He pushed her up against the shower wall and as the spray of steaming water cascaded over their slick, hot bodies, he lifted her legs and inserted his thick, hard cock into her already warm, wet pussy. She screamed in delight, as she thrust her hips forward, urging him to go deeper. He smacked her ass, laughed, and gave her a hard thrust. As her head rolled back, she moaned again,
“Jarrod, oh, yes, more… yes.”
He chuckled and drove deeper again and again, thrusting hard. As the water rolled over them, she felt as though she was riding a wave that didn’t stop, it enveloped her, cradling her body. She shuddered and called out his name again.
As he emptied himself inside her, he kissed her forehead. “Don’t make me go without that long again, baby.”
As he set her down and began soaping her body, she said, “It hasn’t been that long, you know.”
“Any day that I don’t lose myself inside you is a day too many,” he replied somberly.
They finished their shower quickly and got dressed for the party. With a sharp intake of breath as she watched him tie his tie, she said, “There’s just something about you and a tie that does tingly things to me, especially when you’re loosening it at night to take it off.”
He laughed. “Are you serious? That does it for you?”
“What does it for you?” she asked as she nodded.
“Watching that sweet ass of yours swinging down the hall at the office, knowing I can’t touch it until we get home. Since we agreed it wasn’t smart to carry on at work anymore, I get so wound up that I can’t wait to get you home every night.”
“I’ll have to remember that,” she teased as she walked over to him so he could zip her dress.
“I’d rather rip it off you than zip it up, but I’ll be the dutiful husband,” he said as he effortlessly zipped it up and pushed her away from him playfully.
“We need to get downstairs. Our guests will be arriving soon.”
“Yes, dear,” he teased as he followed her, continuing to act as the dutiful husband. He knew it was her night to shine and that was exactly what he intended to let her do.
Jarrod watched proudly as his wife entertained their guests like a pro. And when she caught his eye and winked once, he gave her a sexy grin. When the evening was over, he steered her to the mistletoe she’d hung on the door between the foyer and the sitting room and kissed her thoroughly.
“Thank you, baby, you did a great job,” he said as he turned out the lights later. “Let Jenni and Jake take care of the mess in the morning. You’ve got all the leftover food taken care of and the dishes in the dishwasher.”
“Thanks for helping. Now let’s go to bed. I’m bushed and can’t wait to sleep in tomorrow morning.”
“Who said anything about sleep?” he teased as he followed her up the stairs.
Chapter Fifteen
They made it through the holidays and all the family parties, and life seemed to be going smoothly for everyone. Work was steady, and Jill and Jarrod had settled into married life quite nicely, given the way they’d started out. Each had learned to read the signs, they almost always knew what the other needed and when. Their emotional bond grew stronger with each passing day.
Bryan had asked Jan out and she was preparing for her first date with him.
“What should I wear?” she asked one day at lunch.
“You act like it’s your first date,” Jill said with a smile.
“It is with Bryan. I’ll be graduating soon and I don’t know where I’ll be working after that, so if I want to keep seeing him, I need to make a good impression.”
“Well, by all means, let’s go shopping Saturday afternoon so you can make a good impression Saturday night,” Jill teased.
“Can you tear yourself away from the hubs long enough to go shopping with me?”
“He’ll probably be playing golf, and if he isn’t, I’ll suggest that he does,” Jill replied. “We’re not joined at the hip, you know.”
“You guys seem so close. I’d like to have that someday.”
“We are close, but that doesn’t mean we spend every hour together. We work together, so we both enjoy some ‘me’ time once in a while. I’d love to go shopping with you. And don’t rush it, sis. You’ll find your guy someday, and for all you know, it may be Bryan.”
And so on Saturday afternoon, the two sisters shopped all afternoon. Jan found the perfect outfit for her date and Jill purchased some goodies at Victoria’s Secret. Not that her sex life needed spicing up, but she enjoyed treating Jarrod to the sight of her in new lingerie. It was a perfect girls’ day out.
