In a Lifetime

by Ariadne Wayne

  Finally, the lift bell dinged, and I stepped in, pressing the button for the basement. It was empty; I must have caught it at the right time, and I adjusted my tie in one of the side-wall mirrors. At least I’d look presentable coming straight from work.

  Ella and I hadn’t had a night out in what felt like forever. From our first evening together ’til now, the only time we’d been apart were the two nights she’d had in hospital with Finn and Georgia. And most nights since then had been spent with our family, Finn having started walking, Georgia trying so hard to roll over. These were the best days, the days when our children grew right before our eyes, the days when we were just all together.

  But tonight was for us. Vanessa had offered to babysit when Ella told her Holly’s birthday party was coming up. It would be a boozy night, and not somewhere we could take the babies. We leapt at the chance to have a night out.

  Traffic was hell, the rain falling heavy in some parts of the drive, and as I sat on the motorway with the cars at a standstill. It turned to hail, tiny little stones falling everywhere, and for the shortest time giving the road the appearance of being covered in snow.

  It was beautiful in its own way, despite my frustration at not being able to move more than a metre at a time. It was six-thirty by the time I saw the motorway exit.

  Cheering in my head, I turned off, navigating through the streets until I came to Holly’s place. I’d been here a couple of times before, but tonight I had to park a little farther down the road. She must have had half of Auckland there.

  The music hit me before anything else. She must surely have invited her neighbours, or she’d be in for a visit from noise control before it was over. It brought back memories of all those parties Sam and I’d had, the house sometimes overflowing with students. I didn’t think about those days much anymore.

  People were everywhere, and the night was still early. I didn’t want to be around if anything went bad, and I especially didn’t want Ella here.

  I smiled as I realised my current favourite song was playing, the one that always made me think of Ella.

  And then I saw her.

  You stopped the world. I couldn’t breathe.

  She sat in the corner, wearing that same dress she wore all those years ago when I first spotted her. It was a little tighter after the kids, and her breasts looked amazing, squeezed into the top. I’d have to get her out of it so she could breathe again. She was beautiful, her hair hanging in curls, framing that gorgeous face. Her makeup was immaculate with vibrant red lipstick, her nails painted to match.

  In her hands was a lemonade bottle, and she drank the beverage through a straw, the image causing a stirring in my loins similar to the one I’d had back then.

  This time though, she was mine.

  A guy I assumed was one of Holly’s friends sat off to the side, with his eyes on Ella. It might have upset me had I not known that she had done this for me.

  I made a beeline for her, cutting through groups of people to get to my girlfriend. When she saw me, she raised her eyebrows, a cheeky smile in her eyes, and she sucked on that straw for all that it was worth.

  Out of the corner of my eye, right on the edge of my peripheral vision, I saw the guy who had been looking at her stand.

  No. There was no chance of anyone else stealing my girl this time.

  Slowly, she rose as I came toward her, still sucking at that drink. With eyes only for one another, we closed the gap, and she grinned without taking the straw from her lips.

  “Ella,” I murmured, taking the bottle from her hands and placing it on a nearby table.

  “Matt.” She breathed my name, so sexy from her lips. We weren’t going to last a whole evening in this place, that was for sure.

  She reached up, clasping her hands behind my neck as I wrapped my arms around her waist. “You look incredible.”

  “I opened the wardrobe to find something to wear tonight and saw this. I know it’s what I wore the night you first saw me.”

  “The night I lost you,” I whispered.

  “No chance of that happening again. You’re stuck with me now.” She grinned, and I leaned in to kiss her, tasting her lips, smearing that lipstick so perfectly applied.

  “I love you, Ella,” I whispered, pressing my forehead to hers.

  “I love you, too. And our family.”

  I grinned, kissing her on the nose.

  Ella’s grip tightened. “Oooh I like this song.”

