Laurie's Time (The Fairfield Series)

by Maryann Jordan

  She reciprocated by pulling his T-shirt up, although she was too short to take it all the way off. She slid her hands over the muscles of his chest as he finished pulling his shirt over his head, tossing it on the pile of clothing in the floor. She loved the feel of his skin under her fingers. Tracing each bulge, she flicked his nipples as her fingers roved continuously up his chest, over his shoulders, and down his biceps. The sheer size and strength of his body never ceased to amaze her. Or turn her on.

  As their kiss continued, her fingers found the button of his jeans and she quickly unbuttoned it. Sliding down the zipper over his considerable manhood, she managed to push his jeans down to his knees, and he pushed them further and slipped out of them. His erection was tenting his boxers and Laurie palmed him, starting to slide her hand down the waistband.

  “Hold up, babe. I’m so hard for you, don’t want this to end before it gets started,” he rasped.

  Laying her gently back onto the bed, he leaned over to undo her slacks. Sliding them down slowly, kissing the flesh of her hips, then her thighs, he reached her knees, and …

  “What the hell?” he shouted.

  Startled out of her sexual bliss, she jerked up in surprise at his exclamation. Looking down at his head and her body, she noticed that her left knee was huge with swelling.

  “Jesus, Laurie,” he continued to rant. Standing up, staring down at his beautiful woman, his heart pounding. He knew she had a stiff knee but had no idea it was in this shape.

  Looking back at her face, he saw silent tears trailing down her cheeks. Fuck, now she’s more upset. Christ, what the hell is going on? Shit, man, pull it together.

  Rubbing his hand on his face, he leaned back over and kissed her swollen knee. Crawling up her body, he reached her face and kissed the tears from her cheeks. Whispering softly against her mouth, “Babe, sorry. I just can’t stand to see you hurt.”

  Continuing to kiss her gently, he felt her arms wrap around his neck and pull him closer. Aware of his large body, he wavered on how to make this work without causing her more pain. Her riding me? No, she would have to be on her knee. From behind? No, that won’t work either, ‘cause she can’t stand up. Shit.

  She felt the change in his kiss. His lips were against hers, but his mind was definitely not in the moment. Pulling away, she looked into his eyes, demanding that he look back at her.

  “Rob, where’d you go, honey, ‘cause you are not here with me.”

  He dropped his head, then looked back up. “Just tryin’ to make this work for you babe. Don’t wanna hurt your knee.”

  Nodding in understanding and ever practical, she thought for a second. “I just can’t bend my knee or put pressure on it. If you can handle boring missionary, I should be good.”

  Grinning down at her, he replied, “Babe, nothin’ boring about my dick being buried deep in you, in any position.”

  At that, he captured her lips again in a dominating kiss, plundering, sucking, nipping.

  Carefully sliding down the bed, he kissed her stomach again then continued his trail of kissed down to her slick folds. Licking her wetness he pulled her folds apart to allow his tongue deeper access. God, I love the taste of her.

  His tongue delving in and out of her pussy, he reached up with one hand to fondle her breast. Her hips rotated upwards pushing into his face.

  She could feel the delicious pressure building in her core, smell the scent of sex in the air, desperately needed her release.

  He moved his mouth up towards her swollen clit, sucking it into his mouth, allowing his tongue to swirl over it. At the same time, he pinched her nipple, and he felt her convulse against his face.

  Her hips bucked as she begged for more. He added a finger deep into her pussy, and she exploded as waves of bliss pounded over and over. Throwing her head back, she allowed the sensations to carry her away. Away to a place where there was no pain. No worry. Just Rob. And her.

  He watched her face carefully as the pleasure washed over her face, grateful to have been able to take her there. Beautiful. Precious. Mine.

  He watched as she slowly opened her eyes, smiling up at him. Raising her arms, beckoning him, she needed to feel his body on hers.

  He moved back up her body and carefully lowered his hips between her legs, positioning his dick at her opening. Sliding his hand between them he guided himself in and in one thrust was fully seated. Warm. Tight. Welcoming.

