She moved away only long enough to undo the front clasp on her nursing bra, allowing the heaviness of her breasts to fall into his willing palms. He lowered his head to kiss the soft skin, catching the scent of vanilla. Enjoying the puffiness of her nipples under his tongue.
He heard her sigh softly and knew he was on the right track.
She stuck her thumbs into the elastic waistband of her skirt. Even six months later, she was still wearing many of her maternity garments, even though her determined workouts in the home gym had long chased away most of the belly fat that had accumulated during her pregnancy. All that was left was a little pouchy bit under her bellybutton, which he loved to hold. The way she was feverishly working out, it would be gone in a month or two. He was going to miss it.
He began stroking his hands up and down her body, and she closed her eyes in pleasurable surrender. He longed to look into those dark brown eyes of hers, so he asked softly, “Look at me,mon cœur.”
She shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut even more tightly. “I can’t.”
“Okay,” he answered simply. He turned her around and began to rub her back in long, broad strokes, feeling the tension there, knots of it, under his fingertips. Without lifting one hand off her smooth skin, he reached with the other, rummaging around into the little complimentary basket and coming up with a vial of oil.Thank you, tiny Japanese lady,he thought, silently acknowledging their hostess’ thoughtfulness.
With a few drops on his hands, he began to massage away the tension in Shaundra’s back, instructing her to lie on her belly on the ludicrously large round bed. His hand developed a rhythm of their own. And soon she was moaning softly.
When he noticed that her right hand had slipped beneath her body and had begun sliding between her legs, he took it as his signal.
Even as her hand worked her body, he lifted her into a kneeling position, with her face still pressed into the pillow, and her perfect ass in the air.
“That’s right,” he crooned. “Keep pleasuring yourself. I’m here for you.”
He tilted her pelvis to get the angle right, so he could see the smooth cleft from this different perspective, and then pressed his face against her, beginning to lick.
After that argument they’d had last week, two arguments, actually. He’d been scared that he’d never again have the opportunity to taste her sweet flesh. But here he was, his face buried between her thighs, and knew that he’d happily die here.
She was sweet and moist, and her scent made him drunk. Now and then her fingers brushed past his lips as she worked at attaining her own pleasure. He gave her leeway, ample space, recognizing that she was in charge of her own orgasm. His role was merely to assist.
It came quickly, without warning. He felt the tremor build in her thighs, like a distant earthquake that was rapidly advancing on him. The next thing he knew, she had clamped her thighs around his head and was grinding against his nose and mouth as convulsive spasms rocked her. He allowed her the liberty to take whatever she needed, staying with her until the shaking stopped.
She rolled off him onto her back, panting, staring up at the play of LED lights on the white ceiling. He slid over to her and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her neck and cheek.
He himself had gotten no personal stimulation, but had not needed any. This had been all about her from the start, and he was satisfied that they’d achieved what they’d come for.
And then she began to cry. Not the tears of relief that sometimes fell when the sex was good, but a pained, anguished wailing that made him sit up in shock. “Shaundra? Did I hurt you?”
She shook her head vehemently, but through her sobs was unable to answer.
“Then what? I don’t—”
“I’m an awful mom. An awfulperson.All of this, with Benji is my fault. This is karma.”
He was incredulous. “How could this be your fault?”
“It’s the universe, I tell you. Punishing me by torturing him. I didn’t want a baby, remember? I had an entire business dedicated to child-free living. I created memes about the lifestyle, spoke to women who were unsure about whether they should terminate or go through with their pregnancy. I even mocked women with children who looked down on my views.”
He’d known she hadn’t wanted kids. They’d agreed on it. But pregnancy had changed her. “It doesn’t matter. You’re the best mom now,” he tried to reassure her.
She shook her head. “What I am now doesn’t matter. It’s what I was then, and what I believed. Now my son is paying for it. I always said I wanted to be child-free and now I will be—only not the way I planned! And it’s too late to take it back!”
He grasped her by the arms and shook her sternly. “That’s rubbish and you know it. First of all, Benjamin isn’t going to die. And he won’t be impaired, either. The doctors think he’ll pull through fine—”
“What do they know?” she wailed.
“They’redoctors,Shaundra. You need to trust them.” He knew he was overselling his case. The doctors hadn’t exactly said he’d pull through fine. But they were optimistic, and Shaundra needed a dose of that, too. He put on a brave face and tried to sound convincing. “Benjamin will leave the hospital in your arms with a clean bill of health. And with the grace of the gods, he will walk on time, speak on time, and fulfill his destiny. And you, as his excellent, caring, loving mom, will be there for him every step of the way. Understand?”
She took so long to answer that he was sure it was sinking in, but all she said as he slid off the bed and began hunting for her clothes was, “I think we’d better be getting back now.”
Mission failed,Nathanael thought miserably, as he handed Shaundra her blouse.