by S. C. Daiko
Catrin catches my eye.
I release a belly laugh.
She clutches her sides and laughs with me.
I suddenly realise what’s different.
We no longer need to hide how we feel about each other.
And it feels damn good.
Chapter Thirty
Catrin
On our last full day in Colorado, I get up early to make breakfast for Gleb and the kids before he takes them out to the small lake in front of the house to teach them how to fish. Daniel isn’t with us; he’s sleeping late. He’s slept late every morning since I arrived; he told me he’s been making up for lost time.
I still haven’t got a handle on Gleb, but the fact he was looking for Daniel for over three years to keep him safe, and how he relates to Ben, and now Becca, makes me confident he’ll take care of my daughter.
In any case, they’ll only be just outside.
We went shopping in Fort Collins yesterday after Gleb arrived and bought waders and easy-to-use tackle. When the kids asked why we weren’t going fishing with them, we made up the excuse that I’ll need to pack, and Daniel wants to paint. The truth is, he and I would like some time alone together, even if we also want to keep our kids close-by.
I wave them off, and Gleb gives me a knowing look. He bends and whispers in my ear. “Have fun.”
My cheeks are in danger of catching fire I blush so hard.
I go back inside. Daniel’s home looks beautiful now we’ve cleaned it and picked up the mess. The open living room is warm and inviting. I love the stone-surround fireplace; we’ve been lighting fires in the evenings and sitting on the leather sofa sipping tea and talking. I found Daniel’s vodka stash the day after we arrived and persuaded him to pour it down the sink. I confessed how I used to drink too much when I was lonely but didn’t need it anymore when he came into my life.
“Don’t ever leave me,” he’d said in a beseeching tone of voice and I’d promised him that I wouldn’t.
We’ve talked incessantly these past several days, sharing details about our lives, and now I feel I know Daniel as well as it’s possible to know anyone. I love him so much; I won’t be able to live without him. When I get back to the UK, I’m going to set the wheels in motion to relocate to Colorado. It’s a big decision, and one I haven’t taken lightly. Applying for a visa will be the first step after I’ve told my family and Josh’s parents. The paperwork could take about a year. In the meantime, Becca and I will visit every couple of months and make do with the internet. My future is with Daniel, I know that now.
I knew as soon as I saw him, the night we arrived, that I still loved him. His need for me was obvious in the way his appearance had deteriorated, the way he wasn’t coping with Ben and day-to-day life. He’s still my alpha dominant but being needed by him so desperately completes me in ways I never would have imagined possible.
I need him too. I know it’s a cliché, but he fills up all my empty spaces. I’m blessed to have loved two men and to have been loved by them in return. Josh was my first love, my young love, one that I’ll never be able to replace… nor do I want to. Daniel couldn’t be more different, and the love that’s grown within me for him is all-consuming.
Our kids complement each other like we do. Becca’s sunny personality is a foil for Ben’s more hot-blooded nature. He loses his temper at the drop of a hat. I sat down with him yesterday and talked him through his problems at school. He starts fights because he doesn’t like being different. He’s still too immature to embrace his diversity, but he needs to learn anger management strategies. I suggested he counts to ten in his head before flailing out with his fists. I hope it will work.
Will I be happy living in the wilds of Colorado? This place is remote, but there’s a village only just over two miles away. Besides the elementary school, there are a couple of small grocery stores, two gas pumps, a post office and a hardware shop. It will be like living in the middle of nowhere again, but I don’t mind.
I’ll have everything I need here with Daniel.
The village where we lived in England couldn’t have got him more wrong, he isn’t a brute at all, even though he tried so hard to hold the world at bay. We’ve made love every night in his room since my second day. The first time, I traced my fingers over his body, gasping as I felt the ridges of bone he’s lost so much weight. We’ve had to keep quiet, because of the kids. We’re desperate to play, and I think Daniel must have said something to Gleb… hence his taking Ben and Becca off our hands for a couple of hours.
I glance up as Daniel strides into the room.
My heart thuds; he looks like he’s just stepped out of the shower.
His long shaggy hair is wet, and there are droplets running down his toned pecs and his tattooed arms.
He’s wrapped a towel around himself, low-slung, so I can see the V of his abs and his dark treasure trail.
I lick my lips, and swallow hard.
Daniel
I take her by the hand and lead her upstairs, enjoying the feel of her delicate palm pressed against mine.
I push open my bedroom door, undress her and position her in front of my poster bed-post. We’re going to have to make this fast, if we don’t want to be interrupted.
“Stand with your back toward me, Catrin.” My voice is gruff.
She does as I ask, but her gaze bounces all over the place.
Smiling, I walk up to her and kiss the nape of her neck.
Slowly, caressingly, until I feel her relax.
“Do you trust me, darling?” I whisper.
“Yes.” A pause. “I do.” Her skin flushes a lovely shade of pink.
My muscles tighten in readiness. “Spread your legs.”
I drop my towel and slide my hand down her warm body.
“Relax.”
I kiss her again, nipping her shoulder with my teeth.
“That’s my girl.”
I reach around and push two fingers into her.
Her puffy lips are already swollen and soaking wet.
