Rated R for language and m/f sex (Ben & Kate)
This is a prequel to Springtime in Chicago.
Many thanks to Michelle for posting it for me.
The usual disclaimers apply: The property of Alliance is borrowed and will be returned in good condition. Kate belongs to me. No commercial gain is anticipated from this work; it was produced for the personal pleasure of the author and anyone who might care to read it. Comments are always appreciated. Enjoy.
Paloma Manchada
paloma46@hotmail.com
by Paloma Manchada
c. 1996
The late summer sun was still warm enough to take the chill off the high meadow. Kate reclined against her saddle, watching Benton Fraser walk quietly to their picketed horses. She languidly rubbed the ears of the wolf sprawled beside her. She watched Ben. The wolf watched the last chicken salad sandwich in the remains of their picnic lunch.
"There he goes Diefenbaker. Our Beautiful Ben. Our incredibly dense, amazingly obtuse, totally lovable, Beautiful Beloved Ben."
The wolf spared her a quick lick on her hand, before returning to his surveillance of the sandwich. Kate ruffled his fur, knowing how that annoyed him.
"You are a horrible mooch!" She stretched to grab the sandwich and a grape. "You may have the sandwich, but you must eat a grape first. It's good for you." She offered the grape between her thumb and forefinger. Dief sniffed at it, but refused to take it. She pushed it at his mouth; he flattened his ears and whine/growled. "No grape, no chicken." He suddenly had her wrist in his mouth, sharp teeth denting the skin. She looked at him coolly. "No grape, no chicken, Diefenbaker."
With a resigned sigh the wolf released her wrist and delicately took the grape from her fingers. "Now swallow it, you big fake." Scrunching his eyes closed, he made a great show of swallowing. "There now, don't you feel healthier?" She held out the sandwich; he snapped it from her hand and ran for the trees. "Leave me my fingers, you ungrateful wolf!", she yelled after him in mock fury.
"What was that all about?", Fraser sat down near her on the blanket.
"Oh, just a discussion of the price of getting what you want."
"You gave him the sandwich,." Fraser scolded. "You know I'm trying to get him back on natural food."
Kate smiled apologetically, "Not exactly. He bought it."
"With what?"
"I made him eat a grape." She watched her friend for signs that he was truly upset over the sandwich and saw only genuine amusement in his wonderful blue eyes.
"Ah."
"Someday you must explain to me exactly what 'Ah' means to you Canadians."
They rested in companionable silence for a while. Birds were singing, the nearby rivulet rushed downstream, in the quiet they could just hear the contented grinding of the horses' teeth on the grain in their feedbags.
"Benton?"
"Hmm?"
"Wake up. We've got to talk."
He stirred enough to have a good view of her face. She sounded tense. What had happened in the last little while to upset her? He quickly reviewed his behavior and could find no reason to feel guilty.
"What's wrong, Kate?"
She sat up cross-legged and gave him a serious look. He knew that look from his childhood. His grandmother sometimes had a very similar expression when she had an unpleasant task to take on. Fraser had always thought of it as compounded of equal parts of distaste and steely determination. Why would Kate be looking like his grandmother?
"First, I want you to know how much this summer means to me. I have had a really good time. One of the best things I ever did was fall off that bus into your arms." They smiled at the shared memory.
* * * * * *
It had been a long ride from San Francisco. She'd taken the train for the first part of the journey, then switched to the bus. By the time it had reached her destination she felt dirty, exhausted, and thoroughly out of sorts. Then, as she was struggling down the aisle to the exit with her suitcase, one of the pre-teen brats who had plagued the last hours of the journey had tripped her. She dropped her suitcase in a vain attempt to grab something, anything, to keep from falling down the steps to the ground outside. Fortunately, the driver had been standing just outside the door talking to the local RCMP representative. As she almost flew out the door, the mountie, showing remarkable reflexes, caught her. Instead of ending up face first in the gravel, she found herself held securely in his red-coated arms. He shifted her weight to settle her more securely, turned and took several steps away from the bus. He always maintained later that he simply wanted to clear the way for other exiting passengers. The driver pulled her bag off the bus and carried it to where the mountie stood, still cradling her comfortably in his arms.
