I heard him talk to the girl on the couch — for a moment, I’d forgotten she was here. After she left, I drifted out of my bedroom, my stomach starting to flip. Oh god. This was really happening.
Ben, standing near the front door, stared me down until I walked to the doorway of his bedroom. Then he backed me into his room until the back of my legs hit his bed. He stood in front of me and touched my jaw, tilting it upwards. He lowered his head until his lips were an inch from mine, and my entire body was on fire with anticipation. I could feel myself getting aroused, wetness gathering between my legs.
Oh shit oh fuck oh god.
“Wait,” I said, my breath gusting over Ben’s lips. “Before we do this, I have one request.”
“Anything.” His eyes were hazy with lust. How had I never before noticed how deep and dark his eyes were?
“I want to see what you have in the bottom drawer of your bedside table.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Ben pulled back, surprise, then confusion, then a hint of fear passing over his face. “You really want to see?”
I nodded. “The curiosity’s been killing me.”
“You’re going to think I’m a freak.”
“I already think you’re a freak,” I said.
He stepped back, looking resigned. “Okay,” he murmured, and we walked over to the bedside table. I sat on the bed, my legs hanging over the edge. Ben grabbed his keys and unlocked the drawer.
I don’t know what I was expecting. Drugs? Pornography? Sex toys? Lube and condoms?
There was lube and condoms, but there was also…a blindfold. And restraints. And a whole bunch of other stuff I couldn’t even begin to identify. All I knew is that it wasn’t vanilla sex stuff.
“Is that a collar?” I asked, picking up a thin leather band with a metal latch. I looked up at Ben, fighting the urge to laugh. Ben, who had watched a documentary of Apollo 11 so many times, he basically had all the lines memorized, ownedthis? It just didn’t make sense.
He shrugged a shoulder, flushing. “I like it when girls wear it. I like feeling like I own them.” He suddenly flinched. “What are you doing?”
I fiddled with the latch. “What does it look like? I’m trying to put it on.”
“Juliet, you don’t have to. Seriously, ignore all this stuff.” He reached for it.
I batted his hands away. “No, I want to.” I could already imagine it: Ben being so shy and nervous in bed that he needed his partner collared to feel in control.
With a click, the collar closed around my neck. I smiled up at Ben, who looked like he couldn’t breathe. Poor boy.
“You have me in your bed. Do whatever you want to me.”
Maybe I was being a little bit mean. But I liked winding him up. I liked seeing him blush.
“You don’t mean that,” he murmured.
“I do,” I replied. “Come on —”
The rest of the sentence escaped me as I was shoved backwards, my hand landing on a pillow. A second later, Ben crawled over me. “Say red to stop.”
“Huh?”
“You asked for this. Do you want me to stop?”
I was…shocked. The Ben above me was not the stuttering guy I knew. It was the assertive Ben I’d only seen glimpses of. And while I was surprised, I didn’t hate this. Arousal pulsed between my legs. No, I definitely didn’t hate this.
I shook my head. “No,” I said, my voice tiny.
Ben smiled. He’d always had a nice smile, but right now he looked downright dangerous. Without wasting a second, he undressed me, pulling off my clothes so quickly and efficiently that I didn’t have a chance to get embarrassed as my bra was unclipped and thrown off the edge of the bed. Ben pulled my panties down last, leaving me completely naked. I could see my wetness glistening on my underwear. Ben touched the damp fabric before setting it down.
