Bare All

by L M Allen

  “No. It makes you human. And my husband. And exactly where you’re supposed to be.” He watches my eyes for a few more seconds.

  “You need a shower,” he says softly.

  “So do you.”

  “Can I join you?” he asks, hesitancy stilting his words. I nod. I need to be near him now.

  Will leads me to the bathroom and gently, slowly, peels off my blood-stained clothes as the shower heats up. My eyes stay on his. I won’t touch him, because I have Dan’s blood on my hands.

  When my underwear hits the floor, I stay still and wait for Will to remove his own clothes, before he leads me into the shower cubicle.

  He pours soap into my cupped hands and I rub them together, watching the bright red arterial blood wash away and rubbing at the drying brown patches. Will loads the natural sponge with more soap and gently, methodically, cleans my body, top to toe.

  When he’s done, he rinses it out as I stand under the spray, allowing it to rain down on my head and into my face. And then I take the sponge from him. It’s my turn.

  I soap him down too, every inch, running the sponge lightly over his arms, his chest, his torso. When I approach his pelvic area, he catches my wrist. “I’m sorry. I...” I reach for him with my other hand. He sucks in a sharp breath as my palm curves around his hardening cock, my fingers stretching out for his balls.

  “Eva...you don’t have to...”

  “I want to,” I whisper. “I want to feel your heartbeat. Your breath. I want to feel your body move with mine. I want to feel alive. With you.” I tilt my head to his, and kiss his lips.

  “Baby... I could have lost you tonight. So many times...”

  “Shh. Kiss me.” Will’s hand flattens on the back of my head, pressing my mouth to his as my hand keeps moving. He groans, dropping his head and surrendering to my touch.

  He walks me up to the wall, my back against the cold tiles. I don’t care. He lifts my knee to his hip as his fingers explore and work me into a frenzy. His hips pump, pushing into my welcoming hand, and I increase the pressure. I want him to come. Hard and fast. I want him to feel why it’s supposed to be us. Here. Now. Together.

  My ministrations become uncoordinated as he increases the pressure too, pressing hard and circling, until I’m trembling against the wall, my thighs shaking. I feel the swell and throb of his imminent release and let go, calling out until Will silences me with his lips on mine. His hand slows and his cock twitches in my grasp, our mouths soft and sensual as we calm and still.

  “You’re really okay?” Will asks, his forehead against mine.

  “Yeah. I’m really okay. Maybe I shouldn’t be. But I am. Are you?”

  “Baby, I’m over the bloody moon to have my wife naked in my arms. There’s nothing that trumps that.”

  “I’m so sorry, Will...”

  “What! Why? You did nothing—”

  “I did. I had to make him think that—” Will’s lips press to mine, and I stop trying to speak.

  “I know what you did, Eva. Do you have any idea how much I love you for it?”

  “What!” I gasp.

  “You...” He raises his hands to smooth my hair away from my face. “I knew it the second I saw you. That you’d be the most perfect honeytrap ever to exist, but I had no idea you could achieve the impossible.” I frown, confused. Will reaches out and tucks my hair behind my ear. “Eva. Baby. You ask anyone in the industry, and they’ll tell you it’s not possible to trap the trapper. To play the player. They’ve seen it all. Done it all. But you did. You did it. And... I think it’s really over now.”

  “Me too,” I gasp, wiping my eyes. “But...what about Daryl?”

  “He’s fine, Eva.”

  “I mean the charges?”

  “He dropped them.”

  “Oh! Well...good.” I think.

  “He understands what happened. He only pressed charges because Davey asked him to. To get me out of the way.” He smirks. “The hunter became the hunted,” he muses. “My wife, the honeytrap.” He continues to grin at my screwed-up face.

  “I love you so much.”

  “I love you, baby.” Will kisses my lips lightly. Teasingly. And shuts off the water.

  “Where are the girls?”

  “Mary took them to hers in a hurry.”

  “Good,” I breathe. “Thank you.”

  “Will you tell her? Summer?”

  “I...I don’t know. What do you think?”

  “He is her—” I clamp my hand on his mouth.

  “No. He wasn’t. She told him so herself.” I feel Will’s slow smile behind my hand, and gingerly pull away and kiss him instead.

