In light of recent events, recent events being Ben's parents figuring out what Mal and him have been up to behind closed doors, Ben had to be extra careful to hide it from Mal. He avoided them being alone anywhere in the castle. And his parents had enforced a curfew on him which he blamed on them wanting him to prioritize his kingly duties.
When Mal started to catch on she became convinced it was about what she had told him. He was thinking about how she had been intimate with another guy in the past and he was having second thoughts about her. This made her mood incredibly irritable and she was crying a lot privately, losing sleep.
Today they were going bowling with their friends. And Mal was being snappy with everyone.
"Chill, what has gotten into you Mal," Evie whispered linking arms with her to discretely rub her arm soothingly.
Mal knew she had to tone it down otherwise her private disaster was going to be public knowledge. "Sorry."
While everybody else was keying in their names Ben grappled Mal into a hug and kissed the top of her head.
"Are you okay," he whispered.
"I'm fine." Mal responded calmly.
Ben was happy to teach Carlos, Jay, Evie, and Mal how to bowl. This was his dream. Giving the kids of the Isle a chance at a normal and happy life. Mal loved seeing all her friends laughing and enjoying themselves, despite them all being horrible at it and getting mostly gutter balls. She was loosening up and laughing a bit.
Ben paid Mal special attention when instructing. He came up behind her and helped her practice the grip and swinging and aiming techniques. Honestly any excuse to be close to her and to be able to touch her. He tried his best not to let it look inappropriate.
Ben stepped back and let Mal try again. Mal ran up and swung the ball down the lane. She managed to knock down all but one this time. Surprise joy overcame her as she spun around throwing her hands up triumphantly. Everybody cheered her on.
"Thank you thank you!" Mal put on a sarcastic bit tossing her hair over her shoulders.
Jay started laughing, "Woah Mal did Evie burn your neck with a curling iron?" Jay knew full well where the mark Mal had just accidentally revealed came from.
Ben and Mal both blushed and looked down. She was irritated Jay called her out.
"Somebody's been up to her wicked ways," Jay teased Mal.
"Alright nothin to see here go back to your bowling," Evie urged the attention off of Mal and everyone went back to bowling.
Ben pulled Mal to him and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "I'm sorry Mal. I didn't mean to draw attention to our private life."
"It's not even true. We haven't been up to anything." Mal snapped lowly. Jay's comment pinched a nerve in Mal. Ben had been avoiding her. Ben furrowed his brows at her response but didn't want to cause a scene. So he let her cool off and would talk to her about it later.
Mal was too embarrassed and distraught to do dinner after bowling. So she feigned sick and told everyone she would just go back to the dorms.
Ben insisted on driving her back. Unfortunately they all had taken the limo so it wasn't exactly subtle. The whole drive was really silent. Mal in her head about everything, the anxiety getting the better of her. What if he was taking her back to finally break up with her? Ben was stuck in his head too. Glancing at Mal trying to figure out what was wrong and how he could fix it.
When they arrived at her dorm Mal squeaked out a goodbye and then tried to rush inside. But Ben stopped her. Timidly he asked, "Mal can we get in the back and talk? We have to talk about what's been going on."
Mal knew she couldn't stop him as much as she wanted to. So she got in. Her arms folded over and hugged in tight. She wouldn't cry, she resolved.
Ben gently shut the door and came over to sit next to her. "Mal I know something is wrong but you're going to have to tell me what it is. I'm at a loss here."
That was not what she had expected. Better to rip the bandaid off, "Listen Ben I get it. You don't want to be with me anymore after what I told you about my past. So just get this over with and stop stringing me along."
She might as well have slapped Ben in the face. He was feeling too many emotions and was struggling to respond. "Mal what? That's just not true why would you possibly think that?"
"You won't even touch me anymore. You avoid being alone with me at all costs. I'm not an idiot!" Mal snapped angrily.
"No Mal- that's not it at all!" Now that he knew what the problem was he could fix this. He was desperate to make her understand. But he also didn't want to put the stress and pressure on her by telling her about the talk with his dad. He pulled her into his chest and hugged her tight. "That's so so far from the truth. I'm sorry I made you feel that way."
Ben pulled Mal to him so he could kiss her. He ran his hand through her hair and depended the kiss. When they were both breathless he pulled back. "It's quite the opposite. I can't seem to behave myself around you and I'm fearful of ruining your reputation by accidentally marking you again or getting too carried away somewhere and getting caught."