With a grunt, I curl my fingers to find her spot.
My thumb balls her clit and I set up a steady rhythm, her body rocking against my hand.
Fuck, she’s already rushing toward an orgasm.
One that I need to claim as mine.
I pull out my fingers and hold them to her mouth.
She sucks on them until her cheeks are hollow.
“Good girl.”
I tilt her chin and kiss her, thrusting my tongue into her, bruising her lips as I press down on them.
I stand back and rake my eyes down her luscious body.
God, she’s beautiful.
“I’m going to punish you now, Catrin. You need to be punished, don’t you?”
She sucks in a quick breath. “Punish me please, sir.”
“Remind me of your safe word.”
“Wales, sir.”
I pick up the wooden paddle I bought while we were in town yesterday. Then I cup her left breast with my free hand and squeeze it, turning her as I hold the paddle in front of her. “Stare at it.”
She gulps but does as I ask, her eyes wide.
With a wolfish smile, I slide the paddle down her body until I angle it between her legs.
She whimpers, and her knees give way a little.
I kiss the pulse at the base of her neck. “Are you ready?”
“I think so.” Her voice wavers.
“Hold onto the bed-post, Catrin. Turn your back to me.”
Trembling, she obeys.
I bring the paddle down, slicing it through the air with a whoosh.
The sound cuts across the room.
She squeals. “You didn’t hit me, sir.”
“Anticipation, my darling. Anticipation increases the pleasure.”
She hisses out a breath.
“The next sound you hear will be the slap of wood against your skin.”
She hisses again.
“You’re tense, darling. I want you to relax and wait for the str
ike.”
She inhales and exhales slowly. “I’ll try, sir.”
I step away from her, then slice the paddle down on her ass.
Thwack!
She cries out and her body jerks against the post.
My feet planted firmly apart, I bring down another strike. Harder this time.
Thwack!
She lets out a yelp.
“More?” I smooth my hand over her burning skin and steady her.
“Oh, yes, sir. Please!” She nods emphatically.
Thwack!
“I need you to surrender completely to the pain. Don’t fight it.”
“Yes, sir.” She releases a pent-up breath.
I paddle her buttocks with a front-hand-back-hand motion, over and over again.
I don’t go easy on her as I rain down blow after blow on her peachy white skin.
Her ass judders and turns pink, then blooms into a deep, dark flush.
I keep a watchful eye on her as I inflict the punishment, registering every twitch, flinch and moan, taking care not to push her beyond her level of tolerance.
Finally, she lets out a loud whimper, almost a cry.
“Enough,” I growl.
I drop the paddle and kneel behind her, my beard against her heated butt, my hands caressing her gently.
Her ass is so red and lovely.
I tell her so.
My heart beating strongly in my chest, I spread her ass cheeks apart and trace my tongue around the tight rim of her asshole.
She squirms. “Oh…”
“Breathe.” I’m on my feet now, my voice commanding.
“Mmm…”
The musky scent of her arousal is in the air between us. “Breathe,” I say again. “I’m just going to check on the kids.”
I kiss her then stride over to the window. Gleb has gotten Ben and Becca settled with fishing rods in their hands but their attention-span might waver soon, and they’ll want to come back inside.
“They’re fine,” I say as I help Catrin get into the bed. She’s shivering, so I lie down facing her and warm her with my body.
I turn her on her front and examine her butt. Slowly and gently I massage her, easing the ache in her flesh.
My breathing deepens, and I draw her firmly to me, turning her again so the softness of her tits presses into my chest. She rubs them against me.
“Fuck me, please, Daniel,” she whispers.
I pull her into a kiss, our tongues lashing at each other, swirling together in a dance as old as time.
I bend and take a taut nipple into my mouth, biting it before sucking my way up her neck.
My nerve endings tingle and I cover her with my body.
She writhes beneath me, her fingernails digging into my lower back.
“Oh, God,” I groan, pulling away and resting my weight on my arms. “Thank fuck you are here. Thank fuck you came to find me. I was lost without you.”
“I was lost without you too,” she stares into my eyes. Then she presses her hand to my heart and smiles so beautifully it takes my breath.
I lower myself and thrust into her in deep, punishing strokes.
She arches her back, and I snake one hand between us.
I rub her clit, my dick so fucking deep and hard inside her I can feel it battering the entrance to her womb.
I suck and bite and nibble at her skin.
“Yes, baby, yes.”
Her tits bounce against my chest as I push my cock into her, circling it inside.
She moans my name and I feel her sheath clenching my shaft like a vice.
With a series of gasps, she climaxes, her O-face so beautiful it tips me over the edge.
I hold her close, kissing her forehead, her nose, her mouth. “My heart was broken before you came into my life. You put it back together again. I love you so much, Catrin. I want us to be a proper family.” I look deep into her eyes. “Marry me, darling. Have my children.”
She stares back at me. “Oh, God, yes.” The joy in her voice brings a lump to my throat.
“Just one thing.” She smiles softly. “It’s not a condition. More like a request.”
“Ask away, my love.”
“Can I bring Toby over from Wales?”
Then she giggles, a deep throaty giggle that makes my dick hard for her once more.
