Fulfillment

by Golland, K. M.

  Gareth slowly walked up to me as I watched what Bryce was doing. “You didn’t have to tell her,” he said quietly, sounding partly angered and partly dismayed.

  I looked up at him. “Sorry?”

  “Sam. You told her about my condition, and now she is ‘taking a break to clear her head’.” He held my gaze.

  “Gareth, I’m sorry, but she deserved to know.”

  “I liked her, Alexis. A lot,” he bit out as he leaned in closer, giving me an uncomfortable chilled feeling.

  Unpleasant as it was though, I could see the sincerity in his eyes. He really does like her. I tried to reassure him.

  “Gareth, give her some credit. She may just need some time to come to terms with it.”

  “That’s just it, I do give her credit. She’s smart and, because of that, she’ll stay away from me,” he sighed. “Once, just once, I wanted to be selfish and have a normal relationship.” His shoulders slumped and he walked away as Bryce approached. That’s just it Gareth, it wasn’t normal. Hiding something like that is not normal.

  “Is everything alright? What were you and Gareth talking about?”

  “Nothing,” I dismissively answered.

  “Alexis, don’t keep things from me. Not where Gareth is concerned.”

  I exhaled in defeat. “I told Sam about the DID and he is unhappy about it.”

  “Fuck!” he said quietly as he looked up after Gareth.

  I felt I needed to defend my actions and it annoyed me, but deep down I knew this was not so black and white. “She had a right to know. It was killing me.”

  “You should’ve told me of your intentions first.”

  “Bryce, I’ve never run anything about my life past anyone for approval. I’m not about to start doing it now.”

  “Gareth’s situation is complex. You know this,” he said with an irritated sigh.

  I turned and began to head toward the limo. “Of course I fucking know this. Have I not just been having a conversation with Deirdre for the past hour? That was probably one of the most complex situations I have ever found myself in.” I approached Danny who was waiting by the open door, but turned back to face Bryce, lowering my voice. “Listen, I had to tell Sam. I would not have forgiven myself if anything happened to her. And again, she had a right to know.” I gave him the end-of-story look before I awkwardly climbed into the limo.

  ***

  Things were a little tense during the ride home. Gareth had stared out the window and hastily left us when we arrived back at City Towers. Lucy and Nic had focussed their attention on Alexander right before we dropped them off at their house. And Bryce had been quietly pondering but still tenderly touching some part of my body at all times, whether it was my shoulder, my arm, or my leg.

  As soon as we were back in the apartment, I got dressed in my gym attire as my physiotherapist was due to make a house-call in a matter of minutes. Bryce had made his way to his office, but not before making me a heart-shaped sandwich and setting it on a plate in the middle of the dining table. I smiled at his sentiment. Even in his frustration and sometimes anger toward me, he could still find a way to let me know he loved me.

  The buzzer to the door sounded as I bit down into my sandwich-of-love. “Coming,” I muffled with a mouthful.

  I grabbed my crutches and headed for the door, opening it up to let in Tim, my physiotherapist. I’d had a couple of sessions with him already and found him really easy to get along with. He was also quite helpful and extremely professional. Tim was in his mid to late twenties, tall, shoulder length caramel hair, dark brown eyes and athletically built. I’d also found out during our last session that he had a fiancé and a two-year-old son.

  “Hi, Tim. Come in.” I hopped backward, clearing the door way to let him through.

  “So, how’s the foot?”

  “Good, although my upper thigh is tight and sore.”

  “Yeah, that will happen. You’re no longer using those muscles like you should be,” he explained as he made his way down into the lounge like he had done last time. “I’m going to get you to start riding the exercise bike today, to build up strength in your leg muscles and to get your blood flowing properly again.”

  He dropped his bag on the floor and opened the bi-fold doors. “Come on, let’s get to it.”

  I spent fifteen minutes on the bike on a low setting, then with Tim’s assistance and guidance, did some weights to strengthen my upper legs. After that session was complete we went back inside.

  “Now before I go, I’ll get you to lie down on this mat here, and I’ll stretch out your legs for you.”