When she returned home, Jarrod was already there. He had dinner in the oven and a bottle of wine chilling. “Hey, baby, I didn’t know what time you’d get home so I put a casserole in the oven. Did you eat?”
“No, Jan’s having dinner with Bryan so I figured I’d throw something together here. Since you beat me to it, I think I’ll sit and enjoy a glass of wine. My sister ran me all over that mall.”
“I see you did some shopping of your own,” he said, pointing to her bags.
“I did, but you can’t see any of it until later,” she teased.
“Okay, whatever you say.”
“You’re awfully agreeable today. You must have beaten your dad at golf.”
“I did. I love when they’re in town and I can get him on the course.”
“Did you tell him about the new project?” she asked.
“Yes, I discussed it with him and he thought we should go for it.”
“What do you think? Have you made a decision yet?” she asked as she accepted the glass of wine he offered her.
“I’ve decided to call the developers back on Monday and set up a meeting,” he replied as he sat down and took a sip of his own wine.
“This could be big, babe.”
“I know, but it’s also going to be a lot of work. You do realize that, don’t you? It’s going to be a lot of work for all of us.”
“You can handle it. I have faith in you. And the rest of us will adjust. We always do,” she replied with a smile.
“You sound like my dad. Oh, there’s the timer. You sit. I’ll bring our plates out here and we can eat on the terrace.”
“You spoil me,” she said as he leaned over to kiss her.
“That’s my job,” he replied. “To spoil you, take care of you, and love you.”
“And you do it quite nicely, I might add,” she said as he went to get their dinner.
Life continued to move along, while the couple stayed busy with work. Suddenly it was summer and one evening, Jill sprang something shocking on her handsome husband.
“I’ve decided to go off the pill,” she announced, as they were relaxing after dinner.
“Baby, are you sure?” he asked with a huge grin on his face.
“I’ve been thinking about it for a while. I know you’re up to your eyeballs with work right now, but if we want a family, we should get started on it, don’t you think? We’ve never really discussed how many children we want. Do you want a big family?”
“I’ve always wanted a big family because I was an only child. We’ll only have as many as you want, though.”
“Somehow I knew that. I sensed that you felt you missed out by not having brothers and sisters. Would you like to get started on that first one?” she asked with a seductive smile.
“Baby, you don’t have to ask twice.” He scooped into his arms and carried her up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
Instead of his usual, hard, fast, and hot sex, he took his time with her, showing her the gentle love she knew he was capable of. She loved that he caressed, kissed, stroked, and savored her entire body. When they finally joined together, he totally rocked her world, whispering sweet words of love in her ear.
“Jarrod, that was so different tonight,” she said later as they lay in each other’s arms.
“I must be changing into a fatherly figure already. It just seemed appropriate to go slow
ly and to take our time. We don’t always need to have the wild stuff, you know.”
“Our lives will change when our babies start arriving,” she observed.
“Yes, but we’ll make time for each other, don’t worry about that,” he told her reassuringly.
“Other things might change too,” she said, not knowing how to broach the subject.
“Are you talking about this?” he asked as he smacked her ass.
“Well, yes, I guess so.”
“Do you want to change that part of our lifestyle?”
“Well, no, not exactly. I mean, we have changed it somewhat over time. But don’t you think it will have to be different?” she pondered.
“Yes, I do. But just like we curbed our office activities, like the mature adults we are, we’ll adjust. It may be different, but if you don’t want to give it up and live a more vanilla lifestyle, we’ll find a way. We’ll know when we need it and we’ll find a way, without upsetting our family life.”
“Funny that what started out as a playful thing, has turned into something neither of us wants to do without. I mean, basically, we are a vanilla couple, but this is one thing that works for us.”
