Incarnate

by Claire Kent

Anna twisted her hands together nervously. “I know that Mac is more like you. I guess I always thought that was the reason.”

  Her tentative comment seemed to help push Seth into speaking. “It is. But not in the way you think.” His eyes focused on Anna’s face, darted over to Erin’s, then shifted back to Anna’s. “I don’t love her more because she’s like me.”

  Anna’s body stiffened, as if in expectation. Erin wasn’t even breathing.

  Seth took a shaky breath and started to explain—in such a composed tone that no one else would know how torn up he was. “You know I didn’t have a good childhood. I didn’t feel loved by anyone for most of my life. So I didn’t love myself.”

  Erin wanted to cry. She loved Seth so much, and she’d never in her life been so proud of him.

  Seth ran a hand through his hair, but didn’t look away from Anna’s eyes. “That kind of thinking is hard to get over.”

  “But…” Anna gasped, “but we love you! Me and Mom and Mac.”

  “I know, and that means everything. But I can’t always believe I deserve it. It’s better now—so much better than it used to be. But those patterns of thinking don’t just disappear.” Seth cleared his throat. “I’m telling you this because it’s why I’ve always worked so hard to make sure Mackenzie feels loved. She’s like me, and I never want her to feel unloved the way I did. I love her, even though I didn’t used to love myself.”

  Seth’s eyes were steady and his mouth was relaxed. But a sheen of sweat had broken out on his temples, and his hands were fisted at his sides. He was vulnerable. He’d just opened himself up completely to his fourteen-year-old daughter.

  Erin prayed Anna was mature enough to understand what it meant, and to value Seth’s gesture as much as it deserved.

  “Oh.”

  “I’m so sorry, Anna,” Seth continued. “I’m so sorry that I made you believe something that isn’t true. I don’t love Mackenzie any more than I love you. You’re so much like your mother, and I couldn’t imagine anyone in the world wouldn’t love you. But assuming you knew how I felt wasn’t fair to you. I was wrong, and I hope you’ll forgive me.”

  Erin wasn’t going to be able to take anymore. She was dying to go over to Seth and take him in her arms. If Anna didn’t say something soon, she would have to go to Seth—if only so he wouldn’t be sitting all alone like he was.

  Then Anna made a choked noise in her throat. She pulled out of Erin’s arm and got up, pushing down the legs of her pajama pants which had been riding up on her calves. She took a few slow steps toward Seth until she was standing in front of him.

  They just looked at each other for a minute.

  Then Anna sat down on the chaise beside him, knees together, spine straight—just like Seth was sitting.

  “Thank you for telling me that,” she whispered.

  “You’re welcome.”

  Anna looked up at Seth and her mouth twitched irrepressibly. She was as emotional as Erin, but she’d also gotten both of her parents’ strong sense of irony. “You can hug me now, if you want.”

  Seth choked on a burst of laughter and pulled Anna into hug. His arms wrapped around her, one of his hands cupping the back of her head, his fingers tangling in the blonde hair. He held her with an urgency that was almost desperate but with a tenderness that proved how precious she was to him.

  Erin gave up fighting it and indulged in a few sappy tears.

  She wasn’t sure how they would have pulled themselves out of this emotional intensity without embarrassing themselves, but as it happened they didn’t have to.

  “What’s going on?” Mackenzie asked from the doorway. She was wearing her coat and carrying her small, trendy purse, and she had a frown on her face.

  “Oh, hi, pumpkin,” Erin said, rubbing her eyes as she greeted her oldest daughter.

  “I thought you’d all be camped out at the front door, ready to ambush us when we arrived.” Mackenzie studied Seth and Anna, who’d pulled out of the hug, both looking a little sheepish.

  “How was your date?” Erin got up and went over to Mackenzie.

  “It was good. Really good.” Mackenzie smiled in a quiet way that didn't quite hide how giddy she was feeling, but then her eyebrows drew together. “What’s going on? Is Anna all right?”

  “I’m fine. Did he kiss you? Or try to feel you up?”

