Author's Notes:

All characters engaging in sexual relationships or activities are 18 years old or older.

********

Chapter 7

Ben's first sensation was scent. Spice, warm, rich, he felt himself floating through it.

Sound was next but it came in slowly and the tone was wrong at first, like it was coming through a tube that oscillated between short and long.

"...it's silly... shouldn't do... nurse... any minu... been over two mon... want- worth a try..."

The spice scent grew stronger and his sense of touch made a startling return. Warm, softness pressed against his lips. Instinct took over and he kissed back, weakly. He heard a squeal and the softness pulled away.

"It worked!... true... swear he moved... shit! Nurse is... let me..."

A new scent, melon, fresh, citrus and the feeling of soft hair brushing over his face. Then lips on his. So soft! He gently sucked the fuller lower one between his. He felt the purr and the pressure increased.

"What the HELL are you doing!" boomed a shrill voice.

His eyes opened a crack to see his face was within a cone of straight blond hair. Lips pulled back and a smile spread across them. "Welcome back sleepyhead!" they said. His eyes slipped up to smiling blue eyes.

Another face moved in close and his eyes tracked the movement. Raven hair pulled back in a ponytail. Full lips, also smiling, and beautiful green eyes full of joy and a few tears. "Welcome back Ben!"

"The two of you will leave right this minute or I will call security!" the shrill voice returned.

"Shut the hell up and go get his doctor! Ben is awake!" the blond said. Catherine. Her name was Catherine... or Cat. He looked over to the smiling and crying... Gabriella. He tried to say her name but his throat cracked and he coughed. She immediately held a cup of water near his chin and put a straw between his lips. He slowly sipped the water and felt it work its magic on his throat.

"Gabriella... Catherine... what happened?" his eyes rolled with fatigue. The effort to talk was hugely draining but he struggled to remain conscious.

"Shhh... rest Ben. You're all better now." Gabriella said. He looked closer and saw she was wearing his black knit sweater. His eyes rolled over to Catherine and she was wearing his white knit sweater. Blond in white and raven in black. He chuckled then coughed.

"What?" Cat asked.

"You two... look great... in my sweaters... will I... get them back?" he smiled as his eyes panned between them. Both women possessively crossed their arms over their chests and blushed. With a grin and a glance at each other they both shook their heads. He just smiled once more.

The doctor arrived and managed to shoo the two women out of the room. On their way out they told him they'd return. His last glance before the door closed saw the two women hugging each other.

The next day they arrived the moment visiting hours began. Between them they had Tina who at 5' looked like a child comparatively. She looked so nervous and tears were in her eyes.

"Hi Mrs. Lee! Why the tears?" Ben said quietly.

"Mr. Shepherd, I am so sorry for everything you have suffered at my expense!" she gushed, tears dripping down her cheeks.

Ben motioned her closer so she moved right up against the bed. He reached up and brushed away her tears then dropped his arm to the bed. "Please don't cry. I never could deal with a pretty woman's tears." He looked past Tina to Gabriella and Catherine whose eyes were looking a little glassy as well. "That goes for you two as well!" he said gruffly and got smiles in return.

"How is Christopher?" he asked.

Tina's face burst into a broad smile. God! It was a dazzling transformation on the young woman.

"He is very well! Thanks to you! I'm glad I can finally thank you for saving us!" she reached out and held his left hand.

"It's just what a good neighbor does." he said shaking his head.

"No, you are wrong. Neighbors ignore the danger. Good neighbors call 911. Heroes put their lives on the line to protect the weak!" she insisted.

"No, don't call me a hero. I don't deserve that!" Ben said crossly.

"I may not say it again but I will always feel it in my heart for you Mr. Shepherd!" she gushed, then leaned over and kissed him square on the lips.

Ben froze as her pink tongue dipped playfully into his mouth.

She pulled back and rushed from the room with the two ladies watching her retreat with dismay.

Ben touched his mouth and looked at the two friends with suspicion. "There seems to be a lot of that going around in this hospital room." They had the good grace to look a little embarrassed at first then both wore a naughty smile.

"The doctor told me I've been in a coma for a little over two months. Something about internal bleeding and dying four times." he said.

Their faces went white. "Four times? I thought it was only once in the ambulance!" Catherine gasped.

They took up positions on either side of the bed as they had the previous day. Each took a hand. "We're really glad you came back to us Ben." Gabriella said.

"How's Miriam and Daniel, Jr.?" he asked.

"We've agreed he's just called Daniel now. Miriam is desperate to visit. I told her that if you were feeling up to it and wouldn't mind she could come tomorrow." she said.

"I'd like that." He turned to Catherine. "And your girls?"

"Sophie and Rachel are furious with you!" she said.

"What? Why?" he asked, surprised.

"Megan has been lording over her jealous sisters the fact that she got to see ALL of you." she said with a wicked grin. He groaned. "Truth be told Gabriella's been doing the same to me."

"CAT!" Gabriella squeaked.

"Oh please! You and Rochelle described in excruciating yet exquisitely beautiful detail your vision of male perfection. All I have is that brief but wonderful moment of contact to recall." she pouted.

"Please you're embarrassing Ben!" Gabriella growled.

Catherine looked at the blushing man. "I'm sorry Ben. We're just so grateful you pulled through. I guess we're a bit giddy."

"So giddy you're back to molest patients in my hospital again?" said a sharp voice from the doorway.

Ben looked over to see Hannah Cooper standing there. The hospital administrator was dressed in a sharp, steel grey business suit that looked crisp and professional on her 5' 6" body. She was sturdily built but she carried herself with a lovely grace. Her sandy blond hair was pulled back in a tight bun exposing the pearl earrings and a single strand of pearls around her neck. Dressed for success, he thought. "I understand it was your immediate diagnosis and call to 911 that saved my life. Thank you." he said with a sincere smile.

It was Hannah's turn to blush. "Just my training kicking in."

"All the same, I'm glad you were there." he responded and she nodded.

She walked over to the side of the bed between Catherine and Ben causing the other woman to move back and release his hand. Ben caught the tension between the two women. He closed his eyes recalling the blow out in the kitchen before he collapsed. He recalled pleading for them to accept each other, rely on each other. He opened his eyes and looked into Hannah's. He saw her pain there. The betrayal still haunted her.

"I'm sorry to have been the one to say those awful things." he said as he tentatively took her hand in his.

"It was the truth and we shouldn't run from the truth." she said firmly.

Ben looked away from the pain in her eyes. His own pain at Wendy's leaving was never far from his heart. "You have to take care that you don't accept them as truths about yourself. Those truths aren't about us. And there are more important truths you need to take to heart instead. Like, you are a good person. You are a loving person. You deserve to be loved." he said, recounting a mantra he told himself during the dark times when his depression got to be too much. While he hadn't managed to get past his own fear of betrayal he was certainly an expert in recognizing it.

Gabriella was as perceptive as she was beautiful. She caught his slip when he said 'us'. "Those sound like words you know well, Ben." she said gently.

He glanced at her and a sad look flitted over his face. She squeezed his right hand and he felt Hannah squeezing his left.

He schooled his expression and looked back at Hannah. "It seems some of the other things I said that day didn't sink in." He looked at Catherine and saw her looking sadly at Hannah. So Hannah's pain was still blocking their communication. He looked back to her with compassion.

She dropped her eyes to his hand holding hers. "It's hard. I still have so much rage yet I still love him or who he was before the truth came out. I don't want to lose that. It's part of who I am."

Ben's heart was breaking all over again. He was seeing betrayal from the other side. Perhaps how people saw him. Tears welled up in his eyes and his voice went rough with emotion. "You- you aren't defined by your relationship to the man you thought you knew. Who you really are is this wonderful person right now, right here in front of us. A person who is capable of love and forgiveness."

He sighed and rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb absentmindedly as he recalled what it felt like to be in love. She gasped slightly at the wonderful feelings his thumb was giving her. It had been a very long time since she'd experienced an intimate touch. It felt so good! She felt a wave of affection for Ben sweep through her. She dipped down to kiss his forehead in thanks. Out of the corner of his eye he caught the motion and tilted his head back to see what she was doing. At the last moment she unexpectedly diverted her course and their lips met.

Hannah felt a shock shoot through her body waking up long unused nerves as Ben's lips pressed against hers. His eyes flew wide open and she pulled back in surprise. His look echoed hers. She released his hand and walked out of the room and didn't stop walking until she locked her office door behind her. She walked slowly to her desk and sat in her chair. Hannah touched her lips and felt an aftershock ripple through her.

Back in Ben's room Catherine had reclaimed his left hand. Jealousy was sweeping through her body though she struggled to suppress it. She looked over at Gabriella and saw her feelings plainly mirrored on her friend's face. She looked down and saw Ben was luckily oblivious to their frowns.

"What the hell is it about this hospital?" he muttered.

The following day, true to her word, Gabriella brought in Miriam who leapt up onto Ben's chest to give him a huge hug. Gabriella squawked at her to be careful but Ben just chuckled and gave the girl a big hug back. She kissed his cheek and slipped off the bed to stand with her mother beaming at him. He gave her a grin right back.

"Mr. Shepherd, you have to promise me that you will be diligent in your physiotherapy so you can get better and come some soon." she said to Ben.

His eyebrows went up. "Of course Miriam! But only if you call be Ben." he smiled.

Her smile went up another 1000 watts. Gabriella smiled indulgently at her daughter. She looked at Ben. "Daniel would like to speak with you 'man to man' so he is waiting his turn in the hall." she explained.

"Ah, ok." he said, puzzled. He recalled the serious expression the young boy had at the funeral home. Gabriella patted his hand and Miriam did the same. He snagged her fingertips as she left and she pulled them free with a grin and followed her mother outside.

Ben watched the 12 year old step into the room and look at him. The boy tugged the door closed and Ben's eyebrows rose. Daniel walked over to stand beside Ben's bed and gave him an evaluating look. His face was so serious it was all Ben could do to keep from smiling. He suppressed it as the young man wanted a man to man after all.

"Daniel." Ben said.

"Mr. Shepherd." the boy replied, barely hiding his pleasure at being addressed with his new, more mature name.

"Please, call me Ben."

"Thank you, Ben." Again that flicker of pride before the serious face returned.

"What's on your mind, Daniel?"

"What are your intentions towards my mother?"

Ben froze. The young man waited patiently.

"Uh, what do you mean?"

"I think the question was fairly clear." the boy said calmly.

Ben thought furiously. Did he do something, anything, at any time that might have led Daniel to believe he was in a relationship with Gabriella? He came up blank. "The question is clear but I'm at a loss to understand its context."

He'd finally caught the boy off guard. The confusion showed momentarily then cleared. "Please explain."

"Why do you believe I have a relationship with your mother outside of just being her friend and neighbor? Your father passed just a few nights... sorry, less than three months ago and I've been here sleeping for the last two and a bit."

The confused look returned. He seemed to be struggling with something.

"Speak to me Daniel." Ben said gently.

"Mom is acting like she has a boyfriend. My sister acts the same way about Johnny Newland. Johnny this and Johnny that. It's gross! The two of them constantly smiling dreamily, wearing their boyfriend's clothes day after day because it's from 'him', and last night I heard her singing. Miriam told me Mom hasn't sung in the house since I was a baby." the boy explained.

"Well maybe your mother met someone. I wouldn't know what she's been doing in the past couple of months. I've been stuck here. I'm glad she's met someone though. Everyone deserves to be happy, right?" he asked

Daniel nodded thoughtfully.

"What could have led you to believe it was me?" Ben asked, amused.

"It's your sweater Mom's wearing and she's visited every day you've been here."

Ben's expression froze again. "Oh."

"So, I ask you again, what are your intentions towards my moth-"

"DANIEL WALLACE!" Gabriella screeched from the opening door. She looked mortified, having picked up the conversation at her daily visits. Her face was deep red.

Daniel sighed then pointed to his eyes and Ben's to say he'd be watching. Ben just nodded, his face still showing his shock.

Gabriella pushed her 'so grounded' son out the door looking back with an embarrassed expression.

Ben leaned back in his bed and wondered when he could start his physio so he could leave this madhouse.

Physio wasn't as painful this time and it only took him a seven weeks before they were willing to release him from the hospital.

While it took her some time to get over her initial faux pas Hannah eventually visited him again and they had a good talk. She was hurting from the betrayal and he had direct experience with that so he was a sympathetic ear. She returned a few nights a week after visiting hours to have Ben all to herself and her talks with him seemed to help her tremendously and Ben felt it begin to ease the pain he'd carried for too long as well.

Then it was release day. Hannah was first to arrive and looked sad.

"What's wrong? Changing your mind about releasing me?" he asked.

"I'm going to miss our nightly talks. You've been such a good listener!" Hannah said quietly.

"Silly woman, we live five doors apart. There's no need for you to suddenly become a stranger. We can continue our talks. You know I enjoy them too." Ben smiled.

"Yes, but here I have you all to myself. My hospital, my rules. You're a captive audience. When you're home Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum are going to be all over you." she groused.

"Hannah! What did I say about holding this grudge against Gabriella and Catherine? They aren't to blame for the actions of their husbands and neither are you for yours. Please, this negativity is hurtful and it hurts you as well!"

She nodded and looked down with a guilty look on her face. "See? This is why I need you to stay here. My therapy isn't over yet. I'm bound to get less time when access to you isn't so restricted. Don't forget there's also Tina who thinks the sun rises with you." Ben grimaced, uncomfortable with her hero worship. Hannah smiled. "She's not wrong you know. You ARE a hero, at least in our eyes."

"Please don't-" he started with a frown and she held up her hands in surrender. She'd picked up in their talks how low of an opinion he had of himself. He found it hard to hear compliments like that. She had a hard time understanding how he'd gotten that way as they hadn't spoken of their childhoods yet.

"Will you set aside time for us to talk?" she asked with a hopeful look.

"Of course." Ben smiled.

His nurse arrived with his discharge papers and Hannah went through them with him.

Gabriella showed up at the door. She'd won the coin toss to be his lift home.

Ben looked meaningfully at Hannah who looked down again and nodded. She stood up and walked over to Gabriella.

"I'm sorry for lashing out at you and Catherine. I know you aren't to blame for anything that happened. I'm trying to get over these feelings and I ask for your forgiveness and patience." Hannah made it all the way through her apology without crying. She looked up into Gabriella's eyes and saw the woman was on the verge of tears. That's all it took. Hannah pulled her into a hug and the two shared tears until Hannah saw her staff looking in curiously at her. She got control over herself and put her administrator's face on. She nodded to Gabriella and Ben before she left.

Gabriella was wiping her eyes and looked at Ben like he'd worked a miracle. He scowled at the praise in her eyes.

"Hannah is a good person dealing with a bad situation. Everyone deals with hurt in their own ways. She's working it out and she'll make it." Ben said gruffly.

An orderly arrived with a wheelchair.

"I need a moment to get dressed. If I could get a little privacy?" Ben asked.

He put on the clothes Gabriella brought him. He was glad she had taken care of his place while he was in the hospital. She was such a good neighbor! He sat in the chair and let them know he was ready.

He was going home!

Chapter 8

Ashburn Court looked almost magical under the heavy blanket of white snow. The bright midday sun shone down from the cloudless blue sky causing the snow crystals to sparkle as they drove down the lane towards his house. As they came around the loop Ben saw his driveway was free of snow and looked over at Gabriella who glanced back.

"I added your drive to my contract while you were in the hospital." she said.