  “She did, didn’t she?” he says softly, gazing into my face. Until I shiver, and he grabs a towel and wraps me in it.

  “Huh!” I gasp, my hands flying to my belly. Will places his hand with mine, and I move it to where his baby is kicking. His entire being lights up when she does it again.

  “Oh!” He falls to his knees and presses his cheek to my belly. “Ow! You’re grounded!” He laughs when he gets poked in the face. And then he turns his head and kisses the spot the baby is pummelling.

  “Let’s get you warm, baby.”

  When we emerge back downstairs, there’s no sign that anything ever happened here. Just a yellow ‘cleaning in progress’ sign.

  Sid is loitering by the coffee bar, and I can see that the whole area has been cordoned off. I wonder how long it’s been like that.

  “Evie...” He jogs towards us, and Will’s fingers tighten around my waist.

  “Hi.”

  “I need to talk to you.”

  “Can you just drop it. Please? I really don’t want to talk about any of this ever again.”

  “I need to tell you I’m sorry. I overstepped the –”

  “Okay. Thank you.” I dismiss his apology. I don’t want it. I don’t even need it anymore.

  “Now, if you’ll excuse us. I need to spend some time with my wife.” Will gives him a cool smile.

  “You don’t deserve her,” Sid says, his voice too soft.

  “I don’t know a man who does.” Will smiles into my eyes, slowly bringing his lips to mine.

  “I do. I’m looking at him,” I choke, and our lips melt together in that hot, soft way only Will can do.

  “We have one more week of honeymoon left, baby. I’m not taking no for an answer.”

  “You weren’t going to get one. But not here.”

  “Oh?”

  “Come with me.”

  Chapter 26

  Will and I walk through the hotel lobby, towards the lift, and I catch the permanently gobsmacked receptionist staring.

  “You’re staying here?” Will asks, taking in his plush surroundings.

  “Um...yeah. It was kind of a last-minute thing.”

  “Since when?”

  “Since about a week ago. But I haven’t actually stayed here yet.”

  “So...you haven’t slept in the bed?” I shake my head, puzzled at his delighted tone. “Don’t expect to get any rest tonight either, baby. We have time to make up.” That delicious ache I associate with Will has begun to build in my belly. And he only makes it worse in the lift. He backs me against the wall and hikes me up, perching my bum on the handrails and nudging his way between my legs, nipping and sucking my neck.

  He lowers me back to my feet, when the ding announces our arrival at our floor, and leads me dazed and dazzled to our suite. He takes the key from my fumbling, impatient hands and unlocks the door.

  We walk inside, and he pushes it slowly shut. He leans against it and kicks off his boots and discards his socks. “I’d tell you to slow down. That we need to take our time and savour this, but I’m so fucking desperate for you, baby.” He swallows hard, his eyes on my mouth. “But...I can wait...if you’re... fuck! Eva!”

  He groans as he kisses me back, just as wildly as I’m kissing him, his hands tangled in my hair as I pull hungrily at his clothes, alternating between his shirt and his jeans
. I want him. Now.

  “Show me,” he growls. I know what he means. And I’ll do anything to get him naked right now. So, I show him exactly how badly I need his touch when I touch myself.

  ***

  Will stretches out beside me on the bed, his fingertips trailing up and down my thigh as I try to regain use of my limbs. “Baby, this...us...this has never been just sex. You are the first and only woman I have ever made love to.”

  “Will...” I screw my eyes shut and turn my face away. “I don’t want to know.”

  “No, listen.” He guides my face back to his and kisses my lips lightly. “Yes, I’ve had sex with a lot of different women, with one notable exception,” he growls. “But that was all it was. Sex. In fact, it wasn’t even that. It was me making them want me...” He moves over and pins my hands when I pull away from him. “I didn’t want them. But there was part of me that was glad they wanted me, because no one else did. There was part of me that wanted to make them want me.

  “And it turned out I was good at it. I could make them want me. Well, not me. I wasn’t a person to them. I was a toy. A meal ticket. I learned to accept that. To play to it.

