More Than Darkness
36
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This is a crossover smutty story featuring the character of
Tess/Salida ie Tess' Voice in Neon
More Than Eyes Alone Can See, and More
Than Life, and Sands/Jeffrey from Merrie's OUATIM fic
on ff.net, Darkness Rising. This story will make some sense, probably, if you
read it without having read either of our stories, but it'll make a hell of a
lot more if you just read them. They're all worth reading, we promise. Anyway,
on with the show.
Rated for what has happened, and what might happen.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Spitfire, wake up.”
Aida moaned, and
turned so her face was half-buried in a pillow.
She didn’t want to wake up. She
could feel her body – half trembling and half nauseous – and didn’t want to
deal with it. Sleep was ever so much
kinder.
“Spitfire.”
stroked her back and shoulders. “You nag
me to watch the sun rise, but you won’t watch the sun set with me?
are you?”
Grimacing, Aida
rolled over and blinked sleepily up at her husband.
Sands fought the
urge to laugh at the way her face had scrunched up as she attempted to glare at
him. “I wanted you to watch the sunset
with me,” he said gently. “It’s far
superior to the sunrise, I assure you.”
“
slightly, Aida fought to raise herself up into a sitting position to better see
out the windows, but her arms weren’t quite cooperating with her.
“Are you alright?”
Sands asked with a frown, seeing her struggles.
to. It’s alright,” he assured her.
just go back to sleep. It’s fine,
really.”
“I’m fine, my
love. Just because my mind is half-way
awake doesn’t mean my body is close behind.”
Reaching out, she took hold of his arm and used that to pull herself
up. “The mattress is just too soft.
smiled, and assured him. “I want to
watch the sunset with you. And then I
want to eat. And then I want to go for
our drive.”
Sands didn’t look
as if he believed her, but didn’t comment on it.
focused his gaze out the windows to watch the sun set.
ever made it a habit of watching them. s'> He
like the way the sun seemed to die in a riot of color as the night and stars
choked its light away. He watched as it
sank beyond the horizon, pinks, purples and reds all combining in such a way
that artists would kill themselves over in an attempt to match.
merely taking a measure of comfort at his wife’s warm presence at his side.
a feeble last burst of light as it went, he didn’t turn away from it, and he
watched the stars come out to play. The
night sky was clear and a deep blue tonight, without a cloud in the sky to hide
the tiny pinpricks of light like spilled salt over a sea of black velvet.
full was something to marvel at as well.
light. But that would have to wait for
later. “Where would you like to go for
dinner?” he asked softly, turning to look at her.
“Let’s eat
here. In bed.”
and rested her temple against his shoulder.
“Doesn’t sound like
a bad idea to me. Although one of us
will have to get up sooner or later if we really intend on eating.
“Now.
She hoped that statement would
appease him at least a little.
She didn’t like it when he was worried.
“What would you
like?” he asked, trailing the tips of the fingers of his right hand over her
bare shoulder absently.
“A bowl of cereal
and some fruit. Perhaps strawberries.”
simple joy of touch.
“That’s not much of
a supper,” Sands said softly, still touching her without fully realizing it
even as she reacted to the touch.
“I’m not much of a
woman. There’s not as much of me to
feed,” she teased.
“Oh I don’t know
about that. There’s plenty of you for my
purposes,” he said with a small smile. “Are
you sure that’s all you want? We didn’t
have lunch. But if you’re sure, I won’t
ask again and I’ll go make the order.”
“Well . . . tell
them to make it a big bowl. A big bowl
of Cheerios with sliced strawberries and bananas.
husband mine?”
“Probably not, but
I’ll let it slide anyway,” he said with another small smile, kissing her on the
forehead before getting out of bed reluctantly.
way upstairs to make the order.
He returned about
five minutes later and crawled back into bed.
way. Does this mean that I have to get
dressed? Because the idea is lacking in
appeal,” he grumbled, laying down next to her still seated form, kissing her
stomach softly just because he could.
“I’d like you
to. At least to answer the door.
is up to you.” Warmly content, Aida
stretched her arms out above her head and sighed.
“Fine, I’ll put on
a robe. Does that suit, wife mine?” he asked, tilting his head to look up at
her.
“Yes.
if the person who delivers our food is a woman – get unnecessarily worked up.”
“No, couldn’t have
that,” he agreed with a serious nod. “It
would be mean and wrong, and generally not nice, right?” he asked, a hint of a
smirk making its way through his pseudo-serious demeanor.
Though her eyes
were closed, Aida was able to accurately swat him on the back of his head.
to flirt, you’d have to hold me back.”
“Hey!
it may have come close to hurting!” he teased.
room service girl could be . . . fun. Would
there be hair-pulling involved? And
fingernail-scratching? Use of food would
get you extra points.” The smirk he sent
in her direction was nothing short of devilish.
theater. Hair-pulling and nail-scratching
is for amateurs. If you really want to
convince someone you’re leading lady material, you use your fists.”
“I don’t know.
he asked casually, already envisioning the catfight he’d like to see ensue.
how long it’ll take me to pummel you.
He thought about it
for a moment. “Ok, I’ll allow punching,”
he said with a nod and a smirk.
“You’re impossible,”
she informed him, right before rolling so she could put her head under her
pillow.
“And yet, you’re
married to and in love with me anyway.
with a smirk.
“It makes me a love
struck fool,” shtorttorted. Since her
words were muffled by the pillow, the comment lost some of its power.
“What was that?
spitfire,” he said with a smirk, having heard her comment, propping himself up
on his right elbow and looking down at her.
“I said, ‘I think I
heard the door.’ You should go check on
that.”
“Nope.
pillow,” Sands responded, rolling over on his back and sng ung up at the
ceiling. A few minutes later, knocking
could be heard. “You didn’t tell me you
were psychic,” he grumbled, rolling out of bed and grabbing a robe from the
bathroom and wrapping himself up in it before moving to answer the door.
Unfortunately, the
room service person wasn’t a woman, rather a large bald man.
food, breakfast for her and Italian for him, and closed the door behind him.
carried it downstairs to the bedroom, setting it gently in the middle before
climbing in beside his wife. “Food’s
here, spitfire. Be careful, its at your
feet,” he warned.
Moving cautiously,
Aida sat up against the headboard and held out her hands for her food.
“As you demand,
wife,” Sands said with a smirk, handing her the bowl of cereal, a carton of
milk and a spoon before setting the plate of sliced fruit and the plate of
bacon in front of her. “Anything else I
can get for you?” he asked wryly.
She handed the
spoon back to him. “Feed me,” she demanded
impishly.
“Well I would, but
you see I have terrible aim and the cereal would end up all over your face and
in your hair and nobody wants that. Also,
I might get confused and accidentally add some of my rigatoni to the mix and
that would just be messy.”
“You’re not fun,”
she muttered, savagely sinking her spoon into her cereal before picking up a
knife and slicing up strawberries and half a banana to go on top of it.
ignoring her husband. Finally she poured
her milk into the bowl and started eating, pleased to find that the cereal was
fresh.
“Nope.
getting out of bed briefly and shucking his robe across the room before sitting
back next to her to enjoy his own dinner.
liberal grinding of fresh parmesan – careful not to get any on the bed – he dug
in.
“Why’d you get
Italian?” she asked, about halfway through her meal.
Sands shrugged.
well if you didn’t know.”
“I thought that was
what it was.” She was silent, but
another question finally worked its way out of her mouth.
“In school.
two languages. That was one of the two I
chose. But I know more than just two.
easily. I don’t know why.”
“What other
languages do you speak? Besides Italian
and Latin? And English?”
“I also took
Spanish in school. I figured it’d be
easier since it’s so similar to Italian.
passable in Russian and Mandarin Chinese.
Roman alphabet. It makes things more
challenging.”
“Chinese!” she
exclaimed. “I’ve heard that second only
to Japanese in difficulty.”
“And that’s why I
haven’t attempted to learn Japanese. Yet.”
“And you taught
yourself?”
“Mostly.
pronunciations right, but I was never in an official classroom or anything like
that to learn them if that’s what you mean.”
She shook her head
in wonder. “Well. . .” she trailed off,
as if she’d thought better of what she was going to stay.
looked thoughtful.
