The Way Down

by Alexandria Hunt

  “That dress looks incredible,” David replied and walked across the bedroom to run his hands down the front of her. “Only because you are incredible though, and if you keep asking me I’ll tear it off you and we’ll never make it to the party.”

  He kissed me deeply and I forgot about the dress all together.

  We did make it to the party a little late and my dress was only slightly rumpled.

  “I was starting to think you’d deserted me,” David’s partner, Fred said as he approached. “How nice to see you again. Abbey, is it?”

  “You remember Fred,” David said.

  “Yes, Abbey is my name,” she replied with a smile and shook his hand. “I do remember you.”

  “Is that the reason you were late?” Fred asked with a knowing look as he pointed at lipstick on David’s collar.

  Abbey went furiously hot in the cheeks and laughed nervously. “Probably.”

  “Yes, I’m not shy,” David said, “it is. She’s a ferocious little kitten.”

  “Lucky guy,” Fred winked. “I don’t think the missus has been ferocious since…”

  “Since I caught you eating an entire tub of ice cream after getting your diabetes diagnosis,” an older woman said as she came up to the three of them.

  Fred chuckled and put his arm around her shoulder, turned to David and Abbey and said, “David, you know Darla. Abbey, this is Darla…my lovely wife.”

  “Happy to meet you,” Abbey said and was immediately relaxed as she began to speak with David’s friends and coworkers like she belonged with them, like she was welcome.

  David didn’t leave her side the entire night, if she didn’t have her hand on his arm, he had his arm around her shoulder making her feel safe and loved and secure.

  She’d never felt like that before and it gave her more confidence than she’d ever had in a crowd and she discovered she was more charming and funny than she’d ever thought.

  “You look good enough to take right here on the table,” David whispered in her ear as they picked out a few tasty things off the buffet.

  Abbey warmed immediately and leaned back into him. He kissed her neck and for a moment they were the only ones in the room.

  It didn’t last, one of David’s coworkers broke into their moment with some story about David’s first day on the job a few years back. Abbey tried to pay attention and laugh when appropriate, apparently David had mistaken a utility guy for a thief and had cuffed him by accident.

  But Abbey’s focus lay on David’s hand resting possessively on her lower back, his thumb tracing a soft pattern on her flesh through the fabric of her snug dress.

  She was relieved when Jake, the coworker, moved down the table to load up his plate with desserts.

  “I love you,” Abbey said and leaned back against him again.

  “I love you too,” he said and brushed the hair off the back of her neck and kissed it. They made their way back to their table and joined Fred and Darla to drink a little and talk a lot.

  They made it through the entire event without incident, and for once in her life, Abbey belonged.

  On the drive home it was quiet, neither one of them spoke much, as if they’d both realized something had changed in their relationship. They’d become official somehow, being out in public and proud of their love had made it real.

  David pulled up in front of the house and parked closer than his usual spot. Abbey was sitting next to him when he got out and waited until he came around her side of the truck and opened the door. He held out his arms, picked her up and she slid into them as if it was second nature.

  “I can walk, you know,” Abbey smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “Not in those shoes,” David replied and walked through the snow to the front door. The night was cold but it was clear. The stars sprinkled out across the sky like glittering diamonds on black velvet and their breath hung in the air as they exhaled.

  Abbey tucked her head against his chest and remained silent, enjoying the warmth of his body and the crunch of his boots on the snow.

  He managed to open the front door with her in his arms and set her carefully down once they were inside.

  She heard him fumbling around against the wall, flip a light switch and the entire living room lit up with what seemed to be a million brilliant lights, like the stars outside had fallen to earth.

  “David, it’s beautiful,” she gasped and turned to see him standing, waiting for her.

  “You’re beautiful, this is just my sad attempt to show you how much you mean to me,” David said and held out his hand for her. She took it and followed him to the center of the room, the lights twinkling and adding a romantic glow to an already romantic moment.

  David picked up a remoted off the coffee table and clicked a button. Music streamed from the speakers and he took her in his arms.

  “This song is from high school,” Abbey laughed and leaned her head against his shoulder as they swayed to the slow beat.

  “This is the one and only time I took a chance with you,” David chuckled and pulled back enough to look down at her. “Do you remember?”

  “I do,” she smiled. “It was tenth grade, the spring fling dance. You asked me to dance.”

  “I wanted to ask you to go with me, but I chickened out at the last minute,” he admitted sheepishly. “I was shaking when I asked you just to dance.”

  “I was already with Tom by then,” Abbey replied, looking down with her own sheepish feelings washing over her. “He was back in Calgary but even then he had a grip on my life.”

  “I should have fought for you,” David said and started to sway with the music again, holding her tightly against him. His voice thickened and he held his hand on the back of her neck as she pressed her face against his chest and listened to the beating of his heart match time with hers. “I’m sorry I let you go.”

  “You didn’t let me go,” she replied, “I was a stubborn bitch back then. I was ready to run the moment school was over, and there was nothing anyone could have done to keep me here.”

