Every night of her life…
Beatriz orgasmed in near silence, the force of the climax sucking the air out of her lungs.
“Stand up,” Ben whispered. “Put your hands on the bed.”
Beatriz did as instructed. She’d do anything Ben told her to do. That was one of the fantasies she longed to share with him. Some nights she’d love it if he took total possession of her body, made her his toy, his pet, his plaything, his slave.
Ben pushed her sundress up and entered her again from behind. He thrust hard into her, hard enough she gasped a little. But she didn’t ask him to stop or slow down or go easy on her. That was the last thing she wanted. She wanted to feel his cock ramming into her, wanted to feel like his desire for her had overridden his reason, restraint and self-control. She relished the feel of his fingers digging into her hips. She wanted to feel every inch of him as he pulled out and slammed back into her.
“Fuck,” Ben breathed, his voice barely more than a strangled whisper. It was the sexiest word he could have uttered. She heard the echo of his pleasure in that one word, the primal cry of a man lost in ecstasy, lost in her. She steadied herself against the bed as best she could even as Ben pounded into her, putting his entire body into his brutal thrusts. She loved that about him. He was always so nonchalant, so relaxed and cool out in the world. But during sex he dropped all pretense and threw his whole being into pleasing her and himself.
Pounding…pounding…she was lost in the pounding…. With a fierce final thrust Ben came, his hand on her shoulder, holding on to her as if she alone kept him from collapsing. Ben slowly pulled out of her as she remained bent over the bed trying to catch her breath. The sex had ended, but still the pounding continued.
“What the hell?” she asked.
“Shit,” Ben said, laughing. “Someone’s pounding on the door. Can you get that?”
“Bea, it’s Claudia!” came a voice through the door.
“Just a second,” Beatriz yelled back.
Ben disappeared into the bathroom while Beatriz pulled her dress up over her breasts and grabbed a tissue. She wiped herself off between her legs, pulled on the first pair of underwear she found and threw open the door.
Claudia rushed into the room and started pacing.
“What’s wrong?” Beatriz asked, seeing the panic on Claudia’s face. Ben came out of the bathroom looking much more put together than he did when he went in it.
“Henry called off the wedding,” Claudia said, her face a mask of pure fear and shock.
“What?” Beatriz nearly shouted the word.
“What the fuck?” Ben asked, sounding as shocked as her.
“Henry got up at lunch to run to the bathroom. I asked him to stop by the front desk…” Claudia wrung her hands. “I got this text message from him.”
She handed Beatriz her phone.
Beatriz stared at the message in disbelief.
“What’s it say?” Ben asked.
“He says, ‘The wedding’s off. I’m sorry I’m not enough for you. Hope you find another man to swing with. If I wasn’t enough for you, you could have told me before we started planning the wedding. I’m staying at another hotel. Maybe we can talk tomorrow. For now, don’t even call me.’”
“What does he mean?” Ben demanded. “He’s not enough for you?”
Claudia ran her hands through her hair and collapsed onto the bed.
“I don’t know. I have no idea where any of this is coming from. I’ve never cheated on him, never wanted to. We’ve been together almost seven years. I didn’t invite any old boyfriends to the wedding. I don’t know what he’s talking about. None of this makes sense.”
“Did you try to call him?” Beatriz asked, putting her arm around Claudia.
“Yes, but he didn’t answer. I tried ten times. The wedding’s in four days. Our families are here. Our friends. Everyone. And he’s just…gone. And he won’t even tell me why.”
Beatriz nearly burst into tears of pure sympathy. And she would have if she wasn’t so furious at Henry.
“It’s a good thing he’s gone or I would rip his heart out and eat it for dinner,” Beatriz said.
“Can we get his side of the story first?” Ben asked.
“There is no his side of the story,” Beatriz said, enraged that Ben would even suggest there was a “his” side of the story. “Claudia’s not cheating on him with anybody. What possible excuse could he have for acting like this?”
“Something set him off. Henry is the most boring man alive. He doesn’t have a good enough imagination to even be paranoid,” Ben said. “I’m not saying he’s in the right. Just—”