“Easy, woman,” he said, placating me with his hands, “I didn’t say I couldn’t remember them. I was just pointing out the excessive number of demands. And might I add, this is almost as hot as the sex talks we had prior to our baby-makingsessions.”
“I promise this will behotter.”
Jake formed his fingers into a V for victory and headed straight for the bed before stopping himself and turning back around to checkthelock.
“Only checked it twice,” hewhispered.
“Get over here,” I laughed, as Jake crawled onto the bed, grabbed my hips, and slid me along the bed until I was snugly wedged between his legs, his erection pressing firmly against me. I wiggled a little against him, watching for his reaction. His eyes blazed at he stared down at me with an insatiable longing. Unable to keep my hands off him, I ran my nails up his abdomen, causing the band of muscles in his stomach to swell and contract with a seductiveshiver.
I thrust my hips into his hardness, frenzied with desire for him. Our clothes still in place, Jake pushed repeatedly against my dampening mound, sending darts of pleasure rushing through me and drawing a loud moan from my lips. Our eyes widened instantaneously as we remembered our houseguests on the other side of the wall. Jake dropped down over me and covered my mouth with his hand, and we both stared at each other inamusement.
“Shhh,” he said, breathing roughly, as his free hand found its way between my legs and he began applying liberal pressure to the area. I bit down into his hand to suppress the moans that rattled in my throat as my thrusting hips made contact with his increasingly quick movements. And then suddenly he removed his enchanted hand, causing an intense throbbing right down tomycore.
“Easy,” he whispered, placing two fingers on my lips. “I want this to go on forever. I’ve missed you so much,Casey.”
Before I could reply, his soft lips were over mine and our mouths moved in the most sensual dance. Jake’s tongue pushed forward, teasing my lips apart. Grabbing his strong jawline, I held him steady as my own tongue pressed and stroked against his. When he drew back, we were both panting and our eyes were glazed overinlust.
Jake slowly trailed his fingers downward, past my jaw, gliding smoothly along my throat and into the crevice of my breasts. His mouth then pressed into the cloth, dampening it, as his tongue circled my pebbled nipples. I heaved my bosom, welcoming his tender lapping. Jake sat back up and, grasping my waist, pulled me into him once more. His hands were now on my stomach, riding my shirt up as he glided across my sensitive skin. After pulling my top up and over my head, Jake took both breasts in his appreciative hands. I was wearing a fairly standard issue bra, but he seemed unbelievably riveted by the sight of my full, up-thrust breasts, although I suspect his excitement had more to do with the fact that I was heaving them upward due to all the heavy breathing I’d beendoing.
Jake gently began massaging my hardened nipples through the silk, running his thumbs in little circles over them as he dipped his head down to my arched neck, slicking his tongue along its length and sending delicious heat radiating outward. My nails rode up his back, forcing a soft groan that reverberated through the hollows of his throat. Acutely aware of the amount of clothing we were still wearing, I pulled Jake’s shirt over his back before sucking his lower lip into my mouth and continuing on with a duel of feverishkisses.
Our bodies writhed with a labored impatience. It had been a long time since either of us had felt such intense cravings. Jake placed his arms on either side of my head and he hovered over my body, staring at me with a hunger that raged through hiscloudyeyes.
“You’re the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen,” Jake said, sounding gravelly with desire. He gripped the waistband of my jeans and unbuttoned me, and I lifted my rump to aid in the removal. His fingers tickled over my bare flesh, sending goosebumps across my skin. I couldn’t get him closeenough.
“I need you,” I breathed out slowly, reached for his throbbing length. Jake lowered his jeans just enough to free himself from the fabric, and his hardness pressed forward. In one fluid motion, I opened to him, wrapping my legs around his waist as he sankintome.
The bed moved to the rhythm of his slow and methodical thrusts, my hands grasping his buttocks as I brought him down harder. Jake’s fingers circled my nipples, tightening them to his touch. I curved my back upward, stretching my shoulders back, and thrust my chest against his constantlymovingbody.