  I buried my face in her neck, and we moved, my nose pressing in to her skin, inhaling the honey fragrance that had driven me nuts for years. Words couldn’t express how I felt about this woman. She was a part of me, and I relaxed my arms, reaching for her hands.

  She looked up at me with those big blue eyes, smiling as I squeezed her hands.

  “This song makes me think of you.”

  “In what way?” She tilted her head.

  You are the only one I want. You are the only one I lost. She smiled as she listened to the words, shaking her head.

  Ella let go, cupping my face in her hands. “Never losing me again.”

  “Do we have to stay?” I murmured.

  “I don’t know if Holly will notice us leaving. She’s got a full house. What did you have in mind?”

  I smacked my lips together. “Well, Vanessa is with the kids all evening. It’s still early. I thought that we could go and get something to eat, find somewhere quiet to park, and make out in the car.”

  Ella laughed. We’d never really dated. As soon as we’d come home from the Cook Islands, I’d moved in with her. When Georgia was born so soon after Finn, we’d been so busy that we’d got on with our lives with the children. Any time I got alone with Ella was precious.

  “That sounds wonderful.” She snuggled in against my chest, wrapping her arms around me.

  “I have plans for after we get home and Vanessa leaves, too,” I said.

  “You do?”

  “I promise I’ll help with the children tomorrow, but I don’t know if either of us are going to get much sleep tonight.”

  Her body shook as she laughed. “I’m a human milk machine. I don’t get much sleep any time.”

  “I know, and I swear you’ll have a good time. Besides, you need to know you’re so much more than a human milk machine.”

  Ella smiled up at me, pursing her lips in invitation to kiss her. Of course I took advantage, kissing her so hard she gasped. But then, I could kiss this woman for days and not come up for air.

  “Want to get out of here?”

  She nodded.

  “Fish and chips by the beach?”

  She squeezed me, breaking away from our embrace. “I’ll get my bag, and we’ll get going.”

  I watched as she walked toward Holly to tell her we were going. Those hips swaying as she walked made me sigh. It didn’t matter how many times I saw her, each time was like the first.

  Holly glared at me as Ella whispered in her ear, and I grinned like a crazy person, wiggling my fingers at her. Ella didn’t notice, disappearing for a moment before returning with her bag and jacket, then skipping back toward me and grabbing hold of my hand.

  “Let’s get out of here.”

  She giggled as we made our way out and away from the house, through the dwindling raindrops, the sound fading as we drew closer to the car. It wasn’t far to a beach and a fish and chip shop, and then I could snuggle with her. Exactly what the doctor ordered.

  Ella leaned back in her seat as I drove, and I glanced at her, smiling at how relaxed she looked. This was what she needed—what we both needed.

  I drive to Mission Bay, pulling up outside a fish and chip shop, and got out of the car. Walking around, I opened Ella’s door, taking her hand. She smiled lovingly at me.

  “Date night, then?” she asked.

  “Date night. I’m kind of hoping I’ll score.”

  She laughed. “I’m pretty sure you will.”

  I grinned, wrapping one arm around her waist as we walked
into the shop together. I stood behind her, holding her tight against me as she ordered for both of us. It wasn’t the food I was interested in.

  We sat in the corner of the little waiting area as they cooked our food, entangled in one another’s arms, content to be together. She leaned her head on my shoulder.

  “Happy?” I asked.

  “Always.” She snuggled in tighter, and I kissed the top of her head, barely noticing when they called our order number.

  “That’s us,” Ella murmured, untangling herself from me, and taking hold of the paper-wrapped parcel. We walked back out to the car, and I opened her door before climbing in and setting off around the corner to the beachfront.

  It was a still night. The earlier rain had completely disappeared, and the air smelled fresh, cleaned by the water.

  “Want to sit in the back seat with me?” I asked as we pulled into the deserted car park.

  She grinned. “I thought we were eating dinner.”

  “We are. I thought we could put the food in the middle and sit and watch the water. The benches will still be too wet to sit outside. And then we can fool around.”

