“Mmmm . . . So damn good—you have no idea,” she said, her voice deep and relaxed.
“It’s good for you to have moments like this where you’re taken care of. I want you to have this more often. I’ll make sure to give it to you, sweetheart.”
“’Kay. I can live with that.”
He worked his hands to the front of her temples, rubbing them, then made his way down her neck to her shoulders.
With her moans, he was getting harder and harder.
His hands wandered down to her breasts. He was very gentle as he tugged and rolled her nipples.
“Tell me if you don’t like this,” he said, picking the brush back up and running the back of it over her breasts, down her inner arms and belly, then on to her thighs.
When he dragged it up her closest leg, she shivered. “Sffffff.” Her back bowed away from the tub.
Hmmm . . . That gave him a wicked idea. He gripped the head of the brush and used the bottom end of it to tease her lips open and play with her clit.
Her breathing increased, and she gave him a look of desire with a small smile.
He leaned his head over and licked at her nipple, then took the bottom end of the brush and pulsed it in and out at her pussy’s opening.
“Jesus, Adam . . . I don’t know why that feels so good, but it fucking does.” She tipped her head back, and her eyes slid up in her head.
Heat flooded his chest, and his dick engorged. “I want you to float away with pleasure. Think of nothing else but my touch and the sensations you’re feeling.”
She made a purring sound when he pushed the brush in farther and thrust it in and out the way he’d most likely be fucking her right now if they’d decided to go to the bed first, rather than the bathtub.
But now he was glad he’d put aside his own wants and needs, because it was very obvious she was in desperate need of this pampering.
“I’m going to give you more than one orgasm, because I don’t want you to stop feeling good. I want you to take them as I give them to you. Accept that they’re yours, and I’m giving them to you.”
She nodded.
He smiled. “You’re so good and so smart to accept this from me.”
Her breath hitched when he leaned over and touched her clit with his other hand.
A second later, he was caressing it and loving on it the way she had been doing to it lately.
She unfolded as he got more aggressive, giving in to him, and raw masculine power saturated every piece of his being. This was what it truly meant to be a man. Not owning stuff. Not making babies with her. This—right here. Making a woman feel loved, cherished and explosive with euphoric sensations.
Not all men did this for their woman—but he did. It was important to him.
He wanted to share this new discovery with her, but instead he got close to her ear, nipped at it and whispered, “You’re a woman. My woman, and I want to see what that means to you when I touch you like this . . .” He pinched her clit, then rolled the hood up.
“Ohhhhh-oooohhhh Gaaaaawd.” Her legs tensed, then shook.
“So pretty, my love. Show me more of what makes you feel like the best woman ever.” He pinched her clit once more, lifted the hood, then stroked it with the pad of his pinky finger, all the while plunging that handle in and out of her pussy.
“I . . . I’m gonna come, honey.” She groaned, dropped her chin to her chest and watched as his hands explored her most sensitive areas.
“I’m a man. You know this. But I know you’re the only woman. The only one that knows what it means to be a woman, because you truly know how to love.” He nuzzled his nose into her jaw, kissed along it and said in a low, guttural voice, “Fall apart for your man. Be a woman—now!”
“Fuck—Jesus,” she cried out, shuddered on the spot, then convulsed wildly. “My man.”
“Yes, I am.” Now, she would have that again, because not only was he her man—he was a generous one.
And he wouldn’t stop until she had several more of those.
* * *
Adam grinned, and his teeth clacked together when Mari drove up with Zach laughing in the car they’d just purchased without him.
“Hi! Mommy, hi!” Meg shouted, waving as Adam held her other hand and they stood inside their empty garage.
Mari was supposed to park the car in this spot, but this thing wouldn’t fit.
Not because Adam, Meg and Button were occupying it—but because she’d bought a minivan.
“Wow, I like it,” Adam said to himself.
It didn’t look brand new, but in good enough shape.
He could definitely see his wife driving this silver van around with the kids in tow.
