Almost Mine (20 page)

‘Again, faster,’ I panted.

Nick did as he was told, his rhythm meeting my hips with every deepening thrust.

‘I’m going to come,’ I breathed.

And with the next deep thrust, I did, my flesh swallowing him, taking his warmth as he came with me. His arms collapsed as his climax slowly dissipated, bringing with it succour and relief. He held himself in place as our paralleled, heady breathing slowed into a sated rhythm.

‘Are you ok?’ he crooned. When I said nothing, he carefully pulled out of me and propped himself on his elbow at my side. My eyes closed and my hands relaxed on my belly, so, to entice an answer to his question, he prodded my ribs with tickling fingers. I writhed and batted his hand away.

‘I am awake, you know?’

‘Well, I wasn’t sure. You’re awfully quiet. I thought I might have hurt you.’

‘You’ve never been so…dominant before.’

‘Of course I have. You’ve just never appreciated it for what it is.’

I slapped again. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

‘Don’t be offended,’ he assured me, ‘but answer me this with complete honesty, and I already know the answer so don’t think that you’ll hurt my feelings by saying it.’

‘Get on with it, Nick.’

‘Have you ever made love to me without an agenda?’

I said nothing, but I didn’t have to; my muted, ashamed mouth said it all.

‘Say it.’

‘I don’t want to say such a hurtful thing to you.’

‘Say it.’

I let out a quick, deliberating breath. ‘Not often, no,’ I finally admitted.

‘Well, if you’d paid attention, you would have realised that I’ve been making love to you like that since before we were married, you just never took the time to stop and smell the roses.’

‘I liked it. Very, very much,’ I offered as an apology.

He chuckled. ‘I’ve been put on this earth to please you. I’m glad my purpose is not wasted.’

‘I look forward to our next afternoon delight.’

‘I’m available twenty-four hours a day for you, angel.’ He planted a kiss on the top of my breast.

‘Don’t tempt me.’

‘I have no choice. It’s written in my husband-of-the-most-irresistible-wife job description.’

I laughed out loud. ‘Good to know.’

We lay quietly for a short while, allowing our bodies to absorb the pleasure that we had both experienced.

‘Come up here,’ Nick said as he moved up into the middle of the bed and relaxed on the abundance of patchwork and crocheted pillows. I joined him, lying in the crook of his arm as he held me close, stroking my hair. ‘So your breasts hurt, huh?’

‘They do.’

‘You know what that could mean.’

There was a muted pause. ‘I’ve learned not to read too much into my body signals. I think I’m finally coming to realise that having a baby will never happen for us. It’s best not to get our hopes up. I’m due for my period, anyway. It’s more than likely because of that.’

‘Let’s not discount the herbal remedies I’ve been taking.’

I lifted my face to him to read his expression. It gave nothing away.

‘You’re mocking me,’ I accused.

He remained impassive. ‘Never. As much as I resented all of your determination to get pregnant, I felt safe in your hands; as if you would take care of things and that everything would turn out just as they should.’

‘You resented me?’ I was sitting now, my legs pulled up and my arms cocooned around them.

‘It was a lot of pressure.’

‘Ok…’

Another muted moment. ‘Hey, don’t be upset. You know I would give you anything that you wanted. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t get pissed off about failing sometimes.’

After a beat I said, ‘I can understand that. I’m sorry that I did that to you, Nick.’

‘Come here,’ he pulled me back down to him.

‘This is nice, isn’t it? Being close like this?’

‘The nicest.’

‘We should do this every Sunday.’

‘It’s a date.’

The room darkened as evening descended on the property and we dozed, sleepily kissing and canoodling each other, and making long, enraptured love as night fell upon us through the wide French windows.

‘Nick?’ I murmured into the darkness at around ten o’clock.

‘Hmmmm.’

‘I’m hungry.’

In the kitchen we moved with each other as one, heating up Grandma Lily’s chicken and vegetable soup, toasting thick, café style bread and pouring juice into tall flutes.

We ate in comfortable, marital silence, as if we’d been married for fifty years and either had nothing left to say, or just didn’t need to fill the air with mindless conversation.

He really is just like my Dad.
I observed the way Nick ate as if he was alone, and for a minute this irritated me: the fact that he didn’t make an effort talk to me. But as the silence continued, I realised that I didn’t want to talk either. It was nice to be somewhere I belonged, with someone I belonged to, without having to speak a word of reassurance or support.

‘What are you doing?’ Nick asked as I slipped from the bar stool and walked to the phone on the wall beside the side door.

I began to dial. ‘Calling Lucy.’

‘No!’ he yelled before he could stop himself.

‘Why not?’ I asked as my finger remained poised at the key pad.

‘Just leave it,’ he said in a quieter voice as he slipped from his own stool and met me at the side door. He coaxed the phone from my hesitant but then willing grasp. ‘We’re having a relaxing evening. Let’s not get caught up in messy problems that have nothing to do with us.’

‘Ok…’

‘Come on. Let’s finish with our meal so that I can take you back to bed.’

The following morning, I watched from the comfort of our warm, dishevelled, overworked bed as Nick pulled on his freshly pressed Lees. His white Bonds singlet was next to cover his lean, toned body. And that was followed by a starched white shirt. His dark wavy hair was still wet from the shower and it flopped as he reached for his navy blue, cord, tailored jacket and then shrugged it on.

