Voyeur

Sorry for the delay on updates.

Thanks Rumpole, for daringly giving this piece an editorial once-over mid-flight ;)

For this story I did commit to keeping things more romantic for one camp. No promises have been explicitly broken in this chapter, but you get the gist (or warning) from the chapter title description for future reference.

As always, thank you readers for feedback and voting. You guys make posting a joy!

*********

"Hey." Ben hugged Rachel from behind as she stared nervously at their reflection in the full-length bedroom mirror. "Stop fretting."

"It's just... I mean, I haven't..." she trailed off nervously.

A work conference, no problem. A birthday party, fine. But the pressure of meeting Ben's 'significant others' on short notice was something else. Rachel couldn't remember the last time she endured first impressions. Now she was about to face a group of men, not a family dinner, which made it so much more intimidating.

On top of it all, she was intruding on their 'boy's night'. Possibly worse, she was the inadvertent reason behind ordering pizza instead of enjoying Ben's masterful cooking.

Taking a deep breath, Rachel smoothed clammy palms down the green dress that trailed loosely over her body and halted just above her knees. It took a lot of convincing for Ben not to fuck her in it.

The dress was stylishly demure and showcased Rachel's great legs. Its emerald tones complimented appeared very flattering alongside her long, auburn hair, which was loosely tamed in a plait.

Ben wore jeans and a fitting, jet-black shirt that was quite striking against his tanned skin-tone. Being ruggedly handsome, most styles suited him, whether tidy or dishevelled.

"Relax, gorgeous." Ben kissed her temple then nibbled her ear. "They're not tigers. It'll be fun."

"But it's a

boys-!"

"Rachel, they are expecting you to be there," Ben sternly interjected in a no-nonsense tone. "If they come at you with pitchforks and holy water, I'll fight them off, ok?"

"But are you

sure-?

"

"If you ask one more time if you can hide up here, I am going to spank you!"

"Big talk," Rachel mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing!" she said hastily, aware it took very little encouragement for Ben to force her across his knee.

"You look beautiful. Don't embarrass me by trying a runner - one of them will tackle you."

Rachel giggled and weakly slapped at the large hand creeping up her dress to squeeze a buttock. "

Ben!"

"Alright, let's go. Any longer and they'll think we're fucking, and as a matter of honour I'll have to prove them right." Ben jogged his eyebrows at her indignant stare.

Conversation ceased when Ben and Rachel descended the staircase. Rachel's cheeks heated as several pairs of curious eyes fixed on her face. There were only four of them, but it felt like a gang of ten.

Quietly looking her over, Ben's friends were clearly bemused, but not unimpressed. If Rachel was honest, their faces were reassuringly friendly.

"Guys, this is Rachel," Ben introduced her to the group. Naming his friends one by one, he gave each a warning stare.

"Hi," Rachel said shyly.

Ben's inner circle took in the sight of her. After light debate on the topic, they predicted Rachel would be some kind of trendsetter, who would confidently swan in to greet them wearing an elaborate outfit and a full face of makeup. Granted, Rachel was very pretty, but not the kind of girl they envisioned would get commitment from Ben.

Kevin, Toby, Nick and Peter had known Ben for at least a decade. Toby was quite stocky, with ruddy, humorous features and light brown hair. He'd been married for a while, and the others often joked how it deteriorated his fitness. Kevin was a dark-haired Mediterranean and as tall as Ben, though more lean than muscled.

Peter was blonde, with warm hazel eyes. Nick was a tall and solid brunette, with serious, dark blue eyes. Of all of them, he appeared the least welcoming.

"It must be hot in here!" Kevin lightly joked, and Ben shot him a threatening glare as the others laughed.

"Will you serve drinks later, in a frilly maid outfit?" Toby teased, ready to enjoy himself.

"I'm not sure Tracy would like that," Ben pleasantly countered, squeezing Rachel against his side.

"That was your line, when I hosted." Toby rolled his eyes.

"Ah yes, when I was desperately single," Ben smiled, and they all followed the scent of food to where newly arrived pizza boxes were stacked on the dining table. With a firm hold on Rachel's hand, he drew her along, ignoring her attempts to catch his eye.

"No, you are not allowed to leave." Ben spoke from the corner of his mouth, for her ears only. "Is that why you're making eyes at me?"

Crestfallen, Rachel nodded. Ben chuckled and kissed her, three times.

"We used to joke about wanting to see Ben in love, but the reality is kind of painful," Peter complained.