“Well, who ever thought when I proposed to you that day in my office, you’d suggest we try it and that you’d agree to my terms? And who thought we’d fall head over heels for each other and get married within months of that awful day when Ronnie attacked you in the elevator? I was attracted to you, and I knew I wanted something with you, but at the time I had no idea that what I really wanted was marriage.”
“And make it work at that. Who ever would have imagined that we would get together and make it work? I was attracted to you, too, but I thought like every other woman in the office that I didn’t stand a chance. You were so mysterious when it came to your love life. No one could figure out if you even dated anyone,” she added.
He chuckled as he said, “So you all talked about my love life at the coffee pot? A lot of conversations take place there, don’t they? And it does work, by the way - us, I mean. We work.” He pulled her close and kissed her.
“Oh, yes, it does, we do.”
****
Two months later, a home pregnancy test confirmed that Jill was expecting. Jarrod was over the moon with excitement. He wanted to announce it to the world immediately.
“Hold on, slow down. I think we should wait until I’m a little farther along,” she suggested. “Let’s let it be our own little secret for a while. I don’t even want to tell our families yet.”
“I guess I am getting a little ahead of the game, but this is just so damn great!” he said as he agreed to wait.
The morning sickness was mild, and Jill was able to work without anyone suspecting anything. Things were fine, she scheduled an appointment to see her doctor, and work kept them both busy with the new project they were preparing to break ground on.
One afternoon, Jarrod and Bryan had driven up to the site. It was in a wooded area and they needed to check with the tree cutters to make sure they were cutting the right trees. Jill was feeling fine and thought nothing about the fact that Jarrod would be unreachable once he got to the site.
About mid-afternoon, Jill began to feel bad. She went to the bathroom and was dismayed to see a blood stain in her panties. Just as she was going back to her office to get her things to go home and lie down, she began experiencing severe cramps. She called out to Susie to help her. Susie and Jan both rushed to her.
“What’s wrong, sis?” Jan said.
“I need to get to the hospital. I… I’m pregnant and I’m spotting and cramping,” she said as Susie helped her to a chair.
“Oh my God, do I need to call Jarrod?” Jan asked frantically.
Susie spoke up, “Let’s get her in my car and get her to the ER. You can call him in the car.”
The two women helped Jill to the car. By now, the cramps were more severe, as Jill doubled over in pain. Jan tried several times to reach Jarrod and she also tried Bryan’s cell. She couldn’t get through to either one of them.
“I’ll bet they’re either out of range, or it’s too noisy with the tree cutting to hear their phones. Once we get her settled, I’ll drive up to the site and get him,” Susie offered. “You might want to call your mom to come be with the two of you until I can bring Jarrod here.”
As soon as the nurse took Jill back to a room, Susie left and Jan called her mother. Her mother arrived shortly afterward and Jan told her what had happened. A nurse soon told them they could go into Jill’s room.
“How is she?” Mrs. Lincoln asked.
“The doctor has ordered an ultrasound, but she’s barely two months along. I’m not sure he can do anything. I’m sorry, but we think she’s probably already lost the baby.”
“Does she know?” Jan asked.
“The doctor has told her,” the nurse replied kindly.
When Jan and her mother entered the cubicle, Jill was crying softly. She held out her arms to her mother. “Oh, Mama, I’ve lost my baby. And Jarrod doesn’t even know. He wasn’t even here with me.”
“I’m sorry, sweetie. I’m here and I’ll stay as long as you need me. Your friend from work has gone to find Jarrod.”
“He should have been here,” Jill said in a muffled voice as she sobbed.
“But he’s working, honey, he has no idea what’s going on. It’s not his fault,” Mrs. Lincoln tried to console her older daughter.
Because of Jill’s emotional state, the doctor ordered a sedative. “We’ll keep her here until her husband arrives. If she’s doing better, we’ll let him take her home tonight,” he told Jill’s mother as he shook his head. “I’m sorry, I wish there was more we could do.”
