over the wet spot I’m sure is there because I have never been this turned on in my life. When his finger grazes my clit, my entire body jolts. Then he leans down and runs his nose up along the center of my underwear, breathing in deeply. He licks along my lower belly, then grasps the sides of my underwear and slides them off and down my legs, throwing them over his shoulder to join my sleep shorts on the floor. With a hand on each knee, he pushes my legs back open, so I am completely bared to him.
“Fuck, Hallie,” he breathes. Then, more slowly than I can bear, he traces a single finger up my slit, gathering the moisturethat has pooled there and circles my clit. I let out a low moan as a thousand nerve endings spark to life.