"Excruciating," Nick agreed.

"Tell me about it!" Ben grinned, still warmly watching Rachel. "Relax, Rae. They're nice, really."

"Yeah," Toby said, making sure he occupied the seat beside Rachel. "We seem like assholes, but we're nice."

Ben pursed his lips and pointed to where Peter sat. "You, sleaze, are sitting over there."

The black oak dining table was large enough for at least ten people, so there was plenty of space to move around.

"I'm safe! I'm the only married guy here!" Toby protested, reluctantly complying.

"That makes you the most dangerous," Peter laughed, as they swapped.

"Discrimination!" Toby muttered, but with a sheepish smile that suggested Ben was right to move him.

"Kevin, help me with drinks," Ben jerked his head, grinning at the shocked dismay on Rachel's face. It was unrealistic to think they'd be joined at the hip all night, but she hoped Ben would at least break some conversational ice before abandoning her.

'You'll be fine,' he discreetly mouthed, and turned his back on the look of hurt betrayal directed his way.

Leaving with Kevin, Ben hoped he wasn't making a mistake. His friends were playful, but ultimately harmless and his earlier statement carried weight - it would be

really

embarrassing if Rachel did a runner in front of them. They would never let him forget it.

"Nice girl," Kevin commented, very focused on uncorking the bottle of red he'd brought along.

"Alright, get it out. What do you think?" Ben asked, bending to extract a pack of beers from the fridge. Brow furrowed as he considered their numbers, he grabbed another bottle of red.

"Well..." Kevin's eyes darted Ben's direction as he chose his words. "She's the sort you take to your folks, isn't she?"

"And?"

"Well, that's not really your type. What are you doing with her, Ben?"

"I love her to bits, that's what."

Kevin's grasp on the bottle-opener slipped, and he almost dropped the wine. "

What?"

"I love her," Ben repeated unblinkingly.

"She looks sensitive."

"She is. So what?"

Kevin's eyes sceptically narrowed. "She doesn't look like the type to brush up and strut on if you break her heart. That's all."

Ben shrugged. "I get it. It's fast, and it's intense. But I'm not letting this one get away."

"I never thought I'd see you so 'lovey dovey'," Kevin remarked.

"Well, I'm in love!"

"Does she feel the same?"

Ben dropped the beers and wine on the counter, and crossed his arms. "Why are you interrogating me?"

"I'm not," Kevin said quickly. "Forget it."

"You've only known the girl two seconds, and-"

"It's not her, it's you," Kevin explained. "We didn't know you were even seeing someone, and suddenly you're living together? You always had a cold way with women."

"Look, if I had to describe it..." Ben thoughtfully pursed his lips. "She's like fresh air. I can completely relax around her, and I know it's a feeling I don't want to lose."

"So, she's your oxygen?" Kevin said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "That's ironic. I remember you said girls were suffocating."

"Oh, the tables have

definitely

turned!" Ben chuckled, wondering how Kevin would react knowing he'd chased Rachel down an alleyway and bullied her onto his bike.

*****

"So, Rachel, how did you meet Ben?" Toby asked, clearly on best behaviour.

The others were suddenly very interested in Rachel's answer. Going by the way she choked on her wine, it was worth hearing.

"A-At the gym," she managed, gratefully accepting a glass of water from Nick.

At this moment Ben returned with Kevin to see Rachel's face aflame. He immediately shot Toby a suspicious glare. "What's going on?"

"We were just wondering how you lovebirds met," Peter explained, very keen to hear the full story. "So, the gym, huh?"

"She didn't find your sparring a bit confronting?" Nick probed. The question was directed at Ben, but his navy eyes were on Rachel. She didn't look bloodthirsty.

Ben laughed. "She hasn't seen that."

"Oh, God. Get out while you can, girl!" Peter warned, though his eyes danced with good-humour as the others chuckled.

"Blink twice, if you're a prisoner!" Toby added with a laugh.

Ben rolled his eyes. As dinner progressed, his friends quit teasing and moved on to their usual topics. A little fun was all it was, and no one was interested in ruining the evening by pissing Ben off. They could tell the whirlwind romance was quite serious. On his side, at least.

Ben didn't sit next to Rachel, which both disappointed and frightened her. But it didn't take long for her to realise she was the centre of his attention, and his friends noticed.

Hours passed, conversation flowed, and people inevitably moved seats. At one point Nick and Kevin fell silent, having sighted the same thing at once. Then Kevin elbowed Peter and the three of them stared at a small, potted plant safely nestled on the mantlepiece. The ceramic pot itself was handmade and quite beautiful, with swirls of pink and blue. It was definitely not Ben's.