Kate found herself staring into the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen, clear, honest, innocent eyes. Eyes with no dark shadows lurking at the back. He had seen the pain and exhaustion in her gray eyes; old pain, soul destroying exhaustion, and green and gold flecks. They had begun to draw a crowd of curious onlookers when there was a sudden sharp yelp from the ground near his feet, reinforced by a substantial body bumping his leg. Still somewhat bemused, the mountie blinked hard, opened and closed his mouth once, and finally spoke.
"Good day, miss. Constable Benton Fraser, at your service."
She smiled, pulling herself together with an almost physical effort. "Good day to you, too, Constable. And thank you for catching me."
"You're very welcome, Miss . . ?" At some point during their interchange the crowd began to break up and drift away. Standing on the street holding a strange young woman was not the oddest thing Benton Fraser had ever done, and with no interesting new developments forthcoming, the locals all had business of their own to tend to.
"Kate Bertelli, Constable."
"I am pleased to meet you, Miss Bertelli."
"And I you, Constable."
Fraser was shocked to hear his voice speaking, apparently of its own volition. "I wonder, ah, if you are staying in Twisted Knife, that is, . . . if you don't already have plans, of course . . . would you care to have supper with me tonight?"
She nodded, "Yes. That is, yes, I am staying in town and yes, I would be happy to have supper with you tonight, Constable."
They might have remained there indefinitely, but an older woman came bustling up. "Where are you hurt, miss?"
They both looked at her as if she were speaking an obscure dialect they had never heard before. "Ben Fraser, why are you standing here like a poleaxed steer? Harry came to the office and said there'd been an accident at the bus - I assume this young lady is the victim?"
Her brisk manner finally got through to them. Fraser suddenly realized that he was indeed still holding Miss Bertelli. His face nearly matched his coat, "Are you all right, Miss?"
"Oh, yes, I think so, thanks to you, Constable."
He carefully bent slightly and set her on her feet, keeping one arm around her for support, should she need it. They stood for a moment, facing one another from just inches, oblivious again to the woman impatiently tapping her foot.
"Do either of you need a doctor or not?"
Kate realized she was holding the cross strap of his Sam Browne belt so tightly that her hand was beginning to ache. She concentrated and loosened her grip. Then she turned toward the woman.
"I believe I am uninjured, ma'am. Thank you for coming to see, though; it was very kind of you." A hint of soft southern drawl crept into Kate's voice as she set out to charm her questioner.
"Nothing kind about it - it's my job. I'm Doctor Cole, my office is just down the street." She reached out with that imperiousness doctors develop, gripped Kate's chin and turned her head a little to get a better look at her eyes. "You come see me tomorrow, young lady. We'll talk. Benton, see that she comes - 1 o'clock - I'll feed you both lunch." Dr. Cole dusted her hands together and set off at a brisk pace, back to her office.
* * * * * *
"Yes, one of the best things I ever did."
She took a deep breath, visibly gathering her courage. "Ben, do you find me attractive?"
He finally understood what 'nonplussed' meant. "What?"
She smiled patiently and repeated her question. "Do you find me attractive? Look, I've been patient. I've tried to send signals." She squirmed a little, smiling apologetically. "This is driving me crazy. Don't be scared . . ."
Ben began to grasp what he had been told about his own habit of talking all around a subject and never getting to the point. His concern clear in his expression, he caught one of her hands, "What are you talking about? Is something wrong?"
"No, yes, oh, damn!" She forced herself to look him in the eye. "Benton Fraser, I really like you and I really, really want to make love with you." The hunted look she had seen on his face when he was confronted by predatory females flashed across his features.
"There, you see, I've scared you. Ben, dear, sweet, Beloved Ben. I'm not going to attack you - not that it hasn't crossed my mind. All I want today is for you to tell me - do you not find me attractive? I can understand that - sometimes the chemistry just isn't there - is for one, not the other. Or have you taken a vow of chastity? Are you gay?" His eyes opened wider. She waved a hand in his direction.
"I knew I would do this badly. Listen to me. I DO NOT care about the whys - I just want to know if there is any hope that we might somehow, sometime, manage to have sex together. I am your friend; I will always be your friend. But the suspense is making me crazy and I need to know."
He sat silently for a few moments. "Are you done?"
She looked away from him miserably, sure that she had spoiled their friendship forever. Ben raised her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss into her palm. She pulled back, staring at him from startled eyes. He kept his hold on her hand.