  Tim rolled out the yoga style mat and helped me position myself on my back. He kneeled down at my feet and took a hold of my foot, removing the moon boot. “Have you put any pressure on it yet?” he asked as he gently felt the tender area. Urgh! Stop touching my foot, I hate it. Why didn’t I break my finger, or nose even...okay, maybe not the nose.

  I winced. “No, not really.”

  “Well this week, I want you to put a very small amount of weight on it a couple of times a day, but not enough so that it hurts. Pain is not gain in this situation.”

  He shuffled forward, having one knee pushing against my arse and his other foot out beside my body to steady himself—kind like he was about to propose. Then, lifting my leg into the air, he pushed his body against it, stretching my hamstring. “Feel the pulling?”

  “Yep,” I struggled to say, feeling the strain on my leg. I ignored the stretched ache of my muscles by continuing to talk. “So, how’s your son?”

  “Good, although he thinks his bedroom wall is a giant piece of paper,” he answered with a roll of his eyes.

  I laughed. “Tell your fiancé to get some ‘Magic Erasers’, they live up to their name.”

  “Sweet. I will.” He pushed my leg closer to my head just a little bit more. “You feel that? Is it a good stretch?”

  “Yeah,” I awkwardly mumbled again.

  Just as I answered, Bryce stepped out from behind Tim, his hands in his pant suit pockets.

  “Hi,” I groaned, while straining as my leg was pushed into my abdomen, making it difficult to speak.

  “Hi,” he answered sternly while holding his hand out to Tim and introducing himself, “Bryce Clark, Alexis’ partner.”

  Tim let go of my leg but pushed his body harder into me so as to not lose the tension in my stretch. He reached his now free hand out to shake Bryce’s. “Tim,” he answered as he gripped Bryce’s hand. “Alexis’ physiotherapist.”

  I noticed Bryce’s eye twitch as he looked down at our position on the floor. He’s jealous. My Mr. Possessive Clark is jealous. Then again, I wouldn’t blame him. If Tim and I weren’t wearing clothes or on the floor for the sole purpose of stretching, one could think we were attempting the art of Kama Sutra. Hmmm Kama Sutra and Bryce all mixed together in a big ball of sexual Play-doh. I must try that.

  I smiled up at him, letting him know I was aware of his unease. I didn’t do it to rub salt into his wounds. I did it to reassure him that everything was fine and that I felt his jealously was cute. He didn’t see that meaning behind my smile and glared at me.

  Bryce took a seat on the sofa in his sexy, laid back couch position, with one arm stretched out across the back of the seat and his foot crossed over the top of his knee. I met his eyes and they told me he was tense, needy, and desperate. He openly clenched the hand that was rested on the back of the sofa and burned me with his stare. That’s when my mouth broke into a seductive smile, and I noticed his dick twitch in his pants.

  My breath caught, and I let out a small gasp.

  “Is that too hard, Alexis?” Tim’s voice sounded, bringing me back to his attention. Hard? No, but what’s pushing against Bryce’s pants is hard, and I want it.

  I looked at Tim and honestly replied. “No, you can go harder if you’d like.”

  Bryce swapped his leg over the other.

  “No. I don’t want to push you. Not yet, anyway,” Tim replied
.

  “How often should she stretch like this?” Bryce asked, still looking intently at my face.

  “Daily, a few times if she can. It will loosen the tension in her legs and promote blood flow.”

  Bryce nodded.

  “Okay, Alexis, swap legs.” Tim shuffled backward and slowly brought my leg back down. “How does that feel?”

  “Good,” I deliberately purred.

  Tim then gently set my foot down and lifted the other. “Now you should get a bigger stretch out of this one. I should be able to push you harder.” He looked down at a spot on the floor concentrating as he pushed into me, stretching my leg a lot closer to my head this time. While his stare was fixated on the ground, I seductively flicked my eyebrows up and down at Bryce, his response being a crack of his neck to either side. God, I love that.

  I ran my tongue over the top of my teeth while eye-fucking him, driving him wild.