Ben, Rachel and Toby were in the midst of a friendly debate and only Ben noticed the other group go quiet. Glancing their way, his jaw set as he registered their silent presumption. He knew what they were thinking - that Rachel was strategically moving her things in. Feminizing his cherished man-cave.

Ironically, it was the literal opposite. Rachel fretted about the plant dying in her absence so much that Ben kidnapped it. The plant was her only justification to spend a night away from him, and he wasn't having it. Now that her cute, little blue flowers weren't going to perish, she had no excuse to return to her apartment.

Ben's only remaining hurdle was to officially move

her

into his home, but he couldn't figure out how to position it without frightening her. After a bit of scheming he decided to wait until she used the 'paying rent for unused space' excuse. Then he would suggest she move in as a solution, because he wasn't letting her leave.

Under the guise of checking her phone she'd conveniently left upstairs, Rachel excused herself. She was quite flushed with high energy after so much socialising. A quick moment alone would be nice, and she wanted to give the men some time for 'guy talk'.

Dinner wasn't the trial she imagined; Ben's cronies were actually a lot of fun. Then again, her anxiety was mostly triggered by the pressures of romantic interest. If Ben's friends were serious flirts, and not just nice guys, she might have set the kitchen on fire by accident.

Relaxing on the bed and idly scrolling news items, she jerked up with fright when Ben cleared his throat from the doorway.

"Whatcha doing?" he asked slyly, perfectly aware that she wasn't checking anything important.

"Nothing," she said innocently. Before she could get off the bed, Ben was on it.

"Ben! Your friends-!" Rachel squealed as his hands determinedly slid up her thighs beneath the hem of her dress.

"Can keep themselves occupied," he said serenely, though his eyes glittered wickedly. "And coincidently, I am preoccupied. Or should I say,

you,

will soon be occupied..."

"No! We can't! No!" Rachel gasped.

In a flash of green the skirt of her dress flipped up and Ben nosed between her thighs. Seconds later, a warm tongue naughtily caressed the gusset of her panties. Scandalised, Rachel desperately wriggled to the other side of the bed. Staggering to her feet, she held both palms up as Ben crawled toward her with clear intentions.

"Ben, no! They'll know! I'll be too embarrassed to come back downstairs!"

With a dark look on his face that Rachel should have heeded as a warning, Ben leapt up and caught her. Rachel instinctively shrieked, then clapped a hand over her mouth as she was dragged to the mattress.

"Ben! Shush!" she hissed, mortified that her cry would have been heard from downstairs.

"

You're

the one who screamed!" Ben protested, overcome with laughter. "Come on, Rae. I want you. I'll be quick, I promise..."

"No! We have to go back!" Rachel said, anxiously pushing against his immovable broad shoulders as he began to kiss her neck. "I mean it!

Ben!"

"Aw." Ben was disappointed, but didn't push his luck. After a last cheeky kiss, he reluctantly rolled off her, and Rachel scrambled from the bed to smooth creases from her dress.

Ben conceded it was true that his friends would decipher from their absence, their returning flushed faces and dishevelled, rearranged clothing that they'd fucked. Still, he found the idea kind of hot.

"Come on!" Rachel breathlessly demanded, pulling a reluctant Ben from the bed and dragging him down the stairs.

It was a little uncomfortable when they re-emerged. As expected, a telling silence met their return.

"We heard signs of distress. The others almost sent me to investigate." Toby solemnly shook his head at them.

"You volunteered, pervert!" Peter exclaimed, and the group burst into laughter.

Though grinning stupidly, Ben quickly changed the subject for Rachel's sake. Toby later found himself alone with Rachel, while the others were in the midst of a card game.

"By the way, sorry about the outfit comment," he apologised. "I was just messing around. I don't often get to mess with Ben."

"Now we know his kryptonite," Nick said wryly.

Toby and Rachel mildly started, not realising their conversation was overheard.

"Hey." Ben clicked his fingers. "Focus on the game."

"Let's get something better to drink," Toby said, guiding Rachel toward the kitchen.

Only by the briefest glance their direction did Ben reveal he wasn't entirely focused on his cards. Though unconcerned about Toby's conduct, Ben was slightly uneasy. Toby talked a lot of meaningless shit when he drank.

"So it hasn't been that long, has it?" Toby stood on his toes to reach the highest shelf and retrieve some cocktail glasses.

