The One That Got Away (14 page)

“
Please what
Bella,” he says in a whisper, his mouth near to my ear as his
tongue finds its way inside. “Let me touch you.” I say, desperate
to feel him, to satisfy him and to touch him all over. He shakes
his head slowly, “No, Bella. I want to please you. I can wait.” The
lust that I am feeling is threatening to overwhelm me and I moan
with longing. His hands caress my body bringing it to the edge.
“Please Ben, I need to feel you,” I almost scream, the desire
consuming me. Suddenly I feel him inside me, a slow rhythmic thrust
that makes me almost faint with desire. I arch closer wanting to
feel him inside me until I bear it no more and climax with a cry as
the waves of pleasure course through my body. Before I even finish
he also comes with a muffled groan and we lay entwined throbbing
with the aftermath of the most fantastic love making that I have
ever experienced. He pulls away and strokes my hair. “Now what was
it that I used to call you?” I grin and say, “We both know that
that was no longer the case.”

He strokes my breast and says, “You were a
Virgin to me Bella.” I blush, thinking back to his constant teasing
of me. He used to call me Virgin. He found it amusing to see how
embarrassed it made me. Obviously I still was, but that was a long
time ago now. Gently he kisses me again and I can feel the lust
stir within me again. I am finding it so sexy laying here with him,
in the middle of nowhere, no thoughts at all about the outside
world. He draws away and grins. “Come on, I’ll run us a bath.” He
jumps out and I admire his naked body as he goes to the bathroom
and runs us a hot bath with lots of bubbles. He then comes and
lifts me up in his arms and carries me to the bathroom. He removes
the rest of my clothing that somehow got forgotten in our haste and
pulls me in front of him in the bath.

We sit there and he lathers my body with the
sweet smelling soap. I find myself aching for him again and he
kisses my neck and moves his fingers down my back. I shiver in
anticipation and try to turn around but again he won’t let me. He
puts his hands around my waist and lifts me up and lowers me down
onto him until I can feel him inside me once again. The heat of the
bath and the feeling of him rocking inside me brings me to a climax
once more and I almost can’t cope with the feelings that he brings
out in me. He pulls me back against him and we lay back in the bath
letting the warm water relax us.

After a while he kisses my cheek and says,
“Come on, I’ll make us some breakfast.” I turn around and smile.
“No, I want to. I want to look after you for a change.” I then kiss
him gently on the lips. He groans and pulls me harder against him
and he holds my head firmly in place and kisses me hard. Abruptly
he pulls away and I notice his eyes are almost black. Shaking his
head he says, “No, I will cook. You can take control another time.”
I feel surprised. Is this what he thinks it is, all about control?
I shake my head., “It’s not about control Ben. I just want to love
you and look after you.” He smiles and says, “I Know.”

He lifts me up and we dry ourselves off and
put on the dressing gowns that hang on the back of the door. “We’ll
make it together,” he says grinning at me.

We have fun making breakfast together and Ben
is in a playful mood. It is just what I need to just enjoy the
moment and forget about what a mess my life is in at the moment. As
we sit eating Ben suddenly looks serious. “I think that you should
call home. Your parents may be worrying about you.” I nod in
agreement. “I know,” I say sighing heavily. “I’m just worried what
they know and I don’t want to let the outside in just yet.” He
gives me a gentle look. “Just get it out of the way. Then we can
enjoy the rest of the day and worry about tomorrow when it
happens.”

I reluctantly go and retrieve my phone from
my bag. I haven’t looked at it since I arrived and I dread what may
be on there. I notice that there are several missed calls and
texts. Despite blocking Nathan’s number he has obviously used
another phone and there are several texts from him asking me to
call him and saying that he is so sorry and needs a chance to
explain. There is one from Phoebe asking me to let her know when I
will be home and if everything is ok. I notice one from my Mother
wishing me a Happy New Year so I decide to call her first.

She answers the phone and sounds quite happy.
“Hi Bella, Happy New Year, you finally got around to calling your
parents then.” She laughs and I realise that she must know nothing.
“Sorry, mum, Happy New Year to you too.”

