The Surprise
Amanda
Amanda stood at the large living room window, her hand still raised in a parting wave though her mother’s truck had disappeared out of the driveway long minutes ago. Sunlight spilled over her, warming her, casting a shadow over the rough-hewn floor.
For the first time in six months, she was child free. It felt strange, like a piece of her heart was missing. She was barely even able to register the fact that she was actually free for the rest of the day. Her time was, oddly enough, once again her own.
“Two weeks child free and I have a surprise for you.”
“What?” Amanda’s mouth dropped open. She whirled to find Jason standing right behind her. She quickly realized she was gaping at her ruggedly handsome husband who was smiling like he was five and he’d just won a prize at the fair. The tone of his voice, oddly husky, gave her a hint as to what the surprise might be. “My mom literally just drove away five minutes ago.” She shot an accusatory glance in his direction. “Besides, I thought you were making us lunch.”
He shrugged innocently and she wondered just how long he’d been planning whatever it was that he had in store for her. Probably since her mom announced that she wanted to make the trip the week before. They’d been working towards it ever since.
“Lunch can wait.”
“I… she really did just leave. Surely we can wait half an hour.”
Amanda had both dreaded her child leaving and looked forward to a night of uninterrupted sleep at the same time. It was clear that Jason had been looking forward to something else entirely. The way he was looking at her with that sparkle of devilment in his eyes, she figured he’d been counting down the minutes.
“She may have just left, but we both know we’ve been waiting for this for a long time.
“Maybe you have.”
“So no, I don’t think that I can stand to make a sandwich and eat it when I would rather be eating you.”
He smiled that awe inspiring, bone melting smile, the kind that had won her heart over in the first place. She hadn’t seen him look at her that way in months. Not because he didn’t want to, but because the demands as parents made it hard to have time for even the most mundane things, let alone a vibrant relationship in the bedroom. Or out.
“Jason!” She recovered a second later. It he wanted to play that way, she was more than up for the challenge. “How do you know I’ll let you taste me? Maybe I want to have a shower, freshen up, get good and ready for it first. It might take, I don’t know… hours.”
She crossed her arms smugly over her chest and blinked rapidly. A little taunting never hurt anyone. It would only add to the fun. Sure enough, Jason’s crystal sky blue eyes glistened as they raked over her body. She felt the burn start. It wasn’t as familiar or instant as it used to be. She hadn’t exactly had time to even considering feeling sexy while raising a brand new baby. Even at six months, Ross was still a handful. She was either completely stressed, covered in baby food, dealing with a teething, screaming child or utterly sleep deprived.
No, sexy hasn’t exactly been high up on the list.
Jason covered the few steps to where she stood, still in the living room after having packed up her six month old son. Her mother had set out with him buckled safely into the backseat of her truck, to visit her sister who lived two hours away. Amanda didn’t remember her mother ever being close with Amanda’s aunt, but it was true what they said. A baby changed everything.
“Skip the shower. I like you just the way you are.”
Amanda stared up into those sky blue eyes she loved so much. She wanted him, she truly did, but her mind was pulled back to the reason they hadn’t had so much as a couple minutes to themselves. She thought of her child’s beautiful, drool filled smile, his soft, chubby cheeks and darling little hands.
“It’s hard to let him go,” she whispered.
Jason sighed. “I know. It might be hard to see Ross off, but it will be good for us to have some time alone together. Six months is a long, long time…”
“It hasn’t been six months,” Amanda protested.
“I know that, but I’m not talking about half asleep fumbling encounters or quickies stolen here and there. I’m talking about a morning, a whole day, a whole night, to ourselves. Time that we’ll remember and talk about later.”
“Do you like that? Talking about it later?” Amanda laughed, though she felt the rush of heat flood her cheeks. Her stomach had that heavy dragging sensation she used to have so often. Jason was right. It had been a long time.
“Stop thinking,” Jason commanded, voice changing again, making it clear exactly what it was he wanted. “Stop worrying.”
Amanda swallowed hard. “How did you know I was worrying?”
“I can tell. I can see how much you wanted the break, but I could also see how it was killing you to pack Ross up and trust him with your mom, even though she sometimes has him all day.”
“That’s different. She’s fifteen feet away when he’s at her place.”
“Yes, of course. Just let it go. Let it go for a minute, for an hour, for a day. Stop worrying. Your mom is going to get there safely. Ross is always the perfect baby for her.”
“Yah, he saves all the crying and wailing and tantrums for me.”
“I think that’s what they’re supposed to do. Be angels for their grandparents and turn back into their regular little devil selves when they get back into their mother’s arms.”
Amanda laughed softly. “You always know what to say to make me feel better.”