  “Anna!” Both Mackenzie and Erin spoke at once.

  Seth had come over to join the rest of them near the door. He idly stroked Anna’s hair, and she didn’t pull away from the fond gesture. “You had a good time?” he asked Mackenzie softly.

  She nodded and looked away shyly. “Yeah.”

  “Good.”

  Mackenzie’s eyes darted up suspiciously when Seth didn’t interrogate her any further. While Erin was sure Seth hadn’t resigned himself to his powerless in this aspect of his daughter’s life, she loved him for not pursuing it at the moment—for both of his daughters’ sake.

  “What’s going on? Things seem weird.” Mackenzie turned to Erin questioningly.

  “We went out to dinner. Some college guy took a fancy to Anna.”

  “Mom!” Anna whined.

  Mackenzie laughed. “That reminds me. Justin said Rick Cook—you know, from the basketball team—kind of likes you.”

  Anna’s eyes widened dramatically. “Likes me?”

  “Yeah. He’s a junior, though.”

  Seth made a growling sound.

  Anna ignored him. “He likes me?”

  “Yeah. I, of course, told Justin that Rick could stand in line since lots of guys are crazy about you.” There was a significant look in Mackenzie’s eyes as she met Anna’s—as if she’d picked up on some of Anna’s feelings lately and was addressing them in the only way she could.

  Anna’s smile made the last clench of anxiety relax in Erin’s chest.

  “I’m going to change clothes,” Mackenzie announced.

  “You’ll have to tell me all about the date, though,” Erin said before Mackenzie left the room.

  “I will.”

  Anna followed her sister. “So what did Justin say about Rick?”

  Erin chuckled as the girls disappeared down the hall.

  When she turned around, Seth was watching her with deep, speaking eyes.

  A tender ache in her throat, Erin stepped over and finally let herself embrace him. She kissed him hard on the lips, then buried her face in his shoulder. “You have no idea how much I love you.”

  “I think I might have an inkling.” His tone was dry but his arms and hands were urgent and needy.

  “And just so you know,” Erin murmured, moving her lips to his ear, “You’re going to get fucked so hard tonight.”

  Seth laughed, low and husky. “As long as it’s by you.”

  ***

  Seth had Erin bent over the arm of the big chair in their bedroom.

  She was close to coming, her body tensing and her fingers clawing frantically at the soft fabric of the chair cushion. He was standing behind her, holding her legs apart with his hand curved around the front of one of her thighs. And he was pushing into her—hard, fast, and forceful.

  The chair was upholstered and the arm had plenty of cushioning but it still wasn’t particularly comfortable. Her body was awkward, and she had to use her arms to stabilize her balance.

  But the helplessness was part of the thrill.

  Seth’s cock was hitting her g-spot in a series of fast, clumsy thrusts. And on each contact, the urgent pressure at her center deepened until she had to bite her lip to keep from screaming.

  A half-hour ago she’d come out of the bathroom in one of her sexiest pieces of lingerie and told him she’d do anything he wanted. She’d been prepared to do most of the work, to please him in any way he wanted as an expression of how deeply she felt for him.

  Instead, he'd gotten on his knees, widened her stance, grabbed her by the hips, and begun to pleasure her with his mouth. She’d stood above him for almost ten minutes as he took his tim
e, working her up more than once until she was almost on the verge of coming. Eventually, her legs were shaking, and she whimpered out pleas for release.

  Finally, just when the stimulation became more torturous than pleasurable, he’d removed his face from between her legs and stood up.

  “What do you want?” he demanded, his voice hoarse and primal.

  “Fuck me. God, Seth, fuck me hard.”

  So he’d folded her over the arm of the chair and fucked her from behind, as she tried to smother the sounds of her cries for fear her daughters would hear.

  Seth had moved one of his hands to her hair, gathering it into his fist and pulling on it—firmly but not hard enough to be painful. His primitive, dominant behavior was as erotic as the naughty position and the feel of his cock pumping inside her.

  He was panting, occasionally making rough grunts that caused her to thrill with excitement. He hadn’t said anything since the one thick question but she understood him perfectly.