"Thank you. I'll reimburse you for the expense. You can take it off the contract now." he said.

"Isn't is too soon for you to be out lifting heavy snow? Don't try to fool me because I can just ask Hannah." she raised an eyebrow and gave him a knowing look.

He just scowled out the window as she smiled.

"I still want to reimburse the expense." he mumbled.

"The extra was minimal and besides, Daniel may have disappointed me in many ways but he did at least take care of his family's financial security." she said casually as she pulled into his driveway.

Ben looked distinctly uncomfortable then grimaced in shame at his knee jerk reaction to her dismissive comment about her husband. He of all people had judged her. Idiot.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she pulled up to the door and stopped the car. She sat back and looked at Ben.

"Nothing. I'm- I'm sorry. Thank you so much for taking care of my house and bringing me home. I really appreciate it." he said without looking at her.

"Ben? What's wrong? Did I say something to upset you?" she said with a worried look on her face.

He glanced over and saw her expression. "No. It's just me. I'm still a little thrown off by the time loss I guess. I'll get over it."

"Time loss?" her eyes were welling up just a little as she tried to think of what she'd said to disturb him.

He saw the tears and his face dropped. "No, please don't." He growled at himself for making her upset. "It's nothing you did or said. It's all on me. I'm going to have to catch up. I'm missing a few more months out my life and everyone has moved forward but me." he tried to explain.

She wiped her eyes. "You must think I'm a ditz. Constantly crying and carrying on." she sniffed.

"No! I think you're wonderful and kind and generous! Please don't mind me. I'll be fine. I'm sorry to cause you all this headache." he reached over and took her hand. She seemed to calm down once he'd done that.

"You're no headache, Ben. Let's get you inside." she said with a small smile.

They went to the front door and stepped into the foyer. Ben closed the door with a thump and heard a strange noise from down the hall like a high pitched squeak. He looked over at Gabriella but she didn't seem to have heard it so he dismissed it as his imagination. As they hung up their coats they both heard a noise from down the hall. They looked around the corner and Catherine burst out of the master bedroom door with a pile of bed sheets balled up in her arms. Her hair was disheveled and her clothes were badly wrinkled.

"You're home early!" she gasped with a smile. "I wanted to make sure you had fresh sheets on your bed for your first day home!" She seemed out of breath. "It's always nice to come home to fresh sheets."

"Yes, that's very nice of you. Thanks!" Ben said slowly. He wondered why she was wearing her shirt inside out and backwards. He absentmindedly tapped his own throat where her shirt's tag was showing. Gabriella caught the motion and suddenly realized what he was looking at. Her face froze and Catherine saw Ben's motion and Gabriella's expression. She reached up and felt the tag.

"Oh HA! I was in such a rush this morning I didn't even look. Your machines are in this closet, right?" she blurted as she strode quickly to the laundry room.

"Yes." He stepped past as she threw the sheets in the washing machine. Gabriella followed him as he entered the master bedroom. He got three steps in and froze. There was a scent in the room. A familiar scent. Female excitement. He stepped further into the room walking towards the far side of the bed.

Gabriella was in the doorway and she smelled it as well. She stepped inside and Catherine rushed into the room to get something she'd just discovered she'd left behind. She saw Ben picking something off the floor from the far side of the bed. Something pink. Something wet and giving off that distinct scent. Gabriella looked at her in shock. "What did you do?" she whispered.

"Did these fall off while you were removing my sheets?" Ben growled. They saw him stop and close his eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. Please forgive my tone. These are yours I take it?"

Catherine nodded and stepped forward to take the panties from his fingers. He looked at the mattress and realized his pillow top mattress was upside down. His only had pillow on one side and wasn't meant to be flipped. He looked at Catherine and reached down to the edge of the mattress and lifted it up. He felt twinges of pain in his side and they must have shown on his face because both women tried to stop him but he stared them down until they stepped back.

He pulled the mattress up and towards him then let it fall. Near its middle was a sizable wet spot. Catherine's expression was grim. She peered up at him from under her bangs to see how mad he was.

"You had sex in my bed?" Ben asked quietly. He was trembling for some reason and his mind was racing, doing nonsensical math formulas with calendar dates. He had to shut it down before he went mad. He held up his hand before Catherine could speak. "No, again, I'm sorry. Don't answer that. Could I please have my home to myself for a while? I'd like to be alone if you don't mind. Thank you Gabriella for bringing me home. You can both leave the keys on the front table."

She nodded and gripped Cat's arm, tugging her out of the bedroom with her.

Ben listened until he heard the front door close. Then he left the room and went to the kitchen to get some cleaning products. Maybe he could salvage the mattress.

Gabriella was livid. She was doing her best to stay calm like Ben had but it took everything she had to keep from leaping across the seat to strangle her friend. She drove them both to her place. Cat had the good sense to remain quiet until they were inside.

Once they were in Gabriella's office they sat down on a couch and faced each other. She took several deep breaths with her eyes closed then looked at Catherine. The woman looked lost. She was looking down at her clenched hands in her lap and the tears just started to flow. Gabriella's fury vanished and her heart went out to her friend. She reached out and took her hands.

"What happened?" she asked gently.

Cat looked up, her lips trembling. Gabriella handed her a tissue.

"I- I couldn't sleep last night. I was so keyed up knowing Ben was coming home today. I know that's silly but... Anyway, this morning I was up and I decided I would do something nice for him by changing the sheets on his bed. Like I said, it's nice to come home to clean sheets." She looked down and her tears ran freely down her cheeks. Gabriella leaned her head against Catherine's and rubbed her shoulders. When her friend seemed to get control again she leaned back.

"I went over to his house first thing this morning. The sun was just coming up. I used the key you gave me and went into his bedroom to change the sheets. When I pulled back the quilt I smelled him. The warm comforting scent from his sweater but so much stronger. I couldn't help myself. I stretched out on the bed and just breathed it in. God! It felt so good to be there with him surrounding me. You weren't bringing him home until the afternoon so I knew I had time. I needed to feel closer to him so I... I took off my clothes until I was only in my panties and crawled under the covers. Feeling the sheets caressing my skin while smelling him was so good. I felt like I was cuddled up in his strong arms resting on his powerful chest. So safe and so wonderful. I must have dozed off. I had this amazing dream where he opened his bedroom door and I was still in his bed. He slowly took off his clothes and slipped under the sheets with me. He kissed me like he did in the hospital, God that was hot! Then he took me. He was so big! I felt like I was coming apart but it was so good!"

Catherine trembled at the memory. She looked up at Gabriella, embarrassed by the intimacy. She saw only understanding in her friend's eyes.

"I- I must have been touching myself in my sleep. It felt so real! I had one of the most powerful orgasms I've ever experienced in my life. When I woke up I was drenched and the bed was soaking wet from me. I was cleaning myself up a little in his bathroom when I heard the car doors close. I panicked. I pulled the sheets off but the mattress was drenched as well because he didn't have a cover. I flipped the mattress over and pulled my clothes on fast as I heard the two of you coming in."

Cat looked up at Gabrielle as her bottom lip started to tremble again. "I've ruined everything! Ben's home but he can't sleep in his bed and now he hates me!" She burst into tears and Gabriella took her into her arms and rubbed the blonde's back.

"Ben doesn't hate you. He was a little off on the ride home. I said something that I think upset him... He tried to explain, saying something about everyone moving forward but him. The coma... Oh my god! I understand now!"

Catherine pulled back and looked hopefully at her friend.

"For us it's been almost four months since the accident. For Ben it's been just a month and a half and it might feel like less because of being stuck in that hospital room. We've had time to make progress in accepting our loss but to him it may seem like a sudden attitude change."

She tapped Cat on the knee. "I made a comment about how Daniel had disappointed me in so many ways... Ben got uncomfortable as for him it's like speaking ill of the recently deceased. Finding you had been in his bed doing... that, it was probably too jarring for him."

Cat suddenly looked cross. "How can he judge us? He doesn't know what our relationships with our husbands had become!"

She looked at her despondent friend. "And that's why he kept apologizing! He knows he shouldn't. I truly believe he's not trying to but you know how his own marriage ended. He'll come around. If we give him a little time and let him know what we've been through he'll get it."

Catherine suddenly stood up. "I have to apologize!"

Gabriella grabbed her hand. "Tomorrow is soon enough. Let him get his bearings."

"Have... have I lost him?" the blonde sank back to the couch clinging to her hand.

Gabriella was conflicted. She didn't want to hurt Cat. She truly was her best friend. But she also wanted Ben. She closed her eyes. "No. Give him time. We'll go speak with him tomorrow. You can apologize then."

Chapter 9

The next morning Ben stood by his front window drinking an herbal tea to warm his insides as he watched the gentle fall of snowflakes. He'd done a limited version of his workout routine, showered, gotten dressed, and had his breakfast.

It looked like he was going to have to get a new mattress. The cleaning job he'd tried the day before actually did more damage than good. Maybe he'd go to the shop today to order a replacement. He'd dragged in a queen mattress from one of the guest rooms but it looked odd on the California King platform.

Two doors over on the north side of the street he saw a man get out of his car and get something from his trunk. A few minutes later and covered in snow the man drove away leaving a Realty sign hammered into the hard ground. The Millers were moving from the neighborhood. Another neighbor he didn't know too well. He recalled that she wasn't home when they'd tried to reach her for that little get together. He wondered if Gabriella and Catherine had reached out to... Sarah, that was her name. Shit. He felt bad that he hadn't had a chance to say anything to her since the accident. He'd barely spoken to her before that either. He'd seen her around, waved, said their good morning and evenings, just basic neighbor stuff. He'd also seen her a few times while he was mowing his front lawn in the summer. She'd sometimes join the other ladies in the park with her boys. Now she was leaving.

He looked at the clock. It was a little past nine so Gabriella should be awake. He dialed her number and she picked up on the third ring.

"Good morning, Ben! Sleep well?" she asked. He could hear the smile in her voice. It always brought his mood up to talk with her.

"Good morning, Gabriella! I slept alright. Yourself?"

"Very well now that you're back. What's up?"

"I just noticed someone putting a for sale sign on the Miller's place. Have they left? I never got a chance to give her my condolences." he asked.

"I'm sorry Ben. Sarah moved out with her boys a month ago. The house is empty."

"Ah. Well. It's good she's taking steps to move forward. I hope she's happy." Ben said.

"Ben, you are such a sweet man!" Gabriella smiled.

"It was just such a shock to so many people right here in our neighborhood." he mumbled.

"I understand what you were trying to tell me in the car yesterday Ben. About being displaced in time. I get it. We've had time to adjust and you haven't." Gabriella said. "I hope you understand that we were all in different places in our relationships with our husbands when the accident happened. Some of us discovered some time ago that our husbands were that in name only. That was when we mourned."

"Gabriella, I am so sorry if I was critical of you in any way yesterday. It's not my place to judge you or Catherine or anyone. I'm the last person who should be doing that!" Ben expressed.

"Speaking of Catherine, she explained to me what happened yesterday at your place. Initially I was as shocked as you were but after hearing the explanation I can understand how it happened. She's mortified and worried that you hate her now." she said.

"Hate her? Of course, I don't hate her. I can't say I'm not disappointed that she thought I'd be OK with her having sex in my bed-"

"Ben! She didn't have sex in your bed... well, not really. She was alone and asleep." Gabriella explained gently.

"What?" he said, confused.

"She went over to change the sheets like she said and fell asleep on your bed. Then... she had some nice dreams. That's all! She panicked when we arrived just after she woke up. She made a mistake, Ben. Can you forgive her?"

Ben was quiet for a moment. "I'd like to hear it from her if you don't mind."

"Of course! She's dying to apologize. I told her to give you a little space yesterday." she said gratefully.

Ben was quiet again. "You really are a good friend to Catherine." he said.

It was Gabriella's turn to be quiet. "Yes. I- she's my best friend." she finally murmured.

"That's one of things I most admire about you, Gabriella. Your loyalty." Ben said honestly.

"Not the first attribute a woman desires to be complimented on, Ben, but a nice one." she smiled.

"Your beauty and grace are truly breathtaking but loyalty is a much more precious and rare virtue these days. Sorry if I've placed a higher value on that." he expressed.

Gabriella was silent again and Ben was worried he'd offended her somehow.

"Did I say something wrong?" he asked.

"No Ben, not at all." He heard the smile in her voice and breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's Saturday, isn't it? Do you think we might be able to get together with whoever is available and catch up with how people are doing?" he asked.

"Sure, let me make some phone calls and I'll call you back." she replied.

"Thanks!" he said and hung up.

Just before noon he was standing in front of Catherine's door feeling nervous. He wasn't sure why he felt that way as he hadn't done anything wrong.

When Gabriella called him back she indicated that she'd managed to contact most of the women and they were all going to meet at Catherine's at 1PM for lunch. She asked him to arrive at noon so Catherine would have time to apologize. He thought an hour was a little excessive for a simple apology but he didn't argue with her.

The door opened and Ben looked down into worried blue eyes. Catherine's face was pink and on it's way to becoming red.

"Please come in. Let me take your coat." she said softly.

Ben slipped off his jacket and Catherine took it while he slipped off his boots. She led him into the living room and they sat on the couch. She was biting her lower lip nervously and glancing up at him from under her bangs. He waited for her to say something. He looked around expecting to see Gabriella but she hadn't arrived yet. They were alone?

"Is Megan home?" he asked.

"No, she's at her friends place." Catherine blurted out.

He nodded and looked expectantly at her. She closed her eyes and she seemed to be taking a deep breath as she leaned towards him a little. It calmed her down and she smiled. When she opened her eyes she looked up into Ben's.

"I'm very sorry for what I did to your mattress. I understand Gabriella told you what happened?" she asked quietly.

"Yes. More importantly she told me what you weren't doing in my bed." he replied.

"Weren't doing?" she asked.

"You weren't... having sex with someone... in my bed. I thought you had brought a lover into my house and used my bed. That thought was... disturbing." It was Ben's turn to blush.

"Lover? I don't have a lover. I haven't had sex in almost a year. Which is why that dream was so incredible." she sighed, oblivious to the effect she was having on him.

Ben's face was threatening to ignite. He wasn't sure where to look. He was so close to her and everything about her looked so good.

"The most sensual thing I've experienced all year... maybe ever, was that kiss we shared in the hospital." she said, looking at him with a desperate need in her eyes. "I really enjoyed that kiss."

His eyes were immediately drawn to her sensual, plump lower lip. Even though he'd barely been conscious at the time he remember distinctly what it felt like, how it tasted, how much he'd wanted to continue kissing it. "Yes, uh, it was a really nice way to return to the land of the living."

She slid a little closer on the couch. "Could I... could I have one more?" Her blue eyes seemed to fill his vision and he found himself lowering his face to hers.

Then their lips met. Just a tentative touch, a caress of lip against lip. No breath was shared as both seemed to be holding theirs. The second contact was firmer. He sucked her bottom lip between his and lightly slid the tip of his tongue along its smooth surface. He felt her tremble and gasp then she was straddling his lap and he was sliding his tongue boldly into her mouth where she sucked it deeper into her. His hands went around her back, his left up near her shoulders holding her against his kiss, his right at the base of her spine pulling her groin in hard against his. She whimpered when she felt his hard member straining against the fabric of his pants and crushed against her heat.

Then the doorbell rang.

