Demons

by Beth Abbott

  Matt was only too aware that he had made promises before and broken them, and the only way to convince Suzy and the kids that he’d really changed was with actions.

  Today was going to be proof, if any were still needed, that he’d listened to Suzy’s concerns, finally, and done something about them.

  “Hey, dad?” Charlie yelled to him from upstairs. “Mum’s at the top or the stairs again, threatening to come down on her bum.”

  “You little snitch, Charlie Johnson!” Matt heard Suzy hiss at her son. “And I thought you were such a good, sweet kid.”

  “I am a good, sweet kid.” Matt heard Charlie laugh. “But dad promised me he’d take me to watch Robbie play against Chelsea if I kept an eye on you, whereas you only promised me FIFA points if I kept my mouth shut and turned a blind eye. Face it, mum. Your bribes suck!”

  Matt climbed the stairs to find Suzy on her hands and knees on the landing.

  “Really?” He shook his head in mock disappointment. “You couldn’t wait another ten minutes for me to finish cooking lunch?”

  Suzy pouted at him.

  “You’ve got people down there.” She pointed out. “Real people, like proper visitors.”

  “And what sort of people are Taylor and me?” Charlie huffed. “The sort that don’t count for anything?”

  “You are my beloved children.” Suzy gave Charlie a pointed look. “The same children I’ve been surrounded by for five days! I love you kids with all my heart, but I’m going stir crazy up here. Especially when I can hear voices downstairs.”

  As he reached the top stair, Matt sat down beside his wife.

  “Did it ever occur to you that we might be planning a nice surprise for you?” He asked, watching to see Suzy’s reaction.

  “Did it ever occur to you that I’ve never liked surprises?” Suzy pouted. “Nor have I ever been an advocate for delayed gratification. So, either carry me downstairs, or get out of my way so I can scramble down on my ass, because one way or another, I will find out what the hell is going on!”

  Matt leaned forward and scooped her up onto his lap.

  “And you wonder why Taylor sometimes acts like a spoiled brat.” He muttered as he climbed to his feet. “No need to guess who she gets it from.”

  “I’ve been as good as gold for five days straight.” Suzy protested. “You can’t blame me for making an escape already.”

  Matt glanced down at his wife, wondering whether he should remind her that he’d caught her downstairs twice already, once raiding the freezer for some of her favourite ice-cream, and another time looking for her work laptop which he’d confiscated.

  He decided to keep his mouth shut. After all, twice in five days for someone with Suzy’s short attention span was pretty damn good, now he came to think about it.

  He carried her through the empty living room and moved into their large kitchen.

  “Surprise!” He chuckled, guessing she already knew who was visiting.

  “Hey, sweetheart!” Hannah jumped down off the high-stool, and as Matt placed Suzy on a dining chair, she leaned in for a hug. “How’s it going?”

  “It’s horrendously boring, if you must know.” Suzy complained. “Since Matt went back to work and left my mother in charge of keeping me locked in my room, I’ve had to watch reruns of some of the worst shows ever made.”

  “You haven’t been locked in your room.” Matt corrected her with a snort of laughter. “And you watched Game of Thrones all day yesterday, so we’re hardly talking about crap TV. Six months ago, you were raving that it was the best show ever made.”

  “Yeah, but that was when I was watching it out of choice, not out of boredom.” Suzy shrugged. “And six months ago, I wasn’t watching it with a woman who insists on fast forwarding past all the good bits.”

  “All the sexy scenes, you mean?” Hannah frowned. “I can see how that might be annoying.”

  “Next time you’re ready to watch some more, Hannah and I will come over and watch them with you.” Claire grinned. “I’ll keep hold of the remote, and we’ll send your mum out to keep Taylor company.”

  Suzy looked around the room, and Matt could see her trying to figure out what was going on.

  Danny and Hannah were there, along with JT, Alice, Luke and Ellen.

  “Not meaning to sound ungrateful, but why are you guys still here and not back in London?” She glanced back at Hannah. “And how are you gonna come over and watch TV with me? Don’t you have a home to go to?”