“
So tell me
about your New Year’s Eve, did you have fun?” My heart sinks and I
can’t bring myself to tell her over the phone. I try to sound up
beat and say, “Well it was certainly eventful, but that can wait
for another time. Anyway I just thought that I would let you know
that I have gone away for a couple of days and should be home
tomorrow. I’ll pop around then.” She sounds interested. “Oh lucky
you, did Nathan surprise you?” I laugh derisively. “Well you could
say that. Anyway I’m sorry I have to go but I’ll call you tomorrow.
Take care, love to you both.” “Love to you both too. Have
fun.”

I finish the call and look at Ben who looks
reassuringly at me. “That was awkward,” I say raising my eyes,
“They don’t know yet which is probably a good thing. They say
ignorance is bliss, well I should know about that more than most.”
Ben comes over and pulls me against him. He strokes my hair and I
feel safe in his arms. I really don’t want this all to end. The
longer we can stay here the better, just us shutting the world out.
I know that it won’t be long before we leave and the thought fills
me with dread. I pull away and say, “Just one more and then I’m
done.”

I once again pick up the phone and call
Phoebe. “Bella, hi, where are you?” she says as soon as she picks
up. “Hi Phoebs, Happy New Year,” I say giving myself time to think
of an answer. “Never mind all that, Nathan has been around looking
for you. He said that I was to call him the minute you came home or
phone to let him know where you are.”

I feel cross. How dare he ask Phoebe to tell
him anything. “Well Phoebs, did he tell you anything about what
happened?” I am curious to know what he would tell anyone. “No just
that you had an argument and had left him at the party. What’s
going on, are you alright?” I sigh wearily. “Yes, I’m fine. I just
had to get away for a bit. I won’t tell you where so that you can
be truthful if Nathan asks. I should be back tomorrow though and
will fill you in then.”

She sounds worried as she says, “You know
that I’m here for you B, whatever it is I’m on your side, just
remember that.” My eyes fill with tears again. She is so sweet, the
best friend a girl could have. “I know, I love you Phoebs. See you
tomorrow.” I hang up and Ben once again holds me close. “There, the
hard part is done. Now let’s forget about everything and just enjoy
the day.” I look at him and smile weakly. “I’m sorry Ben; I hope
that I’m not putting you out. I mean you probably have better
things to do than baby sit me.”

He looks at me with a pretend frown. “Bella,
nothing is more important to me than you. I will stay with you as
long as you need me to. The best thing about being your own Boss is
that nobody can tell you what to do. If I want a week off, I’ll
take it.” I sniff and then smile saying, “I hope that my boss is as
understanding.” He laughs and then grins. “I’m sure he is. After
all you must get some perks for looking after him so well.” Looking
up into his eyes I feel drawn into them. He bends down towards me
and kisses me softly on the lips. I lift up my hand and run my
fingers down his face. He catches them and kisses them one by one.
It feels so sensual and once again I feel desire run through
me.

He lifts me off my feet and carries me to the
bedroom. Lying me down on the bed he lies beside me running his
fingers down the front of my dressing gown. He unties it and pulls
me towards him, his hands behind me stroking my back. Then we make
love, slowly this time taking much longer, taking pleasure in each
others bodies and just taking time to explore each other fully. As
we lay entwined together afterwards I think of how happy I am at
this moment compared to how I should be feeling. It is as though my
break up with Nathan is irrelevant. I can’t believe that I have
become so emotionally detached from him in such a short time, and
realise that I must not have really loved him at all. In truth he
probably did me a favour as it has released me from a relationship
that would have been doomed in the end. I feel happy and
invigorated. I look at Ben and say happily, “Thank you Ben,” and
then I kiss him. He looks surprised and says, “For what?” “For
being here, for making me see that I will be ok and giving me the
strength to carry on. You were right about Nathan and as painful as
it felt at the time I have realised that it was wrong as I feel as
though a weight has lifted from my shoulders and I can face it all
now.” He smiles happily at me and I pull away and jump out of bed.
“Come on lazy bones, let’s go out and enjoy the day. Race you to
the shower.”

