Lucky Seven

by Elle M Thomas

  She smiled across at him, loving how he wanted to take care of her, loving everything about him. Gently, she threw “Betrayal’ onto the table before following Jim back to bed where she lay within his embrace.

  “What’s the story with the picture, Tasha? You look so sad when you look at it,” he said, but thought that haunted may be a more accurate description of the look on her face when he’d found her studying it.

  “The story is me, the image is me. Not just an image that Gerry came up with to represent me, that is actually me. I had been at work and wasn’t due home until late, but the night shoot I was doing got cancelled because my co-star was taken ill and sent home. So, rather than phoning Gerry and telling him I just went home earlier than expected. I thought it would be a nice surprise. His studio and apartment is in a disused warehouse and the studio takes up about a quarter of the floor space and then you reach the living area. The place was in darkness when I got back and I assumed that he must have gone out, so I went into the kitchen and made a cup of coffee and then when I was heading towards the bedroom to get changed I heard voices, well noises, and noticed light from under the door.”

  Jim already knew where this was going. He could almost see the drama unfolding in his head like a scene from a movie, but this wasn’t a movie, it was Tasha’s life, her past.

  “I waited for a couple of minutes and realised what the noises were and burst in and there they were, Gerry and Kara. It never occurred to me that they’d be in there together; I had even considered that Gerry may have let somebody else use the flat while he went out, but no, there they were, and I literally caught them at it. She screamed, I swore and Gerry chased after me, naked.”

  “I’m sorry you went through that, honey and I’m sorry they hurt you.” Jim had no clue what else to say and although he was glad that her and Gerry were no longer together the idea of her being hurt, sad and betrayed saddened him,

  She ignored his condolences and continued telling him about that time in her life. “I left that night and ended up with Lucy. She had a flat in a big house and I stayed in her spare room that was more like a cupboard for a couple of days and then Gerry tracked me down and begged me to forgive him. He said he had never cheated on me before and that he regretted it, that he loved me and hadn’t seen Kara since that night and that he was going to make it up to me and to show me that he was really sorry. I believed him, every word.”

  “But he didn’t?” asked Jim as she rolled over to face him wondering if this was what couples did, revealed so much in terms of details of previous relationships or at least the ending of the relationship.

  “Kind of. He was relentless over the next three or four weeks; flowers every day, calls, texts, dinners and he had been honest that he had not seen Kara since. I was still staying with Lucy and Gerry and I went out a few times and as hurt as I was, I did think I could actually forgive him, but not Kara, although she text and called on a daily basis too, but I wouldn’t even acknowledge her. I still loved Gerry, but was hurt. Then one night we had been out and it was like old times. I’d probably drunk too much, but I wasn’t drunk and I knew what I was doing and Gerry stayed with me at Lucy’s. I thought everything would be fine and we could work things out properly and then the following morning it all changed. He took a call which turned out to be from Kara and I sat up on the edge of the bed watching him on the phone to her and when he hung up he got on his knees in front of me and said, I don’t know how to tell you this Princess, but Kara has found out she’s pregnant, it’s mine and she’s keeping it, and that is the image, the moment Gerry told me and the moment I realised it was truly over, that regardless of my willingness to forgive him there was a baby that was his and not mine.” Tasha willed herself not to cry as she recalled how she had felt because she couldn’t lie in Jim’s arms and cry for what she and Gerry had once had and how he’d buggered it up leaving her heartbroken and bereft.

  “Do you regret that you couldn’t stay together?” asked Jim in a flat tone and with a blank expression that displayed no judgement whatsoever.

  “No, of course not. I like being with you and that would never have happened if I’d remained with Gerry, but when I see that bloody picture I suddenly go back to that moment and I feel how I felt then. Gerry thought we should have tried to work things out regardless, but I couldn’t have anything to do with Kara or the child and that would have put Gerry in an impossible position, so it was for the best that we parted as friends. I moved all of my stuff out of Gerry’s that day and Lucy and I decided to get somewhere bigger together,” she said as she ran her hand across his smooth chest.

  “He really was very stupid, but I am glad he was.” Jim slowly ran a finger down her spine. “His stupidity meant you could be mine and I will never let you down, Tasha. I would never cheat on you,” he said sincerely.

  “How can you be so sure?” she asked bluntly, startling him.

  “Because I am. You do believe me, don’t you?”

  “I believe that you believe that,” she replied frankly.

  “What does that mean, I believe that you believe that?” He loosened his grip on her, clearly offended.

  “It means,” she said, her grip tightening on him, reassuring him with her head on his chest that she briefly nuzzled before explaining, “I believe that you sincerely believe and mean that, but with six ex-wives and an admission that you weren’t always a faithful husband I would have to be seriously misguided to think that I could be that different.”

  As Jim ran his fingers through her hair, he tilted her head back and bent down and kissed her gently on the lips then littered her cheek, jaw and neck with soft, tender kisses.