  Matt grinned as he pulled out the chair next to Suzy.

  “Anyone would think you were trying to get rid of them all.” He turned the chair slightly, so he could face her.

  “We’ve stayed on a few days because we’ve been trying to figure out what to do with the Birmingham office.” JT explained. “At least until Drew, Tony and Vicky are able to relocate, in about six weeks.”

  “What do you mean by ‘do with it’?” Suzy frowned. “I thought everything was Ok with it?”

  “Everything is fine, honey.” Matt reassured her. “But with you off work for a while, we’re short-handed on the PA front, so we’re trying to reorganise everything, so we can cope with just the one PA for both Claire and I.”

  “There’s quite a bit of what you’ve been doing that we could pull into the London office.” JT explained. “Things like HR and requisitions could all be done from London, as well as billing and payments.”

  “I see.” Suzy nodded, but from the frozen expression on her face, Matt could see that she still had no idea what was going on.

  “Abbey is going to stay up here for the next couple of weeks to help out, and while she’s covering for you, temporarily, she’ll also be working with Hannah to find ways of reducing the workload up here, by transferring responsibility for some of the functions down to London.” Matt explained. “Rather than do everything manually, we’re going to set up some computer systems where you just enter the first part of a job, and the London staff do the rest.”

  “So, there’ll only be one PA in Birmingham?” Suzy repeated, as though that part of the conversation had only just sunk in.

  “Yep.” Matt nodded. “It makes more sense to have one person knowing what both directors are doing, rather than have two, always having to pass messages back and forth.”

  Matt watched Suzy start to deflate, and he squeezed her hand.

  “I thought you’d like the sound of that.” He smiled. “Or aren’t you up for a challenge?”

  “A challenge?” Suzy frowned. “Who do I have to challenge?”

  “Matt, put the girl out of her misery and tell her what’s been going on, for goodness sake.” Claire hissed.

  Suzy glanced at the other people in the room, looking for clues, before turning back to Matt.

  “What’s going on?” She whispered.

  “Abbey’s going to stay up here for a few weeks, like I said, tidying things up and streamlining them for when you get back to work.” Matt smiled. “And we’re going to have the first-floor workspace configured so that there will be an office in between mine and what will be Tony’s office, for our PA to work out of. We’re going to knock through into the storage room outside, so we’ll have plenty more space.

  “That sounds great.” Suzy nodded. “But what about Lacey, the… Lacey? What will she be doing?”

  “I have no idea what Lacey will be doing, but whatever it is, she won’t be doing it from the Alpha offices.” Matt assured her. “As of yesterday, I informed her that her services will no longer be required.”

  Suzy stared at him as though he’d spoken in Latin.

  “Sorry, what did you say?” She murmured.

  “Lacey doesn’t work for Alpha anymore.” Matt repeated. “We had a conversation yesterday, and it was mutually agreed that she would leave the company under the terms of her original contract.”

  “I… I don’t understand.” Suzy shook her head. “Did you sack her?”

  “No, we didn’t need to.” JT explained. “Unde
r the terms of her contract, we could terminate before the twelve months was up, without having to give a reason. We had a discussion about it, and a joint agreement was reached among the directors and our legal representatives, that we take advantage of the clause.”

  “But she did things behind people’s back, like the calendar and the spreadsheets.” Suzy protested.

  “She did quite a few things that we could have sacked her for.” Hannah agreed. “But more of them were of a personal nature, trying to get at you, Suzy. Less of them would have actually affected the business.”

  “The reason we decided against sacking her, much as I would have like to, was that she could have appealed against a sacking, or claimed unfair dismissal, and we would have spent months in arbitration dragging all of this through the courts.” Matt shrugged. “It would have been stressful for all of us and could have dragged on and on. By simply ending her contract, there’s nothing she can come back on us for. She’s gone, for good.”

  “Really?” Suzy whispered, and Matt could see her eyes were bright with tears.

