Brooke & Ben: Before Fate Interrupted (28 page)

“That could have
killed me.”

She frowned at
him. “That wouldn’t have killed you.”

“You said it
would kill me if it came out.”

“That was your oxygen
mask, not the IV.”

“We’re not even
married yet and you’re already trying to kill me.”

She ran her
fingers down his arm, unable to stop touching him. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

He grew somber. “It
was the guy with the bat, wasn’t it? The short, stocky bastard.”

She nodded
weakly, wincing as the moment haunted her again.

Ben sensed her
discomfort and took her hand. “Thank you for being here. I’m sorry you had to
go through this.”

She pressed his
hand to her cheek. “Don’t you ever leave me like that again.”

The ghost of a
smile curled the corner of his lips.

Brooke leaned in
closer and lowered her voice. “Where did you go? Do you remember anything?”

He held her heavy
gaze for a few seconds longer and then looked away. “The future.”

“The future?”

“We had our own
shop.”

She inhaled
sharply. “I knew you would get your own studio someday!”

His brow creased.

“What’s wrong?”

“For some reason
we were wearing black aprons with hot pink lettering stenciled across them.”

She shrugged.
“Maybe you finally came to your senses and let me decorate the place.”

“Hot pink never
goes into a tattoo parlor, especially mine.”

She bit back a
smile. “What else did you see?”

He sat up
straighter and she helped him, fluffing his pillows behind him. “I saw us
living a life I had only dreamed about before. We had our own house with a pool
out back and two little ones running around the yard.”

“A boy and a girl?”

“Two boys.”

She laughed.
“I’m outnumbered already.”

“We also had a
wiener dog named Bolt and a German Sheppard we called Fred.”

Her hand rubbed
his growling belly. “Sounds wonderful.”

“It was,” he said,
staring at her through dreamy eyes. “Until the machines came.”

Her eyebrow went
crooked. “
Machines
?”

“Programmed to
wipe out the entire human race.”

She patted his
arm and grabbed her purse. “Aw, that’s so sweet. Well, I should probably let
the nurses know you’re awake and find out what you can eat. I’ll be right
back.” She slung the purse onto her shoulder and crossed the room, walking on thin
air.

“Fudge
brownies.”

Brooke turned
with her hand on the doorknob. “Huh?”

“I want fudge
brownies.”

“Fudge
brownies?”

Ben nodded
rapidly.

“You don’t like
fudge brownies.”

“I know, but I’m
craving them for some reason. Bad.”

She sharpened
her gaze. “Are you messing with me again? I can never tell when you’re being
serious.”

“I know it
sounds insane but I am totally serious.”

“Okay,” she
replied slowly. “Let’s talk to the doctor first.”

“And chocolate
chip cookies.”

She tilted her head
to one side and planted one hand on a curvy hip. “Now I know you’re messing
with me!”

“I’m not,” he
said with a laugh. “Swear to God I’m craving sweets.”

“Sweets?”

“It’s the
craziest damn thing.”

She snorted.
“You’re the craziest damn thing.” Brooke opened the door and mouthed the words:
I love you
.

He mouthed them back
and watched her turn to leave. “Hey!”

She caught the
door with her foot.

“And some
chocolate milk. Please.”

Brooke couldn’t
stop a laugh and floated down the hallway to the nurses’ station on cloud nine,
light as a feather, the flutter of humming birds tickling her stomach along the
way.

Chapter
Thirty-One

Two weeks later

When they
returned to Ben’s apartment it was no longer his apartment. It was
their
apartment. The thought stole her
breath, much like the first deep plunge down a clackety wooden rollercoaster.
His things were hers and vice versa, lending a surreal quality to an already
emotional day. Though short and sweet, the wedding at the Polk County Courthouse
had drawn tears from their parents’ eyes. Unlike her sister, Brooke had always
envisioned a small wedding with just their immediate family and that is exactly
what she got. With Laura and Will, Evy and Richie, and Irene for witnesses, it
had all been so perfect. The same went for the celebration dinner that followed
shortly after at Exile Brewing Co, where the pints of Ruthie (their famous
Munich Gold Lager) had flowed freely. It was a day she would never forget, one that
would help push that terrible night in the snow a little further back in her
mind.

Brooke dropped
onto the couch with a sigh and kicked off her four inch red heels. “My feet are
killing me,” she said, propping her feet up on the coffee table.

“I don’t know
how people get up there and do that in front of an entire church packed with
people,” Ben said, taking two wine glasses from a cabinet.

“Oh, I know! It’s
like being in a play with zero acting experience.”

“All I could
think about was the scene from that
Sex
and the City
movie you keep making me watch.”

“I should start
calling you
Mr. Big
.”

“Hey, if the
shoe fits.” He came over and handed her a glass of wine. “Here you go, Mrs.
Kramer.”

Her heart
skipped a beat. She took the glass, unable to stop smiling. “Why thank you, Mr.
Kramer.”

He sat down next
to her and exhaled a longwinded breath. “Cheers.”

They clinked
glasses and took a long sip.

Ben rubbed her
hand. “Were you nervous?”

“Of course I
was. Even though it was small it was still a big deal.”

“Yeah, I was,
too.”

They took another
lazy sip, staring at each other over the rim of their glasses.

Ben kicked his
feet up next to hers and stretched an arm along the back of the couch. “I can’t
believe you’re my wife now. That is so weird.”

“I can’t believe
I fell for it. Now I’m trapped.”

“Ha-ha.”

“I also can’t
believe Richie didn’t play sick and pull a no show.”