The sound was like a bucket of cold water for Ben. A hard slap of reality. He pulled back from the kiss and had to hold Catherine's shoulders back to get her to disengage as she clung and moaned. Her eyes opened dreamily and her need was still flaring in them. The doorbell rang again. Ben lifted her and set her back on the couch and stood up. His head was spinning.

"I'll get the door, you might want to check your lipstick." He stumbled away to get to the door before the bell rang again. He yanked it open and saw Gabriella standing there looking concerned. He pulled her inside.

"Here let me get your coat." he said reaching for it. She turned in his grip and reached up to his mouth. She wiped her finger across the light pink gloss that was smeared across his lower lip. Ben froze as his brain finally caught up with him.

Gabriella looked so sad and a little lost. Then a determined look briefly crossed her features. She slipped her hand behind his neck and pulled his face down to hers.

Ben was immersed in the warm spice of Gabriella's perfume and his head was floating away as her lush lips pressed against his. Her nimble tongue darted into his mouth and he captured it with his own and gently sucked on it. Gabriella groaned and crushed her soft body against his hard muscles. Ben's body immediately reacted to the intense sensations and he gasped.

"Ben? Gabriella?"

Once more Ben was yanked from heaven by reality and blinked in confusion. His lower lip slipped from Gabriella's mouth as he pulled back. Her perfume was still riding his senses and he looked around to see who had spoken.

Standing next to him Gabriella was coming down from her own body rush. She turned and saw her friend who was just inside the opening to the hall. Cat was looking at the two of them with nervous expression.

Ben looked at the clock and saw only fifteen minutes had passed though it felt much longer.

His legs began to shake as he'd maybe overdone it a little when he worked out and he wasn't up to full strength yet. "Can I sit down please before I fall down?" he asked.

Catherine stepped forward and took his arm, guiding him back into the living room. She was about to seat him on the couch when Gabriella appeared at his other side and sat him in the middle with a women on either side.

They pressed up against him as they curled their legs up underneath themselves. Ben was starting to feel dizzy again.

"Gabriella, Catherine, please. I feel like I'm being buried in the most wonderful quicksand imaginable. I can't think straight with you both leaning against me like that." he said somewhat desperately.

Both women looked at each other across Ben. At first their expressions were a little hurt and defensive but soon a twinkle appeared in their eyes and they smiled.

Then the smiles turned mischievous.

They leaned in over his body and nibbled on his earlobes as they pressed themselves over his chest and shoulders.

Ben groaned and struggled to get free to no avail. Gabriella leaned her face over his and gave him a deep aggressive kiss which he returned. As she pulled back and Ben tried to catch his breath Catherine swooped in and claimed a kiss of her own. Once they were done they looked down at Ben's lap and raised their eyebrows at the impressive ridge pressing against his pants.

Gabriella looked at the clock and saw they had 30 minutes as long as no one arrived early. Simultaneously the two women placed their hands over the bulge and Ben's breath whooshed out of him.

"Wait! Wait! Wait! Hang on!" he gasped breathily as he renewed his efforts to break loose.

The doorbell rang. Gabriella and Catherine both moaned in frustration and leaned back. Ben surged to his feet and turned away from them to rearrange his erection as it was getting pinched. He turned back to them. "I'll get the door." He staggered out of the room.

When he opened the door he was still riding the high of the two lady's kisses so he wasn't at his sharpest. Standing in the doorway was Hannah and Beth Wilson. Both were startled to see him and then both were looking far too low to see his face. He looked down as well and realized he was still quite visible against his pants. His face flushed and he moved back to allow Hannah to pulled Beth into the foyer. Hannah looked at Ben's face and shook her head. She took her coat off and then helped Beth takes hers off.

It was then that Ben's brain caught up to him and he really saw Beth. The last time he'd seen her was a month or two before the accident. She'd been a solid woman, maybe just a little overweight but happy and vibrant. The woman standing before him was almost a shadow of that other Beth. She'd lost too much weight. Her lively eyes were bruised and sad. Ben looked in shock at Hannah and she nodded. Her expression showed her concern.

"Beth?" he said

"Hi Ben." Beth replied weakly.

Ben couldn't help himself. He gathered the woman against him in a full body hug. "Oh Beth!"

She went still in his arms then her arms slowly encircled him and she rested her cheek against his chest and began to cry. He rocked her gently in his arms and she let it out. He made soothing noises and kissed the top of her head. Hannah reached up and carefully rubbed his mouth with her handkerchief to remove the mess of lipstick on his face. He thanked her silently and she just nodded at him.

Gabriella and Catherine arrived, having fixed their lipstick, and saw Ben holding a shrunken version of Beth. Their eyes went wide and they both looked questioningly at Hannah who just shook her head to indicate it wasn't the time.

When Beth's tears slowed Ben put his arm over her shoulders and led her into the living room. He sat on the couch and sat her down next to him nestled up against his side. Hannah smiled from the doorway as she saw Beth's eyes straying to the front of Ben's pants which hadn't completely settled down yet. She looked up at Hannah and just a hint of that liveliness showed in her eyes. Hannah's smile burst into a full grin and Beth gave her a small smile back then rested her head against Ben.

The doorbell rang again and the others began to arrive. Soon the large living room was filled with conversation and energy. All of the women stopped by to speak with Beth and Ben. Beth was surprised to hear Ben had been in the hospital. Tina, who had brought her son, was only too happy to retell the story of Ben's heroic actions to protect her and Christopher and the price he'd paid. While Ben squirmed hearing her praise he was relieved to hear that the driver had been arrested and Tina's mother-in-law had fled the country back to Korea empty handed. She gave her son a kiss on his head and looked at Ben with gratitude.

As Catherine was hosting she stood up and got everyone's attention.

"Hello everyone. Thank you for coming. We thought it would be helpful to everyone if we could get together and share how we are all dealing with our new situations. Kind of a status update, so we can potentially help each other in any way we can. I know most of us are familiar with each other but I've found the following process is very good at opening up discussion. I will start."

Catherine took a deep breath and looked around the room making sure she had everyone's attention.

"Hello. My name is Catherine McGovern or 'Cat' for short. Yes, I've gone back to my maiden name. I'm the CEO of Kids-2-Kids, a non-profit organization helping underprivileged students get access to better educational support tools and tutoring for free. I have three daughters: Sophia, age 20, Rachel, age 19, and Megan, age 18. Sophia and Rachel are currently attending University and have also chosen to change their name to McGovern. Megan is completing High school this year and is struggling with the decision to retain her father's surname or not. I'm not pressuring her either way and have told her the decision is hers. At the time of the accident I was preparing to file for divorce. Our marriage was an empty, loveless shell and I could no longer remain in it. I wasn't aware of my husband's extra marital affairs. If I had I would have divorced him years ago."

She looked around again and saw some of the women were shocked by how much she'd divulged. "You do not need to say anything more than what you are comfortable sharing. The point of this exercise is to help us communicate with each other, to help us understand each other. And perhaps to help us help each other. Please know you are among friends here."

Gabriella took the floor next.

"My name is Gabriella Wallace. I have my own business importing fashion accessories for distributors. I have a daughter Megan who just turned 16 and a son Daniel who is 12. I was aware of Cat's marriage issues and knew of her brave decision to end her marriage. I was not as brave. While I wasn't aware Daniel was having these flings our marriage had become cold and loveless. I was no longer happy, hadn't been for years but I wasn't strong enough to believe I could set off on my own at my age. Now that the decision was made for me I'm looking at other ways to improve my life. Thank you."

Rochelle stood up next. She looked sad. "I'm Rochelle King. The first thing I want to say is that my man Devon was a serial cheater. He couldn't keep it in his pants if a pretty tail offered him a ride. I still loved him and each time I caught him he'd promise not to do it again and each time I would forgive him. And each time I'd lose a little more self-respect. I still love the man so I guess that says something about me. I'm now CEO of the restaurant chain and we're doing better than ever... probably because so much of our profits aren't going into payouts to the whores who fucked him. My daughter Sara, who is 20 is now our CFO, taking my old position and she is doing an awesome job. My son Jayden is 17 and I'm afraid he is going to be just like his father. I've seen it already. He's not as smooth as his father but that's just practice." She shook her head and sat down.

"Hanna Cooper. Hospital Administrator of Western Mercy. I wasn't aware that Andrew was cheating. He was a gynecologist and used to tell me that he looked into too many to consider finding another. I know. It was a tasteless joke. It was obviously also a lie. I discovered a lot of my marriage was built on lies. When I found out I didn't take it well and lashed out at others, Gabriella and Catherine mostly, and for that I am truly sorry."

She smiled at the two friends then continued. "I'm working through my anger and my fear of betrayal issues. I found a sympathetic ear in Ben while he was recently having a prolonged visit at our hospital. Having a captive audience was quite helpful. These talks really helped me. I hope to continue." Ben nodded and she smiled back at him as she sat down.

"I am Tina Lee and this is my son Christopher and he is not yet one year old. I do not work and I think my husband's investments are not good. I received a letter from the bank today." She looked towards Ben. "It is something about our mortgage. I do not know what I am to do. I am hoping that someone here knows what I should do."

Ben raised his hand and saw Tina's hopeful look turn into a relieved smile. "I'll take a look at it after the meeting, alright?"

"Thank you, Mr. Shepherd!" she said.

"Ben." he replied.

Her smile lit up her face again. "Ben." she said and nodded to him.

The next woman in line stood up. Her strawberry blond hair was pulled back into a pony tail and she looked nervously around the room. "Hi. Daphne McKellen. My twin girls are 22 and are finishing up University this year. They are studying Early Childhood Care & Education and once they graduate we plan to open up a daycare in my home. I've arranged all the permits and I'll have contractors coming in to make the required upgrades to make it a legal daycare. We're only going to be allowing twenty children in the centre, ages 6 months to 6 years. With Scott gone and my girls away at University the house is too quiet. I'm looking forward to hearing the sound of children again." She smiled at Tina. "As for Scott, I knew he was a terrible flirt." Her face closed down. "No, the truth. He had affair once. It was a bad time for our marriage. Christmas parties at the bank headquarters were terrible. He'd get drunk and start acting like he owned the women who worked for him. Ten years ago I found out he was fucking a loans manager. I confronted him about it and he finally broke it off. We weren't the same after that but I never saw any evidence that he'd relapsed. He just got better at hiding it I suppose. Fuck him. I'm making a new, better life for myself now!" She smiled at the group and got applause. She sat down with a huge grin and tears in her eyes.

Next in line was a very slim woman, 5' 9", whose obsession with jogging had burned off most of her body fat. She was all toned muscle and sinews which made her obviously fake breasts so out proportioned. She did her best to hide them with a loose sweater. She had short red hair to mid neck and a friendly heart shaped face with large pale green eyes and a strong hawk nose. She smiled tremulously at the group. "I'm Trish Campbell. I live next door to Daphne and I was looking forward to the sound of children in the neighborhood as well but... I may not be able to stay in the neighborhood to hear it." She looked over at Hannah who gave her a supportive smile and nod. Trish returned the smile and collected herself.

"John had addictions. Not drugs or alcohol but adrenaline and gambling. Motocross racing, hang gliding, white water kayaking, sky diving, and jet-ski racing. We led a very active life. He also gambled heavily. He did his best to hide it but when bills went unpaid because he'd blown his paycheque on poker with his buddies at work it came to light. He owned his own marketing company but that just went bankrupt because he was spending all of the money it made on his gambling addiction. He stopped paying into the life insurance policy so there was no money when he died in the accident. He had no pension and our mortgage is only half paid off. I have my own design company which I run out of my home office. I'm doing very well but not well enough to pay off all of John's debts. I've had a few frightening calls from someone named Angelo who John owes money to. I'm going to have to sell the house." Several voices were raised in concerned protest. "I have no other choice."

"I'll buy it." Ben said.

Trish looked over at him. "What?"

"I'll buy your house. You get it appraised and let me know how much it is. You can continue to live in it and pay rent at a rate less than your mortgage. You can use the money from the sale to pay off the debts."

Hannah leaned forward. "Ben, we talked about this." Trish looked at her friend in surprise.

Ben continued. "No, this isn't about that. This is a great investment for me! You know the properties on this street are! And we get to keep Trish as a neighbor. Her son Mason and your son Ryan are best friends so splitting them up would be a shame. They already lost their friends Bill and Kevin Miller when they moved out."

Trish was looking at Ben like a lifeline had just been thrown to her and when Ben saw that he winced. Hannah groaned as she saw the cycle starting again. Ben's need to help a damsel in distress overpowering his deep seated aversion to praise. She caught the puzzled eye of her friend Trish and mouthed 'Later' to her. Trish nodded and sat down.

The woman seated on the chair next to Ben's couch stood up. "My name is Joanne White. My husband Michael and I came to an arrangement years ago that he would have his affairs and I would have mine as long as we didn't allow any discord into our home. We had my daughter Lily twenty years ago and I'm proud to say she is a beautiful, intelligent, and well-adjusted young lady. I'm moving to Florida to look after my ailing parents and to spend the rest of my life with the wonderful and faithful man that has been waiting for me to leave Michael." She turned to Ben. "If you are interested I'm going to be putting my home on the market as well. My daughter has two more years of college and it would be wonderful if she could rent out her room in the house until she graduates."

"Joanne!" Hannah barked.

"No, that's fine. Yes, I'm interested." Ben said.

Trish looked upset and Ben caught the look. "That doesn't affect my offer to you in any way."

That statement caused all of the women to look at Ben curiously. Hannah was worried his white knight compulsion was driving him beyond his means. "Ben that's going to be a lot of money. You know what the current values are for these homes."

He just looked at her calmly. "Yes, I know what they're worth. It's not a problem."

Daphne was trying to figure Ben out. His home was the smallest, most modest on the street as his property was smaller probably because of the public lane to the nature reserve. He drove a domestic SUV and had none of the toys their husbands had shown off. She didn't even know what work he did or if he had a job at all. She couldn't help herself from asking the question on everyone's mind. "Just how rich are you Mr. Shepherd?"

Ben felt uncomfortable under their eyes and looked at Hannah. She had her eyebrow raised waiting for an answer too. Still, he wasn't about to give out the number.

"I live very comfortably and I'm very careful with my money. I can certainly afford to purchase a few homes from this neighborhood which are essentially investments that can be resold later for a profit. I will say that I won't need to go into any debt to do it. Is that good enough?" he said looking back at Daphne. She nodded while the concepts of 'purchasing a few million dollar homes' and 'no debt' floated in her mind. She looked at Hannah who was obviously also thinking along the same lines.

Beth sunk into the couch against Ben as everyone looked to her, the last woman to speak. The only victim whose husband didn't perish in the crash. She felt a tremendous guilt for that fact like somehow she hadn't suffered as much as them. But her physical condition obviously disproved that. She looked up at Ben and he smiled down at her. She struggled forward on the couch and he helped her up. Only once she was on her feet and looking back at him did he realize he was bracing her with his hand on her ass. He blushed and smiled guiltily at her. She smiled back with a little spark in her eyes. She wiggled her hips and his blush ramped up. Hannah watched this with tears in her eyes and a grin on her face.

"I'm Beth Wilson. My ex-husband wasn't on the plane and is now in jail." There was some confused noises from the group so she explained. "He was carrying his work satchel which was loaded with a large quantity of very powerful medications so he was arrested for trafficking." That seemed to settle the questions. She began again. "I don't know what went wrong in our marriage, what I could or should have done to prevent Larry from straying." There was a rumble of voices telling Beth she wasn't responsible for the actions of her husband. She looked over at Hannah who smiled at her friend. "Hannah has been a tremendous help for me. She's drawing me out of my depression. I was in so deep I couldn't even see the damage I was doing to my children. We're all getting better now. Talking with you all really does feel like it's helping." She turned to the host. "Thank you Catherine and Gabriella for making this happen!" She took her place next to Ben who gave her a hug which she snuggled into with a smile on her face.