Jill finally slept after the nurse gave her the medication. Several hours later, while she was still asleep, Jarrod, Bryan, and Susie arrived. The same nurse immediately took Jarrod to Jill’s room. Her mother stood up and hugged him when he entered the room. “I’m so sorry, Jarrod.”
“Thanks, Sally, how is she?” he asked his mother-in-law.
“She didn’t take it well, especially the fact you weren’t here,” Sally explained sadly.
“Damn it. I never dreamed anything like this could happen. I didn’t give it a thought I would be unreachable at the site,” he said as she sat beside his wife’s bedside.
“You had no way of knowing. She’s just upset right now. I’m sure when she’s had some time to recover, she’ll realize that.”
As Jill stirred and rolled over, Jarrod took her hand. He laid his head down and sobbed as he said, “I’m so sorry, baby.”
Sally gently tapped him on the shoulder and said softy. “Jan and I are going to go so the two of you can be alone. Call me if you need anything. I’d be happy to come to the house and stay with her if you need me to.”
“Thanks. And, Jan, thanks for bringing her. Susie said the two of you brought her. She told me what happened at the office.”
“I’ll see you later,” Jan replied. “It’s going to be okay. You have each other. You’ll get through it together. I’ve always told Jill I admire the closeness the two of you share.”
“Oh, do you have your car here?” Sally suddenly asked.
“Yes, Susie had someone bring it, thank you,” Jarrod replied.
“We’ll go now, but remember, call if you need us.”
“I will, thank you both again for being here.”
****
A few hours later, the doctor told Jarrod he could take his wife home. As he helped her into the car, he told her again how sorry he was for not being there for her. When she didn’t answer him, his heart broke into a million tiny pieces. His precious Jill was withdrawing from him. Knowing her as well as he did, he sensed the difference when she refused to accept the comfort he offered. When they arrived at the house, she went straight to bed and cried herself back to sleep, with Jarrod by her side, suffering his own private grief, and wondering how he could ever make it up to her that he wasn’t there when she
needed him the most. He grieved for the baby lost to them, and he grieved for the wife he felt was slipping away.
Chapter Sixteen
That night, Jarrod sat beside the bed for hours watching Jill sleep. It was a fitful night for her, as he noticed the many times she tossed and turned. Near dawn, he finally crawled into bed beside her and pulled her close. When he awoke a few hours later, she was sobbing quietly into her pillow and had moved out of his embrace.
“Baby, can I get you anything?” he asked softly.
When she didn’t answer, he pulled her close again.
She turned to him and said, “You weren’t there. I needed you and you weren’t there.”
“I would have been there if I’d known. Surely you understand that, don’t you?”
“But you weren’t there. I know you couldn’t be reached, but we should have thought of that. What kind of parents would we have been, anyway, if we didn’t think to make sure you could be reached at all times? What if our baby was here and he or she had been sick and I couldn’t reach you?”
“Sweetheart, you can’t think like that. From now on, we’ll make sure you can reach me. But you can’t say we won’t be good parents, because we will, we’ll be the best.”
“No, we won’t. God took our baby away from us because he knew we couldn’t do it.”
“Jill, you don’t mean that.” He tried to comfort her by placing butterfly kisses on her forehead and caressing her cheek.
“Don’t,” she said as she turned away from him.
“Baby, don’t do this. Don’t do it to yourself, don’t do it to me. I’m hurting, too. We need to comfort each other.”
“I… I need some coffee. Would you mind?” she asked.
“Of course, I don’t. You rest and I’ll bring you a cup when it’s ready. Jill, you need to stop beating yourself up over this. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, not yours, not mine. These things happen. We can try again when you’re ready.”
“I can’t even think about that. Please just go and leave me alone.”
As he walked down the stairs to the kitchen, he shook his head. The phone rang as he was waiting for the coffee to brew and he answered it quickly so it wouldn’t disturb Jill upstairs in the bedroom.
Accepting His Terms Page 10