“You’re the best mother, Amanda. The best. Babies just cry. They get colic and they teethe and they don’t sleep through the night. They don’t give their mothers much of a break.”
“Don’t I know it.”
She tensed when Jason stepped closer. She’d almost forgotten what this was like, the thrill of him being near, of actually having a minute to process that thought. She forgot what it was to look into those gorgeous blue eyes of the man who loved her and lose herself.
Jason moved his hand up, slowly and daringly cupping her breast through the thin fabric of her plaid shirt. She had a bra on underneath, a very unsexy sports bra since the push up lacy underwire things she wore before having Ross only seemed to irritate her skin, chaffing her raw in all the wrong places. She’d tried nursing Ross and had been disappointed when she didn’t have enough milk. She’d been using formula since he was a week old. Her breasts never had gone back to the same size or shape. They were larger, fuller.
It wasn’t her breasts Amanda minded. It was the rest of her body. She felt soft in all the places that used to be hard. Not flabby, just extra… rounded.
“Don’t do that,” Jason bent his head and whispered in her ear, his breath hot on her neck.
She shivered violently. “Do what?”
“Start writing out the list of all the flaws you think you have. You are just as sexy as the day I met you. More so, because you carried my child, gave birth to him, care for him, love him more than anything in the world. You’ve loved me with your body, your incredible, beautiful, sexy body. Your stomach is just as flat. I like that your breasts are fuller, your hips are more rounded. And your ass…”
“Jason!” She couldn’t clamp down on her light headed emotion and a high pitched, girly giggle escaped her throat.
“It’s true,” he insisted. His index finger found her nipple right through her shirt and he began to slowly massage it tenderly, until it was hard and straining against the thin fabric. “You have no idea how incredible you are.” He punctuated each word with a hot, heavy breath right next to her ear.
Amanda started when he kissed her neck, the wet warmth of his mouth sending hot flames burning over flesh that hadn’t felt so aware in ages.
His lips found the hollow dip of her throat as his strong hands adeptly turned her towards him. Her hands hit his granite chest and she let out a gasp of surprise. His touch was strong, aching, dominant, exciting.
When he reached around and cupped the swell of her ass, Amanda nearly protested. She couldn’t remember the last time he’d touched her like that. His grip wasn’t gentle and as his fingers began to knead her flesh, she had an inkling, just an idea, that maybe this surprise wasn’t like anything she’d ever seen from him before.
He let his talented, wicked fingers massage her, starting a throbbing, stabbing heat that cut her through the quick. He suckled and kissed and licked at her neck, grazing his teeth over her skin, sending sparks shooting at each and every contact.
“Jason!” Amanda gasped. “What are you doing?”
“Making you feel good. Proving to you that I still want you just as much… more now… trying to take your mind off your worry…”
“You’re doing a pretty good job of that,” she panted as his teeth scraped over her neck again.
“Do you want to know what your surprise is?”
“Does it have to do with this, because I don’t want to stop,” she groaned, almost ashamed of the level of raw need in her tone.
“Yes. It occurred to me,” Jason said as he lapped at the hollow of her throat. “It occurred to me that I’d never really marked you as mine. And I want to.”
“What?” Amanda’s head jerked up so fast that Jason’s teeth nearly tore a strip of skin off her neck. She winced at the sting, but it faded to be replaced by a sweet coiling heat deep in the pit of her stomach.
“Yes. Come to the bedroom. I’ll show you.”
“I’m not sure I want to be shown.”
“Believe me, I think you do.” He left it at that, extended a hand, so strong and firm and mysterious. He waited, his eyes flashing, captivating and commanding at the same time.
Amanda relented, eager to see what Jason was talking about despite whatever reservations she might have had. It thrilled her, deep in the needier part of herself that she didn’t often give rise to, that he had thought of her. That he wanted her. That he, by all accounts, craved her when she didn’t even remember what it felt like to actually be sexy.
She folded her palm into his and let his fingers close over hers. She felt it again, that strange, almost dominant sensation, though he led her gently down the hall. He pushed open their bedroom door.
Nothing looked any different. There was the bed, neatly made up. The same dresser off to the side, the window with the blinds open, pouring light in, the same rough-hewn plank floor.
“I don’t see any surprise.”
“Wait.” Jason’s eyes sparkled. It was clear how excited he was and that look started the flames under the surface of her skin yet again.
Amanda remained rooted to the spot just inside the bedroom as she watched Jason walk over to the dresser. He slid open the top drawer, lifted up his collection of neatly folded plaid shirts and produced a strange black coil. When he turned and flicked his wrist once, unfurling the object, Amanda just about fainted.
It was the last thing in the world she expected.
A whip.