There was a round of applause from the group. Cat looked at Gabriella and took her hand. They both stood up. "It should be known that while Gabriella made the calls and I'm hosting, the driving force behind this meeting is Ben. His concern for the well-being of his neighbors is above and beyond." She and Gabriella both started the applause for Ben who tried his best to smile but was actually squirming badly and looked like he might bolt. Hannah saw his unease and walked over to their hosts and asked loudly to 'help them with lunch in the kitchen'. Rochelle caught the tone and followed the three ladies out. As they left the others went back to the animated conversations they'd been having before the round table introductions. Hannah saw Ben begin to relax once more.

Once in the kitchen she spoke to her hosts and Rochelle. "Just to let you know, Ben is really uncomfortable with praise. I don't know how he got that way and I'm not going to divulge anything he's said to me in confidence during our talks but please be aware that Ben does what he does without expectation of reward and when he is rewarded it makes him upset. We almost made Ben leave just now. He's a genuine and good man but sometimes he acts a little too selflessly." Gabriella and Cat looked at each other in dismay. Rochelle looked thoughtful.

They opened the trays of sandwiches and salads catered from Rochelle's restaurant and carried them out to the sideboard in the dining room. The room was otherwise ready for the meal. Catherine went into the living room and invited her guests to the table. They filled their plates and took their seats.

Hannah saw Ben was being led to the head of the table so she gently suggested that as host Catherine should sit there and allow Ben to take the next seat on the side. Ben looked gratefully at Hannah and she smiled. Beth stuck close to Ben and took the seat on his other side. Hannah sat next to Beth and Trish took the next chair. Joanne sat at the end of the table with Daphne on her right then Tina, Rochelle and finally Gabriella sitting across from Ben.

Before they began Rochelle spoke up. "If everyone wouldn't mind I'd like to say a little prayer. I promise it won't be a sermon or preachy. I'd just like to give thanks." There were pleased smiles and nods so they all joined hands around the table.

"Thank you Lord for bringing us all here today before this bounty. Thank you for giving us the strength to share our stories with each other. Thank you for showing us we can be complete and worthy individuals standing on our own and for giving us the wisdom to know when it's ok to rely on the support of our friends. Thank you especially for these wonderful women (and Ben), for the love and compassion they have shown and the strength we all share from that. Amen."

The smiles were especially wide and Beth had tears in her eyes as she smiled at Rochelle.

The food was wonderful and the conversation was lively and happy. When they'd eaten their fill and treated themselves to dessert they returned to the living room to continue their conversations.

Trish's cell rang and she looked at the caller ID. Her face froze and she looked at Ben. He walked over and she showed him it was Angelo. He took the phone and walked with her over to the foyer for privacy. "How much did John own them?" he asked her.

"$40,000" she said with a desperate expression.

Ben answered the call. "Trish Campbell's phone."

"Who the fuck is this?" Angelo barked.

"Ben Shepherd. A friend of the family. Is this Angelo?" he asked calmly.

"Put the bitch on the phone."

Ben took a breath. "I understand there was an outstanding debt with her husband. $40,000? I'm going to pay the debt."

"That was four months ago. Now it's $60,000."

"$60,000? Fine. Digital account transfer or cash?" Ben asked. Trish's eyes widened and filled with tears but Ben just patted her shoulder and nodded.

"Digital? It's cash only, asshole!"

"Monday at 3PM? Millers Park, inside the north entrance? I'll be carrying a blue gym bag."

"Why Monday?" Angelo asked.

"As you want cash I'll have to go to the bank which is closed tomorrow." Ben answered calmly.

"Fine! Don't be late or it doubles!" Angelo growled.

"I'll be there." Ben said as the phone hung up.

"OK, this guy sounds like an idiot. Small time. Did John tell you about the people he owed money to or the people he was gambling with?"

"John just gambled with his work buddies and sometimes he'd play poker in the back room of a restaurant in town. I think that's where Angelo is from." Trish said.

"Which restaurant?" he asked.

"John took me there once. He thought it was pretty special but it's tired and the food was bad. It was called The Celestial." she said.

"OK, I know the restaurant and who runs it. I went to University with three of the brothers. Two of them got kicked out for running a crooked Poker game. We're not talking about the mob here. I'll take care of it." Ben said.

"Ben, I don't have $60,000! I didn't have the $40,000!" Trish cried.

"It's ok, Trish. I said I'd take care of it. After Monday we won't have to worry about Angelo ever again. That's worth a little money." Ben smiled at her. She looked up at him in shock.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked.

Ben shrugged. "Because I can... and I'd like you to stay in the neighborhood."

Trish gave him a tight hug then they went back to the living room to enjoy the company of their friends.

Beth patted his spot on the couch and he sat next to her once more. She seemed to draw strength and comfort just from leaning against him.

Trish was occasionally casting admiring glances over at Ben and it was starting to trigger his nerves. Hannah noticed and had a little talk with her friend.

Catherine walked through the room with a tray of small butter tarts. Beth turned it down but Ben picked up two. He smiled at Beth as he bit into the soft pastry. The sugary liquid center was exquisite and he closed his eyes as he relished the flavor.

Suddenly he felt a finger stroking his lip. He opened his eyes and saw Beth lifting a little of the sweet syrup from his lip on her fingertip. She looked at it then put the finger in her mouth as she looked at him. It was so damn sexy he immediately felt his pulse divert to his pants. As her arm was resting on his leg she felt the surge under the fabric. She smiled at Ben and he swallowed. Neither realized that the room had grown silent as everyone watched.

"Would you care for the other half?" he asked her, his voice deep and rough.

"Yes." she breathed and opened her mouth. He lifted the small pastry to her mouth and placed it on her tongue. Her lips closed on his fingers and he slowly pulled them free. He noticed some of the sticky sweetness was on his fingers so he put them in his own mouth to lick them clean.

Cat's moan caught everyone by surprise. Ben and Beth suddenly realized they were being watched and blushed. They matched the red faces from the others in the room.

"Damn! Cat, quick! Get me one of those butter tarts so Ben can feed it to me next!" Rochelle joked.

Nervous giggles erupted as the ladies found other things to look at other than Ben.

He smiled self-consciously at Beth who leaned her head against his arm.

"Thank you Ben." she said quietly.

"For what?" he replied as quietly.

"For making me feel desirable again."

He gave her a hug and she felt his bulge press against her arm more firmly. "You never lost that." he whispered. She smiled as a tingle ran up her spine.

Daphne stood up. "Catherine, Gabriella and Ben, thank you for the lovely lunch and conversation... and entertainment." she said with a grin. "I have to head home as my daughters are coming home for a visit. I look forward to our next get together!"

Hannah stood and indicated she had to leaving as well. Beth reluctantly pulled herself away from Ben and moved to join Hannah. Once the flow started all of the ladies started towards the door.

Ben collected the coats and helped the ladies put them on. After she got her coat on Hannah arranged with Ben to meet the following night after supper with Beth so they could continue their group sessions. He hugged Hanna and Beth crushed herself against his body in fully body hug.

The rest of the ladies wanted hugs as they left after seeing what Beth got. Rochelle's hands went directly to his ass as she crushed her big boobs against him and growled playfully. That benefited the next hug recipient. Trish felt the hot ridge pressed against her when she squeezed him tight. Her breath rushed out past his ear and he felt her tremble and moan then she ducked out the door with a blush.

Ben asked Tina to wait until the end so he could walk her home and look over the papers she received from the bank. Gabriella and Catherine gave each other a sad look. Both had hoped to pick up where they'd left off before the guests had arrived.

Then it was just the four of them. Five counting Christopher.

Catherine held Ben's coat and smiled up at him. "Could I get a kiss before you go?" she asked blinking her blue eyes up at him.

Ben looked sideways at Tina who smiled back at him. "Uh, sure." he said.

The blond stepped up right against his body and pressed her lips against his, sucking gently on his lower lip. He struggled to keep his hands from sliding down her back to her ass. She sensed his need and pressed against him harder, her tongue dipping into his mouth. He grabbed her shoulders and gently eased her away though his lips kept hers for as long as they could. He wobbled slightly with his eyes closed and she grinned at his obvious excitement. She stepped back and guided Gabriella into her place. When Ben's eyes opened he was looking into her beautiful green eyes. Her lips reached his and his breath was stolen away by the pure sensuality of her tongue sliding against his. Finally she pulled back and Ben was breathing hard. He reached out for his coat and clumsily tried to pull it on. The ladies had to help him finally and Tina guided him outside.

When the cold air hit him he snapped back into focus and looked back at Catherine's front door. The ladies waved at him from the window and he weakly waved back. He realized the sun must have been setting as it was quite dark out as they walked to Tina's.

Tina led him to her house and let them in. The house was a little cooler than comfortable and the lights wouldn't come on. He looked at Tina. "Did you pay the electrical bill?" He looked into the drawer of the table by the front door and sure enough there was a flashlight. He pulled it out and turned it on. The light was bright so the batteries were fresh.

"James would not let me touch the home finances so I do not know how to do it." she replied. "But I did figure out his password to get into his computer." She led him into the den. "Not surprisingly it was his mother's name. He kept his passwords in a file on the PC. I found his pin number for his bank card and I used it to withdraw cash from the bank every day up to the limit of the card until there was no more money. This gave me enough money to feed Christopher and myself."

Ben looked at her and was amazed at her ingenuity. And shocked by the desperate state of her life. She looked at him anxiously and he saw she was trembling. Christopher began to fuss.

"Can you get me the papers you got from the bank? When did the power go out?' he asked. Tina turned to the filing cabinet and pulled the papers out. They were neatly filed and the cabinet was very organized.

"The power went off yesterday." she said sadly.

"What were you going to do if we hadn't called the meeting?" he growled as he looked at the papers. When she didn't answer he looked at her and saw she was struggling not to cry and her whole body was trembling. His heart went out to the young woman. He pulled out the desk chair and sat down on it. He pulled her over beside him and had her sit on his knee. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to shout at you. I'm just a little frustrated. James left you in a bad way. You need help and you have to be ready and willing to ask. You have friends all around you, ready to help you out. All of his accounts are likely in his name only. You will have to get a lawyer to change that now that he's gone. Has the life insurance come through for you?"

Tina sniffed. "James made his mother the beneficiary. She has sent me nothing."

"Son of a bitch!" he growled.

"Yes, exactly." she smiled.

He looked at her in surprise and smiled back. She had spunk. Then he felt her shiver. The house did feel a little colder. "Well, you and Christopher can't stay here tonight. I'll call Gabriella or Catherine and I'm sure they can put you up in a spare room."

"Can't I stay with you?" she asked.

"Me?" he looked at her in surprise.

"Yes, we do not take too much room and we are very quiet. Christopher rarely cries as he is a sweet child." she smiled.

"I don't think it would be appropriate for you to stay in my home. Catherine has lots of spare bedrooms since her girls are at school." he explained. He saw her face fall.

"I understand. We are a burden. We will go where you say." she said quietly.

"Damn." he thought and sighed. "Can you get me one of each of the bills you've recently received? Then go get your toiletries and a change of clothes for yourself and Christopher. And his food. You can stay with me tonight while I go over all of these bills. We'll make some calls in the morning and see if we can get your utilities back on. If we can't we'll make alternate living arrangements then. Sound like a plan?"

She beamed a huge smile at him and kissed his cheek. "Can you hold Christopher?" she asked.

"Certainly!" he said and gently took the boy in his arms. She smiled at him again and moved back to the cabinet. She quickly gathered the papers and left them in a stack on the desk. Then she went to the closet and pulled out a small suitcase. She rolled it out of the room with the flashlight. He turned on his cell phone flashlight app and used it to light the area around him. He heard Tina thump up the stairs. Minutes later she thumped back down and moved to the kitchen. A minute later she was back. He turned off his phone and handed Christopher back to Tina. He picked up the suitcase and followed her out of the house. After she locked up they walked back to his place and he let her in. She looked around and made pleased noises.

"Your home is beautiful!" she said with wonder.

He smiled at the young woman and led her down the hall to the first guest room. He flipped the light on saw the empty bed platform. Then he remembered that he'd pulled the mattress from the bed to replace the damaged one in the master bedroom. "Sorry, not this one." He moved further down the hall to the bedroom next to his. He flipped the lights on and saw the bed had no sheets. "I'll get you fresh sheets."

"Do you not have a mattress cover?" she asked.

"No, I never needed one before." he replied thinking of his California King. His cell rang and he saw it was Catherine. Speak of the Devil. "Excuse me a minute."

He stepped into the hall to get some sheets and answer the phone.

"Hi Catherine! What's up?"

"Hi Ben! Gabriella and I were just cleaning up in the living room and we saw you and Tina out the front window walking past with a suitcase. Is everything ok?"

"Tina's power was shut off and I think some of the other utilities may be off or about to go off. Her house has no heat."

"Oh my god! She and Christopher are welcome to stay with me. I have plenty of room." Catherine offered.

"Yeah, I suggested that. She was pretty upset and embarrassed. I told her she could stay with me for the first night but tomorrow we'd make alternate plans. If you don't mind I'll suggest again that we take you up on your offer." he replied.

The line was silent for a bit and he thought it had disconnected then she was back. "OK, yeah, that would be fine. If you need anything please give me a call. Any time."

"Thanks Catherine! You are as generous as you are lovely." he said with a smile.

"Goodnight, Ben. Sweet dreams." she said, her tone a little wistful.

"Goodnight."

He got the sheets and went back into the guest bedroom. Tina was sitting on the edge of the bed feeding Christopher at her breast. Her other breast was exposed. The first thought that went through Ben's mind was that she had surprisingly large breasts for someone with such a small frame. Then he decided it was likely due to her breastfeeding. Then he realized that he standing watching her feeding her baby and it was such a lovely natural experience. He would have liked to have seen Wendy like this. Only when she smiled up at his wistful expression did he realize that maybe he shouldn't be there what with her other breast being exposed like that. He did an about face and went back out into the hall. "Sorry about that. I'll give you your privacy."

"I do not mind. Ben, the bed is lovely and soft but a little too soft for Christopher. I will need to get his bassinette."

"I can get that for you. Where is it?" Ben asked. He was grateful to have a mission to do while the baby was fed.

"It is in the master bedroom." she replied. "Here are my keys."

Ben entered the room and averted his eyes as he reached for the keys. When she didn't put them in his hand he had to look. Christopher was on her other breast now and the nipple of the first was red and swollen from his sucking. She had a small smile on her lips.

"Thank you for letting us stay tonight." she said and handed him the keys.

He couldn't trust his voice so he just nodded then left the room.

It didn't take him more than seven minutes to retrieve the bassinette. When he returned with it Tina had already put the sheets on the bed and... she hadn't covered up her breasts yet.

"I am sorry. I must wait for my breasts to become less sensitive before I can put my shirt back on." She said to his pinking face.

"Quite understandable." he said looking anywhere but at her exposed chest. He put the baby's bed in her room and she lifted her son into it. He had the sweetest sleeper on and Ben couldn't help but gaze down on the sleeping boy with a smile. Tina stood beside him and rested her head on his arm as they watched him sleep.

