Chapter 9: One Crazy Night

Ben hit the switch to the shed row, and the barn, with the exception of the tack room, went dark. He cracked the beers, handed one to Cassie, and motioned for her to sit. She crawled onto the chaise lawn chair opposite him and stared intently at the ceiling.

She had to reevaluate her life, make peace with it all, maybe find some direction. Right now, it felt like she was floating from one shitty moment to another.

She thought about how much life had changed since the racetrack closed three years ago. At the time, both Eryn and Cassie had horses and worked on track, but Cassie decided to give up racing and marry Greg. She sold her racers but kept Gunner and five mares and retired them to Eryn's farm. Gunner enjoyed life as a breeding stud, and the mares were a part of Eryn's breeding program.

When the track closed, Cassie looked for a new career path because she wanted to spend time with Greg. She wanted to be a wife and eventually a mother to their children, and horseracing meant travel which she wasn't willing to consider.

She began working as a receptionist for Randy Tyler at Tyler Investigations and immediately fell in love with the job, the exhilaration, and everything about it. Within a few months, she started a P.I. training course which included months of evening classes in procedure, self-defense, security, first aid, firearm safety, and firearm handling. She finished and received her license last month, and she had been so excited, so hopeful for the future. Now, she was lost.

Knowing that Greg probably held her job to blame for his wandering penis caused her to doubt what she thought was a good plan. Was it really her job? She couldn't consider leaving it, not after all her hard work, and she loved being a private investigator. But clearly the job and its hours were a problem, or maybe Greg was the problem all along.

Maybe she just fell in love with the wrong guy. She married him, believing him to be the right guy.

Would she ever find a man who was supportive of her career?

Would she ever find a man who she could trust to be faithful?

Shifting in her chair, her body felt stiff and on edge. Rigid anger and confusion made her muscles tight with tension, a tension she fed by kissing Ben. The silence between them was painful. What she did was insane. Greg lied and cheated with Sara, and she responds by throwing herself at her best friend's brother.

It wasn't one of her finest decisions, but it was in no way on the same level as what Sara and Greg did, not even close.

She could feel bad about it, but she already felt shitty enough. Kissing Ben gave her a moment's reprieve from her crap life, and for a moment, her heart didn't hurt.

Still, it was out of line and crazy. She acted like an idiot and there, sitting across from her, Ben sipped his beer, as casual as could be, while she died from embarrassment.

Sighing heavily, she rose, prepared to leave. "I'm gonna head in. Thanks for the sandwich and the beer." And the kiss, she thought, shaking her head at her wild behavior.

"Cass, wait." Ben closed the space between them. She eyed him, and he paused, staring at her like he wanted to say something else but couldn't quite find the words.

Smiling weakly, Cassie started to turn away, but Ben grabbed her wrist and yanked her into his arms. Before she could protest, his lips took hers, and she lost the inner struggle.

Hot damn, this guy can kiss, she thought.

He drew her in tight, kissing her hard while backing her up against the wall. His lips trailed her face and neck and then back to her trembling mouth.

Cassie really wanted to stop, she knew she should, but her throbbing vagina had a mind of its own, and that slutty bitch muzzled all protest.

Surrendering to carnal need and determined to feel good for one night, she let go of all the bad, so that she could thoroughly enjoy the moment.

The hell with reality.

The hell with it all.

Ben's hands caressed her body with skill and ease. One hand cupped her ass and pulled her against his hardness, and the other hand crept under her shirt to her breasts. His finger traced gentle circles around her nipple, driving her over the edge. Cassie grabbed at his belt, tugging on it as he moaned into her lips.

"Son of a bitch," Ben muttered breathlessly. He pulled back, pausing for a moment while glancing around, considering his next move. His gaze locked on hers before he scooped her up, carrying her over to the straw bales, kissing her ravenously along the way.

He put Cassie down, grabbed a horse blanket, tossed it across the bales, and motioned for her to sit. Kneeling between her legs, he gazed into her eyes as if asking for permission to continue. Nodding resignation for what they were about to do was all she could manage because there were no words, and logic would ruin the mood.

Her body trembled with desperate desire and fear, but the minute Ben cradled her cheeks with his palms and pulled her into a kiss, the trembling stopped. His hands worked quickly, and before she knew it, they were laying side-by-side and naked.