"Really?" Mal tried her best to keep the emotion out of her voice.
"Of course!" Ben held her face and stroked her cheek before pulling her to kiss him. Mal breathed out heavily into the kiss. Letting all her anxiety wash out of her.
Everything was right with the world again because she was kissing Ben and he was kissing her back.
"Missed you," Ben breathed into Mal's mouth and then pulled her onto his lap by the hips, "so much."
Ben cradled Mal by her hips and then slowly lowered her so she was laying on the long seats. "I'm so sorry I've been neglecting you," Ben's voice was husky and Mal could feel her whole body heat up, "Let me take care of you."
Ben kneeled over Mal and held her hip tight with one hand. Slowly he ghosted his hand down her collarbone to hold her right breast. The minute his fingers left her collarbone his mouth was on it. He was careful to only lick, hyperaware of marking her again. But it seemed to still have the desired effect because Mal was still breathless. Her chest arched up as he pinched and played with her right nipple. The thought occurred to him that the other was being neglected. So he trailed his mouth down to take her nipple in his mouth over her dress. She let out a moan and he could feel his pants tighten. Ben ignored it, this was all about her.
Ben could tell Mal was restless, she was starting to thrash. His grip on her hip tightened trying to anchor her. All the sudden her hands pushed into the seat and she sat herself up halfway. Before Ben could even ask what he had done wrong she was unzipping her dress and pulling it down to reveal her bra. Then she locked eyes with him. The message was crystal clear- take her bra off.
Ben tried not to have too big of a reaction in fear of braking her mood. He didn't want to appear too excited or too nervous. So he glided past familiar territory to get to the clasp. He pulled her hip closer with one hand and then grazed past her breast, thumbing her nipple, on his way to the clasp in the back. He kissed her to distract her from him figuring it out as he brought both hands around. It was tough. Thankfully she spared him the embarrassment of having to accept defeat and reached around to help.
The sound of the snap coming undone felt like it echoed in the limo. Then she was sliding the straps down and tossing the bra to the ground. Before she could get self conscious he brought his mouth back down to kiss her skin. To Ben Mal had the most perfect breasts. They cupped nicely in his hand and her nipples were so small and cute. He was awestruck that she would allow herself to be this open with him. Ben wouldn't take it for granted. He wanted her to feel completely comfortable.
Her eyes instantly shut again as his lips wrapped around her nipple. The skin to skin contact had them both seeing stars. Mal's hips started to wiggle, signaling she needed to be touched down there. That was exactly what Ben had been hoping for. To work her up so that she would allow him to touch her if that's what she wanted. Ben knew Mal hated to be the center of attention when she felt vulnerable in any way. But he was learning that once she got really worked up that was thrown out the window. She allowed herself to just feel and react and have confidence. It was truly beautiful.
Ben moved his left hand down to grip her hip and let his right hand start to drag down her body slowly, so she could stop him, towards her center. His hand wrapped around her thigh and he lowered her back down. Mal loved feeling his muscles work to lower her. Her grip on his biceps tightened.
Ben's hand, slowly again, started to slide up her thigh under her dress. She just parted her legs for him. Ben knew he would never get used to how wanton she allowed herself to be when she was aroused. It was overwhelming in the absolute best way. Here she was opening up to him and trusting him in a way she wasn't able to do in other aspects of their relationship.
"Ben," as she called his name he snapped up to look at her, "dont tease" She let out like it was almost hurting her having him not touch her.
Even though he hadn't fingered someone before Ben had two attributes on his side. One- that he had a wonderful ability to sense how Mal was feeling. And two- that he may have done some research on the web because he didn't want to ask anybody. Ben wanted to be absolutely sure the next time they were alone that he could take care of her and make her feel good. His pride didn't want him to be a fumbling idiot. She deserved the best.
He swiped his index finger over her panties to see how she would react. Mal grabbed him by the dress shirt and pulled him down to kiss her. Ben had to catch himself with the hand that wasn't touching her, bracing himself on the console behind her head.
He mimicked the way her tongue was stroking his mouth with the pad of his thumb against where he hoped her clit was. It was so hard to tell with her underwear in the way but he felt like it would be pushing to take them off of her. Mal was swiveling her hips around which told him he definitely wasn't hitting it.
