Page 84 of Because of You
Ben starts to move, dragging in and out of me lazily, hitting my clit at the perfect angle on every stroke. Dizzy with pleasure, I wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. Henever stops moving, his breath rasping in and out next to my ear, sending shivers up and down my body. I tighten my arms and legs around him trying to get closer, but there is no close that is close enough. I must say that out loud because Ben speaks then, his hips continuing to roll against mine.
“For me either, Hallie. You are my everything. Everything begins and ends with you.”
Keeping one forearm on the bed next to my head to support his weight, Ben slides his other arm under me, holding my hips even more firmly against him while he continues to thrust in and out of me. The sensation of him so deep inside me, his hips rolling against my clit, has me climbing higher and higher until my whole body is shaking and begging for release.
“Ben, I can’t...I’m so close.
“Come for me, Hallie girl. Show me you’re mine.”
Ben speeds up his rhythm, holding me impossibly tighter. He angles his hips so he hits the perfect spot inside me, and I shatter, crying out my release against his ear as pleasure rolls through me.
“Fuck, Hallie. You’re perfect. So perfect. And mine. You’re all mine.”
“I’m yours,” I whisper. “Always. I love you.”
That sends Ben over the edge. He pulls his arm out from under me and anchors it by my head. He seals his mouth over mine and kisses me deeply as his hips lose their rhythm.
“Fuck, fuck, I’m coming.” Ben groans into my mouth and I feel his release pour into me.
I’m still clinging to him like a koala when he rolls us onto our sides and brings his forehead to mine. We’re both breathing hard, chests rising and falling rapidly as we try to take in oxygen.
“I love you too, Hallie. Sometimes, I can’t believe I get to be here with you like this every day.”
My chest aches thinking of all the years he watched me, wishing we could be together.
“I wish I had looked more closely. Maybe this would have happened sooner.”
He kisses the tip of my nose and leans back to look at me. “I think it happened exactly when it was supposed to happen. We are right where we need to be.”
“We are, aren’t we?”
“Absolutely. But pretty soon, the kitchen is where we need to be, because I’m fucking starving. What do you think? Shower and then coffee and breakfast?”
“Are you doing the cooking and the coffee making?”
“You know it, Hal.”
“Then I say that sounds absolutely perfect.”
Half an hour later, I sit at my kitchen counter, an iced coffee with milk and one Splenda in front of me, watching Ben whipping eggs for omelets in a bowl.
“It’s kind of becoming our thing, huh? You making me breakfast every morning so I don’t starve. And you giving me the exact coffee I want, even though I just decided in my head ten minutes ago and didn’t say it out loud, and not telling me how you do it.”
“It is our thing. I hope we have lots of things.”
“How do you do it, anyway?”
“I told you; I see you, Hallie girl.”
I knew he would say that, obviously, and while it used to make me wild with curiosity, it doesn’t anymore. Not much, anyway. Because Ben really does see right down to the core ofme. And it turns out, it’s an extraordinary gift to be seen in this way. A life-changing gift. One I wouldn’t trade for anything. All I want in my life is more of this. More of Ben and me. More mornings in the kitchen and quiet nights spent wrapped around each other. As many as I can get. And speaking of which…
“I have something for you.”
He looks up from the eggs. “Oh, yeah?”
“Yep.” I stand and go to the coffee maker, reaching behind it to pull out the key I hid there last night. I turn and take Ben’s hand, pressing the key into it. He stares down at it for a second and then back at me, his blue eyes swimming with emotion.
I reach for his other hand and hold on tight.