  “It was easy. But I didn’t ever want them. I just fucked them, and left them to pick up the pieces when I turned over my evidence.”

  He kisses away the tears that are trickling down my face. “But then I met you. And I was so desperate to make you want me, Eva. Because I wanted you. I wanted to be the man who made you smile. I wanted to be the one to see those eyes when they first open in the morning. I wanted your heart. Yes, I wanted your body, but most of all, I wanted your love.

  “That first time. The first time we made love, I finally felt loved. I felt love. For you. And I knew I was yours for life. And I was so scared you wouldn’t want me when you found out what kind of man I was...and that day...with the pregnancy test for Bells. I wished it was yours.”

  “Will...” I choke, reaching up for his beautiful face. “I’m yours. I always have been. I always will be.”

  “I’m sorry for what I said. In Mexico... I—”

  “You are the love of my life, Will. Not Dan.”

  “I know.”

  “Do you?”

  “Yes. Yes, baby. I know. And you are mine.”

  “I know.” I lift my head and press my lips to his. “I know.”

  “I still hate that you married him though.”

  “Oh, Will...It wasn’t....” How do I explain this? “It was different. We weren’t together very long. And it wasn’t a wedding; it was signing a piece of paper. I almost didn’t go through with it.” Will gasps. “I didn’t want to marry him. I just thought I was out of options.”

  “You didn’t want to marry him?” I shake my head and peek up at him.

  “I understood it after, when I was past the hard grieving and had time to think. But what I wanted was my family back. He was Gary’s brother...And Gary was my one tangible link to my own brother, but he was gone...”

  “You were trying to hold onto Gary and Davey?”

  “Yes...and my dad...”

  “Oh, sweetheart.” Will lowers his mouth back to mine and kisses me gently. “I never thought of it like that.” He pauses, his lips pressed together. “Did you love him?”

  “I thought maybe I could at the time. But now I know how wrong I was. It’s like...when you and I met, I knew. I knew I wanted you, and I knew you were trouble, but I couldn’t get you out of my head. Every time you touched me, I wanted to climb inside you and keep feeling that forever. I’d never experienced that before. But then, I don’t suppose I could have. If this is a once in a lifetime love.”

  “It definitely is.” Will reaches around my neck, his eyes never leaving mine as he unclasps my chain. He slips the ring off and into his palm, before he takes my left hand.

  “Don’t ever take this off again.”

  “Never,” I promise.

  Epilogue

  “Good morning, sleepyhead.” I kiss Eva’s temple and pull her warm body closer to mine. “Happy birthday, sweetheart.”

  She draws a big breath through her nose, smiling a little, but her beautiful eyes stay shut. “Do you want your first present?” I ask her, keeping my voice low and smooth, giving her no room for doubt about what I have in mind.

  She giggles and nods, but doesn’t look at me. “Let me see those eyes, and I’ll make this a very happy birthday, baby.” She blinks sleepily, rubbing her eyes and stretching out as I move over her. “There you go.” I smile and lower my head to hers, her hands creeping up my back.

  I kiss her with purpose, keeping my lips slow and my tongue soft, just how she likes it. She groans, her fingers threading through my hair, and I turn up the heat. I kiss her harder, pressing my growing cock against her. She shifts a little, getting me where she wants me. “Not yet,” I tease her, and move my kisses south to her neck.

  She tilts her head back, stretching out her throat, and I take full advantage.

  “Will,” she breathes, as I sink down lower to her breast. “Please.”

  “Shhh, now.”

  “The kids...” she groans, pressing her pelvis up against my thigh.

  “Are asleep.” She’s trying to hurry me along. I know. But I want slow. It’s early. We have at least an hour. And I intend to enjoy every minute of this Christmas Eve/birthday morning with my wife.

  I take her nipple into my mouth, growing harder by the second as the sound of her groans sink beneath my skin. I nip, suck and lick until she’s clawing at my back, and change sides.

  “Will!” she squeals, and I chuckle.

  “Shh. Soon.”

  I move lower, over her stomach, her flat belly, and lower still to her sex. I pause, and she groans in frustration. I love that I can do this to her. My wife. She kicks her legs out, slightly wider, and I get comfy while considering my options. I slide a finger inside her, my eyes flicking up to her face. She wants more. So, I add another finger and circle and stretch her slowly. She lifts her chest, pushing her breasts into the air. Hmmm.