  “I like the sound of that.”

  As I parked, Ella placed her hand on my thigh, squeezing gently.

  “Be careful, young lady. I might change the order of what we’re doing around if you carry on like that.”

  “Promise?” She looked at me wide-eyed, tempting me to do just that.

  “You’re trouble, Ella,” I said, pecking her lips.

  “I try my best.” She grinned, picking up the food and opening her door.

  We met in the back seat, sharing a loving kiss before she unwrapped the package. She picked up a chip, sliding it slowly into her mouth and winking at me. Laughing, I shook my head, taking a chip for myself. This was the life. Two people in love and enjoying being together.

  The way we always should have been.

  Moonlight lit the water. The rain had stopped falling, and it was beautiful and peaceful. We ate in silence, eager to finish our dinner and move on to other things.

  “I think Finn asked where you were today,” Ella said, breaking a piece of fish into bits and scooping one into her mouth.

  “Really?”

  “He said ‘da da?’ like it was a question, and not him just calling you that.”

  I grinned. He was such a daddy’s boy at times, especially since Georgia had arrived. We were the best of mates.

  “That’s so cool. Makes me sad I won’t see him until the morning.”

  She smiled until her dimples appeared. “He’ll be mega excited to see you. Maybe we can take the kids out somewhere tomorrow, let Finn have a good run around with you. He’d like that.”

  The last chip lay on the paper, and I raised an eyebrow at her. “Do you want that?”

  “Maybe, but do you want it?”

  “Split it in half?”

  She nodded, laughing as I broke the chip that maybe measured two inches in half, popping her piece into her mouth.

  “I like sharing with you,” I said, as I rolled the paper up into a ball, tucking it under the driver’s seat.

  “I like doing everything with you.” She waggled her eyebrows, and I wriggled closer to her. She met me in the middle of the seat, and I wrapped my arms around her, kissing her softly.

  The salty taste from the fish and chips was on her lips. “I love you, Ella.”

  “I love you too.” I kissed her again, longer and deeper, her mouth opening to mine as my tongue sought hers. The stress of the busy week lifted when we kissed, our bodies pressed together as much as the car seat allowed. It was easy to get carried away with her, and I lost myself, kissing my way down her neck as I stroked one of her breasts, her nipple hardening under the fabric.

  “Matt,” she whispered, the urgency in her voice obvious as I hit that spot that made her gasp. From our conversation in bed that first time ’til now, I’d explored her, gotten to know every inch of her body. I knew what to do to make her sing.

  Her hand ran down my back to my waist, then around my belt until it landed on my groin. The smell of her had already ignited action down there. Her touch hardened me beyond belief, and she pulled at my belt buckle, opening my pants and releasing my cock.

  I looked around. There were people out and about, but none near the car. Making a mental note to get the car windows tinted, I returned to kissing her lips as she ran her hand up and down my length, each stroke bringing me closer to my end.

  Ella backed down the seat, bending over, my entire body shaking as she took me in her mouth. What that woman could do with her lips and tongue, I marvelled at, although she often said the same about me going down on her.

  We both took so much pleasure in pleasuring one another, and on this night she went to town, her lips tightening around me, her tongue flicking over me. I moaned, leaning back on the seat as she took control. Anything in the world she wanted, I’d give her.

  “Ella,” I cried out as I came, and she stayed there, not raising her head until she’d taken everything. But then, she’d given me everything—her heart, our children, our life. I would never take any of that for granted, not while I had breath in my body.

  I zipped up as she sat back, a smug smile on her face.

  “I like it when you say my name,” she said.

  Reaching for her, I pulled her into my arms, burying my face in her hair. “I’ll only ever call your name.”

  She shook in my arms, and I kissed her tenderly, pressing my nose to hers. Ella sighed, snuggling into me, and we watched as the moon moved up higher into the sky.

  By now there were more people in the car park, eating food, walking down toward the beach. Our solitude broken.