He pulled from her lips, staring into her eyes as his hands caressed her torso, sending shivers throughout her body. His touch, an aphrodisiac that she didn't expect took her breath away, but it was the way he looked at her, the hunger in his sparkling blue eyes that produced a flush of carnal heat that raged through Cassie's body like nothing she had ever experienced.

All of a sudden, she was hot as fuck for her bestie's brother. Again, it was like she was stuck in an alternate reality, hovering over herself, watching the show. Somewhere in the back of her mind, commonsense whispered instructions for her to stop, but she couldn't. She didn't know how, and she didn't want to. Heartache was the catalyst that fueled this inexplicable yet mutual passion, and she knew it, she welcomed it. Leaning in, her lips grabbed for his, and they kissed and caressed for as long as she could stand it until the burning desire to have him inside of her became more than she could handle.

Impatient and eager for release, she tossed him onto his back and climbed on, crying out in ecstasy as he entered her. Inhibitions be damned, she intended to get the relief that she so desperately needed.

She rode slow, at first, enjoying the feel of him inside her while they continued the maddening lip war. Ben's fingers tweaked her nipples, sending electric shockwaves throughout her body, the kind that fried brain cells and drove her mad with the desire for more.

Increasing her speed, she rode fast and hard while he throbbed inside her. She was close to release when he bucked upward, crying out as he came. Grinding against him, she hung on until seconds later that wave of ecstasy grabbed hold and sent her careening over the edge. Her muscles convulsed, squeezing his cock as she came in an explosion of lightning that pulsated throughout her body, from head to toe, with incredible intensity.

They rocked against each other until the tingling started to subside and then she collapsed on top of him, burying her face in his neck. A moment later, she rolled off and into the nook of his arm. Equally blown away, they remained silent as they tried to steady their pounding hearts.

Ben chuckled, breaking the silence. "So, that happened."

Cassie giggled, snuggling into his chest. "Probably we shouldn't have done that, but damn, it was awesome."

Ben moaned, burying his face in her hair, taking her in. "There's no 'probably' about it, but we both needed it." He raised his hand and brushed aside the just-been-shagged strands of hair that covered her cheek.

Enjoying the feel of his hands on her skin, Cassie closed her eyes. Her body half-draped against his, flesh against flesh, two hearts pounding in unison. It felt right, like home.

Amazing didn't even cover the sensation, but she knew it was one she shouldn't be feeling because it was one born or heartache and desperation. Reality slowly crept in, threatening to spoil her high, and she frowned.

What the hell did she just do?

She jumped on the first man to come along with zero-fucks-given precision, that's what she did. And it was good, so good! But the fucks she should have given before fucking her best friend's brother were now, taunting her, scolding her.

She didn't like it, but she also knew that she would never have shagged Ben, if Greg hadn't torn her heart out. If he hadn't shagged Sara, Cassie wouldn't be in this position. However, this position certainly felt good, so who was she to complain?

Fuck Greg.

She'd like to fuck Ben, again.

As if reading her thoughts, Ben's hand wandered into her nether region and gently stroked her, sending jolts of lust to her toes.

"I'm not done with you, yet." He rolled them, blanketing her body with his.

A giggle escaped her lips, but it trailed off, morphing into an elated moan.

While they were getting dressed, sometime around five in the morning, Ben yanked her into his arms, looking her square in the eye. The intensity of his gaze warmed her soul while also scaring the crap out of her.

"I don't regret this," he said. "It was exactly what I wanted. I know it's probably not the best time for you, but anytime you feel the need, you know I'm in."

Cassie wondered if he just asked her to be his fuckbuddy.

As if sensing the question, Ben added, "And not in a man-whore kind of way, either. I don't sleep around." He winked and turned to leave.

Cassie admired his ass while he walked away. "Well, that didn't just complicate my life further. Jeez."

Sighing with resolve, she started off on the walk of shame. Instead of feeling good about what she did with Ben, she felt sick, haunted by the knowledge that she stepped way over the line.

"Eryn's going to kill me," she muttered before drifting off to sleep.

How do you tell your best friend you shagged her brother, repeatedly?