“That’s why you never told me about my parents?”
His face falls as his eyes search mine. “Yes,” he breathes out, “who told you?”
“Your dad…I just wish it would’ve been you-”
“I’m not proud of that! Is it so hard for you to believe that I could kill someone and not want to brag about it? I did what I had to do to keep you safe, I’m not proud of the way it went down, but I couldn’t worry every day that they would hurt you again…I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he tells me.
I feel my anger dissipate with his words, I know why he killed my parents’ and I didn’t mean for him to have to defend himself for his reasoning.
“I love you for what you did, but that’s not the point, it’s all these secrets, it’s like there’s no truths between us anymore.”
“I couldn’t tell you about the military stuff-”
“But everything adds up and there’s only so much I can take. When that detective was here, you could’ve told me about my parents then, but you just keep everything to yourself, that’s not what marriage is about.”
“You don’t keep secrets from me?” he asks, his voice stern and knowing.
“I have things I haven’t told you, that’s true, doesn’t mean I never was going to-”
“There’s just not been a good time? Yeah, I know the feeling,” he interrupts.
I step back, my heart racing as my eyes well up with tears again at what I’m about to say.
“Michael kissed me-”
“I fucking knew it!” he growls. “Dornan told me that guy was trying to fuck you, every time he came to visit, he told me he knew something was going on with him.”
“Nothing happened!”
“He kissed you, why would he think he could do that, Katie?”
I shake my head and close my eyes, my hands coming to my face a flood of emotion and things I've kept from him overwhelms me.
“It wasn't like that…I,” I stop and swallow. “I had a miscarriage just before you came home, and I don't know why. It happened and I went outside so the girls wouldn't hear me upset…he was concerned I was just sitting there and he came over, I was crying and he...”
It’s quiet, other than my shaky breathing, and I look up. Joeys eyes are full of tears and we remain silent, then his brows furrow as he swallows thickly and looks down, reaching out a hand for me. I take it and he pulls me to him as he sits on the kitchen chair, positioning me on his lap. A tear falls from each eye as he tangles our fingers together, finally looking up at me.
“We were gonna have another baby? I'm so sorry, beautiful, and I wasn't here.”
I cup his cheeks as we both cry. “I don’t know why I lost the baby, and I wanted to tell you since we’ve been trying. But I haven’t talked about it with anyone, and the more time that passed, the more I pushed the sadness away, it almost was like it didn’t happen. I worried it was me, my body, and I can’t explain that kind of feeling of failure.”
“You didn’t fail,” he tells me, running his nose along mine. “I know why you didn’t tell me those things, it’s why I didn’t tell you, to protect you, to not see you like this,” I say.
Cupping his cheeks and making sure I have his attention.
“What you did for me, about my parents…nothing I could ever do or say can thank you enough for that. You sacrificed so much for me, you could’ve gone to prison…” I stop, words not coming.
“I would’ve gone to prison knowing you were safe, that’s all I’ve ever wanted for you, beautiful. To be safe and happy and know that I love you no matter what.”
Our eyes meet, and I swallow. “Can we promise to not allow things to come between us anymore? Now that you’re home and we’re in Plantain, I just, I want a fresh start.”
He nods as he leans in and presses his lips against mine.
“I’ll do anything for you, beautiful.”
Chapter 25
I meet Skye, Maven, and Em for drinks at the wine bar in downtown Plantain. We talk and I feel better since talking with Joey, but still needed to vent about everything.
“So, he just up and told you he was reenlisting?” Maven asks.
“Yes, and that’s what just made me flip. It wasn’t even like he said ‘can we talk?’ Or ‘I need to ask you something,’ he just blurted it out as we finished dinner.”
“Why does he want to go back? You think with all the shit that happened when he was gone before, that he would be telling them hell no,” Maven says.
“I know the military is what he loves, always has, and I know he’s pretty sure he won’t be involved in any action, and can deal with the internal part of that. I feel like ever since the club went legit, and there’s no more sneaking around and getting his adrenaline going, has something to do with it. He says it doesn’t, that this job will secure us financially for the future. But, and even though the girls are grown, I can’t help but have all these feelings come rushing back to me from before. Not only being alone, but that not knowing. Not being able to talk to him, the knowledge that he was fighting and it would take weeks for me to get word that he was fine,” I sigh. “I just get so anxious and scared, I can’t help it.”
They all look at me, Maven especially since she was there with me when Joey was in active duty so many years ago.
“Okay, that’s all I’m going to say,” I smile and try to change the subject.
They all nod, sipping their wine and the feeling at the table is dour.
“You know what I was thinking about earlier?” I ask, looking at Maven.
“What?” she smiles.
“One of the first conversations we ever had,” giving her a wicked grin.
“When we talked about masturbation and sex?” she questions.
Em and Skye laugh, but this isn’t a shocker. Ever since that first time we talked, I feel like sex has been the basis for most of our conversations in our long friendship.
“Do you remember when you asked me to show you how to give a blow job?” she asks.
We all start giggling.
“Oh my God,” Em laughs.
“I didn’t know anything,” I state, looking at her and Skye.
“No, no, nothing is more than what you knew…you had zero clue, okay,” Maven says.
