Page 25 of Chasing Benedict
Alex shrugged as he stood upright, slowly making his way around the side of the desk. He rested his hip on its edge, now close enough to notice the dark smudges beneath Ben’s eyes—proof that he hadn’t slept last night. A quick peek at the numbers on the paper, and Alex’s theory was confirmed.
“I have decided to forgo the impossible in favor of what Icanhave. As you may know, it has been some time since … well, there hasn’t been another man since you. I miss that. I haven’t forgotten how good we were together, and I know you haven’t either. If money is what you need, I have plenty. I feel no shame in paying for whatIneed.”
“You mean to say there were no other men because you had awife,” Ben retorted. “I hardly believe you have lived as a monk all this time.”
Alex offered a rueful smile, though his stomach twisted at the reminder that there was still so much to tell Ben, so many secrets to reveal. Some of them would make matters worse between them, but only if Alex wasn’t careful with his timing. First, he needed Ben near and unable to ignore him. Proximity would eventually force a reckoning between them, and all would be laid bare.
“You would be surprised to know the truth,” Alex hedged. “Katherine and I did not share a relationship that included physical passions. We were friends.”
“I couldn’t care less about what you had with Katherine. I am far more interested in your reasons for trying to manipulate me into letting you back into my life. Whatever your game is, I’m not interested in playing.”
Alex pushed off from the desk and moved closer, grasping the arms of Ben’s chair and wrenching it to face him. Ben’s shoes scraped the floor, his eyes widening at the reminder that Alex was no weakling. Ben was heavier than before, but Alex’s country lifestyle had given him idle hours to fill with physical activity. He was in the best shape of his life.
Hands still braced on the chair, Alex dipped his head and allowed his lips to skim along Ben’s hairline, making his way toward his ear.
“Your body in my bed, naked and willing … that’s all I require. It is all there has to be between us. Can you honestly look me in the eye and say you no longer want me? I’m certain you could have your pick of men—have had many while I was away—but I wonder if any of them know what you really like. Do they know how sensitive you are, just here?”
Ben shuddered when Alex found the hollow behind his ear and stroked it with his tongue. The reaction emboldened Alex to push him further.
He skimmed his lips down Ben’s neck, nuzzling into the opening of his shirt. Wiry hairs tickled his lips and nose, and the sharp scent of Bay Rum and linen starch permeated his senses.
“Do your past paramours know what makes your eyes roll back into your head?”
Alex placed a hand on Ben’s chest, allowing his fingertips to trace down the simple cloth-covered buttons of his waistcoat one by one. He made his slow way downward, toying with one of the silver fastenings of his breeches before skimming the prominent bulge showing against his fall.
“Do they know all the ways you like to be touched and kissed … fucked?”
Ben’s breathing grew harsher by the second, his legs parting as Alex teased along the length of his swollen cock. He was rock-hard and pulsing eagerly against Alex’s fingers, tension thrumming through him in a palpable current.
“My keepers don’t fuck me,” Ben murmured, pulsing his hips to urge his cock against Alex’s palm. “If they want to fuck someone, they can go home to their wives. They paymeto fuckthem.”
Alex groaned, satisfaction flooding him at the revelation that Ben hadn’t given others what had been entrusted to him. It had to mean something, even if Ben would insist it didn’t.
“I’d pay you to fuck me,” Alex whispered, rubbing his palm against Ben’s prick, enthralled by the heat and solidity of him. “Whatever you want … you can have it. All you have to do is say yes.”
Ben’s resistance was gone, the lust that surged between them overtaking any argument he might have offered. Alex kissed his way along Ben’s neck and jaw, a rough hand falling over his to apply greater pressure against the turgid organ begging to be pleasured. Alex’s own cock wept with need, and he wrapped his free hand around it, stroking and pulling as Ben guided his other hand. Fingers intertwined, they worked Ben’s cock through his breeches, the sound of their harsh breaths mingling together in the eerie silence of the room.
Alex angled his lips toward Ben’s, craving more, needing to experience him in every way possible. It had been too long, and he was desperate to recapture some of what he’d thrown away.
Ben jerked his head away before their mouths could meet, his heavy hand clasping the back of Alex’s neck. His eyes burned like the blue flickers inside a raging fire, and his chest heaved with every breath. A cruel yet alluring smirk lifted one corner of his mouth as he tightened his grip, urging Alex to his knees.
“If I say yes, there are rules that must be followed. First and foremost, you might be paying me, but it will be with the understanding that I’m the one in charge. I set the terms, and any deviation from them will result in the termination of our contract.”
Alex braced his hands on the arms of the chair, his rapt gaze snared by the slow motions of Ben’s fingers over the buttons of his fall. They slipped through their holes one by one, with teasing precision.
“Agreed,” he rasped, lips parting at the first glimpse of Ben’s cock through the white linen of his shirt. A circle of wetness caused by preliminary surges of his seed left the fabric like a veil over the broad head.
“You might want to ask me how much such an arrangement is going to cost before you agree.”
Ben pulled at his shirttails, allowing his cock to bob free. It stood high and proud, curving toward his navel. Alex sucked in a sharp breath at the sight of such magnificence. He was impossibly thick, his base surrounded by a thatch of curling golden hairs, his bollocks drawn up tight. A bead of moisture glistened at his slit, and Alex licked his lips as the urge to lap it away came over him. He leaned in to do just that, but Ben stayed him with nothing more than a stern look. Alex shivered at the promise in that look, remembering very well what it was like to concede to Ben’s dominance. It was no surprise that he liked to be in control; that fact guided his very existence. Alex was more than happy to oblige him.
“How much?”
Ben gripped his cock with a grin and gave it a slow stroke, using his thumb to smear his head in his own seed. “Twenty-five thousand pounds. I want ten upfront.”
Alex’s fingers tightened around the arms of the chair, desperation clawing in his gut. “Yes. I’ll pay it. I would have paid more.”
“Twenty-five will do,” Ben replied, slowly and steadily pumping his cock, his expression smug in the face of Alex’s hungry gaze.
