Betraying Benjamin Read online

  “No, I like the sound of that, but only if Andre’s at the other end. I love watching him fuck you.”

  One of the waiters passed by our table and I sat up abruptly and took a sip of my iced tea. My mind raced with the visuals that statement evoked. Now I really wanted him to make me come.

  I nearly choked on my drink when he pushed the elastic aside and sank his fingers into me. It was an effort to look natural after that point, so I just braced both elbows on the table and leaned my forehead on my palms. Maybe anyone who saw would think I was crying and Ben was just comforting me.

  His fingertips slid out of me and stroked up and down the length of my slit, finally stopping at the apex and swirling around and around in tight circles. I did cry a little, as a matter of fact, the pleasure of his touch against my clit was so exquisite.

  “Oh, God,” I breathed, forcing myself to hold still, even though I really wanted to shift my hips to meet the thrust of his fingers when they dipped down and slid back inside me. The thrill of even that little bit of pressure made me squirm in my seat.

  “Shhh,” he said, dabbing at my cheek with a napkin. “It’ll be all right, sis. You’ll feel better in a minute, just take a deep breath.”

  I was already too far gone to smack him for being such an irritatingly cocky jerk, and he seemed to realize it because he sank his fingers in even farther and hooked them to massage that deep part of me that always made me writhe like a crazed woman.

  Tears streamed down my face now with the effort of suppressing my reactions to his touch. I let out an inadvertent soft cry and clenched my thighs tight around his hand when he sent me over the edge, holding him trapped there while my orgasm rippled through me. I’d normally have yelled out his or Andre’s name, but all I could do was pant and whimper as the spasms clenched at my core, sending waves of tingling pleasure through my entire body. When he finally pulled away, I was a limp mess and needed a tissue for more than one reason.

  Linette and the waiter both chose that moment to reappear. Ben just leaned back in his chair, smug, and gave me a gentle pat on the shoulder.

  “Thank you,” I whispered. “Jerk.” I caught a glimmer of a gratified smile breaking through that asshole façade he liked to wear. Christ, I loved the guy.

  At the end of breakfast my mood had descended beyond the point of salvaging. Linette had me against a wall with her plans and threats.

  “What the fuck did I ever do to her?” I grumbled to Ben later. We’d left the restaurant on foot - I’d refused to get back in the car with that woman after she’d handed me the paperwork confirming my academic credit transfer for the internship - and found ourselves at an open-air shopping mall staring at movie show times.

  I truly felt like crying but Ben’s hand on my back helped me keep the welling emotions at bay.

  “And what about Andre? Jesus, I can’t believe I have to leave in two days!”

  “Andre and I will survive,” Ben said. “We’ll see you at Christmas and maybe find time to come visit, too. It isn’t the end of the world, Kat.”

  I nodded and let him lead me into the theater.

  Chapter 4

  If anyone had told me a year ago that I’d be in love with two men who were in love with me as well as each other, I’d have laughed. I didn’t realize until I was with Ben and Andre how isolated I’d made myself since high school. I’d had few friends during those years, and lost touch with them after graduation. I couldn’t call any of my college roommates ‘friends’. Even though the girls I’d lived with tried to include me, I had never really been the girly-girl type and didn’t quite understand their incessant need for beauty products, fancy clothes, and validation.

  Of course if any psychologist dug into my brain, they’d probably tell me I craved attention as much as those girls did, but I sought it out by distancing myself from the mainstream. I wore a lot of black, got tattoos, and fucked a lot of guys, but the most important thing to me was making my classmates kiss my ass by skewing the bell curve. I impressed my professors, but only managed to alienate most of the other students, except for a few of the dimmer bulbs at the opposite end of the curve who were cute and cocky enough to approach me for “tutoring”. Dumb guys are so easy to boss around, especially in bed.

  Neither Ben nor Andre were dumb, though. Andre had just graduated with honors from the same program I was about to complete the following semester, in spite of his grueling practice schedule. Ben was near the top of his class for pre-law. I’d wondered why I had never run into Andre if he was only a year ahead of me, but I guess star athletes got special treatment. He’d been largely following an independent study track for his last two semesters to work around his game schedule. The man was a machine, which I discovered soon after moving in with him. His level of self discipline astounded me. I think it had a lot to do with the driving need to make his dead father proud by following in his footsteps, but he always managed to find time for me and Ben, too.

