Wolf Moon Pt. 01

'You've had a bath,' he observed.

'Er...yes...I hope that was okay?' she stuttered, suddenly feeling guilty for doing so without asking permission.

'Of course,' he confirmed, with an easy wave of his hand. 'I was just observing that you smell very...floral.'

'Thank you.'

'Washing away any evidence of your boyfriend, huh?'

'Ex-boyfriend,' Grace corrected sternly. 'And yes, that was one reason, as well as to warm myself up.'

'Of course. He obviously angered you.'

'To be honest, he pissed me right off!' she exclaimed, managing a small smile at her host.

'Do you wish to talk about it?'

'Not really,' she huffed, before proceeding to do so. 'He's been screwing someone else on the side...admitted it to me tonight.'

Grace was surprised when Benedict drew in a deep breath, his exhale almost like a snarl. He sounded genuinely annoyed at Ethan's antics. It was an unexpected response, but one she found herself drawing strength from.

'And then he had the nerve to...well, I told him to take a running jump when he suggested I might like to join in a threesome with the girl he's been shagging on the side.'

'He sounds like a charmer,' observed Benedict, his tone positively loaded with sarcasm.

'A wanker you mean? Yeah, he is,' admitted Grace, silently acknowledging to herself that the tongue-loosening properties of the port must have well and truly taken effect. It was quite out of character for her to open up to a stranger like this, particularly over such personal matters. 'I mean...that's not a normal request a guy makes to his girlfriend, is it?'

'I'm not sure I'm best placed to judge what constitutes normal,' Benedict admitted, his words accompanied by a false laugh. 'But it's certainly not something I would ever consider doing.'

'No?' queried Grace, seeking reassurance.

'No,' he confirmed with certainty. 'Such behaviour is totally unacceptable under my code.'

'Your code?'

'The code of a decent person,' he replied vaguely. 'You're much better off without him,' he added, sounding less angry now.

'I certainly am.'

'For me, a relationship is strictly between two partners. A sacred thing, never to involve a third party.'

'Exactly,' she agreed, before attempting to lighten the intense mood which had unexpectedly sprung up between them. 'Besides...how exactly was he anticipating being able to please two women in under one minute?' They gazed gently at each other, acknowledging Grace's joke.

'So...' Purposefully placing his now empty glass onto the table, Benedict balanced his elbows on his knees, lowering his face to look directly into her eyes. 'Now that you're well shot of him, tell me, what is it that you most desire?'

'To feel satisfied,' Grace sighed, milliseconds before her hand flew up to cover her mouth. 'I'm so sorry. I literally have no idea why I said that!' But Benedict completely ignored her blustering apologies, his focus entirely on Grace.

'You desire sex again?' he queried, keeping their conversation on point. 'Isn't once a night enough for you?'

'How do you know?' she stuttered. Grace certainly hadn't mentioned having sex in Ethan's car to anybody.

'I could smell it on you earlier, although it's gone now,' he admitted. 'The scent of sex is a very powerful one...primitive...primal. It can draw all kinds of unwanted attention if you're not careful.'

Unsure of quite how to respond and aware of her desperately blushing cheeks, Grace said nothing.

'So, why do you need more?' asked Benedict, sounding genuinely curious.

'Please stop asking me such personal questions,' stuttered Grace, her features pleading for understanding. 'I'm finding it impossible to lie to you.'

'I do tend to have that effect on people,' he admitted. 'I'm an extractor of truths.'

'Well, please stop extracting my truths! I am not the person you're making me sound like!'

'Maybe you're exactly that person,' he countered, his eyebrows rising in defiance. 'Perhaps you just need to learn to be true to the real version of yourself?'

'That sounds dangerous.'

'But ultimately a lot more satisfying?' Benedict suggested, with a slight tilt of his head. 'So,' he continued, clearly not willing to allow the subject to drop. 'Why do you require sex for a second time? I've never known any woman to need sex more than once during the course of a night...nor, indeed, be capable of it.'