Mari parked before entering the garage. As soon as she opened the door, she squealed. “Adam! It’s amazing! Rear AC for the kids! And it has all sorts of great safety features, with a good stereo you’ll enjoy for trips.”
Adam and Meg rushed her, pulling her into a hug. “Good choice. I love it already.”
“But you haven’t even seen the inside yet,” Zach said, chuckling. “It’s a mess. Stains and stuff, but she didn’t care for some reason.”
“It says kids. It says comfort. It’s like home. I like the lived-in feel. And they’re not so hideous and huge. I can get most of them out, I bet.” Mari stared at the van over her shoulder. “And get this—we bought it from the dealer himself. He pulled us off the lot and showed us his own personal vehicle for sale. I about died. It was so crazy, but it worked for me.”
Zach laughed much harder now. “I think that guy had an ulterior motive. He was giving your wife the eye, but I stayed real close, making sure he didn’t get too close.”
“He what?” Adam’s spine went more erect, and so did his dick. When he was jealous, his dick wanted to take over. He knew why—it wanted to prove its prowess and who was boss. He was. She was his.
“He was not.” She elbowed Zach in the ribs and rolled her eyes.
Meg climbed inside the van and sat in the driver’s seat, twisting the wheel side to side. “Look at me—wheee! I’m driving! I’m driving all over town, making friends with puppies and people.”
“He was just desperate is all to sell this vehicle,” Mari said.
“Desperate—but not for that.” Zach smirked. She gave him an annoyed, but humoring look. “Hey, I’m a guy. I know these things.”
“I believe Zach,” Adam said. He looked inside the van, poking his head in from the back door.
“Hey, honey,” Adam said to Meg. “What do you think? Do you think this is our car already? Is it us?”
“It’s Choppy, too. She’ll like it for trips to the doggy doctor and everywhere else we can take her now—because there’s room.”
“I agree.” Adam hopped inside, sitting in one of the backseats, checking it out.
It was perfect.
The seats were in good shape, and the few stains were in the carpeting, not on the upholstery. That could happen to anyone’s car, whether kids were traveling with them or not.
It smelled good, too. Not like an ashtray or too many numbers.
He could definitely see himself at peace driving this machine around with his family.
“Great job, sweetheart,” Adam hollered out the side door. “Couldn’t have picked better myself.”
Zach sauntered over to the open door and gripped the edge of it. “Are you kidding me? This car’s a dump-heap compared to what we got you, and it cost practically nothing.”
Adam looked over the interior once more as thoroughly as he could from the back. “It’s got wear and tear, and so do I. So does my wife. Do you think we’re not worth much?”
Zach gaped at him. “C’mon—I didn’t mean anything like that. It’s just that . . . You worked so hard to graduate from high school, and now getting your degree. That’s huge! We’re so excited for you, there’s no reason for you not to enjoy it to the fullest and take all the rewards and accolades that come along with it. These are the perks.”
Adam grinned at his brother. “Zach, how about this—you go back to school—you graduate, and we’ll give you the best car you could ever imagine.”
Zach shifted his weight into his arms and leaned his torso toward the car. “Not funny.”
“It’s not meant to be. I’m entirely serious,” Adam replied.
Why was the concept of school so scary to him? Zach was smart.
“I’m too old,” Zach started to say, but Adam was moving him out of the way, exiting the car.
Instead of allowing his brother to speak and say anything disparaging about himself, Adam grasped him into a hug. “You. Are. Worth. It. You’re smarter than most people I know—including Dad.”
Zach swallowed hard and broke the hug. “Don’t say that.” His eyes were filled with conflicting emotions.