Then he became aware of her body again.

"Are you hungry?" Ben asked as he turned away.

"No, not yet." she replied.

"I'm going to the kitchen to start preparing something light, I'm not sure what yet. We can have dinner in an hour or so if you are ok with that. I'll look over your paperwork in the meantime."

"Thank you." she said.

Ben looked into the kitchen cabinets and pulled out a large can of soup. He knew he had a loaf of fresh bread he could cut slices from to go with the soup. There was dinner. He had settled himself at the kitchen table and spread the papers out in front of him. He discovered that most were past due and some were about to go to collections. He saw the balances were all overdue and made notes of the phone numbers to call in the morning to settle the bills and get the services back online. Then he moved on to the bank papers. Tina was about to lose the house to the bank as the mortgage payments had not been paid in over four months. Ben realized that James skipped a payment before he went off to Las Vegas. Maybe he'd just forgotten. Ben would have to get on this first thing Monday morning.

Ben sighed and tallied up the total outstanding. There was no way Tina was going to be able to afford this. She certainly wasn't going to be able to afford to keep the home. He looked up and saw her standing in the kitchen doorway (fully dressed) with a sad look on her face. She was reading his.

"I'm going to lose my home." she said.

"As you don't have any income I don't see any alternative. If you can prove ownership you're best option is to sell the house which is far too large for just the two of you anyway. This will give you a nice bit of money to either get a smaller place or rent an apartment. You are young. You can go back to school and get a degree in something that interests you and you can put Christopher in Daphne's daycare while you study. Maybe you could rent a room from Trish's house which is right next to Daphne's daycare. You get to stay in the neighborhood." he saw the plan coming together in his mind as he explained her options.

Tina sat in the chair next to his and put her smaller hand over his. "Or I could stay with you."

Ben looked at Tina's dark brown eyes and saw the hope in them. "Tina, I'm terribly flattered but you're almost half my age. You deserve to find yourself a young man who will love you and Christopher and make a life of your own. You could BE my daughter had my wife and I been able to have children."

Tina looked around then dropped her eyes sadly. "I did not know you had a wife."

"She left me years ago. I'd rather not talk about it other than to say neither of us could make a baby and she found a man who could give her something I couldn't." he said with a pained frown.

"I am sorry. I cannot think of anything you do that wouldn't make a woman happy." she said.

"Tina, please. Let's talk about something else." his eyes remained haunted by his pain and Tina watched him sadly.

"May I tell you about James?" she asked softly.

Ben looked at her apprehensively. "What about James?"

"James was 14 years older than me. He did some investments for my parents when I was 18. He and my father were very similar and my father arranged that I would marry James. I could not defy my parents and James was handsome and good with money. I married him that year and we moved into this neighborhood. I thought he would want children right away but he put me on the pill immediately. I was a virgin when we were married and he was not good at sex so I did not enjoy it. Over time I discovered that I am a submissive. Do you know what that means, Ben?"

Ben was a little embarrassed but Tina's delivery of her story was so matter of fact it eased his concern about spying on the intimate details of her life. He found himself drawn into her tale, eager to hear more. Her question hit him from left field and he stuttered a little. "Uh, it means, uh, you give control of your well-being to your partner? You trust in them to take care of you?"

Tina beamed a huge smile at him. "You have a much nicer understanding than James did. For James it meant he could mistreat me, hit me, slap me, degrade me, and lose respect for me. He didn't want to have a child with a woman he didn't respect. I wanted a child desperately. I stopped taking my birth control. When I became pregnant he found out and beat me severely hoping I would miscarry but I saved my baby." She watched rage flare in Ben's eyes when she mentioned the beating and a thrill ran down her spine. "Once the baby was born he was beginning the process to be rid of me. He would leave me with nothing as I signed a form when we got married. I get nothing. I do not know if the lawyer is going to be able to change that and I have no money for a lawyer if I wanted one."

Ben's look went bleak when she mentioned the prenup. "But the baby."

"Yes, by US Law he would have to pay for Christopher's care. But not if he snuck out of the country and went back to his mother in Korea. I believe he saw Las Vegas as his going away party." She looked down at her lap.

"He skipped the last mortgage payment intentionally." Ben said in realization.

Tina didn't look up but she nodded.

"Dirty son of a bitch!" he growled savagely and she looked at him with a small pleased smile.

"We're going to have to scramble to see if we can't salvage something financially from your marriage. I have a lawyer I'll call tomorrow to get the ball rolling." Ben said in a determined tone.

Tina gave him a little bow. "I cannot repay the kindness you continue to show me. Please know that I am your willing servant for as long as I live." She moved to the floor and knelt at his feet.

Ben's eyebrows went all the way up and he nervously pulled back from the table. "Tina, please! I'm not expecting you to do that. I don't need a servant!"

He saw the light go out of her eyes and her shoulders slumped. "It is all I have." she whispered despondently.

He wracked his mind trying to think of something to do to salvage this situation. He thought of the plan he'd suggested to her earlier. She needed a direction for her life. He wouldn't allow her to throw her potential away. He caught himself. He wouldn't allow her? He was already thinking of her in the way she wanted him to but that wasn't him, was it? He couldn't do that, could he?

He took another look at the young girl. Maybe he could just help get her back on track if she thought he was taking the role seriously. He squashed his visible nervousness and sat up straight.

"Tina, stand up." he said firmly.

Her eyes snapped to his when she heard his tone. She scrambled to her feet and looked down.

"Are you telling me... your life is mine to direct?" he asked calmly.

Again her eyes flicked to his and a spark of hope was there. She looked down and nodded quickly.

"You will follow my directions? You won't question my decisions? You will be mine to command?" his voice rumbled playfully.

She nodded energetically while keeping her eyes downwards.

"Then I will NOT allow you to waste your potential. I will define a life plan for you and you will follow it. I will take care of your expenses and you will do as I say. Is this understood?" he continued to rumble.

While she still hadn't looked at him the girl was practically vibrating with excitement. Ben started to have serious doubts about what he was getting into but it was the happiest he'd seen her and he was too far in now. He thought he'd better distract her so she didn't see his shaking hands.

"There is a can of soup on the counter. The pots are under the counter by the fridge. Get one and warm up the soup. You'll find a stirring spoon in the second drawer by the stove. The bread is in the wooden box on the counter. Get a knife from the top drawer next to the stove and cut off some thick slices of bread to accompany the soup." he instructed.

She looked up at him and her eyes were bright with joy. He raised his brows. "Go." he said quietly and she rushed off to get dinner started. He allowed himself a smile at her happiness then he turned back to the bank papers. He was no lawyer but even he could see there was no reference to Tina in any of the documents. James was a real piece of work.

Tina made herself familiar with the kitchen by opening each of the drawers and cabinets one at a time for a quick glance. Then she inspected the appliances. She got the soup warming and the bread sliced and onto plates. She set the plates on the table away from the papers.

Ben enjoyed hearing the domestic noises she was making as he worked. It made him recall happier days with Wendy. His smile became a little sad. Then Tina surprised him with a kiss on the cheek.

He looked at her and she froze. Suddenly she looked nervous, like she was expecting to be punished. "Why did you kiss me?" he asked.

"You looked sad. Did I do wrong?" she said and she was back to looking down and trembling while clenching her hands together before her lap.

"Come here." he said. She quickly got closer. He reached out and took her chin in his left hand. He could see her nostrils flare as she breathed deep and quick. He turned her face away from him and she tensed up, her eye lids fluttering slightly. He leaned in and kissed her cheek in return. She squeaked in surprise.

"Thank you from rescuing me from my sadness. However, next time you will ask before you kiss me. I wouldn't want you to start making a habit of that. It could become difficult around others. Don't burn the soup." he said and she scooted back to the stove with a smile on her flushed face.

He casually thought about the idea of watching a movie after supper and wondered if she'd be interested too. He had no idea what kind of movies she was into. The vast gap of his knowledge about the young woman and what he was taking on loomed before him.

He worried about her reaction to his kiss discipline. She'd obviously been abused by her husband to behave that way. He'd have to work on deprogramming that response.

Soon the soup was ready and Ben put away the paperwork. Tina served him then made herself a bowl. They ate together at the table in silent companionship. When they were done Tina jumped up and took the dishes to the sink and rinsed them, then put them in the dishwasher. She then washed and dried the pot and put it away. He was surprised how quick and efficient her movements were and she had a little smile on her face the whole time. The warmth of the soup and the events of the day suddenly caught up to Ben and he yawned hugely.

"Sorry, my eyelids are starting to droop. I think I'm going to take a quick shower then head off to bed." he said. "Thank you for dinner." Tina smiled and nodded deeply. "If you need anything please let me know. Also I'm typically up pretty early and do my work out downstairs. The house is pretty good at blocking noise so I shouldn't disturb you or Christopher but let me know if I do."

With a final good night he went back to his bedroom and shut the door. He picked out a pair of pajama bottoms and laid them out on the bed. He got undressed and dropped his dirty clothes in the hamper in the bathroom. He started the shower and stepped into his big custom designed stall. He lifted the lever and jets of hot water hit him from all sides. He felt his tension melting away so he closed his eyes.

They shot back open when he felt small hands rubbing soap against his back. "TINA!" he shouted.

He looked over his shoulder and saw her standing naked in his shower. The jets bounced off his body to hit her from all sides as well so she was quite drenched. She was looking at her feet with her hands clenched before her, silent.

"What the HELL do you think you are doing?" he barked.

Tina dropped to her knees and pressed her face to her hands on the floor of the shower. Ben turned the jets off and turned around. She couldn't see him crouched as she was anyway. He looked down at her and saw she was trembling violently. He knelt down on one knee and reached for her shoulders to lift her up. She flinched away strongly when he touched her and made a mewling noise of fear. Ben felt a surge of rage for James and wished he could have had a few minutes alone with the man before he'd boarded that plane. He touched her gently and got a careful grip on her upper arms. He lifted her to her knees and saw her lip was bleeding a little where she'd bitten it. Maybe when she dropped to the floor so suddenly.

God he felt like jerk. How was he supposed to treat a submissive in a situation like this? He wasn't going to hurt her though it seemed he'd already unintentionally done that. Firm but compassionate? Christ, he was out of his element.

He put a finger under her chin and lifted her face. "Look at me." he said.

Her eyes flicked up to his. Her lips were trembling. "Did I give you permission to join me in the shower?"

She gave a quick shake of her head. He kept her face up so he could see her expression. "Then why did you come in?"

She suddenly got a confused look in her eye and started to cry. Ben turned and shut off the water. Then he stood and lifted Tina to her feet. He guided her out of the shower and pulled a big towel off a shelf. He wrapped the young woman in it and squeezed the water from her long black hair. Then he rubbed her body from the top down with the thick towel safety between his big hands and her tiny body. He wasn't very gently as he was still pretty upset. Her eyes closed in pleasure at the feel of his powerful hands on her body. Her tears dried. The towel and his hands passed over her breasts and her nipples hardened with the sensation. She was breathing hard. He spun her around and rubbed down her back and reached her ass. He stopped for just a second to admire the smooth roundness of her bottom then brutally drove all thoughts out of his head except for getting her dry. He roughly rubbed the towel over her ass and the top of her legs. He reached in quickly to dry the crack of her ass before beginning to rub her legs down. He worked quickly and firmly to get all of the water droplets off her skin. He spun her around again to dry the fronts of her legs.

In his rush to complete her legs he saw he'd missed between her upper thighs so he rubbed up between her legs. The towel snagged under her foot as he was sliding his hand upwards and it dropped away. His fingers continued up to slapped up directly against her soft, wet opening. Her thighs clamped together in reaction, pinning his fingers in place as her breath rushed out. She squirmed forward and grabbed his shoulders, her head dipping down beside his. Her breath came out in gusts against his ear and Ben felt her opening spasm as if it was sucking at his fingertips. She was rocking through a strong orgasm. He tried to pull his fingers free but this just rubbed directly against her clit setting her off once more. She cried out as her pleasure crested powerfully. Her knees gave and she fell against him finally freeing his fingers. They were liberally coated with her wetness.

Without thinking he put his fingers in his mouth to clean them so he could lift her shaking body. She saw him sucking her juices off his fingers and she moaned as a new shudder went through her small frame. He realized what he'd done but it was too late so he rubbed the rest on the towel and scooped the woman into his arms. She felt weightless. He carried her into the bedroom and placed her on the bed. He went back to get himself a towel and dried himself off.

He came back out with the towel wrapped around him and looked down at the petite woman stretched across his bed, her damp hair spread out behind her head like a halo. She was so damn beautiful, vulnerable, and available. But she was also so damn young and frail. Her face was flushed and her nipples were standing at attention as she gently rubbed and tugged at them. She stared at Ben with her eyes only partially open. She was obviously still coming down from the series of orgasms she'd experienced. He sat on the edge of the bed and touched her cheek with his fingers as he ran his thumb over her bottom lip. God, she was lovely. Her eyes opened as she waited for him to do something.

"You expected I'd want you to wash my back because that's what you did for James?" he asked.

She nodded. Then she sucked his thumb into her mouth. The sensation went directly to his groin and he thickened quickly. He didn't realize she could see up his towel. Her eyes grew as she did.

"Before you make any assumptions you should ask me if that's what I want. Ok?" he asked.

She nodded unable to tear her eyes away from his hardening member. She began to tremble once more.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"You're so big! It won't fit inside me!" she gulped in fear.

He suddenly realized she'd fully expected him to fuck her. She been waiting for him to rip off his towel and force himself on her. He was struck with the thought that she believed she was his for the taking! His body betrayed him as he felt himself stiffen until he was hard as an iron bar. This towel was seriously tenting. She was right though, there was no way he'd fit and he'd very likely hurt her if he tried. He felt like a creep for thinking it. He sighed.

"Don't worry, I won't do that to you." he said. She looked relieved then conflicted. "Come on, you should go to your own bed so I can go to sleep."

"Please don't send me away. I haven't slept well since James died."

Ben looked down at her pleading eyes and frowned. "Maybe you should have told me all this before I said you could stay the night." he growled at her. Her eyes immediately dropped and she looked unhappy and nervous. What had he gotten himself into?

He stood up and dropped the towel as she'd seen him already. Still, she watched with rapt attention.

He tugged on the pajama bottoms and looked at Tina. "What are you wearing to bed? Don't say nothing." he said sternly. She just looked at him with her big sad brown eyes. He sighed and pulled a white t-shirt from his dresser and tossed it to her. She tugged the shirt over her head and it was ridiculously big. She looked down at herself and giggled. He smiled.

She got up to check on Christopher. Ben followed her out and carried the bassinette back into his bedroom and set it up against the wall near Tina's side of the bed. He crossed to his side and climbed under the covers. Tina kissed Christopher's head then crawled under the sheets. Ben shut off the lights and breathed out a heavy sigh. His life had just gotten a hell of a lot more complicated. He felt the light pressure of Tina's hand coming to rest on his arm. He looked over and saw a little light reflecting off of her open eyes. She was looking at him. He reached out and pulled her against his side where she snuggled in. He kissed the top of her head and heard her sigh contentedly. Funny, he found this exceptionally relaxing too. Within minutes he was out.

