Love at your service

Chapter 10

It was the strangest thing. Ben had no idea how he ended up here, sitting in his car across the street from Saturn Drive, no. 1159. Jess’ apartment. He saw that the lights were on, so she must be home. What was he doing here anyway? As soon as Todd had left his hotelroom this afternoon, Ben had gone and taken a shower. He had changed into a pair of comfortable jeans, the oldest he posessed, a grey tshirt and his favourite baseball jacket. Without even thinking about it, he had ran his hands through his wet hair, grabbed the keys to his rental car from the dresser and he had left his hotel room. He headed straight for the underground carpark and without another thought had driven to Saturn Drive. He had quickly looked up her address this afternoon, after he had found out that ms. Van Zant was actually Jess, his Jess. Ever since he had seen her again in the meeting this very morning he couldn’t put her out of his head. She had looked wonderful, beautiful smile, rosy cheeks, maybe a bit thinner than he remembered her, and ever so professional. The memory of Faith Donohoe had immediately reared its ugly head....

God, she was everything he wanted in a woman, her looks, intelligence, sense of humor, her drive. But he also recalled vividly how he had made himself a promise never to fall in love again. Faith had done a trick on him, indeed. He had loved her, or so he thought at least. In hindsight, Ben was actually pretty sure that what had hurt him the most was the fact that she had lied to him, had used him, had cheated on him. All the while he had been totally committed to their relationship. Yeah, they had had their ups and downs, probably more downs than he had wished for. But still, she was the woman he was going to marry, and in all of his naivete he had thought that everything would work out in the end. That they would survive whatever hurdles life threw them. He had been so wrong. At the very first obstacle, Faith had turned to his manager for comfort. Whether just physical or emotional he had no idea. All he knew in the end, was that he didn’t want to go through the pain again, the pain of deceipt and humiliation. Of losing someone you cared for.

He had survived though and had since never been with a woman for more than a couple of dates. All harmless flirting, some pretty good sex and no strings. Perfect, or so he had thought. Then how was it possible that he found himself sitting in his rental car outside of Jess’ apartment, away from work and after they had decided never to see each other again. He was inexplicably drawn to her. She filled his dreams, hell even his days, when he was supposed to be hard at work. He found himself constantly distracted, thinking about their night together, reliving every glorious moment of it... Did he dare think that maybe he had fallen in love again? Todd’s words had taken the edge of his resentment towards Jess. Maybe she was different, maybe she wasn’t. Was it worth the risk, was SHE worth the risk? When Ben slowly but surely got out of his car, locked it after himself and crossed the street to ring her doorbell, he guessed he had his answer. He couldn’t have left even if he wanted to.

Jess was just put the chicken on the grill when her doorbell rang. She was surprised, since she wasn’t used to many visitors, especially since she had only been in Vegas for about 4 months. She quickly dried off her hands and went to open the door. When she checked the peephole, she held her breath. Her heart started pounding a mile a minute. It was Ben, looking around uncomfortably, almost looking like he was about to flee. Well, she couldn’t very well let that happen now could she? Jess quickly opened the door.

At the same time, Ben was about ready to leave. All of the negative thoughts had rushed back to him in the minute that he stood outside her door, waiting for her to answer it. When they had kissed this afternoon, Ben had felt like he had come home. But she was just like all the other women! She had used him to get what she wanted and he was furious that he had fallen for her. He deserved an explanation, if not even an apology. And maybe he would even fire her after all!

As soon as she opened the door to him, he knew that it had been a big mistake coming here. She was wearing a baby blue t-shirt that was tight around her bosom and a pair of white linen trousers that fell smoothly from her hips. The t-shirt was short and when she moved Ben could see the soft creamy skin of her belly. And then her hair... it fell down in nonchalant curls, like honey. Cascades of honey.. She looked too good to be true and more like an innocent virgin than a treacherous vamp. But she had fooled him once before.

Jess\' eyes opened wide at the almost feral look in his eyes and she was about to slam the door on him, but he managed to work his way into her apartment.

\"Mr. Carter, I don\'t remember inviting you!\"

\"That\'s just me Jess, I always turn up uninvited. You didn\'t seem to mind though the last time!\"

\"If you have come to insult me, than you might as well leave, because I don\'t care\".

She walked over to the kitchen, where she had been cooking. All of a sudden the smell of the grilled chicken upset her stomach and she turned from the stove to get herself a glass of water. She took deep breaths to settle her stomach.

Now that he was up close to her again, Ben noticed that she had changed from when they had first met. Her face was pale, like earlier today in the lobby, and her eyes seemed even larger in her face. She also lost some weight and now she looked sick. While taking in her appearance, he felt the anger once again leave his body, to be replaced with an almost overwhelming need to take care of her, protect her.

\"Jess, are you all right?\".

She was surprised at his concern. She hadn\'t been feeling too good lately, as was proven this afternoon when she lost her lunch after their fall-out.

\"It\'s nothing. I guess I am just feeling a little stressed\".

\"Hum, Todd told me that you are working too hard, doing double shifts and coming in on your days off. What are you trying to do? Kill yourself?\".

\"I didn\'t think you would care!”

She regretted saying that immediately. Ben had seemed genuinely concerned about her health. The words he had spoken were almost harsh, but he spoke them in such soft tones, that Jess couldn’t really be upset by them.

\"I am sorry. I don\'t know why I am such a bitch to you\".