'I wouldn't if...'

'Ah,' he nodded knowingly. 'If he possessed the ability to satisfy you in the first place?' Grace nodded shyly, lowering her eyes to her lap. 'It sounds to me as though you need an upgrade.'

***

With no idea what was being implied by this statement, Grace chanced a quick glance towards him, only to discover Benedict smiling gently back. And having locked gazes, she found it absolutely impossible to stop staring into those beautiful amber eyes of his.

'What do you need then?'

'I'm sorry?'

'In bed. What do you need? Oh, you don't even know yourself?' Benedict answered on Grace's behalf, as she began to stutter in response.

'You're correct. I'm not sure,' she admitted bravely. The truth of the matter was, how could she fully know what she needed, when she hadn't sampled a very large range. Her ex's had largely been missionary men; indeed, Ethan suggesting they screw in his car tonight marked the height of her sexual explorations.

'A basic set of questions then?' offered Benedict. 'Which is more important; the physical act or an emotional connection?'

Immediately, Grace's thoughts drifted back to Ethan's car. How her body had been used solely for his enjoyment, without her own requirements being considered. The way he'd apparently cared nothing for her in his moment of lust.

'The latter,' she admitted, starting to feel quite dizzy from the intensity of staring into Benedict's eyes.

'Yes or no,' he continued without mercy. Kissing?'

'Yes,' she sighed, without a pause.

'Teasing?'

'Yes.' The tiniest groan escaped Grace's throat when she responded this time. She could only hope Benedict didn't pick up on it. He didn't comment, instead looking even more thoughtfully at her.

'Kink?'

'I'm not sure what you mean by that,' Grace admitted, her dark brown eyes narrowing.

'Are you not? What a tragedy,' he smirked. 'Then let me be more specific... Blindfolds? Restraints?' he listed, carefully monitoring Grace's reaction each time, instantly picking up on her increased rate of breathing.

'The sensation of feeling trapped and helpless...knowing that your partner can do anything they wish to you?'

'Fuck,' muttered Grace, under her breath. But Benedict was relentless.

'The dichotomy of pleasure versus pain?'

It was undoubtedly a slow seduction, using only his words, but by God it was working! Grace had no doubt how wet she was becoming as all the blood and heat rushed down her body, away from her normally very sensible mind. With her emotions feeling utterly adrift, she'd returned to breathing so fast that she was almost hyperventilating again. But unlike earlier in the evening, confronted by those four men, when fear had been primarily responsible for her reaction, this time, the cause was due to a totally different reason.

'Interesting,' observed Benedict at length.

'What's interesting?' she managed to croak.

'You are highly amenable to the first three options I listed, but display a very negative response to the thought of the latter. The idea of experiencing pain in any form does not set your imagination alight, as the rest of the options I gave you do. Quite the reverse, in fact. You consider pain a major turn off.'

'How can you possibly know...?' demanded an astonished Grace, objecting to his apparent ability to read her mind.

'It's a gift. People tend to open up to me.'

'Or perhaps a curse?'

'Rarely that,' Benedict admitted, his eyes positively gleaming with mischief as he sent her a second half-smile of the evening.

'But I didn't even say anything!'

'Except fuck,' he teased. 'I observe extremely closely. Micro-movements, body language... I'm extremely receptive to your emotions. Which, I'm afraid, means that you'll find it almost impossible to lie to me. My advice is to save both of us some time from the outset, and simply be completely honest. I'll know the truth when I hear it...and when I don't.'

'Yeah?' Grace attempted to challenge.

'Yeah,' admitted Benedict, shutting her down. 'So with that thought in mind, tell me. Do you want me to help you experience your true fantasies tonight?'

'I beg your pardon?' she replied, looking quite stunned.

'You heard me. Don't make me repeat myself.' With his face now expressionless, Benedict continued to watch his guest carefully.