  So it was a little disconcerting when Ben and I made it home at the end of the day after hours of Ben attempting to cheer me up, and found Andre sitting on the private back balcony, guzzling beer and looking broody. If a man with such a positive outlook and relentless drive as him was sitting there like a lump, then something serious had happened. It made my own little personal drama seem insignificant, even though I still had no idea what was up with him.

  Ben and I shared a look, our eyebrows raised in wonder. I kicked off my shoes and slipped through the door to the balcony, padding over to where Andre sat on the comfortable wicker patio sofa, hunched over what looked like his third beer of the evening.

  Without saying anything, I stopped in front of him and brushed my hand down the back of his bent head, pausing to squeeze his neck in what I hoped was a comforting gesture. Andre set his bottle down and wrapped both massive arms around my hips, burying his face in my belly. He was shirtless and still carried remnants of his sweet, musky aroma laced with fresh grass that he always had after a long day of practice in spite of having showered.

  He sighed and squeezed me tighter. As he leaned back he pulled me with him. I relaxed, folding myself against his strong chest, my backside coming to rest in his lap.

  “You wanna talk about it?” I said softly.

  Andre just gazed up at me, his soft blue eyes filled with emotions I couldn’t even fathom. They were a strange, pale blue I found beautiful and that never ceased to surprise me when he looked at me. He’d had Anglo-Saxon blood on both sides and had somehow ended up with that one recessive gene in spite of a whole slew of contradictory features, not the least of which was the rich, chocolate brown of his skin.

  “I love you, Kitty Kat,” he said, with such intensity my pulse ratcheted up a few notches. Then he pulled me tighter and kissed me tenderly, his smooth, soft lips embracing my own in their warmth.

  Ben had disappeared briefly and now returned, clearing his throat behind us. The kiss had dazed me but I managed to accept the fresh beer he offered before he sat down on the sofa next to Andre.

  Andre took both our beers and set them down on the coffee table amid his empties. He reached up to grip the back of Ben’s head and pulled my brother into a kiss every bit as slow and sensual as the one he’d just given me. Ben responded with ardor, leaning into Andre. A low moan rumbled deep inside him. When he leaned back again, he looked about as dazed as I felt.

  “Andre, you’re scaring me,” I said. “What the hell is going on?”

  “I think I’m leaving,” he said. He immediately held up a hand to keep us from spouting the objections and questions Ben and I both had. “Shh. Let me talk. It’s not decided one hundred percent yet. Maybe ninety percent.”

  “Why?” Ben asked, his jaw clenching. He’d been with Andre longer so no doubt he was feeling some harsh feelings right now. If he had the same heavy stone in his belly that I did, I wasn’t surprised by his reaction.

  “I told you this could happen. My agent brought me an offer from a pro team today. The offer.�
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  “So these beers are you celebrating … alone … I take it?” I said with a hint of sarcasm.

  “You have to say yes,” Ben said, though his tone lacked conviction.

  “No, I don’t have to do anything. I told the guy I’d sleep on it, but I really just needed to know how you two felt. I have until the morning to give him my answer. If it’s yes, then I fly out tomorrow afternoon.”

  “Of all the days, it had to happen today?” I said. I had to force myself not to think about the ultimatum Linette had thrown at me at the end of breakfast. Kat, you’ll take this internship and be grateful, or I’ll tell your father you’re whoring yourself out to that foul-mouthed black roommate of yours. I’d retorted that she didn’t know the half of it, but her threat had sunk in. Linette was a master at twisting the truth and Dad had a bad habit of believing everything she said. Now that Andre was dropping another bomb, all the frustration and despair I’d been holding at bay since the morning threatened to escape.

  Ben had done his best to try to cheer me up after breakfast. He’d snuck us both into a horror movie, which we sat through twice until my blood rage finally subsided thanks to the vicarious thrills I was watching on the screen. He’d offered to go down on me in the darkened theater but for once I just wasn’t interested in sex.

