Total pages in book: 167
Estimated words: 157175 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157175 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
‘I don’t trust myself.’
‘Didn’t bother you last night.’
I scrub my palms down my face, hanging on to my resistance. She wants me. ‘You’re overdoing it.’
‘I feel fine.’ Her brown eyes, shimmering and bright, reinforce her claim, and the sense of satisfaction is unreal, but . . . still.
I shake my head since my mouth refuses to decline, and fold my arms over my chest.
‘Suit yourself.’ She shrugs her naked shoulders and steps into the tub as it continues to fill.
I’m not a happy man. But I just can’t deprive myself of the pleasure of looking at her. Admiring her. Thinking about how crazily I love her. So fucking much. Even now, when she’s not quite fully mobile, her moves are graceful. She carries herself with a subtle power that has awed me since the day she wandered into my office. She is, quite simply, the most enthralling person I’ve ever encountered. And she’s mine. Beautiful and elegant, with a sprinkling of sass. My head tilts in silent contemplation. A sprinkling of sass? Not if you consider her potty mouth. Then I’m smiling, because I know that potty mouth is enhanced by me. Ironic, really. I’m the catalyst for her foul language – the language that drives me to distraction.
My mind continues to wander as I watch her swishing the water with her feet to build the bubbles. Last night was beyond beautiful. We came together like we’d never been apart, and as she stared up at me while I lazily rocked into her, I knew she felt the overwhelming connection. Maybe I’d hoped our lovemaking would dislodge whatever’s holding back her memories, but I didn’t dwell on the fact that it didn’t. I was too blindsided to care in that moment.
‘Jesse?’
I’m awakened from my thoughts by the soft call of my name, and I find her with her hand held out to me.
‘Please.’
How can I refuse? Simply put, I can’t. I get up and strip down, drawn to her by an invisible force that’s magic in its power. Taking her hand, I step in the bath and walk her forward a few paces, and then lower myself, bringing Ava carefully down with me until she’s snug between my thighs.
‘We’ll have some tub-talk.’ I take her hair and push it over her shoulder and down her front. ‘You think you can resist me?’
‘No.’ Her arms come up over her head and circle my neck, her head resting to the side, her eyes closing. ‘What’s Paradise?’ she asks, the question coming from left field. ‘I keep seeing blue sea and . . .’ She pauses for a beat, thinking. ‘I think it’s a villa.’
I recline and slide my hands onto her tummy. ‘It’s a special place. We got married there.’
‘You told me we got married at your fancy sex club.’ Her eyes remain closed, only confirming the exhaustion she’s trying to fight.
‘We did. And then we renewed our vows on the beach.’ I smile fondly. ‘And then I took you for a swim in the sea.’
‘Sounds romantic.’ Her legs entwine with mine, slippery skin on slippery skin. ‘Tell me how old you are.’
Before I can utter a lie again, I give pause, wondering if it will truly mean anything to her if I continue with this game. So far, it hasn’t spiked a damn thing in her mind. I chew over my next move for way too long and finally decide to bite the bullet. ‘I just turned fifty.’
I don’t know what to expect. Maybe a gasp of shock. Or horror. Or . . . I don’t know, but the silence seems worse, because no shock means I must fucking look my age.
Long seconds pass. Still no reaction. Maybe she’s fallen asleep. Or maybe she didn’t hear me. Or maybe she thinks she didn’t hear me right. ‘I said, I’m fif—’
‘I heard you.’ Cutting me off, she opens her eyes and looks up at me. ‘I already knew. I just wanted to see how long you’d keep up the blatant lies.’
She knew? ‘How?’
‘Kate told me.’ She returns to her comfy spot and sighs, while I plot my revenge on Kate. ‘So I guess that means I don’t need to handcuff you to a bed this time?’
Kate is forgotten. Hope is back. ‘You remember?’
‘No, Kate told me.’ She chuckles, and I sag in disappointment. ‘I can’t believe I did that to you.’
‘Neither could I,’ I grumble, absent-mindedly tracing circles on her hips with the tips of my fingers, relishing her subtle squirms.
A comfortable silence falls, Ava snoozing peacefully, me staring at the ceiling, happy to let her rest undisturbed.
I have a few precious days before the kids come home to help Ava find the breakthrough she needs, and my confidence that I can is slipping with each hour that passes. With the twins home, we’ll have to readjust all over again. Trivial things such as taking them to school will be an issue for both of us – Ava because she doesn’t even know what damn school they go to, or where it is, and me because I never want to let her drive ever again. Never want her to leave my sight. Leaving my family, even for only a few hours, has always been a challenge for me. Stupid, yes. Or maybe not so stupid, given where I am now. The first day of school for the twins was one of the worst days of my life. The teacher didn’t take too kindly to me refusing to leave the classroom, and Ava ended up dragging me out by my shirt. And to rub salt into my grumpy wounds, my babies didn’t bat an eyelid when I left. I sulked the whole way to work. But, of course, my wife can’t remember any of that.