The elevator dings, ending our conversation, and as we make our way into the hall, he breathes out what sounds like a sigh of relief. “Fuck it feels good to be here. It’s like my body can sense that I’m home.” We make our way down the hall and eventually make it to our door. I put my key in the lock as I steel myself to let Bennett back in. Opening this door feels so much bigger than just this physical act and a thought briefly crosses my mind that maybe I’m opening the door to something else entirely.
I cleaned the apartment from top to bottom last night, not that it was particularly messy, but I couldn’t sleep and the idea of Bennett being back in my space had me feeling anxious. I toss the keys on the small table next to the door and let Bennett enter behind me. He stands in the doorway and takes in the living room, no doubt remembering it completely differently.
“You redecorated.”
“Well, you took the majority of the furniture when you moved out.”
A look of shock and almost horror crosses his face. “I did what?”
“No…” I shake my head as I hear how it sounds. “I wanted you to. I wanted new stuff. And you weren’t leaving anywhere without your television.” I smile as I look at the smaller television mounted on the wall.
“It’s…nice.” He smiles at me. “It’s you.” The entire room is made up of light grays and lavenders with flowers on every surface of the room. He moves through the room like he owns it and sits on the couch before looking up at me. “Thank you. For doing this. I’ll do my best to stay out of your way.” He pulls his jacket off, simultaneously flexing his arm, and I swallow the lump in my throat. He leans back, stretching his long legs underneath the coffee table, reminding me what it felt like to have him here.
“I love it,” I squeal as I look out the window at the gorgeous view from the seventh floor window. I turn back to see Bennett moving towards me with a smirk known to make my panties wet and the realtor moving towards the kitchen. “It’s a little over our budget though…” Before I can continue, Clarke has me up against the window with my face in his large warm hands staring down at me like he’s ready to devour me at any second.
“I can’t wait to fuck you against these floor to ceiling windows. Let everyone down below see you fall apart with my cock inside your sweet little pussy.” His voice is gravelly and low and it takes everything out of me not to suggest we go christen the place in the nearest bathroom. I peek around his large frame to look for our realtor, one almost as good as Bennett, when his hands turn me back towards him. “I told him to give us a minute. I also don’t like the way he keeps looking at your tits, but I’ll consider letting it slide for the sake of this deal I’m about to pose.” He lowers his face and presses his l
ips to the skin behind my ear. “Your eyes didn’t light up at any of the other apartments we looked at, but this one…” he nibbles gently on my ear before he pulls back, “you love it, it’s yours.”
My breath hitches and I feel myself getting emotional at his words, but I shouldn’t be surprised. This is how Bennett is; he acts as if it’s his job to make me happy. “I love you.” I look up at him, and I hope my eyes are conveying just how much.
His emerald colored eyes trace my face before he presses his lips to mine. “I love hearing you say that.” His hard body presses against mine as the kiss becomes more intense. I run my hand down his body and slide it between us to palm his dick through his slacks and he growls in my mouth. My hair is pulled to the side in one braid and he yanks on it playfully before letting up. “You’ll pay for that later, Mrs. Clarke.”
“Promise?” My eyes twinkle with excitement and I swear my panties that were already wet, become soaked the second he runs his tongue over his bottom lip.
“You alright?” Bennett’s voice breaks me from my memories and I see him leaning forward, his arms resting on his knees as he stares up at me. “You went away for a second.”
“Yeah…I…” I let out a breath. “I made up the master bedroom for you.” I swallow as I begin to back away from Bennett and the sudden influx of happy memories I was reliving.
“Wait, what?” I hear him briefly struggle to get up, but when I turn around he’s already moving towards me. “I’m not sleeping there. I’ve already disrupted your life. I’m not going to kick you out of your room.” He follows me through the kitchen and down the long hall. He stops and admires some of the pictures on the wall, none of which have him in them. “You look really pretty here.” He points at a picture and I turn around to see which one he means. I smile at the picture of Alyssa and me when we’d gone to Miami as a part of my “I’m Getting Divorced” tour. “Not a lot of pictures of me here…did you break them all?” he teases and I frown at his joke.
“No. You took most of them when you moved, and the rest are in a box. Breaking pictures of us wouldn’t make me feel better over what happened, Bennett,” I snap and continue moving down the hall.
“I didn’t… I didn’t mean anything by that.” He sighs and follows me into the master bedroom. When we get to the entrance, I feel his gaze on my face. “Please don’t hate me.”
“If I did, you wouldn’t be here,” I say simply, and if that wasn’t the fucking truth.
He doesn’t respond to my comment but completely changes the subject instead. “I don’t want to stay in here.”
I wave him off as I move through the room in attempts to put some space between us. “It’s fine, Bennett. I moved out of this room when you moved out.”
“What?”
“I sleep in the guest room.”
“Why?” His eyes scan the room, and I can see the curiosity all over his face as to why I wouldn’t be sleeping in the room I’d slept in for years.
I shrug. “It’s just too big in here and…sleeping in here alone was just too difficult.” I blink the tears out of my eyes as I remember the first night I attempted it. I’d woken up in a panic, my body already anxious and on high alert at the idea of being in the apartment by myself. Bennett had slept in the guest room for the two weeks prior while he looked for a place, but then he was gone and I felt hollow and my chest ached with every breath I took. “If you prefer, I bought a sleeper sofa for what used to be your office, and you can sleep there,” I add weakly. “But this bed is still more comfortable.”
“I don’t know how comfortable it will be without you in it.” My head whips to his, and I meet his green eyes that are staring at me hard. I shift nervously under his gaze and he frowns. “I hate that I make you nervous now.”
“I’m not,” I argue, even though I could sense the mounting tension between us.
He nods, although I know he doesn’t believe me. “I can stay in here. This is great, thank you.” He makes his way through what used to be our old bedroom and looks around before sitting on the bed. “Looks pretty much the same.”
“I still use the ensuite bathroom because…” I look towards it and give him a knowing smile. “Obviously, that bathroom is phenomenal.”
“It’s a great bathroom, I’ll agree. I’m glad we updated it.” He agrees before kicking his shoes off.