Simon

As we lay there in the quiet of her bedroom after I’d spent the last hour making love to her, naked and tangled up in one another, I knew I needed to give her more. She’d shared the piece about her father which I appreciated couldn’t have been easy. I wanted to offer the same in return. An explanation of why I was the way I was.

But I didn’t know the best way to bring it up. In a fashion that was not typical for me, I simply blurted it out. “My father used to beat both my mum and me.”

Her sharp intake of breath made me wince at my delivery.

“I didn’t mean to say it quite like that, but I’m not sure how else to get it out. He enjoyed the pleas and the apologies forced by his hand.”

She tried to move, but I held her tightly. I couldn’t get the rest out if I found sympathy in her eyes.

She seemed to understand, lying still, asking a question in a whisper. “How old were you?”

“My first memory of it was when I was four. He was making my mother apologize for something and using me as leverage. When she didn’t grovel enough, he started to hit me. He was always careful to hide the marks. Bruises were never on my face.”

“How long did it go on?”

“Until I was twelve. Thankfully, my family had a lot of money, so I was sent away to boarding school, which saved me from the brunt of it. At least during the academic year. I remember worrying about my mother, but I think the one thing she could do for me was to have me out of his reach. Anyhow, when I came home for break, I realized my mum had fresh bruises on her arms. It enraged me to a breaking point.”

“What did you do?”

“I confronted him. He didn’t like it. He insisted I apologize for being disrespectful. I didn’t. I made a vow in that moment I never would again. And because I refused to say the words, he started hitting, then kicking me. I took the beating to the point my eyes were swollen shut, and he’d broken my arm and some ribs. This time there was no way to hide it. Once I was taken to the hospital, I told the authorities what the bastard did to me.”

“Was he prosecuted?”

I gave a harsh laugh. “Money buys a lot of things, including forgiveness with the law. Didn’t help that my mum wouldn’t come forward and say she was a victim, too. But she did file for divorce. He paid her off, and she retired to the country. I haven’t seen or spoken to him since that day. It was cruel fate for her to be the one to die of cancer a few years ago while the bastard still lives.”

She shivered in my arms. “Where is he now?”

“London. He lost his license to practice law, at least, and became a hermit. Last I heard, he was slowly dying from alcoholism.” Once upon a time I’d dreamed of getting revenge. Thought of ways to ruin him financially or otherwise break him, but once my mom died, I realized it wasn’t worth it. To hate him was giving him power, and I didn’t want to do that.

“That’s why you don’t apologize.”

“I associate it with the worst time in my life.”

“I feel so bad about—”

I cut her off. “Please don’t. The last thing I want is for you to feel sorry for me.” I’d loathe it if she did.

“I don’t. But I do empathize with the little boy you were and for your mom. No child or wife should have to go through that.”

“No. They shouldn’t.”

“I’m glad you told me.”

I squeezed her tighter. “Me, too. Of course, another reason I don’t apologize is I try never to be wrong.” I was trying inject some levity into this heavy conversation and was pleased when she popped up with an amused expression.

“Oh, yeah?”

“It worked until the point you came along, and I started messing up all the time.” I sighed. “I snapped at Emma tonight, too. Nothing like pissing off the two most important women in my life in one go.”

She leaned down and dropped a soft kiss on my lips. “Sometimes saying you’re sorry doesn’t mean as much as showing you are.”

“Are you saying I should give her a spa gift card or something?”

She shook her head, smiling. “If you did that every time you were an ass, I think you’d end up broke.”

It dawned on me she probably didn’t have a clue how much I was worth. Nor did she seem to care.

“Just a small gesture. Coffee. Her favorite dessert. A tall alpha biker with tattoos and piercings.”

I looked at her, horrified. “I think her favorite dessert will do. And I can’t believe she shared with you the type of man she prefers.”

 “I gotta be honest, a bad boy was not what I’d pictured, although it did make me feel better to know you’re not her type.”

I laughed, relieved this conversation was lightening up. “Thank you.”

She scrunched her face in an adorable way which showed she didn’t know what the hell I was talking about. “For what?”

“For taking something seriously and making me laugh afterward. It’s just what I needed.”

She stroked my face gently. “It helps me to understand why you can’t say those words.”

I wished I could say sorry without associating it with painful memories or feeling weak. I wanted to have it mean what it should again. But I was skeptical that day would ever come.

“I appreciate you telling me about your father, too. It helps me to understand why tonight was especially upsetting for you. Guess we both have old wounds.”

“That we do.”

“As for gestures to show you the sentiment instead of saying it, I think I have yours figured out.”

I traveled south down her body, intent on my target.

“Apology accepted,” she moaned when my lips found her clit.

***

It was a strange thing in the morning to wake up feeling lighter. There was no doubt the reason was that I’d shared some of my demons with the extraordinary woman currently on her stomach softly snoring next to me. Stretching, I saw Cooper pop up his head as if he was waiting for a sign of life from us. Big guy probably needed to go outside.

I slipped out of the bed quietly and, after pulling on my trousers, walked out to the living room with Cooper following. I let him out the back into the fenced yard, noticing the sun had just started to dot the landscape with its first rays. Once he moseyed back inside, I gave him his two scoops of kibble. Mosey was a word I’d learned here in Texas and found it perfectly applicable to the big dog. I was about to slip back into bed to wake Peyton up for morning sex when the front door opened.

