Unveiled

by Jodi Ellen Malpas

  I snap into action and follow Harry into the office, grimacing when the sense of a million people’s problems hit me like a wrecking ball. It’s lingering in the air, and a chill resonates through me as a result. I’m still befuddled as to why this happens every time. The room is plush, with soft furnishings at every turn. It’s warm and inviting, but I still feel uncomfortable. I hate coming here. There’s one problem, though. Harry loves it and this woman here keeps inviting him. Personally, I think she simply gets a huge power trip out of sitting behind this huge plush desk and watching me squirm.

  I groan to myself and drop my arse to the chair opposite her desk, and Harry does the same, but where I’m irritated and pouting, he is grinning madly. It penetrates my foul mood a little and I find my lips twitching at the corners as a result.

  ‘Hello, Harry,’ she says. Her voice is like honey, all smooth and calming. I can’t see her, I can just hear her voice, but when her swivel chair starts to turn and she comes into view, her sheer beauty renders me stupid for a few moments. And damn if my cock starts dancing in my trousers.

  ‘Hi, Mummy,’ Harry sings, his eyes bright and happy now he has his mother to fuss over him. ‘We’ve come to take you home. Have you had a good day?’

  She breaks out in the most stunning smile, her navy eyes that match my boy’s sparkling like diamonds. ‘I’ve had a wonderful day, made all the better now you’re here.’ She flicks those delicious eyes in my direction. Her cheeks are flushed. I want to pounce and worship her right now. Her wide smile turns coy and she crosses one leg over the other. ‘Good evening, Mr Hart.’

  I straighten my lips and shift in my chair, trying to conjure up reasonable thoughts in a vain attempt to remain composed in front of my boy. ‘Good evening, Mrs Hart.’

  Every blessed shard of light that’s engulfed our lives since we met collides across the desk and detonates. It makes my back straighten and my heart race. This woman, pure, raw, and innocently perfect, has given me more pleasure than I ever thought possible. Not just through intimacy, but also from the sheer joy of being the object of her affection. I’m the centre of her world. And she is the absolute core of mine.

  I watch Harry jump down from the chair and wander over to the bookshelves. ‘How was your day?’ I ask.

  ‘Tiring. And I need to study some more when we’re home.’

  It takes everything out of me to refrain from rolling my eyes, knowing I’ll be attacked by her sass if I expose my exasperation. This job is only part time, but she doesn’t need to work here. She insists it’s good for her studies – gives her a sense of what to expect when she qualifies as a therapist, but all I see is her burning herself out. I can’t deny her, though. She wants to help people.

  ‘Will you have an office like this?’ I cast my eyes around the partner’s office. We hijack it every Wednesday at six.

  ‘Might do.’

  I return my eyes to hers, grinning wickedly. ‘Can I still call you my therapist when you really are one?’

  ‘No, that would be a massive conflict of interest.’

  I scowl. ‘But you help me de-stress.’

  ‘Hardly on a professional level!’ She laughs, then lowers her voice, leaning over the desk. ‘Or are you suggesting I should allow all of my patients to worship me?’

  My shock is clear. ‘No one else gets to taste you,’ I virtually growl, the thought sending me to a maddening place I have avoided for a long time.

  But I snap a lid on it when Harry jumps back onto the chair next to me, looking at me in cute curiosity. ‘OK, Daddy?’

  I ruffle his hair, ignoring Olivia giggling across the desk. ‘Perfect, mate.’

  ‘Are you ready to go home, Mummy?’ he asks.

  ‘Not just yet.’ She reaches for the remote control and I immediately fear the worst. ‘Shall we?’ she asks on a wry smile.

  I can feel my boy’s eyes on my profile as I stare at my love, so I slowly turn to him, finding that familiar exasperated look plaguing his gorgeous face. ‘I don’t think we have a choice,’ I remind him, knowing he already knows this.

  ‘She’s mad,’ he breathes tiredly.

  ‘I concur.’ I can do no more than agree, because he’s right, and take his hand when he holds it out to me. ‘Are you ready?’

  He nods and we both stand together, just as Olivia presses a button that brings the room to life. We remain motionless, despite the instant blast of Pharrell Williams’s “Happy”, and watch as the woman in our life jumps up, all enthusiastically, and kicks her Converse off. ‘Come on, my beautiful boys!’ she sings, rounding her desk and seizing our hands. ‘Let’s de-stress.’

  There are too many counters I could make to that, but a quick warning glance from my wife tells me to zip it. My lips purse on a sulky pout. ‘I can think . . .’ I just can’t help myself, but I’m halted when her palm slaps over my face.

  She grins and comes closer, keeping her hand exactly where it is. ‘I bought Green and Black’s earlier.’