“Well . . . what?
“It’s no big deal
that you’re practically a genius?” she asked skeptically.
“I’m just good at
languages. I can’t calculate numbers in
my head, I can’t paint a masterpiece or compose a symphony, I just know how to
curse in . . . eight different languages.”
s'> “But how far did
you get in math? And science?
“Advanced Calculus,
Advanced Physics, and I could have been teaching the history class,” he
muttered softly. He’d always been smart,
but he’d always been insane as well. He’d
always figured the two went hand in hand.
“Your parents must
be rolling in their graves at your choice of wife,” she muttered, dismayed to
find out just how smart her husband was.
“They didn’t have
graves. They were cremated,” he
muttered. “And so what if I’m smart?
“You know,” she
said, her voice almost flat. “If we had
met in high school, I probably would have hated you.”
“Lucky we’re not in
high school anymore then,” he muttered.
“You could have
taught every single class I was struggling to get a D-average in, that’s
why. Let’s just say I had something of a
chip on my shoulder against smart kids back then.
get out of town. Get a real life.
– and other things – down at the local pub."
“I hated school.
with family. They forced me to continue
to go. After a while I just said fuck it
and got a degree. I wasn’t doing anything
else.”
“Okay, that’s not
helping. It’s one thing to
“I didn’t say I
didn’t try,” Sands muttered before holding up his hands in surrender.
you like. Whatever you want.
“Sands, I’m not
angry with you. I don’t care if you know
more languages than a damn UN liaison.
It’s just. . .” She stopped and
tried to focus on what she wanted to say.
“It’s just that I’m not smart, I never will be smart, and that makes me
feel horribly inadequate.”
“I think I’m pissed
off at you,” Sands announced with a deep frown.
to me? So what, you don’t have as much
shit crammed into your head as I do. Believe
me, you wouldn’t want it all. So what if
I have a good memory in addition to being smart?
have happened to me over the years more clearly.
up to be. It means I know what I am,
what I’ve done clearly and yet I can drive myself even more insane than I
already am by asking myself why I am the way that I am.
of the fucking answers. Not a one.
change that.”
“But how can I ever
help you find the answers if I can’t understand the question?” she asked
softly. “At least you know that much.”
“Who says?
half eaten meal aside, his appetite gone.
“You know I love
you.” She was sorry for the fight, and
offered what she could as an apology and peace offering.
Sands was in a dark
mood and therefore tempted to question that love in spite of what he knew or
didn’t know, but he bit his tongue and nodded.
He was still
mad. Setting her bowl aside, Aida
whispered, “I’m still tired. I’ll nap
until you’re ready to go. If you still
want to, that is.” And with that, she
crawled underneath the covers.
Sands cursed
himself in all the languages he knew. She
had been attempting to apologize and had practically thrown it back in her
face. “I’m sorry, Aida.
head against the wall a few times in frustration.
“I know.
don’t like fighting, but you can’t stay mad at me for long.”
“I don’t.
She was silent for
a moment, but finally turned to him. “I
suppose I shouldn’t complain about something I benefit from, should I?”
“What exactly are
you benefiting from now?” he asked slowly.
“I was benefiting
from my husband speaking to me in a sexy foreign language.”
“Oh.”
“Then just use the
sexy ones.”
“If you say so,”
Sands said with a small smile. “Do you
want to hear more? If so, in what
language? We’ve just established that I
know . . . a few.”
“French,” she
replied after spending a few seconds considering his offer.
subject, and she most definitely wanted to do that.
coeur étaient
Sans vous
assez pour changer pour vous,”
Sands whispered.
“If you translate
that, I’ll reciprocate by showing you the French I know.”
concerned at the same time.
“You make me feel
as if my heart were about to explode within my chest.
nothingness. I love you.”
change for you. If he felt kind of
sappy for such words he made no sign.
Aida had the
feeling that he hadn’t totally translated that, but she wouldn’t press the
matter. She knew there were things he
wanted to express, but wasn’t comfortable or confident enough to say them to
her. If he could do it in another
language, then she wouldn’t force him to explain himself.
“My turn,” she
murmured, pulling his head down a little.
“I don’t know a lot of French . .
. but I know this.” Her lips met his and
she delicately slipped her tongue into his mouth, caressing gently.
that she was here, and she wasn’t upset.
After all, she still wanted to go driving, and getting to involved now
would mean they’d never make it out of the bed, much less into a car.
“That’s far better
than any French I’ve ever learned,” Sands said with a slight smirk once they
had separated. “Ready for a night out on
the town, spitfire? I’m in the mood to
find some tiny and expensive little car and speed along darkened roads at
neck-breaking speeds. Speeding tickets
and convertible tops are of course optional,” he said with a smirk.
“Mmm . . . I think
convertible tops should be mandatory,” she whispered against his cheek.
“Well, then I’d
better get one, huh? I wouldn’t want to
get in trouble with the people who reside over such things as whether or not a
fast car has a convertible. I’m told
they are quite disturbing,” he said with a nod and a smirk.
She laughed softly,
and rolled away, reaching for some clothes as she went.
do
do, not bothering with shoes.
Sands was buttoning
the first button of his shirt when he looked up and saw Aida standing there
waiting for him. “Well how about that.
me,” he smirked, finishing buttoning, and walking over to kiss her on the
forehead. “The concierge will probably
be able to find us what we’re looking for.
“It’s dark – it’s
not like I’ll really be able to see it, or care what it looks like once we’re
inside it. As long as its fast and is a
convertible, I’ll be happy.”
“Ask and ye shall
receive,” Sands said with a grin before holding the door open for her and
leaving the suite. This was going to be
fun.
******************************
******************************
Sands was truly in his element.
and he did not mourn it. While his
actions were somewhat violent as he shifted the BMW into higher gears, he
treated the car with all the care as he would treat Aida.
him; the exhilaration. The quickening of
the pulse and the shortening of the breath when a car came speeding from the
opposite direction. The brief temptation
to challenge the driver into an impromptu game of chicken.
“Having fun?!” He
yelled over the roar of the wind and the car to the beautiful and vibrant
creature in the seat next to him.
Aida’s only reply
was a bright, liquid laugh, as if speed mixed her mirth with the air to turn it
into some nearly tactile thing, some new element.
Sands grinned like
a fool at that laugh, he couldn’t help it.
turns with reckless abandon. Nothing
could stop him now. He breathed in the
night, the speed, the wind over his face and through his hair.
but that probably wouldn’t have been a good idea at the moment.
driving, even if it wasn’t one of his. He
had only crashed two cars in his life, and he didn’t intend on this being the
third. Especially not with Aida in the
car with him.
Aida was gazing out
her side of the car, marveling at the moonlight on jungle and sea, at the sharp
drop-offs, at the rocks far below. It occurred
to her that unless she trusted her husband implicitly, she’d never be in this
car. Especially at the speeds they were
traveling at.
The urge to share
this sudden insight was strong, too strong for her to ignore.
hoping he’d hear and understand her.
Sands had to slow
down a little. Hearing such an honest
revelation made him want to take stock of things and doing that while driving
at high speeds through almost mountainous turns wasn’t the best of ideas.
“Yeah, but I’m not
the one driving,” she replied, unbuckling her seatbelt to turn a little in her
seat.
He pondered that,
and slowed even more. “Would you like
to?”
“You’re enjoying
yourself.” That wasn’t an answer, and
she knew it, but it was as close to saying no as she could come at the moment.
“Yes, more than a
little,” he answered honestly. “But I
can enjoy myself in other ways. Would
you like to drive? If you don’t want to,
it’s alright. But if you do, you have to
speak up, spitfire.”
“It’s been years –”
“stylstyle='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Years?” Sands asked incredulously, not
able to wrap his brain around that. He
loved driving. He couldn’t possibly go
for years without doing what he loved. He
stopped the car. “You’re driving.
car, spitfire. Especially not one as
fine as this,” he said with a grinstepstep away from petting the steering wheel
affectionately.
“Why are you
shocked?” she asked. “I couldn’t afford
a car, and I couldn’t afford gas. So
once I moved to
. . . gave driving up. It was either
that or find a ‘real’ job, and I decided I would have missed acting more.”
scooted over until she was in the driver’s seat.
foot away from the pedals, the seat having been pushed back to accommodate
Sands’ longer legs.