  “Alright, Alexis, remember what I said: a little bit of weight on the foot but no pain, exercise bike daily, but only ten minutes, and stretch your legs out nice and hard.” He reattached my moon boot and got to his feet, helping me up also. Bryce stood up and passed me my crutches, giving his pants a subtle readjustment.

  We both walked Tim to the door.

  “Thanks, Tim, and don’t forget to tell your fiancé about those ‘Magic Erasers’,” I said as he stepped he left the apartment.

  “I won’t. See you in a couple of days,” he called back.

  I closed the door behind him and was instantly pinned up against it, Bryce’s hard body pressed up against mine. I could feel his heart beating through his chest, and the heat that radiated from him was a mixture of burning passion, burning anger, and burning need—all of which I absorbed.

  My breasts swelled as they pushed into him, and the friction against my nipples felt delicious. “Do you have a problem with my physiotherapist, Mr. Clark?”

  “I have a problem with him pressing his cock into your leg.”

  I bit the inside of my lip in order to subdue a smile. “He was stretching me, Bryce.”

  “Yeah, well I’m about to fucking stretch you, and I won’t be fucking stretching your leg.” He scooped me up, and I squealed as he carried me off to bed.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  My foot had improved dramatically after a few weeks of physiotherapy sessions every second day, and I was now able to put the majority of my weight on it by limping around with a walking stick—which was awesome, obviously—except now I felt like my late grandmother. I still had to wear the moon boot, but I could take it off when I was resting, during sleep, and during sex—which was a lot.

  From the moment I told Bryce that I wanted to try for another baby—and from the moment we were in a position to actually do it—he had taken that confession and exploited the shit out of it, taking me against every surface available during any available moment of the day. When I looked back over the amount of times we had made love in recent weeks I kind of felt like a sexed-up whore-a-saurus, but not in a bad way, in a good way...a very good way.

  Things had started to go back to normal again—normal being an understated word in my life, but normal in the sense that the kids were happy and healthy, Bryce and I were happy and healthy—with exception of my foot—and work was as per usual, Bryce busy running his company, and I was busy running his errands and office. Even my relationship with Rick was on the mend, to a point where I had felt comfortable enough to have a coffee with him and Claire after dropping the kids off at my old house...yes him and Claire! She and RJ had moved in with Rick and he seemed relatively happy. I say relatively, because I did still pick up on a very small vibe that Rick still loved me and wanted me back. I could see it buried deep behind his eyes in a place he thought was hidden but wasn’t—not from me anyway.

  There were things that he had been proficient in hiding from me, but either I had become more astute to their discovery or he no longer had the ability to successfully hide them. Either way, that ship had long sailed. I was Bryce’s and he was mine, and I had never been more sure of anything than I was of that.

  We can stumble upon a connection in life—a feeling, an instinct even, having an uncontrollable desire to act upon it—all the while knowing that acting upon it may or may not be the right thing to do. The thing is it’s in that action where we prove our initial feeling to be right or wrong. I had done just that, acted on my connection with Bryce and it paid off. We were in love—made for each other.

  ***

  During the past few weeks I’d covertly kept up my guitar lessons with Derek, some by way of FaceTime in the man-cave while Bryce was working, and others when he was out of the office at appointments. It was tedious, and I hated sneaking around behind his back— especially after he thought I was seeing Derek on the side—but I did it, because I knew the outcome was worth it. I was actually becoming relatively good at playing the guitar considering the short amount of time I’d had to learn. Lucy was right; he was going to absolutely love it. I couldn’t wait. Well...I couldn’t wait to see his reaction, but I could wait to get up in front of an entire room full of people. That scared the absolute shit out me. The gig was only a month away and I knew it wouldn’t be long before long I was taking that plunge and performing for him.

  Those nerves, together with the frustration of still having to wear a stupid Velcro, space-inspired foot brace, were putting a damper on my recent good spirits. I’d had enough of my broken ankle, and, as stupid as it may sound, it was not the reminder of my fall and miscarriage that I wanted or thought I should endure. I’d lost so much more, but my ankle seemed to oppress that and it kind of irritated me. I wanted out of this moon boot completely and back into my heels. I wanted to forget about falling down the stairs but not forget about Bianca. She was far more superior than my shattered ankle, and she deserved my recollection more than my fall and subsequent fracture.

