22All right my lovelies, this is the chapter this whole chapter has been leading up too. The moment of reckoning. I hope you've enjoyed the ride thus far. In case you're wondering or didn't know, there are more books after this, so I'm not going to leave you hanging.
BettyBoo: Yes, Ben did wimp out. He has his excuses, but they don't really work when you still have a raging hard on from the guy you've been cheating on your partner with. I think…you're going to like this chapter. :)
WayfarerRedemption: welcome to the party. Always room for more *LOL* I think that the funniest thing is everyone is focused on the fact it was in their bed. Not that it's not cruel and mean, but I just find it telling that that is what hurts the most. Violating the sacred space.
Leanna: I'm sure if Jonathan swung that way, he'd marry you too. *LOL* The worst part is that he knew Sebastien would try something and he still wandered upstairs alone with him. Then again, the other person involved in the moment had his own agenda and it didn't really matter where it happened, as long as Ben got caught. I'm sad this story is over too, but fear not, it's not finished. BettyBoo is salivating at the thought of more angst and I fear making her mad.
Chapter 11
They broke apart and jumped from the bed, Ben shocked and stunned. He hadn't thought he'd been gone that long. Sebastien's smug and satisfied smirk punched him in the gut. He'd planned this.
Maybe if he threw up right now, things wouldn't go so bad. Ben panicked. "Kitten—"
"How could you?" Jonathan whispered, fists balled at his sides.
Ben didn't know how to explain it. He'd come upstairs to have a conversation and Sebastien had taken control, pushed him onto the bed and used his lips to muffle any protests Ben might have made. "Jonathan, I'm sorry."
Sebastien looked on, lips sneered. "Don't apologize to this bitch. He should be begging you to stay with him." he gave a wicked laugh, standing by the bed with his arms crossed.
Ben swung around to stare at him, speechless that Sebastien had said such a thing. "Shut the fuck up!"
Sebastien laughed harshly. "What's he going to do about it?"
Before anyone could say anything, Jonathan flew across the room, his fist catching Sebastien on his jaw, sending him sprawling to the floor after bouncing off the edge of the nightstand. Ben looked on in shock and admiration.
Sebastien got to his feet, rubbing his jaw. He stared at Jonathan with murder in his eyes, but Jonathan didn't back down.
"Who's the bitch now? I suggest you keep your mouth shut." He turned to Ben, blinking rapidly, gaze flinty.
Ben could only watch as Jonathan marched over to him, strides full of rage. A sharp pain hit him in the chest as his world started to crumble.
"Jonathan—" he felt a hard hand come down on his face, knocking him sideways with its force.
"You bastard! In our bed! How could you?" Jonathan seethed, his chest rising and falling with each breath.
"I'm sorry." Ben tried, but Jonathan wasn't listening.
"Get your shit and get out! Now!" Jonathan raged, eyes ablaze.
Sebastien stood behind Jonathan, smirking as he watched Ben's life shatter around him. He spun on his heel and walked out.
He held out a hand, trying to pull Jonathan into his embrace. "Kitten—"
"Don't you ever call me that again!" Jonathan spat out, pushing away his hands. "How long has this been going on?"
Ben froze. "It's not important."
"How long!" Jonathan screamed, his voice vibrating the room.
"Since your trip to Paris." Ben uttered with his head hung low, eyes wet.
A hand flew to Jonathan's mouth and he stepped back. "Why would you do this to me? I trusted you. I came to you, told you my fears and you were fucking him even then!"
Ben winced, tried to touch the shaking arm, but Jonathan jerked away, hands clenched around his middle. "It ended a month ago, I swear. The only reason we came up here is because—"
"I don't care." Jonathan's voice was cold, nostrils flaring. "I'm going to tell the guests the party is over and then I'm checking on Brittany. You'd better be gone by then."
The house had quieted down, the guests gone and Devon tucked into bed. Ben finished packing and went to find Jonathan. He had to try again, make him see that he was changed. He found him cooing to Brittany softly, eyes bleak.
"Jonathan, please talk to me." Ben begged, reaching for him over the crib.
Jonathan jerked back, a stony glare shot in his direction. "You need to leave, now. I don't want you in this house anymore."
Ben's knees locked together and his heart seized at how empty and lost he felt at the words. "Please don't —"
"Get out!" Jonathan hissed loudly, causing Brittany to stir. He set her in her crib and tucked her in, marching out of the room. Ben had no choice but to follow.
They were heading down the stairs when Devon poked his head out of the door and came over to them. Ben pasted a smile on his face as Jonathan kneeled in front of the young boy, looking at home in his footed dinosaur pajamas.
"Honey, what are you doing up? I thought I put you to bed." Jonathan lifted him up as he stood, kissing his cheek.
Devon giggled and gave him a tight hug. "Thank you for the party. It was the bestest."
Jonathan gave a laugh and tickled his sides, before putting him back on his feet. "How about you go wait for me in bed and I'll come read you a story."