Sands had to laugh
at the image that presented, watching her move the seat up with a determined
look on her face that he found adorable.
and settling himself in after buckling the seatbelt.
asked after a moment’s hesitation.
“Are you kidding
me? I grew up around them.
and it was most definitely a stick.”
Very carefully, Aida put the car in gear and eased off the clutch.
“Good.
and just let you drive. Have fun,” Sands
said with a grin. “I trust you,” he
added, his manner shifting instantly to serious as he spoke and back to smiling
again almost in the blink of an eye.
“We’ll see if you’re
still saying that later,” she teased, slowly pressing down on the
accelerator. She didn’t want to go too
fast until she’d accustomed herself to driving, making turns, and shifting
gears again, but she didn’t want to go slow either.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Just a comment, if you’ve never driven a BMW
before; they’re made to go fast so the accelerator’s more sensitive than in
American made cars. Also, you can
accelerate to 80 and higher in a lot less time too.
grin.
Aida quickly became
crtabrtable in the small car, her speed increasing with her confidence.
least twenty miles above the speed limit, and taking hairpin curves at speeds
that were downright suicidal. They hadn’t
encountered anyone on the road since she’d gotten behind the wheel, so she
started letting the car drift into other lanes as she made turns, not wanting
to slow down for a second.
Sands just tilted
his head back in the seat and closed his eyes, embracing the speed in which
they were traveling and the wind across his face like he had wanted to earlier.
It wasn’t the same as he wasn’t driving,
but it was still a kind of freedom. And
he could tell that Aida was having fun which made him happy.
him. “This was a good idea,” Sands said
loud enough for her to hear him over the roar of the engine and the wind.
“Of course it
was. I thought of it,” she yelled back,
grinning.
Sands rolled his
eyes at that, but he was in too good a mood to argue with her so he let the
comment slide.
Aida didn’t know
how long they’d been out, or how long she’d been behind the wheel, but she knew
it’d been awhile. Part of her said that
she should pull over and let her husband drive again, but a newly rediscovered
desire to drive kept her from listening.
Just five more minutes, and then I’ll
surrender the car.
Fondly, she glanced
over at her husband, taking note of his closed eyes and the small content smile
on his face. He was relaxed, much as he’d
been for most of the day. She was
obviously doing something right as his wife to keep him that way
only we didn’t have to go back. Or if we
did, if only there was no Salida.
Aida felt bad for that thought, but couldn’t help for thinking it.
counterparts put on him.
Turning the wheel
into a curve almost unconsciously, Aida glanced at the road out of the corner
of her eyes to make sure there were no signs of oncoming traffic.
at her husband. . .
. . .only to see a
largish shape come barreling out of the vegetation to her left.
and tried to spin the car around to avoid hitting whatever it’d been that she’d
seen.
Sands started at
the loud sound of the car screeching across the asphalt and sat up, his eyes
wide, looking around frantically for the car he was sure was barreling towards
them. The world spun as the car swerved to
avoid something he couldn’t see. He was
tempted to yell at Aida to slow the fuck down and get the car under control
again before she killed them both but knew that would be futile.
earlier – taking the narrow curved paths at top speed – now didn’t seem as much
fun.
“Well that was . .
. bracing,” Sands drawled when the car had finally come to a stop, angled
across both lanes toward the hills. “Are
you alright?” he asked, turning to look at her in the seat.
Aida shook her
head. The motion was jerky, at odds with
the gentle trembling that’d overtaken the rest of her body.
the keys from the ignition.
Sands unbuckled his
seatbelt and moved over to hold her. “You’re
fine. Nothing happened.
close and running a hand over her back reassuringly.
before holding her again, whispering softly as to let her know that he was
reassuring her, “Sia ancora,
il mio amore.
sicuri.”
“I-I saw something,”
she whispered, still shaking in his arms.
“What did you see?”
he asked gently.
“I don’t know.
fast. I didn’t want to hit anything.”
“You did the right
thing. Hitting something going that fast
could have been worse than trying to avoid it.
You’re ok.
“I . . . I didn’t
hit it?”
“No, I think we
would have noticed.” He tilted his head
to look out in front of them, scanning the road in the light from the car.
whatever furry little critters do.”
With the news that
she hadn’t just killed some poor, furry, defenseless thing with big eyes, Aida
relaxed. She didn’t move away from her
husband, but her trembling did start to subside.
Sands felt her
calm, and guessed the reason why. “You
didn’t kill anything but the calm state of mind I was in,” he said lightly.
difficulty, so don’t worry about that either.”
“You should drive,”
she murmured, still making no effort to move.
She was still a bit shaken by how suddenly things had turned
dangerous. “Oh god, one of us could have
been thrown from the car.” This
realization set off a new round of trembles.
“Don’t be stupid,” Sands
said, managing to sound both loving and irritated at the same time.
that bad. You swerved and fishtailed a
little. That’s all.
lost control of the car. It could have
happened to anyone. And as it was, you
kept a pretty good head about yourself.
keep us on the road. You did fine.
were in danger and neither should you, Aida.
“What if we had
gone over a cliff?” Sands clearly did
not understand the way the female mind – or at least the way this female mind –
worked. It didn’t matter that they were
safe. All other possibilities had to be
brought up and then put to rest.
“Then we would have
died a horrible death together,” Sands said dryly.
diion,ion, the guardrail would have probably stopped us.”
She laughed, a bit
hysterically. “At the speeds I was going
at? I don’t think so.”
Sands let out a
sound of irritation. “Aida, listo
to
me. It doesn’t matter.
They might not be
hurt, but Aida was rattled nonetheless. “Don’t
get mad at me,” she whispered, her fingers grabbing handfuls of his shirt.
“I’m not mad at
you, Aida,” he said with a soft sigh, not moving to loosen her grip on his
shirt.
“I think you should
drive.”
“If I do now, does
that mean you’ll never drive again in fear that something like this might happen?”
he asked directly.
“No . . . it means
I’ll never drive that fast, on unlit, windy roads, where I may hit something or
go crashing over a cliff.”
Sands wanted to
argue that those were the only fun roads to drive on but he held his tongue and
merely nodded. “Alright.
he said, keeping his voice emotionless to hide a brief swell of disappointment
at the end of his fun.
“No . . . I’m
fine. As long as I don’t have to
drive. Just because I don’t trust myself
at the moment doesn’t mean I don’t still trust you.”
the island. I just want to see you happy
again.”
Sands didn’t
mention that the fact that she wanted to see him happy again would probably
make it more difficult to be so. “Alright,
if you’re sure. You want to go now?”
“That or we can sit
here until another car plows into us. I
can imagine that that might be a bit unpleasant.”
“Yeah, probably,”
he agreed with a nod. He leaned over and
gave her a brief kiss on the tip of her nose before climbing out of the
passenger seat and moving around into the driver’s after she had scooted over.
warmth of his wife’s body against the leather of the seat and put the car into
drive and drove on, his speed quickly climbing to the point where he liked it.
this time, but he was managing. The
speed was like a siren’s call to him. He
couldn’t stay away from it for long. And
he couldn’t stop a slight grin from making its way to his face either.
using them to get from place to place. Sands
didn’t argue the point with him. He
liked having this to himself.
Aida did her best
to relax, but the tightness of her seatbelt gave away her anxiety, even if it
was to to herself. But she’d suggested
this for Sands, not for herself, and because it was something they could both
share, this need to leave everything behind.
Determined not to
ruin his fun, she leaned over and rested her head against his shoulder, sighing
deeply. She forced herself to close her
eyes and relax, to let the motion of the car soothe her frazzled nerves.
Sands’ body all helped her to doze off.
She wasn’t asleep, but she wasn’t entirely awake either.
Sands didn’t know
how long he drove, he didn’t really care.
get tired, and falling asleep and managing to do what Aida had not and drive
them over the edge of the cliff was not a good idea.
to the road and headed back to the hotel.
without destination, but he knew that they would have to head back to the hotel
sooner or later. This was just sooner
than he would have liked. He tilted his
head, not taking his eyes off the road and placed a kiss on Aida’s forehead as
she half dozed on his shoulder. He took
a measure of comfort in her touch, and felt himself smile softly.