I froze. I was too stunned to move as an older version of Peyton, one with shorter hair, appeared.

She stared at me with her eyes wide. “Holy fucking shit.”

I wouldn’t have pictured those words coming out of a mum’s mouth, but there they were. Why was she barging into Peyton’s house without so much as a knock?

“Uh, hello,” I awkwardly greeted.

“Hello. You must be Simon? Hopefully. Because if not, my sister is definitely still pissed at him, if you’re someone different.”

I was rendered momentarily speechless but, thankfully, recovered. “I’m Simon.”

She grinned. “Lucky you, then.”

“Right. Um, let me put on some more clothes.”

But before I could do so, a man came in right behind her. “You forgot the flowers—” In his hand was a bouquet of tulips he handed to the woman I assumed was his wife.

“Oh, hello there.” His eyes bounced between me and her. “I’m, Kevin and the woman still drooling over your non-dad bod is my wife, Jen, Peyton’s sister.”

I stepped forward to take his outstretched hand. “Nice to meet you both.” Unbelievably fucking awkward. “Peyton is still asleep.”

“Nope, I’m up.” Peyton’s voice came from the hall before she arrived herself in a fuzzy robe, mouthing I’m sorry. She looked at her sister. “What are you guys doing here?”

“The walk. Cooper. Remember? Plus, it gives us the chance to finally meet the elusive non-showing Simon.”

Ouch. The protective older sister apparently wasn’t very forgiving about last night. “I regret I was unable to make it last evening.”

Surprisingly, Peyton came to my defense. “He’s here now. And don’t you knock?”

Jen shrugged unapologetically. “I figured you were sleeping, and we’d sneak in, grab Cooper, leave flowers and a note, then go. The girls are in the van.”

I supposed I should be thankful the children had been spared seeing me half naked. “I’m going to put on a shirt.”

“Now, that would be a shame. Just let us grab Cooper, and you two can go back to doing whatever it is couples without kids do on a Sunday morning—it’s been so long I can’t remember.”

“Wait. I need to feed him before he goes,” Peyton remembered.

 “I already did,” I told her. “Two scoops, right?”

She gave me a smile as she patted Cooper. “That’s right.”

“Aww. He got up and fed your dog. That’s sweet and a bit redeemable.” This came from Jen, who was currently being pushed out the door by her husband.

“Let’s leave them, honey. Nice to meet you, Simon. We’ll be back around noon, you kids.”

Finally, the door shut, and Peyton erupted in laughter. “I forgot they were coming by this morning.”

I enveloped her in my arms. “Good thing I thought to put on trousers.”

She giggled again. “I think my sister would’ve preferred you not to. Sorry, she can be a bit much.”

“She’s just protective. I get it. Guess I should be glad I am Simon.” I filled her in on what Jen had said.

Peyton laughed. “Wish I could say I’m surprised, but I’m not. For the record, I’m glad you’re Simon, too.”

“What’s a dad-bod by the way?”

“I think it’s a nice way of saying ‘out of shape’ due to being a dad to three children.”

“Ah. Now, then. Back to the morning activities I thought we’d be in the middle of by now.”

“Mm,” she hummed as I kissed her neck. I took her off guard when I lifted her up onto the countertop.

My hand went straight for her pussy, already finding her wet for me. “Any chance they’re coming back sooner than expected?” The last thing I wanted was for them to step through the door again.

“Nope. They have a charity walk thing. Oh, God, Simon,” she moaned my name when I inserted two fingers, stretching her before pulling them out in order to get the condom out of my back pocket. When I peeled off her robe, I found her naked underneath, much to my delight.

Now that she was flicking my nipples with her tongue, I couldn’t get inside of her fast enough. Once I unzipped my trousers, she took control of the condom, rolling it down my length. I didn’t waste any time thrusting inside of her. Sliding her ass to the edge of the countertop, I grunted when she hooked her legs around me, pulling me deeper inside of her.

She was the perfect fit around my cock, squeezing me tightly and making me feel like I couldn’t get enough. But I doubted the countertop was comfortable. I kicked aside my slacks one leg at a time so I wouldn’t end up falling over while carrying her.

Tensing when my cell phone started buzzing, I willed myself not to answer it. It could wait.

“Hold onto me.” With her legs wrapped around me, I moved towards the bedroom. I hoped from there I wouldn’t hear the voicemail chime or be distracted by work. “Bed or shower?”

“Shower, so I can wash you after, then put you in my mouth.”

Good Lord. This girl would be the death of me. A very happy death indeed. I stumbled through the house into her shower, forgetting for a moment the water would take a moment to heat up and dousing both of us in the cold spray.

She shrieked, “Cold, cold, cold.”

I laughed. We kissed with me putting her against the shower wall and then thrusting up deeply into her. As soon as she started careening over the edge with her orgasm, I was over the edge with mine. The vice grip of her pussy left me no choice but to ground out my climax deep inside of her.

“Hot, hot, hot,” she started yelping, making me realize I was now scalding the two of us with the spray of the water. I turned the knob for the water temperature and found a happy medium before letting her down slowly. Her grin was contagious.

“Well, then. Good morning.”

I chuckled, all thoughts of anything but the beautiful woman in front of me gone. “Good morning to you, too.”