Then Ben surprised her again by taking her in his arms and caressing her hair, neck and shoulders with his hands. With the tender touch of his hands on her, she could feel the bout of nausea subsiding and she was grateful for it. Imagine emptying her stomach in front of him, it would be too embarrassing a scene!

\"Don\'t worry about it, I can take it\".

To her own horror, Jess felt tears rolling down her face. She was so emotional lately!

Ben noticed her crying and lifted her head with his fingers. It felt as if her tears literally fell down on his heart, melting the anger he felt towards her. A force stronger than his own will drew him to kiss her again, softly this time, at the same time drawing her body against him. She immediately opened her mouth to let his tongue in. Her tear-filled eyes looked up to him as if asking him for support. Soft moans came from her lips and he could feel her nipples harden, turning him on even more.

\"Jess, what are you doing to me!\"
He was mumbling into her hair, smelling that intoxicating combination of Jess and lavender.

\"I don\'t know, but I do know that I want you!\" The words came out in a voice unknown to herself, gravelly and throaty. She looked shocked at her own audacity and blushed deeply.

Ben\'s breathing became more difficult. The impact of her words had an immediate effect on him and more visually, his lower body.

\"Where\'s your bedroom?\"

She pointed to the left and he almost dragged her with him, their mouths locked. On the way she managed to turn off the stove, all the while still returning his kisses. In her room he tore her t-shirt and bra off her and put his face between her breasts, smelling her again. Jess answered by removing his belt and pants, running her fingers over his muscular chest and down. His body was absolutely gorgeous and she wondered how she had been able to exist without him. While looking at him, she lowered her hand into his shorts. He was rigid and when she enclosed him with her hand, he started to tremble. She could feel the quiver in his abdomen.

Encouraged by the effects that she obviously had on him, Jess lowered herself onto her knees and took off his shorts. When Ben realized what she was about to do, he put his hands on her shoulders.

\"Jess, you don\'t have to..\"

\"But I want to Ben, I want to taste you\'\"

As she took him into his mouth and slowly started to move her tongue around him, tasting him, Ben closed his eyes and thought he was about to die of pleasure. She circled her tongue around him and teased him with soft little bites, then blew on his erection, causing him to buck forward.

Ben felt his orgasm building up and knew that it wouldn\'t take much longer. He pulled Jess up and kissed her full on the lips. She quickly took off her pants and pulled him on the bed. Ben settled himself between her legs, touching her with his fingers to make sure that she was ready for him. She was wet, moving herself against him. He lowered himself onto her, moving a little inside her. He wanted her to enjoy it as much as he did, but she obivously thought otherwise and laid her hands on his buttocks, drawing him further in. No slow pace for Jess. She wanted nothing more than to feel him inside of her, filling her up.

They started to move faster, looking in each other\'s eyes and their hands all over each other. To her surprise, Jess came first and she screamed out his name. Her screams and his name on her lips as well as the feeling of her walls crashing down on him, drew him across the line as he exploded into her.

When they lay in each other\'s arms, relaxing and dozed from lovemaking, Ben wondered what to think of Jess. She was such an extra-ordinary combination of girl and woman. At times she was very shy and innocent, but then when they were making love she gave it all she got. Not withholding anything. It had touched him deeply, how she had wanted to please him more than anything. Jess touched something deep inside of him and he didn\'t know how to deal with that.

He would hate it if he never saw her again, but on the other hand was he ready to settle down with any one? And then there was the matter of their incidental meeting and Jess working for him? Could he believe her? He sure hoped that she was telling the truth, because he would hate to say goodbye again.

Jess looked up at Ben\'s sweet face. God, how she loved him! There was no denying it any longer. Actually, she had known from the start, when Rita had quizzed her about her visit to Las Vegas. But how could she love a man who didn\'t trust her? She had learned the hard way with Jason once before! Besides Ben had made it very clear that he wasn\'t interested in a long-term relationship. Yet here he was, in her apartment in her bed! Why had he come to see her? Was he really that upset about seeing her again and finding out that she was working for him? Or was there more to it?

\"Ben, what are you thinking of? You look miles away.\"

He smiled at her, kissing her on the tip of her nose.

\"I was actually. I was wondering about how we met and where to go from here. I really do like you, Jess\".

Jess blushed and again she felt tears filling her eyes. She swallowed hard to get rid of them.

“Th, That’s good right? You like me, I like you?”

“Yeah, that’s good. Liking is good. I am not sure if I am ready to delve into anything deeper than that though, are you okay with that?”

Ben held his breath as he waited for Jess’ response. When she slowly raised herself up on her elbows and looked him straight in his eyes, he ssw nothing but acceptance, desire, lust and maybe, maybe something more in her lovely green eyes?

“I can do that, we can just take it one step at a time, no strings, no boundaries and let’s just see where it will take us”.

When Ben had spoken his words, he had sounded so vulnerable, that Jess realized instantly that if she wanted this “thing” between them to work, meant that she would need to give him space and time and lots of both! She was willing to try that thought because in the 3 times that she had seen him, been with him, kissed him, she had felt more alive, more cherished than ever before in her entire life. And Jordan Jess van Zant had no intention what so ever to give up on that, not if she could help it!

Ben seemed satisfied with her answer and pulled her in his arms to roll her over on her back, him lying on top of her. Then he started to kiss her in her neck, below her ear and she sighed deeply. His mouth left a trace of kisses from her collarbone, to her breasts and then her bellybutton. The last thing that Jess could think of was that this was going to be a glorious night and that maybe she would start her shift a little bit later than usual tomorrow....