by Cm Hutton
I slipped on a black, spaghetti strapped tank, undies and short black pajama shorts. I would’ve put on pajama pants with the robe if I were home with the kids, but I couldn’t resist teasing Derek. I brushed my teeth, pulled my long blonde hair into a pony tail and quietly made my way to the kitchen. I was pretty certain my kids would still be asleep, but as I stepped from the hallway, I saw Derek sitting on a barstool at the island, his back to me, with Matt across from him making a bowl of cereal. Jenna was next to him on another stool and Jon was slowly walking down the hallway opposite of mine, rubbing his eyes. Well, hell. They were all up.
“Good morning,” I said as I got about halfway to Derek. “Everyone sleep okay? I’m surprised to find my lovely teenagers awake.”
Derek spun around on his swivel stood with a huge smile that immediately dropped off the second he eyed me wearing his favorite robe. This was going to be fun. My kids, on the other hand, didn’t even bat an eye. They’d seen me in this old thing a hundred times. “Morning,” all three mumbled.
Derek’s eyebrows went clear to his hairline as I continued to walk toward him to give him a peck on the cheek. He murmured something in my ear and gently grabbed my wrist, not letting me walk away as he pushed his stool back and pulled me around to stand in front of him at the tall island. I knew he was hiding me, thinking my ass was about the flash everyone. Silly man. Clearly, he didn’t get the whole ‘mom’ thing. All he saw was me, his girlfriend in what appeared to be nothing but a skimpy robe in front of teenage boys. He’d learn, though.
“Coffee?” Derek held his cup up to me.
“I’ll get my own.” I went to move away, but he held tight to my waist and wouldn’t let me move.
“Like hell.” His voice was low and gruff so that only I could hear it.
“It’s no problem.”
“Yes, it is…for me, it is.” He was so crazy about the damn robe that he didn’t pay attention to the fact that his hand was around my waist and he could easily feel I had clothes on underneath. “Matt, would you mind getting your mom some coffee since your closer?” Sneaky bastard.
I turned and looked back at Derek to see a sassy, satisfied smirk on his face. Hmm…
With his short victory momentarily distracting him, I jerked away quickly, stepping out of his reach and skirted around to the other side of the island just as Matt was turning around to hand me my coffee. “Oh, here you go, Mom.”
“Thanks, babe.” I took a sip and watched Derek as he looked between Matt and me to see if Matt had any kind of reaction to my clothing choice.
But like I knew he would, Matt just kissed my cheek and said, “I think I’m gonna go eat outside. Need anything else, Mom? I can make some eggs or something.”
“No, go ahead.”
“Okay.”
“Hey, Matt, I’ll make a few eggs. Want any? Anyone else want some?” I watched as Derek spoke to Matt. I was curious to see Matt’s reaction, but my son just smiled at Derek and nodded his head.
“Yeah, I think I’d like some eggs. Thanks, Derek.” What the hell was that ‘man show’ about?
Jenna and Jon spoke up. “Me, too. Thanks.” Jenna followed Matt outside and Jon was right behind her.
“Yep. Me.” Jon…my lovely morning grouch.
I looked back at Derek to see a huge grin on his face as he made his way slowly around the island. As soon as the sliding door shut, he gave my ass a hard smack, but left his hand there feeling that I had on shorts. I yelped, then let out a low, menacing laugh. “Fucking robe.”
I spun and wrapped my arms around his neck. “Did you really think I’d walk around naked under this thing in front of my teenage sons?”
He gave me a peck as he leaned his forehead against mine. “Hell, I didn’t know. I couldn’t think past what you looked like under that damn thing. I’m surprised. I held it together long enough for them to leave the room. Don’t do that to me again. I’m pretty sure I had a mild stroke.” He rubbed his hips against mine and I lost all train of thought.
“Okay.”
Derek kissed the side of my neck and said, “Good morning.”
“Morning.” I pulled back and said, “By the way, what was all that weird silent ‘man talk’ between you and Matt? Something I need to discuss with him?”
“No, not at all. He and I just came to a really good understanding about some things. It’s all fine.”