à la maison le
******************************
******************************
“Wake up.”
Aida stirred,
becoming aware that she was a bit chilled and that her husband was softly
touching her face as he called to her.
Normally, she’d put up some form of protest, but the cold changed her
mind. “You keep telling me that,” she
murmured, opening her eyes to find they were at the hotel.
“Time for all good
little wives to go to bed,” Sands said with a bit of a grin.
“Of course.”
the car. Once standing, she leaned most
of her weight against him as they walked into the lobby, and to the
elevators.
Within minutes they
were in their room, and she was peacefully letting him strip her and lead her
to the bed. “Sands . . . I’m tired.”
“Is that your
polite way of telling me to keep my insatiableness to myself for the night?” he
asked innocently, letting her lay down and taking time to take off his shoes,
shirt and pants before joining her.
“Yes.”
the light blankets, making herself comfortable.
“What do you want to do tomorrow?”
Sands didn’t want
to think about tomorrow, and he wanted to think about Sunday even less.
Orleans
a bit of a sigh that he wasn’t able to stop.
“Alright.”
until she could turn and rest her back against her husband’s chest.
Sands wrapped his
arms around her, holding her tight. “
Liebe.
German probably wouldn’t be considered
one of the “sexy” languages she had mentioned, but he felt like a little
variety. “Sleep well.
She laughed
softly. “Is that what that meant?”
“No, it meant ‘Good
night, my love. I love you,’” Sands said
with a fond smile. “What you said would
be ‘Schlafbrunnen.
“Mmm.
“No one appreciates
Ge.
“I already
was. It doesn’t take much.”
smiling. As long as Sands kept talking,
she would try to stay awake.
“Well that’s good I
suppose. Supposedly it’s healthier to be
happier. Can’t say I’ve ever had much
luck following that advice, but feel free to try it out for yourself,” he said,
kissing her bare shoulder softly.
“Aren’t you happy
now? Here with me?”
“More than I have
been in awhile. But it won’t last.
have no doubt that I will, but we won’t be happy like this.
but at the last sentence his voice dropped down to barely nothing, and Aida had
to strain to hear him even as close as he was.
“People are rarely
alone ‘like this’,” she informed him softly.
“Honeymoons are . . . unique. I’ve
never been alone with anyone in the same way that we’ve been alone together the
past few days.”
“No responsibilities
except to each other. That’s what
honeymoons are all about,” he agreed softly.
talking about,” he said with a sad smile.
“Sands?
you. Besides, I think we’ve discovered
that cooking lessons provide us with a bit of alone time.”
“I’ve never ever
been truly alone,” he muttered to himself, not meaning to speak aloud.
almost everyone at bay.”
“Promise me that we’ll
get away again once I get better.” She
couldn’t stand hearing that tone in his voice.
She’d do anything to make it go away.
was back. He willed it away.
“I want to go
wherever you want to go. By that time –
by the time I’m recovered from my cure – I suspect some rather interesting
places might be getting a bit chilly.”
Bastard taunted. “I like the cold, but
we’ll see. Winter doesn’t occur at the
same time everywhere, you know.”
“It does in this
hemisphere. And unless you want to go to
Sydney or something. . .” she yawned.
“Get some sleep.
said, leaning over to kiss her lips softly.
“I love you,” she
murmured.
“I love you too,”
he responded, feeling her settle against him and slip into a quiet sleep.
dreams filled with hellish scenarios of fiery car crashes and worse, having to
watch her die, hopeless and helpless to do anything to save her.
it was needed.
******************************
******************************
“Do you remember where we parked?”
airport, not exactly glad to be back, but not crushed either.
of the day before, and was ready to sleep in her own bed.
dealing with her health problems if she wanted to get well.
seemed to be having a harder time adjusting to being back than she was.
Sands pulled out
his wallet and took out the ticket he had been given after parking the car in
the long-term parking prior to their departure.
had purchased to carry the clothes they had bought across his shoulder.
people yelling for shuttles and taxis and got into a shuttle that would take
them to the lot the car was in when it pulled up in front of them.
“I don’t want to go
back,” Sands said with a sigh when they were driving again.
were still where he had left them, happier still in the knowledge that he now
had another knife to match his old one, but the happiness didn’t make a dent in
the despair that was beginning to settle over him as they approached the house
where Salida waited.
“I know,” she
whispered, reaching over to stroke his hand.
“But I’m there. And I’m not
leaving. Not unless you ever tell me
to. I won’t let you stay there alone.”
Sands gave her a
small smile in thanks, remaining silent until they pulled up in front of the
house. He took a deep breath, got out of
the car, and sighed. “Jeffrey, you can
wake up now. We’re home,” he murmured.
“About fucking time
too,” Jeffrey muttered darkly, giving Aida a passing glance before striding
into the house, not bothering to grab the bag.
Aida stayed in the
car for some time after Jeffrey had left, trying not to cry.
let Sands know, and this seemed like a good place to let it all out.
know, she thought, wiping away insipient tears.
destroy him. So she sat in the car,
and waited until she was collected enough to sneak upstairs and into her room,
taking the cats with her for company.
******************************
******************************
Jeffrey’s voice caught in his throat as he took in the scene
before him as he entered his and Salida’s bedroom.
out and lit throughout the room, and best of all, Salida was lying on the bed,
clad in the most heavenly bit of red lingerie he’d ever seen, lying in a bed of
rose petals. But worst of all, she was
asleep. Jeffrey ran his right hand over
his face in frustration, trying to decide whether not to be selfish and wake
his wife up. After a moment’s
hesitation, he decided she could sleep later.
wife.
“Vixen?” he called
out, moving to stand by the bed, keeping a wary eye out for Desdemona.
the fuck up and at least talk to me. Please?”
She didn’t stir.
deep sigh, laying down on the bed next to her gently and grabbing a handful of
rose petals and throwing them up into the air, letting them fall to his chest
and face, breathing in their delicate scent and hers.
hair out of her face and simply looked at her, soaking up her presence and
feeling a loving smile make its way to his face.
seemed to have fallen asleep in the midst of wanting to seduce him, but after
looking at her sleeping face he felt the anger and irritation slip away.
******************************
******************************
Salida was warm. Not
just “comfortable,” or “not cold,” but well and truly warm.
closer to it, smiling and inhaling deeply when her husband’s scent reached her
nose.
Abruptly, her eyes popped open and she propped herself up on one
elbow. He’s home. She trembled with
joy. He
didn’t wake me up. She stopped
trembling and frowned a little.
When did I fall asleep?
Looking around, she saw that candles were still burning, and there was a
splinter of light coming in through a crack in the curtains.
have been out for too long, she thought, letting her hands trace the
contours of Jeffrey’s face.
He was home, that
was all that really mattered. That and
what she’d originally had planned to greet him.
She’d missed him so much, and had wanted him to know that.
still let him know that. Her
ill-timed nap might have postponed things a little, might have stolen some of
her thunder, but she was still very glad to find his body beside hers.
she had anything to say about it.
restrained her husband’s arms, not really bothering with his legs.
the end anyway. Then, having him
arranged to her satisfaction, she straddled his waist and started working on
the buttons of his shirt.
Jeffrey felt a
weight pressing down on him and tried to bat at it to get off, figuring it was
one of the cats taking up residenc his his stomach, but he couldn’t move his
hands. He tried again, his face
furrowing with frustration and confusion when he was met with the same result.
what the matter was and took in his wife’s countenance above him, finally
realizing what was wrong. “Hello, vixen.
Trying to take advantage fucking of me
as I sleep, is that it? It’s good to be
home,” he said with a smirk.
“Well, I can’t take
advantage of you while you’re awake, now can I?” she asked lazily, bending down
for a kiss. The moment their lips
touched, she lost her cool demeanor and was lost in a haze of passion, just
trying to get as close to him as she could.
Jeffrey moaned low
in his throat as she kissed him passionately, her tongue exploring every
contour of his mouth. Fuck, he had
missed this. He had missed
As she forgot about
her mission to get his shirt undone, her hands slipped up his chest and into
his hair, forcing him to tilt his head back so she could kiss him even more
deeply. s'> She whimpered in her suddenly
overwhelming need, biting and nipping at him, trying to get him to fight her
for control of the kiss.