  “I feel like I let you down though, you lost your mom and your dad shut down,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “I should have been there for you more.”

  “There wasn’t anything you could have done, David,” she replied and closed her eyes to stop the tears from overflowing. “I was lost then, and lost when I came back…but you found me and that’s the most important thing of all. You rescued me when I needed it the most.”

  “You saved me from myself,” David said and kissed the top of her head again. “I was this close to becoming a surly old bachelor.”

  “I’m sure there were more than a few women in town who would have cured you of that,” she grinned, but her heart was happy that he’d waited for her. She didn’t know what she would have done if she’d reconnected with him and he’d been married with a bunch of kids by now.

  It was strange, she’d felt lonely and missed something the entire time she’d been with Tom, but she’d never realized it was David. David, her friend and possible crush before Tom came along, but she hadn’t realized that David had been her everything.

  “None of them were you,” he said and the song came to an end. “And none of them will ever be you. This is our time now, you went away and brought back two amazing kids but this is for us, Abbey. We’re a family, and once it’s official nobody can break us apart.”

  Abbey opened her eyes and looked up at him, saw the raw emotion in his eyes and felt it in her own blood. They were together now, and there was nothing that could ever tear them apart.

  She had no words to offer him, so she reached up and pulled him down for a kiss, a seal of their love and their increasing bonds.

  Chapter 14

  Christmas came and went and although Tom’s parents sent boxes of presents a few days before, Tom had no contact with the kids at all.

  It wasn’t that Abbey wanted Tom to be in their lives, not with his messed up, violent toxic presence…but sh
e didn’t know what to tell the kids when he didn’t even call.

  Abbey took on a few more hours at the Co-op to deal with the Christmas rush and save some money for gifts of her own. She felt pressure to make it all perfect considering this was the first one in their new life.

  David surprised her by suggesting they buy gifts together, and in spite of theirs being smaller and more humble than Tom’s parents’ mountain of toys, the kids appreciated them more.

  They’d picked out a saddle for each of them, to encourage their riding and spending time together as a family. Even in the winter, David, Abbey and the kids were regularly taking time to head off across the fields on horseback. David had learned to ride extremely well over the years, something that Abbey noted with a smug sense of happiness.

  She suspected he’d learned to impress her one day, and he had succeeded. There was something about a hot man well seated on a gorgeous horse that just did it for her.

  Well, there was something about David with his tight jeans and cowboy boots that did it. She couldn’t imagine any other man on the planet looking as mighty fine as hers.

  Dinner had been at her Dad’s, and she’d snuck off to spend some hours with David the next day.

  When she’d gotten home, Sophie had put her hands on her hips and said, “Why didn’t you just bring David with you? We know that’s where you were.”

  “And now he’s going to come driving up in half an hour and pretend he just happened to pop in,” Zach laughed.

  “If your mom wants to have a private life, let her have it,” Abbey’s dad said and looked up at her. He gave her a little nod of approval, he liked David and understood their need to go slowly.

  New Year’s came without incident, David spent his first night with the whole family but Abbey brushed it off explaining that David needed to stay up with them until midnight and it was too late to drive home.

  They sent the kids to bed after ringing in the new year with sparklers in the snow and sparkling apple juice before they tumbled into Abbey’s childhood pink frilly sheets.

  David had set his alarm and crept out before they were up, but they didn’t blink an eye at him being there for breakfast.

  Abbey finally decided that by March it was time to ‘fess up and admit they were dating.

  The only thing that was remarkable about it was the fact that the kids hardly reacted at all.

  “So you guys kiss and all that?” Sophie asked with huge eyes.

  David laughed. “I guess,” he said. “I do kiss your mom, I can’t help it, she’s very beautiful.”

  “Ewwww,” Zach said, making a gagging motion with his finger.

  “There’s nothing eww about it,” Abbey exclaimed with mock indignation. She glanced at David who had a look of amusement on his face.

  “So can we still go get some pizza?” Sophie asked after David and Abbey’s relationship had been established.

  “Yeah, you said something about pizza,” Zach added.

  Abbey looked at David, he looked back with his eyebrows raised and they burst into laughter.

  “These kids, hey?” she said with a grin.

  “Yes, let’s go to town for something to eat,” David said with a smile to match hers.

  The kids scrambled outside into David’s extended cab truck and they headed to town, like any other regular family.

  Abbey hadn’t realized how horrible it had been with Tom until moments like this washed over her and filled her up with so much joy she thought her heart would burst.

  That night they had the pizza they had promised the kids, pepperoni with extra cheese, and ice cream cones at Dairy Queen.

  It was the night they would remember as being almost as good as two meals at McDonalds on their flight from Alberta, but even better because they’d gotten David in their lives, full time.

  In early April, Abbey got a call from her lawyer. As usual, Joanne didn’t have much to say about the situation beyond the fact that Tom refused to agree with anything Abbey wanted.

  “There’s no way I can force him to sign the papers?” Abbey asked, feeling her frustration clench her throat.