  “We should go home.” She linked her fingers with mine, squeezing gently.

  “Vanessa won’t hear the car. We could keep making out in the privacy of our own driveway.”

  Ella laughed, burying her face in my chest. “Can’t we go home and go to bed?”

  “Isn’t this more fun? It’s still date night.”

  She edged up, planting a kiss on my neck. “You’ve got a point. We’d be close to home, but still have a little privacy.”

  “Let’s go. The sooner I can get you in this back seat again, the better.”

  Laughing, she let go, opening the door and moving to the front seat. “Hurry up then.”

  She didn’t need to say it twice. I joined her in the front, starting the car and backing out of the park. It would take about thirty minutes to drive home, but with her by my side, the time passed quickly and comfortably. I could spend every second with this woman and never be bored or want for anything else.

  With the lights of the city behind us, we drove the quiet streets to our home. I’d recently upgraded my car to something new and quiet. And a sedan. A ‘family car’, as Ella’s dad had called it. I didn’t mind. We needed all the space we could get with our recently expanded family. Georgia was only a few months old, but she had cemented her place in our lives as Finn had.

  All that time Ella had waited, and she was in her element now with the pair of them. I didn’t know a more loving and devoted mother. And she was all mine.

  “Where’s Vanessa’s car?” I asked, as I pulled into the driveway.

  “Oh, I meant to tell you. It’s got a problem with the transmission. She came over in a taxi. You might need to give her a lift home.”

  I shook my head, grinning. “Now you tell me. You mean I’m gonna get hot and heavy with you and then have to wait to get laid?”

  Ella reached for my arm. “Just think about what’ll be waiting for you at home.”

  “I never think about anything else.”

  Her face lit up, dimples on show as she smiled, pulling away from me and quietly opening the door. I put my fingers to my lips as I followed suit, and we climbed back into the back seat, laughing quietly.

  “You don’t think she heard us?” she asked, looking toward the house.

  I shrugged. “
She’ll have the TV going. Now, where were we?”

  Ella leaned back against the car door, her eyes so animated, truly happy.

  “Ella,” I whispered, leaning over to kiss the curve of her breasts, pale in the gentle illumination coming from the street. I had to taste the creamy white skin, and I got lost again in that familiar smell. All mine.

  Ella’s breath hitched as my lips touched her flesh, so sweet and tender. My entire body was on fire, driven by my desire for her. At some point she’d go inside with the children, and I’d be left hanging while I drove across town, but I couldn’t keep my hands to myself right now as I stroked her shoulders.

  That throaty laugh as I took mouthfuls of her skin drove me insane, and I fiddled with the top button on the front of her dress.

  Tap-tap-tap.

  I sat up, Ella looking at me wide-eyed. All that heavy breathing had fogged up the windows. I couldn’t for the life of me see who it was, but I had a fair idea.

  Ella buttoned the top of her dress, laughing softly as she shook her head. Here we were, acting like teenagers, getting caught out in our own driveway.

  I placed my hand on the window, wiping a little until I could see out. Vanessa stood outside, waving at us with a silly grin on her face.

  She tapped on the glass again, and I opened the door a little. “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “I heard the car.” She wrinkled her nose, peering in. “Are you two having sex in the back seat?”

  “No,” Ella said.

  “That’s what it looks like.” Vanessa grinned, waggling her eyebrows.

  “We hadn’t got that far. You interrupted us.”

  I laughed at Ella’s words. That much was true. I’d never understand their love/hate relationship, but Ella and Vanessa were always honest with one another.

  “Well, your babies are tucked up in bed asleep. Georgia grumped at the bottle, but I explained to her that it came from Mummy’s boobs, and she drank fine after that. I think she was just hungry, but I’m claiming that one.”

  Ella laughed, rubbing her forehead and shaking her head. “You can have it.”

  “So get inside and get into that big, soft bed of yours. Much more comfortable than the back seat of a car.” Vanessa crossed her arms and winked.