Eternal_Bliss

by Unknown

  “Yes, but that's not why I'm here. I need to know about the woman I keep dreaming about. Steve said you knew about her.”

  “Is she hot in your dreams?” Jeff slipped out of his turnout gear, leaving it ready for the next call.

  “Yes, but that's not the point. You told me I didn't have a girlfriend, but I feel like I did.”

  “You did, but you broke it off with her in the hospital.” Jeff snapped.

  “Why did I break it off?” He huffed out a breath, getting irritated with Jeff's cryptic answers.

  “You did it because she almost got you killed. It was her fault you got hurt. I had her ass banned from seeing you, but she snuck in anyway. But then you told her you didn't want her anymore, so, no, you don't have a girlfriend. And good riddance, she was the ultimate Minivan. Jeff shook his head. ”You really dodged a bullet there."

  “What is her name?” Kyle threw his hands up in the air.

  “What does it matter? You've moved on and so has she, I imagine. Rich chicks like her never stay single long.” Jeff opened his locker.

  Kyle slammed it shut. “Tell me everything you know about her.” The possessiveness that ran through him at the thought she might have another man touch her, surprised him.

  “You don't need to know anything about her. She doesn't matter. All you need to know is she's history.”

  “Dammit, Jeff, I need to know. Tell me now.” Kyle balled up his fists. Jeff had better start talking.

  “She will ruin your life, Kyle. I'm not gonna stand by and let that happen. You've made so much progress and she'd just set you back.” Jeff snatched his locker back open.

  “Don't you think it should be my choice?”

  “No, I don't. You don't remember how she manipulated you. How she tricked you.” Jeff shook his head and propped himself on his locker.

  “What did she manipulate me about? What did she do to trick me? Give me some answers here, before I go mad.” Kyle wanted to smack him. He felt so strong about this woman, he had to know more.

  Jeff sighed. “Look, why don't we just forget about this and get some grub. I haven't eaten yet and I'm starving.” Jeff pulled a fresh shirt out of his locker and changed. He stuffed the dirty one back in his locker and closed the door.

  “You can eat after you tell me her name. Just give me her name. Please?” He'd never begged for information like this, or at least he didn't think he had, but not knowing would make him crazy.

  Jeff growled. “Why the fuck are you being so damn stubborn about this? You broke it off. Obviously, you didn't want the bitch anymore.” Jeff yelled.

  “Why the fuck won't you just tell me her name?” Kyle countered.

  Jeff threw his hands in the air “Because, she can't have you, alright? Are you happy now?”

  “Her name is Laine.” Wiley said from behind them.

  Kyle swiveled around so fast, it made his head spin. “Thank you, Wi-Fi.” Kyle remembered that name. He remembered he hated her for getting him hurt. He remembered Jeff hated her. She had visited him in the hospital. He clearly remembered that, but he still couldn't picture her face. If he hated her, why did he feel so strongly about her? He had to see her to find out. Now he needed to know how to find her. He knew Jeff wouldn't help him, so he figured he'd ask Wiley.

  “Hey, do you know where she lives? Or her last name?”

  No, I've only heard you talk about her, but I did see a picture of her once. It was on your phone. She's seriously hot." He smirked.

  Kyle snapped his phone off his belt, and searched his pictures. No pictures of a woman, Laine or otherwise. He looked at Jeff. “Where is her picture?”

  “I deleted it. She was history and I didn't want you to have to see it when you woke up. I figured if you didn't want her, you didn't need any reminders of her.” Jeff shifted from foot to foot.

  “What's her last name?” Kyle snapped.

  Jeff pinched the bridge of his nose. “Peyton. Her last name is Peyton.” Jeff walked away with his head down. Obviously, he had nothing left to say.

  Kyle quickly headed for the phonebook. He scanned the P's for her name. Finally he found her, pulled his cell out, and dialed.

  “No one is available to take your call. Please leave a message at the tone,” An electronic voice said.