Reaching behind me, under the flow of my hair, Jake deftly released the clasp of my bra and dipped his head to swirl his tongue in a tantalizing tease over my taut, prickled skin. I clutched his head with both hands, running my fingers through his damp brown hair. A warm, delicious feeling of pleasure began coiling deep inside me. We moved with more intensity now, both letting go of the tension that had gripped our lives for too long. Why had I deprived myself of his love? No more. Tightening my legs around him, I rode his storm all the way to theeuphoricend.
* * *
There wasa renewed closeness between Jake and me after that night. We were like newlyweds again, sneaking in butt pats, neck nibbles, and near consecutive late night romps after the kids fell asleep. There was no more talk about babies and ovulation. Having the kids with us changed my mindset. Of course I still wanted a baby, but I was no longer going to force it. I had plenty of time to be a mom; but right now, what I wanted to be was a committed aunt, a loving wife, and a ravenouslover.
Jake was fully on board with the change in my demeanor. There was a playfulness to him that I hadn’t seen in a long while. For the first time, I really understood how much my sadness had been dragging him down. When the angst had been on the other foot and it was I who watched him suffer, I’d felt that heaviness too. But as we’d moved past the struggles, the sun began to shineagain.
That’s what I had to do now. This past week had convinced me that I needed to lift the layer of fog that was clouding my heart and begin the arduous task of living life without my brother and his wife. It wouldn’t be easy. I missed Miles and Darcy every day, but just as I’d said to Sydney the first night she arrived, they wouldn’t want us to waste our lives away crying for them. The only way to truly honor Miles and Darcy’s memories was to keep moving forward, to keep living the life they’d wantforus.
Contentedly watching Sydney and Riley laughing and splashing around in the hotel pool, I looked up to the sky. “Do you see?” I whispered. “They’reokay.”
I hoped Miles was looking down on his babies with a smile on his face, knowing that they were loved and cared for, that Mom and Dad were doing right by them, and that Jake, Luke, and I would make sure his kids were afforded every opportunity life had to offer. Sydney and Riley were the bright, beautiful legacies my brother and his wife had left behind, and as a collective group, we’d see to it that they shone just as brightly without them as they had with. It might take time and patience, but it would happen. These kids would live their lives to the fullest. That would be how we honored their memories. Not by crying or wasting our lives away, pining for what was no longer here. We would live big, laugh loud, andlovehard.
* * *
As we rolleddown another interstate, I longed for the comfort of the hotel. These extended stretches of driving were tough on the kids. They got bored easily, and without a play structure to swing on or a pool to swim in, their excess energy was directed at us. Even off the bus, I was constantly trying to come up with fun new experiences. Sometimes I scored, and other times I crashed and burned. It really was a learning curve, and only through trial and error had I figured out what was and was not fun for them. For instance, informational stops where there was no climbing involved – not fun. Parks – fun; but only if they didn’t have ‘baby’ playground equipment. Nature reserves – not fun; at least not without a functioning bathroom nearby. I only needed to clean poop out of one pair of pants to figurethatout.
The only surefire way of keeping the kids happy and entertained, I discovered, was if Jake or Kyle were around… or better yet, if they were both present at the same time. For whatever reason, the guys were always way more fun than I was. They were like the fun dads who swooped in after the work was done and sucked up all theglory.
It was with those awesome fellas that I’d left the kids while I was in the bedroom working out some numbers for a client. An hour later, I reemerged to find the ‘fun dads’ sprawled out on the brown leather sofas looking as if they’d just run a marathon instead of spending an hour in the confines of a bus with two little kids. The TV was on and a princess movie was playing. Clearly Sydney had won whatever battle had happened in my absence. And I was sure there had been one since Jake would never willingly submit himself to such torture. The one time I’d convinced him to watch a ‘princess movie,’ a live-action version of Cinderella, he’d grabbed a bottle of whiskey and took a pull every time someone said ‘true love.’ Needless to say, he was drunk by the end of themovie.
Since Riley appeared to have the anti-princess gene as well, he was entertaining himself by climbing all over the lethargic guys. He was currently straddling the top ofJake’shead.
“Do you know what personal space means, Ri?” he asked, trying to dislodge mynephew.
“No.” Riley giggled as he shifted positions, a Twizzler stick protruding from hismouth.
“I didn’t think so. Let me explain the meaning to you. It’s when you allow the person you are annoying a small buffer of space. In this case, I’d settle for sixinches.”