“But it’s true. There are smarties that learn it from books. There are brilliant people who just know how life is, and you are the in the latter category. Add smarty book knowledge on top of that, and you’d be unstoppable.” Adam released a breath and tacked on, “Enough that Lorraine would beg you back. She’d stop being a—”
“She’s already moving back in this weekend. Tomorrow, actually. I know you said you wanted me to tell you, but I didn’t want you to talk her out of it, and I need her. I really miss having my wife around. She makes everything better, even when she’s grumpy.” Zach gushed a few tears. “I’m sorry, but I . . . She’s what I want and need. Don’t say anything to her, all right?”
Adam paused and stepped back, leaning up against the car. Mari took Meg out of the van and brought her inside. Probably so they could have some privacy.
“I wasn’t going to try and talk her out of anything. I only told you I wanted to know because I wanted to explain something to her . . .” Adam leaned up against the van.
“Explain what? How fucking crazy I am and what a mess I am without her?” Zach snorted a sarcastic laugh through his tears. “Oh yeah—and you won, bro. I already failed the challenge. The minute she said she still loved me, I didn’t care anymore about our bet. I wanted to feel normal again. So, I fucked her that night because she wanted it, and then I had a drink afterward. I never felt so good in my life.”
Adam sighed and let his head drop. He stared at the driveway. “It’s good, I’m not saying it’s bad, it’s just that . . . There are things she should know.”
Zach whistled, making Adam’s head pop back up. “Will you cut this mystique jungle shit out? You’re kind of freaking me out, talking in riddles.”
“It’s not a riddle. I was only thinking she should know who you really are.”
“You don’t think she knows who her own husband is?” Zach blinked in rapid succession and then his left eye twitched.
“No. Otherwise, she never would’ve cheated.”
“Okay, who am I, then?” Zach crossed his arms over his chest.
“You’re a Boston cream like me.”
Zach snorted a laugh. “It all comes down to donuts, eh?”
“Yes, it does, because that’s a donut we can all understand, even if it hides what’s best inside.”
Zach’s eyes flashed with an idea.
“Yeah—that. That’s what I’m referring to. You always hide your tenderhearted side, your intelligence, and cover it up with humor and putting yourself down sometimes. You wanna know why things fell apart?”
Zach only stared.
“I’ll tell ya . . .” Adam sighed. “It’s because you thought she was better than you—and I’m not talking about how most men think their wife is amazing and they don’t deserve them. I mean, that you never said no to her on anything. You let her walk all over you, because you honestly thought you weren’t good enough. That can’t continue. She almost broke your spine in half. You’re strong, but not that strong. If she steps on your donut center this time with her fancy heels on she likes to wear, you’ll leak out your best part and lose it.” Adam gripped his arm. “I don’t want to see that happen to you.”
“Uh . . . God.” Zach wiped his face with his other free hand. “You would’ve told her all that?”
“Well, with some minor modifications.”
“Like?” Zach’s brows popped up.
“I would’ve told her that she was mean before because she could be. But now that she’s back, she can’t. It’s not allowed, because I won’t let you give her that permission.”
“How would you stop me?” Zach sort of grinned. Or, his cheeks lifted a little, at least.
Adam leaned into the car and pulled the keys out of the ignition. “With this.”
“Your van keys? How’s that going to stop me?”
Adam lunged forward and pretended to start Zach’s engine at his heart. “I just turned you on, little brother. That means your heart is working again. It only turns off when you decide to do that. No one else. She can’t hurt you unless you let her. Just like I can’t turn this van off unless I decide to do it. You’re in charge of your life and your heart—not her. Show her you care about her by caring about you first.”
Adam gave him another hug, and Zach whispered, “Thank you, Adam. That’s the best thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Watch it—you’re going to get too close to spilling your Boston creamy center.” Adam giggled.
That was all it took. Talk of donuts, love and hugs. That was it, and Zach was all better—ready to deal with his wife again.
Chapter 14
Adam woke up smiling after a short, but very effective post-sex nap.
“That was so incredible,” he said, his throat achy from so much grunting while he came more than once over the last two hours.
Mari lay next to him, staring at his face. “We probably need to get back . . . Button.”
