Chapter 24 – Jessica

Thanks to Biochem lab and a study group, I arrived home at almost eight at night. Having woken up so damn early to see my mother off, I was exhausted. Still, as I entered the garage and saw Ben’s car parked there, I felt strangely energized.

After checking myself in the mirror and assuring that I looked presentable even after my long day, I got out of my car and rushed over to the house. When I opened the door, the whole foyer and stairs were glowing with candlelight. My heart raced at the gorgeous sight and then skipped a beat as I approached the round table at the center and saw my name on the card attached to the largest and most beautiful flower arrangement I had ever seen.

I bit my lip as I reached for the card.

Welcome home, baby girl.

It’s a lovely night for a swim. Come join me at the pool. – x

My insides fluttered with excitement, and I quickly raced up the stairs to change. I went through my drawer and found my skimpiest bikini. It was a ridiculously small teal thing that emphasized my curves and barely covered anything. Knowing that Ben would like it, I put it on and went back downstairs barefoot and with nothing else on.

To my surprise, I didn’t see a single member of the staff as I made my way through the mansion, which was odd since Ben employed people around the clock to tend to his needs. However, as I reached the opened French doors that led out to the back patio, I understood why no one was around.

Like the foyer, the space was crowded with gorgeous flowers and glowing candles. There was classical music blaring from the speakers and a beautifully set table placed right at the center of the deck that added yet a new layer of romantic magic to my surroundings.

Overwhelmed that all of this was for me, I tried and failed to calm my heart as I spotted Ben at the pool. He was at the far end of the huge infinity pool with his back turned to me and his forearms bent over the invisible edge. I licked my lips and urged my legs to start walking toward him.

“Hey,” I greeted once I reached the wet deck at the front of the pool.

He turned around to look at me with one of those breath-catching smiles. “Hi, baby. You look beautiful in that bikini,” he said as he made his way through the water to where I was. I blushed and thanked him for the compliment. Then, he asked, “Did you like your surprise?”

“I did,” I said under my breath as I looked back at the romantic setting he created. “It’s amazing. I can’t believe you did this for me.”

Ben stared deep into my eyes and got out of the pool. The sight of his wet torso and swimming shorts made my mouth water and my head spin. It should be illegal for a man to be that ripped and that hot.

“Of course, I did,” he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

His words still clung to the air as he placed a hand on the small of my back and pulled me closer to him. The coolness of the water mixed with the warmth of his skin made goosebumps erupt in my arms and legs. Before I could catch the breath that kept evading me, Ben brought his lips to mine.

The kiss was a perfect representation of Ben; demanding, sweet and hot all at once. His tongue massaged mine, his lips danced with mine, and his hands pressed into me like he was trying to merge our two bodies together. It was a flawless kiss, on a picture-perfect night and with the perfect man.

That feeling that I was living someone else’s life returned with a vengeance. However, when Ben finally pulled away from my mouth and stared into my eyes, I got the reassurance I needed. I had no idea how I had gotten this lucky, but this was, without a doubt, my life. And it was perfect.

“This is our first night really together,” he explained in a loaded and tender voice. “The first night where we’re free to enjoy each other without looking over our shoulders or wondering if we’ll get caught. I wanted to celebrate it right.”

A silly grin curled on my lips. “Well, you’re off to a really great start.”

He gave me another wink and a peck on the lips. I kept expecting that kiss to turn into one of the urgent kisses we had shared over the last few days, but it didn’t. Although we both knew we had sex on the brain, Ben didn’t seem the least bit rushed to get into it.

“You hungry?” he asked once he pulled away from my lips.

“Starving, actually,” I replied honestly, enjoying the slower pace the night was taking.

Holding my hand, Ben guided me back to the table at the deck while asking about my day. Like a gentleman, he pulled the chair for me as I told him about my classes and study group. The meal our chef had prepared for us was delicious and mostly cold, which was nice on such a warm night.

For well over an hour, we sat at the table eating and talking. Our conversation wasn’t necessarily deep like it had been that first night we talked in the living room, and it wasn’t sex oriented as it had been two previous nights. It was just a conversation between two people who were getting to know each other, and it was incredibly pleasant.