  I ruthlessly swiped at the tears spilling from my eyelids, irritated at the realization that my lower lip was quivering.

  “Hey, hey. Kat, it’s not forever,” Andre said. He clasped both hands around my jaw and forced me to look at him. “If I say yes, it’ll just be a plane ride. You can come visit. This isn’t over, it’s just … on hold until we can figure out a new arrangement.”

  I shook my head but couldn’t speak over the knot that had formed in my throat. When I tried, it just came out as a moan of despair.

  “It isn’t you,” Ben finally offered by way of explanation. “Mom decided to fuck with Kat’s life today. She has to take an internship across the country starting Monday. There’s really no way for her to get out of it, either. My bitch of a mother made sure of that.”

  Andre scowled. “Don’t talk about your mother that way. I don’t care how evil the woman is, she’s still your mother.”

  “She isn’t my fucking mother, the bitch,” I gritted out, but the words broke through the knot and the flood of tears and sobs followed in earnest. I buried my head against Andre’s bare shoulder. “I’m losing both of you. And Ben! Ben is, too. We’re all going to be alone!”

  The weight of that realization hit me like a ton of bricks and I fell apart completely in Andre’s arms. He held me tighter while I cried, his large, warm hands rubbing in comforting circles against my back. Ben scooted closer, lending his own comfort with a gentle squeeze of my thigh. The closeness of them now only served to remind me of what I would be missing in only a few days, and I cried harder.

  “We’ll get through this Kat,” Ben said in a quiet, determined tone. “I won’t let Mom’s schemes get between us, I promise.”

  “H-how?” I asked, turning my head to peer at him through tear-hazed eyes. I clutched at Andre’s shoulders, afraid to let him go now. I knew Ben was right—Andre shouldn’t turn down the offer, even for us. But the thought of saying goodbye, even if it was temporary, tormented me.

  “I don’t know yet, but I’ll figure it out. I’m sorry, Kat.” He gripped my calves with both hands and lifted them onto his lap so he could move even closer to me and Andre. His hands remained on my lower legs, massaging gently. His face was lined with tension that I realized was his own despair, held in check. We’d have had each other’s company with Andre gone, but Linette had managed to ruin that entirely by sending me away, too.

  I sniffled against Andre’s chest. “It isn’t your fault, Ben. I just wish I knew why she’s had it out for me my whole life.” I sniffled again, irritated by my weak reaction, but the events had been too overwhelming for me to emotionally navigate. I’d never been in love before, even with one man. And here I was about to lose the two who meant the most to me. Tears threatened to burst forth again.

  Seeing the waterworks start to spout from my eyes, Ben swiftly pulled off his t-shirt and dabbed at my eyes with it, then my already runny nose. His uncharacteristically chivalrous gesture made me gape at him for a moment.

  Ben shrugged at my expression. “Hey, I love you, too. I always hate seeing you cry, you know.”

  Andre’s chest vibrated beneath my ear with a soft laugh. “I didn’t think you knew how to cry, Kitty Kat. This is a new one on me.”

  I looked up at him. “Well get a good look, wise ass. This might be the only time you see me at my worst.”

  Andre took the wad of soft cotton from Ben and held it to my nose. “Blow, baby.”

  For a second I was sure “baby” was meant as an insult rather than a term of endearment. I was definitely acting like a baby, but I complied anyway.

  Finally mostly dry-eyed and less congested, I glanced at them both. “Better?”

  Andre raised a hand and nudged my chin up. He looked at me critically and I could tell from the creases bracketing his mouth that he was making a huge effort to lighten the mood in spite of his own feelings. He nodded once. “Much better,” he said, then lowered his mouth to mine.

  Chapter 5

  My lips tingled under the pressure of his, as if they’d been numbed from my crying and his touch awoke every nerve beneath the surface of my skin. I let out a small moan and relaxed into him, grateful for the contact that helped me forget the ordeal of the day. Emboldened by my reaction, he darted his tongue out, sweeping it between my lips. God, I wanted even more of him—as much as I could get, if this was going to be our last night together for who knew how long.