Chapter
18

Ben and I have had the most fantastic day. We
got ready and went for a long walk. We must have looked like any
young carefree couple in love and spent hours talking about our
lives, our past and our future. We never mentioned Nathan and
Melissa; it was as though they were gone from our lives forever. We
found a lovely pub and sat in the corner by a roaring fire and had
the most amazing meal and drank far too much wine.

We got back to the Lodge feeling very happy
and Ben lit the fire and I made us some drinks and we just sat
together in front of the fire kissing and cuddling and just
enjoying each others company.

As it gets later and night draws in Ben says,
“What about tomorrow Bella? Do you want to stay another day, or are
you feeling that you want to get back?” I wait for the feeling of
dread to come over me at the thought of returning but realise
happily that it has gone. “I really just want to stay here forever
Ben but no, I should get back and so should you. I have kept you
away from work which I know must be driving you mad. I mean you
haven’t even opened your laptop today and you must be feeling
desperate.” He laughs at me and strokes my hair. “I am only
desperate for you Bella. I can’t get enough of you. But now you
come to mention it maybe I should just take a peek at my e
mails.”

Looking at him I can see that he is joking
and I playfully punch him on the arm. “Well Ben, maybe I can give
you something else to peek at instead.” I pull him down onto the
floor in front of the fire and kiss him as passionately as he
kisses me. He groans and flips me onto my back and holding me down
firmly kisses me with urgency and passion.

Soon we are making hot passionate love on the
floor in front of the fire, the flames warming us and adding to the
intensity. I just can’t get enough of him and he brings out a side
to me that I never knew existed. I can cope with anything as long
as he is with me.

The next morning we decide reluctantly to
pack up and head home. We return the keys to the site office and
stand embracing each other by our relevant cars.

“
Will you be
alright driving home?” Ben says kissing me on the lips. I smile
happily. “I’ll be fine. I never mind driving and the solitude will
give me time to collect my thoughts.” He looks worried. “I’m sorry
Bella, I haven’t given you much time to think have I?” I shake my
head happily, “Yes you have Ben, thank you. You being here has
meant so much to me.” I kiss him gently on the lips and he responds
by crushing me to him and kissing me deeply. We finally break away
and he says huskily, “I will pick you up from your flat tomorrow
evening. Don’t go to work just spend the day relaxing and you and I
will spend the evening together.”

I smile at the way he just tells me what to
do, he hasn’t even asked me and I like the fact that he is taking
charge. It doesn’t matter as I only want to be with him anyway. I
nod and after one last kiss we go our separate ways.

As I drive home I think about what comes
next. I will have to see Nathan and resolve things with him. I stop
to grab a coffee at the next service station and decide to text him
on the number that he is using. I text saying that I will meet him
later at 6.30pm at his flat. Almost immediately he texts back
saying that he is glad that we are meeting up and will be waiting.
As I drive home I think about the situation. It is not going to be
easy seeing him and I am not looking forward to it.

Once I get home I unpack and I see my little
canvas picture on the side and smile to myself. It’s funny how life
works out. This should be my darkest hour but instead it feels my
brightest. Feeling quite upbeat I tidy around and anything that I
find of Nathan’s I put to one side. I have decided to take it all
back with me later and I hope that my feelings don’t change when I
see him.

I do feel a wrench when I put his engagement
ring back into the box ready to return to him. We had been so happy
that day. Our lives were mapped out for us and we were so in love.
Tears come into my eyes at the memory and a feeling of regret comes
over me. This all started when Ben came back into my life. If he
hadn’t we would be ok and planning our wedding. Nothing prepared me
for the feelings that I obviously still had for him when I saw him
again. Something inside me changed that day and whatever Nathan did
was not that different from my feelings of betrayal. Just that I
hadn’t acted on them didn’t mean that I was blameless. I can’t be
too hard on him, after all everything happens for a reason and
perhaps his affair was a blessing in disguise.

I head off to his flat armed with all of his
things. It feels so final and I hope that we can part as friends.
After all we still have to work in the same place and it could be
really awkward. I reach his flat and carry the box of his
belongings up the stairs with me. As I knock on the door I have
butterflies floating around in my stomach and I feel extremely
nervous.