  He growled. Frustration was an understatement. It seemed as if everything and everyone was conspiring against him finding her. He found a pad and pen, wrote down her address, and headed out.

  The drive wasn't all that long, and he seemed to recognize the road. There was a spot in the road that seemed very familiar. The billboard advertising milk with a mustache reminded him of something. He had spent time here. Maybe this was the scene of the accident.

  He pulled up to an iron gate and stopped. He checked the paper again to make sure this was the right place. The address matched the paper. He shook his head in awe.

  This house, if you could call it a house, was definitely out of his league. The main house was huge, sitting atop a hill with a winding paved driveway. The grounds were immaculately kept with perfectly trimmed bushes, a manicured lawn, and different flowerbeds filled with brilliant colors of reds, yellows, and purples. Even the trees had been trimmed to perfect shapes. No one branch stood out from another. He had no idea how he had managed to date such a woman, but he was even more eager to find out.

  He pushed the call button on the gate keypad. No answer. She must not be home.

  “Shit.” He was so close to finding her. He debated sitting and waiting, but decided against it, considering he had no idea when she might be home.

  He backed out of her driveway more determined than ever to find her. He just had to be a little patient. Unfortunately, patience wasn't something he was equipped with.

  Eternal_Bliss

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  After her doctor's appointment, lunch and shopping, Laine was exhausted. She pulled in her drive anticipating a nice bubble bath and a really long nap.

  She forgot to shut the gate, but didn't care. All she wanted was her bath and some fake chocolate. It was only mid-day, but she was ready for bed.

  She pulled into the garage, almost too tired to get out. She hadn't known pregnancy would be this exhausting. Of course, having morning sickness every day, all day, wasn't helping her.

  She patted her growing belly. “You sure are rough on mommy, little one.”

  She got out, popped the trunk, grabbed her bags of new blue baby items, and headed in the house. She stepped into the cool air conditioned house, getting a chill sending a path of gooseflesh all over her body. She shivered and pulled her suit jacket closed.

  After dropping the bags, she went straight to the fridge and grabbed a handful of fake chocolate-chip muffins. Melanie had; amazingly, enough found ways of making the crappy chocolate taste pretty good. She sank her teeth into a muffin, closed her eyes and moaned.

  She chewed slowly, letting the cake and chocolate melt on her tongue, savoring it. She had waited all day for a sweet treat, and damn if she wouldn't enjoy the hell out of it.

  After three muffins in twenty minutes, she headed to her room. Next on her agenda, was a nice long bubble bath, then maybe read a book and take a nap.

  She undressed and viewed her swollen profile in the floor length mirror. At six months pregnant, her belly was getting so large. She would pop out any day now, having her belly button sticking out. She rubbed her belly, feeling its tautness. She could hardly wait for him to get here. He was the only evidence left of their relationship, her little Kyle.

  She sighed and headed for the bathroom. She pinned her hair up and ran the bathwater, pouring in copious amounts of floral bubble bath.

  She slid into the warmth of the water and propped her head on the cushion. “Mmm, Ohmigod, this feels so good.”

  The water lapped delectably at her skin, sparking a fire inside of her. It had been too long since she had been touched. She pictured Kyle's face and reached down to fondle herself. She didn't know if she appre
ciated or hated the fact that being horny was a side effect of being pregnant. She wouldn't need her vibrator this time.

  Her body was more than ready to explode with ecstasy. Her fingers lightly rubbed her slit up and down, grazing her clit with each upward stroke. Her light strokes tickled her bare pussy, adding to the intense sensation.

  She wasn't in any hurry to come. She didn't want this experience to be over too soon. She had a clear picture of Kyle in her mind, a memory of his face, his touch. She could almost hear his voice, telling her how beautiful she was. Telling her he loved her.

  “I love you, Kyle, I love you.” She chanted over and over, as her fingers danced over her clit.

  The slight splashing of the water echoed in the room, along with her rapid breaths. The clean floral scent added to the sensual ambience. The only things missing were candles and Kyle. Her beloved, the one man she knew in her heart was meant for her. She fondled her breast with her other hand, kneading and releasing, plucking her taut nipple between her fingers.

