Under the Orange Moon (12 page)

Dylan looked at Ben and smiled. She slowly shook her head back and forth. No answer had ever been more obvious.

Ben nodded bashfully. “Right.”

Dylan stared at him and silently willed him to move toward her. She needed his control tonight on the mere principal alone that she was clueless on how to begin.

“Did Olerson give you any problems about leaving?”

“No. I think he was actually happy to see me leave for once.” Dylan didn’t laugh this time. She felt so much guilt when she pictured Michael.

“He did look a bit grim when I saw him.” Ben smiled. “You must have told him not to kiss you again?”

“Pretty much.”

“Good. Did he ask why?” 

“He knew why,” Dylan answered. She searched for his reaction in his expression. She looked at his mouth and waited for his arrogant grin that didn’t come.

“Tell me.” He smiled at her, his face shadowed over with nothing but contentment. 

Dylan decided against being bold, despite his luring face. “Why do you think?”

Ben leaned forward slowly—painfully slow. He pulled her hand into his and held it as he pulled her closer to him. He kissed her cheek as he set his hand on her thigh. He moved his mouth to her ear, sending so many sensations shooting through her body it was hard to keep up with them all.

He pulled back, and urged, “Tell me why, Dylan.”

She paused; the feeling of his breath on her lips was more than she could stand. She wanted him to put his hands all over her and she was anxious now, knowing he wanted the same.

She refused to close her eyes. “Because,” she began. She felt his tender hands sliding up her back, beneath her shirt, as she whispered, “I only want to kiss you.”

Ben needed that invitation. He was overjoyed at even the thought that his lips would finally be on Dylan’s. He wasn’t sure which part he was more excited about. Out of all the times he’d contemplated this kiss, this moment, he couldn’t have imagined it being so perfect.

He touched her soft, silky skin and almost shivered. He realized he had never allowed himself to truly enjoy the feeling of her before. He never felt completely free until now.

Ben’s lips slowly moved from her neck to her mouth. He felt the warm, smoothness of her two lips and knew that everything he had always felt for her was finally crashing together. As his tongue glided over hers, he tasted pure joy, desperately needing to go on, but knowing he needed to savor every ounce of the moment.

Dylan sighed sweetly against his mouth, sending a hint of her fresh breath into his lips, and placed her unsteady fingers on his cheeks.

Ben’s hands moved along her back and around to her front. He slowly lifted her shirt up over her head and pulled her even closer against him. He searched her eyes and smiled when he realized that she was breathing in heavy gasps.

“Shhh,” he said, as he leaned and whispered into her ear.

“I’m so nervous, Ben,” Dylan admitted into his shoulder.

Ben leaned back and brushed her cheek with his fingers. “Me too,” he said with a small laughter.

“Really? You don’t seem nervous.”

“I am,” he divulged with a small nod. “I don’t remember ever being this nervous in my life, actually.”

“Good,” Dylan said with a sigh.

Bravely, she removed his shirt and closed that final gap between their bare skins. Her fingers grazed over his back as she took him all in and began to find her control. It was almost too much for Ben to take as he kissed the soft curve of her shoulder and skimmed his hand over her breast.

The intimacy between them seemed to link them into one now, something he had never experienced with anyone before this moment with her.

He gently pushed her back against the sheets and pillows beneath her, removing her pants at the same time. He watched her lovely body move and realized it was all his, and it always had been.

Dylan wasted not another second to remove the rest of Ben’s clothing. He would forever be hers as well.

“There’s no going back after this,” Ben whispered almost breathlessly. “Are you sure?”

Dylan eagerly pulled him to her. “I don’t even want to look back,” she answered with an out-of-breath tone to match his.

His lips moved from her shoulder to her chest. She wrapped her fingers around his neck and inhaled deeply, exhaling through a moan into the air above them. He kissed every inch of her, taking his time with every movement.

He slowly moved into her, a feeling he could not even begin to describe. His eyes connected with hers. He watched as she bit her lip and raised her chin. She looked bashful, but blissful. She belonged to him in every way then. They beamed at one another, a genuine, teeth-showing smile that neither could avoid making.

This was his first time making love. He’s had an abundance of sex with plenty of insignificant girls, girls whose names he could never even care to remember. This was the first time that it mattered
—the first time he felt pure elation.

He wrapped his hands up into her hair and kissed the end of her nose, her jaw, her ear. It didn’t matter where his lips landed, as long as they were touching some part of her. He pressed his forehead to hers as he sighed and caressed her face.

As he moved deeper, he allowed himself to let go. He let his mouth say things that he would never say to anyone, but this wasn’t just anyone and she never had been as nonexistent as he liked to pretend. She was his everything, finally taking her rightful place in his arms.

He whispered, “I never knew it would feel like this.”

“I did,” she whispered back with such certainty it was almost too much for him to take.

He pressed his mouth back to hers and made love to her in the sweetest of ways. He slowly gave every ounce of himself to her and knew that she was doing the same for him. It was all that he wanted, and he couldn’t have imagined it to be more.

Dylan couldn’t sleep. She refused to miss any part of the moment she found herself in. She lay on her side just staring into Ben’s beautiful eyes. She seriously considered a life inside the walls of Ben’s room. She would never leave if allowed to stay forever.

Ben held her hand as it rested on the sheets. His thumb rubbed against hers, a small movement that still left a lingering presence of gratification. Her legs intertwined with his beneath the blankets and their naked bodies were as close as could be. There was so much heat in that bed. They both feared losing even a fraction of it if they were to move apart.

Ben flashed his rare, peaceful smile. “What are you thinking about?” he asked gently.