  Had she realized earlier that he would want to go all caveman on her, she would have played harder to get.

  As Erin’s body tightened and her breath caught in her throat, she felt her vision blur over. Unable to suppress her vocal responses any longer, she gasped, “Oh God! Oh Seth!”

  He pulled on her hair, keeping her from hiding her face in the cushion. “Yes, baby. Come now.”

  She came hard, folded over the arm the chair and nearly sobbing with the waves of release. Her inner muscles clamped down hard around him, but he kept pushing against the contractions, sustaining the pleasure.

  When the sensations finally faded, Erin realized how uncomfortable she was. The arm of the chair was pushing into her belly, and her thighs and back were getting stiff.

  Seth was still hard inside her, though, and she wasn’t going to complain.

  When she loosened a little around him, he pulled his cock out and let go of her hair.

  She turned to look at him questioningly over her shoulder, and got another thrill at the primal tension on his handsome face. “Where do you want me now?” she asked, making sure he knew she was happy to keep up the caveman routine.

  “The bed.” His voice was like gravel.

  “How do you want me?”

  “On your hands and knees.”

  She pushed herself up, wincing at she straightened her back, and was relieved to settle herself on the bed as he’d instructed. It was definitely more comfortable than that chair.

  Seth kneeled behind her and grabbed her by the soft flesh of her ass. “Lower your shoulders and head.”

  She did so, feeling jolts of pleasure at the rough authority in his voice.

  Her bottom was raised in the air now, and he positioned himself behind her, aligning his thighs with hers and then his still erect cock at her entrance.

  He slid in without hesitation, the thick substance of him pushing into her.

  She inhaled sharply at the penetration and squirmed her hips to generate more friction.

  Seth held her still with his strong hands, pitching his hips forward to begin a steady, satisfying rhythm.

  Erin worked with his rhythm, bumping her ass back against his thrusts as much as she could. She couldn’t move as much as she wanted because Seth never let up on his grip. But it was enough to push her into the momentum of another orgasm as the stimulation took effect.

  “Oh God!” she cried, her head turned to the side and her hot cheek pressing down against the mattress.

  Seth had started to grunt again—primitive sounds in time with his rhythm she could never get enough of. His breath hitched at her loud cry, however, a grunt catching in his throat.

  “Harder,” she begged, her climax swelling up with powerful insistence. “Harder, Seth. Please. Harder. Faster.”

  His fingers dug into the flesh of her bottom, so hard she knew it would bruise. But he intensified his thrusts, accelerated his rhythm and leaning forward to adjust his angle.

  It felt so good, Erin almost screamed. Her attempts to stifle the sound nearly choked her. She was so wet she could hear the sound of suction every time Seth’s cock pumped inside her, and she could even feel a little moisture trickling down her inner thigh.

  “Fuck, you’re getting tight,” Seth gritted out, his motion jerky and barely controlled. “You’re going to come again. Aren’t you?”

  “Uh huh.” Her whole body tightened like a fist.

  Then Seth reached around her middle and gave her clit a clumsy massage.

  She wasn’t expecting it, and so she wasn’t prepared to come so quickly with a surge of overwhelming pleasure.

  A hoarse scream caught her unaware as her body shook through its release.

  “Yes,” Seth hissed, jerking his pelvis against her bottom. “Yes, baby. Come for me again.”

  She was practically wheezing when she finally came down, her face burning and her entire body flushed with carnal heat.

  Just as she realized that Seth was still hard inside her, he slid his cock out with a wet sound.

  “Turn over now,” he said.

  She did as he said, her body relaxing in the more comfortable position. She bent her knees up and parted her legs as far as she could, exposing herself to Seth’s view.

  He was kneeling in front of her, naked, tense, and fully erect. His cock was slick with her juices. “What do you want now?” he demanded, his blue eyes intense and primal as they devoured her body.

  Erin loved him so much. She loved him like this, almost as much as she loved him as the tender father. She told him the truth. “I want you to make me come again.”