Jeffrey began to Breaking away “I fucking missed “Shh . . . it’s Jeffrey didn’t deny Not bothering to Salida heard him Jeffrey was beyond '> Salida gaped down At the sound of her Finally her arms “Untie me, vixen,” She silently shook Jeffrey sighed. “Did you bring me a “Maybe. “Mmm . . . alright.” “Do you want your “Do I have to move?” “Well, you’ll have “Then I’ll Jeffrey sighed.
get more than a little frustrated with her actions and decided he had had
enough of teasing. He wanted her, and he
wanted hew.
was tied down, he was determined to take all measures of control still
available to him. He kissed her back
forcefully, all teeth and lips and tongue, and bucked up at her once just
because he could, hard enough to bounce her up and off of him for a second,
making her well aware of the fast hardening arousal within the ever tightening
leather pants he was wearin/p>
/p>
finally because she needed to breathe, Salida started placing rough, suckling
kisses on Jeffrey’s neck and shoulders, her hands quickly doing away with his
shirt. “God I missed you,” she breathed
against his skin.
you more. If that fucking honeymoon from
hell had lasted any longer I think I might have tried to throw someone out of
one of those fucking windows,” he said, gasping at her touch.
skin that made him arch his back and want to moan.
over. You’re mine.”
them and working at the buttons of his pants.
“You’re mine, lover.”
it. He couldn’t deny her anything while
she was touching him the way she was. “Fuck
yes. youryours.”
wait or to tease – mainly because she was sure he’d do that later – Salida got
Jeffrey’s pants down as quickly as she could.
He was definitely ready for her.
There was no questioning that. So
she didn’t bother with any more foreplay.
All she did was straddle his hips, and then lower herself as he thrust
up into her with an agonizing groan.
he’d lose himself in it. The feeling of
her body so intimately enclosing his, keeping him safe, and warm, and
whole. This was everything.
it was nothing. It was meaningless.
otherwie woe would have come as soon as he had entered her, and he didn’t want
this to end yet. As it was, his control
was fading even with the tight grip on it, and he was a hairsbreadth away from
saying fuck it and letting go. He
committed the sight of her riding him mercilessly, lost in her own passions, to
his memory, never wanting to forget the sight of it.
he moaned, feeling his control slipping.
through the rush of blood in her ears, and obeyed, speeding her movements up
until she was panting and gasping for breath, her hair wild around her, and one
strap of her negligee slipping down her left arm.
fingers dug into the muscle as she fought to bring them both to a satisfying
release.
coherent speech by now. He was left with
wordless moans and grunts as he pulled at the restraints that held his wrists
in vain. He wanted to touch her.
dominant position, fucking her hard until they had both come before collapsing
in her arms. But that wasn’t an option .
Not that it really mattered at this point.
was hold on for the ride. He forced his
eyes open to watch her, as he felt his orgasm draw near, his body moving as
much as the restraints would allow under her but his mind clear and still.
you paid him, but he took the time to marvel at his wife knowing that she was
the only thing that truly brought him any joy in this life.
thoughts seemed trivial.
at him, her mind reeling at the force of his release, but for no more than a
split second. Her body stole her control
away, a shrill scream erupting from her as she instinctively moved against him,
meeting each thrust and echoing each desperate gasp for breath.
scream, Jeffrey closed his eyes and knew he was home.
ringing as it echoed throughout the room, this was his beautiful, s
sc
screaming vixen, and she was his. And he
had come back to her. Nothing else
mattered. If he had his arms free he
would have held her tightly as she rode out her own release and never let her
go ever again. Since he couldn’t do
that, he settled on watching her, her breath coming in quick pants, her head
thrown back exposing the dark expanse of her throat, the way her negligee clung
to her every curve like a second skin. He
was so filled with such an absolute love for her at the moment that he felt as
if he were about to b.
remembered that that had already happened and settled for watching her some
more.
collapsed on her, and Salida slumped until she was lying on Jeffrey’s
chest. Still struggling for every
breath, she had to grin. Her entire body
was filled with warmth and her mind was saturated with contentment.
days now. Time alone had given her time
to adjust, and Jeffrey’s return had driven away the loneliness.
Jeffrey demanded.
her head against his chest, not quite ready to move or let him free just yet.<
<
restrained makes that a bit fucking difficult, savvy?
present?”
teasing smirk. “Because if I don’t have
my arms free I can’t give you anything. Well,
I can give you a few things, but it would just be easier if you would fucking
untie me, vixen.”
Salida reached up and loosened his restraints.
She didn’t get them all the way off, but Jeffrey managed to get free
anyway.
present now or later?” he asked with a smirk, moving his arms around a little
to get blood flowing again.
to get off of me if you want me to get up and get your present, but other than
that, no.”
wait. Don’t want to move yet.”
present,” he complained, growing a tad impatient.
to hold you,” he said with a small smile, wrapping his arms around her and
holding her tight against his chest. “I
love you, Salida. I fuck me if I didn’t
miss you.”
pulled herself closer to him. “And that
cat did nothing but sit at the front door and complain the entire time.
“You’re going to
have to be more fucking specific than that, vixen.
“The black one.”
Jeffrey grinned.
lifting his head slightly and scanning a room for the little black kitten.
and his grin faltered a bit. “I trust
you kept him out of fucking trouble, right?”
“Well, I think Des
was the one tkeptkept him in line –”
“That little
giving her a wry look. “Otherwise I’m
going to kick her furry little ass.” He
gave her a smirk to let her know that he wasn’t being entirely serious.
“Don’t even think
about it. She’s mine.”
amused. “And your cat’s fine.”
“Good.
vixen, don’t worry. She’d probably
fucking claw me from here to kingdom come if I tried.”
“I think you need
to worry about what I’d do to you if
you tried.” But even as she said this,
she relaxed a little. “Umm, I hate to
say this, but I think we need to adjust positions.
Jeffrey sighed.
“No, just me.”
onto her back. If she went too long
without support lately, the small of her back started to scream at her.
distinct hump, and she sighed.
“What’s wrong,
vixen?” he asked with a frown, rolling
over on his side to look at her, having heard her sigh.
“How long do you
think I have before I can’t see my toes anymore?”
“You’ll always be
able to see your fucking toes, vixen.
creative ways of doing it sooner or
later,” Jeffrey said with a smile, placing a tentative hand on her slightly
rounded stomach, wary of her reaction.
parts of her, but he didn’t want to upset her in the process.
With another sigh,
Salida reached down and entwined her fingers with his, squeezing gently before
letting them go.
“You fucking ok
with this?” he asked softly, not moving his hand and casting his eyes up to
meet hers.
“With you touching
me or with there being something to touch in the first place?” she inquired,
her eyes fixed on the ceiling.
“Both,” Jeffrey
said, his voice dropping even softer.
“I suppose so.
subject to wild mood swings.”
“So are psychotics.
It just makes things more . . . interesting,”
Jeffrey said with a foolhardy grin. “Don’t
worry about that. I’ll take my chances
and deal with whatever blyou you might send my way.”
“And if I go raving
mad again?” God, she didn’t want that,
but what if she couldn’t help it?
Jeffrey shrugged. “I don’t want that “I know, vixen. “If that happens . “I understand,” he “Sure.” Jeffrey kissed her “Alright. “You’d better not,” “It’s over there . “Thanks,” Jeffrey “I can keep him Jeffrey considered “It’s alright,” Jeffrey gave her a “Either that or I’m “I’m pretty fucking Salida looked Jeffrey rolled his “Why didn’t you “‘Cause I’m fucking She sighed, but “Oh,” she murmured, “Just ‘oh’? “Why a sword?” she It took some trying “And you’d use a s'> “I’ll admit, the “You only like it “Maybe so,” he said “I’ll leave it to “Alright. “I already am, god “‘Cause I’m sexy as “That doesn't mean “It doesn’t? “When did I ever “Oh I’m sure you She pretended to Jeffrey snorted in “Sounds ever so “Good. “Behave yourself,
to happen,” she whispered. “It’s scary
not to be in control.”
