Chapter Eleven
Greg took a cursory glance around the dark-lit club, searching for Liza. He smiled when he caught site of his wife’s dark head bob slightly up and down as she listened to the soulful strains from the live band. He threaded his way through the small tables until he made it to her side.
“Hi, sweetheart…sorry I’m late,” he raised his voice so that she could hear him over the music.
“That’s okay, you’re not too late. I went ahead and ordered an appetizer for us,” she told him, accepting his light kiss.
Greg sat down in the maroon leather chair and looked around the club. It was already busy.
Although it was Wednesday, the club was quickly filling with an eclectic group, ranging from those dressed in business attire, to those dressed more casually in slacks or jeans. Rigby’s was one of the few clubs in Stanton that featured a live band five days a week. The band that was currently playing was a favorite for him and Liza. No sooner had he sat in his seat, than they announced they’d be taking a small break.
“That’s fine, baby. How was your day?” he asked, as he took her in from head to toe. She was gorgeous.
As usual Liza was beautifully dressed, without a hair out of place. Immaculate.
Sometimes, he just wanted to mess her up.
He longed to throw her down right where they were and kiss her senseless, just to see her ‘oh so well put together’ self, flustered…and completely, thoroughly…messed up.
The thought alone turned him on. Probably because he could imagine how embarrassed she’d be and how sexy she’d look. Totally out of control. He couldn’t imagine his wife letting go enough to do anything so public.
He linked his fingers with hers across the small, candlelit table. The sting of their encounter earlier had lessened and Greg was glad he’d asked her to meet him for dinner.
“It was fine, I ended up going to lunch with a few of the women from the club.”
“I’m sorry about not being able to make it. It was a hectic day,” he felt a twinge of guilt over the lie, but brushed it aside.
“Ummm. It was okay. I had a decent enough time.” She pulled her hand away from his when the waitress placed the steaming bowl of hot spinach dip in the center of the table, next to the sourdough bread. “Thank you,” she murmured.
He waited for her to continue speaking when he saw the way she’d brought her eyebrows together, and pursed her lips. As though she was trying to work something out in her mind.
He accepted his drink from the waitress and sat back in his chair, waiting for Liza to speak. She picked up a piece of bread and lightly dipped it into the dip, chewing thoughtfully before she continued.
“I ran into a woman I haven’t seen since I was a teenager.” There was a small hesitancy to her voice.
“Yes? Was that a good thing?” he too pulled a piece of bread from the loaf and ate, as he waited for her to sort whatever was going on in her mind, out.
“It was unexpected. And funny. And…painful. A little,” she said with a humorless small laugh.
“How was it painful?”
“I don’t know. I guess anytime you see someone from your past, it tends to be painful,” she evaded.
“Not always,” he countered. “What made this one so painful?”
She was saved from answering when their food arrived simultaneously with the band striking up. He could see the relief flash across her expressive face and gritted his teeth together in frustration.
Fuck.
He felt like shaking her ass! With every damn step forward, it seemed as though she took two friggin’ steps back. He grabbed the napkin to his right, shook out the utensils and stabbed into his steak, stuffing his mouth with a forkful of the tender meat. He knew that he’d better keep his mouth full of food otherwise there was no telling what he’d say to Liza.
By the end of the night, if she didn’t open up, he was going to confront her about her mother. And ask why was it that he’d not been aware that not only had she been in contact with her, but she’d been giving her mother money since her sophomore year in college, until last week when her mother had called him. After seven years of marriage.
* * * * *
He looked mad as hell.
She really couldn’t blame him. She’d be angry too.
She’d played a game of hide-‘n-seek long enough. But try as she might, she didn’t know how to even start to tell him about her past. Her childhood, the way she grew up moving from house to house whenever they fell behind on the rent, food stamps, Medicaid…not to mention her crazy-ass mama and their strange love-hate relationship.
Sometimes the best way was the direct way.
“You know how rough it was for me as a kid, Greg,” she started and stopped.
“Yes. A little. I mean you’ve told me some of what your childhood was like,” he said.
“Sometimes, it’s really hard for me to think about it, much less talk about it. I just want to forget some of the things that happened, it’s easier that way.”
“I can understand that, Li. I don’t want you to talk about things that upset you. I just think you’d feel better about it all, if you did. And who better to talk about it with than me?”
“I went to the ladies room at the club and to say I was surprised when I saw that the attendant was a woman I’d known as a child, is putting it mildly,” she said after she’d taken a bite of her linguine, considering his words.
“I’ll bet.” Was all that he said, but the look on his face spurred her on to continue. It was as though she’d given him an early Christmas present and helped her to continue her story.
“It was a woman who had gone to the same church that I’d gone to as a child. She asked me how I’d been. She seemed happy to know that I was doing well. She asked about my mother.” She stopped and looked down at her plate, swallowing.
“What did you say?” Greg asked casually and paused for a brief moment, right before he was ready to take a bite of his steak.
Although he tried to hide it she felt his intent stare and grew uncomfortable. He tried to hide his interest, but they’d been married long enough that she could read her man. He carefully took a bite, chewing slowly, methodically, as he stared at her.