The more we talked, the more I realized that I liked Ben. I liked him as more than just my Daddy, and I loved getting to know him as a real person. He was a smart, funny and knew so much about so many things it fascinated me, but at the same time, he wasn’t arrogant as most men in his position would be. Above all, however, I enjoyed how much he seemed to want to know about me. It was rare for me to meet people—let alone men—who were genuinely interested in what I liked, disliked and thought. It was even more unusual to find people who actually listened. But Ben did, and it made him even sexier to me that he had been before. And that is saying a lot.

My heart and mind were running wild by the time we finally finished our deserts. Honestly, I couldn’t believe this perfect night was actually happening. But, beyond that, I couldn’t believe that a sexual man like Ben was prolonging the non-sexual part of our evening the way he was. I was basically crawling over the walls with desire, and he was just laughing and talking like we had all the time in the world.

For some reason—probably related to the ‘fuck me now’ eyes I was giving him—Ben grew silent as he finished his glass of wine. I stared intently at him, praying that he would see the begging in my eyes, but he either didn’t or ignored it.

Realizing that I would have to take matters into my own hands, I said, “Thanks for this night, Ben. It was incredible.”

“It was my pleasure, baby girl,” he assured with one of those panty-dropping grins. Then, he added, “But the night isn’t over yet.” Those six little words filled me with hope and expectation, but the feeling was short-lived since he quickly added, “Ready to go for a swim?”

I smiled and tried to find a nice way to say that I was much more interested in going to his bedroom for a fuck than to the pool for a swim. But, after everything he had done for me, I simply didn’t have the heart to refuse him.

“Sure,” I said, adding as much enthusiasm as I could to my voice in hopes that he wouldn’t notice my disappointment.

Ben stared at me in silence for a couple more seconds with one of those all-knowing smirks in his lips. I wondered if he could read my mind or see the disappointment in my eyes, but before I could make up my mind, he got up and circled around the table to help me get up.

Although the modern and independent woman in me wanted to groan at the old-fashioned gesture, I honestly liked it. It was obvious, to both of us, that I didn’t need his help to get up. However, the desire to serve and care for me that were implicit in the gesture made me feel special in a way no other man ever had. Finally understanding the appeal of dating men instead of boys, I placed my hand in the one he was offering me and rose from my chair.

My heart raced as Ben kissed the back of my hand and folded our connected arms, so my hand rested on his muscled bare chest. I bit my lips and contracted my thighs as we walked towards the pool at the end of the deck.

For some mysterious reason, our proximity made the already perfect night even prettier. To my eyes, the stars that blanketed the clear night sky were shining just for us, the full moon above was a spotlight on my happiness, and the warmth in the air was just a reflection of the heat passing from his skin to mine. The combination of those things did nothing to curb the need I felt. If anything, to be honest, they made me even more desperate for everything Ben had promised, but I was still too shy to simply come out and ask.

“Do you swim?” he asked as we stepped into the wet deck and dipped our toes into the water.

I looked sideways at Ben as we continued to make our way toward the pool and said, “I’m excellent at the doggy paddle, but unless you consider that swimming, then no. I don’t.”

Ben chuckled at my silly joke and let go of me to lower himself from the wet deck into the water. Once he was submerged to his chest, I sat down at the edge and slowly lowered myself into the pool as well. The contrast of the cool water against the warm air made me gasp. Then, I gasped again when I realized that my feet didn’t touch the floor.

I started moving my legs and was about to swallow my pride and reach back to the deck when Ben’s arms grabbed my waist. “I’ve got you.”

The warmness of his touch made the water seem even colder in comparison, but the safety I found in him allowed my muscles to instantly relax. I draped my arms around Ben’s neck and relaxed into him.

“Why did you build a pool so deep?” I asked only half teasing.

He smirked and started swimming towards the middle, taking me along with him. “Because I’m tall and too old to keep the water around my stomach.” His smile widened, and he delivered a soft kiss to my lips before adding, “Plus, it’s a great excuse to force beautiful women into my arms.”

Although I knew he was teasing, his reply vexed me a little. With an angled brow, I said, “And I thought I was special.” His lips quivered with yet another smirk, which prompted me to ask, “How many women have you lured to this pool with your flowers, candles and dinner routine?”

“Honestly?”

I rolled my eyes because it was obvious I wanted the honest answer—or was it? I wasn’t entirely sure, but I still nodded.

Watching me intently, Ben moved us further down the pool. Since he was holding me tight and preventing me from drowning, I leaned back just enough to enjoy the way the water swayed my arms and tips of my hair back and forth. Although it wasn’t the crazy good fuck I was expecting, this moment wasn’t bad at all.