"I guess not," Rachel answered with a light shrug, swirling the red wine about her glass.

"It was the same with me and Trace. When I met her, I didn't want anyone else. She took some convincing. Actually, I'm still convincing her," he laughed. "Next time I host, you're invited. She'd really like you. I mean, we all like you. My God, some of the girls Ben dated. Real stuck-up bitches." Toby paused his drunk monologue and pulled a face.

"Mm." Rachel remembered Monica, and was inclined to agree.

"It's great he found you," Toby blathered on. "I mean, he's never had a

girlfriend,

girlfriend. I don't think I've ever seen a female under this roof. It'd be great if you stuck around and put an end to his womanising ways," he joked tipsily.

"That would be nice," Rachel politely replied, but her stomach dropped as though a large, dry rock settled in it.

After consuming her fair share of wine, it was easy for unsettling emotions to arise. Rachel wasn't blind to their reaction; to the fact she wasn't Ben's usual style. But the idea Ben dated multiple girls more 'his type', wasn't particularly heart-warming. It was also quite disconcerting that her adoring boyfriend seemingly had a preference for unpleasant, shallow women.

It was early days, after all. Ben's friends knew him better than she did. Maybe his womanising ways weren't done. Maybe he seduced her so easily because he was practiced in the art...

Rachel scowled at her insecurity. Ben didn't strike her as a liar, and he'd been the one pushing commitment. He was caring, attentive and expressed some pretty strong feelings. At the same time, Rachel still wanted to pinch herself every time she woke up in his arms. She lived by the saying - 'If it's too good to be true, it probably is'. And Ben certainly made the 'too good' category.

"I mean, you're really cute," Toby quickly added, very alarmed by Rachel's unsmiling change in demeanour. Aghast his innocuous rambling might have hit home in an unintended way, he plunged on. "I mean, you're marriage cute. Not slutty, catwalk cute..."

"Hey."

Rachel jumped as Ben's arms snaked about her waist. After kissing her temple he rested his chin atop her head and glared at Toby, who looked very apprehensive and clutched the cocktail glasses to his chest, as though they might shield him from an attack.

"You," Ben darkly narrowed his eyes. "Get out there, and play better than last time."

"Yes, boss!" Toby quickly placed the glasses on the counter, and left after a quick salute.

"You ok?" Ben murmured, turning Rachel in his arms.

"Yeah!" she brightly answered. She avoided his eyes and hugged him, burying her face in his chest.

"You'd tell me, yeah?" he pried, leaning back to see her hidden face.

"Yep," she mumbled against his shirt.

"Baby rabbit?"

The affectionate term made Rachel feel both giddily excited, and utterly despondent about the future. Various thoughts took turns in her mind, revolving in an endless, carousel of joy and misery.

He loves you.

He goes through hot girls, like a flame through a matchbox.

His friends like you.

His friends feel sorry for you.

He loves you, he really does.

Marcus was right. You're just pathetic.

"I'm just tired. I drank too much," Rachel muttered incoherently. Humiliating, emotional tears gathered in her eyes. Why did she have to have that last glass of wine?

"I'll take you to bed." Ben firmly tilted her chin up to carefully scrutinise her expression. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing! I'm just tired!" she insisted, blinking rapidly.

"Rae," he said softly, staring into her eyes. "What happened? Did Toby-?"

"Oh,

God,

no!" Rachel exclaimed, horrified that she might dump Toby in it, when the issue was her damn oversensitivity. "Of course not. I'm just tired! Really!"

"Alright," Ben said, his disbelief clear. He knew Toby said something that upset her. But now wasn't the time to pursue it.

"You wanna say goodnight to them?" he asked, gently tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "You can sneak upstairs if you want, they won't mind."

"No, it's fine," she reassured him, relieved to have somewhat recovered from her vulnerable moment.

"Hey." Ben waited until she returned his gaze. "I'm

really

grateful for tonight. For you being here. It meant a lot to me."

Rachel giggled, and tossed back the remainder of her wine. "You're drunk."

"No,

you

are, bad girl!" he admonished. "I'll punish you later."

Rachel's eyes were wide as Ben disposed of her empty glass and pulled her into a more intimate embrace. As he leaned down to brush his lips over hers, Nick coughed from the doorway.

"I gotta get going, I'll show myself out." He smiled widely at Rachel for the first time that evening. "Lovely to meet you, Rachel." He pointed at Ben. "Don't fuck it up."