  “Mmm, so close,” She whispered.

  As she rolled her hips, making the water move in tiny waves back and forth, she could almost feel the touch of Kyle's hands. She could almost hear his voice, bringing her ever so close to an orgasmic explosion.

  “Kyle,” she murmured. Her whole body twitched with each stroke of her engorged little nubbin. God, she wanted him, needed him, but she knew she had lost him forever. She shook that thought off and continued her sensual assault on her body. She needed this release as bad as her next breath.

  She slid two fingers inside herself, pumping them as Kyle would have done, brought them back out and rubbed her clit again. She repeated this process several times, making herself fly. Higher and higher she went, until her body was wound up like a spring. Every nerve ending was on fire from her toes to her nose. One, two, three more strokes across her clit and her back arched with her climax. “Kyle!” she screamed.

  She could swear she left her body. The ripples of her orgasm shook her entire frame. Her knees buckled and snapped together, squeezing her thighs together. It seemed to be long moments before she was able to gather a thought and catch her breath.

  Her body still shook from her release moments after it was over. Damn, she needed that.

  “Thank you, Mr. Orgasm.” She laughed, remembering his nickname. Somehow, today she didn't feel like crying over him, but rather cherishing every moment they had together.

  He had given her the ultimate gift. She rubbed her belly as she looked at it lovingly. He had given her their son. That was certainly worth celebrating.

  She had yet to decide whether or not to tell him about the baby, but had plenty of time before the birth to make a decision. If it wouldn't have been a woman who answered his phone, he would already know. That thought didn't sit easy with her at all. He had already replaced her with another woman. As a matter of fact, it angered her.

  “No, I'm not going to be angry,” she promised herself. Why waste time dwelling on things she couldn't change? She snatched a washcloth off the side of the tub, scrubbed her body and pulled the plug. She was determined to enjoy the afterglow of her orgasm and not let negative thoughts ruin it. She and Kyle shared something special that couldn't be duplicated. She looked down at her belly and smiled. No, definitely can't be duplicated.

  Laine grabbed a big fluffy white towel and wrapped herself up tight. The cool air in the house chilled her skin, making her shiver. She headed for her closet to change into her big flannel gown. It was an old ratty plaid gown she'd had for years. There were small holes in the side pocket and the hem was frayed, but it was the most comfortable gown she owned. It was by no means sexy, but she didn't care. She was alone and nobody would be seeing her for a while. It was time to settle in with a good book and fall asleep reading it.

  She looked through the stack of books Melanie had bought, settling for Natural Birth, the Definitive Guide.

  The more she thought about natural birth, the more nervous she got. She was sure the baby would be huge just like his father, and wasn't sure she could stand to be stretched that much and not have pain medication. She skimmed through the book, coming across moment by moment pictures of a natural birth. Her eyes went wide. Omi-freaking-god! No damn way am I doing that.

  She stared at the pictures, horrified. The woman's vagina looked like it was being stretched a foot wide. The little dark haired baby's head was huge. She noticed in the after picture, the baby seemed to have a cone head and was covered in white goo. That's just nasty.

  She was definitely rethinking this whole natural birth stuff. Maybe she should go with an epidural after all. Of course, Melanie had been harping on the natural method for a while, saying “It's best for the baby.” Laine figured it was her body, her choice. When it was Melanie's turn, she could do whatever the hell she wanted.

  She shuddered and closed the book. She was sure she would now have vaginal nightmares. Of course, the doctor warned if the baby was too large, she would have to have a caesarian section. Either way, she was going to wish she were somewhere else. Even the dentist's chair would be more pleasant than childbirth.

  She tossed the book onto her nightstand and hugged up to her body pillow. It was getting hard to keep her eyes open. She couldn't fathom doing this more than once. It was so draining, too draining in fact. She had to cut her hours in half at the boutique, having Julie take over her duties as keeper of the bride.

