Chapter Three
Her heart beat a rapid pace as she shrugged out of her top before neatly folding it and laying it on the back of the couch next to her husband. His hand traced along her rib cage, drawing a giggle from her and slowing her pulse. She paused there, letting his touch travel over her back, tracing the indent of her spine with a feather-soft touch. Goosebumps broke out over her skin and he unhooked the back of her bra, sweeping his rough palm over her shoulder.
She stood back and let the bra slip down her arms, conscious that her breasts weren’t as perky as they used to be. The cool air beaded her nipples and she crossed her arms over her chest. He cocked his head and looked up at her before gently grasping her hips and pulling her closer, his warm breath stroking over the skin of her stomach. The soft down of his hair tickled her belly as he wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on her hip.
“So beautiful,” he murmured against her skin. “How did I ever get so lucky?”
The affection in his tone loosened the coil in her belly and she dropped her arms from her chest, running her fingers through his hair. “I ask myself that every day.”
He looked up at her, his dark brows raised in surprise. “Really?”
A flush heated her cheeks but she forced herself to hold his gaze, to say the words that wanted to stay hidden in her heart. “You’re so warm, so generous. And you’re the kindest man I’ve ever met.”
He cleared his throat and gave her a teasing smile that didn’t match the seriousness in his gaze. “Don’t forget smart, sexy and modest.”
She pushed him back with a soft laugh. “I guess you’re pretty good-looking for an old man.”
He gave her a narrow-eyed glare that sent a wave of warmth through her. “Old man, huh?”
Tossing her hair over her shoulder she shrugged, enjoying the way his gaze fastened on her breasts. “Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle.”
He growled and lunged at her, but she sidestepped him and laughed as he tumbled to the floor. “Be careful, don’t want you to break your hip.”
This time he didn’t give her any warning, just sprang up and managed to hook the back of her pajama pants. Laughing and struggling, she managed to get free of his grasp, minus her pants. Clad only in her pink cotton panties she scrambled away from him, giggling too hard to get very far. He followed after her, the teasing gone from his expression and replaced by a heat that sent a rush of moisture between her thighs.
He managed to grasp one of her ankles and dragged her back to him, easily dodging her flailing limbs and pinning her on her stomach with his weight. The iron bar of his erection pressed into the softness of her ass and she wiggled against him, eliciting a groan. He shifted his weight and the carpet scraped across her nipples in a delicious manner. She rocked against him, rubbing herself into his body like a cat in heat.
Reaching between them, he tugged at her panties and growled with frustration when he couldn’t get them off in this position. He placed his hand between her shoulder blades and held her pinned to the carpet before lifting himself off her. “Raise that pretty ass up in the air for me.”
The guttural tone in his voice made her feel so wanted, so turned-on. She did as he asked, lifting her hips and helping him take off her panties as much as she could with him still pinning her to the carpet like a wolf with his prey. The heat coming from his skin warmed her to the core and she gasped when he ran a finger through the wet folds of her pussy, parting her inner lips and circling around the hard nub of her clit. She wanted to arch, to push herself back into his touch, but the position he held her in limited her movements. Instead she could only moan as he gathered her moisture and spread it all over her pussy, making her slick and needy.
“Please,” she said in a soft whisper.
“No.”
She tried to look at him but he pressed her harder into the carpet, which turned her on even more. “What?”
“I said no. You’re mine to play with, Megan. Mine to please, mine to do with as I want.” Her protest died on her lips as he took her hard clit between his fingers and gently squeezed. “Do you trust me to give you what you need?”
When she didn’t answer right away he increased the pressure on her clit, making her empty vagina clench and squeeze. “Yes, God, yes.”
His grip on her nub eased and she shuddered, aching for him. “Spread your legs wider for me.”
She instantly complied, thrusting herself shamelessly toward him. The cool air made her aware of how wet she was and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this turned-on. Her analytical mind tried to rationalize why this appealed to her so much but before she could really think about it he moved away and she mewled in protest.
“Wait—”
The words died in her throat as she registered the soft brush of his hair between her legs a second before his mouth made contact with her pussy. She would have fallen except he was now on his back beneath her. After the first lick he helped her settle her legs so her thighs were on either side of his face and her hands braced in front of her.
“So fucking beautiful,” he growled before giving her another lick. “The prettiest pink pussy I’ve ever seen.”