“Derek…you need to tell me.” I suddenly got really stiff…stern. If my teenage son needed an ass whipping, I was still very capable of doing it.
“Hey, it’s okay. I didn’t say anything to upset him or make him mad.” Derek misunderstood me.
“No. No, I’m sorry.” I shook my head and cupped his face. “This isn’t directed at you, baby. I want to make sure Matt is being respectful to you. Do I need to go kick my son’s ass?”
Derek let out a loud, chuckling laugh and squeezed my waist tighter. “As much as I would like to see your little body in action against a teenage boy who towers over you and outweighs you by a hundred pounds, no…Matt was actually incredibly respectful in how he set me straight on what would happen to my old body if I hurt him momma.” I gasped, but Derek put his finger over my lips before I could talk.
“No. Don’t. We’re really good. I told him I was in love with you and would never hurt you. I also thanked him for being such a good kid and that I admired him for standing up to me and watching out for you. We’re good, I promise. Ask him if you want, but he did everything right.”
Tears had started to slowly run down my cheeks as Derek talked about my protective son. “Hey, why the tears?” He kissed my forehead.
“They’ve just been through a lot, especially Matt. Did I ever tell you that after I was accidentally hit by Rob, Matt scooped me up into his arms and carried me into our house?”
“No.” Derek stiffened, his face serious.
“Yeah. He was so brave, Derek. He wouldn’t put me down, didn’t want to leave my side. I had a pretty bad concussion from being hit. Matt would have killed Rob had Jake not stopped him. I’m not surprised he’s still so protective of me. He was abruptly and painfully made ‘man of the house,’ so if he gets a little crazy with it, please tell me. He didn’t deserve to have that thrown at him and sometimes he takes it too seriously.”
“You never told me you had a concussion.” Derek cupped my face and wiped my tears away with his thumbs.
“I know. I didn’t want you to freak out. I had to get stitches and I stayed in the hospital for a while.” Derek slowly blinked his eyes, hugged me close to his body and tried to stay calm.
“And this is the same Rob that came to see you the other night?”
“Yes, but I told you, it was an accident. He was my friend, a confidant during all the bullshit with Jake and Kaye. He would never hurt me.”
“I’ll have to trust your word, Claire, because I certainly don’t trust him. As for Matt, I’m loving that kid more and more.” I smiled and Derek relaxed. “Claire, he’s a terrific young man. Jenna and Jon are great, too. She even hugged me last night and thanked me for loving you…before she squealed and ran off after I called you ‘my girl.’ And Jon, well I can tell he keeps his feelings tightly bound. He just waved his hand and went to bed.”
I smiled and shook my head. Hearing about Jon and Jenna’s quirky reactions made the tears finally dry up. My twins were something else. “Jon is one of those kids that you really have to keep watch over. He bottles things up and you think he’s okay, but he’s not. When he finally exploded on Jake, it was a huge relief to all of us. He follows Matt’s lead a lot, but he’s a very soulful, thoughtful young man that usually doesn’t know how to tell you what’s rattling around in his head.”
“You’ve done an amazing job with all of them. They’re good kids…great, actually. Look at how they’ve accepted me so quickly.”
“Thank you.” I tiptoed and kissed my handsome guy. “Thank you for loving me and them.” Maybe he didn’t ‘love’ them, but I could tell
he would if he stuck around long enough.
“It’s easy, you know. Loving you and your kids. They’re part of you…how could I not.”
“Thank you. I love you.”
“Ahh, my favorite words.” Derek kissed the top of my head and said, “I love you, too. Now, let’s make some breakfast and get the hell out of here. I want to go to the beach today and lay around drinking weird girly drinks with fruit…or just beer and stare at you in your bikini all day. You did bring a bikini, right?”
I laughed. “Yes, baby, I brought a bikini.”
“Thank God.”
*****
We laid on the private beach all day and even called to have the chef come make our lunch and even stay through dinner. As a matter of fact, we set it up for him to do that every day for our whole stay. My kids swam in the ocean and laid around with us all day. About three o’clock, they decided to go up to the club to play water volleyball with some teens they’d met the night before at dinner. Derek and I stayed on the beach.
