Hell, yes, I want to know.
I nod only slightly.
"I think Noah hates him because of that money." She runs her finger along the edge of the glass. "He got some money too."
"Why would you think that?"
"I heard him talking to Ron about it on the phone." She's whispering so loud that I'm certain anyone passing by on the street would hear every single word she's said.
I had wondered how Ben could afford his apartment and wardrobe on an ER doctor's salary. "Sometimes money makes people crazy." I spin my finger in the air. "I'm sure their problems go deeper than that."
"I don’t know about that." She starts to stand before falling back into the soft cushion of the couch. "Noah hates Ben. If it's not the money it has to be a woman."
It is a woman. It's the woman who gave them life. The very same woman whose death pulled them apart for good.
Chapter 17
"Get the fuck in here." He pulls on my hand sending me flying into his apartment. I hear the door slam shut behind me.
"Ben," I mutter his name in a heated rush before his lips bear down on mine. "I…Ben…" I try to form the words through his kiss but he's too aggressive.
"I've been thinking about you for days." His hands are pulling on the tie of my wraparound dress, tangling me up in it. "I'm going to rip this fucking thing off your body."
I take a step back as much to save my dress as to calm my breath. "I'll take it off."
His eyes are glued to my hands as he strips off his own clothes, throwing them onto the floor in a pile.
"Look how hard you make me." His hand runs fast over his thick, erect cock. "I need to be inside that sweet cunt of yours now."
The words fill me with an instant hunger that I can't quench. I've tried to wean myself off of him by touching myself in my bed. I thought that would quiet the desperate need I've been feeling. I want him so much. I can't keep denying it. I don’t want to deny it. I want to own it and embrace it. When he called to tell me to come over, I hadn't hesitated at all. My need for him is primal and unending.
I pull my panties down and stand before him, completely naked and exposed. I'm not shy. I've never been one to hide my body beneath a sheet out of fear that my lover will find fault. I've never complained about the size of my breasts or the width of my hips. I love my body. He loves my body. I see it in his eyes and I feel it when he's making love to me.
"Goddamn, Kayla." He narrows the space between us with easy strides. His hands wrap around my sides, pulling me into him. His cock rests against my thigh, heavy, warm and eager.
I moan as he picks me up, pulling my legs around him. I cry out when he clears the desk near the door with one swoop of his hand and lowers my body onto it and I whimper as I watch him cloak his beautiful cock with a condom.
"I need you, Kayla." His breath whispers over my lips. "I've needed you since that first night."
I cling tightly to him as he enters me completely, his cock pushing me to my limits, stretching me wide with a bite of pain that touches my core. "Ben, yes," I moan into his mouth. "Fuck me."
He pulls my ass to the edge of the desk as he sits me up, our bodies still connected. "Look at me, Kayla. Look at me."
I open my eyes. His face is so beautiful. It's so perfect and kind. I stare into his eyes with my own as he fucks me with slow, easy, graceful strokes.
***
"If you tell them about me, I'll lose you." His voice pierces through the darkness in the room.
I shake myself awake. I'd drifted off after he'd carried me to his bed and fucked me again. "That won't happen," I whisper into the empty space before me.
His hands pull me closer so my back is resting against his chest. "It will. Noah won't let her talk to you anymore."
The concept is foreign. Noah wouldn't demand anything that restricting of Lex. Our relationship is close, too close for a brotherly feud to tear it apart. "Alexa would never stop talking to me."
"He'll fill her head with lies about me." His voice is shaky and uncertain.
I try to flip over. I want to look at him when he tells me this. These people are the core of my inner circle. They are my New York family. I need them as much as I need air to breathe. I can't lose Alexa. I won't.