  “We can file with the court, but it will take a year,” Joanne replied. “It can be done, but if he’s not going to respond to any of our correspondence and he’s got his parents’ lawyers in our way, then we have to take the long way around this problem.”

  “David and I want to get married,” Abbey said. “This is going to drive me insane.”

  “That’s Tom’s intention,” Joanne said, “he’s trying to keep you running around trying to figure out how to break the ties to him. He’s maintaining control even though you’ve left him.”

  “Then I guess we’ll do it the long way around,” Abbey sighed, “I’m not surprised by this, he’s been a psycho our entire marriage. I knew leaving him wasn’t going to be easy, and he’s more than proven that.”

  “Hang in there, you and David will have a chance to start your lives together. Love is worth waiting for,” Joanne smiled. “It will happen.”

  “Thanks for everything,” I said, “I can’t tell you how much you’re helping. Also, how much do I owe for this? You still haven’t given me a bill.”

  “Oh, David’s covering everything,” Joanne replied and pulled out a file folder. “I’m sorry, I have to get ready for the next appointment.”

  Abbey thanked her and left the office, crossed the street to the police station and waited until she was taken back to David’s office.

  “You paid my lawyer’s bill?” she asked as he shut the door.

  She took a moment to appreciate how good he looked in his uniform, the tight pants and the shirt clinging to his broad chest and bulging arms.

  “I did,” he said and leaned back against the desk with his hands on the edge. “It’s our bill now, and I have some money saved up and there’s nothing else I’d rather spend it on.”

  “I can’t think you enough,” Abbey told him, looking around his office and noticing how private it was. The feelings of security and love David offered her manifested in her body as pure lust, that combined with how damned fine he looked in that uniform made her bolder than she normally was.

  She stood and made sure the door was locked, pulled down the blind and turned to him.

  “What are you doing?” he asked, but he knew by the look in his eyes.

  “I am going to thank you properly,” Abbey replied and stepped towards him, her hips swinging as she chewed her lower lip.

  “You don’t need to do that,” David replied and stood straight as she approached.

  “Then let’s call it a fantasy of mine, not a thank you,” she said and pressed up against him.

  “I don’t know…here…the office…” he said, looking nervously towards the door.

  “You saw me lock it, do you have a few moments free?”

  “I do. But you don’t have to, Abbey, I paid because we’re a couple, not because I wanted you to owe me.”

  “Well judging by my count, I’m about five hundred orgasms ahead of you, so maybe I do owe you,” she said, her eyes glinting mischievously. She reached down for the buckle on his pants and his drew in his breath as she opened them.

  “Abbey,” he said breathlessly when she unzipped him and pulled him free.

  “David, let me do this.”

  She sunk down to her knees before him, as if in worship, and gave him her first blow job ever. Tom had never liked it, he always preferred hammering away at her, on top and in total control.

  Abbey felt powerful offering this to David, she felt like she was in total control of him and that thrilled her from her head to her toes.

  David wrapped his hands in her hair and held her steady as she took him into her mouth, paused until she could handle his thickness.

  She could feel his pulse through the flesh in her mouth and it fluttered along as quickly as hers. This excited her so much, not just the control of a man like David, but the thrill of discovery.

  Sex had alway
s been so shameful, something done in the dark and not to be discussed. Tom hadn’t even wanted her to make noise or talk about their sex life after the fact. He’d wanted her submissive and compliant, when he wanted her at all.

  For the last year or so he’d been so consumed with his affairs that he had barely made it to their bed, which had suited her just fine.

  But David, god, just the noises he made as she worked on him with her tongue and lips, even those were enough to almost bring her to orgasm.

  “Fuck, Abbey,” he groaned as she swallowed almost all of him, concentrating on not gagging and not giving up. He thrust forward and she relaxed her throat, proud of her newfound skill and ability to please David like this.

  She thought he might come, but he didn’t. She felt the muscles in his legs tighten up and he trembled with his need, but he didn’t come.

  “Get up here,” he growled with a forceful tone that both excited her and made her a little nervous.

  He sounded angry, and angry generally scared the hell out of her…but this was David, David would never hurt her so the nerves dissipated the moment he lifted her up to him for a kiss.

  “I love seeing you down there, but I need you like this,” he said in a harsh tone. His mouth was fierce and hungry and covered hers as he lifted the hem of her dress and hiked it up to her hips. “Bend over,” he ordered, I want you on my desk.”

  He spun her around and she was breathless by the time she laid across his desk and gripped the edge on the other side. He pushed her dress up farther, dragged her panties down to her knees and positioned himself behind her.

  “Tell me you want me,” David said, and his rough voice with him in his police uniform added to the anticipation of the entire situation. All Abbey’s nerves were long gone by then and she was ready to burst even before he slammed into her and rasped, “Talk to me, tell me you’re mine.”

  “I’m yours,” she said in a hiss as he slid himself in from behind and she could feel each agonizingly exquisite inch. She wanted to scream it, but there were people right outside and it would be so obvious what was going on in there. “I’ve been yours forever. Make me come, David, make me yours.”