A shudder ran through her as he gripped her bottom and pulled her down to him, fastening his mouth over as much of her pussy as he could. Then he sucked hard and her toes curled into the carpet. His tongue seemed to be everywhere, licking along her outer lips, probing the tight entrance of her sheath, teasing the hood of her clit. Around and around his tongue circled, stroking the sides of that tight nub until she tried to shift her hips so his tongue would stroke her where she needed it the most.
He nipped the tip of her clit and she shrieked at the pleasure and pain that rocketed through her. His low growl vibrated through her and he began to nibble harder, biting her labia and then soothing it with a sweep of his tongue, only to bite again on the other side. He’d never been this rough, this primal with her before and she absolutely loved it. His grip on her bottom grew harder and she vaguely wondered if she’d have bruises tomorrow. Not that she cared, he could do anything he wanted to her right now and she’d gladly let him as long as he didn’t stop.
The coil in her belly wound tighter until every lick, every nibble seemed to push her closer to the edge of her orgasm. When he pushed her back she cried out in protest, her thighs shaking with need.
“I want you to ride my face, my tongue. I want you to fuck yourself on me until you come.”
Her head sagged as the pure eroticism of his words crashed through her. He lay back and she looked down between her arms as his tongue rested against her clit, not moving. Needing no further encouragement she rocked her hips, getting a feel for how he would respond, clenching as she pressed harder onto his tongue. Over and over she raked her clit over his mouth, a sheen of sweat breaking out over her skin as her orgasm crept closer and closer. He encouraged her, giving her every ounce of his considerable skill until she truly ground her pussy on his mouth, biting her lip to keep from screaming as he sucked directly on her clit.
When he gently bit the base of the tiny bundle of nerves she couldn’t hold back the orgasm if she’d tried. Her whole body stiffened and for one excruciating moment the pleasure became so intense the entire world disappeared and she floated in darkness. Reality returned with a rush of sensation, her hips snapping against his face with each contraction. He followed her, not letting her pull away from him, licking and sucking up every drop of pleasure she had to offer.
It became too much and she tried to roll off him, but he held her fast and gentled his licks, making them long and soothing strokes that kept pulling soft moans from her. A shiver racked her body and he gently eased her off him, laughing when she collapsed into a boneless pile on the carpet. Aftershocks of her orgasm blasted along her nerves and her pussy felt swollen and tender.
His lips gently traced over hers, the smell of her arousal on his breath as she returned his kiss with a lazy abandon, softly cocooned in an amazing rush of endorphins that had her grinning at him when he pulled back.
He brushed her hair from her cheek and the dimple in his chin deepened as he smiled at her. “Well, I think it’s safe to say you enjoyed that.”
She could only nod and stretch, enjoying the way his gaze heated as he stared at her breasts and then lower to her pussy. Remembering his words as to how beautiful he thought she was she spread her legs, letting him look his fill. “Thank you. That was…just wow.”
His smile turned smug and he traced the small indent of her naval. “I love pleasing you, Megan. I love it when you surrender yourself to me, that you trust me enough to give you pleasure. I know how hard it is for you to let down your guard with anyone.”
She closed her eyes, unable to face the intimacy of his gaze. “I’m sorry you have such an emotional nutcase for a wife.”
“Don’t you ever say that.” The anger in his words surprised her and she looked at him, captured by the intensity of his gaze. “Having emotions doesn’t make you crazy, it makes you human. I’m sorry your robot parents didn’t understand that.”
Immideatly the need to defend her family put her on the offensive but before she could say anything he put his hand over her mouth, scowling when she bit his palm. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. Your parents loved you in their own way, but you are such a gentle and sensitive woman. I hate that they made you feel ashamed of loving, that they set impossibly high standards for any child to meet in order to earn their love.”
The bliss of her orgasm quickly receded and she pushed away from him, grabbing the throw off the back of the couch and wrapping it around her. “Just because my parents weren’t the hippy-dippy-free-love space heads that your parents are doesn’t make them bad people. Some of us have to work for a living.” As soon as she said that she wished she could take it back, but the words were out and the hurt done.
Jason’s cheeks flooded with red and he pushed away from her. “Well at least my hippy parents had their priorities straight. I had a mom and dad who tucked me into bed every night.” He clenched his fists and sat forward. “How about you? Oh wait, I know, your father had important business to do.”