. . you can’t give me anything. Not that
I have much of anything left. If you did
– if anyone did – it could go straight to the baby.”
said softly, not wanting to talk about this anymore.
wanted to admit. “Ready for your present
now?” he asked casually.
prepared they told themselves they were.
softly on the lips, in between her breasts, and at the peak of the gentle curve
of her stomach before getting up and pulling on his pants.
and I forgot it.”
Jeffrey said with a smirk before turning on a bare heel and making his way out
of the room, down the stairs, and out the front door to the car. Only one problem, the bag wasn’t there.
himself, searching every inch of the small car more than once.
himself, closing up the car once more and making his way back into the house
and back up the stairs and into Aida and Sands’ room this time.
asked her without preamble, scanning the room briefly for the first time to
take in the things she and Sands had bought.
on the bed, meowing when he saw Jeffrey enter the room.
. . on the dresser,” she murmured, setting down her book to reveal the grey
kitte her her lap.
murmured, moving over to retrieve it, mindful of the small black kitten that
bounded after him, entwining himself in-between Jeffrey’s legs.
reached down to pet the cat softly with the other, hoping that would be enough
to satisfy Obsidian into leaving him alone.
Obsidian stopped, looking up at him accusingly.
something with him for awhile, kitty, could you?” he asked casually, not taking
his eyes off the small cat.
here, but he doesn’t really want my attention.”
Getting up, wincing as muscles and bones still stiff from their flight
complained at the movement, she walked over to Jeffrey and picked the cat up.
this, trying not to be affected by her wince.
same fucking coin and Sands loved her. That
made it hard not to care about her when Sands wasn’t around.
there. “You alright?” he asked, trying
to sound casual before frowning and trying to remind himself that he didn’t
care about her. “Oh fuck it.
hand.
Aida said quietly, looking away. “Go
spend time with your wife. You’ll know
where to find him later.”
coerinering look, nodded briefly in thanks, and made his way out the door, down
the hall, and back into his and Salida’s room.
clearly seeing her staring back at him but asking anyway.
dreaming,” she murmured, sure that she was not.
Once Jeffrey had left the room, she had
wondered, but here he was again.
sure you aren’t dreaming, but I’d be more than willing to pinch you if you
like,” he said with a smirk, moving to sit down on the bed next to her, setting
the bag in her lap. “Enjoy.”
inside the bag, and immediately looked back to her husband.
eyes. “No, the clothes were for Sands.
before running off. Look for the box
find.”
just get the box?” she asked.
lazy. Just fucking open it, vixen.”
upended the bag, dumping its contents all over the bed.
didn’t take the time to investigate, she found the box he was talking
about. Not bothering to spend any time
in apprehension, she opened the lid. . .
looking at the very nice charm bracelet he’d gotten her.
smirk. “Even after I got you a charm
too.” He pointed out the little silver
sword he had already affixed to the bracelet.
without hesitation. “You’d think I’d at
least get a ‘thank you, Jeffrey,’ but no.
asked, picking up the bracelet and handing it to him, right before presenting
him with her right wrist. As for his wry
complaints, she ignored them.
with his still broken fingers, but he managed to affix the bracelet to her
wrist. “I don’t know.
said, trying to shrug the comment off.
sword to do that?” she teased, leaning in to place a soft kiss on his cheek.
image has its appeal,” he responded with a small smile.
maybe I ought to get one. It might be
fun. Wait, fuckmook,
where the fuck would you keep a sword?
let it bother him for long. He still wanted
a sword.
for the double entendre, I’m sure,” she murmured.
with a smirk at her comment. “Of course
I’ll fucking get you more charms if that’s what you want.
going to leave it to my discretion?”
you. It’s your present after all.”
with a smirk.
knows why.”
hell and love you more than anything else in this world?” he asked causally.
you’re charming,” she drawled.
say that you were?” she asked lightly.
must have at one time or another. Maybe
somewhere along the lines of ‘You’re far too charming for your own good,’ but
that still fucking counts.”
think about this. “No.
that.”
irritation. “Fine. I have absolutely no
charm whatsoever. I’m a mean old man and
a lecherous bastard. How about that?” he
asked wryly.
much better.”
drawled, leaning over to nip her shoulder.
or I might start to think you have designs on my person,” Salida teased,
leaning away from him.
sort, vixen,” he said, moving over to her again and nipping the side of her neck
this time.
“Who say I want you
to?” She laid back against the pillows,
well away from the restraints.
“That would be me,”
he said, kissing a line across her chest, following her collarbone.
“And why should I
believe you? You’re an entirely
disreputable fellow.”
“Because while you
are right about that – I’m probably the most disreputable man you’ll ever meet
– you still said ‘I do,’ vixen.” He
smirked and returned his attention to kissing her chest.
“I did?
memory,” she sighed. It’d been too long
since they’d been playful together.
“I don’t need to.
his own matching one. It was a bit hard
to see behind the cast that still held his hand, but the tattoo was still
there. “See?
like you’re fucking stuck with this disreputable man as your husband, vixen.
wickedly and took one of her nipples in-between his lips.
“What
suddenly?” she asked herself, teasing him in the process.
indication though, he wasn’t as amused as she was.
the first man that showed any interest in me as an individual, who inexplicably
cared for me, who mourned for me, who understands me, who promised to love me.
. .” she trailed off. “Maybe I wasn’t
thinking, but I didn’t make a mistake either.”
“No, you fucking
didn’t,” Jeffrey said softly, his voice stern but gentle at the same time.
said too. I seem to be quite a man, huh?
I think you married above yourself,” he
teased, showing her he wasn't upset for her intimations – whatever they had
been – for questioning her thinking in marrying him.
“Did I?” she asked
softly, looking up at him. “Are you
implying that I’m not the prize you are?”
“Uh. . .”
wife. I’ve said it before and I’ll say
it again. You’re fucking beautiful, sexy
as hell, near crazy as me, and you love me despite myself.”
“You love me
because of my face, my body, and a chemical imbalance?” she asked skeptically.
“I love you
the things around you. I love the way
your face lit up just now when you saw the fucking bracelet.
shoulders when you’re not wearing a fucking scrap of clothing.
to make me fucking hornyxen,xen,” he said with a light smile, trying to regain
the playfulness they seemed to have lost.
“I like . . . I
don’t . . . It’s just good to be reminded.
You’ve been gone and I was having a hard time remembering.”
to see his face at the moment.
“Salida, look at
me. I love you and fucking nothing on
this planet is going to come between that, savvy?
want me to go on about how much I love you?
kissing you would be more fun. Maybe I’m
fucking wrong, we’ll see.”
“How about both?”
she asked, shyly meeting his eyes.
“Hmm . . . it may
be a bit difficult, but I think I can fucking manage,” he said wryly, kissing
her passionately on the lips for a long minute before pulling away to look at
her. “Let’s see, things I love about
vixen. . pan pan style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I love your hands,” he said
picking up her right to look at it. “Don’t
ask me why, it probably is something perverse like I subconsciously love how
you use them on me, but that’s not necessarily it.”
gently on her lap and rubbing his fingertips across her face as he stared into
her eyes. “I sometimes feel like I’m
drowning in them. Have I ever fucking
told you that? I love your strength.”
“No . . . I don’t
think you ever told me that,” Salida murmured.
“And I’m not strong.
tenacious.”
“More so than me?
have ever met. And yes, you are pretty .
. . obstinate, that’s true, but you are stitrontrong.
times. It’s not love and stubbornness
that keep us together – although there is a great deal of both – it’s strength
as well. . .” he trailed off, beginning to get a little embarrassed at how far
he was taking this. He wasn't a man of
words, he was a man of actions. And here
he fucking was, blathering away like an idiot about strength.
“I’ll take your
word for it then,” she breathed, reaching up to cup his face.
turn his head to kiss her palm, but her eyes were tender.
Jeffrey sighed
softly after pulling away from the gentle kiss.
believed it herself, but he would take what he was given.
you been sufficiently reminded of how much I fucking love you yet, Salida?”
“Yes.
yours,” she teased.
“You’ll get your
due ego-stroking later, I promise. Right
now I want to make lazy passionate love to my wife.
wanting to take no for an answer, but forcing himself to be open to that
option; kissthe the underside of her
chin and moving down to her neck and shoulders, kissing as he went, while he
waited for her response.
