by A. E. Murphy
“I know.” I wrap my arms around her and kiss her cheek. “I love you; thank you for being my rock.”
Her breath catches in her throat. “Thank you for being mine.”
When I go to pull away, she doesn’t let me go. We stand in the driveway holding each other. To an outsider we probably look silly, or like lesbians, seeing as my mum really doesn’t look old enough to be my mum. To us, this is a huge breakthrough in our relationship.
When we finally release each other, Nathan tucks me under his arm and leads me to the car.
Ten minutes later, if that, we’re carrying Dillan into his new home, one that I can’t wait to decorate. Although when I start suggesting things, Nathan looks less and less enthusiastic about the idea of me choosing and suggests we wait a while until we can afford a professional.
I reluctantly agree and claim the amazing kitchen. This is my second time cooking in here and I have to admit, it is fantastic.
“Have you thought any more about going back to university?” Nathan pulls himself up onto the breakfast bar and plucks a grape from the fruit basket before popping it into his mouth.
“I won’t be able to go back until September. We have plenty of time to talk about it and decide.” I flip the wrap and drop it on top of the others. “Can you put these on the table for me?”
He drops to his feet and does as I’ve asked, whistling the entire time, which is weird because Nathan doesn’t whistle… ever.
“I got a call from Lorna earlier,” he announces and I’m shocked by the spark of jealousy that flies through me.
“Go on.”
“She just called to say hi and to meet up. I told her that I’m seeing you now.”
“Oh.” The jealousy slowly slinks away and hides under a metaphorical rock, ready to pounce at the next woman who gets too close to Nathan. “So you’re telling me because…?”
“I want to be open and honest, as promised, minus a few secrets which are better left unsaid. If I didn’t tell you and you found out, you’d wonder why I didn’t tell you and probably get paranoid.”
He’s got that right. “Well, thank you. Eric texted me, apologising for his friends’ behaviour in the club the other night. I told him I was sorry and he hasn’t contacted me since.”
“Yes, I know.”
Umm… how does he know?
He sees the question in my eyes and shrugs, completely nonchalant. “I checked your phone.”
My mouth drops open. I don’t know whether to laugh or to be mad. I have nothing to hide, but still… that’s a huge lack of trust right there. “You can’t check my phone!”
“What’s the big deal? You can check mine.”
“I don’t want to check yours.”
“Suit yourself,” he chuckles, popping another grape into his mouth. “I took the liberty of deleting his number from your phone too.”
“Of course you did,” I say, but now I’m laughing. “You’re such a geek. You do trust me don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“So why the checking of phones and the deleting of numbers?”
He shrugs again. His calm façade really grates me sometimes. “I’m getting rid of all temptation and competition.”
Snort. “Of course you are.”
“Not including me of course, I plan to tempt you constantly. Like right now.”
I turn away from the chicken I’m placing into a dish and let out a bark of startled laughter when I see him sitting in the chair at the dinner table, his foot crossed over his knee, a newspaper spread between his hands. He’s stark naked.
“Get dressed,” I hiss, still laughing uncontrollably.
“Only if you sit right here.” His hooded eyes scan me up and down as he points to the ground between his legs. “And do that thing you did the other night with your mouth.”
Well, how’s a girl supposed to refuse that?
The chicken hissing in the pan behind me snaps me from my sudden lust filled daze. I turn back to it and neatly place it all in the dish, before covering it with the sauce.
“You do realize you’re going to have to grab the salad bowl from the fridge while completely naked and we have no blinds over the patio doors yet.”
He blanches. “You do it.”
“Nope. I’ve just made dinner. You promised you’d help.”
He stands proudly, his naked body glorious in the bright sun that’s spilling into the huge kitchen. My lips pinch together in an attempt to stifle my amusement when he uses the newspaper to cover his front, which is remarkably stiff right now. He struts to the fridge, grabs the bowl of salad and brings it back.