  “Babe, I want you to feel every inch,” he whispered.

  She felt stretched as his huge cock pushed all the way up into her. He began a slow thrusting, pulling almost all of the way out before pushing back in again. Rob, worried that his lower body would press against her swollen knee, raised himself up. Kneeling on the bed between her legs, he pulled her hips upwards toward his dick. Gently pushing her legs apart as wide as she was comfortable, he began his slow thrusting again. This angle produced a new sensation for her, and she began to moan as the friction deep in her pussy caused sparks to spread throughout her core.

  He fought the urge to begin pounding, knowing that this needed to be about Laurie, about her comfort, her pleasure. Never felt that way about a woman before he met her. Never gave a shit about the woman except to make her come first. Now it was already second nature to put her needs before his.

  Feeling his own release coming soon, he leaned down to grasp her nipple in his mouth. Sucking it deeply, he nipped at the hardened bud with his teeth.

  “Babe, come for me,” he ordered. Right on cue, she felt herself lost once again in her release. The walls of her pussy grabbing his cock tightly, she felt wave after wave of pleasure crashing through her. Rob, losing control, pounded the last few thrusts deep inside, allowing her contracting muscles to milk him. Leaning back up with her hips tightly held in his strong grip, he threw his head back, neck straining as his release poured deeply inside. Continuing to pump until the last drop was gone, he slowly pulled out. Gently moving to the side opposite of her injured knee, he lay down beside her, pulling her tightly into his embrace.

  They lay together, sated, and he pushed her hair from her face. Staring down into her eyes that looked back at him with love, he kissed her lips with the soft promise of forever.

  Untangling himself from her, he rose from the bed. She watched as his muscular back and tight ass walked towards the bathroom. In a moment the sound of water running in the bathtub could be heard. When he walked back in he looked at her knee carefully. Having been around numerous sports injuries and trained as an EMT, he tried to ascertain exactly what was going on.

  She held her breath, afraid that he was going to explode in frustration again. But he just gently probed the swollen flesh and then gently lifted her and walked to the bathroom.

  “I could get used to being carried around by a handsome, well-built, naked man,” she murmured in his ear.

  Eyebrow cocked, he growled, “Just any naked man, darlin’?”

  Laughing, she replied, “No, not just any naked man. At least as long as you are around.”

  Pretending to drop her in the tub, she screamed and held on to his neck tightly. Laughing, he lowered her gently into the hot water. “I want you to soak for a while, babe. The warm water will help with the knee. Should have iced it earlier in the day, but the warmth will make it feel better now.”

  Still kneeling beside the bathtub, he looked at her beautiful face, kissed her forehead and said, “Babe, we gotta think about where you live.”

  She looked up at him, confusion showing on her face.

  “Laurie, Carol is spending most nights with Tom, and in a couple of months they will be married. No sense in you trying to find a new roommate when you and I spend most of our time together and we can stay here. Right now, you need help with stairs, and babe, I’ve got an elevator.”

  She looked up, a smile lighting her whole face. “Is that your romantic way of asking me to move in with you?” she teased.

  He looked down, with a shit-eating grin on his face. “I want you in my h
ome, in my bed, and in my life. Now’s as good a time as any!”

  He stood and started to leave the bathroom. Turning back around, he asked, “Laurie, when is your appointment tomorrow?”

  Looking up into his now serious face, she answered, “Three o’clock.”

  Nodding, he walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him to keep the warmth of the tub from cooling too quickly. Sliding down into the deep warm water, letting her cares seep away, she felt his love surround her, keeping her safe.

  Chapter 14

  The next day as Rob arrived at the fire station he immediately headed to the chief’s office. Mac always had an open-door policy, and as usual, his door was standing wide open. Rob walked in, knocking on the door frame as he entered.

  “Chief,” he greeted.

  “Son, what can I do for you?” Mac answered in his usual booming voice.

