Page 101 of Possessed By You

Benjamin’s side of the bed is empty but warm when I wake, my thighs aching. After a few minutes, I’m coherent enough to remember that we’re in South Carolina on vacation and I’ve slept in.

Before I go in search of my husband and son, I haul myself out of bed and into the bathroom for a shower to wash off the scent of sex and brush my teeth. I throw on a black bikini, wrapping a sarong around my hips, and open the bedroom door. I instantly hear seagulls, only loud because the door to the beach cottage is open.

Accompanying the noisy seagulls is child’s laughter, a high-pitched wail of joy that can send a shiver throughout my entire body. Stepping out onto the patio, I shield my eyes and spot them under the blazing sun. I can’t help but smile, appreciating the sight of Benjamin, free and happy in nature. He’s confined to his office, or meetings, and even our city apartment far too often. Seeing him relaxing on the Carolina beach is a sight to behold.

Daniel is throwing around sand, wobbling on his unstable legs, his arms wrapped in thick floatation devices. He’s wearing the trunks Doris gave him, and I make a mental note to take a picture of him sometime today to send her. Benjamin’s wearing black trunks that conform to his masculine thighs as he chases Daniel, who is now set on playing some form of tag. He won’t get far without falling. Benjamin’s hands are there when he does and torture him with the wiggling of his fingers, tickling.

Daniel’s fit of laughter can probably be heard all the way where Dimitri is staying.

“Having fun, are we?”

Their heads turn at the same time at my amused question. Benjamin gasps, grabbing Daniel’s hand. “Look! It’s Mommy!”

“Mama!” Daniel shrieks as Benjamin helps him to me. He trips twice but eventually makes it, stretching on his toes for me to pick him up. When he’s in my arms, Benjamin leans in, pressing his mouth to mine with a smile.

“Good morning.”

I blush, unable to help myself. “Yes…it is.”

***

Laid out against Benjamin, tucked between his thighs, I regard the book on my lap with zero intent to actually decipher the sentences. Daniel is on the blanket as well, playing with a soaked-through teddy bear. He’s completely immersed in it, speaking gibberish, his own private language. An umbrella shields us from the scalding sun, and to fight off the heat spells, we have the water. Daniel splashed Benjamin the entire time, to my everlasting amusement.

Benjamin has a hand rested on my thigh, tracing the beauty marks absentmindedly.“Voglio quel libro,”he murmurs in Italian.I want that book.

I repeat it, without half the grace as him, a fluent speaker, rubbing his thighs. There are still water droplets on them from when he jumped in the water a few minutes go. “Fitting for me.”

“Very fitting.”

Utilizing my husband’s vast knowledge of languages, I listen to him speak, picking up on his teachings as best I can. He’s a patient tutor. I lean against his chest, humming contentedly when he presses his lips to my cheek, his tenderness disarming, but not at all unlike him.

“Je t’aime,”I tell him.I love you.

He squeezes me closer.“Tu es ma vie, mon amour.”

I tilt to him with a pleased smile. “I like that one.”

He grins. “I thought you would.”

We move together simultaneously, our mouths magnets, drawn to each other, impossible to resist. We touch lightly, apprehensively, lingering in the closeness, that moment of anticipation before he swoops in and takes me swiftly. My heart still leaps at his attention, as it has since I first laid eyes on him. My mouth naturally slackens so his tongue can slip through, and taste me, drink me in. We only pull apart when Daniel knocks into my legs with a wild laugh, oddly pleased to have interrupted his parents’ intimacy. It’s contagious—his innocence, his unfaltering joy of the world.

We’ve hardly been witness to that kind of life. Now that we have him, it’s easy to fall victim to bliss.

“Danny boy, you want some help?” Benjamin asks exuberantly, shifting back into the sand so he can stand. He settles down onto the edge of the blanket, accepting the bucket Daniel is holding out.

For a brief moment, I’m transported to the moment I laid eyes on my husband. Benjamin Scott was cocky, arrogant…untouchable. I was mesmerized the second I saw him. I was still a frightened, naïve girl on the run from a dangerous past. There was no one. I was alone. I can still see myself sitting on a bench in Central Park, trying to imagine the lives of the people aimlessly trotting by me. Oh, how I envied them. The life they had could never be reached for me.

I never saw a life with friends, family. I couldn’t anticipate a son, never dreamed of a husband. I knew better than to envision that. I knew it would be impossible.

But it wasn’t.

I owe my entire life to Benjamin. He’s saved me. He’s given me everything a person could possibly give someone. He’s changed who he is for me. He learned to love for me, and it’s more than I could have ever asked for. He knows I’m grateful. He knows how much I love him, how much I rely on him.

We’ve finally grown up.

Our pasts make it easy to be parents. We love as we wished to be loved.

I stare, transfixed by my boys. Benjamin’s emerald eyes dart up from the mess of a sandcastle, a breathlessly unmarred smile consuming the greater portion of his face when he finds me watching them. His smile dissipates into something else, somethingmore. He reaches out his hand, motioning for me to join them.

I stand with a shaky exhale, emotional as I walk toward my happily ever after.

The End