His body is just… gah. There are no words, only drool.
“Anything else?”
“Yeah.” I rest back in the chair and place my finger on my chin. “Give us a very slow twirl.”
The newspaper hits me in the face and when I finally peek around it, I’m disappointed to see him pulling his clothes back on.
“If you’d stayed naked for another thirty seconds, I so would have done what I did the other night.”
“Food first, fornication later.”
Unfortunately we don’t get to that part until much later, due to Dillan suddenly not wanting to be put down for three hours straight. I’m pretty sure he’s teething and, from what I’ve heard, this isn’t going to be a fun parenting experience at all.
Nathan and I fall into a comfortable routine, one that seems to work perfectly for us. I go to work as he stays home and looks after Dillan. I cook most nights, but he cleans while I play with Dillan and put him to bed. Then we lose ourselves in our own bed, or wherever we are at the time of Nathan’s arousal.
The man has become insatiable. He’s become a monster, but not the kind of monster you fear.
I have zero complaints at all, not including my sore thighs and most likely bruised mound.
He seems a lot more at ease with himself, which is great. He doesn’t seem convinced that he’s going to become like the last three generations of men in his family.
We’re happy, exceedingly so, and coming home from work has never been such a joy. I used to love work so much that I’d wake up excited to be there, but now that Nathan and I have come to a happy point in our relationship, I find myself waking up in the morning and not wanting to leave his side.
The comfier we get with each other, the happier and more relaxed we get.
Sure, Nathan still has his moody moments where he’ll shut himself in his office and I won’t see him for hours. It’s irritating, but he needs his space so I don’t complain. He still gets annoyed with me and he freaked out something awful when I forgot to hide the eggs.
I had to listen to him rant for days about his rule of no eggs in the house. He’s so weird. It didn’t help that all I did was laugh at him whenever he brought it up or asked me if I was taking him seriously or not. I definitely was not taking him seriously, not even a little, but then he threatened to bring a rat inside… I now hide the eggs on top of the cupboard.
Unfortunately he still wears his gloves whenever he touches anything, no matter how thoroughly we sterilise it first. This doesn’t include when he’s holding me or Dillan, though. Exploring my naked body with his naked hands seems to be his favourite pastime at present, not that I’m complaining.
Our last venture, only a week or so ago, took us to his new store and I have to admit, even though I didn’t get a chance to help him plan the look of the new place due to the fact we were arguing that weekend, it looks amazing now that it’s finished. It’s just the outside that needs decorating now, and the inside obviously needs filling with sparkly, pretty things.
Now I’m wondering how he’s going to run his store and live three hours away at the same time. Maybe he expects us to move to London, although he’s made no mention of it. Perhaps he’s…
Nope. I’m not doing it to myself anymore. I need to stop questioning things in my mind when I never bother to learn the actual answers to them.
“Oh
my god!” I squeal, practically dancing my way over to a stand that seems to sell mostly beach toys and sticks of rock.
“What?” Nathan looks at where I’m pointing and smirks. “Really?”
“How often do you get a sugar dummy shaped as a penis?” The two women standing to the side, picking out flavoured rock, stare at me like I’m a loon. “Can I have it?”
He blinks. “No.”
“But it looks so tasty.”
“Get the one that isn’t shaped like a penis.” He waves his hand, pointing to the red, sugar dummies hanging from the ceiling by different coloured ribbons.
I pout, wishing I hadn’t left my bag in the car. He turns to look at Dillan, who is sat in his pram playing with his feet. I take this second to shove my hand into his pocket and snatch his wallet.
“Hey,” he moans, reaching for his property. I turn and bend over it and quickly pull out a five pound note. “Give me back my wallet.”
“Fine.” I throw it at him, trying not to laugh when it bounces off his forehead, and quickly run to the lady behind the till with the penis sweet in my hand.
“Are you old enough?” She quips, her grey brow rising with amusement.