“Need anything? I’m going to go up to the house and grab some water and some fruit.”
“Water sounds good. Put lime in mine?” Derek kissed my forehead.
“Sure, be back in a minute.” He left me there on the double beach lounger we’d been sharing and tilted the huge umbrella over me as I dozed. I turned onto my stomach and untied the straps around my neck and back, taking off my bikini top, then slid to the side of the lounger with the sun shining on it to tan my back. It felt very freeing to be topless, even though nothing was showing. We had a private beach, the kids were gone and I was on my stomach, so it wasn’t a big deal.
I don’t know how long I’d been there before Derek came back, but apparently I’d fallen asleep because I awoke to a cold stream running down my back. “Mmm…”
“You have no top on and you fell asleep. What if I were some creeper?” Derek’s voice was a low, growling whisper.
“You are a creeper, remember?” I didn’t open my eyes.
“Ahh, true, but, still…”
“You’d protect me.”
He kissed down my spine. “Yes, I would.”
“Mmm…that feels good. Are the kids still gone?”
“Yep.”
I slowly turned over, exposing my bare chest. Derek made me feel so confident, so secure in my sexuality that I found myself more willing to take risks…in and out of the bedroom.
With Jake, I was a different person in the bedroom. New sexual experiences with him made me feel like I was trying too hard to keep him and I hated that feeling. Truthfully, I enjoyed new experiences and Derek was right there with me.
“Oh, baby…” I looked up to see him looking all around us to make sure no one could see me. “…I love you. But if some other man sees my girl like this, I can’t be held responsible for my actions.”
I laughed. “Good.” I slowly raised my hands to my breasts, cupped them and rubbed slowly. “I like feeling so free with you. I can explore and be myself. I’ve never had that comfort before, Derek.”
“Oh yeah?” He raised his eyebrows, surprised.
“Yeah, I like it. I like the way you test me…push me to try new things.” I put my hands above my head, closed my eyes and let the sun bake my naked body.
“Claire…” It was a warning and I loved it.
“Huh?”
“I can’t let you lay like that. What if…”
“Derek, just tell me if my kids come back. I’m taking a nap, right here…just like this. And just to test your limits, you can’t touch me for one hour.” I smiled at my challenge, still keeping my eyes shut.
“NO! Not. Fair. You can’t expect that of me woman!”
I opened one eye to see his expression. The faux pain in his eyes was just too cute. “Well, maybe a little touching. But I want to get some sun, okay?”
“Deal.” He laid beside me on the giant, cushioned lounger and although I’d closed my eyes again, I could feel him staring.
“You’re creeping me out.” I felt his mouth cover one of my breasts and I automatically laid my hand on the back of his head. “Not. Helping.”
“Can’t.” He sucked on one while his other hand groped and twisted the nipple on my other breast. We were huddled under the giant umbrella with Derek’s body hovering enough to keep me hidden from anyone, but apparently the thought of the chef or the cleaning crew seeing me, had Derek in a snit.
“Hey, stop.”
“No. You’re tempting me. And I can’t take the chance on someone seeing you.”
“So, they’ll watch you make love to me instead?” He pulled his face back, studying me.
“You’re right.” Derek jumped up, arranged the umbrella just enough to hide us from being seen from the house and climbed on me, covering us with a beach towel. “Now. All. Better.”
I wrapped my arms around his back. “Really? All better?”
“Yep.” He kissed the side of my neck, working his way up behind my ear while his hips started grinding against me. “You make me crazy. I’m constantly in a state of arousal and insanely jealous about anyone seeing or touching what’s mine.”
“Well, I can do something about the arousal part, but as for being jealous, I sort of like you that way. Makes me feel wanted. So, stop worrying about what’s yours. I’m not going anywhere. I’m all yours, Derek…for as long as you want me.”
“Claire…” He had me pinned, his face right in mine. “I want you forever, sweetheart. I want you to be mine…only mine.”