He was on the island of Hawaii in his beautiful ocean side suite. He was resting in bed with his beautiful wife Wendy and they were so happy. She smiled at him and her eyes twinkled as they did when she was truly happy. She gave him a mischievous smile and slipped under the sheets. He felt her kissing her way down towards his cock which stiffened in anticipation. Her tongue ran around the ridge of its head then lapped across it. She kissed its tip then ran her tongue up and down the shaft making it wet with her saliva. She licked back up to the top and opened her mouth to slowly slide the head inside. She was having trouble getting more than that into her small mouth. Her tiny hands slid up and down the length of him but she was struggling to get more inside her. He reached down and guided her mouth over his head and pressed until the a few more inches slid into her mouth. Feeling her tap on his leg he pulled her head up and she gasped for air. Then he felt her drive her head back down onto his stiff cock. He guided her back up and she'd thrust back down. She sped up as her mouth got used to the large intrusion.

Ben felt his orgasm building and he gripped her head a little tighter and drove his cock into her mouth five more times and pulled up until only the head was locked behind her lips. As he exploded into her mouth his eyes snapped open and he was in his bed at home feeling a colossal orgasm rock through his body. His mind whited out but resurfaced a short time later. He fumbled for the light switch. He pulled the sheet back and Tina looked up at him from above his spent penis. Her face was red and sweaty and her eyes were full of tears from choking on his thickness. She seemed a little shaky. A little come had leaked out onto her chin. She reached down with a fingertip and pushed the drop into her mouth all the while holding his eyes with hers.

Ben swung his legs out of bed and saw his pajamas were pulled down to his thighs. He pulled them back up and went into the bathroom. He cleaned himself off then got a cool, damp face cloth and returned to the bed. He wiped the sweat from Tina's face and refreshed her face. Then he patted it dry with the towel on the bed. She smiled at him cautiously. He leaned in and kissed her deeply and aggressively. She whimpered into his mouth. Ben threw back the sheet, stacked the pillows at the head of the bed and pulled Tina up to lie back against them. He pushed her thighs back exposing her wet pussy. She moaned and squirmed in embarrassment as he looked down at the engorged pink outer lips and how they glistened. He kissed his way down the inside of Tina's right thigh and she gasped and writhed as he got closer. Then he began at the top of the other thigh. Tina was dripping when he finally ran his tongue flat over her lips and around the hood of her clit. Tina was crying out silently and then he sucked her clit into his mouth. Her legs began to shake violently as a mighty orgasm tore through her senses. Ben began to fuck her with his tongue and she made the cutest mewling sounds as she peaked again and again. She gripped his hair and held him against her.

He fastened his mouth over her gushing opening and thrashed her with his tongue until her eyes rolled back in her head and she went limp. He used the facecloth to wipe his face clean and to clean her nether region and dropped it into the bathroom hamper. He climbed back into bed, flipped off the light and tucked Tina up against his body. Once more he was asleep in minutes.

Chapter 10

When Ben woke he heard noises coming from the kitchen. He looked over at the clock and realized he'd slept in. The first time in years he'd done that. He thought back to the events of the evening before and in the cold light of day the reality of it slapped his face hard. Christ! She was young enough to be his daughter! Guilt came crashing down and he rubbed his face in his hands wondering how the hell he was going to fix this. Her submissiveness combined with the abuse her asshole husband put her through made her particularly vulnerable and he'd just gone and made things worse for her. He was such an ASS!

A weight landed on the bed and he pulled his hands back to see Tina in his oversized t-shirt smiling up at him. Her smile disappeared when she saw the look in his eye. She began to back out of the bed and he quickly reached down and gripped her upper arms and pulled her up onto his chest. He hugged her and kissed the top of her head. He felt her relax against him.

Ben wanted to apologize for his actions the previous night but he knew she'd just take it as a rejection. He had to get her started on this life plan. Move forward. Begin her new life. He pushed her up onto her elbows on his chest so he could look at her face. She smiled tentatively as she tried to read his expression.

"Last night was a special treat. I wasn't expecting us to do that. It was beautiful but it was a special treat. Understand?" he said firmly, praying she wouldn't see it as a rejection.

She nodded.

Ben continued. "I don't like keeping secrets. They feel like lies to me. So I'm not going to ask you to keep what we did a secret. I will ask you to be discreet as there are people who will not be happy to know we shared a bed and did... wonderful things in it." Her face blushed and she smiled a 1000 watt smile as she squirmed in his grip but he wouldn't let her slip away. "I'm going to be brutally honest with you and I expect you to be the same with me. It's the only way I can live. Can you do that?"

She nodded looking in his eyes with maybe a little apprehension.

"We're not boyfriend and girlfriend. We're not going to get married. You have too much life ahead of you to be saddled with someone so far into his own. You will find someone far more worthy of you and you two will make a long and wonderful life for yourselves." Ben said. She closed her eyes and started to shake her head. He took a firm grip on her chin and her eyes popped open.

"Did you not tell me your life was mine to direct? Did you lie to me last night? Are you questioning my decisions?" he asked coldly though inside he was cringing.

Her eyes snapped to his as she recalled his commands the evening before. She shook her head quickly and looked at him desperately, frightened she'd lost him. Time to reassure her.

Ben quickly rolled over and suddenly she was pinned to the bed under his heavy body. Her eyes were went wide with surprise and just a little fear as she felt his heat between her legs.

He was on his elbows so he wasn't totally crushing her. He took her pretty face between his hands and kissed her tenderly. She moaned into his mouth. He smiled and pulled away and walked over to the drawer to get his workout shorts. He tugged off his pajamas and pulled on the tight spandex.

"I'm going to go downstairs to workout. Then I'm going to take my shower. You can join me to wash my back if you'd like." he said and she smiled.

He was feeling really well rested this morning so his exercise routine zipped by and he felt his muscles responding as they used to when he was a younger man. When he got back upstairs she was waiting for him by the master bath, naked. He admired the view then tugged off his shorts and dropped them in the laundry bin. He stepped into the shower and got the water nice and hot. The jets felt good and the experience was just that much better with Tina's hands massaging his muscles and washing his sweat away. When she pressed herself against his back and reached around to 'wash' his penis he thought about stopping her but he just relaxed and allowed her to continue. Emboldened, she stroked him with both hands, gradually increasing her speed until his orgasm shook his body and gently flashed through his mind. He had his hands braced on the wall before him and she was pressed up against his back, kissing his twitching muscles.

Once he'd recovered he turned and picked her up in his arms, his left around her back and his right supporting her ass. Her legs went around his hips.

He kissed her sweet lips and sucked on her pink tongue as it slipped into his mouth. Her breath came out in a rush when his right hand slid over the sensitive flesh of her pussy lips. Her hips began to grind as he rubbed her with a circular movement of his fingers, sliding over the hood of her clit with every revolution. Tina whimpered as her body responded in surges. When he slid his finger inside, she hissed and clung to him. Her pussy clamped down on his finger and he felt the inner walls tremble as he pumped his finger in and out. He went back to the circular motions and her cries were sharper and her body jolted harder. Her pussy was gushing now so he slid two fingers into her and her head went back in a silent scream. He held her tight as she shook and trembled against him. Once she was calm again he stood under the jets and rinsed them both clean.

He shut off the water and set Tina back on her feet. When he was sure she could stand on her own they left the shower and Tina stood waiting for him to dry her with a smile on her lips. He grinned and rolled his eyes before taking the fluffy towel to her body. Ben caught her standing on the towel when he went to dry her legs so he managed to avoid a repeat of the previous night's event though she pouted cutely.

Once she left to go put on some clothes he dried himself off and got dressed. He walked into the kitchen and Tina was already making him breakfast. He picked up the stack of bills and started making calls. He discovered the utility payment services centers were closed until Monday he pushed the stack to the side and tried calling the bank but again struck out. He went into his office and brought his tablet out to the kitchen. He pulled up the website of the local university and pulled up the courses they offered.

Tina brought him his breakfast and he looked at her expectantly. "Where's your plate?"

"I ate earlier as did Christopher." she explained.

He tucked in and enjoyed his meal. "It always tastes better when someone else makes it!" he thought.

Ben smiled as he watched her buzz around the kitchen cleaning up. Soon you couldn't tell she'd used it at all. She was so meticulous and organized!

"Tina, please sit here and take a look at the courses offered by the university. Let me know what you might be interested in." Ben said.

She took a seat next to him and ran through the list. She selected one and clicked its link. "This one." she said firmly.

"Bachelor of Science in Accounting. You think you'd like this?" he asked.

"That was what I was going to take before my parents married me to James." she said sadly.

"Time to take your life back? Alright!" he smiled and received a huge smile in return. The she looked down.

"May I kiss your cheek?" she asked quietly.

Ben recalled his instructions from the night before. "Yes you may."

Tina leapt from her chair and kissed his offered cheek. She collected his dishes and got them into the dishwasher.

"I'm not going to be able to get your home's services back online today because the payment departments are all closed. We'd better go over and drain the water in the pipes in case the house drops below zero. We don't want the pipes bursting. We also need that prenup document. The lawyer is going to need it."

Tina went to bundle up Christopher and once they were ready they went over to her house and she pointed out where the shut off valve was. Then he opened a tap in the basement laundry room and they opened the taps on each level to drain the pipes. That done Ben held Christopher while she went back to the look for the prenup. She returned with a worried look.

"The document isn't in the filing cabinet. I think his lawyer has it." she said quietly.

"Then I'll need the name and number of the lawyer so mine can get in touch with him." Ben replied.

He sent her off to fill a suitcase with clothes for herself and Christopher. "Don't forget something to wear when you sleep!" he called out.

"James never let me wear clothes to bed so I don't have anything. Can I keep your shirt?" she asked.

Ben ground his teeth once more thinking of James and took a deep breath. "Yeah, sure." he replied.

When she got back he asked her if there were any personal items she wanted to get in case the bank sent someone to seal the house before they could resolve the ownership issue. She raced back upstairs and returned thumping down the stairs with another suitcase.

They stepped out the front door and almost bumped into Trish.

"Good morning, Ben! Tina." she said.

"Good morning, Trish! What brings you around?" Ben asked.

"I saw you and Tina going into the house and I wanted to speak to you about your offer last night. Were you serious?" she asked.

"Can we talk about this inside? It's pretty cold out here for Christopher and Tina's house still has no power." Ben said.

"No power? Oh my god! How about we go back to my place then." she gasped.

They followed the woman back to her house and went into her living room. Ben and Tina stepped over the toys, books, and clothes strewn about.

"Sorry about the mess! Mason is an energetic whirlwind of destruction. He's over with Ryan at Hannah's now. Kids!" she chuckled.

Ben noticed the desperate look in Tina's eye as her need for order was cataloging all of the items and where they should go. He might have to intervene.

"So about that offer?" Trish asked nervously.

"I'm interested. If you get an assessment done I'll take-" Ben started and Trish handed him a docket. He raised his eyebrows and looked down at the folder.

"I told you I was on the verge of losing the house so I had my cousin Shelly, who's a realtor, write me up an assessment with comparable properties."

Ben opened the docket and read through the papers. He noted that some of the comparable houses probably shouldn't have been included. "Can I take a look at the house to see how close it is to these comparable properties?"

"Sure!" she smiled.

"Tina, please wait here." he said firmly and the young woman nodded absently. Trish looked at him oddly then led him into the next room. They saw the main floor and Ben made a few notes in his cell's notes app. Trish started to get a little nervous at his keen perception of the houses features and shortfalls. They went through the basement and he noted the furnace, the water heater, and opened up the electrical panel. More notes. He checked for water damage from foundation leaks (none) then announced he'd like to see the second floor. Trish led him upstairs and he made quick assessments of the sizes of each of the rooms and checked the water pressure in the shower. The final room Trish took him into was the master bedroom.

"I haven't had a man in here since John." she giggled nervously. His mind was deep into calculations and estimates for renovations so he completely missed her comment but her nervous tone brought him back to the moment. He looked at her and her smile trembled a little.

He thought about the times he'd seen John and Trish heading out with a trailer full of toys like dirt bikes and jet skis. They always seemed to having so much fun. The stupid ass had thrown it all away for a quick thrill and left her all alone. "It's a damn shame." he said quietly to himself looking her in the eye. She heard him and blushed. She timidly stepped forward and looked up at him. Looking down he finally noticed that sometime during the tour the top three buttons on her tight sweater had somehow opened showing a rather large amount of her impressively augmented breasts. That was a lot of cleavage on display.

"So, you've had the tour. Is there anything else I could show you?" she breathed looking up into his eyes hopefully. One more step and her breasts were pressing against his chest.

He blinked and felt her hand slide gently up the fly of his pants. He froze in surprise.

"John and I had a really active sex life but there hasn't been anyone since the accident. That's a long time to go without! I need it!" Ben felt his zipper drop and a hand slide into his pants. He took a step back and she followed until his heels hit the bench at the end of the bed. He tumbled back and she followed him down, all the while sliding her hand along his shaft. It felt so good he hardened quickly and she squealed with delight. She tugged it out the fly of his pants as she slid down his body and held it against her face.

"Oh god! What an amazing cock!" she gushed as she pressed it against her cheek.

"Trish!" Ben yelped but she reached up to place a finger against his lips. Then his cock was sliding into her mouth. She managed to get a third of it in with the first attempt. The sensation was too much for Ben and he flopped back on the bed. She swooped down again and managed to get a little more than half in. Still no gag. She pulled back.

"Oh god that feels so great in my mouth!" she groaned.

"Trish! Stop!" he said desperately.

"NO!" she yelled in dismay sliding her mouth over his cock and swallowed it down right to the base. Ben felt when it encountered the back of her throat and began to bend. When it pushed past that point the sensation of her throat squeezing his shaft took his breath away and he couldn't talk. Trish couldn't breathe as his cock became harder and swelled to jam in her throat. He looked down and saw her eyes were fluttering. He grabbed her head and pulled her off. When she was free she gasped in a huge breath and began to cough. Her eyes watered but she reached out and grabbed his rigid member as he tried to stuff it back in his pants.

"NO please! God, please don't put it away! I need it! It's been so long! Fuck me!" she begged. She yanked her yoga pants and panties down with one hand while clinging to his cock with the other hand. She knee walked over his legs with her pants tangled around her ankles.

She rubbed her wet pussy along his length then slid the fat head into the mouth of her pussy.

Ben tried to pry her legs up but she slammed down on his cock, burying it in her right down to its base. Her eyes bulged as the head bumped into her cervix. Trish began to bounce on his cock shallowly at first then with long fast strokes. She was moaning loudly and squeezing her nipples. She grabbed Ben's hands and pressed them against her breasts. He instinctively squeezed and she threw her head back as she continued to ride his cock as hard as she could.

He pinched her nipples hard to shock her back to her senses and let him up but she just screamed and drove downwards one last time as her orgasm obliterated all rational thought. She squeezed his hands tighter as she collapsed towards his chest. Ben was hard as concrete but he was nowhere near his own orgasm. Being used as a sex toy really wasn't his thing and that kept his mind out of the game. He lifted Trish's hips up until he slipped free. He felt her tremble as he laid her down next to him. She had her arm thrown over her eyes as she floated down from her orgasm. He slid to the end of the bed and walked carefully to the bedroom door with his wet cock sticking out of his zipper. He wasn't going to put it away like this.

The door was partially open already and when he opened it Tina was standing in the hall with a worried look on her face. She looked down at his dripping erection and held up a finger to get him to wait. She rushed off and within seconds was back with a damp facecloth. She cleaned him carefully until she was sure she'd washed all of Trish's juices from him. Tina dabbed a few spots on his fly as well. Then she tried to push his erection back into his zipper but he was too hard. Ben waved her off and undid his pants. He tucked himself in sideways and closed his pants with a grimace. She nodded and went back downstairs.