  I wrapped my arms around his neck and met his probing tongue with my own, allowing him access to my mouth and reveling in the sudden penetration of his tongue between my lips.

  I’d lost track of Ben for a moment, the comforting warmth of his hands on my ankles all but forgotten in the midst of Andre’s kiss. Ben’s hands began moving again, sliding slowly up and down my bare shins and calves. The touch that had been merely a comfort a moment ago became more. With each slow stroke he moved his palms higher, sliding up over my knees and then trailing fingertips back down inside my legs with a warm, delicate touch, pushing them apart little by little.

  Too absorbed in letting Andre have his way with my mouth, I let Ben do what he would with my lower half. His hands kept sliding higher with each pass, and each time the temperature between my legs grew incrementally hotter.

  Andre’s body reacted to our kiss with as much apparent desire, the hard, thick rod of his cock pressing against my hip. His hips tilted against my backside and he moaned roughly into my mouth, his lips seeming to lose their grip suddenly. He let his mouth drift across my jaw, trailing urgent kisses as he moved lower. I sighed and tilted my head against his shoulder, letting the soft sweep of his lips on my skin send me into the blissful state I so needed. He paused at my neck to nibble at the sensitive spot beneath my ear before moving on to my collar bone. The man knew just how to distract me from my thoughts. Nothing was left in my mind but pure, raw need for him and for Ben.

  I tilted my head to lean against Andre’s shoulder, choosing to remain pliant under their combined touch. My emotions were still raw, but becoming less and less prominent compared to the craving I had for their touch.

  With his mouth still teasing kisses over my shoulders, Andre slid a hand up my side and cupped one breast. “Christ, I’m going to miss you,” he murmured, his touch abruptly growing more urgent. His fingertips tugged at the buttons of my dress, making quick, deft work of them. His hand slid inside beneath my bra, hot against the skin of my breast. He tweaked my nipple into a hard peak, the sharp contact sending a jolt of pleasure southward where it merged with the increasingly arousing sensations of Ben’s hands caressing up and down my inner thighs.

  Ben shoved my skirt higher up my legs. He urged one leg to bend and pushed my k
nee wide before bending his head to press his lips against the sensitive skin he’d exposed. His wet tongue made a tickling trail farther up, ending with teasing flicks at the juncture of my hip. The heat between my thighs became a pulsing ember of pure need, urged to burning desire by Andre’s teasing touch at my breasts.

  Rough hands gripped my hips, fingers hooking into the elastic waist of my panties and tugging. I shifted just enough for Ben to divest me of my panties. Andre got to work on my other garments and soon enough I was gloriously naked in Andre’s arms with Ben wasting no time repositioning my legs so he could kneel between them.

  Ben’s tongue made one long, slow sweep of my sodden cleft, savoring me and letting out an ecstatic moan as he went. I was immersed in a variety of sensation when Andre dipped his head to capture one nipple between his lips, resuming his caresses of the other with his fingertips.

  Andre raised his head, his mouth finding mine again in the middle of my harsh gasps of pleasure. He kissed me roughly and pulled back with a smile.

  “You get to come first tonight, Kitty Kat,” he said. He threaded his long, dark fingers through Ben’s blond hair and pressed my brother harder against my pussy. Ben’s tongue sank deep into me in response to Andre’s push.

  “Damn straight,” I managed to gasp before Andre’s mouth covered mine again and his tongue invaded. I responded hungrily, clutching at his shoulders. God, how I loved kissing him. Everything about his mouth was delicious, from his full, soft lips to the wet velvet of his tongue sliding against mine. The contact kept me grounded while Ben’s tongue between my thighs threatened to send me rocketing into space. I wasn’t ready to leave them yet and desperately wanted to make this moment last, but they clearly had other ideas. Andre’s free hand slid back up to my breasts, his long fingers easily spanning my chest to tease at both nipples until they ached with tingling pleasure. Soon enough I lost control, Ben’s relentless tonguing and finger-fucking of my pussy driving me beyond the edge of pleasure.