  “You have no idea just how different you are, baby. I love you more in three weeks than I have ever loved anyone before. I didn’t know this was possible and I was ill-prepared for it, I think we both were, but somehow, we met, collided like a force of nature and now, here we are, together, in love. It’s fate, it has to be and I have no intention of doing anything to lose you, Tasha, not ever.”

  She had to admit, if only to herself that she had total and utter belief in his words and their conviction. Suddenly, she felt breathless and emotional at his declaration, but said nothing, she just smiled, closed her eyes and ran her hand across his chest and torso.

  ****

  Tasha woke up and was startled to find herself alone in bed. She heard the sound of water splashing in the bath and frowned. She needed the toilet and had no intention of peeing in front of Jim. With a shake of her head, she wondered why it was acceptable to do all of the things they had done together, shared and yet the idea of having a wee in front of him was unacceptable. She got up and found her wrap and made her way across the suite to the other bathroom and when she returned she realised it was half past one in the afternoon.

  She gently tapped on the bathroom door and waited for a response.

  “Tasha, you don’t have to knock, baby. I’m in the bath.”

  She walked in and smiled at the image of Jim lying in the huge bath, wet, relaxed and smiling.

  “You managed to sleep then?”

  “Mmm, I wasn’t tired at all and then I woke up,” she admitted as she sat on the edge of the bath.

  “I was slightly unnerved that my declaration of love and fidelity had literally knocked you out.”

  “No, it didn’t. Sorry, it was just a bit odd to think that you could feel that much stronger about me than your wives. Plus, I had Gerry and that stupid bloody picture in my head,” she admitted.

  “I meant it.” He rested a wet hand on her knee.

  “Good. I like the idea of you loving me.”

  “I love you enough to share my bath with you.” He grinned.

  “Really? That much,” she gasped.

  “Was that sarcasm, Miss Winters?”

  “And if it was?”

  “If it was I may have to abandon my gentle touch and just do this.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her into the bath still wrapped in her robe. />
  She squealed and giggled as she disappeared beneath the water. “I’m wet,” she announced, coming up for air.

  “Just the way I like you, baby.” Jim laughed as he pulled her robe off and threw it out of the bath.

  “You are a very rude man, James.” She moved so that she was resting along the length of Jim’s body, front to front.

  “James? Really, Natasha? You do know that your ass is naked and well within hands reach?”

  “Possibly,” she replied coyly as she worried her bottom lip.

  “How is your ass?”

  “A little pink, but fine.”

  “And the rest of you?”

  “Warm and a little sore,” she admitted with a flush to her face and neck.

  “Again, just the way I like you,” he repeated. “What do you want to do today?”

  She grinned at him and sat up so that she was straddling his hips.

  “God, Tasha. You are going to kill me.” He offered her a short laugh.

  “What a way to go though.” She laughed too as she rotated her hips and moaned quietly as she felt his growing erection beneath her.

  “Do you actually want to be able to walk this weekend?” He wore a smile but did actually wonder how much more Tasha could physically take, how much more either of them could take before they’d be incapacitated.

  “Walking is overrated,” she said dryly. Jim laughed at her loudly as she added, “I thought you liked me sore.”

  “I do, but not so sore that I can’t touch you for the rest of the weekend,” he said before she bent down and kissed him.

  “That would never happen.” She truly believed that. She couldn’t imagine ever being so sore that she wouldn’t react to his touch not that her body wouldn’t immediately go into its default James mode of wanting him, needing him in the most primal way possible.

  “Oh well, in that case, help yourself.” He threw his arms out to the sides to signal his surrender.

  With a single smile she raised herself up. When she lowered herself onto him she winced and realised she may have underestimated how sore she actually was, but the lapping of the water soothed her. She had never had sex in such large baths before Jim, well any baths, not full sex, but she liked the sensation of the water around her, touching her everywhere, inside and out, and the warmth and wetness was very erotic. As she rode him her speed increased quickly.

  “Tasha, slow down.” He placed his hands on her hips and slowed her speed.

  She could feel the familiar sensation rushing through her veins and instinctively picked up speed again. She felt somehow possessed by sensation and by him.

  “Natasha, slowly,” he ordered. “Don’t make me stop you,” he warned.

  She frowned at him, making him laugh.

  “Don’t frown at me.”

  “Or what?” she asked bravely as she continued to move at the pace he had now set.

  “Or…” He slapped her right cheek sharply causing her to flinch at the pain.

  Maybe it was the water that heightened the sensation, but it stung and caused her to cry out. She realised she was close to release and although he’d slowed her pace he was now thrusting against her move for move. He had one hand gripping her hip, adjusting her pace if he deemed it necessary and his other hand made its way up to her breasts where he gently rolled and kneaded each nipple in turn. She began to moan as he rolled and squeezed more firmly until Jim released her hips so that she could increase her pace unabated and within seconds was enjoying a hugely intensified orgasm. She threw herself down onto his chest as he gripped her hips again and held her to him as he stilled and breathed heavily through gritted teeth.

  “We have to go out this afternoon or neither of us will be capable of walking after the weekend. But, if there was any doubt, I love the fact that birth control allows us to do this anywhere.”