"Ben?" Trish said softly.

He turned around.

"I'm sorry." she said with tears in her eyes as she sat on the edge of the bed.

"It's OK." he said.

"No, it's not. You didn't come. You weren't interested. You told me to stop and I couldn't. God I feel so cheap." Her face twisted up into self-loathing.

He sat down next to her and put his arm around her. "Hey! Give yourself a break. You went from an active sex life to celibacy. Naturally your first step back into the game was a little rushed. It wasn't like I wasn't interested. I just wasn't moving at the same speed as you. Didn't you see how hard you made me?"

She looked up at his face with a small smile. "God you were SO hard!" She looked down. "You still ARE!" she exclaimed wide eyed. She reached for it and he slapped her hand playfully. She pulled her hand back in shock then grinned at his smile.

"You've had your fun!" he admonished her, still smiling. "We still have a lot to talk about concerning your house. Maybe we should take care of THAT business first."

She nodded and made to move off the bed but he hadn't let go. She looked up at him again questioningly.

"So, are you ok?" he asked gently.

She smiled and nodded.

"And it was good for you?" he smiled.

She rolled her eyes. "It was heavenly!"

He leaned in and gave her a kiss on the lips. Not too quick and not too lingering.

Then he released her and they both left the bedroom and walked to the head of the stairs. He stopped her there and looked her in the eye. "When you get downstairs you may see a difference. Please don't say anything. Tina has a compulsion. She doesn't mean anything by it. OK?"

Trish's eyebrows went up but she nodded.

As Ben expected the living room was tidy. All of the toys had been put away and the clothes were likely in the laundry room hamper. Books were on the shelves and even the furniture was rearranged more efficiently. Trish looked around stunned. Ben looked at her. "If she could have found your vacuum she would have done that too."

"Do you think I could hire her to come in once a week? If she can do this in just thirty minutes imaging what she could do in a day!" Trish gushed.

"That's something I'd actually like to speak to you about. I think Tina is going to lose her house. James did some nasty financial sabotage and it's going to be problematic to get the payments sorted out. I'm sending her back to school. University actually, and she's going to need a place to live. I was wondering if she and Christopher might stay with you and Mason. You see what she can do so I don't think it will be a hardship."

Trish was staring at Ben again. "You're sending her school? You're arranging her living arrangements? You tell her to stay put while we did the tour? What exactly is going on here between you two?"

Ben blushed. "That asshole she married left her in a really bad spot. She asked me to help her. This is how I'm doing it. She's fully agreed."

"Right." she looked at him suspiciously.

"As her place it without power could she stay here tonight? It could be a test run." Ben said to move the conversation along.

"Sure! By tomorrow the house will be spotless!" Trish said.

They arrived in the kitchen and Tina froze. She was reorganizing the cupboards and many items were on the counters. A look of guilt was plastered on her face.

"It's OK Tina. Keep going." Trish said with a smile. Tina returned it tenfold. Trish turned to Ben. "God that smile! She's gorgeous when she does that!"

He just smiled and nodded.

"Where did she stay last night?" she asked quietly.

Ben did his best to look nonchalant but his voice caught "My place."

Trish's eyebrows rose. "Was anything of YOURS disturbed by her visit?"

Ben completely missed the double entendre and pictured how his place looked before and after. "No, actually. Everything was left exactly where it originally was. I think."

Trish gave him a frustrated look.

"What?" he asked.

"Never mind." she grumped.

"Let's leave her be and go talk about this house." Ben said and led the way back to the living room.

They sat on the couch and Ben brought out the assessment papers Trish gave him. "Three of the comparables aren't really comparable and are probably there to boost the implied value of this home. That's noise so I'm ignoring them." Trish looked a little upset. "Hang on. It's not all bad news. The home is in excellent shape and the services are all adequate for a house this size. I didn't see any structure issues, cracks, water damage, or potential for heat loss, that kind of thing, so I think there shouldn't be any big surprises. In my opinion, the price on the assessment of 1.5 million is a little too high. You can certainly put it on the market at that price and hope someone will pay it. It's up to you. For me I'd be willing to pay 1.1 million. I'd want to renovate a few features in the home. You have too many small bedrooms upstairs and that really reduces the impact of the master. I'd like to take the smallest bedroom next to the master and expand the master ensuite into it and build a walk in closet. The room will look twice as big if we pull out the existing closets and give that space back to the room. The kitchen will pop with new stone countertops and French doors leading out to your deck and a new wider bay window over the kitchen sink will bring in more light. That renovation will have to wait for warmer weather. The basement could definitely use a revitalization. I have ideas for that as well. You should come see what I've done with my place. I did all the work there myself and it didn't take that long."

"So, you'll pay me 1.1 million dollars for my home, renovate it, and then let me rent it out? How much is the rent going to be?" Trish asked.

"How much is your current mortgage payment?" he asked.

"Around $3400 a month" she said.

"Geez! That's high!" Ben said, surprised.

"That's why I have to leave. On top of the debts John left me with." Trish frowned.

"I was going to set the rent to $1200 a month. Is that feasible for you?" She nodded. "If you brought in an additional renter maybe you could split that in some percentage. Joanne's daughter needs a room while she's attending University. She probably wouldn't mind living here instead of by herself in her existing house." Ben explained.

"You're really going to buy Joanne's home too?" she asked.

"Yes! It's a good investment and when I sell it I'll definitely make a profit."

She looked at him with a worried expression.

"We will make a written contract indicating that we've agreed that you and Mason will live in the house for a specified number of years at a specified rent. Will this ease your fears about me selling the house out from under you? Would that make you feel more comfortable?" he asked.

She smiled timidly. "Yes."

"Let's go see my place so you can get an impression of what the final state of the home could look like." Ben suggested. "We need to get Christopher's bassinette and Tina's suitcases anyway."

Tina walked back into the living room with Christopher in her arms and a happy, satisfied look on her face.

Ben and Trish smiled at her.

They made their way to Ben's and Ben told Trish to have a look around while he spoke with Tina.

They heard her exclamations down the hall as she saw the master bath and walk in closet.

Ben sat down in the living room with the young woman. "Tina, starting tonight you are going to live with Trish. You know she needs help keeping her place organized. There may also be another tenant if Joanne's daughter Lily decides to take a room there. She is a sweet young woman and I think you two would get along."

Tina was looking down again. Ben reached over and lifted her chin with his finger. Her eyes were brimming with tears.

"What are these tears for?" he asked calmly, though inside he was dying.

"I- I was hoping I could live... with you." Tina said in a whisper.

"You know that isn't part of the life plan I am setting out for you. I've explained that already. I'm not cutting you out of my life but you will follow my directions if you want to remain in it. Is this understood?" he said firmly and calmly. Inside, he squirmed in torture.

"Yes." she said sadly.

Ben listened and looked over towards the stairs to the lower level. That's where he'd seen Trish heading. He turned back to Tina. "We'll plan another visit this week, alright?"

Her eyes brightened. "Overnight?"

He realized that she had to feel like she was earning it. "If you follow my instructions, yes."

The young woman was back to vibrating with excitement. "May I kiss you?"

One more glance to see Trish was nowhere to be seen. "Yes."

Then she was pressed hard against his body, her lips crushed against his, and her tongue exploring his mouth aggressively. He'd been expecting a kiss on the cheek so this caught him completely by surprise and he wasn't sure where this was coming from.

Then he remembered her standing in the hall outside Trish's bedroom. Watching?

He put his hands on her body and she instantly began to moan and tremble. He slid his hands down and squeezed her cute little ass. She squealed into his mouth loudly and the noise startled him so he reached up and gently pushed her back. She clung to him until he growled. She instantly let go and sat back quietly with a smile on her face. The smile froze and her eyes darted up behind Ben.

He closed his eyes and sighed as he realized she was probably looking at Trish. He heard footsteps as she walked from the dining room entrance into the living room and sat in a chair opposite him.

"Do you want to explain what I just witnessed?" Trish said.

Ben opened his eyes and looked directly into hers. "No." he said.

"No?" she asked.

"No."

She looked flustered. "Ben, she's half your age!"

Ben looked at the young woman. "Tina, am I your boyfriend?"

"No."

"Did I tell you I was going to marry you?"

"No." she said wistfully.

"Did I directly tell you or imply in any way that I wanted sexual favours from you?" he asked firmly.

"No." Again with the wistfulness.

"Will I keep my promise to pay your way through University?" he asked.

"Yes!"

"Did I tell you that you will meet someone your own age who will make a new wonderful life with you?"

"Yes." she said sadly.

Ben looked Trish right in the eye. "While it's none of your business I'm being polite. Keep in mind that I don't tolerate gossip or small mindedness. Tina has tremendous potential. I'm going to make sure she doesn't waste it." He looked back at Tina. "Now, why did you kiss me like that?"

Tina's eyes got big and she looked nervously between Ben and Trish.

"Brutal honesty." Ben reminded her.

"I saw you and Trish on her bed. The way she rode you. So hard and fast. It was so hot! I wished it was me riding you!" Tina blurted.

Ben was watching Trish's face so he saw her embarrassment bloom across her face. He was glad he was able to remind the woman that she wasn't faultless in the chaos his life was becoming.

Trish looked at Tina. "Then you two haven't..."

"No." Tina said sadly. "He's so big and I'm so small! One day I would like to try though. What he can do with his mouth and hands is incredible!"

"Tina!" Ben growled, embarrassed. "Remember what I said about being discrete."

"Sorry Ben. I shouldn't have pried into your personal life." Trish said contritely.

"Trish, I understand curiosity. That's fine. What I have a problem with his being judged before the facts are known. And sometimes those facts aren't for public knowledge." He was looking at Tina when he said the last part and she had the good grace to look sorry. "I know it's not easy but I've always tried to follow the policy of, if you don't know, don't judge."

Trish nodded as did Tina.

"So we can put all that behind us and move forward?" he asked.

"Yes." the women replied.

"What did you think of my house? Would you like to see some of these renovations in your place?" he asked Trish.

"I can have a master bath and walk-in like yours?" she asked incredulously.

"No." Her face dropped. "It would be a little bigger than mine because your house's floor plan is larger." he said.

Trish giggled in glee and clapped her hands.

"I take it that's a yes? You still want to sell your place to me?" Ben smiled.

"Yes!" she squealed.

Tina grinned and clapped her hands too. Christopher started to laugh at all the happy noises.

Trish made plans to join Ben Monday morning with her cousin to sell her house to him. Shelly had promised her cousin to only take half her usual commission. Ben had to go to the bank anyway to get the money out for the gambling debt. Before she left Trish went up on her toes and gave Ben a deep slow kiss and asked if that was more his speed. He could only nod as his head was spinning. Trish carried the bassinette and the small suitcase with her. Tina left with her and got a playful spank on her butt as she went out the door. She squealed and smiled back at Ben with real fire in her eyes.

Ben looked at the number on the realty sign on the lawn of the Miller's home. He dialed it and spoke to the realtor. He asked what the house was going for but was told it had already sold for 1.25 million to a young family from Texas. Ben had missed his chance with the house.

That thought made him a little anxious about Joanne's home. He thought he might just pop in and see if she was ready to move on the sale. He yanked on his coat and made his way over to her place.

Joanne greeted him with a smile and invited him in. Lily was in the living room knitting... something large and deep blue and she greeted him as well. When they were all situated Joanne asked the reason for his visit.

"I was wondering if you'd care to continue our discussion about your house." Ben said glancing at Lily.

Joanne caught the glance and smiled. "It's OK Ben, Lily is quite aware of my plans. Yes, I am still interested. Are you going to purchase Trish's place as well?"

"Yes, I was just over there a short while ago. She already had an assessment done. I did an inspection and told her what I'd be willing to spend and told her about the renovations I'm planning to do to the house. I showed her my home so she could see what the renovations will be and she's in. We'll do the sale tomorrow. Tina and Christopher are going to be moving in with her as Tina's likely going to lose her home. James did some nasty stuff with their finances. I don't think I'm going to be able to straighten that out. The bank will likely take the property back. If I can I'll try to buy it too but just to renovate and resell."

Joanne was staring at Ben. "Are you going to buy the Miller's home too?"

"I called but it was already sold to a 'young family from Texas'." Ben replied.

"And you were worried I'd sell mine to someone else too?" she said with a raised eyebrow.

"I'd like to buy it but if you think you can get a better price putting it on the market that's your call." Ben said honestly.

"Well there was the caveat of having Lily live in the home for the next two years." Joanne said.

Ben looked over at her daughter. "Would you consider renting a room from Trish? Then you wouldn't have to live alone and could share food expenses. Tina and Christopher will also be living there and Tina keeps a home really neat and clean so that's a big help."

"That would be preferable to living alone!" Lily said.

"Ben... that just eliminated the primary reason I had for selling it exclusively to you! You aren't much of a negotiator." Joanne said.

"I'm not going to try to trick or blackmail you into selling it to me. I don't work that way. I thought Lily would be better served by living with Trish so I let her know she had the option. This frees you from your constraint and lets you pursue other options. I'd be willing to do my own assessment and leave you with what I'm willing to pay for it. Then you can take that number with you when you speak with a realtor." Ben said frankly.

"OK, yes, please do the assessment. Let me know what you'd pay." Joanne said. Ben nodded and began his inspection.

Once he'd left the room Lily glared at her mother "How can you treat Mr. Shepherd like that? That wasn't very nice!" she complained.

"He offered!" Joanne hissed.

"After he generously freed you from finding me a place to live!" Lily admonished.

"He offered." she said weakly.

Lily just scowled at her mother and went back to knitting.

Ten minutes later Ben returned and went over his findings. Again, the house was in pretty good shape but the furnace and water heater were in need of replacing and electrical panel was full. It would need replacing if Ben were to do any renovations. He explained his finding and described the showers he'd install and intended to install in Trish's place. Lily's eyes lit up then she heard what she'd get to use living there.

"So, I'd be willing to spend 1.15 million on your home." Ben said.

"That's your final offer?" Joanne asked.

"MOM!" Lily cried incredulously.

Ben smiled at the young woman. "No it's fine. Yes Joanne, that's my final offer. If you believe you can get more please go ahead. The Miller's home sold for 1.25 million so you might find someone willing to go at least that high, but their place has that big pool in the backyard with all that landscaping. You'll also be on the hook for paying the realtor commission. Let me know when you can."

With that Ben said his goodbyes and went home.

He was looking at the bank paperwork for Tina and thinking of all the calls he'd have to make.

Ben called his lawyer and left a message with James' lawyer's details and asked for a call back to discuss a way to salvage Tina Lee's legal rights to her home and any funds her husband had before the bank took it away.

He thought about the bank and the money he'd need to withdraw tomorrow for the gambling debt. He was a little concerned the Selleni brothers might try to keep extorting money from them. While he didn't really want to involve their older and smarter brother, Ben needed his advice on how to deal with his brothers. He'd shared classes with Dominic and had kept him from being included in the expulsions when the Selleni's poker ring was busted. Ben knew Dominic had nothing to do with his brother's dirty little game and had gone to the Dean to clear Dominic's name. Angelo and Michael were kicked out and never went back to school. They opened the restaurant instead and it seemed they reopened their crooked game as well.

Ben looked up Dominic's number and called him up.

"Selleni residence."

"Hi, may I speak with Dominic Selleni?" Ben asked.