Hot anger flushed through her until her ears rang. “You forgot to mention that your power and water got shut off every other month because your pot-smoking parents didn’t pay the bills. It would have cramped their style to have to sacrifice for their family like I do. You think I like being away from you and the boys? You think I like not being there to go to their games, to cuddle them at night, to be the one they run to when they skin their knee?”
A muscle in the side of his neck jumped. “If it was that important you would stay home and tell your boss you need more time with your family. But you don’t, do you, Megan? They say jump and you ask how high.”
“I have to! You know how hard I’ve worked to get where I am. I can’t throw it away now.”
He made a cutting noise of dissent. “Excuses, excuses.”
She snarled at him. “Not that you would understand. All you have to do is sit at home all day and play with the kids.”
His fists clenched and he moved farther away from her. “Sit at home all day? Is that really what you think I do? Oh wait, you have no idea what I do because you don’t give a shit. Same Megan, it’s always about you.” She started to speak but he raised his voice, cutting her off. “I’ve been very, very patient with you. For the past eight years I’ve put aside my ambitions, my dreams to stay home and raise our kids so you could go chase yours. I keep hoping that you’ll finally grab your brass ring and come home, but you never do.”
“So what, you want me to quit my job so you can go out and work?” She snorted. “Yeah, there is a big job market for philosophy majors right now.”
He slammed his hands on the coffee table, the sound blasting through the room like a gunshot. “God damn it! Would you listen to me for once? I’m sick of this, Megan, sick of it. I want my wife back. I miss you so damn much. Even when you’re home you’re not really here. You’re always thinking about the next client, the next meeting, what you need to do to win your dad’s, oh I’m sorry I mean your boss’s approval. Is that what it is? Your Dad dies so you’ve switch your irrational need to please him to your boss?”
Hurt welled up inside her, mixing with her anger until the toxic combination churned in her stomach like burning acid. “If you’re so miserable why don’t you leave!”
He surged up from the couch and stalked over to her. “Because I’m not giving up on us. I wish I could say the same thing for you.” He went to touch her but she jerked back and he closed his eyes. “When is it ever going to be enough? When are you going to put your family first?”
“I—”
“You know what, save your breath. I’m tired of hearing the same lame excuses, tired of lying to my children that their mom will be working less ‘soon’, that they have to be patient.” His words dropped to a whisper that pained her even more than his shouts. “Remember when we were first married and you swore you’d never be like your dad, swore that you’d never disappoint your kids the way he disappointed you with every missed birthday and Christmas?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she lied and avoided his gaze. Memories of sitting beneath a tree stacked with presents in her parents’ mansion filled her head, times when it was her and her mother, and maybe a couple maids opening the brightly wrapped packages. How her father would promise next year he’d be home, next year he’d go on vacation with them, next year he’d make it to her graduation.
He sighed and turned his back on her. “That self-centered bastard couldn’t even make it to see his first grandchild in the hospital. He had to leave for a business trip and he couldn’t even stop by the hospital before he left. It hurt you so much and I wanted to wring his neck for tainting what should have been one of the happiest days of our lives because there was some banking crisis in Singapore that he had to attend.”
His shoulders tensed but he didn’t look back at her. “I hated him for that. Hated him for hurting you, hated him for hurting your mother. Most of all I hated that you still held out hope that maybe, just maybe this once he would choose you over his work.” A breeze blew through the trees outside, their rustle filling the room. “I don’t want our kids to hate you like that, and I won’t let them hate me for allowing you to put our family at the bottom of your priority list.”
Tears choked her throat and she had to swallow a couple times before she could speak. “I love our boys more than anything in this world.”
His shoulders sagged and he began to walk out of the room. “Yeah, I know you do.” He paused at the archway of the living room and looked over his shoulder at her, his gaze filled with sorrow. “I don’t know how much longer I can do this.”
The world spun around her and she stumbled to the couch, falling into an ungraceful heap when her legs would no longer support her. “You’re leaving me?”
He turned away and shook his head. “No, Megan, I’m not leaving you. I think you’re leaving me and I’ve been too dumb to realize it.”
She tried to speak, tried to deny his words, but her throat closed up as tears spilled down her face. He left her there, alone on the couch that still held the musk of their lovemaking. She grabbed a pillow and held it to her face, muffling her sobs as a hole big enough to swallow the universe opened up in her heart.