Dylan smiled and touched his cheek, something that would have been too intimate for him before. She sighed as she thought long and hard. “Happiness,” she finally answered.

“I don’t believe I knew what that was until just now,” he admitted, a surprise to them both.

“Thank you for not flaking,” she whispered. 

Ben sighed. He ran his hand through her hair and down along her soft cheek, sending chills down her spine. He pulled her face to his and kissed her passionately. He moved his body closer and wrapped his arm over her hip.

She was confident, safe, and enthralled with every movement he made. Dylan moved onto her back and pulled him above her. She loved that he gave her that control. She enjoyed pulling him to her, the warmth of his skin and the feeling she had beneath him.

They made love again and, just like the time before, Ben’s eyes looked deeply into Dylan’s. She wasn’t sure what she enjoyed more, the love in his stare or the sensations from his touch. Either way, she couldn’t imagine it ever coming to an end.

“Stay with me,” Ben pleaded. He pressed Dylan against her car, almost forbidding her from opening the door. “You don’t have to leave.”

Dylan sighed. “You know I don’t want to, but I have to. I promised Meredith.”

“Meredith will understand.”

“No, I assure you, she won’t.” Dylan giggled into his chest, a sound that he knew he would only enjoy if she were the one to make it.

“The homeless don’t need you. I need you,” he said, kissing over and over again on every part of exposed skin he could find on her.

“There’s that holiday spirit of yours,” Dylan teased. “Very festive.”

Ben kissed her cheek, her ear, her neck, even her eye. He groaned as he inhaled every scent of her and found satisfaction in the fact that he could also smell himself in her hair. 

“You’re making this extremely difficult, Ben,” Dylan almost scolded. “I promise I’ll see you later.”

“What am I going to do while you’re gone?”

“Go hang out with Jonah,” Dylan advised through a chuckle. “I’m sure my brothers are wondering where you’ve been.”

“I don’t know them, remember?” he teased. He was only half kidding, though. He would gladly give up all men named Mathews if it meant Dylan would come back up to his bed. She was the only Mathews he needed.

“Will you come to the light show tonight?” she asked, and kissed his nose. “Maybe your mom will come, too?”

Ben laughed. “No, she won’t.” He leaned in and kissed her mouth. “But I’ll be there. We can hide and hold hands again,” he said, and kissed her soft lips.

Dylan’s face beamed. “You do remember.”

He sighed again, ashamed that he had allowed her to go all these years unable to know how he really felt. “I remember everything,” he whispered.

They kissed once more and he grudgingly moved away, releasing her into the outside world, a place he hated more than anything because it now possessed Dylan. He watched her drive away and suddenly the emptiness consumed him.

It was a good time to find Jonah, like Dylan suggested.

One of the things that Charlie found so wonderful about Meredith was the good nature of her massive heart. She seemed to spread it everywhere she went, despite the fact that she came off rude at times and quite stuck on herself. No one would ever be surprised that her father was a wealthy man, president to a major appliance manufacturer with three locations in Phoenix, Detroit, and Chicago. As prissy and spoiled as she was, though, Meredith could be a selfless saint.

Usually, she pulled Dylan along with her, spreading good cheer and doing good deeds. Normally, Dylan found the act enlightening and good for the soul. Today, however, she only thought of one thing: Ben.

“Why are you glowing, sister?” Meredith asked, while scooping holiday dinner onto an open plate. “You look unusually happy.”

“I’m just in a good mood. Is that okay?” Dylan asked with a red face.

“No. I don’t buy that.” Meredith stared through inquisitive eyes. “Are you dating someone?”

“Why does everyone keep asking me that?” Dylan hissed.

“Because Charlie said you weren’t interested in Michael. I could’ve told him that, but you look like you’re giddy today.” She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes, before adding, “Too giddy. Were you with a man?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Dylan lied, and spooned up some mashed potatoes. “Why are you all so interested in my love life?”

“Because we want you to have one,” Meredith joked. “Although…I think you do have one and you’re keeping it a secret. I’m female and we tend to know these things, Dylan.”

“Well, if I am dating someone and I haven’t said anything yet, I will when I’m ready, okay?” Dylan loved her secret love affair, but with the family she had, she was well aware they would not just let her live peacefully in private.

“Charlie said Hugh told him that you didn’t sleep at home last night.” Meredith’s face was amused. “That means that you spent the night with someone.”

“I’m twenty-two years old. I’m allowed to spend the night out.” Dylan shook her head. “I need to get my own place.”

“Cambridge, Massachusetts is a nice place to live,” Meredith teased. “Will you be moving there?”

Dylan almost choked. She said nothing as she continued to spoon the potatoes onto each plate that passed by. She knew her face was red, but she tried to act oblivious, nonetheless.

“Uh-huh,” Meredith said with a satisfied grin. “Got ya.”

“I didn’t say anything,” Dylan shrieked. “You’re assuming things.”

“Charlie said Ben left early last night.” She paused to stare at Dylan. “I haven’t heard very good things about him when it comes to women. Are you sure you want to go down this path?”

“You don’t know him, Meredith.” Dylan always found it necessary to defend him, now more than ever. “Besides, you’re wrong.”

“I know your face is red and I know you both were nowhere to be found last night.” She shrugged. “Your brothers would never suspect but I’m new, so my eyes are a bit more open. You’re doing it with your brother’s best friend. Wow.”

The conversation ended between them, only because Dylan knew she was busted and there was no point in continuing. She also knew that Meredith would never say anything to Charlie. No matter what, she still was her most trusted friend.

The odds of them all letting this go were very slim to none, this Dylan knew well. She wasn’t too sure how much longer she would be able to get away from her brothers without their curiosity getting the better of them. It was only a matter of time before they began following her around.