“I remember the first blow job I gave, I literally thought I was just supposed to blow on it,” Em says and we all laugh harder.
“Wasn’t that also when Dornan and Joey walked in,” I begin, “and caught us watching porn,” we both finish before laughing.
“What?” Skye exclaims.
“I told you, zero knowledge,” Maven says, pointing at me.
“I’ll tell you what, even though that shit was probably from the seventies, it opened my eyes to a whole new world,” I smile.
We all laugh, and it feels good to, well, feel good.
***
I wake up with a slight headache from the three glasses of wine I had from the night before. But it’s nothing a little coffee won’t remedy. I’m curled around Joey’s side, his big body acting as my pillow. He’s warm and muscular and I find myself rubbing against him, my hand running over his chest and down his abs. He moans and turns his head, and I kiss his neck as my fingertips graze along the top of his boxer briefs.
The arm under my neck bends and his hand lands on my head. My hand pushes under the elastic and grasps the warm length of his cock. I look up as he moans again and nuzzles his lips into my hair. I stroke him as I grind my pelvis against his hip before he rolls on top of me, pinning my hands above my head.
“Mom, I need money for my pictures!” Goldie shouts from the other side of our bedroom door.
We pause. “Shit, my purse is in here,” I pant quietly against Joey’s lips.
“My wallet’s on the counter!” he hollers back to her and I thank God the door is locked.
Joey kisses me as he pushes inside me, my pussy swallowing him up as I whimper. We start moving, his lips on my neck and the heat between us begins to ig
nite and slowly build again.
“There’s not enough in there, Dad,” she says through the door.
“Okay, hold on, we’ll be out in a minute,” I tell her quickly.
“I can come in and get it-”
“No!” we reply in unison.
“Okay, okay, but hurry up I have to get going.”
We wait a moment before Joey starts moving again, fast and hard and in a minute we’re both back into it. I come not soon after, but Joey can’t concentrate with the interruption we had. I roll him off me and get out of bed, reaching for my robe on the back of the door and my purse.
“I’ll be right back,” I tell him as he flops onto his back.
I retrieve my wallet as I walk out to the living room. Goldie, who’s fifteen now is standing there, her messenger bag over her shoulder, her earbuds in her ears as she puts her palm out. I put a twenty there and pull one of her earbuds out, “Don’t forget-”
“I’ll be there for dinner,” she cuts me off and heads for the front door.
I watch her get into her friend Allie’s car as they pull off headed for school and I head back to the bedroom. Joey’s laying on his back, his arms tucked behind his head as he watches me. My eyes lock on his as I remove the robe and let it fall to the floor. His eyes glint with lust as I begin to crawl up the bed, my knees and hands on either side of his legs. When I get to his crotch and he lifts his hips slightly, I fake him out and crash onto my side of the mattress as if I’m going back to sleep.
With a growl, he leans over my back, and I smile against my pillow, then yelp as his hands slide under me and roll me onto his front as he lays back again onto the bed. He cups my naked breasts as his lips attach to my neck, causing my back to arch and my legs to part. My hands cover his as I feel the thick press of his dick beneath me, straining for freedom and find a way inside.
Roughly, Joey jerks my whole body up, freeing his cock and I reach down to guide the head to my pussy. He growls again, and my eyes close as he bends his legs at the knees, spreading mine wider and he begins to fuck me. I turn my face so he can kiss me, and moan as his rhythm quickens in pace. My muscles tighten as I feel that euphoric thrumming begin inside me. I sit up, Joey’s hands instantly gliding down my back to my hips as I begin to ride him, his dick feeling so deep, so good. My pelvis circles and grinds, my hands planting on his thighs to help me and again the thrum grows faster and desperate.
“No,” Joey says suddenly.
He maneuvers me onto my side, his cock never pulling out as he positions himself on his knees.
“I need to watch you,” he tells me, his hips moving in tempo with my hips pushing back against them.
My eyes lock with his as I feel my orgasm take over, fingers grabbing the sheets, jaw slackening as moans rip from my throat.
***
We spend the morning in bed, not needing to worry about any child interruptions since Goldie and Lily are the only kids still living with us and both are at school while Natasha’s going to college out of state. With the girls being older, it’s like Joey and I are making up for the lost time we had while he was in the military. Which makes the news he broke to me yesterday about reenlisting so bittersweet. When we do finally emerge from bed, my headache’s gone, but my heart’s still heavy. We sit at the table and drink coffee and I finally say, “I want to talk about what happened yesterday, but not right now, I need to process everything before we have an honest discussion about it.”
He nods and drinks his coffee. “Okay, beautiful,” he tells me, reaching over and putting his hand over mine.
***
We’re at Maven and Dornan’s for dinner, and I know Katie’s told the wives what’s been going on. Nathan, Dornan and I are sitting in the yard, watching their kids run around and play corn hole as we drink beer.
“So what the fuck is happening? You going back in?” Dornan asks.
“I don’t know brother, they’re offering me a good job, good pay, would only have to work a few more years…I don’t know, doing the car buying thing is fine, just not something I really like.”
“You wanna start a business with us?” Nathan asks.