"Speaking. Who's this?"

"It's Ben Shepherd."

"Ben? How ya doing man! God! It's been years!" the man boomed in the phone. Ben smiled. Dominic always had been a little larger than life.

"I'm doing very well. Keeping myself busy. How about you?" Ben admitted.

"Fantastic! My third grandchild will be arriving any day now!" Dominic said proudly.

"Congratulations! That's wonderful!" Ben said.

"Hey! I heard through the grape vine that you found yourself a woman. God we thought you'd never speak to a girl much less marry one! Hahahahaha!" The laughter thundered from the phone.

"Yeah, I married one but it... didn't work out." Ben said a little stiffly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." He heard the sincere regret in the man's voice.

"That's life. I'm really glad your life is treating you so well! You really deserve it!" Ben said trying to change the conversation. He was getting more and more uncomfortable about bringing the issue with man's brothers up but there was that potential threat to Trish.

"Thanks man!" Dominic said.

"Listen, do you keep in touch with Angelo and Michael? Do they still run the Celestial?" Ben asked.

Dominic's tone became worried. "Yeah, they do. I try to keep my distance from those bozos. Why?"

"I think they've started up that poker game of theirs again."

"WHAT? Those fucking losers! They didn't get you, did they? Wait a minute, stupid question, of course not." Dominic rumbled.

"The husband of a friend of mine was into them for $40K. He died months ago and the widow is getting threats. I told them I'd pay the debt and it went up to $60K. I just want to make sure if I pay Angelo that's the last I'll hear from them. I'm supposed to pay them tomorrow."

"Don't you pay them one fucking cent! Promise me you won't!" Dominic pleaded.

"Dominic, I don't want to get you involved. I just wanted your advice. You know them better than me. The widow doesn't need the grief. I'm willing to pay to make them go away as long as stay away."

"Oh, I'm not going to get involved. Not at all. I'm taking my wife and kids out for a very public dinner tonight. But don't you pay a cent to those low life scum. Promise me! I'm sorry to call them my brothers. Listen I got to make some calls. You have a great night! Don't be a stranger! Come visit and I'll let you bounce a grandkid on your knee! Does wonders for your soul!"

"Thanks Dominic!" Ben said a little shaken.

"You take care now! Bye!" The man hung up and Ben wondered what he had just started. He hoped he didn't cause trouble for Dominic.

Ben recalled that Hannah and Beth would be coming over tonight after dinner to have an informal group therapy session. He thought maybe they could sit in his living room or for a more intimate setting there was the media room in the basement. The chairs and couches were a little more comfortable and the lighting more soothing downstairs. He'd play it by ear based on how Beth felt.

Ben looked around and realized that until recently very few people had ever been in his house. Yet within the past few days four of neighbors had visited. He wondered why none of them ever visited before. Was it him?

There was one call he could make today. He looked up the number and called the shop where he'd bought his California King pillow top mattress and ordered a new one with a mattress protector. Having learned his lesson he also ordered some protectors for the other mattresses in the house. The salesman said that they had only one of the extra-large mattresses in stock and could get it to him before the dinner hour if he paid the extra $100 for rush delivery. He gave them his credit card number and they said it would arrive before 6PM and they'd dispose of the old one no charge.

That taken care of he moved the queen mattress from his room back to the first guest room and replaced the sheets. He made himself busy baking some cookies for Beth and Hannah (but mostly for Beth who needed to put some mass back on her bones). Once the cookies were in the oven he grabbed his tablet and checked out his favorite Engineering forums and Trade Papers. He saw a few projects he might be interested in tackling and book marked them. That done he wrote up the rental agreement for Trish. He'd get her to sign it to tomorrow. He spent the rest of the afternoon baking and reading and before he knew it the truck arrived with his new mattress.

His bed was back to normal and had fresh sheets for tonight's sleep. He wondered how he'd sleep considering how well he'd slept with Tina at his side. He'd see.

He made himself dinner and was cleaning up when the doorbell rang. He wiped his hands and let Hannah and Beth in. He took their coats and gave them both hugs.

"Do I smell... peanut butter cookies?" Beth smiled.

"Yes, I made them especially for you! You like them right?" Ben asked.

"I LOVE peanut butter cookies! How did you know?" she asked.

"I was out for a walk one day when you and the kids were getting back from school and I overheard you mentioning it to Jane when she gave you some she baked at school." he said

Beth stared at Ben. "That- that was... what, three years ago!"

"Seemed like an important thing to remember." Ben smiled at her.

Beth looked at Hannah with tears in her eyes and a frustrated look on her face. "Jesus, Larry couldn't remember the color of my hair and Ben remembers what kind of cookie I like from a single comment he overheard years ago."

"It just proves Larry wasn't the yardstick to measure good men by. Men who deserve your attention. Ben, where shall we sit?" Hannah said.

"I was thinking it might be nice to sit down in the media room. It's cozy and more conducive to conversation." Ben suggested.

"Lead the way! You have a beautiful home by the way!" Hannah said looking into the living room.

"Would you two like a tour? Trish was over earlier today looking at the renovations I did on mine to see what I will do on her house after I buy it. She quite liked it." he said.

"That would be very nice, yes!" Hannah said.

Ben showed them the living room, through to the dining room and the updated kitchen which was a big hit. They couldn't really see the deck well but liked his French doors which led out to it. They made appreciative noises in the guest bedrooms and when he led them into the master bedroom Beth was stunned by the size of the bed. She looked at him and back to the bed.

"Ben, I know you're a big man but do you really need a bed that large?" she exclaimed.

He shrugged and frowned. "Wendy needed her space on the bed and I just got used to having a bed this size."

"Looks like it could sleep three with room to spare!" Beth gushed then the three of them looked at each other suddenly aware of the implication. Beth giggled nervously.

"Through here is the master bath." Ben said to change the topic to safer grounds.

They entered and Hannah took one look at the oversized shower stall with surround jets. She looked at Beth. "Looks like the shower could fit three as well." she said with a grin and Beth's giggles just got worse.

Ben led them out and down the hall to the stairs to the basement. They did the tour downstairs and ended up on the couches Ben had arranged in a circle in the media room. Each of them had a couch facing the other two. There was a plate of cookies sitting on the table in the center. Ben picked one up and handed it to Beth. When she just opened her mouth Ben picked up her hand and put it in her palm with a grin.

"Oh poo." she pouted.

Hannah chuckled. She described to Beth, who was enjoying the chewy cookie, how the sessions usually went. Beth nodded and Hannah picked up where she'd left off with Ben.

They talked for a couple of hours and Beth listened to Ben and Hannah expressing themselves. They never pressured her to participate but left her openings where she might have joined if she felt like contributing. Finally Beth felt comfortable sharing and they listened without judgement. Soon Beth was the leading the conversation and Ben and Hannah were listening attentively. Tears were shed and hugs were given. The two friends could see the pressure slowly draining from Beth and shared a smile at the difference they'd seen already.

Hannah looked at her watch and realized it was past 11PM.

"Wow! That was a great session!" she said. "We'd better bring it to a close as it's getting late." Beth looked surprised and then disappointed. "Come on Beth, Ben has to get to sleep tonight on that aircraft carrier he calls a bed. I have a board meeting first thing in the morning too."

They went upstairs and Ben got them their coats.

"When can we meet again?" Beth asked.

Hannah pulled out her phone and checked her calendar. "Damn. I'm tied up all week. They're training us on some new systems at work and that will mean some late nights. Maybe Thursday?"

Ben casually massaged Beth's shoulders while he watched Hannah poking around on her phone. Beth's face was contorting with pleasure and Hannah glanced up to see the look Ben couldn't see. She grinned at the woman. "Careful Ben, you're going to make an addict out of her." she said playfully.

When Ben dropped his hands Beth spun around and clung to his shirt. "Noooo, just a little more! Please!" she begged.

"See! Told ya! I'm out of here! I'll call you later in the week! Bye!" Hannah said and was out the door.

"Please, please, pleeeease!" Beth begged.

"Fine, just a little more." Ben said and led her into the living room. He cleared the surface of the coffee table and put the sofa cushions on it. "Lie down on your stomach and I'll massage your back for you."

"You don't have to ask me twice!" she grinned. Ben smiled. She was so much more comfortable around him now and was almost back to her usual bubbly personality. He knew that much energy couldn't be contained for long.

She looked at him, suddenly a little timid. "Should- should I take my sweater off?"

"If you're comfortable, sure. The more skin I can get to the better the massage. Wait- I mean it will be easier to massage you without your clothes in the way. That still didn't sound right." he said, flustered.

Beth smiled at him and turned away. She tugged off the sweater and camisole leaving only her bra in place. She held her sweater to her chest as she stretched out on the cushions.

Ben rubbed his hands together briskly to warm them. He started at the top of her neck and slowly moved his way down her neck vertebrae. He slid his fingers across the top of her shoulders and Beth sighed. He worked his fingertips deeply into her shoulder muscles and used his palms and heels of his hands to smooth out the knots in her back.

She was moaning constantly by this point as her muscles turned to jelly under his powerful hands. When he ran them down the sides of her torso and accidentally brushed the sides of her bra, Beth felt an immediate shock through her nipples directly down to the warm glow beginning between her legs.

She squeezed her thighs together and shivered.

Ben's hands stopped when he felt her tremble. "Are you cold? Do you want to put your sweater back on?"

"NO! I mean no, I'm fine." Beth said a little frantically.

"OK. Let me know if I'm pressing too hard or if you get cold." Ben said.

"Mmm hmm." was all she was capable of saying as Ben's hands went back to work.

When he finally got to the base of her spine he ran his hands back up to her shoulders and didn't feel any knots left in her relaxed muscles.

"All done." he said.

Beth groaned. She wanted it to go on forever. His hands on her body felt so incredible! But she didn't want to be ungrateful. She was having trouble pushing herself upright so he put his hands on the sides of her torso and lifted. His fingers were under her breasts when she was finally upright and she looked up at him over her shoulder. She pinned his hands to her sides with her elbows. "Thank you Ben, your hands are magic! Can I take them home with me?" she smiled.

"Alas I need them here. Sorry." He slipped his hands out from her entrapment and she sighed.

"Do you think it would be ok with Hannah if you and I had a session without her? I don't think I can wait until 'maybe Thursday'. Tomorrow?" Beth asked.

"How about Tuesday? Tomorrow could be a busy day. I'm going to be working on buying Trish's house and I have to see what I can do with Tina's." he explained.

"OK." She looked down at her bra encased chest as she dropped her hands and sweater to her lap. "With all the weight I lost you'd think these damn things would have gotten smaller too but they don't look it."

"Nope they still look at fun as they did last year." Ben said and gave her breasts a playful squeeze.

Beth squeaked and looked up at Ben's big grin. She returned the grin and shook a finger at him. "Don't you start something you're not going to finish!"

Ben's grin got wider and he bent quickly and put Beth over his shoulder. Her squeals got louder as he hustled down his hallway and tossed Beth onto his big bed.

Her eyes were wide as he crawled up her body with a mischievous grin on his face. He slid his hand under her back and flicked her bra clasp open. Beth squeaked again as her bra popped free from the pressure it was under. He slipped the satiny material up to expose her heavy breasts. Her nipples were pointing skyward so he positioned his mouth over one and ran his tongue over it and gently blew on the moistened skin. She gasped and the nipple became stiff with need. He took it into his mouth and gently sucked and tugged on it with his lips. Beth's breathing was coming out in gasps and her body was jolting with the sensations. She seemed very sensitive so he kept his teeth out of the game.

He moved to her other nipple and repeated the treatment making her squirm and moan. Once her eyes were rolling up he slid down and tugged her sweatpants and panties down her legs. He tugged them free then pushed her legs up exposing her wet labia.

He kissed and nibbled his way down her thighs alternating side to side randomly so she couldn't prepare until he sucked her nether lips into his mouth. She cried out and her body spasmed. He didn't allow her to relax as his tongue switched between deep probing penetrations and strokes across her surface with gentle sucking on the hood of her clit. Beth's body was rocking uncontrollably and she clung to his head forcing his mouth onto her engorged lips. His tongue reached spots she didn't know she had.

Her orgasm caught her unprepared and ripped through her as her cries rose up into silence and her body vibrated. Then it was over and she lay gasping for breath with her eyes closed. After shocks rolled through her body and she made little mewling sounds. Ben got a warm damp facecloth from the bathroom and wiped her clean. She grabbed his wrist as the sensation was almost too much and more aftershocks rushed through her. He pulled back and slipped her panties on then her sweatpants. She flaked out and he thought it might be a good idea to let her rest a little. He washed his face and brushed his teeth, so he'd be ready for bed once Beth went home.

He stepped out of the bathroom and saw her looking up at him.

"Ben, ohmygod, Ben. What did you do to me?"

"Just proving your body is as fun as it should be." he smiled.

"How am I supposed to get home now? My legs are shaking! They're jelly!" she moaned.

"I'll get you home. Don't worry."

He carried her to the front door and sat her on the bench. She gasped as her tender flesh pressed against the seat. Ben put her boots on her then his own on. He slipped his jacket on and pulled Beth's over her. Then Ben hoisted her over his shoulder, stepped outside and locked the door, and swung her down into his arms. He carried the gently protesting woman over to her place in his arms. She was embarrassed at being carried but secretly she was loving every second in his strong arms. When she realized her kids would see her she buried her face against his jacket. He bumped his foot against the door and a face looked out the small window next to the door. It was Jane and her face registered surprise to see Ben carrying her mother. The door flew open.

"Don't worry, she's fine. She ate a lot of my peanut butter cookies. She's a little wobbly. She'll be fine in the morning." Ben said, being truthful but skirting the actual reason. Jane's face went from worry to a relieved smile. He stepped inside and kicked off his boots while Jane pulled off her mother's.

"I'll just set her on her bed so she can sleep off the rush she got from all the yumminess." Ben teased and Beth swatted him weakly. He grinned and Jane picked up the grin. She led him to her mother's room and he laid her down gently.

While he was leaning over her Beth whispered in his ear. "You are a very naughty man!"

"And you love it!" he said and gave her a quick but deep kiss.

Jane's eyes bugged out a little at the intensity of the kiss her mother was receiving. Ben smiled and left the house. He heard the deadbolt snapping closed directly behind him and chuckled. He walked back towards his house.

As he passed Gabriella's house he glanced up the driveway and saw her standing in the window. He waved and she moved to the front door. He sighed as he really was tired and just wanted to go home and go to bed. He turned and walked up her drive until he was in front of her door. She opened it and invited him in.

"Sure but just for a minute as I have a rather busy day tomorrow and I was on my way to bed." he said.

"I was just watching the news. The Celestial burnt down. No one died in the fire but the two owners were badly beaten and are in the hospital. The building is a write off. At the lunch party Trish told me her husband owed the guys who ran the restaurant a lot of money and you were going to take care of it." Her eyes were full of worry.

There was a thumping on the door behind Ben. He turned and opened it. Catherine lunged in and grabbed him in a big hug. "Please tell me you didn't do it!"

Ben looked down at her in surprise then over to Gabriella. "Wait! You think I'm an arsonist? Wow! Thanks." He saw the worry and doubt in their eyes and his heart lurched painfully. He couldn't deal with it. He pushed Cat back from him and left the house. He didn't stop moving until he'd locked his door behind himself. He kicked off his boots, hung up his coat and went to bed.

Sleep was allusive but exhaustion pulled him under.