'You mean have sex with you?' she queried.

Throwing his head back, Benedict laughed genuinely for the first time in her presence. The sound was a rich, deep, addictive sound which sent a bolt of longing flooding straight through her still-trembling frame.

'No!' he grinned, showing more of those sharp canines again.

'Exactly why is that suggestion so funny?'

'Because you couldn't handle me; particularly not after the high-octane, action-packed night you've already lived through.'

'So what are you suggesting?' she demanded, trying not to sound insulted that the possibility of them having sex together was quite such a joking matter.

'I'm suggesting a gentle introduction to your most secret, privately held fantasies, that no man has ever managed to give you before,' he shrugged, as though making such a wild suggestion was perfectly standard behaviour.

'But no sex?' she clarified.

'No sex,' he confirmed. 'I would only use my mouth and fingers on you. They will be quite enough to pleasure you fully.'

In awe of Benedict's extremely confident statement, Grace felt a heavy pulse start to beat across her clit. She felt so turned on now, it was verging on the ridiculous. During every encounter with Ethan, she had never felt this primed and lustful. Without even being touched? It was crazy. Still, she couldn't quite get her head around his suggestion.

'But what about you?'

'What about me?' he queried, looking genuinely perplexed. 'Tonight would be all about you. I give and you receive. It really would be as simple as that. And you can scream and beg and plead for me to fuck you as much as you like...indeed, I fully expect you to do so. But know that isn't going to happen.'

'I'm...I...' Suddenly feeling extremely trapped, Grace sat bolt upright. 'I think I should go back to bed.'

In response, Benedict did nothing to try and stop her. Quite the opposite, in fact. With a nod, he rose to his feet and ambled towards the door, pausing just before he crossed the threshold.

'You know,' he said conversationally, glancing back to look at Grace. 'You can continue to lie to yourself if that meets your needs in some way. But you will never, I repeat never, be able to lie to me. If you decide to be honest with yourself at any time tonight, then my bedroom door is directly opposite yours and will remain unlocked. Otherwise, have a good remainder of the night, Grace,' he said kindly, before heading upstairs and leaving the woman sitting in his armchair feeling quite speechless.

Despite the heat being emitted from the fire, Grace was surprised to sense a drop in temperature with Benedict's departure, almost as though his mere presence had helped to warm her. Within minutes, she had retreated back upstairs, locking the door firmly behind herself. Still trying to process Benedict's final words, she climbed back into her very comfortable bed and turned out the light. However, it soon became supremely obvious that she wasn't going to get back to sleep. Grace's mind was buzzing with the conversation they'd shared. She felt primal, engaged and certainly in no fit state to sleep.

In an attempt to take the edge off, Grace allowed her hand to drift down her warm, rounded body, only to discover copious amounts of sticky arousal between her legs. Stroking herself intimately, she acknowledged that any attempts to make herself come were ultimately destined to fail. For although the sensations she was creating felt nice enough, after Benedict had set her sexual imagination on fire, her own hand was nowhere near enough to satisfy. Nice was no good. She needed an expert touch, and something instinctively told her that Benedict was the man capable of providing it.

It was only then that, for the first time, did Grace seriously start to consider his offer. She was single again. He was a good-looking, kind and highly intuitive guy. Grace didn't doubt he could deliver exactly what he'd promised; a journey through her most secret of fantasies. And without the ongoing disappointment of sexual intercourse to round it off, apparently, which was perfect. Recently, if not always, the act of sex itself had not lived up to the hype. Plus, as a bonus, no-one would ever know she'd dared to surrender to her slutty side, noted a wicked voice in her head. Only she and Benedict would ever know the murky truth. The secret would be theirs, and theirs alone.

Restless, horny and continuously unsatisfied, it was an embarrassingly short time before Grace once again donned a bathrobe, tied the cord tightly around her waist and unlocked her room. Except this time, she padded straight across the corridor to the door directly opposite her own.