Ben laughed at this
and stretched his back out against the couch, enjoying the first peaceful
moment of an otherwise hectic day.

“Are you happy,
baby?”

He twisted his
torso to her. “You’ve made me happier than I’ve ever been before. By a million
miles.”

Her eyes watered
up again.

They set their
glasses down and kissed gently at first with a passionate urgency pushing in
from behind. Their heads tilted to and fro as he took her face in his hands.
She gasped when he swept her up in his arms, laughing as he carried her into
the bedroom. He set her down on the bed and took stock of her, a bulge already
in his jeans.

“You’re the most
beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

She shifted on
the bed, bare legs spilling from a sun burnt orange dress with spaghetti straps
and a wide belt accentuating her hips. “Get in here.”

He slid on top
of her, tracing every inch of her face with his eyes before kissing her long
and hard. Her hands roamed his strapping back, investigating every nook and
cranny, desperate for more. Their breath came hot against their cheeks. She
pulled his black dress shirt over his head without messing with the buttons.
Her hands immediately sought out his chest, her skin against his. Ben hurriedly
pulled the top of her dress down, exposing her breasts. His eyes ravished them
for a few seconds before his hands and lips impatiently took their turn
needling and nibbling.

Brooke wriggled
beneath his magical touch, lightly running her fingers over the still fresh scar
in his head. When she couldn’t take it anymore, she pushed him up and sinuously
undid his belt and jeans, yanking them to his ankles with a longing growing
hungrier by the second. His massive hard-on bobbed in the air before her,
taunting her, demanding her attention. She seized it and looked up, taking
pleasure in the glimmer in his eyes as she gently stroked him. Ben tipped his
head back and moaned when she quickened her pace and cupped his balls.

In a blinding
flash, he jumped off the bed and removed his denim shackles before pushing her
dress up over her hips. He dashed to the wall and flipped on the light,
admiring her from head to toe, his cock twitching in the air.

She squinted at
him. “What’re you doing?”

“I want to see
you,” he replied, lowering the dimmer switch and closing in for the kill. He
climbed over her and pushed her into the pillow, his mouth finding hers as he
grinded his shaft against her wet lips below.

Brooke squirmed,
his hardness sending voltage through her veins in hot flashes. When he slipped
inside, she broke their kiss to gasp out loud. Ben went slow at first, easing
into her with a tenderness that left her wanting more. She pulled her legs back
and let him in, groaning loudly when he reached full depth. They stayed like that
for a bit, him inside of her, softly nibbling lips in the dim bedroom light.

Then he pulled
out and pushed back in, slow and steady. Brooke tilted her face to the side,
burying half her face in the pillow as he picked up steam. Her nails left faint
red marks on his back. Ben hovered above her and watched her face, thrusting
harder and loving the way she responded. Brooke wrapped her legs around his
back and squeezed, needing more and needing it now.

“I love you so
much, baby.”

“I love you,
too, Ben,” she whispered, her body already beginning to constrict with spasms.

He kissed her
again and she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back. The bed began
to shake. Her body shuddered with each heavenly thrust. They were floating
above the bed now, lost in a cloud of perfect harmony.

“Oh, Ben,”
Brooke moaned, locking her legs higher around his back.

He sensed her
weakness and pushed himself up, giving in to their greedy wants and needs. Brooke’s
arms and legs trembled like piano strings. She pushed against his chest as he
gyrated faster, tightening her swollen lips around his rigid shaft.

“Oh my God!” She
pressed her head into the pillow as hard as she could, hanging onto his bulging
triceps for dear life.

Ben watched her
face with each bone chilling thrust, burning it into his memory, never wanting
to forget.

“Ben!”

His big hard
cock took another gluttonous plunge, driving deep inside of her before
withdrawing again.

Brooke set her
jaw as he drove it back home, so wet now she thought she might explode.

He felt bigger
than ever before and she didn’t know how much more she could possibly take.
Skin slapped against skin, the room vibrating around her.

“Ben!” Her eyes
fluttered up into her head like she might faint as a toe curling orgasm washed
over her entire body. She dug her fingers into his arms and arched her back
like she had just stepped on a live wire.

The look
clenching her face made him lose what little control he had left. Ben exploded
with a loud grunt that left him shuddering above her. Brooke watched him spill
inside of her, using her legs to help him bury his throbbing shaft as deep as
it would go. They locked eyes and struggled for breath, melting together into
one. She pulled him to her and wrapped her arms around his neck. Time lost
meaning and how much of it slipped by neither could know.

Ben rolled onto
his side and exhaled a heavy breath, sweat glistening across his forehead.

She curled up
next to him and ran a hand over his chest. “I think I could get used to being
Mrs. Kramer
.”

“Good,” he
panted, wrapping an arm around her. “Because I already changed the mailbox.”

“You did?”

“I did.”

She toyed with
his belly button. “Aw, that’s so sweet.”

Ben laughed and
ran a hand down his face, exhaling another long breath. They held each other
for a little while longer, no need for words. Their eyes did the talking for
them, telling each other things that words could never do on their own

“So what do you
wanna do now?”

“I don’t know.
What do most married couples do now?”

His eyes pinched
together as he considered it, his heart slowing its relentless beat. “Go to bed?”

She sat up and
leaned against the headboard. “Let’s watch a movie.”

“Like what?” he
asked, slipping out of bed.

“Hey, where’re
you going?”

“To get some
more of that wedding cake.”

“You’re going to
be sick.”

“I’ll be fine.”

Brooke watched
him disappear into the bathroom and laid a facepalm on her forehead with a loud
smack
. “What have I gotten myself
into?”