Lessons in Love

Chapter 26: A Night Together

POV: Riley Campbell

I’d gone for tea with Claire and Ben twice this week. Claire was actually quite helpful with ideas for the kid’s program, and I asked if she might be interested in supporting as a teaching assistant. Both she and Ben had loved the idea and were working out how to get George to agree. Ben and I had reached a new level with the bond. Neither of us could sleep at night without the other’s scent. I roasted apples, but the scent wasn’t right once they cooled off. Ben had had to bring me one of his shirts to sleep with. He had four jasmine plants that he stationed in his office, as well as his bedroom, living room, and kitchen for when he was at home.

We texted every day, and Ben used the school clean up as an excuse to see me, but we found ourselves getting possessive of one another. It was a problem. Ben had growled at Sam earlier in the day for pulling a splinter out of my finger. Ben was mortified and apologized profusely, but I honestly felt the same. I had been standing outside the school and saw him talking with another woman near the training field. It hadn’t bothered me until she’d swatted his arm playfully. I had let my guard down, flooding him with the jealousy I had felt and watched him practically jump out of his skin. I, too, had been mortified.

Things had gone from bad to worse for Rick and Ben. Ben had told me that the two of them were no longer permitted to meet with Marcus since all decisions had to go through George anyway. They had gone to see Marcus anyway, only to find guards they didn’t know stationed at the door. The door had gotten new locks, which meant their master keys for the packhouse no longer opened the suite door.

George had informed them that he wanted to invite some Alpha’s for meetings. While Rick and Ben had expected it to be the smaller packs that surrounded us, George had indicated he wanted to deal with the big three, Mount Selene, Ridgeline, and Flain River. All three of those packs had either denied aid or demanded a high price for it during the war. It made them nervous that George was up to something nefarious.

Sam and I had finished the clean-up and painting at the school, and the gym renovations would be completed before school started on Monday. We were all exhausted. I drew myself a hot bath and stepped into the steaming water. My muscles relaxed instantly, though I wasn’t sure if that was the water or the roasted apple sitting on the vanity.

I closed my eyes and breathed in the roasted apple. Ben had looked spectacular today, my mind wandered. He’d been wearing a blue shirt and carrying a crate of apples; just like in the picture I’d first seen of him. He’d brought the apples to my place for me since I was going through them so fast. I pictured him standing in front of the school holding the hydrangea. Yesterday he had brought a rose.

I pictured his sandy brown hair as he ran a nervous hand through it with a smile on his face. His blue eyes when they connected with mine, making me stop in my tracks and catch my breath. I wondered what his hands would feel like on my skin. I bet he had warm hands and a firm grip.

I brought my hand up and squeezed my breast, imagining that grip on me. My breaths started coming faster as I played with my n*****s; imagining my wet fingers were his warm tongue. I pinched them, picturing him bent over my chest sucking on them as I ran my fingers through his hair, and I moaned.

I let one hand slide down my body to my c**t, and I slowly started massaging myself. I arched my back with a moan, wishing it was his hand between my legs. I dipped a finger into myself, and my hips rolled, pushing my c**t against the palm of my hand.

“Ben,” I moaned his name. I added another finger and moaned his name again and again until my body shuddered. I started to pull my hand away, but I felt a hot flash of arousal, begging me to go further, begging me to continue. I started touching myself again, moaning and calling Ben’s name. I stopped abruptly before coming again and sat up in the bathtub. I wasn’t alone. I felt Ben and his own arousal through the bond. He’d felt everything I’d just done.

POV: Beta Ben Westlake

I took the jasmine plant from the bedside table and brought it to the bathroom with me. It had been such a long day, and all I wanted was to be with Riley, listening to her stories and laughing at her jokes. I settled for the plant as I stripped down and got into the shower. The water poured over my stiff muscles, and I sighed at the pleasure of it.

I closed my eyes and saw Riley at the ring toss celebrating her victory with that incredible smile of hers. I saw her golden-brown eyes gleaming with laughter at the school yesterday morning and how her cheeks had been flushed all week from the manual labor. I was instantly hard. I started to stroke myself.

Masturbating was pleasurable, but tonight, it was as if someone else’s hand was on me. I braced myself against the wall of the shower, panting and moaning when I felt a sudden burst of pleasure wash through me. My hand tightened around my c**k, stroking myself faster, but I knew that burst of pleasure hadn’t been entirely my own. Riley was touching herself, I realized, and I was feeling her.

My hips were moving on their own, my heart was racing as she orgasmed. I was so close, I growled her name, pushing my pleasure back at her, begging her to continue. I was close when suddenly, I couldn’t feel her anymore.

“No, no, no,” I pumped harder, but I was already getting soft. “Traitor.” I glared down at myself. I washed up and got out feeling more frustrated than when I had gotten in. I wanted to feel her like that again but knew the minute I had opened myself back to her, she’d cut herself off. My chest hurt at the thought. Maybe she hadn’t been thinking about me after all. My phone dinged immediately, and I picked it up to find a message from Riley.

‘Whatever you’re think right now hurts. What is it?’

‘Why did you stop?’ I wrote back.

‘Because you’d felt it.’ She replied.

I couldn’t stop my insecurities at that point. ‘Who were you thinking about?’

‘Is that what this is about?’

‘Maybe.’

‘I was thinking about you, which is probably why I wasn’t able to contain my emotions properly.’ I could see the dancing dots at the bottom of the chat and knew she was writing more. I took a deep breath and called her. It rang twice before she answered.

“If you were thinking about me, why did you stop?” I asked instead of saying hello back.

“It … I don’t know, it just felt too personal to share. We shouldn’t be doing this, we don’t know …”

“Riley, we’re not even touching each other. We’re just doing our own thing without guarding our emotions.” I said.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“No, but I’ll be honest with you, I really want you and if this helps us keep our hands off each other, then we should probably do it.” I replied as honestly as I could.

“Fine, but I’m not doing this over the phone.” She hung up on me. I lay down on the bed, laughing at her until I felt the low hum of s****l pleasure coming through the bond. I wrapped my hand around my c**k and join her.