“What could I say? Her guess was as good as mine.”
Greg’s face tightened and Liza knew that she hadn’t imagined it this time. Something was going on. She felt that crazy sensation in the pit of her stomach. The sensation that told her something wasn’t right.
Serious shit was about to hit the fan, as Karina’s Big Momma used to say. A minute later it did.
“Your mother called me last week.”
Nasty thing, it was. When shit hit the fan.
Liza was taking a swallow of her tea and damn near choked to death after he uttered those six words as calmly as if he were telling her they were predicting rain in the forecast.
He jumped up from his chair and thumped her on the back until she waved him away with a choked, “I’m fine. Really…”
He walked back to his seat and sat back down, calm as you please, picked his fork back up and took another bite of his food.
“My mother called you? Why are you just now telling me this? When did she call? Where was I…” her words jumbled and fell over themselves in her haste to clarify and understand.
She pushed the half-eaten plate of food to the side. Suddenly, the delicious, creamy linguine had lost all appeal as her appetite had completely disappeared after his disclosure.
“Let’s dance.”
He pushed away from the table and walked to her side and pulled her chair out for her. Dumbfounded, she simply followed him to the small dance floor and allowed him to pull her without preamble, into his arms.
Normally, she’d be in heaven, dancing with Greg. He had a natural smooth rhythm; able to keep up with her whether she danced fast, did the bus stop, line danced, or a nice slow grind. It didn’t matter…the man could dance.
The way he’
d hold her close, his natural musky good smell usually had her ready to rip his clothes off by the time the dance was over and sex him up, real nice.
But this time, as he pulled her close she didn’t lay her head on his chest as she normally would in order to get close to his heady smell.
She was tense, uneasy and wanted to know when and why her mother called him.
“Greg, what do you mean my mother called you? When did this…?”
He put his finger over her mouth to still her nervous prattle. “Just dance with me, Li. We’ll talk later.”
He pulled her snug against his body and despite her nervousness, despite the fact that she was on edge, wondering what in the hell her mama had said to her husband… his nearness, his smell, his overall masculinity forced her to close her eyes, lay her head on his chest and sway with him to the soulful sounds from the female lead vocalist of the band.
* * * * *
“When did she call, Greg? Quit screwing around with me and tell me. When did my mother call?”
Liza had had it up to her eyeballs with his refusal to talk about her mother’s phone call.
“She called almost two weeks ago, Li. She called asking for you, said she lost your cell phone number but was able to find our home phone number.”
Liza sat on the edge of the bed as she massaged the last of the lotion on her arms after her shower. She stared at Greg as he lay propped up against the headboard, his eyes looking so cold and distant that she didn’t even recognize him.
She automaticallywent on the defense. Automatically.
“What do you want me to say? What? That I’ve spoken to my mother? That she’ll occasionally call me when she’s hard up for money? What? What the hell do you want me to say, Greg?” she yelled and jumped up from the bed in nervous agitation.
“You sure do have a hell of a lot of nerve yelling at me, Liza. You’re the one at fault. I didn’t do a damn thing. Just tried to be the best husband that I could be. I had no idea my wife had been lying to me for seven years, telling me her mother was gone and she never heard from her after she graduated from high school.”
Greg jumped up from the bed and damn near stalked her. She walked backwards as he slowly, menacingly strode over to her.
Her back hit the wall. She had nowhere else to go.
“Listen. It’s obvious to me that if you feel the need to lie to me about your mother, it makes me wonder what else you think its okay to lie to me about.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” she asked despite the quiver in her voice, she stood her ground.
“It means whatever the hell you want it to mean. It means I don’t know how much I should trust you. It means you sure in hell don’t trust me,” he said, his face inches away from hers.
“It has nothing to do with you! It’s my business, Greg. If I don’t want to talk about my crazy mama, then I don’t have to. “She shoved him away from her with all of her might. He didn’t budge.
“No, Liza. That’s where you’re wrong. Your business is my business. That’s what being a part of a married couple is all about. Sharing. Or didn’t you learn that growing up? Oh that’s right. It’s none of my business what you did or did not do prior to the day we said ‘I do’…isn’t that right, Li? Why even be married? Marriage is a partnership, Liza.”
She didn’t have to try and push him away this time. He moved away from her willingly and moved back to the bed and flopped his large frame on the mattress and covered his arm over his eyes as he lay down. Her heart ached at the look of mingled anger and sadness she saw plastered on his face before his arm covered his eyes.
Liza swallowed hard and slowly walked over to Greg’s side of the bed and perched hesitantly on the edge, near his feet.
“I’m sorry, Greg.” She said and waited for a response. When he made no immediate reply to her apology, she scooted up farther on the bed, nearer to his head.
“Baby, I’m serious. I’m so sorry. It’s hard,” she felt as inadequate as the words she uttered. The words were stuck in her throat that would free her from her fears of how he would look at her if he knew how her life had been like as a child.