“I’d say it’s more
than okay,” she breathed, stretching her neck out.
promise of satisfaction in his voice. It
wasn’t oftheythey really took their time, and she looked forward to the times
they did. For some reason it felt more
passionate when they lingered over their love-making than when they simply
joined as fast and hard as they could. “I’d
say its more than welcome, and so are you.”
“Good,” Jeffrey
murmured, willingly kissing the long line of her neck as she presented it to
him, taking his time to cover every inch of it, touching her skin lightly with
his tongue in-between his lips at every kiss.
wore for me. My favorite color,” he
murmured with a smile, pushing down the straps of the red negligee she wore and
moving her hair back to kiss her bare shoulders. He would be patient because
she wanted him to be and because he did to.
both of them thought they would burst from the sheer force of it.
kissing path across her body, bearing more of her naked body as he went.
Salida was soon
naked and displayed before her husband’s survg eyg eyes.
of the candles and the meager afternoon sun that managed to make its way
through the curtains. With just a bit of
amusement, she watched as his eyes moved from her face, to her chest, to her
hips and growing belly. His eyes stayed
there for several drawn out seconds before moving on guiltily.
. . . circumspect. The thought was
amused and anxious at the same time. She
could practically feel his longing to touch her, to lay his hand over the spot
where his child was kept safe, but he didn’t.
Jeffrey didn’t often employ such restraint, but that he did now warmed
her. Warmed her and made her generous.
“You can touch it,
you know.”
His eyes met hers,
slightly widened in the knowledge that he’d been caught staring.
. . afraid of somehow hurting her. He
blinked at that, the realization sobering him somewhat.
Instead of
answering, she took her hands in his and laid them on her belly.
Jeffrey didn’t look
at her while he touched her; in truth he was far too fascinated by what was in
front of him. His fingers trailed over
her skin almost reverently, tracing the curve of her stomach in something akin
to wonder. That’s my fucking kid in there. Holy
fuck. That’s my fucking kid in there. .
. Repeating the line, even in his
head, didn’t seem to solidify the fact any more in his brain.
he continued his kissing, placing feather-light kisses on the curve of her
abdomen, covering every inch of bare skin he came across.
lips again, putting every bit of wonder and joy he’d felt when thinking about
their child kept safe in her womb into the kiss.
Salida sighed,
drinking in his enthusiasm for all this.
She needed it.
Just resigned myself. But
their child deserved more than resignation for the first few hopefully insanity
free years of its life. Resignation
could be saved for when it started talking back to voices only it could hear,
and avoided obstacles only it could see, or becoming another person that only
it knew.
“I love you,
Salida,” Jeffrey breathed as they separated, his gaze intense.
fucking years from now is going to change that.
“I know.
feeling that she cherished no matter how many times she heard him say the
words, so she didn’t begrudge the repetition.
“You’d better,” he
said, nipping at her bottom lip playfully before continuing his kissing journey
where he had left off. He was determined
to cover every inch of skin he saw before he was through.
was the fun.
She hummed in
pleasure and let her eyes slip shut.
Just being here with Jeffrey was making her more relaxed than anything
she’d tried while he was gone. Sleep,
hot baths, and soft music were all well and good, but she couldn’t remember a
moment when she hadn’t been tense in the past few days.
caressing and talking to her. They could
have been lying side by side in silence and she would have been content.
“I missed you,” she
murmured as Jeffrey took a foot into his hands and started rubbing gently as he
kissed each toe lightly.
“I missed you too,
vixen. And I believe I owe you a
massage. Unless you managed to find
yourself a pool boy while I was away. Because
I feel I should warn you, I’d have to chop him up into little pieces for ever
thinking about touching my wife.” His
eyes were playful and he kept kissing her as he spoke.
“Do we have a pool?”
she asked rhetorically. “I didn’t think
so. So why would I call a pool boy?”
“Your words, not
mine, vixen,” he said with a shrug and a smirk, beginning to rub her calf
muscles. “Actually, I think your words
were a hunky pool boy who could give killer back massages or something
along those lines,” he said wryly.
“So I lied,” she breathed,
feeling her body practically melt into the bed.
“Can you hold it against me?”
Jeffrey thought “That feels really “That’s how it’s “Only if you “Tricks? “No I’m not. “Hmm . . . alright “ “The state of being “You’re very “And yet you love “You’re the one Jeffrey made a “Does that ever “Which part, vixen? All of it. “I could never be “Yeah.” “Good,” he said “No. . .” “No what, vixen?” “Hold me.” Jeffrey nodded and “This is nice,” she “Oh? “Much.” “Good,” Jeffrey “I love you too.” Jeffrey smiled “I missed it more,” “Uh . . . kitty “Why’d she slap “I uh, went out and “Hmm . . . I wonder “Don’t fucking “I wasn’t “Who the fuck “Mmm.” “Vixen? “I am if you don’t “No. “How about not “I’m good for that. “Jeffrey, how much “Uh, I know that I’m That’s what she’d /spa/span>“I’m all ears, “It’s late, or “Wow,” Jeffrey said Salida looked down Jeffrey nodded, “I wasn’t quite done “Tell me. “Well . . . I’ll “What? “I have “Oh. “Yes. “Pre-natal?” “Before birth.” “Oh,” Jeffrey said, “Don’t be “Yeah, and I seem That touched “Yes I am. . .” “I don’t know how “You don’t,” “I believe you.” “Get some rest, “Or more likely “If you want me to “I don’t want a “Who says I’ve “That’s nice.” “Alright. “Go ahead. “That’ll work. “Alright.” Jeffrey nodded and “Yeah. “Well, I’m sorry “Hmm . . . I think “No, they have food “Why are you “Like what? “You cursed at him, “Vixen, I curse at “I don’t.” “Yeah, I remember. “You’re right.” “So am I,” Jeffrey “I love you too.” Jeffrey just smiled “That’s good. “Wasn’t me. She was asleep Jeffrey sighed and
about it, his good hand and the fingers of his bad moving up to massage her
thighs now. “No, I suppose not.
good,” she informed him softly, not even opening her eyes to watch.
suppose to feel, vixen,” Jeffrey said wryly, his hands moving ever upward as he
strove to work every knot out of her body.
complete, you’re going to have to move enough to roll over at least eventually.
I’m just letting you know,” he said with
a bit of a laugh, enjoying the look of contentment on her face.
promise not to pull any tricks,” she sighed, already exhausted from the idea of
moving.
vixen,” he said, trying his best to sound innocent and failing miserably.
up being tortured.”
fine. No tricks.
to myself.”
take notice of.
tricksy,” he responded without a second thought.
strange, lover.” Having said that,
Salida rolled over onto her stomach and pillowed her head on her arms.
me anyway,” he said, kissing a path down her spine slowly before beginning to
massage her lower back.
that pointed thatthat I was crazy,” she teased.
clicking sound with his tongue in reaction.
smirk, leaning down to kiss in-between her shoulder blades as he kept massaging
her lower back.
bother you?” she asked softly.
The crazy, the fucking, or the love?” he
asked casually, moving his hand and a half up on her back a little.
Especially the crazy part.”
bothered by my love for you, vixen, and visa versa.
words were serious, his eyes held a wicked mischief in them as he said those
words. “I’m a horny bastard who’d never
leave bed with you if I could,” he said with a shrug, not regretting that in
the least. “As for the crazy?
my life, so I guess it doesn’t bother me.
fucking bothers me, but not the being crazy part.”