It was Monday morning, and Nick was preparing for an important meeting with Taylor’s Construction, the company that would hopefully be commissioned to begin work on the restaurant; that is, if this morning’s meeting went as well as Nick expected it to.

‘You’re a fine sight to wake up to, Nicholas Mathieson, deliciously enticing husband of mine,’ I crooned as he sat on the edge of the bed next to me and pulled on his black Colorado’s.

‘As are you, angel.’

I could reach him easily from my lying position, and I slowly walked two fingers from his waist and up his side. I pushed myself onto my elbow and the duvet fell slightly, revealing the top of my swollen breasts. I rested my head against his bicep and drew in a mesmerised breath.

‘You smell good too,’ I exhaled slowly, savouring his musky, soapy scent. My fingers continued their exploring journey around to his chest then slowly made their way down the front of his shirt to his belt buckle. ‘Are you in a hurry?’ I murmured, low and seductively. ‘Or do you have time to play with your wife?’

Nick finished tying his second lace and consulted his watch.

‘I’m already late, sorry,’ he said, seemingly unaffected by my seduction. He leaned toward me and kissed my mouth. ‘Though, you have no idea how tempted I am to ravish you this instant,’ he added huskily.

So, not that unaffected then?

‘Mmmmm. You’re right.’ My fingers travelled south of his belt and his kiss deepened as I began to rub him as he hardened.

‘You’re insatiable,’ he groaned against my lips.

‘You’ve created a monster.’

He placed a hand on my wrist and gently removed it, standing from the bed to extricate himself from the alluring situation. He ran his fingers through his hair to neaten it, and to keep his tempted hands busy. I slumped, seemingly defeated, back onto my pillows.

‘I really am late.’

‘It’s only seven thirty and your meeting is not until nine. I know that you love to take your thorough time with me, but I really do think there’s ample time for a quick morning ravish.’

He shook his head. ‘Sorry.’

‘You know I’m naked under here, right?’

He took only one step toward me and then stopped himself. ‘And I’m absolutely positive that if I inspect under those covers, that I will never get to this meeting on time.’

‘I’m sure they’ll wait—’

In an instant he was on me. His hands took their cue from his disobedient feet and explored under the covers, finding my naked hip…followed by my naked bottom…soft flesh…

I grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him back to my mouth, and I thought that I had finally succeeded in persuading him to stay a while longer as I heard a low groan vibrate from his throat. But the celebration was slightly premature.

‘I really have to go,’ he said between kisses.

‘No, you don’t.’

He kissed me once more before pushing himself off the bed.

‘I really do, Cate. However, I am putting this on pause until tonight. I can promise you that.’

‘Well, that makes me feel a whole lot less rejected.’ I thickened my words with sarcasm to equal my sarcastic, rolling eyes.

He reached for his wallet and keys that were on the tallboy opposite.

‘You’ve never said no to me before,’ I said with a questioning tone. Nick said nothing as he took the few steps back to the bed and kissed me quickly.

‘I’ll be back by lunch.’

Before I knew it he was gone.

What the bloody hell was that all about?

‘You’re just in time for lunch. And why on earth are your clothes so wet? It stopped raining hours ago.’

I had just plated up a pile of hot, buttered English muffins as Nick opened the side door. I delivered them to the set dining table where seven steaming bowls of chicken and vegetable soup awaited seven hungry workers — including myself of course — as Nick removed his wet Colorados and left them by the door. I walked over and smacked a kiss on his cheek.

‘That’s not say that I don’t love you all rugged and wet, but let’s take this off before you drip all over the floors.’ I helped him shrug out of his jacket before he took his place at the head of the table without so much as a greeting. I rang the meal time bell just outside the side door, summoning our employees to lunch. ‘You’re very quiet. Is everything alright?’

I could feel Nick’s eyes on me as I sashayed around the kitchen retrieving last-minute touches to the hearty meal that I had created.

‘You’re a summer breeze,’ was all he said.

‘And you look like you’ve been caught in a hurricane, which brings us back to the question that you didn’t answer.’

‘Which question?’

I eyed him curiously as I sat to his left, adding the salt and cracked pepper to the centre of the table. ‘It doesn’t matter. How was your meeting?’

He picked up the basket holding the hot muffins, offering me one. ‘It didn’t go as well as I expected.’

‘Not waiting for the others to join us first? What happened?’

‘Nothing. Just off my game I think,’ he said as he placed the basket, untouched, back onto the dining table.

‘You did seem a little distracted this morning. So, how does this affect our chances of opening the restaurant?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, you’ve been telling me that this meeting was the first step toward expanding the business.’

‘Oh right. Well, it really didn’t go that badly, just not as well as I thought it would.’

My curiosity built as I eyed him again. ‘Are you going to elaborate or keep me guessing? You’re being a little vague, Nick.’

The sound of work boots as they thudded up onto the veranda, then being kicked off and left at the door, was a distraction that Nick obviously appreciated as he visibly relaxed.

Blake was the first through the French side door. He took the seat next to me as the others spread themselves around the accommodating dining table. ‘What is that delicious smell?’ he said as he drew in a long deep breath.

‘My roasted pumpkin and garlic soup,’ I said with pride. ‘Well, actually, my Grandma Lily’s recipe. It dates back through generations of Alexanders.’

He took another investigatory sniff. ‘No. It smells of something else. Something sweeter…’

I shrugged, knowing very well that the lovely scent was my body wash, and Nick’s absolute favourite.