  “Claire, could I ask you to start dishing out lunch, while I borrow my wife for a moment?” Matt glanced over his shoulder.

  “Of course, sweetie.” Claire grinned at him. “I think I know where everything is by now.”

  Matt leaned in and picked Suzy up again, and quietly walked across the hallway and into his study.

  When he reached the sofa, he lowered himself carefully until she was sitting on his lap.

  “Is she really gone?” Suzy whispered.

  “She’s gone.” Matt nodded. “I know you’d have liked me to sack her, and kick her ass out on the street, but it really wasn’t an option. It was more important to get rid of her for good, than to feel better by telling her where to go.”

  “I don’t care how you got rid of her, Matt, I’m just glad you did.” Suzy smiled up at him. “I hated that she came between us.”

  “I honestly had no idea that she was doing all that stuff to undermine you. It went against everything I thought I knew about her.” Matt shook his head. “I know that makes me the biggest idiot for being so blind, but I only ever saw the good side of her. She was always helpful, and at a time when I was drowning in the new club contracts, she took a lot of the pressure off me.”

  “She was obviously a very good actress when you were around.” Suzy agreed. “Don’t beat yourself up because a pretty woman got one over on you. You’re not the first man to be hoodwinked, and you sure as hell won’t be the last.”

  “Wow! You just made me feel so much better, and yet, such an idiot, all in two sentences.” Matt smiled. “I love the way you know how to keep me in my place.”

  “Matt, you are the most wonderful person I’ve ever met.” Suzy snuggled closer. “You’re smart and sexy, kind and kinky, thoughtful and loyal, and the best damned lover a woman could dream of.”

  “Wow!” Matt grinned. “Thanks!”

  “But you’re also a man.” Suzy sighed. “And because of that, I don’t expect you to be perfect. You’ll stumble, and then get back up. You’ll get things wrong, and then listen to me and get them right the next time. We both know it’s gonna happen, so let’s not pretend otherwise.”

  Matt smiled at Suzy, figuring that if this gentle slap-down was all she was gonna give him, he’d take it.

  “The most important thing about making a mistake is that you learn from it.” Suzy continued. “So, what have you learned from this episode, Matt?”

  Matt frowned, knowing that this was a test. A Suzy test, so he’d better not get it wrong, or there’d be a lot more masturbation in his future.

  “I’ve learned that my own judgement can’t always be trusted.” He nodded solemnly. “I’ve also learned that the only person with an opinion I should listen to is my beautiful wife.”

  “That’s a very good start.” Suzy smiled. “Anything else?”

  “I’ve also been reminded that I have the most amazing wife, and three beautiful kids, and that they should continue to be my top priority until I gasp my final breath.” Matt explained. “I’m also painfully aware that the world doesn’t start and end with business meetings, and in future, my PA will arrange my business commitments around my family life, and not the other way around.”

  “Excellent.” Suzy grinned up at him. “I think I have to give you top marks for those answers.”

  “But I haven’t finished yet.” Matt protested.

  “What else did you want to add?” Suzy sat back, frowning.

  “I wanted to add that I’ve realised that I haven’t been providing you with the stimulation you need, especially since you’ve broken your ankle and been confined to bed.” Matt explained.

  Suzy’s eyes widened.

  “And what do you plan on doing to fix that?” She asked, her voice quite breathy.

  “Well, I’ve arranged for your mum to have the kids tonight, for a start.” Matt smiled. “And then I plan to introduce you to a few little toys I might have purchased for the occasion.”

  “You… you bought toys?” Suzy whispered. “For us, I mean? Not kids’ toys.”

  “Definitely not kids’ toys!” Matt chuckled. “Some nipple clamps, a very strangely shaped vibrator, some anal plugs, and in lieu of a new spreader bar, I’ve got some lovely soft rope that will keep you in exactly the right position for me to play with you for hours. Plus a few surprises.”

  Matt watched Suzy’s eyes dilate and her nostrils flare.