Mal groaned in his mouth frustrated and reached down to guide his hand inside her underwear. But it was just too difficult at this angle. His hand was twisted at the wrist and he couldn't move much. All he could feel was short light hair. But Ben didn't have to say a thing because Mal instantly realized her mistake.
She lifted her hips up to start to slide her underwear down and off. Ben stared at her in awe. He had to fight himself not to let an 'I love you' slip out, not wanting to pressure her. Mal pulled Ben down so he couldn't stare at her too long. He gravitated back to her neck, licking as his hand travelled back down to touch her bare for the first time.
Ben knew there was no way Mal was just going to let him watch her, or even get a good look at what he was doing down there. So he had to figure it out by touch and listening intently to the noises she was making.
She was so wet his fingers could easily slip around. He'd be lying if he said it didn't make him feel a little bit proud that she was that turned on by him. He felt for her little bundle of nerves and when he hit it she moaned.
"There," she breathed out, eyes closed and chest heaving. He kept working her. Mal's hips were rocking into Ben's hand at a steady pace. She was surging towards her orgasm. When Ben's mouth lowered down from her neck to her breast and he started to suck like he did on her neck when he marked her she burst. Mal's eyes screwed shut and she whispered his name as her hips gave one last hard push into his hand.
Ben moved up to kiss her on the lips. Then reached down to grab her underwear. Mal's arm was thrown over her forehead but she was watching him careful to see what he was doing.
Ben gently was pulling her underwear back on. He caressed her silky legs as he did. Once they were back in place he gathered her up into his arms. Ben was taking care of her. His sweet nature always got to her but in this moment she was so grateful for him.
"You're not getting away that easily," Mal smirked and switched the spark back on. There was no way she was letting him leave this limo until he came too. She couldn't believe the night had started the way it had because she currently felt so lighthearted.
"I wouldn't dare try to escape your clutches," he joked right back, threading his fingers into her hair to pull her close. Mal began to unbutton his shirt and kiss down his chest. When her fingers undid the last button she pushed the shirt open to reveal his whole chest to her. Then switched to unbuckling his belt and unzipping his pants.
Ben, needing to hold her, just threaded his fingers into her hair and rubbed his thumbs against her head.
When she accomplished her goal and had him out of his pants she tried to straddle him. But the limo seat wasn't wide enough and she was too close to be able to pump him the right way.
So she slid down to kneel on the floor. Being in a limo meant the ground wasn't that far from the seat. So she wasn't much shorter then Ben sitting on the seat. It wasn't like she was on her knees below him, but the implication was still evident.
They stared at each other for a second then Ben was rubbing her head gently with his thumb, trying to tell her she absolutely did not have to do that.
Mal pushed herself up on Ben's knees to give him a quick kiss of gratitude before she sunk back down.
She didn't need to be giving him head. Just the suggestive nature of her position between his legs was more than enough to drive Ben quickly towards finishing. That and over a week of not being able to be alone with her. Which he had no one to blame but himself for.
Ben's head lolled slowly side to side as she brought him closer to the edge. He looked at her through half lidded eyes. Her other hand was holding steady onto his thigh and her lips curled up into a smirk as she locked eyes with him. When her hand sped up his grip on her hair tightened slightly in reflex as he finished.
Mal did the same thing Ben had just done for her. She leaned over and grabbed tissues from the bar to clean him up. She wanted him to feel the same devotion. The same feeling of being taken care of that he always provided her.
When they were both all buttoned back up. Ben scooped her into his arms and cradled her. "I'm so sorry," he whispered into her hair.
"Why?" Mal stared at him in wonder.
"Because I should have just told you what was going on. I just didn't want to stress you out." He let out a huffed laugh. "But all I did was stress you out. I didn't mean to make you feel like you had anything to be ashamed of. Whatever happened before us has nothing to do with us."
"Let leave it in the past then and not talk about it anymore. Do you want to come inside and watch something?"
Ben helped her out of the limo and held her as he started to walk towards the door, "I wish I could. But curfew calls."
"Ayyyyy, look who just wanted to escape us." Jay joked as the gang rolled back up to the dorms. Evie smacked Jay, clearly she had warned him about teasing them.
Ben gave Mal a sweet kiss before heading back towards the limo to drive home.
The boys jostled inside and Evie discretely bumped Mal's hip. "Somebodies grumpiness just got cured." She winked at her friend and Mal couldn't help but let out a sigh. It was all going to be okay.