After a few more seconds staring and smirking at me, Ben said, “None. You’re the only one I’ve ever had in this pool or in my bed. And, to be honest, the only one I’ve done anything remotely romantic for.”

I brought my hands up to his shoulder and widened my eyes at his ludicrous reply. “C’mon. Do you really expect me to believe that you have this gorgeous house but never invited anyone over?”

“It’s the truth,” he started with a shrug. “My home is sacred to me, and since I’ve never had a girlfriend or someone especial, I’ve never invited a woman over. The idea of having a one night stand in my own bed never sat quite right with me.”

The honesty in Ben’s eyes took my breath away and made me feel . . . different. Although I didn’t want to admit it, there was a part of me that was afraid that, because he was my first, he meant more to me than I did to him. However, seeing as, in a way, I was a first for him too that fear was instantly erased from my mind. We were, in our own ways, on the same playing field and it made me appreciate this night and everything that was happening between us so much more.

Driven speechless by emotion, I held Ben’s gaze as my hands slid up his wide shoulders, long neck and dipped into the soft tresses of his hair. Slowly and with all the emotion I felt shining in my eyes, I leaned forward and touched my lips to his with a soft and tender kiss.

Ben’s chest expanded with a deep breath, and his fingers tightened around my waist. My mouth opened for him and his tongue finally touched mine. At first, our kiss was a slow and emotional dance of lips and tongues between two people who had too much to say but not the right words to say them. It was one of those movie-like perfect moments that made me think, once more, about how freaking lucky I was. And though all our previous kisses had been incredible, this one was every bit as magical as the rest of the night, and it made me want more. I wanted more of this moment, more of Ben and just more in general.

Deep down, I knew it was greedy of me to want so much, but that was what he did to me. With every touch, kiss and look, Ben made me want all of the things as long as they involved him. Moved by that greediness, my fingers slid down his back, pulling his body closer to mine, and my legs curled around his hips, placing his still fully erect dick only two thin layers of fabric away from the throbbing at my center.

My brazenness fueled Ben’s own voracity and, in the space of one accelerated heartbeat, our kiss shifted from slow and emotional to wild and lustful. As our mouths moved together, I dragged my nails down the curve of Ben’s shoulder all the way down to the band of his shorts. Not satisfied to stop there, I snaked my hand underneath the fabric and grabbed at the hard muscle of his ass.

With a low and approving groan, Ben grabbed at my hair and tugged my head sideways, so my neck was exposed to him. I moaned as his lips shifted from mine to the sensitive spot just below my ear. The passion in the kisses he dotted down my throat was unlike anything I had ever experienced. If that wasn’t enough, he also brought a hand to my chest and pushed the red triangle covering my boob sideways until the fabric was bunched up at my side and my breast was completely exposed to him.

I bit my bottom lip as his fingers started working their magic on my nipple. He tugged, rolled, pinched and then pinched them even harder giving me the first taste to the painful pleasure I had been craving since the previous night. The sensation was so intense and exquisite my eyes couldn’t help but flutter closed as a sound that was half a moan and half a roar passed through my lips.

My whole body went into sensation overload, and it was too much for me. I needed Ben’s cock, and I needed it now.

“Take me upstairs,” I begged in a voice that didn’t sound like my own. “Please, Daddy. I need you to fuck me.”

A smirk formed on the lips that were now teasing my collarbone, but he made no move to take us off this pool. “Do you, baby girl?”

He pinched my nipple a little harder. Surprisingly, the one thing that ached from his harsh touch was my still untouched pussy. Barely able to breathe, I pushed my hips a little more into his and nodded, “Yes. Please . . . You promised.”

My words made Ben finally pull his lips away from my neck and look at my face. His face gleamed with excitement and arousal, a sight that only heightened those same feelings in me.

“Is that what you want tonight? You want me to fuck you real hard?”

I pulled in a gasping breath through my parted lips as my bikini bottom became soaked for reasons that had nothing to do with all the water around me.

“No,” I whispered, making Ben’s face twist with confusion. Almost shivering with desire, I dug my nails deeper into his skin and added, “That’s what I need.”

The grin that formed on Ben’s face made me think of the Big Bad Wolf from the Red Riding Hood tale. It was luring and predatory, but unlike the story, I felt no fear. In fact, I was anxiously waiting for him to pounce and devour me.