  She thought about after Kyle was born and what to do with him, coming up with no alternatives she liked. She didn't want her son to be too far away from her, but she had to work. There were other women who worked for her full time that had trouble with daycare, so she figured she might as well add an addition onto the boutique for in-house daycare.

  There were so many things to do, with so little time to do them. She would call the contractor tomorrow, have him draw up some plans and get started immediately. She would have an ad made for daycare workers and Julie would be in charge of interviewing and thoroughly researching their background. God, it made her tired just thinking about it.

  One careless, wonderful night had completely turned her world upside down and she couldn't be happier. Her little boy would be the focal point of her life. He would be the only man in her life, the only one she could give her whole heart to.

  She had just let her eyes drift closed when her phone rang. “Ugh, please, I just want to take a nap.” She covered her head with a pillow and waited for the machine to pick it up. Finally on the sixth ring it stopped ringing. The answering machine which was mounted in the kitchen would get the call, so she decided she would check it when she woke up. It couldn't be too urgent or they would have called her cell.

  Finally, in the quiet of her room, with only the hum of the ceiling fan, she drifted to sleep.

  * * * *

  “Dammit, I'm going to go crazy.” Kyle yelled as he slammed his cell shut. That was the eighth time he'd called today. Maybe he would take another drive to her house and wait and see when she came home.

  He hesitated, not wanting to come off like a stalker. Who knew what she thought of him after he told her he didn't want her. Jeff could have given him a little bit of information, instead of giving him the runaround. He hadn't even been able to leave a message on her machine he'd been so nervous. What would he say? This is Kyle, the guy who told you to go away, but I didn't really mean it.

  He sat on the edge of his couch and dropped his head in his hands. He could still feel the edges of the scar under his hair. He would carry the scars from the accident for the rest of his life.

  Wave after wave of desperation crashed over him, overwhelmed him. He knew something about her was urgent, but what? Damn his memories for evading him. She was the key to the urgency, the key to everything, he was sure of that fact. What if she wouldn't see him, or take him back?

  Hell, he didn't think he could stand it. He scrubbed his face with his hands and blew out a puff of air. He had to get to her, and soon. He certainly
didn't think he would be able to sleep tonight without at least talking to her over the phone.

  Try as he might, he couldn't see her face in his mind. He would have had a picture if Jeff hadn't erased it. That made him angry all over again. It seemed Jeff was the whole problem. He obviously hated Laine and was jealous of their relationship, so he figured he must have been ignoring Jeff and spending all of his time with her.

  He stood and paced the length of his living room, trying to come up with a plan. He had to try to find his way back to Laine. Maybe he should take her some flowers, but that idea seemed like a bad one for some reason.

  He stared at the picture of Grams and Pops on the far wall, and sighed. He wished they were still here. He could really use Pops' advice right now. He approached the picture and ran the tip of his finger over the edge of the frame.

  “Tell me what to do here, Pops. I could really use your help here.” His hand dropped to his side, he felt tired. He was too tired, almost like he'd been awake for days. He had been warned about stress and told to avoid it, not to push himself too far mentally. What a joke that was. He would do anything, including stress himself out, to remember her.

  “Fuck it.” He grabbed his keys off the coffee table and headed for the door.

  He didn't care if he came off as a stalker anymore. He would wait until she came home and then hope like hell she would see him.

  The drive was hindered severely by rush hour traffic and an accident. As he sat in traffic, he felt the adrenaline he used to feel as the fire trucks showed up to save the day. He missed the adrenaline rush and getting onto a scene and helping people. It was his life, the reason he woke up every day, until Laine. He pounded his hand on the steering wheel, anxious to get to her. He was almost there. He just needed the road to clear of traffic. Finally, the road cleared and he was on his way. Just a few more minutes and the gate would be in sight.

  His heart was hammering out of his chest. He felt the same rush as he pulled up to her open gate. She was finally home. Butterflies joined the adrenaline, threatening to make him toss his lunch. He couldn't remember being this nervous, but then again, he couldn't remember a lot of things.