  “What time are people leaving?” She murmured.

  Matt chuckled, leaning in to suck her lower lip between his teeth.

  Suzy’s groan was the most erotic sound he’d ever heard.

  “They’re here for the afternoon, but I promise they’ll all be gone by four o’clock.” He assured her. “I told them I was limiting visitation hours, so you don’t get too tired.”

  Suzy leaned back and stared into his eyes.

  “Have I told you lately that I fucking love you?” She whispered.

  Matt smiled and nodded.

  “Probably more times than I deserve.” He admitted. “But it’s still not half as much as I love you, Suzy. Never will be.”

  He watched her carefully as she wiped a single tear from the corner of her eye.

  “Shall we go and enjoy lunch with our family?” She smiled. “They’ve only got four hours and twenty minutes until they have to leave.”

  Matt scooped Suzy up and carried her back to the kitchen, trying to keep the stupid grin off his face.

  He’d passed the Suzy test which was the most important thing. Especially with what he had planned for later!

  Epilogue – Megan – Eight weeks later

  “Mmm.” Megan smiled as she felt the roughness of Evan’s tongue licking up her stomach.

  As he reached her belly button and dipped his tongue inside, Megan jumped, giggling at the way he teased her piercing.

  She would have moved, or shrugged him off for playing with her, but she was still too wrung out from her orgasm.

  Megan wondered how she’d never known she had a ticklish belly button before, and whether it qualified as one of life’s great mysteries.

  More importantly, how was it she never knew how much she enjoyed having Evan wake her up by licking her to an earth-shattering orgasm before?

  She reached down to grab his short dark hair and pull him up to kiss her.

  “Lips, now!” She murmured as he crawled up her body.

  Evan lowered himself on top of her until she was pressed into the mattress, and he kissed her as though their lives depended on it.

  As she skimmed her fingers down his back, Megan felt him shudder in response, and when she dug her nails into his ass, his growl had her purring.

  “I need to be inside you.” Evan said, almost in warning. “I need to release some energy, and this is the best way to do it.”

  Megan opened her eyes to see Evan watching her.

  As he lifted his head, she noticed he wasn’t even putti
ng his whole weight on her, because his arms were tucked up beside her, holding the upper part of him from squashing her completely.

  “Roll over.” She murmured, deciding she wanted to take control of the situation.

  Evan’s eyes widened as his lips broke into a smile.

  He loved taking her to new and sometimes exciting levels of intimacy, but he was just as happy when Megan decided to take control.

  Without warning, he flipped them over, so she was lying on top of him.

  Megan pushed on his chest to sit herself up, pulling her knees up alongside his hips.

  As she ran her fingertips down his chest and across his abs, she barely recognised Evan’s body from the boy she’d married more than a dozen years before.

  He was twice the size he had been, and this hard, toned flesh had been just an aspiration back then, nothing like the gorgeous reality of the man he’d become.

  “Like what you see?” He murmured, and her eyes shot to his.

  “Very much.” She admitted. “You’ve aged well.”

  Evan’s grin was infectious.

  “I’d like to think of it as maturing, rather than aging.” He laughed. “I’m hoping the aging won’t kick in for at least another fifteen years.”

  Megan smiled, wondering whether he thought the same about her body. She wasn’t twenty-two still, after all.

  Evan pushed himself up onto his elbows, as though he’d been listening to her thoughts.

  “You’re even more gorgeous than you ever were.” He promised her. “Your body is as beautiful as your smile. I’ve never wanted someone like I want you, Megan.”

  As she dropped a kiss on his lips, Megan felt a movement beneath her sex as his cock twitched.

  She leaned away from him and smiled.

  “Is that supposed to be evidence of the effect I have on you?” She looked down at his groin.

  “He’s just extremely happy to be part of your future plans.” Evan grinned.

  As he lay back on the pillows, Megan twisted her hips, rubbing her sex up and down his impressive erection.

  “Aah, God, you’re gonna kill me!” Evan sighed, as his head fell back.