I pinched my eyebrows together and said, “I am, Derek. Don’t you know that? You’re here with me…with us. I wouldn’t have asked some random guy I was dating to meet my kids, let alone go on vacation with us. I’m yours.” I saw him grind his teeth at my comment.
“I know. You don’t understand what I’m saying.”
“What, then?”
He let out a long breath and propped himself on his elbows. “I want you forever as in ‘till death do us part’ forever. I love you, Claire. I want to marry you.”
I was shocked. My mouth hung open and I stared into Derek’s eyes. He was serious. “Is this about being jealous?”
“NO! It’s about finding the woman I’ve always wanted and not wasting one moment living without her.”
“I get that. I do. But I’m afraid.”
“Of what?”
“Us…this. What if we’re just too hot right now and in six months you don’t want me anymore?”
“Baby, I’m not like that and neither are you. You know that. Don’t be scared. I love you. I’ll always love you and take care of you and your kids. Trust in me…in us.”
I smiled and took another breath. I wanted him all to myself. I couldn’t deny it. And he was right. We weren’t some young couple that had never experience the burn out of a relationship. I kept staring into his handsome face as I spoke. “I don’t…I just need…I need you, Derek.”
“And I need you, every day for the rest of my life. I know it’s what’s right for us.”
I wanted to say yes, but could I? Was I being selfish keeping him all to myself? I closed my eyes and struggled not to cry at the thought of Derek with someone else…looking at them the way he looked at me or making love to them the way we made love. It made me feel sick and I couldn’t stop the feelings that bubbled to the surface.
“Hey, what just happened?” Derek shifted to lay beside me and gently wiped away the two tears that escaped my closed eyes.
I turned my head to see his face as I opened my eyes. “I love you, Derek. I can’t…”
“NO!” He interrupted me, putting his index finger on my lips. “Please, God, please don’t say you can’t or won’t. Don’t do it! If you need time to figure me out, to figure us out, then I can give it to you. I’ll wait, but please just don’t say no.” He leaned down and kissed me right as his finger left my lips. I stared at his face, his golden eyes open and so full of fear.
When he pulled away for a second, I put my hand on his chest and
said, “Listen to me, okay?” His jaw flexed as he prepared himself for my answer. “Hey.” I held his face. “I was going to say that I can’t imagine being without you. These tears? Well, the thought of you with someone else…doing and saying…well, I can’t go there. It would completely gut me…destroy me more than Jake ever could because he never looked at me the way you do and we never made love with the unbridled passion that you and I do. You’re mine, Derek. You belong to me. So, yes, I’ll marry you, baby.”
“WHAT?” Derek leaned up tall, his arms straight and stared at me. “You will? Please tell me I heard you right.” He was shaking, so I pulled him back down on top of me and kissed his open, shocked lips.
“Yes, Derek, I’ll marry you. I can’t let you go, ever.”
“Oh my God, you said, ‘yes.’ You said, ‘yes.’ Thank you!” He was kissing all over my face. “I’ll never hurt you, Claire. Never.”
I giggled at his kid-like excitement and held the back of his head as he continued to shower me with kisses. “I know.”
“I’m so happy, baby. So fucking happy. I’ve wanted to make you mine from that first week we spent together, you as my therapist. I knew it then that we were made for each other.”
“I think I knew it, too. It just seemed too good to be true. My feelings for you were so intense and that scared me.”
“I know. Do you think Matt will be okay with this? I think if he’s okay then Jon and Jenna will be. I should have asked him first.” His last statement was a quiet revelation.
“No. It’s okay.” I rubbed his cheek with my thumb. “Let’s keep this quiet until we go back home. Let the kids get to know you better, then if you want to talk to Matt, I think that would be really nice. But Derek? He’s not the one you’re going to marry. So his approval isn’t necessary, okay? I mean, he’s about to graduate and be on his own. This is about me and you.”
“Thank you for saying that. It was just what I needed to hear. See, we were made to be partners, to live this lifetime together.” He sighed, took a long, slow blink and said, “God, I’m so glad I finally found you.”