  My eyes widen and my blood heats. ‘Strawberries?’ I mumble against her hand, fighting off trembles of anticipation when she nods her head. I match her grin behind her hand and mentally conjure up my plan for later. It’ll involve worshipping. Lots and lots of worshipping.

  ‘Can we dance now?’ Harry asks, pulling our attention to him waiting impatiently to the side. ‘Control yourselves,’ he mumbles.

  We laugh and each of us claims one of his hands so we form a circle. ‘Let’s do this,’ I say, bracing myself for what I’m about to endure and partake in.

  We spend a few moments flicking gazes to each other, smiling, waiting, before Harry makes the first move. My boy breaks out in song, belting out the lyrics as his little body practically goes into spasm. He shakes off our holds and throws his arms into the air, closing his eyes as he starts jumping around the office like a little nut job. I’ve never seen such a wonderful sight.

  ‘Come on, Daddy!’ he yells, jigging his way across to the sofa and jumping onto the cushions. The slight discomfort his carelessness brings isn’t something I can help, though I’m getting better, for sure. Plus, we always tidy before we leave.

  ‘Yes –’ Olivia nudges me, smiling – ‘let loose, Mr Hart.’

  My shoulders jump up coolly. ‘As you wish.’ I hastily shrug off my jacket as a crafty smile slowly forms on my face. It falls to the floor, but I leave it exactly where it is and run to join my boy, dragging Livy behind me. ‘Make way!’ I yell, catapulting myself up on the couch with him. The sound of his giggles and the look of delight only spur me on. I’ve lost my mind, shaking my head, spinning Livy on the floor below me and singing along with my boy. God knows what my hair must look like.

  ‘Woooohoooooo!’ Harry screeches, springing off the couch. ‘The desk, Daddy!’

  I’m in action immediately, running across the office again. I lift his little body up and join him on the huge, important-looking workspace. ‘Go for it, Harry!’

  ‘Yeaaaahh!’ His legs fly out, kicking the piles of paper everywhere.

  And I couldn’t care less.

  It’s raining white sheets of paper, we’re busting some very questionable moves, and we’re laughing in between picking up the lines that we know. It’s heaven.

  My angels and I are in our own bubble of happiness, except our bubble is now huge. And nothing can pop it.

  The music starts to fade, but our energy doesn’t. We’re still going hell for leather when Goldfrapp’s “Happiness” kicks in and Harry screeches his excitement. ‘Oh wow!’ he gasps, pushing his waves from his forehead. ‘My favourite!’

  I’m yanked down from the desk and the three of us form a circle again. I know what’s about to happen. I’m going to get very dizzy. There’s only one thing that can stop the inevitable, so I pin my eyes on Olivia as Harry instigates the spinning of our little circle. He’s away with the fairies again, so he won’t notice that my full attention is planted firmly on his mother. And hers is on me.

  Around and around we go, over
and over, Harry singing and Olivia and I focused solely on each other. ‘I love you,’ I mouth on a crooked smile.

  ‘Your bones, Miller Hart,’ she mouths back, giving me that full-on beam.

  Good God, whatever did I do to deserve her?

  I’m feeling quite sweaty when the music finally comes to a stop, and continuing to follow our usual tradition, we all collapse to the floor in an exhausted heap. We gasp for breath, our chests heaving, Harry still chuckling with his mum.

  I smile up at the ceiling. ‘I have a request,’ I mumble breathlessly, resisting the urge to meet Harry’s cute smiling face at the sound of those words. There’s only one right answer to this request.

  ‘We’ll never stop loving you, Daddy,’ he answers hastily, placing his hand on my arm.

  I drop my head to the side to find him. ‘Thank you.’

  ‘We have a request, too.’

  I take a deep breath and swallow down the lump in my throat that’s spiked by pure, undying happiness. ‘Until there is no breath left in my lungs, sweet boy.’

  My world centres and everything is just perfect once again.

  Olivia Taylor sent my meticulous world into fucking chaos. But it was real. She was real. What I felt with her was real. Each time I worshipped her, I felt my soul get a little bit cleaner. It was beautiful. It meant something. With the exception of one regrettable time, our lovemaking was never an all-out slamming of one body into another to reach the ultimate aim.

  Pleasure.

  Release.

  Our intimacies were never automatic, either – not in the sense of my body taking over and just . . . doing. But it was automatic in the sense that, ultimately, it was natural. Effortless.

  This was supposed to happen to me.

  One night turned into a lifetime.

  And not even that will be enough. Everything with Olivia and Harry will never be enough.

  My name is Miller Hart.

  I am the Special One.

  But special because no other man to ever walk this land could ever be as happy as me.

  I don’t need to elaborate.

  I’m free.