Love for Love

"Shit," I said softly, not taking my eyes off Benedict as he was about to make his way towards me. I shook my head and he stopped in his place. He pulled the red rose to his chest and waited for me to approach. "Fuck."

"Did you want me to escort him from the building?" Damon asked me and I shook his head.

"I would like you to come up with me incase I'd like him to be removed," I said, beginning to make my way over to him. I motioned for Damon to follow and he did so.

I swiped my card so that Damon and I could slip through the door that blocked out entry. I led Benedict and Damon to one of the lifts before going to face my stalker. My eyes narrowed at him, wondering why he was doing this to me out of all the people.

He gave me a pleasant smile in return as the elevator arrived at our level and the three of us boarded the lift. I pressed the button of our destination and the doors shut. Damon stood in between Benedict and I to make sure we didn't get into any pleasantries.

I didn't take long to get to the level Dominance occupied. I left first and walked into the 1920's style foyer. Damon and Benedict followed close by, gaining looks from the two receptionists. The female receptionist raised an eye brow, looking Benedict up and down.

I gave her a look of disgust as I walked across the bull pen and into my office. I paused quickly by Audrey who sat at her desk, busily replying to an email on my behalf. She looked away from her email briefly and saw my mortified expression.

She looked over to Damon and Benedict who followed after me and stiffened. It was clear that there was a tension between her and Ben, especially after their brief encounter after Tom's birthday party on Saturday.

I motioned for Ben to follow me into my office and to take a seat upon the couch across the room. Damon took his place behind the couch that wasn't against the wall and I took a seat in front of him.

I set my things down on the couch beside me as I crossed one leg over the other and eyed Benedict from across the coffee table. He took off his coat, which looked very similar to the one he wore on Sherlock and threw it across the arm of the chair.

He then moved around the table and knelt down in front of me. I gave him a perturbed look, inching my away from him. Damon looked as if he was about ready leap in between us.

Ben extended the red rose out towards me, his rough fingers holding the rose as if it was something precious -- like his heart. I looked between him and the rose, not sure how to react.

"My apologies, Miss. Livingston," he said, a deep sorrow etching into his voice.

"For what?" I snapped back. "Finding out where I lived, going through Audrey's personal belongings to find my phone number and absolutely breaking her heart?"

"I am apologising for how I might have gone about things," he said to me. "I might not be as smooth talking or as suave as Tom, but when it comes down to it, I don't just rely on making love to the woman I find the most attractive in the world to please her, to fix all wounds -- physical or mental."

"You've obviously done more of the mental than anything else," I said, a disgusted expression still etched upon my face. "Why are you really here, Mr. Cumberbatch."

"To give you this rose as a sign of forgiveness," he said, taking my hand in his and place the rose in it. His fingers were rough against mine compared to the pleasure that Tom's gave me. "It would mean the world to me if you accepted it."

"I will accept your apology if you go back to your seat, sir," I demanded, trying to pull my fingers away from his but he gripped onto my hand and his fingernails dug deep into the palm of my hand.

I winced at the pain. Damon looked as if he was about to intervene but I glared him away. I wanted to deal with Benedict and only involve Damon when it got out of control. My mouth formed an unattractive line.

"From you're heart, Nicole Livingston," he said as his beautifully coloured green eyes bore into my heart, into my soul. "Because I know that all you might be feeling for Tom, it doesn't consume you. Nicole, you are a beautiful being that has a beautiful soul. I do not want it to be tainted by the darkness Tom brings." He paused, briefly. "I know you have seen it so don't try to tell me that you haven't."

I looked at him, surprised at the wealth of knowledge that Benedict knew of Tom but they were best friends so it would be assumed that they would know each other well enough.

But this well? What was Tom planning? Was he really in love with me? Was this all an act? Benedict's words made me doubt Tom even further than I would have liked. His fingers etched deeper into my skin as my scowl grew darker.

I leaned into Ben, our faces inches apart. Ben was surprised at this, his eyes flickering in astonishment. His face grew serious, his eyes dilating at our proximity. The whispers of his breathes caressed my skin like silk. If anything, Ben did have an intoxicating power that Tom didn't really have.

I saw Damon shuffling uncomfortably on the other side of the couch, so I decided that I had to make a move on and stop stalling. I moved quickly into Ben's lips but pulled away at the last second so our lips didn't touch. His expression didn't change -- meaning that he didn't come here because he was fuelled by lust, unlike Tom might have been. He was here because he was concerned for me, truthfully.

"I believe you," I said to him and taking the rose from his fingers. A triumphant smile crossed his lips, his eyes flickering. "I believe that you came here not filled with the desire or lust I expected you to come with."

"Or you were used to," he said, his deep voice rumbling through me.

"I do believe that you can be cocky," I said to him as he tilted his head to the side in agreement. "Creepy at times, also, but I do not hate you -- despite the fact that you are my own personal stalker."

"I can't help that I am trying to protect you," Benedict said.

"Oh, I think you can," I said said as he inched closer to me. If either of us moved now, we would have locked lips. "By not being so damn creepy and asking me to believe you all the time."

"I don't think that will be necessary anymore," he said, abruptly kissing me full on the lips and his tongue rushing over my lips. He pulled away from me and laughed softly to himself. "You know what I suspect and I know that you believe me. You know what you have to do, now."

And with that, he stood up from the couch, taking his coat from the adjacent one, and left my office without looking back. He slipped on his jacket as he did so. Damon's eyes followed Ben out of the office as I stared straight ahead and utterly shocked at what had just occurred.

Audrey appeared at the door, looking over to me with a concerned expression. She said, "Seriously, forget Tom. I'm putting my money on Benedict."

"I'd still put my money on Tom," Damon said. "Benedict seems a little creepy to me. I'm not sure if I like him."

"You wanna bet?" Audrey said, making her way across the room to Damon. "100 pounds that Benedict is the almighty hero in the end and Tom is just a sleezebucket."

"Deal," Damon said, shaking Audrey's hand. There was a sly smile on her face.

"Did you guys just put a bet on my private life?" I questioned, utterly surprised at their childish bets.

Audrey and Damon looked down at me on the couch, smiling. Audrey said, "It was a good bet, too. Never know how it might turn out."

"Alright, out with the both of you!" I said, ushering them both out of my room. I pointed at Damon. "Make sure he doesn't make an appearance up here again.

"Sure," Damon said, turning from me and whispering to Audrey, "Yeah, like that's going to happen."

I rolled my eyes and went to my desk, picking up my things that I had left on the couch. I spotted the red rose that Benedict had given me and picked it up slowly. I turned it around in my hands, remembering what Benedict had told me and what his lips felt like against mine.

The feeling was quick, but it was one that I would remember forever. Ben's lips formed differently on mine, his curvaceous and succulent lips mixed with his playful tongue was a dangerous mixture. The feeling stayed with me as I walked over to my desk and set my things out before me.

I had a glass half filled with water that had been sitting there from the previous day and set the rose in the glass. I rested my chin upon my palm and studied the rose, remember the flashing moment of intimacy that Ben and I held.

The moment that Tom appeared at the door, all of that disappeared. His love that had rocked my boat came crashing down on me like a ton of bricks. He stood in the middle of the room breathing heavily.

"Nicole, we have to talk."