“You really want to walk around with a penis hanging from your neck?” Nathan looks at me in disbelief.
“No.” I shake my head, take my change and pull the clear plastic wrapper from the goody. “I want to walk around with a penis in my mouth.”
The two ladies who were staring at me before burst out laughing, especially when Nathan’s cheeks turn pink with embarrassment.
“Hmmm,” I moan, sucking happily as I link my arm through his. “Want some?”
He stares at me in disgust. “No, I do not.”
I shrug, release his arm and skip ahead. “Aww, booby shaped jelly sweets.”
He places his hand beneath my shoulders and shoves me forward. I race to the stand next door and buy doughnuts.
Memories of the night when Nathan took me to the fair out of town makes me smile, especially when I had to feed him doughnuts. I wonder if he’ll let me do that again.
It’s not until I’ve received my doughnuts that I realise that Nathan is missing. Looking behind me and peering over people, I try to find him and Dillan.
“Nath?” I shout, using the shortening of his name, which he only lets me use. Sasha tried yesterday and he scowled.
Scratching my hair with one hand and holding the donuts with the other, I stand randomly in the middle of the street, ignoring the disgruntled people who have to walk around me. Déjà vu. This happened when we went to the fair together. He was buying pictures of our ride on the Ferris wheel, but I didn’t know that until a while later when I found them in a drawer in his room.
“Nath?”
“Here.” His voice comes from behind me. I’m wondering why it’s slightly muffled until I see what he has in his mouth.
“They do booby shaped sugar dummies too?”
He nods, smiling around his treat. “Best tasting breasts I’ve ever had.”
“Funny,” I snap, scowling at him playfully. “I was going to say the same about my penis.”
He laughs and throws his arm around my shoulders. “I think you need something to compare it to.”
“You’re right.” I sigh dramatically.
His face lights up. “Are we going home?”
“I should have bought two.”
His face falls. “Tease.”
“Please, up until eight days ago you wouldn’t let me touch you; now you’re in my mouth all of the time.”
He purses his lips and pinches my side. “Up until eight days ago I was almost a virgin. You stole my virtue.”
A giggle bursts forth and doesn’t stop once it starts. “Oh my god. Seriously?”
“Yes.” And then he does something extremely out of character and wags his brows at me before saying, “Care to steal it again?”
We walk down the street tucked tightly to each other as I manoeuvre the pram around pedestrians. It doesn’t take long to get home, fortunately. My feet are killing me. The entire way we talk about nothing and everything; it’s nice. For once I actually feel like I’m able to be normal around Nathan. Well… as normal as one can be with a penis shaped sweet in her mouth.
“Christ!” Nathan exclaims as we reach the top of the driveway.
“What?” I ask, worried about his suddenly pale face. “What is it?”
He steps forward and immediately takes an envelope from the windscreen of his car. Oh dear.
“Why can’t he just leave me be?” He shouts, pushing the door open with such force it smashes against the wall before bouncing back. I follow him inside and leave Dillan in his pram. He’s sleeping, I shouldn’t disturb him.
Nathan storms straight into his office and immediately shoves the thick envelope into the shredder. A startled gasp escapes me and my hand flies to my mouth. When the shredder doesn’t chew it up as it should, he begins kicking it over and over again until the hollow base is in pieces and the electronic top seems to have lost its life.
I’m contemplating whether or not I should leave the room and leave him to his anger when he suddenly turns, his face set in an expression of pure fury, one I’ve never seen from him before. Never have I seen anyone look so blindingly mad.
“Na…” I’m cut off by his hand tangling in my hair and his lips slamming on mine.
He rips the penis lolly from my neck and picks me up, holding me against the wall with his chest against my ribs. I hiss when his teeth sink into my neck and his hands immediately flip my skirt up and tear my knickers in two, leaving one side still wrapped around my leg.