"Yes, I find you very attractive. No, I have taken no such vow, and no, I am not gay. And I want very much to always be your friend." He pulled her up to lean against his chest. Ben slowly, very gently, kissed her lips, then her throat, just over the pulse point.
She relaxed into the kiss, her arm creeping up around his neck. When he released her lips she drew a long, shuddering breath.
"Ben?"
"Yes?"
"So what were you waiting for?"
"You and your insatiable curiosity. You remember what happened to the Elephant's Child?"
She pushed away from his chest to be able to see his face. "You remember what happened to all the aunts and uncles when he got home?"
They laughed together, but Ben could see that she wanted, no needed, an explanation.
"You were lost when you got here. I don't know what was wrong, but I could see something had happened. Something horrible. How could I take advantage of you when you were in that condition? It would have been unconscionable."
He was shocked to see tears in her eyes. Her face twisted with the effort not to cry, but when he wiped the tears from her face with his fingers, all her control evaporated. She collapsed into his arms, weeping with great, strangled sobs. Ben held her, rocking a little, patting her back, waiting for it to pass. When her sobs were dwindling to exhausted hiccups, he looked up to see Diefenbaker staring accusingly at him. Ben gave the wolf a confused shrug and went back to concentrating on Kate.
At last she pushed against his chest and he immediately released her. He dug his handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her, looking away to allow her a little privacy to gather herself together. She rose and walked to the water, dampening his handkerchief, pressing the cold cloth to her swollen eyes. Ben went back to the horses, removing their now empty feed bags and leading them to a spot downstream for a drink. By the time he returned to the picnic site Kate had not only regained her composure, but returned the lunch remains to the saddlebags they had arrived in.
Fraser was surprised and a little disappointed, "Are you ready to go?"
Kate put her arms around his waist, holding him very tight, molding her body to his. After a moment Ben returned her embrace.
"It has been a long time since anyone took such care of me. A very long time. Thank you, Ben."
"You're very welcome."
Her hand crept up around his neck, inside his shirt collar. She pressed gently to guide him to her lips for a long, sweet kiss. They were both trembling when they finally had to breathe. His fingers trailed down her neck, raising shivers. Kate began to unbutton his shirt, pulling the tails roughly from inside his trousers. She pushed and pulled his undershirt loose from its confines, slipping her hands under it to run over his body, feeling, at last, the smooth, warm contours of his chest and back. She pushed the undershirt up to allow her lips and tongue access to his torso. Fraser had never felt such excitement; every touch was like a tiny electrical shock. He was forcing himself to go slow, to be gentle with her, but when he felt her nails mark the midline of his body, then slide under the waistband of his trousers, brushing across his belly, his control nearly vanished.
His hands were at her shirt, pulling the snaps open, pulling it out of her waistband, pushing it off her shoulders. His lips covered her throat and body with passionate kisses. His hands roved over the lace of her bra, reaching behind her to the fastening. She shrugged out of the shirt; he slipped the straps down her arms and buried his face in her breasts. Her hands were in his hair. When he took one of her nipples into his mouth, she gasped and involuntarily pulled at his hair. He managed to look at her, was reassured by her smile.
She took his face between her hands, "We have all the time we need. We can take it slowly - make it last." She unbuttoned his shirt cuffs and added the flannel shirt to the growing pile of clothes on the grass beside them. She pulled at his undershirt; he took the hem from her and it was on the pile. She touched a small scar on his upper chest.
"Otter bite," he barely could get the words out. On tiptoe, she kissed it gently, then returned to unbuckling his belt. They quickly finished undressing each other. Ben felt himself blushing under her frank regard as she circled him once before stopping to stand behind him.
"Do you know, Ben Fraser, I think you may be the most beautiful man I have ever seen?" Kate's arms went around his body, her fingers dancing over his skin. She kissed his back as he caught her wrist and turned to face her. His free hand came up to caress her cheek, she suddenly looked very young to him, her eyes unshadowed and innocent.
"Are you sure?"
Her laugh was a surprise. "Of course I'm sure. Don't you realize when you've been seduced?" She turned her head to kiss the palm resting against her cheek. "Ben, I am older than I look," she bit down on the fleshy part of his thumb, then licked and kissed the little hurt, "and I haven't been a virgin for a long time."