I flip her over, so she’s lying on top of me, and I kiss her, ready for round two.
Suddenly, running footsteps echo from the corridor outside.
Fuck!
“Mum,” Becca calls out. “Where are you?”
“We caught a fish,” Ben’s voice joins hers. “Uncle Gleb is gonna cook it for our lunch.”
Catrin’s gives me a look. “Are you sure you want more kids?” she smirks.
I pat her ass and roll her off me. “I can’t wait.”
Epilogue
Ten Years Later
Daniel
When I said to Catrin I wanted more kids, I wasn’t joking. We were married a year after Gleb brought her to visit me in Colorado. Barely ten months later, Lidiya was born, followed by Andrei and finally Nikolai, our baby. Three kids in the space of eight years… after which we decided our family was complete.
Or rather, Catrin decided enough was enough, and booked me in for a vasectomy. Ha!
We’ve had to build an extension onto the house so that all five kids can have their own room. Gleb got in touch with Claire, Ben’s old nanny, and arranged for her to come over and work for us, helping Catrin manage our tribe… as I like to think of them. It gives her time for her writing, a new career that she loves. She’s a bestselling author and the money she makes, added to what I get from selling my paintings, as well as continued access to my trust fund, means we have a comfortable lifestyle.
Life has been good these past ten years, but I’m not complacent. Whenever I look at Catrin, I give thanks to the powers that be for bringing her into my life. Without her, I’d still be a broken recluse. She healed me and made me whole again; I’m surrounded by love and have no need for solitude, no need to lick my wounds like an angry bear.
Ben and Becca are teens now… as close as ever, shielding each other from what they think of as their annoying younger brothers and sister. They’ve started dating other kids they’ve met at high school, although they’re protective of each other at the same time. Becca has grounded Ben, made him less volatile, only he isn’t a saint by any means. There are too many Sokolov genes in him, and he’s as bold and brash as they come.
As for Gleb… he’s still single, still wheeling and dealing like before. He’s moved out of New York to a town in New Jersey. I’m not sure what his business involves… and I don’t want to know as I’m almost certain it isn’t entirely legal. He has my back, has always had my back. I wish I’d realised that years ago.
Gleb keeps me up to date with what’s going on in the underworld. The Brotherhood gang that was after me for revenge has been eliminated by a much larger organisation, the Solntsevskaya, which has the protection of the Russian Security Service. They have much bigger fish to fry than me, bigger fish like Eric. He ended up double-crossing them as well and was killed in a gun battle in a Prague hotel.
Gleb is forty years-old now. He dotes on my kids... he’d make a great father.
Shame he hasn’t met anyone he’d like to settle down with.
Today, Catrin and I are celebrating our ninth wedding anniversary with a party for friends and family. It’s a warm summer evening so we’re having a cook-out by the lake. I’m standing on the deck, looking down at Gleb who is grilling hot dogs, hamburgers, corn on the cob, chicken and veggies with Ben and Becca’s help.
Any minute now, our guests will arrive. Eleri, Luke and Gabe are visiting with their kids. They come over every summer and stay in a B&B.
This year we have Catrin’s parents and sister staying, as well as Josh’s parents, who’ve come from Florida. They’re mainly here for Catrin and Becca, although they’ve accepted Ben and the rest of the kids with
noble hearts.
There are blow-up beds all over the house. It’s mad, but I love it. I have a new, close-knit extended family, which helps ease the ever-persistent ache in my soul resulting from Papa’s betrayal. God only knows why he did what he did. And we still don’t know if that accident was really an accident or something else. I don’t think we’ll ever know…
As for the country of my birth, I wouldn’t go back there for all the money in the world. I remember Gleb’s words, they KILL you in Russia.
Despite the warmth of the summer evening, a shiver creeps up my spine.
The sound of barking draws my attention to two mutts running around in the garden. Offspring of Toby, who had a ‘liaison’ with a bitch in the village in front of half the elementary school shortly after he got here. Toby went over the rainbow bridge last year, and we all mourn him he was such a character and hero.
“Daniel,” I hear Catrin’s voice.
I turn, and my beautiful wife comes into my periphery, Nikolai in her arms. She hands me our youngest son. “Daddy will look after you now.”
I hear a car arriving. That’ll be the Aldridge House contingent. I’m relieved for Catrin’s sake that they’ve let the unpleasantness between us become a thing of the past. And for my sake too; I like Gabe, Luke and Eleri.
I bend and kiss the top of my youngest boy’s head. He reminds me so much of Ben at his age that my chest squeezes. Andrej and Lidiya are more like Catrin… fair and slight of build.
There’s a shout from down by the lake. “Food’s ready,” Gleb calls out, and we all make our way towards the barbeque pit.
Catrin
Claire has taken the little ones up to bed, leaving us ‘oldies’ and ‘not so oldies’ to sit by the dying embers of the fire. Music is playing on the outdoor PA system, and the kids are gyrating on the flat area of grass by the lake.
Daniel puts his arm around me, and I lean into him, breathing in his masculine scent. He never fails to stir me, to make me want him. We still ‘play’ when the kids are at school and Claire has taken the little ones on playdates.