  I shift to lie beside her, keeping my fingers in motion, and kiss her breast. She pushes up towards my face again. This is what she wants. I take the soft flesh into my mouth, and she whimpers. “Will. Stop teasing me. I want you.”

  “Do you? Do you want me enough?”

  “Yes!” she growls.

  “Show me, baby.” I pull my fingers out of her and push away. There’s no way I can touch her. I won’t be able to stop myself.

  Her hand slides, without hesitation, to her sex. And I watch every flick of her fingers as she teases her clit. I need to be closer. I move fast, between her wide legs, and sit back on my heels. Watching. Enjoying. Straining to get inside her.

  Her spine arches, and I push her hand away. She groans. And I dip down to finish the job. My tongue is feverish as I lap up her moisture. “Mmm, baby, you taste so good.” I suck her clit into my mouth, and she jolts. I suck again and again in long, hard pulls until she calls out.

  “Shh, now, you’ll wake the girls.” I laugh and crawl up her body, sealing my mouth on hers, swallowing her cries.

  I’m inside her in one thrust, her internal muscles pulsing. And pulling me in deeper. “Oh, fuck, yeah. Eva...”

  She’s throbbing. Undulating. And I can’t get enough. My hips have a mind of their own, and I’m ramming into her, hard, and she’s meeting me thrust for thrust. On and on, until I’m almost dizzy.

  “Do it again, baby,” I pant, and she squeezes her breasts, pulling at her nipple with one hand and reaching for my balls with the other. “Oh! Fuuuuck!”

  My body judders and shakes as I fill her, my hips pinned to hers. Her walls are still contracting. Coming. So I keep moving slowly until she stills, panting and smiling.

  “Happy birthday, baby.” I lean forward and kiss her lips lightly, before I slide off her and lie beside her.

  “Thank you.” She giggles and snuggles under my outstretched arm.

  I roll over, pull Eva into the rig
ht position to spoon her, and tuck my knees up behind hers. I kiss her temple and lay my head back on the pillow, as my fingertips trail softly up and down her arm, until she’s breathing deeply and drifting back to sleep.

  I lie there for a few more minutes, maybe ten, my body and mind relaxed. Chilled even, until I hear our daughter giggle and start babbling to her toys. I turn off the monitor and kiss Eva’s shoulder. I gently disentangle myself from her, before I roll out of bed.

  Willow is wide awake, sitting up in her cot while having some kind of conversation with her reindeer teddy.

  Her turquoise eyes meet mine, full of joy at seeing her daddy this morning. “Da-Da!” she calls, pulling herself up with the railings.

  “Good morning, angel.” I reach into the cot and pluck her out. I lift her high against my chest and kiss her curls. Milk chocolate curls, Eva calls them. “Let’s change your nappy, and then we’ll go get some breakfast, okay?”

  She giggles. I’m taking that as an agreement.

  “Maayyy!” Willow calls on our way across the landing a few minutes later, stretching out a grasping hand towards her big sister’s bedroom door, hung with a lit wreath. The whole house and grounds have been Eva-ed. Fairy lights and green garland everywhere.

  “Shall we see if she’s awake?” I ask, kissing Willow’s hair and moving towards Mae’s bedroom. I open the door quietly and stop on the threshold, smiling at the scene. “Som-a!” Willow squeals.

  Summer is lying, fast asleep, across the bottom of Mae’s bed, sweetie wrappers scattered all around them like confetti. Their grandfather spoilt them again. I can’t help but be glad he’s a better grandfather than he was a father. “Looks like the big girls had a midnight feast, huh?”

  Willow’s face turns to mine; her beautiful eyes are asking what a midnight feast is. I kiss her little nose with a chuckle. “Shall we wake them?” I ask my daughter, my eyebrow raised in question. She wiggles in my arms, and I walk over and set her on Mae’s bed. “Do your worst, Willow.”

  Willow crawls all over them, giggling and babbling, until her big sisters are giggling back at her. “Morning, Willow,” Summer says sleepily.