Total pages in book: 15
Estimated words: 13680 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 68(@200wpm)___ 55(@250wpm)___ 46(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 13680 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 68(@200wpm)___ 55(@250wpm)___ 46(@300wpm)
They bring equipment with them taking him straight to his bedroom where they set him up in his bed. Esmeralda and I hang back letting them work. I watch as they get my brother settled and he pushes them away, telling them exactly what he will and will not do. Ben's in charge, even now.
At last we're alone. I stand in his doorway staring at him resting. They said he would need to sleep as much as possible but that he's mostly just dehydrated. His chest rises and falls evenly as I watch. Quietly as possible I walk over to the side of his bed and sit on the edge. His hand is on top of the comforter and I rest my own on it gently. He grabs my hand as his eyes fly open.
"Vic?" he asks.
"I'm here Ben," I say.
His grip is strong enough to almost hurt. He looks at me a moment then relaxes.
"Thank god you're okay," I say. "I was so scared ..."
He looks away from me and then back with an intensity to his eyes. "You were scared?" he ask.
"Of course I was! How could you even ask?"
He looks away again moving his hand from mine. He stares at the wall a long moment before he speaks again. "I thought you hated me."
My throat clenches as my heart leaps into it and I can't respond. He thought I hated him? I thought he hated me. Tears well up but I try to hold them back.
"I ..."
I can't speak. I can't get the words past the lump in my throat. He turns to look at me and his face is no longer a mask. I see pain and something more, so much more. I see longing.
"I love you Vic," he says reaching out to cup my face in his strong hand.
I can't hold the tears back, they burst like a broken dam. He pulls me down to him and I rest my head on his chiseled chest letting it all flow out. At last my throat relaxes enough I can try to speak.
"I love you Ben," I say.
He inhales deeply letting it out in a long exhale. "No Vic, you don't understand." He pushes me off his chest forcing me back to where he can look me in the eyes. "I LOVE you. Only you. Not just as a sister."
He looks so vulnerable, so open, the chasm between us is gone. This is my Ben, this is the man I love, the one I've missed all these years. This is the man I've saved myself for. My tears continue to fall down my face dripping into his chest and I can't speak again. I nod, my hands resting on his chest.
Then he leans up into me, his lips coming closer and closer. I can feel his warm breath touch across my lips and my own latent desire explodes through me. Our lips meet and the world rocks, tilting on its axis back to right.
He pulls back from the kiss slowly, our lips clinging to each other unwilling to let their union end. I gasp as my breath comes ragged. I want to pull him into me until we are one.
"We can't," he says falling back onto the bed.
"Ben, we can ..."
He shakes his head cutting me off. "We can't. Your dad," he says.
"What is it with the two of you! I don't care what he thinks. I love you. I've always loved you. No other man has ever made me feel like you make me feel!"
Ben frowns and looks away. "You don't remember?" he asks.
I shake my head, desire turning to frustration and anger. "Remember what? You two had a fight. Then you left. YOU left!"
I hit his chest with my closed fist and it stings me probably more than it hurts him. He just lays there and nods.
"But do you remember why?"
"No. I remember Troy trying to force me. Then you saved me, took me home. I remember you holding me and protecting me then you and Dad were fighting. Did he hit you? I seem to remember you on the ground. They took me to the hospital and then when I got home you left. YOU LEFT!"
I'm shaking. I can't stop it or control it. Adrenaline pumps through me and I'm so angry, so hurt. I just want things to be like they were.
"You don't know," he says softly and I can hear the surprise in his voice. I look at him and he's wide eyed. "How can you not remember?"
"Remember what?"
"That night, after Troy ..."
He trails off and my anger flares again.
"Just tell me! Quit beating around the bush."
Ben closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Then he pushes me off his bed turning to stand himself. He rises and I have a moment to see his perfect form and almost it's enough to offset my anger at him with the rush of heat that floods through me. He throws a robe over himself as cover then looks at me.