“Huh?”
“I want to start a construction business, been wanting to for a while. Asked D his opinion on it, what do you think? If the three of us started it.”
“What about the cars?” I ask.
“We can run that day to day, once the construction business gets going we won’t have to be at the job sites all the time. Until then, while we work to get it off the ground, Maven and Skye can run the car business,” he says with a shrug.
I take a swig of my beer, thinking the plan over. “If you guys are really serious, and want to start this as soon as possible, yeah, I’m good with it.”
Nathan sits up in his seat. “I got a bunch of paperwork on it all, bank loans and where we can buy a building to start,” he begins and Dornan and I listen to the new business venture.
I decide not to tell Katie just yet about what I’ve decided to do, not because I want her to worry, but because I want to make sure all the paperwork and money works out. I don’t want to tell her then have it all crash down if it doesn’t work. In the meantime, I have something else I want to do. There’s one thing in our past that I wish I could redo, replace almost, and that’s our wedding. I’ve always regretted not giving her a dream wedding.
“Beautiful,” I say, coming into our bedroom.
“Yeah?” she says from the bathroom.
I walk in and she’s fresh out of the shower, her hair wrapped in a towel and her body encased in a white robe. I stop and lean against the doorframe as she applies lotion to her legs, one foot propped up on the counter and just giving me a glimpse of between her legs. She’s matured from a doe-eyed little teenager to a confident woman. She’s kept up her work outs, and her body’s changed so much since we first met. I love her evolution at every stage, but she looks better now than she ever did. Her eyes flick over to mine as she smiles.
“Leering perv,” she quips.
“Only for you,” I tell her.
She gives me a smile with a shake of her head.
“I’m leaving my credit card out,” I tell her, stepping inside the bathroom.
“For what?” she asks, not looking at me.
“I want you…” I place my hand on the inside of her knee, running my hand down to cup her pussy, “to plan.”
Her eyes close as I nuzzle the side of her face. Her bare pussy is warm and slick from lotion, and I slide my fingers through her folds. Her breathing picks up as I stroke her in circles on her clit, the center of her robe falling open to expose one of her perfect tits.
“A wedding,” I finish with my lips against her neck.
“Whose wedding?” she gasps.
“Ours,” I whisper.
Her head falls back against my shoulder and the towel falls to the floor as I position myself behind her, my fingers still working her up feverishly. Her hand reaches around behind her and undoes my pants, pulling my cock out as her legs tremble. She then takes her robe off and looks at me in the mirror, as my hands move to cup her tits and I prod her with my cock head until I find her entrance, sliding in.
***
“So, I’m leaving my card out on the kitchen counter,” I repeat as I put my cock back in my jeans.
“For what now?” she asks, obviously her brain wasn’t fully functioning when I told her the first time.
I cup her face. “I want to give you a dream wedding.”
“Didn’t you just tell me that we have no savings? Hence your wanting to go back into the military,” she asks with confusion.
“Don’t worry about that,” I tell her.
“Don’t worry about that,” she snickers.
“Katie,” I tell her, grasping her face firmer. “I want to give you a dream wedding, I want you to plan how you want everything to be and get it.”
Her eyes search mine but I can see she’s still not believing me.
&n
bsp; “We have the money, but we won’t have any twenty-years from now if I don’t change my job, that’s what I meant.”
Slowly she begins to smile, wrapping her arms around my neck. “When we gettin’ hitched?” she asks.
“Whenever you want,” I say against her lips.
Chapter 26
I planned a wedding, nineteen years after the first wedding. At the time, Joey told me he felt bad that our wedding wasn’t exactly what I wanted and wasn’t giving me something to write home about. But what he didn’t know was it didn’t matter where we got married, or who was there, it was that I married him. I was shocked that our wedding was still something he wanted to do over, and I was excited to do it. I set a date and started getting everything together.
I asked our daughters, Maven, Em and Skye to be my bridesmaids, and I never imagined how much fun it would be to pick dresses for them and myself. I really did feel like a teenager again, never having the opportunity to spend money on something for myself that was exactly what I wanted. I wanted the wedding the be outside, in the evening and at the clubhouse. Joey didn’t understand why when I could have it anywhere, but the sentimental part of me wanted it there. Time was ticking down, the day almost here, and I was a ball of nerves that everything would turn out as planned.
When I take an invitation into our bedroom, Joey watches me from the bed as I reach inside my bottom dresser drawer and retrieve a binder.
“What’s that?” he asks.
I set it on the bed and flip the laminated pages to the very back and slide the wedding invitation into one of the sleeves. I then flip to the very first page and turn it to show him. He sits up and leans over, seeing the paper he’d left in my notebook with his phone number in his handwriting.
“You kept this?” he asks, looking up at me with wide eyes.
I nod, shrugging my shoulder a little bashfully. He then starts flipping through the pages, seeing the letters he left me over the years, cards from flowers he’d sent. Some had started getting ruined with tears as I would look at them when he was deployed, so I started putting them in protective covers. I sit down beside him on the bed as he reads notes I’d left about something the girls had done while he was gone and I wanted him to know about.
Take On Me: Plantain Series Book Three Page 24