  Rob looked down momentarily then focused back on Mac’s blue eyes that seemed to notice everyone and everything around him. “I’m going to be takin’ some time off occasionally and may need to ask some of the others to cover for me.”

  Mac put down his pen and pulled his reading glasses off of his face. “You all right, Rob?”

  Rob realized that right now he needed to talk to his dad, not the chief, a distinction that he was always careful to keep. “Dad, Laurie’s not well. Don’t know what’s wrong, but she’s got a bunch of doctor appointments, and I wanna be there when she goes.”

  Mac immediately stood up from his desk and walked around to stand in front of his son, pulling him in for a hug. Rob felt a lump in his throat as his father’s large embrace encompassed him. Taking a shaky breath, he stood stoically for a moment, allowing his father to express his love and concern through the hug. Stepping back, Mac ushered Rob into one of the office chairs as he lowered himself down into the one next to it.

  “What’s going on, son?”

  “Don’t know, Dad. She’s got all these weird symptoms. Tired all the time, neck so stiff she can’t hardly turn it, knee stiff and swollen, a slight rash across her face. Jesus, even her toes turn blue when her feet get cold.”

  Rob rubbed his face in frustration, sighing as he looked out of the window. Looking back at his dad’s kind face, he said, “I just want to be available to go with her to the doc appointments when she goes.”

  “Son, you’ve stepped in for years, taking shifts for every one of these men here. You have covered for them at holidays, family events, when their kids were sick or just graduating from kindergarten. I think you deserve to be able to ask the same of them. You take what you need when you need it.”

  The two men sat quietly for a moment, Mac allowing his son a chance to get ahold of his emotions.

  “What can we do, your mother and I?”

  Rob looked up gratefully, knowing his parents would move heaven and earth to help him or his sister, and now Laurie. “Nothing right now, but thanks, Dad.”

  Rob and Mac headed out to the main area where a large group of firefighters and EMTs were working on the equipment.

  Mac boomed, “Listen up!” The crew immediately gave their full attention to their chief. “Rob here has a personal problem where his Laurie needs to make some doctor’s appointments. And no, she’s not pregnant,” he added, eliciting a few smiles from those who knew the chief was looking forward to grandchildren.

  Rob continued the speech to his fellow firefighters. “What the chief means is that Laurie does have some doctor appointments comin’ up, and I want to be there. Don’t know what is goin’ on, but I take care of what is mine.”

  Immediately the others in the group clamored to assure Rob that they would cover any shifts he needed. Rob felt the emotion in the room, touched by the camaraderie. Mac clapped his son on the shoulder, and for once without booming, he whispered to his son, “You need us, you got us.”

  Nodding, Rob headed out to talk to Tom and Jake. He knew what he had to do. He just prayed that Laurie would see it that way.

  *

  Tom and Jake agreed to meet Rob at the diner for lunch and when he pulled into the parking lot, he was not surprised to see them already there. Walking inside, he waved to the owner and then headed over to their table.

  Not one for small talk, Jake immediately asked, “Laurie?”

  Rob nodded. “It’s gettin’ bad. Last night I lost my shit ‘cause I look outside my window and her knee is so swollen she can barely get out of the car and walk inside. She’s got another appointment this afternoon, and I’m goin’ too.” Shaking his head, he pushed his plate back in frustration. “Man, I’m a fuckin’ mess worryin’ about her.”

  “Hate to have a Hallmark moment, bro, but that’s what love’ll do to you,” Tom replied.

  “Tom, I talked to her last night about movin’ in with me. Carol is over at your place most nights, and if I am workin’, Laurie will have a place with an elevator.”

  Tom nodded in agreement. “Yeah, Carol was gonna help Laurie find a new roommate since we will be married this spring, but she just said the other day that she wondered if you all would want to move in together. The lease is up for renewal next month anyway, so it’s a perfect time to let it go.”

  Rob, relieved that one problem was taken care of, heaved a sigh of relief.

  Jake, watching his friend carefully, noted, “You’ve decided to find Laurie’s father, haven’t you?”