I’m terrified, petrified, exhilarated, and I’ve never been so turned on in my entire life.
His teeth bite harder and I’m sure if he puts just any more pressure on the skin, it’ll break and I’ll bleed.
That thought leaves me as he slides me down the wall until my hips are against his and pushes into me almost brutally. The pain is intense, but the pleasure that I feel shadows it almost completely.
I scream, a hoarse cry that erupts from my throat without warning or consent. He doesn’t stop thrusting or pounding in and out, his own moans more like growls.
His right hand begins grabbing at my body, causing my left leg to fall until my toes are touching the floor.
My other leg is wrapped around his elbow and that hand is flat against the wall. Picking up speed, he releases my neck and takes my mouth instead. It’s amazing, it’s bruising, it’s so not like Nathan I’m almost scared. I’m also grateful, because I feel something building deep within every time his pubic bone hits my clit.
Skin slapping against skin and moans and grunts are all that can be heard, up until I tighten around him with an orgasm that makes me momentarily dizzy. He follows, throwing his head back and hissing my name through clenched teeth.
There’s no stopping him. Even after he fully spends himself inside me, I’m over the desk, my torso against the flat surface, and he continues pushing in and out of me.
It’s almost like he’s punishing me, or… trying to forget.
My mind isn’t my own. Every cell, every hair, every single part of my body burns. I never want it to stop, yet it’s so painfully good, I know that soon I’m going to need it to stop.
He climaxes again, with such a loud yell that I’ll be shocked if the neighbours don’t call the police. Their house is twenty feet away from ours and separated by twenty foot high fern trees.
Then he lands on my back, his chest heaving and his face covered in a thin layer of sweat that dampens the back of my neck.
“I don’t want to see it,” I reassure him and his fingers find mine and thread through them. “I swear, if I ever receive another, I don’t want to see it.” No matter how much it kills me.
He inhales a shuddering breath and for a moment I think he’s crying, but he doesn’t let me turn around, so I’ll never be sure. As he softens inside me, he kisses the back of my neck a
nd nuzzles me with his nose.
“Who’s it from and why?” He should be able to tell me that much at least.
“My dad,” he whispers, lifting off me.
Quickly pulling my skirt down, I turn to face him, ignoring the mess between my legs. “Why?”
“Because he doesn’t want me to open the store and he wants money. He’s going bankrupt,” he bites out, tucking himself back into his trousers. I’m shocked when he runs his gloved hands through his hair without a thought for what they’ve just touched. Mostly, though, I feel anger towards his father. Hasn’t the man taken enough?
I hide my anger and need to kill. Nathan doesn’t need that right now. “If he’s using it as blackmail, then why would he send it to me? It makes no sense.”
He closes his eyes and when they open I see hate shining from them. “He knows I’m with you and knows I won’t let you see. It’s a threat, that’s all. He doesn’t want you to see or he loses his leverage, but he also needs me to realise that he’s serious and he could ruin my life in a heartbeat.”
“Is that just a theory?”
“Yes. It’s the only thing I can think of, otherwise you would know already.”
“What… what are you going to do? You can’t give into him!”
His hate filled eyes soften as they come to mine. “I won’t. But… I don’t know how I’m going to stop him. When he goes bankrupt, and he will,” his jaw clenches, “he’s going to tell you, just to spite me.”
I clear my throat and place a gentle kiss to his jaw. “Then maybe I should hear it from you.”
His eyes close again and his arms come around me. “It seems to be the only option, but then I’ll have a jewellery store and not you. I need you.”
“I need you too.” I admit, holding him even tighter.
“I hate him, Gwen,” he says and my heart breaks at the sorrow in his voice. “I hate him so damn much.”
Stepping into him, I wrap my arms around his waist and kiss his collarbone. It takes him a few very long seconds, but he finally encloses his arms around me. “I hate him too.”
“I’m sorry.” He says this with his lips against my hair. “Did I hurt you?”