  He made a sound like a growl and lowered his face to the hot, swollen flesh between her legs. She was very wet and sloppy, and her thighs were jigglier than they used to be.

  But she wasn’t remotely self-conscious. Not with Seth. Not after so long.

  He nuzzled her intimate folds, causing her to whimper in pleasure. She was sensitive from her first two orgasms and it didn’t take much of Seth’s gentle tonguing and nuzzling before she was tense and eager again.

  “Oh God!” she gasped, when his rolled her clit with his tongue. “Yes, please!”

  When he lightly scraped her sensitized flesh with his teeth, she arched her back up and clawed at the bed, fisting the covers in her hands.

  He hummed low in his throat, the vibrations tightening her body even more.

  Then he closed his mouth around her clit and sucked on it hard.

  Erin felt her orgasm surge forward and made frantic sobbing sounds of pleasure.

  Just as she was on the edge, not quite coming but too far to draw it back, Seth raised his head from between her legs. Before she could react, he’d moved over her, burying his hard cock inside her and rearing up above her on straightened arms.

  The sight of his strong body, intense, hungry expression, and familiar face all combined with the sudden sensation of being filled and stretched by his cock.

  The orgasm that had already formed erupted with shattering intensity.

  She came all around him, crying out loudly and brokenly. As she clenched around him, Seth released one rough exclamation of effort and relief.

  Then he was coming too—his pelvis jerking, his cock pulsing, and his face twisting with pleasure.

  He came inside her, staring down into her eyes, and then he finally collapsed over her. They were both exhausted and breathless as they clung to each other, and Erin knew she was just as hot and sweaty as he was.

  When Seth found enough energy, he raised his face from the crook of her neck and kissed her. She could still taste herself on his mouth, but she kissed him back greedily—understanding both the urgency and the love in his kiss.

  After they’d kissed for a long time, after his cock had softened inside her, Seth lifted his head to look her in the eyes.

  Seth gave her a brief, soft kiss. Murmured, “Thank you, baby."

  She pulled him down into a hard hug and held him as tightly as she could.

  But her voice wa
s pitched slightly naughty as she whispered against his ear, “Thank you.”

  ***

  “Are you mad?”

  Erin asked the question after a few minutes of lying in silence with Seth’s weight—hot and heavy—on top of her.

  Seth’s body jerked so hard she gasped in response.

  “No, of course not,” he said gruffly, pulling up to look down at her face. “I was just…I thought we were just…I thought you were…” His expression twisted in obvious distress.

  “No, no,” she interrupted, realizing how he’d misunderstood her and feeling immediately guilty for making him question the nature of their lovemaking earlier. “I didn’t mean that. Actually, I think we should try caveman sex more often—it was so good.” She lifted her head to kiss him and was relieved when his face relaxed. “I just meant are you mad that I told Anna.”

  Seth swallowed, his blue eyes sober and oddly quiet. “No. We agreed you could tell the girls four years ago.”

  “I know. But I didn’t. And maybe you started feeling safe—about that.” Her voice wavered slightly, knowing she was verging on an intrusion into Seth’s privacy. Even now, she didn’t push it very often, understanding how hard it was for him to open up.

  “I did feel safe,” Seth admitted. “But you had every right to tell Anna. It’s your story as much as mine.”

  “I thought she needed to know something,” Erin went on, squirming under Seth’s weight until he pulled off her even more. Despite Seth’s easy acquiescence, she felt compelled to explain herself. “I didn’t know if you’d be able to tell her that…that deeper thing.”

  Seth’s expression changed and he gave her a familiar, dry look. “I wasn’t sure of it myself. And you’re right. She needed an explanation.”

  Erin felt her heart melting a little, and she was pretty sure it was reflected in her face.

  Obviously, it was. Seth gave her a mild eye-roll. “Don’t get sappy.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it,” Erin lied with a decidedly sappy smile. “I’m so glad you were able to tell her. She needed to know. And she’ll always be as protective of the knowledge as I am. She loves you.”

  Seth’s smile looked torn between matching emotion and irony. “She does, doesn’t she?”