  “Me too. What do you want to do?”

  “You need to get a dress for next week. We could have lunch, visit a museum, anything is fine by me as long as we’re together.”

  She nodded her agreed with a satisfied smile at his words. “Lunch first though, I am starving. Then we could look for a dress, and finish with dinner and the theatre if you fancy?”

  “Sounds good, honey, but you need to let me go.” He lifted her off him making her grimace slightly to his amusement. “I hope you won’t be too sore for what I had planned for tonight,” he said mysteriously.

  “What?” she asked.

  “It’s a surprise,” he teased.

  “Tell me,” she pleaded.

  “Did you get the blindfold I asked for?” His expression darkened and his tone turned salacious.

  She stared at him wildly and nodded.

  “Good.” His eyes were full of amusement.

  “Let’s stay in today, fuck the dress,” she said and then saw his expression change as she allowed the expletive to escape and in an instant her other cheek was stinging.

  She still found that whole spanking thing a turn on, but it seemed to feel sharper today.

  “You do know that the water gives it a bit more of a sting?” he asked smiling.

  “I didn’t, but I do now,” she replied with a pout whilst rubbing her cheek.

  Jim laughed at her again. “I think I may spank you properly one of these days, honey.”

  She frowned in confusion.

  “Is that another frown, Natasha?” he asked as he mockingly flexed his fingers.

  “Only one of confusion. Proper spanking?” She linked her fingers with his, partly to keep his hands under control.

  “I see. Proper spanking as in putting you across my knee and spanking you rather than just a single slap,” he explained.

  She stared at him with wide eyes that held a mixture of nervousness and excitement.

  “But not now, so get out of the bath and let’s get dressed and have lunch,” he said, before he pulled her to him and kissed her gently on the cheek.

  Chapter 42

  They were sitting at a table outside a café eating burgers when Jim opened a serious conversation. “Tell me what you meant about your dad losing it with you and that he had only lost it like that a few times before.”

  She put her burger down, sat back in her seat and sighed.

  “Please, Tasha, it worries me when you make comments like that and I have no idea what it means.” He was obviously concerned. “I’d like to understand the depths he has sunk to so as not to underestimate him in the future.”

  Tasha nodded. His request was reasonable considering he really was trying to keep her safe. “One time when he sent me to see Liam, he, Liam, was less than impressed that I was having my period and made my dad aware of how unhappy he was and he was absolutely furious with me. Obviously, I was fully in control of my reproductive organs and had done it on purpose, and I quote, to repulse Liam and embarrass him and he beat the crap out of me. That was the time he dragged me across the street by my hair.” She laughed.

  Jim was amazed by her reaction. “You find it funny?”

  “No, not really, but with hindsight it just shows how mental he must be to believe that even the timing of my periods are controlled by me.”

  “Hmmm, carry on, please,” he encouraged.

  “There’s not much more to say really. The irony is that at the time Liam didn’t let it stop him, but still demanded a free return visit.” She shuddered at the memory of it. “It makes my skin crawl when I think of being with him and when you add to that the fact that it was my own father who facilitated it...”

  “I know, but nobody will ever do that to you again, and they will never get close enough to even suggest it,” he said angrily.

  “You know those messages he sent me last week?”

  Jim nodded suspiciously.

  “Apart from the fact that they gave me the creeps, I felt sick to think that he believed I had enjoyed any part of being with him. When he thought I was holding out for more time with him, that I was a dirty bitch was when I fully realis
ed just how much I hated having ever been with him. How much I hated myself for being party to it and I also realised, for possibly the first time that I was a victim in it all.” Her admission was followed by another bite of her burger while she attempted to avoid crying the unshed tears she was storing.

  “You were a child, Tasha, and put in an impossible position by the person that should have looked after you most, not used you as currency.”

  She nodded. “I’d never seen that before, not really and something your mum said made me start to think about it,” she revealed.

  “My mom?”

  “Yeah, that day at the vineyard she asked me about my name and I said that I am only usually Natasha when you’re teasing me or if I am in trouble. Immediately she asked what my parents called me. I said that my mum calls me Tasha and Natasha and my dad usually calls me Natasha and she informed me that I have the look that she has only ever seen in neglected and abused children when I talk about my parents.”

  “Jeez! Was that before or after she told you about Amanda?”

  “Before, I think, it all blurred into one,” she replied honestly.

  “She said something to me after you flew back here; I was texting you when I was there with my brother and sisters and she said something cryptic about giving people time and space to recover from their pasts in order to make a future. At least I know what she meant now.”

  “You already know about me Jim and I hope you don’t change the way you are towards me because of what you know. I know it’s all fucked-up, but it’s done and it was what it was, but I know it was wrong and it’s over.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of changing the way I am towards you, so that ‘fucked-up’ will cost you later.” He grinned.

  She laughed, pushing her plate away.

  “What sort of dress am I looking for today?” she asked, deliberately changing the subject.

  “An evening gown, something sexy, but not too obvious. Something that will allow for underwear.”

  “Ease of access?” she teased.