  Rob looked at his two oldest friends, knowing they understood him more than almost anyone.

  “Right now, I just wanna find out if this man exists and is still alive. I know his first and last name and middle initial. I know he was in the Army about twenty-five years ago and was stationed near the Richland base. Not gonna let Laurie know about this right now. The PI reports only to me. As soon as I find out more info, then I’ll tell her.”

  Jake and Tom both nodded in agreement, knowing that Rob would support them anytime they needed it. Lunch finished, the friends shook hands as Rob headed down the street. Deciding to pop into Bernie’s Bakery, he thought his mom could pick out the perfect item for Laurie to have before they headed to the doctor’s office.

  Opening the door to the familiar smells of the bakery, he was greeted by his mom flying across the room to pull him for a hug. Standing about eight inches shorter than her son, Bernie could still engulf him in a mother’s hug. She had the ability to make anyone feel as though they were the center of her concern, especially her family.

  He quickly recognized that his mother’s greeting was more than her usual enthusiasm. “Dad call?” he questioned.

  His mom raised her face to his, tears in her eyes. “Oh, Rob, I’m so sorry that Laurie is not well. Please,” she begged, “if there is anything you or she need, let me know.” Suddenly straightening up, she immediately declared, “You two need to come to dinner tonight. There is no sense in her trying to cook right now.”

  He chuckled. His mom was convinced that good food could make any situation better. Now that he thought about it, maybe she was right. Good god, I’ve hit the age where I now think like my parents.

  “I did actually come in here to see if I can get somethin’ for Laurie to eat before we go to the doctor this afternoon.”

  Her eyes lit up, and she scurried off to the kitchen. In just a couple of minutes, she was back with a bag much bigger than Rob thought would hold one treat.

  “I know she likes the strawberry cheesecake tarts, but I also wanted something that would not be messy before the doctor’s appointment, so I included a bear claw pastry. So you don’t have to worry about anything for breakfast, I included three different types of muffins.”

  “Mom,” he started to speak.

  “Now if you come over for dinner, I will make sure to have some cake for dessert. And if there is anything you can think of that she also likes, just give me a call, and I will bring it home.”

  “Mom!” he interrupted. She looked up in surprise. Rob laughed and pulled his mom into a huge hug. “I think you’ve got us covered. We�
��re good.”

  Looking up into her son’s eyes, she wrapped her arms around his waist, giving into the hug. “Son, your father and I have always been proud of you. We worried when it seemed like you were never going to find someone special, but I kept praying that one day you would know what your dad and I have. Honey, we love Laurie. She is so good for you, and you are such a wonderful man for her. If there is anything we can do, you must let us know.”

  Rob held his mom closely for a few minutes, knowing she needed comforting as much he did. I have this. A mom and a dad who have raised me, stood by me, and are still with me as an adult. Laurie never had this.

  Dropping a kiss on his mother’s cheek, he took the large package from her and headed out of the door.

  *

  Laurie and Jean were standing on the playground watching the children. Jean had finished talking with Cindy and had brought her out to play. The other first graders ran up, grabbed Cindy’s hand, and pulled her off towards the swings.

  “Isn’t it great how children are so accepting of new people and new experiences?” Laurie observed.

  Jean agreed. “Yes, it’s us adults that are afraid to step into unknown territory.”

  Laurie looked sideways at her friend. “You afraid? What are you afraid of?”

  “Oh, I think there are probably lots of things I’m afraid of. I would love to meet someone and have a real relationship again, but every time I do, it just never goes to the next level. Maybe it’s the unknown that holds me back.”

  “That’s very profound,” Laurie admitted. Before she could continue the conversation, the same minivan that she had seen before drove slowly by again. Stopping by the fence that surrounded the school’s property, it sat for a while. Laurie moved away from the wall she was leaning against and started limping towards the van. Suddenly, the van began moving down the street again. Still too far away to see a license plate, she watched it disappear.

  “What’s up?” Jean asked as Laurie made her way back.