“Yeah, I know, but fuck—this was a great idea. Have more ideas like this in the future—okay?”
She nodded, giggling and stroking the front of his calves with her bare toes.
They were soft, just like her. How sweet of her toes to be so nice to him.
“I love you. I love all of you—right down to your insides I feel with my hard dick. That’s always really amazing, but tonight—it was better than amazing. I think I was almost high.” He beamed at her, his cheeks all warm and glowy-feeling.
“I agree. You were on fire, honey.” She giggled some more.
They sounded like they shared a guilty secret.
Well, they kind of did, but either way, he was still kind of high off her and what she allowed him to do.
It felt similar to when he lost his virginity to her—that same buzzing in his heart, gut and testicles. No, not testicles—his fucking balls. Real men used words like fucking and balls. He needed to remember that more often and quit thinking of anatomically correct names, even though that was what his mind usually told him to say and think. Those words were too stiff. And the only thing that should be stiff was his cock.
“You blew my mind,” she said, sounding a little drugged herself.
God, he felt like such a man, it was hard to not stand on top of the nearest mountain and shout about what they did.
“We’ll be doing that again. If you want, we can do even more,” he told her, out of breath simply thinking about it.
“I definitely want that. Whatever you’d like to do, I’m down with it.”
“Down? Like going down?” He swallowed hard, while something else hardened. He loved it when she gave him head and licked and sucked and made it all shiny with her wet mouth.
“Yep—just like that.” She cooed and stroked his chest. “We need to get dressed right now, though.”
He nodded, groaned and pulled her in close. “Kiss me first.”
She chuckled, humored him with a nice open-mouthed kiss and then snuggled into him. “You reek of sex. Zach’s gonna give you a hard time.”
“I know—and I look forward to it. That dickhead needs to know I get laid.”
“He knows.” She shook her head while getting dressed, smiling at what he�
��d said.
“He needs to know it more.” Adam couldn’t stop grinning.
She gasped.
“What? What’s wrong?” He jerked his head toward her.
There was blood on her right hand.
“You’re bleeding? Are you hurt?” His gut was wrenched in two different directions. On one side, it wanted to freak out that his wife was upset and bleeding. On the other, it wanted to fly into doctor mode and take action.
“My period.” She bent over at the waist, and this sobbing sound drifted out of her.
“You still might be pregnant,” he said so low she might not have heard him. “Women can still get a period for the first few months, especially after getting pregnant so quick after just having a baby.” He tried to explain the mechanics of it and why it probably happened, but she was leaning up against the bed, crying.
Why was she so upset? She didn’t want to be pregnant, so if she wasn’t pregnant wasn’t this good news?
His eyes scrunched up, they stung, but he refused to cry. He needed to be strong for her.
He approached her and stroked her spine. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I know this is hard, but maybe it’s better this happened here so you can have some time to let this hit you without the kids around.”
“Kids?” Her voice went up in pitch, and she sobbed harder. She was almost hysterical.
He pulled her in for a hug, and she gripped him the same way Jane had.
It struck him. “Whoa. Maybe this is a thyroid issue.” His mind raced. “Maybe you weren’t ever pregnant. Jane had the same symptoms, and it was her thyroid. We can learn more about this.”
“Maybe it’s just stress? We finally went out and relaxed, and bam! I’m bleeding.” She wiped her eyes with one hand but kept holding onto him.
He sang to her—just held on and let his voice comfort her as much as his arms. “Someday, we’ll find the happiness we always knew we owned. Someday, we’ll know what it means to have the perfect home—’cause you’ll be there, and I’ll be there—together. And that’s the way . . . Ohhhh, oh, the way it was always meant to be. A home for you and me—a place to love in peace.” He rocked her for a little bit, then sat on the edge of the bed with her on his lap. He didn’t really care if she got any blood on his legs. It was probably already there from sex anyway. He didn’t bother to check just now when she realized her period had started. Made no difference to him.
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