She leaned against him, pressing her breasts against his chest, her free hand in his hair pulling his lips to her. She guided him to recline on the blanket as her hands and mouth explored his body. Each new sensation seemed more exciting than the last as she brought him to a level of arousal he had not experienced before. He kissed whatever part of her he could reach, stroking her skin, marvelling at the heat she was generating. He opened his eyes to see her face above his own, her eyes excited, the flush of passion spreading over her upper body. His hands gently massaged her breasts, his touch drawing little gasps of pleasure from her.
Fraser rolled them over, spreading her gold hair around her head like a halo across the blanket. He kissed her lips, tongue pressing, demanding entrance. With a sigh she relaxed her jaw and sucked his tongue into her mouth, allowing him total freedom. Her hands moved across his back, nails scoring his skin, just short of causing him actual pain. Her legs came up to clasp his waist as he lapped and suckled at her breasts. His erect cock was caught between their bodies, rubbing along her sex.
As if from far away he heard her soft, panting voice, "Now Ben. Come to me Ben. Do it now!"
Ever obedient, he parted her moist labia and guided the tip of his cock into her vagina. He paused as he registered her little gasp, but her fingers pressed on the small of his back, pulling him toward her. Carefully, he began the sexual advance and retreat, each thrust entering her more deeply, until he found himself entirely enclosed in her warm flesh.
Careful not to put his entire weight on her body, Ben lay quietly against her for a few moments, his lips against the soft skin of her neck, supremely aware of the feel of her all around him. Slowly Kate moved beneath him. The sensation of him filling her was pushing her toward climax. In response, Fraser began to thrust slowly within her, varying the depth of his penetration to offer the greatest possible variety of experience. Kate caught his hand and guided his fingers to her clitoris, encouraging him to discover that sensitive part of her body as well.
The depth of her excitement increased his own arousal until he was concerned that he would cum before she was ready. He tried to pace himself, to slow his momentum, but when she felt his hesitation she demanded with hands and voice that he continue as before. Just when he was sure he could wait no longer, she called his name, digging her nails into his back. He gladly followed her into a soul shattering orgasm, their crys blending in release.
oooOOOooo
Fraser woke to find her asleep on his chest, her hair spread across them like a blanket. The shadows indicated that it was about three o'clock. They would have to start down the mountain soon if they were to reach her ranch house before dark. They should be up and moving now, but he couldn't make himself end this day. He gently pushed her hair back from her face. Her eyes were closed, her breathing steady and slow. He'd let her sleep a little longer.
Diefenbaker came up to stand staring at them. The wolf looked at him sideways and gave his quizzical whine. "Yes, I know it's late. We'll be going soon." Ben kept his voice low so as not to wake her. He looked back at Dief. "Go catch a mouse or something." Offended, the wolf loped off toward the nearby water for a drink.
Ben returned to his musings, his hand playing idly along her shoulder. He gradually became aware of a roughness in her skin under his fingers. He raised up a little to look. Yes, it was scar tissue of some sort, almost like some bullet wounds he'd seen on the bodies of both suspects and Mounties of his acquaintance. Now that he had time, and attention to give to it, he remembered several other scars on her body. He slid his fingers along her neck behind her right ear and up into her hair. Yes, there was a faint ridge of scar tissue there, too. Probably a car accident. Yes, he told himself, there had to be simple explanations for the evidence of past violence he could see recorded in her flesh.
She moved sleepily against him, "Ben?"
He snatched his hand back as if her skin was suddenly red hot.
"I was just going to wake you. We need to get started back. We don't want to be on the trail after dark."
She still did not open her eyes, but wiggled against his side, sliding one leg between his. He could feel her warm breath against his skin, "We could camp out."
He considered that suggestion as Dief returned from thestream. The wolf stood over them, cold drops of water from his drink dribbling onto their bodies. Kate sat up, suddenly wide awake.
"You -- wolf!" Dief danced around them, darting in to poke her back with his cold, wet nose, his pink tongue lolling in a wolfy grin.
"Benton, control that creature!"
Ben laughed and pulled her down for a kiss. "I think he wants to go home. And we only brought grain for the horses' noon feed.
"Oh, all right. Come to think of it, a hot bath and warm bed would be nice tonight." She stood gracefully and began to separate the pile of clothing. She pulled on her jeans, then boots, before she realized he was just laying on the blanket watching.
She tossed him his trousers, "Come on, Fraser. We've got ice cream in the freezer." She smiled greedily. "There's a little something I want to show you to do with ice cream."
finis