  ***

  Feeling a little flat and wishing the next few weeks would pass by rather quickly, I sat on the circular ottoman in the middle of the walk-in-stadium, my knees raised and my head resting on top of them. I sulked as I looked over my rainbow wall of heels, heels I missed terribly. It would be months before I could wear any of them again, and pathetic as it may sound, it saddened me.

  “Stop staring at your shoes and get out of there,” Bryce called from the bathroom.

  “No! I can’t do anything else with them at the moment apart from stare, so I’m staring,” I grumbled.

  The buzzer to the front door sounded. “Perfect timing,” he mumbled.

  I grabbed my walking stick and headed out of the room, momentarily stopping in my tracks at the sight of Bryce. He was not long showered and casually dressed in dark denim designer jeans which hugged his arse perfectly. He also had on a plain long sleeved black v-neck t-shirt which clung to his muscled arms and chest. He looked simply gorgeous.

  “Where are you going?” I asked curiously and somewhat disappointed that he was going out without me.

  “Catching up with the guys over a few drinks.”

  He approached the top of the stairs and stopped, holding out a hand for me knowing I was still apprehensive in going down them, especially on my own. I didn’t know if this fear would ever leave me, but until I could walk properly again it was either assistance from Bryce or the elevator.

  I took a hold of his hand. “When were you going to tell me about this? I kind of wanted to snuggle and watch a movie tonight.”

  “We can do that tomorrow, Hunny.”

  He smiled, but his smile betrayed him, displaying evidence of something hidden.

  “What are you up to?” I asked, my face now smiling in response.

  “You’re about to find out.”

  He led me down the remainder of the steps and to the entry door of the apartment. “Are you ready?” he said mischievously, as he opened the door and stood aside, letting in Tash, Carly, Lil, Jade, Steph and Jen.

  Tash walked in first, holding up a DVD of
Dirty Dancing. “Nobody puts Alexis in the corner,” she dramatically stated as she kissed my cheek.

  My mouth dropped open in shock. Carls stepped up to me next and plonked a cake in my hands, quickly kissing my forehead and heading straight for Bryce. I looked at the cake and smiled, she’d attempted my favourite, Lemon/Lime Meringue Cake...I must reiterate the word attempted.

  Jade followed, holding a game board. “Celebrity Head,” she said grinning while dancing her shoulders up and down—she knew I loved games.

  Steph playfully bumped Jade aside and gave me a quick hug then looked down at my foot. “Thought as much,” she said, quite sure of herself. “You need a pedi.” She held up her makeup bag which contained some bottles of nail polish.

  Lil was next, holding a big bunch of assorted brightly coloured roses. “This is your official Cheer-The-Fuck-Up-Party, Luv. You didn’t want to go out dancing, so we have come to you.”

  Jen giggled and waved her Michael Jackson ‘Thriller’ CD in the air.

  I was speechless for a second then found my voice, although it was stuttered. “What? When? Who?”

  They all pointed to Bryce.

  Normally he would shrug his shoulders, or play dumb or dismiss it, but he didn’t. He just strode toward me and grabbed my face with his hands, directing my lips to his. I fell into the kiss, heavily, greedily and completely mesmerised. My walking stick fell to the floor and I held out the cake, indicating someone better grab it before I dropped it. Someone did, and as soon as my hands were free I placed them around his neck and threaded my fingers through his hair.

  “Get a room,” Tash groaned.

  “No, this is hot,” Steph replied.

  “Where’s the fucking popcorn?” Jade asked.

  “I’m getting a drink,” Lil declared.

  “I miss my husband,” Jen sighed.

  And Carls just asked to join in.

  I ignored them all, I was totally invested in the man in my arms, drinking him in and savouring his mouth. “I love you so much,” I whispered against his mouth.