“Baby, what do you think of the styles I sent you?” El asks while knotting my tie. She smoothes my shirt and her hands relocate to my shoulders to massage them when I remain mute. “Five is a big number.”
The girls birthday is in three weeks. El has taken charge of the birthday arrangements. Between the office, project El, stalking Vincent and trying to sort everything before we move, I haven’t had much time for anything else. El wants to throw a big party for them, the biggest they have ever had and I am fully in support. Five is a big number but I didn’t see the designs. I have spent more time on my phone, learning Vincent’s lifestyle than I have with my wife and kids. It’s almost like the obsession I had with El at the beginning of the year. Stalking has become my thing.
“I agree with anything you choose,” I tell her. “Don’t spare any expenses, make our girls happy.” She tilts her head and purses her lips, clearing seeing through my bullshit. My lips cover hers to swallow any form of protest. El deepens the kiss, her hands slip to my cheeks and a sound vibrates through my chest. “Baby, I have to go now. Baby.”
Today is the first time in a long time I will be stepping into the office early. El will take the girls to school.
“Are you okay?” Her fingers trace the under of my eyes. “You look tired.”
I am.
I am tired of watching Vincent like my life depends on it. My life does depend on it. Until I know what he was trying to imply that day, I cannot completely move on. I rest my head on her shoulder to seek solace. Her hand moves to my lower back, drawing circles like I would have done to comfort her.
“Do you want to talk about it?” she asks. I stiffen. El breaks away from the hug to stare at me. Her eyes make it hard to lie, at least to her face. “Not now, not today.” She shrugs. “Whenever you are ready.” I can’t be ready. How do I tell her I might not be the father of Brianna? I don’t have any proof but the words of a rival who has hated me for as long as I have known him. “Baby, talk to me. What’s going on?”
“Nothing.” Her hands drop from my waist, I search her face for a sign of anger. She grins. “I have to go.”
“I know.” She pushes herself up so her full lips are pressed to mine. Dragging my lower lip between her teeth, she kisses away my worries. “I love you. I’m here. I will be ready when you are, to talk about it.”
Our eyes meet. Her smile is bigger. I nod. I will tell her. Even if it sounds stupid, I will tell her about it. But not today. I squeeze her in a brief hug, she pushes my briefcase to the other hand and takes the free one as we walk out of the room.
The girls are having breakfast downstairs, El disappears to the kitchen while I smother them with kisses they return with scrunched faces like they don’t secretly enjoy their parents kisses. Wyn loves my kisses.
“I’ll pick you up after school,” I say to pacify them for skipping out on my morning duties.
“It’s okay,” Bren says, lifting her eyes from her bowl of cereal. She takes a spoonful of the creamy mix, Wyn slices her pancake into tiny bits and shoves a piece in my mouth. “Mummy can come if you’re busy.”
Still chewing, I simply nod. El arrives and the kids turn to her. They exchange hushed conversations, send a few glances and suspicious smiles my way. While she is talking to them about things I have never heard, my fingers climb her thighs. I brush the hem of her night shorts and El sucks in a ragged breath.
Laughter catches in my throat, I swipe a finger across my nose to hide my obvious smile. The girls don’t notice their mother’s voice takes on a lull, how she drawls her next words or is slower to reply them. They continue their meals while my fingers tickle her slick folds through the material of her nightie. She clamps a hand on my wrist, I use my free hand on her underboob and she almost chokes on a cough.
“Are you okay?” I tease as I give her laps one last squeeze. The twins stop eating and pass her a glass of water as a cough wracks her body. El nods, eyes shooting lasers at me as she gulps the water. “Sorry.”
We excuse ourselves. Well, I did the talking because El lost her ability to talk.
As soon as we are out of sight and in the privacy of the garage, a slap lands on the back of my neck. My head jerks in El’s direction, she switches the bag in one hand to the other. I glare at her and she blinks those seductive lashes at me, crumbling my anger. This violence should be reserved for the bedroom.
“What was that for?” I ask, fully aware of the reason.
Caging her between myself and my car, our lower bodies merge and my nose rubs her neck. She inhales sharply. I hear a soft thud and her crotch grinds against my groin, evoking a low growl from my lips.
“For being naughty.”
Lust fills her gaze. Her eyes glaze and she bites her lips. “I have time for a quickie.” Her eyes widen, a moment passes as she plays with the thought. Trailing kisses on her neck down to her shoulder, I pop the top two buttons of her satin nightwear. She moans and my dick pokes my slacks. “Say something.”
She shakes her head, dragging both of us out of our daze and I slowly snap out of my lust-induced high.
“You have an appointment.” I nod. “You need to be at work.”
I do. But she’s so hot and tempting and sexy and her boobs want my touch. I fix her buttons, she cups my butt and flashes me a smile. Her head falls back, almost knocking over the bag on the hood of my car.
“What’s that?”
She gives my butt another pat. I like it. “Your food.”
I eye the bag surreptitiously and frown. “I don’t need a lunch bag. I’m an adult, not a kid.”
“An adult who needs to eat, Mister Brandon.” And I will eat at the office. I can always order a meal later. El must have registered my withdrawal, she breaks away from the hug to open the car door and buckles the seatbelt once I hop in. The lunch bag occupies the passenger’s seat, my brows draw together and she gets comfortable on my lap. “Okay. If you take it, we can have anal sex when you get back home. Deal?”
My mind blanks. My thoughts come back at me with a violent force. I close and open my mouth. “What?”
Her hands continue moving on my chest, fiddling with my buttons. She yanks my tie and I have to pry her hands off the blue tie to stop it from strangling me. “But you have to take a picture of you eating.”
“Huh?”
“Before and after eating. And the empty flask. Take pictures.”
My head is still reeling from her words, making it harder to form a reply. I attempt to untangle her hands so I can get a view of her face but she tightens her arms around my neck. Yes, I incorporated the use of a finger up her butthole when fucking but I haven’t mentioned anal sex since that day. I can survive without it.
Staring at the wall in front of us, I whisper, “Anal sex?” I must have misheard her. She doesn’t like it.
El nods. “Yes but you have to be gentle.” My dick twitches in excitement. She is not kidding about this. I will be so gentle she will beg me to go hard. El wrings her hands. “Just eat so you can stop looking dead.”
A finger moves under her jaw. I would love to have anal sex with her but I want it to happen at her own terms not to placate my arrogant ass. I will be fine. Her teeth sink into her bottom lip, her gaze fixates on her nightwear like there’s anything to look at on the satin material with puppies littered all over it.
“What if I refuse to take the food?”
Her shoulders sag, she finally meets my gaze and my breath lodges in my chest. “Well… We will still have anal sex. I have been thinking about it.” Relief washes over me, I continue nodding and she giggles. “If I will do it with anyone, I want that person to be you, Brandon. One hundred percent.” My chest tightens. She is all mine, one hundred percent. Her heart, her body. My head stops bobbing, I wink. How lucky can I get in one lifetime? Her eyes dart to the bag on the passenger seat. “But this is a good bargain too.” She pinches my cheeks, slapping colour into them. My lips pucker in protest. “Baby, you need to eat up.”
“I will.” I peck her jaw. “I’ll send pictures too.”
The smile she offers me forces one to my lips, I inhale her scent once more and steal a goodbye kiss from her. I drive to the office smiling, park at the spot reserved for me. I toss my car fob in the air and catch it, whistling as I cover the rest of the distance to the building.
It feels good to be a family again.