She moved closer and felt hope spring when he scoot his body over, allowing her room as she lay down in front of him.
“I love you, Liza. You don’t have to be embarrassed of anything with me. If you feel embarrassed, this makes me think that you don’t trust me.” He pulled her closer to his chest and crisscrossed his arms in front of her.
She nestled closer to him, considering his words. She trusted him. It had taken a lot for her to tell him what she had at dinner. It hurt in a strange way, but at the same time was liberating. As small as it was, the disclosure helped. As though some ugly weight had been lifted from her.
It was a beginning. There was so much to tell him, so much she’d suppressed, that even she had a hard time trying to bring the suppressed memories and the feelings associated with them to the surface.
“It’s not that I don’t trust you, Greg. It’s just…” she allowed the sentence to trail off. She didn’t know how to finish the thought. She didn’t want to say the wrong thing after the progress they’d made at dinner.
“I love you, baby.” She felt him kiss the back of her head and tighten his arms around her. “I wish that you would just believe that there’s not a damn thing you could tell me that would make me think less of you, or love you any less than I do.”
She felt the sting of tears threaten to fall and quickly shut her eyes to ward them off. Soon, she felt the even rise and fall of Greg’s chest against her back, signaling that he’d fallen asleep. She ached with the need to make love with him. He had every right to be angry with her. Although they’d made progress at dinner, he deserved more. She knew that he wanted more.
He wanted her to give it all to him. Without reservation.
Soon, she too, fell into a restless sleep.
Liza came out of a sound sleep to feel Greg’s big hands touching her, pulling her body close to his chest, as he slid the straps of her negligee from her shoulders. He placed a warm kiss in the hollow where her shoulder and neck met as the gown slid down her breasts.
“Hey, baby,” she said huskily and arched her back sharply as he palmed her breasts and gently squeezed, his two fingers lightly pinching the erect bud.
“Hey you,” he said and kissed the side of her neck. “I’m sorry about earlier. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. I’m thankful that you felt comfortable sharing some of your past with me. It’s a start.” He continued to knead her breast with one hand, while the other worked on moving the gown down her body. She helped him out by lifting her body slightly so that it pooled around her waist.
“That’s okay, I understand. It’s not easy, but I understand where you’re coming from too,” she murmured in the dark still of the room. There was no light save the one from the moon that showed through the wood blinds in the window behind their bed. The moonlight allowed her to see Greg’s hand as it rested on the slight curvature of her belly.
“No baby, it’s not okay. And I’m going to make it up to you. You deserve better treatment than that,” he said and lifted the short length of the negligee, fanning it up and away and she briefly felt air hit her bared bottom before he pulled her snug against his erection and gently eased the broad head of his penis into her anus.
He must have already planned to make love to her in this way, as she felt the slick lubrication of his condom-covered erection, as it eased inside her ass.
She groaned harshly. Although he’d not prepared her, she was ready within seconds and arched her back from the pleasure-pain as his cock penetrated the tight, small opening. She felt a small sheen of sweat break out on her forehead as her body accepted the hard length of his rod and her hands automatically reached out to grasp his forearms to brace herself.
“So…is this punishment?” she asked on a grunt, as her body adjusted to the pressure of him being embedded so deeply within her. When he didn’
t immediately answer, her heart sank.
“No. Yes. I don’t know,” he whispered in a guttural tone, his mouth pressed against the bottom of her ear lobe. He grasped her hips in his bands and slowly began to rock into her.
“I do know that I love you with everything I am, Li.” As he spoke, one hand trailed around her hipbone and tangled in her tight nest of curls at the juncture of her thighs.
He separated her folds and spread her own juices on his finger before lightly stroking her clit in circular movements. She moved her hips in time with his cock and his finger, loving the exquisite feel both gave.
“I want our marriage, our relationship to go to the next level. It can’t if you keep holding back,” he said, and then took the lobe of her ear into his mouth and bit down gently, before sucking it back into his mouth, easing the sting. “What do you want, Liza? Talk to me. No more hiding. And don’t come, not yet,” he demanded, lightly smacking her on the ass as he gave his edict. He knew her body well.
He lifted her leg, and placed it over his and the angle gave her that much more of his cock to work with.
Damn.
And he expected her not to come?
She was on fire. She could feel the orgasm building and didn’t know how long she’d be able to keep accepting his tight thrusts without coming soon.
He felt so good, deep inside her ass, that she could barely think much less talk. She accepted his short controlled thrusts, the way he kept working her clit and forced the words out of her mouth.
“It’s what I want too,” she said in total breathlessness and then had to pause.
As soon as she started speaking, he picked up the pace of his strokes and although he was careful, they became stronger and Liza closed her eyes tight and squeezed the inner muscles of her vagina to stop herself from coming.
“Keep talking, baby, don’t stop.” He lifted her ass higher and really started doing her. Doing her just the way she liked.
Shit.
“Okay, I’ll try,” she murmured in the quiet of the room. Her hands tightened on his forearms as she tried to concentrate. To allow herself to talk about her past, while he had her open like this.
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