An impish smile and Devon scampered off to his room, leaving the door cracked.
Ben smiled, eyelids stiff and heavy. What was going to happen if Jonathan kicked him out? Would he get to see his son? And how the hell had he messed up so bad? Jonathan moved off and Ben followed, time seeming to speed up, making his breath catch in his throat. If he didn't convince Jonathan now that things were different, he'd be lost.
As soon as they hit the first floor, Ben tried to reach for him again, but Jonathan reared on him, pushing and kicking at him, throwing punches that narrowly missed his head. Ben cowered against the front door, having never seen Jonathan in this kind of rage.
"Don't you ever touch me!" Jonathan whispered hotly, voice low and broken.
"Please, just listen to me." Ben pleaded.
He snarled, fists still tightly balled at his side. "Either get out or I will call the cops." Jonathan threatened.
Ben fell to his knees at Jonathan's feet, willing to try anything to get him to listen. "Please, you have to listen to me. I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you." Though he knew it was dangerous, he grabbed Jonathan's waist and pulled him close, tried to bury his head into the other man's waist.
Jonathan glowered down at him, pushed him away with enough force to put him on his back. "It's too late for that now. In –our bed Ben. Even Nicole never did this to me. How dare you!" he yelled, then glanced over his shoulder towards the stairs.
Ben sat up, resting on his knees. He knew the other man was worried about the kids hearing them, but right now, he hoped they did. Then, Jonathan would be distracted, maybe let him stay so he could plead his case. "I know and I'm sorry. Please –let's –let's talk about this. I don't want to lose you."
Ben's heart thudded wildly in his chest and he prayed that the hesitation he felt from Jonathan meant he had a chance. His hopes deflated when Jonathan stepped back, his face stone.
"That night…when you didn't come home? Were you with him then?" He seemed poised, waiting for the answer as if it would change everything.
Ben swallowed hard, tried to breath past the knot in his chest. "I –yes. I was with him then too."
Another thought seemed to hit Jonathan then and he watched as the other man struggled to swallow. This question would cost him something, something big and Ben felt dread building at the base of his spine in anticipation. "Did you use protection with him?"
Ben swayed and he shut his eyes tightly. Fuck! "Kitten —"
"Tell me the truth. Right now." Body shaking, Jonathan clenched his fists, body braced to lash out at him.
"No, I didn't." Ben scrambled to his feet. "I'm sorry." his heart withered away at the look of utter desolation in his partner's eyes.
Jonathan held a hand to his mouth and he made a gagging noise. "All this time we've been together and you have used a condom every time, even in the damn shower. Some prick comes along and all of a sudden, you just can't wait to stick your dick in him with nothing on."
He hung his head, shamed. "I didn't…he…" the sentence trailed off. Ben looked back at him, heaviness settling in his chest, heart ripping in two.
"Oh god." He choked out, a hand to his stomach. "Get out." He commanded, looking away from him.
"What…what about the kids? My office?" He was scrambling for anyway to stay around. He didn't care about his office, not when the most important things in his life were about to slip out of his hands.
"I'll change the locks on the doors, so you can only get into your office. You can make appointments to see the kids." Jonathan offered, voice cold, but an undercurrent of hurt still coming through.
That was something he could work with. Maybe, he could get Jonathan to spend the time with him and he could work on getting back what they had. "I still love you."
The next thing Ben knew, he was standing outside his door, suitcases next to him, cheek stinging from here Jonathan had punched him…again. He stared at the door, waiting, hoping that Jonathan would change his mind. He prayed and prayed, but after 15 minutes, he had to face facts. He headed to his car, vowing that he would fix this mess.
Traffic was light as he headed into Columbia, and Ben made it to the hotel in record time. Only, the hotel he'd picked had no vacancies…at all. With some kind of convention in town, they didn't have a room to spare. To his horror, the clerk told him that The Ivy Arbor was the only hotel with open rooms.
Defeated, he got back into his car and headed out. This had to be some kind of hell, he thought snidely as he checked in, the clerk handing him his room card, having to stay in the same hotel as the man who'd just ruined his relationship. He scoffed at the thought. He'd done that all on his own. He never should have slept with Sebastien and now, he had to pay for it. Jonathan's face kept coming to his mind, the hurt and betrayal eating away at him. He took the key and headed to the elevator and a foreign bed. He prayed that he and Jonathan could work through this. It had to work. He had a family to think of.
After reading a bedtime story to his son, Jonathan spent the rest of the night in his daughter's room, staring at the wall in blinding hurt and betrayal. How could this have happened to him? He'd been so sure that Ben was the one. Why had he done this to them? They had a family, a life they'd built together and Ben had just thrown that away. Was it him? Was it something that he'd done? Maybe if he'd spent more time with Ben, shown him more attention, but how could he when had two kids to look after, a house to keep up and a full-time business to nurture? Jonathan felt the anger build in his gut. He turned into some kind of wife, doing all the work while the husband got his dick sucked. He snarled and jerked from the chair. He would be damned.
The end
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