“As for the part about you being just as
fucking cracked as your loving husband? That
doesn’t really bother me much, either.”
serious. “It’s nice to have someone who
fucking understands,” he said with a small gratefuile.ile.
meet his eyes. “I suppose it does.”
with a small smile. “You still want me fuc fucking rub?” he asked softly, unable to look away from her eyes.
he didn’t care in the slightest.
he asked, smirking slightly as he began to guess her intentions.
gathered her into his arms and rolled them both over so that he was laying on
his side next to her and she was facing him.
chest and begin running his fingers through her hair as he held her close.
murmured. “It’d be even better if one of
us took of his clothes.”
significant parts to be considered the ‘his’ you were talking about, I can only
assume you’re fucking talking about me,” he said with a smirk, detaching
himself from her for a few moments while he moved off of the bed to stand and
take his pants off. Once he was how she
wanted him, he rejoined her. “Better?”
delighting in the simple feeling of skin on skin.
faster than she could keep up with, no pressure.
with each other.
sighed, closing his eyes as he leaned down a little and breathed in the scent
of his wife, happy to lose himself in it.
hand in her hair again as he held her close, still delighting in the smell of
her.
hair. He was so tender with it, as if
afraid of ing ing her scalp.
then, utterly content with her in his arms.
lazily. He felt a twinge of arousal deep
within his belly, but it was like a sleeping cat rolling over.
his wife, still stroking his hand through her hair gently, enjoying just
touching her.
she challenged softly. Closing her eyes,
she rubbed her nose against his shoulder affectionately.
were gone, did you?”
slapped me and pinched my ear. That was
pretty much the highlight of the trip. Oh,
that and I think Sands killed someone but I can’t be sure,” he said absently.
you?” The news amused Salida
greatly. She hadn’t thought the other
woman had the guts to do something so potentially dangerous.
had a few drinks. She didn’t seem to
fucking approve of that,” he said wryly.
why not.”
start. I was bored and I wanted to go
for a walk. I wound up at the hotel bar
and had a few drinks. So fucking sue me,”
Jeffrey said with a slight frown. In
truth, he’d been feeling a littepreepressed and what better way to drown your
sorrows than with good scotch? Well, it
had seemed like a good idea at the time, anyway.
starting. I was just wondering what
Grant has against drunk men.”
cares? Maybe she dated one.”
woman’s poor taste in choosing men, then thought about how that mireflreflect
on the fact that she had chosen Sands, and kept his mouth wisely shut.
much longer, he was going to put her under.
again, aren’t you?” he asked with a slight sigh.
keep me up. Didn’t you know that expectant
mothers need plenty of sleep?” She
smiled against his skin.
Thank God.
shown for us.” He nodded, reinforcing
his point.
getting your head ripped off during labor?”
I like my fucking head right where it
is, thank you very much,” he said, conceding the point to her.
do you know about pregnancy in general?” she asked curiously.
be condescending to just assume that.
Better to prove it.
fucking glad I’m not the one going through it.
around like a fucking frog in a frying pan, but that’s about the limit to my
knowledge. I’ll learn though.
thought. “Alright.
pregnancy?”
vixen. Thrill and disgust me with your all-encompassing
knowledge,” he said with a smirk, seemingly at ease, but in truth quite
interested in what she had to say.
getting late, so I’m not going to go too in-depth, but here’s what you need to
know: a baby starts as a single fertilized cell in the mother’s womb.
growing. By the time the mother is six
weeks pregnant, the embryo is only four millimeters long or so.
an inch long – or perhaps a bit more – but its already showing what gender it
is. By the end of the first trimester,
the baby is about three inches long, but it has hands, and fingernails, and
vocal chords. It can even swallow.”
before he could stop himself. “And how .
. .” he searched for the right phrase. “How
far along do you think you are?” he asked, an innocently curious look on his
face.
at herself. “Well . . . I’m beginning to
show. Perhaps . . . two months.”
absorbing all the information she sent his way like an overeager sponge.
vixen. I appreciate it,” he said softly.
He really did.
sleep, but I’ll let you if you really want to.”
sharing of information.
yet.
don’t know about me.”
nod.
probably end up gaining between twenty and twenty-five pounds.
pregnant not because she wants to, but because she literally is eating for two.
dedicated to making sure I don’t lose our child.
Dr. LaCroix told me when she called with . . . with
the news.”
a little worried despite himself at hearing the slight hesitation in her voice.
anemia. My body is producing more blood
to support both me and the baby, but I’m not getting the iron I need apparently.
fucking iron or something like that to fix that?” Jeffrey asked with a slight
frown.
iron supplements along with pre-natal vitamins.”
Jeffrey repeated with a frown, guessing at what the term meant, but asking
anyway.
feeling a little embarrassed now that he’d asked.
embarrassed, lover. Lots of men are
clueless when it comes to babies.”
to be fucking one of those men,” he said with a shrug.
alone. It is partly my fault you got
this way, so I feel the urge to fucking know what you’re going through.
her. How lucky had she been when she’d
decided to take a risk on him? Luckier
than she’d imagined then, and luckier than she could believe now.
happening. It wasn’t as if he had gotten
her flowers or anything. He just wanted
to know. How did that make him a fucking
good husband?
many fathers take the time to find out any more about being pregnant than they
need to know, but I have a feeling you’re going to leave most in the dust.
Like I don’t have to worboutbout everything.”
Jeffrey said without hesitation, utterly convinced of this fact.
solemnly.
moment, she yawned.
vixen. I’m not going anywhere,” he said,
giving her a small smile. “I’m home, I’m
yours, and I’ll be here when you wake up.”
when you wake me up. Don’t tell me my
impatient husband is totally reformed.”
lie, I will,” Jeffrey said, allowing a bit of wickedness into his smile.
totally reformed husband,” she murmured.
“I happened to have fallen in love with the man you were.
Whatever.”
reformed?
when that happens, vixen,” he promised her with a smirk.
all. I’m still the horny murderous
bastard you married, have no worries about that.”
laying on her back. “Don’t let the
candles get out of control. I don’t want
the house to burn down.”
fridge.”
Well, maybe not one of the cats, but one
of the annoying neighbors you told me about, surely.
have to add cannibalism to my list of ills.
before pulling away and moving across the room to pull on a clean pair of
boxers. He hadwantwanted to get dressed
at all, but he was learning to be at least somewhat considerate of Aida.
made his way out of the room and downstairs into the kitchen, opg thg the refrigerator
and digging through its contents. He
grinned when he pulled out the leftover enchiladas, and began eating them cold,
not bothering to take the time to warm them up.
his way back upstairs, leftovers in hand.
chasing after him like a shadow. “These
are fucking good, vixen. Did you make
them?” he asked, entering the room and seeing that she was still awake for now.
lately. Which bugs the heck out of me
because I can’t find any good Mexican places in this town that deliver.
that you can’t find any good restaurants, but I’m not sorry that I get to eat
the results,” he said, sitting on the bed next to her.
when Obsidian jumped up on the bed and promptly began gnawing on the big toe of
his right foot. He wasn’t biting hard,
but it was still fucking irritating. “Hey,
what the fuck do you think you’re doing, you little fuzzball?
Cut that out!” Jeffrey yelled at the
cat. Obsidian stopped a moment, looked
at Jeffrey with widened eyes, then resumed his gnawing.
I may have forgotten to feed the cats today,” Salida murmured.
in the dish. I saw when I was
downstairs. I think he’s just doing it
because he fucking can.” Jeffrey set the
plate to the side and reached down to grab Obsidian by the scruff of his neck,
pushing him over so that he was laying on the bed.
unperturbed by the whole thing.
treating him like that?” she asked, a bit puzzled.
frown. “I just got him to lay down and
stop biting my fucking toe.”
you called him names, and then you picked him up a bit roughly and moved him to
where he wouldn't annoy you.”
everyone if you haven’t noticed. I call
everyone names. Your name’s Salida, not
vixen, remember? And I didn’t hurt him.
clawed me. And I didn’t move him where
he couldn’t annoy me either. If I wanted
to do that, I would have put him on the floor.
debating the subject with him. All she
knew was that it made her nervous for some reason.
Forget it. Sensitive pregnant
woman, remember?”
. .” Jeffrey said slowly, petting Obsidian absently as he licked one of Jeffrey’s
bad fingers. “Alright.
Salida pulled the sheet up around her – it was too warm for more – and let her
eyelids drift shut. “I’m glad you’re
back, lover.”
said, feeling whole again somehow just by her mere presence alone.
while he’d been away had been suddenly filled.
him do nothing else.
in response, kissing the top of her head.
murmured softly.
responded a mite defensively.
before she could hear his protest.
kissed her again, getting out of bed briefly to blow out all of the candles,
Obsidian’s golden eyes following him as he did so.
mindful of Obsn mon moving into the area where his legs bent and settling
himself. Jeffrey just sighed in
resignation, and tried to follow his wife’s example.
desire for her before he fell asleep to the soft sound of Obsidian purring.